Book about confession

“Book of Confession” (or Exomologitarium) by St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain was first published in Venice in 1794. The work contains advice for confessors and laity and is one of the most complete practical guides to the Sacrament of Repentance. The book consists of 3 parts. In the 1st part, the requirements and instructions for the confessor are given: his moral perfection, theological education, the ability to distinguish between sins, assign penances, and accept confession. The 2nd part contains the rules of the holy Patriarch John the Faster, to which are added a number of other canonical decrees necessary when assigning penances. In the 3rd part of Rev. Nicodemus gives instructions to the repentant: how to prepare for confession, how to confess correctly, how to understand the essence of repentance and avoid false hope for the “last confession.” In the appendix “A Word of Help for the Soul about the audacity of those who sin in the hope of confession and repentance,” the author warns about the dire consequences of spiritual frivolity and emphasizes that true repentance requires not only words, but deep contrition, changes in life and constant vigilance. *The title of the work in Greek is ᾿Εξομολογητάριον. Recommended for publication by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church The Book of Confession, or the Most Soulful Book, containing a brief instruction for the confessor on how to benefit from confession; the rules of St. John the Faster, precisely explained; skillfully written advice to the repentant on how he should properly confess, and a soul-helping word about repentance, compiled from the writings of various teachers and brought into the best order on the Holy Mountain by the laboring renowned teacher Nicodemus. Among the works of the outstanding ascetic of Greek spiritual enlightenment of the 18th - early 19th centuries. of St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain, a special place is occupied by the “Book of Confession”, first published in Venice in 1794, also known to us under its Greek name “Exomologitarion”. It is a detailed textbook for priests and laity on the topic of repentance and confession. The sources for it were the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the rules of ecumenical and local councils and the holy fathers of the Orthodox Church with interpretations and other canonical monuments, patristic works, works on Byzantine and church history, as well as the writings of later church authors, both Eastern and Western, which the author used with great caution, borrowing from them only what does not contradict the Orthodox creed. The book consists of three parts. The first part, entitled “Teachings to a confessor,” talks about the qualities of a confessor and various aspects of spiritual life, spiritual guidance and the sacrament of repentance. The second part contains the rules of the holy Patriarch John the Faster, as edited by Hieromonk Matthew the Blastar, which St. Nicodemus recommends using when assigning penances, with his comments on these rules. The appendix to the second part contains short articles devoted to some issues of penitential discipline and canon law, as well as monastic life. The third part, “Instruction to the Penitent,” comprehensively covers the necessary conditions for true repentance and correct confession. In the appendix to it there is a “Spiritual Word about the audacity of those who sin in the hope of confession and repentance.” “The Book of Confession” was published in Greek more than twenty times and is still a reference book for confessors and a guide in spiritual life for the laity in Greek churches. It retains its significance even today, since it expounds the Orthodox patristic teaching on repentance and confession and indicates the high ideal of a true and godly penitential feat. In its pages, St. Nicodemus also touches on many issues of theology and canon law and, as a deep expert on the human soul and a zealous shepherd, gives advice and guidance on various issues of spiritual and church life. The book is published in Russian for the first time. Undoubtedly, it will be useful to a wide range of Orthodox Russian readers. The translation was carried out by the Publishing House "Holy Mountain" under the general editorship of Zoitakis A.G. from the publication: Νικόδημος Ἁγιορείτης. Ἐξομολογητάριον. Βενετία, 1856. The Book of Confession, or the Most Soulful Book, containing a brief instruction for the confessor on how to benefit from confession; the rules of St. John the Faster, precisely explained; skillfully written advice to the penitent on how he should properly confess, and a soul-helping word about repentance, compiled from the writings of various teachers and brought into the best order on the Holy Mountain by the laboring renowned teacher Nicodemus Troparion to St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain, tone 3 Like: The beauty of Your virginity... Father, adorned with the wisdom of grace, / the trumpet of God appeared to the Spirit, / and teacher of virtues, / to Nicodemus the God-speaker; / You offered saving teachings to everyone, / Your lives of purity revealed radiance, / The richness of your divine words, // In which You shone as the light of the world. Similar to: Desert Dweller... We honor the luminary of Athos and Naxos, / and to the Church of all the God-inspired teacher, / Nicodemus, the faithful, / as he was filled with divine wisdom; / for the heavenly and abundant teaching pours out to those who call: / glory to Christ who glorified you, / glory to him who crowned you, // glory to him who gives us what is useful for you. Similar to: Mounted Voivode... For the virtuous life of the most noble mystery / and the piety of the God-bearing teacher / The Orthodox Church honors you; / from heaven you have received the gift, / with your divine writings you illuminate those who cry out to you: // Rejoice, Father Nicodemus. The place and significance of the “Book of Confession” by St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain for modern counseling practice and pastoral ministry St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain is the greatest Greek saint of the 18th – early 19th centuries, an active participant in the Kollivad movement, an outstanding ascetic of spiritual enlightenment and a highly erudite church theologian and writer, publisher and editor, hagiographer and hymnographer, ascetic and revivalist of the traditions of hesychasm. Extensive literature in different languages ​​is dedicated to St. Nicodemus. His activities had perhaps the greatest influence on the formation of modern Greek Orthodoxy. The time of his life falls on the transitional period in the history of Greece - the time of Turkish rule. This period began after the fall of Byzantium and lasted until the Greek War of National Liberation of 1821–1832. The historical conditions that changed after the fall of Byzantium left their mark on the life of the Greek Church. She was faced with a choice of further path. Thanks to many hierarchs, known and unknown to history, church writers, didascals, and devotees of piety, the Greek Church remained faithful to Orthodoxy and the successor of the Byzantine church tradition. One of the largest church figures who became a kind of bridge between Byzantium and the modern Greek Churches was St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain. He is known among us, first of all, as the compiler of the Philokalia, which played a significant role in the revival of the tradition of eldership in the Russian Church, and the author of the book “Invisible Warfare.” Nowadays there is a huge interest in his creations. In recent years, thanks to the efforts of our translators, the book “Evergetinos” (under the title “Benevolence”), as well as the work of the monk Theoclitus of Dionysiata “Reverend Nicodemus the Holy Mountain” dedicated to him, have been published in Russian. Life and works." The themes of his works are extremely diverse: we find in him exegetical, ascetic, canonical, dogmatic, theological and polemical, liturgical, hagiographical works. The publishing house “Holy Mountain” considers it an honor and a blessing from God to present to the favorable attention of Russian readers one of his most important and famous works devoted to the themes of repentance, the sacrament of confession and pastoral spiritual care - “The Book of Confession”, also known in our country under its Greek name “Exomologitarion”. “The Book of Confession” was first published in Venice in 1794. St. Nicodemus, who attached great importance to repentance as the basis of the spiritual life of a Christian, conceived his work as a detailed and comprehensive educational manual for priests and laity, dedicated to the topic of repentance and confession. The complexity of the topic is reflected in the depth and richness and versatility of the book's content. Reverend When compiling the book, Nicodemus did not omit any of the sources available to him. This can be judged by the fact that on its pages he refers to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the rules of ecumenical and local councils and the holy fathers of the Orthodox Church with interpretations and other canonical monuments, patristic works, works on Byzantine and church history, as well as the works of later church authors, both Eastern and Western (he used the latter with great caution, borrowing from them only that which does not contradict Orthodox dogma). The author divided the entire book into three parts. The first part, entitled “Instructions to the Confessor,” is addressed to spiritual fathers. It talks about the knowledge necessary for a priest receiving confession, about the moral and spiritual qualities of a confessor and various aspects of spiritual life, spiritual guidance and the sacrament of repentance. The second part contains the rules of the holy Patriarch John the Faster, as edited by Hieromonk Matthew the Blastar, which St. Nicodemus recommends using when assigning penances, with his comments on these rules. The appendix to the second part contains short articles devoted to some issues of penitential discipline and canon law, as well as monastic life. The second part serves as a logical appendix to the first part, but due to its significance, it was presented separately by the compiler. Obviously, the rules of John the Faster, which were quite widely used in Byzantium, do not correspond to the conditions of our time and, due to the harsh ascetic deeds they prescribe, cannot be used in penitential practice in our days. Nevertheless, they can serve as deep spiritual edification and moral guidance for both confessors and penitents, just like the life of the Venerable Mary of Egypt offered for reading in all Orthodox churches on the days of the Holy Pentecost, which tells about her extreme ascetic deeds that surpass human capabilities and many years of repentance. They also bring considerable benefit in that they show the difference in the severity of sins and evoke a deep feeling of repentance. It should be noted that the Monk Nicodemus, giving advice to confessors to use the rules of St. John the Faster, was far from ascetic rigorism. Of course, he did not imagine the life of the Greek Church of his time in isolation from Byzantine traditions and strove to preserve them. At the same time, he looked for ways to solve pressing problems of church life and creatively approached the use of traditions, in particular, penitential practice. Speaking about the rules of the Faster, he emphasizes that their implementation depends entirely on the diligence and good will of the repentant, and other forms of repentance are also possible and useful, the choice of which is left to the mutual consideration of the confessor and his spiritual children. The third part of the book, “Instruction to the Penitent,” comprehensively covers the necessary conditions for true repentance and correct confession. In the appendix to it there is a “Spiritual Word about the audacity of those who sin in the hope of confession and repentance.” The author's notes, which contain important additions to the main text, are of great value. The importance of the “Book of Confession” for the Greek Orthodox Churches is evidenced by the fact that after its publication it was reprinted in Greek more than twenty times and is still a reference book for Greek confessors and an authoritative guide in spiritual life for all Orthodox Greeks. And its popularity is not accidental. The Church in the modern world carries out its ministry of preaching the Gospel in extremely difficult conditions. In order to bring people to the church, active missionary activity is required. Thanks to her, people come to church, but the first visit to church for a person is only the first step on the path of becoming a church member and joining the sacramental life of the Church, and church membership begins with confession and communion. After baptism, it is repentance, confession and communion that make a person a conscious and faithful member of the Church. Therefore, confession and spiritual guidance are no less important aspects of a priest’s ministry than preaching and missionary work. And in this regard, priests, especially young ones, often face great difficulties. How to explain to a person who has approached the confessor’s lectern for the first time what confession is and why it is needed, what sin is and what it is necessary to repent of? Unfortunately, our contemporaries, even those who attend church, often lack an idea of ​​what is good and what is bad. Modern mass culture contributes to the erosion and destruction of moral guidelines. Therefore, both our pastors and the laity need reliable leadership based on the thousand-year spiritual experience of the Orthodox Church, the experience of the holy fathers. The book of St. Nicodemus is precisely such a guide. It can be useful to everyone, and everyone can find a precious treasure in it. It is enough to at least briefly list the subjects that St. Nicodemus illuminates on its pages: this is the patristic teaching about the eight main passions that are the cause of sins, about sobriety of the mind and about the fight against sinful thoughts; a general explanation of the nature of sins and their classification in accordance with the Ten Commandments of God; instructions on how the confessor should listen to the confession of the penitent, how the penitent should prepare for confession and in what mood he should confess; about how important it is to correct one’s life and what means help one not to repeat sins after confession, as well as examples of true repentance and much more. In general, we can say that the “Book of Confession” is a call to repentance addressed to all of us, and shows us the true patristic ideal, to which we are called to strive to the best of our ability. The publishing house “Holy Mountain” thanks everyone who contributed to the publication of the book and expresses confidence that it will be useful to a wide range of Orthodox Russian readers. A short life of the blessed and glorious teacher Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, the compiler of this book, written by the reverend and most learned Mr. Onuphrius of Iveron The glorious Nicodemus was a native of Naxos, one of the islands of the Cyclades archipelago. As a youth, he studied Greek literature in Smyrna under the guidance of the teacher Hierotheus. Desiring a carefree and solitary life, he came to the Holy Mountain in 1775 and, having taken monastic vows at the monastery of St. Dionysius, was renamed from Nicholas to Nicodemus and elected reader and secretary of the monastery. After two years, Macarius of Corinth 1, having arrived at the Holy Mountain, handed over to him for verification the Philokalia, for which Nicodemus beautifully composed a preface and short lives of the authors of the works included in it. Then, having corrected “Evergetinos”, additionally written a small work “On Constant Communion” and rewritten and corrected the entire “Alphabet of Alphabets” by Meletius the Confessor, Nicodemus returned to the above-mentioned monastery. Although he wanted to go to Moldavia to see the cinematographer Paisius the Russian, who had shone with virtue, he was detained by divine power. After this, having become a novice of a certain elder Arsenius of the Peloponnese in the monastery of Pantocrator, he devoted himself entirely to the study of the Divine Scriptures and the holy fathers. Arriving with his elder at Skiropoula 2, he wrote an “Instructive Manual” for his cousin, Hierotheus of Euripus. In 1783, having returned again to the Holy Mountain, he bought the so-called kaliva of Elder Jonah, which lies below the mentioned monastery of Pantocrator. Then he took on a great and angelic image and, silent and reading for six whole years, became an expert in the divine Scripture, known and loved by all. And when the aforementioned Metropolitan of Corinth returned for the second time, Nicodemus, at his insistence, corrected the works of Saint Simeon the New Theologian. Then he compiled the “Book of Confession” and “Invisible Warfare”, as well as the “New Martyrology”, “Spiritual Exercises” and “New Conciliar”. In addition, at the insistence of the wise and most learned teacher Athanasius of Paros and the glorious saint Leontius of Ilioupolis, with great difficulty he collected the works of St. Gregory Palamas, compiled three whole books from them and, having expanded and improved them according to his custom by adding many notes, sent them for publication to Vienna, where they disappeared due to some circumstances. Then, together with the priest and teacher from Dimidjana, Mr. Agapius, he devoted himself entirely to the interpretation of the sacred rules, that is, the “Pidalion,” which was spoiled by Theodoret, which greatly saddened the writers, and especially Nicodemus himself. After this, he decorated the songs and praises of Holy Saturday and Easter. Then, having published “Theotokaryon”, written “Blagonravie” and compiled the Trebnik, in 1794 for the first time he began to work on the interpretations of the seven conciliar letters and the letters of the Apostle Paul, and after that - to prepare for the publication of the Psalter of Euthymius Zigaben and nine songs in a special book, which he called “The Garden of Grace”. At the insistence of the Svyatogorsk fathers, he composed a service to the holy men of the Mountain, singing to them the most elegant song sequence 3. In 1805 and in the 57th year of his life, although he was burdened with many and lengthy labors on various works and ascetic deeds, he compiled and translated the book “Hagiographer” 4. Burning with love for silence, he again bought another kaliva, above the cathedral church of the monastery, where, having set out a confession of his faith, or an apology against his accusers, he interpreted the Canons of the Lord and the Mother of God and the degrees of the Octoechos, calling the first “Eorthodromion”, and the second “New Ladder”. Exhausted from the many, as we said, and tireless labors that this glorious ascetic endured for such a long time, he, leaving the kaliva, went to the hieromonks and his brothers in Christ Stefan and Neophytos, called icon painters and scurtei 5, whom he commanded to take care of his unpublished works, scattered here and there, and to publish the following of them: 1) Psalter; 2) the letters of the Apostle Paul; 3) “Garden of Grace”; 4) a complete collection of the works of St. Gregory Palamas; 5) “Alphabet of Alphabets” by Saint Meletius the Confessor; 6) “Eortodromion”; 7) “New Ladder”; 8) the eighth and last is the confession of his faith. A little later, having fallen into illness, he departed to the Lord in 1809, on July 14, having lived a full 60 years. He was simple and gentle in his manners, sweet and pleasant in disposition, non-covetous and extremely serene. He achieved such power of memory that he recited entire chapters of Scripture by heart, naming the paragraphs and pages where they were located, and also cited numerous testimonies and sayings of the fathers and indicated the works and volumes in which they are found. Having courageously endured many temptations from mental enemies and countless slander from material ones, that is, from uneducated people hiding behind the guise of virtue, he left the Church of Christ many works, some of which he wrote himself, and others he prepared for publication and published. Here is a general list of his works: 1) Philokalia 6; 2) "Evergetinos" 7; 3) “On constant communion” 8; 4) “Alphabet of alphabets” 9; 5) “Instructional Guidance” 10; 6) the works of Simeon the New Theologian 11; 7) “Book of Confession” 12; 8) “Invisible warfare” 13; 9) “New Martyrology” 14; 10) “Spiritual exercises” 15; 11) “New Sobornik” 16; 12) complete collection of the works of Gregory Palamas 17; 13) “Pidalion” 18; 14) praise of Holy Saturday 19; 15) “New Theotokaryon” 20; 16) “Good behavior” 21; 17) Breviary 22; 18) conciliar messages 23; 19) letters of the Apostle Paul 24; 20) Psalm 25; 21) “Garden of Grace” 26; 22) Barsanufius 27; 23) service to the holy men of Svyatogorsk 28; 24) “Hagiograph”; 25) confession of his faith 29; 26) “Eortodromion” 30; 27) “New Ladder” 31. And how many notes, necessary information and interpretations of the meaning of words and figures of speech he scattered in each of these books, as well as how many solutions he outlined in them to controversial issues concerning discrepancies, readers should notice and know. The multitude of troparions, akathists and entire song canons and praises to many saints he composed and supplemented with great sweetness is almost impossible to describe. Part 1. A brief and practical teaching to the confessor, compiled from the writings of various teachers To the most honest spiritual fathers in Christ, filial bow As great as the dignity of confessors is, it requires just as great work that they carry it out usefully and fruitfully. They truly received by succession from the sacred and spirit-bearing apostles the power to bind and solve human sins, according to the word of the Lord: Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven, and whose sins you hold, they will hold 32, which is the property of God alone. For who can, - it is said, - forgive sins, except One God? 33 But it is necessary that they also work in order to find out which sins should be allowed and which should be bound, as the supreme Peter said to Clement: “You will bind what ought to be bound, and loose what ought to be allowed” 34 . Being mediators between God and people, they reconcile people with God. But they also need to know exactly the word and teaching of this reconciliation, as Blessed Paul said: God is in Christ... having placed in us the word of reconciliation 35 . They are those doctors and hospices whom the Lord placed, according to the Gospel parable, in the church hospice to take care of the weak, that is, sinners who are wounded by mental robbers - demons. But they also need to know which wounds should be cauterized, which wounds should be cut and which to apply a plaster to, which to pour wine and severity on, and for which to use oil and meekness. It is truly given to confessors to be judges judging the Christ-named people of the Lord. But it is also appropriate for them to examine the matter with great care in order to find the truth and righteousness hidden in these courts, so as not to accidentally create an unjust judgment through partiality, or ignorance, or some other passion, and so that what was said by the divine Paul will be fulfilled on them: But the spiritual one contends for everything, but he himself does not contend for one 36 . They were given to be like fishers, as the prophet Jeremiah very rightly calls them: And therefore they sent... fishers, and caught them... from the caves of stone, 37 and the priests of the Old Testament law, who cleansed the lepers, as it is said: Go on and show yourself to be a priest 38. But they should also know thousands of arts and perform great labors in order to be able to catch the unfortunate sinners in the wilds and thorns of sin, and have great attention to distinguish which leprosy, that is, sin, is mortal and which is venial, which is partial and which is whole, which is outside and which is rooted deep inside. Let me say briefly: confessors are appointed shepherds of the verbal sheep of Christ. But they need to shed a lot of sweat, ascending the mountains, descending into the hollows, running and searching here and there, in order to find the lost sheep, the sinner caught by the devil, and, having found it, lift it onto their shoulder and bring it to the saved one to the Chief Shepherd Christ as a much-valued gift, according to the word: All who are around Him will bring gifts 39 . Therefore, we, striving for our part to help this great work of confessors, tried to compile from the writings of many teachers this brief and at the same time practically useful teaching, in order to somehow alleviate the difficulties that they experience in the matter of their spiritual service, adding to it the Rules of St. John the Faster, which we accurately explained, with some additions, so that confessors, in accordance with them, would impose penances on the penitents. So, accept, O most honest spiritual fathers, this little book with fatherly favor and, as you read it and receive benefit, do not cease to pray to God for the sinful souls who labored to collect, compile and publish it for the common benefit of the people of Christ. Chapter 1. About what is needed to become a confessor, and, above all, about the virtue of a confessor Brothers, even if a person falls into some sin, you, the spiritual ones, correct such a person with the spirit of meekness. First of all, it behooves you, father, future confessor, to have exceptional and special virtue and holiness in comparison with other people, as well as in comparison with your brothers and priests from whom you will be chosen, and to heal and overcome your passions in order to have special holiness in comparison with others, for it behooves you, the future confessor, to live a spiritual life, being under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, if you want to have the name of a confessor true and consistent with the work [1]. Therefore, Basil the Great depicts a true confessor in this way: “He who no longer lives according to the flesh, but is led by the Spirit of God, and is called the son of God, and has become conformed to the image of the Son of God, is called a confessor,” 40 and the divine Gregory of Sinaite says: “Not everyone can instruct others, but those who are given divine reasoning, according to the Apostle, spiritual reasoning 41, separating the worst from the best by the sword of the word" 42. And it is not enough for you to have one simple gift of the Holy Spirit, but you need to ask God to give you a double (if not to say: many times greater) gift of the Holy Spirit, just as Elisha asked Elijah for this: Let the Spirit who is in you be in me, 43 so that you can use it to guide yourself and others. And I said that you, who want to be a confessor, must heal and overcome your passions because if, without healing your own passions, you try to heal the passions of others, you will hear: Doctor, heal yourself 44 and “Doctor of others, yourself covered with ulcers” [2]; and also because if you must truly enlighten and make perfect others, you must first enlighten and make perfect yourself and then enlighten and make others perfect and, simply put, you must first have it yourself and then give it to others, “for communion precedes giving,” 45 as Dionysius the Areopagite says. And finally, because you must be an image and example of all goodness and virtue in the eyes of your spiritual children, and if, let’s say, you fast, they will fast, if you humble yourself, they will humble themselves, and, let’s say in general, if you live honestly and pleasingly to Christ, this will encourage them to live like that. If you only talk and not do, know that they will not listen to your words, since they will believe more in what they see in you in practice than in what they hear from your lips with their ears, for the eyes, according to the well-known proverb, are more reliable than the ears. In addition, you will have to face such dangerous objects in confession, you will have to hear about such shameful human sins and such impurity and filthiness of passions that you must be like the impassive sun, which, passing through unclean places, is not defiled, or Noah’s pure dove, which, flying over so many stinking bodies of people who died from the flood, did not land on any of them, or a certain silver or golden laver, which, when others are washed and cleansed from uncleanness in it, does not itself take on the uncleanness - to which Simeon the New Theologian likens the worthy and impassive shepherd. Therefore, Saint Meletius the Confessor says that it is not proper for passionate people to lead or control souls: It is not proper for a lion to feed sheep, How indecent it is for a fox to herd chickens, So a passionate person cannot control souls And I’m not able to get rid of passions And bring them clean to God 46. If, being passionate, you want to be a confessor - woe! Undoubtedly, having a mind darkened by passions, you will not be able to find the appropriate correction that every sinner needs, for it is said: O hypocrite, first remove the beam from your own hair, and then see to take away the speck from your brother’s hair 47 . You will not impose penance, as it should be, but with the greatest ease you will show excessive leniency towards those sinners who fall into the same passions that you have. In the same way you judge your friend, having condemned yourself, you also create judgment 48 [3]. You will not be able to turn sinners to yourself, but, on the contrary, sinners will turn you to themselves, they will turn you to their will, and not you to turn them to your will, which God forbids, who said to Jeremiah: They will turn to you, but you will not turn to them 49 . What danger and spiritual destruction are these three things fraught with both for you and for the repentant who does not see [4]? Chapter 2. About the knowledge of the confessor and, above all, about the knowledge of the Divine Scriptures, dogmas of faith and sacred rules Secondly, it befits you, the future confessor, to surpass others in your knowledge of the Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures, the dogmas of faith contained in “I Believe...”, and especially and first of all - all the apostolic, conciliar and patristic canons contained in the recently published book 50, the study of which you must study day and night so as to know them by heart. Sleep on them, as Alexander slept on Homer’s Iliad, and breathe them at every hour and moment. Since you are going to become the helmsman of the ship of the Holy Church, you will need to be guided mainly by these rules, which are a kind of rudder of the Church. Therefore, you need to first learn how to intelligently guide and turn it, so that at the appropriate time, that is, when you become a confessor, with your skillful care you can deliver damned sinners from the storm of sin [5]. Chapter 3. About mortal sins, venial sins and sins of omission In addition, you should know that, just as a doctor needs to understand physical illnesses in order to treat them, so you, who are preparing to become a confessor, need to understand mental illnesses, that is, sins, in order to distinguish and heal them. And although mental illnesses, that is, sins, are diverse, despite this, they are generally divided into the three categories indicated below. Therefore, you need to know which sins are mortal, which are venial and non-mortal, and which are sins of omission and inaction. Mortal, according to Gennady Scholarius, Coresius 51, the “Orthodox Confession” 52 and Chrysanthus of Jerusalem 53, are those arbitrary sins that destroy either only love for God, or love for God and neighbor at the same time and make the one who commits them an enemy of God, guilty of eternal death in hell. The more common ones are pride, love of money, fornication, envy, gluttony, anger and despondency, or negligence [6]. Forgivable are those arbitrary sins that do not destroy love for God and neighbor and do not make a person an enemy of God, guilty of eternal death and to which the saints themselves are subject, according to the word of the brother of the Lord: For we all sin much 54 and John: If we speak... we do not commit sin, we deceive ourselves 55 and according to the 125, 126, 127 rules Carthage Cathedral. These are, according to Coresius 56 and Chrysanthus 57, an idle word, the first movement and indignation of anger, the first movement of lust, the first movement of hatred, a lie in jest, fleeting envy, or what is usually called jealousy, which is a slight sadness because of the good of a neighbor, and the like [7]. Know, confessor, that sins, called by the general name of venial, have not one degree, but different degrees, smaller or greater, higher or lower. The extreme degrees for them are venial and mortal sins, and between these two extreme degrees there are various degrees of sin, starting from venial and reaching mortals, to which the ancients did not give names, probably because they are numerous and different in the kinds and types of sins to which they could be classified. We will name here some of them for clarity, for your information, starting with the lowest: sins that are forgivable, close to forgivable, non-mortal, close to non-mortal, average between non-mortal and mortal, close to mortal, mortal. For example, the degrees of sins of the irritable power of the soul are as follows: a venial sin is the first movement of anger, and a close to venial sin is the uttering of cruel and angry words, a non-mortal sin is reproach, close to non-mortal ones - hitting with a hand, average between non-mortals and mortals - hitting with a small stick, close to mortals - hitting with a large stick or knife not in a vital part of the body, mortal - murder. The same applies to other sins. Therefore, for sins that are closer to venial, lighter penances are assigned, and for those that are closer to mortals, more severe ones. Sins of omission are a manifestation of a person’s negligence, because of which he, having the opportunity to do a good deed, say a good word and think about something good, did not do it, did not say it and did not think it. These sins are born, as we said above, from the mortal sin of despondency. I know very well: people generally do not know that these sins of omission are sins, for few people consider it a sin that they did not give some kind of alms that they could and had the opportunity to give, or did not give good advice that they could give to their neighbor, or did not perform fervent prayer or other deeds of virtue. However, I know even better: God will present us with a bill for this on the Day of Judgment. What is our evidence of this? An example of a lazy slave who had one talent and buried it in the ground, who was condemned not because with his help he committed some sin or injustice (for what was given to him, he fully returned, as Basil the Great says in the preface to the rules laid out at length), but because, having the opportunity to increase it, due to negligence he did not increase it, as it is said: It is fitting for the merchant to give My money, and When I came, I took what was mine with interest 58. This is also evidenced by the example of the five foolish virgins who were condemned for nothing more than a lack of oil; and an image of standing sinners who must be condemned not because they committed a sin, but because they made an omission and did not show mercy to their brother, for it is said: You were hungry and did not give Me food, you were thirsty and did not give Me a drink 59. And the reason is that God did not give man natural strength so that he would leave it idle and useless, inactive and fruitless, as the lazy servant of the Lord, whom we mentioned above, left the talent of the Lord unused, but gave it to him so that he would put it into action, into action and into growth, doing good through it and the commandments of the Lord, and thus achieving salvation with its help. That’s why Basil the Great said: “Before we were given the commandments from God, we received strength from Him, so that we would not be burdened by the fact that He allegedly asks something unheard of from us, and would not become arrogant, allegedly bringing from ourselves more than what was given to us” 60. Also, his brother Gregory of Nyssa, confirming what was said above, says: “Just as everyone will receive a reward, as the apostle said, in proportion to his work, so undoubtedly there will be punishment for negligence in doing his best work” 61. A sin of omission is also a person’s negligence in the case when he had the opportunity and means to prevent someone else’s evil deeds, but did not prevent them - therefore, he is subject to the same penances for them as those who commit these evil deeds, according to the 25th rule of the Council of Ancyra, the 71st of Basil the Great and the 25th of St. John the Faster [8]. In addition, you, confessor, should know that there are twelve degrees of sin, from beginning to end. The degree of sin, as Basil the Great says, depends on seven circumstances: “or on the place, or on the time, or on the person, or on the thing, or on the measure, or on the order, or on the location and purpose” 62. The first degree is when a person does good, but not in a good way, but mixes good with evil, for example, gives alms, fasts or does other good things so that people will glorify him. The second degree is complete idleness in relation to good. The third is the attack of evil. The fourth is conversation, the fifth is struggle [9], the sixth is agreement [10]. The seventh, according to Saint Maximus, is a mental sin, when a person, after agreeing with a sin, tries to imagine it in his mind as clearly as if he were actually committing it 63. The eighth is the act itself and sin by action. The ninth is habit and frequent commission of sin. The tenth is the sinful property of the soul, which forcefully and powerfully forces a person to sin, whether he wants it or not. The eleventh is despair, that is, hopelessness. The twelfth is suicide, that is, a person killing himself, in his right mind, under the influence of despair. So, you, spiritual father, should take care to return the sinner by all means to previous and lesser degrees of sin and not allow him to move on to further and greater ones. Most of all, you should try to turn him away from despair, no matter how great a degree of sin he may reach [11–12]. Chapter 4. About the Ten Commandments In addition to this, you, father, future confessor, should know the ten commandments and those who sin against each of them, according to the “Orthodox Confession” [13]. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of work; let there be no blessings for you except Mene 64. Those who sin against it are: atheists; polytheists; those who deny the providence of God and believe that everything happens by chance or by predestination of fate; all magicians and fortune-tellers and superstitious people and those who turn to them [14]; heretics who do not believe Orthodoxy in the One God in the Trinity, and, simply put, all those who rely more on man or on themselves and on the natural and acquired benefits that they possess than on God [15]. Thou shalt not make for yourself an idol or any likeness, such as the tree in heaven, and the tree below on earth, and the tree in the waters under the earth; do not bow down to them or serve them 65. They sin against it: those who worship idols directly and reverence the creation more than the Creator, like the wicked and idolaters, and those who worship them indirectly, through an addiction that they have to matter and worldly objects, like the covetous, about whom the divine Paul said: Put to death your deeds that are on the earth: fornication... and covetousness, which is idolatry 66, and also gluttons, about whom he said: ...who have God's belly 67, and, simply put, having hypocritical, and not true reverence, and all who limit piety to external objects and despise the greater law: judgment and mercy, and faith 68 [16]. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; For the Lord will not cleanse him who takes His name in vain 69 . Those who sin against it are: blasphemers; those who swear and break an oath or force others to swear [17]; those who, in any case, say “by God”, “God knows” and the like; those who promise to do some good deed and then do not fulfill their promises [18]; false prophets and those who ask God for inappropriate things of their own free will [19]. Remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy; Thou shalt do six days and do... all thy work; And on the seventh day is a sabbath unto the Lord thy God 70 . They sin against it: those who do not go to church on Sunday, to which the Lord moved the Old Testament Saturday, because He is the Lord of the Sabbath 71 and is not subject to any subordination, and because on this day His resurrection and renewal of the whole world took place [20], and on other Lord's and Mother of God feasts and on the feasts of saints, to listen to divine words, or go to church, but only out of habit, to pass the time not paying attention to the service, and talk idle talk and talk with others about their worldly affairs. Those who, due to an immense desire for wealth, work on holidays or force others to work [21]. Those who organize games and dances, feasts and fist fights and similar obscene fun on holidays. Those who know how to read and write and do not read the Holy Scriptures on holidays. Those shepherds and those heads of churches who do not teach their people on holidays [22]. Those who do not give a small part of their property to the alms collected on holidays for the poor, about which the divine Paul writes 72. Honor your father and your mother, may you be well and may you live long on earth 73. Those children who do not show honor, love, obedience and gratitude to their parents sin against it. At the same time, they themselves should receive education from their parents, good advice in words, a good example of life in deeds, protection from bad friendships, learning to read and write or a craft from good teachers and artisans, and punishment by beating for admonition. Those who do not honor their spiritual fathers, bishops, priests, teachers and their elders, who received them when tonsured into an angelic image [23]. Those slaves who do not honor their masters [24]. Those subjects who do not honor their kings and rulers [25]. And, simply put, those who, having received a benefit, do not honor their benefactors [26]. Those who sin against it are those who kill a person physically or with their own hand, or through something else, or through advice, or through assistance and inducement [27]. Those who kill the soul of a person, such as heretics, false teachers and all those Christians who cause temptation in others by the example of their bad life. Those who, during an epidemic of a mortal disease, knowing that they are infected, communicate with others and infect them. Those who kill themselves, and, simply put, everyone recklessly putting their lives in danger. This commandment prohibits anger, envy, and other passions that cause murder [28]. It is sinned against not only by those who commit adultery with a married woman, their neighbor’s wife, but also by those who commit adultery with an unmarried woman, for, according to the 4th rule of St. Gregory of Nyssa, fornication is considered adultery. Those monks who commit fornication or get married. Those who fall into spiritual adultery, that is, into heresy and evil faith. This commandment prohibits gluttony, songs, lewd and erotic spectacles, and everything else associated with adultery [29]. Those who sin against it are those who are obvious thieves, such as robbers, rapists and robbers. Those who are secret thieves, as those who steal in secret [30]. Those who are thieves and deceivers, such as merchants and all those who deceive others, using inaccurate scales and measures when selling and using thousands of other tricks and types of lies. Therefore, the Lord called the merchants robbers and thieves, saying: My church will be called a church of prayer, but you will also create a den of robbers 77 . Such are those who take interest [31]. The crime of this commandment is the love of money, therefore it prohibits the passions and sins that arise from the love of money, which we spoke about [32]. Do not listen to your friend's false testimony 78. Those who sin against it are: those who testify falsely and unjustly in order to harm or harm their brother [33]; those who have suspicions about their brother [34]; those who ridicule the natural shortcomings of the mind, or voice, or face, or other parts of the body of their neighbor, for he is not to blame for these shortcomings, and those judges who, either through partiality, or for the sake of gifts, or because they do not examine the case well, commit unjust justice [35]. Thou shalt not covet thy sincere wife, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, nor his village, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any of his livestock, nor anything that is thy neighbor's 79. The previous five commandments, teaching about duties towards one’s neighbor [36], forbid a person only external sinful words and deeds, but the present commandment also forbids him the very inner bad desire of the soul, that is, it completely forbids him even to desire sin in his heart, since the heart’s desire is the cause and root of all external words and deeds [37]. Therefore, all those who, although in fact do not take someone else’s property, would like to have it with their soul and heart, no matter what it is: either a wife, or an animal, or a plot of land, or something else, sin against this commandment [38]. Chapter 5. About the circumstances of sin You, father, who is preparing to become a confessor, should also know the so-called circumstances of sin, of which, according to Coresius 80, there are seven: 1) the person, that is, who committed the sin; 2) the act, that is, what sin he committed; 3) the reason why he committed it; 4) how he did it; 5) at what time he committed it; 6) in what place he committed it; 7) how many times he did it. For every sin considered in connection with these seven circumstances is either more severe or lighter. And to these seven circumstances is added both what happened before sin and what happened after it. So, by person is meant a person, considered either in himself, for example Peter, Paul, or from the point of view of his relationships with other people, which are determined by four reasons: birth, as the relationship between father and son; position as the relationship between a bishop, a king, a ruler and, simply put, every ruler and primate and the people subordinate to him; disposition, like the relationship between two friends; level of knowledge and skill, like the relationship between a teacher or mentor and a student. The concept of a person also includes the type of activity, for example: monk or philosopher; and age, for example: young man or old man; and, simply put, it extends to every state that every person has, to the state of his mind or strength, to the state of body and soul, internal and external. And depending on which person committed the sin, the sin may be more severe or easier. For example, the sin of a bishop, king, or ruler due to the bad example they set for the people is greater than the same sin of their subordinate [39]. A child sins more when he insults his parents, or a friend his friend, or a student his teacher and mentor, than when a stranger insults them all. Likewise, a monk, a philosopher, and an old man sin more by adorning his appearance than a layman, an ignoramus, or a youth who adorn themselves. The concept of a person also applies to the person with whom the confessor has sinned, and the severity of the sin depends, in particular, on whether this person has a holy rank or is a layman and the like (however, the confessor should not name his name). A sin can be more severe or easier depending on the actual act committed. For example, mortal sins are more serious than venial sins. Murder, which is one of the mortal sins, is a more serious sin than embezzlement, and the greatest of all sins is renunciation of God and wickedness. Sinful acts also include sins of omission, which we mentioned above, that is, a manifestation of negligence, because of which a person, having the opportunity to do, say or think something good, did not do it, did not say or think it, or, having the opportunity to prevent someone else’s evil by word or deed, did not prevent it. When considering an act, the type of sin is examined, that is, it is a deed, or a word, or a thought and thought, as well as its type, that is, what kind of sin it is: adultery, or fornication, or murder; and what word is this: idle talk, or false oath, or perjury, or blasphemy; and what kind of thought it is: pride, or heresy, or mental blasphemy; and whether there was an attack of the thought, or a conversation, or agreement with it, etc. [40]. The reason why a person sinned also increases or decreases the severity of sin. For example, if someone killed a tyrant to free a city from his tyranny, or stole to give alms to a beggar, or struck a rapist to free a maiden whom he was raping, then his sin is of less gravity than the one who killed, or stole, or struck for his own evil purposes. And, simply put, every act and sin is judged primarily by its intent and purpose. That is why Blessed Augustine said: “The difference is very great depending on for what reason, for what purpose, with what intention the deed is done.” For intention and purpose are of such importance in human actions that even moral philosophers believe that every goal must correspond to the action and every action must correspond to the goal, that is, a good goal must produce good deeds, and an evil one must produce evil ones, and not vice versa. In addition, the divine Maxim in one place says: “In everything we do, God looks at the purpose, whether we do it for His sake or for another reason” 81, and in another: “Demons do not hate chastity, nor do they disdain fasting, nor the distribution of property, nor hospitality, nor psalmody... nor everything else that is characteristic of life according to God, as long as the purpose and reason for what is being done corresponds to their desires” 82 . About the manner of committing sin And the way in which sin is committed increases or decreases its severity. For example, someone who has sinned consciously, or of his own free will, or intentionally, or out of evil will, sins more seriously than someone who has sinned out of ignorance, involuntarily, under the influence of passion and circumstances, because of frivolity and kindness. The image of committing a sin also includes any instrument with which a person sins, for example: a stick or a knife with which someone killed, or people through or with the help of whom he committed a sin. And the time at which a person sinned reduces or increases the severity of sin. For example, if during a time of need and hunger a person steals bread or wheat, he will sin less than someone who stole without such a need [41]. And those who sin after the coming of the Grace of the Gospel will undergo a more severe punishment than those who sinned under the law. And women who take deadly potions after conceiving a child sin more seriously than those who take them before conception. And in other cases, everything happens the same way. Increases or decreases the severity of the sin and the place in which it is committed. For example, if someone kills or steals in a church, he will sin more gravely than the one who killed or stole in a house, because the one who does this in the church sins doubly, committing murder at the same time and showing wickedness and unbelief towards God, or committing both theft and sacrilege. And he who sins in the desert sins more gravely than he who sins in the world; one who sins in a monastery is worse than one who sins in the city; one who has sinned in a city, where there are many examples of virtue, is worse than one who has sinned in a village, and not in such a city; he who sins in public view is worse than he who sins in a secret place [42]. Finally, the number of sinful acts increases or decreases the severity of sin, so one who has sinned once or twice is subject to less penance than one who has committed the same sin not once, or twice, or three, but many times. See also the 8th rule of the Council of Ancyra [43]. About what happened before and after sin At the same time, it is appropriate to examine the life and disposition of the penitent before sin and after it, according to the 3rd, 5th and 7th rules of the Council of Ancyra, according to the 3rd Neocaesarea Council and according to the 29th Nicephorus. One who led a virtuous life before sin is subject to less penance than one who led a careless life [44]; the one who left his sin before confession is less than the one who left it after confession; who came and confessed himself, according to the 7th rule of Basil the Great, is less than convicted and confessed under pain of death; and, simply put: he who repents after sin is subject to less penance than he who does not repent. Therefore, Isidore Pelusiot says: “In falls, not only the type of sin is examined, but also the motives of the sinner, and the intentions, and the time, and the cause of the sin, and whether he rejoiced after the sin or was sad, or was in a painless disposition, and whether he continued to sin or repented, and whether he sinned under the influence of circumstances, or because of deception, or of his own will, or because of a bad mental quality and habit. And there are many other things that this research extends to.” Just as doctors, called internists, not only know how to treat external and visible wounds on the body, but through pressure they recognize internal and hidden diseases of the heart, internal organs and other hidden compositions of the human body and then begin to treat them, so it is not enough for you, confessor, to be able to heal only external spiritual passions, which are the very actions, deeds, and consequences of sin, but you need, in addition to this, while listening to the confession of the penitent, to recognize his internal wounds souls, which are the passions and passionate and evil thoughts hidden in his heart, and then heal them with great care and attention. Therefore, we considered it necessary to make for you here some general and basic comments about thoughts. About how many types of thoughts there are Know, confessor, that, in general, all thoughts are divided into three types. Some thoughts are good, other thoughts are vain and idle, and still others are evil. We don’t need to talk in detail about good thoughts here, how and from what parts of the soul they are born. It is enough for us that they are good and, therefore, useful and saving for the soul. Let us note for you, confessor, only the following. If someone tells you in confession that he has good thoughts, advise him to be very attentive, humble himself and avoid arrogance and pride, firstly, because a person himself cannot do a good deed, nor say a good word, nor think about something good without the power and help of God: We cannot think of anything from ourselves, but from ourselves, but our contentment is from God 83 . Secondly, because the devil is so wicked and evil that he often produces evil from good and through good thoughts plunges those who are inattentive into conceit, or conceit, or arrogance, from which spiritual destruction and death are born, as Paul says: ... let sin appear, causing death to those who are good 84 . Thirdly, because a person is never in one state, but is so mobile and changes so quickly that one moment he is in Paradise, and another moment he is in hell because of thoughts, as one monk said. And Saint Isaac says: “Through thinking we become better, and because of thinking we become worse.” Therefore, someone who has good thoughts today may have bad thoughts tomorrow. And fourthly, tell him that the devil is most envious of those and fights most strongly with those who have good thoughts, therefore, therefore, he also needs to have the greatest fear and the greatest attention to himself. About what vain thoughts are and how they are corrected Now about vain and idle thoughts: I call vain and idle thoughts those that do not bring benefit for the purposes of saving both our own soul and the soul of our neighbor and are not aimed at the necessary needs and composition of our body, but at what is unnecessary and exceeds the needs, even if these thoughts are good. These vain and idle thoughts are born, according to Basil the Great, either from idleness of the mind, when it is not occupied with the necessary and does not believe that God is nearby and tests hearts and thoughts: “Wandering of the mind and thoughts arise from the idleness of the mind, not occupied with the necessary; the mind becomes idle and careless from lack of faith in the fact that God is nearby, testing hearts and bellies 85... but anyone who thinks about this will never dare and will not find time to think about something that does not produce edification in faith, no matter how good it may seem” 86. Regarding these, that is, idle, vain thoughts, advise the repentant not to allow his mind to be occupied with them and to wander, firstly, because just as for every idle word we will have to give an answer on the Day of Judgment, as the Lord said: I say to you, that every idle word that men speak will be given a word about it on the Day of Judgment 87, so we will also have to give an answer to for idle and vain thoughts, and especially if, of our own free will, we allow our mind to be carried away by them. And this is clear from the fact that the Lord reproaches and condemns these slaves standing idly: Why are you standing here idle all day? 88 Secondly, because these idle thoughts deprive us of useful and saving thoughts that we could have instead of them. And thirdly, because these idle thoughts in themselves are bad, since they are the end of good and become the beginning of evil, and because they give entry and permission to the devil to sow the tares of evil thoughts in our idle mind. This is evidenced by Gregory the Theologian, who says the following: “... let evil and its first attack and the evil one sow the tares in us sleeping perish, so that the beginning of evil does not become negligence about good, as well as darkness - moving away from the light” 89. About the reasons why evil thoughts arise Evil thoughts [45] - know this too - arise, in general, for two reasons, one of which is internal, and the other is external. The external cause of evil thoughts is sensual objects perceived by the five senses, that is, objects seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched, or, what is the same thing, bad and obscene and theatrical spectacles, shameful words and lewd songs, fragrant oils, perfumes and aromas, tasty food and sweet drinks, beautiful and thin clothes and a soft bed, for all this gives birth in the soul there are passionate and voluptuous thoughts and, therefore, sinful and deadly. Therefore, the prophet Jeremiah said: Death came up through the windows 90, meaning by the windows the five senses, and Gregory the Theologian, setting out this short saying more broadly, wrote: “It is observed on the fifth day (that is, the lamb slain for Easter), probably because this is a cleansing sacrifice for my feelings, from which there is a fall and for which there is battle, taking the sting into oneself sin" 91. About how many internal causes of evil thoughts there are and what they are There are three internal causes of evil thoughts. The first is the imagination, which is a kind of second sense and receives and imprints in itself all the images and sensations that enter through the five senses, that is, what we touch, taste, smell, and especially and primarily what we hear and see. Therefore, the imagination is called the internal sense, because it represents sensory objects as roughly and clearly as the external senses; or, according to Aristotle, by a general sense, for it perceives images from all senses. And this is natural, since just as in the center, which lies inside the circle, radii are united, which are divided outwardly along the circumference, so in the faculty of imagination, hidden in the soul, feelings are united, which are divided outwardly, but are united without mixing with one another. And from this imagination bad thoughts are born in the soul due to the fact that through it it perceives and mentally reproduces through memory everything bad that it saw outside, or heard, or smelled, or tasted, or touched, even if it is far from it in place and remains in silence in a deserted desert. That is why the Theologian said in quatrains: The vision carried me away, but I held on And he did not present an image of sin. Did the image appear to me? But we avoided the meal. These are the stages of the destructive charm of the enemy 92. Do you hear? The image of sin presented itself to me, he says, but was not imprinted in the imagination, and the soul immediately got rid of the experience, that is, from agreement with thoughts or sinful acts. The second reason is passions, of which, in general, there are two: love and hatred or pleasure and suffering, for we act passionately either because we love some thing as bringing pleasure, or because we hate it as causing suffering. In particular, they are divided in accordance with the three powers of the soul - the intelligible, the concupiscible and the irritable. The passions of intelligible power, according to the divine Gregory of Sinai 93, are unbelief, blasphemy, wickedness, curiosity, double-mindedness, slander, man-pleasing, love of glory, pride and others. The passions of lustful power are fornication, adultery, debauchery, covetousness, uncleanness, intemperance, voluptuousness, self-love and others. And the passions of irritable strength are anger, grief, shouting, insolence, revenge, and the like. From these passions of the soul, mainly and first of all, bad thoughts are born, which, in turn, are divided, like passions, into three types. For from the passions of the intellective power evil thoughts are born, which are called by one general name: blasphemous thoughts. From the passions of lustful power, so-called shameful thoughts are born. And from the passions of irritable force, so-called hostile thoughts are born. Therefore, Gregory of Sinaite, mentioned above, said that “the causes of thoughts are passions” 94. And because of this, Abba Isaac calls passions an attack, for they “attack the soul and set in motion passionate thoughts” 95 . The third cause of bad thoughts, internal and primary, is demons, for it is they, the damned, being subtle spirits and being on the surface of the heart, who speak from there through the inner word and whisper to a person all blasphemous, all shameful, all hostile and, simply put, all generally bad thoughts and excite his imagination through shameful and unclean images arising from feelings, both in dreams and when he is awake. And from this the previously mentioned passions come into motion in the three parts of the soul and make the damned soul a den of thieves and a dwelling place of demonic passions. Therefore, Gregory of Sinaite, mentioned above, said: “Notice that thoughts are preceded by their reasons, dreams are preceded by thoughts, passions are dreams, demons are passions... however, nothing acts on its own, but everything is put into action by demons: neither a dream arises, nor a passion acts without an imperceptible hidden demonic force” 96. And in another place he says: “Thoughts are the words of demons and messengers of passions” 97. His words are confirmed by Saint Isaac: “I consider it true that our mind, without the mediation of holy angels, can move towards good on its own without training; the (internal) senses do not accept knowledge of evil without the mediation of demons and do not move towards it” 98. The fourth, internal, cause of thoughts, however distant, is the passionate and corrupted state of human nature, caused by the sin of the forefathers and remaining in it even after baptism, not as the sin of the forefathers (for it was destroyed by baptism, according to the 21st rule of the Council of Carthage), but as a punishment for the sin of the forefathers, for the feat and test of free will and for the reward of great crowns and rewards, according to the teaching of theologians. Since the mind after the crime has lost simple thoughts and thoughts that were directed only towards good, now, wanting to think or think about good, it immediately undergoes internal division and thinks evil. That is why the divine Gregory of Sinaite said: “The beginning of thoughts and the cause - a uniform simple memory, divided due to a human crime, because of which he lost the divine (that is, memory) - having transformed in its powers from simple to complex and from uniform to multiform, it perished" 99 . About how many means of healing evil thoughts exist and what they are You have learned, confessor, from what causes evil thoughts arise; now find out how you can heal them. So, we have already told you before that there are two common causes of bad thoughts, and now we will tell you that there are two common means of healing them - external and internal. The external means of healing are as follows. Advise the penitent not to be curious and not to extend his gaze to the handsome faces of both women and young men, since from sight, according to the ancient saying, love is born and since the sting of sin pierces the soul from such glances, according to Basil 100, and after this waves of shameful and obscene thoughts rise in the heart, which ultimately drown the mind. Advise him to block his ears so as not to hear a single bad word, especially love and shameful songs, as the Theologian commands, saying: “Plug your ears with wax for bad words and discordant melodies of cheerful songs,” 101 for from hearing them the soul is embarrassed and begins to recreate shameful images in its imagination and think about fornication in its heart. Advise him to keep his sense of smell from perfumes and aromas, because they belong not to husbands, but to women, and not to honorable and chaste women, but to dishonest and unchaste ones. Let him guard his taste from varied and tasty food and his tongue from shameless, offensive and obscene words, since, according to the Theologian, there is little difference between word and deed: “Saying, hearing and doing are one not far from the other” 102. Let him protect his sense of touch and hands from fine clothes and beautiful outfits, and let him try not to touch unnecessarily not only other people’s bodies, but also his own body, as Saint Isaac commands, since the more a person protects himself from this, the more he weakens evil thoughts in his soul, and vice versa, the less he protects himself from this, the more evil thoughts are born in it. For if simple objects perceived by the senses naturally give rise to simple thoughts, according to Gregory of Sinaite, who was mentioned many times: “The substance of objects gives birth to simple thoughts,” 103 - then how can passionate and delightful objects perceived through the senses not evoke voluptuous and passionate thoughts in the soul? For those who have blasphemous thoughts, or shameful thoughts, or hostile thoughts, advise, confessor, to first heal the passions of the three parts of the soul, from which such evil thoughts are born, as we said above. For example, those who are struggling with thoughts of blasphemy [46] should purify the rational part of the soul: with the help of sacred prayer, according to Saint Maximus 104; by shedding tears and abstaining from reading heretical books, according to Saint Isaac 105; by the spiritual knowledge of the divine Scriptures, according to the divine Serapion 106 ; and especially with the help of humility. For when the mind is healed with the help of these and similar means, the thoughts of blasphemy and unbelief generated by the mind are also healed. Those who are struggling with shameful thoughts should dry up the lustful part of their soul (from which such thoughts are born) with the help of threefold abstinence - in relation to sleep, womb and bodily rest, according to Saint Maximus 107 and Saint Mark 108. Those who are struggling with hostile thoughts, prompting them to cause harm or take revenge on their enemies, should tame the passions of the irritable part of their soul (from which such thoughts are born): with the help of love, as Saint Maximus says 109; with the help of prayer to God for your enemies, as the Lord said: Pray for those who attack you and drive you out 110; and by means of reconciliation, making peace with one's enemies directly if they are nearby, or representing one's enemy if he is absent, and with joy and love mentally kissing and embracing him, according to Saint Diadochus 111 . With the help of these and similar means, the passions of the three parts of the soul are cleansed, dried up and curbed, and then the bad thoughts generated by them are cleansed and dried up, for it is obvious that when the causes are destroyed, the effects are completely destroyed along with them. Witnesses of this are, on the one hand, the God-bearing Maxim, who said: “Contain the irritable part of the soul with love, dry up the lustful part of it with abstinence, and inspire its understanding part with prayer - and the light of the mind will never be darkened” 112, and on the other hand, the divine Serapion, who literally says the following: “The mind, having drunk spiritual knowledge, is completely cleansed, but love heals inflamed members the irritable part of the soul, but the overwhelming lusts are stopped by abstinence” 113. About how many internal means of healing evil thoughts exist These are the external means of healing evil thoughts. And the internal means of healing them are the following three: prayer, contradiction and contempt, as St. John Climacus says: “It is one thing to pray against thoughts, another to contradict them, and a third to despise and neglect them” 114. The first is characteristic of the weak, the second is characteristic of ascetics, and the third is characteristic of contemplatives. The first means of healing evil thoughts is prayer, and especially mental prayer. So, confessor, those who do not have the strength to resist evil thoughts, but are still afraid of mental and invisible warfare with thoughts, demons and passions, advise them to remain silent when passionate thoughts come to them and not to object to them through the so-called method of contradiction, but only to resort to God mentally through prayer, calling on His help. For the divine Maximus in chapter 30 of the first centenary of “Chapters on Theology” advises them to do this, saying: “Those who are still afraid of warfare with passions and who are afraid of the attack of invisible enemies (as the Israelites once feared the armies of Pharaoh) should remain silent, that is, not resort to contradiction for the sake of virtue, but through prayer give God care for themselves” 115. To them the book of Exodus says: The Lord will fight for you, but you will remain silent 116. So, let them resort to God through prayer, not only performed with the help of the spoken word, but most of all - through mental prayer and performed in the heart with the help of the inner word of the heart, which consists in the fact that those who are struggling with demonic thoughts keep the secret and inner word of their heart from all other thoughts and encourage it to pronounce and repeat this short and called one-word prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, have mercy on me." At the same time, the mind must repeat this prayer, and the mind must lower its mental action inside the heart and mentally listen with all its strength to the verbs of the prayer pronounced by the inner word, without imagining anything else mental or sensory, as all the divine fathers, ancient and modern, teach about this 117. This mental prayer is the only strong, the only useful and the only victorious weapon in mental warfare with thoughts, as it should be, for mental warfare also requires mental weapons in order to win victory in it. Note also that this one-word prayer heals all the causes of bad thoughts: firstly, because the mind, accustomed to being directed towards itself and mentally conversing with God through prayer, not only does not want to see sensory objects, but does not even want to use its own feelings, according to the saying: “Thoughts immersed in work make little use of the action of the senses” 118. Secondly, because the inner word of the heart, always repeating and saying the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ...”, ceases to be an instrument of the spirits of malice and serve to express some other thoughts, shameful, blasphemous and hostile, and because the imagination, which for demons is the bridge through which they penetrate into the soul, according to the divine fathers 119, is cleared of any passionate image due to the fact that the action of the mind descends into the heart, being naked and clean from every image and form of daydreaming, for due to the narrowness of the place of the heart, it is cleansed and in some way exposed and leaves out every coarse dream, like a snake, crawling through narrow cracks, frees itself from its old skin. Thirdly, because the warmth born from the frequent repetition of sacred prayer in the heart drives away and scorches like flies the attacks of evil thoughts, according to the great Gregory of Thessaloniki 120, dispels, like clouds and smoke, the passions of the understanding part of the soul and makes it radiant and light-like, calms and pacifies the passions of the irritable part, dispels the passions of the concupiscible part and all the power of its love attracts the one who occupies the thought of Jesus Christ to prayer itself and to the love. Fourthly, because the sweet deeds and the name of Jesus, which always occupy the thought of the heart, scourge, defeat and drive out from the heart demons, the leaders and creators of all evil thoughts and passions of the soul. Therefore, the divine John Climacus said: “In the name of Jesus, scourge the adversaries” 121. And, fifthly, because the diverse memory of evil thoughts, which arose from Adam’s disobedience, becomes simple and is healed by the uniform memory of Jesus Christ, according to Gregory of Sinaite, who says: “The memory that heals is mainly divine memory, which has become motionless thanks to prayer, and has passed from a natural to a supernatural state from union with the Spirit” 122. And why say too much? The sweetest name of Jesus, constantly repeated in the depths of the heart with contrition, love, and faith, weakens all evil thoughts, and from the heart, from which previously came, as the Lord said, evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy 123, subsequently good thoughts, spiritual thoughts, words begin to emanate wisdom, fair judgment, accurate investigation of cases and prudence, according to what is written: Thoughts of the righteous destinies. 124 Therefore, teach, confessor, and encourage with advice the penitents and all Christians to constantly repeat in their hearts the name of Jesus Christ through the prayer mentioned above, because this intelligent and unceasing prayer in the heart is given not only to monks, but also to all Christians living throughout the world. Therefore, the Apostle Paul commands the laity and tells them to pray constantly: Pray without ceasing 125, for they can pray constantly - both when they work, and when they eat and drink, and when they are in their home, and when they are out of the house, and when they sit, and when they go somewhere - if they only want to abandon verbosity and gather their minds in their hearts 126. The second means of healing evil thoughts is contradiction So, say this, confessor, to the infirm and weak. For those who strive and have some strength to resist evil thoughts, and invisible demons, and passions, advise, confessor, to resist their hostile, shameful and blasphemous thoughts with the help of objections and angry contradiction, so that for this mental warfare of contradiction they receive crowns from God, as the Climacus said: “When the wars multiplied, the crowns multiplied” 127. So the prophet David contradicted and resisted the invisible demons when they fought with him through thoughts, which is why he said: I answer those who reproach me with word 128 (that is, the word of contradiction). Thus, our Lord Jesus Christ, with the help of contradiction, defeated three great battles that the devil raised against Him on the mountain - voluptuousness, saying: Man will not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God 129, vanity, saying: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God 130; and love of money, saying: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone 131. So many of the reverend fathers, and especially those of Tavennis, as it is written in the Fatherland, with the help of contradiction, fought and conquered evil thoughts and passions and thus received crowns. However, teach such to fight not only with the help of contradiction, but at the same time with the help of prayer to God, because, according to Saint Maximus, those who fight thoughts through prayer, if they are weak, cannot contradict them, but if they are strong and contradict them, then they can pray against them: “He who contradicts thoughts can pray against them, but those who pray against them have no time to contradict them, but only to pray against them in a monotonous way.” prayer." However, Saint Isaac says that it is better and safer for ascetics and the strong not to contradict the thoughts that come from the enemy, but to resort to God through prayer and tears: firstly, because the soul does not always have the same strength to wage war. Therefore, it often happens that when we try to defeat and defeat demonic thoughts, they themselves defeat and defeat us 132 . Secondly, because when a person struggles with evil thoughts, they, for their part, also confront him with their unclean images and passionate dreams, so that even after he defeats them, they remain a defilement in his mind and a stench in his mental sense of smell for a long time: “Do not contradict the thoughts implanted in us by the enemy, but interrupt the conversation with them by prayer to God - this is a sign that the mind has gained wisdom from Grace and his true knowledge freed him from many matters... Because not at all times we have the power to contradict all thoughts opposing us, but we often receive a wound from them that does not heal for a long time... But even when you defeat them, the impurity of thoughts will defile your thought, and their stench will remain in your sense of smell for a long time. Using the first method (by resorting to God through prayer), you will be free from all this and from fear, for there is no other help but God” 133. See also word 58 about this, where he says: “It is better to steal the passions with the memory of virtues than with resistance” 134. I will also add, thirdly, that he who turns for help during battle with thoughts to God alone and to Jesus and who recognizes himself as unworthy and weak for battle, and Jesus as the One strong and strong in this invisible battle, avoids pride and shows humility, as it is said: The Lord is strong and strong, the Lord is strong in battle 135, and also: Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world 136, then there are passions, and thoughts, and the devil. The third means of healing evil thoughts is contempt for them And finally, third and last. To those who have received from the grace of God weapons and armor in order to win in mental and invisible warfare, tell them, confessor, that they despise the evil thoughts that the devil instills in them, like the barking of little dogs, like cattle and insects and like an insignificant thing, and not be afraid of the threats with which they frighten them, nor the pleasures that they offer them, not to be wounded and carried away, firstly, having firm faith and hope in the boundless power of the Almighty God and in the invincible help of our great Archangel Jesus Christ, for it is said: Who is he who overcomes the world, unless he believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 137, and also: And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith 138; secondly, believing and thinking that after the cross and death of our Lord the devil has no power over us, but has become completely weak and powerless, as it is written: The enemy will run short of weapons in the end 139. Happy indeed is he for whom the mind has become a commander, whom Grace has armed and clothed in armor, and who, armed, despises as an insignificant thing all shameful, blasphemous and hostile thoughts: firstly, since for demons there is no greater defeat and shame than such contempt for them, as Saint Maximus says: “Those who despise constantly, and always, and at all times they despise, but the one who despises is prepared for battle, for he is already armed with Grace.” And we talk about this in the note about blasphemous thoughts 140. And secondly, since they, thanks to such contempt, remain completely invulnerable to evil thoughts and demons, speaking with the prophet David: I was dumb and did not open my mouth 141 and: ... I have kept with my mouth that the sinner will never arise before me 142. About how harmful evil thoughts are and how useful healing them is We have outlined this in detail for you, confessor, in this chapter and we want you to try to read about it often, because you absolutely need to know this. So, let it be known to you that the most difficult and subtle thing in your service is the vision and knowledge of spiritual thoughts and passions and their skillful healing. Therefore, do not be like some foolish people who say: “Thoughts are not a sin. A person is not punished with hellish torment for thoughts” and the like, but be sure and know firmly that every sin and hellish torment itself have a beginning, a root, and a motivating cause in a bad thought, and vice versa: a bad thought is the beginning, and a root, and a motivating cause of every sin and the infernal torment itself. For just as a small pebble or pebble, falling into a well, first produces one small circle, then the small circle produces another, large, circle, and this large one produces a third, even larger one, and in the end the circles reach the wall of the well, so the attack of an evil thought gives rise to a passionate conversation with it, the conversation gives rise to agreement, agreement - an action, an action - a habit, a habit - a property of the soul, a property of the soul - unrepentance, unrepentance is hellish torment. You see that the beginning and the motivating reason for this long chain with links connected to each other was a bad thought. So it all depends on the intention. Therefore, the divine Gregory of Thessaloniki says that “in all sins, the mind is the first to suffer, since it is the first to suffer and is wounded by a sinful thought” 143. And his namesake Gregory the Theologian calls passionate thoughts: the firstborn of Egypt, that is, sin, because from passionate thoughts other, second, and third, and fourth children of sin are born; the seed of the Chaldeans, or the demonic, because from the seed of these thoughts evil deeds are conceived and born; babies of the daughter of Babylon (that is, sin born from confusion 144, as Nikita interprets), because these babies of thoughts grow up and turn into men through action: “And Egypt weeps for the firstborn of her thoughts and deeds, which are called in the Scripture both the seed of the Chaldeans taken away, and the babies of Babylon, struck against a stone and broken" 145. Therefore, if you, confessor, kill the passionate thoughts of the repentant with your advice, then you will be the second angel destroying the firstborn of Egypt, about whom it is written in Exodus 146, you will be like God, who says that he will destroy the seed of the Chaldeans: Loving you, I will do your will over Babylon, to take away the seed of the Chaldeans 147, and you will be worthy of it bliss, about which the divine David speaks: Blessed is he who has and will dash your babies against the stone 148, as he crushes these babies of evil thoughts before they grow up. And not only you, but also the repentant will be blessed, because with the help of confession [47]] he will crush evil thoughts against the stone that is Christ, resorting to Him through prayer and calling on His help. And why talk too much? He who has a passionate heart and evil thoughts before God, who tests hearts and bellies, is a defiled and unclean adulterer. God Himself pronounced such a sentence, speaking about unclean thoughts: These are the things that defile a person 149 . And Solomon says: An unrighteous thought is an abomination to the Lord 150. If you, confessor, free the repentant from such thoughts, then you will cleanse the inside of his soul from impurity, and when it becomes clean, all his external affairs and deeds will undoubtedly become clean, as the Lord said: First cleanse the inside of the glass and dish, so that the outside of the glass and dish will also be pure 151. And if you sanctify the root, which is his heart, the branches, which are his actions and deeds, will undoubtedly become holy: And if the root is holy, then so are the branches 152. Chapter 7. About the sacrament of repentance In addition, you, the future confessor, need to know well the Sacrament of Repentance, which will become the direct subject of your activity. You should also know the steps of repentance, which are contrition, confession and satisfaction for sins, but we decided that it was more appropriate to write about this in advice to the repentant, so read about it there. So, if you know well what we said before, you will be able to engage in the work of spiritual guidance, having in addition to this what we will talk about in the next, eighth, chapter. If you feel that you do not yet have sufficient and proper knowledge of these subjects, then beware, for the sake of the Lord, and do not strive to become a confessor, firstly, because, without this necessary knowledge, you, instead of becoming a doctor, will become a murderer of many, many souls, even one of which the whole world is not worthy of, and at the same time a murderer of your own soul, and secondly, because if you do not have such knowledge, the Lord will not tolerate not only that you confessor [48], but even if you were a simple priest, for He Himself says so through Hosea: You have rejected your skill, and I will also reject you, so that you should not be a priest to Me 153. And if you make excuses, saying: “My bishop tested me,” this will not bring you any benefit, because the test of a bishop presupposes that you yourself have this knowledge, and not that he will give it to you or give you eyes so that you can see if you are blind. Chapter 8. About the current priesthood and about permission given to the future confessor We said, firstly, what kind of life and what virtues you, father, future confessor, need to have. Secondly, we told you what subjects you need to know. Now, thirdly, we tell you that you must be a priest, canonically and legally ordained, and not defrocked for his open sins, not renounced the priesthood because of his hidden sins requiring defrocking, and not under ban, but a priest holding a valid priesthood [49]. And fourthly, lastly: in order to be a confessor, you need to receive consecration and permission through a letter of command from the local bishop [50]. Chapter 9. About what a priest should do after he becomes a confessor, and above all, about how he should confess Having this and being prepared in this way, you, confessor, ascend and sit on the high seat of the confessor with reverence, with a joyful and pleasant soul and look, demonstrating divine love, according to Simeon of Thessalonica 154. Sitting there, you must think about the fact that for the person confessing, you represent three persons - father, doctor and judge. As a father, you should accept the sinner with open arms, just as the Heavenly Father accepted the prodigal son, without reproaching him for his sins or embarrassing him. As a doctor, it is appropriate for you to heal his wounds with oil and wine, that is, with love for mankind and satisfaction for sins, following the example of one who fell into the hands of robbers 155. And as a judge, you must ensure that your verdict is fair, and not false because of gifts [51]], or because of fear, or because of friendship, or because of some other passion, so that it is unchangeable on earth and in heaven, according to what has been said: Those who are bound on earth will be bound in heaven; and if you permit it on earth, it will be permitted in heaven 156. And since the confessor’s court is in justice and is called the court of God, then he should be incorruptible and superior to all partiality, as it is written: May you not know the face in court, judge small and great, and not be ashamed of the face of man, for God’s judgment is 157. So, having appointed a time and place for sacred confession, namely: morning time [52], the place can serve primarily as a church or, if necessary, a venerable, clean and quiet house, as Simeon of Thessalonica says, 158 in which there should be an icon of the Lord Christ, first of all, His crucifixion, you bring there the person who wants to confess. Having said “Blessed is our God...”, read the Trisagion and the 50th Psalm and then, turning to him, tell him the following. Advice from a confessor to a penitent before confession “Behold, child, Christ (point to His icon) stands invisibly, waiting for your confession. Do not be ashamed, do not be afraid, and do not hide a single sin of yours, but confess them with all your heart in order to receive forgiveness from Christ Himself. If you hide some sin, then know that not only this unrepentant sin of yours will remain written in your conscience, like writing on paper, in order to be revealed on the Day of Judgment before all angels and people, but you will add to yourself another sin - sacrilege. Therefore, since you have come to the doctor, try to be completely healed and not remain sick, otherwise you yourself will be to blame for the damage you suffer.” Then, having made him kneel before the icon of Christ or seated him at your feet (depending on who will confess), ask him what his name is and who he is (if, that is, you did not know him before), and how much time he needs to confess, and whether he has prepared for confession by a suitable test of his sins [53]. After this, having asked him whether he firmly believes and without doubting all the dogmas of the Eastern Church contained in the Creed and approved by the seven ecumenical saints, as well as by local councils and separately by the holy fathers, without any addition or subtraction [54], tell him the following. What a confessor should not be asked in most cases “Know, child, that in other courts the person who confesses to break the law is punished; in this same court of confession, the one who first reveals his sin receives forgiveness. Therefore, the confessor has no need to ask the confessor what he has done, for this would be an accusation of the penitent, and not a confession, but it is appropriate for the confessor to independently confess his sins in order to receive forgiveness of them, since God commands this, saying: The righteous is the one who confesses to himself in the first word; Whenever the adversary comes, he is convicted 159 and: Say your iniquities before, so that you may be justified 160. Therefore, child, to the shame of sin and the devil, you yourself are the first to name your iniquities in order to be justified.” About what a confessor should do when listening to sins Having said this, confessor, you fall silent, and the confessor begins to name his sins. While listening to him, no matter how great or numerous they may be, under no circumstances allow yourself to express surprise, or sigh, or show by any other movement or sign that you are disdainful or burdened. For just as a deer during labor pains, the movement of one leaf can prevent it from giving birth, as natural scientists say, so a sinner experiencing the pangs of childbirth, in order to name his sin, only one movement can prevent him from giving birth, that is, from confessing, as it is written: The pain of the woman in labor has come, but she has no strength to give birth 161 . On the contrary, encourage him every minute, telling him not to be ashamed, because you, the one listening to him, are an servile and sinful person and because, having confessed, he will return to his home with relief and joy from the fact that he has freed his conscience from the burden of sin. Every sin that you, confessor, hear about, investigate in connection with the seven circumstances that we spoke about, that is: who committed the sin, what type of sin [55] he committed, why he committed it, how he committed it [56], at what time, in what place and how many times, and which of the ten commandments he violated - imitating in this the righteous Job, who carefully examined and considered every legal case that he did not know: I will fight and even though I did not know, I followed 162. If you, confessor, hear that the penitent is coming up with excuses, saying that so-and-so is to blame and that it was he who did this evil, as women for the most part are in the habit of making excuses, tell him: “Child, you came here to confess your own sins in order to receive forgiveness, and not the sins of others, in order to sin even more, falling into condemnation.” About whom and how the confessor should ask If someone, either because of his ignorance and lack of training or because of shame, does not want to be the first to name his sins, then you, confessor, must be the first to ask about his sins, and he must answer, as Blessed Augustine says: “A diligent investigator, carefully conducting an interrogation, clearly and somewhat cunningly questions the penitent about what he may not have known or what, out of shame, he wants to hide.” So, ask him if he has committed any of the seven deadly sins, or those generated by mortals, or venial ones, or those close to mortals or venial ones. Also ask if he has violated any of the Ten Commandments, listing them one by one, as we have previously explained them. But at the same time, confessor, do not allow yourself to ask the proper names of those persons with whom the confessor sinned, because this is not only unnecessary, but by doing this you will also make the sinner suspect you of curiosity, as the mentioned Mitrofan says. And some advise the following: it is very useful to ask questions that you are going to ask in this form: “Child, did you kill? Didn't you steal? Have you committed fornication? and so on, so that the penitent need not answer anything other than “Yes, Father,” because with the help of such a figure of speech the sinner can easily and without shame reveal his sins. How a confessor should deal with shy people With great skill and prudence, you, confessor, should deal with those who, out of shame, either do not confess their sins at all, or confess them half and not completely. In some cases, it is appropriate for you, starting with the small sin that they confess to you, gradually asking questions, to reach a larger one. For example, if one of them only confesses to you that he saw someone and talked with him with love, you need to tell him in a plausible way about the shameful thoughts that followed this, after thoughts - about agreement with them, after agreement - about action, just as God forced Ezekiel, having dug one small hole that was visible in the wall, to find a door and, entering the door, to see many idols and abominations hidden behind it: And behold, the hole is one in the wall. And he said to me: son of man, dig up the wall. And he dug up, and behold, the door... And he spoke to me: look in and see the evil iniquities that they do... And look in and see, and the vanity of oppression 163 . However, you, confessor, need to be very careful not to teach a person a sin that he does not know. About whom the confessor should reprove, and when, and how It is not good, confessor, both if you do not reprove anyone, and if you reprove everyone without distinction. For the wise and trained benefit from reproof, according to what has been said: If you reprove a man with understanding, his sense will understand 164. Those who confess with impudence and hardness of heart also need reproof, as it is written: Reprove them mercilessly 165. However, one should not apply reproof to ignorant people, for, as it has been said, the unpunished will not love those who reprove him, 166 and also to the fearful, since they can fall into despair because of fear, and to people who confess with contrition, because they do not need reproof, but rather consolation, and to high-ranking persons, according to the saying: Do not do dirty tricks to an old man, but beg like your father. 167 Sometimes even high-ranking officials need denunciations, mixed, however, with a certain amount of praise. In Revelation, God addresses similar denunciations to the bishops of the seven Asian Churches 168. However, you, confessor, should reprove little by little, as God Himself convicts, according to what is written: Little by little you reprove those who err, 169 and, simply put, your reproofs should always be mixed with pleasantness and meekness, as Paul commands: ... with meekness I punish those who oppose them, as God will give them repentance 170 . At the same time, the moment when the sinner finishes confession and comes to his senses a little from the darkness and intoxication of sin is convenient for denunciation [57]. How a confessor should instruct those who have thoughts of blasphemy and doubt If you happen to confess to those suffering from thoughts of blasphemy, or who always have doubts and fears in their minds, either regarding their health and life, or regarding the salvation of their soul, then be the first to tell them to despise these blasphemies and not consider them sin at all, since they are not the product of their own mind, but come from the devil who hates good, or that they contradict these thoughts with these words: “Get thee behind Me, Satan, for I am the Lord my God.” I will worship and serve the One 171 on your own head your illness 172 and your blasphemy will be turned in this century and in the future,” as Saint John Climacus wisely advises in his word against blasphemy, 23 [58]. And as for those who always have doubts, originating either from a certain melancholy and hypochondria, or from the devil, for the sake of testing or by God’s permission, then I advise you to tell them, firstly, that they constantly pray to God, and secondly, that they do not believe their thoughts, but believe and obey what you tell them. And thirdly, if you can, give them in writing the penance that you assign to them, because they are tormented all the time by doubts and, perhaps, will at least believe what they see written. See about this in the previous chapter 173. About whose confession the confessor should postpone If it happens that one of those confessing to you is not prepared for confession and does not first conduct any testing of his sins; or someone will talk about his numerous and great evil deeds without any sadness or contrition, but with such impudence as if he were talking about his virtues; or someone will not keep the previous promises given to you, but will turn out to be a liar once or twice; or someone’s case and sin are confused and difficult to correct, and at the same time are not explicitly contained in the rules, then over these and similar people you, confessor, should not immediately read prayers of permission, but you should not reject them completely, but it is appropriate to postpone the time for their resolution, saying to each of them: “Now go, my child, and come again on such and such a day, so that I can think better,” instructing him to fulfill it before the specified time some kind of penance, for example: fasting, genuflection, alms - because thanks to this, the sinner will sooner come to his senses, convicted by his conscience, and until this time you can: firstly, resort to God through prayer, speaking with King Solomon: God... and Lord of mercy... give me, by Your throne, sitting wisdom... so that the living works with me 174, and with King Jehoshaphat: And we do not know what the imams will do to them; but only our eyes are towards You 175; and, secondly, resort to the help of your bishop, as Simeon of Thessalonica 176, Chrysanthos 177 and Nicephorus Chartophylax say (in a letter to Theodosius the Recluse) 178, as well as others experienced in such matters, if they are close, or write to them if they are far away (without revealing the person’s own name) in order to find out from them what you should do. For you, confessor, should firmly know that in your service there is nothing so useful and fruitful as postponing and delaying the time of resolution, as all confessors in general testify to on the basis of everyday experience. That a confessor should not confess a person guilty of a common sin with him If - God forbid! - you, confessor, commit any venial sin with some person, you should not confess him, but should send him to another confessor, because since you have a common guilt in the same sin, neither he will be ashamed in confession and will not correct himself, nor you will be able to impose penance on him and correct him properly. I said about venial sin, and not about mortal sin, because if you commit such a sin, you will lose both the priesthood and the ministry of confessor, as we said earlier. See also the first note to the 8th chapter 179. How a confessor should test those who want to accept the priesthood If someone comes to you asking for evidence to accept the priesthood, open the eyes of your soul wide and test all the depths of his heart with greater care than that which you use in relation to everyone else, for here wisdom is 180 and in this all your art and intelligence are revealed. And after, having tested, you will not find in him a single canonical obstacle to the priesthood [59], again be careful and do not give him testimony right away, but put it off for a while until you have thoroughly questioned other people who communicate with him and know his way of life, and you receive from them identification, for it is fitting... for him to have good testimony from outsiders, 181 as the divine Paul says [60]. You need to do this in order not to participate in the sins of others, as is written in your commanding letter, since what Paul says in relation to the bishop who will ordain him: Do not lay your hands on anyone quickly, but rather participate in the sin of others 182 - equally applies to you, the confessor, giving evidence for his ordination, if not to say that this applies even more to you and you bear even greater responsibility, for today, content with your testimony alone, the bishops (which should not be the case) ordain everyone they ordain. How a confessor should deal with excommunicated people If someone who has been excommunicated by his bishop comes to you, know that you cannot resolve him, as Chrysanthos says in the “Book of Confession,” 183 but must send him to the excommunicator (if he is alive) or to his successor (if the excommunicator has died) so that he may resolve him, as established by divine rules [61] and some imperative letters [62]. If you can, then you should petition the bishop so that he allows it. How a confessor should instruct those who have vows If those who have vowed to God to become monks come to confess or go to venerate the Life-Giving Sepulcher or relics or to holy monasteries, or give alms, or establish schools or monasteries, or observe a certain fast or perform some other good deeds and deeds of virtue, you, confessor, should advise them not only to fulfill their vows, but also to fulfill them in the near future, without delay, because delay is a sin. [63]. If some great difficulties prevent them from performing either the veneration of the Holy Sepulcher, or the establishment of schools and monasteries, which they promised, you, confessor, should accurately calculate with great prudence what expenses and labors they could incur to fulfill these vows, and then instruct them to use these funds for distribution to the poor or for other similar good deeds, if they have such an opportunity; if they do not have such an opportunity, then give them instructions to do other things of satisfaction, that is: fasting, prayers, kneeling, etc. Those who promised to become monks and then got married, you, confessor, should say that they are transgressors of their vow and must repent before God, and that they need, while married, to strive in fasting, prayer, patience with suffering, and live chastely, as far as this depends on them, and also, if possible, convince their spouses to agree to this through numerous exhortations. If it happens that their wives die, then they should fulfill their promises and become monks [64]. And in the end, advise all of them in the future not to give such vows and promises to God whenever a need arises, because, not being able to fulfill them, they will sin gravely. About what advice a confessor should give to fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals, bestiality and masculine fornicators If you confess fornicators, or adulterers, or homosexuals, or bestialists, or adulterers, you, confessor, should not only reproach them in general, showing them that due to carnal passions they lose the nobility of the rational power of the soul and become like dumb animals, but to a greater extent, in order to make each of them abhor their sin, you should show each of them how harmful fornication is [65], adultery [66], sodomy [67], bestiality [68] and masturbation [69]. How a confessor should instruct monks If some illiterate monk confesses to you, confessor, ask him if he listens to the established sequence of church services. If he does not have the opportunity to go to the church to listen to him, you should give him instructions so that he read it himself using the rosary, namely: that during Matins he should perform thirty rosaries while standing, reading on each knot 184 this prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” so that during the hours he would perform ten rosaries, during Vespers - ten and for Compline - the other ten, as established by those found on the Holy Mountain nomocanons. Also ask all monks in general whether they follow their usual rule. At the same time, know that for the great schema-monks and perfect monks, according to Saint Callistus and the God-bearing fathers 185, the rule has been established to do three hundred genuflections, that is, prostrations to the ground, per day, according to the prudent Athonite fathers, genuflections - one hundred and twenty, and bows from the waist - twelve rosaries, for the cassock monks - genuflections - one hundred and ten, and bows from the waist - six rosaries, for novices and cassock monks, the rule was established to make one hundred genuflections and three rosary bows from the waist, reading on each knot, as we said, the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me” and bowing to the ground 186. Know also that the rule of genuflection is not performed on Sunday, according to the 20th rule of the First Ecumenical Council, the 90th rule of the Sixth and the 91st Basil the Great, as well as throughout Pentecost, that is, during the fifty days between Easter and Pentecost, according to the same rules and according to Saint Epiphanius and Irenaeus and Augustine (as stated in the letter to Ianuarius 187), and Gerasim, and Ambrose, and Abba Isaiah and Saint Callistus. According to the Typikon, kneeling is also abolished on Saturday, but the one who kneels on Saturday does not sin, because this is not forbidden by the rules, according to the 2nd rule of Nicholas. And bowing from the waist is not prohibited at any time. See also item 8 after the Fasting Rules. How a confessor should instruct sinners If you confess any priest who has committed fornication or adultery, or some other hidden sin that entails deprivation of the priesthood, you, confessor, should forbid him not only to serve the liturgy, but also to perform baptism, wedding, spiritual direction [70], consecration and all other sacred rites, just as the most judicious Svyatogorsk confessors, following the rules, forbid such all sacred rites [71]. However, if they do not agree to abandon all sacred rites, they should at least be prohibited from serving the Divine Liturgy. If they do not agree with this, you cannot force them or declare their sin publicly, but you must leave them to the judgment of their own conscience. Let them think about their unworthiness themselves. See also Canon 141 of the Council of Carthage. How a confessor should deal with the sick If someone gets sick, you, confessor, need to immediately run to him, be it at midnight, be it in the rain or snow, and after you console him in his illness, saying that with it he will be cleansed from sinful filth, just as gold is cleansed by fire, convince him, before any bodily treatment, to conduct a general confession of all sins for his entire life. If the patient becomes speechless, you need to immediately squeeze his hand or shout to him loudly until he nods or some other sign to let you know that he wants to confess. After this, read a prayer of permission over him and partake of his Holy Mysteries, so that if he suddenly dies, he will not be left without forgiveness and communion. Do not be lazy to go to him often to console and encourage him so that he trusts in the mercy of God until his last breath and does not despair, because at that hour the devil will attack him with special force to plunge him into despair, and then he will really need your advice and consolation, with the help of which he can acquire eternal wealth and without which he can suffer eternal loss. Also, read more often about visiting the sick, the recently published book on confession of the sick 188 and from it you will learn more about this. That the confessor should confess slowly Among other things, we want to tell you, confessor, that if you want your confession to be as it should be, and your correction of sinners to be correct and saving, you should be very leisurely in confession and not rush anywhere, even if many people are waiting for you outside the doors, and also tell the penitents a few days in advance when they should come to confession, just as we intend to advise them, because thanks to your leisurely time you will have the opportunity to choose suitable medicines for the corrections that every sinner needs. For many confessors, often in a hurry and not having time to think well, destroyed many instead of correcting them, and along with them they destroyed themselves and bitterly repented of this until their death. Know also, confessor, that it is very useful for you to listen to the confession of people, and especially women or young men, with their eyes closed, as many I have seen did this, because thanks to this the mind concentrates and judges what is said more sensibly. And it will be easier for you to get rid of the temptation from seeing them in this way. Chapter 10. About how a confessor should assign penances After you, confessor, have finished confessing the evil deeds, words and thoughts of the penitent, tell him: “Know, child, that, according to divine rules, a person’s repentance is not accepted unless he first forsakes sin. So, if you promise to abstain from evil with the assistance of Divine grace, then you will receive from me penance and forgiveness of your sins, because all the teachers of the Church say that repentance entirely consists in the fact that the penitent makes a firm decision not to sin again of his own free will, and that without such a decision, confession, satisfaction for sins and your repentance itself will bring little benefit.” That the confessor should be assigned penances according to the rules of the Faster And after he makes such a promise, impose penance on him according to the rules of St. John the Faster [72], that is, give him instructions that he should not take communion for a set number of years, observe the appointed fast, perform the required number of genuflections and give a certain alms. How a confessor should deal with a penitent who has many sins If the penitent has many sins, assign him the greatest penance, that is, the one that prohibits for a greater number of years. And while he commits a sin, even if he does not receive communion, this time is not included in the number of years of satisfaction for sins. If he abstains from the sin that he confessed for a long time and falls into it again, then he must again first fulfill the number of years established by the corresponding rule. If he falls into another sin, you should calculate which penance is longer - the one that remains for him to fulfill, or the penance for a new sin - and instruct him to perform the longer one. If, before confessing to you, the penitent abstained from sin, as well as from divine communion, either himself [73], or on the advice of another confessor, know that the period of penance includes the years that have elapsed since the beginning of abstinence from sin. This rule is contained in the manuscripts, which are distinguished by the greatest disciplinary rigor of the Svyatogorsk books of confession, which are successfully used by all experienced Svyatogorsk confessors. About when someone under penance can receive communion If the penitent is still under penance and is in danger of death, then he can partake of the divine mysteries as needed and, if he recovers after this, must complete the missing period of penance, which remained to be fulfilled when he received communion [74]. That penance is twofold Know also, confessor, that penance and satisfaction, in general, are divided into two parts - bodily and spiritual. Corporal is fasting, dry eating, kneeling and performing seven corporal works of mercy, namely: feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, inviting strangers to your house and taking care of them, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, caring for prisoners and burying the dead [76]. Spiritual penance is a tender prayer, reading the Holy Scriptures and performing seven spiritual works of mercy, namely: encouraging a sinner to leave sin and repent, teaching the untaught who does not know about God and faith, giving correct advice to someone who needs advice, praying to God for one’s brother, comforting the saddened, enduring misfortunes and sorrows without complaining, and forgiving sins. others in relation to themselves [77]. That penance for sin should be the opposite of that sin At the same time, satisfaction must be the opposite of sin (because the opposite is the healing of the opposite), as established, in particular, by the 1st rule of Gregory of Nyssa, that is, it must be opposite to the circumstances of sin and the circumstances of the lives of sinners, as prudent confessors say. For example, for those who doubt the faith, in contrast to the circumstances of sin, assign, confessor, penance to read or listen with reverence to the sacred Gospel and the Creed, not to investigate what is beyond their strength and to honor as their Mother the Catholic Church, which transmitted the faith to them. On how to assign penances to blasphemers and oathbreakers To the one who has verbally blasphemed God, assign penance to glorify God, Whom he has insulted [78]. Give the same penance to the perjurer [79], in addition to the other penance that the Faster establishes for him (31st rule). And both of them need to be assigned as penance to read or listen to soul-helping books, especially the Psalter, which contains many praises of God. About how to assign penance to thieves and offenders To thieves and offenders, before assigning penance to the Faster (rule 27), let, confessor, return the penance of someone else’s property that they took, either to the owners themselves, if they are alive, or, if they died, to their relatives, or through a confessor, or through another reliable person [80]. If they do not have it and they cannot return it to the owners, then, if they are alive, let them come to them and ask for their forgiveness. If they have someone else’s property, but its owners and their relatives have died, tell them to give it to the poor. Come on, confessor, to thieves and the general advice that we offer below in the note to the chapter “How to assign penance to murderers” [81]. On how to assign penance to fornicators, adulterers and homosexuals Assign penance to fornicators and homosexuals of fasting, dry eating, kneeling and, above all, demand that they avoid persons with whom they have sinned, or expel them if they are in their house [82]. On how to assign penance to slanderers and malicious people Assign a penance, O Spiritual Father, to those who falsely accused others and slanderers, to go themselves to the place where they made the accusation and say that they falsely accused their brother, or, if they do not want to go themselves, so that they at least through a third party admit that they lied, or send a letter refuting their slander, openly or secretly. In memory of those who are malicious and have enmity towards someone, let us, through penance, reconcile with them [83]. On how to assign penance to murderers To the murderer, in addition to assigning the penance established by the Faster (rule 20), give also penance, if he has the opportunity, to ransom the slave, according to Simeon of Thessalonica 189, let it be soul for soul [84]. If a woman throws out a baby, give her penance to raise a poor child, if she has the opportunity, according to the same Simeon 190, about which see the 22nd rule of the Faster. I said that penance should be imposed in contrast to the life circumstances of the sinners. For example, a rich person should be instructed to fast, eat dry food, and genuflect, and a beggar should be instructed to do alms out of his lack, since this can be considered a suitable penance and admonition for them, and especially if the rich person has committed a carnal sin, and the beggar has committed theft or robbery. For if a rich man receives penance only to do alms, and a poor man only to fast, this will not seem to them an admonition, but only a greater degree of the deeds habitual to them. However, this too should be arranged by the confessor in the best possible way, and with great prudence. In addition, do not forget, confessor, to advise sinners not to arrogantly think and believe that they receive forgiveness of their sins from God only for the sake of the penance and satisfaction that they perform - far from it! - because this idea is heretical. For sin, being, according to theologians, infinite as an insult to the infinite God, cannot be destroyed through the works and satisfaction of a limited creature and, especially, an unclean creature, which is the sinner, for it is said: We are like evil spirits, like all our righteousness is the port of unclean 191. But let them firmly believe that they receive forgiveness of their sins: first, by the infinite mercy of God; secondly, for the sake of the infinite satisfaction that the Son of God brought for sinners through the death and blood that He shed on His cross, as Paul said about the first: Not from the works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us 192 , and as John said about the second: And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin 193 . That is why Basil the Great says: “The remission of sins is in the blood of Christ” 194. Let them consider as the third and final reason for the forgiveness of their sins (according to Coresius 195) all the good deeds and the fruits of repentance that they bring after sin, and not only these good deeds in themselves, understood in accordance with their nature (for if they are understood in this way, they can never cleanse sins and bring eternal salvation), but insofar as they are united with the supernatural grace of Jesus Christ, bestowed by faith, which represents them and places them before God and makes them worthy of divine acceptance. What was said above is confirmed by God Himself, speaking through Isaiah: I am the one who atone for your iniquities for My sake 196. Do you hear, sinner? “I am,” He says, “who blots out your iniquities and forgives them, and not for the sake of your penance and patience of punishment, but for the sake of My mercy and compassion, for My sake.” Among other things, we want to tell you, confessor, that you need to assign to those who sin as penance and satisfaction also abstinence from holy communion for the period established by Saint John the Faster. If there is someone who agrees to another satisfaction - fasting, dry eating, genuflection and alms, but does not agree to abstain from communion, then all your knowledge and experience should be manifested in softening him in various ways and convincing him to agree to both. To do this, you can tell him the following. Advice to the penitent to agree to abstain from communion “Child, know, first of all, that if you want to receive communion, being unworthy, you will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, as the divine Paul says, 197 and you will receive communion to condemnation and torment for yourself, becoming the second Judas and becoming like the Jews. For just as the Jews pierced the body of the Lord not in order to drink His blood, but in order to shed it, as the Golden-Speaker interprets 198, so it will be imputed to you that you shed the immortal blood of the Lord, and do not drink it, because of your unworthiness. Know, secondly, that the divine Faster, with the prudence bestowed upon him by the Holy Spirit, having established his rules, says in almost every rule with the greatest precision and detail that the one who cannot observe both - both the satisfaction that he prescribes and the abstinence from communion that he establishes for a small number of years - must observe the large number of years established by the other divine fathers. By saying this, he in no way allows for the leniency you ask for. Know, thirdly, that I showed you great condescension and did not impose penance on you according to the Other Fathers, who set so many years for your sin (and here you should tell him how many years the rules of councils and fathers impose penance for this sin), but assigned you penance according to the lenient Faster. I made you another, greatest, indulgence myself and did not assign you penance for your other sins, for one of which such and such a penance is due, and for another such and such, and so on (give him the number of years and satisfaction for each of his sins), but I imposed penance for one of your sins, pitying you and having mercy on your weakness. I also gave you one more, third, leniency, which is very great, because the penance that I have now assigned to you for your sin should have been doubled or increased by as many times as you committed this sin, so that the number of years of your penance would have been so great that probably your entire life would not have been enough to fulfill it. However, I had mercy on you and assigned you such a light penance as if you had committed this sin just once, while you have committed it so many times! (And here you tell him the total number of years, multiplying the period of penance by the number of his sins.) Therefore, you, child, should not be so hard-hearted and ungrateful, but should joyfully agree to this small penance and abstinence from divine communion. Know, fourthly, that thanks to abstaining from communion, your repentance will be more durable. You will be more deeply convinced of the grace of God and you will better understand what evil sin has brought you, especially when you see that others are receiving communion, but you are deprived of this, repeating to yourself the words of the prodigal son: For as my father’s hired servant the bread abounds, but I perish in famine 199 . And thanks to all this, you will hate sin and in the future you will carefully preserve the Grace that you have lost, since for you torment will be a teaching 200. “For everything that a person acquires with great difficulty, he tries to keep” 201, says Basil the Great, and Gregory the Theologian adds: “For what is acquired with difficulty tends to be held more firmly, but what is acquired easily is rather neglected, as if it could be acquired again” 202.” You can tell him this and other similar things, confessor, as far as the grace of the Holy Spirit enlightens you. You can hide the deadline from him and tell him: “Go, child, I know when the time comes for you to take communion, you will figure it out over time.” See also in “Advice to the Penitent” what we say there specifically for him, so that he agrees to both satisfaction and abstinence from communion. On how to assign penance to the infirm and elderly If someone is weak and elderly and cannot fulfill the bodily satisfaction established by the divine Faster, you, the confessor, can certainly give him another penance, spiritual - prayer, reading soul-helping books and physical or spiritual alms (see at the beginning of this chapter), but do not give him leniency in the number of years of abstinence from communion determined by the Faster. That those who refuse penance and abstain from communion are rejected If there is someone so hard-hearted and unrepentant that, being healthy, he will not agree to be satisfied according to the Faster and does not want to abstain from communion, then, confessor, after the first, second and third admonition you should finally say: “Child, Basil the Great commands me in his 84th and 85th rules to speak to people who are disobedient and quarrelsome. 203: “When you save, save your soul” 204 so that my soul does not perish with you” [85]. Tell him also that Luke of Constantinople, in the questions preserved in manuscripts that he decides with his synod, says that it is not proper for a priest to accept offerings from those who do not submit and do not want to perform penance for their sin. How to deal with married women and those with relatives If you, confessor, confess to a married woman who has secretly committed adultery, be very careful and do not allow her to receive communion, and do not give her husband any reason to suspect this, because both are harmful. The same must be observed for women who have parents and brothers. See also the 33rd rule of the Faster about this. If you encounter sins for which penance is not clearly established, ask your bishop about them and find out from him the appropriate penance for them [86], which can be found either by the similarity of these sins with others clearly mentioned in the rules, or in the writings of individual fathers, or with the help of reasoning of common sense. Look at these penances, which are not found in other rules, in the penances that we placed after the rules of the Faster, which belong to him. Chapter 11. About the prayer of permission After you have finished with satisfaction, read the prayer of permissiveness over the repentant, namely the usual one below: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Shepherd and Lamb, take away the sin of the world, Who has bestowed upon the two debtors and who has given remission of her sins to the sinner, Himself, the Master, loosen, forgive, forgive sins, iniquity, sin, voluntary and involuntary, even in knowledge and not in knowledge, even in crime and disobedience, which was from this servant of Yours. And if, as a man, he wears flesh and is alive in the world, he is deceived by the devil: if in word or in deed, or in knowledge, or in ignorance: either the priestly word is trampled, or he was under a priestly oath, or he fell under his own anathema, or he was led under an oath. You yourself, as a good and kindly Lord, were pleased to resolve this servant of Yours with your word, forgiving him both your and his anathema and oath according to Your great mercy. Hey, Master, Lover of Mankind, hear us, praying to Your goodness for this servant of Yours and despise, as you are abundantly merciful, all his sins, change his eternal torment. Thou hast declared, Master: that whichsoever thou shalt bind on earth, they shall be bound in heaven, and that whichever thou shalt be loosed on earth, they shall be loosed in heaven. For You are the only sinless one, and we send up glory to You, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen". Or this, shorter one, laying your hand on the head of the penitent: “Lord Jesus Christ our God, who gave tears to Peter and the harlot for the remission of sins and justified the publican who knew his sins, accept the confession of your servant named and, if you have sinned in word or deed, or thought, willingly or unwillingly, forgive to him, for there is only one power to forgive sins. For You are the God of mercy, generosity and love for mankind, and we send up glory to You, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen". After this, you pronounce the request “For mercy and forgiveness of sins” of the penitent. Then, turning to the penitent, you lay your hand on his head and pronounce the following words of forgiveness, which, according to the majority, and first of all Gabriel of Philadelphia in the book “On the Sacraments” 205 and Chrysanthos of Jerusalem in the “Book of Confession” 206, are a form of the sacrament of repentance: “The grace of the Most Holy Spirit, through my wickedness, absolve you and forgive” [87]. That the confessor should lay hands on those who repent Be very careful, confessor, and never forget to lay your hand on the head of the penitent, because the divine rules consider this laying on of the hand an integral part of the sacrament [88], although today most confessors do not do this due to ignorance and lack of training. Final advice from a confessor to a penitent When everything is finished, give the repentant the following advice: “Know, my child, that today you received a second baptism through the sacrament of confession and repentance, as the Holy Church of Christ believes. Therefore, be very careful not to defile it by repeated sin, for just as someone who gets dirty once and washes himself and then gets dirty in the same way does not receive any benefit from the perfect ablution, in the same way he who has washed in the font of repentance and confession and has been cleansed from his sin and then again falls into the same sins does not receive any benefit, as Sirach says: Wash yourself from the dead and touch him again, what good does he get out of the bath? So man, fast about your sins and go back and do the same things 207. So, my child, you need to use the sword, that is, make a firm decision in your heart that you would prefer to die a thousand times rather than sin again and grieve God. And from now on, begin to live as a Christian and a disciple of Christ, because true repentance lies not only in leaving evil, but also in doing good, according to what was said: Avoid evil and do good 208 . You have taken off the unclean tunic of sin and put on the pure tunic of Divine grace, so be careful in the future so as not to take it off and put on your former one again, but repeat the song: I have taken off my robe, how can I put on nudes? 209 My noses have been washed, how can I defile them? - fearing that, by sinning, you will not become a praise for the devil on the Day of Judgment, but a reproach and dishonor for Christ, which is harder for you than any torment, as Basil the Great says: “So, follow the path of peace. Behold, you are healthy, for whom do not sin, lest it be worse” 210.” Chapter 12. That a confessor should not reveal sins After confession, only one thing is required of you, confessor: to keep your sins secret and never reveal them to anyone, neither by word, nor by writing, nor by gesture or any other sign, even if you are in mortal danger, because what was said by the wise Sirach applies to you: Have you heard the word, let him die with you 211 and also: Do not tell it to friend or enemy 212, that is: you have heard the word secrets, let this word die with you, and while you are alive, do not reveal it to either your friend or your enemy; as well as the warning of the prophet Micah: Do not believe in your friend... and be careful not to tell her what 213. For if you open them, then, firstly, you will fall under prohibition or, more precisely, you will be completely defrocked, according to church rules, and according to civil laws you must be imprisoned for life and have your tongue cut out [89]. Secondly, you will be guilty of causing Christians to stop confessing, fearing that you will reveal their sins. This happened during the time of Nektarios of Constantinople, when Christians did not want to confess because one confessor revealed the sin of a certain woman [90]. When the divine Chrysostom saw this, he could not calm down until he convinced them to confess [91]. And what hellish torment this will bring to you, who is guilty of this, cannot be described in words. This little that we have noted here for you, confessor, is the most significant and necessary in your spiritual service. Never stop reading this because it will help you a lot. Also do not stop reading the “Book of Confession” by Chrysanthus of Jerusalem 214, the book “Confessor in Training” 215 and the rules: 11th of the First Council, 102nd of the Sixth, 2nd, 5th, 7th of Ancyra, 1st and 2nd of Laodicea, 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th of Saints Gregory of Nyssa, 2nd, 3rd, 74th, 84th and 85th of Basil the Great, because these rules relate directly to your ministry. Also, constantly read the advice that we give to the penitent 216, because you should be the first to know it in order to teach the penitent and especially those who do not know how to read and write and do not have the opportunity to read it. In addition, we want to tell you that if you have an inquisitive mind and carefully consider the various cases that come your way, this inquisitiveness and this work will help you over time to learn more and even many things that are not written in books, because, according to Sirach, a man of great experience knows a lot, and a man without experience knows little: A learned man knows much, and a man of great skill knows the mind. Even if you are not tempted, the news is not enough 217. So, knowing that the teaching and management of souls, which you have undertaken, is the art of arts and the science of sciences, according to Gregory the Theologian 218, do not be careless, for cursed are you to do the work of the Lord with negligence, 219 but imitate the shepherd who tries to snatch from the lion’s mouth not only a whole sheep, but, if possible, at least two legs or the edge of its ear, as Amos says: Whenever a shepherd plucks out of the mouth of a lion two legs or the ear of a lion, so shall the children of Israel be plucked out. So you, confessor, as far as it is possible for you, strive in thousands of ways to purge unfortunate sinners from the mouth of the mental lion, the devil, even if they are very spoiled and despairing because of their sins [92], as John Climacus commands you, saying: “So, be diligent, O wondrous one, and direct all your efforts and love, and ardor, and concern to those who are completely lost and contrite ones, and pray to God for them, for for those whose illnesses and ulcers are great, great rewards are undoubtedly given.” 221 Let us tell you, confessor, in one word, that Heaven and hell, life and death, salvation and destruction of souls are in your hands. And if, thanks to your good correction, they are saved, you will hear: If you bring out the honest from the unworthy, as My mouth will become 222. If, on the contrary, because of your bad correction and negligence, any of them ends up in hell, you will hear: The wicked one will die in his iniquity, but I will exact your punishment from his blood 223 . If you, confessor, want to show true and fatherly love for your spiritual children, try to come into a tender and tearful disposition and not only grieve for sinners who commit great and mortal sins, but also shed tears, condoling their misfortune. For your tears have great power, because they not only serve as a sign of your tender love for the sinner [93], but also make God merciful to his sins [94] and encourage this cruel and insensitive sinner himself to lament his sins when he sees that you, who have not committed these sins, are mourning them; they convince him of your love for him and make him easily accept the means of correction that you prescribe for him [95]. However, be very careful and do not show any signs of sadness, or grief, or tears while he is confessing, as we told you before, but be sad and shed tears after the end of the confession, when you instruct him and assign him penance. Appendix to the first part. Notice on how the confessor should question those confessing about the main sins according to the Ten Commandments We said in the 8th chapter of “Instructions to the confessor” that in most cases the confessor should not ask those confessing, but those confessing should tell the confessor their sins, and the confessor only needs to listen to them and correct them. However, since today the majority of Christians, some because of ignorance and lack of training, others because of shame, and others because of the ingrained bad habit of being asked by confessors during confession (one prompted by one reason, and the second by another), do not care about testing their sins themselves before confession, and do not name their sins themselves, as it should be, but expect that the confessor will be the first to ask them, and they will answer, and if their confessor does not asks if they do not fully reveal their sins, but leave their confessor without confessing, then we considered it necessary to give you here, confessor, a general notice about how you should ask such confessors about the main and most serious sins against the Ten Commandments. So, if any Christian comes to you to confess, say “Blessed is our God...” and, having read the Trisagion and the 50th Psalm, turn to him and give him the following advice, holding the “Book of Confession” in your hands: “Behold, child, Christ (point to His icon) stands invisibly, awaiting your confession. Do not be ashamed, do not be afraid, and do not hide a single sin of yours, but confess them with all your heart in order to receive forgiveness from Christ Himself. If you hide any sin, know that not only will this unrepentant sin of yours remain written in your conscience, like writing on paper, in order to be revealed on the Day of Judgment before all angels and people, but you will add to yourself another sin - sacrilege. Therefore, since you have come to the doctor, try to be completely healed and not remain sick, since you yourself will be to blame for the damage you suffer.” Then, having made him kneel before the icon of Christ or seated him at your feet, ask him what his name is and who he is (if you did not know him before), and how long he needs to confess, and whether he has prepared for confession by a suitable test of his sins. Then you ask him, saying: “Do you, my child, firmly and undoubtedly believe in all the dogmas of the Catholic and Eastern Church of Christ, contained in the Creed, that is, in “I Believe,” and approved by the seven saints and ecumenical and at local councils and by individual holy fathers? Do you also accept the apostolic and patristic traditions of the Church without any addition or subtraction? And when he confesses that he believes in them, tell him to read the Creed, that is, “I believe in one God the Father...” (if he knows it). Then tell him: “Know, child, that in other courts a confessed lawbreaker is punished, but in this same court of confession, the one who reveals his first and very sin receives forgiveness. Therefore, the confessor has no need to ask the confessor what he has done, for this would be an accusation of the penitent, and not a confession, but it is appropriate for the confessor to independently confess his sins in order to receive forgiveness of them, since God commands this, saying: The righteous is the one who confesses to himself in the first word; when the adversary comes, he is convicted 224 and: You have spoken of your iniquities before, so that you may be justified 225. Therefore, child, to the shame of sin and the devil, call your iniquities first, in order to be justified.” Having said this, confessor, be silent for a moment. When you see that the repentant does not confess his sins, then tell him: “I see, child, that you do not speak, therefore, so that you do not remain unconfessed, I must ask you, and you just answer without any shame, because I, who confess you, am the same person as you, servile and sinful, and have heard about the many and great sins of many other sinners and because after confession you You will return to your home with relief and joy from the fact that you have freed your conscience from the burden of sin.” If it is a person you know who has come to you to confess for the second time, you omit everything given above and immediately after the advice ask him about the following major sins against the first commandment. At the same time, after each question, stop until the penitent answers “yes” or “no”: – Have you, my child, ever renounced God and your faith? Have you ever had a desire to renounce your faith? [96] – Did you not arbitrarily accept in your mind thoughts of blasphemy and unbelief in relation to the divine sacraments or objects of faith? Do you have any heretical opinions? [97] - Were you not a sorcerer? Have you not bound husband and wife? Did you not tie up the animals so that the wolf would not eat them? 226 Didn’t you make amulets and wear them? Have you practiced any other type of witchcraft? [98] “Didn’t you go to sorcerers and witches so that they would help you during your illness, or so that they would find something you had lost, or so that they would open treasures for you and the like?” “Did you not commit some mortal sin and didn’t you dare to receive communion unworthily after that, without receiving the appropriate penance from your confessor, which is the greatest of all sins, as St. John the Faster says [99]? – Do you pray to God morning and evening, as a Christian should? “Have you not eaten the food, sacrificial meat and sacrifices that the wicked Hagarites prepare for their weddings, for their holidays and for their vile commemorations of the dead? For, as Solomon says, the sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord 227. – Have you not despaired of God’s mercy? Are you sinning with impudence, hoping that God is merciful and will forgive you? Have you made a decision to sin as long as you can, and then, when you can no longer sin, to repent? Do you not persist and resist the manifest truth? For, my child, these four sins are mortal, contradict the first commandment of God and represent blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, as the “Orthodox Confession” says. Then ask him about the main sins against the second commandment: “My child, don’t you have such a great love for covetousness and money that your mind is occupied with them and your heart is attached to them?” – Are you not so enslaved by your belly that your mind is constantly occupied with food and drink and your heart is attached to them? “Aren’t you a hypocrite, not a true Christian, and don’t you present yourself outwardly as reverent and a believer in God, while inwardly being an unbeliever and irreverent?” “Don’t you believe dreams, both your own and those of others?” For the wise Sirach says that many... were deceived by sleep, and those who hoped in her fell away 228 . Then ask him about the cardinal sins against the third commandment: “Didn’t you swear, child, and didn’t you force someone else to swear?” -Didn’t you break the oath you took? [100] – Don’t you swear by God and faith on every occasion? [101] – Did you make a promise to God to become a monk or do something else and then didn’t you break your promises and vows? [102] – Do you not use the words of Holy Scripture in vain, in jokes and for the sake of laughter? – Do you thank God in your illnesses and misfortunes and don’t you grumble at Him, accusing Him of injustice? “Did you not blaspheme God, or the faith, or the sacraments, or the saints with your word?” Did he encourage others to blaspheme? [103] “Didn’t you say that the Holy Scriptures and the words of God contain errors and contradictions, and don’t you praise the writings of pagans and ancient authors? Then ask him about the cardinal sins against the fourth commandment: – My child, do you go to church twice a day, morning and evening, as the divine apostles command in their decrees? 229 Or, at least, do you go to church every Sunday and on all holidays for Vespers, Matins and Liturgy? (If the confessing monk, tell him: “Are you listening, my child, to the sequence of church services established for you?” Are you following the rule set for you? [104] – Do you talk to someone while in church, do you joke, laugh, or stand without reverence? Do you listen attentively to the divine words proclaimed in church, or do you arbitrarily allow your mind to be carried away by worldly things?) – Don’t you go to bed with your wife on Sundays and holidays? – Don’t you arrange games in your house on Sundays and holidays? Don't you go to games? Aren't you playing yourself? Don't you dance and sing songs? – Don’t you play checkers, cards or other games on Sundays and holidays and don’t you go to watch them? – Don’t you drink on Sundays and holidays, don’t you get drunk or vomit, and don’t you get into fights and fights with someone? – Do you give alms to the poor on Sundays and holidays, as the Apostle Paul establishes? 230 – Are you violating the fast on Wednesday and Friday and other fasts established by the Church of Christ for Christians? [105] Then ask him about the cardinal sins against the fifth commandment: “My child, haven’t you insulted and hit your father or your mother?” Are you obedient to their will and do you take care of them and help them when they are sick and need your help? [106] – Do you honor your teachers, spiritual fathers and bishops and priests of God? (If he is a monk, tell him: “Aren’t you disobedient to your elder and making him grieve for you?” – Do you honor your boss or master, judges and rulers? Do you show gratitude towards your benefactors? -Are you concerned about sending your children to school so that they can learn the Holy Scriptures and a good trade? Do you advise them to have the fear of God and good and Christian morals, as befits Christians? Do you try to take them to church? Do you punish them with a rod when they sin? Are you forcing your children to marry forcefully and against their will? Do you not prevent them from becoming monks, or, if they want to marry, do you demand and force them to become monks? -Aren't you insulting your wife? (Or, if a woman is confessing, say instead: “Are you not insulting your husband?”) Do you not upset her, do you hit her, do you love her like your own flesh, and do you care about her soul and her life? – Do you care about the salvation and Christian life of your male and female servant and, knowing that they sin, do you not neglect this and correct them? (Or, if this is a patriarch or bishop, tell him: – Your Holiness (Most Reverend) Bishop, aren’t you showing negligence about your verbal flock and are you concerned in every possible way about its correction and salvation? Are you setting a bad example for others and causing temptation in the people for whom you will have to answer on the Day of Judgment by your deeds or words? Or, if it is a confessor, tell him: - My Lord, do you correct, according to the rules and as befits, the souls of those who confess your holiness and are you vigilant and attentive to your spiritual service? Or, if it is the parish priest, tell him: “My lord, do you shepherd your parishioners and teach the verbal sheep of Christ with all diligence and care and with all reverence and reverence, as befits your priestly title? Or, if this is the abbot of the monastery or an elder, tell him: “My lord, aren’t you proud of the fact that you are an abbot and primate and don’t you treat others with disdain, considering them your slaves and not brothers?” Are you setting a bad example for the brethren in word or deed? Are there any unrest and evil in your monastery and is your holiness concerned about correcting them? Are you diligent and do you teach the monks of your monastery to keep the statutes and rules of the reverend fathers and the promise of monastic life? Or, if it is a teacher or mentor, tell him: – Don’t you allow your students to commit outrages? Don't you envy them and try to help them master the subject as quickly as possible? Do you teach them to have good and Christian morals? Don't you treat them like slaves, sending them here or there, and treat them like disciples? Are you more irritated with them than you should be, and don’t you hit them too much for every little offense? Or, if it is a king or other ruler, tell him: - Tsar (or: the highest sovereign, or: the most glorious ruler), many years to you! Do you keep the royal laws that you establish for your people? Do you care about peace, virtue and the spiritual salvation of all your subjects, and do you not allow the evil to outrage, offend and rob others, and do you correct them? Are you not a bad example and a source of temptation for your subjects, not observing everything that belongs to your high rank?) Then ask him about the cardinal sins against the sixth commandment: “My child, have you killed anyone intentionally or unwittingly, either yourself or through other people through your instigation, or help, or advice?” [107] “Weren’t you jealous and sad because your brother has something good?” Don't you rejoice at the evil and misfortunes that befall your brother? – Do you have enmity or resentment towards anyone and do you want to take revenge on someone? Do you ask your enemy for forgiveness, and if he asks you for forgiveness, do you forgive him? [108] “Have you slandered anyone or handed anyone over to the judges so that they could punish him and cause him harm?” [109] “Have you given potions to a pregnant woman to make her throw up the baby or to prevent her from giving birth at all?” Did you force others to give them? [110] “Have you ever been angry with someone, beaten someone or hurt someone?” Did he incite others to quarrel and fight? “Aren’t you irritated with beggars, don’t you insult them and drive them away, cursing them with obscene words?” -Didn't you curse yourself? Have you not cursed others, blasphemed, or betrayed others to the devil? [111] – Did you communicate with others, knowing that you were sick with the plague, and did you infect them, becoming the culprit of their death? For for this you must receive the penance of a murderer [112]. Then ask him about the cardinal sins against the seventh commandment: “My child, have you committed adultery with a married woman?” [113] -Have you fornicated with an unmarried woman? And if the confessor answers you “yes,” then ask him again: – With whom did you fornicate: with a strange woman or with your relative? With a laywoman or with a nun? With a Christian or a foreigner and a heretic? [114] And in what place did you fornicate with her: in the house, or in the church, or in the vestibule of the church? And at what time did he commit fornication: on a weekday or on Sunday and on a holiday? And how many times did you commit fornication? And for how long? [115] (If a person in holy orders who has fallen into fornication confesses, deal with him as we indicated here in the “Book of Confession,” on page 84 [116]); – Have you committed masturbation with yourself or with someone else, or with someone else with you? (And here you again ask him about with whom he committed it, and in what place, and at what time, and how many times [117]); – Have you committed sodomy with another or another with you? (And here you ask him about who the other one was, and at what time he committed it, and in what place, and how many times [118]); “Have you sinned with animals, with cattle and with birds, with males or with females?” (And here you ask him about the time, and about the place, and about how many times he committed the sin [119]); “Have you sinned with your wife in an unnatural way?” [120] Didn’t you sin with her before your wedding? – Don’t you dress up, put on makeup, and use perfumes and aromas that cause fornication? – Don’t you look at the faces of women and young men with curiosity and the lust of your heart? For he who looks at them with curiosity commits fornication and commits adultery in his heart, as the Lord has said. “Have you not been the mediator, or the instigator, or the culprit of someone sinning with a woman, passing letters from a man, or carrying gifts and presents, or carrying love notes from one person to another, and the like?” “Aren’t you sinning with pride and guttural rage?” Do you have any addiction to food and drink? For all this gives rise to fornication, adultery and other carnal passions. Then ask him about the cardinal sins against the eighth commandment: “My child, haven’t you stolen or taken stolen goods from others?” Have you ever welcomed thieves into your home and made friends with them? [121] (Then ask him what kind of thing he stole - secular or sacred, and in what place he stole it - in someone's house or in a church or in a monastery, for the latter is sacrilege.) “Didn’t you rob your brother and offend him?” [122] -Have you committed theft before and are you not committing theft in the craft you are engaged in? -Have you deceived anyone or taken money from anyone by selling goods using false weights and measures, by telling lies and using tricks and false oaths? [123] – Don’t you take interest on your money? [124] “Have you withheld the wages of those who worked for you, repaying them with ingratitude?” “Didn’t you take more than the value of your handicraft and the labor spent on it?” “Didn’t you open the coffins and expose the remains of the deceased?” [125] - Do you make counterfeit money and pass it off as real money, knowing that it is counterfeit? – Did you move the fences of the plots or your house in order to seize extra space from your brother? “Didn’t you steal your brother’s animals, cut down his trees and spoil his lands?” – Have you found any thing and left it silently for yourself, without announcing the find and without trying to look for its owner? – Don’t you open sealed letters from others and read them? Do you forge other people's signatures, tear them off, erase them or replace them? (Or if it's a landowner, tell him: “Don’t you own the estates where others work, and don’t you use these peasants as slaves, burdening them with many duties, and when the time comes for harvesting the fruits, don’t you take all the wheat, wine, oil, and other fruits for yourself, leaving these unfortunate ones in need? Or, if it is a judge, tell him: – Do you not accept gifts and do you not show people-pleasing and partiality, violating justice and committing unjust justice? Or, if it is a patriarch or bishop, tell him: – Your Holiness (Most Reverend) Bishop, do you not take money and ordain the unworthy, do you not excommunicate the innocent and condemn the innocent and, in general, do you not, because of partiality or for another reason, violate the divine and sacred rules of the holy apostles, ecumenical and local councils and individual fathers?) Then ask him about the cardinal sins against the ninth commandment: “My child, have you not bore false witness, have you brought false testimony against your brother, and have you not paid others to bear false witness?” “Aren’t you a deceiver and a hypocrite, and don’t you show yourself outwardly to be one thing for the sake of human praise, while being another on the inside?” – Do you not judge anyone, do you slander anyone, and do you not listen with pleasure to others when they condemn someone? – Do you flatter anyone or praise someone falsely rather than sincerely? Then ask him about the main sins against the tenth commandment: “Have you not desired to have your brother’s wife, or his house, or his field, or his male and female servant, or his animal, or other things of your brother?” “Don’t you desire fame and rank, and don’t you love them, or the pleasures of this world, or money and perishable things?” – Do you resist and resist the shameful and hostile thoughts instilled in you by the devil, and do you not delight in them, do you not converse with them and do you not agree with them in your heart, deciding to commit them to deed? [126] Know, my child, that there is no other, more powerful weapon for waging war against evil thoughts than the terrible and holy name of Jesus Christ, as our holy fathers say. Therefore, my child, you need to acquire the habit of saying sometimes with your lips, and sometimes with your mind and heart, the following words: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me” - and repeat this constantly, both when you sit and work, and when you go somewhere, both in the house and outside the house, and everywhere. When you, confessor, ask about all this, then determine the greatest sin that the penitent confesses to you, that is, one for which the penance for which amounts to a greater number of years, and assign him penance for it. In order to better remember his sins, you can hold a candle and mark in the margins those questions to which the penitent will answer you “yes”. And how to convince a penitent so that he also agrees to abstain from communion, see page 94 of this “Book of Confession.” Then, laying your hand on the head of the repentant, read the prayer of permission, that is, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Shepherd and Lamb...”, which see here, in the “Book of Confession” in part one, chapter 11. And after the prayer, say the petition “For mercy, life...” and, turning, put your hand on the head of the repentant and say: “Grace The Most Holy Spirit, by my wickedness, absolve you and forgive you.” Then give him the last piece of advice, which you can find in our “Book of Confession” on page 100. Part 2. The rules of St. John the Faster, precisely explained Like the saints, our father John, bearing the nickname Faster, reached the pinnacle of his ministry in 580 AD [127] and was the primate of the Church under three kings - Justin, Tiberius and Mauritius. On the advice of Eutyches, Patriarch of Constantinople, from among the scholastics, he was ranked among the clergy and ordained a deacon. After the death of Eutyches, being chosen for ordination, he did not agree, but, having seen a terrible vision and hearing angels telling him to remain silent and not resist this, he was involuntarily elevated to the patriarchal throne of Constantinople [128]. And the glorious one indulged in such a great feat and fasting that for six months he did not drink water and during the thirteen and a half years of his patriarchate he did not eat anything other than a leaf of lettuce, or a small piece of melon, or a small amount of grapes or figs a day. And he slept very little and moderately. For this reason, the triblessed one was granted from God the gift of miracles both in this life [129] and after death [130]. Finally, after many years of excellent management of his flock, he reposed in the Lord in 595 [131], leaving us with the real rules, more often called the Nomocanon of the Faster [132] The rules of St. John the Faster, precisely explained Let our reduction of the years of repentance not seem unwise, as I think, to those who think correctly, for neither our great father Basil, nor the most ancient of our divine fathers established any kind of fasting, or vigil, or the number of genuflections for those who sinned, but only removal from sacred communion. Therefore, we considered it necessary for sincerely repentant and zealous people to exhaust their flesh with a harsh life and prudently lead a life that is opposite to their former malice, and as they abstain, accordingly measure out the reduction in the time of repentance. For example, if someone decided not to drink wine on certain days, we decided to subtract one year from the penance established by the fathers for his sin. Also, if someone promises to abstain from meat for a while, we have recognized the possibility of shortening another year. If he promises to abstain from cheese and eggs, or fish, or oil, then we considered it appropriate to deduct one year for abstaining from each of these types of food, and in addition to this, if he wishes to propitiate the Divine with frequent kneeling, we also decided to do the same, and especially if he shows zeal for alms and strength no less will. If, after the sin, he entered into a God-loving and solitary life, we found it good to declare him an even speedier abandonment for his desire throughout his life to endure the labors and sorrows befitting such a life. (Cf.: First Ecumenical Council rule 12, Sixth Ecumenical Council rule 102, Ancyra Council rules 2.5 and 7, Basil the Great rules 2, 3, 74 and 84, Gregory of Nyssa rules 4,5,7 and 8). Interpretation. In this rule, the saint answers those who want to accuse him of reducing the number of years of repentance and says that the reduction that he made, as wise and prudent people will agree, was not done without calculation and reasoning [133]. This calculation is based on the following circumstance: neither Basil the Great nor other ancient fathers established satisfaction and penance for the penitents in the form of fasting or vigil, or genuflection, but assigned penance for them only in the form of abstinence from divine communion [134]. Therefore, says the saint, we decided that it would be fair to reduce the time of repentance for those who sincerely repent, who strive to humble their bodies by harsh living and henceforth lead a virtuous life, the opposite of the previous bad life that they led before. However, this time should be reduced depending on the measure of abstinence that they wish to observe. For example, if a penitent chooses as penance not to drink wine on certain days, we reasoned that it would be fair to subtract one year from the number of years of penance established by the rules of the fathers. Likewise, if he promises not to eat meat, take away one year. Also, if he does not eat cheese and eggs, or fish, or oil, then we have decided to deduct one year for abstaining from each of these types of food. If he wants to appease God with frequent prostrations to the ground and from the waist, then for this he will also take one year, and especially if he wants to show his generous hand for alms and show the will to give alms corresponding to the size of his wealth. If a penitent, after any sin he had committed, became a monk, we considered that it would be fair to give him forgiveness after a fewer number of years, because in the monastic rank he will observe strict abstinence all his life. See also the 12th rule of the First Council and all the rules mentioned after the apology in parentheses, unanimously justifying the reduction in the number of years made by the Faster, for they also say that depending on the disposition and strength of repentance of those confessing, the number of years of penance should also be reduced. Through thoughts, an attack on the heart of voluptuousness, as a sin not yet committed, is not subject to any penance. Interpretation. An attack, according to Saint John Climacus 231, is a thought, that is, a simple thought or image of some thing that suddenly appears in the heart. So, in this rule, the Faster says that this attack of voluptuousness on the heart through thoughts is not subject to any penance at all, since it has not yet produced sin [135]. Conversation with thoughts is purified by twelve bows. Interpretation. A conversation with a thought, according to the aforementioned Saint John of the Climacus, is a conversation between the soul and an object that appears in the mind, that is, thinking about it with passion or without passion 232. Conversation combined with passion, as the Faster says, is subject to penance and is purified by twelve prostrations to the ground, because it depends on the will of a person whether he will pay attention to the object that appeared in the mind during the attack and enter into conversation with it, or reject it and not pay attention to it at all. Conversations with thoughts are also subjected to penance by the Climacus [136]. The fight is worthy of either crowns or punishment. Interpretation. Fighting, according to the same John Climacus, is the strength of the soul, equal to the strength of the thought fighting it, with the help of which the soul, if it wants, defeats the thought, and if it does not want, it is defeated by it 233. Therefore, both the Climacus and the Faster say that this struggle is the reason either for the soul to receive crowns if it defeats a hostile thought, or for it to receive torment and punishment if it is defeated by it [137]. Consent is the reason and the beginning of penance. Interpretation. Consent, as Climacus says, is a voluptuous inclination of the soul towards a passionate thought fighting against it, about which this divine Faster says that it is the cause and beginning of penances. Therefore, John Zonara, at the end of the word directed against those who think that the natural seed is unclean, says: “Those who accepted a passionate thought, entered into a conversation with it with voluptuousness and came to an agreement with it will not escape penance, even if they did not undergo an expiration in a dream and did not see unclean dreams” 235 [138]. Note also that George Koressius 236 divides consent into two types: imperfect and perfect. The perfect involves perfect captivity of the mind and perfect agreement of the will, and therefore leads to the rooting of sin. Notice also that attack, conversation, struggle and agreement are observed in all sins. The Divine Faster gave an example only of carnal sins, so that we could better understand what was said thanks to their greatest rudeness. See also the 4th rule of the Neocaesarea Council about agreement with sin. One who is defiled in a dream by the leakage that has occurred is excommunicated from communion for one day. Having read the 50th psalm and made forty-nine bows, one is considered to have been cleansed of defilement. (Cf.: Dionysius rule 4, letter of Athanasius to Ammun, letter of Timothy, question 12). Interpretation. This rule establishes that someone who has become defiled at night by a discharge in a dream should not receive communion that day. Having read the 50th Psalm and made forty-nine prostrations to the ground, he is cleansed from this filth of flowing out in a dream [139]. This same penance for expiration is given by Barsanuphius, the great among the fathers. During the vigil of the body, the defiled one is excommunicated from communion for seven days, reading the 50th Psalm every day and making forty-nine prostrations. Interpretation. He who has undergone the expiration while awake abstains from divine communion for seven days, daily reading the 50th Psalm and making forty-nine prostrations to the ground. Anyone who commits masturbation is prohibited for forty days by observing dry eating and performing one hundred prostrations. Interpretation. This rule establishes that one who has committed masturbation for forty days should not receive communion, observing dry eating during the period, that is, eating bread and water and making one hundred prostrations every day [141]. Connecting with each other, that is, committing double fornication, is prohibited for up to eighty days. Interpretation. The rule does not call union the sin of sodomy in the full sense, but the commission of mutual masturbation by two people [142], for which the saint imposes double penance and instructs the one who did this to observe dry eating for eighty days and make a hundred prostrations every day, since he harms not only himself, but also his brother and commits a double sin. If any of the clergy, before accepting the priesthood, fell into the passion of fornication, not expecting, probably, that because of this alone he would not be admitted to the priesthood, he, having first received sufficient penance, after that, shall accept the priesthood. If he was defeated by it after accepting the priesthood, then, being removed from it for one year and subjected to correction by ordinary penances, let him return to the priesthood. If, after recognizing sin, he does this twice or three times, then, being deprived of the priesthood, let him pass to the rank of reader. Interpretation. This rule says that if someone, before accepting the priesthood, fell into the passion of masturbation, not knowing that only for this he is prohibited from accepting the priesthood [143], he (being, of course, zealous and virtuous in everything else), having received sufficient penance for the sin [144], let him be a priest. If, after accepting the priesthood, he falls into it again, then, having been removed from the priesthood for one year and subjected to correction by the penances usually assigned to masturbators, let him perform the priesthood again. If, after the knowledge of evil, he commits masturbation two or three times, he will be deprived of the priesthood and enter the rank of reader. Also, one of the women who accepted the kisses and touches of a man, but was not corrupted, receives the penance of masturbation. Interpretation. The Saint imposes the penance of masturbation on a woman who has accepted the kisses and embraces of a man, that is, observing dry eating for forty days and making one hundred prostrations every day, abstaining from communion. We offer anyone who commits adultery, monk or layman, not to receive communion for two years if he strives to eat food after the ninth hour, observing dry eating, and perform two hundred and fifty prostrations. If he is careless, let him fulfill the time established by the fathers. (Cf.: Fourth Council rule 16, Sixth Council rule 44, Ancyra Council rules 19–20, Basil the Great rules 6, 18, 21, 22, 25, 26, 59). Interpretation. This rule establishes that every person who commits adultery, monk or layman, should not receive communion for two years and every day make two hundred and fifty prostrations and eat bread and water after the ninth hour. If he is careless and does not want to do this, let him abstain from communion for as many years as the divine fathers established [145]. We consider it fair that an adulterer who does not turn away from dry eating and eats food after the ninth hour, and also makes two hundred and fifty prostrations every day, should take the sacrament after three years, but who has a lazy disposition - awaits the end of the time that the fathers established. (Cf.: Ancyra Council rule 20, Sixth Council rules 87, 93, 98, Neocaesarea Council rule 8, Basil the Great rule 9, 31, 39, 58, 87, Gregory of Nyssa rule 4). Interpretation. This rule prescribes that the adulterer be subject to a penance of not receiving communion for three years if he observes dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour, and makes two hundred and fifty prostrations every day. If, through negligence, he does not want to fulfill this, let him abstain from communion for as many years as the fathers determined [146]. We command that someone who has fallen because of an insane passion for his sister, after three years, will be worthy of communion if he agrees to fast until the evening, observe dry eating, and make five hundred bows every day. (Cf.: Basil the Great rules 67, 75). Interpretation. This rule imposes a penance on the fallen man and his sister not to receive communion for three years, if he wants to observe dry eating, fast until the evening and make five hundred prostrations every day [147]. We excommunicate someone who has fallen because of a frantic passion for his bride from communion for two years if he eats food after the ninth hour, observes dry eating and makes three hundred bows every day. Let him who is enslaved by negligence fulfill the number of years established by the fathers. Interpretation. The fallen one with his bride receives penance to abstain from communion for two years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and making three hundred prostrations every day. If, through negligence, he does not want to fulfill this, let him abstain from communion for as many years as the fathers determined [148]. The one who fell because of an insane passion for his own mother-in-law is subject to the same penances, but is not separated from his wife, according to the law that says: “What was originally solid is not abolished due to random circumstances.” Interpretation. This rule imposes penance on the fallen man and his mother-in-law to abstain from communion for two years, observe dry eating, eat food after the ninth hour and make three hundred prostrations every day. However, he should not be separated from his wife because he fell with his mother-in-law, because there is a law that says that what has a solid and legal beginning is not abolished by iniquities that happen later. Note, however, that if he did not enter into a real blessed marriage with his wife, but was only betrothed, it is appropriate for him, after he falls with his mother-in-law or with another person related to his wife, to be separated from his wife, that is, from his betrothed, and the marriage should not be concluded, as Vlastar 237 and others say, for, according to him, the deliberate commission of such incest is an unlawful act (because betrothal is not in all respects equal to marriage, but lower than it) [149]. Women who are in a place of purification are commanded by the 2nd rule of St. Dionysius, as well as the 7th Timothy, not to touch any shrine for seven days. The Old Testament law commands this and does not allow them to unite with their husbands, for it happens because of this that the conceived becomes sick and weak. Therefore, the divine Moses stoned the father of the leper child, since in order to unite with his wife he did not wait for cleansing. They also command that during the same uncleanness, one who has offended the divine mysteries and touched them should not receive communion for forty days. Interpretation. This rule decrees that women sitting, like Jewish women, in a separate place (for this is what the word place of purification means), when they are in a state of their usual monthly purification, should not receive communion for seven days [150], as the 2nd canon of St. Dionysius and 7th Timothy command. The Old Testament law commands the same thing, which does not allow women, while they are in a state of monthly purification, to also copulate with their husbands, since the children conceived then are, for the most part, sick and lepers. Therefore, the law commanded that the father of a leper child be stoned, since due to his unbridled lust he did not abstain until his wife was cleansed from the issue of blood, but slept with her when she had him, and as a result of this, the conceived child was born a leper. If a woman, who is in a state of monthly purification, offends the divine mysteries and takes communion, they command that she not take communion for forty days [151]. We consider it fair to exclude someone who has fallen because of an insane passion for a man from communion for three years if he cries and fasts, eats food in the evening and observes dry eating, and also makes two hundred bows. He who prefers carelessness, let him reach fifteen years of age. (Cf.: Basil the Great rule 62, Gregory of Nyssa rule 9.) Interpretation. This rule imposes a penance on the sodomizer for three years not to receive communion and cry about sin, fasting until the evening, observing dry eating and making two hundred bows every day. If, out of negligence, he does not want to do this, let him not take communion for fifteen years, according to the 62nd rule of Basil the Great. Please note that in one of Postnik’s handwritten code of rules the following classification of sodomy is found. Sodomy is of two types: one with women, when men fall into unnatural sin with them, and the other with men. In addition, one of the men commits it, and the other suffers from it, and the third both commits it and suffers from it. The worst sin is when someone commits it and suffers from it. And when someone commits it with other people's wives, it is a more serious sin than when someone commits it with men. Committing it to your own wife is worse than committing it to someone else’s. Therefore, from this we conclude that a husband and wife who have fallen into unnatural sin are subject to a more severe penance than one who has committed sodomy with men or with other people’s wives. The spiritual father should assign penance, which he considers fair. We also found that for such a sin an eighteen-year penance is imposed [152]. See more about this in the Penances of the Faster, placed after these rules. A child, corrupted by someone, does not begin the priesthood, for even if he did not sin due to the imperfection of his age, his vessel was broken and became unfit for sacred service. If he accepted the eruption in the thigh, then after performing the appropriate penance he will not be prevented from accepting the priesthood. Interpretation. The present rule decrees that one who has been molested by another at the age of seven cannot become a priest, because although he has not sinned due to the imperfection of age and reason, the vessel of his body has broken and become unfit for sacred service. If he only accepted the eruption of semen into his thighs, in other words, suffered from “wallowing,” then he will have no obstacles to becoming a priest [153], having performed the appropriate penance. See also below, at the end of the “Word of Repentance,” that he who corrupts his virginity can no longer return it. We excommunicate a free murderer from communion for five years, and an involuntary murderer for three years, if the murderer, along with fasting until the evening, observes the strictest dry eating and is diligent in making three hundred bows every day. Let the lazy person fulfill the decree of the fathers. (Cf.: Holy Apostles rule 36, Ancyra Council rule 22, 23, Athanasius' letter to Ammun, Basil the Great rule 8,13, 43, 55, 56, 57, Gregory of Nyssa rule 5). Interpretation. This rule imposes a penance on the one who has committed a voluntary murder not to receive communion for five years, and on the one who has committed an involuntary murder - three years, and both must fast until the evening and observe strict dry eating, making three hundred prostrations to the ground every day. If they do not have the zeal to do this, let them not receive communion: whoever commits a voluntary murder - twenty years, and an involuntary one - ten, according to the 56th rule of St. Basil [154]. Intentionally destroying babies in the womb and giving and receiving potions to corrode the fetus and expel babies prematurely, we decide to make leniency, reducing the period to five or even more [155] - up to three years. (Cf.: Rule 91 of the Sixth Council, Rule 21 of the Ancyra Council, Rules 2 and 8 of Basil the Great). Interpretation. This rule imposes a penance of five or, more often, three years on those women who intentionally kill babies in the womb. It also imposes penance on women who give herbs or any other type of drug to pregnant women [156] so that they will disgorge their babies prematurely and dead [157]. The one who involuntarily disgorges the baby receives penance for one year... Interpretation. The one who ejected the baby who was in her womb, not wanting it, but due to some circumstances, is subject to penance not to receive communion for one year [158]. The one who slept with the baby and strangled him after three years is awarded communion, abstaining from meat and cheese on the indicated days and doing the rest diligently. And if this happened because of the frivolity or intemperance of the parents, then it is comparable to voluntary murder, but if it was due to the slander of the enemy, then the deed is worthy of forgiveness, but even in this case it requires proper penance, for it was allowed due to other sins. Interpretation. This rule imposes a penance of three years of abstaining from communion on a woman who lay on her baby in a dream and strangled him. She must not eat meat and cheese at this time, determined by the rule, and also perform other good deeds with the pain of her heart. And if this happened due to the intemperance of the parents (that is, excessive eating and heavy drinking or other unbridled passion), then it is similar to voluntary murder, but if it was due to slander and the action of the devil, then the matter is worthy of forgiveness, however, again, it needs appropriate prohibitions and penances, because this permission of God that happened to them was because of other, previous, or present, or future sins [159]. If an unbaptized child dies due to the negligence of his parents, the parents are excommunicated from communion for three years, observing dry eating during their time and propitiating God by kneeling, crying and alms within their power, as well as making forty bows every day. Interpretation. This rule imposes penance on those parents, because of whose negligence a child died unbaptized, decreeing that they should not receive communion for three years and observe dry eating, cry, give alms to the poor according to their strength, and make forty prostrations every day [160]. A nun who knew about adultery or child molestation of others and did not report it to the abbess receives the same penance as the one who does this according to the 71st rule of Basil the Great. (Cf.: Ancyra Council rule 25, Basil the Great rule 71.) Interpretation. This rule establishes that a nun who lives in a monastery with other nuns and who finds out that one of the nuns is committing adultery with someone [161] or was molested before she came of age [162], and who did not inform the abbess about this so that she could correct it, but kept silent, should be subject to the same penance as the one who committed the sin, because she could have prevented the evil and did not interfere, according to the 71st rule of Basil the Great. The law punishes those who abandon their babies at the entrance to the church as murderers, even if someone picks them up and takes them for themselves. Interpretation. This rule imposes murderer's penance on women who abandon their babies at church doors, even if someone takes them and raises them in their own home [164]. By our own free will, we excommunicate a repentant thief from communion for forty days, and a convicted thief for six months if he eats food after the ninth hour, observes dry eating, and makes one hundred prostrations every day. Interpretation. This rule imposes a forty-day penance on the thief, who himself will testify that he stole. To the one about whom others will testify, it imposes a penance of not receiving communion for six months, and also observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour, and making one hundred prostrations every day [165]. Anyone convicted of embezzlement, which refers to the so-called criminal thefts, does not enter into the priesthood, and even after accepting it, the person who falls into this is deprived of the priesthood, according to the 25th rule of the holy apostles. Interpretation. This rule prohibits a person convicted of criminal theft from being a priest, that is, a theft that entails a grave criminal penalty for the person who stole it. Also, if someone, being a priest, commits such a criminal theft, he is deposed, according to the 25th Apostolic Canon, which you should read. Criminal punishment is not only beheading or another type of death penalty, as Balsamon explains, interpreting the 25th chapter of the 9th title of the Nomocanon of Photius, but also exile, blinding, cutting off a hand, and the like. See also in the 9th chapter of our “Instructions to the Confessor” section “How to assign penances to thieves and murderers.” We decree that the grave digger should not take communion for one year, eating food after the ninth hour, observing dry eating and making two hundred bows every day. (Cf.: Basil the Great rule 66, Gregory of Nyssa rule 7.) Interpretation. This rule imposes on the person who opens coffins in order to steal something, the penance of not taking communion for one year, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour, and making two hundred prostrations every day [166]. See also in the 9th chapter of our “Instructions to the Confessor” section “How to assign penances to murderers.” Sacrilege, according to Saint Gregory of Nyssa, is punished by a shorter period of penance than adultery, which, for the sake of leniency, is reduced to three years. (Cf.: Holy Apostles canon 73, First and Second Councils canon 10, Gregory of Nyssa canon 8.) Interpretation. This rule imposes on the person who committed sacrilege the penance of not taking communion for three years, giving him the leniency that the Faster usually provides, on the condition that he observes dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour, and makes three hundred prostrations daily [167]. Note also here that since sacrilege is subject to penance for a shorter time than adultery, then the penance for it should not be three years, as for adultery, but less. See about this in the 13th rule of the Faster himself. We considered that, out of need (or without need), those who swore falsely should postpone the time of communion for one year if they eat food after the ninth hour, observe dry eating and make two hundred and fifty prostrations every day. (Cf.: Holy Apostles canon 25, Sixth Council canon 94, Basil the Great canon 10, 29, 63, 82.) Interpretation. This rule imposes a penance on those who swear falsely or break an oath out of need or needlessly not to receive communion for one year, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and making two hundred and fifty prostrations every day [168]. We show leniency to those who practice divination or the preparation of potions, reducing the time of repentance to three years, if they show diligence and choose to fast every day and, after the ninth hour, eat stale and dry food, living as simply as possible, and also perform two hundred and fifty bows, reverently touching their foreheads to the ground. With these penances we also correct women who make amulets and practice fortune telling. (Cf.: Sixth Council rule 61, Ancyra Council rule 36, Basil the Great rule 65, 72,83, Gregory of Nyssa rule 3.) Interpretation. Sorcerers and sorcerers, as well as women who make amulets and tell fortunes, are subject to a penance of not taking communion for three years and eating food after the ninth hour, observing dry eating and eating as much as is necessary in order not to die of hunger, and also making two hundred and fifty prostrations every day [169]. No woman - neither laywoman nor nun - is excommunicated from the church for any sin, but only from communion, for the rule says that we do this because many have killed themselves out of shame. The same applies to the presbyter and the deacon, according to what was said: “Do not take revenge twice in a row” 238. (Cf.: Holy Apostles canon 25, St. Basil the Great canon 34.) Interpretation. This rule prescribes not to excommunicate any woman for any sin - neither a laywoman nor a nun - from the church and from the assembly of the faithful, but only from divine communion, since the rule (34th of Basil the Great) forbids this, so that they do not commit suicide due to great shame. Also, a priest and deacon who have sinned are not excommunicated from the church, but only from communion of the holy mysteries, so as not to receive two punishments at the same time, according to the 25th canon of the Apostles and the 3rd of Basil the Great. And Balsamon, in his interpretation of the 34th rule of Basil, adds that if the sin of an adulterous woman is made public, then excommunication should also be imposed on her. It also follows from this rule, in view of the distinction he makes, that the divine Faster follows the rules of the divine councils and fathers, since if he here says that mortally sinful women should remain in the church, then it is obvious that he by default commands that mortally sinful men should leave the church, as is clearly stated in his Nomocanon, although now such a prohibition is not in effect. See the note to the 1st rule and what is said at the end of his rules and penances. If something unclean falls into a well or into a vessel with oil or wine, the one who eats from it for three days should not touch meat or cheese, and for seven days he should not receive communion. (Cf.: Holy Apostles rule 63, Sixth Council rule 63, Ancyra Council rule 2.) Interpretation. This rule stipulates that if something called unclean (for example, a mouse or something else) falls into a well or vessel with oil or wine, and someone eats or drinks from it [170], then a penance must be imposed on him for three days not to eat meat and cheese and for seven days not to receive communion. He who has vomited after divine communion is excommunicated for forty days from divine communion, daily reading the 50th Psalm during their course and making fifty bows, for whatever reason this happened, for even if he thinks that he did not give a reason for this, however, in any case, it was allowed for some other sins of his. Interpretation. Anyone who has vomited after communion, for whatever reason it happened, is subject to a penance of forty days not to receive communion, reading the 50th Psalm daily during their course, that is, “Have mercy on me, O God...”, and making fifty prostrations to the ground, because if the one to whom this happened was not to blame for this, he was allowed by God to fall into this temptation for some of his other sins [171]. Note that in some manuscripts we find the following three rules, signed with the name of St. John the Faster, and not erroneously: 1. It is not appropriate to receive the sacrament from the hands of a priest who does not observe abstinence from fish and oil on Wednesday and Friday, even if he is Orthodox [172]. 2. A man or woman who has slandered someone must bow to the ground forty times, saying with each bow: “Lord, have mercy on me.” 3. If two people have mutual enmity and one of them dies, then the living person must go to the grave of the deceased and cry and ask him for forgiveness, as if he were alive, observe dry eating on Wednesday and Friday (that is, if they are holidays on which fasting is canceled), make twenty bows in the morning and evening, pray to God for his deceased enemy and give prosphora and notes for him so that he is remembered. Add to this also the rule about blasphemers, which see in the corresponding chapter of “Instructions to the confessor.” Note that in one ancient manuscript codex there is the Nomocanon of the Faster, which also contains the following penances [173], in addition to those recorded above, mentioned by Vlastar, namely: 1. If someone falls with his stepmother, he receives penance for three years, fasting until the evening, observing dry eating and performing five hundred prostrations every day [174]. 2. If someone falls with a mother and daughter together, he receives penance for four years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing three hundred prostrations every day. 3. If someone falls into sodomy with two brothers, he receives penance for four years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing three hundred prostrations every day. 4. If someone falls into sodomy with his son-in-law, he receives penance for four years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing two hundred prostrations every day. 5. If someone falls with his daughter once, he receives penance for five years, but if more - for six and seven years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing five hundred prostrations every day. 6. If someone falls with his spiritual daughter from holy baptism once, he receives penance for eight years, if more - for ten years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing five hundred prostrations every day. 7. If someone falls with his godfather, he also receives penance for eight years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing three hundred prostrations every day. 8. If someone falls into sodomy with his brother, he receives penance for eight years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing four hundred prostrations every day. 9 . If the younger brother is subjected to sodomy by the elder, without committing sodomy himself, he receives penance for three years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing one hundred prostrations every day. 10. If someone falls with his mother once, he receives penance for seven years, but if many times - for twelve years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing five hundred prostrations every day. 11. If someone, having a wife, falls with cattle many times, he receives penance for eight years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing three hundred prostrations every day. If he did not have a wife and fell once or twice, or, at most, three times, then he receives penance for three years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing three hundred prostrations every day. The same penances must be imposed on a woman who has died with livestock. 12. If someone falls with his cousin, he receives penance for two years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing five hundred prostrations every day. 13. If someone, not having a lawful wife, falls with a pagan woman, that is, with a Jew or a Turkish woman, or a heretic, a penance is imposed on him to abstain from communion for three years, observe dry eating, eat food after the ninth hour and perform two hundred prostrations every day. The same penance must be imposed on a woman who does not have a lawful husband and who falls with a Jew or a Turk or a heretic. If a man who has a wife and a woman who has a husband fall with such pagan and heretical faces, then they receive penance for four or five years, observing dry eating every day and making two hundred and fifty prostrations [175]. 14. If the wife of a priest or deacon commits adultery, she receives penance for three years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing three hundred prostrations every day [176]. 15. If a woman falls with two brothers, she receives penance for three years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing two hundred bows every day [177]. 16. If a woman falls with a eunuch, she receives penance for three years, observing dry eating every day and making three hundred prostrations [178]. 17. If someone falls into sodomy with his wife, he receives penance for eight years, observing dry eating, eating food after the ninth hour and performing two hundred prostrations every day. The divine Faster also gives there the following general rules: 1. Those who are under penance and who do not receive communion must receive the Great Hagiasma on Maundy Thursday, Bright Week, and the feasts of the Nativity of Christ and the Holy Apostles. 2. Those who commit mortal sins and then insult the Divine mysteries and receive communion unworthily sin the most seriously, therefore penance should be imposed on them for a longer period of time than on those who sin and do not receive communion out of fear. 3. For those under thirty years of age who fall into sin, penance should be imposed more leniently than for those who sin over the age of thirty. 4. Those under penance and not receiving communion should leave the church during the Divine Liturgy when the priest exclaims: “Catechumens, come forth,” and stand in the vestibule. During Vespers and Matins they must stand in the church. The end of the rules and penances of the Faster Appendix to the second part. Some necessary items not included in the Faster rules 1. About those who renounced Christ Rule 73 of Basil the Great imposes a penance on those who renounce Christ of their own free will not to receive communion throughout their lives and to receive communion only before death. And the 2nd rule of St. Gregory of Nyssa also does not allow those who voluntarily renounce the holy mysteries throughout their entire lives. On those who renounced against their will because of violence and torture, he imposes penance, as on fornicators, that is, for nine years. See also rules 81 of Basil the Great, 11th of the First Council, 6th of the Council of Ancyra and 3rd of Peter of Alexandria. Nowadays, in the Church, the custom of dealing with those who have renounced Christ has become widespread in accordance with the rite of Methodius of Constantinople, that is, in the following way. If someone, as a child, falls into slavery and, out of fear or ignorance, renounces the faith, then, having returned to the faith, he listens to the usual cleansing prayers for seven days and on the eighth day he is washed and anointed with holy myrrh and then receives communion, staying after that for eight days in the church and being present daily at sacred services and divine rites. If someone was of full age and, being tortured, renounced, then he must first fast for eighty days, abstaining from meat, cheese, eggs, and on three days of the week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday - also from oil and wine [179]. After this, he listens to the same prayers for seven days, and then washes himself and, having also received the anointing with holy myrrh, receives communion. If someone voluntarily went and renounced, then he must observe a fast for two years, similar to the one we spoke about above, and make one hundred or two hundred prostrations according to his strength. After this, he listens to cleansing prayers and after seven days he washes himself and, having received the anointing with holy myrrh, receives communion, like those mentioned above. This is stated by Vlastar in the review of the rules of the Postnik and by Armenopoul in the 4th title of the 5th book of the “Abridged Statement of the Rules”. See also this rite and prayers in the Trebnik. Rule 16 of the Council of Ancyra divides those who fell with animals into three groups, for if they are twenty years old and they fall with animals several times, a penance of twenty years should be imposed on them to abstain from communion, but if they fall many times, a penance of twenty-five years should be imposed on them; and if they are over twenty years old and have wives, then they must receive communion after thirty years; if they are over fifty years old and have wives, then they should receive communion only before death. And the 4th rule of Saint Nyssa imposes a penance of nineteen years on those who molested animals. Basil the Great in the 7th rule imposes on the molesters of animals the same penance as on homosexuals and murderers, that is, twenty years, and in the 63rd rule he imposes on them the same penance as on adulterers, that is, fifteen years. Bestiality also includes birding with both males and females. See also about this in the penances of the Faster. 3. About second marriages and triple marriages A second-wed, according to the 4th rule of Basil the Great, is not allowed to enter into the divine mysteries for one year or two; according to the 2nd rule of St. Nikephoros and the 1st answer of Nikita of Irakli, a crown is also not placed on him, and, according to the 7th rule of the Neocaesarea Council and the same Nikita, the priest who blessed his marriage does not eat at his table. Gregory of Nyssa calls the third marriage lawlessness 239, and the 4th rule of Basil the Great - polygamy, the 80th rule - the most severe fornication and the 50th - uncleanness and desecration of the Church. Therefore, his 4th rule excommunicates trigamists from communion for five years [180]. And Joseph Bryennius says that first-married couples are betrothed and blessed, and are married, while bigamous couples are only betrothed and blessed, but are not married, while those who are three-married are only betrothed, and that only by condescension, and are not blessed and are not married 240 . 4. On the marriage of Orthodox Christians with heretics Canon 14 of the Fourth Council, canons 10 and 31 of the Laodicean and 29th Councils of Carthage prohibit Orthodox Christians from marrying heretics. Canon 72 of the Sixth Council dissolves and deprives of legal force marriages entered into by a generally Orthodox Christian or Christian woman with heretics. And the 34th answer of Balsamon says that an Orthodox person who has entered into marriage with a heterodox or heretical person is not allowed to partake of the divine mysteries unless he first gets divorced and does penance. Simeon of Thessalonica says the same thing, adding that this person can receive communion only at the end of his life, after the sacrament of anointing has been performed on him (that is, if he repents), and the priest cannot take out particles for such a person and accept prosphora and notes from him, but only wax and incense and sometimes (that is, not always) give him baptismal water and antidoron, and this is only so that he does not fall into despair, he must also command him to give alms 241. And the 12th constitution of the 5th title of the 1st book of the Code of Emperor Justinian says that if such parents (who somehow managed to get married) litigate, then the one who wants to make their children Orthodox wins 242. The 18th Constitution of the same title says the same thing 243. 5. About whose offerings are not accepted The “Apostolic Decrees” say that clerics and priests should not accept offerings and gifts from those accused in court, from those who do not want to repent of their sins, but are stubborn in them, from those who bring gifts to God not from righteous labors and acquisitions, but from the unrighteous and from those who take growth from their money 244. The 1st Rule of Saint Nikephoros and the 5th Answer of Peter, Chartophylax and Deacon of the Great Church, establish that priests should not accept prosphora and even incense from those who have a female concubine who is not married to them, and do not want to either marry her or leave her. Elijah of Crete says that the offerings of a father should not be accepted, with whose knowledge the children under his control commit fornication, because, having the opportunity to prevent sin, he does not force them to marry, but allows them to sin 245. And the previously named Peter says that neither prosphora nor incense are accepted from female harlots, because they are under penance. Simeon of Thessalonica says that those people who sin openly and do not abstain from sin are not subject to accepting offerings. See also the above-mentioned 6th chapter of the 4th book of the Apostolic Constitutions, which names by name those whose offerings are not accepted. See also in our “Instruction to the confessor” that offerings are not accepted for those who do not want to accept penance for their sins. 6. About fasting on Wednesday and Friday Canon 69 of the Holy Apostles prescribes that a bishop or a priest, or a deacon, or a subdeacon, or a reader, or a singer who does not fast on Holy Pentecost and on Wednesday and Friday should be deposed, and a layman who does this should be excommunicated, unless they are prevented from fasting by bodily illness. You see that the apostles included the fast of Wednesday and Friday with the fast of the Holy Pentecost. Therefore, just as during the fast of Pentecost a dry diet must be observed, which consists of eating once a day at the ninth hour, without eating oil or drinking wine, in the same way, on fasting days - Wednesday and Friday - a dry diet must invariably be observed. Therefore, Saint Epiphanius says: “The fast of Wednesday and the day before Saturday (that is, Friday) - until the ninth hour” 247, and Philostorgius also says that the fast of Wednesday and Friday is not limited only to abstinence from meat, but it is established not to eat food on these days until the evening 248. For this reason, Saint Benedict establishes fasting on Wednesday and Friday until the ninth hour 249 and Balsamon forbids eating skull-skinned animals on Wednesday and Friday 250, as during Pentecost. So, let some not say absurdities who claim that the fast of Wednesday and Friday is not an apostolic statute, for the apostles in their rules classify it with the fast of Great Pentecost 251, and in their decrees they classify it with the fast of Holy Week, saying: “It is necessary to fast in Great Week and on Wednesday and Friday” 252. But why do I say that this is the law of the apostles alone? This is the law of Christ Himself, for this is what the apostles say in book 5, chapter 15 of the “Ordinances”: “He Himself (that is, Christ) commanded us to fast on Wednesday and Friday” 253. We fast these days according to the Hieromartyr Peter: “on Wednesday, because on Wednesday the council of the Jews about the betrayal of our Lord took place, on Friday, because on Friday He suffered death for our salvation” 254. The divine Jerome says the same thing. Since the fast of Great Pentecost is equated to the fast of Wednesday and Friday, then, as a result, the measure of relief of these two fasts for the sick should be equal. Therefore, just as the 8th and 10th rules of Timothy allow a woman who gave birth on the Great Pentecost to drink wine and eat food sufficient for her to endure fasting, and also a person who is excessively exhausted from an extremely serious illness is allowed to eat oil, in the same way someone who is exhausted from a severe illness should receive permission to eat oil and drink wine. Therefore, the divine Jerome says: “On Wednesday and Friday it is not appropriate to break the fast unless there is great need.” Blessed Augustine says the same thing [181]. But since carnalists, wanting to break the fast of Lent and Wednesday and Friday, either put forward the pretext that they are sick, without being so, or, even being sick, say that oil and wine are not enough to strengthen their weakness, then because of these pretexts, the confessor or bishop should not believe only the words of the sick, but it is necessary to ask an experienced and God-fearing doctor and, on his instructions, allow the sick person to weaken the fast. We must also note that just as one should fast in relation to food on Wednesday and Friday, one should also fast in relation to carnal pleasures. Therefore, on these days, marriages should also not take place, since the divine Paul commands husbands and wives not to unite during prayer and fasting: Do not deprive yourself of each other, but by consent for a time, but continue in fasting and prayer 255. And the divine Chrysostom, citing as evidence the saying of Joel, which reads: Sanctify the fast... so that the groom may set aside his and the bride from her palace 256, says that if newlyweds, who have the strongest lust and blooming youth, and unbridled desire, should not copulate during fasting and prayer, much less other husbands and wives, not those who experience such violence from the flesh should not copulate? 257 Therefore, just as husbands and wives who do not abstain on Lent, not only should not, according to Balsamon, receive communion on Easter, but also need to be corrected by penances, 258 in the same way, husbands and wives who unite on Wednesday and Friday should be corrected by penances. As for fasting on Monday, although the regulations require monks to observe it, many laymen, and especially women, also observe it. The idea expressed by some prudent spiritual people about fasting on Monday is also worthy of mention and acceptance. It consists in the following. The Lord tells us that unless our righteousness is greater than the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, we will not be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven 259. Since the Pharisees fasted two days a week, as the Pharisee said: I fast twice on Saturday 260, then it means that we Christians need to fast three days a week so that our righteousness surpasses the righteousness of the Pharisees. And the divine Chrysostom clearly says that the Pharisees fasted on Wednesday and Friday, interpreting the words twice on Saturday 261, although Theophylact in his interpretation of the Gospel parable of the publican and the Pharisee and others claim that the Pharisees fasted on Monday and Thursday not according to the commandment, but according to tradition, believing that Moses ascended the mountain on Thursday, and came down from it on Monday 262 . Meletius the Confessor says that it is appropriate to fast on Monday, so that the week always begins with fasting 263. 7. About the fact that it is not proper to take interest, that is, interest Canon 44 of the Holy Apostles says that a bishop or priest or deacon who, when lending money, demands interest from debtors, must either abandon such a shameful passion for profit, or be deposed. The rules of the 10th Sixth and 4th Councils of Laodicea command the same thing, prohibiting those with holy orders from taking either twelve or six coins from a hundred coins 264 . And the 17th rule of the First Council prohibits not only those with holy orders, but also all clergy, that is, readers, singers and others, from taking interest. Canon 5 of the Council of Carthage, going further, says that clergy should not take interest not only from money, but also from all things that are lent. And the 20th rule of the same council says that if a cleric lends money, he must take back the same amount, and take back only such things as he gave. Rule 14 of St. Basil says that if someone who takes interest wants to become a priest, he must first distribute to the poor the money he took in excess of his debt, and then accept the priesthood. But it is also not appropriate for the laity to take interest, because if, as the divine Chrysostom says, the Jews did not take interest from other Jews, according to the commandment: Do not give your brother money for interest, and food for interest, and all sorts of things for interest, if you give back to him 265, then what answer will we, Christians, have to give for being more hard-hearted than the Jews themselves, after the manifestation of the grace of the Gospel and the incarnate economy of Christ? 266 And Basil the Great, interpreting the saying of the 14th Psalm, which reads: You will not give your silver for interest, 267 says that this is truly inhumane: a beggar borrows from a rich man to console himself in his misfortune, while the rich are not content with wealth, but strive to receive profit and interest from the misfortune of the beggar 268. Growth 269, that is, birth, interest is called because of its great fertility and increase in evil, since money lenders, when they lend it, are simultaneously born, and others are already ready to be born. Or, rather, growth is called birth because it naturally causes sorrow and illness of childbirth among debtors, and both for a pregnant woman the pain of birth is sorrowful, and for the debtor it is sorrowful when the appointed time comes to pay interest 270 . Therefore, the short stories of King Leo decree: “Although the kings who were before us allowed interest due to the hard-heartedness of the lenders, we, however, decided that it would be fair to completely remove it from the lives of Christians as unusual for their life and prohibited by divine laws. Therefore, our quietness commands that absolutely no one be allowed to take interest under any circumstances, so that, wishing to preserve the human law, we do not transgress the law of God. If any lender takes it, it should be considered his debt.” Let the conclusion of what has been said be the 32nd canon of St. Nicephorus the Confessor, which establishes that priests should not give communion to clergy and laity who do not want to stop taking interest, and no one should even eat with them. And the divine apostles in their “Ordinances” 271 command not to accept the offerings of those who take interest. For if it is not proper for Christians to lend in the hope of getting back even what they have given, as the Lord says: If you give in return, you expect to receive from them, what grace is there for you? 272 and also: Give in return, expecting nothing 273 - if, as I say, Christians should not take back even what they have given, shouldn’t they even take interest at all? And what do I say: Christians? Even the Jews were sometimes commanded to forgive the debt itself to their debtors. For God commanded them that if shortly before the beginning of the seventh year (for example, ten months, or five, or less), in which all the debts of debtors were forgiven, some poor and needy person came and asked them to borrow money, they would not be disingenuous in view of this seventh year of forgiveness and would not refuse to give their beggar brother as much as he needed, but they would give it to him and not be upset because they would have to do it all. forgive when the seventh year comes: Take heed to yourself, lest the word of iniquity be hidden in your heart, saying: the seventh year of vindication is near, and your eye will deceive your brother who demands it, and do not give it to him, and he will cry out against you to the Lord, and your sin will be great; by giving and giving him... he will ask as much as he demands... for because of this word the Lord your God will bless you in all your deeds, and in everything upon which you lay your hand 274. If it is generally not appropriate for the laity to take interest, how much more so for the monks, who promise to observe non-covetousness and are obliged to live the highest and holiest life and be an example of all virtue and all goodness for the laity? Therefore, confessors should impose a penance on monks who take interest and do not want to give up this shameful passion for profit, as unworthy, to abstain from divine mysteries until they correct themselves. 8. About clergy and monks entering into marriage after ordination and taking on the monastic form Canon 26 of the Holy Apostles states that only readers and singers can marry after ordination. All others, that is, elders, deacons and subdeacons, are not allowed to marry after ordination. And the 6th rule of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, confirming the same rule of the apostles, says, moreover, that if a presbyter or deacon, or subdeacon dares to marry after ordination, then he must be deposed. The 1st rule of the Neocaesarea Council says the same thing. And Canon 15 of the Fourth Council prescribes that a woman who, being a deaconess, offends the grace of God and gets married, is excommunicated along with the man who took her as his wife. In addition, the 2nd constitution of the 1st title of Novellas, as well as the 6th novella of King Leo, prescribe that the bishop who gave the subdeacon or deacon permission to marry after consecration, depose and expel from the diocese 275 [182]. And the 44th constitution of the 3rd title decrees that children born to priests, deacons and subdeacons who married after ordination should not be considered either natural children or illegitimate, and cannot even receive anything from such lawless fathers, either as an inheritance, or as a gift or a legally formalized debt or some other obligation - neither they themselves nor their mothers - but that's all their property should be received by the local church. And the guilty themselves, after being deprived of the priesthood, cannot be elevated to any civil or military rank, but must spend their entire lives as private individuals of low rank 277. All these penances are imposed on clergymen who marry after ordination, if they were not monks. If they were at the same time monks, then, in addition to the above-mentioned penances of the sacred rules and the penalties of civil laws, the following penances established for married monks, which we will talk about later, should also be imposed on them. If someone wants to refer to the 10th canon of the Council of Ancyra, which says that a deacon who has married after ordination can continue to serve, we will answer that the Council of Ancyra did not say this simply and unconditionally, but added that he can continue to serve if, when he was ordained, he testified that he wants to get married after ordination, since he cannot maintain his virginity, and the bishop, having heard this, without saying anything, he ordained him. The deacons being ordained now do not testify at their ordination that they cannot maintain virginity, but are silent - and their silence indicates the consent of their will, according to Gregory the Theologian 278. It follows from this that by silence they show that they agree to observe celibacy, just as the monks agreed to observe it, who were silent when they took monasticism, according to the 19th rule of Basil the Great. We should also know that the fornication of those dedicated to God (that is, either monks and nuns or clergy and priests, according to Balsamon and Zonara) 279, as the 6th rule of the same great Basil says, is not considered marriage, but their relationship should be dissolved in all possible ways. Therefore, hieromonks who married after ordination, as well as deacons, regardless of whether they were monks or not, must, of course, separate from women with whom they entered into unlawful marriage, and this separation of their illegal cohabitation is very useful for the Church, according to the aforementioned 6th rule of Basil, firstly, because others will not do similar things, and secondly, because the guilt against priesthood, and thirdly, because heretics will not find a reason to accuse us of this. And after separation from them, they must receive the penance of fornicators (if not to say adulterers) and then they can already receive communion. For the marriage of such people is fornication, and not marriage, according to the mentioned 6th rule of Basil. In addition, after the dissolution of an unlawful marriage and repentance, they must, according to the 21st canon of the Sixth Council, wear the robes of clergy, and not walk like laymen. If they do not want to wear it voluntarily, then they must be forced to do so, according to the 7th and 8th stories of Leo. The above applies to clergy. If any monk or nun gets married, the 16th canon of the Fourth Council commands that they be excommunicated. And the 44th rule of the Sixth Council imposes penance on a married monk as on a fornicator. The 19th rule of Basil the Great does the same. Rule 19 of the Council of Ancyra subjects those who violate the vow of virginity to penance for second-weds, that is, it prohibits them from receiving communion for one year. However, Basil the Great in his 18th rule, mentioning the fathers of this of the Council of Ancyra, says that these fathers only out of condescension established this rule for virgins who renounced the vow of virginity (note at the same time: Basil the Great says that what was established by the fathers of the Council of Ancyra regarding men was also established by them regarding women), since, in his opinion, those who violated the vow of virginity are subject to the penance of an adulteress (and not just a harlot) as a bride Heavenly Bridegroom of Christ, and he who lives with her is called an adulterer in the same way as he who lives with the wife of another man is called an adulterer. The same Basil the Great subjects virgins and monks who renounced their vows to the same penance of adultery in his 60th rule. The divine Chrysostom, in his letter to Theodore the Fallen, says that a married monk commits a sin as worse as adultery, insofar as God is higher than men 280. All these penances are imposed on married monks after their lawless and adulterous marriage is first dissolved, according to the often mentioned 6th rule of Basil. If they are in evil and do not want to divorce and reform, Basil the Great commands in his ascetic writings 281 that no one opens the door of his house to receive them, even if it is cold outside and they are looking for somewhere to hide. And this must be done not out of hatred, but so that they will be ashamed, as Paul says 282, and correct themselves. And in his message to the fallen monk, he says that we should not even welcome such people. Saint Nicephorus says the same thing in his 24th canon, and in the 34th canon he also adds that a monk who is married and does not repent must be excommunicated from communion, clothed against his will in monastic clothes and imprisoned in a monastery. The royal laws also agree with Saint Nicephorus. Thus, the 7th and 8th short stories of King Leo command that monks who have thrown off their monastic robes and become laymen should be brought to the abandoned monastic image against their will. The penances, which, as we said, are imposed on monks, are also imposed on nuns who have entered into marriage. And men who corrupt them or take them as wives are punished by sacred rules and royal laws. Thus, the 4th rule of the Sixth Council deposes clergy who corrupt a woman dedicated to God, and excommunicates the laity. And the 2nd chapter of the 1st title of Novell says that both those who corrupted an ascetic or a nun and those who contributed to this corruption should be punished with the death penalty, and all their property should be taken by the worldly rulers and given to the monastery of the corrupted nun 283 . Also, according to the 5th chapter of the 3rd title of the 1st book of the Code of Laws, whoever kidnapped or attempted to marry a nun is punished with death, and the nun who followed him is placed with her belongings in a monastery and kept under strict guard. Armenopulus, in book 6, title 3, also says that the noses of those who commit fornication with nuns and the nuns corrupted by them should be cut off 284 . 9. About the monastic image and monastic attire The monastic image, initially and from ancient times, was one and only, that is, great, and those who became monks after the test established by the rules [183] ​​immediately became monks of the great schema, taking monastic vows once, and not two or three. Therefore, Saint Theodore the Studite, who is an expert and exemplary in these subjects, commands the abbot in his will: “Do not give to anyone the so-called small schema (that is, manatean), and then the great one, because the schema is the same, like baptism, and the holy fathers treated it the same way” 285. If someone refers to a prayer published in one book along with the “Catechetical Teachings” of this Saint Theodore, which says that its compiler first accepted the small schema, and then the great one, and claims that it is the creation of the same Saint Theodore, then we will answer that their statement is erroneous, for it is the creation not of Saint Theodore, but of a certain Theodosius and, as is clear from it, compiled from various sources. And the great luminary of Thessalonica, Gregory Palamas, in his letter to Hieromonk Paul Asen, also writes: “This is a great monastic image, but the fathers do not know the small monastic image, but some of the later ones, apparently, divided it into two. However, by pronouncing the same question-answers and vows both during the minor and the great tonsure, they again restore one image” 286. Like them, Blessed Simeon of Thessalonica says: “...as baptism is one and only, so is the monastic image, for the small schema is the guarantee and beginning of the great schema and was invented by some late fathers for the sake of human weakness (or laziness)” 287 . The Breviary, as well as Balsamon 288, the small schema of the manatean monks is called the pledge of the great schema. Job, called Amartol, adds (in the chapter “On the Sacraments” in the Syntagmation of Chrysanth of Jerusalem 289) a third schema, saying: “The monastic image ascends from the lesser to the most perfect: from what is called the small image and the cassock to the holy image of monastic tonsure, and from this to what is called the great angelic.” Note here that he is the only one who calls the ryassophore a small schema, while all the others call the mantle a small schema. The Trebnik also contains three different rites: the Rasophora, the Lesser Schema and the Great Schema. To what has been said, it must be added that those who have become cassock monks can no longer throw off their cassock and get married - far from it! For how can they dare to do this after they have shorn the hair of their head, which means that they have rejected all worldly wisdom from their head and dedicated their lives to God? How - after they received the blessing to put on a monastic cassock and kamilavka and changed their name, and after the priest read two prayers over them, in which the priest thanks God for delivering them from worldly life and calling them into honest monastic rank, and asks God to accept them under His saving yoke? And if someone who has given a simple verbal promise to become a monk and has not yet put on the cassock while reading the prayer should not break his promise (as we said in the “Instructions to the Confessor,” in Chapter 9), then how can someone dressed in the cassock while reading the prayer break it? Therefore, Balsamon says that someone who has put on a cassock cannot become a layman again and should be forced to fulfill his original intention, that is, to become a perfect monk 290. If he does not obey, then he must be punished, as the royal laws command in the 1st title of the 4th book 291. As for the monks of the minor schema, that is, the manateans, they are in double danger. For, on the one hand, they are obliged to strictly observe the rules of life of the monks of the great schema, since they also made the same vows that the monks of the great schema give to God, as the above-mentioned divine Gregory said, and God adorned them with the same clothes (except for some), and they were honored with the same prayers (except for three). Therefore, it is not appropriate for those who say that they are not yet monks of the great schema and therefore should not strictly observe the rules of monastic life to be guilty of sins. This is the devil's delusion. On the other hand, they must strive to accept the perfect, great schema, that is, to become schema-monks, and they should not neglect this and not delay time, but be afraid that death will occur and they will not appear imperfect before God, without becoming perfect monks. For, just as betrothal is imperfect in comparison with marriage, so the small schema of manatean monks, being betrothal, is imperfect in comparison with the great schema, and therefore those who accepted it are imperfect monks. Therefore, Blessed Simeon of Thessalonica commands: “...those who have not accepted the perfect schema must become perfect, so as not to die imperfect, without the most perfect rite of the schema... and just as someone who is not baptized is not a Christian, so someone who has not accepted the perfect schema (that is, who has not become a monk of the great schema) is not a monk.” And what can we call this madness: manatean monks must lead the same life and strive in the same way as the monks of the great schema, since they made the same vows to God, and at the same time are not monks of the great schema; they only endure labor, but are deprived of the gift; they grow old, leading a monastic life, but are not yet considered monks; they endure the same abuse and the same feats and after that they are not worthy to receive the same crown?! Is it possible to find a greater loss? And what could be more ridiculous than a monk who has lived twenty or thirty years in a small schema and after that comes to accept the great schema, who is asked: “Why have you come, brother?”, who answers: “Desiring an ascetic life, honest father,” who reveals himself as a layman, who is asked questions like a layman, and who answers like a layman? If the current manatean monks are asked why they do not accept the great schema, then some answer that the great image is terrible and angelic, others - that they are waiting for their old age to become monks of the great schema, and still others find some other excuse to justify their negligence, and so most of them refuse and do not accept the great schema. And in the end, because of these unreasonable reasons, out of the thousands and thousands of monks living in the world, only a few die as schema monks, and even those accept the great schema either because they are completely old, or because their life was threatened by a fatal illness, or because some other circumstance forced them to do so. Few accept it, being healthy and young, with all their desire, without any external reasons. All the rest die as manateans, that is, imperfect monks and only betrothed to Christ, and not having entered into a marriage union with Him. And in this respect, they are similar to those ancient Christians who, finding excuses similar to those mentioned, postponed baptism for a while and did not accept baptism, which is why many of them died, remaining catechumens and unbaptized. That is why Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory of Nyssa and other divine fathers spoke so many admonishing words about baptism, urging them not to postpone it for a while, but to be baptized while still young and healthy, in order to be able to work in gratitude for the gift they received. Similar words of exhortation should be spoken today in order to encourage today’s monks to accept the second baptism, that is, the great and perfect schema. But we, leaving behind the verbosity, will tell them only the following few and most essential things. Those who have renounced the world and entered the path of monastic life, of necessity, sooner or later, must accept the great and perfect schema, because if they do not accept it, they will not be monks, as was shown above. For the schema is one, just like baptism, and its image, meaning, and perfect degree is the great schema, or, better to say, the true schema, which has also been shown. So, more precisely, more correctly and better, monks will act if they immediately accept the great schema, without first accepting the small one, as the more sensible ones do: firstly, because by accepting it one single time, they will actually show that the monastic image is one and only, as the tradition of the holy fathers looks at it, and secondly, because, having accepted the schema young and healthy, they will be able to work in gratitude for the gift received and subsequently multiply and to increase the talent of their Lord, that is, the spiritual power mysteriously bestowed on their soul by the divine schema [184], through the battle that they will wage with demons, through victory over passions and through the gifts that they will receive from the Holy Spirit. If anyone objects that Athanasius of Athos, Dunale the Confessor and others accepted first the small schema, and then, after some time, the great one, then we will answer that individual cases are not the law of the Church, according to Gregory the Theologian 293, and anything contrary to the rules cannot be considered an example. Those who accept the great schema, after accepting the small one, say the same question-answers twice, listen to the same prayers twice, put on the same monastic vestments twice, and thereby show that they are twice accepting the same monastic image, and this is almost as absurd as repeating holy baptism twice. Now let's talk about the items of clothing of monks. The monks of the minor schema, that is, the manateans, have four of them. Chiton, that is, the so-called cassock or lower cassock, depicting the chiton of joy and truth, in which a monk is clothed, according to Simeon of Thessalonica and the Trebnik. A leather belt tightening the belly and kidneys, where the concupiscible part of the soul is located, depicting the mortification of carnal desires, chastity, abstinence and the monk’s readiness for service, according to the Trebnik, Simeon, Cyril of Jerusalem [185], Dorotheus and Sozomen. Pallium is a word borrowed from the Latin language, meaning outer clothing or cape, as Simeon of Thessalonica and Abba Isaac call it. And Screvellius in his Lexicon translates the word “pallium” as “chlamys,” that is, a cloak. This is what today is called the outer, or outer, cassock: firstly, because the pallium, as we said, is clothing, and the outer cassock is also clothing, and at the same time monastic clothing, and, what is especially important, outer clothing; secondly, because the upper cassock borrows the name of the mantle, therefore the order of the minor schema is called in the Breviary the order of the mantle, for many call the upper cassock the mandorassa; and, thirdly, because the mandorya, which serves the manatean monks and monks of the great schema as a small and second mantle, is more suitable for the name “paramand” than that small quadrangle, which many today call out of ignorance paramand and wear on the chest. Therefore, I am surprised: truly, what blessed person invented it and included it among the items of clothing for monks established by the fathers, although it is neither a paramand in the literal sense of the word, nor clothing at all? Therefore, the priests who have now learned about this should, when they tonsure a monk, instead of this small quadrangle, bless the upper cassock and give it to the monk to wear as a pallium, so that when giving the monk the upper cassock, they do not give it as a joke, without a blessing. However, if someone, adhering to custom, wants to wear this small quadrangle on top of the cassock, having it on himself as an image of the cross, let him wear it without a blessing, just as he wears a kamilavka and a nametka, which does not seem absurd to me. And the pallium and outer cassock represent the clothing of incorruptibility and honesty and the divine cover and protection, according to the Trebnik and Simeon of Thessalonica. There are, in addition to this, sandals, that is, shoes, indicating that it is appropriate for a monk to walk the path of the gospel of peace willingly and without stumbling, and that, just as shoes are located below and under the whole body, so the body of a monk should be under the authority of the soul, according to the Breviary, Simeon and Cyril of Jerusalem. So, we talked about the items of clothing of a manatean monk. And the monk of the great schema has, in addition to them, three more: cuculium, analava and mantle [186]. Kukuliy depicts, according to the Trebnik, the helmet of salvation, according to Simeon and Cyril of Jerusalem, the overshadowing of Divine grace, reflecting worldly thoughts, and according to Sozomen and Abba Dorotheus, gentleness and humility. Analav, which Sozomen also calls anavoleium and which, according to Simeon, is made of leather, is now called polystavrion 294. He shows that the monk takes upon himself 295 the cross of the Lord and follows Him, according to the Trebnik, Simeon and Dorotheus. And the fact that it has crosses in front and behind shows, according to Cyril of Jerusalem, that the world must be crucified for the monk by moving away from it, and the monk must also be crucified for the world through impartiality towards it, according to what was said: The world was crucified to me and to the world 296. The mantle (which Sozomen calls a sleeveless tunic, and Dorotheus calls a kolovium), covering all other clothes, shows, according to Simeon of Thessalonica, that a monk wrapped in it is like a dead man lying in a coffin. А согласно To Sozomen and Abba Dorotheos, the robe, which does not have sleeves, shows that the monk should not raise his hands against anyone or do anything characteristic of an old man. The breadth of the mantle means, according to Cyril of Jerusalem, the inspiration of angels, since the monastic image is called angelic. The mantle, as Abba Dorotheos says, also had a red stripe, which served as a symbol that the monks were warriors of the Heavenly King. These are the established and prescribed robes of a monk, which are also worn by virgins and nuns. As for the kamilavka and basting, they are given without much prayer. Some read, when giving them, the prayer and blessing of the cuculium, since they were invented by the later fathers instead of the cuculium. Our Greek monks of the Great Schema should also wear a mantle in the same way as the pious Russian and Wallachian monks of the Great Schema wear it - if not always, then at least at church services and during divine communion - since the mantle is the most characteristic attire of the monks of the Great Schema, however, they (with the exception of a few), having changed the rank, are content with one paramand, that is, the outer cassock, or Mandoryasa, which we said above, which should not happen. Let us add to what has been said as an appendix that every Christian can choose the monastic life and wear the monastic schema, even if he has committed some sin or lives in the world, and no one can forbid him from doing so, according to the prescription of the 43rd rule of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. And we added this for some ignorant confessors who prohibit those guilty of murder, witchcraft and other similar grave sins from accepting monasticism. However, they and everyone else can become monks after passing the three-year trial established by the rules in the presence of a successor - a virtuous and God-loving elder, according to the 2nd and 5th rules of the Double Council. 10 That monks and hieromonks should live in their monasteries, and not be in the world, engaged in church and civil affairs Rule 4 of the Holy Ecumenical Fourth Council prescribes the following: “Let those who truly and sincerely pursue monastic life be awarded due honor. But since some use monastic clothing for the sake of appearance and falsely in order to gain honor, and bring confusion into church and civil affairs, wanting to control them, and go around the cities at their own will, and also try to establish their own monasteries, it seems plausible that no monk should establish or create, either in a village, or in a city, or in the desert, or in any other place, a monastery or a house of prayer without the permission of the local bishop. Monks located in every city and village must obey the local bishop and remain silent, engaged only in prayer and fasting, and live in those monasteries where they were tonsured, without leaving them and without committing themselves to church and civil affairs, except only in those cases if, out of necessity and necessity, they are appointed for this by the bishop, who judged that they are needed... Let anyone who violates this rule be excommunicated, so that the monastic order is not blasphemed and because of it the name of God is not blasphemed.” Therefore, Peter Chartophylax, following this sacred rule, also says that it is not appropriate for monks to receive children from holy baptism (unless there is a great need, when the baby is in danger and another recipient cannot be found), nor to enter into twinning, nor to hold crowns, for this is contrary to the rules 297. And Nicephorus Chartophylax says that the Church strictly instructs abbots and abbots of monasteries that monks should not engage in twinning and nepotism, while the law does not recognize fraternity at all 298 . Consequently, according to the above rule, the so-called hieromonks should not be ordained to serve in parish churches and serve in them, for they too are monks by name and took a vow to maintain virginity, as we said earlier, in Subject 8. Therefore, they should be ordained and live, performing sacred service, in monasteries, and not in the world and in secular churches. Therefore, Michael of Constantinople, called the master of philosophers, 299 decreed, in confirmation of what was said, with his entire sacred council of holy bishops, that all sacred rites in the world should be performed by married and lay priests, and not by hieromonks. Hieromonks should be in their monasteries, as Balsamon says in the scholium on the 3rd chapter of the 1st title of Nomocanon Photius. Likewise, Peter, Chartophylax of the Great Church, says that marriage cannot be blessed 300 either by a hieromonk or in a monastery 301 . Therefore, the bishops who ordain such hieromonks in cities act contrary to the rules and must correct this outrage, since for all the bad things and for all the sins that these hieromonks commit while in the world and following worldly lusts, the bishops who ordained them must be punished for everything and must give an answer. For the divine Chrysostom said about it this way: “Do not tell me that the presbyter or the deacon sinned - the guilt of them all falls on the head of those who ordained them” 302. However, if there is need and necessity, the bishop is allowed, in accordance with the divine rule briefly stated above, to elect the most virtuous and reasonable hieromonks in monasteries and appoint them as confessors in secular churches or teachers in schools, or to have them in his metropolis as brethren and spiritual family for the benefit of the people. Part 3. A skilfully written and brief advice to the penitent on how he should confess, compiled from the writings of various teachers for the general benefit of those reading The brethren who are in Christ rejoice Just as in the rite of nature God made sure not only that we were born into life healthy, but also that we could restore health when we were sick physically, with the help of baths and various medicines, so in the rite of Grace He made sure not only that we were reborn spiritually healthy through Holy Baptism, but also that we regain spiritual health when we became sick mentally, with the help of some cleansing agent. font and miraculous healing, which is the sacrament of sacred confession. For confession, on the one hand, is truly a kind of font in which they wash themselves and immediately emerge relieved from the burden of the sinful soul that burdens them, allegorically represented by Solomon in the Song of Songs: Like a flock of shorn ones that came out of the font 303 . Therefore, Theodoret, interpreting these words, says: “It is worthy of investigation whether he did not call those who come from sin to repentance a flock of goats” 304, and Psellus writes: “... cleansed by the font of conscience” 305. It is a font in which all the defilements of sins are washed and destroyed, according to the divine Chrysostom, who says: “...Confession of committed sins leads to the destruction of sins” 306, and which is made for the repentant by a second baptism, more difficult than the first baptism, but just as necessary for salvation as it is, according to Gregory the Theologian: “I also know the fifth (baptism) - through tears, which, however, is more painful" 307. On the other hand, confession is a kind of healing that is so effective that it instantly neutralizes every poison of venial and mortal sin, which is infinite evil, destroys every invisible disease and returns the soul to its original health and Grace. She is a medicine that is so miraculous that the sinner, who previously because of sin was like an ox, like Nebuchadnezzar, or a pig, like Tiridates, or a devil, like Judas, about whom it is said: And one of you is the devil, 308 - in an instant it makes like a beautiful angel, or, to put it briefly, it is a medicine that is so miraculous that it transforms a sinner from condemned to free, from carnal into spiritual, from a slave of the devil into a son of God and from one guilty of eternal torment into an heir of the Heavenly Kingdom. It is a medicine that, in terms of the supernatural effect it produces, surpasses all the works of nature as a whole, since the justification that it so many times bestows on the soul of a sinner is an incomparably greater work than God’s creation of another, new world - if He wanted to create it - for Sirach also speaks about this allegorically: There is no measure for every worthy soul worthy of abstinence 309 . However, unfortunately, this cleansing font and this miraculous healing, that is, the most beneficial confession, has today become a sacrament of very little use for Christians who, thinking that they are being cleansed in this font, did not even have time to wash themselves, according to Solomon: “A righteous child judges evil for himself, and is not washed away from filthiness” 310. For some of them either do not confess at all, or confess very briefly, preferring, because of their wretchedness, to wallow like animals in the mud of their sins and not wanting to rush to this font and be cleansed, while others, in turn, although they confess, they do not do it as they should, since they do not confess with a proper examination of conscience and their sins, not with the necessary contrition and tenderness, not with a decisive desire not to sin again and not with due satisfaction, which are the components of a godly confession, but without testing, without contrition, without determination, without satisfaction and only according to custom, for example, because Easter, Christmas or Epiphany is coming. Therefore, by confessing so badly and thinking that they are confessing well, these unfortunates are actually mistaken and suffer great damage. For this reason, we, grieving over such great damage and error of our Christian brothers, have worked hard to collect from the writings of various teachers this brief advice to the penitent and with its help to encourage non-confessing sinners to confess constantly, and to explain to those who confess poorly how to confess so that their confession would be pleasing to God and multi-useful and, therefore, so that they could have firm confidence in God’s forgiveness of their sins through their confessor. So, my sinner friends, I ask you, accept this advice with joy, and let those who, like me, have desecrated their souls with various sinful impurities, hasten to this cleansing font of sacred confession to be cleansed. Wash yourself and be clean, God commands you through the prophet Isaiah, take away wickedness from your souls 311. Those of you who have mental ulcers in your soul and whose wounds, according to David, have grown stale and rotten in the face of your madness 312 , let them resort to this miraculous medicine in order to be healed. And those who confess poorly now, let them take care, for the sake of love for God and for their souls, to confess from now on correctly and as it should be. Having received the indicated benefit, I earnestly ask you to make a small prayer to God for the souls of those who worked for this and contributed to this, and especially for the soul of the one who issued this advice for your common benefit. Naaman first washed himself in the streams of the Jordan. Seven times he was cleansed from leprosy. Every evil person is cleansed again in the depths of repentance, Here, too, he washes away the filth of idle words. The Jordan served as an image of repentance: In it, John cleansed the guilty people. Chapter 1. How to prepare for confession About what repentance is Confess... your sins to each other. Иак.5:16 . My brother sinner, when you want to repent and confess, you need to prepare for it in the following way. Know, first of all, that repentance, according to the divine John of Damascus 313, is a turning from the devil to God, accomplished with labor and feat. So, my beloved, if you want to repent as it should be, then you must also leave the devil and the works of the devil and return to God and life according to God, leave sin, which is contrary to nature, and return to the virtue inherent in nature, hate evil so much that you can say with David: I have hated unrighteousness and have abhorred 314, and, on the contrary, love goodness and the commandments of the Lord so much strongly, so that you can say with him: I have loved Your law 315, and also: For this reason I have loved Your commandments more than gold and topaz 316. And let's say briefly, the Holy Spirit, proclaiming through the wise Sirach that there is true repentance, gives you the following advice: Turn... to the Lord and leave your sins... ascend to the Most High and turn away from unrighteousness, and hate abomination 317. And about what true repentance and its fruits are, look in the word placed at the end. About how many components of repentance there are Know, secondly, that there are three components of repentance: contrition, confession and satisfaction [187]. About what contrition is Contrition is sorrow and complete pain of the heart [188], which arises in a person due to the fact that he has upset God with his sins and transgressed His divine law. It is also characteristic of perfect sons, since it comes only from love for God, that is, a son repents in this way only because he has upset his father, and not because he must lose his father’s inheritance or be expelled from his father’s house. In addition to contrition, there is also sadness, which is also sorrow and heart disease, but not perfect, arising not because a person has upset God with his sins, but because he has lost Divine grace, lost Paradise and inherited hell. It is characteristic of imperfect people, that is, mercenaries and slaves, since it does not come from love for God, but from fear and love for oneself, that is, this is how a mercenary repents because he has lost his pay, and a slave because he is afraid of receiving punishment from his master [189]. So, my brother sinner, if you want to have this contrition and sadness in your heart, so that thanks to them your confession will be pleasing to God, you need to do the following. About the fact that one should confess to the most experienced confessors First of all, ask and find out which confessor is the most experienced, for Basil the Great says that just as people do not reveal bodily illnesses and wounds to everyone, but only to experienced doctors who know how to treat them, so sins should not be revealed to the first person they meet, but to those who are able to heal them: “Confession of sins is like the discovery of bodily illnesses. For just as people do not reveal bodily illnesses to everyone, not to the first people they meet, but to those experienced in treating them, so sins should be confessed to those who are able to heal them, according to what is written: ... You who are strong bear the infirmities of the weak 318, that is, heal with zeal” 319. How to examine your conscience Secondly, concentrate, my brother, and just as you sit down and count what monetary loss you have suffered over many days in your business, sit down two or three weeks before you go to your confessor (and first of all, at the beginning of the four major fasts of the year [190]), and in deep silence, bowing your head, make an examination of your conscience, which Philo the Jew calls “the judgment of conscience.” 320, and be “not a defender, but a judge of your sins,” according to the words of St. Augustine. You too will count all the time of your life with sorrow and bitterness of your soul, like Hezekiah, who says: “I will count all my years in the sorrow of my soul” 321. Or, at least, count how many sins you have committed in deed, word and agreement with thoughts [191] since you confessed for the last time. Count them for each month, from months to weeks and from weeks to days. Remember the people you sinned with, the places where you sinned, and think carefully to see all your sins. This is advised to you, on the one hand, by the wise Sirach, who says: Before judgment, test yourself 322, and on the other, by Gregory the Theologian, who said: “Test yourself more than the affairs of others. It is better to think about business than about money, for the latter disappear, but the former remain” 323. And just as hunters are not content with finding the beast in the thicket, but try with all their might to kill it, so you, my brother sinner, do not be content with testing your conscience and seeing your sins, because this alone will bring you little benefit, but strive with all your might to kill your sins with the help of the pain of your heart, that is, contrition and sorrow. And in order to acquire contrition, think about the great damage caused by your sins to God. In order to acquire sadness, think about the great damage caused by your sins to yourself. That Sin Causes Triple Damage to God So, starting with the first, think about the damage your sins have done to God. First, think about the fact that with your sins you have offended and dishonored the Most High and Great God, you, worm, the Almighty, you, rot, the Creator of everything, you, insignificance, an infinite Being, since you have transgressed His law, as it is written: By transgressing the law of God you are dishonored 324. Secondly, think about the fact that because of your sins you have shown yourself to be a slave and a son, ungrateful towards such an all-merciful Lord and most loving Father, Who has loved you from the ages not because of any of your merits, but solely out of His goodness and in His God-initiated thought, He decided to create you, although He could have created others instead of you. You have shown yourself to be ungrateful towards such a God, who gave you existence, created you in His image and likeness, gave you a body with all its feelings and a soul with all its powers, made you the king of all earthly creatures, provided you with food, clothing, housing to this day, commanded all material creatures to serve you, freed you from so many troubles, from so many diseases and from such great poverty that others experience, gave you an angel so that he always stands next to you and protects you. You have shown yourself to be ungrateful towards Your Benefactor, Who arranged for you to be born of Christian parents, honored you with His sacraments so many times, made you His son through Holy Baptism, delivered you from the hands of the devil, became a Man for your sake, shed His blood to the last drop to make you the heir of His Kingdom, waited for your repentance so many times after you sinned, condemning many others for sins less than yours, who follows you everywhere you go, knocks on your heart, although you do not accept Him, talks to you, loves you, begs you, because he wants your salvation. To put it briefly, you have shown yourself to be ungrateful towards such a Master, Who has given you so many blessings - natural, gracious, general, private, hidden, obvious - and, what is most terrible of all, having received all these gifts, you, an ungrateful creature, dared to repay Him for it in front of His eyes with your malice. Ah, my brother sinner, if some person like you wanted to do you one of all these benefits, you would not know how to thank him. And after not just any man, but the Most High God, the Creator of all angels, has done you so many good deeds, you, on the contrary, show such ingratitude towards Him! Marvel, brother, marvel at how the earth carried you and did not open up to swallow you alive! Marvel how the sky did not send out lightning to burn you, how the air, which you desecrated with your sins, did not turn its poisonous breaths on you to poison you, and how all the elements did not rise up against you, like beasts, to devour you alive, unable to see how you, an apostate and slanderer, repay sins and unheard of ingratitude to their Creator and your greatest Benefactor, as It is said: O obstinate and perverse generation, do you repay the Lord for this? 325! Thirdly, think that by your sins you have committed blatant injustice and shown disdain for the atonement made for you by the Son of God, for for the second time you lifted Him to the cross, trampled His love, desecrated His all-holy blood, insulted the grace of His Spirit, opened His wounds, repeated spitting, strangling, the crown of thorns, scourging, nails, spears and all the suffering and reproach, since he created sin, which became the reason for His crucifixion, according to the word of the Apostle: ... The second is those who crucify the Son of God to themselves and convict 326 [192]. Ah, my brother, if you thought, as you should, about these three spears with which, when you sinned, you wounded God, then I am sure that you would roar and roar like a lion from groaning: Roars from the groaning of my heart 327 that you would hate sin and abhor it and that you would break your heart into a thousand pieces, even if it were the most cruel and stony, and made him shed tears of blood. Therefore, try constantly to meditate on this triple loss in order to acquire holy contrition, which is the noblest and most important component of repentance, regretting most of all that you have sinned against God and offended the Holy Spirit, as the apostle said: And do not offend the Holy Spirit of God, 328 just as David regretted more the damage that his sin caused to the One God than all the losses, which sin caused to himself, although it also caused damage to himself and others. That is why he said: I have sinned against You alone and have done evil before You 329. And Manasseh, like him, only grieved about this, and his heart never found peace. That’s why he said: I have no weakness, because I was angered by Your wrath and created evil before You, not doing Your will and not keeping Your commandments 330 [193]. That sin causes triple damage to the sinner Then, in order to acquire sadness, think, brother, also about how much evil your sins have brought to you. First, think about the fact that they caused you to lose the supernatural gifts that God gave you in this life - the grace of justification, the grace of eternal adoption and all other gifts, the slightest fraction of which is more valuable than all nobility, all wisdom, all beauty and all strength and, let's say briefly, all natural gifts and the most precious blessings of the world, as Solomon says: All gold is before it the smallest sand 331 . Secondly, think about the fact that they made you lose all the eternal heavenly bliss, the enjoyment of God and the contemplation of God, the contemplation of the sweetest Mother of God, the Mother of God and the Mother of all Christians, being with the angels, communion with the saints, inexpressible joy, the Kingdom of Heaven, unchanging peace, eternal light and in general all those blessings that the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard and which the human mind cannot comprehend 332. And they forced you to exchange all this for one small thing, for one bitter and vile pleasure, and to neglect all this as something insignificant, just as the obstinate Jews neglected the image of Paradise - Jerusalem, as the Psalmist says: And they destroyed the desired land 333. Thirdly, think that these sins brought you eternal torment, an unquenchable fire, the gnashing of teeth, a never-ending worm, torment of all the senses of your body and all the strength of your soul, which will always suffer from what it hates and will never have what it desires. There you will never experience any pleasure, you will not see any more of your friends, you will not talk with any of your relatives, you will never sleep, you will not find even one moment of peace from the executioner demons who will torment you. And, simply put, think about the fact that your sins have brought you an eternity of hellish torment, one single moment of which will not end, and after as many millennia as there is sand in the sea, as many stars as there are in the sky, as many drops of rain as there are, as many leaves as there are on trees and atoms in the air - it will never end, as it is written: “And they will be tormented with fire and with a bogeyman... and the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever.”334 Reflecting on this, beloved, you will undoubtedly be touched in your heart and acquire the previously mentioned sadness, grieving, if not for something else, then at least for the fact that because of your sins you yourself have suffered an infinite loss, the smallest part of which the whole world with all its kingdoms cannot compensate. Ah, damned sinner! Is it a small deprivation, is it a small sorrow to lose God, Who is all sweetness, all joy, all desire and all insatiable satiation, Who is all light and the beginning of light, all life and the beginning of life, all wisdom and the beginning of wisdom?! Is it a small sorrow to lose God, whose beauty surpasses all beauty, wisdom - all wisdom, sweetness - all sweetness, from one single ray of whose glory, if it shone in hell, hell would immediately become Paradise? Is it a small sorrow to lose the beginningless Father, the co-originating Son and the Most Holy Spirit, the One Trinitarian God, from Whom everything beautiful received beauty, everything bright - lightness, everything living - life, everything intelligent - mind and everything that exists - existence? In a word, is it a small sorrow, wretched one, to lose your God, Who is the highest good, the beginning, middle and end of your existence? Know and see how... it is bitter for you to forsake Me, says the Lord your God 335. God Himself addresses you with these words. That is why Basil the Great said that even if a person does not suffer, even if he does not experience suffering, then the deprivation of God alone will be more unbearable for him than all future torments: “For alienation and rejection from God for one who has experienced it is more unbearable and more difficult than all generally expected torments, just as for the eye - deprivation of light, even if not associated with causing pain, and for an animal - life” 336. And if Esau, because he had lost his birthright and the blessing of his father Isaac, became so sad that he uttered a very bitter and terrible cry: It came to pass when Esau heard... cry out with a great and bitter voice 337 - then why don’t you, the three-contrite one, cry out to heaven, why don’t you, unfortunate one, groan from the depths of your heart because you have lost so many supernatural blessings and gifts of your Heavenly Father; due to the fact that you lost the sweetest face of the Mother of God, the contemplation of which, after God, is the second bliss in Paradise, and you lost forever this most merciful Mother of Christians, whose churches and sacred icons you worshiped, whose name you called upon in all your sorrow and who always immediately listened to you; because you were deprived of an all-joyful presence with all the angels and saints, whose memory you celebrated and whose sacred books you listened to and read every day, and, on the contrary, because, instead of all these blessings, you inherited an infinity of evils and torments? And to put it briefly, why don’t you, sinner, cry because, having lost God, you lost everything with Him? Oh, endless loss! Oh, the loss is immeasurable! I am sure, brother, that if you had seen at least once the great loss that you suffered because of your sins, you would have cried out, like one king who said before his death that he had lost everything because, having lost God, he had lost both body and soul, and earth and heaven, both temporary and eternal, and everything in general: “I have lost everything, I have lost everything.” I am sure that if you saw collected in front of you all that you lost, you would decide a thousand times not to sin anymore, but to correct yourself and live a holy life, as one young man corrected himself, who often lost a lot of money at cards because he did not see it after that, but, having once lost twelve thousand ducats and seeing them in front of him collected and put by his father in twenty-four bags, he was horrified, unfortunate, because of this great loss and from then on decided not to play anymore. That sorrow for temporary goods is useless Know, brother, also that it is not appropriate to grieve if, because of your sins, you lose some natural and temporary benefit: either children, or a wife, or the world itself, or your very soul, because this sadness will not be counted towards you as repentance, but will be vain, useless and displeasing to God. And Saul was saddened when he heard from Samuel that he would lose his kingdom and his own life, so that he fell to the ground out of fear: And Saul struggled and fell standing on the ground 338, but in vain. And Antiochus realized what evil he had done when he saw that he was losing both his life and his kingdom, dying a painful death, but in vain. That is why the Scripture says: The wicked one prays to the Master who never wants to have mercy on him 339. I won’t even say that sorrow because of worldly and temporary goods is not only useless for the sinner, but also brings death to him, as Paul says: Worldly sorrow makes death 340 . Chapter 2. How a sinner should confess Having thought in this way about your sins [194] and having prepared yourself with such contrition and sadness, go, my sinner friend, to the experienced confessor about whom we spoke. And even if his house is far away, do not be too lazy to do this, just as you are not too lazy to go to an experienced doctor who lives far away for the sake of your bodily illness, but you too say, like the prodigal son: Having arisen, I go to my father 341. When you come to him and he commands you to confess your sins before the Lord Christ, kneel before His sacred icon and say: “Father, I have sinned in heaven and before You and ... I am not worthy to be called Your son 342 but today, through this spiritual father of mine, we will confess to You in the righteousness of our hearts 343.” And then proceed to confession. About what confession is But first I must tell you that confession is a voluntary oral revelation of evil deeds, words and thoughts, performed with tenderness, self-accusation, directness, without shame, with the determination to improve, before a legally appointed confessor. That confession should be voluntary So, it is appropriate for you, brother, firstly, to confess with your own lips all your evil deeds, all your evil words and all your evil thoughts, not because of any coercion or violence, but voluntarily and independently, speaking with David: And I will confess my will to Him 344. Don’t wait for your confessor to ask you, but confess them yourself first [196]. Do not be like King Nebuchadnezzar, who did not want to retell the dream he saw to the magicians so that they would explain its meaning, but asked that they themselves tell his dream and give it an interpretation: Tell me exactly the dream and its legend 345. But you yourself are the first to tell about your dream, that is, about your sins, and the confessor will listen to you and correct you. About the fact that one should confess with tenderness Secondly, you should confess with tenderness, with great humility and with a contrite heart, as the harlot confessed her sins, as the Canaanite woman and the publican prayed, so that God would accept your confession and grant you forgiveness of your sins, because God will not despise a contrite and humble heart 346 . You must maintain this tenderness and humility, even when your confessor denounces you for some sin, listening in silence, without getting irritated or interrupting his words, but accepting the reproof with joy, as if God Himself was convicting you. But why do I say: so that you accept it with joy? If possible, you should, like a condemned person, bow to the ground and water his feet with tears, as Saint John Climacus advises you: “Be like the condemned man during confession in character and thought, bow to the ground and, if possible, wet the doctor’s feet with tears, like Christ” 347. About the fact that in confession you should blame yourself Thirdly, you should not blame others in confession, justifying yourself by saying that they were to blame for your sin, just as Adam shifted the blame to Eve, and Eve to the serpent, but you should blame only yourself and your own evil will. “If you want to accuse,” the divine Chrysostom tells you in his conversation on Matthew 51, “accuse yourself.” And the Inflower teaches you this way: The righteous one is a verb for himself 348. He says: “yourself,” and not others, so that, trying to reduce the severity of your sins with the help of confession, you do not increase it by adding condemnation to them. And John Climacus gives you this advice on what you should say to your confessor: “Say, and do not be ashamed: “My ulcer, father, my wound, arose because of my own laziness, and not because of someone else. No one is to blame for it, neither man, nor spirit, nor body, nor anything else, only my negligence”” 349. About the fact that one should confess with directness Fourthly, you should confess with truthfulness and sincerity of heart, revealing all your sins as you committed them, mentioning all the circumstances of their commission: place, time, person, cause, number and manner [197], without adding or subtracting, without naming one half of your sins to one confessor and the other half to another, as some crafty people do; without speaking about them in some skillful words, with the help of which you both hide and reveal your sin, in order to reduce shame. Confess simply and directly, with a truthful and truthful heart. For if you confess falsely and only outwardly, then know that not only will your confession be hateful to God, who loves only the truth, as it is said: For thou hast loved the truth 350 - but also the sins confessed by you will soon grow again in you, like gray hair grows in old men who do not pull it out, but shave it off only for appearances, and you will become like the one of whom he speaks. David: As if you have created a cunning razor, flattery 351 [198]. That one should confess without shame Fifth, you should confess without shame, because the shame you experience during confession brings you glory and grace before God, according to Sirach: There is... shame that brings sin, and there is shame glory and grace 352 . This shame helps you free yourself from future shame on the terrible Day of Judgment, according to the Climacus, who says: “For it is impossible to get rid of shame without shame,” 353, and Gregory the Theologian, who calls: “Do not neglect confessing your sin, so that those here can avoid the shame there, since this is also part of the torment there, and you will show that you truly hated sin by convicting it and you will be put to shame as worthy of reproach” 354. And why are you ashamed, sinner? When you committed a sin, you were not ashamed, but now, trying to free yourself from it, you are ashamed? Oh, crazy! And don’t you know that this shame is from the devil, who, when you commit a sin, arouses fearlessness and insolence in you, and when you confess it, arouses fear and shame in you? Chrysostom testifies to this: “There are two things - sin and repentance. In sin there is reproach and ridicule; in repentance there is praise and boldness. But Satan perverts the order and gives those who obey him boldness in sin, and shame in repentance. Don’t obey him” 355 [199]. Therefore, we read in the Patericon that one virtuous father clearly saw the devil, who often went to the confessionals of confessors in order to arouse shame in the sinners confessing there. God did not give you some angel or archangel as a confessor so that you would be ashamed, but He gave you a person subservient to you so that you would not be ashamed, so why should you be ashamed? And if, for example, you have learned from others or you yourself suspect that your confessor is revealing the sins of others, do not let this, my brother, keep you from confession, because this is a delusion with the help of which the devil is trying to destroy your soul. If he opens them (which is very difficult, if not impossible, for him to do), then he will have to give an answer to God for the evil he has committed, and you, having confessed, will be completely innocent and will receive forgiveness of your sins. Saint Meletius the Confessor testifies to this: The one who opens confession and condemns He will give an answer for this before God at the Judgment. The one who confesses will be innocent And those who have already been delivered from their sins are 356. In ancient times, penitents stood at the church doors and confessed their sins in front of the entire multitude of people entering the church, as Sozomen says: “At first the priests wanted sins to be confessed, as in a theater, having the church assembly as a witness.”357 And the 56th and 75th rules of Basil the Great say the same thing. Righteous Job was not ashamed to confess before a multitude of people, as he himself proclaims: For we were not ashamed of the multitude of people, for we would not tell it before them 358 . So why are you, my brother, being a sinner, ashamed to confess to one person? [200]. That sins must be revealed either here or there You, brother, need to choose one of two: either here on earth, reveal your sins to one confessor, or there - to the Terrible Judge. If you hide them here, know that there they will undoubtedly be put to shame before all angels and people by the Terrible Judge and will subject you to severe reproof. “I will reprove you,” He will tell you, “and I will bring your sins before your face 359.” And what do I say: Judge? Your unconfessed sins themselves will then expose you and expose you to shame at this world judgment seat, as it is written: Your apostasy will punish you, and your malice will expose you 360 [201]. Therefore, the divine Chrysostom gives you this advice: “Are you a sinner? Come to church, fall down, cry. Have you sinned? Confess your sins to God. Say it here, so that there in front of thousands of angels and people you will not be exposed to shame. Tell me: what is better - here in church to confess to one God and your spiritual father, or there, in front of so many thousands, to be exposed to shame? That if one sin remains unconfessed, others will remain unforgiven But if you confess all your sins and hide only one because of shame, know that not only all the sins you confessed will remain unforgiven [202], but you will also add one more sin to yourself - sacrilege, because of this concealment, as Chrysanthos of Jerusalem says in the "Book of Confession" 361. Therefore, one teacher wisely advises you, if you want to defeat the devil, who arouses shame in you, to name, before all other sins, the sin of which you are most ashamed. That confession should be made with the determination to improve And finally, sixthly, you should confess with the determination to correct yourself, that is, you must, in the face of your confessor, make a firm and unshakable decision, with the assistance of Divine grace, it is better to die a thousand times than to sin again of your own free will, because if you do not make such a decision in your heart, then contrition will bring you little benefit, your confession and repentance will bring little benefit, as all the teachers say. [203]. Therefore, those who do not make such a decision hold on to their confessor with one hand, and to the sin with the other, confess with their lips, and in their hearts think about committing a sin again, like a dog who, having vomited, returns to his vomit, and a pig, which, having washed itself, again goes to wallow in the same mud, as St. Peter says: If the true parable were to happen to them: dog, return to his vomit, and the pig, having washed, went into the Kaltinny 362. They, as St. Augustine says, do not cut off sin, but put it off for another time and confess only out of habit, and not truly, because, for example, Easter or Christmas is coming, or because they are threatened with death. In the Patericon we read that one Abba saw souls falling into hell, like snow falling on the ground in winter. And why? Not because Christians do not confess (for rarely does anyone die without confessing), but because they do not confess properly, with the determination not to sin again; because they do not tear their hearts with true pain of determination for correction, but only tear their clothes with false and hypocritical pain, as the prophet says: Rend your hearts, not your garments 363 . And what benefit, my brother, will you receive if you only say: “I have sinned, I repent”? In the same way, Saul 364 and Judah 365 said: “I have sinned,” but this did not bring them any benefit. Therefore, Basil the Great says that he does not receive any benefit from confession and does not confess at all if he only says that he has sinned, but after that persists in sin and does not have hatred for it, and that he does not receive any benefit from the fact that his confessor has forgiven the injustices he has committed if he again commits injustice: “Because he who does not say: “I have sinned” and after that continues to sin, but, according to the psalm, confesses. who found his sin and hated 366. For what benefit does the doctor’s diligence benefit the patient if he does something that harms his life? So there is no benefit from forgiven injustices to someone who continues to commit injustice” 367. Вся суть твоего покаяния заключается в том, чтобы решиться изменить жизнь [204]. Do not say: “If I can, I will correct myself,” or: “I would like not to sin,” but say: “I firmly, unshakably and irrevocably decided to correct myself, I do not want to sin anymore, just as I do not want to drink a cup filled with poison, just as I do not want to throw myself into the abyss, and just as I do not want to kill myself.” And since the human will cannot always remain firm without Divine help, we have offered you a sample prayer with the words of which you can ask God for help. Ищи её ниже, в конце «Шестого предохранительного средства» [205]. Глава 3. О том, что грешнику подобает с радостью принимать свою епитимью О том, что есть удовлетворение Confession is followed by the third component of repentance, namely satisfaction, which is the voluntary fulfillment of the penance assigned by the confessor, as Gabriel of Philadelphia defines it in his essay “On the Sacraments” 368. So, my friend sinner, you also need to accept with great joy the penance that your confessor assigns to you, for example, fasting or kneeling, or giving alms, or something else. But first of all, you must voluntarily agree to abstain from communion for as many years as he determines, because by enduring this small punishment you quench the great wrath that God has against you, and by performing this temporary penance you are saved from the eternal penance of hellish torment. Examples of those who received penance for their sins If Moses' sister had not been expelled from the camp, she would not have been cleansed of leprosy 369. If the Corinthian fornicator had not been betrayed to Satan, his soul would not have been saved 370. So you, brother, will not be completely cleansed from the leprosy of sin and your soul will not be saved if you do not receive this small punishment - penance. This business, beloved, is very profitable and great in the eyes of reasonable people. You give one coin, but you are saved from a million-dollar debt, you receive a temporary punishment, but you get rid of an eternal one. King David, in order to bring satisfaction for his sins, was expelled from his kingdom by his own son Absalom, walked barefoot through the mountains and valleys, Shimei reviled him and threw stones at him, everyone despised him, and you want to appease God without any penance? How unreasonable you are! The great king Theodosius brought to Milan the well-known satisfaction assigned to him by Saint Ambrose. Tsar Roman, an elder and Lekapin, because of the vows he had broken, took monastic vows and became a monk, and when he wanted to eat bread, the young man who was with him, at his command, beat him on the legs with a whip to satisfy his sins and told him: “Go to the refectory, thin monk!” 371 And another king, for the murder he committed, received a penance to climb barefoot to a high mountain and there, at the top, taking off his royal clothes, spent forty whole days in constant prayer and silence, eating only bread and water and sleeping on hard ground. And many other kings made the most severe satisfaction for their sins. Are you, sinner, above them? Or do you have a more noble and gentle body and you cannot fulfill such a small penance that your confessor assigns you for your sins? Do not be deceived by the thought that you are giving away money and this is replacing the fulfillment of penance. These kings had more money than you, and could have given millions in order not to receive these penances, but the fulfillment of these penances could not be replaced by an entire kingdom, even if someone wanted to give it, because the incorruptible truth of God is not propitiated except by the punishment of the sinful body itself. And even if there is some selfish confessor who offers you to give him money so that he will forgive your sins, do not believe him, because he cannot forgive your sins in this way, and you will only lose your money in vain and remain without forgiveness [206]. And Saint Isidore Pelusiot writes to one such confessor that confessors cannot forgive the sins of the rich for money and that they are not the masters and lords of forgiveness and not the heirs of the Divine altar, even if they said, like the wicked: “Come and inherit for yourself the sanctuary of God” 372, “for about their sins, as the apostle said, those who offer sacrifices 373 could not at will forgive sins of the unrepentant, even if they are rich” 374. See also about this at the beginning of the 9th chapter of “Instructions to the confessor.” That he who performs his penance is a true child of the Church If you perform penance for your confessor, then you will show that you truly repent and that you are a true child of God and the Holy Church, which appointed this penance. If, on the contrary, you reject your confessor’s penance, then this will be evidence that your repentance is not true, but false, evidence that you are not a true child of God and the Church, as Paul says: If you endure punishment, as if God were found to you as a son. Who is the son, who is not punished by his father? If, without punishment, you were all partakers of him, for you are naturally adulterers, and not sons 375 [207]. That the penitent himself must ask for a more severe penance I’m not even talking about the fact that if your confessor wants to give you a small penance, you should yourself ask him to give you a large one, as many others who ardently repent are doing, in order, with the help of this temporary penance, to more strongly appease Divine justice and have greater confidence that God will free you from the eternal punishment that you were supposed to receive for sin [208]. That a sinner must receive either temporary penance here or eternal penance there Let us tell you, brother, briefly, that you must choose one of two things: either receive temporary penance here for your sins, or receive eternal penance there. If you get it here, you will get rid of the one there. If you do not receive it here, you will inevitably receive eternal penance there, as Gabriel of Philadelphia writes in his essay “On the Sacraments”: “He who does not obey them (that is, the rules) must be sent to the local courts and give an answer about the evil deeds he has committed, as having rejected the laws of the Holy Church” 376. To what has been said, we must add that if you do not agree with the word of your confessor and do not want to fulfill the legal penance that he assigns to you, then know that the confessor does not have the power to forgive your sins, as Basil the Great says: “The power to forsake is not given unconditionally, but on the condition of obedience and consent of the penitent with the one who cares about his soul, for it is written about such people: if two of you advise on earth for every thing that she asks, she will have it from My Father who is in heaven 377 » 378 . That the penitent must abstain from communion Among other things, we tell you, brother, that you must strictly observe abstinence from communion for as many years as your confessor establishes, because this abstinence is the most important of all types of satisfaction for sins, necessary and constituting an integral part of your true repentance. If you dare to take communion before the end of these years, then you will be the second Judas, and if you force your confessor to forgive your sins, then you will no longer be a repentant, but a ruler and a tyrant, committing violence against the divine laws and the rules of the holy councils and fathers. Therefore, divine communion will serve you not for the remission of sins, but for greater condemnation and torment. And so that you understand this better, we will give you the following example. Just as someone who has wounds on his body goes and shows them to a doctor, and receives from him an order to put a plaster on them with the appropriate ointment and, in addition, not to drink wine or eat certain foods, because otherwise his wounds will not be healed, so you, my brother, had mental wounds in your soul - sins, went and showed them to your confessor, that is, confessed, and the confessor gave you instructions to put a plaster on them - penance in the form of fasting, dry eating, kneeling, almsgiving and prayer. In addition, he ordered you not to drink wine or eat certain foods, that is, not to partake of the Divine mysteries. So, if you disobey him and eat what he has forbidden, what will this lead to? Your wounds and sins will not be healed, but will deepen and increase even more. And what am I saying that they will not be healed? This will lead you to mental and physical death, as the divine Paul says: For this reason there are many in you who are weak and sickly, and sleep contentedly 379 - that is, since some receive communion unworthily, they become sick and weak, and many of them die [209]. Also, Paul’s disciple Dionysius the Areopagite says: “The other rites of those who are purified (that is, those who repent), for a blessed reason, are excommunicated from the divine contemplations and communions performed through sacred symbols, for by partaking of them, being defiled, they will receive harm and fall into even greater disdain for the deity and for themselves” 380. Finally, we tell you, brother, that you must fulfill the penance that your confessor assigns to you as quickly as possible, while the mercy of God covers you, and not delay time, because you do not know what the coming day will bring you, as it is written: Do not think about what you will give birth to find 381. And, besides, we advise you, beloved, in no case to allow the thought that your sins are resolved and forgiven for the sake of the penance you have performed, no matter how severe and large. They are forgiven only for the sake of God’s mercy and the satisfaction brought by Jesus Christ (see in the 10th chapter of “Instructions to the Confessor,” the section “On how to assign penance to murderers”). Chapter 4. About how a sinner should keep himself from sin after confession After you confess and receive penance from your confessor, in order to protect yourself from falling again into the same or other sins, use the following five, a kind of preventive medicine. The first means of protection from sin is the memory of sins First, do not forget, but always remember the sins you have committed. God commands this to you through Isaiah: I am the one who blots out your iniquities for my sake and your sins, and I will not remember them. Remember, and let us sue 382. Do this, that is, remember your sins, not in order to torment your mind, but in order, as the divine Chrysostom tells you, to teach your soul not to go wild because of passions and not to fall into the same thing again 383; in order to recognize, thanks to the reminder, the great Grace you received from God, who forgave you so many sins, just as Paul always remembered that he persecuted the Church in order to show the greatness of God’s grace, according to the same Chrysostom 384; in order to crush your heart and bring your soul into tenderness, according to Chrysostom, who says: “Remember your sins with all the details. This is no small torment for the soul. If someone is moved by emotion, then they know that this torments the soul more than anything else. If someone remembers his sins, then he knows the pain that comes from this” 385; and, finally, in order to humble oneself and consider oneself unworthy of life itself, as the same golden rhetorician says in the same place: “For it is not a small, not at all a small thing for correction - having mentally collected all the sins, constantly consider the details of their commission and think about them, for the one who does this will come to such tenderness that he will consider himself unworthy of life, and the one who considers this will become softer than any wax” 386. He who has escaped from a great danger, remembering it, fears and trembles, and this fear helps him not to be exposed to the same danger. So David, having received the forgiveness of his sins, always remembered them and kept them before his eyes, which is why he said: And I will take away my sin before me 387. If you want God to turn His face away from your sins, then you must, as Blessed Augustine tells you, always keep them in front of you, look at them and cry. If you write down and remember your sins, then, as the divine Chrysostom testifies, God will cross them out and forget about them, but if you cross them out and forget about them, then God will write them down and remember them: “Collect them all mentally (that is, sins) and, as in a book, write them down, for if you write them down, God will cross them out, and, on the contrary, if you don’t write them down, then God will write them down, and will require a report. So, it is much better for us to write them down and cross them out from above, rather than, on the contrary, for us to forget them, and for God to present them before our eyes on that day.”388 However, Saint Mark the Ascetic advises you, after you confess your sins to God, not to remember them with all the details, imagining in your mind the ways of committing them and the persons with whom you sinned, because, being still passionate and voluptuous, you will again desire them and fall into darkness 389 or, remembering with sorrow the details of their commission, you will fall into despair 390. You should especially beware, when remembering the carnal sins you have committed, of imagining in your mind the ways in which they were committed and the persons with whom you sinned, because by doing this you will be mentally desecrated. You just need to remember that you are a sinner and have committed many sins and thereby angered God [210]. The second means of protection from sin is removal from the causes of sin. Use also another safety precaution: avoid the causes of sin [211–212], since, according to the laws of philosophy, the same causes produce the same consequences and results. Therefore, Basil the Great said: “If someone who has sinned once commits the same sin again, this proves that he has not previously been cleansed of the cause of this sin, from which, as from a certain root, the same thing must grow again.”391 So, brother, avoid bad views, bad conversations and communication with dissolute people, and especially avoid conversations and friendship with people with whom you have committed carnal sins. You must do one of two things: either move away from them, or remove them from yourself and expel them if they are in your house, be it a slave, or a slave, or in general your relative and friend. For the Lord said about them: If ... your right eye offends you, take it away and cast it away from you, lest one of you perish from your blows, and not your whole body be cast into death 392. At the same time, never believe the idea that you can associate with people who cause harm and not receive harm. This thought is erroneous, for it is written: Thy enemy shall not have faith forever 393. There is also the opinion of some teachers that if the most chaste Joseph had not run away from his mistress’s room, he would certainly have fallen into sin 394. He who fears danger will not be exposed to it, but he who loves it will be exposed to it, as it is said: He who loves disaster will not fall into danger 395. Therefore, the divine Chrysostom says: “He who does not run far from sins, but walks next to them, will live in fear and often fall into them” 396 [213]. The third means of protection from sin is constant confession, which provides five benefits Also use constant confession as a means of protection from sin and, if possible, immediately rush to your confessor, not only when you commit some mortal and great sin, but also when you commit a small and forgivable sin, because just as wounds, when they are shown to a doctor, do not grow, so sins, when they are confessed, do not take root, according to the Climacus, who says: “Sores exposed will not come to a worse state, but they will be healed" 397. Just as storks have a habit of never returning to the place where they destroyed their nest, so demons move away from a person who confesses frequently, because with frequent confession he destroys their nests and networks. For the demons themselves told one virtuous man that they have no place in the person who confesses frequently and no power over him. In addition, they said that when a person does not confess, all the members of his body seem to be bound by sin and cannot move to do anything good, but when he confesses, they are immediately freed. And for what other reason did Naaman the Syrian wash himself in the Jordan not once, but seven times, if not in order to teach all of us, small and great, patriarchs and bishops, confessors and priests [214], to confess seven times, that is, constantly and often (since the number seven in the divine Scripture signifies many), and to wash in the waters of repentance, the image of which was the Jordan, since the Forerunner performed baptism in it repentance... people 398 ? For constant confession not only deprives demons of power, as we said, but also constantly brings other five benefits to the person confessing. The first benefit of constant confession Firstly, just as trees that are constantly replanted cannot take root deep into the ground, so frequent confession does not allow bad habits and sinful qualities of the soul to take deep roots in the heart of the person confessing constantly. Or, better to say, just as an old and large tree cannot be cut down with one blow of an ax, so an old bad habit or sinful quality of the soul alone, the heartache expressed by the penitent in confession, and even that, perhaps imperfect, cannot be completely eradicated and destroyed, although the permissive prayer of the confessor absolves the sin. The second benefit of constant confession Secondly, it is very easy for someone who constantly confesses to carefully examine his conscience and determine the number of his sins, since thanks to the fact that he constantly throws off the burden of many sins with the help of frequent confession, fewer and fewer of them remain. Therefore, it is easier for him to see and remember them. And the person who does not confess constantly cannot clearly see and remember them due to the fact that he accumulates a great many sins, but often forgets many and serious sins, which, while remaining unconfessed, remain, therefore, unforgiven. Therefore, the devil will remind him of them at the hour of his death and will lead him into such despair that the unfortunate man will sweat and cry because of them, but to no avail, for then he will no longer be able to confess them. The third benefit of constant confession Thirdly, even if the one who constantly confesses once commits a mortal sin, however, having confessed it, he will immediately receive the grace of God, and the good deeds he has committed will serve as the basis for granting him eternal life. If the non-confessing person constantly commits the same mortal sin and does not rush to confession immediately, then until he confesses, he will not only be deprived of the grace of God, but also for the good deeds he has performed on his own - fasting, vigils, kneeling and the like - will not be awarded reward and eternal life, since they will also be deprived of the grace of God, which is the beginning and foundation of all leading to salvation of works (see about this in the 10th chapter of “Instructions to the confessor”). The fourth benefit of constant confession Fourthly, someone who constantly confesses can have a firmer hope that death will find him under the cover of God’s grace and thanks to this he will be saved. And the devil, who has the habit of always going before death to the dying, not only to sinners, but also to saints, as Basil the Great says 399 [215], and who even came to the Lord Himself, as it is said: The prince of this world is coming and will have nothing in Me 400 - and this same devil, going before death to people to see if he will find why, he will go to him, but will not find anything, because he will have time to prepare for this and his accounts will be clean, and his books will be balanced thanks to frequent confession. A person who constantly does not confess will most likely die without confessing and for this reason will perish forever, since he always easily falls into sins and does not confess after that, and since the time of death is unknown. The fifth benefit of constant confession The fifth and final benefit of constant confession is that it curbs people and forbids them to sin. For a person who constantly confesses, if he has a desire to commit a sin, is hindered by the memory that in a few days he must go to confession, and the thought of the shame that he will experience when he confesses, and the reproof that he will hear from his confessor. Therefore, Saint John Climacus writes: “Nothing gives demons and thoughts such power against us as the fact that we leave them unconfessed and feed them in the heart” 401; and again: “The soul, thinking about confession, is restrained from sin by it, like a bridle, for we, as if in darkness, do the unconfessed again without fear” 402. Therefore, the same saint speaks of the brethren of the wondrous monastery, about which he writes that they wore paper on their belts and every day they wrote down their thoughts on it and confessed them to their great abbot 403. So, my brother sinner, knowing this, go to holy confession more often, because the more often you come to this font, the more you are purified. Don’t put off time, saying: “I’ll do this and that, and then I’ll go and confess,” for although God endures for a long time, He always warns: Do not say: we have sinned, and what will happen to us? The Lord is long-suffering... For He has mercy and wrath, and His wrath rests on sinners 404. Always remember Samson, who three times was able to break the ropes with which the foreigners tied him, and the fourth time he was unable to break them and escape, although he said: I will go out, as before, and shake myself off. And he did not understand, for the Lord had departed from him 405. And if you, brother, having sinned and postponed correction and confession one, two or three times, then were worthy to confess and correct yourself, then, having sinned and postponing the time of confession for the fourth time, perhaps you will not be worthy of this, but you will die unconfessed and uncorrected, which may never happen to any Christian. The fourth means of protection from sin is remembering your last hour Use, brother, to protect yourself from sin, also the memory of your last hour, that is, constant reflection on your death, on the terrible Judgment of God, on eternal torment and on eternal heavenly pleasure, for the memory of these four objects and fear will be for you a kind of strong bridle that will not allow you to sin, as the Holy Spirit says through Sirach: Remember your last, and you will never sin 406. So, when an evil thought, the devil and passions fight with you and encourage you to sin, first, imagine your death and think that your very body, which now wants to commit fornication or kill, or steal, or commit some other sin, will die and lose beauty, health, fullness and all its strength and will become dead, ugly, without form, beauty, breath. Thoughts that it will be buried in the darkest tomb and there it will decompose and become food for worms, foul and disgusting, rot and dust. Remember what fear, what illness, what torment you will experience when your soul is separated from your body and when terrible demons appear to take you away, and there is no one to help you. Remember that the same thing will happen to the person with whom you want to commit a sin, because the same body that you now love so much and which you so desire will soon after death also become dead, ugly, vile, turn into food for worms and a stench [216]. And besides all this, remember that death itself is an unexpected thief, and you don’t know when it will come to you. She can come today, now, at this minute, and although you woke up healthy, you may not see the evening, and having lived until the evening, you may not wake up in the morning, as the Lord said: Watch out, for you do not know the day or the hour, the Son of Man will come 407. So, my brother, draw a conclusion from this for yourself and say to yourself: “If I die, and perhaps a sudden death, then what will happen to me, the damned? What benefit will it then be to me if I taste all the pleasures of the world? What will I gain if I commit this sin? What will remain for me if I do this evil? Get away from me, Satan and evil thoughts! I don’t want to listen to you and I don’t want to commit a sin!” [217]. Secondly, if you want not to sin, imagine the terrible Day of Judgment and remember everything that will happen then: that the sky will fall like a scroll, the stars will fall from the sky, the luminaries will darken, the mountains and hills will melt like wax, the sea will tremble and become small, the elements will burn, the earth will shake, the graves will be opened and all the people who lived from Adam to the end of the world will be resurrected, In order to appear before the Terrible Judge, even the angels of heaven will tremble with fear, books will be opened and everyone will be judged and give an accurate account of the bad deeds committed, the bad words spoken and the bad thoughts accepted in the mind. And therefore, sinner, say to your thoughts: “If I sin now, what will I do then, on that terrible day and hour? What answer will I give to the incorruptible and impartial Judge for this sin? Oh, what fear and trembling I will experience, wretched one! Alas! Alas! How will I pronounce that terrible sentence: Depart from Me, curse, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angel 408? Alas! Alas! What shame will I then be exposed to, exposed naked before the worldwide assembly of angels, saints, righteous people, sinners and all mankind? Of course, I will not be able to bear this unthinkable dishonor and shame and I will tell the mountains and hills to fall and cover me so that human eyes will not see me and so that I will get rid of the wrath of such a terrible Judge, as it is written: And I said to the mountains and stones: fall on us and cover us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb 409 . Therefore, in order to avoid all this, I will never commit a sin” [218]. Thirdly, my brother, if you want to avoid sin, imagine all the types of terrible hellish torments that God's justice has invented to punish sin, that is, the eternal deprivation of God, utter darkness, unquenchable fire, an everlasting worm, an icy hell, inconsolable crying, gnashing of teeth and other countless and varied torments, and, among other things, a constant stay with those very enemies of yours - demons, whom you will hate with all your soul because they brought you all these torments - which is even worse than all the other hellish torments, according to Saint Maximus, for he says in his eulogy to George, the eparch of Africa, the following: “And what is saddest of all, or, more correctly, the hardest, just speaking about what, I am tormented, how much more, experiencing this (have mercy, Christ, and save me from this torment!), is separation from God and His holy powers and surrender forever to the power of the devil and evil demons... and, thus, the most painful and terrible thing of any torment is a constant stay with those who hate and are hated” 410. Then remember that sinners will endure all these torments not for a hundred thousand or a thousand million years, but for eternity, without any hope that they will ever come to an end. And therefore say to yourself: “If I cannot endure the pain of one of my bones when it comes out of the joint, then how can I endure, wretched one, eternal separation from God, Who is the source of my being? If I cannot endure being in the oven for one single hour, then even if I first taste all the pleasures of the world, how can I endure an eternal stay in the oven with an unquenchable fire? [219]. Damn you, sin that gives me no peace! No, I don’t want to commit you and, for one small pleasure from you, receive eternal torment and cry inconsolably, like a madman, like Jonathan, who said: “Tasting with the edge of the rod that is in my hand, there is little honey, and now I am dying 411.” Fourthly, brother, if you want to avoid sin, remember all the eternal and ineffable blessings that God has prepared for you in heaven to enjoy after death. Clearly imagine in your imagination this sweetest heavenly pleasure, the unspeakable glory of heaven, eternal joy, unevening and unfading light, blissful contemplation and vision of God, which is the highest goal and main pleasure of all the blessed. Remember the inseparable presence with the angels, which you will have forever and ever, acquaintance and communication with the forefathers, prophets, apostles, martyrs, saints, saints and with all the righteous and saints in general, which you will receive in the Kingdom of Heaven. Think about the fact that only there is true joy without sadness, only there is true life without death, only there is true light without darkness, true health without illness, true peace without confusion and, simply put, there are only good things without any evil. And how can I, brother, present to you through words in order the future blessings of heaven that you will enjoy? They are not only ineffable, but also incomprehensible to the mind [220]. And all these benefits, beloved, will be enjoyed not only by your mind and soul, but also by your senses and your body. Therefore, when an evil thought inspires you to commit some sin, turn around and look at the sky with all its beauties, and then, looking at it, tell yourself this: “Here is my sweetest heavenly fatherland, here is my eternal home, here I will enjoy eternal Paradise, and why should I deprive it for the sake of temporary pleasure? Here I will be the son and heir of God and joint heir with Christ, as Paul says: And if children and heirs; heirs to God, but heirs to Christ 412. Here I will reign in the Eternal Kingdom, as it is written: And they will reign forever and ever 413. So why should I sin in order to become the son of the devil and inherit endless hellish torments? This soul that I have is the bride of the Heavenly King, and here she will shine like the sun with the glory of her immortal Father, as it is written: Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the glory of their Father 414 . And how can I corrupt her with sin and turn her into a black brand, doomed to burn forever in Gehenna? This body of mine here will be glorified along with my soul and will become conformed to the glorified body of Christ, as Paul says: He will transform the body of our humility, so that it may be conformed to the body of His glory 415 . And how dare I defile it with the filth and filth of sin? These senses of mine will enjoy here, each in accordance with its nature, the beauty and bliss of Paradise: my eyes here will forever contemplate the light and glory of the Trisolar Deity, as it is said: I will be satisfied, when Thy glory is revealed to me 416, my ears here will forever listen to the sweetest songs of angels and saints, as it is written: I. . I heard the voice of many great people in heaven saying: Alleluia 417, my mouth and tongue here will always praise God, according to the Psalmist: Blessed are those who dwell in Your house forever and ever will praise You 418, my hands here will always be raised to God, and my feet will walk on the golden plains of the Heavenly Jerusalem, and all the members of my body here will be glorified forever. Therefore, how can I defile my eyes with shameful views, my ears with satanic words, my lips with insults and reproaches, my hands with robbery and injustice, my feet with sinful paths, and how can I make the holy members of my body the members of a harlot? Shall I take the hooks of Christ and create the hooks of harlots? It won't happen! 419 Get away from me, Satan and evil thoughts, I will not listen to you and sin!” The fifth means of protection from sin is knowledge of the essence of sin [221] To protect yourself from sin, use, brother, also the true knowledge of how evil sin is, and especially mortal sin, because all people commit sins because they do not know what a great evil this is. Therefore, in many places of divine Scripture, sinners are called insane and unreasonable [222]. Therefore, here we want to help you recognize the evil of sin, not in its entirety, for no mind can fully comprehend it, as it is said: Who understands the Fall? 420, but only to the extent possible: firstly, based on the sin itself, secondly, based on its circumstances, and thirdly, based on the punishment that he received from God. Knowledge of the essence of sin based on itself So let's start with the first one. Sin in itself is an infinite evil, since it is an insult to the infinite God and contempt for His infinite greatness. And if you want, suppose, to commit murder or fornication, or theft, or some other sin, imagine that God is standing on one side of you, and the devil on the other. God says to you: “Man, do not commit this sin, because this is a deed that is contrary to My law, and if you do not commit it, you will receive eternal Paradise for it, and if you do, you will receive eternal hellish torment for it.” And the devil tells you: “Commit this sin and don’t think about the insult it will cause to God, or the punishment you will receive later.” And if you listen to the devil and commit this sin, what will it mean? The fact that you insult God, neglect His law, humiliate His greatness and, if not in word, then in deed, repeat the words of the Book of Job: “The Lord’s words are: Depart from Me, I don’t want to lead Your ways 421, I don’t care about You, I don’t want Your paradise, Your hell doesn’t matter to me, I don’t fear Your wrath, I don’t count You my Master and therefore I do not want to hear Your voice and Your commands” and you become like the stiff-necked Pharaoh, who said: Who is his voice?.. I do not know the Lord 422. And by offending in this way and despising the Lord, you sin in everything, as it is written in the praise of the three youths: You have sinned in all 423, for you neglect Him as the Lawgiver, not wanting to keep His law; you neglect Him as Master, not submitting to His authority; you neglect Him as the Creator, turning your being, your mind, your free will and everything that you received from Him against Him. You sin in everything, because you neglect Him as your ultimate goal, not thinking about the bliss that He promised you; you neglect Him as the Deliverer, not thinking about the blood He shed and the painful death He suffered for Your sake; you neglect Him as a Judge, fearing neither His terrible sentence, nor His wrath, nor the hellish torment He has prepared for punishment; you neglect Him as a Friend, desiring neither His friendship nor His grace; you neglect Him as a Father, refusing His inheritance and the dignity of the adoption He has given you. You sin in everything, because you despise His mercy, using it for unbridled sin; you neglect His goodness, forcing her to tolerate you, an apostate, and serve you in matters that she herself forbids; you neglect His justice, not thinking about the worldwide punishments to which it has subjected so many lawless people like you; you neglect His providence, violating the order and purpose He established for you; you neglect His eternity by committing sin, which, if there were a way to destroy God's being and all His greatness, and glory, and life, and kingdom, would destroy it all. I will say briefly: you sin in everything, because you neglect all the other most perfect, most beautiful and infinite properties of God and use all the blessings of nature and all the benefits of His divine grace as a weapon for war with Himself, who gave them to you. Oh, an unthinkable insult! Oh, endless contempt! Therefore, just as infinite are the perfections and properties of God and numerous are the natural, supernatural, general, private, secret, obvious gifts given by God to you, man, just as infinite, man, is the evil of your sin, which neglects all of them and offends them all. And the fact that these are not just assumptions, but undeniable truths, is testified by God Himself, who grieves for sinners and says about them in one place of Scripture that they transgressed His law and despised Him: These are the ones who transgressed My covenant: there they despised Me 424, and in another, that He gave birth and raised His offenders: Sons begat and exalted, these rejected Me 425, and in the third, that He loves them as a husband loves his wife, and they despise Him and refuse Him: Just as the wife of her partner rejects him, so the house of Israel has rejected Me 426, and in another place that their rage and pride resist Him: Fury... is yours, with which you were angry and your grief came to Me 427. The divine Paul also testifies to this, exclaiming that sinners despise the kindness and long-suffering of God: Or do they neglect the riches of His goodness and meekness and long-suffering? 428 and saying that they trample on the Son of God, count His blood as defilement and insult His grace: ... Who trampled upon the Son of God, and considered the blood of the covenant defilement, was sanctified by it, and reproached the Spirit of grace 429. All these, my brother, are living words, showing what damage God causes and how sin, especially mortal sin, offends Him, and how true is the saying of a certain virgin who said that if there was a sea of ​​fire in front of her, and mortal sin stood on its shore, she would prefer to fall into this sea of ​​fire rather than fall into the hands of sin [223]. Do you want to know, sinner, what endless insult sin brings to God? Find out this from the infinite price that the Son of God gave to redeem him - His great suffering and such a shameful death. And if, for example, you put mortal sin on one scale, and on the other - all the love of the angels, all the awards of the Mother of God Queen of Angels, all the blood of the martyrs, all the tears, labors and fasts of ascetics, and in general all the good deeds of the saints, then all of them taken together will weigh less than one mortal sin. I'll say even more. If God created as many other worlds as there are stars in the sky and filled them all with holy people who would only cry and pray for thousands of years of their lives, doing nothing else, then all their good deeds could not balance out one smallest mortal sin, but would turn out to be as small in comparison as if you put a basket of sand on one scale and a huge mountain on the other. For all the treasures of created beings are insufficient not only to pay such a price, but even to buy one single drop of water, which the rich man thirsted for in hell. Only the priceless blood of the One God could become payment for this endless debt of sin, and only His cross, nails and suffering could balance the severity of sin. Are you surprised, brother, when you hear this? And I am even more amazed than you at how you dare to sin, a Christian who believes in these truths, you who must either lead a Christian life or not be called a Christian [224]. Knowledge of the essence of sin based on the circumstances of its commission We have shown in general terms how great the evil of sin is, considered separately. Now we will show you his evil and based on the circumstances surrounding it. The first circumstance of sin So, the first circumstance of sin is you yourself, committing it. For who are you that you resist the infinite greatness of your Creator? An insignificant worm of the earth, a small lump of dirt, as Isaiah says: You are our Father, but we are clay 430. A man who not only originated from the earth and will be destroyed by turning into the earth, but also a man who has been highly favored by God, created by His infinite power and wisdom, preserved by His infinite providence, redeemed by His countless torments and illnesses, adopted by Him in baptism, a communicant of His sacraments, nourished like a mother’s milk by His blood and nourished by His body. And such a person sins! Oh, terrible vision! If a Scythian, a Hagarene, an idolater had sinned, it could have been tolerated, as it is written: ... even if the enemy had reviled me, I would have suffered 431. But when a Christian sins, who has become a partaker of the Spirit of God, who fights under the banner and protection of Jesus Christ and belongs to Him, who has enjoyed His mercies so many times, who owes Him himself [225], this cannot be tolerated: But you, an indifferent man, are my lord and known to me, who have enjoyed the goodness of being with Me 432 . Therefore, Blessed Augustine rightly said that if an infidel sins, then he is worthy of hellish torment, but if a Christian sins, then he is worthy not only of hellish torment, but a second hell must be built especially for him and in the great fiery furnace into which he will be thrown, there must be, like in the Babylonian furnace, seven times the strongest flame and demons seven times more cruel, and other devilish torments seven times more terrible and more severe than the torment of the infidels. Second circumstance of sin The second circumstance of sin is the reason why you, the sinner, sin. Do you dare to commit sin out of extreme necessity, or to save your life, or to gain fame or wealth and a kingdom? No! You do it for a handful of lentils, like Esau, to eat a little honey, like Jonathan, or to get a little barley or a piece of bread. I have desecrated Me among My people by the handful for the sake of barley and for the sake of crumbling bread 433 - this is what God says with sorrow through Ezekiel. You often reject His grace, trample His law, neglect His benefits. And why? Because of bad pleasure, because of an insignificant acquisition, because of just one empty fantasy, because of... because of nothing. This is the unimaginable degree, man, that the malice of your heart reaches, about which Jesus exclaims with pain: You hate Me 434. Oh! For your contempt, wasn’t it fitting for heaven to once again pour out the fire and brimstone of Sodom on you to burn you?! Wasn’t it fitting for the earth to suddenly open up under your feet in order to swallow you alive, like Dathan and Abiron?! The third circumstance of sin The third circumstance of sin is the place in which you, brother, commit it. Oh! If you insulted God in some place where He Himself did not see the insult, it could be tolerated. But since God holds all places in His hands, as present everywhere and above everything, where can such a place be found? Before His face, yes, before His face and before His Own eyes, you, a sinner, sin and seem to say to Him: “Although You are present here, although You see and hear my every thought, word and deed, although Your brightest eyes look with hatred at evil, yet I want to commit it. Although You see it and You don’t like it, it doesn’t bother me much. It’s enough that human eyes don’t see me, but the fact that Your eyes see me doesn’t bother me.” Oh, unheard of audacity! Oh, unspeakable impudence! What criminal would dare to sin before his own judge? What traitor would conspire against his master before his eyes? Only you, damned sinner, commit this insolence. You alone, who, in comparison with the infinity of God, are infinitely smaller than the smallest earth worm, dare to raise your head against the Highest Majesty and try to remove the crown from His head and trample it, which is a more daring act than if an ant rebelled against the sun and tried to extinguish it, as it is said: Before the Lord... the Almighty, harden your neck, but flow against Him with reproach 435 . The fourth circumstance of sin The fourth circumstance is the time at which you commit sin. Through this circumstance, the evil of sin is especially strongly manifested, because you commit it not only when God admonishes you and punishes you, but always. God Himself speaks about this with sorrow: These people anger Me before My face forever 436. Always: when He gives you something useful, and when He preserves your existence, and when He gives you food and clothing. Always: both when He covers you from thousands of terrible dangers, and when He gives you strength, health, beauty, friends, property and all the other benefits that you have. But the worst thing is that, receiving all this from God, you use it as a weapon in order to constantly fight with Him Himself, who gave it to you, although, having committed such a deed before the earthly king, you would become an example of monstrous lawlessness and ingratitude and all the world’s stories would tell about your ingratitude and all people would be ashamed that they have a common nature with you. Fifth Circumstance of Sin The fifth circumstance of mortal sin is the terrible evil and the consequences that it brings to you, and of which there are seven, like the seven heads of a poisonous snake. The first evil of sin is the deprivation of God's preliminary grace, that is, the active and justifying grace and, simply put, bestowed by faith on the common grace of Christ - that most precious pearl for which the Lord gave all His blood to buy it for you, and which you, damned one, exchange for nothingness, acting more unreasonably than a baby exchanging a diamond for a single nut. Without this Grace, your soul, brother, is so ugly that a person cannot see its true appearance and not die. How can this be seen? Listen. Church stories tell how a certain girl saw a demon so ugly that it seemed preferable to her to walk barefoot along a road filled with burning coals and hot iron until the end of the world than to see such an unbearable sight again. However, God told her that she did not see all the ugliness of the demon in his real form, but only his image. Oh! If one single mortal sin brought monstrous ugliness to the demon and turned him from a bright heavenly star into a hellish firebrand, then what kind of ugliness has your own soul acquired, brother, because of so many sins and who can comprehend how disgusting it is in the eyes of God and what stench its wounds emit? And if the same girl, smelling the stench of sinners, could not tolerate it, how much more stinking must you be before God, rotten because of sins? Surely no reptile, no dragon, no snake is hated by you, sinner, as much as you are hated by God because of sin. And, despite this, you, damned one, do not notice the stench of your soul and do not grieve, but, like a peacock, you rejoice either in the beautiful clothes you wear, or in the beauty of your face, or in your other external virtues. Therefore, the Lord quite rightly called you and others like you whitewashed tombs, which are covered on the outside with beautiful marble or decorated with elegant inscriptions, but inside are full of stinking bones: Woe to you... as if you are like a fallen coffin, who appear red outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and all kinds of uncleanness 437. The second evil of mortal sin, sinner, is that it deprives your soul of Divine adoption - that special and extraordinary gift and highest endowment that allows the Holy Spirit to live in you and show His exclusive and unprecedented presence and action in all other places and which make you the son of God and the heir of His kingdom, and your deeds worthy of a great reward, thanks to which the value of your smallest good deed becomes equal to the value of the whole Paradise. But once you lose this Grace, what will you become? Alas! The son of the devil, like him because of sin, just as a son is like his father by nature, as it is said: You are the father of the devil 438. The third evil of mortal sin is, brother, the loss of the eternal inheritance of heaven, which, as we said earlier, your Heavenly Father has prepared for you as a gift. And who can express in words how much more honor the king's firstborn son and heir enjoys than all others, how much more envy he arouses than all others, and how much more he is pleased? Of course, no one. In the same way, on the other hand, no one can express in words how insane and how ridiculous to everyone a person is who sold his birthright and inheritance for a trifle, like Esau, who sold him for a handful of lentils. Now you, sinner, compare heaven with earth, the incorruptible Kingdom promised to you as an inheritance, which you lost, with the birthright of Esau and with the earthly corruptible kingdom, and you will understand how much more insane and worthy of ridicule you are. Therefore, the apostle wrote: Let no one be a fornicator or a defiler like Esau, who gave his birthright for one poison. The news is that even then, having wanted to inherit the blessing, he was quickly rejected, for there was no place for repentance, even if he sought it with tears 439. The fourth evil that sin brings you is, beloved, the loss of all the rewards for all the good deeds you did before sin. And if you, for example, lived a harsh life for sixty years, walking completely naked and in the summer suffering from the scorching heat of the sun, and in the winter freezing from the cold, like Onuphrius and Peter of Athos, if you wore an iron chain around your neck for twenty years, like Saint Eusebius, if you lived in a coffin for fourteen years, like the Monk Jacob, if you stood for forty years pillar, like Saint Simeon the Stylite, if you had converted more pagans to faith than the apostles, if you had received more revelations than the prophets, if you had shed more blood than all the martyrs, and after all this had committed one single mortal sin, then because of it all these good deeds and the rewards for them would have been wasted and, having died in sin, you would not have received any benefit from them. God Himself pronounces such a sentence on a righteous person who sins, saying that all his former righteousness will not be remembered: All his righteousnesses will not be remembered 440 [226], because, according to the divine Gregory of Nyssa, “the divine eye always sees the present, but does not count the past” 441. Is it possible to find another loss in the world greater than this? Undoubtedly, brother, at the sight of such a great loss, one can be amazed and speechless, like Job’s friends, who, seeing the great loss and misfortune that he suffered, sat in front of him for seven whole days and were unable to utter a single word, as it is written: He sat with him seven days and seven nights, and no one from them spoke a word to him, for they saw the fierce plague and great 442 . The fifth evil that sin brings to you is, brother, the deprivation of God’s ineffable help. For just as a loving mother cherishes her child and always takes care of him with all her heart, so God cares for your soul when it does not have mortal sin, according to Scripture: As if a mother comforts anyone, I will also comfort you 443. He helps her, controls her, holds her in His arms, delights her heart, enlightens her mind, strengthens her will and gives her effective strength so that she can easily accomplish her salvation. But if you sin mortally, God will no longer pour out the previous streams of His help and grace onto your soul, although He will not reject it completely. And due to the absence of this help, salvation will become more difficult for you, since the higher part of your soul will weaken, while the lower and passionate part will strengthen and gain superiority, and, because of this, falling from one sin to another, you will finally reach the abyss of evils. The sixth evil of sin is that it makes you, brother, guilty of eternal torment, for after you sin mortally, your name will immediately be erased from the Book of Life and you will be condemned to terrible torments of hell and will suffer forever. The seventh evil of sin is the end that follows after death, for if you do not destroy sin before your death by true and perfect repentance and correction, then your soul will actually descend into hellish prisons, into a deplorable place, into a dark place, awaiting the general resurrection, when your body will also be resurrected and you will undergo hellish torment in its entirety. Always remember and reflect, my friend sinner, about all this boundless evil and damage brought to you by sin, so that with all your soul you can hate sin as your mortal and most fierce enemy and not commit it again. Knowledge of the essence of sin based on the punishments received for it Now it remains, brother, to show you the evil of sin based on the severe punishment that God inflicted for it, firstly, on angels and, secondly, on people. Punishment for sin by angels God punished the angels for sin and for just one proud and incorrigible thought cast countless numbers of them into hell and did not take into account the fact that they were immaterial spirits by nature, having immortal existence, the wisest of all people, the strongest of all lower creatures, did not take into account either their nobility, or their sharpest mind, or their immaterial reason, but condemned them to eternal torments more severe than the torments of hell, in order to let us understand how He hates and how severely He punishes sin, according to what is written: But the angels, not keeping their rulership, but leaving their dwelling, were kept in eternal chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day 444 . And the Apostle Peter said: God did not show mercy to the angels who sinned, but, having bound them as captives of darkness, he delivered them up to the tormented judgment 445 . God also punished people for sin, for the first man, Adam, after he transgressed His commandment, He immediately expelled him from Paradise and condemned him and all of us, his descendants, to live on this cursed earth in poverty, illness, sorrow, sighing, misfortune, and after all this to die an unnatural and painful death. He punished those who sinned in the time of Noah and brought upon them a worldwide flood of water, burned Sodom and Gomorrah with another, new flood of brimstone and fire, and, finally, condemned unrepentant sinners to burn forever in hellfire, who would be constantly tormented by tireless demon tormentors and to whose misfortune He would never show compassion, to whose tears He would never listen, but with whom He would never listen even more decisively. will wage war and whom he will hate forever, because these are the unfortunate people about whom Malachi speaks: People, the Lord has taken up arms against this one forever 446. Do these punishments for sin seem too great to you, my brother? Then know that every sin is punished by God not according to its merits, but always with mercy, and although the sinner will suffer forever, his torment will be less than what he deserves, and therefore he can repeat the words of Job: I have done the same, and not according to the merits of tormenting me, about them who sinned 447. The sixth means of protection from sin is prayer. St. Augustine says that a person must do what he can, and ask God for what he cannot: “...and do what you can, and ask for what you cannot” 448. Therefore, brother, having offered you, so that you do not fall into sin, the above-mentioned means of protection in the form of instructions, which you can carry out with the help of your own strength and your own will, in the end we will also give you the sixth means of protection from sin, which is sacred prayer. So, devote yourself entirely to God and do not cease to fervently pray to Him that He, with His grace and help from above, will strengthen your weakness and confirm your will in the decision made, trusting that He will hear you in His great mercy, as He Himself promised: If ... you cry to Me, I will hear him, for I am merciful 449. Don't you have the strength? Don't you have the willpower? The reason is that you don't ask God for it. Don’t ask, don’t ask for 450, says the divine Jacob. Are you afraid of danger? Do you tremble before sinful temptation? Watch and pray so as not to fall into it, as it is written: Watch and pray so that you do not fall into misfortune 451. And to make it easier for you to do this, we will give you the following prayer here. Most merciful Lord Jesus Christ my God, I thank You, for through my mystical confession before my spiritual father You have vouchsafed me, a sinner, to receive forgiveness of my sins from You. Other things, imitating David, who said: I swore and vowed to preserve the destinies of Thy righteousness 452, I promise Thee with the firm will of my soul that I would prefer to accept the darkness of death rather than commit a mortal sin and thus grieve Thy infinite goodness. But since my will is weak without Your help, I pray to You to warmly strengthen me with Your grace and confirm me with Your sovereign help, so that I may remain immutable to the end in this holy decision of mine. Hey, my most beloved Jesus, strengthen me, so that I may pass through the rest of my life in repentance, so that I may enjoy here, below, Your grace, and there in heaven, Your blessed glory, the prayers of Your most blessed Mother and all Your saints. Amen. I conclude and seal this “Advice” with the following words. The Father, having sent the Baptist John to baptize, preached through his mouth to sinners: Repent 453. The Son, having appeared in the world, made this word the beginning and foundation of His preaching, calling: Repent 454. The Holy Spirit, descending in the form of tongues of fire, pronounced this word through the Apostle Peter, who exhorted: Repent 455. Three testify, and the testimony of Three is true, or better yet, absolutely true. So, my sinner friends, repent, repent, repent, for fear the Kingdom of Heaven will come closer 456. [230]. Appendix to the third part. A soul-helping word about the audacity of those who sin in the hope of confession and repentance [231] For what reason, I ask, does a person in all bodily matters incline more to fear than to hope, but in matters concerning the soul he hopes more than fears? Undoubtedly, this happens only because he weakly desires his salvation and is not afraid because he does not strive for it. There are many, innumerable multitudes of Christians who, according to Job, drink wickedness like water, 457 for each of them, before sinning, thinks and says: “I will sin and confess, I will repent,” and having sinned and confessed, he no longer thinks about sin, because he says: “I confessed, I repented.” O evil thought, says Sirach, where did you come from to cover the dry land with flattery? 458 Oh, most lawless error and prejudice, covering the earth with sins, from what abyss have you come?! Of course, none other than hell! Is it not appropriate for you to return to hell again and not deceive any more Christians?! Therefore, we want to talk in real words about the insolence of those who think so. 1. About the error of those who sin in the hope of repentance Without any doubt, there has never been such a crazy merchant who would needlessly throw his goods into the sea in the hope of getting them back. Nevertheless, there are Christians so unreasonable that, of their own free will, they throw away the purity of their soul and the grace of God, which is the greatest gift that the Lord can give us in this world, in the hope that they will again receive this purity and these heavenly gifts with the help of confession and repentance, they turn, damned, into slaves of hell, bound in chains, in the confidence that they will break these chains at their will, and go to Lucifer with the keys their souls in their hands, thinking that they could get them from him again whenever they wished. And what other proof do you need, brother, when you see that the devil has reached such insolence that he went to fight with our Lord Jesus Christ, having deep confidence that he will defeat Him with the same weapon of hope in God, which he has used so many times very successfully against others? Therefore, the vile one advised the Lord to throw himself from the church wing in the hope that the angels would immediately fly in and catch Him, so that He would not suffer any harm, fulfilling the commandment given to them by God, to preserve His servants: Look down below; For it is written that His angel commanded You, and they will take You up in their arms, lest You dash Your foot against a stone 463 . So, one should not be surprised that with this false thought the enemy often tempts Christians, urging them to rush and fall into all kinds of iniquity and add thousands of others to the first sin with the conviction and hope that they will confess and their confessors will forgive them their sins, hastening as messengers of peace to prevent them from falling into hell. But one should be surprised that Christians do not know such an obvious and obvious deception of the devil and show such ingratitude to God that they use confession and repentance as a reason for sins, and turn the mercy and goodness of God, which are the reason for their salvation, into a reason for their fall and death. And just as the poisonous herb called aconite produces its poison from the sweetest dew of heaven, so these damned ones turn the sweetest and saving blood of Jesus Christ into poison for themselves and make the cause of their own death, since this blood, which in the font of repentance and confession serves to drown all their sins, they force to serve, one might say, to irrigate and nurture their sins. Alas! Is it possible to find greater lawlessness than this?! And what else can you call it? Not to mention the fact that we use our healing for the triumph and victory of the devil, which the divine Ambrose laments, exclaiming: “Our healing serves the triumph of the devil himself!” 464 2. About what damage those who sin in the hope of confession and repentance cause to their salvation But who can fully imagine the damage that sinners inflict on themselves in the hope of repentance? I am sure that the majority of Christians will undergo the torments of hell because of this crafty and erroneous hope, which gradually led them to the terrible abyss of hell and, although they believed that eternal flames were destined for those who sinned, made them commit sin as if they were sure that the torments of hell were a fairy tale. And how did she bring them to this? Taking advantage of their conviction that healing from sins is as simple as confessing your sins to your confessor and receiving the lightest penance for them, and that having done this, they can live calmly and carefree and be sure that they have paid all their debts. The first damage for those who sin in the hope of repentance is an exorbitant number of sins So, the first damage that sinners inflict on themselves in the hope of repentance is the huge number of sins they commit. For, considering that it is very easy to confess their sins with a little tenderness and that this is where all repentance lies, they, unfortunate ones, because of this ease and false hope, gradually fall into passions, and, having fallen once, they finally throw off the reins of reason and caution and run like dumb animals along the path of destruction. Therefore, who can calculate the falls to which they are subjected? As soon as they find a suitable way and place, they immediately fall into sin. As soon as their evil lust desires them, they immediately fall. As soon as a bad thought comes, they immediately commit sin in action. However, for the sake of curiosity, let us make an exact calculation to see how many sins they commit. Many of these sinners, who believe that it is easy to obtain forgiveness of their sins through confession, can commit an average of ten sins every day, both by their evil deeds and by their evil desires, careless conversations and indecent pleasures, and especially and most of all by the temptations that they give to others, killing their souls. Therefore, with this count, the number of their sins in one month will reach three hundred and, therefore, in one year they will commit more than three thousand sins, so that each of them will knock on the doors of hell more than three thousand times a year. After this, does it seem incredible that God’s justice could one day open the doors of hell to such a sinner and allow him to fall into the abyss? And even more terrible is the punishment to which God’s justice will subject him, speaking through the mouth of Jeremiah: You were healed for illness, it was of no benefit to you... for with the plague of the enemy I struck you with a firm punishment, all for the sake of your unrighteousness, your sins multiplying 465. Weigh these words carefully, brother. God does not say that you were not healed, but He says that you did not benefit from the healing. You were healed for illness, even frequent healing does you no good, because you confessed not just once, but many, many times, and yet confession, intended to poison and kill sins, due to your own wickedness, served to increase their number. For you say to yourself: “If I sin, I only need to confess, and if I sinned once, I can sin many more times, because no matter how many sins I commit or few, I will confess and repent.” So, you were healed, this is true, but there is no benefit for you from this healing, because the benefit you receive from repeated confession boils down to the fact that you add countless sins to your sins, not knowing that this multitude of sins plunges you into the depths of hell and makes you worthy of God punishing you with a firm punishment, without mercy, and punishing you like His enemy, who sins against God the more, the more God shows mercy to him, as it is said: ... I have struck you with the plague of the enemy, for your sins have multiplied. Therefore, in another place, the same prophet speaks allegorically about a soul that confesses and is healed of sins, and then sins again and becomes unhealed and worthy of complete abandonment by God and hellish torment: The physician of Babylon, and was not healed; let us leave him... for his judgment has gone up... to heaven 466. The second damage for those who sin in the hope of repentance is the exorbitant severity of sins in quality The second damage that sinners inflict on themselves in the hope of repentance is the exorbitant severity of the sins they commit in terms of quality. For, saying: “I confess,” because of the false calculation they make, they sin without any fear or embarrassment, plunge into the depths and most disgusting filth of sin, shamelessly commit evil that even the wicked do not commit, and wallow in such dirt and sewage that even dumb animals do not wallow. How does God deal with them? He does not forget this evil, but when the time comes, He punishes him, as He Himself speaks about this through the mouth of Hosea. Decaying along the day of the hill [232], - this is said about the sins of these crafty people. He will remember their iniquities and avenge their sins 467 - and this is about the punishment that God subjects them to. The third damage to those who sin in the hope of repentance is negligence, boasting, impenitence and renunciation The third damage that sinners inflict on themselves in the hope of repentance is the conscious, contemptuous negligence with which they treat their salvation and all the commandments of the Lord after committing a sin, for, according to Solomon, when the wicked comes to the depths of evil, he is negligent 468 . When they reach the limit of evil, their minds become coarser, their hearts harden, and they no longer attach any importance to sin. Some of them go even further, for they not only fall into negligence, but also experience satisfaction from their sins and rejoice in them and boast about them as great deeds, as Solomon says: O you who rejoice over the wicked and rejoice over the corruption of evil! 469 Isaiah: She announced and revealed her sin... like Sodom’s 470. And thus those who said at the beginning: “Now I will sin, and then I will confess, repent,” get to the point that, having fallen into the depths of evil, they no longer want to confess or repent, and even if they suddenly want to, they can no longer, because the habit of sin turns into a property of their soul, and the property of the soul becomes a second nature and makes their heart hard as stone, and insensitive and incapable of repentance and correction. And then these unfortunates die without ever correcting themselves or repenting. It is amazing that such Christians, who have reached the limit of evil, retain their faith and do not renounce it, although some of them, alas, let go of the very anchor of faith from their hands, for a bad life gives birth to bad dogmas, as the divine Chrysostom says 471. Do you see, brother, what damage, do you see what destruction those who sin with the false hope of confessing and repenting bring to themselves? Therefore, Abba Isaac said extremely wisely that he who falls into repeated sins in the hope of repentance is deceitful before God and will unexpectedly die, not being rewarded with the repentance for which he hoped: “In the hope of repentance, he who creeps a second time with deceit walks with deceit before God. Death will come to him unexpectedly, and he will not reach the time of his hope to fulfill the deeds of virtue” 472. Basil the Great says almost the same thing: “In the hope of repentance, he who does evil has a villainous disposition and is deprived of repentance” 473. To this we can add what Saint Ambrose said: “The ease of forgiveness gives rise to sin” 474. 3. On healing those who sin in the hope of confession and repentance The first means of healing those who sin in the hope of repentance is prayer. Thou art good, O Lord, and by Thy goodness teach me by Thy justification, 475 - this is how the prophet David prayed. And you, brother, need to pray to God about this with all your heart, because prayer is the first means of healing this evil confidence and false hope that we have now been castigated. Oh, Lord, You are good, or rather, You are goodness itself by nature! - You are good, Lord! Make it so that this Your goodness will teach me to keep Your law! - Teach me by Your goodness by Your justification! This is what the Lord wants from you, showing His kindness towards you, waiting for your confession and forgiving your sins: He wants you to learn from Him to be good. Why are you not afraid to anger Him by perverting His purpose? Why do you want to be so evil and lawless towards God, while God is so good and gentle towards You? Is food rewarded for good with evil? 476 So do you repay the good deeds of your God?! So you use the goodness of God and the grace of confession, turning it into a tool to sin and offend God?! One of two things can be assumed. If you, a sinner, do not believe that between the goodness of God and evil there is a contradiction - endless, essential and unchangeable, then you do not truly and godly believe in God. If you believe in Him, but at the same time you want the goodness of God to serve you as a reason for committing sin, which is such a great enemy of the goodness of God, then know that by doing this you are doing nothing more than arming God against God and, one might say, making His mercy war with His justice. Therefore, brother, always ask the Lord to expel from your heart this false and erroneous hope, about which it is written: I lay down our hope and cover ourselves with lies 477, and enlighten you with His grace, so that you know that this hope is a deception and a snare of the devil, with the help of which he, as we said before, deceived our first parents in Paradise and constantly deceives so many damned sinners, bringing them to hell. And to get rid of it, pray to the Lord in the words of David: Save me, Lord, from the snare that I have made 478. The second means of healing those who sin in the hope of repentance is knowledge of the essence of true repentance and its fruits The second means of healing, brother, is to combat the root of this false hope, which is double ignorance, for those who sin in the hope of repentance do not know, firstly, what confession and repentance are in essence, and secondly, what kind of results and fruits true repentance and confession bring. Therefore, by ridding your mind of these two types of ignorance, a person will undoubtedly be healed. So, those who sin in the hope of confession do not understand at all what confession is. They think that confession consists only of telling the confessor in detail their sins, and that by revealing them all and not omitting anything, they will do everything necessary. Therefore, all their worries about preparing for confession come down to remembering the sins they have committed, and after confession they only worry about whether they accidentally forgot some sin. But if these worries and worries alone were enough to reconcile them with God, then the road to heaven would no longer be narrow, as the Gospel tells us: ... a narrow and narrow path, lead into the stomach 479, but would be wider than city squares. Is it really a great job to name your sins to your confessor if we have been accustomed to naming them since childhood? And if this were all, then the most shameless and unscrupulous sinners, boasting about their sins and talking about them for fun in the company of friends, would be better prepared for confession, since they can easily confess all their sins without shame. In this case, confession would be a matter performed with the lips alone, and would be a relief more for the memory than for the heart. But in reality, everything is different, since confession first of all means the sinner’s abandonment of sin and his conversion and return to God. That confession must be made with pain And although this external declaration of sin through the mouth of the sinner is necessary, since thanks to it the confessor learns about the sin and can correct it and let it go, it alone is not enough, and the sinner’s internal heartache about the sins is also necessary. This pain must have the following three qualities: firstly, to be effective, secondly, to be extremely strong, thirdly, to be supernatural. Therefore, if your pain, brother, is devoid of at least one of these three qualities, then your confession will be similar to the confession of Saul, the confession of Antiochus and the confession of Judas, who repented only with their lips, and not with their hearts [233]. And since these three qualities of heartache are as necessary as it is necessary for us to receive forgiveness of our sins from God, then I need to explain to you here, brother, their meaning, or at least remind you of them separately. That pain must be effective So, the pain of repentance must be, firstly, effective, that is, not powerless and weak, incapable of producing any tangible and significant effect, but so strong as to dominate the heart and not allow it to succumb to carnal lust and sinful sweetness (if not to say to feel them at all), which penetrate into it due to the attacks of the enemy, and also so decisive as not to allow the repentant to offend God again with sins. under any circumstances, for any reason, neither out of love for some created thing, nor out of fear of suffering any evil (so an honest woman who decides to keep the honor of her husband and always be faithful to him has no fear, even if a thousand evils happen to her because of this). That the pain must be great and extremely strong Secondly, this pain should not be feigned, not light and weak, but great and extremely strong. Therefore, that pain that prompts us to feel disgust for sins and hate them for the love of God, since with them we have saddened God, and which is called contrition, and that pain that prompts us to feel disgust for sins for the sake of love for ourselves, since because of them we are deprived of Paradise and are condemned to hellish torment, and which is called sadness [234], must be so strong and perfect as to make the penitent feel disgust for sins and hate them more than any other evil, with all my soul, that is, with such strength that the soul, thanks to this strength, prefers to committing a sin any other evil that could happen to it, be it the deprivation of things, the deprivation of honor, or the deprivation of life itself. At the same time, a truly repentant person needs to show God, who sees the depths of the heart, that his heart hurts so much that, comparing the love of God with the love of creation, he prefers the love of God to the love of all creatures. And besides, these two types of pain must be so strong that they not only never leave the repentant, not only bring his heart into contrition, not only force him to let out sighs and shed tears, as it is written about sinners: But you will cry out in the pain of your heart and weep from contrition of spirit 480, but also force his heart to inwardly hate sin, feel disgust for it and desire, so that it never happens again. That pain should be supernatural Thirdly, this heartache must be supernatural, both in the source from which it arises and in the purpose for which it arises. For the source and cause of this pain is, first of all and truly, not nature or some natural cause, but the supernatural grace of God, bringing the heart into contrition and tenderness through this repentant pain. That’s why Basil the Great said: “Tenderness that arises naturally is a gift from God... so that the soul, having tasted the sweetness of this pain, tries to preserve it constantly” 481. Some understood the apostolic saying that God wills and has mercy in the sense of tenderness, since he adds to these words: ... and what He wills, He hardens, 482, and bitterness and tenderness are directly opposite to each other. Likewise, the purpose of this pain should not be the return of some material object or natural and temporal goods that we have lost (for if a person grieves and experiences pain because of them, this sorrow and pain is not imputed to him as repentance, but is useless), but in the return of supernatural goods that we have lost due to sins, and in deliverance from supernatural evil to which we have been subjected - which is also revealed to us through supernatural faith. The main reason why this pain should be supernatural is that with the help of this supernatural pain it is fitting for us to perceive reconciliation and union with God and, as a result, bliss that transcends the limits of nature. And if the person confessing does not have such effective, extremely strong and supernatural pain in his heart, then after confession he again returns to his home with all his sins. Therefore, it is wonderful and useful to test one’s conscience, which a person makes in order to see with its help all the sins he has committed in word, deed and agreement with thoughts. It is wonderful to confess all your sins to your confessor, leaving not a single sin unconfessed. However, such testing and confession must be accompanied by contrition and the inner heartache that we are talking about here. For other penance received by the penitent from the confessor, be it fasting, genuflection or some other bodily feat, crushes and punishes only the body and the outer man and, so to speak, pruns only the outer branches of the tree, while pain crushes and wounds the inner man and the heart itself, which is the first and main cause and root of all sins in general. Crushing the heart, it simultaneously crushes and strikes sins, or, better said, crushes and strikes the devil himself and the inventor of evil, the serpent, who, nesting in the heart, speaks and inspires in a person all shameful, hostile and blasphemous thoughts and pushes him to all sins, as it is said: From the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, theft, false witness, blasphemies 483. That heart pain is an integral part of repentance Therefore, as George Koressius theologizes in his treatise “On the Sacraments,” according to the dogmas of our Orthodox Church, this pain and inner sadness of the heart is one of the necessary components and essential parts of the sacrament of confession and repentance 484 . And just as, for example, a necessary component of the sacrament of repentance is the oral confession of sins by the penitent and his forgiveness or binding by the confessor, and an integral part of the sacrament of baptism is the substance of water and the proclamation of the name of the Holy Trinity during three immersions and ascents, so this internal heartache is also a necessary component of the sacrament of repentance. And if this pain is absent in the heart of the penitent, then it is clear that he cannot be considered repentant and confessed, although he repented and confessed, just as one who did not confess his sins and was not forgiven or bound by a spiritual father cannot be considered repentant, and just as one who was baptized without water or without invoking the Holy Trinity cannot be considered baptized. That is why the Lord said so strictly: ...if you do not repent, you will all perish the same way 485, that is: if you do not repent with such effective, extremely strong and supernatural pain in your heart, then you will all be subjected to hellish torment. Therefore, the Holy Spirit, wanting to show how necessary this heartache is during repentance, first of all demands this pain from those who repent, speaking through the prophet Joel: Rend your hearts, and not your garments, and then demands their repentance, adding after this: ... and turn to the Lord your God 486. Do you see, brother, what is the canonical and legal confession? Do you see what true repentance is? Now I ask you, brother, to think whether someone who shamelessly sins, saying: “Then I will confess. Then you will have to confess,” and at the same time have that true pain about your sins that we talked about. It seems to me that there is no way he can have it, since by his own words he shows that he does not even know that it is necessary to repent legally and appropriately. If he knows this and at the same time says such things and sins with the hope of repentance, then it is clear that he is completely devoid of reason, because his words have the following meaning: “I will do this evil, and then this evil itself will show me how bad it is that I did it. I will defile my soul now, and then I will want to wash away this defilement with all my blood. I will love this sin, and then I will hate myself for loving it.” Do you see that these are the words of a mad man? And you yourself, wanting to keep someone from doing something bad, tell him: “Think carefully, brother, because later you will repent of it.” And if this brother is reasonable and believes that he will have to repent of this, then after these words he immediately loses the desire to do this deed. Now think, brother, are you not one of the reckless and devoid of reason people who utter such words, and from now on, leave these crazy speeches and delusions, because as long as you say this and follow this delusion, sinning in the hope of repentance, you cannot acquire true repentance and turn to God with all your heart, you cannot acquire the inseparable companion of true repentance - pain in your heart, which, as we said earlier, should be so effective and so strong that it surpasses all your other pain, just as the sea surpasses all rivers in its size, according to what was said: Be magnified like the sea, the cup of your contrition 487 . That pain and contrition are, first of all, a gift from God You cannot acquire this supernatural pain at will, because, as you heard before, this pain comes by the grace of God and is a gift from God. So, if this is a gift from God, then it is given freely and to a few. It is not given to all souls, otherwise it would not be a gift. And, besides, this is one of the most precious gifts that the Lord can give you, one of the most excellent benefits of His goodness, one of the greatest works of His power, so that if He created a new world from one gold and a new heaven from only sapphires and diamonds and then made you the master of this world, then, undoubtedly, He would give you an incomparably smaller gift than one thing caused by true pain and true contrition. Do you then believe that God must give you immediately and whenever you want this most precious gift of contrition, a gift that He does not give to many others, allowing them to be in a state of hardness, as it is said: what God wills, hardens, 488 a gift for the acquisition of which the saints led such a harsh life, shed so much sweat and for the reception of which they prepared with such zeal? If you believe in this, then it is in vain. Better get that fantasy out of your head. For Basil the Great says that the soul often tries to come to tenderness and cannot achieve this, since in order to acquire tenderness, a person needs great zeal and frequent exercise: “And when the soul makes efforts, but cannot achieve what it wants, then this is an exposure of our negligence at other times, - for it is impossible without zeal and diligent and constant exercise, having taken on some business, immediately achieve success in it - and at the same time shows, that the soul is possessed by other passions that do not even allow it to freely do what it wants” 489. One virtuous man every year made a general confession, that is, he confessed all the sins he had committed throughout his life precisely in order to acquire in his heart the true pain of sins, and he prepared for this for many weeks, remaining in silence and engaging in spiritual exercises, and on the day when he wanted to confess, he spent eight hours practicing acts of contrition and asking God for this great gift. And you, having defiled yourself yesterday or the day before yesterday with new sins and without even measuring the severity of sin, without thinking about the greatness and goodness of God, whom you offended, without reading a single book that would talk about these subjects, but only by remembering the bad deeds you committed and going to your confessor to confess them, you believe that thanks to this you have acquired true repentance and effective and extremely strong heartache, which is inseparable from true repentance? With such confessions, brother, you are far from true repentance, since you are like those who tear their clothes and show themselves to be outwardly grieving, but inwardly, in the heart, not having tenderness, about which David speaks: Being moved and not being touched 490, and because, confessing in this way, you wash only the outer vessel and visible manifestations of the movements of your heart, leaving it in the depths and inner life full of impurity, about which It is said: First clean the inside of the glass and dish so that the outside will also be clean 491. And even if we assume that you do not attach any importance to sin when you commit it, however, repenting of it in confession, you attach great importance to it and abhor it more than any other evil, and grieve and lament over it with heartache (which rarely happens), then this is not enough to acquire true repentance and true repentant pain in the heart. About the fact that confession does not cleanse the evil inclinations of the heart And in order for you to understand this, we must show you what the results and fruits of true repentance and confession are. Let them serve as a sign for you by which you can determine whether your confession and repentance are true. You think that after you tenderly confess to your confessor the sins you have committed and the confessor reads a prayer of absolution, you will become as pure as if you had never committed a single sin, and you will leave your confessor’s feet as if you had always been free from filth. However, this thought is erroneous, since confession is similar to baptism and like baptism, while cleansing ancestral and any other voluntary sin, it does not cleanse ignorance of the mind and lust, and the innate inclination of the heart to sin, and the consequences brought to human nature by this ancestral sin - for they remain as punishment even after baptism for the test of free will and for feat, victory and the granting of a crown baptized - so confession, performed well and as it should be, while cleansing sins, does not cleanse all the bad things left in the soul by sins, that is, blindness and darkness of the mind, bad inclinations, dispositions of the will, habits and properties of the heart, corruption and worthlessness of the powers and actions of nature and disfigurement of the created in the image and likeness 492. For confession does not completely remove from us the punishment and penance that we must receive for our sins, and does not completely free us from the burden of bad qualities and habits acquired by us because of sin, but, reducing it only partially, it leaves them for us to correct and cleanse them with the constant pain of our hearts and the labors and painful feats of repentance, which after sin we must perform throughout our lives. What to do after confession So, know, brother, that after making a sincere confession with tenderness, you should, firstly, fulfill the penance and endure the punishment that your confessor will assign you for your sins, be it fasting, or kneeling, or prayer, or something else, and secondly, you should also perform the penance with gratitude and meekly endure the punishment that God will assign you for the healing of your sins. then illness, or injustice, or deprivation of your property, or premature death - your own or that of your relatives and loved ones, or insults and dishonor, or other temptations coming either from demons, or from people, or from damaged nature. For all this, and especially dishonor and insults, gives rise to pain and tenderness in the heart, and for this reason God allows this to happen to you. That is why a certain father said: “When you experience severe pain due to insult or dishonor, know that you have received great benefit.”493 And another father, when grief visited him, used to say: “This is cauterization from Jesus” 494. And God sent such punishments to David after forgiving him of adultery and murder because He is the wisest confessor and knows better than all confessors how to correct sinners with just penance, and also because the justice of God, forgiving the Fall and freeing the sinner from eternal torment, frees him not just like that and not as it happens, but on the condition that he performs this temporary penance within his means and endures this temporary punishment. I said: “... feasible fulfillment” because, although the sinner’s penance contributes to the forgiveness of his sins, however, the main reason for the forgiveness of sins is the infinite mercy of God and the priceless satisfaction that the Son of God brought for them with His suffering and death, as the sacred theologians say. God punishes sinners for the most part through the reproof of conscience in the waking state, exhausting and drying them up like a spider, as David says: In reproaching their iniquity, you punished man and melted away his soul like a spider, 495 and sometimes he frightens them with terrible visions in their sleep, as Elius says in the Book of Job: For one thing the Lord will say, second but in a dream, or in a nightly teaching... as when fear attacks people, they fall on their beds while dozing; then he will open the human mind, and will frighten them with the visions of fear tatsemi 496. And the reason is that if God does not subject the sinner to temporary penance and punishment for his sins in this life, then he will undoubtedly have to punish him in that life with eternal torment. Therefore, the righteous Job said that he was afraid for all his deeds: I am shaking with all my hearts, for I knew that God does not forgive the sinner his entire debt without subjecting him to punishment: ... we know that you have left me innocent 497. That true repentance requires four works You know, brother, that whoever wants to plant a garden in a wild place needs to do four things: first, cut down the sprouts and shoots of wild trees; secondly, uproot all the roots of these wild trees, because if the roots remain, they will sprout again; thirdly, to plant other cultivated and fruit-bearing trees in the place of these wild trees, and fourthly, to protect these trees from various animals and from everything unfavorable until they take root, turn into large trees and bear fruit. Also, in order to acquire true repentance, you need to do four things. Firstly, you need to cut off the sprouts and shoots of sin, that is, make with complete firmness of will and with all your heart an unshakable decision to never commit sin again and move away from every deed and action of sin, just as you move away from death and from hell itself, for the shoots and sprouts of sin are new sinful deeds. And constant prayer to God that He will preserve you with His grace, remembrance of death, the Judgment of God and eternal torment, frequent confession of your sins, frequent communion of the Divine mysteries, if there are no obstacles to this, will help you to move away from sin. What will especially help you in this is removal from all the causes of sin and, above all, removal from bad sights and conversations and friendship with persons with whom you have sinned, and in general removal from communication that harms your soul, which we told you about in “Advice to the Penitent.” Secondly, you need not only to cut off the shoots of sin by abstaining from sinful acts, but also uproot the roots of sin. The roots of sin are bad inclinations, addictions and mental qualities and sinful passions, desires and lusts that take root in your heart and remain in it after you leave bad deeds and stop sinning in practice. With these inclinations and addictions, and roots, and bad habits and mental properties, and sinful passions and thoughts, you, brother, need to fight in order to uproot them and completely eradicate them from your heart, because if you do not eradicate them, there is a danger that they will sprout again and give rise to a sinful deed, as Basil the Great says: “For if someone wants to cut down the shoots of a plant, but leaves root, then the root that remains intact will still sprout again. In the same way, since some sins do not have a beginning in themselves, but are born from others, then it is extremely necessary for anyone who wants to cleanse themselves from them to remove the original causes of sins” 498. Therefore, we see that many penitents, who decided not to commit sin anymore, cut off the shoots of sin and completely moved away from evil, but left the roots intact, because of this, their hearts are again inclined to sin and they desire it and often think about it with their minds. And like the Israelites, who in body and deed came out of Egypt, but in soul and the inclination of the heart were in Egypt and because of this they thought about the garlic, onions and meat of Egypt, desired them and said: Who will feed us on the meat? Mentioning the fish that were poisonous in the land of Egypt, tuna, and cucumbers and melons, onions and scarlet onions and garlic, 499 they, leaving sin as a matter of fact, do not abandon the inclination to sin, thoughts about it and the desire to commit it. They forgive their enemy, bow down to him and do not take revenge on him, but only with their lips and outwardly, and in their hearts they retain to some extent the passion of remembrance and do not have complete love for their enemy, and therefore, when some misfortune happens to him, they are overcome with joy, and when happiness visits him, they immediately fall into sadness. They have a firm determination to no longer sin with the person with whom they previously sinned, however, at the same time they always think about this person and feel partiality and secret inclination towards him and therefore constantly imagine him with the eyes of their mind and talk affectionately with him both while awake and in sleep, and also often turn their sensual eyes to him and look at him and love to talk with him when he is nearby, and talk about him when he is absent, like a wife Lot, who left Sodom with her body, but did not leave it with her heart and therefore turned around to look at him, as it is written: And his wife looked back and there was a pillar of glory 500, or to the sick who abstain from melons and other harmful food and do not eat it because they are afraid to die, however, they often talk about this food and, not being able to fulfill the desire to eat it, want to at least hold it in their hands, stroke it and smell it and consider those who can eat it happy and blessed. How Scripture portrays the evil inclinations of the heart Therefore, the Holy Spirit, wanting to show us these bad roots and inclinations, and habits, and spiritual properties that remain in the heart after the deeds and actions of sin, says to us through the mouth of Sirach: His father will die, and if he does not die, for he will leave what is like himself 501. These words, in a moral and allegorical sense, can refer to sin, which, dying after confession and abandonment of sin, in reality, nevertheless, does not die, since it leaves alive in the heart a bad habit and inclination towards sin, which we could rightly call the daughter or, more precisely, the mother of sin, for if it is not eradicated, it will again be able to give birth to new and new sins. Also wanting to show us that this bad disposition and this bad habit, which sin leaves in the heart, little by little increase in proportion to the sins they generate, and because of them the salvation of the human soul is always exposed to the greatest danger, He tells us through the Pritochnik that the sinner follows forbidden pleasures like an ox, that is, slowly and unhurriedly, with persistence and perseverance: Like an ox led to the slaughter 502 . Then He tells us that the sinner strives for sins like a deer, that is, making great leaps and chasing them with thirst: ... or like a tree wounded by an arrow in a yatra 503. And finally, He adds that the sinner, like a vulture, rushes after sin in order to make it his prey: ... He rushes like a bird into a net, unaware of how it flows into the soul 504. He also tells us through David that the sinner puts on cursed sin like his own clothing: He puts on the curse like a robe 505. After this, He says that the bad habit of sin through works, which returns again and persists, always penetrates into the depths of the heart, just as the water that we drink penetrates into our insides: ... And down, like water, into its womb 506. And at the very end He adds that sin, like oil, reaches even the bones and marrow of the sinner: ... and like oil it is in his bones 507. In addition, He says that sin first pursues us like an enemy: May the enemy marry my soul 508, and then, seizing us, throw us to the ground and trample with his feet: ... and may he comprehend and trample my belly into the ground 509 and, in the end, turn us into the smallest dust, so that the wind will scatter us and we will completely disappear: ... and place my glory in the dust 510. With these and other similar words of Scripture, the Holy Spirit shows us, as we said before, that the more a soul sins, the more numerous and strong bad inclinations and habits, and spiritual qualities, and passions it cultivates in the heart and in the mind and, therefore, the more it moves away from its salvation. Moreover, He shows us that it is not so easy for a sinner to leave sin behind, as if he were to take off a filthy garment and throw it away, for sin is like a tree whose roots have sunk deep into the sinner's heart, and whose branches have spread to his bones and marrow. And sinners, like crazy people, think that getting rid of sin is an easy matter. They believe that committing one sin and committing a hundred sins are the same thing, and they do not think, damned ones, that when they add lawlessness to lawlessness, they each time bring the work of their salvation into a worse state, since their minds, when committing each new sin, each time become even more darkened, and their hearts become even more hardened, the burden of sin increases, Divine help ceases to support them, the battle of the devil, which he with them leads, strengthens, and their own forces necessary to defeat the enemy weaken. That those who have recently repented are like those who have recently recovered from illness Therefore, very wisely one teacher compares repentant sinners, who have recently emerged from a state of rigidity in sin and are trying to abstain from evil, with the sick who have recently risen from illness and, although not truly sick, are nevertheless pale and weak, eat but without appetite, sleep but do not feel rested, laugh but without joy, walk, but seem to be crawling rather than walking, and who, to put it briefly, do everything with great difficulty, experiencing great heaviness and weakness. This also happens with sinners who have recently left sin. Even if they do something good, they cannot do it with the zeal and diligence with which they should, but they do it with great difficulty, experiencing great heaviness and weakness, because the traces and roots of sin still remain in their hearts and have not been completely healed. Do you want to know, brother, how to uproot these roots, evil inclinations and sinful passions remaining in your heart? Listen. Those who want to uproot the root of some large tree use hoes, hoes, axes and other tools. So, in order for you to uproot these bad roots of sin, you need to use many spiritual weapons: abstinence in food, abstinence in sleep, kneeling, sleeping on bare ground and other external bodily exploits, because all this helps not only to remove the earth around the roots and to loosen the roots themselves, but also to cut them and pull them out, since it crushes the heart in which these roots are hidden, as St. Mark says Ascetic: “Without contrition of the heart it is impossible to get rid of evil. Threefold abstinence crushes the heart, that is, abstinence in relation to sleep, womb and bodily rest” 511. About what causes pain and sorrow However, the sharpest ax and weapon that can cut and uproot these thin roots of sin is heartache, which we spoke about above, and contrition and sadness of the soul. And this pain will be caused in you by the memory of seven things that we told you about in “Advice to the Penitent”: firstly, that by your sins you have damaged God and the natural perfections of God; secondly, that you showed ingratitude to God after the endless benefits He showed you; thirdly, that you have committed unheard-of injustice by neglecting the atonement that the Son of God made for you, enduring terrible suffering and shedding His blood; fourthly, that by the sins you have committed you have caused temporary and eternal damage to yourself; fifthly, that you have lost God and the Divine grace of adoption and justification that you had; sixthly, that you have lost eternal heavenly bliss, and seventhly, that by your sins you have deserved endless hellish torment and an eternity of suffering. This pain, as we said above, should be as effective and as strong and great as the pain of a mother who has lost her only son, or like the pain of a wife who has lost her beloved husband, or like the pain from a blow with a knife, or the pain from a large needle or thorn pierced into the leg, about which David spoke: Return to passion, when the thorn is unzeal 512 - so that this pain and sadness presses on your heart, like The stone slab crushed him, moved him into emotion and forced him to sometimes sigh and sometimes cry. That is why Abba Isaac said: “Repentance is a contrite and humble heart” 513, and also: “Repentance is the abandonment of the past and sorrow for it” 514. And John Climacus writes: “Repentance is a strong oppression of the belly and a wounding of the soul with a strong feeling” 515. That heart pain should be constant This pain and sadness of the heart must be constant, since repentance must also be constant. And you, brother, need to constantly have this pain in your heart, for as long as you have this pain, there is also repentance, and as soon as this pain leaves your heart, you will immediately lose repentance, as George Coresius says 516 along with other theologians. Therefore, the divine Isaac said that “there is not a single virtue higher than repentance, because doing it can never achieve perfection” 517 [235]. About the reasons why pain should be constant Heartache and repentance must be constant for three reasons. Firstly, because immediately after committing a mortal sin, a person becomes worthy of bodily mortification by God and deprivation of this life (just as the Old Testament law punished mortal sins with bodily death), and then being plunged into eternal torment. However, God, in His love for mankind, does not put him to death physically, but leaves him to live, so that he would repent throughout his life of the sin he committed, as St. Mark the Ascetic says: “He who has once become worthy of death according to the law must be put to death, and if he is alive, then only through faith and for the sake of repentance” 518. Therefore, a person who has once fallen into sin, especially mortal sin, can no longer be careless throughout his life, but must grieve, be sick, repent and worry about his sin every day, even if he received forgiveness from his confessor, like the prophet David, who received from God through the prophet Nathan forgiveness of two sins he committed and performed sufficient penance for them, having endured the apostasy of his son Absalom, who expelled him from his kingdom, but after that all his life he did not stop caring about them, repenting and crying, which is why he said: I will proclaim my iniquity and take care of my sin 519. And in another place he says: I will wash my bed every night, I will wet my bed with my tears 520. Here David calls a bed the place where he committed adultery, and a bed the place where he pronounced the death sentence on the innocent Uriah, as some teachers interpret. Therefore, the Apostle Peter, every time he heard a rooster crowing, remembered his renunciation and repented and cried, as Saint Clement, his disciple, says. Therefore, the divine Chrysostom said: “Breathe when you sin... and do it constantly, for this is confession. Do not be cheerful now, and sad tomorrow, and then cheerful again, but always remain in weeping and contrition, for it is said: Blessed are those who weep 521, that is, those who do this constantly. Do this constantly and watch yourself and lament in your heart, as someone who has lost his own son cries.”522 That repentance does not erase the scars and traces left after committing a sin The second reason why heartache and repentance must be constant is that every sin is like a wound, from which, when it heals, a scar, a trace and a scar remains in the soul. And it cannot be completely erased in real life, as almost all, if not all, theologians say. For someone who has once stolen, committed fornication or killed cannot, with the help of repentance, become as innocent and as pure as if he had not stolen, committed fornication or killed at all. Therefore, whenever a sinner remembers the sins he has committed and sees the scars and traces of his wounds, he cannot help but grieve over them and cry and repent, even if we assume that these wounds have been healed. So, scars and traces from all sins, and especially and predominantly from carnal sins, remain indelible in the soul. Therefore, Basil the Great, in his word on virginity, says that repentance can bring forgiveness of sin to a man or woman who has corrupted their virginity and committed fornication, however, it cannot make a corrupted woman like an uncorrupted virgin, which is why it causes crying in those who committed fornication or were corrupted throughout their lives: “For repentance forgives sins, but is not able to make the corrupted one like uncorrupted, it excites crying all your life. For how will the corrupted become like the uncorrupted? Or how will one once wounded by lust, and voluptuousness, and passion become the same as one who has not been wounded, if the signs of corruption always remain in the soul and body? 523 Also at the end of the word about repentance, he says: “There is healing even after a wound, but a scar remains” 524. And the divine Gregory says: “There is no return to the past, even if we looked for it with many sighs and tears, from which it is difficult to grow together - for it happens, and we believe in it. I would like us to smooth out the scars, since I myself need philanthropy” 525. Healing here refers to the healing of the wound, which God promises through Jeremiah, saying: Behold... I will bring upon him the healing of the wound and healing 526. And Athanasius the Great says: “He who repents ceases to sin, but has scars from his wounds” 527. And Cyril of Jerusalem said this: “Traces of sinful defilement remain in the body, for just as when a wound is inflicted on the body, although there is some healing, a scar remains, so sin wounds the soul and body and after that there are always nail sores 528” 529. And Isidore Pelusiot says the same thing: “So, when you hear that repentance has been given, do not rush to sin fearlessly, thinking that you will definitely be healed, but know, firstly, that many did not even have the opportunity to repent and were called to judgment with their sins, and then - that repentance has the custom of healing passions after a long time, for work and fasting, and vigil, and alms, and prayers, and everything like that, so that old wounds will be healed. Thirdly, you need to think about the fact that even if they are healed, a scar will remain as a trace of passion - for it is not the same body that is whole and healed, and not the same clothing that is untorn and torn - although it seems that it is possible in some way to ensure that the difference is imperceptible" 530. And although the divine Chrysostom says that “God, erasing sins, does not leave scars and does not allow any trace of them to remain, but along with health he also grants beauty” 531, however, he says this, meaning God’s infinite love for mankind, and not repentance, which cannot do this on its own. For he himself adds in the same place, as if to explain what was said, the following: “...Not because repentance itself has the power to cleanse sin, but because with repentance God’s indescribable love for mankind and His infinite goodness are united” [236]. Therefore, the divine John the Faster in his 19th canon says: “A child, corrupted by someone, does not approach the priesthood, for even if he did not sin due to the imperfection of his age, his vessel was broken and became unfit for sacred service.” And God Himself points to this in the words that He spoke through the prophet Amos: The Maid of Israel is cast down... there is no one who arouses her 532. That’s why we read in Fatherland that Macarius the Great always grieved and cried because, as a small child, he stole several cucumbers from someone else’s garden. The third reason for constant pain and constant repentance is that every person, whether he is righteous or sinful, cannot remain sinless and free from mortal or venial sins, for it is said: Who can boast of having a pure heart? Or who dares to be clean from sins? 533 For almost every day and hour we all, people, sin, sometimes with words, and sometimes with evil, blasphemous and shameful thoughts, and by this we anger God, and therefore everyone should have pain in their hearts, repent every day of these sins and ask God for forgiveness not only for our past sins, but also for those committed at the moment and daily. Therefore, Saint Isaac, in confirmation of this, says: “The thought with which this chapter can be concluded is that we should know at every hour that in these twenty-four hours of the night and day we need repentance” 534. How much good does heartache bring? So, if you, brother, have such strong, as we told you before, and constant pain in your heart, then know that this pain will bring many benefits to your soul. For it will help you concentrate your mind inside your heart and will not allow it to remember evil and sins, since naturally a person’s mind is directed to the place that hurts him. This pain will cause your heart to spew out the poison and the hook of sin it has swallowed. She will soften him, humble him and quickly tear him away from the passions and inclinations that he has acquired, stuck in sin, for the heart of a sinner can be cruel and stony, cannot stand humility and, without experiencing pain, cannot humble himself and soften, as it is written: The heart is cruelly burdened with illnesses 535. This pain will ascend to the Lord of hosts and, one might even say, force Him to forgive your sins, as it is written: ... my judgment is before the Lord and my illness is before my God 536. And David says: See my humility and my work and forgive all my sins 537, and also: God will not despise a contrite and humble heart. 538 That the lifestyle of the penitents and the guilty should be different from the lifestyle of the innocent This pain will force you to change your food and your drink, and your clothing, and the length of your sleep, and the whole way of life that you led before you sinned, since it is fitting for the repentant to live humbly, that is, in crying, abstinence and poverty. The reason for this is, firstly, that the sick do not have the same way of life with the healthy, as Gregory of Nyssa says: “He who says that he is sick should not lead the same life with the healthy, for the sick person has one way of life and the healthy person has a different life...” 539, and also: “... This concerns the sick person physically, who has a bad mental state, going to an incorporeal Doctor and recognizing and declaring without sincerity the disease allows passion to grow and spread, like gangrene, so that it affects the whole soul - but come to your senses, know yourself" 540, and also: "Our vows contain words of repentance, but in reality we do not tolerate anything painful, but we lead the same way of life as we led before the sin, for we have the same cheerfulness, and the same clothes, and abundant eating of food at meals, and long and restful sleep until satiety, and incessant worries and troubles, leading the soul to forgetfulness of caring for itself, and we ascribe to ourselves only the name of repentance, fruitless and ineffective” 541. Secondly, the reason for this is that it is not appropriate for those under penance and mortal sin to rejoice and lead the same cheerful life that other people lead, not like them, according to the words of the prophet Hosea: Do not rejoice, O Israel, nor rejoice, for thou hast led astray men from... thy God 542 . John Climacus says the same thing: “Abstinence is appropriate for one innocent, and for another guilty, abstinence, for for some bodily movement is a sign of satiety, while for others, until death and demise, they have a hostile and irreconcilable disposition towards it” 543. And in the end, this pain will force you to become a monk, or at least lead a monastic lifestyle while in the world. This pain and sadness is not bitter and does not cause despair (you must reject sadness and pain that leads to despair, because it is from the evil one), but is sweet and joyful, for it is mixed with the hope of salvation, the sweetest tenderness, tears and lightness of conscience. Therefore, John Climacus says: “Even when I think about the properties of tenderness, I am amazed: how does crying and so-called sadness carry within themselves, like a honeycomb with honey, joy and joy associated with it? What does this mean? That such tenderness is rightly recognized as a gift from the Lord: then there is no unsweetened voluptuousness in the soul, since God secretly comforts the broken-hearted” 544. And, in short, this pain will eradicate from your heart bad mental properties and sinful habits and will cause you true repentance, which consists, according to the divine Gregory of Nyssa, in the destruction of not only sinful deeds and deeds, but also sinful dispositions and inclinations of the heart and the very sinful thoughts and attacks of thoughts: “For repentance is the abolition and destruction of the former, either by the act of the committed, or conceived due to the heart's disposition" 545. Oh, the sweetest pain, causing true repentance by Divine grace! Oh, joyful pain that makes a person adamant or unyielding towards evil! Oh, blissful pain, causing painless bliss! So, you have learned, brother, firstly, how to prune the sprouts and shoots of sin by decisively removing yourself from a sinful act; you have learned, secondly, how to uproot the roots of sin from your heart through effective and constant pain. Now learn, thirdly, how you must plant cultivated and fruitful trees in your heart instead of the former wild trees, that is, instead of vices - virtues: instead of pride - humility, instead of gluttony - abstinence, instead of love of money - generosity and alms, instead of rudeness - meekness, instead of carnal passions - virginity and chastity, instead of untruth and theft - justice and alms alms, instead of envy and hatred - love and brotherly love, instead of the previous transgression of God's commandments - observance and fulfillment of them. For for your salvation, brother, and for you to acquire true repentance, it is not enough just to uproot the roots of sin from your heart and then leave a plot of your heart uncultivated, without planting trees, bushes and flowers of virtues on it, because if you leave your heart uncultivated, it will again grow thorns and wild trees, that is, passions and sins. Therefore, the Holy Spirit advises you through the psalmist David to avoid evil and do good: Avoid evil and do good 546 [238]. And finally, fourthly, after you plant these virtues in your heart, you must protect them with all your might until they take root, that is, until they become a spiritual property in you, thanks to skill, just as passions and sins previously became a spiritual property in you, and until they blossom and give the fruit of salvation, true repentance and forgiveness of your sins. For if you do not protect them and take care of them, then the sower of tares, the devil, will come at a time when you are sleeping and in negligence, and will tear them out and again sow tares and your own vices, according to the Gospel parable, which says: Make the Kingdom of Heaven like the man who sowed good seed in his village. As a sleeping man, his enemy came, and all the tares in the midst of the wheat, and departed 547. And if you do not guard these virtues with zeal, passions will return to your heart again. Therefore, the fathers called passions easily returning. Returning and finding the place of the heart cultivated and processed, they take root in it deeper than before, and then your last pot of the first 548 becomes, as the Lord said, which may never happen to you, beloved. These four works are the components of true repentance. With their help, you can acquire true repentance, which the Church prays to the Lord to grant us, saying in some prayers: “... be pleased to lead us to true repentance.” These are the fruits and results of true repentance. By them you can make sure that God has truly forgiven your sins and has reconciled with you. About how many signs there are of God’s forgiveness of sins and what they are Forgiveness of sins, true and genuine, has four signs, unequal in importance. The first sign is that a person hates sin with all his heart when he remembers it, perhaps because of the fear of falling into it, which he still retains, and does not enjoy it and is not inclined towards it. The second, more important than this, is that a person remembers his sins dispassionately, that is, without pleasure or sorrow and hatred. And the third, more important than the previous one, is that a person, remembering his sins, rejoices and praises God for the great many virtues that he acquired thanks to Divine grace and repentance, the reason for which was his sins. The fourth and most important sign of all is that a person has completely expelled passionate sinful thoughts from his heart and has completely forgotten about them, so that he is not even attacked by them. The first sign is evidenced by Basil the Great. For, when this saint was asked how a soul can be convinced that God has forgiven its sins, he replied that it can feel confident in this, “if the penitent sees himself in the disposition of the one who said: I have hated unrighteousness and am disgusted 549” 550. Abba Isaac answered the same thing when asked about this, saying that a person will then know that he has received forgiveness of his sins, “when he feels in his soul that he has completely hated them with all his heart” 551 [239]. The second sign is evidenced by Nikita of Irakli Serres (or, according to others, Serres). For, commenting on the saying of Gregory the Theologian from his word on Easter, saying: “Although you, like Thomas, were not with the other disciples ... make sure by seeing the ulcers from the nails” 552, he writes: “If not they, then the memory of old sins, imprinted dispassionately on the mind, let him assure you (that is, that the word of virtue has been resurrected in you). Dispassionate recollection is the representation of what happened before without pleasure and sorrow, having no traces of wounds thanks to the dispassion that appeared after, the one who had not experienced it would not have believed anyone else, like Thomas. The remembrance of sins is ulcers, and the sins themselves are nails that pierce those who fall into them. So, when you can remember them dispassionately, then believe that such a word has risen in you” 553. We find the third sign in Lavsaik, in the life of the young man Macarius 554. For, when he was once asked whether he was sad, remembering the involuntary murder that he committed as a youth, he replied that he was not sad, but even rejoiced, not because of the sin of murder in itself, but because it became for him the reason for repentance and the acquisition of many virtues, and that he glorifies and thanks the goodness of God, since it often turns what is by nature evil into the cause of good, just as it turned murder into the cause of good, accomplished by Moses in Egypt, for, having retired into the desert because of him, Moses was honored to become a seer of God. That is why the apostle said: ... everything will work for the good of those who love God 555. And Blessed Augustine, interpreting these words, said that those who love God are often assisted in virtue by vices and sins themselves: “But those who are written in the Book of Life, for whom everything, even sins, is conducive to good, cannot perish. For when they fall, they will not be broken.” Saint Theodore of Edessa testifies to us about the fourth sign. For he says in the 11th chapter: “Memories of what we have done under the influence of passion torment the soul. When passionate thoughts are completely erased from the heart, so that they no longer attack it, this will be a sign of forgiveness of previous sins” 556. Saint Maximus says almost the same thing: “Thoughts that belittle sins and prophesy that they are forgiven are also false prophets. These thoughts are predatory wolves in sheep's clothing, which we can recognize by their fruits. For while our minds are troubled by sins, we have not yet received their forgiveness, since we have not yet brought forth fruits worthy of repentance. The fruit of repentance is dispassion of the soul, and dispassion is the cleansing of sin. Not having perfect dispassion, but sometimes being disturbed by passions, and sometimes not disturbed, let us not allow thoughts that predict forgiveness for us” 557. Do you see, brother, how difficult it is to achieve true repentance? Do you see with what labor, torment and blood true forgiveness of sins is acquired [240]? Why do you say: “I will sin and confess, I will repent,” as if true repentance is an easy matter? Therefore, from now on, be careful, for the love of God, and when the devil encourages you to fall into some sin, do not help him in this, saying: “I will confess, I will repent,” but build an invincible fortress against him in your soul, saying: “Who knows whether I will repent properly? Who knows, maybe this sin that I am about to commit is the last one, and God will not tolerate it and will not forgive me, but will cut off the rope of His patience and allow me to fall into destruction? Who knows whether God will give me the gift of true repentance, which he did not give to other sinners like me who are now burning in hell? Who knows, maybe, because of the habit of not fearing God, I will gradually reach a despicable life and extreme despair? The heart of the one who understands will understand the parable, says Sirach 558. And if you are a reasonable and wise-hearted person, then, beloved, do not expose the cause of your salvation to such a terrible danger as this hope for fruitless confession and false repentance, and, having the opportunity to tie the hope of your salvation to a strong rope, do not tie it to a rotten thread that will break and you will drown in a sea of ​​​​infinite and eternal fire. A strong rope is abstinence from a sinful act, a struggle to eradicate evil inclinations from your heart through effective pain, acquiring true repentance and receiving forgiveness of your sins by doing virtues and fulfilling the commandments of God. For if a person does not abstain from sins, then he swallows malice without chewing, which shows that he is completely insane, since he commits endless evil, considering that what is only in the hand of God is in his power, that is, considering that the possibility of repentance and God’s help for worthy repentance are in his power, as if God is almost a friend of sinners, and not their greatest, most terrible and most powerful enemy, who can to take revenge, and as if He does not have an endless hatred of all evil. How to explain the saying “Fall and get up” Do not be deceived, brother, by the thought that inspires you: “The fathers say: “Fall and get up,” that is: no matter how much you fall, get up and be saved.” But is this repentance - to fall and rise again, rise and fall again? The interpretation that you, brother, give to this saying is erroneous and bad. For the fathers said this in order to save people from the fear of despair, and not in order to encourage them to sin in the hope of confession and repentance - far from it! Therefore, Saint Isaac says: “The courage that the fathers taught in their divine writings... in relation to repentance, we should not understand as an encouragement to sin... For, in order for us to have hope of repentance, they skillfully stole from our feelings the fear of despair” 559. Then, the fathers said: “Fall and get up” - fall and get up, and not: get up and fall, as you interpret it on the contrary. For one thing is very different from the other - to fall and rise, and rise and then, having risen, fall again. This is not and is not called repentance, as you call it, but is and is called by the Apostle Peter a dog that returns to its vomit, and a pig that again goes to wallow in the same mud: The dog returned to its vomit and the pig washed itself in the pot 560. The true meaning of the saying “Fall and get up” is that a person must with all his might avoid sin and take care not to fall. If, however, due to human weakness, and not due to his conscious will, he accidentally falls, then he should not despair, but must immediately rise and confess and repent without wasting time, for, according to St. John Climacus, “it is common for angels not to fall - and perhaps they cannot fall... people tend to fall and get up again, no matter how many times it happens” 561. Therefore, if you, brother, to your great misfortune, have fallen due to weakness, do not deceive yourself and do not say to yourself: “I have now fallen once and again, so I will fall again and commit sin again and again, because I have already soiled myself once, and then I will confess and repent of everything and abstain from evil.” No, brother, for the Lord’s sake, do not listen to this thought, because it is undoubtedly from the devil, who seeks your destruction, but as soon as you sin once, do not repeat the sin, do not hesitate and do not wallow in the mud, as it is said: Do not hesitate to turn to the Lord and do not put off day by day 562, but get up, go to your confessor and confess. For the fresher the wound, the easier it is to heal, and the more it ages, the more difficult it is to heal, according to Climacus, who says: “While the wound is still new and hot, it can be easily healed, but old wounds, being neglected and hardened, are difficult to heal” 563. If you do not find the opportunity to do this now, then repent before God, without waiting for the time of confession, and turn to reconcile and make peace with God with the help of pain and contrition and the corresponding deeds, repenting with all your might and not allowing yourself to go to bed peacefully for a single night without falling to God and repenting before Him, until you go to confession to your confessor. For this is unbearable audacity - being in mortal danger, for at least one moment to bear the weight of mortal sin and hang on a thread, which is your life, above the abyss of all evils, which is hell. Alas! And you, accursed one, do not repent and bear the burden of sin not for one moment, but for months and years, and in order to confess and thereby get rid of such a terrible danger, you wait for Easter, the Feast of the Apostles or the Nativity of Christ, you joke, laugh and sleep carefree, as if it was not your immortal soul endowed with reason that suffered harm, but an insensitive log that does not notice the harm being caused to it and cannot protect. Therefore, we want to give you here the following terrible example that we read about in history. A certain young man was bound by bonds of heartfelt love to a certain harlot. But, since he was constantly rebuked for this by his parents, relatives and confessor, he decided to break these bonds and get rid of this sin through a full and comprehensive confession of all his sins. Having gone through all his many sins in his memory, he wrote them down on a piece of paper. However, when experiencing his sins, he did not have in his heart the appropriate pain and contrition that those who remember their sins and are preparing to confess them must have, but his pain was so weak that, going to confession and on the way accidentally finding himself near the door of the damned house of this harlot, he, like a madman, wanted to enter it again and, having entered, decided to fall into sin again and add another, new one to the old sins, in the hope that he would confess it after that along with everyone the rest of your sins. What happened next? While he was captured by this evil thought and desire to commit fornication, another young admirer and lover of this harlot suddenly appeared, who, seeing him there, became enraged and, rushing at him with his fists, killed him with one blow. While taking his body from there to bury, those who lived there found a paper on which he wrote down his sins in order to confess them. O miserable death! Oh, false hopes! Oh, the mistaken thought of this unfortunate young man! So, if you, brother, like this repentant youth, through your insolence offend God and sin in the hope of forgiveness, come to your senses, I ask you, come to your senses, so that one day you will not be punished and, like him, will not perish. Hell is such a great and terrible evil that this one incident and this one story should make you tremble and keep you from all sin, as the Scripture says: I will accept the wounds of the destroyer, but the fool will be more cunning 564 . So, leave this insolence and false arrogance and stop sinning in the hope of confession and repentance, but, always keeping in mind the example of this unfortunate young man, never fall into arrogance and work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 565 as the Apostle commands you. For true repentance is born from fear and is like a ship that takes you to the pier of divine love, fear is the captain of this ship, as Abba Isaac says: “Repentance is the second Grace, and it is born in the heart from faith and fear” 566, and again: “Repentance is a ship, fear is its helmsman, and love is the divine pier” 567. Therefore, my beloved brothers in Christ (now I will change the singular to the plural in my speech), I call all of you, small and great, clergy and laity, to repentance, to repentance with this word! Let us resort to repentance, brothers, men and women, young men and elders, let us all rush into the arms of repentance, without exception, because no other virtue except repentance can reconcile all of us who have once sinned with God! Let us also cry out with David: Come, let us worship and fall down before Him and weep before the Lord who created us, for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand 568 . Let us cry with the three youths to God: those who have sinned and who are lawless, who have departed from You, and who have sinned in all things and disobeyed Your commandments, who have been less observant, and less co-creators, as You commanded us 569. Let each of us turn from his evil way, as the Ninevites turned, and we also cry out to God, as they cried: Who knows if God will repent and turn from the wrath of His wrath and not perish? 570 And that one of us who has sinned before God after holy baptism, let him not cease night and day to proclaim the touching words that the preacher of repentance teaches him with the golden tongue and heart of John, saying: “If someone, having received heavenly baptism, has sinned, then he has sinned before heaven, since before baptism he who sins sins before the earth, for it is said to Adam: Earth thou art, and thou shalt return to the earth 571. If someone has put on Christ in baptism, then he is no longer earth, but heaven, for like the rings, so are the rings, and like the heavenly, the dances of heaven 572. So, if someone sinned after baptism, then he sinned before heaven, so let him come and say: Father, I have sinned in heaven and before You, and... I am not worthy to be called Your son 573. Why? Give the reason: “Because the blood of Jesus sprinkled my heart and, like a rose, blossoming with pleasures, I desecrated You, I irritated You, I grieved Your Holy Spirit, I stained the shining robe of faith with sin, I enslaved my soul, liberated by baptism and whitened like snow by enlightenment, to dark sin. Create me as one of Your hired servants 574 » 575 . Let us try, brethren, to have in our souls, as a natural property and disposition, true repentance and the signs of true repentance, which we have shown in all detail in this word. Let us strive to always have in our hearts an integral part of true repentance - pain for our sins, which, in general, has two reasons: one involuntary, and the other voluntary. At the same time, free will, in turn, also has two reasons: one internal, that is, mental, and the other external, that is, bodily. The internal reason that gives rise to pain in the heart and leads it to contrition is, firstly, a mournful and lamentable thought, combined with self-reproach and self-blame, which consists in the fact that we have sinned and with our sins have saddened and grieved God, lost His grace and His Kingdom and acquired an eternity of hellish torment and suffering. For this thought is like a stone that crushes grapes and causes them to exude wine. Squeezing our heart, he does not allow it to beat joyfully because of passions and carnal pleasures, but oppresses it, crushes it and makes it hurt and shed tears. The great Gregory of Thessaloniki testifies to us about this: “But self-reproach in itself, like a certain mental burden, imposed on the rational strength of the soul and remaining for a long time, crushes, and squeezes, and the wine squeezes out the saving, joyful heart of a person, that is, the inner man. This wine is tenderness, for it squeezes out passions along with crying and fills the soul with blissful joy, freeing them from the terrible heaviness contained in them. Therefore, blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted 576 » 577 . The inner sadness of the soul causes true repentance, as the apostle said: Sadness... even according to God, repentance for salvation unrepentantly accomplishes 578. And secondly, the internal cause of pain is the memory of sins, a humble thought and a request and prayer brought with deep attention and from the bottom of the heart to God for the forgiveness of our sins, expressed in the words: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” or: “I have sinned, Lord, I have sinned” and: Father, I have sinned in heaven and before You and... I am not worthy to be called Your son 579 and the like, which also crush the heart and make it ache and shed tears. That’s why Abba Mark said: “The mind that prays with attention compresses the heart, but God will not despise a contrite and humble heart 580.”581. And in another place he said: “The memory of God is pain in the heart that arises because of piety” 582. External and bodily voluntary causes that compress and crush the heart are bodily poverty, abstinence in relation to food, drink and sleep, and all bodily rest and voluptuousness. Therefore, Saint Mark said: “Without heartfelt contrition it is absolutely impossible to get rid of vice; “Threefold abstinence crushes the heart, namely: in relation to sleep, food and bodily rest” 583, and also the divine John Climacus says: “Thirst and vigil squeezed the heart, and when the heart was squeezed, tears flowed” 584. And just as from what we said above, contrition of the heart and tenderness are born, so from the opposite of this, that is, from wealth, and tasty foods, and a lot of sleep, and bodily peace, coarsening and hardening of the heart and spiritual voluptuousness are born. The divine fathers mentioned above testify to this, for Saint Mark says: “Excess of this brings voluptuousness, and voluptuousness receives evil thoughts” 585, and John Climacus: “The painlessness of the heart has hardened the mind, but the abundance of food has dried up the sources of tears” 586. The great Gregory of Thessaloniki confirms the words of these divine fathers: “For just as peace, food and pleasure tend to produce painlessness and hardening and hardening of the heart, so from an abstinent and moderate lifestyle - contrition of the heart and tenderness, expelling all bitterness and delivering sweet joy” 587 . And involuntary internal and spiritual reasons that crush the heart and cause pain in it are shameful, blasphemous and evil thoughts that the devil, like burning arrows, shoots into our minds, and in addition, mental and physical passions that bother us every day. We should resist them all with all our might and not allow our minds to talk or agree with them, but turn to Jesus Christ in prayer and with His help drive them away and not allow them to enter our heart. And only those who know it from experience truly know what pain and what contrition and sorrow this constant invisible and cruel warfare causes. Gregory the Theologian wrote about this battle: “And this terrible battle, and this great militia, and this great victory” 588. External and bodily involuntary reasons that crush the heart are insults, dishonor, insults and other sorrows and various temptations that people, demons and our nature can bring to us, as we said before. And all this should be gratefully accepted by those who wish to truly repent and receive healing and forgiveness of their sins. The divine fathers mentioned above testify to this. Thus, Saint Mark writes: “The work of repentance is woven from the following three virtues: the deposition of thoughts, unceasing prayer and patience with the sorrows that occur” 589, and also: “Let every involuntary pain be a teacher of memory for you, and you will always have a reason for repentance” 590, and in another place: “Think about the outcome of any involuntary sorrow, and you will find in it the deposition sin" 591. And John Climacus says: “The sign of diligent repentance is that we consider ourselves worthy of all the invisible and visible sorrows that happen, and even greater ones” 592. The divine Gregory of Thessaloniki also says: “He who considers himself subject to the most powerful healings of repentance constantly awaits all sorrow and accepts every temptation as due and deserved, rejoices when he falls into it, seeing in it a means of cleansing the soul, and uses it as a reason for painful and most effective prayer to God, and not only is not remorseful, but also expresses gratitude to those who tempt and prays for them, as for those who showed him a benefit, and therefore he himself not only receives forgiveness of his sins according to the promise, but also acquires the Kingdom of Heaven and divine blessing” 593. And the one who wants to repent and be healed from his sinful wounds and at the same time does not endure with gratitude the sorrows that befall him, but is indignant, grumbles and seeks revenge, let him know that he does not truly repent and does not receive healing from his sins. Saint Mark testifies to this when he says: “... because without the three virtues mentioned above, the work of repentance cannot be accomplished” 594, and in another place: “When a sinful soul does not accept the coming sorrows, then the angels say about it: Physician of Babylon, and was not healed 595” 596. We all cry out to God: “Lord, have mercy” and: “Master, forgive our iniquities,” and when God sends us His mercy and forgiveness of our sins, we ourselves drive them away from ourselves. Why? Because when some kind of temptation or some kind of sorrow befalls us, through which God wants to give us His mercy and forgiveness of our sins, we do not accept with joy and do not tolerate this sorrow and temptation, but we are indignant, sad and grumble. Therefore, we must, together with the voluntary and painful works of repentance that we perform at our own request, endure involuntary and without our desire illnesses, sorrows and temptations that come from outside, since the voluntary, as easier, receive blessings from the involuntary, as more difficult, as the great Gregory of Thessaloniki says: “By enduring involuntary and voluntary illnesses, every zealous person is perfected... without patience, involuntarily with us what happens and what is done according to our will will not receive divine blessing” 597. With the help of these means, let us try, brethren, to gain the pain of our hearts, because without it our repentance cannot be true. And this follows from a natural and precise calculation: since every sin in our soul has its beginning and foundation in pleasure and pleasure of the heart, then it is possible to kill sin only with the help of illness and heart pain, for the opposite is healed by the opposite, as doctors and moralists, naturalists, and theologians teach. And the witness to this is the divine Gregory of Nyssa, who says: “Since sin entered through pleasure, then, without a doubt, it will be driven out by the contrary. Therefore, those who persecute for the confession of the Lord and invent unbearable torments bring a kind of healing to the soul through illness, by inflicting suffering, healing the disease that arose from pleasure... so that no trace of pleasure remains in the heart, imprinted on it, for this painful and bitter feeling erases all traces of pleasure in the soul” 598. Let us leave numerous and untimely conversations and meetings, because such conversations and meetings drive repentance away from us, according to Saint Isaac, who says: “Repentance with conversations is like a broken clay barrel” 599 . Let us love silence and withdrawal from people, since they greatly help to acquire repentance, according to the same Saint Isaac, who said: “If you desire repentance, desire silence, for without silence repentance is not perfect. And if anyone objects to this, do not argue with him." 600 This is also the purpose of the commandment that God gave to Cain after he sinned, saying to him: ... have you not all sinned? Be silent 601, that is: “Know what you have done, and, having known, repent of what you have sinned with,” for this is how these words are interpreted in the “Preface on Silence and Silence” in the book of St. Isaac, in which the following is added: “Whoever could not calm down could neither repent nor know what repentance is” 602. If we cannot spend our lives in complete silence, then at least we will choose for ourselves one or two firmly and precisely established hours a day, preferably in the evening, and during these hours, retiring to a separate silent place and concentrating our feelings and mind in the heart, we will remember in all details all our sins (except for the carnal, as we said in “Advice to the Penitent”), both past ones, committed by us in deed, word and agreement with thoughts, so and the venial sins that we committed on this day, repent of them with bitterness, sadness and pain of our hearts and ask God for forgiveness. For this is what the Holy Spirit commands us to do through the prophet David, saying: Even as you say in your hearts, be moved on your beds 603, and Christ Himself secretly spoke about this by His Spirit to His servant Saint Simeon the New Theologian: “Try not to do anything that deprives you of those blessings that you have been honored to taste. If you ever sin with a base thought, take care not to give up repentance, because repentance, together with My love for mankind, destroys both past and present sins” 604. Let us not allow any day to pass without engaging in this saving meditation and spiritual work, postponing it for another time, for John Climacus says the following: “Do not be deceived, foolish worker, thinking that you will make up for the time later, for the day is not enough even to pay his own debt to the Master without omissions” 605. Basil the Great also says: “Do not neglect a sin, even if it is smaller than any mosquito, but hasten to correct yourself with the help of repentance... repentance is salvation, but negligence about repentance is death” 606. And why talk a lot? God, my beloved brethren, will not accuse us and will not condemn us on the day of death and Judgment because we were not theologians, did not perform miracles or did not become contemplatives - no, but will condemn us because we did not repent and did not grieve for our sins. Saint John, mentioned above, testifies to this, saying: “We will not be accused, brethren, we will not be accused at the exodus of the soul for not performing miracles, and for not being theologians, and for not becoming contemplatives, but, undoubtedly, we will give an answer to God for not weeping incessantly.”607 Therefore, we sinners must check ourselves every day, if not every hour, whether we bring true repentance. And even if we perform other virtues and good deeds on this day with the help of Jesus Christ, nevertheless, we must always remember the virtue of repentance and never forget it. And about every day on which we did not repent and did not grieve for our sins, we must say that we lost it, even if we happen to do another good thing on that day. I finish and say together with Saint Simeon the New Theologian that all of us, Christians, need to be healed of passions and sinful wounds and then keep all the commandments of the Lord and show all virtue. If we fail to fulfill other commandments of the Lord and show other virtues, then we must at least remain whole and healthy, having gotten rid of the wounds and infirmities of sin with the help of the commandment and virtue of repentance, since if we die healthy and healed of passions and sins thanks to repentance, then we will go to the Kingdom of Heaven, but if we die unhealed, sick and crippled because unrepentance, then we will go to hell 608. For the Kingdom of Heaven is not a hospital and hospital designed to receive the sick and crippled, but a monastery and palace designed to receive the healthy and strong. Therefore, my sinner friends, we will always offer up to God the following general church prayers: “Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Thy name’s sake” and: “Heavenly King... Receive us in repentance and confession, as you are good and lover of mankind” 609. Amen. To the doer of good things be praise, glory, honor and power. 1. Notice that there are three types of people in the world: carnal, spiritual and spiritual. The carnal are in an unnatural state, the spiritual are in a natural state, and the spiritual are in a supernatural state. For example, a person who offends another is carnal. A sincere person is one who does not offend others and does not want to be offended by others. A spiritual person not only does not offend others, but also endures with gratitude and does not seek revenge when others offend him. The Apostle Paul writes about these three types of people. Where there is envy and zeal and strife in you, are you not of the flesh and walking after man? 610 – this is said about the carnal man. A spiritual person does not accept the Spirit of God, for he has foolishness, and cannot understand, he strives for spiritual things 611 - this is said about a spiritual person. The spiritual one strives for everything, but he himself does not compete with anyone 612, that is, not with one spiritual or carnal person, but, again, with another spiritual person, according to the word: ... the spiritual is judging by the spiritual 613. And this applies to a spiritual person. 2. This proverb is cited by Gregory the Theologian in his defensive speech 614. 3. Therefore, in the book “Student Spiritualist” 615 we read the following. One Christian asked a certain sage whether sins are the same in different places. The sage answered him that they are the same, because God is the same in different places. Then the Christian says to him: “Why did I receive different penances for the same sins committed in different places? For when I was in such and such a place, the confessor there did not even reproach me for drunkenness, but reprimanded me so strongly for fornication that this was enough to turn me away from sin. And when I was in another place, the confessor there did not even give me a brief instruction about fornication, but he strongly reproached me for drunkenness, calling me a blasphemer, and imposed penance on me.” From this story we can conclude that these confessors showed excessive leniency towards the passions that they themselves had, and gave a proper reprimand for those passions that they did not have. 4. Therefore, Nicephorus Chartophylax, answering the questions of a certain Theodosius the Recluse, says: “For it is truly dangerous to impudently bind and solve those captured by sins and not prescribe medicines corresponding to passions” 616. And Basil the Great likens a passionate and inexperienced confessor and shepherd to an inexperienced spellcaster who does not know how to pick up and tame snakes, who, when he tries to pick them up, they bite and kill: “Do not want to engage in snake charming, being inexperienced in spells, so that, having picked up snakes and being beaten by them, then, not having the strength to resist, you will not perish in an unforgivable way from them" 617. The saint speaks here “in an unforgivable way” because no one pities such a person and does not sympathize with him, for he, being unworthy, arbitrarily attempted to rule souls, as the wise Sirach said: Who will have mercy on the charmer beheaded by the serpent, and on all those who approach the beast? 618 Also, Simeon the New Theologian says that a passionate confessor is like an earthen or wooden laver that washes and cleanses others, but in doing so itself becomes dirty. So, since a confessor must be dispassionate, but it is difficult to find an dispassionate person in any place, especially in our family, therefore the holy bishops must at least elect the oldest in age and most experienced priests and appoint them as confessors, for thanks to their age they are more experienced and know more and have at least partially tamed their passions, and not make confessors to young priests who, due to their youth, are inexperienced and know less and have not had time to kill and tame their passions - unless there is someone among them who in youth has the virtue and intelligence of old age, for, as it seems to me, nothing prevents such a person from being a confessor, since, according to Solomon, gray hair... is the wisdom of man, and life in old age is not bad. 619 Some believe that it is safer and better to appoint married priests as confessors, of course, worthy in all respects, rather than virgin and celibate hieromonks, because the former have less warfare in the flesh, and the latter have more. And Joseph Bryennius says that richer people, and not poorer ones, should become priests, and even more so confessors, so that they do not have the need to take money from Christians, but, on the contrary, so that they themselves give it 620. Saint John of the Climacus shows condescension to the shepherd and says the following: “There are some who have taken upon themselves someone else’s burden, which exceeds their strength, for the sake of spiritual love [and not for the sake of glory or voluptuousness, or covetousness, or any other worldly goal], remembering the one who said: Greater than this love can no one have, but whoever lays down his life for his friends 621, and there are others, Perhaps they received the strength from God to take others on their shoulders, and reluctantly subjected themselves to hardships for the sake of saving their brother, but I, as those who had not acquired love, considered them damned, about the first I found it said somewhere: “Take away what is honorable from the unworthy, as My mouth will be” 622 » 623 . And again he says in the same word: “I saw a weak person, who cleansed the weakness of another weak person with the help of faith, who for his sake showed commendable boldness before God and laid down his life for soul and, thanks to humility through his healing, healed himself. And I saw another who did the same out of conceit and heard with reproach: Doctor, heal yourself 624 » 625 . 5. One teacher said: “It’s a strange thing: doctors constantly read medical books in order to find a medicine that can prolong the temporary life of the patient, but confessors either do not do this at all, or are occasionally reluctant to open a pious book in order to learn about some medicine and with its help bring eternal life and salvation to sinners.” 6. Note that, according to the “Orthodox Confession”, Gabriel of Philadelphia and Nicholas Voulgaris, the actions and consequences of pride are: vanity, boasting, conceit, ambition, disobedience, mockery, hypocrisy, stubbornness and others; the actions and consequences of the love of money: covetousness, unmercifulness, hardness of heart, theft, embezzlement, lies, injustice, deceit, perjury, simony, sacrilege, unbelief and covetousness; the actions and consequences of fornication: adultery, sodomy, bestiality, incest, child molestation, corruption of virgins, wallowing, masturbation, shamelessness, darkness of mind and lack of fear of God; actions and consequences of envy: encroachment on the life of another, enmity, gloating, grumpiness, slander, deception, betrayal, murder, ingratitude, sadness because of the good of the person being envied; the actions and consequences of gluttony: guttural rage, drunkenness, fornication, headache, lust, despondency and others; actions and consequences of anger: blasphemy, hatred, resentment, quarrelsomeness, perjury, cursing, insult, quarrel, fight and murder; but by the actions and consequences of despondency: cowardice, effeminacy, sadness and murmuring about the good that needs to be done, justification for sins, despair, unbelief and, simply put, laziness and lack of diligence in doing good deeds. Note also that these mortal sins are understood as certain passions and properties rooted in the soul, from which the above consequences arise, and that some of the listed sins are heavier, while others are lighter; some are the cause of others, and others are the effect (just as you saw that lust and despondency are born from gluttony); Some of them give rise to different consequences, while others give rise to the same ones, just as, for example, envy and anger give rise to murder and quarrelsomeness. And Theophylact of Bulgaria says 626 that the beginning and cause of all evil is pride, which is why the Apostle put it ahead of other sins. 7. It is difficult to explain what meaning the concepts of mortal and venial sins have and how exactly they differ from each other. Different authors name different differences between mortal and venial sins, interpreting the words of John: There is a sin leading to death... and there is a sin not leading to death 627. For Mitrofan of Smyrna says that a sin leading to death is any sin that, according to the Old Testament law, was punishable by death, such as blasphemy against God, voluntary murder, bestiality and others, and not leading to death - one that was not punishable by death, such as involuntary murder and others. And Anastasius of Sinaite says that a sin leading to death is a sin committed in knowledge, and not leading to death in ignorance, but blasphemy against God and great sins committed in ignorance, for example, murder, adultery, are sins leading to death 628. Canon 5 of the Seventh Council and the Ecumenium call sin leading to death, unrepentant and uncorrected sin. Also, George Koressius, who, it seems to me, clarified their difference more accurately than others, says in his “Theology” 629 that mortal sins differ from venial sins either by kind, just as any mortal sin differs from an idle word or a vain thought, or by appearance. Moreover, there are three most common types of sin: evil deed, evil word and evil thought. All evil deeds belong to the same genus, but differ from each other in type. Also, all evil words and all evil thoughts belong to the same genus, but differ from each other either by the imperfection of deeds and actions, as the first movement of anger and hatred differs from perfect anger and remembrance, or only by the amount of substance, such as, for example, theft, which does not differ from other theft either in type or in substance, if a lot of money is stolen, constituting a whole fortune, it is a mortal sin, but if one penny is stolen and not will result in great damage to the owner, is excusable. Chrysanthus says the same thing in the “Book of Confession” 630. Add to this that evil words and thoughts can differ from each other in appearance, just as, for example, a false oath, being a mortal sin, differs in appearance from an idle word. And Gennady Scholarius (according to the “Book of Confession” of Chrysanthus), dividing by type mortal and venial sins in accordance with the place in which they are committed, relates evil thoughts to the mind, evil words to the tongue, and evil deeds to the body and says that every sin related to the mind and in appearance being mortal, then becomes mortal when it grows and reaches a perfect degree in this form, that is reaches not only the level of attack, conversation or struggle (about which see the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rules of the Faster), but also complete agreement (such are pride, memory malice, heresy and others). In the same way, every sin related to the tongue and mortal in appearance then becomes mortal when it reaches a perfect degree in this form (such as blasphemy, false oath, perjury, and the like). Likewise, every sin that relates to the body and is mortal in appearance then becomes mortal when it reaches a perfect degree in this form (such as fornication, adultery, murder, etc.). Mortal sins relating to the body are forgivable when they reach only the level of thought and speech. For example, the mortal sin of fornication, being only conceived in lust and thought, or manifested in foul language, is forgivable. Therefore, the brother of God said: ... lust, when conceived, gives birth to sin, that is, venial sin, for after these words he adds: ... the sin is committed (that is, committed by the body and business) gives birth to death 631. Likewise, the term mortal sin, when committed only by the mind, is forgivable. For example, the mortal sin of blasphemy, being committed only involuntarily by the mind, is excusable. And simply put, mortal sins are those that have a higher and more severe degree, and venial sins are those that have a lower and lighter degree. Also worthy of mention and at the same time of fear is the opinion of Blessed Augustine and many others cited by Coresius, who say that many small sins make up one great one. This happens, according to Coresius, when a person neglects small sins because they are small 632. For he who steals little, but does it constantly, sins mortally. Therefore, Basil the Great, knowing that in the Holy Gospel a distinction is made between a mosquito and a camel, a twig and a log, and, let’s say more clearly, small and great sins, says 633, however, that in the New Testament there is no difference between great and small sin, firstly, because both small and great sin are equally a crime of the law, according to the words of John: ... sin is lawlessness 634, and by unbelief in the Son, as it is said: ... but whoever does not believe in the Son will not see the life 635, and secondly, because even a small sin becomes great when it completely takes possession of the one who commits it: ... for whoever is overcome is the one who is to be worked on 636. The divine Chrysostom adds a third reason, saying that a log and a branch, that is, a great and a small sin, differ in the sense that they do not receive the same punishment, and do not differ in the sense that those who commit them are thrown out of the Kingdom of Heaven 637. Therefore, the apostle says that idolaters, homosexuals, and troublemakers, that is, those who sin both great and small sins, will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven in the same way. In addition, it is worthy of mention and fear that, according to the above-mentioned Coresius 639, in two cases human lust is a mortal sin, namely: when a person tries to commit some grave sin (for example, murder or the like) or when his will shows consent to commit a sin, even if he does not commit it. For the movement of lust is threefold: it can be involuntary, not completely voluntary, and completely voluntary. The first movement is not called sin, the second is called venial sin, and the third is mortal. Also in the book “The Penitent Trainee” 640 it is written that any pleasure is a mortal sin when it is completely arbitrary. 8. One teacher compares sins of omission to poison and the bite of an asp: just as it kills without causing pain to a person (that is why with its help the Alexandrians killed those who committed minor crimes, as Galen says), so these sins kill the soul, and at the same time the sinners do not experience pain and do not feel anything. 9 . Struggle is usually observed with all degrees of sin, because a person struggles and struggles so as not to miss the opportunity to do good and to do good in a good way, and this happens in all cases. 10. See about these last four degrees in the rules of St. John the Faster. 11–12. In order to free the sinner from despair, you, confessor, can give him the following arguments. First, despair is the greatest and worst of all evils, because it is hostile and utterly contrary to God. And although every sin is disgusting to God, but only in one way and in part, despondency is disgusting to God completely and in every way, because it overthrows and expels God from His place and puts in the place of God vice and the culprit of vice - the devil and wants vice to be stronger than the goodness of God, infinite than His infinity and to have existence to a greater extent than God has it. What could be more wicked or unreasonable than to think that powerless sin is stronger than the truly Strong, the limited is infinite than the Infinite and the non-existent is higher than the Ever-Eternal? For this reason, the “Orthodox Confession” says that despair is contrary to the Holy Spirit. You should also bring to the sinner the words of Basil the Great that if it were possible to measure the multitude of God’s bounties and the greatness of God’s mercy, then one would despair, comparing with them and measuring the multitude and great gravity of one’s sins: “If it is possible to measure the multitude of God’s bounties and the greatness of God, let despair take place when comparing them with the multitude and great gravity of sins.” If human sins are measurable and countable, and the mercy and goodness of God are immeasurable, then why despair instead of recognizing the mercy of God and despising our sins? “If, naturally, they are both measurable and countable, but it is impossible to measure the mercy of God and count His generosity, then this is a reason not for despair, but for the knowledge of mercy and neglect of sins, the remission of which is granted to us by the blood of Christ” 641. Secondly, despair is contrary to common sense, because people have no reason for it. For the fact that a sinner lives after committing a sin is proof that he is not rejected and his repentance is accepted by God, who did not put him to death, as he deserved when he sinned, but left him to live precisely so that he would repent. The great Gregory of Thessaloniki testifies to this: “Therefore, people have no reason at all for despair... for since the time of repentance is the time of life, the very fact that the sinner is still alive, for those who want to turn to God, serves as a guarantee of acceptance by Him” 642. Thirdly, despair, according to Saint Ephraim, is the creation of the devil, who, before a person sins, tells him that this sin is nothing, and after he sins, tells him that his sin is great and unforgivable 643. If we examine more precisely, we will find that despair is born from pride and conceit, because the proud, highly appreciating his virtue and holiness, having fallen into mortal sin, immediately despairs, believing that this fall is unworthy of his virtue, according to Climacus 644. It is also born from the inexperience that a person has in mental warfare with the enemy. So, Judas, according to one father, being inexperienced in such warfare, despaired and, in despair, hanged himself, and Peter, being experienced, although he denied, did not despair, but repented and became Peter again. It is also born from the multitude of sins that a person commits, as Solomon says: When the wicked comes into the depths of evil, he is negligent 645. It is born, in addition to this, from other reasons, especially from negligence and lack of good deeds and the fruits of repentance. Therefore, whoever wants not to fall into the net of despair, let him remember these reasons and, having recognized the devil’s trick with which he wages war to bring him into despair, let him correct them, driving away pride from himself, gaining experience in mental warfare, moving away from sins and taking care of his salvation with all his strength. And, finally, fourthly, despair is contrary to the Old Testament and New Testament Scripture, which in a thousand places speaks of the immeasurable mercy of God with which He accepts the repentance of all sinners in general. It is contrary to countless examples of great sinners who were saved from the beginning to the end of the world thanks to the fact that they did not despair: Lamechs, Manassehs, Nebuchadnezzars, Davids, harlots, adulterers, tax collectors, prodigals, robbers, Petrov, Paul. It is also contrary to all the words of the divine fathers, who teach sinners to hope in God’s mercy and reject despair, proving that there is no sin that would defeat God’s love for mankind 646. Having said this, let us add at the end of this note that just as despair is disgusting to the Holy Spirit, excessive hope and confidence in the mercy of God is also disgusting to the Holy Spirit, hoping beyond measure for which a person sins fearlessly, as the “Orthodox Confession” says. Therefore, the words of the most learned George Coresius are very wise, who says 647 that the life of Christians must pass between hope and despair: in what concerns God, they must hope for His goodness, and in what concerns themselves, they must despair because of the multitude of their sins. 13. We place here a list of sins against the Ten Commandments for two reasons: for the sake of the confessor and for the sake of the penitent. For the sake of the confessor, so that, having learned about them from here, he can ask the penitents during confession whether they have sinned against them, and for the sake of the penitent, so that before confession he tests his conscience whether he has sinned against these commandments, and can easily find and remember his sins in order to confess them all as it should be. 14. See the 32nd rule of St. John the Faster and the note to it. 15. He also sinned against this commandment who arbitrarily accepted thoughts of unbelief in relation to some object of faith or expressed them with his own lips, hated God and renounced Him, tempted God by asking Him for miracles unnecessarily, stole a sacred or church thing, sold or bought the grace of God for money, was careless and did not study the sacraments of faith and Christian teaching, read books contrary to faith and virtue, did not have proper reverence for divine things, confessed without a proper examination of conscience, without pain and determination not to sin again, partook of the most pure mysteries after committing a mortal sin, raised his hand against a minister of the Church, despaired of the mercy of God or sinned, being overly confident in it, and had the intention of sinning as long as he could do it, and then repent and, finally, the one who encouraged others with advice to commit all similar sins or them assisted, or, having the opportunity to prevent them, did not prevent them in word or deed. 16. Those who believe in sleepy dreams and, simply put, all passionate and voluptuous people also sin against it. loving the images and images of their passions presented to their minds, and having an addiction to them. 17. See the 31st rule of St. John the Faster. 18. See further, in the 9th chapter, about how a confessor should instruct those who have vows. 19. A person also sins against it if he uses the words of Scripture in frivolous conversations and jokes, does not endure misfortunes and bodily illnesses with patience and gratitude, but grumbles, accusing God of injustice, blasphemes God or the saints himself, and also incites others to blaspheme, says that the divine Scripture contains myths and internal contradictions, and praises the writings of the pagans more. 20. See Rule 92 of Basil the Great and Rule 1 of Theophilus. 21. See Canon 29 of the Council of Laodicea. And the divine Ambrose says that it is not proper to turn holidays into holidays of voluptuousness. And the apostles say in their Constitutions 648: “And in the days of the Lord we do not allow you to say or do anything dishonorable, for it is said somewhere in the Scripture: Work for the Lord with fear and rejoice in Him with trembling 649 . And your joys should be combined with fear and trembling.” And John Climacus writes: “The slave of the womb decides with what food he will celebrate” 650. And another father says in his interpretations of the Ladder: “Do not think of spending the holidays in drinking wine, but in renewing the mind and spiritual purity. By filling your belly and drinking wine, you are more likely to anger the culprit 22. See the 28th Apostolic Canon and the 19th Canon of the Sixth Council. 23. See the 55th and 56th rules of the holy apostles. 24. See Apostolic Canon 82. 25. See Apostolic Canon 84. 26. Anyone who forcibly married his children or forced them to become monks, or achieved their promotion to another rank against their will, who did not take them to church or did not take care that they had good morals, or did not punish them when they sinned, or did not teach them literacy or handicrafts, also sinned against this commandment. Also, children who did not help their parents in need and did not support them during illness, or promised to marry against their will, or did not want to tolerate their strange behavior in old age, also sinned against her. What sinned against her, moreover, was the husband who did not care about his wife, her soul and body, or scolded her more than he should, or punished her unjustly. The wife also sinned against her because she did not obey her husband. All owners and bosses who do not care about their workers and subordinates, about their soul and body, also sin against it. 27. See the 20th rule of St. John the Faster. 28. The one who also sinned against this commandment was the one who wished evil to his neighbor or rejoiced at his misfortune, envied him and was sad because he had good things, had enmity towards his neighbor and wanted to take revenge on him, did not forgive his enemy or did not ask him for forgiveness, drove away the beggars with rude words, used herbs so that his wife would throw up the baby, patronized evil people, created temptations and caused quarrels, He beat someone or inflicted wounds on someone, he unjustly reproached someone out of anger, and not out of love, being unworthy, he took the place of a teacher or a judge, or a doctor, or a priest, or a confessor, or a bishop, or a ruler, or helped others unworthy of this to occupy him, harmed himself by overeating and drunkenness or carnal pleasures and other shameful sins. 29. It was also sinned against by a man and a woman who put on makeup, or dressed up, or anointed themselves with perfume for a bad purpose and seduced someone, encouraged someone to commit a carnal sin, or were intermediaries in this, passing notes, words, gifts and the like. 30. See the 27th rule of the Faster. 31. See the 7th subject after the Rules of St. John the Faster. 32. The one who bought a stolen thing, knowing that it was stolen, in order to pay less for it than it was worth, also sinned against it; the one who put counterfeit money into circulation as real money or inferior and worthless money as full value; that worker who did not work properly or worked poorly, but received payment; the one who did not pay those who worked for him; one who found something and took it for himself without finding out who lost it; the one who did not comply with the concluded agreements, did not care about affairs, being a trustee of orphans or widows, or churches, or schools, or some societies, gave gifts to the judge so that he would judge unjustly, or took them himself for committing an unjust trial, asked for alms without need. Traders also sin against it are those who sell bad goods as good or mix them with good ones, sell things for more than they are worth or buy them for less than they are worth, negotiate with other merchants to sell at the wrong price, sell something to an ignorant buyer for more than the price or buy from an ignorant seller for less than the price, do not sell at the price set by the ruler, give gifts to rulers so that they allow them to sell at the price they themselves set, do not give a correct account their partners, falsely declare themselves bankrupt in order to squander other people's money. A slave sins against it if he sells something at a higher price than his owner tells him, and if he keeps other people's things or mortgages and allows them to spoil or sells them off. He who played cards or other games with children or with others who did not know how to play in order to deceive them also sinned against it; caused damage to the property or condition of his brother, moved the boundaries of his fields or yards in order to take away part of his neighbor’s field or yard; cut down the trees of his brother, for which the civil laws punish as a thief, or stole his animals, which the civil laws punish with exile or cutting off his hand. The one who seduces and takes away a worker from another, promising him more pay, sins against it; one who opens other people's letters and reads them; the one who forges someone else’s signature, or replaces it, or erases it, or tears it, for which, according to civil laws, he must be punished by exile and confiscation of property. All this is theft, and those guilty of it must give back what they have stolen if they want to be forgiven. 33. See Apostolic Canon 75. And Solomon says: A witness will not be false without suffering 652. 34. Lies, according to Abba Dorotheus 653, are of three types: in thought, when a person has false suspicions against his brother, in a word, when he falsely accuses him, and in life and deeds, when a person, being one in reality and in practice, hypocritically represents and falsely shows himself to others - such a person is called a hypocrite. And the Lord says that such people are like the devil: You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the lusts of your father; he is a murderer from time immemorial, and does not stand in the truth, as there is no truth in him; when he speaks a lie from his own people, he says that lies are the father of lies 654, that is, lies, according to Theophylact 655. That is why Blessed Augustine said that a lie can never be called excusable, no matter what good purpose the speaker may have. 35. It was also sinned against by the one who advised another or encouraged another to bear false witness, prevented another from receiving some title with unjust accusations, could have prevented slander and false testimony and did not want to do so, spread rumors and news to the detriment of his neighbor, condemned or slandered, or listened with pleasure as others slandered, or praised the slanderer. However, talking about someone else’s vice is excusable when a person consults with someone about correcting a sinner and when he wants to warn another so that he does not fall into the same sin out of ignorance, according to Basil the Great, who said: “I think that there are two cases when it is permissible to say something bad about someone: when it is necessary to consult with others, experienced in this, about how to correct the sinner, and also when Sometimes it is necessary to warn someone who, out of ignorance, can often communicate with the evil, considering him good” 656. Anyone who flattered or falsely praised someone also sinned against this commandment. 36. The first four commandments teach about duties towards God and, according to the Orthodox Confession, were written on the first tablet, and the six following them teach about duties towards one's neighbor and were written on the second tablet. Therefore, according to the “Orthodox Confession,” the Lord in the Gospel placed love for God and neighbor at the head of the Ten Commandments and said about them this way: ... one iota, or one tittle, will not pass from the law 657, that is, the ten commandments. 37. Therefore, the Lord spoke about lusts in one place: ... everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart 658, and in another: From the heart... come evil thoughts... fornication, adultery, murder, theft, false witness, blasphemy 659. And Chrysostom says: “As flame ignites a reed, so lust ignites the soul, and as smoke blinds and damages the eye, so lust ignites the mind” 660, and again: “The root of adultery is unbridled desire” 661, and again: “Therefore, not only did [Christ] punish adultery with hellish torments, but also subjected lust to torment” 662. 38. Let us note two circumstances here: firstly, the penitent does not need to memorize, in order to confess them, all the sins that we listed after each commandment, but only those that he himself committed; and, secondly, although not all of them are mortal sins, he must, however, reveal all of them with all the details of their commission to the confessor. 39. See page 974 of the first volume of commentaries on the Octateuch, where the divine Isidore says that the sin of a priest exceeds the sin of a layman not by nature, but because of the dignity of the priest who commits it 663. See also the divine Chrysostom, who says the same thing 664. A funny and at the same time interesting incident is mentioned in the book “Student Confessor” 665. One king once happened to confess to a rustic but reasonable confessor. Having confessed his sins, he said to his confessor: “I have nothing more to tell you.” “Why, king? – asked his confessor. - Why? Have we finished confession? No. You named the sins of Alexy (at the same time he called his real name) - now name the sins of the king.” With these words, this reasonable confessor wanted to show that every secular ruler or church leader should confess not only as a private person and the confessor should not ask him questions like a commoner, but along with the sins that he committed as a common person, he should confess how much good he could do to his people as a ruler and did not do, and how much evil his subjects suffer through his fault because he does not correct them, for which he will have to give an accurate report to God. You, confessor, should follow this example, confessing to all officials, secular and church. 40. See 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th rules of St. John the Faster. 41. See the end of the 86th rule of Basil the Great, where he says that the one who eats dog meat due to need and hunger does not sin. 42. Therefore, the divine Chrysostom says that great sins committed secretly are subject to less punishment than minor sins that a person commits openly, thereby causing temptation among others: “Let us say something else amazing: if someone sins gravely, but does it secretly and does not seduce anyone, then he will be punished less than someone who sins not so much, but openly and at the same time seduces many” 666. 43. See also about this from the divine Chrysostom, who says that those who fall again into the same sin deserve greater punishment: “If we are subjected to severe punishment for previous sins and then fall into the same ones, we will be punished again, and much more severely” 667. Note at the same time that people drink sin like water, and forget how many glasses they drank, as Job says: ...a vile and unclean man, drinking iniquity like drink 668. Therefore, some people experienced in such subjects advise confessors, in order to make it easier for them to find out the number of sins of the penitent, to ask him how long he committed the sin, and then how many times he fell in a week or month, and from this deduce the approximate number of sins. For the Lord also asked the demon-possessed father: How many years are there before he can do this? - He said: Izdetsk. And since this alone was not enough, he also announced how often the demonic possession occurred: And many times he was cast into fire and into water, that he might be destroyed 669 . The following should also be noted. When you, confessor, confess people who, out of shame, do not want to say how many times they have sinned, you should ask them about a large and exaggerated number of sins, that is, ask, for example, whether they have committed this sin a thousand or two thousand times, so that, hearing such a number, they will be encouraged and with relief name a smaller number, instead of naming a larger one if you ask them about a smaller number. 44. It may be perplexing why Solomon said: ... the little one is worthy of mercy, but the mighty will be tormented more severely 670 (see about this in “Advice to the Penitent” in the section “The Fourth Evil of Sin”), but here everything happens the other way around and people who lead a virtuous life and fall into sin receive less penance than those who lead a careless life and sin. To resolve the confusion, let's say that this happens for two reasons. Firstly, because those who live virtuously in most cases fall into sins due to inattention or some other involuntary circumstance, and not intentionally and not completely arbitrarily, unlike those who live carelessly. And, secondly, because those who lead a virtuous life, having committed a sin, are mortally sorrowful, thinking about from what height virtues have fallen and what Grace they have lost because of sin, so that, according to Nikita Stiphatus, if their days had not ceased 671, they would undoubtedly have fallen into despair - and those living carelessly do not experience such sorrow. 45. About bad thoughts, see the note to the 2nd rule of the Faster. 46. See also below the note about the special means of healing that we offer you, confessor, to use in relation to those who have blasphemous thoughts. 47. Although it is very good and useful to confess all the thoughts (if possible) that the devil inspires in you, however, many of the fathers say in the Fatherland that we do not need to confess all our thoughts, but only those that especially bother us and fight more strongly against us. And the fact that we need to confess not only the evil deeds that we have committed and the evil words that we have uttered, but also the evil thoughts that we have in our hearts, is evidenced by the Old Testament law, which commands to give to the priests not only the right shoulder of the animal that was sacrificed, but also its breast: ... and the breasts shall be for Aaron and his son, and the side of the right hand shall be given to the sacrifice of the offerings of your salvation. This showed symbolically and allegorically that during confession we should bring to the priests and confessors all our deeds, the symbol of which is the shoulder, and the thoughts of our heart, the symbol of which is the chest, since it protects the heart. This is how the wise Nikita explains their meaning allegorically, interpreting the word on the Holy Baptism of Gregory the Theologian: “The law made the shoulder and chest a priestly part in some sacrifices, allegorically showing that it is proper to give the heart to the priests through confession, for its symbol is the chest, as it protects it, and the deeds depicted by the shoulder, which are offered to God through the priests” 673. Therefore, the great Macarius of Egypt said: “There are some who say that the Lord requires from people only obvious fruits, but God performs the hidden. However, this is not what happens in reality, but just as everyone protects themselves in relation to the external person, so they must strive and fight in relation to thoughts. For the Lord requires of you that you be angry with yourself and fight with your mind and do not agree with evil thoughts and do not enjoy them” 674. 48. Because of your ignorance, God will not tolerate you being a confessor, because He wants the future leader of the souls of His people to be not only faithful (that is, virtuous, according to Theophylact), but also wise and knowledgeable. For He Himself says: Who is the faithful builder and the wise one whom the Lord will appoint over his servants to give at the time of life-giving? 675 Interpreting these words, Blessed Theophylact writes: “We need both faith and wisdom at the same time, for I know many who are considered excellent in virtue, both pious and having faith, but due to their inability to wisely manage church affairs, they have caused damage not only to their property, but also to their souls” 676. 49. The fact that someone who has been clearly deposed cannot be a confessor is evidenced, firstly, by the answer of John of Kitras 677, in which he says the following: “Whoever, being a confessor, commits a sin punishable by defrocking, is simultaneously deprived of both the priesthood and the title of confessor,” and secondly, the 11th answer of Simeon of Thessalonica, who says that “he who receives thoughts must also bless, and read the prayer of permission, and serve, and give communion to those confessing, and intercede before God for those who repent, but a deposed person cannot do all this” 678. And the fact that someone who has renounced the priesthood because of his unworthiness cannot be a confessor is evident, firstly, from one answer preserved in the manuscripts of the same John of Kitras, which clearly states: “Whoever voluntarily or involuntarily renounced the priesthood cannot accept thoughts” 679, and secondly, from the 8th rule of Patriarch Nicholas, who says: “Whoever himself renounces the priesthood cannot utter shouts “Blessed is our God...” and “Christ, our true God...”, take communion at the altar and burn censer.” If even this is forbidden to him, then how can he be a confessor? And thirdly, common sense speaks about this, for how can those who refuse the priesthood confess if only the sacred order has real power to do so? And about the fact that someone who has renounced the priesthood cannot perform other actions of the priesthood, see below, at the end of the 9th chapter, in the footnote to the section on how a confessor should instruct priests who have fallen into sin, punishable by defrocking. 50. The commanding letter has the following form: “Our humility, by the grace of the Most Holy and Priestly Priestly Spirit, entrusts to you, the most reverend among the hieromonks (or priests), Mr. So-and-So, as a venerable and worthy of respect man, the ministry of spiritual fatherhood. Therefore, you must accept the thoughts of everyone who comes to you to confess their sins and question them, and test the depths of their hearts, and recognize their thoughts and actions, after which their origins and causes, if possible, eliminate and remove them, and correct the consequences and actions according to the rules, and in accordance with the spiritual properties and dispositions of those who come, give them medicines, and be all things to everyone, and gain everyone, now denouncing, now forbidding and begging, and in every way caring for their salvation. For this reason you will bind what is proper to bind, and again resolve what is worthy of resolution. You must also test and strictly examine those who are approaching the rank of priesthood in the manner required by the divine and sacred rules, so as not to participate in the sins of others and not to consign your souls, along with their souls, to eternal fire. You must also tonsure the monks after passing the test, giving them, according to the rules and custom, a successor. And besides all this, you must live in all reverence and honesty, which become spiritual men, as one who has to give account to God. To testify to this, our present commanding letter has been given to you.” Please note that the bishop giving the commanding letter must lay his hand on the head of the future confessor. This laying on of hands is necessary for two reasons. Firstly, because the priest, being simply a priest, has, as some argue, neither potential nor real power to bind and loose sins, or has potential for this, but does not have real power, as others claim, and the laying on of the hands of a bishop in any case must be done so that either potential and real power together, or only real power, is given through him. And secondly, because through this laying on of hands the confessor receives the spirit of reason in order to worthily perform his ministry and wisely govern the souls of sinners. Thus, through the laying on of the hands of Moses, Joshua received this spirit of understanding, as it is written: And Joshua the son of Nun, being filled with the spirit of understanding, Moses laid his hand upon him 680 . Therefore, the Acts of the Apostles say that the Holy Spirit was given through the hands of the apostles 681. And, simply put, this laying on of hands is a blessing, since through it a blessing is given, for Patriarch Tarasius, in the 1st act of the Seventh Council, interpreted the laying on of hands mentioned in the 8th canon of the First Council as a blessing. A priest who, without the permission of the bishop, will confess, is defrocked according to the instructions of the Patriarch of Constantinople Michael, just as those who have performed some kind of sacred act outside their area are defrocked according to the rules, as Balsamon writes 682. And Simeon of Thessaloniki says that such a priest sins almost in the same way as a layman who, without having a holy rank, performs the actions of the priesthood 683. 51. About this, see the 23rd canon of the Sixth Council, which says that anyone who demands divine communion from those to whom he gives the holy mysteries, money or anything else, even if insignificant, is defrocked, since Grace is not for sale and sanctification is not given for money. Therefore, it is clear that confessors who demand money from the Christians they profess, and for money that gives them permission to receive communion, even if they are unworthy, should be defrocked. This is the greatest wickedness, which the wisest Joseph Bryennius condemns in one of his words, saying that it is the reason for the enslavement of our people by the godless Hagarites 684. “What will you give me if I allow you to take communion?” - what is this if not the words with which Judas addressed the Jews, betraying the Lord: What do you want to give me, and I will betray Him to you 685? Holy bishops, take care, for the love of God, to destroy in your dioceses this great evil, because of which the sweetest Jesus, once sold for the human race, is sold every day! Brothers Christians, for the sake of the Lord, do not give money to such Christ-sellers, spiritual fathers captivated by simony, supposedly so that they will absolve you from your sins. For, without any doubt, you will not receive forgiveness, even if you give them all the thousands of the world, firstly, because confessors are not lords and rulers of the mysteries of God, but only ministers and stewards, as the divine Paul says, 686 and, secondly, because they permit not only what is proper to allow, and what deserves forgiveness, but sometimes also what is not appropriate to allow, and what is unforgivable. Therefore, the Church, giving a commanding letter to the confessor, repeating the words of the Apostle Peter addressed to Clement of Rome, decrees: “You will bind what is appropriate to bind, and loose what is appropriate to allow” 687. Therefore, when these confessors forgive you, God curses you, and if they give you permission here on earth, then God will bind you in heaven both in this century and in the future, if you do not find another confessor who will correct you according to the will of God free of charge. Likewise, it is not appropriate for holy bishops to take money from confessors for ordination, but they should supply them free of charge, so that they have no reason to take gifts from penitents for confession. 52. Although any time is suitable for confession (especially in cases of great need), nevertheless, as Job writes in the chapter on the sacraments, the most appropriate time is the morning, since then the mind of the confessor and the penitent is clearer and more focused. In confirmation of this, he cites the words of David: In the morning I slaughtered all the sinners of the earth, who had consumed from the city of the Lord all those who practice iniquity 688, that is: in the morning I put to death through confession all the evil thoughts of my heart and destroyed in my soul all the lawless demons and all passions. As for the age of those confessing, then, according to Timothy, some should begin to confess at the age of ten, and others - later 689. According to Balsamon, children must confess from the age of six 690. 53. If the penitent is literate and has the opportunity and time, tell him, confessor, to read “Advice to the Penitent,” which we have placed below, so that he learns from it how to prepare for confession, and only then comes to you to confess. 54. The most useful and necessary thing for salvation, confessor, is to take care to imprint in the minds of those confessing, and especially the illiterate and the peasants, the first two and general dogmas of our faith, namely, the Holy Trinity and the economy of the Incarnation. About the dogma of the Holy Trinity, you can tell him this: believe, my child, that the One God, in whom we believe, is Three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father begets the Son and gives forth the Holy Spirit, the Son is born from the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. But although there are Three Persons, God is One by nature, just as the solar circle and its ray and light, although there are three of them, are nevertheless one sun. Believe also that this God created all visible creatures: the sky, the earth, the sea and everything that is in them. He also created all invisible creatures: angels, demons and souls. And about the economy of the incarnation you can tell him this: believe, my child, that for the sake of the salvation of us, people who have transgressed the commandment of God, One of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, namely the Son, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and from the Virgin Mary and became a perfect man, like us, however, free from sin, and after that, being One Person, has two natures - divine and human, that is, he is both perfect God and perfect Man, Who suffered, was crucified, buried and rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father and will come again to judge all people who are due to be resurrected, and will grant the Eternal Kingdom to the good who keep His commandments, while He will subject the wicked who transgress His commandments to endless torment. 55. The Divine Chrysostom 691, as well as Mitrophan Kritopoulos 692 and St. John Climacus 693 say that confession of sins should be made with a mention of their type. The types of sin are an evil deed, an evil word and an evil thought, and the types of sin are what is committed through these three types. For example, types of sin through deeds are fornication, adultery, theft, murder, and so on; through words, blasphemy, lies, false oaths, etc., and through thoughts, heresy, pride, and the like. And even shameful and carnal sins, just like all others, should be confessed with mention of their type. For example, it is not enough for a repentant to name only the type of sin and say that he committed a carnal sin, but he must name its type and say whether he committed fornication, adultery or sodomy, and also whether he committed it with a lay person or with a priestly rank or with a monk, with a stranger or a relative, because otherwise the confessor will not be able to correct him as it should be. Therefore, to the words of Climacus that when confessing carnal sins one should not name their type, 694, in my opinion, the following clarification should be added: one should not name their type when confessing them before God, as Abba Mark also says, which we will talk about later, and not before a confessor, so that the divine John does not turn out to be contradicting himself and others who teach that in confession before a confessor one must name the type of sin. 56. It is also necessary to examine how the sinner committed the sin, and the place in which he committed it, because these circumstances increase or decrease the severity of the sin and the penance for it, and because if they are not confessed here, they will be revealed there, according to the words of Hosea: Now their thoughts have come to pass 695 and the words of Basil the Great, who says: “We will see at the same time all the deeds as if revived in our memory and appeared before us mentally face to face in the form in which each was done or said" 696 . Therefore, penitents are not forbidden, if they wish, to confess exactly how they committed their sins, to the greatest shame for themselves and for the sake of the greatest relief of their conscience, especially in order to receive assurance in their souls that the sin they confessed in the form in which they committed it will no longer be exposed to shame on the Day of Judgment. Therefore, the confessor needs to be patient and listen to the sins of those who repent with such great zeal, even if they turn out to be shameful (although some say that when confessing carnal sins one should not explain the manner in which they were committed, so as not to seduce the confessor, especially when women are confessing or when the penitents do it not for the sake of shame for themselves, but out of their ignorance and rudeness, without showing any tenderness - which we also recognize as fair; such a confessor must say: “Enough, child, no need”). 57. The book “Student Spiritualist” 697 tells about one ruler who lived for a long time with a certain slave. Many confessors tried to correct him, but they failed. In the end, an experienced confessor was found who corrected him in this way. At first he told him: “I know that your previous confessors were strict and did not want to give you permission, but I want to do the opposite, if only you promise me that you will leave this woman for only fifteen days.” Thanks to his persistence, the ruler promised to do this. “So, go,” the confessor told him, “live fifteen days in the village alone, and let the woman stay in the house.” Fifteen days later, seeing that he came to him with such joy, as if he had received the crown of a virgin, the confessor says to him: “Since I see, child, that you can resist passion, I am ready to forgive your sins, but so that I have even greater evidence and confirmation of your repentance, let’s wait another fifteen days. Now let the slave go to the village, and you live in your house.” And after thirty days, when he came to him again, the confessor began to denounce him, presenting to him in vivid terms the temptation that he gave to people, the terrible indignation of God that he brought upon himself, the eternity of torment and the long-suffering of God, who endured him for so long. With these and other similar words, he forced him to abandon sin and marry a noble woman like himself. Do you see, confessor, what power did denunciations uttered at the right time have? Let this method of correction be an example for you, but only in relation to choosing the right time for reproof and delaying forgiveness and slowness, and not in the rest. For this confessor, firstly, should not have given the ruler permission to take another woman, noble like himself, but he should have forced him to take the very one whom he had corrupted, although she was a slave and poor, according to the prescription of the 67th canon of the holy apostles. And secondly, for fornication and the corruption of his wife committed by this ruler before marriage, he had to impose a penance on him not to receive communion for four years, as prescribed by the 22nd and 25th rules of Basil the Great. 58. You, confessor, can use three general medicines to heal those who have blasphemous thoughts. Firstly, tell them not to be proud and not to be curious about the mysteries of faith, and also not to despise and condemn their brother, for it is written in the Fatherland and Anastasius Sinaite that a blasphemous thought is born from pride and curiosity and from contempt and condemnation. At the same time, advise them to be humble, simple, incurious, to follow the faith that the Church handed down to them, like animals, as David says: ... you have cattle 698, and not to try to explore what is beyond their reason. Secondly, tell them not to be upset or embarrassed when blasphemous thoughts come to them, and not to be afraid that they will be punished for them with eternal torment, first of all, because these thoughts are not the creation of their own mind and arise in them not of their own will, but out of the envy of the devil, as St. Maximus and the above-mentioned Anastasius write. Therefore, why should they be upset because of someone else’s sin, and not their own, because of sin that occurs through the fault of the devil, and not through their own, because of involuntary sin, and not voluntary, because of sin that they hate, and not love? So Abba Pamva grieved because of the thoughts inspired by the demon of blasphemy, and prayed to God for deliverance from them. And one day, during prayer, he heard a divine voice from above, telling him: “Pamva, Pamva, do not grieve over the sin of others, but take care of your own affairs” 699. They should not be upset because of blasphemous thoughts also because they fight not only with them, but also fought with many other righteous and virtuous men, examples of which can be found in the Fatherland, in Evergetinos 700 and in Saint Meletius the Confessor. And what do I say: with righteous and virtuous men? They even fought against confessors and martyrs. The holy martyr Peter of Alexandria and the divine confessor Paphnutius testify to this, having endured the same temptation and healing each other. For when Saint Peter was tormented by the demon of blasphemy, he told about this to the divine Paphnutius, who himself told him that at the very time of his confession, when his body was tortured with various tortures and burned with fire by tyrants, the demon of blasphemy inside him uttered blasphemy against God: “During my confession, right at the trial, when my body was tormented with various and terrible tortures and burned with fire, the demon inside me uttered blasphemy blasphemy against God" 701. So, if the demon of blasphemy fought with such great saints, then why are they upset because he fights with them, and are so afraid and despairing, as if they were the most sinful of all people? Finally, they should not be upset, but rather rejoice because of these blasphemous thoughts, since, according to Saint Maximus, the devil wages war through these thoughts in order to distract them from the love of God, cool them to faith and interfere with their usual prayer to God, while they, by opposing the devil and not deviating from the path of virtues, become stronger and more experienced in the faith and love of God and thanks to they overcome this, receive crowns and slay the devil with his own sword. And thirdly, confessor, tell those who have blasphemous thoughts to despise them, like barking dogs, and not to consider that such thoughts are a sin, since, as the divine fathers say and as everyday experience teaches us, it is impossible to find another more powerful weapon that defeats and drives out not only blasphemous, but also all evil and shameful thoughts, than contempt and disdain towards them. For if the devil manages to make us upset and embarrassed because of the evil thoughts he inspires, or at least turn the eye of our mind on them, think about them and give them some meaning, he boasts about it and considers it a great victory for himself. Therefore, it is written about them: “We, brothers, will despise the demon of blasphemy as alien to us, and thus, with the help of contempt for him, we will be able to get rid of him by God’s grace, for we will not be able to defeat him in any other way.” If, with the help of all this, you, the confessor, cannot console and calm those who have blasphemous thoughts, use another effective method that a certain experienced confessor once used against them. Command the one who is troubled by the demon of blasphemy to put his hand on your neck and when he does this, tell him: “Child, let your sin be on me, but don’t worry.” 59. Canonical obstacles to the priesthood are mentioned by many canons, most notably: the 25th, 61st and 80th Apostolic, the 17th of the First and Second Councils, the 3rd of Laodicea, the 12th of Neocaesarea, the 10th of Sardicia, the 59th of Carthage and the 4th of St. Cyril. And Chrysostom believes that those who wish to accept the priesthood must be not only innocent (that is, without grave sins), but also blameless, that is, free from even the slightest sins 703. Also, the 9th and 19th rules of the First Council stipulate that they must be immaculate and impeccable. 60. See also the 7th rule of Timothy, which states that priests must be ordained in the presence of the people, testifying to their integrity. Also, the 3rd canon of the Seventh Council indicates that elders and deacons are elected. And Chrysostom says that it is not appropriate to give the right to elect them exclusively to those who have the holy rank, but those who receive spiritual power must be elected by the Church and in general by the multitude of the people 704. And Cyril of Alexandria writes that the people elect those ordained to sacred degrees 705. The same thing is shown by the custom that exists to this day, according to which the bishop says at each ordination of a priest and deacon: “Election and testing on the heads of 706 who gave unanimous testimony.” For this testimony is called unanimous because it is the general testimony of not only the confessor (since he alone is not enough to certify the dignity of the one being ordained, according to the 141st rule of the Council of Carthage), but also other trustworthy men. Therefore, in the commanding letter placed in the Syntagmation of Chrysanthus 707, it is written that the confessor must check those wishing to take holy orders not only on the basis of confession, but also on the basis of the testimony about their life and behavior that is given by those who know them. This unanimous canonical testimony has the following form: “The apostles, who perfectly organized the matters pertaining to divine matters, and the council of the God-bearing fathers who followed them, decreed by means of rules that no one should be awarded the divine degree of priesthood without careful research and exact testing, so that the most divine sacred rites should not be performed by the unworthy. Having come to me, my spiritual son (such and such), the son of (such and such), from the city of (such and such) asked to receive sacred dignity. Having placed him before the sacred icon of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ and having tested his depths of heart, and also having received a certificate from other trustworthy men who know his life, and not finding any canonical obstacles, I testify that he is worthy of the priesthood and has the required age to receive it, in accordance with the command of the same sacred rules, for confirmation of which this document was given to him, sealed with his own signatures and certificates previously named trustworthy persons.” And below are the signatures of the confessor and witnesses. 61. See the 12th, 13th and 32nd canons of the holy apostles, the 5th canon of the First Council, the 6th of Antioch, the 14th of Sardicia, the 37th and 141st of Carthage, as well as the 9th chapter of the 9th title of Nomocanon Photius and his interpreter Balsamon. 62. See Syntagmation of Chrysanthus of Jerusalem 708. 63. And that this is the truth, God Himself says in one place through the mouth of the prophet Moses: If you promise a vow to the Lord to your God, do not hesitate to pay it, for the Lord your God will demand it from you, and sin will be upon you 709, and in another - through the mouth of the wise Sirach: Do not hesitate to pay a vow at the right time and do not wait even until death justify yourself 710 . Therefore, Gregory Dvoeslov denounces Rustikiana, a Roman patrician, because she promised to go to worship in Jerusalem, and after that, heading to Constantinople to leave from there, she was delayed and did not immediately fulfill her promise. For, before making a vow, a person must calculate his strength, whether he will be able to fulfill it, and if he has given it, he should no longer break it, because this will mean that he is tempting God and laughing at Him, according to Sirach: Before even making a promise, prepare for yourself and do not become like a man tempting the Lord 711. See also Basil the Great, who in his 28th rule notes that eating pork, which a person has vowed not to eat, is only an indifferent matter, and not literally deserving of forgiveness. And by this he makes us understand that even the most ridiculous vows that a person makes to God should not be broken, just like correct and reasonable vows 712. It is necessary to fulfill vows not only when a person makes them himself. But even if parents, when their children (under their authority) are sick or are in some danger, make a vow to God that they will become monks, the children should, in my opinion, observe and fulfill this vow of their parents, and the parents should offer them to God, as Anna brought Samuel, according to the command of God contained in the 30th chapter of the Book of Numbers. 64. See the 19th rule of the Council of Ancyra and the 18th of the great Basil, which imposes penance on those who vow to preserve virginity and then violate it. 65. How destructive an evil is fornication can be seen from the following. Firstly, the person who fornicates harms and destroys his body, exposing it to numerous and incurable diseases. Therefore the apostle said: ...whoever commits fornication in his own body sins 713. And therefore, if he who commits another sin is the enemy of his soul, according to what is written: ... but he who loves unrighteousness hates his soul 714, then he who commits fornication is also an enemy of his body. Secondly, the fornicator loses his virginity, which is a priceless treasure, which, once lost, can no longer be returned in any way, as the Scripture says: The Maid of Israel fell ... there is no one to restore 715 (see about this in the “Word of Repentance” at the end of 716). Thirdly, fornication so darkens a person’s mind and weakens his will that, more than any other sin, it prevents its accursed doer from turning to God and repenting, as it is said: They will not allow their thoughts to return to God... for the spirit of fornication is in them 717. That is why the terrible words of the divine Isidore are true that “the human race is more subject to the devil because of carnal impurity than because of any other sin.” And fourthly, God hates fornication so much that only because of it he brought a flood on people, from which no one was saved except eight people, and because of it he was forced to say that he repented of having created man: ... I thought that I had created man 718. 66. To the adulterers, confessor, say the following. Firstly, adultery is such a great evil that God Himself commands to put to death the man and woman who commit it: ... whoever commits adultery with his husband's wife... let the adulterer and the adulteress die by death 719. Secondly, if adultery was so lawless in the Old Testament law, how much more lawless is it now, after the advent of the grace of the Gospel, when marriage has been elevated to the dignity of a sacrament? Therefore, God, who in His anger told David that evil would not leave his house because of the adultery that he committed: ... the sword will not depart from your house until forever, since you have humiliated Me and killed Uriah’s wife 720, now he says this with even greater severity to every adulterer. Thirdly, every adulterer is called a son of death, as David himself said to Nathan: As the Lord lives, as the son of death is the man who did this 721. And fourthly, any robbery and theft is as harmless as adultery as the Mediterranean Sea is smaller than the ocean and as much as a midget is smaller than a giant. That is why Solomon said: It is not surprising if someone steals... an adulterer, for the poverty of his mind, causes the destruction of his soul, but he suffers illness and dishonor, but his reproach will not be erased forever 722. In addition, tell the adulterers, confessor, that even the pagans considered adultery an unforgivable evil. That is why they punished adulterers so severely, as evidenced by the so-called Julian law, as well as one of the Roman laws of the Twelve Tables. The Egyptians, according to Diodorus Siculus, cut off the noses of adulteresses, and gave adulterers a thousand blows with sticks 723. The Locrians blinded the adulterers and burned the Crotonians, according to Maximus Valerius 724. And God commanded to curse the adulterers with such terrible words: And from them they will bring a curse upon the entire emigration of Judah, which is in Babylon, saying: May the Lord do to you, as Zedekiah did, and as Ahiab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fires of iniquity, for the sake of iniquity, which he committed in Jerusalem, and fornication with the wives of his citizens 725 . 67. To the homosexuals, confessor, say the following. Firstly, in the book of Leviticus, God commands that homosexuals be put to death: And whoever lies with a male sex in a female bed, having committed an abomination, both of them shall die by death 726 . Secondly, St. Jerome says that because of one sin of sodomy, the dispensation of the incarnation of Christ was delayed, and another teacher claims that because of it the Second Coming will be hastened and that on the night of His Nativity Christ sent an angel and through him killed all the homosexuals in the whole world, and then was born, so that at that hour there would not be such a lawless sin on earth. See also the book “Trumpet” 727, where you will find how severely the kings punished homosexuals. 68. Tell the cattle-breakers that God in the book of Leviticus commands that cattle-breakers - both men and women - be put to death 728 , and civil laws command that the genitals of homosexuals be cut off 729 . Also worthy of mention is the method that one experienced confessor used to correct an insensitive sinner who had fallen into sin with a cow. He told him this: “You, sinner, have now acquired an unprecedented and unheard-of relationship with a cow and you yourself have become unreasonable and bestial, like her. So, for a whole month, go every evening to your barn and, having closed the doors, get on all fours like an animal, put the saddle of your donkey on your back and ask with tears forgiveness from God for your terrible sin.” By doing this, that damned sinner realized what a great evil he had committed and corrected himself, while the previous confessors could not correct him in any way. And about how many years the bestials are excommunicated for, see at the end of the rules of the Faster, in his penances. 69. How great an evil is masturbation, see the note to the 8th rule of St. John the Faster. 70. See above, in the note to chapter 8. 71. For if the 26th canon of the Sixth Council, the 27th canon of the Seventh Council and the 27th of Basil the Great unanimously decide that a presbyter who has ignorantly entered into an illegal marriage must leave all the actions of the priesthood and cannot bless and perform consecration, then all the more must a priest who has committed fornication or adultery, or committed some kind of crime, leave them another sin requiring defrocking. Therefore, the 8th canon of Patriarch Nicholas prescribes that someone who has renounced the priesthood due to the judgment of conscience should not even utter the exclamations “Blessed be God...” or “Christ, our true God...”, and Simeon of Thessalonica says the following: “For the sake of ordination, Grace acts through unworthy priests and bishops, and the sacraments that they perform are truly sacraments, but woe to those who or before ordination, or sinned after the ordination. They are unworthy of the priesthood and, if they want to repent and be saved, they must completely withdraw from the most holy actions [note that he speaks of actions in the plural, and not just the liturgy] of the priesthood" 730. See also the book “Salvation of Sinners” 731, where it is narrated that Abba Macarius of Alexandria did not want to heal one unworthy priest until he swore that he would no longer undertake any sacred rites. Rule 10 of Saint John the Faster reduces to the rank of reader a priest who has committed masturbation twice or three times after learning the sinfulness of this act, in other words, it prohibits him from all actions of the priesthood. And the fact that those who secretly sinned and confessed must renounce the priesthood and suffer punishment is evidenced by the 9th rule of the First Council, the 9th and 10th rules of the Neocaesarea Council and the 70th rule of Basil the Great. Chrysostom also says that those who have committed any sin that entails deposition from the priesthood should themselves renounce the priesthood: “It would be appropriate, I think, to have such reverence for this matter [that is, for the priesthood], so as to first strive to avoid the burden, and after accepting sacred dignity, if a sin suddenly happens that requires deposition, not to expect the judgment of others, but before it, to depose oneself from the commanding degree, for so, Probably, the mercy of God could also be attracted. And holding on to your position contrary to what is proper means depriving yourself of all forgiveness and further inciting the wrath of God, adding to the first a second, even more serious, sin” 732. If Agapius says in the book “The Salvation of Sinners” 733 that a priest who has sinned can perform consecration, unction, confession and other actions of the priesthood, then he says this according to today’s custom, and not according to the strictness of the sacred rules. And if someone refers to the 9th rule of the council of Neocaesarea, which says that a priest who has confessed a carnal sin committed before accepting the priesthood should not make an offering, but preserves the rest, let him know that along with the offering (that is, with the sacred rites of the liturgy), this rule prohibits him from all other actions of the priesthood, and by “the rest” it does not mean sacred rites, but sitting and standing with priests and just external honor, as Balsamon writes 734. Let him even take communion at the altar, according to Balsamon and Zonara 735, although he is clearly forbidden to take communion at the altar by the mentioned 8th canon of Nicholas, Simeon of Thessalonica 736 and the 70th canon of Basil the Great, which prohibits this for deacons and priests who have committed a sin more serious than a passionate kiss. For when such clergy are openly deposed for canonical reasons, they lose not only the right to all sacred rites, but also the right to sit and stand with the priests and are completely deprived of the outward honor of the rank of clergy, change their position and are cast into the place of the laity, according to the 21st canon of the Sixth Council and the 3rd Basil. We should also announce to you, confessor, that in no case should you immediately give permission to receive communion to clergy who have fallen into fornication or adultery, as some erroneously advise, misunderstanding the 3rd rule of Basil, but you must, having forbidden them to perform sacred rites, impose on them, in addition to this, a penance corresponding to their sin, and after they have fulfilled it, you can allow them to receive communion 737. See also the 33rd rule of the Faster. 72. I told you to impose penances according to the instructions of St. John the Faster, because there is a work by a non-Orthodox author - one long ago published in the form of questions and answers, a book about the confession of a certain Neophyte Cypriot, called Rodinos 738, in which he not only allows excessive leniency to be shown to those who have sinned, not only refers to the first person a prayer of permission, reading: “... I permit sins you have confessed” (while the divine Chrysostom says that Nathan the Prophet said to David not: “I forgive,” but: ... The Lord has taken away your sins 739), but also asserts, in addition to this, that the divine rules, imposing penance for sins for five or nine or ten years, require not that those who have sinned for so many years not receive communion, but that they pray, fast and, during them, simply put, they brought satisfaction - which is a heretical way of thinking and strongly contradicts the divine rules and the conciliar opinion of our Eastern Church. And recently, one person with a great name in the Church found this book about the confession of Rodinos and, without clearing it of this wicked way of thinking, published it in Vienna in 1787 under his own name 740. I truly wonder and wonder why this blessed man should have shown such carelessness without receiving the praise for it from the learned men who reviewed it. And those who wish can be convinced of the truth of our words regarding the fact that, with the exception of some few changes in words, it belongs to Rodinos, if they compare both books, as we compared them. Of course, one cannot blame a person for borrowing something good and correct from his opponents, but not for using something dubious and incorrect. Therefore, we inform you about this, confessor, so that you use the rules of the Faster in relation to penitents, both regarding other types of satisfaction, and regarding abstinence from divine communion, the necessity of which was and is recognized by the entire Orthodox Church, and the way of thinking that the mentioned books on confession contain, you did not accept and did not follow, because, on the one hand, it is wicked, for it casts down holy things for dogs and casts pearls before swine, allowing to give communion even to those who have sinned mortally, instead of demanding from them complete abstinence from divine communion, and does not distinguish between unclean and pure, and, on the other hand, is contrary to the sacred rules, for almost all the rules in the most clear and obvious way prohibit those who have repented from receiving divine communion for a certain number of years. And if even the rules of the Faster were blamed for the fact that they prescribe abstaining from communion for a small number of years, then how much more should these two books on confession be blamed, which do not require abstaining from communion at all? 73. The period during which the penitent observed abstinence from sin and communion himself, that is, until the moment he confessed the mortal sin he had committed, is included in penance for the sake of leniency and mercy, and not according to the exact meaning of the rules and in justice. For abstinence from communion and all the good deeds that a person does can be regarded as fulfilling penance and petition for the granting of eternal life to him only after he confesses his mortal sin. And while he has unconfessed mortal sins, neither abstinence from sin and communion, nor all the good deeds that he does, can intercede to grant him eternal life and free him from eternal torment, but only deliver him from the temporary punishment that he could receive in this life. And this is understandable, because if he dies like this, without confessing his mortal sin, he will be subjected to eternal torment. See also below, in chapter 4 of “Council to the Penitent,” section “The Third Means of Preservation from Sin.” 74. This is prescribed by the 13th canon of the First Council, the 6th of Ancyra and the 5th of St. Gregory of Nyssa. And Elijah of Crete says: “If a person is still breathing weakly and retains signs of life, but at the same time lies unconscious and cannot eat anything or spits out what is put in his mouth, the priest should only carefully put a seal on his lips and tongue, touching them with the most pure mysteries” 741. 75. Those who have received penance to fast do not have to fast during the whole of Bright Week and the Lord's holidays and are obliged to observe it on other days of the year, including during the period of Pentecost, unlike those who have not received penance 742. And those who have received penance to make prostrations should not observe it on Sunday and throughout Pentecost, but at the same time, instead of prostrations, they should do more bows and replace the earthly ones with them. For information about when prostrations are performed and when they are canceled, see above, in the section “How a confessor should instruct monks.” 76. Some also say that alms should be given with reason, and advise giving it, firstly, to captive Christians, especially minors and those whose soul and body are in danger, secondly, to imprisoned beggars, thirdly, to sick beggars, fourthly, to beggar nuns and beggar monks and virtuous people, fifthly, to impoverished noble people who are ashamed to ask, and, sixthly, to those simply in need. And Simeon of Thessalonica says 743 that the confessor should not ask the penitent for alms in order to distribute it to others, because he may have a suspicion that he will keep it for himself, but must convince the penitent to distribute it with his own hands. If he insists that he distribute it, then he should distribute it with the knowledge of the giver, according to his will, and give it not to his friends or relatives in partiality, but to the poor and reverent people. There he also says that the confessor, if he has a need for food and clothing, can accept from the penitent as alms what is necessary, and not what is unnecessary, and pray to God for him. He also says that the confessor should advise the penitent to give money for the consecration of oil and liturgies. 77. See about this in the “Orthodox Confession”. 78. Some experienced and sensible confessors say that blasphemers should be subject to the penance of frequently licking the ground with their tongues, abstaining from divine communion for a sufficient time, observing fasting and performing a certain number of prostrations that the confessor deems necessary. I found in some collections of rules that they need to be subject to a seven-year penance. At the same time, oddly enough, in some other collections of rules, signed with the name of the Faster, it is said that the blasphemer must make one hundred prostrations a day for one week and abstain from meat and all other modest products, as well as from fish, oil and wine. And the great Barsanuphius of Patras imposes on the one who blasphemed God a penance of forty days to read three times a day: “Glory to Thee, O God” and “Blessed art thou, O Lord, unto the ages. Amen,” while making three bows and saying: “Forgive me, who blasphemed You, my God” 744. Tell the blasphemers, confessor, that if God commands to kill the one who only pronounces His ineffable name, that is, according to the wise Photius 745, the name Jehovah: Whoever calls the name of the Lord by death, let him die 746, then how much more worthy of death are those who blaspheme Him? Tell them that blasphemy is such a terrible thing that even the devil does not dare not only to blaspheme God, but also to utter the word “blasphemy” itself, and instead of saying “blaspheme,” he says “he will bless,” as it is written in Job: ...except in your presence he will bless 747 (that is, he will blaspheme, as Olympiodorus, Chrysostom and Didymus interpret). And even Michael the Archangel did not blaspheme the devil, worthy of blasphemy, when he argued with him about the body of Moses, but only forbade him, according to the Apostle Jude 748. And the divine Chrysostom claims that blasphemers need to be admonished by inflicting wounds on them: “If you hear in the market that someone is blaspheming God, come up and rebuke him, if necessary, hit him, give him a slap in the face, crush his mouth, sanctify your hand with this blow” 749. Tell them also the terrible examples of the punishment of blasphemers, which are given in the book “The Salvation of Sinners” 750, and first of all, the stories of how demons kidnapped with the body a child who learned to blaspheme, and how he who blasphemed began to rage and died an evil death because he lost at cards. And above all else, tell them to avoid the causes of blasphemy, which are gambling, cards, oaths and insane anger. One of the types of blasphemy is also handing over one's brother to the devil and pronouncing curses against him, for which the same penance is imposed on the guilty person as on the one who blasphemed God. 79. Note that the divine Isidore Pelusiot, addressing a letter to Zosima and denouncing him for having forgiven the sin of a false oath to the one who gave him several fish, tells him that if the victim of injustice does not receive the money lost due to this false oath, then the one who swore cannot receive forgiveness: “For it is not the propitiation of you with gifts that frees him from guilt, but the return to the victim of injustice due to false oath of his property" 751. 80. Therefore, Gregory the Theologian proves that even holy baptism is not able to atone for unrighteous gains if what was appropriated can be given back and is not given back. For someone who stole someone else’s thing and then was baptized should not think that this theft is forgiven if the stolen thing is still in his hands and can be returned, since, considering himself clean thanks to baptism from unrighteous acquisition, but not actually being so, he will invent a lie against cleansing: “Being guilty of two evil deeds - unjust acquisition and possession of what was acquired, you have received forgiveness of the first, but you are sinning with the second today, since today you keep someone else's property. And sin is not destroyed, but is divided by time into two: one that you dared to commit before baptism, and the other after baptism, for the font cleanses sins committed before it, and not those committed after. It is appropriate, however, not to invent lies against cleansing, but to testify to it with deeds” 752. Therefore, those who say that accepting monasticism can atone for the sin of unrighteous acquisition are mistaken if the one who has appropriated someone else’s property after accepting monasticism keeps it in his own hands and does not return it. And Blessed Augustine says: “When a person can give back someone else’s thing that he has taken and does not give it back, then he does not repent truly, but falsely and feignedly.” See also the 3rd rule of Gregory the Wonderworker and the 14th of Theophilus, which excommunicate those who appropriate the property of others and the covetous. 81. Tell the thieves, confessor, that God punishes theft so severely that he commands, if the thief cannot give the stolen thing to the owner, to sell it himself and give it back: ...if he does not have property [thief], let him be sold for theft 753. And it is also said: if... whoever steals a bull or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, let him repay five bulls [that is, if he is not caught] for the bull and four sheep, for a sheep... if he is [that is, if he is caught] and the stolen property from the donkey to the sheep is found in his hand alive, let me give it back 754. However, if someone goes and admits that he stole or misappropriated someone else’s property, then he must pay only the cost and a fifth of the value of the stolen property, as it is written: ... let him confess the sin he has committed and let him give back the true crime, and let him add a fifth of it to it and let him give it back to him that he sinned 755. But why am I talking about this? God commands not even to charge murder if someone kills a thief at night (but not during the day): If a thief appears in a dig and dies with an ulcer, he will not be murdered 756. 82. Under no circumstances, confessor, do you read a prayer of permission either over the offenders, if they do not return someone else’s property, or over fornicators and homosexuals, if they do not first expel the harlot or male person from their home. And even if they promise to do this, do not trust them easily, because most of them refuse their promise and start laughing at their confessor immediately after they receive forgiveness, as experience shows. Know, confessor, that you will often have to deal with stubbornness and disobedience on the part of those who keep a harlot or a boy in their house. For they will either beg you, shedding tears, to allow them to keep these persons in your house - but you do not give in to pity, remembering the word of God: ...do not have mercy on the poor in judgment 757 - then they will threaten that they will do you harm - but do not be afraid of this, remembering the words of God: persecute the righteous... 758 and: ... do not be afraid of the reproach of man and do not repent of their blasphemy 759. 83. Under no circumstances, confessor, do you read a prayer of permission over those suffering from memory malice until they are reconciled with those who offended them, and to convince them to reconcile, tell them the following. Firstly, the Holy Spirit says about them: ... the path... of those who remember evil is to death 760 and also: ... whoever remembers evil is lawless 761. And John the Theologian writes: Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer 762. Also, if they do not forgive their enemy, they cannot recite the Lord’s Prayer, since they do not forgive their debtors their sins, contrary to what the Lord’s Prayer says. Secondly, God will subject them to torment for this and will collect from them the debt of even those sins that He has already forgiven them, according to the parable of the servant who owed ten thousand talents. For the duty of the commandment of love obliges them not only not to take revenge, but also not to have hatred towards their neighbor at all, even in their minds, as it is said: Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy mind 763 . If they reconcile with their enemy, then their hearts will become lighter. Give them, confessor, the example of the Lord, who prayed on the cross for His crucifiers, and the example of the first martyr Stephen, who prayed for those who stoned him. Tell them the following scary story about two vindictive people. Since they did not forgive each other from the bottom of their hearts, but maintained mutual enmity even after the death of one of them, the deceased came from hell and kidnapped his enemy alive from the church in the presence of the people - and the earth opened up and both descended into hell, as the priest Procopius narrates in his teachings 764. Tell them how Saint Ambrose constantly gave alms to the thief who tried to kill him, how one virtuous woman cleansed the pus from the wound on the chest of the woman who had abused her. Tell them that even the pagans did not hold a grudge against others. So Lycurgus, blinded by Alcander, not only did not take revenge on him, but also had him as his table companion. So Dimonax, when someone hit him in the face with a stone, despite the fact that everyone out of love for him shouted: “To the judge, to the judge!” - he himself, on the contrary, said: “No, oh, men, but to the doctor.” So Pericles, who had been insulted by one man all day, accompanied the offender home in the evening with a lantern. And in the end, confessor, you must give advice to the one who initiated the enmity to go to the one whom he seduced and bow to the ground before him until you force him to forgive, as the divine Chrysostom says: “Let no one tell me that he asked once and again, but he did not agree: if we sincerely do this, we will not rest until, having won with the help of great perseverance, we attract him to ourselves and reject him from hostility towards us" 765. At the same time, confessor, try not to arouse the offended suspicion that you want to be his judge and have become a supporter of his opponent. On the contrary, show that you sympathize with him and allow him to express all his complaints. Also tell those who quarreled that after reconciliation they should greet each other as before, and if one of them does not agree with this, tell him to give alms and pray for the salvation of his enemy - maybe God will soften his soul in this way and they will be able to forgive each other from the bottom of their hearts and begin to greet each other. 84. Tell the murderer, confessor, that, according to the decree of His Holiness Patriarch Athanasius and Tsar Andronikos 766, he must divide his property into parts in such a way that each of his children receives his part and another part remains for the share of the murdered man, that is, for the share of his wife and orphans, if there are any, and if there are none, then he must distribute it as alms for the repose of the soul of the murdered man and with all his heart ask God to forgive him, in order to calm him down with the help of this the cry that the blood of the murdered man makes, demanding revenge, and preventing the terrible punishment prepared for himself, both temporary and eternal, for shed the blood of a man in his place. will spill 767 . And in order to briefly explain to the murderer the severity of his sin, tell him, first, that of all the evils that can happen to his neighbor, the greatest and foremost is violent death. Secondly, tell him that whoever kills steals power from God, who is the Lord of life and death. And thirdly, tell him that if he were to burn and destroy all the wide valleys, all the fruits of the earth, all the animals, all the trees in the whole world, all the houses in the cities and villages, he would commit a lesser sin than killing a person, because whoever kills a person kills the God-appointed king of all creation. In addition, confessor, give murderers, grave diggers and all other sinners who have committed secret sins this general advice: if one of them shows zeal for repentance, he can go to the household of the person he has harmed, or to his relatives, or to a secular judge, to confess to murder or theft, or grave digging, or another secret sin he has committed and receive the punishment established for this sin secular and civil laws. And it is especially important to do this if, because of the sin he committed, he will be taken on suspicion and punished by the judge or if others, innocent ones, will suffer harm. Who testifies to this? First, Basil the Great, who says in his commentary on Psalm 32: “Since we have sinned with the body... with the body and we will repent, using it as a means of destroying sin. Did you insult? Bless. Have you appropriated someone else's property? Give it back. Have you been drinking? Fast. Did you boast? Humble yourself... Killed? Become a martyr or subject your body to the suffering of repentance, tantamount to martyrdom” 768, secondly, the wise Sinesius, who commands a certain John, who killed his neighbor, to confess to the murder he committed 769, and thirdly, the following examples. As we read in the book “Hagiographer” 770 on April 14, who killed his bride, Saint Thomaida, betrayed himself to the ruler and was killed as punishment for this. Also in Evergetinos 771 we find a story about how one monk, having fallen into spiritual contrition, came down from the Mount of Olives to the ruler and, confessing to him his sins, said: “Punish me according to the laws.” But since the ruler did not want to punish him, he himself put iron chains on his legs and neck and told those who asked that the ruler had put them on him. And the day before his death, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: “Behold, for your patience all your sins have been forgiven.” After this, he touched his iron chains, and they immediately fell from him, and he immediately rested. 85. For in church history we can read about how one damned sinner, illegally absolved from his sins by his confessor, appeared to him after his death and, denouncing him for the great leniency shown to him, said: “Since you are also the cause of my torment, then come with me, we will suffer together.” Having said this, he wrapped his arms around him, and at that very moment the air darkened, and - lo and behold! – the earth opened up and swallowed them both. (See also in the 3rd chapter of “Counsel to the Penitent”, among examples of those who received punishment for their sins, another terrible story 772.) Therefore, the divine Ambrose says that the forgiveness easily received from the confessor makes the sinner sin even more: “... let the ease of forgiveness not serve as an encouragement to the sinner” 773. 86. For Balsamon says 774 that the rules, which do not contain clear instructions regarding penance for those who have sinned, by default give the local bishop permission to assign to them such penance as he deems appropriate. 87. Although Chrysanthus in the “Book of Confession” 775 says that the expression of the form of the sacrament of repentance is also the prayer for the repentant, which the confessor reads for them and which we have placed here along with the words of forgiveness, but it is these words of forgiveness that we primarily call the form of repentance, since they clearly show both the spiritual and main cause of forgiveness, which is the grace of the Holy Spirit, and its mediating cause, which is the confessor. 88. For the 8th canon of the First Council prescribes that converts from the Navatians should be received through the laying on of hands, the 66th canon of the Council of Carthage commands that converts from the Donatists should be accepted through the laying on of hands, and the 49th canon of the same council contains a special decree according to which repentant sinners should be received through the laying on of hands. Therefore, the apostolic decrees prescribe the following to confessors: “Receive the sinner if he repents with tears, and, laying hands on him, allow him to remain in the flock” 776 and add: “Just as you receive an infidel by baptizing him, so by laying your hands on him, return him as clean to the spiritual pasture, since through the laying on of hands the Holy Spirit was given 777” 778. 89. Thus, Patriarch Luke of Constantinople banned the abbot of the monastery, the Orphan Giver, from serving because he revealed the sin of one of his spiritual children, as Balsamon says in his interpretation of the 141st rule of the Council of Carthage. Not to mention the fact that, according to the same rule of the Council of Carthage, one should under no circumstances believe one confessor, and according to the law of the kings Leo and Constantine, one witness is not trusted, but is expelled 779. Let confessors imitate God Himself, Who never made a person’s confession public, as John Climacus says: “God never, having heard a confession, reveals it to others and does not make it public, so as not to alienate those confessing by putting them to shame and so that because of this they do not fall into an incurable disease” 780. 90. See Socrates 781, book 5, chapter 19. And Sozomen 782 says that the confessor, by all accounts, should be secretive and silent. 91. Look in the Eton edition of Chrysostom’s works: T. I, p. 139; T. II, p. 90; T. IV, p. 989; T. V, p. 573 and T. VII, p. 686 783. 92. Your, confessor, zeal for the salvation of sinners should be so great as to have those four dimensions that the Apostle Paul speaks of, that is, breadth, longitude, height and depth 784. It must be broad, so that you accept in the same way the repentance of all sinners, both rich and poor, both noble and peasant. It must have length so that you do not get tired of listening to their sins, no matter how numerous and great they may be. It must have height so that you raise sinners from earth to heaven. It must also have depth, so that you are condescending and humble towards any of their infirmities and weaknesses and do not show by your appearance that you abhor any of their wounds. Therefore, we find in the Patericon the following saying, uttered by a certain virtuous confessor: “If I (he said), suppose I stood with one foot in the gates of Paradise and then wanted to return to confess one soul in need of correction, then I am sure that, by returning, I would force Paradise to follow me until I correct that soul.” And another wise one said to the confessors: “Confessors, think about the fact that the penitents, confessing their sins, call you their fathers and say: “Yes, father... No, father.” So, you, too, must show fatherly love for them and run hither and thither with great zeal for their correction and salvation.” 93. So the Jews, from the tears that Christ shed for Lazarus, guessed what kind of love He had for him, and therefore they said: ...See how much you love him 785. 94. For Saint Gregory of Nyssa says to the sinner the following: “Seek and cry from unanimous friends, helping your liberation, make the priest [that is, confessor] an accomplice in sorrow, like a father.” 786 95. The same Gregory of Nyssa in the same word 787 accuses those confessors who do not sympathize with the sins of sinners, and calls them harsh and falsely called fathers and praises those who weep and weep for the sins of their spiritual children, as Moses wept for the people of Israel when they made themselves a calf 788, and as the great Paul wept for the enemies of the cross of Christ 789. Likewise, Basil the Great writes to the fallen monk, urging him to come to him so that he can cry over his dead man and let out sobs about his contrition 790. Sozomen also writes in the Church History that when the divine liturgy ended, sinners who did not partake of the divine mysteries because of their sins fell prostrate to the ground and sobbed and wept, because they had lost divine communion, and the bishop immediately ran up to them and fell to the ground in front of them, crying, and the whole multitude of Christians shed bitter tears about their misfortune: “When does the divine end?” Liturgy, those who did not partake of the holy things appropriate for those initiated into the sacraments, with a cry and sobbing, are thrown on their faces to the ground, and the bishop, at the sight of this, bursts into tears, runs up to them and also falls to the floor with groaning, and the entire church assembly is drenched in tears” 791. 96. See below, in the 1st subject after the Postnik rules. 97. See p. 96 of our “Book of Confession”. 98. See the 32nd rule of the Faster. 99. See about this in the penances of the Faster, placed after his rules. 100. See the 31st rule of the Faster. 101. See the 31st rule of the Faster. 102. See p. 101, 102 “Books of Confession.” 103. See p. 96 “Books on Confession.” 104. See p. 103, 104 “Books of Confession.” 105. See about this below, in the 7th subject after the rules of the Faster. 106. For information on how children should give thanks to their parents, see the section “On the fifth commandment.” 107. See the 20th rule of the Faster about this. 108. See p. 111 “Books on Confession.” 109. See p. 111 “Books on Confession.” 110. See the 21st rule of the Faster about this. 111. See p. 90 “Books on Confession.” 112. See the 34th rule of the Faster. 113. See the 13th rule of the Faster. 114. See about this in the penances of the Faster, placed after his rules. 115. See the 12th rule of the Faster. 116. See the 8th and 9th rules of the Faster. 117. See the 9th rule of Fasting. 118. See the 18th rule of the Faster. 119. See also below, in the Penances of the Faster and in the 2nd item placed after his rules. 120. See the 18th rule of the Faster. 121. See the 27th and 30th rules of the Faster. 122. See p. 54 “Books on Confession.” 123. See the 3rd rule of Fasting. 124. Look in the 7th subject after the rules of Fasting. 125. See the 29th rule of the Faster. 126.See 3rd and 1st rules of the Faster. 127. This is what Meletius of Athens writes in “Ecclesiastical History” 792, in volume 3, chapter 15. 128. See the book “Hagiograph” 793 under the 2nd day of September. 129. For with his prayer he healed a blind man, made barren people have many children, freed a demoniac from a demon, and healed other sick people. See also Prologue 794. 130. For he performed a terrible miracle when, being dead, he rose and kissed the eparch Nile, who came to kiss him according to custom as if he were dead, and spoke certain words into his ear, at the sight of which all those present were amazed. 131. Meletius of Athens. Church history... Vol. 3. Ch. 19. 132. The rules of St. John the Faster were officially approved by Balsamon, Blastar, Armenopoulus, Nicephorus Chartophylax and Patriarch Nicholas, and unofficially - by the ancient tradition of the Church and, above all, by the very practice in which the rules of the Faster were used, for many confessed and corrected penitents in accordance with them not only in the time of Balsamon (as he himself says in the interpretation of the last rule of Patriarch Nicholas), but even in the time of Nicholas, as is clear from his rule mentioned above. And to the question why the Sixth Ecumenical Council that followed the Fast does not mention these rules of the Faster, we will answer, firstly, that, probably, these rules were not then widely used in the Church. Likewise, the Council of Carthage does not mention the rule about Easter, established before it by the First Ecumenical Council, since it was not known to many. And secondly, this Sixth Council does not mention the legally established rules of many other, and especially local, councils that came before it. Thus, he does not mention at all the rules of the local council that preceded him under King Heraclius in the city of Antisiodor, the council in Illiberia, which took place even before the First Ecumenical Council, the council in Kabilon, as well as others. And yet the Church accepted these rules, although they were not approved by the Sixth Council. And this can be seen from the following. Our Church does not celebrate two liturgies on the same day at the same altar, which corresponds to the prescription of the 11th canon of the Council of Antisiodoria. Our Church lays the hand of the priests on the catechumens outside the vestibule, which corresponds to the instructions of the 39th rule of the Council of Illiberia. Our Church celebrates the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the evening, in accordance with the decree of the council in Kabilon. These rules of the Faster are also mentioned in the 2nd volume of the manuscript of the collection of St. Nikon 795, who labored on the Black Mountain near Antioch in 1060 under Constantine Ducas, who was the king in the East, and John, Patriarch of Antioch. And although this Nicholas in the mentioned rule says that the Canonary of the Fast destroyed many with great condescension, this should not be understood literally, but with clarification, namely: since it was used to shorten the period of penances without fulfilling the satisfaction established by him. For, if we want to examine the truth exactly, then the Canonary of the Faster, in terms of the satisfaction that he offers, is not only not lenient, but, I dare say, also somewhat strict for the carnal, since the carnal would prefer to abstain from the most pure mysteries for five or ten and fifteen years, as the rules of other fathers establish, to abstaining from holy communion for only three years, but at the same time observing dry eating, not to eat anything until the ninth hour, to make two or three hundred prostrations to the ground every day and to perform other severe feats, as this Canonary of the Faster prescribes. Truly, it becomes lenient and can destroy many when the confessors who use it show leniency to sinners, reducing the period of penances according to the Faster, but do not demand fulfillment of the satisfaction that he establishes, that is, dry eating, abstinence from food and drink until the ninth hour, a certain number of prostrations and other things, but for the sake of money, services and for other reasons, they free them from this and from many years of abstinence from communion, what they do illegally and contrary to the rules and how they lead the souls of those confessing to destruction along the wide path that is opened before them, for which they will have to give an answer to God. Therefore, let them correct this soul-harming evil they are committing, for this saint says in almost every rule that he who does not want to observe the satisfaction that he prescribes must observe not a small number of years of abstinence from divine communion, which he established, but a large number of years, established by other fathers. He himself convincingly justifies the leniency he shows in his first rule, or rather, it is unanimously justified by the rules of other fathers, mentioned below this rule, which you should carefully review. We also want to inform readers that there are many handwritten books containing certain rules signed with the name of the Faster, which contain a lot of crazy and completely lawless and non-canonical things both in relation to the permission of fasting and in relation to other subjects, from which it is clear that they are the work of some wicked heretic, and not the writing of this saint, nicknamed the Faster for his extraordinary fasts. Therefore, we followed two trustworthy witnesses, Matthew Vlastar and Konstantin Armenopoul, who give in general terms the true rules of the Faster, especially and above all Vlastar, whose proposed set of these rules we used verbatim as the Faster’s own text, changing little only at the word level; and with the authority of these two wise men they confirmed and substantiated the authenticity of the rules of St. John the Faster. We rejected other rules falsely signed with his name and declare to other brothers that they should not accept them, but reject them as containing unacceptable fabrications. 133. The same justification is given in the book called “Greco-Roman Law” 796 and Nikephoros Chartophylax, who says the following: “We have adopted the custom, in accordance with the power of each, to make indulgences also in relation to penances” 797 . However, we believe that if a reasonable person carefully reflects on the words of the Faster, which seem to apparently contradict the exact meaning of the rules, he will find that they correspond to the goal of the fathers. For Basil the Great says in the 74th rule that every ruler of souls has the right to increase and decrease penances depending on the spiritual disposition, rank and deeds of those confessing, and to arrange everything with reasoning for the benefit of the soul. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Faster, prompted by the rule of Basil the Great, renewed something due to the spiritual talent given to him, arranging everything, of course, for the benefit of the penitents, or rather, did not update it at all, since in these rules and penances the saint retains, in the most complete accordance with the rules, those two properties of a spiritual leader that are mentioned by the Sixth Council in the 102nd rule and by Basil the Great in 3rd, that is, on the one hand, accuracy and rigor, and on the other hand, the charter and custom in relation to those who do not accept accuracy. By precision we mean the fasts and prostrations prescribed to them here, leading to contrition and enslavement of the flesh and to abstinence from pleasures, which Basil the Great calls in the 3rd rule the true sign of the healing of a sinner, and by custom and statute, firstly, excommunication from the sacraments, which the Faster also prescribes in his rules, and, secondly, excommunication from the church, which he also requires in these rules (for which see at the end of its rules). For in this, that is, in excommunication from the church and from the sacraments, lies the custom and charter, which almost all divine rules command penitents to fulfill. If now the specified excommunication of penitents from the church is not observed, then what does this have to do with St. John? He died even before the time of John Zonara, who said in his interpretation of the 19th canon of the Council of Laodicea: “Now that which concerns those who are in repentance is not fulfilled, but for reasons unknown to me it was abolished” 798. And Simeon of Thessaloniki names the reason for this, saying: “Now, due to persecution and continuous disasters, although the fathers considered it good, those who were catechumens, those who renounced the faith and those who killed are expelled, while others who received baptism remain, and their repentance is privately arranged by the spiritual fathers” 799. About the fact that fasting, prayers and, simply put, deeds and fruits of repentance are called and considered penances, see the 12th rule of the First Council, the 2nd Council of Ancyra, the 1st and 4th Peter, as well as the 3rd rule of Basil and his “Moral Rules”, in penances 800. Therefore, summing up the content of this note, we can say that the divine Faster, following the 3rd rule of Basil, with his rules and penances not only did not destroy anyone, but healed many and completely cured them of sin. 134. The reason why the fathers established only abstinence from communion as a penance for sinners is, I think, that the Christians of that time had such a love for communion that they considered the greatest loss to be deprived of communion. Therefore, the fathers of that time did not find anything else to turn them away from sin other than abstaining from communion. 135. An attack, according to Josephus Briennius 801, is a memory and thought that the enemy inspires in us without any reason on our part, for example: “Do this or that.” It refers to involuntary thoughts, since the reason that thoughts attack us is not our will, but the action of the devil, and therefore penance is not imposed for it. Note, however, that, according to Basil the Great 802, evil thoughts attack us in two ways: either because the soul is negligent and abandons spiritual thoughts and arbitrarily wanders into the wanderings of unworthy thoughts, or because of the machinations of the devil, who tries to depict absurd thoughts in our minds and with their help distract us from contemplation and reflection on good and useful objects. So, since, I repeat, evil thoughts attack us in two ways, it is clear that an attack arising from the machinations of the devil is completely innocent and does not require penance, and an attack resulting from idleness and negligence of the soul requires the imposition of penance, not because of the attack in itself, but because the soul fell into negligence and the enemy, finding it careless and idle, attacked against her through an evil thought. Therefore, the same Basil the Great says 803 that wandering of thoughts occurs from idleness of the mind, not occupied with the necessary, and that if the mind remains in constant reflection on the will and praises of God and on contemplation, it will not find the opportunity to wander around anything else. And Abba Mark says that the satanic thought comes to the mind because of lack of faith, for the mind has received the commandment to guard the heart, as it is written: Guard your heart with all guarding 804 , and when he leaves the heart, he gives room to the enemy’s attack 805 . And also note the following two circumstances: firstly, the attack is, in essence, either the first thought and a fantasy arising in the imagination, or the first thought internally pronounced in the heart (for in general, all evil thoughts attack in these two ways, although there is also an attack through the inner word of the heart, represented by the same imagination as audible) about a thing about which there were no thoughts in the mind and understanding before; and secondly, attack is mainly called evil thoughts, and not good ones. Many fathers call attack their first thought. Also look in the interpretations at the 4th word of John Climacus, about obedience 806. Read also the 6th chapter of the “Teachings to the Confessor” - “On Thoughts.” 136. A conversation, according to Bryennius, is the acceptance of a thought suggested by the enemy, thinking about it and talking with him at our will 807. 137. Struggle is, according to him 808, opposition leading either to the overthrow of the thought that excites passion, or to agreement with it. 138. Consent is, according to Bryennius 809, the compliance of the mind in relation to passion and its approval. The sin of the consent of the soul is committed (as it is written in the book “The Penitent Trainee” 810) in two ways: either through desire, when it wants to commit evil, for example, murder, fornication or something else, or through enjoying the sin of others, when it does not want to commit evil, however, if it hears that another has committed it, it experiences pleasure and pleasure from this, as the divine Paul said: ... not only do these things, but also deign to those who create 811. This pleasure is also sinful. Therefore, God, having given the Israelites the command to fight with the Benjamites, allowed them to be defeated twice and forty thousand of them to be killed, 812 for these killed felt pleasure and pleasure from the fornication that the Benjamites committed with the Levite’s concubine, as some interpreters say. To these four types of spiritual evils that the Faster speaks of, John Climacus adds three more: captivity, passion and impulse of mind 813. Captivity is, by his definition, a kind of satanic and forced communication of the heart with an evil thought and constant conversation with it. And passion is, according to his own words, that evil thought, nestled in the soul due to a long time, which, with the help of an old habit, forces the soul to have a stable disposition towards it and, due to this disposition, strive for it not under compulsion, but independently, of its own will. This passion, he says, will either be healed here through many years of struggle and repentance, or, if it is not healed here, it will be subject to future punishment there. From this passion the commission of sin is immediately born. That is why Bryennius says 814 that “a sinful act is a consequence of passion.” And Saint Mark the Ascetic said that “passion is an inclination of thought towards something harmful, established in the soul and difficult to erase.” And finally, the impulse of the mind is its movement, in which the soul, without a long time, without an attack of thoughts, but because of one simple contemplation of some face, because of one hearing of some song, because of one touch of the hand, immediately falls into fornication with passion. Those who are susceptible to these impulses of mind are, for the most part, those who have a refined mind. In conclusion, we will say that the one who dispassionately rejected the first attack and the root of thoughts, he, according to Climacus, immediately cut off and killed all other shoots of sin 815. Therefore, the first person received the commandment to guard the head of the serpent, as it is said: Your head will be guarded 816 - that is, the beginning and attack of evil thoughts, so that it does not lead to agreement and action, according to Abba Cassian 817. 139. Note that the 4th rule of Saint Dionysius also says that those who have undergone involuntary emission of semen, that is, defilement in a dream, must listen to the voice of their conscience and, if it denounces them that it happened to them because of passionate thoughts and shameful dreams or some other passion, they should not receive communion; if not, then they can receive communion. And the 12th rule of Timothy says that if someone who has become defiled in a dream has suffered it because of lust for a woman, then he should not receive communion; if only because of a devilish temptation, then he can receive communion. And the fathers, and in particular Anastasius Sinaite 818 and Gregory Sinaite 819, say that discharge in a dream occurs from eating and drinking a lot, from sleeping too much, from bodily rest and relaxation, from pride, from condemnation, from slander, from bodily illness, from exhausting labor, from lust, from drinking cold drinks, from bad habits of fornication and from envy demonic, and also due to natural excretion. And since it is difficult for a person to distinguish when it occurs through his own fault, and when due to some of the indicated reasons or due to the envy of the devil, it is safer not to receive communion on that day, which is simply and definitely prescribed by the present rule. Also, Basil the Great 820, Simeon of Thessalonica 821, and John of Kitra 822, and Balsamon 823 unanimously say that priests and laity who have defiled themselves in a dream are not allowed to the holy mysteries that day. An exception can be made in case of danger, in which it is necessary for a layman to receive communion and for a priest to serve, as well as on holidays, when the liturgy must be performed, since then the network of the devil must be crushed and the power of the priesthood exalted. See also the life of Saint Dioscorus in Lavsaik. Let us also note that some, having become defiled in a dream, on this day do not even take the antidor, do not venerate the icons, do not light the lamps and do not knead the prosphora. Moreover, the fact that they should not take antidor seems to be established as a rule. For the 10th canon of Nicholas says that those who are forbidden to partake of the holy mysteries are also forbidden to partake of the antidoron. And since communion is forbidden after desecration in a dream, eating the antidor is also forbidden. Everything else, as far as I know, is not approved by any rule or paternal testimony. Therefore, some sensible confessors advise, in the event that someone is defiled in a dream, when there is a big holiday, to follow the above-mentioned rule that the Faster proposes, and after that take the antidoron from the priest and venerate the holy icons, so as not to cause temptation among the brethren. However, he should not eat the antidor, but he should leave it on a plate or, wrapped in paper, save it and eat it another day. If it is Sunday, he must only read the 50th Psalm, and can make forty-nine prostrations after Vespers, according to the 8th rule of the Sixth Council. 140. Note also that there is the following amazing classification, attributed to Anastasius of Antioch, relating to the outflow that occurs in the waking state: “A person produces the outflow in the waking state either on himself or on another; in turn, the discharge on oneself is carried out either by squeezing with the hand and is subject to a forty-day penance (since this is masturbation), or without squeezing with the hand. The latter happens: either only because of an attack by a thought and is subject to one-day penance; or because of a conversation with a thought without consent and titillation and is subject to three-day penance; or because of conversation with thoughts and tickling without consent and is subject to seven-day penance; or because of conversation and agreement without titillation and is subject to twenty days' penance; or because of both, together with tickling, and is subject to thirty days' penance. And the flow onto another happens either when lying on each other, or without lying. What happens without wallowing, but with hugs and kisses happens: either without tickling and is subject to twenty-day penance; or with tickling and is subject to thirty days' penance. In turn, what happens during felting happens: or when felting, those belonging to the same human race are subject to an eighty-day penance; or when lying on those belonging to another clan, that is, on animals, and is subject to seven years of penance.” But those suffering from gonorrhea, who are subject to discharge while awake due to illness and emit semen mixed with urine, are not subject to penance, because both are subject to this without the attack of thoughts and conversation or agreement with them. That’s why Anastasius doesn’t mention them. 141. Fornication is so hateful to God that He killed for it Avnan, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, who was the first to commit this evil on earth and by whose name masturbation is called masturbation: Evil appeared, says the Scripture, before God, because you did this [Avnan], and killed... this 824. There is also the opinion of some teachers that God, extremely hating the proud Hellenic philosophers, gave them over to the power of this sin as punishment for their idolatry, since, having come to know God, they glorified Him not as God. And this follows from what the divine Paul says about them: Therefore God gave them over through the lusts of their hearts into uncleanness, so that their bodies in themselves became defiled 825 - pointing with the words of their bodies in themselves to fornication, in which the same body acts and experiences the effect on itself. Fornication, as Saint John Climacus says, 826 is fornication committed without another body, because of which the great hermit fell, about whom the divine Anthony said that the great pillar fell. He also calls fornication death and destruction, which is always present and abides in us, especially in the years of youth 827. That is why it is difficult for someone who has once been caught by it to resist it and repent. Because of this, one teacher likens him to the great network of the devil and hell, with the help of which he dragged the world into destruction. Many are caught by it, but few get out of it, and the heart of the devil rejoices over the great catch that he receives thanks to this net, and he burns it with incense, because it has caught for him a lot of food and many souls, as Habakkuk says: Delight the end with the fish, and draw him into the deep and gather him with your nets; For this reason, his heart will rejoice and rejoice, and he will devour his meat and cast down his net, as with these he will indulge his portion and his chosen food 828. And why talk a lot? Fornication causes not only eternal damage to the soul, but also damage to bodily health. It causes damage to the soul because it deprives it of the Kingdom of Heaven and condemns it to eternal torment, as Paul says: Do not flatter yourself: neither a harlot... nor an adulterer, nor a wicked woman, nor an idolater... They will not inherit the kingdom of God 829. And although here by the word “malakia” Chrysostom understands homosexuals 830, and Theophylact – devoted to shameful passions 831, many other teachers understood it in the meaning we indicated above, because masturbation leads the soul to the loss of virginity, which is the most precious thing in the world and which, once lost, can never be returned, and because it forces it to make a sacrifice to the devil through the seed of his body, as Meletius the Confessor says. It also causes damage to the body, because, as doctors say: 1) masturbators turn yellow; 2) their stomach weakens; 3) their vision weakens; 4) they lose their voice; 5) they lose their intelligence and mental acuity; 6) they lose their memory; 7) they lose sleep due to some disturbing dreams; 8) their body is shaking; 9) they lose all the courage of body and soul; 10) they experience apoplexy, that is, convulsions; 11) they often experience leakage during sleep and while awake; 12) they quickly grow old and die an evil and miserable death. So, this sin is a kind of plague and destruction for the human race. He forces masturbators here to live a miserable and unhappy life, and in another life to suffer forever in hellfire. There are two ways to heal from masturbation: firstly, make a firm decision in your heart not to commit this sin again, and secondly, not to touch the secret members of your body with your hand or not to look at them at all unless absolutely necessary. Therefore, my young friends, guard yourselves from this thrice-cursed passion and, if carnal lust is at war against you, do not delay the time of marriage (that is, those of you who have not vowed to become monks), but marry young, so as not to corrupt your virginity in some unnatural way like this. The divine Chrysostom commands this to children and their parents, saying: “When a child grows up, before he is assigned to military service, before looking for some other source of livelihood, take care of marriage. If he sees that you are in a hurry to marry him... he will be able to restrain himself from the flame, but if he thinks that you are lazy and procrastinating... then, having come to despair because of the length of time, he will quickly creep into fornication” 832. 142. And some here understood union as lying on each other, which is committed by two men, or two women, or a man and a woman, and which, in terms of the degree of sin, is lighter than fornication, but heavier than masturbation. 143. Note that simple masturbation is already an obstacle to accepting the priesthood. 144. That is, abstaining from communion for forty days, dry eating and making one hundred prostrations daily. 145. Rule 3 of St. Gregory of Nyssa forbids a fornicator from receiving divine communion for nine years, and Rule 59 of Basil the Great for seven, for this is the penance established by him. For those who corrupt their wives before marriage, the 22nd rule of Basil forbids communion for four years (the same penance was imposed for fornication by the fathers before Basil, which is also discussed in the 20th rule of the Council of Ancyra), since this corruption of their wives is considered fornication, according to the 25th and 26th of its rules. And the 21st rule of the same imposes a greater penance on the one who has a wife and commits adultery than on the one who does this without having a wife. Monks and nuns who fall into fornication or enter into marriage are excommunicated by the 7th rule of Basil as adulterers, that is, for fifteen years, and the 42nd of the Sixth Council punishes them with great philanthropy - on an equal basis with the laity. 146. Rule 20 of the Council of Ancyra prohibits an adulterer from receiving communion for seven years, Rule 58 of Basil for fifteen, Rule 4 of Nyssa for eighteen. And the 98th rule of the Sixth Council subjects the adulterer to penance for the one who takes a woman betrothed to another, if he is still alive. Canon 8 of the Neocaesarea Council says that if someone’s wife falls into adultery, he cannot be a priest (that is, if he lives with her after adultery). If a priest’s wife commits adultery, then he must either leave the priesthood if he wants to have her as his wife, or leave her in order to maintain the priesthood (meaning that he must stop living together with her immediately after her adultery). 147. And the 67th rule of Basil the Great subjects anyone who has sex with his sister to twenty years of penance as a murderer. Anyone who has intercourse with his sister from one father and another mother or from another father and one mother, the 75th rule of the same subject to eleven years of penance. 148. And the 76th rule of the great Basil imposes a twelve-year penance on such a person. 149. Note that Matthew Blastar, who reviewed these rules, mentions that today, by a decree of the Holy and Divine Synod, such people are prohibited from receiving communion for six years. He also talks about how they should be corrected during these six years, namely: for six months they should not eat meat at all and stand outside the church, crying and asking the Lord for forgiveness, not take antidoron, not drink holy water, with the exception of the feast of the Epiphany, when the rite of the great consecration of water is sung, but they are allowed to eat a particle of the prosphora from the rite of Panagia in confirmation of God’s love for mankind towards them. Over the next two years, they must stand in the church behind the singers and listen to spiritual chants, and for the remaining three years they must stand with the faithful, and after six years they can receive communion. Also, during these six years, they must make one hundred prostrations every day, with the exception of Saturday and Sunday, and observe dry eating on Wednesday and Friday. At the same time, they should also give alms to the best of their ability, send prosphora to church every week, not lie or take an oath, and with all their might, with contrition and tears, cleanse the filth of their soul. The authority also adds that this penance is also applicable to sorcerers and adulterers, and murderers, and to everyone who has fallen into serious sins, however, depending on the disposition of the penitents, sometimes, if their repentance is zealous and hot, it decreases, and sometimes, if their repentance is cold, it increases. Note also that this indulgence and six-year penance, as I found in old handwritten collections of rules, served as a means of correction for the royal apostates who converted after their apostasy, and assisted them. And the decree on this rule and penance was adopted under Constantine Porphyrogenitus and was kept in the high court of the Great Church under the title “Synodal conclusion on apostates.” However, in this decree it is not contained in its full form, as in ours, but before the words: “At the same time, they should also give alms.” The ruler, taking it from there, added it to the rules of the Faster, so we have placed it here, but not as a text of the Faster, but as a note, since Armenopulus does not mention it and his affiliation with the Faster. 150. Although the rules of Dionysius and Timothy do not contain instructions about the seven days that the rule speaks of here, the Old Testament law clearly mentions them, since most women are cleansed during such a time. 151. This penance is not mentioned in the rules of Dionysius and Timothy, but was established by Saint John the Faster himself. We found it in the handwritten collection of rules of the Postnik, and Vlastar in this form included it in his review. 152. And the 62nd rule of St. Basil prohibits sodomy from receiving communion for fifteen years, the 4th of Nyssa - for eighteen, while Patriarch Luke, giving answers to some questions preserved in manuscripts, says that those who have fallen into sodomy cannot take each other’s sisters as wives. 153. Note that the 70th rule of Basil the Great deposes a deacon or priest who commits something more than a kiss, that is, commits felting, and thereby prohibits the one who committed felting from accepting the priesthood. Therefore, we, not seeing any contradictions between the injunction of Basil the Great and the rules of the Faster contained in one ancient manuscript we found, accepted the additional instructions that are attached to this rule, namely the remark that he who accepted the flow of semen into his thighs can be a priest under the following conditions: firstly, if this happened to him once or, at most, twice; secondly, if he is zealous and virtuous; thirdly, if he mourns this act all his life, and fourthly, if he was a minor child when it happened to him. Those who have been subjected to such felting or who have committed it at the age of majority, that is, over fourteen years of age, cannot be priests, according to Basil the Great. 154. The 5th canon of St. Gregory of Nyssa imposes a penance for voluntary murder to abstain from communion for twenty-seven years, the 22nd of the Council of Ancyra - for the entire life, while the 23rd canon of the same council imposes a seven-year or five-year penance on those who killed involuntarily, the 27th of St. Basil - ten years, and the 5th of Nyssa - nine years. And about which murders are voluntary and which are involuntary, see the 8th rule of Basil and the 5th of Gregory of Nyssa. Generally speaking, the difference between voluntary and involuntary killings lies in two things: firstly, in the location, purpose and intentions of the one who struck and, secondly, in the weapon that he used to strike. Clerics and clergy, even if they kill involuntarily, even if they only inflict a wound on others, are defrocked, according to the 66th apostolic canon, the 5th canon of Gregory of Nyssa, the synodal conclusion of Patriarch Constantine Chliarin and the 55th canon of Basil the Great. See also the letter of St. Athanasius to Ammun 833 and the 13th and 43rd rules of St. Basil. And the 14th rule of Timothy says that a person who, without having a demon in himself and not being insane due to illness, but only due to his cowardice or because of damage caused to him by someone, being of sound mind, kills himself, should not be remembered as a suicide. See also in the 10th chapter of “Instructions to the Confessor” the section “How to assign penances to murderers.” 155. According to other manuscripts: the greatest. 156. Please note that in one handwritten collection containing the Postnik rules, we also found the following clarification related to this rule. Women use such herbs in different ways: some eat them or drink a decoction prepared from them in order to never conceive or give birth to a child, while others kill children after conception or shortly before childbirth, which is a more serious sin than the first, while others commit murder every month through such herbs, which is worse than anything else. Those who do all this, according to the rule of the Faster given here, are forbidden to receive divine communion for three years, and they must observe dry eating all this time and make one hundred prostrations to the ground every day. 157. And the 91st rule of the Sixth Council, the 21st of Ancyra and the 2nd and 8th rules of Basil the Great, women who do this are considered free murderers, however, for the sake of humanity, the 2nd rule of the Ancyra Council and the 2nd of Basil the Great impose on them a penance not to receive communion, not for the rest of their lives, but for ten years. 158. Therefore, pregnant women should avoid lifting heavy objects (especially when the seventh or eighth month begins) and keep themselves away from anything that causes trouble, and their husbands, after their wives have conceived, should not sleep in the same bed with them or have intimacy with them, beat them or cause them any trouble or sorrow, because because of this their wives may disgorge their babies, and they will become accursed murderers of their own children. If married priests or those preparing to become priests do something against their wives that causes them to throw out babies, then these priests are deprived of their rank, and those who want to become priests because of the murder they have committed are prohibited from accepting the priesthood. 159. Nikephoros Chartophylax says the same thing in answers to questions from Theodosius the monk, a Corinthian recluse. 160. Note also that if the baby is healthy, then, according to Armenopoulus 834, he should be baptized on the fortieth day. If he gets sick and is in danger of death, then the priest only needs to baptize him in three immersions and ascents with the invocation of the Holy Trinity. And if the child remains alive after this, then there is no longer any need to read over him the prayers or spells pronounced before baptism, according to Armenopoulus and Elijah, Metropolitan of Crete 835. If a child is in danger, and there is no priest in this place, then, according to Saint Nicephorus 836, he should be baptized by a deacon or monk living there, or a layman who is a Christian, or the child’s father himself. And if the child dies after this, he should be considered baptized, placing everything on the philanthropy of the All-Good God, according to Gregory the Theologian 837, who says that in doubtful cases philanthropy wins. If he remains alive, then the priest must baptize him again. For although Saint Nicephorus says that a child in mortal danger can also be baptized by a Christian layman, so that he does not die without any hope of salvation, placing this matter, as we said, on the love of God for mankind, 838, however, neither this saint, nor any other father who was involved in drawing up the rules, nor any conciliar rule says that if the child remains alive after this, then he should not be baptized by a priest. On the contrary, Blessed Dionysius of Alexandria baptized one Jew, who was baptized by a layman during an illness that threatened him with death, and after that remained alive, baptized again, saying that a layman is not allowed to perform any priestly actions, as is narrated in the History of Byzantium 839. Also, Basil the Great points out in his 1st rule that baptism performed by the laity is not recognized and those baptized by them should be baptized again. Note also that in many handwritten books we found the following instruction in the present rule of the Faster: if a baby is seven days old and dies unbaptized, then his parents must abstain from communion for forty days and observe dry eating, making forty prostrations to the ground every day during this time. I think that this leniency was shown to them, since, apparently, there was a custom not to baptize a child until the eighth day, in the image of the rite of circumcision on the eighth day, instead of which baptism is now performed. Therefore, to prevent this from happening, the child must be baptized no matter what day he falls ill, according to the 2nd answer of Chartophylax Peter 840. See also the acts of the councils 841. 161. Note that this rule refers to adultery as fornication with nuns, according to the 18th and 7th rules of Basil the Great. 162. Some explain child molestation as the corruption of a minor girl, committed before she turns thirteen years old. 163. See also the 25th rule of the Council of Ankyra, which imposes a ten-year penance on the relatives of the one who corrupted the sister of his betrothed and became the culprit of her pregnancy, and then took as his wife not the one who had been corrupted by him, but his own betrothed, if they knew about this but remained silent. For a person, as Basil the Great says, can participate in the evil of another in three ways: either by deed, when, having a common goal with him, he assists him in evil; or advice, when he agrees with the disposition and behavior of the sinner and enjoys evil with him; or inaction, when, knowing the evil intentions of the sinner, he remains silent and does not denounce him 842. 164. Also, the 33rd and 52nd rules of Basil the Great call a woman whose child dies due to her negligence a murderer. Civil law says the same thing. 165. Rule 61 of Basil the Great imposes a one-year penance on a thief who voluntarily admits to stealing, and a two-year penance on someone exposed by another or caught stealing. And the 6th rule of St. Gregory of Nyssa imposes on open thieves 843 the same penance as on murderers (just as the 78th rule of Basil the Great imposes on them the same penance as free murderers), but regarding secret thieves it indicates that after confession they must distribute their property to the poor, if they have it, and if not, they must work and give the beggars part of what they earned. See also Chapter 9 of “Instructions to the Confessor” on how to assign penances to thieves and murderers. 166. Rule 66 of St. Basil prohibits the grave digger from receiving communion for ten years. And the 7th rule of St. Gregory of Nyssa divides grave-digging into venial and unforgivable, considering it excusable when the grave-digger does not touch the body of the deceased, but takes the stones of the tomb to use them for the construction of some generally useful building, and unforgivable when he removes clothes or any jewelry from the dead, for which the same penance should be imposed on him as on a fornicator, that is, nine years, according to that same rule. 167. The 8th rule of St. Gregory of Nyssa imposes less penance on a blasphemer than on an adulterer. Canon 10 of the First and Second Councils completely deposes clergy who stole or used sacred vessels and vestments located in the altar for non-sacred use, and excommunicates those who used sacred vessels and vestments located outside the altar for non-sacred use from communion, just as the 73rd Apostolic Canon excommunicates them. 168. Although the penances of those who swore unnecessarily and out of need should differ, but we, taking into account that the Lord, having said: “... out of need and without need for those who swore,” cited the rule of the Faster without any distinction, we also wrote it down in this form. However, bishops and spiritual fathers should assign penances to them, making a distinction. Basil the Great in his 64th rule simply and without additional instructions imposes a ten-year penance on the one who swore, and his 82nd rule contains additional instructions: it imposes a six-year penance on the one who swore out of necessity and because of violence, and a seven-year penance on the one who swore not because of violence and without need. The 94th rule of the Sixth Council excommunicates Christians who take oaths according to pagan custom, that is, who say: “I swear by the sun, I swear by the sky” and the like. Priests who take false oaths are deposed from office, according to the 25th Apostolic Canon. And the fact that oaths should not be used at all is evidenced by the divine Chrysostom, who says: “You ask me: “What should I do if there is a need to take an oath?” Where there is a violation of the law, there no oath is appropriate. “Is it possible,” you say to me, “not to swear at all?” What are you saying? God has commanded, and you ask whether His command can be kept? It is more impossible not to keep His command than to keep it” 844. And he also said the following: “You tell me that such and such a person, a priest, chaste and reverent, swore... This is a commandment not of Peter, or Paul, or angels or, simply put, slaves, but of the King of all - God Himself” 845. See also conversations 5, 14 and 15 about statues. Therefore, Basil the Great in the 29th rule says that an oath is completely prohibited. See also his penance. And civil laws do not require that trustworthy witnesses should swear oaths, according to Armenopoulos 846 . And why talk a lot? Our Lord sternly said: I tell you not to swear in any way, 847 neither for good nor for evil, neither out of need nor without need. And the Lord's brother Jacob says: Do not swear by heaven or earth or any other... oath 848. 169. Rule 65 of St. Basil imposes the same penance on those who confessed to witchcraft or poisoning with potions as on those who committed free murder. His 72nd rule subjects those who listen to fortune tellers to the same penance. The 61st rule of the Sixth Council imposes a six-year penance on them, and the 24th of Ancyra – a five-year penance. Rule 3 of St. Gregory of Nyssa imposes the same penance on those who go to fortune tellers, neglecting faith in Christ and renouncing it, as on those who renounce Christ of their own free will, that is, not receiving communion throughout their lives, and on those who, due to some need or being subjected to violence, fell into cowardice and went to sorcerers, imposes the same penance, as for those who renounced Christ because of torture and torment, that is, for nine years. Canon 36 of the Council of Laodicea states that priests and clerics should not be sorcerers, or spellcasters, or mathematicians, that is, astrologers, or make talismans. Priests who engage in this and similar things are defrocked and expelled from the church, according to Balsamon and Zonara 849. 170. Probably, penance is imposed on the one who tasted this liquid because he tasted it before it was consecrated with holy water, having doubts in his conscience, and he who doubts, according to the Apostle, if he eats, is condemned without having opened his mind; everything that is not from faith is sin 850; or because he ate it after the unclean animal that fell into it began to rot, and, therefore, he ate strangled or dead meat, or even the blood of an animal, which is prohibited. See also the 63rd Apostolic Canon, the 67th Canon of the Sixth and 2nd Gangra Councils. 171. And Balsamon in his 12th answer says that if a person vomits due to excessive eating and heavy drinking, then he should receive a more severe penance, but if this happens to him due to an accidental stomach upset and illness, then a lighter penance is imposed on him, since this happens by divine permission 851. Therefore, those suffering from seasickness should not board the ship on the day when they receive communion, since many people vomited because of this and fell under penance. 172. Such a strict penance was given to him, obviously, because he allows this permission to fast because of neglect and the severity should make him ashamed and correct himself. Likewise, the 22nd rule of St. Nikephoros commands not to receive communion from a young hieromonk who is performing services for nuns. I said “so strict” because we are obliged to receive the sacrament without doubt and from the priest whom we have seen mortally sinning, since the unworthiness of the priest does not cause us any harm, as the divine Isidore Pelusiot says 852. 173. Let us not be condemned because we have here written down penances for these most ungodly and unnatural sins, since we did not do so recklessly or needlessly. For we know that the destroyer of the human race, the devil, although rarely, manages to plunge damned people into such sins, hearing about which from the repentant and not finding penance for them in all other rules, confessors become perplexed and cannot decide how to correct them. Therefore, we wrote them down as necessary. 174. And Basil the Great, in his 79th rule, imposes a twenty-year penance on the fallen with his stepmother, as well as on the fallen with his sister. 175. Note that such should not be anointed with holy ointment, as some ignorant people unlawfully do, for they have not renounced Christ, but they are only subject to a more severe penance than to fornicators, according to the 31st answer of John of Cytra 853 and the 47th answer of Balsamon 854, that is, the same as is imposed on them here. 176. That is, a more severe penance than for other adulteresses, because they essentially kill their clergy husbands, causing them to be deposed from the priesthood because of this adultery. If priests want to retain the priesthood, then they must divorce them, ending their life together immediately after their adultery, according to the 8th rule of the Neocaesarea Council. 177. Regarding this, see also the 23rd and 87th rules of Basil the Great, in which the saint establishes that their repentance should not be accepted until they are divorced. 178. About eunuchs, see the word of Basil the Great “On Virginity” 855. 179. Note that the obligatory fasting of Wednesday and Friday for all Christians is assigned to them as penance out of love for mankind and leniency on the part of the Church. Or, the saint meant that they should fast on Wednesday and Friday, even if they fall on holidays on which those who do not do penance are exempt from fasting. 180. Note also that in 922, under Constantine Porphyrogenitus, a conciliar tomos was issued, called the “Tomos of Unity,” which established that bigamous people, if they are forty years old and have no children, are allowed to take a third wife due to childlessness, however, a penance must be imposed on them not to receive communion for five years, without any reduction in the period, and after five years they can receive communion only once a year, on Easter. If they have children, they are under no circumstances allowed to enter into a third marriage. Thirty-year-olds, if they have no children, are also allowed, for the sake of their young age and ease of sin, to enter into a third marriage, however, they must abstain from communion for four years and after this period they can receive communion only three times a year, on Easter, the Nativity of Christ and the Dormition of the Virgin. If they have children, a five-year penance 856 is imposed on them. Those who are over forty-five years old are under no circumstances allowed to enter into a third marriage, even if they have no children. If, in spite of everything, they force a priest to bless 857 their third marriage, then they should be excommunicated, according to the synodal conclusion of the Patriarch of Constantinople Manuel Charitopulos 858, and the priest who blessed their third marriage should be defrocked, since he did not know the scope of the law, according to the 62nd answer of Balsamon 859. 181. Note, however, that the divine Apostles in their Decrees command the following: “Every Wednesday and Friday we command you to fast and give the excess from your fast to the poor” 860. The God-bearer Ignatius says the same thing in his Epistle to the Philippians 861. Therefore, those who fast on Wednesday and Friday should give out as alms what they would spend on these days if they were free from fasting. 182. I cannot remain silent here about the wise method that one reasonable bishop of one of the Orthodox islands, formerly subordinate to Venice, used to stop a certain lay priest who, having become a widow, wanted to marry a second time, because he was rich and had many possessions. So, this truly prudent bishop many times advised the said priest to abandon his intention, but he continued to annoy him, asking permission to marry a second time. And since he could not convince him, he finally told him this: “Do you want to get married a second time? Okay, let it be according to your will. But I also want to take away the priesthood from you just as openly in front of everyone, as I openly gave it to you in front of everyone.” A few days later he sent him an invitation to take part in the cathedral liturgy along with other priests. This priest came to church on the indicated day. The service has begun. And when the time came for the ordination to the priesthood, the bishop ordered the singer of the right choir to sing the troparion, which says: “Today Judas leaves the Teacher and accepts the devil, is blinded by the passion of the love of money, the light falls away, darkened,” and then the entire troparion to the end. Then he ordered the singer of the left choir to sing after him another troparion, which says: “Today Judas feigns piety and alienates his talents, this disciple becomes a traitor,” and the rest of the troparion. Hearing how they sang, this priest was ashamed and realized what evil he wanted to commit, came into heartfelt tenderness and began to cry, shedding the bitterest tears. And when the bishop approached to take off the sacred vestment he was wearing and loudly exclaim: “Unworthy!”, the priest fell at his feet, trembling and shaking, and with eyes full of tears, said to him: “My holy Lord, do not do this! I repent and in the future not only do not want to get married, but even if they give me a whole kingdom for this, I will not agree to lose the grace of the priesthood!” So he was corrected and after that he spent his life in chastity. 183. Rule 15 of the so-called First-Second Council establishes that those preparing to become monks must undergo a test of three years, with the exception of only those cases if one of them falls ill or among them there is still in the world who has led a solitary and virtuous life, for for such a test only six months is enough. 184. See in the 1st book of “Evergetinos”, topic 31, where it is mentioned that the great and perspicacious elder testified and said the following: “The same power that I saw standing during enlightenment [that is, baptism], I saw when dressing the monk, when he took the schema.” Look there, in addition to this, about the fact that one who is not worthy of the monastic image (which is, first of all, the great schema) is not worthy of being with the monks in heavenly glory, even if he labored like monks. You will learn about this from the vision of the mother of Saint Alypius placed there 862. 185. I found this and subsequent explanations of the meaning of monastic vestments in a handwritten codex signed with the name of Cyril of Jerusalem. 186. All these robes of the monks are made of black fabric for a twofold purpose: firstly, so that, looking at them, they weep and weep, like those who wear mourning and mourn the dead. Therefore, John Climacus says to each monk the following: “May at least this robe of yours move you to weeping, for all those who mourn the dead dress in black” 863. And secondly, so that they live like monks and direct their mind and feelings towards themselves, since a person involuntarily directs his gaze to black objects and focuses his attention on them. Therefore, Pachymer, in his retelling of Saint Dionysius, said: “The monastic order lives in solitude, for the black robe indicates this” 864. Monastic vestments can be not only black, but also gray, which is not quite black and not quite white, but composed of these two colors, or light gray with a yellowish tint. Therefore, Chrysostom, in his word on virginity, said: “Virginity does not lie in dark clothes and colors” 865. The historian Zosimus speaks about the same thing 866. 187. And George Koressius in his treatise “On the Sacraments” adds another fourth component of repentance - the resolution of sin, accomplished through the medium of the confessor by the grace of the Holy Spirit, which is also called the key and is of paramount importance in the sacrament of repentance 867. 188. This pain lies not only in feeling, that is, in sighs and tears, but, first of all, in the fact that a person’s inner will hates sin and that he wishes that the sin never happened, and decides not to commit it again. Note also that this pain and contrition of the heart, according to Coresius, are an integral part of repentance, and as long as they are in a person’s heart, he brings repentance, and as soon as this pain leaves the heart, the person leaves repentance, and this means that pain and contrition must remain in the heart of the repentant constantly and thanks to them his repentance becomes true 868. For more details about this pain, see the word we added at the end. 189. Some teachers say that there are three types of pain that a sinner experiences because of his sins: the pain he experiences before confession (which they call grief); the pain he experiences during confession (which they call contrition); pain after confession (which they call sadness). 190. My Christian brothers, when you need to confess, come to your confessor not on the eve of the days on which you are going to receive communion, but before that. It is best to come to your confessor during the four major annual fasts. As soon as Lent begins, come to your confessor and confess calmly and slowly so that he can correct you as appropriate. And a day or two before communion, come so that your confessor will read a prayer of absolution over you for the forgiving sins you have committed in the time that has passed since then, and then take communion. This good custom is also followed by the monks on the Holy Mountain. 191. Since it is either difficult for people today to carry out such a detailed examination of their conscience, or they forget and cannot remember their sins, we explained to you, brother, in the “Instructions to the Confessor” which sins are mortal, which are venial and which are sins of omission. We also laid out the Ten Commandments for you there and explained who sins against each of them, in order to make your work easier and help you quickly remember your sins. So, read this teaching and test yourself, remembering which of the sins mentioned there you have committed in order to confess them. Read also the 6th chapter of “Instructions to the Confessor,” “On Thoughts,” from which you can learn that you should also confess your bad thoughts, if not all, then at least those that bother you and fight with you especially strongly. For just as chicken eggs hidden in manure come to life and turn into chickens, so bad thoughts, when they are not revealed to the confessor, come to life and turn into deeds, according to Climacus: “Just as chicken eggs warmed in manure come to life, so undisclosed thoughts turn into deeds” 869. 192. For more information about the triple damage that sin causes to God, see below, in chapter 4, in “The Fifth Safety Remedy.” 193. Saint Ephraim also testifies to the authenticity of Manasseh’s prayer, citing words from it to confirm his thoughts. Read it too, brother, because it evokes deep tenderness, especially when you are preparing to confess. He mentions this prayer and divine Scripture, saying: ...the rest of the words of Manasseh and his prayer, even to God 870. 194. If you, brother, know how to read and write, then mark your sins on paper so as not to forget them. You should also know that if you do not conduct a proper test of your sins before confession, then those sins that you forget and do not confess will not be forgiven, because this forgetfulness is voluntary and you are to blame for it, for you could remember them by making the test, but did not. If, however, you carry out a proper test and accidentally forget some of your sins, due to the forgetfulness characteristic of man, then such a sin, as some say, is forgiven along with others that you confessed, because this forgetfulness is not voluntary, but involuntary. If after confession you remember him, you need to go to your confessor again and confess him. 195. I said that you must name your sins with your own lips, because it is not enough just to write them down so as not to forget, but you also need to read them yourself in front of your confessor. Therefore, those who write down their sins and, having given the note to their confessor, leave, act badly and incorrectly and their confession is unfinished. Let them leave this absurdity and read the handwriting of their sins themselves. 196. Therefore, the divine Chrysostom, interpreting the words of the Verb of your iniquity before 871, says: “Do not wait for the accuser, do not rely on the accuser, but, ahead of him, utter the first word yourself” 872. 197. See chapter 5 of “Teachings to the confessor,” “On the circumstances of sin.” However, the proper names of those with whom you sinned should not be revealed. 198. Therefore, the divine Chrysostom, explaining the words Let us confess to You in the rightness of the heart 873, says: “Judas also confessed, saying: I sinned by betraying innocent blood 874, but not in the rightness of the heart, for I was in the power of the love of money” 875. Do you see that confession is useless when it is done without sincerity of heart? 199. Know, brother, that the shame that you will be subjected to on the Day of Judgment, if you are ashamed here, is worse than darkness itself and eternal fire. Basil the Great testifies to this: “For those who have done evil will rise up for reproach and shame, seeing in themselves the shame and traces of sins. And, perhaps, more terrible than darkness and eternal fire is the shame that sinners will forever experience, always having before their eyes traces of sin in the flesh, like stains of indelible paint, constantly remaining in the memory of their souls” 876. 200. Know also, beloved brother, that even today it is allowed to confess one’s sins publicly if a person shows zeal for repentance, and the one who does this will quickly attract God’s love for mankind and receive forgiveness for the sake of greater shame and disgrace that he experiences during public confession. For in addition to the example of Job, which we mentioned above, and the ancient custom observed in the Church of Christ, we also find a historical narrative that Tsar Roman, called the Elder and Lekapin, also confessed in this way. For, having repented of the crime of the oaths given by him to his son-in-law Constantine Porphyrogenitus, and of other sins he had committed, this good Romanus sent envoys and, having gathered three hundred monks from Rome and Jerusalem, during the divine liturgy, at the moment when the priest exclaimed: “With the fear of God and faith...”, he stood in the middle of the church and, disdaining shame, openly confessed his sins and asked forgiveness. Then, having again written down his sins on paper, he sent his confession to the monks who did not come, first of all to Mount Olympus, asking them to make a prayer to God for their forgiveness. But listen to what kindness and mercy God showed him. A certain virtuous monk on Olympus, called Dermokait, prayed to God for him. And then a divine voice was heard from above, telling him: “God’s love for mankind has won.” And when this monk opened the manuscript, then - lo and behold! - found his sins erased and blotted out 877. John Climacus tells something similar in his speech on obedience 878, saying that a certain man, a robber, a murderer, a sorcerer and a libertine, once came to a cenobitic monastery, wanting to become a monk. The abbot of the monastery ordered him to confess his sins openly to everyone, and he happily agreed to do this if he wished, even standing in the middle of the city of Alexandria. And so on Sunday, during the liturgy, at the end of the Gospel, this robber, like a condemned man, appears in the church: dragged by several brothers, showered with blows, with his hands tied behind him, dressed in rags, with his head sprinkled with ashes. And as soon as he approached the church door, the abbot exclaimed: “Stop! Stop, for you are not worthy to go inside.” The same, thinking that he heard thunder, and not the voice of a man, immediately falls on his face with fear and trembling and waters the floor with tears. Then the abbot ordered him to confess all his sins in detail, and the robber confessed them all in order. But look also at what God’s mercy is. While he was confessing his sins, one of the brethren who was there saw a certain terrible man holding a written charter and a reed pen in his hands. And when the robber confessed another of his sins, this terrible man immediately crossed it out with a pen, and rightly so, since God said through the prophet David: Reh: Let me confess my iniquity to the Lord, and You have forsaken the wickedness of my heart 879 . And immediately after confession, the abbot tonsured the robber as a monk and numbered him among the other brethren. See also below about Bishop Potamon, who confessed before the whole council. Therefore, let us imitate them, as well as many others like them, and we will not be ashamed when we confess, in order to quickly receive God's mercy. 201. See also about this from the divine Chrysostom, who says: “There we will see them [our sins] clearly before our eyes in all their nakedness and we will cry there, but in vain” 880. See also in the 8th chapter of the “Instructions to the Confessor” the testimony of Basil the Great that we will then see each of our sins in the form in which it was committed. 202. See the book “Salvation of Sinners” 881, where one woman is mentioned who, having confessed all her sins to a certain reverent confessor, did not name one great sin. And the novice of this confessor saw how every time she confessed one of her sins, a snake crawled out of her mouth. And at the very end he saw a large snake that stuck its head out of this woman’s mouth three times, but then came back again and never crawled out. Therefore, all the other snakes that crawled out before this came back and crawled into her mouth. And after her death, this unfortunate woman appeared to her confessor and his novice sitting on a terrible dragon and told them that she had gone to hell because she did not confess that sin. John Climacus also says that without confessing his sins, a person cannot receive forgiveness for them: “Without confession, no one will receive forgiveness” 882. 203. Also in the book “Salvation of Sinners” 883 we can read about one priest who served in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, who confessed all his sins with tenderness and tears before his death, however, he did not make a firm decision not to sin again, because of which his will inclined to the desire to return to his former sins if he remained alive. And therefore this unfortunate man went to hell, as he himself told the priest of the same church, appearing to him after his death. 204. We see the Ninevites do this. For they not only fasted and wore rags, everyone, from the least to the greatest, right up to the king himself, and cried and cried out to God with tears and sighs, but first and foremost they changed their lives and completely moved away from evil. Therefore, God accepted their repentance as genuine and true and did not destroy their city, which he promised to do through Jonah: And God saw their deeds, as if they had turned from their evil ways, and God repented of the evil that He had said to do to them, and did not do it 884. But, since subsequently the same Ninevites returned to their first evils and sins, God overthrew and destroyed them and their city, so that vipers, and chameleons, and ravens, and various snakes settled in it, as reported by the prophet Nahum in the second chapter of his book 885 and especially in detail by the prophet Zephaniah 886. 205. It should also be noted here that in three cases repeated confession of the same sins is allowed: firstly, if a person did not confess his sins with mention of the circumstances of their commission, with appropriate preparation, tenderness, determination to correct himself and did not perform penance for them; secondly, as some say, if the confessor did not correct him properly and did not assign him the appropriate penance; and thirdly, if, according to Simeon of Thessalonica 887, having fallen again into the same sins or into others that are their consequence, he names the first along with the second, as the roots and causes of the second, or names them for the sake of greater contrition of heart and humility. And in the book “The Penitent Trainee” 888 it is written that it is extremely useful at least once a year to make a general and general confession of all the sins committed by a person throughout his life (such confession is also made by those preparing to accept the priesthood and who are in danger of death), especially if the opportunity arises to go to another confessor, since thanks to this general confession all his sins flow, like rivers, into one great sea, or gather together, like a ridge of mountains rising one above the other and as if reaching the sky, as Ezra says: “Our sins have risen even to heaven” 889. When the penitent takes in at one glance so many sins gathered together, he experiences greater shame, more acute pain, deeper humility, and as a result, a stronger fear of divine justice, which he has so many times angered, appears. After such a confession, he feels a deeper peace in his conscience and receives a certificate of forgiveness of his sins. And all this taken together serves as a bridle and an obstacle to new falls. And the confessor, having learned from this general confession the state of the penitent throughout his life, can correct him in the best possible way. 206. Again I tell you, brother, be careful and do not trust such a confessor, so that what once happened to you (which will not happen), as we read in history, to one great ruler, whose example is so terrible and terrible that it should be deeply imprinted in your thoughts. For this ruler, approaching the end of his life, called the Secretary of State to draw up a will. Having dictated some part to him and waited for him to write it down, he told him the following: “I want my body to be buried in the earth from which it was created, and my soul to be delivered into the hands of the devil, because it belongs to him.” Hearing this, the secretary was in awe and amazement with fear and did not want to write anymore. And the sick man, full of rage and anger, again told him: “Yes, the demons must take away my soul, and the soul of my wife, and the souls of my children, and the soul of my confessor. My soul - because I unjustly took away someone else’s property and kept it for myself, the soul of my wife - because she forced me to do it, the souls of my children - because, wanting to make them rich, I committed so many injustices, and the demons should take the soul of my confessor because he forgave me illegally and never denounced or instructed me.” And with such words this unfortunate man betrayed his spirit 890. See also another terrible story in the 10th chapter of “Instructions to the Confessor,” in the section “That those who refuse penance are rejected,” in note 891. 207. And the fact that the satisfaction and penance that the repentant receives from the confessor is not punishment and torment, but rather salvation, is evidenced by the divine Chrysostom, who says: “Let us also learn these humane laws [which Paul established for those who fell into fornication]. For when you see that the horse is rushing down a steep slope, you pull the bridle and hold it with effort and beat it often. And although this is a punishment, such punishment is the mother of salvation. Do the same with those who sin: keep the sinner bound until he appeases God; do not free him from his bonds, so that he is not even more bound by God’s wrath. If I bind, then God will no longer bind, but if I don’t bind, indescribable bonds await him. Even if they had condemned themselves, they would not have been condemned 892. And do not think that this is cruelty and inhumanity, but consider it extreme meekness, the best healing and great care” 893. 208. In the Ladder, in the 5th word, about repentance 894, we can read about one zealous and virtuous brother who, while in a communal monastery, once sinned and confessed his sin to the abbot. Seeing that he had assigned him a light penance, he fell at his feet and, watering them with tears, asked him to impose a strict penance on him and allow him to go to the monastery of penitents, which, due to the severity of the place and other inexpressible sufferings that the sinners who repented there experienced, was called a prison. And so this good penitent forced the doctor to show him mercy, convinced him to let him go, and left. Arriving in prison, this glorious man wept so much and prayed with such tenderness that after eight days he rested in the Lord, strenuously asking not to bury him, but to leave him unburied. However, the abbot sent for his body and buried him in the tomb along with the other fathers as worthy. 209. Perhaps someone, perplexed, will say: “If through the prayer of permission the sin of the penitent is also forgiven, then why is he not allowed to receive communion after he has been forgiven and justified?” We will explain this to him in three ways: this happens either because the sin is indeed forgiven to the repentant sinner, but not just like that, but on the condition that he observes penance and abstinence from communion (for this is why the confessor assigns him penance and abstinence from the sacraments until reading the prayer of absolution); or because sin is forgiven, but punishment and admonition for sin are not canceled, that is, penance, part of which is abstinence from communion. For David’s sin was, indeed, forgiven by God when Nathan said to him: The Lord has taken away your sin, however, the punishment for his sin was not canceled and after receiving forgiveness, he was expelled from his kingdom by his own son Absalom and the sword did not retreat from his house, and he also had to experience thousands of other evils, as the same Nathan predicted for him. And we can also explain this by the fact that sin is indeed forgiven to the repentant, but it is necessary that he be tested and confirmed over time in the grace of God. 210. Therefore, Saint John Climacus 895, like Abba Mark 896, says that one should not remember the type of carnal and shameful sins committed. Thus, in his 27th word, about prayer, he literally writes the following: “Do not want to confess [to God] your carnal deeds in detail, how you committed them, so as not to become your own enemy” 897. All other sins should be thought about in the mind night and day, remembering their appearance. However, the divine Chrysostom says: “For it is not enough to say: I am a sinner, but one should remember the type of sin” 898. And as an example, he points to the Apostle Paul, who after baptism confessed that he was a blasphemer and persecutor before baptism, and adds: “If he remembered the sins that were cleansed, how much more do we need to remember those that were after baptism” 899 . And in the 12th word, about statues, he says: “If we preserve the memory of evil, we will never be exposed to evil, for what is the need for experience if memory forces us to be chaste?” 900 If someone is bewildered why Chrysostom says that a person should remember the type of sins he has committed, and the aforementioned Mark claims that this should not be done, then let the said word of John Climacus resolve the bewilderment. The reason for the disagreement is that Mark speaks about carnal sins, and Chrysostom about others, the mention of the type of which does not cause harm. Note, however, that when thoughts of pride are at war with a person, then remembering and confessing the type of carnal sins committed can be useful, as causing humility. Therefore, the experienced and holy elder, who is mentioned in the book of Abba Isaac, said: “When the thought of pride comes to you, saying to you: “Remember your virtues,” say: “Elder, look at your fornication.” 901 And Symeon Metaphrastus also mentions different types of such sins in a prayer before sacred communion, beginning with the words: “As in Thy terrible...”, for the sake of greater contrition of heart and humility. However, in this case, there is no need to remember the manner in which the sin was committed and the persons with whom the sin was committed, but only the type of sin committed, for example, fornication, adultery, etc. Considerable humility is also caused by the memory of how many times a person committed each sin. And what are the general types and particular types of sin, anyone can see in the 3rd chapter of “Instructions to the confessor”, in the 7th note. 211–212. There are two causes of sin: the first is called indirect, and the second is direct. For example, if a person communicates alone with a woman or a boy for a whole year and during this time falls once into sin with these persons, then this communication that lasts throughout the year can be considered an indirect cause of his sin, because during such a long period of time he fell only once. If, when communicating with these persons in private, he falls into sin every time, then this communication can be considered the direct cause of his sin. Therefore, having decided not to fall into sin again, you must also avoid these two causes of sin, because after you sin once, sin will again drag you down to fall, and the indirect cause will become immediate for you, as we see every day in the example of many. Therefore, when a confessor, like Sarah, who said to Abraham: Marry the servant... and her son 902 will say to you: “Cast this woman or boy out of your house and remove this woman or boy from you” - this should not seem evil to you, but remember what God said about this to Abraham: Let it not be cruel to you about the boy and the slave girl; All the trees, if Sarah speaks to you, listen to her voice 903 - and joyfully obey the command of your confessor, because it is not from him, but from God. Do you want to object? Are you saying, “I want this woman or boy in my home because she is faithful, prudent, diligent, and serves my needs”? Ah, brother, all these are excuses under which, like under soft grass, you try to hide passion, like a viper. Tell me: if these persons were thieves, would you not immediately drive them away and find other slaves to serve you? And now - oh, woe! - when they steal not your home, but your soul, do you still tolerate them and don’t want to drive them out an hour earlier? You have decided not to fall into sin anymore, so why don’t you avoid the reasons that could easily plunge you into it again? So, if you want your decision to remain firm, you need to avoid the reasons that make you commit the same sin again. Know firmly that as long as you openly keep a harlot woman or a boy in your house, you not only cannot receive forgiveness from any confessor, but even your offerings are not pleasing to God. To verify this, see the 5th item placed after the rules of St. John the Faster. If, however, it is not in your power to expel these persons or at least move away from them, then you are obliged, at least, never to be alone with them, not to stare at them and not allow yourself to internally enjoy the memory of them, but even more diligently than before, ask God for help and use all possible means to wrest love for them from your heart. 213. Let the terrible example of a certain pious Christian, mentioned by Saint Macarius, frighten you, brother, and encourage you to avoid the causes of sin. During the persecution, the tyrants subjected this Christian to torture. They hung him above the ground and covered his entire body with wounds, and after that they threw him into prison. A certain nun served him there. And since he was accustomed to communicating with her, he fell into fornication with her there, in prison. Oh, the fall is pathetic and worthy of tears! And if neither the blood of this martyr, which he shed for Christ, nor the wounds, nor the prison, nor even the reverence of the nun could protect them from sin, because they did not avoid its causes, then how can your courage or determination protect you from falling if you do not avoid the causes of sin? And the Apostle Paul, talking about carnal sins, did not accidentally say: Flee fornication 904, and not: “Be persistent and fight.” 214. I said that the most honest patriarchs, bishops, confessors, and priests should constantly confess in order to abolish the extremely bad custom prevailing in many places, which allows these sacred persons not to confess. I truly wonder what reason makes them do this. If they think that they do not sin (may they forgive me), then this thought is erroneous, for John the Theologian proclaims: If we say that we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves 905. If they believe that, being clergy, they are not subject to the obligation to constantly confess, like the laity, then this thought is also incorrect, since the divine James, when he said: Confess your sins to one another, 906 did not separate the clergy from the laity, but said simply and without specification that both clergy and laity should confess. For doctors, having fallen ill, need other doctors, and prophets, having sinned, need other prophets, according to the divine Chrysostom, who says: “Then Nathan went to David. The prophet goes to the prophet. Why can't David, being a prophet, heal himself? Because doctors during illness have a need for other doctors, because illness harms art. We see the same thing here” 907. And if they are ashamed, then let them imitate Bishop Potamon, who confessed not before one confessor, but before the whole council. If John the Theologian confessed, as he himself writes: If we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and righteous, may he forgive us our sins 908, then why do not these sacred heads confess? Therefore, most holy fathers, I bow to you and ask you, for the love of God, to confess constantly and not to set a bad example for the laity, encouraging them to evade confession, but since you are for them an image and example of all that is good, be for them also a good example of constant confession. For Simeon of Thessalonica also says that bishops and priests must perform sacred acts and receive communion with attention and tenderness, confessing their sins 909. 215. Here are the words of Vasily: “I think that the true ascetics of God, who have fought sufficiently throughout their lives against invisible enemies, having avoided all their persecutions, when approaching the end of their lives, are tested by the ruler of the century and, if they turn out to have wounds from the struggle or some stains and traces of sin, they fall into his power, but if they turn out to have no wounds and are immaculate, then, as those who have not been subjugated by him and are free, they receive peace. from Christ" 910. 216. Thus, in the Fatherland we read that one virtuous husband avoided fornication by thinking about what the body of the harlot, who stood before him and with fornication words and images, would turn into after death. 217. Thus, in Evergetinos 911 we read that many of the fathers always thought about death and thanks to this avoided the power of passions and falls. That is why Abba Evagrius says: “Do not forget your death, and there will be no sin on your soul” 912, and Abba Isaiah: “He who thinks and says to himself every day: “Today is my last day in this world,” will never sin before God.”913 And Clement, the compiler of “Stromat,” writes: “The memory of death will save from sin,” and Basil the Great: “Memory death is more necessary for the penitent than food.” Also worthy of mention is the custom that our divine father Athanasius of Athos established in his Great Lavra. In order for his disciples to always remember death, he specially appointed one reasonable brother, who was supposed to go around all the monastery workshops and services every day at the third hour of the day and say the following words: “Brothers and fathers, let us be attentive to ourselves, because we are mortal, we are mortal, we are mortal! Let us remember eternal torment!” And the brethren, hearing this, immediately stood up to pray and, having chanted the funeral litany, sat down again 914. 218. Thus, in the above-mentioned Evergetinos 915 we read that many fathers saved themselves from sin by remembering the Judgment of God. Therefore, Evagrius says: “Always remember the eternal Judgment, and there will be no sin on your soul” 916. 219. Thus, in the life of Saint Martinian 917 we read that thanks to the fear of the eternal fire of hell, he got rid of prodigal sin, since he could not tolerate the heat of the material fire he kindled. 220. Therefore, one wise and reverent teacher constantly repeated the following saying worthy of mention: “Paradise, we can taste you, but we cannot comprehend you.” 221. We have written here in detail for you, beloved, about this means of protection from sin, so that you read about it not only after confession, but also before confession, and with its help bring your heart into contrition, since such reading causes great tenderness. 222. Sin is called madness by the Tributary who says: With laughter the fool creates evil 918, Sirach who said: The man is mad... meditates violently 919, and David who calls out: ... my wounds are rotten in the face of my madness 920. 223. One bishop said that if he saw the open door of hell on one side, and mortal sin on the other, he would prefer to throw himself into hell rather than fall into this sin. And Mary Magdalene, as some say, just hearing the words “mortal sin” shook from head to toe and fell to the ground as if dead. She also said that she could never understand how a person dares to sin mortally and upset God. 224. For, according to Athanasius the Great, “a Christian is the true rational house of Christ, built from good deeds and right dogmas” 921. Cyril of Alexandria, interpreting the prophecy of Isaiah: ... those who work will call Him a new name, and He will be blessed on earth, for they will bless the true God 922 says: “In the new life of the Gospel we come to Christ and, placing His name on ourselves as a kind of crown, we call ourselves Christians, for this is the name glorified and blessed throughout all the heavenly places” 923. And Theodoret, explaining the same saying, writes: “After the appearance of the Lord Christ, believers were called Christians, and people use this name instead of the highest praise, for when they want to exalt someone, uttering many praises, they tend to add: “... a true Christian,” and when asking someone for something, they also usually say: “Do it like a Christian; do it as a Christian should,” - this name carries such great praise and blessing” 924. Ignatius the God-Bearer, in his third letter to the Magnesians, says this: “We will be worthy of the name that we have received... which happened initially in Syria, for in Antioch the disciples were called Christians 925” 926. And in the twelfth letter to the Romans, he again says: “I want not only to be called a Christian, but also to be one, for if I am, then I can be called by this name” 927. Gregory of Nyssa, in his letter to Armonius, explains what the Christian name and deeds consist of, and says: “Christianity is an imitation of the divine nature” 928. And in his letter to Olympius the Monk, he says this: “There are three signs of the life of a Christian: deed, word, thought” 929. 225. One teacher, speaking of the creation and re-creation of man, and concluding with a conclusion about the debt that man owes to God, used to utter these words worthy of mention: “If I owe You my own debt for having created me, what can I add to this in gratitude for the fact that You have renewed me?” 930 226. Therefore, Basil the Great said: “For he who has succeeded in good deeds and then returned to the old custom has not only lost the reward for what he has done, but is also more worthy of condemnation, because, having tasted the good words of God and been rewarded with the knowledge of the sacraments, he has renounced everything, deceived by short-term pleasure” 931. And Gregory the Theologian says in quatrains: “For we do not call those who are below evil, but those who fall low when they ascend” 932. And Solomon writes: ... the most severe judgment is preferable, for the little one is worthy of mercy, but the mighty will be tormented more severely 933. See also about this the 91st word of St. Simeon the New Theologian 934. 227. Note that evil as such in the proper sense of the word is sin that comes from evil and evil will. In the improper sense, both punishment and punishment for sin are called evil, since they bring suffering to those who sin. They are sent for the sake of benefit according to the righteous will of God, and Amos says about them: Or will there be evil in the city, which the Lord has not created? 935 228. One reverent teacher, seeing the Lord nailed to the cross, burning with love, said: “I also want to receive wounds, seeing You covered with wounds” 936. And Ignatius the God-Bearer left in his twelfth letter to the Romans the following words full of love: “I desire the Lord, the Son of the true Father, Jesus Christ, Him I seek, who died and rose for us... let me be an imitator of the suffering of Christ my God... My love is crucified, and there is no fire in me, who loves, but living water flows in me and says: “Go to the Father.” Perishable food and the pleasures of this life do not bring me joy. I desire the bread of God, the bread of heaven, the bread of life, which is the flesh of Christ, the Son of God... and I desire His drink, which is imperishable love and eternal life. I don’t want to live a human life anymore... believe me that I love Jesus, who was given for me. Do not hinder me from achieving life, for Jesus is the life of the faithful. Do not wish me death, for death is life without Christ... being alive, I write to you, wanting to die for Christ” 937. And Paul, overwhelmed by love for the Crucified One, also spoke with enthusiasm: You have been crucified with Christ; I live not as anyone, but Christ lives in me, and even now I live in the flesh, by faith I live the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me 938. And in another place the same Paul, showing what kind of love all Christians should have for the crucified Jesus, said: ... let those who live not live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again 939. 229. One teacher spoke about it this way: “From this healing [that is, the suffering of Christ] I conclude how great was the evil of my wounds” 940. And Ignatius the God-Bearer said that the wounds of sinners were so great that the Lord had to receive a wound in order to heal them 941. 230. Let it be known to you that, according to the thought of Job, called Amartol, expressed by him in the essay “On the Sacraments” 942, one who repents can be said to be in a natural state (since it is human nature to repent when it sins in some matter), and one who sins and does not repent and does not correct himself can, in justice and dignity, be called in an unnatural state, because he went beyond the limits of human nature and became like dumb animals, or better yet, demons who never repent. Therefore, God says with grief: No man, do repentance for his malice, saying: What have I done? 943 Let it be also known to you that repentance, which, according to the definition of Saint Maximus, is the second, good thought, appearing after the first, evil thought, makes a sin committed in knowledge as if it had been committed in ignorance. And since it is voluntary, a sin committed of one’s own free will makes it appear as if it was committed involuntarily, according to Gregory of Thessaloniki 944. Since it abolishes eternal, that is, endless, torment in hell, it turns sin, which is an infinite evil, into a limited evil, according to George Coresius 945. Therefore, the repentant shows that he sinned in ignorance, sinned involuntarily and, moreover, makes the infinite evil of his sin a limited evil. And the non-repentant not only shows that he sinned knowingly and voluntarily, but also allows his sin to forever remain an infinite evil, since he does not turn it into a limited evil with the help of repentance and confession. 231. This word, brother, is extremely necessary and spiritually beneficial, because it shows what true repentance consists of, what its fruits are and what serves as a sign of the forgiveness of sins by God. And simply put, this word crushes bones. Therefore you should read it constantly and you will get great benefit from it. 232. That is, they corrupted themselves with the same great and immeasurable evil that they committed in ancient days, falling into wickedness and making sacrifices to idols on the hills. 233. For Saul also said to Samuel: I have sinned, for I have transgressed the word of the Lord and your word 946. And Antiochus, tormented by a God-sent ulcer from worms and the rotting of his body, repented and said: It is righteous to obey God and being mortal equal to God, do not philosophize with pride. Praying for the bad one to the Lord who never wants to have mercy on him 947. Judas also said: We have sinned by betraying innocent blood 948. 234. About contrition and sadness, see at the beginning of “Advice to the Penitent.” 235. And Saint Mark said: “If He [that is, the Lord] established repentance until death, then whoever says that it ends before death cancels the commandment, omitting what is said in it about death. Therefore, for small and great, repentance does not end until death” 949. 236. And Vissarion Makris in the “Orthodox Confession” 950 and others say that according to Chrysostom’s thought, there is no scar left not in the present life, but in the future. 237. And Saint Mark, going even further, says that, even if we assume that we never sin arbitrarily (which is impossible), then because of one ancestral sin we must already repent before God: “Whoever once became worthy of death, according to the law, was put to death, and the fact that he lives shows that he lives thanks to faith, for the sake of repentance, even if not for his own sin, then for the sin of the crime of his ancestors” 951. Also, the great Gregory of Thessaloniki says: “Repentance is the beginning, the middle, and the end of Christian life, therefore, before holy baptism, and during holy baptism, and after holy baptism, it is expected and required” 952. Therefore, you, brother, should always pray to God, saying together with David: Lord... heal my soul, for those who have sinned Ti 953. Ask Him with the pain of your heart, since, according to Saint Mark, “the memory of God is the pain of the heart, arising from piety” 954. 238. Therefore, the Nyssa luminary Gregory says: “Have you suffered evil from luxury? Heal pleasure by fasting. Has fornication caused harm to the soul? Let chastity be the cure for illness. Has covetousness, which provides rich food for the fire, produced mental heat? Let alms liberate from satiety, for alms are a cleansing agent for the satiated. We were harmed by the kidnapping of someone else? Let the stolen goods return to their owner. Have lies brought us closer to death? Let concern for the truth stop danger" 955. 239. Therefore, the same divine Isaac uttered the following saying worthy of mention: “It is not when we commit a sin that we become sinners, but when we do not hate it and do not repent of it” 956 . 240. If you, brother, want to imprint in your soul and memory the image and example of true repentance, open the book of St. John Climacus, find his 5th word, about repentance, and read about the penitents condemned to life in a monastery, called a prison because of the inconsolability of the place in which he was 957. There you will see, firstly, what the food and life of the truly repentant are like. For the brethren who repented there did not eat oil, did not drink wine, did not eat food cooked on fire, but only bread and raw vegetables. Many of them were thirsty and sat with their tongues hanging out like dogs'. Others, taking only a little bread, threw away the rest, considering themselves unworthy to eat the food of intelligent people, since they had done the deeds of foolish animals, had no bed and did not wear washed clothes, but all their clothes were torn, dirty and full of lice. There you will see, secondly, the exploits and deeds of the truly penitents, for among these blessed penitents some stood on their feet and prayed all night, not going to bed at all until the morning; others had their hands tied behind them, like convicts; others, sitting on sackcloth and ashes, beat their foreheads on the ground; the fourth watered the earth with their tears, and the fifth, not having the strength to shed tears, inflicted wounds on themselves and showered blows on their flesh and uds in order to suffer from pain. They tormented themselves with the autumn heat and tortured their bodies with the winter cold, and approaching the end of their lives, they bequeathed not to bury themselves in the ground, considering themselves unworthy of burial, and their bodies were thrown either into a river stream or into an abyss. There you will hear, thirdly, the words and exclamations of the truly repentant, for from the lips of these glorious men nothing could be heard except these words: “Alas, alas! Woe, woe! Fair, fair! Have mercy, have mercy, Lord! Have mercy, Lord, have mercy! Forgive, Lord, forgive, if possible!” And some of them, striking their chests with force and as if being near the door of heaven, cried out: “Open to us, Judge, open to us the door of Your mercy, which we have closed with our sins.” Still others, bending to the ground, said: “Yes, we know, we know that we are worthy of all torment and hell, and we have nothing to justify ourselves for such great debts of our sins, even if we called on the whole universe to cry for us. We ask You only that You do not punish us with Your rage and anger and do not give us over to the torments that we deserve according to Your justice, but lighten them a little. It will be enough for us to get rid of only the unspeakable secret torments, and not to completely free ourselves from all of them.” Finally, you will see there, beloved, both the appearance and appearance of the truly repentant, for the knees of these triblessed ones were rough from the many bows that they made, their eyes were dry and sunken, their cheeks were burned from the hot tears they poured out, their faces were withered and yellow, like those of the dead, their chests were covered with wounds, and their spittle was bloody from the numerous blows with fists that they showered on their chests, their appearance was gloomy, gloomy, sad, like the appearance of condemned people. And is it worth talking too much? There you will see food, deeds, words, and the appearance of the truly repentant, who were able to force the uncoercible God and soon beg His love for mankind to forgive them. I am sure that, seeing this, you, brother, will acquire spiritual courage to imitate them partly in their repentance. I am sure that you will feel compassion for these glorious men, and your heart will come to such contrition that in the end you will close the book with tears. After his death, God honored his bones with fragrance and many miracles. Skiropula is a small island in the Aegean Sea, part of the Northern Sporades archipelago. There was a monastery on the island, from which the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary has survived to this day. – Note. lane Their memory is celebrated throughout the Holy Mountain on the first Sunday after All Saints' Week. In modern Russian-language literature, the title of this book is often rendered as “Synaxar”, “Synaxarnik” or “Synaxarist”. Its Greek name sounds like “Synaxaristis” and literally means “Hagiograph”. The merit of Nicodemus the Holy Mountain, as indicated here, was not only in the compilation of this collection of lives of saints, but also in their translation into modern Greek. The latter also applies to some other publications prepared by him. – Note. lane The origin of this nickname is unclear. Perhaps it was formed from the name of the elder - the owner of the cell in which they lived, or from the name of their hometown or village. – Note. lane Published in Venice in 1782, in sheet form. Published in Venice in 1783, in sheet form. Published in Venice in 1783 in eighths. Published in Vienna in 1801 for the second time, in an eighth. Large volume. Published in Venice in 1790, in sheet form. Published in Venice in 1804 for the second time, in an eighth. It was published in Venice for the third time in 1818, in an eighth. Published in Venice in 1796, in eighth. Published in Venice in 1799, in eighths. Large volume. Published in Venice in 1800, in eighths. Large volume. Published in Venice in 1803, in eighths. Large volume. Disappeared in Vienna due to some circumstances. Published in Leipzig in 1800, in sheet form. Published in Constantinople in 1800, in the eighth part. Published in Venice in 1796, in eighths. Large volume. Published in Venice in 1803, in eighths. Large volume. Published in Constantinople in 1799, in eighth. Large volume. Published in Venice in 1806. (This refers to the book “Interpretation of the Seven Council Epistles.” - Note per.) Published in Venice in 1819, in three volumes, in four. Large volume. (This refers to the book “Commentary on the Fourteen Epistles of the Apostle Paul.” - Note per.) Published in Constantinople in 1819, in two volumes. (This refers to the Explanatory Psalter of Euthymius Zigaben. - Note per.) Published in Venice in 1819, in eighth. Large volume. Published in Venice in 1816, in eighth. Large volume. (Referring to “The Book of Barsanuphius and John.” - Note per.) Published in Venice in 1819, in eighth. Published in Venice in 1836, in four editions. Large volume. Not published, as far as we know. These words are found in two writings that were previously erroneously attributed to St. Clement of Rome: in the letter to James (par. 6) and in the Instructions of the Apostle Peter (par. 150). Here and further we convey the quotes in the form as given by the Monk Nicodemus the Holy Mountain, with the exception of those rare cases when, due to inaccurate quoting, ambiguity or significant distortion of the meaning of the phrase arises. In references to the works of ancient and medieval authors, we indicate the name of the author, the title of the work and the location of the quotation in accordance with the internal rubric of the work. References to old foreign printed publications provide only general output data without specifying pages. – Note. lane St. Basil the Great. About the ++Holy Spirit 25. St. Gregory Sinait. Instructions for the Silent 7. Sschmch. Dionysius the Areopagite. On the Church Hierarchy III, 3, 14. St. Meletius the Confessor. Alphabet of alphabets 171. St. Nicodemus was referring to the “Collection of all the sacred and divine rules of the holy apostles and ecumenical, as well as local councils,” compiled by Hieromonk Agapius and published in Venice in 1787 - Note. lane See: Georgy Koressiy. Theology 6 (Treatise on the Sacraments). The indicated work of one of the most authoritative Greek theologians of the 17th century. George Coresius has survived only in handwritten form. The Monk Nicodemus wanted to publish it and brought it to Vienna in 1787, but this attempt was not crowned with success. George Koressius also left three other separate works dedicated to the sacraments of the Church, which Nicodemus the Holy Mountain could use. – Note. lane See: Orthodox Confession of Faith of the Catholic and Apostolic Church of the East. The author of this book is considered to be Metropolitan of Kyiv Peter Mohyla. In Greek, translated by Meletius Syrigus with some corrections, it was first published in Amsterdam in 1667 and then reprinted several times. – Note. lane See: Chrysanthus, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Useful teaching about repentance and confession. Venice, 1724. (In Greek) See: Georgy Koressiy. Theology 6 (Treatise on the Sacraments). See: Chrysanthus, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Useful teaching on repentance and confession... St. Basil the Great. The rules are set out at length in questions and answers 2, 1. St. Gregory of Nyssa. Against Eunomius 2, 1. St. Basil the Great. About baptism II, 8, 1. St. Maxim the Confessor. Four hundred chapters about love 2, 31. St. Maxim the Confessor. Four hundred chapters about love 2, 36. St. Maxim the Confessor. Questions and answers to Thalassia 56. St. Basil the Great. The rules are summarized in questions and answers 2, 21. St. Gregory the Theologian. Sermon 19, spoken by Saint Gregory the Theologian about his words to Julian, who was carrying out a national census and equalization of taxes. St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 45, for Holy Easter. St. Gregory the Theologian. Thoughts written in quatrains 16. St. Gregory Sinait. The chapters are very useful 79. St. Gregory Sinait. The chapters are very useful 62. Wed: St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 45. St. Gregory Sinait. Chapters are very useful 70. St. Gregory Sinait. The chapters are very useful 67. St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 18. St. Gregory Sinait. Chapters are very useful 60. See: St. Basil the Great. A word to the young men. St. Gregory the Theologian. Thoughts written in quatrains 17. St. Gregory Sinait. The chapters are very useful 68. See: Rev. Maxim the Confessor. Four hundred chapters about love 4, 15. See: Rev. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 56. See: Abba Evagrius of Pontus. The speculative, or to the one who has been awarded knowledge 47. See: Rev. Maxim the Confessor. Four hundred chapters about love 4, 80; 2, 70; 3, 20; 4, 15; 4, 44. St. Mark the Ascetic. To those who think to be justified by works 197. See: Rev. Maxim the Confessor. Four hundred chapters about love 1, 66; 4, 44; 4, 80. Bl. Diadokh Photikiysky. Ascetic word 92. St. Maxim the Confessor. Four hundred chapters about love 4, 80. See: Abba Evagrius of Pontus. The speculative, or to the one who has been awarded knowledge 47. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 26, 79. St. Maxim the Confessor. Chapters on theology and the Economy of the Incarnation of the Son of God 1, 30. See in the Philokalia: St. Simeon the New Theologian. About three forms of attention and prayer. St. Gregory Sinait. Instructions for the silent. Conversation by Rev. Gregory of Sinaita with St. Maxim Kavsokalivit (this conversation is an extract from the life of St. Maxim Kavsokalivit; St. Nicodemus placed it in the Philokalia after the works of St. Gregory the Sinaite. - Note transl.). Plutarch. About excessive curiosity. See in the Philokalia: Prpp. Callistus and Ignatius Xanthopoulos. Instructions for the Silent, in one hundred chapters 64. See: St. Gregory Palamas. Sermon for the 3rd week of Lent. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 21, 7. St. Gregory Sinait. The chapters are very useful 61. St. Gregory Palamas. That all Christians in general should pray unceasingly. (This teaching is contained in the life of St. Gregory Palamas; St. Nicodemus included it in the Philokalia. - Note per.) St. John of Sinai. Ladder 26, 156. St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 30. St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 58. See note 58 to the section “On how a confessor should instruct those who have thoughts of blasphemy and doubt,” located at the end of the book. – Note. lane St. Gregory Palamas. To the all-honorable Ksenia among nuns. St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 45, for Holy Easter. Isa.48:14. In the Greek editions of the Bible it reads: “seed of the Chaldeans,” in the synodal editions of the Slavic Bible the tribe is Chaldean. – Note. lane St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Conversation about sacred rites and church sacraments 222 St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Conversation about sacred rites and church sacraments 222. See note 57 to the previous chapter, located at the end of the book. – Note. lane St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Conversation about sacred rites and church sacraments 214. See: Chrysanthus, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Syntagmation about the positions, degrees and titles of the servants of the Holy Church of Christ, their meaning, division and sequence... with Manuals on the seven Sacraments of Gabriel of Philadelphia and Job Amartol... Targovishte, 1714. (In Greek) See: Nikephoros Chartophylax. Epistle to the monk Theodosius, the recluse of Corinth. See note 49 to the previous chapter, located at the end of the book. – Note. lane Chrysanthos, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Useful teaching on repentance and confession The rosary has one hundred knots and one hundred prayers are recited on each rosary. – Note. lane See: Prpp. Callistus and Ignatius Xanthopoulos. Instructions for the Silent, in one hundred chapters 39. The last words refer to prostrations. – Note. lane See: Bl. Augustine of Ipponia. There are two books about the questions of Januarius (Epistle 54; 55). Methodius Anphrakitis. Spiritual visitation, or how a confessor should visit the sick, examine the conscience and correct the souls of the repentant. Venice, 1780. (in Greek) St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Answers to some questions proposed to him by the bishop 72. St. Basil the Great. The rules, summarized in questions and answers 13. St. John Chrysostom. Commentary on 1 Corinthians 27. Greek proverb. – Note. lane St. Basil the Great. Ascetic regulations for those who labor in community and hermitage 1. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 28, the second about theology. Gabriel Sevier, Metropolitan of Philadelphia. Syntagmation on the Holy and Sacred Sacraments. Venice, 1600. (In Greek) Chrysanthos, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Useful teaching on repentance and confession... Confessor in training. Venice, 1742. (In Greek) This edition, published in Venice without indicating the name of the author, is a translation of Paolo Segneri's book “The Trained Confessor: an essay in which the novice confessor is shown the practice of fruitfully performing the sacrament of repentance” (Brescia, 1672), made by the secretary of the Patmos Monastery, Emmanuel Romanitis. – Note. lane See part three of this book. – Note. lane St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 3, in which Gregory the Theologian justifies his removal to Pontus. Rev. John of Sinai. Ladder. A special word to the shepherd 13:10. This refers to some magical actions. – Note. lane Apostolic Constitutions 2, 58. See: Rev. John of Sinai. Ladder 15, 73. John Zonara. A word to those who consider the natural flow of semen to be unclean. Georgy Koressiy. Theology 6 (Treatise on the Sacraments). Alphabetical syntagma of Hieromonk Matthew Vlastar Y, 15. Nahum.1:9 (...he will not avenge himself twice...). – Note. lane See: St. Gregory of Nyssa. Canonical letter to Litoy, Bishop of Melitino 4. Joseph Bryennius. Forty-nine chapters 39. St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Answers to some questions proposed to him by the bishop 47. See: St. Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople. Nomocanon 12, 13. This constitution states that children from the marriage of an Orthodox and a non-Orthodox person must be Orthodox. – Note. lane Apostolic Constitutions 4, 6; 4, 7; 4, 9. See: Elijah, Metropolitan of Crete. Answers to a certain monk Dionysius to questions about various subjects. St. Epiphanius of Cyprus. Against heresies 22. Philostorgium. Church history 10. St. Benedict of Nursia. Charter 41. The Church Charter refers to shellfish as shellfish, or seafood in general. – Note. lane See: Rules of the Holy Apostles 69. Apostolic Constitutions 5, 20. Apostolic Constitutions 5, 14. Sschmch. Peter of Alexandria. Rules 15. St. John Chrysostom. Book about virginity 30. Theodore Balsamon, Patriarch of Antioch. Canonical answers 50. See: St. John Chrysostom. A discussion on the parable of the publican and the Pharisee. (This work is considered to belong to another author. - Note per.) Bl. Theophylact of Bulgaria. Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 18, 12. St. Meletius the Confessor. Alphabet alphabets 35. The Monk Nicodemus borrows his interpretation of these rules from Matthew Blastar, who calls the heaviest type of interest 12 gold coins per 100 or half of this amount. – Note. lane See: St. John Chrysostom. Discourses on Genesis 41. See: St. Basil the Great. Discourse on the end of the fourteenth psalm and on moneylenders 1. Saint Basil the Great interprets the word “growth” (Greek τόκος) in this place using the second meaning that it has in Greek - “birth”. – Note. lane See: St. Basil the Great. Discourse on the end of the fourteenth psalm and on moneylenders 3. Apostolic Constitutions 4, 6. See: St. Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople. Nomocanon 9, 28. According to Byzantine laws, a child born of a woman cohabiting openly and constantly with someone was considered natural. He took second place in relation to legitimate children and could receive an inheritance from his father. – Note. lane See: St. Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople. Nomocanon 9, 44. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 22, about peace, spoken in the general meeting of fellow believers that took place after reconciliation. See the interpretations of Theodore Balsamon and John Zonara on the 6th rule of St. Basil the Great, placed in the Book of Rules. – Note. lane St. John Chrysostom. To Theodore the Fallen 2, 3. See: Rules set out at length in questions and answers 14. See: St. Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople. Nomocanon 9, 30. See: Konstantin Armenopul. Hexateuch 6, 3. St. Theodore the Studite. Will 12. St. Gregory Palamas. Message to Pavel Asen. St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Against heresies 20. See the interpretation of Theodore Balsamon in the Book of Rules on the 2nd rule of the Council of Constantinople, which was in the Church of Wisdom, the Word of God. See: Chrysanthus, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Syntagmation... See Theodore Balsamon’s interpretation of the 3rd rule of the Double Council of Constantinople in the Book of Rules. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 39, on the holy lights of the appearances of the Lord. Polistavrion in Greek means “many crosses.” – Note. lane This explanation is based on the meaning of the Greek verb αναλαμβάνω (“to perceive”), from which the word “analav” is derived. – Note. lane See: Peter Hartophilax. Answers are canonical 8. Ipat of philosophers is the name of the position of dean of the philosophical faculty of the Magnavra school at the court of the Byzantine emperor, which the mentioned Patriarch Michael occupied before his elevation to the patriarchal throne. – Note. lane That is, to get married. – Note. lane See: Peter Hartophilax. Answers are canonical 4. St. John Chrysostom. Conversations on Acts of the Apostles 3, 4. Bl. Theodoret of Cyrus. Commentary on the Song of Songs (4, 2). Mikhail Psell. Poetic interpretation of the Song of Songs. St. John Chrysostom. Discourses on Genesis 20. St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 39, on the holy lights of the appearances of the Lord. The quote is inaccurate. Compare: Proverbs 30:12: A righteous child judges evil for himself, but he does not know his outcome. – Note. lane St. John of Damascus. An accurate statement of the Orthodox faith 44. St. Basil the Great. The rules, summarized, in questions and answers 229. This expression does not appear in Philo. These words can be found in St. Ephraim the Syrian. See: Rev. Ephraim the Syrian. Prayers to the Mother of God 7. – Note. lane The quote is inaccurate. Compare: Isa.38:10: I said in the height of my days: I will go into the gates of hell, I will leave the rest of the years. – Note. lane St. Gregory the Theologian. Thoughts written in quatrains 14. Prayer of Manasseh, King of Judah. See: The Order of Great Compline. St. Basil the Great. Rules set out at length in questions and answers 2. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 4, 62. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 4, 61. St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 40, for Holy Epiphany. Wed: St. John Chrysostom. Conversations about repentance 8. Ermiy Sozomen. Church history 7, 16. St. Basil the Great. Interpretation of the prophet Isaiah 1, 34. Gabriel Sevier, Metropolitan of Philadelphia. Syntagmation on the Holy and Sacred Sacraments. See: Dositheus, Patriarch of Jerusalem. History of the Jerusalem Patriarchs. Bucharest, 1715 (1723). (In Greek) St. Isidore Pelusiot. Letters 2, 350. (Letter to Presbyter Zosima.) Gabriel Sevier, Metropolitan of Philadelphia. Syntagmation on the Saints and Sacred Sacraments. St. Basil the Great. The rules, summarized in questions and answers 15. Sschmch. Dionysius the Areopagite. On the Church Hierarchy VII, 3, 3. St. John Chrysostom. Conversations about statues 12, 1. St. John Chrysostom. Discourses on First Epistle to the Corinthians 38:5. St. John Chrysostom. Discourses on the Evangelist Matthew 41. St. Mark the Ascetic. To those who think to be justified by works 152; 153. St. Mark the Ascetic. To those who think to be justified by works 151. St. Basil the Great. Rules, summarized, in questions and answers 289. St. John Chrysostom. Conversations about statues 15, 4. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 4, 10. St. Basil the Great. Conversation on Psalm seventh 2. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 23, 41. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 4, 53. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 4, 39. St. Maxim the Confessor. Letters 1. (A word of exhortation in the form of a letter to the servant of God, Mr. George, the blessed governor of Africa.) 1 Samuel 14:43. This is how this verse appears in the Greek Bible. – Note. lane Job 21:14. This is how this passage appears in the Greek Bible. – Note. lane St. Gregory of Nyssa. On the inscription of psalms. Job 33:27. The next subsection, entitled “The Punishment of Sin in the Person of Jesus Christ,” which is a retelling of the corresponding passage from Paolo Segneri’s book “The Penitent, Taught to Confess Well,” contradicts the dogmatic teaching of the Orthodox Church, so we have excluded it from our publication. – Note. lane Bl. Augustine of Ipponia. On nature and grace to Timazius and James against the Pelagians 43. See: Bl. Augustine of Ipponia. About the book of Genesis there are literally twelve books 11, 31. Thomas Aquinas. Sum of Theology 2, 2, 163. St. Ambrose of Milan. There are two books about repentance: 1, 17. So in the Greek Bible (Jer.37:13–14). In the Slavic Bible, this place is read differently: because of the multitude of your unrighteousness, your sins have been overcome (Jer. 30:13–14). – Note. lane St. John Chrysostom. Conversation on the words of the Apostle Paul, I do not want you to be led away, brethren... (1 Cor. 10:1). St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 90. St. Basil the Great. A word about repentance. (This word, which was previously attributed to Basil the Great, is now considered to be the work of Eusebius of Emesa. - Note per.) St. Ambrose of Milan. Discourses on Psalm 119 8. See also: Decrees of Emperor Gratian 2, 23, 4. St. Basil the Great. The rules, summarized in questions and answers 16. Ps.34:15. In the Slavic Bible: divided and not touched. The interpretation of this verse by the Monk Nicodemus is based on the second meaning of the Greek verb διασχίζω (“to divide”) - “to tear apart,” “to tear apart.” – Note. lane At. Maxim the Confessor. Four hundred chapters about love 1, 30. This saying is found in the Patericon. Wed: Ancient patericon, or memorable legends about the asceticism of the holy and blessed fathers 16, 17. - Note. lane St. Mark the Ascetic. To those who think to be justified by works 210. St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 48. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 5, 1. St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 71. See in the Philokalia: St. Mark the Ascetic. Instructions of Saint Mark, extracted from his other words 39. St. John Chrysostom. Discourses on Second Corinthians 4, 6. St. Basil the Great. A word about repentance. (This word is considered to be the work of Eusebius of Emesa. - Note per.) St. Athanasius the Great. Epistle to Serapion, Bishop of Tmuis 4, 13. St. Cyril of Jerusalem. Catechetical teachings 18, 20. St. Isidore Pelusiot. Letters 3, 247. (Letter to Governor Cassius.) St. John Chrysostom. Conversations on repentance 8, 2. Proverbs 20:9. So in the Greek Bible. In the Slavic translation: ... who dares to decide to be clean from sins? – Note. lane St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 47. Isa.49:4. The Greek word for “pain, illness” in this place is rendered in Slavic as “labor.” – Note. lane The word about repentance, to which St. Nicodemus refers here and below, belongs not to Gregory of Nyssa, but to Asterius of Amasia. See: Asterius, Bishop of Amasia. A word of exhortation about repentance 10. – Note. lane Asterius, Bishop of Amasia. A word of warning about repentance 11. Asterius, Bishop of Amasia. A word of exhortation about repentance 10. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 14, 14. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 7, 49. St. Basil the Great. The rules, summarized in questions and answers 12. Nikita, Metropolitan of Irakli. Interpretation of 16 words of St. Gregory the Theologian. See: Lavsaik. About Macarius, who committed an involuntary murder. St. Theodore of Edessa. One Hundred Most Soulful Chapters 11. St. Maxim the Confessor. A Word on Ascetic Life 44. St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 62. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 4, 3. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 5, 30. St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 83. St. John Chrysostom. Conversation about the drachma and the words: A certain man had two sons (Luke 15:11). (This work is considered to belong to another author. - Note per.) St. Gregory Palamas. To the all-honorable nun Ksenia 35. St. Mark the Ascetic. To those who think to be justified by works 34. St. Mark the Ascetic. To those who think to be justified by works 131. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 6, 13. St. Gregory Palamas. To the all-honorable nun Ksenia 33. St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 11 spoken to the brother of Basil the Great, Saint Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa. St. Mark the Ascetic. Moral and ascetic words 3. St. Mark the Ascetic. Two hundred chapters on the spiritual law 57. St. Mark the Ascetic. Two hundred chapters on the spiritual law 67. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 5, 38. St. Gregory Palamas. To the all-honorable nun Ksenia 30. St. Mark the Ascetic. To those who think to be justified by works 82. St. Erigory of Nyssa. About the beatitudes 8. St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 89. St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 41. This preface was placed in the Greek edition of the Words of St. Isaac the Syrian, published in Leipzig in 1770 by Hieromonk Nikifor Theotokis, later Archbishop of Astrakhan. In modern editions of the book it is omitted. – Note. lane St. Simeon the New Theologian. Words 86, 2. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 6, 23. St. Basil the Great. An ascetic word and an exhortation about renunciation of the world and spiritual perfection. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 7, 70. Wed: St. Simeon the New Theologian. Words 12, 2. See: Book of Hours. Follow-up of Matins. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 3, in which Gregory the Theologian justifies his removal to Pontus. See: Confessor in training... St. John of Sinai. Ladder. A special word to the shepherd 12:7. St. John of Sinai. Ladder. A special word to the shepherd 13:5. See: Bl. Theophylact of Bulgaria. Interpretation of the Second Epistle to Timothy of the Holy Apostle Paul (3, 2). Anastasy Sinait. Answer 54. See: Chrysanthus, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Useful teaching about repentance and confession.. See: St. Basil the Great. Rules, summarized, in questions and answers 293. See: St. John Chrysostom. Word to Demetrius the monk about contrition 1st 2. Conversations on the First Epistle to the Corinthians 16, 4. Repentant learner. Venice, 1742. (In Greek) This edition, published without indicating the name of the author, is a translation of Paolo Segneri's book “The Penitent, Learned to Confess Well, or a Spiritual Work, from which everyone can learn the true way to return to and remain in the grace of his Lord” (Bologna, 1669), made by the secretary of the Patmos Monastery, Emmanuel Romanitis. – Note. lane St. Gregory Palamas. To the all-honorable nun Ksenia 7. St. Ephraim the Syrian. Words of admonition to the Egyptian monks 32. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 26, 89. See also: Evergetinos I, 1. Apostolic Constitutions 5, 10. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 14, 7. St. Theodore of Edessa. One Hundred Most Soulful Chapters 33. In the rich and ancient manuscript tradition of the “Ladder,” there are editions with parallel passages from the patristic works, which are conventionally called scholia, or interpretations. St. Nicodemus borrowed this quote from one of these manuscripts. – Note. lane St. Abba Dorotheos. Soulful teachings 9. Bl. Theophylact of Bulgaria. Interpretation of the Gospel of John (8, 44). St. Basil the Great. The rules, summarized, in questions and answers 25. Wed: St. John Chrysostom. Discourses on First Corinthians 11. St. John Chrysostom. Conversations about repentance 6. See: Rev. Isidore Pelusiot. Letters 621 (letter to Bishop Theon). The Monk Nicodemus refers here to the following publication: Catena of fifty-one interpreters of the Octateuch and the books of the Kings. 2 vols. Leipzig (Venice), 1772–1773. (In Greek and Latin). – Note. lane See: St. John Chrysostom. Word on the priesthood 6, 11. St. John Chrysostom. A word to those who have brought virgins into the house 7. St. John Chrysostom. Conversations on the Gospel of John 38, 1. See about this in the 1st chapter of “Advice to the Penitent”, in the section “On how one should examine one’s conscience”, in the notes, as well as in the 4th chapter of the same “Advice”, in the section “The fifth benefit of constant confession”. St. Macarius the Great. Spiritual conversations 3, 3. Bl. Theophylact of Bulgaria. Interpretation of the Gospel of Luke (Luke 12:42). See: Answers of John, Bishop of Cytra, to Constantine Cabasiles, Archbishop of Dyrrachium. St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Answers to some questions proposed to him by the bishop 11. Answers of John, Bishop of Cytra, to Constantine Cabasiles, Archbishop of Dyrrachium. See Theodore Balsamon's interpretation of the 7th rule of the Council of Carthage in the Book of Rules. See: St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Answers to some questions proposed to him by the bishop 10. Joseph Bryennius. Forty-nine chapters 47 (What are the causes of our disasters). See footnote. 3 in the preface to the 1st part of this edition. – Note. lane See canon 18 of Timothy, Archbishop of Alexandria. Theodore Balsamon, Patriarch of Antioch. Canonical answers 48. St. John Chrysostom. Conversation about how it is dangerous to speak to people with obsequiousness 5. Mitrofan Kritopoulos. Confession of the Eastern Church, Catholic and Apostolic. Helmstedt, 1661. (In Greek and Latin) St. John of Sinai. Ladder. A special word to the shepherd 12:8. St. Basil the Great. Interpretation of the prophet Isaiah 3, 13. See: Evergetinos III, 29. (There is a Russian translation of this book: Philanthropy. Holy Mount Athos. Hilandar Monastery. 2010. 4 vols. - Note transl.) See: Evergetinos III, 29. See: St. John Chrysostom. About the righteous and blessed Job 2, 2. See: St. John Chrysostom. Discourses on Second Corinthians 18:3. St. Cyril of Alexandria. About worship and service in spirit and truth 11. That is on their conscience and responsibility. – Note. lane See: Chrysanthus, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Syntagmation… The mentioned rule of Basil the Great states that there is no need to keep ridiculous and unreasonable vows. – Note. lane See p. 286 of this edition. Diodorus Siculus. History I. Macarius Kalogeras. Gospel Trumpet. Leipzig, 1765. (In Greek) St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Answers to some questions proposed to him by the bishop 10. Monk Agapius of Crete. Sinners salvation. Venice, 1641. (In Greek) This book was very popular and was reprinted many times. There is a Russian translation of it: Monk Agapius of Crete. Sinners salvation. Edinet-Brichany diocese, 2003. – Note. lane St. John Chrysostom. On the priesthood 3, 10. Monk Agapius of Crete. Sinners salvation... See Theodore Balsamon's interpretation of the 26th rule of the Sixth Ecumenical Council in the Book of Rules. See the interpretations of Theodore Balsamon and John Zonara on the 9th rule of the Neocaesarea Council in the Book of Rules. St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Answers to some questions proposed to him by the bishop 40. Both the 3rd rule of St. Basil the Great and its ancient interpreters (Zonara, Aristin, Balsamon) say that those defrocked are not subject to excommunication. The basis for the opinion of the Monk Nicodemus was probably the inaccurate expression of the 33rd rule of St. John the Faster, which can also be understood according to the above authors. – Note. lane Neophyte Rodinos. About confession. Rome. 1630. (In Greek) The author of the book is Neophytos Rodinos (1579–1669?) - a monk of the Sinai monastery of St. Catherine. To continue his education, he went to Rome and after graduating from the Roman College of St. Athanasius, he converted to Catholicism. He was known for his missionary activities and literary works. – Note. lane Kings 12:13. See: St. John Chrysostom. Interviews on Psalms 5, 7. This refers to the following edition: Callinicus, Patriarch of Constantinople. A new book about confession. Vienna, 1787. (In Greek) - Note. lane According to church regulations, during Pentecost, oil and wine are allowed on Wednesday and Friday. The words of St. Nicodemus mean that those who have penance in the form of fasting should abstain from oil and wine on these days. – Note. lane St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Answers to some questions proposed to him by the bishop 69. Prpp. Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet. Answers to student questions 226. St. Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople. Letter to Amphilochius of Cyzicus. St. John Chrysostom. Conversations about statues 1, 12. See: Monk Agapius of Crete. Sinners salvation... St. Isidore Pelusiot. Letter to Zosima. Procopius of the Peloponnese. A book called the Shepherd's Trumpet, containing soul-helping teachings for all Sundays and the Lord's holidays of the seven months of the year. Leipzig, 1780. (In Greek) St. John Chrysostom. Discourses on the Book of Genesis 27, 8. Alphabetical syntagma of Hieromonk Matthew Vlastar F, 8. St. Basil the Great. Conversations on Psalms 6, 2. This refers to the collection of lives of saints compiled by the Monk Nicodemus the Holy Mountain. – Note. lane See: Evergetinos I, 3, B. Wed: St. Ambrose of Milan. Discourses on Psalm 119 8. See Theodore Balsamon's interpretation of the 45th rule of the Sixth Ecumenical Council in the Book of Rules. Apostolic Constitutions 2, 18. Apostolic Constitutions 2, 41. St. John of Sinai. Ladder. A special word to the shepherd 13, 14. See: Socrates Scholasticus. Ecclesiastical history V, 19. See: Ermiy Sozomen. Church history. VII, 16. This refers to the eight-volume edition of the works of St. John Chrysostom in Greek, published at Eton in 1549–1622. On these pages are the following works: Discourses on Genesis 20; Commentary on St. Matthew the Evangelist 14; Discourses on the Acts of the Apostles (?); The first conversation is about the cross and the thief; A Word about Sin and Confession. – Note. lane The word about repentance to which St. Nicodemus refers here does not belong to Gregory of Nyssa, but to Asterius of Amasia. See: Asterius, Bishop of Amasia. A word of exhortation about repentance 12. – Note. lane Asterius, Bishop of Amasia. A word of warning about repentance 12. See: St. Basil the Great. Letter 41 (44), to a fallen monk. Meletius, Metropolitan of Athens. Church history. 4 vols. Vienna, 1783. (In Greek) See previous footnote. – Note. lane See, for example: Rev. Nikon Montenegrin. Tactics 3. Greco-Roman law, canon and civil. Frankfurt. 1596. (In Greek and Latin) See John Zonara's interpretation of the 19th rule of the Council of Laodicea, located in the Book of Rules. St. Simeon of Thessalonica. The wisdom of our salvation 4, 120. See, for example: St. Basil the Great. Moral rules 1, 4. Joseph Bryennius. Word 15, about the divine Trinity. St. Basil the Great. Ascetic regulations for those who labor in the community and in hermitage 17. St. Basil the Great. Rules, summarized, in questions and answers 21; 306. St. Mark the Ascetic. Instructions of Saint Mark, extracted from his other words 21. The Monk Nicodemus here refers to the editions of the book “The Ladder” preserved in manuscripts with the so-called scholia of the holy fathers, which are collections of quotations on a corresponding topic. – Note. lane See: The Repentant Trainee... See: Rev. John Cassian the Roman. Fighting the Eight Major Passions 56. St. Anastasius Sinaite, Patriarch of Antioch. Answers to questions from different people about different subjects 8. See: Rev. Gregory Sinait. His other chapters. See: St. Basil the Great. Rules summarized in questions and answers 309. About baptism 2, 3. St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Answers to some questions proposed to him by the bishop 14; 15. Answers of John, Bishop of Cytra, to Constantine Cabasiles, Archbishop of Dyrrachium 28. Canonical questions from His Holiness Patriarch Mark of Alexandria and answers to them from His Holiness Patriarch Theodore Balsamon of Antioch 10. See: Rev. John of Sinai. Stairs 15, 30. Wed: St. John Chrysostom. Discourses on First Epistle to the Corinthians 16, 4. See: Bl. Theophylact of Bulgaria. Interpretation of the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Corinthians (6, 9). St. John Chrysostom. Discourses on 1 Thessalonians 5:3. See: St. Athanasius the Great. Message to Ammun, monk. Konstantin Armenopul. An abbreviated summary of the divine and sacred rules 5, 1. See: St. Nikephoros, Patriarch of Constantinople. Rules 44, 45. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word for Epiphany. See: St. Nikephoros, Patriarch of Constantinople. Rules 45. See: Code of Byzantine historians. 23 t. Ed. 2nd. Venice, 1729–1733. (In Latin and Greek) T. 11. See: Peter Hartophilax. The answers are canonical 2. See: Archim. Spiridon Milyas. A new and richest collection of holy cathedrals of the Holy Catholic Church. 2 vols. Paris (Venice?), 1761–1762. (In Greek) St. Basil the Great. About baptism II, 9. That is, for robbers and robbers. – Note. lane St. John Chrysostom. Conversations about statues 8, 4. St. John Chrysostom. Catechetical words 1, 5. The collection of civil laws compiled by Constantine Armenopoulus contains in general: “Witnesses, before giving evidence, must take an oath” (Constantine Armenopoulus. Hexateuch 1, 6). – Note. lane See the interpretations of Theodore Balsamon and John Zonaras on the 36th rule of the Council of Laodicea, located in the Book of Rules. Theodore Balsamon, Patriarch of Antioch. Canonical answers 12. Wed: St. Isidore Pelusiot. Letter 537, to Committee Hermias. Answers of John, Bishop of Cythra, to Constantine Cabasiles, Archbishop of Dyrrachium 31. Theodore Balsamon, Patriarch of Antioch. Canonical answers 47. This word, previously attributed to Basil the Great, is considered to be the work of another author. – Note. lane See: Archim. Spiridon Milyas. A new and richest collection of holy cathedrals of the Holy Catholic Church... That is, to get married. – Note. lane See: Manuel Charitopulus, Patriarch of Constantinople. Solutions to some issues. Theodore Balsamon, Patriarch of Antioch. Canonical answers 62. Apostolic Constitutions 5, 20. Sschmch. Ignatius the God-Bearer. Philippians 13. (This epistle is considered inauthentic. - Note per.) St. John of Sinai. Ladder 7, 22. Georgy Pakhimer. Paraphrase of the holy martyr Dionysius the Areopagite. St. John Chrysostom. Book about virginity 7. See: Zosim. New history 5, 23. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 26, 207. St. John Chrysostom. Interview about Psalms 28:2. St. John Chrysostom. Interpretation of Psalm 119. (This work is considered to belong to another author. - Note per.) Dositheus, Patriarch of Jerusalem. History of the Patriarchs of Jerusalem.. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 4, 11. St. John Chrysostom. Conversation about how it is dangerous to speak to people with obsequiousness 2. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 4, 12. St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Answers to some questions proposed to him by the bishop 20. Political theater. Leipzig, 1758. (In Greek) This book is a translation of Ambrogio Marliani's book of the same title (published in London in 1684), by Nicholas Mavrocordatus. St. John Chrysostom. Discourses on Second Corinthians 14:3. See: Rev. John of Sinai. Ladder 5, 26. St. John of Sinai. A special word to the shepherd 12:8. Wed: St. Mark the Ascetic. To those who think to be justified by works 152-155. St. John of Sinai. Ladder 28, 58. St. John Chrysostom. Commentary on the prophet Isaiah 69, 8. St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 46. St. John Chrysostom. Interviews on Psalms 5, 6. See: St. Simeon of Thessalonica. Conversation about sacred rites and church sacraments. About confession and repentance 2. St. Basil the Great. Conversations on Psalms 2, 2. Evagrius of Pontus. Mirror of monks and nuns 1, 54. St. Abba Isaiah. Chapters on asceticism and silence 6. See: Charter of St. Athanasius of Athos. See: Evergetinos I, 5, E. See the life of St. Martinian of Caesarea (his feast day is February 13/26). St. Athanasius the Great. A book about definitions. (This work is considered to belong to another author. - Note per.) St. Cyril of Alexandria. Interpretation of the prophet Isaiah (Is.65:15). Bl. Theodoret of Cyrus. Interpretation of the prophet Isaiah (Is.65:15). Sschmch. Ignatius the God-Bearer. Epistle to the Magnesians 10. Sschmch. Ignatius the God-Bearer. Romans 3. St. Gregory of Nyssa. To Armonius about what the title “Christian” means. St. Gregory of Nyssa. Message to Olympius about perfection. Presbyter John Litinos. True guidance in the Christian moral life. Padua, 1774. (In Greek) St. Basil the Great. Discourses 14 (On the drunken). St. Gregory the Theologian. Thoughts written in quatrains 12. See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words 91. Am.3:6. See: Basil the Great. Conversations 9. (About the fact that God is not the author of evil.) Presbyter John Litinos. True guidance in the Christian moral life... Sschmch. Ignatius the God-Bearer. Romans 6; 7; 8. See: Sschmch. Ignatius the God-Bearer. Ephesians 7. See: St. Gregory Palamas. To the all-honorable Ksenia among nuns. St. Mark the Ascetic. Ascetic words 3. Hieromonk Vissarion Makris. Detailed Orthodox confession. Bucharest, 1699. (In Greek) St. Gregory Palamas. Homilies 61, 1. St. Mark the Ascetic. To those who think to be justified by works 122. These words do not belong to Gregory of Nyssa, but to Asterius of Amasia. See: Asterius, Bishop of Amasia. A word of exhortation about repentance 11. – Note. lane St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words 55. See: Rev. John of Sinai. Ladder 5, 2 – 25.