Theological and moral words

The collection “Theological and Moral Words” consists of 3 theological and 15 moral words by St. Simeon the New Theologian. Theological words are united by the theme of the unity of the Holy Trinity. The treatises were written on the occasion of an exegetical dispute about the words of Christ “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). St. Simeon reflects on the nature of the Divinity, the trinity, the relationships of the Persons of the Holy Trinity and the ways of knowing God. He emphasizes the absolute incomprehensibility of the nature of God, criticizes attempts to hierarchically divide the Persons of the Holy Trinity, since each hypostasis is equal and co-eternal. The unity of the Holy Trinity is proven by quotations from the Holy Scriptures, as well as by analogy with the three-component nature of the human soul. The author expounds the doctrine of God as light, of which man can become a partaker. He writes about the importance of repentance and humility. Only by acquiring a state of pure heart and spiritual purity can a person achieve true knowledge of God. St. Simeon describes his spiritual experience and says that not everyone can theologize, but only those who have been rewarded with the contemplation of God and the visitation of the grace of the Holy Spirit. True knowledge of God is achieved primarily through experience and practice. The compiler of the collection of moral words (“Book of Ethics” or “Book of Moral Discourses”) and the author of the title is probably St. Nikita Stifat. The topics of the treatises are varied and touch upon a wide range of theological, moral and ascetic topics: the history of the Fall and the subsequent renewal of man, the ancestors Adam and Eve, their descendants, the history of God's chosen people, the redemption of humanity by Christ (the New Adam), the Church as a new paradise, dispassion, love of God, repentance, vision of God and knowledge of God. This publication presents a translation from ancient Greek made by priest. Maxim Mikhailov. A collection of three theological and fifteen moral words of St. Simeon the New Theologian (early 11th century), compiled by his disciple, St. Nikita Stifat, covers a wide range of issues from the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and soteriology to liturgics, asceticism and anthropology. It is published for the first time in translation from ancient Greek into Russian. Each generation of believers reads anew and assimilates the wealth of Church Tradition hidden in the patristic works. During periods of upsurge in spiritual life, interest in these divinely inspired creations is not limited to what already exists, but seeks more. More correct versions of the text are being sought, new translations are being made, collections and multi-volume series are being compiled and published. The Orthodox Pererva Theological Seminary makes its contribution to this church-wide cause and offers the pious reader a translation from ancient Greek of “Theological and Moral Words” by St. Simeon the New Theologian. The body of three theological and fifteen moral Words of St. Simeon is an internally integral work, compiled according to a specific plan. From fundamental dogmatic questions, the author gradually moves on to the teaching about the Providence of God, the economy of salvation of the human race, reveals issues of cosmology, anthropology, talks about the essence of the Christian feat and about future reward. In his characteristic polemical manner, the Monk Simeon addresses his contemporaries, and through them, to us. While admonishing people, sometimes erring or of little faith, he never ceases to see in them his beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. In addition to dogmatic and ascetic questions, “Theological and Moral Words” by St. Simeon the New Theologian provides abundant material on the Orthodox exegesis of the Holy Scriptures of the early 11th century, a period little studied by patrolologists and historians of biblical hermeneutics. Perhaps the modern Russian reader will find the way of quoting the Holy Scriptures used by St. Simeon the New Theologian unusual. In almost half of the cases, he gives biblical quotes in a free paraphrase, adapting them to his thoughts, inserting his own brief explanations inside the quotes and arbitrarily combining together the thoughts of different sacred authors. At the same time, Saint Simeon quotes the Old Testament, naturally, according to the Septuagint, and the New Testament according to one of the variants of the Byzantine type text. Following the nuances of the author's text, the present Russian translation either approaches the Russian Synodal, or gives preference to the translation of Bishop Cassian (Bezobrazov), and in quotations from the Old Testament follows the translation of P.A. Yungerov 1, going back to the Septuagint. All cases of paraphrase are left in the Russian translation in the form of a free paraphrase, with or without quotation marks, but everywhere with an exact indication of the source in the references. This translation of “Theological and Moral Words” is based on a critical edition of the original text in the series Sources chrétiennes 2, which is based on two Greek manuscripts of the 11th century, that is, practically contemporary with the Monk Simeon himself, as well as more than ten manuscripts of the 13th–14th centuries. These lines are unworthy of the Reverend Father, but testify to our faith in him. who did not receive the new tablets on the mountain, mysterious and all-honest, but from heaven from the hand of the Creator and the Lord Himself. You give everyone help in salvation, opening your experience with depth of knowledge in your saving and wise books, Father, For many, completely incomprehensible. They oblige us to honor your face mentor in the dogmas given by God, the doctrine of which you have clearly set forth for those who is not turned away from contemplation by envy and wants to know. You yourself are scorched by coal 3 you are trisian 4, having purified the soul, word, mind and thoughts, You shine for others too, admonishing with words. the evil ones are scorched and burned, and to the good ones, who joyfully listen to your writings, give the light of enlightenment and save. Who can search your writings? Who can perceive their greatness: inexplicable spiritual depths and beauty, and also explanations of dogmas and the power of thoughts? Who can comprehend their sacred meaning? Only the one who has acquired the gift of silence overcome by the vastness of words and difficulty. Iambic verses of St. Nikita Stifat, God's most beloved servant and teacher holy and great Church of God Theological Word 1st (against those who claim that the Father is before [the Son]) To broadcast and rant about God, to find out about Him, to make public the unspeakable and to talk freely about what is incomprehensible to everyone as if it were completely accessible is a sign of a daring and self-confident soul. Suffer from this not only those who dare to say something of themselves about God, but also those who borrow from the ancient inspired theologians what they said against heretics and examine what they wrote, but not in order to receive benefit and spiritual fruit, but in order to surprise those listening at feasts and meetings and be known as theologians. The latter especially saddens me and makes me exhausted when I think about their dangerous undertaking and the judgment prepared for them for their insolence. What do they say, encroaching on the Divine! In their opinion, the Father is greater than the Son only because he is the reason for His existence. And answering the question: “Why do you think that the Father is greater than the Son?” - they say: “The Father is therefore greater than the Son, meaning “before” that the Son is from the Father.” This is the new idle talk and unreasonable theology of those who do not know the reason why theologians spoke so against heretics. Unable to understand the meaning of what is written, they aim at the white light as if it were a penny and claim that it should be understood exactly as they say. We will answer such people, as we should, not on our own, but according to the secret direction of the One who teaches man reason 6 and obeying the beck of the Spirit from above. If the All-Holy Trinity, who created everything from nothing, always was, is and will be indivisible, then who taught you, O you who say such things, who could come up with these measures and degrees for Her, first and second, greater and lesser? Who explained these hidden, unknown, completely inexplicable and incomprehensible questions? The hypostases, which are always connected and always remain the same, cannot be one before the other. If you want to say that the Father is before the Son, since He is born of Him, and that the Father for the same reason is greater than the Son, then I will tell you that the Son is before the Father: after all, if He had not been born, the Father would not be called Father. If you unconditionally place the Father before the Son and call the Father first as the cause of the birth of the Son, then I, on the contrary, affirm that the cause is the Son. From your words it is clear that the Son did not exist before He was born, that He was born either of His own will or not of His own, at the will or not of the Father, that the Son knew about His own birth and how He was born, or does not know it at all. Do you see into what absurdities, not to say blasphemy, we fall into as a result of such reasoning? So, either you stop saying that the Father is before the Son, and then we will agree with you that the Father is the cause of the Son; or, if you say that the Father is before the Son, then we, having confirmed our words, as at the trial 7, will refuse to call the Father the cause. Since, as has already been said, [Hypostases] that are always united and always remain unchanged cannot be the cause of existence for each other. You should not imagine that the Father was once without the Son, and do not call Him first or greater than the Son. Because the first can be called the one from whom someone was born, or something happened, or was created. And He Who did not precede in being and never existed without His co-eternal and co-originating Son, but wholly abides in the Son who is equal to Himself, just as the Son wholly abides in the Father who is consubstantial with Himself, how can he be called first in relation to the co-eternal Son? If you call the Father the cause of the Son, then I am talking about the same thing, as long as you do not mean by this the idea that God the Father was once alone when there was no Son, and that the Father later begat Him, becoming the cause of the existence of the Son. Such thoughts lead you far from God and from the truth, as a blasphemer, and put you on a par with those wicked people who say that the Son was created by the Father. Even to think about this is a very godless and wicked thing. In bodily birth we say that the father is the cause of the son. And regarding the Divine and super-existent being, unborn birth, unfounded foundation (ἀνυποστάτου ὑποστάσεως), super-essential essence, and I don’t know how else to say it, the one who says “first” will necessarily have to say both “second” and “third”, whereas in talking about Such an emphasis is completely inappropriate for the All-Holy Trinity. It is frivolous and dangerous to measure the immeasurable, to count the incalculable, and to express the inexpressible. Therefore, regarding the ineffable and Divine birth of God the Word, we say that the Father is the cause of the Son, just as the mind is the cause of the word, the source of the stream, and the root of its branches. But we cannot name the Father first, so as not to multiply the number, dividing the one and indivisible Deity into three Gods. For of the indivisible and unfused Trinity it is impossible to think or say either “first”, “second”, “third”, “greater”, or “lesser”. That which concerns the Divine and super-essential nature, perfect inexplicably and inexpressibly, incomprehensible and inaccessible to the human mind. But if you still want to talk about this topic in order to better understand how incomprehensible God is, who created everything out of nothing, then take for example the Spirit, if it is only permissible to theologize about Him separately, [called the Spirit] of the Son and Father 8, and you will see how closely the co-eternal and consubstantial Hypostases are united with each other. Look how incomprehensible to us humans are the properties of the Divine nature. Scripture says that “God is Spirit” 9 and again: “The Lord is Spirit” 10. So, if God [the Father] is Spirit, and the Lord [Jesus Christ] is Spirit, then where is that fatherhood and sonship, on the basis of which you, the new theologian 11, propose to distinguish the first and greater in the Divine and incomprehensible Nature 12? The Apostle John, while theological, said that “in the beginning was the Word,” 13 and not the Father. And you, who with your own understanding are initiated into the mysteries of Jesus deeper than John himself, apparently propose to us and the whole world to consider the Father first, the Son second, and the Holy Spirit third, preaching to us some other Gospel 14, as if you are a second theologian, superior to the first and standing closer to the Son of God? What blasphemy! Tell us, you insidiously preaching the dogma of tritheism, why the Theologian reclining on Christ’s chest did not say: “In the beginning was the Father,” but: “In the beginning was the Word”? And why did he not say: “In the beginning was the Son,” but the Word? Is it not to teach us that before the descent and incarnation of God the Word, no one knew Him as the Son, and God as the Father? Not because the Deity who created everything was not trinitarian, but because the mystery of the economy [of Christ] was not yet known. And after the incarnation of God the Word, God the Father became known to us believers as the Father, and the Word of God incarnate for our sake became known as the Son of God, about whom the Father Himself said: “This is My Beloved Son; Listen to him" 15. And the Son says: “Righteous Father! and the world did not know You; but I have come to know You” 16, and again: “I have revealed Your name to men” 17, and again: “Father! the hour has come, glorify Your Son, that Your Son also will glorify You” 18, and: “I and the Father are one” 19. So, if even after the incarnation of God the Word the Son and the Father are one, then even more so before the incarnation. Now look more carefully at the above words of the Savior: “I and the Father are one.” Why did He put Himself before the Father? To show His complete equality with the Father and one glory with Him, so that neither the Father is first, although He is the cause of the Son, nor the Son can be called second, although He is from the Father, nor the Holy Spirit third, although He comes from the Father. For if the Trinity is initially one and Its unity relates to the Trinity Hypostases, then this unity cannot be before itself, just as it cannot be before the Hypostases united in it. In this unity, one Hypostasis does not exist before the other, as a result of which it could be called first in relation to what came from it. The One Trinity is one Divinity, and It is called the Trinity precisely because It has three Persons, or three Hypostases. God is called one Trinity for the reason that His Hypostases are inseparably divided and unified, and none of them in any way precedes the other: neither the Father - His Son, nor the Son - His Father, nor both of them - the Spirit, so that one of Them becomes first in relation to the other. The Divine Hypostases have a common beginningless beginning and are coeternal. So, the Trinity is one God, ineffable, beginningless, uncreated, incomprehensible, indivisible, about whom we can neither think nor say. But so that through long silence we do not completely forget God and do not become like the atheists in the world, 20 we are allowed to speak about God and about the divine, as far as human nature will intervene, what we learned from the divine apostles and our God-inspired fathers, so that, having become accustomed to constantly remembering God, we glorify His goodness and humane providence for us. We, earth and ashes 21, as if forgetting about who we are, have completely lost our measure, without fear we explore, are curious, invent and compose what is incomprehensible and inexpressible even for the angels and for all the heavenly powers. With a shameless soul, we are clever without fear and talk about God as if we were unbelievers and completely uninitiated into the Mysteries of Christ. Tell me, O man, who so fearlessly explores the Divine nature, do you believe that God is trinitarian, without beginning, uncreated, incomprehensible, unsearchable, invisible, inconceivable by mind and inexpressible by word, and that He has always been the same, has no beginning of days 22, timeless, pre-eternal and always exists? Yes, he says. If you believe that the Holy Trinity is one God, as it really is, and when He wanted, then out of nothing He brought heaven and earth and everything in them into existence, and created all the heavenly powers, and finally created man; and that there is nothing in heaven, on earth and in the underworld that was not created from nothing, but only God, the Creator and Creator of all this, uncreated, without beginning, existing always and first of all, then why do you not fall before the Creator in silence and fear, like all the heavenly powers, but, leaving the investigation of yourself, with a bold and self-confident soul, are you curious about His incomprehensible nature? Aren't you afraid that He, bending down from on high, will burn you to ashes with fire? If the one Trinitarian God is uncreated, without beginning, was always and first of all, and everything else, visible and invisible, corporeal and incorporeal, known and unknown to us, was produced by the one Divinity of the consubstantial and indivisible Trinity, then how, tell me, will the created be able to generally know the Creator, having come into the existence of the One who always exists, created - the Uncreated and subsequently receiving existence - the Beginning, so that understand when, why and how He was born? Of course, they will not be able to understand, unless the Creator Himself, Who gives breath 23 and life, soul, mind and word to every person, kindly grants them to know Himself, to the extent that this will be useful to them. In what other way, tell me, can God’s creation know its Creator? This is completely impossible and not accessible to anyone. But He Himself gives us, believers, that measure of knowledge that corresponds to the measure of our faith in Him, so that this knowledge strengthens faith devoid of knowledge, and so that the one who is taught through the word and believes that God exists is confirmed by this knowledge in God, in whom he believed thanks to the word of preaching. Believers receive this knowledge through various signs, hints, dim mirrors 24, through mysterious and ineffable energies, Divine revelations, unclear insights, through contemplation of the logoi of creation and much more, thanks to which their faith increases daily and love for God is achieved. And not only this, but God certifies them, as before the apostles, by the descent and manifestation of the Holy Spirit; they are becoming more and more enlightened, and the Light teaches them how ineffable and inscrutable God is, uncreated and eternal, timeless and incomprehensible. For to all knowledge and experience, the word of wisdom and mysterious knowledge, 25 the working of miracles and the grace of prophecy, diversities of tongues and the interpretation of tongues, 26 the gifts of help and government 27 of cities and people, the comprehension of future blessings, the art of attaining the kingdom of heaven, adoption as sons [to God] and how to put on Christ, the knowledge of the sacraments of Christ and His dispensation for us. and everything in general that non-believers do not know, but we, who have been honored to become believers, can know, understand and discuss, we learn only through the Holy Spirit. Through these and similar [graceful gifts] we learn and are convinced that He is God, who created everything, who also created us, taking dust from the earth, who gave us mind, word and a rational soul, who created us in His image and likeness 28 and drove away from us the darkness of ignorance. He deigned our nature to become, as it were, a vague reflection of the supernatural, in order to show it to us, at least as a shadow, thanks to which we know, see, and believe. Our mind, soul and innate word 29 were produced immediately with the creation of the body. After all, the words “God created man, taking dust from the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and he became a living soul” 30 show that our mind and word were created simultaneously with the soul, so that none of these three elements existed before the other, since they are one and given to us in one breath of life. If in these three, constituting one essence and nature, there was no first and last, and one did not exist before the other, then in the Holy, Consubstantial and Consubstantial Trinity one Hypostasis did not exist before the other. The Creator of His icon - man, being trinitarian, never had in Himself one before the other, but there are always three, one God, and also one three. Confessing this truth, we believe and testify to all others who do not consider it daring to discuss and investigate questions concerning God, that God is tripartite, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity, into which we were baptized. We are convinced of this by the blessings and gifts of the Spirit poured out on us, the sacred customs of the Church, and the Gospels themselves. But what the Trinity is, or when, or what it is, or where it comes from, having created everything, we, the created ones, do not know. If we do not know, as we did not know, then how many lightning strikes are we worthy of, speaking about what we do not know? How can we, visible and created, corruptible, sensory, blind and unenlightened, know that which does not at all belong to the circle of created things, whether visible or invisible? In addition, between us and God there is like a wall of our sins, which separates us from God. And if we do not destroy this wall or get over it through repentance, then not only will we not be able to know God, but we will also not know ourselves, what kind of people we are. Because while this barrier stands and separates us from the light, how can we, wandering in the darkness, truly know ourselves, who we are and what we are, where and where we are being carried, where we are going and whose we are? If we do not know ourselves, then much less Him who is incomparably higher than us. If we were not ignorant of ourselves, we would not dare to talk about God. For the very fact that we, being unenlightened and deprived of the Holy Spirit, talk about God and about Divine things, indicates that we do not know ourselves. This is true. If we knew ourselves exactly, we would never consider ourselves worthy to lift our eyes to heaven and look at the light of this world or even to walk on this earth, but would prefer to bury ourselves deep in the earth. Who is more unclean, tell me, than the one who, with conceit and pride, undertakes to teach about the Spirit, without having the Spirit? Who is more disgusting than the one who has not repented and has not previously cleansed himself, but, neglecting this, wants to theologize with the help of only false knowledge and external wisdom and impudently talk about essences, and about unchangeable essences? Such a person, even if he has not sinned in anything else, which is impossible, for this alone he falls under eternal condemnation, since “every one who is proud in heart is unclean before the Lord” 31 . Some of them fall into such madness that they say and even think about themselves that they have not sinned. Oh, crazy! No one is sinless, there is only one God. And the divine apostle says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace” 32 . If, according to the word of God, no one is sinless except God alone 33, and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” then he who says about himself that he has not sinned, because he does not know [his sins], makes himself equal to God and is likened to the one who said: “I will rise above the clouds, I will be like the Most High” 34. If you admit that you have sinned, then show me your pure confession about the sins you have committed, sincere faith in your spiritual father, who accepted your thoughts, submission, obedience even in unimportant matters, readiness to serve the least of the brethren, concern for the weak, and, in addition, humility from the soul, an unostentatious, unfeigned and unhypocritical disposition. And if in the depths of your soul you consider yourself lower than everyone else, from which incessant tenderness and joyful tears are born, thanks to which the aspirant’s soul is purified and the mysteries of God are learned, then talk about things Divine and human, and I recognize the power of your words. This is the fruit of repentance and its deeds, which drive away ignorance and at the same time increase knowledge. This knowledge, which I am talking about, first of all relates to us and our deeds, and then to the Divine mysteries that exceed us, which are invisible and unknown to those who do not repent. I mean the secrets of our faith, which no one can acquire until he fulfills everything that has been said, even if he has a complete philosophical education. If he is not enriched with faith, then he will spend all the days of his life in the deepest darkness of ignorance. Although all these secrets are committed to writing and anyone can read about God and about divine things, they are revealed only to those who repent with a warm feeling and have been well cleansed by sincere repentance, and they are revealed to the extent that they succeed in repentance and cleansing. The depths of the Spirit 35 are revealed to them and from them the word of wisdom and knowledge about God 36 flows abundantly, like a wide river drowning the thoughts of opponents. But for all others these mysteries remain unknown and closed 37 , and He who opens the minds of believers does not open their understanding of the Scriptures 38 . And rightly so, because [the Lord Himself] says: “My secret is for Me and Mine” 39 . Therefore, these people imagine themselves to be seeing without seeing, and hearing without hearing anything, and understanding - being unreasonable, not having the strength to grasp the meaning of what they read. And just as every non-believer thinks that he is wise, without understanding anything, and believes that he knows something, without knowing anything at all - and if he knows, he knows crookedly, which is even worse than any ignorance, so, I think, it happens with such people. Calling themselves wise, they have actually become foolish 40 and, like those who have lost their temper and gone mad, they spend their miserable days, knowing nothing about the Sacraments of Christ, which was to be expected. May the God of Israel deliver us from their conceit and pride and enable us to become imitators of His humility. Anyone who deviates from this path of blessed humility and goes either to the right or to the left, not wanting to follow the footsteps of the Lord and God Jesus Christ, how can he enter with Him into His bridal chamber? And whoever does not enter this palace, how will he see His glory? Who does not see this glory, how can he tell others about it and what surrounds it? And how dare he talk about something he doesn’t know and has never seen? If he undertakes to teach about such great things, is there anyone more unreasonable than such a person? Will he not be more reckless than four-legged cattle and worse than them? We see that all animals observe the order of their nature and none of them violates the laws given to them. But man, created by the hands of God, endowed by Him with reason and autocracy, abused the honor bestowed upon him, did not recognize his weakness, did not retain those benefits that God determined for his nature, did not stand within his limits and did not understand his measure. Just as the star and like Adam after him, one an angel and the other a man, rebelled against the Creator and wished to become gods, so, I think, this one, who transgressed the limits of his nature, desired this and dreamed of what was higher than him, did not want to ascend to the height of spiritual knowledge through humility and a Christ-like life, but followed the path of pride and exaltation. False knowledge 41 became for him those bricks 42 that he collected from everywhere and burned in the fire of diligent research, with love of glory and man-pleasing he built something out of them, thinking that he had already created a tower 43 of theology and spiritual knowledge. Dreaming of himself that he is already under the heavens, in the heavens, or even above them, he imagines himself talking with the Creator of heaven and earth and everything that is in them. Would anyone call such a dreamer a man, or even sane, or at least equal to cattle? For if the first man, created in the image of God 44 and awarded equal angelic and immortal life, for the transgression of God’s commandment alone was justly deprived of not only his angelic presence, but also eternal life, being condemned to death, corruption and damnation, then what punishment will all those born of him and bearing the image of the earthy 45 suffer for the fact that they undertake to theologize as unclean? Tell me, you who strive not to study, but to teach about God and the divine: have you already ascended from hell to earth and how did you do it? What did you rely on and what path did you take, who helped and supported you during your ascent? How were you, shackled by death and still dead, emitting a stench and swarming with decay, able to come to life, be stronger than death and escape its hands? Then explain to us how, having risen from hell and ascended to earth, you got rid of corruption and were freed from damnation. Next, teach us how and by what steps you rose from the earth, with what wings you flew to the heavens, on what chariot you ascended, in the body or outside the body 46 you rose above the heavens, and in what cloud you disappeared. Show and teach us all this, and then we will accept you when you speak about God according to your measure, with fear and trembling. If, without all of the above, which is always mysteriously accomplished in those who have grown to become a perfect man and have reached the measure of the full stature of Christ, 47 and before you have fulfilled everything commanded by God, you boldly undertake to teach, then we will treat you as frantic, insane and enraged. After all, Elijah was not caught up into heaven with his body alone, but in a chariot of fire, 48 and our Lord and God ascended not just, but in the cloud 49 of the Spirit that took Him. Of course, the Lord could have transported Elijah from earth to heaven without a chariot appearing to him, like Enoch 50, and the Lord Himself had the opportunity to ascend to heaven without a cloud and the angels accompanying Him, but He did not do this. Why? To teach us that our mind also needs someone who will take it to heaven, show it the spectacles there and reveal to it the secrets of God. For just as a bird cannot fly high without wings, so a person’s mind cannot ascend to that from which it has previously fallen, unless it finds someone who will go before it and guide it. Or the Master does this in order to certify by his very deed the ascension to heaven of the slave and His own Ascension and to teach us not to be deceived by mere words and not to believe every person who calls himself spiritual, but to first make sure of his life and deeds. In particular, one should check whether the words and deeds of such a person are consistent with the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, His apostles and holy fathers, and then accept him and obey his words as Christ Himself. If this is not the case, then even if he raised the dead and showed thousands of other miracles, we should turn away from him as a demon and not give him a chance, and even more so if we see that he does not accept admonition and does not want to abandon his own wisdom, but persists in delusion and imagines himself to be living in heaven 51 . Thus, guided by the inspired teaching of the apostles of Christ and our great fathers, let us reject the idle talk of those who spend their time in nothing else so willingly 52 as in being curious and finding out what is incomprehensible to angels. Let us keep the confession 53 of our faith, originally received from the fathers, whole and unharmed, namely, faith in one Divinity in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the unfused and indivisible Trinity, into which we were baptized, through which we live, and we know, and we think, on which we depend, and will depend forever and ever, as in Her we have found both being and well-being, Who with Her wisdom created everything out of nothing. Together with the Trinity, let us move from these things to the quiet havens of immaculate life, where the dwelling place of all who rejoice 54 and the abode of those who celebrate in the Spirit. To Her belongs all glory, honor and worship, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Theological word 2nd (against those who undertake to theologize without having the Spirit) He who has received from above the gift of always carrying praise to God in his mouth 55 , who opens his mouth and attracts the Spirit of life 56 , will hourly try to succeed in this work in order to more abundantly receive into himself the word of life, which is the bread that comes down from heaven 57 , about which it is said: “Open your mouth, and I will fill it” 58 . Such a person, who has been honored to be born of God 59, having once and for all minted and as if imprinted in the sovereign soul 60 the thought of God, receives the ability to always have this memory of God in his soul. He can, according to the apostolic commandment, always rejoice, pray unceasingly, give thanks for everything 61, do everything for the glory of God, whether he eats or drinks 62, namely, by eating daily and being strengthened by the bread of life 63. Such a person, when he sleeps, his heart is vigilant, 64 and when he is awake, he is never separated from God in any way. In confirmation of this, the apostle says: “He who is united with a wife is one body with her, and he who is united with the Lord is one spirit with the Lord” 65 . “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.”66 Therefore, one who has been spiritually united with God in such a way that he has become one spirit with Him cannot sin. John the Theologian says: “For this reason the Son of God appeared, to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; “Everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him” 67. And again: “Whoever is born of God commits no sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" 68 . So, if everyone who sins has not seen God and has not known Him, and he who is born of God does not commit sin, having become His child, then I can only be surprised at those people who, having not yet been born of God and not becoming His children, are not afraid to theologize and talk about God. Therefore, when I hear how one of them philosophizes and, not yet having purity, theologizes about divine and incomprehensible subjects, talks about God and explains things related to Him without instruction from the Spirit, then my spirit trembles and I seem to lose my temper, reflecting on the incomprehensibility of the Divine and that, knowing neither ourselves nor what is under our feet, we fearlessly and boldly strive to philosophize about unattainable God. Without the Spirit within us, who enlightens and instructs in such matters, we sin by the very fact that we speak about God. If even to know oneself is very difficult for every person - only a few philosophize about this, and there are very few such people in our time and among this kind, where the love of philosophy has faded under the powerful pressure and contrary wind of the negligence and worldly cares that have taken hold of us, and where people exchange the eternal for worthless and unimportant or not at all necessary, constantly moving from one to another, unable to stop at anything - then it is all the more difficult to know God, and besides, it is completely reckless and unreasonable to explore the Divine nature and essence. Why do you people, having stopped correcting yourselves, investigate God and divine questions? We must first pass from death into life, 69 that is, to accept into ourselves from above the seed of the living God and be born of Him in order to become His children, to attract the Holy Spirit into our inward beings 70, and then, having been enlightened, speak about God to the extent that we are enlightened by God. Now, since you want to theologize exactly as we said, believe in one God, who did not come from someone else (because no one was older than Him), who did not create Himself, as some especially foolish people have suggested (for what is not cannot be born by itself), in the One who always exists, before all else, and eternally remains one God in three Persons. For none of those who rightly care about the truth will call Him non-hypostatic, Who is hypostatic and trinitarian, but from what is around Him, receiving knowledge about Himself, will worship the one Divinity in three consubstantial Persons. If the image of God were not obscured and darkened by passions, then man would first of all be able to recognize himself, that he had received from God a living and hypostatic soul; Moreover, this soul, together with its inherent mind and word, is tripartite. And thus, from his dispensation, a person with a wise and enlightened mind comprehends God. His thought is guided by the Spirit guiding from above and comprehends that God the Father, who created everything out of nothing with His Word, containing everything and possessing everything with the power of His Spirit, outside of time and eternally gives birth to a consubstantial Son, in no way separated from Him, along with Whom the Divine Spirit, consubstantial with the Son, proceeds from the consubstantial Father. He who thinks so correctly about God and so confesses Him, thereby proves that he himself was created in the image of his Creator, that he bears a verbal, rational and immortal soul, created by the consubstantial and hypostatic Mind and Word. If anyone thinks differently, he condemns himself as completely unreasonable and dumb. Having fallen from the Divine properties, where will he take another example in order to become like the Creator? If he rightly recognizes himself as having these properties, and recklessly deprives his Creator of them, then such a person is no different from the pagans, and even, I’m afraid to say, worse than cattle, reptiles and beasts. But I believe that just as the soul did not exist before the mind, and the mind did not exist before the word born from it, but they together received being from God; and just as the mind generates the word and reveals through it the desire of the soul, so God the Father does not exist before the Son and the Spirit. But just as the mind abides in the soul and has the word with it, in the same way God the Father abides entirely in the Holy Spirit and has in Himself the entire begotten Word of God. Just as the mind and the word cannot exist without the soul, so it is impossible to name the Son with the Father without the Holy Spirit. Can a living God ever exist without life? And Life is the Holy Spirit 71 and the Spirit gives life 72 . Therefore confess the Father, who is not prior to the Begotten; and the Son, who was not born or appeared after; and the Holy Spirit, Who proceeds, but at the same time is co-eternal and consubstantial with the Father along with the Son. Render worship to the whole Holy Spirit, wholly abiding in the co-original Father, and the whole Father, wholly abiding in the co-eternal Son, and the whole Son, wholly abiding in the Father and the Spirit - the one, trinitarian, coeternal and consubstantial, indivisible and unfused Essence and Nature as the one beginning for all and the one God, the Creator of all things. And so that from what is in you, you learn the knowledge of what is above you, and do not forget the image with which God honored you, remember that in all your inherent mind the whole word is present, and in both there is a spirit or soul, inseparably, unfused. This is the image that was given to us from above, in order to become like God the Father and bear within ourselves the image of the One who produced and created us. Thanks to this image, when we bow to any person, we give him a single honor as having a mind, an animate and a verbal one, without dividing or singling out any one thing from these three, since they are inseparable and unfused in him. We bow to him and pay respect to him as one person, and not as three, because he has the same image as the Creator. Reflecting on these Divine properties and from them moving your thoughts to God, who gave you these properties, piously worship the Holy, Consubstantial and Co-originating Trinity as the one God and see with what blessings God has honored you, creating you in His image and glorifying you with His own traits. We confess that the Holy Trinity, the Father with the Son and the Spirit, is equal in honor, consubstantial and consensual, as one principle, power and dominion. The mind, word and soul inherent in you are just as equal, one-honest and one in essence, as having one essence and nature. This is the honor given to us by God at creation, so that we, created and born by Him, would know and honor God as our Father and Creator. Therefore, if a person lacks one of these three components, then he cannot be a person. If you subtract the mind, then you will take away the word along with it, and the person will become insane and speechless. If you leave without a soul, then along with it you will be deprived of your mind and words. If you take away just one innate word, you will make the whole nature motionless. For a mind that does not utter a word itself cannot receive a word from another. How can he hear if he himself has become numb and lost the abilities of his nature? For example, we all naturally know how to breathe, and the breath itself moves within us, and if it is interrupted, we will die. In the same way, the mind naturally has within itself a verbal power, thanks to which it gives birth to words. And if he is deprived of the natural ability to give birth to a word, as if it were cut off and the mind was separated from the word inherent in it, then the mind is mortified and becomes good for nothing. To speak more clearly, I will give an example from ordinary life, the image of a woman suffering in childbirth. How does it happen that a woman who has conceived a child, if she gives birth before the due date, then she herself dies with the fetus. In the same way, our mind, which has received from God the natural ability to always give birth to a word, is inseparably connected within itself with this word. So if you take away the word, then along with it you will also take away the mind that gives birth to it. Now, if you wish, turn your thoughts to the prototypes and you will understand that in the same way, if someone rejects the Son of God, he also rejects Him who gives birth to Him 73 . But whoever rejects the Father and the Son will not reject the Holy Spirit along with Them, even if he does not want to? Whoever calls one of Them greater, and the other less, has not yet extracted the head of his mind from the depths of passions in order to become able to see with intelligent eyes and thoroughly know himself, and from here to learn that just as the mind is not more than the soul, the soul is the mind, and the word is not more and not less than both of them, so the Father is not more than the Son, the Son is the Father, and the Holy Spirit is not more and not less than Them, co-originating and equal in honor. One cannot even imagine “more” or “less” about the Holy and Equal Trinity. Understand, O man, that which is above you from that which is in yourself, since you have received the image of God. The gift of speech has placed you above all other creatures over which you rule and reign. Know, then, that just as the human mind is known through the word - for it is good to always and for a long time linger on the same words, so that you can purify your feelings and thoroughly recognize the secrets of the Kingdom hidden in you - and the soul is known through the mind and the word, so God the Father made Himself known and is known by us, believers, through the only begotten Son and His Word, and the Holy Spirit through His co-eternal Father and Son. When the mind gives birth to a word, either by pronouncing it aloud or depicting it in writing, then the desire of the soul becomes known to the listeners, since it is common to them, so that the mind, the word and the soul do not merge into one and are not divided into three, but all three together and each separately are thought and contemplated in a single essence and a single will. In the same way, understand and piously confess regarding the Holy, consubstantial and indivisible Trinity. Namely, that the Father inexpressibly gives birth to God the Word, Whom He had in Himself at the beginning of 74 and has after His birth inseparably and ineffably. That the Son is always inseparably born from the Father, co-eternal with Him, never being separated from Him. That the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, being of one nature and united with the Father and the Son, who are consubstantial with Him, together with Whom He receives worship and glorification from every breath. Know that the three of them have one will, since the favor of the Father through the Son is known and revealed in the Holy Spirit to all who are enlightened from above, including us, the humble. Believe in the trinity of Their super-essential essence of the one Divinity and Kingdom - I will repeat the same thing again in order to be sanctified by the reminder of these words. And, believing, clearly and undoubtedly confess with me that the three hypostases united by nature do not merge into one, nor are they divided into three. For in each of Them the other two are mentally contemplated - in one essence, and nature, and glory, and in one will. Believe that this is one God, Creator and Maker of everything visible and invisible. Whoever believes that God is the Creator of everything, that He created from nothing everything that is in heaven, on earth and in the underworld, 75, being himself created by God, does not go beyond the laws determined for him, honoring the One who established them. Rising from the beauty of creations to their Creator, 76 he sings and glorifies Him as the Creator of all things and is not curious about His incomprehensible nature. Such a person knows that he himself is a creation of God, and everything else that has already been said, and about God he knows that He is the Creator of the universe, uncreated, without beginning, incomprehensible, inexplicable, unsearchable, existing always and first of all. For there never was a time when there was no God, because He Himself created the ages and He was before every beginning, so that in Him it is impossible to conceive a beginning and it is impossible to find an end - but He was without beginning, is the Beginning of all, and will forever be unapproachable, invisible, inexplicable, ineffable, incomprehensible for all those created by Him for countless and endless centuries. He was unknown at first to us, who were mistaken regarding many gods, who served creation 77 and worshiped idols, who were earthly and humiliated. And He forgave our ignorance, condescending to our weakness, so that we would know that God is a perfect Trinity, receiving pious worship in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. What is Her essence and what is Her form, how great She is and how Her Faces communicate and unite [with each other], neither people could ever comprehend, nor the highest powers could understand the incomprehensible super-essential Essence. Do not try to give me theological quotations taken from the Holy Scriptures, because even theologians used them only to refute the blasphemies of heretics. Understand one thing that the Divine nature, being unapproachable, is also incomprehensible, and the incomprehensible in any case will be ineffable. It often happens that we cannot even express what we ourselves understand. But can any man or angel explain God, Who is invisible and incomprehensible, even though all inspired Scripture testifies to Him? No one can. Human thought will never be able to comprehend Him Who is incomparable with anything (τὸ μηδὲν ὄν), and will not be able to designate Him by name. All Divine Scripture, through all the thoughts and words contained in it about God, shows only that He exists, but does not say what He is, testifying only to the fact that He always exists and is the Existing 78, God always existing, trinitarian, omnipotent, omniscient, omniscient, creator and organizer of everything, needing nothing, supernatural. We can know Him as much as a person standing at night on the shore of a boundless sea and holding a burning lamp in his hands can see the waters. How much water can he see from the entire endless sea? Quite a bit, or almost nothing. But at the same time, he unmistakably feels that it is water, although he cannot say what it is. He imagines that in front of him is the sea, that it is an endless abyss and that it is impossible to see it all. And although he does not see everything, he guesses about the whole from a small part and makes a conclusion about the infinity of the waters. If you like, let’s give another example that will clarify the subject of the word a little. Suppose that one man, blind from birth, found a source of water, and suppose that he does not know what water is and has never tasted it. And another person explains to him the different properties of water, how beautiful it looks, how it forms lakes, wells and many rivers. And the first one wants to know its properties, what it looks like, what it tastes like, what its quality and quantity are, how it moves, where it comes from and how it penetrates through everything and does not end. What would you answer to that person? I think that even if you had the most insightful and sophisticated mind, even then you would not be able to explain to him anything about the sources, essence and movement of water, nor what its quality and quantity are, and you would not be able to teach it to someone who does not have experience in contact and contemplation of water, even if he tried very hard to do it. If we cannot explain anything about this flowing, visible and tangible substance in words to those who question us, what its properties are and what it consists of, then will any of the angels or saints be able to somehow teach those who are ignorant about God what He is like, who created everything, what His essence and glory are? No one and no way. And the one who has been honored to see God at least a little in the unapproachable glory of His boundless and Divine light in the way that we spoke about above does not require others to teach him. Because he has within himself the whole of God, Who lives in him, moves him, speaks to him and teaches him His innermost secrets, as He Himself said about this: “My secret is for Me and Mine” 79 . It is impossible to see God otherwise than through the exact fulfillment of His commandments, not violating any of them through laziness or negligence, but observing and working in them patiently and diligently. Those “who act according to this rule” 80 “are not far from the Kingdom of God” 81, and, in proportion to their zeal, diligence and joyful labor, sooner or later, to a greater or lesser extent, they will receive a reward - they will see God, become partakers of the Divine nature 82, become gods by adoption and sons of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion. Father and All-Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Theological Word 3 (As the Father is, so is the Son, and as the Son is, so is the Holy Spirit; They are one Spirit 83 - one-honoured, one-essence and one-throne) God, eternally sung and glorified by us: the beginningless Father, His co-beginning Son, the coeternal and consubstantial with the Father and the Son, the All-Holy Spirit - there is one nature, glory and kinship, a consubstantial Trinity, one Divinity, a one-honoured and trinitarian Essence, the beginning of everything, an affirmative and creative Power, one-throne, one-minded, one-powerful, all-powerful Dominion and Kingdom, one God. Sometimes we contemplate Him and believe in Him as a Unit and, accordingly, offer singular worship, sometimes we confess Him as a Trinity and sing trinity in separate Hypostases, having been taught this secret by One of the Persons of the Trinitarian Godhead, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who commanded to baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit 84. The Savior said: “My Father is greater than Me” 85 and also: “I do nothing of Myself” 86, thereby showing that He is different from the Father. And in another place: “I will pray the Father, and He will send you another Comforter, 87 the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, 88,” again showing that the Spirit is another Comforter. With these words, Grace makes us understand that the trinitarian and consubstantial Divinity and Kingdom are one in everything and that His Hypostases have one eternal glory and indivisible unity. So that we know that where the name of God the Son is pronounced, the Father and the Spirit are entirely present; where God the Father is sung, the Son and the Spirit are entirely present; and where the Father and the Son are confessed and glorified, there is the whole Holy Spirit. Having learned from the Spirit that the Persons are consubstantial and of the same honor, that is, the [Trinity] Hypostases are unfused and at the same time inseparable in Our Divine nature, one for all Hypostases, when we turn to God the Father, who brings forth the Spirit through the Word, and raise our hands and eyes to Him, we say: “Our Father who art in heaven” 89 . And when, with the assistance of the Spirit, we offer prayers to the Only Begotten Son of the Father, then we say: “The Only Begotten Son, the coeternal Word of God the Father, One from One, God from God, beginningless from beginningless, constant from constant, eternal from eternal, Light from Light, Life from Life, unapproachable from unapproachable, unknowable from unknowable, ineffable from ineffable, unchangeable from the unchangeable, incomprehensible from the incomprehensible, cleanse our sins.” Invoking the Holy Spirit, we say: “The Holy Spirit, ineffably proceeding from the Father and through the Son to us who believe, appearing, the Spirit of life and understanding, the Spirit of holiness and perfection, the good, wise, loving, sweet, glorious Spirit, quenching both hunger and thirst, merciful, enlightening, strengthening, the Divine Spirit of patience; The Spirit that gives joy, cheerfulness, chastity, wisdom, knowledge, meekness, forgetfulness of malice, carelessness about earthly things, contemplation of heavenly things; driving away despondency, driving out negligence, driving away curiosity and guile; The Spirit who reveals secrets, who betroths to the Kingdom of Heaven, the source of prophecies, the cup of teaching, the destruction of sins, the door of repentance, the Doorkeeper 90, indicating the entrance to those who struggle; The Spirit of love, peace, faith, abstinence, the desired Spirit and arousing desire - come, dwell and abide in us inseparably and inseparably, sanctify, change and enlighten our hearts, as consubstantial and consubstantial with the Son and Father and making those who accept You into gods, destroy all sin and bring with You all the virtues, not collecting them from somewhere outside, but Himself being a manifold Good; for in whom You dwell, he truly has every good thing in himself.” Therefore, we do not divide an indivisible whole and do not sing a song to three Gods instead of one, but in the Father we worship the Son and the Spirit, in the Son - the Spirit and the Father, and in the Spirit - the Father and the Son. We glorify the one nature of the one trinitarian Deity - consubstantial, consubstantial, self-powerful, omnipotent, benevolent, coeternal, co-originating, super-essential, unfused and indivisible. We think of the Trinity not as another, another and another in three different natures, dissecting the unity, dividing the Divinity and unreasonably inclined to alienate Them from each other, but we recognize the Most Holy Trinity as one God, inseparably divided by the Hypostases and inseparably united in the unity of one essence, Who is united in the Hypostases and three in a super-essential unity. It is appropriate to say about Him that He is threefold in Persons, and that He is one in the unity of essence or nature. The Only Begotten Son, showing us how in everything He is one-honoured, consubstantial and of one mind with the consubstantial Father and Spirit, thus tells us: “I and the Father are one” 91 . And in another place, explaining regarding the Spirit that He is no different from this Essence, the Savior said: “The Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father” 92. Just as a stream flows from a spring, or from a source, so from God the Father proceeds God the Spirit, which is why the Lord says: “God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” 93 . If the Father is Spirit, then the Son begotten of Him is also Spirit. The Apostle Paul testifies to this: “The Lord is the Spirit” 94. And although He took on the flesh, He, having deified it, 95 made it spiritual. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, since He comes from the Father and through the Son is given to us, the unworthy. He is sent and given to us not against His will, but through the One of the Trinity, that is, the Son, fulfilling the intentions of the Father as His own desires. For the Holy Trinity is indivisible in nature, essence and will, and according to personal hypostases they are called Father, Son and Holy Spirit, being one God, called Trinity, Who, being above every name 96, word and speech, goes beyond the boundaries of the abilities of mental perception, being incomparable with anything (μηδὲν ὤν). Listen now to how the Holy Scripture calls one thing three. For it is good to repeat the same thing again and again, since such thoughts nourish and delight the one who knows how to enjoy these things divinely, and the word of God sanctifies his spiritual feelings. “God is Spirit,” so is the Son, as has already been said. So, if “God is Spirit” 97 , and “The Lord is Spirit” 98 , and the Spirit is called Lord in Divine Scripture, then God is one Spirit, in three Persons, or Hypostases, cognizable (as the Son said about this 99 ): equivalent, of one mind, of one nature, of one essence. The Persons of the Trinity are called one Spirit in order to eliminate even the slightest suspicion of inequality between Them or any division. And They have names so that through them you learn to distinguish Persons, that is, Hypostases. Having learned this about God and being initiated into this mystery, do not be curious about or seek anything else, but accept it with simple faith and stop there, recognizing and confessing Him as completely incomprehensible. Let us reveal to you one more secret, so that you know this peculiarity of the Divine nature, that God Himself and everything that [belongs] to Him, and that [comes] from Him, and that [is] in Him - all this is one Light, worshiped in each of the Hypostases and contemplated in each of His properties and gifts. “God is light” 100, light immeasurable and incomprehensible. The [properties] belonging to Him, united and inseparably divided by Persons, are light. And if I tell you about Them in order, separating the inseparable, then the Father is Light, the Son is Light and the Holy Spirit is Light 101. They are the one Light, simple, uncomplicated, timeless, coeternal, of one honor and one of one glory. Everything that comes from Him is also light, since it is delivered to us from the Light: life is light, immortality is light, the source of life is light 102, living water 103 is light, love, peace, truth, the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of Heaven itself is light. The bridegroom 104 is light, the bridal chamber, paradise, heavenly pleasure, the land of the meek 105, the crowns of life 106, and the very clothes of the saints are light. Jesus Christ, Savior and King of all – Light; The bread of His most pure Flesh is light, the Cup of His venerable Blood is light; His resurrection is light, His face is light; His hand, finger, mouth are light, His eyes are light. The Lord is Light, His voice is like light from light, the Comforter is Light; pearls, mustard seed, true vine, leaven, hope and faith - light. All of the above and much more that you hear from the prophets and apostles about the ineffable and super-essential Deity is truly one super-initial principle, which we worship in the unity of the Trinity Light. One God in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, being the unapproachable and eternal Light, has many names and is called everything that we talked about, and even more. And He is not only called, but also acts according to these names, as I have learned well from those who have studied through experience and have been convinced by contemplation of the properties of the all-good God. In addition to those mentioned, I will give you some more examples of Divine light: the goodness of His light; mercy, mercy and His greeting are light, kindness is light; rod, staff and comfort 107 His is light. It can also be said about us that we have most of the above, but we have it as people, and He as God. And I will not miss the opportunity to list this to you again in order: God is called Father, and most people are also called parents; Christ God is the Son of God, and we, in turn, are someone’s children; The All-Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, and our souls are called spirits; God is life, and we say of ourselves that we live; God is love, and among us even the most sinful people love others. What of this? Would you call human love God? Be gone with such blasphemy! Or will you compare peace with other people, which consists in not being at enmity with them or not doubting anyone, with that peace “which surpasses all understanding”? 108 Of course not. Would you call it the truth of God when you do not lie to another? No way. Human words are changeable and empty, but the Word of God is living, hypostatic and active 109. It is the true God. In the same way, Truth, that is, God Himself, exceeds human understanding and words, being unshakable, unchanging, hypostatic and living. In the same way, neither our water can be compared with living water, nor our bread with that Bread, but, as was said above, everything that is in God is light, and God Himself is the only Light, by partaking of Which a person simultaneously becomes a partaker of all those good things that we talked about. Such a person becomes meek and humble; and this again is the same light that we spoke about, or rather, the one who has this light also has these [two] virtues with it. At the same time with all this, God is also called wakefulness 110, as raising up the human soul in which He dwells for good, so that it itself becomes all good. Such a soul is not deprived of any good 111, since God lives in it, but is always enriched and abounds with all the inexpressible gifts of God, feasting and having fun with the ranks of the heavenly powers. May God grant us all to achieve these blessings, to taste and be satisfied with them, with the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 1. Some aspects of the doctrine of the creation of the world and the creation of Adam. 2. About the crime and expulsion of Adam. 3. About the incarnation of the Word and how He became incarnate for our sake. 4. How creation will be renewed again and new heavens and a new earth will come into being, according to the divine apostle. 5. What will be the shine of creation in the last times, as well as about angels and about the soul. 6. How all the saints are united with Christ God and become one with Him. 7. About what the upper world is, and what it must be filled with, and how it will be filled. 8. That until all the predestined from generation to generation are born until the last day and their number is fulfilled, the upper world will not be filled. 9. To what is said in the Gospel: “The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a king”; and about what the sacramental marriage of God is. 10. About the fact that all saints conceive within themselves the Word of God in much the same way as the Mother of God, and give birth to Him, and It is born in them, and they are born of Him, and how they become His sons, and brothers, and mothers. 11. In response to what is said in the Gospel: “He sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast; and they didn’t want to come.” 12. That before fulfilling the commandments, success and improvement in virtues, any uninitiated should not explore the hidden secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven; and that after the Second Coming of the Lord all the saints will know each other. It is quite enough what we said to our opponents in response to their bitter vanity, with the help of which they attack and completely devastate everything, even the most venerable. Thanks to the fact that the Word sweetened [our] word, the flow of speech and its well-aimed arrows were not from us, but from above and from the championing of the Spirit, through which every undertaking comes to a successful conclusion. Now, after the pacification of their rebellion, it is necessary to consider and consider what has been given to us from God 113 in order to be convinced, together with the divine Paul, what is the richness 114 of His goodness, which He has given to us from the beginning of creation; how we were created and how we transgressed the commandment given from above and fell away from those immortal blessings; what is real life and this world, under whose influence and among which we exist; and what awaits those who worship our Trinity after this. So, I’ll start from here, taking as a starting point the words of God Himself. 1. Some aspects of the doctrine of the creation of the world and the creation of Adam God initially gave the primordial not only paradise, as some believe, and created more than one paradise incorruptible, but before him he created the whole earth on which we now live, and everything on earth, as well as heaven and everything in it, having arranged it in five days, on the sixth day he created Adam and made him lord and king of all visible creation. And neither Eve had yet been brought into existence at that time, nor paradise, but this world, like a kind of paradise, was first created by God, although imperishable, but material and sensual; It was this, as it is said, that God gave to Adam and his descendants for possession. May this not seem strange to you, but listen further to the word and the evidence of the Divine Scripture cited in it and you will see this more clearly. For it is written: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was invisible and unsettled" 115. Further, listing in order exactly all the works of Divine creation, saying: “And there was evening, and there was morning: the fifth day,” 116 Scripture adds: “And God said: Let us make man in our image and likeness, and let him possess the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the livestock, and all the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And God created man, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.” 117 The husband and wife are spoken of not because Eve was already created, but because she was in the side of Adam and co-present with him - later you will understand this better. “And God blessed them and said: increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and have dominion over it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, and all the livestock, and all the earth, and every creeping thing that moves on the earth” 118. Do you see how God initially gave this whole world, like a kind of paradise, to man? What other land does Scripture speak about if not this one, on which we still live? There is no other way. And therefore he continues: “And God said: Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing herb that yields seed, which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; “(it) will be food for you and for all the beasts of the earth, and for all the birds of the air, and for every thing that creeps on the earth” 119. Do you see that God gave into possession to Adam and to us, who descended from him, everything visible that is on earth and in the sea, and not only gave him paradise? For what He said to Adam, He spoke, as it were, to all of us, just as He Himself revealed later to the apostles through His living Word: “What I say to you, I say to everyone,” 120 - knowing that our race on earth must grow into a great and innumerable multitude. For if, having transgressed His commandment and being condemned to live and die, people became so numerous, then, I think, how many should have been born from the creation of the world if they had not died? What kind of life would they live in an imperishable world, kept incorruptible and immortal, leading a life, of course, sinless and carefree, carefree and not knowing fatigue? And having succeeded in fulfilling the commandments of God and cultivating good thoughts, they should have been elevated after some time to the most perfect glory and change, approaching God and the flowing rays of the Divine. And everyone’s soul would become increasingly brighter, and the sensual and material body would be transformed and changed into immaterial and spiritual, surpassing all feeling. And what joy and jubilation we should have from mutual communication with each other, this is truly impossible to express and comprehend with human thoughts. Let's return again to the previous one. So, like some kind of estate or field - I repeat what was said again - God gave Adam the whole world. God arranged all this in six days; and listen to how the Divine Scripture speaks about this quite clearly. Having said at the beginning: “God created man, in the image of God He created him: male and female He created them, and God blessed them,” 121 - after this he adds: “And God saw everything that He had created: and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning: the sixth day. And God finished on the sixth day His works that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His works that He had done” 122 . Further, wanting to teach us how and from what God created man, Scripture again says: “This is the book of the existence of heaven and earth at the creation of them” 123, and a little later: “And God created man, dust from the earth,” which should be understood as follows: God created man, taking dust from the earth, “and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul” 124. After creation, God deals with the primordial as a certain king, prince or rich man, who does not make the whole country or land belonging to him one city surrounded by walls, and does not build one house over the whole land, enclosing it with a fence, but, dividing it into plots, gives one for sowing, separates another for a vineyard, and leaves the third empty; in one area, the most pleasant and beautiful, he arranges a place for recreation, where he erects palaces and houses, builds baths and plants gardens, invents all sorts of entertainment there, and outside he fences everything off, closing the entrance with gates; not limiting himself to this, he places guards, although he is not afraid of anyone, so that his dwelling is the most noticeable and elevated above all and so that it is impregnable for unrighteous and crafty friends and slaves, if they ever come and knock, and for true and faithful friends and righteous slaves entry and exit are not prohibited. For after God created everything from non-existent things, and created man, and Himself rested on the seventh day from all His works that He had begun to do, He planted paradise in Eden in the East, setting it up like a kind of royal palace, in one part of the world, and placed there the man whom He had created. Why did God not create paradise on the seventh day (ἑβδόμῃ ἡμέρᾳ), but after the completion of all creation planted it in the East? Because God, as the foreseeer of everything, created creation in a certain order and orderly and established seven days as a prototype of the seven centuries that were to pass after, and planted paradise after them as an indication of the future age. Why didn't the Holy Spirit connect the eighth day with the previous seven? Because it was not appropriate to include it in the circle of these days, which by their rotation from the first to the seventh constitute weeks, where the first and seventh days still alternate, but the eighth should have been outside them as having no beginning and end. For even now it has not yet come, but must come in the future and receive a beginning. Moreover, the eighth day was before the ages, is now, and will be forever and ever. It is said about him that he will receive a beginning [in the sense] that he will finally come and appear to us as a non-evening and endless day, when [everything written] about us is completed. Look, it is not written anywhere: “God created a paradise” or: “He said, let it be, and it was,” but that “God planted it and made every tree grow from the earth, beautiful to look at and good for food,” 125 with all kinds and varied fruits that did not spoil and never became scarce, but always remained fresh and very sweet, giving the primordial people indescribable pleasure and pleasure. For their incorruptible bodies had to eat incorruptible food, which is why their stay in the middle of paradise was not painful and life was not tiring. And God, having fenced off paradise, like some kind of builder, made an entrance in it through which they entered and left. 2. About the crime and expulsion of Adam So, Adam was created, having an incorruptible body, but material and not yet completely spiritual, and was installed by the Creator God - I don’t say, only in paradise, but in the whole of heaven - as an immortal king in the imperishable world. When God gave them the law, commanding them not to eat from one tree, then, despising, they did not believe the Creator and Master, who said: “On the day you eat of it, you will die” 126, deciding that the snake was more worthy of trust, who said: “You will not die, but on what day you eat, you will be like gods, knowing good and evil” 127, but they ate from it immediately stripped of the incorruptible robe and glory and put on the nakedness of corruption. Seeing himself naked, Adam hid, sewed together fig leaves and girded himself, trying to hide his ugliness. And when God asked him: “Adam, where are you?” answered: “I heard Your voice and, realizing my nakedness, I was afraid and hid myself” 128. Calling him to repentance, God says: “Who told you that you were naked? Have you not eaten from the tree from which I forbade you to eat?” 129. And since he did not want to say “I sinned,” but, on the contrary, he also made God Himself the cause of what happened, who arranged everything “very well,” because he said: “The wife you gave me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate,” 130, and she again shifted the blame onto the serpent, and they did not want to repent and fall to the Lord or ask for forgiveness, then He sent them out, as if from the royal chambers and magnificent houses, I expelled them from paradise itself, so that they could live on this earth as exiles and strangers. And immediately “he set a rotating flaming weapon to guard the path to the tree of life” 131. [God did this] not because the first parents had to be called again and return to this sensible and material paradise: for it was not for this reason that it has been preserved to the present time (μέχρι τοῦ νῦν ἐτηρήϑη); and not for this reason God did not curse him, but because he is a prototype of the future endless life and an image of the eternal Kingdom of Heaven. If this were not so, then paradise would have to be cursed even more [earth], because the crime occurred precisely in it. But He does not do this, but curses all the other earth, which, as we said, was incorruptible, like paradise, in itself always bearing fruit, so that, once there, Adam would no longer lead, as before, a serene life, alien to labor and sweat. He cursed her, saying: “Cursed is the land because of your deeds: in tribulation you will eat from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the grass of the field, given to the wild beasts and wild animals. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread until you return to the ground from which you were taken, for you are the earth and to the earth you will go.” 132 So, in justice, Adam, cast down through crime into corruption and death, had to live on a changeable and corruptible earth similar to his and eat the same food. Since abundant food, incorruptible and tireless pastime led to the forgetting of God's blessings and contempt for the commandment given to him, he was rightly condemned to cultivate the land by the sweat of his brow and thus gradually receive food from it, as from some kind of steward 133. Do you see how the cursed earth, having first lost the vegetation that was born on its own, then accepted the criminal? For what and why? So that, being cultivated with sweat and labor, in proportion to the efforts, it will bear fruits sufficient for its sustenance, and if left without cultivation, it will remain fruitless, bearing only thorns and thorns. Therefore, seeing him leave paradise, all creation, created by God out of nothing, no longer wanted to obey the criminal: the sun did not want to shine, the moon did not want to illuminate, and the stars did not want to show themselves to him, the springs did not want to give out water, and the rivers to continue flowing, the wind was thinking of not blowing anymore, so as not to allow the sinner to breathe; the beasts and all the animals on earth, seeing man naked from his former glory, despising him, all together became furious against him; the sky rightly moved, as if wanting to fall on him, and the earth could no longer bear to carry him on its ridge. What's next? What does God do, who created everything and created man, who knew before the creation of the world that Adam would transgress the commandment, and who predestined him to renewal of life and rebirth through the Nativity in the flesh of His Only Begotten Son and God? He bridles everything with His power, mercy and goodness, restrains the common aspiration of all creatures and, as before, subordinates everyone to him, so that, having enslaved man, creation becomes corruptible for the corruptible; and so that when he is renewed again and becomes spiritual, incorruptible and immortal, then the creation, which was previously subordinated by God to the sinner Adam and worked for him, freed from slavery, is renewed with him and becomes immortal and all becomes spiritual 134 . For this is how the most merciful God and Lord ordained it before the foundation of the world. When all this was so wisely arranged by God, Adam, expelled from paradise, gave birth to offspring, lived and died; in like manner are all those who came from him. And since the people of that time still had a fresh memory of the Fall, which Adam and Eve told them about, they worshiped God and revered Him as the Master. Therefore, Abel, together with Cain, brought sacrifices to Him from their estates. Moreover, it is written that God looked upon the offering and sacrifice of Abel, but not on Cain. Having learned about this, Cain was upset - they say - even to the point of death, and then fell into envy and reached the point of fratricide 135. But after this, Enoch pleased God and was taken by Him 136, and Elijah ascended in a chariot of fire 137. Through this, God showed that if, even after passing judgment on Adam with his offspring and after his expulsion, He so honored the sons of Adam who pleased Him by taking them to heaven and longevity and freeing them from corruption, that is, from returning to the earth and descending into hell - although they then had to die or, more correctly, change 138 - then what kind of glory, honor and favor He would have granted to Adam himself, allowing him to live inside heaven, if he had not violated the commandment or if he had repented of the crime. So, over time, knowledge about God was passed on from one to another, and the ancients recognized Him as their Creator. But later, when people multiplied 139 and from youth began to turn their minds to the evil one, 140 they reached oblivion and ignorance of the God who created them. People began to regard not only idols and demons as gods, but also deified the creature itself, which was given to them by God for service, began to worship it 141, indulged in all sorts of debauchery and uncleanness, 142 desecrating the earth, air, sky and everything below it with their monstrous deeds. For nothing defiles and makes unclean the pure work of God’s hands so much as deifying this work itself and worshiping it on an equal basis with God, contrary to the Creator and Organizer. As a result, the entire creation, deified and made an object of worship, became defiled and reached the final stage of corruption. When evil reached its apogee and everyone strayed into disobedience, 143, according to the divine apostle, then the Son of God and God descended to earth to recreate the broken, revive the dead and call His creation out of error. But please pay attention to the exact meaning of what will be said next, because this word is useful both to us and to people of subsequent generations. The Incarnation of the Word and His ineffable Nativity from the Ever-Virgin Mary must be examined using the example of some image in order to thoroughly understand the sacrament of economy contained in it, hidden before centuries for the salvation of our race. 3. About the incarnation of the Word and how He became incarnate for our sake Just as in ancient times, during the creation of the foremother Eve, God took the animate rib of Adam and created a woman from it, therefore He did not breathe into her, as into Adam, the breath of life, but transformed the part taken from his body into the whole body of a woman, and the firstfruits of the spirit, taken together with animate flesh, transformed into a living soul, forming man from both, in the same way the Creator and Creator God, taking from the Holy The Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary united the animate flesh, like some leaven and a small firstfruit from the dough of our nature, simultaneously from soul and body, with His incomprehensible and inaccessible Divinity. It is better to say, the Creator of Adam Himself, having truly united His Divine Hypostasis with our essence, without mixing (ἀμίκτως τε μίξας) one with the other, human with His, created for Himself a holy church from the Virgin, immutably and invariably became a whole (τέλειος) man. For just as from his rib He created a woman, according to what was said before, so from his Daughter, Mary the Ever-Virgin and Mother of God, having borrowed flesh and received it without seed, He was born like the primordial Adam, so that just as he, through a crime, served as the beginning of our birth in corruption and death, so Christ and God, through the fulfillment of all righteousness, 144 became the firstfruits of our re-creation in incorruption and immortality. The divine Paul also speaks about this: “The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second person is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, so are the earthy; and as is the heavenly, so are the heavenly” 145 . And again: “Christ is the firstborn, then those of Christ” 146. And since He became a whole man from soul and body, similar to us in everything except sin, then for the sake of our faith in Him He gives us from His Divinity, making us His relatives in the nature and essence of His Divinity. Look what a new and amazing sacrament this is! God the Word, Who by nature had no flesh, took from our nature and became a man, which He had not previously been; and He teaches to those who believe in Him His Divinity, which none of the angels or people has ever had, and people become gods by adoption and grace, which they were not before. Thus He gives them the power to be sons of God, 147 as a result of which they become them, and will always be made, and will never again be deprived of this lot. Listen to the divine Paul, who exhorts us: “And just as we have borne the image of earthly, let us also bear the image of heavenly things.” 148 But enough about this, let’s get back to the flow of the word. After God, who is above all, came to earth in a bodily form to recreate and renew man, and also to return blessing to all creation that was cursed for the sake of man - listen carefully! First of all, He revived the soul He had received and, making it incorruptible, deified it, while although He deified His pure and Divine body, He wore it still corruptible and material. For that which eats and drinks, labors and sheds sweat, is bound and receives blows, is stretched out and nailed to the cross, is clearly perishable and material. All these are properties of a corruptible body, which is why He died and was buried in the tomb. And after He was resurrected incorruptible, He also resurrected this body with Himself spiritual, in all respects divine and immaterial (ϑεῖον πάντῃ καὶ ἄϋλον). That is why He left without breaking the seal of the tomb 149, and also entered and exited through locked doors 150 without any restrictions. Why didn’t He, together with the soul, immediately make the body that He assumed spiritual and incorruptible? Because Adam, who ate from the tree, from which God commanded him not to eat, immediately after the crime died in soul, but died in body many years later. Therefore, He first resurrected, revived and deified the soul, which was the first to suffer the penance of death, and the body, according to the sentence passed in ancient times, according to His Providence, through death was to return to the earth and assume incorruption in resurrection. And not only this [Christ did], but, having descended into hell and freed the souls of the saints held there from eternal bonds, he resurrected them and placed them in a place of rest and light. He has not yet resurrected their bodies, but left them in their graves until the general resurrection. This sacrament was performed in the manner indicated not only with Christ, but, beginning with Christ, it was performed in each of the ancient saints, and is still performed throughout the world. For, by accepting the Spirit of our Master and God, we become partakers of His Divinity and essence 151 (τῆς ϑεότητος καὶ τῆς οὐσίας), and by tasting His most pure Body, that is, the Divine Mysteries, we truly become entirely His co-partners and relatives, just as the divine Paul himself said that “we are bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh” 152 and also: “From the fullness of His Divinity we (that is, all) have received grace upon grace” 153. And when this happens to us, by grace we become like the man-loving God and our Master, being reborn and renewed in soul, becoming incorruptible and rising as if from the dead; seeing Him Himself, who honored us by becoming like us, and being visible by Him, we are worthy to become like Him, just as a person sees the face of his friend from afar, and talks to him, and communicates, and hears his voice. Likewise, all the saints from the ages, in ancient times and now who see spiritually, see not an image, not a form or an imprint, but a light devoid of an image, just as they themselves became light from the light of the Spirit. When each of the saints achieves this, his body does not immediately become incorruptible and spiritual, but just like iron heated in fire, it becomes involved in its glow and immediately gets rid of the blackness, but after the removal of the fire it cools down again and appears black. Likewise, the bodies of saints, partaking of the grace united with their souls, that is, Divine fire, are sanctified, and when ignited, they themselves become luminous, completely different from the bodies of other people, and inspire greater respect. And when the soul leaves the body and is separated from it, then the bodies immediately give in to corruption and in some they are gradually destroyed, while in others they remain untouched for many years, being neither completely incorruptible, nor again completely decayed, but bearing in themselves signs of both incorruption and corruption, being observed until the future resurrection, when they will become completely incorruptible and renewed. For what reason and for what? Because it was not appropriate for the bodies of people to resurrect and become incorruptible before the renewal of creation. But since the first creation was created incorruptible, and after it - man, then in the future the first creature must be transformed, that is, change from corruption to incorruptibility, and in the same way, together with it and simultaneously with it, the corruptible human bodies must be renewed, so that man, having again become spiritual and immortal, would dwell in an incorruptible, eternal and spiritual place. In confirmation of this truth, listen to what the Apostle Peter says: “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, and then the heavens will burn with fire and be destroyed, and the elements will be melted into meltdown” 154 - not because they will perish, but because they will be melted down and recreated in a better form and for an eternal destiny. What does this mean? From the same words of the Apostle, where he continues, saying: “However, according to His promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth” 155. By what and whose promise? Of course, according to the promise of Christ and our God, who said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” 156. By saying “will pass,” He here means “will change,” for although the heavens will pass away, My words will remain unchanging and firm. The prophet David exclaims about this and says: “You put them on like clothes, and they will change; but You are the same, and Your years will not end” 157. What could be clearer than these words? But let's see how exactly the creature will be renewed and restored to its former beauty. 4. How creation will be renewed again and new heavens and a new earth will come into being, according to the divine apostle No believer will deny that the Lord made the promise of new heavens and a new earth, and no one will think to doubt that He really said it. And just as our decaying bodies in no way go to nowhere, but are renewed again through the resurrection, in the same way heaven and earth and everything in them, that is, all creation, will be renewed and freed from slavery to corruption 158. All these elements will take part in that splendor with us; and just as we will all be tested by fire 159, according to the divine apostle, so the whole creation will be renewed through fire. One can understand why the Apostle Peter writes: “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, and then the heavens will pass away with a noise, and the elements will burn up and be destroyed, the earth and all the works on it will be burned up.” 160 See how he says that everything will be melted down and changed in the fire? And therefore the apostle continues: “If all this is destroyed in this way, then what kind of person should you be in holy life and piety?” 161 How will all this melt? Just as a copper vessel, which has become dilapidated, sooty and made useless by poison, is given over to the fire by a craftsman and thus, after being melted down, is made new again, so the creation, which has become dilapidated and defiled by our sins, will be destroyed by the God of all in the fire, then melted and cast again and will become incomparably brighter and more amazing than everything that we see now. Having written this, the Apostle Peter continues: “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to appear before Him undefiled and blameless in peace; and consider the longsuffering of our Lord to be salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, as he speaks about this in all his epistles, in which there are some things difficult to understand, which the ignorant and unstable, like the other Scriptures, twist to their own destruction” 162 . And it wasn’t just that this happened then, but now the majority or even almost all of us suffer from ignorance, confusing everything, perverting or reinterpreting everything in the Divine Scripture to our own destruction, trying to present Scripture itself as our protector in our own passions and lusts. Let's see what the divine Paul says about the creation and its renewal: “I think that the sufferings of this present time are not worth anything in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us,” and further: “For the creation waits with hope for the revelation of the sons of God” 163. He calls hope an intense expectation, a strong desire, and revelation the revelation [of the glory of the sons of God] in the resurrection. For in the resurrection the sons of God must be revealed through the Coming of Christ and God and revealed to their beauty as they are, 164 according to what is written: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun” 165 - that is, the sons of the righteous God. And lest you think that the divine apostle is talking about some other creation, he further adds: “For the creation was subjected to vanity, not voluntarily, but by the will of him who subjected it, in hope.” You see, it was no coincidence that I said before that the creation did not want to serve the sinner Adam, seeing him fall from Divine glory, as having deceived God, his Creator. Therefore, even before the creation of the world, having determined to save it through rebirth, He subjugated creation to him, cursing it so that when a person becomes corruptible through crime, it would also become corruptible and regularly deliver corruptible food to him. When He renews man and makes him incorruptible, immortal and spiritual, at the same time he will change all creation along with him and make him eternal and immaterial (ἀΐδιον καὶ ἄϋλον) - says the apostle. For this reason, he said: “The creation was subjected to vanity, not voluntarily, but by the will of him who subjected it, in hope” 167 . She did not submit to man of her own free will, did not voluntarily become corruptible and begin to bear corruptible fruits, give birth to thorns and thorns, but submitting to God, by Whom the hope for renewal was determined. Wanting to express this thought more clearly, the apostle says, “that creation itself will be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” 168. Now you have seen why it was not in vain that we said that all this creation was originally incorruptible and was elevated by God to the dignity of paradise, but being cursed, it became involved in corruption and slavery, submitting to human vanity. Look, then, what will be the brilliance of creation in the next century. 5. What will be the shine of creation in the last times, and also about angels and about the soul So, after the renewal, the creature will not again become the same as it was at the beginning. It won't happen! After all, “the spiritual body is sown,” 169, as it is said, and what is raised is no longer the same body as the one that was first created before the crime, that is, material, sensual and changeable, requiring sensual food, but what is raised is a completely spiritual and unchangeable body (ἄτρεπτον), very different from the spiritual body and similar to the one that our Master and God had after the resurrection, this second Adam, who became our Firstborn in the resurrection 170. In the same way, all creation, by the wave of God, will not become what it was before, material and sensory, but after rebirth it will turn into an immaterial and spiritual abode, surpassing all sense (ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν αἴσϑησιν). Just as the divine Paul said that “we will not all die, but we will all change suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye” 171, so the creation, scorched by Divine fire, will change so that the prophetic word is fulfilled: “The righteous will inherit the earth” 172. Of course, not this sensual land - for how [could they inherit it], having become spiritual? But they will inherit the spiritual and immaterial earth, so that those who have acquired incorporeal bodies and in feeling become higher than sense, being themselves indescribable and at the same time indescribably abiding in the indescribable ὄντες οἱ περιγραπτοί), would have a dwelling worthy of its glory. That is why the current world seems to me spiritual and beyond our feelings. For what transcends our senses and what is spiritual is in any case incomprehensible to us and invisible. But the present world, which cannot be seen or comprehended, can it be fully understood by us, and who can say that he has understood it well? Of course, no one. We teach in a similar way about angels. Because they too are in some way corporeal and describable, if we compare them with the immaterial and incorporeal Divine nature, as it is written: “There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies” 173. They are material, but for us they are immaterial. And in another place it is written: “You create Your angels as spirits and Your servants as flames of fire” 174 . And if they are ministering spirits and heavenly minds sent into service, 175 as Paul, the teacher in such things, truly believes, then when the Divine angel is sent from above from God to earth, fulfilling the Divine command, he leaves the heavenly faces and obviously finds himself in the world and next to us. If this is indeed true, then, while being described, the angel will also be limited. In relation to this Divine and uncreated nature, completely incorporeal and indescribable, they will be created and describable, but in comparison with us completely incorporeal, incomprehensible and invisible. This is also our doctrine of the soul. Being compared with the incorporeal God and with the angels, it turns out to be corporeal and describable. But corporeal only for the One who can bind her and has the power, together with the body, to cast her into fiery Gehenna, 176 and for the senses and mortal sight she is completely incorporeal and incomprehensible and cannot be described by place or space. No one should be surprised to hear about this, considering how disembodied angels invisibly enter and exit through closed doors and take the souls of people in the same way. But listen to the Lord, who says: “In the resurrection of the righteous they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but remain as the angels of God” 177, and the Apostle Paul, who affirms: “A natural body is sown, a spiritual body is raised” 178. And from here know for certain that our bodies will become spiritual and, so to speak, like angels after the resurrection from the dead. For if these bodies are sown by souls and raised by spirits, according to the saying, and if in the next century we are to become like the angels of God, as the Lord said, then it is obvious that we will be like them, if not in nature, then in honor. They are corporeal, I think, in relation to God, but in relation to us they are immaterial and invisible. If this is so [regarding resurrected bodies], then much more [one should think this way] about souls, according to the above method and rule of comparison. So, if after the resurrection we become such as the word showed us, then what need will there be for a completely sensual earth and a dwelling for us, who have become so spiritual and surpassing all local feeling and living like the angels of God, 179, although not by nature, but by their dignity. And the dignity of the angels of God, their position and aspiration is to be illuminated from the first Divine Light as second lights, in order to see the glory and radiance of the most inaccessible and boundless Light and to enjoy the ineffable and Trinitarian Divinity. For all creation, as I have already said many times, having been renewed, together with paradise having become completely spiritual, will turn into an immaterial and incorruptible, unchangeable, eternal and intelligible dwelling. The sky will be incomparably brighter, as if completely new and much greater in radiance than what is visible now. The earth will be clothed in ineffable and new beauty and unfading grass, being adorned with shining flowers and spiritual diversity, among which, according to the sacred word, truth dwells 180. The sun of righteousness will shine seven times brighter 181, and the moon will sparkle twice as bright as the present sun, and the stars will be like this sun, if only we consider all this with the mind in an exalted sense. And all this is above the word, as surpassing all understanding, being spiritual and divine, - it will unite with mental powers and become the second intelligible paradise and heavenly Jerusalem 182, becoming like the heavenly ones and uniting with them, it will become the inviolable inheritance of God, which no one living on earth has ever inherited, in which no one has lived and had the right to take even a step 183. For we have all become exiles, and continue to be so, and will remain on this earth, as the Divine Scripture teaches. So, when everything earthly is completely united with the heavenly, then the righteous will inherit this transformed earth, which will be inherited by the meek, blessed by the Lord 184. For at the present time some have already united with the heavenly, while others still have to do so. Because the souls of the saints, as we recently said, through the gift of the Holy Spirit and unity with Him, while still in the body, cleave to the Lord, are renewed, changed and resurrected from death, and after the Dormition they move in glory to the non-evening Light. Moreover, their bodies have not yet [inherited glory], but remain in the tombs and in decay, expecting that they too will become incorruptible after the general resurrection, when all earthly creation, visible and sensible, will change and unite with the heavenly powers, that is, with the invisible and supersensible. This must happen first, and then our most desired and sweetest King and God Jesus Christ will come with great glory and power 185 to judge the world and reward everyone according to his deeds 186 . Just as in a large house or in a royal palace there are many bedrooms and rooms, and between all these dwellings there is great diversity, although they are all together beautiful, so in this new creation God will establish diversity, dividing to each an inheritance in accordance with his dignity and with his inherent lordship and glory acquired by virtues and labors. And since they will all be spiritual, transparent and gathered in those Divine abodes and reclines, the Kingdom of Heaven will appear to the righteous as one home for all, which is what it really is, since they have one King, visible to them from everywhere, co-present with each of them, and are in communion with Him, Shining in everyone, and everyone shining in Him. But woe to those who will then be outside this house. Having said this sufficiently and well, and having satisfied those who asked not just to argue, let us also show you, if possible, how all the saints are united with Christ and become one with Him. 6. How all the saints are united to Christ God and become one with Him Since all saints truly become members of Christ, who is God above all, then, as it is said, they must cleave 187 to Him and be united with His Body, so that He may be their head, 188 and all the saints from the ages until the last day become His members, and many become one Body 189, like one man. Therefore, some of them play the role of hands, still working 190 and doing His all-holy will, transforming the unworthy into the worthy and saving them for Him. Others, like shoulders, bear the burdens of others 191, or the sheep that was lost from Him 192, which they have now found, previously wandering through the mountains, hills and places that the Lord does not visit 193, and thus fulfill His law 194. Others are like a breast, flowing out for the thirsty and hungry the truth of God 195, that is, the most transparent water of the word of ineffable wisdom and knowledge, and supplying them with bread, which feeds the highest powers in heaven 196, as His confidantes and beloved. Others, like a womb, contain everyone through love, conceive in their entrails the Spirit of salvation and have the ability to contain His ineffable and hidden secrets. Others, like loins, are fertile with godly thoughts of mystical theology and give birth, through the word of their teaching, to the Spirit of salvation on earth, 197 that is, the fruit and seed of the Spirit in the hearts of people. Others, like legs and feet, show courage and patience in temptations, like Job, never shying away from standing in goodness and never relaxing, bearing the weight of His gifts. Thus, the Body of the Church of Christ, harmoniously composed by all His saints from time immemorial, remains healthy and whole in the unity of the sons of God, the firstborn, written in heaven 198, to whom even now God says: “Do not rejoice that the demons obey you,” since this will most likely cause arrogance and conceit in frivolous people, “but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” 199. And that all the saints, being members of Christ, become and will become one His Body, I will try to prove from Divine Scripture. First, listen to our Savior Himself and God, how He shows the inseparability and inseparability of our unity with Him when He says to the apostles: “I am in the Father and the Father in Me, and you in Me, and I in you” 200 and also: “I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in Me according to their word, that they may all be one” 201. Wanting to show the way of unity, He continues: “As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so may they also be one in Us” 202. And to make it clearer, he adds: “And the glory that You gave Me, I have given them: that they may be one, just as We are one. I am in them, and You are in Me; may they be perfect in one" 203 . And further: “Father! whom You have given Me, I want them to be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory, which You have given Me." 204 And again: “The love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” 205. Do you see the depth of the mysteries? Do you understand the super-limitless superiority of pre-eminent glory? 206 Do you understand that the method of unity exceeds both the mind and all thinking? Oh, miracle, brethren, oh, the indescribable condescension of the love of a man-loving God towards us! For the unity that He by nature has with His Father is the same - He promises - that He Himself will have with us by grace, if we want, and also we with Him, if we fulfill His commandments. And the relationship that He by nature (φυσικῶς) has with the Father, He grants to us to Him by adoption and by grace. Oh, a terrible promise! For the glory which the Father gave to the Son, the Son gives to us by Divine grace. And moreover, just as He is in the Father and the Father in Him, in the same way the Son of God is in us and we will be in Him if we will, by the grace of the Son. O unsurpassed mercy! Because the love with which God the Father loved His Only Begotten Son and our God, this love, he says, will be on us, and the Son of God Himself will be in us. And rightly so: having once become our relatives in the flesh and having made us partakers of His Divinity, He made all such His relatives. And since the Divinity given to us through this participation remains indivisible and inseparable (ἀχώριστος), then it is absolutely necessary for us, who have truly become His partakers, to be inseparable with Christ in one Spirit, one Body. That this is really so, listen to the Apostle Paul, who says: “In Christ Jesus there is neither slave nor free, there is neither Jew nor Greek, nor Scythian nor barbarian, but Christ is all and in all” 207 . You see, he did not say “but all are Christians,” but said “Christ” alone, as one body made up of many members. Listen to him talk about this again elsewhere. Having said at the outset that “everyone is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the benefit” 208 and listing the various gifts, he adds: “Yet one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He pleases” 209 . Having outlined the actions that the Spirit performs in the holy members of Christ, the apostle refers this to us: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of one body, although there are many, form one body, so is Christ. For we were all baptized into one body by one Spirit, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink. The body is not made of one member, but of many" 210. And since everyone, as we have said 211, depending on his dignity, is given from God an inheritance in the immaculate monasteries, then in the Body of the Church everyone is numbered among the members of Christ of whom he is worthy. The apostle explains this a little further in the same Epistle, saying: “God arranged the members, each one in the composition of the body, as He pleased. But now there are many members, but one body” 212. And to show what kind of members these are and what their differences are, he says: “And ye are the body of Christ, and separately members. And God appointed others in the Church, firstly, apostles, secondly, prophets, thirdly, teachers; further, to others he gave miraculous powers, also gifts of healing, help, government, and different languages” 213 . Do you understand who are members of Christ? Do you see the difference between them? Listen also to the unity of the members, which the apostle reveals, following in this the Master Himself. For whatever unity He Himself has with His Father, He taught us to have the same with Him; and His disciple and apostle compares it with the unity that a husband has with his wife and a wife with her husband, and therefore says: “Wives, obey your husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church, and He is the Savior of the body” 214. And further: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her, in order to sanctify her, cleansing her with the washing of water through the word; to present it to Himself as a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it might be holy and without blemish” 215. And after that: “He who loves his wife” - delve into the depth of the word, I ask you! - “loves himself. For no one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and warms it, just as the Lord does the Church, because we are members of His body, from His flesh and from His bones” 216. You see how he revealed to us that just as Eve was taken from the flesh and from the bones of Adam and together they were one flesh, so Christ, giving us to partake of Himself, from His flesh and from His bones, which He showed to the apostles after the resurrection from the dead, saying: “Handle Me and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have” 217 - gives us to eat from these very [flesh and blood] and through this communication makes us one with Himself. And wanting to further imagine our most excellent union with God, he adds: “For this sake a man will leave his father and mother”, that is, for the sake of Christ, he will leave them - “and will cleave to his wife” - that is, to the Church - “and the two will become one flesh” 218, that is, the Flesh of Christ and God. And that this is precisely the meaning of the apostle’s words, and that we are not saying this by human reasoning, he himself confirms: “This mystery is great; I speak in relation to Christ and to the Church" 219. Truly great and more than great is and will be this sacrament, for the communion and unity, intimacy and kinship that a wife has with her husband and a husband with his wife, all this is divine and beyond all understanding and words, the Lord and Creator of all has with the whole Church, as with one wife, immaculately and inexpressibly uniting with Her, inseparably and inseparably abiding and living with Her, as with His beloved and dear. In the same way, the Church, having united with Her beloved God, cleaves as a whole body to its own head. And just as the body cannot live without the head connected to it, so the Church of the faithful, that is, the sons of God written in heaven 220, cannot be a suitable and perfect body for God without the head, that is, without Christ and God Himself, cannot live a true and enduring life, unless it is fed by Him every day with daily bread, 221 thanks to which all who love Him can live and grow “into a perfect man, to the full measure.” age of Christ" 222. Since from what has been said the answer to the question is clear, how the saints who lived from the beginning to now and to the end of time become one Body with Christ and in Christ, and we have proven this with all evidence, now we are contemplating how the world above must be filled. Open your ears to me and strengthen your sovereign mind to listen to what is said, because we will talk about divine things. 7. About what the upper world is, and what it must be filled with, and how it will be filled It is necessary first to investigate what kind of world (κόσμος) it is said that it must be filled, and until it is filled, the end will not come, and what this very end is. I think that the adorned world (κόσμος ὡραϊσμένος) is the Church of Christ, as well as that person in whom God 223 will live and walk and, being the Sun of truth 224, will send down the shining rays of His gifts. It is called, as we have seen, both the Body of Christ and the bride, as the bridegroom Paul exclaims: “I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you to Christ as a pure virgin” 225, as well as the divine David: “The Queen appeared at Your right hand in clothes embroidered with gold, adorned” 226. Even though this was said about the Mother of God alone, it must, of course, have something in common with the Church of Her Son and God, which clearly shows the following: “Virgin souls will be brought to the King in Her wake, Her neighbor souls will be brought to You. They will be brought with joy and gladness, they will be brought into the church of the King” 227. What do you understand by this church? Do you really think that the mentioned church is some kind of house, and not the King Himself? Of course not. For just as Christ God is the Head of the Church, so He is also a church for Her; in the same way, the Church became for Him a home and a beautiful world, which is clearly shown by what I said above and which needs to be repeated again, bringing more accurate evidence. What kind of evidence is this? What Christ God Himself says to His Father about believers and about His apostles: “I pray not for them only, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one” 228 . How will they be united? “As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so may they also be one in Us” 229. Do you see how He Himself became both the King and the Church for all those being saved? Know from here that all believers who follow the Queen Church and those around her will become a church and peace for God and the Tsar. Learn this first of all from the King Christ Himself, for He said: “I am in them, and You are in Me; that they may be perfect in one" 230. What does Paul, His disciple, say? “Do you not know that you are the church of God and the Spirit of God lives in you?” 231. Do you see how what the apostle said exactly coincides with the words of the Master, showing that the Church is the church, and the city, and the world of the King God? Know that He who spoke through the prophets and apostles, He Himself speaks through them now. 8. That until all the predestined from generation to generation are born until the last day and their number is fulfilled, the upper world will not be filled Since the Church is the Body of Christ and the bride of Christ, and the higher world (κόσμος ὁ ἄνω), and the church of God, and all the saints become members of His Body, but not all the saints have yet appeared or been accepted, then it is obvious that the Body of Christ is not yet whole and the upper world has not yet been filled - I am talking about the Church of God. But today there are many unbelievers in the world who will still believe in Christ, many sinners who, having repented, will again change their thoughts, many rebellious who will submit, many who will still be born and will please God until the last trumpet 232. It is necessary for all to be born predestined and to appear and be filled with the world that is above this world, the Church of the Firstborn, the heavenly Jerusalem 233 . And then the measure and fullness of the Body of Christ will be fulfilled through all those predestinated to God, so that they will become conformed to the image of His Son 234; they are all sons of light and His day 235. Thus, all those who are to join and cleave to the Body of Christ are predestined, recorded and numbered. And then, becoming as if whole, not lacking a single member, this Body will be filled, that is, it will reach perfection, as the Apostle Paul truly believes, saying: “Until we all come into the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, into a perfect man, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” 236; “For whom He foreknew he also predestined, and whom he predestined he also called, and whom he called he also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified to be conformed to the image of His Son” 237 . Do you see how all the saints are foreordained and predestined? Notice also how they will be written down. For the apostle, having said: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the living city, to the heavenly Jerusalem and to ten thousand triumphant angels,” then added: “And to the church of the firstborn who are written in heaven” 238. And if they are written down, then it is clear that they are numbered, as it is written: “The Lord knows those who are His” 239 . And the sacred word says: “Even the hairs of your head are numbered” 240. If even our hair is considered by the omniscient God, how much more are we ourselves? So, since all the saints are ordained by God, predestined, and also numbered and recorded by name in heaven, and since they are all together members of Christ, who are to become one Body of His, the word clearly shows that when all of them, having gathered, become one Body of Christ, then the upper world, this heavenly Jerusalem, which is also the church of the firstborn, will be filled, that is, the Body of the Queen of God, the Church, which belongs to Christ God, will become full. Where are now those who, out of the vanity of their thoughts 241, invent many abodes outside the Kingdom of Heaven for their destruction? Where are those who say that they do not want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, for it is very high, but they prefer to be in the place of rest, and that is enough for them? All the saints from all eternity must be one Body of Christ. And in what other place do they think they will be if they turn out to be unworthy of His Body and are cut off from it? And when the whole world is renewed by fire, then in what place do they expect to find themselves if they are not tested and tempted by it 242? Truly “they became futile in their speculations and their foolish hearts were darkened; calling themselves wise, they became fools" 243. Let us now examine what the sacramental marriage of God is, and then turn the floor to another subject. Which one? Some of the uninitiated are trying to understand, for they say: “Will the saints really know each other in the next century, when everyone will be rewarded from God according to their deeds? Or not?" We should begin first with the Gospel sayings, and as the word progresses this too will become clear. 9. To what is said in the Gospel: “The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a king” 244; and about what the sacramental marriage of God is Saying: “The Kingdom of Heaven was likened to a king who held a wedding feast for his son,” who else does He call a king, if not His very Father and God? For whom else did He arrange a wedding feast, if not for His only begotten Son and God, our Lord Jesus Christ? With whom, with what king, did the Lord and Lord of all agree to conclude a marriage contract? Each of us people, wanting to bring a bride to our own son, tries to take as a bride the daughter of a more famous, glorious and rich man. And who will God find equal to Himself in order to bring His own bride from him? Because the prophet says about Him: “He holds the circle of the earth, and those who live on it are like locusts” 245. And in another place: “Eternal God, God who built the ends of the earth” 246, who founded its pillars on nothing 247. And David says: “He will look at the earth and make it shake” 248. He Who is so great, whose daughter He brought to His Son and created a wedding feast? Want to know whose? But I go into a frenzy, thinking about the greatness of condescension, I want to say and tremble. Encouraged by His goodness, I will say this: He brought the daughter of the one who insulted Him, who committed adultery and murder, that is, the daughter of an adulterer and murderer, to be His bride. Do you see the incomparable and inexpressible goodness and condescension? Do you see the superiority of philanthropy? Do you see the greatness of love and goodness? Learn from this, everyone who thinks highly of himself, to humble himself and think modestly about himself, and not to be proud of anyone, even if you were more royal than all kings, more famous than all leaders, richer than all the rich, seeing the Lord and Lord of all, the Holy of Holies, the blessed God and the only Ruler, living in the unapproachable 249 and inexpressible light, to such an extent descended from His the offender who brought the bride to His only begotten Son, the invisible, incomprehensible, inscrutable, Creator and Organizer of everything, for your sake and your salvation. Who is this who committed murder and adultery, whose daughter God chose to be His bride? David, son of Jesse, who killed Uriah and committed adultery with his wife 250. So, he brought his daughter – I’m talking about the Immaculate Mary, the Most Pure and Pure Virgin – as a bride. I call Her Most Pure and Most Immaculate in relation to the people of that time and to us, comparing Her with them and with us, Her servants; and in relation to Her Bridegroom and His Father, She is a person, although holy and most holy, the purest and most immaculate of all people of all generations. He brought her and arranged a wedding feast for His Son. How? Listen carefully. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 251, having sent from His holy height 252 one of His servants - I’m talking about Gabriel the Archangel - announces to the Virgin: “Rejoice!” And he, having descended, serves the sacrament of the Virgin and says to Her: “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you” 253. Together with this word, the hypostatic (ἐνυπόστατος), consubstantial and co-eternal Word of God and the Father entered into the womb of the Virgin, and by the influx and assistance of His consubstantial Spirit received rational and animated flesh from Her most pure blood, and became man. This ineffable intercourse and this mysterious marriage of God thus became an interchange (συνάλλαγμα) of God with people, inseparably uniting with our corruptible and poor the essence and nature of the One who exceeds nature and is super-essential. So, the Virgin conceived and miraculously gave birth from two natures from Divinity, I say, and humanity - one Son, perfect God and perfect man, our Lord Jesus Christ, who neither violated Her virginity, nor forsaken the Father’s bosom. In this place, grace makes me understand something else in the Gospel word and encourages me to talk about what is always mysteriously happening in all the sons of light. Why did He not say: “He made marriage for his son,” but “marriages” (γάμους)? This is where the novelty of meaning lies. Why? Because with each of the believers and sons of the day the same marriage is always in like manner and invariably consummated. How and in what way? By uniting with us in a most immaculate and most pure marriage, God does something beyond our strength. What exactly? Listen carefully. 10. That all saints conceive the Word of God in themselves, in much the same way as the Mother of God, and give birth to Him, and It is born in them, and they are born of Him, and how they become His sons, brothers and mothers The Son of God and God, having entered the womb of the Most Holy Theotokos, took flesh from Her and became a man; was born, as we said, a perfect man and a perfect God, being unfused with both. So, look carefully what could be more important for us! Each of us, people, believes in the same Son of God and the Son of the Ever-Virgin and Mother of God Mary, and when we believe, with conviction we accept into our hearts the word preached about Him, and when we confess Him with our lips and from the soul we repent of our former iniquities, immediately, just as God, the Word of the Father, entered into the womb of the Virgin, so also the word that we accept into ourselves when we learn piety, becomes like a seed. Tremble when you hear the sacrament, and accept the true word with full conviction and faith. We do not conceive Him physically, as the Virgin and Mother of God conceived Him, but spiritually and at the same time essentially (οὐσιωδῶς), and we have Him Himself, Whom the Pure Virgin also conceived, in our hearts, as the divine Paul said: “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, who has illuminated our hearts to enlighten us knowledge of His Son” 254, as if he said: “He Himself has all essentially dwelt in us.” And that this is exactly the meaning of what was said, the apostle further showed, saying: “But we carry this treasure in earthen vessels,” 255 calling it the treasure of the Holy Spirit. In another place he also calls the Lord [Jesus Christ] Spirit: “The Lord is Spirit” 256. He says this so that when you hear about the Son of God, you would understand and hear about the Spirit; and if you again hear about the Spirit, you would understand the Father, because it is said about Him: “God is Spirit” 257. Thus, the apostle teaches everywhere about the indivisibility and consubstantiality of the Holy Trinity and that where the Son is, there is the Father, and where the Father is, there is the Spirit, and where the Holy Spirit is, there is the fullness of the Trinitarian Divinity, that is, God and the Father with the consubstantial Son and Spirit, “He who is blessed forever, amen” 258. So, believing with all our souls and bringing warm repentance, we conceive, as has been said, the Word of God in our hearts, like the Virgin, keeping our souls like pure virgins. And just as this immaculate fire of the Divine did not burn Her, so it does not burn us, who keep our hearts blameless and pure, but becomes in us the dew of heaven, and a source of water, and a river of immortal life. And the fact that we, in a similar way, accept into ourselves this born fire of the Divine, listen to the Lord, who says: “I have come to bring down fire on the earth” 259. What other fire than this Spirit, consubstantial with Him in Divinity, together with Whom He enters and is contemplated in us with the Father, and He Himself abides in us? And since the Word of God once already became incarnate from the Virgin, being born inexpressibly and beyond words from Her, and does not deign to be incarnated again and be physically born from any of us, then what does It do? This immaculate Flesh of His, which It received from the pure womb of the All-Immaculate Mary and the Mother of God, from Whom He was born bodily, He gives it to us as food. Eating it, each of us believers, worthily partaking of His Flesh, has within us the whole incarnate God and our Lord Jesus Christ, the same Son of God and Son of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, - according to what He said: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him” 260 - has the Son of God, never not occurring, that is, not being physically born from us, but not leaving us either. He is no longer found among us in the flesh as a Baby, but is incorporeally present in the Body (ἀσωμάτως ἐστίν ἐν σώματι), ineffably mingling with us in essence and nature and deifying us as His fellow corporeals, who are flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones 261. This is the most important thing in His inexpressible economy for us and condescension that surpasses words; this is a sacrament filled with all trepidation, which I refused to write about and was afraid to even begin. Since God always wants to reveal and show His love for us, so that we, although someday understanding His great goodness and being ashamed, would desire to love Him, then I, moved from above by the Spirit that moves and enlightens our hearts, made these sacraments clear to you through writing. Not in order to show in some way equal to people the One who gave birth to the Lord in an indescribable way. It won't happen! This is impossible. For the other is the ineffable birth of God the Word from Her in the flesh, and the other is spiritually emanating from us. For She, having given birth to the incarnate Son and the Word of God, gave birth on earth to the mystery of the re-creation (μυστήριον ἀναπλάσεως) of our race and the salvation of the whole world, which is our Lord Jesus Christ, who has taken together the divided in Himself and taken away the sin of the world 262 . And this [spiritual birth], in the Divine Spirit giving birth to the Word of knowledge of God (τὸν Λόγον τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ), always produces in our hearts the mystery of the renewal of human souls, communication and unity with God the Word, which the Divine also mentions speech, saying this: “For this reason we conceived in the womb and were sick and gave birth to the spirit of salvation, which we conceived on earth” 263. But for this [I have made these sacraments clear to you] so that His super-infinite and genuine love for us will appear and so that, if we want, all of us, according to the Divine word of our Lord Jesus Christ, become the above-mentioned image of His mother and brothers and equal to all His disciples and apostles. Equal to them not in dignity and not in the time of life or the labors they endured, but in the grace of God and the gift that He abundantly poured out on all who recklessly wished to believe and follow Him, as He Himself, desiring this, cries out: “My Mother and My brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”264. Do you see how He elevated all those who listen and fulfill His word to the level of His Mother, speaks of them as His brothers and calls them all relatives? But He primarily made this His Mother, according to what has already been said, as the one who gave birth to Him physically, inexpressibly and without art, and the saints all conceive Him by grace and gift. And from His all-immaculate Mother He borrowed all-immaculate flesh, giving Her in return Divinity. Oh, a wonderful and new exchange! And He does not accept flesh from the saints, but He Himself gives them His deified Flesh. Look how deep the mystery is. For the grace of the Spirit, or the fire of the Divine, comes from the very nature and essence of our Savior and God, and His body does not come from there, but from the all-pure and holy flesh of the Mother of God and from Her most pure blood, taking from which He made it His own, according to what is rightly said: “And the Word became flesh” 265. Through her, the Son of God and the Pure Virgin conveys to the saints the grace of the Spirit, or Divinity, from the nature and essence of His co-essential Father, just as through the prophet He says: “And it will come to pass in the last days that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” 266 - that is, on those who believe, - and from the nature and essence primarily and truly of the One who gave birth to Him, he transfers the flesh that He received from Her. And just as we all received from His fullness, 267 so we all partake of the immaculate flesh of His All-Holy Mother, which He received. Just as Christ our God became Her Son and God and began to be called our brother, so we too - oh, unprecedented love for mankind! - we become sons of the Theotokos, His Mother, and brothers of Christ Himself, since through the immaculate and incomprehensible marriage that took place with Her and in Her, the Son of God was born from Her, and from Him all the saints are born again. For just as Eve was the first to give birth from the intercourse and seed of Adam, and from her and through her all people were born, so the Mother of God without seed conceived the Word of God the Father and gave birth only to Him, the only begotten of the Father before the ages and the only begotten of her, who became incarnate in the last days. And since She ceased to conceive and give birth, Her Son gave birth, and gives birth every day to those who believe in Him and keep His holy commandments. For if our perishable birth was from a woman, that is, Eve, then our spiritual birth and restoration had to happen through a Husband, that is, through the second Adam and God. Look at the precision in the word: the seed of a mortal and corruptible man has produced and is producing through his wife corruptible and mortal sons, but the immortal and incorruptible Word of the immortal and incorruptible God has given birth and always gives birth to immortal and incorruptible children, having itself first been born of the Virgin, precisely in the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Mother of God is the Lady and Queen, and Mistress, and Mother of all saints, and the saints are, on the one hand, Her slaves, since She is the Mother of God, and on the other, they are Her sons, since they partake of the all-immaculate Flesh of Her Son. The word is true: for the Flesh of the Lord is the flesh of the Mother of God, and by partaking of this deified Flesh of the Lord, we believe and confess that we are partaking of eternal life, unless for some reason we partake of it unworthily to condemn ourselves. And the saints are relatives of the Mother of God in three ways: firstly, as having kinship from one finger and one breath, that is, from the soul; secondly, because they partake and partake of the Flesh received from Her; and thirdly, because each of them, conceiving through Her the sanctification that comes from the Spirit, similarly has in Himself the God of all, just as She had Him in Herself. For although She gave birth to Him bodily, she also spiritually always had Him all in Herself, and now and eternally in the same way has Him inseparable from Herself. This is what the sacrament of marriage is, which the Father, co-eternal and equal in honor, instituted for His only begotten Son. And he called many, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriages, but they did not want to come 268. 11. In response to what is said in the Gospel: “And he sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast; and didn’t want to come" 269 Who were these messengers? Prophets, he says. Who are those invited? Sons of Judah. For the Jews were originally called, and did not want to listen to the prophets. “Again he sent other servants, saying: Tell those who are invited: behold, I have prepared my dinner, my bullocks and what is fattened, slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast. But they, neglecting this, went, some to their field, and some to their trade; the others, seizing his slaves, insulted and killed them” 270. Whom does He call slaves here? His apostles. What is lunch? The Kingdom of Heaven, which He prepared in advance for those who were called according to His purpose 271 from the foundation of the world. And whom does He call bulls and fat ones? The very Son of the Virgin and God, who is a calf fattened by the Divine; for He is a calf, possessing invincible power. He called Himself Taurus in the plural because His holy Flesh is divided among many, and each part taken from Him is again the whole of Him, being so powerful that He converts all His enemies and gives them strength so that they conquer the world and can become sons of God 272. The Lamb is called the all-blameless Lamb 273 of God as one year old 274, Aries - as bearing horns at the top like a cross, with which He inflicted a mortal wound on the enemy and on which the Jews, having crucified him, killed Him. Other servants He calls His holy apostles, whom He sent “and commanded them, saying: Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter the city of the Samaritans; but go especially to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” 275. But they did not accept these either, but insulted and beat some, and killed others, of whom Stephen became the first martyr 276. “Hearing about this, the king was angry, and, sending his troops, destroyed their murderers and burned their city” 277. Here the Lord speaks of the wicked Jews, whom He defeated, with the help of the Romans, consigning them to final devastation. The army of God is sometimes called the wicked ones, sent to punish other wicked ones, as God says through Moses: “He sent upon them wrath and wrath, brought down through angels sending disasters” 278 . “Then he says to his servants: The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy; So go to the crossroads and invite everyone whom you find to the wedding feast” 279. Do you see the sequence of events? Do you see the accuracy of the parable? He says “then.” When is this then? Obviously, when the Jews, called by the apostles to the Kingdom of Heaven, not only did not want to listen to them, but insulted them and even killed them, then he sent them throughout the world to all nations. “And those slaves, going out onto the roads, gathered everyone they found, both evil and good; and the wedding feast was filled with those reclining” 280. Having gone around the entire universe, the apostles preached the word of God and attracted all those who listened to them to a single faith and knowledge of God, together with the good in disposition and the evil, obviously changed and elevated to virtue. This is indicated by the word “gathered,” although from the further content of the parable we learn the same thing. For He says: “The king, going in to see those reclining, saw a man there, not dressed in wedding clothes, and said to him: friend! How did you come here not wearing wedding clothes? He was silent. Then the king said to the servants: Having tied his hands and feet, take him and throw him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; for many are called, but few are chosen.”281 Do you see that He calls those who change their disposition gathered to the wedding feast, and those who come with any wickedness or evil, even if they enter, will again be driven out in shame by the angels, whom He calls servants. So, those reclining at the wedding feast are saints. And by those who did not have the wedding garment, I know that some mean only those who desecrated their bodies with fornication, adultery and murder. But this is not so, [absolutely] not so: for He calls everyone subject to any passion and evil defiled. And that this is true, listen to the Apostle Paul, who says: “Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor wicked people, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor greedy people - who are obviously idolaters, - nor drunkards, nor revilers,” I will add on my own behalf, nor those who have hatred or envy of any brother, “will not inherit the kingdom of God” 282 and will not have part in the joy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you see how all wickedness and sin defile the garment of the soul and drive us out of the Kingdom? 12. That before fulfilling the commandments and success and improvement in virtues, any uninitiated should not explore the hidden secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven; and that after the Second Coming of the Lord all the saints will know each other So, let us leave behind vain and useless disputes 283 and let us not try to prematurely find out what exceeds our measure, but rather listen to the Master who says: “Search the Scriptures” 284 . Explore, but don't rush. Search the Scriptures, but do not argue about things that are outside the scope of the Scriptures. Search the Scriptures to learn faith, hope and love. To learn faith, so as not to be carried away by every wind, wavering through the deceit of people 285, but to be affirmed by the right dogmas of the apostolic and conciliar Church and “the right to rule the word” 286 of Her. And not only this, but you must learn to seek both the fruit of faith and the benefit from it through fulfilling the commandments, and when you can achieve this, then you will acquire unshameful hope and will have in it an all-encompassing love for God. For it is impossible for any person to acquire perfect love for God except through intact faith and strong and undoubted hope. Why, having ceased to examine ourselves, do we have such faith 287 as the One who will judge us will require of us, do we care about what exceeds our strength, not even knowing at all what is under our feet? What kind of faith God requires of us and what kind of faith we must have in Him, He Himself declared through the Gospels, thus saying: “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me 288 . If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, and brothers and sisters, and indeed his own life, he cannot be My disciple” 289. And again: “He who has saved his soul - that is, for those about whom it was said above - will lose it; and he who has lost his soul for My sake 290 and the Gospel 291, - that is, for fulfilling My commandments, will save it to eternal life” 292. Have you heard what the signs of faith are? Are you satisfied with what has been said or do you still need reminders about other things? If you want to be convinced that God requires such faith from us that, believing in Him, we do not worry at all about this present life, learn about this exactly from the Lord Himself, who so boldly cries: “So do not worry about tomorrow, what you will eat, or what you will drink, or what you will wear.” 293 . And little by little, raising it to something more perfect, he says: “If someone hits you on your right cheek, turn the other to him; and whoever wants to sue you and take your shirt, give him your outer clothing too” 294, “and don’t demand it back from the one who took yours” 295. And also, in an immeasurable abundance 296 of faith, He commands to pray for our enemies and love them, and to do good to those who hate us, and to pray for those who tempt us 297 . In the same way, He commands us to do many other things, which, firstly, shows our faith in Him, and secondly, the duties of us who call ourselves faithful. For without this our faith is dead 298 and we are obviously dead. So, examine yourself carefully, brother, and if you find that you do not lack anything said, but do it all in abundance from a warm heart and disposition, then, of course, you will understand that you are in the light and have unshameful hope. Not the kind of hope that comes from conceit in those who are perishing, 299 the futility and deceitfulness of which none of those who have acquired it can know, but good and true hope in a true and unshameful light. In it, as on a cherubic chariot, you will see seated love, which is God. And if you find this love in this way and see it, then from then on you will no longer care at all about the future and the invisible, but you will also begin to block the lips of others 300 and urge them not to care or argue about anything there, having learned from experience that everything there is elusive and inexpressible with mind and word. If you have not yet done the first thing that makes you faithful and a Christian, but in comparison with the unfaithful you will seem faithful, and in comparison with the faithful you will be convicted by your conscience as an unfaithful, and if you do not have perfect hope and notification that you will be saved, and you cannot, like St. Paul, say: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; and now the crown of righteousness is being prepared for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me.” 301 - then why are you fussing and trying to find out whether the saints will know each other in the Kingdom of Heaven when they reach the contemplation of the God of all and see Him? What benefit does this have to you? Tell me. I would like to hear and find out from you, what benefit is it to you when, as has been said, your conscience denounces you for not keeping the commandments given by Christ and because of this you do not have a part with Christ 302 if you learn from us about rewards and glory, pleasures and restorations (ἀποκαταστάσεις) in His Kingdom? Of course, absolutely nothing, but you will also incur greater condemnation for the fact that, having learned about these subjects, you neglected them and did not want to reject conceit and acquire humility. And in another way I will ask you again meekly, and you answer peacefully. A small child who has not yet acquired elementary information about letters and asks for an explanation of what relates to grammar and rhetoric, will a person of sound mind deign to give at least one word of response to his folly, and will he not rather drive him away as unreasonable, and childishly wise, and not understanding that he is asking about something that is beyond his strength? If in such things this is just and proper, how much more in that which exceeds the word, and the mind, and the understanding? When someone, having not yet acquired elementary knowledge of letters, similarly hears from others the teachings written by the Hellenes, and understands them when they are read in his native language, then there is nothing surprising in this, since they speak of the sensual and their vain narratives speak of vain objects. But the objects you are asking about are not like that. But how and in what way [should we think about them]? As the prophet David says: “And He bowed down the heavens and came down, and darkness was under His feet” 303. What kind of darkness is this? The flesh of the Lord, about which His great Forerunner John later said: “I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals” 304. So He came down and appeared, clothed in flesh instead of darkness. Immediately after this, David continues: “And he mounted the cherubim and flew, flew on the wings of the wind. And He made darkness His covering, His tabernacle was around Him: dark water in the clouds of air” 305. Do you see that your research is not about sensory objects, but about Divine and incomprehensible things, and not understandable to everyone? For if He covered His secrets with darkness and gloom and the great light of the All-Holy Spirit is required to understand His hidden secrets, then how can you, without becoming a dwelling place of Divine light, explore what you cannot comprehend, being still imperfect and unenlightened? And lest you, as one sitting in darkness 306, think that He, too, hid in darkness, the prophet David said: “Around Him is His tabernacle,” calling the tabernacle that which Paul calls light - for He, he says, dwells in unapproachable light 307 - by which both show the incomprehensibility and inaccessibility of His Divinity, not limiting God to this, but using such a figurative expression for those who are especially curious. Do not think, O foolish ones, that the ascended Lord and God entered and disappeared into darkness. No, He abides in the glory of His Divinity, filling and fulfilling everything, in which He abided before. Taking pity on us, so that we would not perish completely, He laid darkness, covering not Him, but us: “For our God,” he says, “is a fire that gives” 308 not the righteous, but sinners. So, look, you learned from us, as if in an abbreviated form, the Divine and terrible secrets of our faith, or rather, through us from the Holy Spirit; realized that God had descended to earth, and ascended again to heaven, and made darkness His covering. For it is not fitting for us to appear to us in the glory of His Father before the Judgment, but this will happen at the time that “the Father has appointed in His power” 309. If this is the case with the hidden secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven and, according to the word of the Lord, not everyone is given the ability to know them, 310 then why, having abandoned the fulfillment of His commandments, do you ask about what is hidden from all people? Every day you hear the apostle crying about this very thing: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man,” those blessings “that God has prepared for those who love Him” 311 . Because, before ascending and making darkness His cover, He gave us His holy commandments, like, as someone would say, instruments, and faith in Him like some kind of master; may we be the vessel, faith the master, and the commandments the instruments through which the master Word recreates and renews the doers of His commandments, so that, purified by their fulfillment, we may be more and more enlightened by the Spirit with the knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. And just as tools without a master and a master without tools cannot work, so faith without fulfilling the commandments and fulfilling the commandments without faith do not at all renew and restore us, and do not make us new from the old. When we acquire both in a heart that does not doubt and become vessels 312 suitable for the Master to receive the intelligible world, then He who made darkness His cover renews us with the gift of the Holy Spirit and raises us up new instead of the old and alive as if from the dead, cuts through the darkness and transfers our mind to the other side of this darkness, grants the ability to penetrate 313 and unclearly to see, as if through a certain hole, no larger than the circle of the sun or moon. From here we learn, or, better yet, experience and are convinced that in a truly different way, those who believe in Christ, and especially those baptized as infants and who do not feel the “gift of God’s grace” 314, will not be able to become partakers of God’s ineffable blessings, unless, by humility of heart and undoubted faith of all-soul will, they reject, according to the commandments of God, the whole world and what is in the world 315, along with your wishes. And not only this, but they are required to go through the labors and at the same time through temptations for the sake of virtue, blamelessly, or better yet, in the exultation of the heart and joy. So, you, who have read this, do not [be carried away] by the conceit of false knowledge 316 and the imagination of vain thoughts, but test yourself with fear and trembling. If you want to know what your life is like and what state you are in, ask your soul and tell it: “Soul, have you fulfilled all the commandments of God or not?” And she, having opened the mouth of her conscience, will certainly tell you the truth. She will not be ashamed of you, but she will expose you and show you what kind of guarantee you have in yourself, good or bad. In her consciousness you will find whether you loved the world or preferred the Creator to him, whether you sought glory from people or desired only that which is given from God. By looking into yourself, like into a box, and going through its contents again, discarding what is stored there one by one, you will recognize everything clearly. Believe me, what is hidden there, first of all, is the passion (ἔρως) for the love of fame and vanity, ostentatious man-pleasing, the enjoyment of human praise, the garment of hypocrisy, the hidden seed of the love of money. Much lies there and one is covered by another, and on top of all this there will be arrogance, because knowledge, says the apostle, puffs up 317 - and with it conceit and the idea ingrained in the thought that I am something, being nothing 318. So, if these last ones lie there on top of everything else, as was said, then how, tell me, can you see all this? Of course, you will say: no way. And tell me one more thing now. If you do not recognize that a veil of such passions lies over your heart, but remain in unbelief, just like the Jews, about whom the Apostle Paul says that they do not believe 319; and if you do not remove this veil from your heart 320 in order to see the passions hiding under it, and grieve for your unfortunate soul, and try to cleanse it and wash its intelligent eyes and face with warm tears, rejecting all external wisdom and knowledge, and, having obeyed Paul, become mad in this world in order to become wise in Christ 321, then how, tell me, while you are mad, can I tell you about God and divine, hidden and invisible things? Will you not judge me yourself as doing something unworthy and will you not justly say to yourself: “This man is truly mad that he tells me, a madman, about things invisible and incomprehensible to every breath under the heavens and to every creation that is above the heavens”? For if even the angels of God did not know about the events that had taken place, since they did not even know about His earthly Coming: what it would be like and where, and when and at what time He would come and become a man, then shouldn’t they even know about His last Coming in glory, when it will be and how, or what exactly He will then give to His saints? That this is truly so was also demonstrated by Paul, saying: “So that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the principalities and powers in heaven.” And the Lord said about His Coming that “the powers of heaven will be shaken,” 323 that is, they will be amazed and surprised, suddenly seeing something they have never seen before. So, if the powers of heaven do not know this, then how dare you say that the saints will not know each other in the Kingdom of God when they are worthy to contemplate Him? And you, who contradict the first and say: “Truly, the saints will have to see and know each other,” how did you know this? O delusion, fury and darkness! How are you not trembling, not afraid? From your words you will be judged 324 both by a righteous and impartial Judge. For to those who say that the saints will not see and know each other, but will see only Him, since all the feelings of everyone will supposedly be entirely focused on Him, He will turn and say: “Have you known Me, you who say so? Have you seen My light? Have you accepted Me inside yourself? Have you experienced the action of My Holy Spirit or not?” And, I think, they will not dare to answer Him: “Yes, Master.” Because if they say this, He will object to them: “If you have experienced this, then how can you say that those who are worthy to have Me within themselves will not know each other? I am the unfalse God, the true God, the holy God, who dwells in the saints. How do I dwell in them? Just as I said that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, so are the saints in Me and I in them 325. And just as the Father is in Me and I again in My Father, so will I dwell in all the saints and all the saints will dwell in Me.” He will also tell them this: “So if I am in My saints and My saints in Me, I in My Father and My Father in Me, and as the Father knows Me, so I know the Father, then it is clear that the saints will know Me and I the saints, and also the saints will know and recognize each other.” And to make this clearer, so that the most insensitive can understand, it is necessary to repeat and say again: Christ will dwell in all the saints. Thus, when the books of everyone's conscience are opened, then in the hearts and consciences of sinners there will be found nothing more than conceit, or vanity, or heresy, or envy, or murder, or something else like that. And if not, then there will be negligence, laziness and fulfillment of God’s commandments not with all one’s strength, which means there will be a lack of love for Him. For this, “their eyes will be darkened, so as not to see” 326, and they will be ashamed, and will hear: “Because you did not do one of the least of My commandments, but despised it, you did not do it to Me 327.” Depart from Me into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” 328. And when the books of conscience of the saints are opened, be careful! - then the now hidden 329 Christ God will shine in them, Who shone forth from the Father before the ages, and the saints will become like the Most High 330 . Where can you see this? Listen to the Savior Himself, who says this: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun” 331. What other time or sun is He talking about, if not the one about which we have spoken, since only He is called the Sun of righteousness and only in the saints does He rise and shine? The confidant and beloved disciple of Christ speaks about this even more clearly: “Brethren, we are now children of God; but it has not yet been revealed what we will be. We only know that when it is revealed, we will be like Him” 332. And Paul: “Now I know in part, but then I will know, even as I am known” 333. So, if the saints will be like God and know God as much as God knows them, and in the same way that the Father knows the Son and the Son the Father, so the saints should see and know each other, and although they have never seen each other physically in this world, but then they should recognize each other, then how come you are not ashamed to speak, ask and teach about what you do not know, as if you were already richer in knowledge than we are and appointed from above to be teachers? Just as the Father cannot in any way not know the Son or the Son the Father, in the same way the saints who have become gods by adoption, because they have God dwelling within them, cannot help but know each other, but will see the glory of others and their own, just as the Son [sees the glory] of the Father and the Father of the Son. What will be the glory of the saints? The same as the Son of God. He Himself speaks quite clearly about this with His own lips: “And the glory that You gave Me, I have given them: that they may be one, even as We are one” 334. You see that the glory, given before the ages from God the Father to the Son, was given to the saints by the Son Himself and they are all one. That is why those who say that the saints who have achieved the contemplation of God will not see and will not know each other, truly walk in darkness and have not achieved communion, or contemplation and knowledge of God, but they affirm what they themselves do not know well and have never seen. They say, perhaps, that the saints will then go into ecstasy, as they do now, and they believe, I think, that the saints will forget both themselves and those around them. In addition, they do not understand the Divine Scriptures well, believing that the same change and rapture that happens now will also happen then to all saints from the ages. For when they hear that some saint, having come to the contemplation of God and being delighted with the mind, spent so many days and nights completely not remembering anything earthly, with everything else he forgot about his own body, remaining entirely with his soul and all his feelings attached to what was there, then they believe that something similar will happen in the Kingdom of Heaven, completely ignorant of the divine, spiritual and invisible secrets of the invisible God, incomprehensible and unknown to the darkened, and that such admiration of the mind does not happen to the perfect, but to beginners. Just as someone who from birth lives in a dark and gloomy prison, illuminated by the weak light of a lamp, and can barely distinguish certain objects, not knowing that there is sunlight outside, not knowing at all what is outside the prison - I’m talking about this visible world and about the ineffable works and creations of God, so he who is still in the dark prison of this sensory world and illuminated by a meager mind, has the weakest and most vague idea of ​​the mysteries of our faith, and he does not know at all the eternal blessings of God and what will be given to the saints. Like someone who has been sitting in this ominous prison for many years and accidentally discovers a hole in the ceiling of the dungeon and suddenly sees a piece of the sky - as small as the size of the opened hole allows - which he has never seen and did not even suspect that there is such a bright light, he immediately becomes amazed and seems to be in a frenzy, looking up for a long time and marveling at everything that happens to him. Likewise, the one who, of course, having freed himself from the bonds of passions and feelings, suddenly came to the contemplation of the intelligible light, is amazed, but by those who see poorly, he is considered to have lost his temper, while he has collected himself completely with his mind and is amazed at the vision and radiance that has opened up to him. And if he continuously and every day looks at this hole, which has expanded and increasingly illuminates the gloomy interior of the prison, and stays in this light for a long time, then from the habit of contemplating the light, surprise will decrease. This happens in exactly the same way with us in relation to the sun, for, having become accustomed to seeing it, we consider it something ordinary. And if we had never seen it before, and it suddenly appeared to us, we would be speechless with amazement. In the same way, the gradual progress of the soul through the habit of contemplating the intelligible light little by little brings us out of great surprise, and a person comprehends that there is something else there, more perfect and higher than this state and contemplation. Again, how a long-term imprisonment from birth gradually leads this person to the realization that he is in a dark prison, and from seeing a small light he realizes that there is something wonderful outside that he cannot truly understand or understand, and only when he leaves the prison outside does he immediately see the whole light and everything and everyone who is in the light; Understand this also regarding the one who has withdrawn from the needs of the body and has completely become outside this world and the insignificance of everything visible. Imagine that this entire universe is truly one darkest and gloomiest prison, and consider the light of the sun to be the light of a lamp, and outside of this - ineffable, inexpressible, inaccessible, above thought, and above words, and above all light - the Trinitarian Light. And everything that is in this Light is invisible and unknown, inexpressible and inexplicable for everyone who finds themselves in this prison, although some pretend to understand and see it with the help of Scripture, and the majority do not know at all that there is something else outside this world. So, when we, with all our zeal, with all our faith and love, seek not to see the light that is outside this prison, and the things that are in this light and the [higher] world - for none of those who sought were vouchsafed to see this, and indeed will never be vouchsafed to contemplate this - but we seek first of all the commandments of God to repent, cry, humble ourselves, and so on, which were said before, then it will be revealed to us like some small hole in this visible firmament, and the immaterial and intelligible Light that exists above it will appear, seeing which, the soul becomes completely beside itself, completely amazed, seeing a new miracle, an extraordinary miracle and never before seen, in which it remains, as if caught up in heaven and trying to stay there in order to understand its incomprehensibility and, especially, to see it day and night, and from here every day learn that this is the non-evening Light, that it is limitless and indescribable. And therefore the soul no longer wants to return to this prison and see again what is in it. Know that this is the beginning of those entering into piety and those who have only recently begun the deeds of virtue. But when a person listens to this spectacle for a long time without entertainment, then this Light reveals to him what he did not know: whether it is the sky, or near his heart - I don’t know how best to say. And inside the house of his soul, I’m talking about this tabernacle 335, this amazing and brightest Light enters, enlightening him in proportion to how much his nature can accommodate. And if he remains in this for a long time and gradually gets used to it, he begins to think as if he always knew it, and, so to speak, he studies miracle after miracle, sacrament after sacrament, contemplation after contemplation, being illuminated by this for every hour, contemplating, understanding and sanctified. If he wants to write this down, he will not have enough paper or ink, and I think he will not have enough time if everything is explained in detail. Better to say, how can one write down something that is impossible to pronounce, completely inexpressible and ineffable? And therefore, being then in the Light or, more accurately, together with the Light, he is in his right mind, and not in some kind of frenzy, but he sees himself, and what is around him, and his neighbors see what they are, and also predicts and foresees that when he comes out of this prison, and especially after the resurrection, then, as far as possible, this immeasurable (ἄστεκτον) The Light and the blessings hidden in it, “which the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and the heart of man has not entered into what God has prepared for those who love Him,” 336 will be revealed to him in the clearest way thanks to the Light that is now inherent in him, with which he is enlightened. For we will not then lose the ability to recognize and see, but, as the word showed above, with the illumination and contemplation of this Light, accordingly, the knowledge of God, and contemplation, and recognition, and the knowledge of other people will become more complete and pure in indescribable joy and joy forever and ever. Both in the Old Testament, the prophets and in the New Testament, many saints showed this in practice when they called by name those whom they had never seen, which means they recognized those whom they had not known before. So, those who say that the saints do not know and do not see others, convinced from what has been said that there is no need to seek knowledge of incomprehensible objects, it would be better if they only listen to me, constantly listen to themselves and examine themselves. And you, who do not know any of this and do not have the feeling, knowledge and experience of Divine enlightenment, how do you not tremble at all to write or talk about such subjects? For if we must give an answer for every idle word 337, then for this, will we not be counted among the idle talkers and punished? After all, an idle word is not just, as someone might think, a useless word, but one that we pronounce before action and before knowledge based on experience. If I do not disdain lowly glory and do not abhor it from the soul, as harmful to the soul and depriving me of the glory from above, but I begin to teach others high things and command them to move away from low things, will not my word be idle and ineffective, and empty, and will I not be condemned as a liar? And again, if I do not accept in feeling and consciousness the grace of the Spirit, and through it I am not taught by God 338, and do not accept the word of wisdom and knowledge from above, 339, but shamelessly rush to interpret the inspired Scriptures and arrogate to myself the place of a teacher, using for this only false knowledge 340, then will God leave this without reproof and will not demand an account from me for this? Of course he won't leave. If you wish, learn from the lower and human customs the higher and divine. Who, tell me, of people, even surpassing everyone else in wisdom, and knowledge, and accurate knowledge of the laws, adorned with all righteousness and piety, will dare to sit among the judges, like a judge, calling himself a judge, and begin to make laws for others? If he does this, will he not be dishonored by the king and punished to the fullest extent of the laws? Oh, shamelessness! No one dares to show disrespect to the earthly king or to admire his honor and dignity and appropriate it for himself, but you despise the heavenly King as if he were insignificant and dare to appropriate apostolic dignity to yourself without His desire and command? Since this is the case, will God allow it to go unchallenged? Truly, he will not leave. Grant, O Lord, that we may know You, fear You worthily, and firmly adhere to Your holy commandments. I ask you, brethren, stop arguing and try through repentance, tears and humility, as well as the fulfillment of all other commandments, to cleanse your souls “from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit” 341 in order to be worthy to enjoy both present and future blessings in revelation, feeling and contemplation, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, power, honor and worship with the Father and By the Holy Spirit now, and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. 1. An introductory exhortation to repentance and to what the apostle said: “Whom He foreknew, He also predestined...”, as well as against those who misinterpret this passage and all Divine Scripture. 2. That God knew in advance and predestined all those who were baptized into Christ and believed in Him, to become conformed to His Son; to what Moses said: “When the Most High divided the nations...”; about the calling and rejection of Israel and about the unification with the pagans that happened after this. 3. A brief repetition of what was said in the first Word about Adam and Eve, about seven days and centuries; teaching about the nature of paradise. 4. About the flood and what those in Noah’s ark symbolized; about Abraham and what the remnant of the election of grace is; about Israel and circumcision. 5. That the world created first was then joined by two others, of which the last is an image of what will happen after this, and stands, as it were, in the middle between the ancient and the future; about the image of which the Promised Land, the Ark, the Law, the Stamna, and Moses were; and what the events that happened in paradise and with Adam himself symbolized. 6. To what the apostle said: “If their fall became riches for the world...”; about the personification of both peoples, that is, the pagans and Israel. 7. That the Church of Christ is a new world, and faith in Christ is a new paradise; a review of the events of the first world and a comparison of them with what was accomplished in the Church by Christ; once again about the apostolic saying: “Whom He foreknew, He also predestined...”. 1. An introductory exhortation to repentance and to what the apostle said: “Whom He foreknew, He also predestined...” 342, as well as against those who misinterpret this passage and all Divine Scripture 343 I have heard many people say: “Since the apostle said that those whom God knew in advance he predestined, and those whom he predestined he called, and those he called he glorified, then what good will it do me if I devote myself to many labors, if I show conversion and repentance, but at the same time I myself was not known to God and was not predestined to be saved and to become conformed to the glory of His Son and God?” It is necessary to respond appropriately and say: listen, why do you consider yourself not to be saved, but to be lost, and, choosing passages from the inspired Scripture that are difficult to understand, take them out of context, distort them and interpret them to your own destruction? Don’t you hear the Savior crying every day: “As I live, I do not want the death of the sinner, but that he should turn and live” 344? Don’t you hear how He says: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” 345 and also: “Truly I tell you, there is joy in heaven for one sinner who repents” 346? Did He say to some: “Do not repent, because I will not accept you,” and to others, as if predetermined: “But you repent, because I knew you in advance”? Not at all, on the contrary, every day throughout the whole world and throughout the entire Church He cries out: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”347 Come - he says - burdened with many sins, to the One who takes away the sin of the world 348, come thirsty 349 to the ever-flowing and immortal source. Perhaps He divided or separated them, calling some as those foreseen by Him, and sending others away from Himself as not predestined? No way. Therefore, “do not deviate into crafty apologies for sins” 350 and do not look for the cause of destruction for yourself in the apostolic words, but always resort to the calling Lord. Even from a publican, a harlot 351, an adulterer 352 or a murderer and the like, the Lord does not turn away, but removes the burden of sins 353 from him, and immediately makes him free. How does He remove this burden? Just as he once lifted him from the paralytic, saying to him: “Son, your sins are forgiven you,” 354 and he immediately received relief from his burden and physical healing. So, let anyone who wants to come to Him and cry: “Son of David, have mercy on me,” and when he hears: “What do you want from Me?” - answers briefly: “So that I can see clearly,” and immediately hears: “I want to see!” 355. And the other one says: “My daughter, that is, my soul, is cruelly raging” 356, and hears: “I will come and heal her” 357. But whoever is lazy and does not want to come to Christ, then at least when he sees Him Himself coming to him and saying: “Follow Me,” 358 let him follow Him, like the publican once did, leaving behind his toll-house and much-covetousness. And I am sure that He will make the publican an evangelist. Even someone lying for many years, weakened by voluptuousness and carelessness, negligence and indifference, if he sees that the Master Himself or His disciple is coming and says to him: “Do you want to be healthy?” - immediately joyfully accepting the 359 word, he will say: “Yes, Lord; but I have no man who would lower me into the pool of repentance. And if he hears: “Get up, take up your bed and follow Me,” 360, he immediately gets up and runs as fast as he can after Him who calls him from above. And if someone does not want to love Christ like a harlot; return to Him with warm repentance, like the prodigal son; to approach Him as if bleeding or crumpled, then why does he say, evading crafty apologies about sins: “Whom He foreknew, those—and only those—he predestined?” Anyone who thinks this way will be quite rightly told that God, who exists pre-eternally and knows everything before it happens, also foresaw you that you would not listen to His call and would not believe His promises and words. Even knowing this, He “bowed down the heavens and came down” 361 and, becoming a man, came to dwell here for your sake. And visiting you many times every day, sometimes Himself personally, sometimes through His servants, He asks you to rise from the fall in which you find yourself, and to follow Him as He ascends into the Kingdom of Heaven, and to enter there with Him. However, you don't want to. So who - tell me - is to blame for your disobedience and destruction? Are you not a believer and do not want to follow your Master, or is God Himself, who created you, guilty of the fact that He foresaw as omniscient that you would not listen to Him, but would remain in your bitterness and unrepentant heart? I am sure that in any case you will say: it is not He who is to blame, but myself. Because it is not God’s foreknowledge that is the cause of our bitterness, but our disobedience. God simultaneously foresees all events, both past and present, and even those that will still take place before the end of the world, and contemplates them as if they already exist, because everything was brought into existence by Him and in Him 362. Just as the earthly king watches those running and engaged in fist fights in the arena, but he himself is not the cause of the victory of the victors and the defeat of the vanquished, since the cause of victory or defeat is the diligence of the combatants or, on the contrary, their negligence, so understand regarding God Himself. For He, having honored us with autocracy (αὐτεξούσιον) and giving commandments teaching us how we should resist our opponents, left everyone of their own free will either to resist the enemy and defeat him, or to relax and suffer a disastrous defeat from him. At the same time, He did not leave us alone, because He knew the weakness of human nature, but He Himself remains with us, and assists those who want to fight, and mysteriously gives us strength, and He wins victory over the enemy to a greater extent than we do. The earthly king cannot do this, because, being a weak person, he himself needs help, just like us. God, being strong and invincible, helps those who, as it is said, voluntarily want to fight the enemy, and makes them conquerors over the evil devil. And He does not force those who do not want to fight, and struggle, and race, so as not to violate the autocracy of our verbal nature, created in the image of God, and not to reduce us to the level of dumb animals. So, God looks at us as if we were in the arena, like an earthly king who looks at competing athletes, as has already been said. But the earthly king does not know in advance who will win and who will be defeated until he sees the results of all the competitors; he prepares crowns, not knowing on whom he will place them. And the heavenly King knows for certain both of them before centuries. Therefore, to those who asked Him to sit on the right and on the left in His glory, He answered: “It does not depend on Me,” 363 but it will be given to those for whom it is prepared. Knowing this, the Apostle Paul himself rightly says: “Whom He foreknew, He also predestined, and whom He predestined, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified.”364 Therefore, it is not God’s foreknowledge that causes the victory of those who, by their own will and diligence, will win, just as it is not His knowledge of who will fall and be defeated that causes defeat, but the diligence, disposition and courage of each of us leads to victory, and unbelief and laziness, negligence and relaxation lead to our defeat and destruction. So, we should not, reclining on the bed of love for this world and lust, say: “Whom He foreknew, He also predestined,” without understanding what we are saying. Yes, indeed, God foresaw your negligence, disobedience and laziness, but did He really command you not to repent or took away the power to rise from the fall and voluntarily submit? By saying this, you are obviously calling God a liar. For when He says: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,” 366 you, being lazy and not wanting to turn and repent out of your malice, contradict Him and claim that the Unfalse One is lying, thinking to justify himself in this way. Those who repent, you say, are predestined [to salvation], but I am not one of them. So let those whom He foresaw and predestined repent. Oh, insensitivity! O soul, more desperate than demons and worse than them! Who has ever heard demons say such words? Have you ever heard of demons calling God the culprit of their death? Now there is no need to blame the demons, for the human soul comes up with even worse blasphemies. Where did you get the idea, tell me, that you are not one of those whom God foresaw and predestined to become conformed to the image of the glory of God? Tell me, who told you this? Maybe God showed this to you Himself, or through His prophets, or through angels? No, he says, but I think so myself: what if I am not one of those destined for salvation, and all my work will be in vain? Why don’t you rather think in your soul that God sent His Only Begotten Son to earth 367 for your sake alone and for your salvation, foreseeing you and predetermining that you would become His brother and joint heir 368 and try to love Him with all your heart and soul and keep His saving commandments? Why don’t you believe that the One who was killed for your sake will not leave you and leave you to perish? Or don’t you hear Him say: “Even if a woman forgets her child, I will not forget you” 369. If, looking ahead, you yourself condemn yourself as unworthy and voluntarily excommunicate yourself from the flock of Christ’s sheep, then look - no one else is to blame for your death except yourself. So, having rejected from our souls all unbelief, laziness and doubt, let us rush with all our hearts with unshakable faith and ardent desire to the Master, like newly purchased slaves, redeemed 370 by His honest Blood 371. Reverently before the price paid for us, and loving our Master who paid it, and accepting His love for us, we will know that if He had not wanted to save us, redeemed by Himself, He would not have come to earth and would not have been slain for our sake. But, as it is written, He did this, wanting all people to be saved 372. Listen to how He Himself speaks about this: “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world” 373. However, let's return to our question. 2. That God knew in advance and predestined all those who were baptized into Christ and believed in Him, so that they would become conformed to His Son 374; to what Moses said: “When the Most High divided the nations...” 375 ; about the calling and rejection of Israel and about the union with the pagans that happened after this Upon a superficial reading, these apostolic words are clear and do not raise doubts. But it is necessary to explain the purpose of what was said and the deep meaning of these words, so that you know that all who believe in Christ - monks and laity - are foreseen, predestined and become similar to the image of the Son of God. And not only that. All of them, being predestinated, are also called, and as called, they are also justified, and as justified, they are also glorified. Because those who are baptized and believe in Christ the Son of God and become conformed to the image of the Son of God, if they do not keep this [dignity] within themselves, perish, but those who remain [in it] are all saved. So, I'll start with this question in order and where is the best place to start. “When the Most High divided the nations 377, the sons of Adam, whom He scattered, then He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God; and Israel became a part of the Lord, His people and His inheritance" 378 . Here we are talking about the fact that God divided all nations. Which peoples exactly? Sons of Adam. And if they are all sons of Adam, then why does He call them pagans? Because Adam, before he transgressed the commandment of God, was immortal, incorruptible, lived with angels and talked with them while he lived in paradise, and when he transgressed the commandment of God Himself, he lost all these benefits and, becoming corruptible and mortal, was expelled from paradise. The same thing happens to all those born from him. When they multiplied 379 and fell into ignorance of God, like the one who said: “I will rise above the clouds, I will be like the Most High,” 380 and they themselves, plotting evil, began to build a tower to ascend to heaven, then for this, as a curse and punishment, God confused the languages ​​381, dissolving their unanimity in evil. It was as if He cut off the members of Adam’s body, removed them from him and from each other, and scattered them, giving each member its own tongue so that they could no longer be reunited. That is why Scripture does not call them people, but pagans. Having divided them throughout the earth, God gave each part a guardian angel. And look carefully how from the beginning of the world and centuries everything has been provided and predetermined by God. Since God predetermined their re-creation in the general resurrection, just as He [in the beginning] took from the body of the one Adam one part, namely a rib, similar to the part that He [later] took from him and covered this place with flesh, and from the rib created a wife 382, so when He [in the incarnation] borrowed a part from Adam’s body and gave him another in its place, what He borrowed became His part and was no longer considered to belong to Adam's body, but it appeared as a part of the Lord, being outside the body of Adam, although it was taken from him and related to him 383. It is for this reason that it was not an angel who was appointed guardian of this part, but, like a teacher for a son or a leader for the people and troops, the Archangel Michael was given to them. And God was their Guardian and Patron, 384 which is why He called Israel the mind that sees God. Therefore, it is said of Christ that He was born of the Daughter of Adam and David: for only for this part, which is also from the body of Adam, the Apostle Matthew makes a genealogy, 385 and not for the whole body, since the whole was cut off from the part, precisely because the whole of Adam fell from the Divine glory. How and through whom [was the prototype of Adam’s rib realized]? If previously a wife was created from a part taken from the whole body of Adam, now that same part taken from the Wife was recreated into a Man and became the new Adam 386, our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the divine Paul called [the Remnant] by election ([λείμμα] κατ’ ἐκλογήν) 387 . Just as at first the remnant 388, or part, that is, the wife, served as a reason 389 for the curse of the entire body, or people, so now through the same remnant, that is, the Body of the Lord, the blessing has spread to all humanity. For this reason, He descended into hell, so that His salvation and appearance 390, which was to the saints before His coming to earth, could be extended to all the saints who had fallen asleep from the beginning to the end of the age. That is why He was buried in the tomb, so that through the deadness of His body the bodies that had previously fallen asleep would become partakers of eternal life and resurrection. That is why Israel, which became God's inheritance and His inheritance, was rightly called a vineyard and surrounded by a fence 391, like some new paradise, from which Adam, or rather his descendants according to the flesh, namely the pagans, were again expelled. There was also an angel who, instead of a fiery sword 392, guarded this vineyard so that the pagans would not enter it, and God Himself 393 was its vinedresser. Just as the first Eve, being part of Adam’s whole body, talked with the serpent, and was the first to reveal to him what was commanded by God, and the first to accept the serpent’s suggestion and break the commandment by eating from the tree when Adam was not there, and then served Adam by letting him eat from the tree, the same thing happened with Israel. After all, he, like Eve, rejected faith and love for God, who had chosen him from all nations, and abandoned serving Him, offered sacrifices and drink offerings to idols, ate and drank from them. Knowing this in advance, God, being God who knows everything, again took and kept for Himself a part of them, a lot, that same remnant from the side of Adam, from the tribe of Judah. And since all the others deviated 394 into unbelief, then, taking from them the remnant, which had in itself the seed of faith in God, He formed from it a Wife, that is, Immaculate Mary, and the all-holy God, taken from this holy Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, made the flesh of Himself a holy church 395, becoming the God-Man (ἀνήρ ϑεάνϑρωπος). But since this flesh, taken from the Immaculate Mother of God, was not from a woman, but from [a part taken from] Adam, formed into a wife, then it is said about Christ that He bears the [image] of Adam 396, and, as it is written, became and is called the second Adam from the first 397, being the Son of God and the Son not of a wife, but of Adam. Where is this written? This is what is said in the Gospel of Luke, and if you will, search and you will find that this is what the genealogy says about Him. Having said that Christ was thought of as the son of Joseph, the evangelist continues: “Elijev, Matthatov,” and then in order he gives the genealogy of the Remnant, and in conclusion he says: “Enosov, Sethov, Adamov, God’s” 398 . Coming from Joseph ascendingly to Adam, without ever mentioning a woman, he left it a complete secret. Having received the remnant, which had the seed of faith in itself, God, as it is said, became man. And He determined through this seed of faith, by faith in Him, to again justify all of Adam, all his descendants who were rejected and driven out, as if from a new paradise, and inheritance, and vineyard. In a similar way, God promised this to Abraham, 399 having conceived this not only at the moment when Abraham showed his faith by sacrificing Isaac, as one of the especially learned may think, but as He knew this before the foundation of the world and predestined to save the remnant through faith, and to save all those who had previously been separated from this remnant according to their disposition to this faith, preserved in the remnant, and then, since Abraham showed himself to be faithful, God revealed this to him. ancient decision 400. But we, hearing about this, think that since Abraham believed God 401, then for this reason we received blessing 402 and adoption 403 by faith, when it was said to him: “And in your seed all nations will be blessed” 404 - incorrectly assuming that this promise was given to us as a reward for Abraham’s faith, and not according to something predetermined before the ages, ineffable economy, which in Abraham through faith was only promised and revealed to us. But this is not true, [not] true at all. For that remnant, which, during the separation of the sons of Adam, those same pagans, became, as has been said, the portion of the Lord Himself, He planted as if it were some kind of new paradise, having in its midst the tree of life, that is, faith in God, and the Spirit who is from God. Since this remnant was from the rib of Adam, from which the wife was created, and the wife was the first to transgress the commandment, God foresaw that this remnant would not again retain faith in Him, then, having foreseen this before the ages, God then deigned to again call and accept all the previously separated nations, removed and alienated from this remnant, in order to join those who [fell] from the remnant to the remnant and unite them. Try to accept these words judiciously, because the hidden meaning in them is difficult to understand. For when the Jewish people, also called Israel (which is also the part that was taken from the husband’s rib), transgressed the commandment given to them from God: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord your God, the Lord is one” 405, and worked for demons, and worshiped idols, and partook of their drink offerings and sacrifices, then God again, taking His part from this part, as if from a single body, from many members united into one people, preserved her unto Himself immaculate. And the rest of the body, that is, the portion cut off from this part, which had deviated into idolatry, He separated and removed from this paradise, from His inheritance and vineyard. From His part chosen by faith, existing from the rib of Adam, having received it, like some small seed, God the Word becomes man, so that, I repeat once again, He may be born as the second Adam and the Son of the first [Adam] as having come from his rib without intercourse and flow, and then bless the whole body and all the members of the first Adam, and so that He Himself, Who first rejected the people of the pagans, now through His Son, the God-Man, added them by faith to the remnant that was from the side of Adam. This is what the divine Paul says that even before the ages it was determined 406 and foreseen by God, who knew everything in advance, that all nations from east to west 407 would be called. And those who believe will join 408 Christ God, the Son of God and the Son of Adam, who was incarnate from the rib of their father. Thus, both will become one 409 namely, co-corporeal, and co-participants, and brothers, and joint heirs 410 of Christ - Christ Himself and the very distant and scattered pagans everywhere. And those who do not believe will remain outside, with those who have fallen away from the faithful remnant - I am talking specifically about those Jews who were cast out and cut off for unbelief. This is obvious to those who hear from the gospel words, because the Lord Himself says to His disciples: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me 411. Go into all the world and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; and whoever does not believe will be condemned” 412. But let’s briefly repeat what was said above once again so that it is more understandable to everyone. 3. A brief repetition of what was said in the first Word 413 about Adam and Eve, about seven days and centuries; doctrine of the nature of heaven Let us try again to explore the hidden meanings of Divine Scripture. So, God created heaven and earth and everything that is on them, and then created him in His image and in the likeness of man, that is, this one and only Adam 414. He created all this in six days, but rested on the seventh, doing nothing on that day, and did not call the first [after the seventh] the eighth day, so that the week would not have eight, but only seven days, and thus the weeks would repeat themselves cyclically. In these seven days the Creator apparently intended seven centuries. Having created all this in the indicated manner, the Lord of all, since He foresaw as God that man would transgress His commandment and remain unrepentant, and the unrepentant must suffer condemnation and punishment, He did not leave him in this world, created together with Adam in six days, but after the rest of the seventh day, when this day ended, He planted paradise in the east. How and why? So that from this world man would be brought by God as if into some chamber or most glorious city, like a king. And when he transgresses the commandment of God and for this he is deprived of the kingdom, expelled and removed from the royal palace, then he will again be condemned to live in this world in the hope of 415 [for future deliverance]. If God had not arranged everything in this way, but had created only this world and placed man in it, then when he sinned and did not confess [his sin] and did not repent, where would He have banished him? Where would a person live after condemnation, where would he die and return to the land from which he was taken? Nowhere, but only after condemnation would he remain alive in hell 416, no longer having any hope of salvation. In addition, there would be no more birth or multiplication of offspring, and such a great work of the wisdom of God - man - would perish. Since God knew before the ages that man would transgress the commandment, and predestined to recreate him in the resurrection, having already completed the entire creation and having rested, when in seven days a mysterious sign was given to times and ages, He finally took from each of His creation the inclinations (ἀρραβῶνας) of reconstitution, like leaven, seed and part, so that through these parts created in seven days, and taken not on the seventh, but on the eighth day, and through what was created on this day to prescribe the future age. God did not number this day among seven and did not make it obvious, but left it in complete obscurity for those who lived before the Law, vaguely revealed it and promised it to the prophets under the law, and announced it to us, believers, like the morning dawn, so that we wait 417 for this sacred sun of truth 418 that has not yet risen. As I already said, God took parts: from the whole earth - like a certain plot on which He planted paradise, from the whole body of Adam - one rib, that is, one member, but from the days He took nothing. Why? These parts were taken because through them what was related and consubstantial with them would be renewed, which should be united with the heavenly, and the days were left because they would not be renewed, but would be completely abolished on that day. That is why God did not take parts from them for renewal, but took from the centuries. How? Listen. Seven centuries must be completed according to the number of seven days. Six of them have already passed, and the seventh has not yet expired, but from it God takes a certain part and adds it to the imperishable and endless age. Which portion exactly did He predestine to take, or when would the end of these days come? No one knows, only the Holy Trinity, the one and indivisible Divinity, because what the Savior Jesus Christ said that even the Son does not know this day and hour 419 was said about His ignorance of human nature, and not of Divine nature. Why didn’t He take parts from those days, but He takes from centuries? Because these centuries, counted in days and weeks, are called centuries (αἰῶνες), and the future and endless century (αἰών) is not counted in days, but is and will be innumerable and endless. And since then there will be no more days, but one endless age, He takes a part not from days, but from centuries, in order to add it to the future age. Moreover, that part of the earth, that very paradise in which God placed man, was an image of the highest Jerusalem 420, namely the Kingdom of Heaven, so that from the type and shadow 421 he would gradually ascend to the truth. The tree of life in the middle of paradise was an image of eternal life, that is, God Himself. The rib of Adam, from which the wife was created, was a prototype of the Church - here is another sacrament of the economy, explaining that when a person falls from the image (εἰκόνος), which became the predestination (τύπος) of the Kingdom of Heaven, that is, from paradise, as well as from the tree of life, he will be united through the rib with Christ God and will again be raised to the ancient and original beauty. Since Eve was the first to be tempted, transgress the commandment and eat of the fruit, and then give it to Adam, and he ate, but they did not want to repent and fall before the Lord, the first parents are expelled from paradise and condemned to life in this world. Look at the ineffable goodness of God’s Providence in this too. Since man immediately after sin fell into corruption, so that, having prematurely eaten from the tree of life, he would not become immortal, and would not be corruptible and immortal, and thus evil would not become immortal, God placed a flaming sword to guard the path to the tree of life 422. 4. About the flood 423 and what those in [Noah's] ark symbolized; about Abraham and what the remnant is according to the election of grace 424; about Israel and circumcision Having known each other, Adam and Eve gave birth to sons and daughters, and “Adam called Eve his wife life, for she was the mother of all living” 425. And when people multiplied and fell into the abyss of evil and a great multitude of sins, 426 God, intending to drown the world with water and wipe out man from the earth, again did not leave [His] part, but saved Noah and his sons and daughters in the ark. The ark was a prototype of the Mother of God, Noah was a prototype of Christ, the people who were with Noah were the beginning of the remnant of the Jews who would have to believe in Christ, and the animals and all livestock, birds and reptiles were a prototype of the pagans. Just as Noah was in the ark during the flood, so the Mother of God Mary had God and man incarnate within her. But the ark saved only Noah and those with him, 427 and God saved both the ark and the whole world from the flood of sin and slavery to the law and death. After the flood, people again fell into ignorance of God, as before, they lifted up their heads, because everyone had one mouth, that is, one language and dialect, 428 and began to build a tower, attempting to ascend to heaven, again imagining themselves equal to God. Therefore, intending to confuse their language, divide it and scatter them throughout the whole earth, for from the rib of Adam many members came and thanks to one tongue they were all one body, God again took His part from them, like a rib, and divided the rest of the body into many uds, and scattered them, and called them pagans, completely ignorant of God 429. And He called His part Israel, that is, those who see God 430. This part was Abraham, in whom, by succession from above, the seed of faith and knowledge of God was preserved, and to whom God appeared and said: “Get out of your land and from your kindred, and go to the land that I will show you; and I will make of you a great nation” 431. God gave him circumcision 432 as a sign and a seal, and he swore to him that he would multiply his seed like the stars of heaven and the sand on the seashore 433 . After this, God appeared to him again with the words: “Know that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs,” 434 thereby foreshadowing the resettlement of Joseph and Jacob, his father and brothers to Egypt. There this part of them multiplied 435 and became a great people, which God brought out from there through Moses, having first fed it with a lamb 436, a prototype (ἀντίτυπον) of the true Lamb. Then he divided the sea, and led them through 437, and provided them with food for forty years, 438, and they became “a part of the Lord, His people Jacob, the portion of His inheritance Israel” 439. Circumcision was like a seal with them, everyone was circumcised, and thanks to this, the part of the Lord could be distinguished, according to what was said, like a flock of royal sheep, each of which bears the seal of circumcision on a hidden member. This was wisely arranged by God so that they would not mix with other sheep, that is, with the pagans, who, due to the ignorance of God, were reduced to the level of wild beasts and dumb animals. Why did He establish a seal on this particular part of the body? Because the seed comes out of her and birth takes place according to the flesh of man. Or in order to depict by this the whole person being freed from the flesh, so that, on the one hand, they would become known by circumcision as children of the flesh, and on the other, a type would be given of the spiritual circumcision of spiritual children, who will later be reborn without expiration, intercourse and corruption. So that when spiritual circumcision appears, it will immediately stop, and instead each of the sheep in the uncircumcision of the flesh 440 will be sealed with the Blood of Christ, that is, circumcision made without hands 441, according to the Apostle Paul, and the putting off of the flesh - I’m talking about this earthly wisdom 442 when we will be circumcised mysteriously, but at the same time in the feeling of the soul and the consciousness of what is happening in it. 5. That the world created first was then joined by two others, of which the last is an image of what will happen after this, and stands, as it were, in the middle between the ancient and the future; about the image of which the Promised Land, the Ark, the Law, the Stamna, and Moses were; and what the events that happened in paradise and with Adam himself symbolized The people descended from the seed of Abraham, or a part from the rib of Adam, were established by God as a kind of new and third world, representing an image of that first world, that is, paradise, and this second world, which was in the ark of Noah. In addition, it also carries a prototype of what will happen in the future, standing as if in the middle, and on the one hand, it confirms the ancient events with subsequent ones, and on the other, it indicates the connection of the subsequent with the ancient. For the land of promise was for Israel, instead of that paradise, another, second paradise, and the ark was instead of the Mother of God, foreshadowing and visually presenting to us through them the return of the saints to the paradise inheritance, which will be in the renewal of the Holy Spirit. Israel had a law, just as their forefathers had a commandment, and through slavery to the law, it demonstrated the freedom that would be given instead of the law in the spiritual law. He had a stamna with manna instead of the tree of life, which was located in the middle of paradise, from which the ancestors were not allowed to eat, carrying an image and revealing that stamna that would carry Christ within itself. Manna was for him instead of Christ, for He is the Bread that came down from heaven and gave the world eternal life 443; That’s why the manna came from heaven: “Man ate the bread of angels” 444. In short, having made it a new paradise, God placed in it many things that are so much more precious and higher than that paradise, just as Israel was a type of greater promises and things. God placed Moses in Israel just as Adam was there, and God spoke to him as to Adam, and Moses spoke to God 445 as Adam, although Adam did not, like him, have the hope and promise to give birth bodily to the Only Begotten Son of God and God. That paradise had the tree of life, but not Life itself; and this one acquired in the prophets the grace of the Spirit, brighter than in the tree of life, proclaiming the perfect and true life that will be given in Christ. In that paradise, life was painless and carefree, magnificent trees and edible fruits grew. In this was manna from heaven, self-prepared food, as it is said 446; They also drank from the next stone 447 water sweeter than honey. And not only this, but “their clothes and shoes did not wear out or decay” 448, but grew along with their bodies, and there was no sick person in their knees 449. The inhabitants of the first paradise were threatened with death and damnation for breaking the commandment, and the inhabitants of this, even if any of them did not fulfill the law of God, had hope for the forgiveness of sins and the blessing of eternal life, which gave the promise that Christ would come not to condemn those who violated the commandment, but to save those who believed, and would make the impossible possible for them 450. In the first paradise there was a flaming sword guarding the path to the tree of life and preventing Adam and his descendants from accessing it. And Israel had an Archangel Michael, who carefully looked after and preserved those who were within him, and did not allow the pagans scattered throughout the world to enter into him. There God predetermined that through the rib of Adam the re-creation (ἀνάπλασις) of Adam would take place, and for this purpose a wife would then arise from the husband without intercourse, so that in the future the rib of Adam would be taken from the Wife again, and without expiration and intercourse the Husband, Christ and God would be born, and through Him Adam would be renewed. By this heavenly dispensation, God foretold that by Abraham all the exiled nations would enter into his descendants 451 and all would become one flock 452 . Since those who were worthy of such blessings, both before and after entering the Promised Land, transgressed the commandment of God, which reads: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” 453 and “Thou shalt not worship another god” 454, and “sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons 455, ate and drank the wine of their drink offerings 456, and worshiped the work of their hands, that which made their fingers 457, killed the saints and stoned the prophets 458, turned back like an unfaithful bow 459, grieved the God 460 who fed them in the desert with foreign gods and their abominations, and forgot Him,” then what did the Lord who chose them from all nations do? Got angry and rejected them? Not at all. He sent His Son 461 to cleanse their sins, since they had already reached the point where they became like the pagans, as it is written: “And they mingled with the pagans and learned their works” 462 and: “Man, being in honor, did not understand” 463. This is reminiscent of the ark of the sons of Noah, as well as the beasts and creeping things that then entered the ark, as I have already told 464, where Noah is a type of Christ, his children are the people under the law, and the beasts and reptiles are the pagans. And now the people under the law, called to become part of the Lord, His inheritance, have become like beasts, that is, the pagans. And God, wanting to call them again and restore them to their ancient dignity, descended to earth and became incarnate, taking the rib of Adam from the all-holy flesh of the Mother of God, and became a man, becoming like us in everything except sin 465. What is this for? So that those who have kept the law may be perfected through faith in Him, and those who have fallen into idolatry may be united to the rest of the body through faith. In this way, like them, the pagans will also be justified, according to what the Apostle Paul said: “If their fall became riches for the world, how much less is their salvation?” 466. However, contemplation (ϑεωρία) of what has been said clearly presupposes some other understanding that differs from the literal one. So be careful in order to clearly understand what exactly the divine apostle is talking about: “If their fall became riches for the world, how much more is their salvation?” 6. To what the apostle said: “If their fall became riches for the world...” 467; about the personification of both nations, that is, the pagans and Israel After the dispersion of the pagans, as I have already said, Israel became the Lord's portion. It is true that this Israel, having become a great and numerous people, fell into idolatry like the pagans, and only a few were preserved for God, like some leaven and a small portion. And with the coming of Christ, if they believed in Him and worshiped Him as God, then everyone, righteous and unrighteous, God-fearing and idolaters, would have to become one and all be saved together. If this had happened, the pagans would have said to Him: “God of all and Lord, Lord of ages, behold, You saved them all without any righteous deeds 468. And aren’t we also the work of Your hands and Your creation?” The Jews would answer them, as they actually said: “No, we alone are His part, we alone are His inheritance. We were given the tablets of the Covenant, circumcision and other things that God promised only to us, but He will not give you anything.” To this the pagans would again answer God, without worthy of the answer of the envious Jews: “O Master and Word of God, You rightly rejected us as unworthy, leaving us without Your care, as stiff-necked and disobedient; and gave us over to the famine of ignorance and the thirst of drought, so that we would no longer hear Your holy words - and rightly so. And towards them you showed all your love and care: you gave them prophets, judges and teachers as leaders and mentors, you imputed to them the Law and circumcision, you performed signs and wonders. Having despised all this, they left You and, together with us, worshiped idols as gods; and all the works that we did, they also did; and like us they rejected You, the Benefactor. And now, for their mere faith in You, You took pity on them, had mercy and mercy, and counted them among Your saints who had not sinned. So will You not have mercy on us too? Won't you regret it? Won't you accept us, Lover of Humanity? Thus the uncircumcised would answer the circumcised idolaters justly and judiciously, and all would become one in Christ. But since after these crimes they killed both Christ and God Himself as a villain, and asked for and freed Barabbas 469 as a prototype of the Antichrist, then expelled His apostles, then God, sending them out of paradise, as we said, scattered them among the pagans, as having shared pagan wickedness. And the pagans who came from the rib of Adam were drawn to Himself by He who took the rib of Adam from the Woman and created from it a perfect Man 470, Himself Who became flesh 471 through Her, who by nature is the perfect Son and Word of God, and by the nature of Adam became the Son of Adam. Here it is, the wealth of the world 472! And if this has become the wealth of the world, how much greater will the wealth be if the Jews also believe. All Israel, whom He foresaw and predestined, was part of the first dispersion; and when He came, He called him to believe in Himself. But since Israel did not want to come to Him, then, taking from the whole part a certain small part of those who believed in Him, namely John the Baptist, the apostles and all the others, He rejected the majority of the people who, of their own free will, fell into unbelief. Instead, the pagans entered and by faith joined the part that had chosen faith. Now watch the further development of the word, as the speech moves on to a new and wonderful part. 7. That the Church of Christ is a new world, and faith in Christ is a new paradise; a review of the events of the first world and a comparison of them with what was accomplished in the Church by Christ; once again about the apostolic saying: “Those whom He foreknew He also predestined” 473 And here again is the beginning of a new part and a new world, and along with this part an unusual, new 474 and amazing dough is fermented. For the events that took place before this were types, shadows and hints of this part, and it itself is the truth, renewal and restoration of the whole world. But the part born of Adam, which was corruptible and produced a great multitude of corruptible and mortal people, all perished in the flood. Of it, only a part was again preserved, Noah and his sons, becoming the beginning of the second world. But since people again attempted to ascend to heaven, and God promised never again to cause a flood and not to destroy all living flesh on earth 475, He again took a part - Abraham, according to the election of faith 476, and scattered all the rest throughout the world. From this Abrahamic part, God took part of his offspring, that same rib, which I have already spoken about many times, and appropriated it to Himself, and He Himself became flesh, but without change, and became a man, but not simple. For He became not the Firstfruits of the children of the flesh, a people corruptible, like Noah, in which case He would have had to multiply and perish in order to continue in the birth of new people from Him, but He became the immortal and ever-living Firstfruits of the children of the spirit and an example for those who are conformed to Him, as the Apostle said: “Christ is the firstborn, then those of Christ” 477, and in another place: “Until He is depicted.” Christ is in you" 478. All the first parents were corruptible, but the One who took part from the descendants of Abraham and was born the Son of God and the son of Adam himself is incorruptible and immortal, does not give birth carnally, but regenerates spiritually. Pay attention to the method of rebirth. What kind of method is this? In paradise, from her husband came a wife, who became the mother of all those born from the earth, and in the Church of the Faithful, from the Woman was born the Husband, Christ God - the Firstfruits and Life of all who are spiritually born from faith in Him. There was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which became the cause of death for those who ate from it, and here is the tree of the Cross, on which Christ, the second Adam and God, stretched out His hands - instead of the outstretched hands of Adam, and feet - instead of the feet that went to the crime. Adam, who ate from this tree, became the cause of death and curse for his descendants, and Christ and God, who tasted gall and tasted vinegar, delivered them from the curse 479 and freed them from the corruption of death, gave those who believe in Him new life and helped them to lead an equal angelic life in this world. There was a tree of life in the middle of paradise, from which Adam was providentially not allowed to partake, but was expelled from paradise, which is why a flaming sword was placed to guard the entrance there. And here Christ was pierced in the rib with a spear 480, and removed that sword, and opened the entrance, and planted the tree of life throughout the world; and moreover, he has given us the power to plant this tree every day, which immediately grows and for all who eat from it becomes an intercessor of eternal life. O paradise, now planted by Christ God! Oh, a new sacrament and full of miracles! For there, by all accounts, Adam and Eve dealt with sensible and visible trees, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life 481 were distinguished from one another. And here the new Adam becomes for believers at the same time everything, both food and knowledge, not killing and not preventing one from approaching the tree of life, but instructing how one should respond to the words of the serpent: “Get behind Me, Satan” 482; and not only this, but also leading into life, which again is He Himself. But where is this new paradise that you say Christ created? For we see that the whole world remains the same as it was structured in the beginning, and we live on earth on which we are condemned to eat our bread in toil and torment. Where is the paradise you tell us about? If you want to understand the invisible and incomprehensible deeds and mysteries of the incomprehensible and invisible God for unbelievers, apply your mind to this and then you will recognize and understand what is being said. First, God created heaven and earth and everything in them, and after that he fashioned man with his own hands, and then he created paradise and what is in it, and placed in it the man whom he had created. Taking one of its rib, He made a wife out of it, after which He gave them the commandment not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so as not to die, but to work according to the commandment and keep [the Garden of Eden] 483. And after this they retreated, firstly, from remembering God and His good deeds - for such was the work given to them by God - and secondly, they stopped keeping the commandment and ate from the tree, from which He commanded them not to eat. Immediately after this they died spiritually, and many years later also a physical death and were sent down to hell. And not only they, but also all those born of them endured this until the coming of Christ and God, this new Adam, and before His descent into hell and resurrection from the dead. But when the One who first created everything came and wanted to restore it all, He deigned to restore it not in the same order in which it was created. Which one? First - man, and then - the rest of creation. How and why? Because at first He prepared for Adam everything visible, like royal chambers, for habitation and enjoyment, and then deprived him of it. Now, if He first wanted to renew creation and make it spiritual, incorruptible and eternal, then where would this bearer of corruptible flesh, that is, spiritual and corruptible man, live? In what kind of world would he then have to inhabit, marry and be given in marriage 485, give birth and be born and grow? Truly you will not find anything to say. That is why He first raises up fallen, broken and decayed man, remodels and renews him first, and then all other creation. As we have spoken in order about creation and its fall, the same should be said about its renewal. See how, when comparing ancient events, their exact correspondence with the new economy and the Testament of God is revealed. For Adam was the first to be brought by God into paradise, and then Eve was brought; first, the Son of God, the Creator of Adam Himself, descended and entered the virgin’s immaculate womb, and thus took from Her the rib of Adam, that is, immaculate flesh, and became a man, and instead of Eve, who was deceived by the serpent, a new Adam came into the world, who was to kill the serpent who deceived Eve. Eve was the first to be deceived when she spoke with the serpent and ate from the tree, and transgressed the commandment, and died the death of her soul; The Mother of God Mary is the first to receive the good news from the angel, and believes the will of God announced to Her, and trusts, saying: “Behold, the Servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word" 486. Thus, She was the first to essentially (οὐσιωδῶς) accept into Herself the Word of God, thereby redeeming Her soul from that eternal death. And, having become incarnate, He recreated Adam’s body, which with a breath he immediately made into a living soul 487. For when it is said that He took a living rib from Adam and then created a woman from it, it is not written that He created a breath for her. And to express ourselves more clearly, we will retell this passage in a different way. God took from Adam part of his flesh and replenished it with other flesh, and from the taken part he created a whole man 488. Moreover, He did not give Adam another soul in return for the one taken from him along with the rib, nor, again, did He multiply it for Eve. The flesh taken as a rib had replenishment, but the soul did not. However, listen, I will say this more clearly. God took from the Virgin the intelligent and animate flesh that He took from Adam, and replaced it with another. Having taken this flesh from Her, He gave Her His Holy Spirit and filled in Her what Her soul did not have, eternal life. For the flesh of Adam's body, replenished in place of the rib, was a betrothal and a pledge of God's economy, in order to take the rib from the rib again and in its place no longer give flesh - because this replenishment had already been accomplished - but to essentially give the Spirit of God, so that, just as from Adam's rib the woman came, and from her all mortal men, so from the flesh of the Woman was born the Man Christ God, and from Him all things were born. immortal, and that He might make up more than what Adam had in place of a wife. What did Adam have instead of a wife? The flesh that filled the space from the rib taken from his body. For Christ, I repeat what was said again, having taken the flesh from the Virgin, had to replenish it again, just as he then replenished what was taken from Adam. And since now no longer corruptible, but incorruptible people were to be born, then the replenishment was accomplished through the Spirit, and not through the flesh, in order to recreate the nature of Adam, and the children of God born in the future received rebirth through the Holy Spirit, and thus all who believe in Him became His relatives and one Body. Just as it was said to the primeval ones: “For this sake...” for what? Of course, for the sake of the wife, that is, that very side of Adam, “... a man will leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife,” that is, to the side of Adam, “and the two will become one flesh” 489 - the same thing happens with Christ God. Since He took flesh from the most pure blood of the Mother of God and gave Her the Holy Spirit, became incarnate and became a man, then for this sake a man will leave his father and mother, as well as his wife and children, brothers and sisters, 490 and will no longer cleave to his wife and not carnally, like all of us, born in the flesh from a woman, but to the Husband born without seed from the Wife, the Bridegroom Christ Himself. Thus, spiritually uniting and clinging to Him, each of us will be one spirit with Him and, in the same way, one flesh, thanks to the fact that we bodily eat His Body and drink His Blood. This is what our Lord and God Himself declared: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him” 491 . What the apostle said also agrees with this Divine word: “Whoever has sex with a harlot becomes one body with her. And he who is united with the Lord is one spirit with Him” 492. One, I say, not by hypostasis, but by the nature of the Divine and by the nature of humanity. For by the nature of the Divinity we are one with Him, just as we ourselves became gods by adoption, as the Apostle John said: “We only know that when it is revealed, we will be like Him” 493 . How? Thanks to the fact that “we have all received from His fullness” 494. And by the nature of humanity, we are one with Him, as having become His relatives and brothers, as has already been said elsewhere. Knowing this, our holy fathers clearly said: “Give blood and receive the Spirit” 495 - for the Spirit is not given to us in any other way except through voluntary crucifixion and self-mortification to the world. Being the Spirit, according to the Divine voice, God wants us to unite with Him in the Holy Spirit, and cleave to Him, and become co-corporeal and joint heirs with Him, as evidenced by all Divine Scripture. But let's return to our question. So, God the Word took flesh from the Pure Mother of God and gave Her in return not flesh, but essentially gave Her the Holy Spirit. First of all, He revived Her precious and immaculate soul with this Spirit, resurrecting her from death; He did this because the first Eve died a spiritual death. Having become incarnate, He became a man with a body with a rational soul: for He undoubtedly took this same animate flesh both then from Adam and now from the Mother of God, and thus mysteriously renewed our entire nature. Having been born inexpressibly, as only He Himself knows, God the Word entered the world. For whom and why? To find Adam, who was exiled into this world, and, having found him, to recreate him. Look at this terrible mystery of the economy while I repeat the above again. While still in paradise, Adam was called to repentance when God said to him: “Adam, where are you?” and: “Who told you that you are naked? Have you not eaten from the tree from which I forbade you to eat?” Hearing this, he did not want to repent, cry or ask for forgiveness. And what does he do? He makes his wife the culprit of his recklessness and sin, and therefore is rightly expelled from paradise. Since Adam did not want to repent then, again due to the evil intent of the evil demon, God again calls everyone to Himself through repentance, coming to earth and saying: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” 496. 497 has approached and stands before the gates of your hearts and lips: open your hearts by faith, and it will immediately enter, and at the same moment your lips will be opened, and you will exclaim: “There is in us the treasure of the Spirit, there is! We have obtained eternal life in our hearts.” Look, God first called the Jews, but they did not want to come; He finally calls all nations through His Son, and they, believing, rushed to Him and ran. That is why He says to His apostles: “Go quickly through the streets and alleys of the city and bring here all the poor, crippled, lame and blind” 498, where he calls this whole world a city, streets and alleys - pagan nations and distant countries, and the poor and crippled, lame and blind - those possessed by many sins, crushed by various falls and iniquities and blinded by ignorance God. God calls everyone from east to west - I’m talking about Jews and Greeks. As God, He foresaw, as has been said many times, 499 the disobedience of the Jews, resulting from their unbelief, and the conversion of the pagans, which was a consequence of their faith; and before the ages He determined that those who believe in Him and are baptized in His name, that is, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and also eat the most pure Body of His Son and drink His holy Blood, will be justified from sin, namely, will be freed and glorified and become partakers of eternal life, as the Lord of all Himself said: “He who walks My Flesh and drinks My Blood has life eternal" 500; “and does not come to judgment, but has passed from death to life” 501. So, brother, God knew you in advance, and predestined you, and called you, and glorified you, and justified you, and called you to eternal life through faith in Christ and holy Baptism. And you are not brought into a sensual paradise, as Adam was before, but into heaven itself and the heavenly blessings, which “the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and has not entered the heart of man” 502. Work in virtues and keep the commandments of God, and most of all keep yourself through the commandments, so as not to transgress anything commanded to you and not fall, like Adam, or even worse, deprived of even greater heavenly blessings. Do not prefer anything earthly, and do not let the desire for anything corruptible take hold of you, lest you be exposed to the glory for which you were glorified by Christ, and, like one deprived of the wedding garment, be bound hand and foot and cast out into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth 503. Faith in Christ is a new paradise. That is why He foresaw before the foundation of the world all those who believed and those who would believe in Him, whom He called and will not cease to call until the very end, and glorified and glorified, and justified and will justify, through holy Baptism and the gift of the Spirit, revealing them to be conformed to the glory and image of His Son, mysteriously making them all sons of God and restoring them new from the old and immortal from the mortal, to whom He, like Adam once did, teaches the commandments. So, those who, even to death, keep all His commandments, will thereby show their love for God and ascend to an even more exalted glory. And those who turn out to have despised God, are negligent and ungrateful to the Benefactor, and do not keep the commandments given by Him, will fall away from all these blessings, just as Adam lost paradise, not because they were not foreseen by God, but they will tolerate this for their own foolishness and guile. For this reason, God placed in advance this saving medicine of repentance in the midst of paradise, so that through laziness and carelessness those who had fallen from eternal life through repentance would again return to an even brighter and more brilliant glory. And if the man-loving God had not arranged this, then no flesh would have been saved 504. So, abandoning all other concerns, let us try as much as we can to repent, so that we may be worthy of both present and future blessings by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Word 3rd. In response to what the Apostle Paul said: “I know one [man] who was caught up to the third heaven and heard unutterable words, which are impossible for man to hear” 505. What were these unspeakable verbs that Paul heard? What are these blessings that “the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and has not entered the heart of man”? 506 What is the Kingdom of God, how does it abide in us now, and how will it abide in the future, and what is its effect in us? Since the Lord of all preaches quite definitely every day in the Gospels, talking about one thing in secret, and explaining another in private to His disciples, saying: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God, but to others in parables” 507 , sometimes he directly and openly addresses all of us, as the apostles told Him: “Behold, now You speak directly, and do not speak any parables” 508 - then it is necessary to examine and find out what exactly is said by the Lord and God unambiguously and openly, and what is said in parables. For example, the clear and unambiguous meaning of the commandments occurs when the evangelist says: “The Lord said: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” 509, also when he calls those who weep blessed 510 and those who laugh wretched 511 and when he cries out: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” 512. And again: “He who saves his soul will lose it; but he who loses his life for My sake will save it for eternal life” 513, and: “If anyone wants to come after Me, deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” 514. This and similar things are said not in parables, but clearly and without any hidden meaning. And parable speech occurs when the Lord says: “To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, and when it grew, it became a large tree” 515; “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who seeks good pearls” 516 and again: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened” 517. All of the above and much more related to the comparisons of the Kingdom of Heaven, He calls parables. Look at the wisdom of God in this, how through sensory examples and through what seems simple to us He depicts that which exceeds mind and reason. He does all this so that unbelievers and those who have become unworthy through unbelief remain blind and deprived of such benefits, and believers and those who accept the word of parables with full confidence see the truth itself and its obvious fulfillment in themselves. For parables are images of true reality, and [if you want to know] how, listen. The mustard seed is the All-Holy Spirit, and I think it is the Kingdom of Heaven and nothing else. A person is every believer who wants to receive this grain through doing the commandments. The garden is nothing other than the heart of each of us, where we take this single grain - not many [grains], because it does not belong to divisible things, being by nature inseparable and indivisible - and hide it in it. And when we protect and preserve ourselves with all care 518, this grain grows in a way we do not know, 519 and when it grows and multiplies greatly, it becomes visible and tangible to those in whom it grew, and, having become a tree and sending out numerous branches, brings indescribable joy to those who acquire it. Just as a garden without grain cannot produce anything useful, but only thorns and wild plants, and grain, not being planted in the garden, does not bear fruit, but remains as it was, in the same way our souls without the Divine seed truly remain fruitless and bear thorns. Because the Divine seed, until it is sown in us, that is, in our hearts, remains the same as God exists in His fullness, undergoing neither increase nor decrease from the whole, and does not grow or multiply at all in us. How then will God show His nurturing power on those from whom He withdraws immediately after touching 520 as He shows it on those who are already firmly united to Him? None. Because fire will never ignite wood unless it touches it, and wood will not ignite unless it is essentially united with fire. That is why, let us repeat once again: just as in the Divine Gospels one thing is told to us covertly and in parables, and another directly and bluntly, so the apostolic words of God are not always addressed to us clearly and without any veil, but require many studies and interpretations, as they contain in what is said the depth of meanings and mysteries. If you want, let us take one of the apostolic words for analysis and contemplation and see what the depths of the Spirit are there, for, according to the Divine word, “The Spirit tests all things, including the depths of God” 521. What kind of word is this, and where do we start looking at it? These are the ineffable verbs that the divine Paul heard when he was caught up into the third heaven 522. As an introduction to these verbs, let us examine what the word “verb” (ῥῆμα) itself means, so that, thus moving forward, we may correctly understand the power of the apostolic verbs. So, a verb is a word, just as a word is called a verb. For [the centurion] says: “Say the word (λόγον), and my servant will recover” 523; in the book of Job: “Say a certain word (ῥῆμά τι) to the Lord and die” 524; and in another place: “The verbs (τὰ ῥήματα) of his mouth” 525. And if the verbs and words of people are pronounced by human lips and heard by human ears, then the verb of God and the word of God coming from His mouth is completely inexpressible in human language and is absolutely incompatible with carnal hearing, and not only this, but it is impossible to feel it [the meaning], since the sense is not able to grasp what exceeds the sense. By verb and word at the first level of contemplation (κατὰ πρώτην ἐπιβολὴν ϑεωρίας) we understand nothing other than the Son of God and the Father, Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who truly is God. And under His lips, uttering ineffable verbs, is nothing other than the Holy and Consubstantial Spirit Himself, as the prophet said: “The mouth of the Lord speaks,” 526 instead of saying: The Spirit of the Lord [speaks]. So, the mouth of God is the Holy Spirit, and the verb and word are the Son of God and God. Why is the Spirit called the mouth of God, and the Son the Verb and Word? Because just as the word hidden in us passes through our lips and is revealed to others, and otherwise it is impossible to pronounce and discover it if not through the sounds of the mouth, so the Son of God and the Word cannot be known or heard unless it is spoken, that is, revealed, through the Holy Spirit, as if through the mouth. Moreover, we say here: “Cannot,” meaning: “Does not allow,” “does not want,” just as [elsewhere it is said that] it is impossible for God to lie 527. And just as if we do not open our lips, then the word locked in them cannot come out, so the mouth of God, that is, His Holy Spirit Himself, if through the illumination that has occurred in us does not reveal Himself - and not the Spirit Himself will open, but our mind illuminated by Him - then the Son and Word of God can neither be seen nor known, and does not reveal Himself to our sight and hearing. Thus, the ineffable verbs that the divine Paul is said to have heard are, according to our feeble understanding, nothing other than the mysterious and truly inexpressible contemplations and super-magnificent unknowable knowledge given by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, or invisible contemplations of the super-luminous and super-unknowable glory and divinity of the Son and Word of God, which, being the most clear and in the purest way, revealed to the worthy, they manifest themselves as silent verbs, inaudible sounds (ἀφϑέγκτων ῥημάτων ἀνήκοοι ἀκοαί) and incomprehensible comprehension of incomprehensible objects. And if he said: “I heard ineffable verbs,” and we otherwise call these verbs the Son of God and the Father, who is spoken through the Holy Spirit and who is worthy through the illumination of the Spirit, and the illumination, that is, revelation, is accomplished rather through contemplation, and not through hearing, then do not be surprised at this, but when you hear, know that this interpretation is correct, and do not be an unbeliever 528 . And his explanation is as follows. God, the cause of everything that exists, is one. This One is Light and Life, Spirit and Word, Mouth and Verb, Wisdom and Knowledge, Joy and Love, the Kingdom of Heaven and Paradise, the Sky of heavens, and is also called the Sun of suns, the God of gods 529 and the Never-Evening Day. And whatever you name from the visible, as well as everything that is above this, you will find present in everything this One, in the proper sense called Good. Moreover, It Itself is not the same as everything visible, but incomparably and ineffably better; and It is not divided like all these visible objects, but remains united, being invariably that very all-encompassing Good, exceeding all good. Man is honored with the same dignity, created in the image and likeness of God 530, having in one soul and mind and reason (ἐν μιᾷ ψυχῇ καὶ νοῒ 531 καὶ λόγῳ) one feeling (μίαν αἴσϑησιν), although it is divided into five [directions] in accordance with the natural needs of the body, dividing indivisibly through the five senses into bodily [organs] and producing an unchangeably changing effect, and it is not this feeling itself that sees, but through it the soul sees, just as it hears, and smells, and tastes, and touches [namely the soul]. In relation to the spiritual, this single feeling does not need to be divided into five senses, like windows: it does not require opening your eyes to see or examine any things; does not need ears to hear the word; does not need to clear the nose in order to smell better; does not need lips and larynx to distinguish sweet from bitter; does not feel the need for hands in order to touch and understand with their help where is sharp and where is smooth and even. But this feeling, being outside of everything and completely sympathizing with the mind, as by nature following it and inseparably one with it, has in itself these five senses, which are all one, even if there were more of them, to be more precise. Look to the exact interpretation of the [apostolic] word. Soul, mind and reason, as has been said, constitute a unity in one essence and nature. And it is precisely this unity that perceives, reflects, for it is rational - thinks, invents, concludes, plots, desires, wants, does not want, chooses, does not choose, loves, hates. And in order not to lengthen the word, it is this unity that has life, it is together seeing and hearing, as well as smelling, tasting and touching, cognizing (γινῶσκον), delving into knowledge (ἐπιγινῶσκον), understanding (γνωρίζον) and speaker. Try to grasp the exact meaning of what we are talking about, so that from here you can understand what kind of ineffable verbs were revealed to Paul, which he contemplated in the Divine Spirit, and how he heard them. God and the Creator of all things is one, and this One is the all-encompassing Good, as has already been said above. The rational and immortal soul is also one, and this one soul is all feeling, that is, it contains within itself all the feelings, as many as there are. And when the one God of all appears through revelation to a single and rational soul, then all good is revealed to it through all its feelings at the same time. He allows Himself to be seen and heard, delights the taste and fills the sense of smell with fragrance, is touched, made known, speaks and is explained through the word, knows and is known and makes it known that He knows. For he who is known by God 532 knows that he is known by Him, and he who sees God knows that God also sees him; and he who does not see God does not know that God sees him, because he does not see himself, although He sees everything and nothing is hidden from Him. So, those who, thanks to the consonant work of all senses, have been worthy to simultaneously see this every good and that which exceeds every good, which through a single sense of the plural reveals itself as one and multiple, who have known and are aware every day through the various manifestations of a single sense that all the various blessings are One, do not make any distinction between these feelings, but contemplation is called knowledge and knowledge contemplation, hearing by sight and sight by hearing, just as Habakkuk says: “Lord! I heard Your rumor and was afraid. God! I understood Your works and was horrified" 533. From whom else did the prophet hear? After all, he himself, prophesying, preached about Him. And as he says: “Lord! Have I heard Your ears? What else did he want to show by the double mention of the term “hear”, if not that through illumination from the Spirit, that is, revelation, he recognized our Lord, the Son of God, and then again from the same Spirit learning His economy, he seemed to have internalized the teaching about Him that he heard there, and in amazement said to the Lord, as if seeing Him, as he really saw: “Among the two living creatures You will be known; when the summer approaches, You will be (more perfectly) known; when the time comes, you will appear" 534. So the prophet calls the “hearing” that takes place in contemplation of the glory of the Spirit both teaching and knowledge that he heard about His Incarnation and appearance on earth. After all, to say in itself: “Lord,” means that the speaker sees Him. For who can converse with one whom he does not see, as with one who is seen? And can one who does not see the earthly king say to him: “O king, I have heard about the orders of your Majesty”? Of course not. Do these words really show that he only heard the news about him, and not that he learned, and understood, and was convinced, that is, he accepted the royal will with full readiness, as if telling him: “This and that [should] be done as commanded, sir, by your majesty”? All prophetic words point to this higher meaning. Thus, Divine Scripture usually places contemplation of God instead of hearing and hearing instead of contemplation. Likewise, the divine Paul rightly called ineffable contemplations, insights, teachings and revelations that exceed the measure of human nature and its power, verbs and said that he heard them, and so committed them to Scripture. Therefore, he said: “And so that I would not be exalted by the extraordinaryness of revelations, a thorn was given to me in the flesh” 535. If he heard at the beginning, then how could he later call what he heard revelations, if not for the reason we have given? So David prays that his eyes may be opened in order to understand the wonders of God from His law 536. The Apostle Paul, who said before: “Either in the body, I do not know, or out of the body, he was caught up,” 537 - why did he later say that he heard, if not for the very reason that we have outlined in detail above and which truly corresponds to reality? What was previously in admiration, he presented as contemplation, and what is inside contemplation - the clearest and purest radiances of the glory of the Divine - he calls hearing, as providing knowledge and teaching the beholder, and revealing the ineffable and incomprehensible to everyone, since in spiritual objects the senses of hearing and contemplation are obviously one. For this reason, about anything spiritually visible or audible, he can never say what it is and how exactly he sees and hears it. That’s why he added that it is impossible to pronounce it with language. Let us try to cleanse ourselves with repentance and humility and unite all our feelings as one with the good and most good God. Then you will immediately and simultaneously learn everything that we are not able to express and convey even in many words, in vision hearing and in hearing seeing, in contemplation learning and in revelation hearing again. Very highly spiritual people also have some other kind of hearing. Which? Promise of future benefits 538. Since the first Coming of the Lord, announced by the prophets, which they both contemplated and knew in detail, was to take place not in their days, but after this, then what was revealed and shown to them about this Coming 539 they called hearing 540, because in fact it was supposed to happen in the future 541. So Paul, having seen the blessings prepared for the struggling 542 righteous, and having known and understood exactly what those who loved God with all their hearts would receive after the Lord’s Second Coming and Resurrection from the dead, ranked these blessings as gospel and promises and cried out: “I have heard ineffable words, which it is impossible for a man to tell.”543 In what sense did he call them verbs? He speaks of blessings as verbs, because those blessings truly represent some amazing verbs and words, through which all rational nature is nourished with truly incorruptible and ever-living food 544, is divinely revived and rejoices. If the Word of God the Father is God, then according to the justice of the shining of God, the Words will be called verbs. For a word, stretched out into a whole narrative, is no longer called a word, but the verbs of the narrative, as here: “Hearken to my words, O Lord, understand my cry. Hear the voice of my prayer" 545. So, God is the Word, and His verbs, which fly out like lightning and emit radiance, thanks to which they are even more revealed to us, are the brilliances and lightnings of the Divine, which we are not able to utter. John, the beloved disciple of Christ, by the grace given to him 546 told and revealed a little of what Paul had heard, saying: “Brethren, we are now children of God; but it has not yet been revealed what we will be. We only know that when it is revealed, we will be like Him” 547. He said that he “heard unspeakable verbs that no man can tell,” and this one: “We know that when He is revealed, we will be like Him” and will see Him in the most perfect way. Paul also speaks about this: “Now I know in part, but then I will know, even as I am known.”548 You see how among spiritual men knowledge and similarity, as well as contemplation and research, are one and identical. Thus, Christ, having become everything for us: knowledge, wisdom, word, light, illumination, likeness, contemplation, research, gives those who love Him 549 in this life to partly partake of His blessings, to comprehend and hear ineffable verbs hidden in secret from many. So, if Christ does not immediately become everything for us 550, then we will forever be deprived of the Kingdom of Heaven and the pleasure inherent in it. If, in addition to what has been said, He does not become for all the righteous and those who love Him a robe, a crown and shoes, joy and sweetness, food, drink, a meal, a bed, rest and indescribable beauty of contemplation and all that is still required for pleasure, glory and pleasure, but although one thing is missing from someone who is installed there, then the deprivation of the good will immediately make room sorrow, which will penetrate into the inexpressible joy of the triumphant; and thus the words spoken by the prophet: “Sickness, sorrow and sighing will be removed” 551 - will turn out to be false. But let it not be, let it not be! May He be all to all and every good to all good, always abundant and filling all the feelings of all those reclining 552 at the wedding feast of the Kingdom of Christ, where Christ Himself alone is eaten and drunk, being Himself every kind of food, drink and pleasure. And since there He is visible to everyone and He Himself sees all the innumerable multitudes, always looking attentively and incessantly with His eye, then each of the saints believes that He is looking specifically at him, and talks with him, and greets him, so that none of them is upset, as if he had been ignored. He Himself will also be the crown, as has already been said, invariably and immutably reclining on the heads of all the saints, being something special for everyone and devoting Himself to everyone to the extent that each one is worthy. He Himself will be for everyone and the robe in which everyone dresses 553 with care even in this life, so that no one enters that mysterious wedding feast not dressed in this impregnable robe. If someone, which is impossible, hides among others and enters there, he will be expelled again in the same way. The Bishop, wanting to show us that no one wearing dark clothes will enter there, explained this through a parable: “Friend! How did you come in here without wearing wedding clothes?” And further: “Binding his hands and feet, take him and throw him into outer darkness” 554. I think that He said this not because this man hid himself from the One from whom it is impossible to hide, but because it was not yet time to reveal such secrets. Not wanting to say more clearly at that time that “no one will enter there who does not wear the robe of My Divinity,” He only hinted at this. Paul also spoke about this, taught by Christ speaking in him: “And just as we have borne the image of earthly, let us also bear the image of heavenly things” 555. Why? Because “as is the earthy, so are those that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so are the heavenly” 556. What is the image of the heavenly? Listen to how the divine Paul himself speaks about this: “He is the radiance of glory and the image of His hypostasis,” 557 that is, an image in no way different from God the Father. The image of the Father is the Son, and the image of the Son is the Holy Spirit; which means that he who saw the Son saw the Father 558, and he who saw the Holy Spirit saw the Son, for the apostle said: “The Spirit is Lord” 559 and also: “The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be expressed,” crying out: “Abba, Father!” 560. The apostle said well that the Spirit is the Lord when He calls out: “Abba, Father!”; not because the Spirit is the Son - get rid of such a thought - but because the Son of God is seen and contemplated in the Holy Spirit and the Son apart from the Spirit will never be revealed to anyone, or the Spirit apart from the Son, but in the Spirit Himself and through the Spirit the Son Himself cries out: “Abba, Father!” So, if you don’t know this, beloved, then do not plunge yourself into despair, saying: “I don’t know this, and I won’t be able to understand, and I will never be able to achieve and ascend to such a height of knowledge, contemplation and purity.” Do not also say: “Since no one will enter His Kingdom who has not yet in this life put on Christ as God, who has not seen Him Himself and who has not found Him living within himself, then what is the use for me to strive at least in any way, and also to deprive myself of the pleasures here?” You should not say this or think this way, but if you want, listen to my advice, and I will tell you the way of salvation with the assistance of the grace of the All-Holy Spirit. First, believe with all your heart that everything we have said on the basis of the Divine and God-inspired Scripture is true and everyone who believes in the Son of God should become so, since He gave us the power to become sons of God 561, and if we want, then nothing prevents us. And believe that in this the dispensation and condescension of the Son of God was accomplished, so that through faith in Him and keeping His commandments, we might be made partakers of His Divinity and Kingdom. If you do not believe that this is true, then, of course, you will not seek, and if you do not seek, then you will not find, for the Lord says: “Seek and you will find; ask, and it will be given to you" 562. Believing, follow the Divine Scriptures and do what they tell you, and you will receive everything, without exception, as it is written, and even much more than what is in the Divine Scriptures. What is this? What “the eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, and has not entered into the heart of man,” those blessings “that God has prepared for those who love Him” 563. These, if you firmly believe, as has been said, you will undoubtedly see them, like Paul; and not only this, but you will also hear unspeakable verbs, after being raptured into paradise. What heaven? Where the thief entered with Christ, and is now staying there. Do you want me to tell you in a different way what these blessings are, which the eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, and has not entered into the heart of man? I know that you want to hear something that the one who saw it himself did not say or explain. Why didn't you say so? So, I think, not to cause distrust among those listening. So, if you do not want to believe what has been said, then stop here; It is better for you if you do not go further with the eye of your mind. For if you reject what was said to you and do not listen to my words, which are better than the words of God Himself, since both we and our words belong to Him 564, then the Word Himself will condemn you on the day of Judgment 565 for what you heard and did not believe. However, listen without doubt to our words, or rather, as they say, the words of God Himself, and find out the answer you are looking for, which exceeds the wisest explanations. The ineffable verbs spoken to the Apostle Paul in paradise - those same eternal blessings that the eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, and the heart of man has not entered into what God has prepared for those who love Him - are not located on high, are not contained in any place, are not hidden in the depths somewhere, are not hidden in the secluded corners of the earth or sea, but here they are next to you, before your eyes 566 . What is this? Along with the blessings prepared in heaven, these are the very Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we see, taste and drink every day; they, undoubtedly, are those same blessings. Apart from them, you will not find anything comparable to those ineffable verbs, even if you walked around the entire creation. If you want to be convinced of the truth of what has been said, become holy by doing the commandments of God and thus partake of the holy Gifts, and then you will know exactly the power of what was said to you. For greater assurance, listen to the words of the Lord Himself, who thus spoke to the Jews and His disciples: “Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the one that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. To this they said to Him: Lord! always give us such bread. Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst 567. The Jews grumbled at Him because He said: I am the bread that came down from heaven. And they said: Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does He say: I came down from heaven? 568. So, don’t be like the Jews, grumbling and saying: “Isn’t this bread on the paten, and wine in the cup, which we see, eat and drink every day? How can this man say that those blessings which the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and has not entered into the heart of man, are those blessings?” But listen to the Lord, who answered those who said this: “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day" 569. It’s as if he’s saying: “Why don’t you believe and doubt this? No one can know My Divinity – for this means “to come to Me” – unless My Father draws him.” Having spoken of attraction, the Lord does not mean here any violence, but first of all, that through revelation He calls those whom He foreknew and predestined 570, and attracts them, obviously, by the love of Him who revealed Himself to them. The following words show this even more clearly: “It is written in the prophets: and they will all be taught by God” 571. Thus, only one who has been taught by God can believe in the Son of God and who has learned from the Father “comes to Me” 572 not because he has seen the Father, for only “He who is from God has seen the Father” 573 . And again: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and died; and the bread that comes down from heaven is such that whoever eats it will not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; And the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Then the Jews began to argue among themselves, saying: How can He give us His flesh to eat? Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My Flesh is truly food, and My Blood is truly drink” 574. Have you heard that communion of the Divine and immaculate Mysteries is eternal life and that the Lord promises to resurrect those who have eternal life on the last day? Not because, of course, He does not remember others, but because those who have life are resurrected from life into eternal life, and others are resurrected into eternal painful death 575. And that this is true, listen to the following: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live through the Father, [so] whoever eats Me will live through Me.”576 See what He said? Do you see how the Son of God unambiguously compares our unity with Him, which occurs through communion, to the unity and life that He Himself has with the Father? For just as He Himself is by nature united with His God and Father, so we, he says, by grace, through eating His Flesh and drinking His Blood, are united with Him and live in Him. And so that we do not think that everything is contained in this visible bread, He said many times: “I am the bread that comes down from heaven” 577. He did not say: He came down, because that would mean that He came down only once. But what does he say? “Descending” – i.e. always and constantly descending on the worthy and now coming at every hour 578. Also, diverting our thought from visible objects, or rather, through them raising us to the invisible glory of His inherent Divinity, he says: “I am the bread of life” 579; and again: “My Father does not give you bread from the earth, but [the true bread] from heaven” 580. Having said: “The true bread is from heaven,” He showed that the bread that is from the earth is deceptive and does not bring any benefit. To make this even more clear, the Savior says: “For this is the bread of God which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”581 Again He repeats about the Descendant and the Giver of life. What is this for? So that you do not suspect anything corporeal and do not think about anything earthly, but also look at this small Bread, this small deified particle (τὴν ὀλίγην μερίδα ϑεοποιηϑεῖσαν), with the eyes of the mind as if it had become entirely similar (γενομένην ὅλην ὁμοίαν) To the Bread that came down from Heaven, Who is the true God, the Bread and Drink of immortal life; if not, then, being sealed with unbelief and looking with all your senses at bread alone, you will not eat Heavenly Bread, but only earthly Bread, and you will lose life, as someone who has not tasted spiritually the Heavenly Bread, as Christ Himself said: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh does not benefit at all" 582. Who exactly doesn't benefit? Those, he says, who consider Him a simple man, and not God. This means that if you, being a believer yourself, partake only of bread, and not of the deified Body, which received into itself that very whole Christ, then how do you hope to receive life from him and have it in yourself in a tangible way, about which the Lord says: “Whoever eats this bread that comes down from Heaven will live forever” 583, and also: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh does not benefit at all" 584 ? Truly, the [Holy] Spirit is true food and drink; The Spirit transforms the bread into the Body of the Lord. Truly, the Spirit cleanses us and allows us to worthily partake of the Body of the Lord. And those who partake of Him unworthily, as the apostle said, “eat and drink condemnation to themselves, not considering the Body of the Lord” 585. So, come, all the faithful who have comprehended the above-mentioned power of the sacraments, tasted the Heavenly Bread, acquired eternal life, which is from Him, and through Him, and in Him, and with Him, and thanks to this true life, may we also be caught up in the Spirit to the third heaven, or better yet, spiritually caught up to the very heaven of the Holy Trinity, so that, having clearly seen and at the same time heard, tasted and smelled and felt well with our hands souls, all uttered and remaining ineffable verbs, we sang a song of gratitude to the Lover of Mankind, saying: “Glory to Thee, Who appeared and was worthy to reveal Himself and be visible to us.” Let us appeal to all our brothers. Fathers and brothers, monastics and laymen, rich and poor, slaves and free, young and old, of every age and every kind, listen! Is God lying? And if He does not lie, which is impossible, then will He really not be able to do what He promised? Will he really hesitate to visit all nations 586? Can anyone really hide from His eyes? Can man really bear the revelation of His glory? Truly no. For how will man 587 withstand the coming of the day of the unapproachable God, in the unapproachable living light 588 in which and with which He will come into the world to appear to all flesh, when, as the apostle said, the heavens will pass away with a noise, and the elements, having flared up, will be destroyed 589? Truly, great fear and trembling will then seize sinners; their sorrow, suffering and punishment cannot be compared with anything. Listen, you who believe in this and want to be saved, what the Holy Spirit says: “Turn every one from his evil way 590; learn to do good and deliver the offended 591; seek God, and your soul will live 592; shun evil and do good 593.” Kings, desire rather to be clothed in chastity, righteousness, almsgiving, truth, and pious faith, than in the diadem and purple. Patriarchs, if you are not friends of God, if you are not sons, if you are not gods by adoption, that is, similar to the Divine nature by grace given to us from above, then leave your thrones and go first and learn to live according to the Divine Scriptures; and when you become a reflection of God, touch the Divine with fear; if not, then when He is revealed, then you will know that our God is a fire that consumes 594 not friends and those who did not love Him, but those who did not perceive Him as the Light that came. Leaders and rich, become better than beginners and poor, for it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven 595 ; If it’s hard for the rich, then what about the prince? It is very difficult, for the Lord said to His disciples: “The princes of the nations rule over them, but let it not be so among you: but whoever wants to be first among you must be last, and a slave of all, and a servant of all.” Who does Scripture call a prince? The one who seeks honor for himself, who, through his superiors, fulfills his own will. If the Lord and our God Himself, who came to earth for us and gave us an image and example of salvation, said: “I came down from heaven not to do My will, but the will of the Father who sent Me,” 597 then which of those who believe in Him, who does not do His will, but does his own, can ever be saved? Truly, no one ever. And what am I talking about, that he cannot be saved, when such a person cannot even be a believer, nor a true Christian. Pointing to this, Christ and God said: “How can you believe - that is, in Me - when you receive glory from each other, but do not seek the glory that is from the One God?” 598. So, everyone who seeks the glory of God and tries in every way and in every deed to fulfill His will, will never think that he is in charge of anyone or generally rises in himself above someone great or small, but the more he is entrusted to his management and care, the more he will feel himself to be the last and the slave of all these numerous people. If they do not have such a [heart] disposition, but completely succumb to the desire for human glory and acquire an inclination towards wealth and luxury, then it is truly terrible to say that such are pagans, and not true Christians, according to the Divine word of the Savior and God. For He said: “The pagans seek all these things,” but you, he says, “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” 599. However, think about what kind of kingdom He commands us to seek? Either that which is in the heights of heaven, or that which is expected after the [general] resurrection; or the one that is somewhere far away? Not at all. What kingdom, then, does He encourage us to seek? Listen carefully. God, being the Creator and Creator of everything, eternally reigns over everything in heaven, earth and the underworld 600; in addition, He reigns in Himself and over events that have not yet occurred as over those that have already happened, because both they and those that will come after them will happen through Him. To no small degree He reigns over each of us in righteousness, knowledge and truth. So, He commands us to seek this Kingdom, so that just as “God reigned over the Gentiles,” 601, according to what is written, so He would also reign over us, since we are also from the Gentiles. How exactly will He reign? He will sit in us, as if in a chariot, and, like the reins, will hold in His hand the desires of our souls, and will lead us wherever He wants, finding us obedient, and to fulfill His will, like horses, will use our wishes, readily submitting to His laws and commandments. This is how God reigns over those whom He has never reigned before, who have purified themselves through tears and repentance and have been perfected by the wisdom and knowledge that comes from the Spirit. This is how people become cherubim, carrying God, who is above all, in this world on the backs of their souls. Who would be so unreasonable and insensitive that instead of this glory he would want to see and lust after the authorities, or earthly glory, or wealth? Moreover, who is so desperate and pitiful that he would think that besides God’s Kingdom and glory there is some other, greater glory, kingdom, wealth, honor, rulership, pleasure, or anything else called good on earth or in heaven, so that he would choose these latter instead of the former? Truly, there is nothing more desirable than the Kingdom of God - of course, for those with intelligence. So, since Christ has already come to us and wants to reign in all of us, let no one reject Him unreasonably. No one, I believe, will deprive himself of this great and desired gift; no one will wish to fall away from true glory; no one, for the sake of temporary wealth, will abandon the generously giving God and Creator of all things; no one, for the sake of attachment to parents, friends and relatives, will renounce the Lord of angels; no one will be deprived of the sweetness of true life for the sake of the lust of the flesh; no one, for the sake of quickly fading glory, will shun the eternal and endless glory. Come, all of us, gathered together with one accord 602 in order to desire and seek that He who is above every principality, and power, and every name that is named 603 will come to us and reign in each of us, and so that each of us, having received the whole Christ, would have Him inseparably day and night, shining with an unapproachable light 604, which will then destroy opponents, when He comes for the sake of the unbelievers, who now do not accept Him and do not want Him to reign over them 605. And so that each of us would have Him both when he enters the house and when he lies down on the bed; would be clothed and indescribably rejoice in the abundant light that heals ailments, quenches sorrows and sorrows, drives out demons, brings joy and tears, which are sweeter than honey and honeycombs 606, for all time, calms the passions of the soul and body, destroys death, shines indescribably with life, and after transmigration from the body to the heavens of heaven raises; and so that everyone would carry Him on their shoulders, accepting Him so that they would no longer be separated. All this must be experienced and known by you, beloved, with all the feeling of your soul, in order to acquire God, who would now lift you up with Him besides the body, and then resurrect this body of yours and present it to you spiritually, and Who will reign over you for endless ages, always carrying you in the air 607 and always carried by you, the God of all, to whom all thanksgiving is due, honor and worship with His beginningless Father and His All-Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Word 4th. About dispassion and about the mercies (χαρισμάτων) and gifts (δωρεῶν) revealed as one succeeds in it; about the perfection of spiritual age in Christ Just as someone who wants to look at the sun must have sound bodily eyes, so someone who intends to talk about dispassion (ἀπάϑεια) must have the apples of the soul, that is, feelings free from any evil desire and passionate thought, so that it does not happen that the mind of such a person, obsessed with these passions, will not be able to clearly see the height of purity and the depth of dispassion or correctly to comprehend and clearly express the breadth and greatness of his actions and talents. If, with a clouded mind and unclean heart, he begins to contemplate dispassion, not being able to explain its actions with free speech, then he will lose those benefits that he may have already received from him, as one who humiliates and dishonors him and darkens his glory; for it is written: “To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away.” Those who have dispassion, that is, love him and are passionately loved by him and insatiably talk about him, under his influence become even more dispassionate, inflamed with love for him. And those who are bound by even a small and casual lust of this world and its things, or by some kind of bodily or mental passion, are far from the haven of dispassion. So when they begin to talk about dispassion and intend to raise the mind to its height, then, carried away like slaves and seduced by the desire of that passion to which they were previously bound, they are deprived of that world of thoughts that they previously thought to have; and rightly: “For whoever is conquered by someone is his slave” 609. However, being filled with darkness because of this, they do not place the blame for what happened to them on themselves, but dare to attribute weakness to omnipotent dispassion. And this happens to them because they have not acquired even a small intellectual feeling (νοερᾶς αἰσϑήσεως), and contemplation, and experience of the omnipotent action of this dispassion, but, building only assumptions about it through guesses and various conjectures and being puffed up with false knowledge 610, they are always different they rant (φιλολογοῦσι) about him and assert what they themselves do not understand 611, with the confidence of experts. For the same reason, they never agree to admit or confess their inherent weakness, which happened to them due to unbelief, superstition, long-term sinful habit and negligence, but they claim that all other people are similar to them and are subject to the same passions. For, out of conceit and envy, they never agree to recognize anyone as superior to themselves in virtue and prudence. Let it not be that we, insignificant and unworthy to speak, pretending in such [important] matters, go against the truth and begin to assert and speak in the future about what we ourselves have not previously understood through experience rather than in words. But what we have been honored to receive and what we have learned from those who have enlightened our minds with blissful dispassion, and also in madness we say 612 what we have secretly heard in the ear from dispassion itself, although we are rejected and worthless, by command from above from grace we preach on the housetops 613 so as not to be condemned like the slave who hid his talent 614 . So, since you have heard that the Master says: “Many are called, but few are chosen” 615 and: “In My Father’s house are many mansions” 616, then I want you to know that there are many saints, but few dispassionate ones; and, besides, there is a great difference between the two. So listen carefully and understand the exact meaning of what we are talking about. One is the dispassion of the soul, and another is the dispassion of the body. The first sanctifies the body, but the second alone does not bring benefit to the one who acquires it 617. The other is the immobility of the members of the body and the passions of the soul, and the other is the acquisition of virtues. The first comes from nature, and the second usually organizes and restrains all movements, even natural ones. There is another way when someone does not desire the amusements and sweets of this world, and another when one strives for eternal and heavenly blessings; the former were despised by many for a variety of reasons, while only a few devoted themselves to complete care for the latter 619 . Therefore, one thing is not to desire glory from people, and another is to hold on to the glory of God and always seek it. For many who possessed other passions rejected human glory, but very few were worthy of glorification from God through many labors and sorrows 620 . It is another to be content with simple clothing and not desire luxurious robes, and another is to put on the Divine light. Because pomp has been despised by some who are carried away by thousands of other lusts, and only those who are worthy to become sons of light and day are clothed with the Divine light. There is one thing to say humbly, and another thing to philosophize humbly. Also, one thing is humility, another is the flower of humility, and another is its fruit. Another is the beauty of its fruit, another is its sweetness, and another is the actions that come from this fruit. And one thing here depends on us, and the other does not depend on us 622. It is up to us to always think, reflect, reason, speak and actually do what leads us to humility. And holy humility itself with its properties, gifts and energies inherent in it is a gift of God and does not depend on us, so that no one boasts about it 623. However, no one will ever be worthy of receiving all this if he does not diligently sow where it depends on him 624. It is another thing not to be hurt and not to be angry in dishonor and reproach, in temptations and sorrows, and another thing is to be content with them. Another thing is to pray for those who cause all this to us; another is to forgive them; another is to love them from the heart as benefactors; and another thing is to mentally imagine the face of each of these offenders and, as true friends, to dispassionately greet them with tears of sincere love, without hiding a trace of any hostility in the soul. And more than them, there is one who, even during the temptation itself, will maintain an even and unchanging disposition even towards those who scold him to his face and slander him, and to all others who either reproach him, or insult him, or condemn him, or spit in his face, and also to those who outwardly show friendship, but secretly commit the same deeds against him as the previous ones, although they cannot hide it. Again, incomparably higher than them seems to me the one who has completely forgotten whether anyone has caused him suffering, and will never remember those who offended him or mocked him, whether they are absent or present, but also behaves with them more like friends without any other thought, be it in conversations or at a common meal 625. All these are the works and deeds of men who walk in the light 626. And those who see that they are far from such and like them, let them not deceive and deceive themselves, but let them know that they are walking in darkness 627. In addition to what has been said, there is another thing to fear God, and another thing to fulfill His commandments 628, as it is written: “Fear the Lord, all His saints” 629, and also: “Turn away from evil and do good” 630. One is inaction (ἀργία), and another is peace (ἡσυχία), and another is silence (σιωπή); and another is removal and constant migration from place to place, and another is to be a stranger everywhere 631. It is one thing not to sin, and another thing is to fulfill the commandments 632. In addition to all this, one thing is to resist and fight with enemies, and another thing is to finally defeat, subdue and kill them. Because the first applies to ascetics and saints, if they are deemed worthy to achieve holiness, and the second belongs to the dispassionate and perfect 633, who through many labors and sweats strengthened themselves against their enemies, won complete victory over them and brilliantly put on the life-giving death of the Lord 634. Many have devoted themselves to these virtues, some for one reason, others for another, but very few have done this out of their inherent fear and love of God, with undoubted faith, and only these latter, with the help of grace, quickly master the practice of virtues, advance and succeed in all of the above at every hour. And the rest, according to what has been said, “are left to wander in the impassable wilderness, where there is no way,” 635 about whom it is written: “And I left them to the plans of their hearts: let them go according to their plans” 636; “And since they did not care to have God in their minds, God gave them over to a depraved mind - to do indecent things” 637. So, those who, with fear and trembling, have laid a good foundation of faith and hope on the rock of obedience to spiritual fathers and on this rock of obedience without a doubt build what they have commanded, accepting it as from the mouth of God, such quickly succeed in self-sacrifice. For fulfilling not one’s own will, but the will of the spiritual father for the sake of God’s commandment and exercise in virtue leads not only to self-sacrifice, but also to death for the whole world 638. Then such an ascetic, as if being in the desert, or better yet, outside the world, finally comes to his senses and, being overwhelmed by indescribable fear and trembling, cries out to God with all his soul, like Jonah from the belly of the whale 639, like Daniel from the lion’s den 640, like the three youths from the fiery furnace 641, like Manasseh from the brass fetters 642. And the all-good Lord, who laid down His soul for us sinners, immediately hearing him groaning in pain in prayer to Him, delivers him, as if from the belly of a whale, from the abyss of ignorance and the darkness of love for the world, so as not to return to such objects even in thought; delivers, as if from a lion’s den, from evil lusts that snatch and devour the souls of people; delivers, as if from a fiery furnace, from the passionate memories that engulf all people, scorching, destroying like fire, forcibly drawing us to inappropriate deeds and igniting the fire of passions in us - watering it with the Holy Spirit and making it unburnable; delivers, as if from copper shackles, from our earthy, heavy and passionate flesh, in which our soul, terribly oppressed, tormented and burdened, dwells, turns out to be completely motionless and disinclined to any virtue and to the fulfillment of the commandments of God 643. Freed from the flesh, however, without moving away from it, the soul cries out along with the prophet David, saying: “Thou hast torn my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, that my glory may sing unto Thee” 644. And not only this, but he also gives thanks along with the Apostle Paul, saying: “I thank my God through Jesus Christ our Lord 645 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death 646.” When this was thus accomplished by the grace of Christ and the ascetic was freed from ignorance and from the darkness of love for the world - I will repeat the same thing again, removed himself from evil and shameful lusts and got rid of the body of death 647, which enslaved us to the law of sin 648, then what will such a person do in the future? Probably uses this freedom for relaxation and indolence? Away with this assumption: truly, such thoughts are characteristic of slaves, not free ones. Because he who has been granted this freedom knows that he has been freed from the law of sin in order to no longer be a slave to sin 649, but to be a slave to righteousness 650, which is Christ God, who appears and is called the Sun of righteousness 651. And in order to clearly show you what kind of zeal for God such an ascetic will then display, I will give an example of what, humanly speaking, constantly happens among us. Just as a certain king, being merciful and philanthropic, seeing his slave, of his own free will, captured and taken into slavery by a certain tyrant to work with clay, bricks 652 and dirt, tortured without mercy and serving the unclean lusts of an evil master, he himself, coming, beats him off and frees him from this shameful and tedious service, raises and places this slave to the royal chambers, without blaming him for anything. And this slave, having been delivered from so many grave troubles, surpassing in zeal his brothers who did not suffer captivity, shows greater diligence in fulfilling the commandments of his master, in order to show him his great and ardent love, constantly remembering how many evils he delivered him from. Think in the same way about the one who has been granted, as it is said, help from God. Just as that king, looking favorably on this servant, who with all humility carries out his commands, although he does not need his services at all, having countless servants, but for his gratitude shows him immeasurable love, so believe regarding our subject. Because the one who has been honored to receive freedom from the Spirit of God will never cease to fulfill the will of God again and again with ever more ardent readiness, and the eternal King and God will not deprive him of the benefits of eternal life, but will abundantly reward him with them, and to a greater extent, the more he sees the zeal growing in him every day. We can neither measure nor comprehend these blessings and gifts of God that He sends to His servants; and some of them He gives them now, and others He will give them in the future. And about what exactly the compassionate God is already giving to those who love Him 653, it is necessary to say something to your love, one borrowing from the Divine Scriptures, and the other from one’s own experience. Since people show all care and concern for three things: wealth, honor and glory, as well as the freedom, joy and pleasure that comes from them in us, then our Master and God gives them in abundance to those who have rejected everything, taken up the cross 654 and persistently sit at His feet 655: for instead of perishable wealth He gives them Himself. Do you feel the power of this word? Have you heard about a terrible miracle? Just as the worldly rich spend their wealth on whatever needs, wishes and pleasures they please, so our good Master gives Himself to His true servants and fulfills all their aspirations and desires, whatever they want and even more. He abundantly fills them with every good thing, generously and constantly providing them with incorruptible and eternal food. First of all, they are filled with inexpressible joy from the fact that they have acquired not the world and not what is in the world 656, but have acquired within themselves the Creator of all things, the Lord and Master. Then they are clothed 657 with light, Christ Himself and God, putting on the whole [Christ] with their whole body; and they see themselves adorned with ineffable glory and shining with divine attire, which is why they cover their faces, unable to bear the vision of the incomprehensible and immeasurable radiance of their attire, so they look for a secluded place to stay there and lay off the excessive burden of this glory. Thus, the Lord Himself becomes for them eternal and immortal food and drink. For some, who are still like infants in Christ 659 and are incapable of eating solid food, He is seen as like a light-shaped nipple, inserted into the mouth of their mind and giving them something to drink, for whom He becomes both food and drink, giving them such sweetness that they do not want, or rather cannot tear themselves away from Him. And with those who have already been fed with milk, He treats them like a child-loving father, raising and punishing them. For just as a tenderly loving father shares a meal with his children, and when they begin to neglect their lessons and rush into all sorts of useless things, then he drives them away from his meal and orders the servants not to give them food, teaching them not to be contemptuous and careless, so our good Master and God treats His servants and, with love of mankind and grace, sons. For He hands them Himself - “the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” 660, and they always feed abundantly from Him and by Him, are prepared by the sacrament for eternal life and are sanctified in soul and body. When they begin to neglect the commandments, lazily and disdainfully dispose of their freedom and engage in worldly affairs, deviating towards what is unhelpful and incompatible with piety, then the Nourisher of all will deprive them of Himself. When they realize what good they have lost, they immediately turn and, out of habit, seek It and do not find it, they lament, cry and bitterly complain about themselves, expose themselves to every kind of suffering and want to endure every sorrow, every temptation and dishonor. And the philanthropic Father, seeing this sorrow and voluntary suffering, has mercy on them, and turns, and immediately transfers Himself to them, which is what happens. He returns to them their former home, and glory, and the enjoyment of those blessings, which “no eye has seen, and no ear has not heard, and no man has entered into the heart,” 661 with even greater boldness, and they now reverence their Father more than before and tremble as before the Master, so that through inattention they will not again be exposed to troubles and not be rejected from the All-Good Father. This is how painfully repentant people behave, this is how they act and are awarded the above benefits. And those who are exhausted in the labors, sorrows and hardships of repentance will indulge in laziness and indulgences, like unworthy and illegitimate children, or better yet, like despisers who preferred bodily pleasures to eternal blessings and to their God Himself, will never be rewarded with either this pleasure or the vestment of Divine glory, but in justice they will be deprived of the riches of God's goodness 662 and will become like dogs who have no host 663. For they, like homeless dogs, circle around the squares and streets of the city to grab somewhere a bone or a discarded piece of old skin, to lick the pus or blood of slaughtered animals. If they find carrion, they devour it insatiably, gnaw at it and drive away other dogs and do not leave the carrion until all the entrails and veins are eaten and bare bones appear. In the same way, these wicked people, like beggars, go around the doors of rich and poor in order to collect gold, silver or copper in their bosoms, since they have already fallen away from true and lasting wealth. And having achieved their goal, for a short time they feel as if they are full and do not need anything. And when again and again they are struck by the hunger of unquenchable thirst, arising from despair, then they immediately fall into their former beggarly disposition - worthy of regret in the present, even though they have acquired all the wealth of this world, and even more miserable in the future, since they voluntarily renounced eternal life. And after all, God showed them the riches of His grace 664, so that they were unrequited 665, and made them worthy to taste the heavenly gift, and made them partakers of the Holy Spirit 666, as the divine Paul declared. But they “did not glorify Him as God,” and did not love and were not ashamed of His immeasurable goodness, “and did not give thanks, but became futile in their speculations, and their foolish hearts were darkened; calling themselves wise, they became fools" 667. This is not what all those who fear the Lord do, but just as grateful slaves and native sons joyfully endure the punishments of their father and master, so they say: “I will bear punishment from the Lord, because I have sinned before Him” 668, and in another place: “The sufferings of this present time are worth nothing in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us” 669. Thus they endure, as we have said, punishment and continued repentance, without rebelling against it and without being burdened, being punished in the above manner, they always remain in their father's house and wear shining clothes, share a meal with their Father and contemplate His glory and wealth, which they are to inherit. And when they are well brought up and taught, and reach the age of a perfect husband 670, then the all-good Father will transfer all His possessions into their hands 671. But let’s say first what kind of measure of spiritual age and the height of Christ’s perfection 672 is, and then we’ll talk about the Father’s property and how He transfers it into the hands of those who believe in Him. So, delve wisely into the meaning of what is being said to you. The measure of the full stature of Christ, according to spiritual speculation, is as follows. If we begin to examine it from below, then its feet are faith and holy humility - a solid and unshakable foundation. Feet and ankles, legs, knees and thighs are non-covetousness, nakedness, wandering, for the sake of Christ, conscious submission, obedience and always readiness to serve. The members and organs that need to be covered are unceasing prayer in the mind, the sweetness that comes from shedding tears, the joy of the heart and its inexpressible consolation. Kidneys and lower back - standing and patience in cell and cathedral prayers and the resulting ignition of desire for contemplation and communion with God, just as the divine David writes about this: “Melt my insides and my heart” 673. The Apostle Paul says: “Stand therefore, having your loins girded with truth” 674 ; and the chief of the apostles, Peter, teaches: “Having girded up the loins of your mind, being fully awake, trust in the grace given to you at the appearing of Jesus Christ, as obedient children” 675 . He called grace the gift of the All-Holy Spirit, which makes us partakers of 676 God and brings us into communion with Him. The stomach, intestines and the entire structure of the insides designate the mental container and workshop of the soul, in the middle of which, like the heart, there is a rational force (λογιστικόν), and in the rational force there is a lustful force (ἐπιϑυμητικόν) and irritable force (ϑυμικόν). These forces, like ribs, membranes, tendons and muscles, are fastened and bound, protected and covered with meekness, simplicity, gentleness, compassion and reverence, which do not allow them to turn to visible things or desire any of them, and also never allow them to be malicious, hate, envy, be angry and condemn people who have these things. When no passionate striving for external objects occurs in these forces, they remain hidden. And when they remain within themselves, reliably guarded by those virtues that were mentioned above, then the rational power distinguishes and separates the worst from the best and indicates to the power of desire what should be exercised in moderation, what should be loved, and what should be shunned and hated. The irritable force is between them like some kind of prudent servant, serving their will and promoting will, inciting them to courage and helping people in every type of their activity, be it will for good or resistance to evil. And since God, who created everything, is incomparably better than everything visible, then it will be completely fair for a person, endowed, unlike other creatures, with reason and who has acquired a pure mind, as we said, and free from passionate memories, to prefer and love the Creator and Lord of all and to Him alone to turn all his lustful power, as if pointing it out and saying: “Listen to me and see: touch with trembling, taste immaculate sweetness, smell the spiritual world and know that there is no one more beautiful than Him, or sweeter, or sweeter, or generally more powerful and glorious, and no one who could revive you or make you incorruptible or immortal.” And when a person’s desire is satisfied with all this, then the irritable force is completely mixed with the forces of reason and desire, and they become three - one in the contemplation of the Trinity unity and in this very joy about His Master. Then their division into three is no longer visible, but they become one in everything. When these forces, from the simplicity of the only One and Good, turn to reasoning and distinguishing between the evil and good things here, then the desire for these things inevitably arises, and the division of the mentioned forces, and their turning to what is contrary to God’s desires, since the movement of the irritable force already occurs among these things alone. There is much more I would like to say about the stomach and liver, about food and drink, about hunger and thirst, but in order not to lengthen the word excessively and not to make public unspeakable things for hunters who are accustomed to getting rich at the expense of others, we will leave this covered in silence for those who wish to explore this from their own experience. Let's return to the previous question. Since we have already described the body of age in Christ down to the belly and stomach, we must go up to the head in order to spiritually depict the perfection and salvific nature of this body. So, let’s create the chest and back, shoulders, forearms, as well as arms and neck for the body of this spiritual age. You can understand the breast as mercy, in which the breasts of philanthropy generously exude the milk of alms to orphans, widows and everyone else, according to the saint who says: “Brothers, have mercy, goodness” 677. How this milk is drawn into the nipples and how it is expelled, I will leave to you to explore for yourself. The back is our willingness to take on the burdens of others and bear the marks of the Lord Jesus, as the apostle said: “You who are strong bear the infirmities of the weak” 678, and also: “Nevertheless, let no one burden me, for I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus on my body” 679. And the Lord, through the prophet, says: “I gave My backbone to be wounded and My cheeks to be strangled” 680. If it does not happen to endure this, then one must always expect and prepare for it at every hour. Shoulders and forearms - patience and endurance in temptations and sorrows, through which and with which the hands can act. And hands, I think, are obedience and fulfillment of every commandment of God with liveliness and readiness, which no one can acquire without a lot of patience and endurance. In addition to this, the one who grows spiritually also has spiritual hands, with the help of which he encourages the faint-hearted, raises up the fallen, binds up the brokenhearted, pouring oil and wine on them, 681 with which he does many other things every day in word and deed to his neighbor, and grabs the hem of the Lady’s robe 682, and brings bread to his Lord, and puts the cup in His hands. Thus, He feeds the Nourisher with His wave of every breath, feeds with that food, which He Himself said that He desires most of all 683. Blessed is the one who knows, who has and brings this to his Master, because He, sitting on the cherubim 684, will seat him in the Kingdom of Heaven and, having girded himself, according to His false promise, will serve him 685. And the neck of this body is an undoubted hope. So, with God's help and grace, we composed the entire body of a man, as I think, perfect 686, having all his members intact. All he's missing is his head. But perhaps you thought that we have already said everything and there is no lack, as if what has been said is already enough for perfect virtue and the salvation of the soul. However, this is not true, not true at all. For just as a body that has all members, but lacks a head, is completely dead and motionless, so a head without the rest of the body is itself only a head, and, being separated from the body, cannot produce actions. Think in the same way about the spiritual body we formed with the help of the Holy Spirit: without the head, everything was rotten and worthless, as we said before, although many foolishly believe that by practicing those virtues and acquiring something, they have achieved everything, and, being dead, do not feel what good they have lost. For the sake of example and greater clarity, we spoke about these members separately, but without a head and a natural connection with other members, they cannot form a body and become stronger. Like the body of a small child, deprived of a head, will never grow, but when they are mutually connected and receive nutrition from each other, that is, the body is nourished through the mouth, and the head through the moisture sent to it from the body, then the whole person is nourished and grows. The same thing, understand, you will see, will happen when the head joins the spiritual body. To make this clearer to you, I will repeat what I said, and you listen carefully. So, faith and humility serve as the foundations for the virtues, and on them are erected all the previously listed virtues, through which the whole body was structured and described even to the neck, meaning hope. And although the neck is placed higher than the other members of the body, it cannot by itself be united with the head if the other members of the body are dead, because it does not have the opportunity to inhale or exhale, and to receive the Spirit, which gives life and moves the body and members, and to taste the completely incorruptible food. Precisely in order not to leave the body of the age of Christ unfinished, let us place holy love on top of it as the true head, without inventing or arranging it ourselves - let it not be! - but having been taught this by the Spirit Himself, Whom he had who said: “And now these three remain: faith, hope, love; but love is greater than all things” 687, and a little higher: “If I have all faith, so much so that I can move mountains, and if I have all knowledge and know all mysteries, and if I give away all my possessions, and if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, then it is of no benefit to me” 688. For faith, encouraged, taught and strengthened by holy love, through the mediation of hope, invisibly and imperceptibly - I speak for those who are still a child - produces all the above-mentioned virtues. And having produced them, it nourishes and cultivates and grows with their help the head, that is, love itself. It, being cultivated and multiplied, in proportion to this gives the rest of the body of virtues greater strength and encourages them to stretch forward with greater warmth 689. Thus, little by little, all the members of the spiritual body increase, so that bone to bone and joint to joint 690 are assembled, composed 691 and held together by the action of holy love. And this love, which is the head of all virtues, is Christ God, Who descended to earth and became man, taking on our earthly flesh in order to impart to us essentially from His Divinity and, having made us spiritual and incorruptible, to lead us to heaven. This is precisely the love about which the divine apostle says that it has been poured out abundantly into our hearts, 692 that is, participation and mixing with His Divinity, thanks to which we are united with God. About her, the Apostle John the Theologian said that “perfect love casts out fear,” and also that “he who fears is imperfect in love” 693, and also: “Look what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God” 694. He here calls love the Holy Spirit of God, through whom we receive adoption as sons 695. No one can see such love, or acquire it, or unite with it so that it becomes his head, unless he maintains, as we said, a firm and unshakable faith in Christ and diligently builds up all the above-mentioned works on the basis of this faith. Whoever has not seen her, and has not united with her, and has not tasted her sweetness, cannot truly love her. After all, if someone doesn’t see something, how can he love it? “For he who does not love his brother,” says the apostle, “whom he has seen, how can he love God, whom he has not seen?” 696. Again, if anyone does not first love the Lord with all his soul, with all his heart, 697 through natural reflection and our inherent ability to love and show preference, he will not be worthy to see Him. For “whoever loves Me,” said the Lord, “will be loved by My Father,” and then added: “And I will love him and will appear to him Myself” 698. From here it is clearly seen that if someone does not first love God with all his soul and does not show this love for Him through renunciation of himself and the whole world, he will not be worthy of the mysterious appearance in the revelation of the Holy Spirit and will not make Him his head, but will remain a dead body in relation to spiritual matters, being deprived of all kinds of Life, Christ. Those who are worthy to unite with Him and have made Him their head - be attentive to the word, I ask you - become gods themselves by adoption, similar to the Son of God. Oh, miracle! The Father clothes them with the first garment 699, the robe of the Lord, in which He put on before the foundation of the world 700. For, he says, “all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” 701, that is, in the Holy Spirit, who changes them all divinely with some wonderful, ineffable and divine change, about which David said: “This is a change of the right hand of the Most High” 702, and the confidant and disciple of Christ says: “Brethren, we are now children [of God]; but it has not yet been revealed,” that is, to those in the world, “what we will be; We only know” from the Spirit whom He gave us 703 “that when He is revealed, we will be like Him” 704 . And not only that, but He also gives them the mind of Christ 705 shining over their heads and revealing to them secrets that cannot be retold 706 in human language. In addition to this, He gives them new eyes and new hearing. And why am I talking about so many things? It is impossible to say everything. The Word of God itself lives entirely in them together with the Father and the Spirit. Each of these tangibly and consciously becomes a church of God and with boldness cries out: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me,” 707 and also: “When I was a child, I thought like a child, I spoke like a child, I reasoned like a child; and when he became a husband, he left behind his infancy” 708. Therefore, I endure everything, I endure everything 709: they slander me, I bless, and I endure when they persecute, and I beg when they blaspheme 710, “so that the power of Christ may dwell in me,” he says, “711.” This is the perfect, although incomplete, age of spiritual men. I call it perfect, as far as this is possible for us, and incomplete - because its perfection is hidden in God 712. The fullness of this perfection is death for Christ and His commandments, because just as He, having fulfilled the whole law 713 and gave Himself up for the whole world, enduring the cross and death, prayed, among other things, for those who crucified Him, saying: “Forgive them, Father, this sin, for they do not know what they are doing,” 714 so we, for Him and for His commandments, as well as for the salvation of our brothers, must bear within ourselves the sentence of death, “so that we may not hope.” on themselves, but on God, who raises the dead" 715. If we do not happen to die a violent death, but suffer and endure only voluntarily, then this too will be imputed to us by the man-loving God and our Hero, according to the words of the saint: “I will cite your love as proof: I die every day” 716. Not because he actually died many times, but he says - by choice. And again: “I strive to see if I achieve as Christ achieved me” 717. Among other things, we are obliged to always pray for those who, for any reason, upset or scold us, for those who, out of evil inclination, are hostile to us, as well as for all believers and unbelievers, so that the former will achieve perfection, and the latter will be freed from error and turn to the true faith. None of the people would ever be able to comprehend this for themselves, nor say it, nor hear it, much less do it in action, if the love of God had not first been poured out abundantly 718 in his heart and he had not had Him living in his heart who said: “Without Me you can do nothing” 719 . However, no one would have received such grace and gift if he had not first denied himself, as the Savior Himself commanded and we explained in detail, namely, by working for the Lord with good zeal and loving Him with all our hearts. If anyone has not inalienably received this grace, let him not deceive himself, but let him know that he has not yet been vouchsafed the unity with God, which occurs in mental feeling, knowledge and contemplation, and will never be vouchsafed. For men who have become perfect through mixing with Divine grace and have come to the spiritual age of the above-mentioned measure of perfection, all abide in God, seeing Him as much as they themselves are visible by Him. Because God consciously dwells in them, and they consciously dwell in God inseparably and inseparably. When they successfully grow in perfection, then their Heavenly Father gives all His possessions into their hands 720. Hands here mean thoughts that are undoubting and completely convinced. And His possession is this: the immortal, incorruptible, constant, unchanging, eternal and inexpressible beauty of the glory that the Son had from the Father before the creation of the world, as the Son Himself and the Word of the Father said: “Glorify Me, Father, with You, with the glory that I had with You before the world was” 721; and again: “The glory that You gave Me, I have given them: that they may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in them” 722. From here emanates a light that is unapproachable 723 for all sinners, but accessible to them, from which comes indescribable joy, peace that surpasses all understanding 724, sweetness and pleasure and joy in an unsatiated saturation now and to endless ages. To put it briefly, but I am not able to say, because I myself am in amazement, the firstfruits of all these blessings, the beauty of which the eye, clouded by passions, has not seen, and the ear, clogged with ignorance, has not heard, and the unclean heart has not entered into man 725 , what God has prepared for those who love Him 726 , the unfalse and faithful 727 God already here gives to believers as a guarantee. This is the Father's estate that I promised to tell you about. Thus He gives it, as you have heard, to those who love Him, and they live on earth as in heaven, and remain in death as already honored by immortality, and walk in darkness 728 as in days and in unapproachable light. In this unclean body they live as if in a paradise of sweetness, having acquired within themselves the tree of life that same angelic food, or heavenly bread 729, by immaculately feeding on which all the powers of heaven are revived. Rotating in this world and among the things of this world, they cry truthfully along with the Apostle Paul: “Our citizenship is in heaven” 730 - where holy love abides, uniting with its zealots and abundantly illuminating them, which makes them impassive and truly angels. So, the one who, before completely uniting and merging with this love, calls himself dispassionate, or teaches others, or tries to imitate the actions of dispassionate people, or again shows distrust of their deeds, is like a baby who, at a tender age, grabs the weapons of men and promises to teach others the art of war. And not only this, but he also equates himself and ranks himself with men and warriors, intending to go to war with them, which is not only impossible, but also worthy of laughter, because he will get entangled, of course, in the very weapon that he put on, will fall and break, so that perhaps he will no longer be able to rise. And rightly so, because he does not know that those who receive blows and fall in war get up again, become more experienced and resist their enemies more strongly. If God commanded Moses not to take a fearful man to war, 731 then how much more befits a baby, who does not yet know how to walk or gird himself, to first reach the age of his husband, and until that time not to undertake tasks beyond his strength. However, since “our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spirits of wickedness in high places” 732 and our weapons are not carnal 733 and visible, but spiritual and intelligible, and this battle is invisible, invisibly waged against invisible enemies, then all those who imagine something about themselves 734 show themselves to people as if they they understand this and are courageous and very experienced in explaining this warfare and its tactics, they are wise and knowledgeable, and they can teach others how to defeat evil spirits and what to do if they win. As a result, they hasten to convince everyone through idle talk, deception and syllogisms that they are some kind of combatants and conquerors of enemies. Being exposed and accused by their own conscience, as those who have not succeeded and are inexperienced in such a battle, they cannot admit and confess their weakness and inexperience, because they are obsessed with ambition and people-pleasing: because they are very afraid of losing human glory. Therefore, in order not to show their souls to their neighbors as it is, and so that people do not understand that they are naked from the weapons of the Spirit, that they are still weak and infants, they hide behind the rubble of hypocrisy and behind sheep's clothing 735 and with the help of pleasant speeches 736 they want to show everyone that through their labors they have already acquired the measure of the age of Christ, although they themselves may not have laid even the foundation of faith and hopes are on rock and have not yet erected the edifice of virtues on the foundation, which is Christ 737. And as a result of this, being still unstable and inexperienced, faced with temptations and a storm of thoughts, they stumble and, after ascending, fall in the most pathetic way. If everyone saw what those who clothe themselves in only one form of piety 738, as if on stage, really were, then I think they would not dare to stand in front of people, nor appear in front of anyone. And especially those who think of themselves that they are superior to others in knowledge and intelligence, and think of assigning royal distinctions to themselves, whom many honor and respect as wise, pious and chaste, although in the secret movements of the soul they differ little from those who have succeeded in evil. Come now, you who wish to learn, covet the glory of truly holy and dispassionate men, you who have devoted yourselves to it and ardently desire to acquire it. I will describe to you a picture representing the totality of their weapons and brilliance, from which each of you, comparing yourself with these saints, will know in what state you yourself are and how far we stand from their courage, dignity and strength. So, imagine the sky in clear weather on a cloudless night and look at the disk of the moon, filled with unalloyed and pure light, and around it a repeatedly repeating circle, and, having examined all this carefully, move your mind to what I want to tell you. Each of the saints, while still in the body, is like the sky, and their heart is like the disk of the moon. Holy love is that all-effective and all-powerful light, superior to the sun and incomparably brighter than it, which, touching their hearts and growing every day, completely fills them. For love does not diminish, like the light of the moon, but is always kept full thanks to the zeal and good deeds of the saints. And holy dispassion is like a round crown and tent, which embraces them from everywhere, cherishes and preserves them unharmed from every evil thought, and not just from sin, and makes them invulnerable and free from all enemies; and not only this, but makes them completely impregnable for opponents. Do you see glory, you who truly desire it? Have you realized the greatness of the picture described and how far each of us is from the glory and radiance of the saints? For this picture is an image of what is happening in us, and it was not invented by us - let it not be! – but written in advance by God Himself. During the creation of the world, the creative Word of God, as if on a board, prefigured what would subsequently happen for our salvation and re-creation, so that, seeing the prototype in the sensory phenomena of nature, we would not refuse to believe that this truth was truly and spiritually accomplished in each of us and passed on to us. Knowing that God creates each of us as a kind of second world, great in this small and visible world, as one of the theologians testifies with me, 739 we will not want to be in anything worse than the dumb or inanimate creations that the man-loving God created for our edification, but we will be zealous for everything good, and we will run away from imitation of the bad as much as we can. In order not to list all the other edifying examples, of which there are a lot, I will say only about one and end the word there. Let everyone who hears how day comes after night, and after day night again, know that we should believe and not doubt that we, who sit in the darkness of sin and have been in it since our very birth, can, through faith and fulfillment of the commandments, ascend to the Divine day and spiritual enlightenment. In the same way, through laziness, negligence and carelessness, we can again fall into the same evil and find ourselves in the night of sin. So, if not in anything else, then at least in this we will imitate our servant and helper, the sun. Just as it never ceases to rise and illuminate, but always fulfills the command of the Master, so let us not wish to sit in the darkness of pleasures and passions through negligence, but let us try, keeping the command of Him who said: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” 740, purifying ourselves through daily and unceasing repentance, as well as the tears that come from it and through it, and through every good thing the thing is, like the sons of light, to ascend to the non-evening light. Thus, we ourselves, having within ourselves the immaterial day, the new earth and the new heavens 741, this sun of truth shining in us, 742, will bring benefit to our neighbors by our own example. Namely, we will preach the Divine commandments and His glory 743 not with the help of empty and vain words, but with deeds, always and in everything becoming active teachers for the more careless brothers and depriving them of the opportunity for self-justification. We should not push our neighbors to negligence, saying: “How can people do this or that?” - because by doing this we will make them even more timid to fulfill the commandments. I myself agree that many things are impossible for many, however, in my opinion, this is impossible for those who are careless, who do not want to despise the world and everything in it, to consider it as rubbish, for those who are attracted to vain glory, thirst for wealth and rejoice in praise and honors from people, who are dependent on their opinions and are obsessed with deplorable pride. Not to mention those who voluntarily, like pigs, wallow in the filthiness of destructive sins, about those whose soul does not have within itself the One who dwells in the faithful and cries out like this every day: “In the world you will have tribulation; but take heart: I have overcome the world” 745 - but they agree with the enemy. And for those who, through faith and self-denial, followed Christ God with faith, love and humility and acquired Him within themselves along with the Father and the Spirit, everything becomes possible and easy, according to the Apostle Paul, who said in the Spirit: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” 746. Those enriched by Him invisibly see the ineffable beauty of God Himself, hold inviolably, incomprehensibly comprehend His formless form, indescribable image and elusive outlines, incomparably diversified in invisible contemplation and incomparable beauty. What is it that they look at and perceive? This is the simple light of His Divinity - They contemplate Him in abundance with their mental eyes and, touching Him with the immaterial hands of irrepressible love, they insatiably eat with the spiritual lips of their mind and soul and can never get enough of the contemplation of His beauty and sweetness. For He always exudes a new and superior sweetness and inflames their desire more and more. And if He ever does not show Himself to them even more clearly, they feel as if they have lost everything. And if He had wished to completely hide, even for a short moment, He would have produced in them an acute and unbearable pain of indescribable longing. The irresistibility and fiery intensity of this longing can be understood from the following example. Imagine that a certain poor man fell in love with a girl who comes from a royal family and is crowned with a royal diadem, who is more beautiful than all the women on earth and sits in her bedchamber, while the one who falls in love with her wanders outside, as if rejected for poverty and extremely low origin. And if a girl extends only her hand, decorated with gold, to her lover through a small and narrow window, and he, grabbing her hand and seeing her unimaginable beauty, begins to kiss, hoping to reign together and marry her, as if she promised him this with an oath. And if then the girl, suddenly snatching her hand from his hands, pulls it towards her and completely disappears, will she not cause unbearable grief in him and thereby ignite in him an even stronger love languor? I think that you will confirm the validity of this example. If this usually happens with visible and sensible bodies and objects that are perishable and fleeting, how much more will this happen with intelligible and invisible objects, which are imperishable and eternal. As much as eternal blessings surpass temporary ones, they evoke the strongest love in the souls of their lovers. Therefore, the thirst for God does not allow them to be in the slightest degree possessed by desire or addiction to anything. For such people do not strive for fame, not for pleasure, not for money, and do not allow themselves, even in their minds, to touch anything corporeal with love. Like a groom, looking at the soulless image of his bride, painted with paints, he keeps it in front of him all the time and constantly peers at it and only wants to look at it, increasingly inciting love languor and attraction to her. And when he sees that the arriving bride does not look like the image, but is endowed with incomparable and indescribable, impeccable beauty, and when he kisses and hugs her, he no longer wants to even look at the image. The same and greater things are experienced by those who, through the greatness and beauty of visible creations, recognize the power and wisdom of the Creator 747, grow in love and faith in Him and are raised to pure fear 748 of Him. And when they are essentially united with God Himself and are worthy of His contemplation and mixing with Him, then they will no longer hold on to the image contained in creations, and will be partial or prejudiced towards His shadow in visible objects and fall into dependence on the latter. For their mind willingly remains in that which exceeds feeling, as if mixed with it and clothed in the radiance of the Divine nature, no longer paying attention, as before, to visible objects. This blessed languor - I will imitate here the one who said: “And after all, he appeared to me, like a certain monster” 749 - through the love of mankind and the grace of God, through many prayers, we, the outcasts, were honored to experience, and thanks to him we experienced and mysteriously learned in feeling, sight and knowledge everything that we are talking about, and together we committed it to scripture for benefit and encouragement everyone who wants to seek God and find Him. So, help us and pray together, you who benefit from this word and who really want to ascend to its height, so that with your favorable prayers to God the fire of love and desire for God not only does not go out in us, but burns with an even greater flame, and the One who ascended from earth to heaven and glorified our human race would keep us perfect, unblemished and unsullied. So that by His very deed He has made you worthy to cleave even more, to be more clearly united and intelligently united entirely with Himself in an unfused union and ineffable combination according to His infallible promise, to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship with the Father and His All-Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the endless ages of ages. Amen. Word 5th. About those who think that they have the Holy Spirit within them unconsciously, but do not feel His actions at all; about those who say that it is impossible for any person in this life to see His glory, and the proof of this is from the Scriptures; that the saints have no envy when we try with all our zeal to equal them in virtue; about how one can see God, and about the fact that whoever has achieved this measure already here is worthy of the reward that will be given to the saints in the next century. Everything that such a person says, or does, or writes, is not produced by him himself, but by the Holy Spirit, speaking in him 750, pronouncing it and writing it. And whoever rejects or distorts his words sins and blasphemes the Spirit of God who works and speaks through him. Again I turn to those who say that they unconsciously have the Spirit of God, and believe that they have acquired Him within themselves in Divine Baptism, and think that they have a treasure 751, but they themselves admit that they do not see Him in themselves at all; to those who confess that they did not feel anything at all in Baptism, but unconsciously and imperceptibly accepted the gift of God, which has dwelled in them from that time and is present in their soul to this day. And not only to them, but also to those who claim that it is impossible to achieve any sensation of this gift in contemplation and revelation, but that they accept and contain it within themselves only by faith and reason, and not by experience, supposedly having learned it from the Divine Scriptures. In order to first outline their reasoning, look at what these wise and prudent people say to themselves 752: “Paul says that as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ 753. What then? Are we not baptized too? And if we have been baptized, then it is clear, as the apostle said, that we have also put on Christ.” This is their first premise and conclusion. What would answer them - not us, but the Holy Spirit? Tell me what this garment is that you have put on: is it Christ? Yes, they say. However, Christ is something [real], - I turn like a madman 754 to the madmen, or is He nothing? Of course, they will answer that He is real, unless they are completely crazy. If He is real, then admit it and determine from the very beginning exactly who He is, so that through this you will learn to speak like believers and not like unbelievers. Who else is Christ if not the true God who has become truly man? Having admitted this, tell us why God became man? Of course, in order to make man a god 755, as the Divine Scriptures and every day life itself teach, although perhaps you don’t want to know anything about it. By what means does He do this? Through the flesh or through the Divine? Obviously through the Divine. Because, as the apostle says, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh does not benefit at all" 756. If, by His Divinity, He deified the flesh that He had previously assumed, then He revives us all, not through corruptible flesh, but through deified flesh, so that we no longer in any way regard Him as a [mere] man, but recognize Him as one God, perfect in two natures - because God is one. So that He may be revered as God, Who swallowed up the corruptible with incorruptibility, so that the body did not disappear behind the incorporeal, but everything changed and remains unfused, ineffably dissolved and in unmixed mixture united with the Trinity Divinity, so that in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit one God could receive worship, so that the Trinity would not increase in number as a result of the economy [incarnation] and so that no bodily passion was attributed to the Trinity. Why am I talking about this? So that you, remembering what you yourself said before, when I ask you, would not justify yourself by ignorance and would not deviate from the right development of thought, and thereby would not complicate us and would not expose your soul to greater condemnation. So, again, I will briefly repeat to you what was said before, in order to make the following words easier to understand. Does Christ really exist? Who is He? True God and truly perfect man, for this reason He became a man, which He was not before, in order to make man a god, which never happened before, deifying us with His Divinity and making us gods, and not just His flesh: for He was not divided. Be careful and answer my question intelligently: if those who are baptized put on Christ 758, then what exactly do they put on? In God. Doesn’t he who has put on God know with his mind and sight what he has put on? The naked person, when he dresses, feels it and sees what the clothes are like. And the one who is naked in soul, when he puts on God, will he really not recognize this? If he who is clothed with God does not feel what he has clothed himself with, then, in your opinion, God is nothing? After all, if He is something, then those who put on Him would know about it. When we are not dressed in anything, we don’t feel anything, but when we are dressed in at least something, either with the help of someone else, or ourselves, then we feel it very well, if only we have common sense. Only the dead don't feel anything when they are dressed. It seems to me that those who speak like this are truly dead and truly naked. This explains their words. They go on to say that Paul exhorts: “Do not quench the Spirit.” 759 By talking about this and not understanding the meaning of what was said, they reveal their own ignorance. For whoever says to someone: “Do not put out the lamp,” says this, of course, not about a lamp that has already been extinguished, but about one that is burning and emitting light. But let's return to our opponents. What then? Do any of you see the Spirit within you, burning and enlightening as it should? To this they not only do not answer anything, but, immediately making terrible eyes, turn away and, as if having heard a blasphemy, are indignant. Then, wanting to argue with the questioner and pretending to be meek, they answer, not without causticity: “Who ever said that you could see this clearly, or who ever saw it? Stop it. It is said: “No one has ever seen God” 760.” O darkness! Who says this, tell us? “The Only Begotten, he says, the Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed” 761. You speak correctly, and your testimony is true, but it is against your soul. For if I show you how the Son of God Himself tells you that this is possible, what will you say then? And He says: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” 762. And He said this not about looking at the flesh, but about the revelation of the Divine. Because if we understand by this those who saw His bodily appearance, then those who crucified Him and those who spat on Him also saw the Father. And then there will be no difference and superiority of believers over unbelievers, but everyone equally received and is receiving the desired bliss. But this is not so, of course, not so, as indicated by the One Who Talks with the Jews and Says: “If you knew Me, you would also know My Father” 763. And about the fact that we can see God, as far as is accessible to man, listen to what Christ Himself, the Son of God, says: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” 764. What do you say to this? But I know that he who does not believe in the blessings that are at his fingertips, and does not try to obtain them, will transfer his speech to the future and answer like this: “Yes, indeed, the pure in heart will see God. But this will happen in the next century, and not in this life.” Why and how will it be, beloved? For if He said that God is contemplated through a pure heart, then when purity is achieved, contemplation will undoubtedly follow. If you cleansed your heart, you would be convinced of the truth of what was said. And since you did not put this in your heart 765 and did not believe that it was true, then you neglected purification and did not achieve contemplation. For if purification happens here, then sight also happens here. If you say that sight will happen after death, then, of course, you will have to place purification after death. The result will be that you will not see God at all, since after the exodus you will not have the opportunity to do good and through this achieve purification. However, what does the Lord say? “Whoever loves Me will keep My commandments, and I will love him and appear to him Myself” 766. When will this phenomenon occur, here or in the future? It's clear that it's here. Since exact observance of the commandments occurs here, the appearance of the Savior, and after the appearance, the love for Him perfect in us is accomplished here. If this does not happen, then we will neither be able to believe in Him nor love Him as we should. For it is written: “He who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see?” 767. No way. So, he who cannot love obviously cannot believe. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says about this: “And now these three remain: faith, hope, love; but love is the greatest of these" 768. If faith is coupled with hope, and hope accompanies love, then he who does not have love has not acquired hope, and whoever is far from hope is obviously far from faith. If there are no foundations of love, then how can a person perceive love? For just as a roof does not stand without a foundation, so love for God cannot appear in a person’s soul without faith and undoubted hope. He who does not have love will never benefit from other virtues, as Paul himself testified in writing. About the fact that you can already see God here, listen to how the same Paul says: “Now we see dimly, like a reflection in a dim mirror, but then we will see face to face” 769, and again: “Now I know in part, but then I will know, even as I am known” 770. But, he says, it was Paul. But wasn’t Paul the same man, subservient to us and the same servant [of God]? Who can compare with Paul, you say, proud and reckless, that you equate him with us [common] people? It is not us who answer them, but Paul himself cries out in a loud voice: “Christ has come, listen! - to save sinners, of whom I am the first" 771. So, the Apostle Paul is the first in the ranks of saved sinners, and you become the second, become the third, become the tenth, become, if you want, unanimous with the 772 thousand and countless number of those being saved and number yourself with Paul. Through this you will honor the Apostle Paul, as he himself said: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” 773, and also: “I wish that all people were like me” 774. If you want to praise or honor Paul, then imitate him. As he is, so become by faith you, and then you will truly glorify him, and he will accept you and as his own glory and crown of praise 775 will impute to himself the fact that, by believing his words and following him, you became his imitator and the same as him. If you say that it will be a dishonor for Paul when another becomes equal to him, and because of this you despise your salvation and do not care about it, then know that he is more likely to reject you as deceived, and for this he will be angry with you. Do you want me to prove to you that you will honor, delight and glorify him even more if you can become greater than him and closer to God? Listen to how he himself convinces of this, saying: “I myself would like to be excommunicated from Christ for my brothers who are related to me according to the flesh” 776. He prefers to be completely separated from Christ, if only you would be saved, and you say that he will be offended if I want and try to become the same as him? No, brother, the saints of God have no envy, no partiality or desire for honor or greater respect. For they, as well as all the attested friends and prophets of God from generation to generation, have one honor, and privilege, and glory, and pleasure, and delight in seeing God; and those who see Him are freed from all curiosity. They can no longer see or engage with anything everyday, or with any of the people, or even think about anything extraneous, but they have freed their minds from everything transitory. That is why they remain forever unshakable and motionless to evil. But now I’ll ask you, and you answer me sensibly 777. How did those who wrote know about this, and how does the writer now know this? Tell me, so that I don’t think that you are speaking out of vanity: whose words are these? Think carefully and lean towards one definite answer, which will save me from further disputes. Of course, you say, these are the words of a person. It’s a pity for me that after what you heard, you don’t have a vision 778, and you remain only hearing and seeing absolutely nothing. Are you saying that these words belong to a person? If they are from a person, then you, of course, will have to say where he got them from, since a person is not able to comprehend and express not only the thoughts and moods of another person, but even the aspirations, states and mental dispositions of animals: “For no one knows the things that are in a man, except the spirit of man that lives in him” 779. If it is difficult for a person to understand the dispositions and aspirations of man and dumb animals, then where and how can he learn what is from God, namely, about that change and state, not to say now, the action that the contemplation of God produces in the saints? For words are different, as are human thoughts. And those thoughts that occur in this state should not be called thoughts (νοήματα), but contemplation of truly existing things (ϑεωρία τῶν ὄντως ὄντων). It is from their contemplation that we [derive what] we say, and what we say should rather be called a narrative about what we saw, while a thought is properly called the reasoning of the mind about some non-existent object or unfulfilled intention; for example, to do something good or evil that we have not yet done, but which goes from thought into deed, so that thought becomes the beginning of an act that we will do in the future, according to what was said: “God invents, firstly, angelic and heavenly Powers, and thought became deed” 780. Look, all our words do not refer to some non-existent and dubious objects, but to things that have already happened and are still happening, and the entire story about them is born more from the vision and contemplation of these objects. For anyone who talks about any object, for example, about a house or a city, or about a certain palace, its structure and decoration, or about a certain theatrical performance and the actions that comprise it, it is absolutely necessary to first see and thoroughly assimilate what he saw, and then speak knowledgeably and judiciously about what he wants to say. And if he doesn’t see it first, then what can he tell from himself? What will the narrator come up with regarding an object that he himself has never seen? Tell me, what kind of reflection, benefit and edification, what reasoning, development of thought and conclusion will he receive from something about which he does not know what to say? Because talking about what you don’t know or haven’t seen is, in any case, unreasonable and ignorant. So, if no one can say or tell anything about the visible and earthly, unless he becomes an eyewitness to the event, then how, brethren, can anyone say or tell about God and about divine objects, about the saints and about the servants of God, about what complete connection they had with God and what the contemplation of God is, ineffably active in them? God intelligently (νοερῶς) performs this inexpressible action in their hearts, although the human word is not able to express most of it until it is illuminated by the light of knowledge 781, according to the instructions of the commandment. When you hear about the light of knowledge, so that we can lead you to the light by all means, then do not imagine it as knowledge without light, knowledge based on words. After all, God did not speak about the narrative or the word of knowledge, but about the light of knowledge and the vision of light, 782 since it is through the light that He gives us knowledge. Because otherwise it is impossible for anyone to know God except through contemplation of the light emanating from Him. For just as someone who tells others about a certain person or a city, tells them about what he himself saw and examined, while those who listen, without seeing the person or the city they hear about, cannot, only by listening, imagine this city or person in the same way as the one who saw and talks about it. In the same way, no one will be able to speak about the high Jerusalem and the invisible God who dwells in it, about the unapproachable glory of His face and about the action and power of His All-Holy Spirit, that is, about the Light, unless he first sees this Light with the eyes of the soul and recognizes exactly His brilliance and action within himself. And even if he hears what those who themselves have seen God say in the Holy Scriptures, he learns this only with the help of the Spirit; so that he can no longer say that he has come to the knowledge of God through hearing alone. For how can you know what you have not seen? After all, if looking at other people in itself does not give us complete knowledge about them, then how could hearing about God alone give us knowledge? God is Light, and contemplation of Him is like light: in contemplation of Light the first knowledge is acquired that this is God. So, meeting a person is preceded by a rumor about him, and then a personal meeting, and when they see him, people will know that this is the same person they heard about. However, this idea does not quite correspond to what we are talking about. If someone describes a certain person to you in words, then when you see him, you will not be able to recognize him by the verbal description alone and be convinced that this is exactly the person you heard about, but your soul remains in doubt, and you ask either him or someone else who knows him, and only then are you convinced that it is him. Exactly the same thing happens when meeting the invisible God. For when a person sees Him in revelation, he sees light; and, seeing Him, he is surprised, but does not immediately recognize who the One who appeared is, and does not dare to ask. And how can you ask if he is not even able to raise his eyes and look at Him? He only looks with great fear and trembling at His feet, knowing only in general that Someone has appeared before his face. And if such a person has someone who has explained this to him before, then he goes to him and says: “I saw it.” And he said to him: “What did you see, child?” “Light, father, sweet, sweet; such that my understanding is lacking to express it.” And when he tells him this, his heart plays in him again and is immediately inflamed with love for the One who appeared to him. Then he begins to speak again with warm and abundant tears: “This light appeared to me, Father; the roof of my cell immediately rose and the whole world disappeared, fleeing, as I think, from His face 783; I was left alone with a single light. And I don’t know, Father, whether my body was there then, or whether I was outside of it - I don’t know, at that time I did not feel that I was wearing a body and clothed with it. My joy, which is still in me now, was inexpressible, love and longing were strong, so that springs and rivers of tears opened in me, as it is now, as you see.” In response, he says: “It is He, child.” And with this word he sees Him again, and little by little he is completely cleansed, and having been cleansed, he gains boldness and already asks Him Himself, and says: “My God, is it You?” And He answers: “Yes, it is I, God, who became man for your sake; and behold, I have made you, as you see, and I will make you a god” 784. When he spends a long time grieving and crying, and falling down, and humbling himself, he begins to gradually comprehend divine objects, and having achieved this, then he knows “what is the will of God, good, acceptable and perfect” 785. If he - I will say again - had not seen Him, then he would not have been able to know Him; and if he does not know Him, then how can he know His holy will? For if this is impossible in relation to people, then even more so in relation to God. Therefore, as he prospers and draws ever closer to God, from what God does in him, he learns both what He did for all the saints who lived before, and what He will do for those who follow. And regarding future crowns and rewards, he learns, being enlightened by God Himself, making sure that these crowns exceed the mind, word and understanding. And not only that, but he clearly imagines what he and all those with him will be like after the resurrection, however, they do not receive all this here, although some have incorrectly thought that we are saying so. If we assumed that we would receive everything here, then with their light hand we would renounce the resurrection itself, judgment and retribution, and voluntarily give up hope for future benefits. However, we do not think this way and do not speak this way, and we resolutely anathematize those who say this. Even now we say and affirm that in this life we ​​only partially receive the guarantee 786 of all those blessings, and we fully hope to receive them after death, as it is written: “Now I know in part, when the perfect comes, then what is in part will cease” 787 . And in another place: “We are now children of God; but it has not yet been revealed what we will be. We only know that when it is revealed, we will be like Him” 788. In order to present the word in question-and-answer form, let's ask the apostle who said this: “How, O beloved and friend of Christ, do you know that you will be like Him?” “From the Spirit,” he says, “Which He gave us, 789 from Him we know that we are children of God and that God Himself abides in us, since He Himself told me this in a mysterious voice.” But let's return to our subject. At first we said that thoughts (νοήματα) we rightly call that idea (λόγος) about some good or evil object that arises in our mind, for example, to buy something or do something evil or good; and exposition (ἐξήγησις), different from thought, is called what has already happened and what we have seen. Then again we said that if someone has not seen something: either cities, or theatrical performances, or certain people, then how can he talk about them, about their appearance, beauty or location? And if he does tell, his listeners will rightly call him an inventor. Where did the prophets and apostles who told about the Day of the Lord, about His glorious and terrible Coming, that He would come like a thief in the night 790 and like the pangs of a woman in labor 791, and that He would be revealed in fire 792 know all this? Undoubtedly, they either heard about this from someone, or they themselves were eyewitnesses of this Day. Because how could they tell something that they themselves had not seen and had not heard from anyone else? If you heard it, then tell me - from whom? I am not yet saying that they said what they saw themselves. Tell me, if you know, where did they learn from? If you don’t know what to say, then listen and find out that they learned from the Holy Spirit, just as the Lord said to them: “When the Comforter 793 comes, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I have told you 794.” And regarding what the Holy Spirit, having come, taught and told the apostles and about what Christ did not tell them, He Himself said: “I still have much to say to you; but now you cannot contain it. When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth: for He will not speak from Himself, but He will speak what He hears, and He will tell you the future. He will glorify Me, because He will take from Mine and proclaim it to you” 795. Have you now learned where those who wrote about that Day and the Coming of the Lord learned, and about what is prepared and what awaits sinners and the righteous? So about everything else, invisible to us, they learned and wrote, being enlightened by the Spirit. However, I will ask you, and you answer me. “Who is the Holy Spirit?” “God, from the true God, true God, according to the confession of faith.” See, you call Him God, following the teachings of the Church. And speaking and thinking about Him as the true God, proceeding from the true God, you agree that those who have acquired the Holy Spirit have - according to the confession of faith - God Himself, always abiding in them, as Christ said to the apostles: “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever” 796. So, you have already been taught that He abides and dwells with us forever, because to say: “May He abide with you forever” means that He is eternally and endlessly united with us and remains inseparable both in the present and in the next century. And about the fact that the divine apostles and those who were worthy to receive the Holy Spirit saw Him, listen to the following: “The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him and does not know Him; and you know Him, for He abides with you” 797. And so that you may know that Christ is also seen by those who love Him and keep His commandments, listen to what the Lord Himself says: “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he loves Me; and whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father; and I will love him and appear to him Myself” 798. Let it be known to all Christians that Christ is not false and true God and that He is undoubtedly the one who shows their love for Him by keeping His commandments, as He Himself said. By His appearance He gives them the Holy Spirit Himself, and through the Holy Spirit He and the Father again inseparably abide with them. Such people do not say anything on their own. And whoever believes that they are saying something from themselves, believes that it is possible for a person to know what is in a person, and also for people to know God 799. If not so, then in any case those who speak from the Spirit of God are called liars and storytellers, as if they were not taught by Him, but taught others according to their own understanding of what they did not see or hear. You should know that although such spirit-bearing people preach in accordance with the previous God-bearing fathers, they obviously preach in the same Spirit, so that those who do not believe them or slander what they say sin. Thus, you have learned, beloved, that the Kingdom of Heaven is within you 800 if you want it, and all the blessings of Heaven are in your hands. So hasten to see, accept, and acquire the blessings prepared for you, so that because you think of having them in the future, you do not lose everything. Weeping, you too, fall down just like the once blind man, saying: “Have mercy on me, Son of David, and open the eyes of my soul, so that I may see the light of the world 801, You - God, so that I too may become a son of the Divine Day 802, and do not leave me, the Good One, as unworthy, unparticipated in Your Divinity. Show me, O Lord, Yourself, so that I may know that You have loved me as one who has loved Your commandments, O Lord. Send me also the Comforter Spirit, so that He may teach me about You and tell me what belongs to You, O God of all. Illuminate me with the true light 803, O Compassionate One, so that I may see Your glory, which You had before the creation of the world 804 with Your Father. Abide, as You promised 805, in me too, so that I too will become worthy to abide in You, and then I will consciously enter into You and consciously find You in myself. Desire to be depicted 806 in me, Invisible One, so that, seeing Your indescribable glory, Heavenly 807 I will begin to wear Your image and forget everything visible. Give me, O Merciful One, the glory that the Father gave You, so that I may become like You, like all Your servants, a god by grace, and will always be with You, now and ever, and to endless ages, Amen.” Yes, my beloved brother, believe and be convinced that this is really so and that this is our faith. Believe, brother, that this means to be reborn 808, renewed 809 and live in Christ 810. Or don’t you hear what Basil the Great says in his Incentive Word to accept Holy Baptism: “Do you not want, man, to see yourself becoming young from an old man?” 811; or what Paul says: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the ancient has passed away, now everything is new” 812. What does the apostle say about “everything is new”? Tell me, tell me. Maybe the sky has renewed itself? Or earth? Has the sun, or the stars, or the sea, or anything visible become new and young? You cannot say this because it was said to us and about us. For, being dead, we were raised to life, being corruptible, being transformed into incorruptibility, being mortal, being changed into immortality, being earthly, becoming heavenly, being flesh and originating from the flesh, becoming spiritual, being regenerated and transformed by the Holy Spirit. This is, brethren, a new creation in Christ, this is exactly what happens every day to the true believers and the elect, and to all this they consciously became partakers to some extent while still in the body, as we have said many times, and after death they hope to inherit this completely and forever, having fully accepted the fullness of all those blessings that they have partly tasted now. If we are taught to always eat and drink Christ, to put on Him, to look at Him and, in turn, to be seen by Him, and in addition, we know that we have Him in ourselves and we ourselves abide in Him, so that He lives in us, and we again live in Him, who has thus become a dwelling place for us, just as we have become a dwelling place for Him, and further we know that we become His sons, and He our Father, that He is Light shining in darkness 813, and we say that we see Him, according to what was said: “The people sitting in darkness saw a great light” 814; If about all this and other things that have been said and about which the Divine Scriptures teach us that this will happen at the present time and in this life, we say that this does not happen to us at all, and if it does happen, it is mysterious and imperceptible, so that we do not realize it, then how do we differ from the dead? You should not, having given yourself over to unbelief, through this descend into the depths of destruction, but even if until now you did not hope to perceive such benefits in your senses and therefore did not ask for them, then at least from now on be encouraged, being convinced first of all that all this is true and in accordance with the Divine Scriptures, reading in them with all clarity that already in this life the seal of the Holy Spirit is given to us, believers 815. And once you are confident, run so as to catch up, strike with your fists not so as to just beat the air 816, but in addition to this, “Ask, and it will be given to you; knock, and it will be opened to you” 817 either now or in the next century. Now learn, now repent, obey, fast, weep, pray and thus, through these and similar virtues, run, beat, overtake, seek, knock, ask, without being distracted by anything else, until you reach, until you grab, until you receive, until it is revealed to you and enter, until you see the Bridegroom inside the bridal chamber, until you hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things” 818 until you become sons of light and sons of day 819. Before you have seen it, received it and experienced it, do not dream of it, deceiving and deceiving yourself, as if you are something, being nothing 820. How, having been seduced by your conscience, you imagine yourself to be spiritual before you received the Holy Spirit, and from here you unreasonably strive to accept other people’s thoughts, ascend to abbot and commanding positions, fearlessly dare to accept holy orders and, with the help of countless tricks, brazenly promote yourselves to metropolises and bishoprics in order to shepherd the people of God. But pay attention, I ask you, to yourselves, meditating on the things above, seeking the things above, desiring the things above, not worrying about anything earthly, until you receive the things heavenly. Let us despise everything visible, I ask your love, let us shake off everything human, let us abhor everything that is passionate and destructive, in order to receive both present and future blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord, to Whom belongs all glory, honor and worship with the Beginning Father and the All-Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, the one Trisagion Light, now and ever and ever forever and ever. Amen. Word 6th. About dispassion and virtuous life; about the need to cut off your will and ascend to the heights of perfection; about the union of God with the soul and the soul with the body and about the extraordinary unity of these three; about spiritual healing and the need to take care of those who are weak in soul. Having repeatedly conversed with many worldly people and in the course of these conversations encountered some controversial opinions, namely regarding passion and dispassion, I heard from almost everyone - not only those incapable of virtue and piety, but also from those considered perfect in virtue, having a great name and great fame in the world - how they say that a person cannot reach such a height of perfection as to converse and eat food with a woman and not suffer any harm or experience no secret movement or desecration. Hearing this with my own ears, I fell into great despair and, out of much compassion, was forced to cry and sob for those who said this, realizing that they were saying this only because of their complete ignorance of the gifts of God. For if they were not deprived of true dispassion, and were not covered with the darkness of passions, and were not in slavery to the pleasures and lusts of the flesh, they would not remain ignorant of the life-giving death 822 of the Lord Jesus our God, which He bestows on the members of His saints, and would not doubt it. And how can they believe that some are dead or becoming dead to the world and live solely by the life of the Spirit, when they themselves have spent their whole lives trying only out of hypocrisy to please people 823 so that they would call them lovers of God? And since in their passions they think to achieve dispassion, being completely devoted and indulging in sin, and since they convince themselves that human praise alone is enough for virtue and holiness, therefore, rejecting dispassion, they want to be and be called saints without it, as if acquiring holiness from human praise. For whoever is not praised, naively and for whatever reason, by many, they consider him completely unworthy of attention, not knowing, as one would expect, that one who knows God and is known by Him 824 is better than myriads of unbelievers and those who do not know God, 825 even if they are praised and pleased by the whole world, just as one sighted person is better than countless numbers of blind ones. And the fact that one of the truly ascetic has already achieved such freedom and, having once become a partaker of Divine grace, became dispassionate in soul and body, so that not only when eating food with women and talking with them he remained serene and dispassionate, but also, being in the middle of the city, hearing those singing to the sounds of the cithara and seeing those laughing, dancing and playing, did not suffer any harm, all the books, all of them, testify to this. history, as well as the deeds of the saints, provide us with many similar testimonies, and those who strive for piety precisely for this sake undertake every feat and endure every kind of suffering. Those who strive for God have the following goal: first, to escape from the whole world and what is in the world 826. World I call here real life, that is, this short-lived age; and by what is in the world, I mean everything that is around us, which the Word commands us to leave 827 and from which it is appropriate to run away in every possible way, namely: from father and mother, from brothers, relatives and friends, also from estates, money, property and all wealth - not because they are forbidden or harmful, but because we, moving among them, are not able to get rid of the addiction to them. For one who has already tasted sweets will not be able to free himself from the attraction to them until he runs away from the causes that give rise to them and stands away from them. When he is stripped of all property, then, if he is diligent, he must renounce his very soul, which is accomplished through the mortification of his own will. I am talking not only about the external, so as not to eat, drink, act rashly in anything, not to sleep, not to do anything without permission, even if it seems good, but also about the internal, that is, about the movement of the heart, so as not to look passionately and passionately touch, not to complain secretly, not to touch anyone. condemn, do not rejoice at someone’s fall, do not be angry in your thoughts, do not envy evil and do not be jealous in guile. How can I count all the signs of piety in order to accurately portray real Christians to you? Among other things, listen to life-giving mortification, which consists in never hiding even a random thought; to the best of your ability, do not spend a single day without tears; do not wash your face with water as usual, do not comb the hair on your head or beard; do not unfasten your belt when going to bed, so that, having relaxed, you will not oversleep more than necessary; do not put your hand under your clothes to touch your penis, but keep it away from touch and from others; do not look directly into the face of a person, even an old one, because the mediator of all evil is present everywhere; do not nod at anyone; do not say anything that does not bring benefit, and do not remain silent about what should be said; never abandon the usual prayer rule, even until death; not to make even a small friendship with anyone, even if he seemed holy in appearance; not at all, that is, completely, not to care about the beauty of clothes or shoes, but to have only necessary, modest and at the same time decent things; not to taste anything with pleasure and not to eat what the soul has its eye on. The ascetic abstains from all this and much more, and if he is relaxed and lazy about all this, then he does his will at every hour, even if people please him as a renunciant. For the one who abstains from everything external and visible is glorified by those who know little about the visible as a worker, but if at the same time he fulfills the secret desires of the heart, then God hates him and turns away from him as unclean. And even if he struggles like this for thousands of years, he will not receive any benefit from external exploits alone. He who abstains in everything and has accustomed his soul not to behave disorderly and not to do his will in anything that is not pleasing to God, but forces himself to so zealously follow all the commandments of God, as if walking on some kind of rope stretched in the air, will soon find Him Himself, hidden in His Divine commandments. When he meets Him, he, forgetting about every other activity, will be amazed and, falling down, will love to look at Him, and only at Him. And when He disappears from his eyes, then he, bewildered and again beginning his path upward, runs faster, more persistently, more cautiously: he looks under his feet, steps carefully, is inspired by the memory, burns with desire, is excited by the hope of seeing Him again. And when, having traveled a long way, he gets tired and cannot catch up, but falls completely exhausted, unable to run, then suddenly he sees the Pursued One, and catches up with the Fleeing One, and holds the Desired One, and becomes completely outside the world, and forgets about this very world, unites with the angels, mixes with fire, tastes life, unites with immortality, enjoys sweetness, ascends to the third heaven 828 , is delighted into paradise, hears ineffable verbs 829 , enters the Bridegroom 830 , enters the nuptial rest, sees the Bridegroom, partakes of the spiritual marriage 831 , is filled from the spiritual cup, from a fat calf 832 , from the living bread, the drink of life, the spotless Lamb 833 , intelligible manna, enjoys all those blessings that even the angelic powers do not dare to look upon without fear 834. He who has achieved this is ignited by the Spirit and the whole soul becomes fire, imparting its own radiance to the body, just as visible fire imparts its nature to iron. And the soul becomes for the body what God became for the soul, as the theologian said 835. Because neither the soul can live if it is not enlightened by the Creator, nor the body if it is not moved by the soul. Think carefully about the meaning of what we are talking about. Body, soul and God - there are three of them. God, beginningless, endless, unapproachable, incomprehensible, invisible, ineffable, intangible, intangible, impassive, inscrutable, in the last days 836 appeared to us in the flesh through the Son and known through His All-Holy Spirit, as we believe, equal to us in everything except sin 837, unites with the rational soul for the sake of my soul, as someone said somewhere 838 in order to save the spirit and immortalize the body. He makes a promise, saying: “I will dwell in them and walk” 839 and: “I and the Father will come and make an abode with them” 840, that is, among believers and those who prove faith by the above-mentioned deeds. But be careful. Since God, according to His true promises, lives in us, His true servants, and through the actions and insights of the All-Holy Spirit walks in our souls, then we undoubtedly believe that these precious souls remain inseparable from God. Since, again, the soul is diffused throughout the entire body and does not leave any part of it without its presence, then in any case it is necessary for this body, which is inseparable from the soul and cannot even live without it, to completely follow the will of the soul. Just as a body cannot live without a soul, so a body cannot have any other will other than the will of the soul. So, it has been proven that just as in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit the one God inseparably and inseparably receives worship, so again in God and soul and body, inseparably and inseparably, man becomes God by grace. Moreover, neither the body turns into a soul, nor the soul is transformed into the Divine, nor God merges with the soul, nor the soul hardens into a body, but God remains God, as God is, and the soul retains its nature, and the body, as it was created, remains dust. And He who miraculously united soul and body, mixing the intelligible and immaterial with dust, Himself is unfused with both of them, and I become in His image and likeness, 841 as the word showed. And again, if you allow, we will repeat this word, because, driven by pleasure and joy, I want to dwell longer on what was said in order to better explain its meaning. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God, whom we worship. God, soul and body - man, created in the image of God and deemed worthy to become god. But why do I need this, why did I go into detail and spread the word? In order for them to be ashamed, it is better so that they would recognize themselves as not having in themselves what is in the image (οἱ τὸ κατ’ εἰκόνα μὴ ἔχοντες), and those who were separated from God would mourn for themselves, and know what blessings they had lost, and, having heard the word, they understood, what they are obsessed with, and they realized what darkness covers them, and they were afraid to teach about God from now on. Or, I will say more gently, so that they should tremble to contradict those who have the grace of God in themselves, who learn everything through it and can do everything in it, and so that they stop saying that it is impossible for anyone living in God, who moves in the world, eats food with women or talks with them, to remain unsullied in mind and feelings. God is dispassionate; He is not partial to what is visible. And I know that those who are unable to see with the eyes of the soul and perceive with the feelings of the soul, not understanding the meaning of what I said, will object something like: “We know that God is impassive. But we doubt not about God, but about man.” But precisely in order to stop their mouths, I said in advance that man can be God by grace, that is, by the gift of the All-Holy Spirit. For just as the sun will never defile its rays because it illuminates dirt, so the soul and consciousness of a blessed man who bears God does not accept filth, even if his purest body happens to be among the dirt of human bodies, because this is not characteristic of God-fearing people. And not only this, but even if he is locked up alone with thousands of unbelievers, wicked and defiled, and if he, naked of his body, comes into contact with them naked, then neither his faith will be damaged, nor will he be separated from his Master and will not forget about His kindness. This happened many times with martyrs and saints, for example with the martyr Chrysanthus and some others, but they did not suffer any harm from these tricks of the devil, having God within them, living and abiding in them. The one who either from the very beginning preserved, or begged for and returned to himself what was in the image and likeness, at the same time acquired the ability to see the nature of things (βλέπειν κατὰ φύσιν). And therefore, such as during the day, he behaves well 842 and sees all things as they are by nature: he is not surprised by appearance and external splendor, but, contemplating the essence and properties of these things, remains unperturbed, paying attention only to what is stable and imperishable. He sees gold and does not pay attention to the sparkle, but thinks about its substance, that it is from earth and dust or stone, and can never turn into anything else. He sees silver, pearls, all kinds of precious stones and does not allow his feelings to be carried away by their appearance, but looks at all of them as stones, like all other stones, and considers everything together to be dust. He sees luxurious clothes and is not surprised at their diversity, but understands that they are the excrement of worms, and pities those who amuse themselves with them and hoard them like jewelry. He sees a man, glorified by everyone, sitting on a throne, accompanied in the streets by crowds of people and boasting about this, and is disposed to look at this as if it were a dream, laughing and surprised at people’s ignorance. He sees the world, lives in a big city and walks around it, and - witness the Lord, who works this in us - he feels as if he is alone in the whole world, as if he is walking through a desert impassable for people, and as if he has nothing to do with anyone or does not know anyone living on earth. Such a person, even if he sees a woman with a beautiful body, will not look at her blooming appearance, but will look at her as rotten or dirty, or as already dead and completely decomposed, which is what will happen someday. His mind will never pay attention to external beauty, but will see the decay of the substance within, from which the whole body is composed. For what else is the body but the juice from chewed food? And if he wishes to consider its external beauty, he will be able to move from creatures to the Creator of existence and be amazed at Him 843, and will not serve the creature instead of the Creator 844. Thus, from the greatness and beauty of creatures, the mind recognizes the Creator, is raised to His contemplation and inflames the soul to understand the Creator, thanks to which it moves toward the love of God, and at the same time sheds tears, and becomes completely outside the visible, and moves away from the created. Just as the light of the sensual eyes is directed by us in different directions and, flowing around all objects with visual power, is not at all defiled by them, even if what is visible is very ugly, but we transfer it to other objects undefiled, so the mind of saints is not defiled if it happens to glance in passing at dirty and shameful passions. For their mind remains naked and far from any passionate desire. And if they ever want to look at such things, they will do it for no other reason than to investigate the passionate movements and actions of the passions and understand where they come from and by what medicines they are destroyed. This is what doctors do, and this is what the ancients did. For they dissected the dead in order to understand the structure of the body and from here find out what is inside living people, and learn to treat their invisible diseases. A spiritual doctor, who wants to treat the passions of the soul from his own experience, undoubtedly does something similar. To clearly depict his skillful healing in words, I will tell you a true story. A certain patient, struck by passion, completely confused in mind, comes to a spiritual doctor, and instead of healing he asks for something that harms him, that is, increases his passion and entails instant death. A humane and friendly doctor sees him, notices his brother’s weakness, inflammation of passion, tumor, and understands that the patient is already dying. Wouldn’t such a person – I remember again their insensitive words – arouse compassion for himself? I think that these completely frantic men are unlikely to pay attention to such a mortally ill or sick person, but only pious and God-fearing doctors. However, having stopped dealing with the words of these truly frantic ones, let us return to our story. So, when this spiritual and experienced doctor sees a brother in the state described above, he does not immediately scream and attack him and say: “You ask me for evil and deadly things, and I will not give you these means,” so that, having heard this, he does not turn to flight, and does not come to one of these, not versed in passions, and does not die at that same hour. But he welcomes him cordially, holds him with him, consoles him, shows him all kinds of love and at the same time simplicity, in order to assure him that he will give him exactly the medicines that he asked for and satisfy his wishes. There are some seriously ill souls, obsessed with painful illnesses, who are looking for something that would further increase their illness. And while the passion of each of them requires, perhaps, diet and abstinence from sweets, they, on the contrary, want to enjoy harmful foods and gorge themselves on them. Therefore, as has already been said, an experienced doctor does not immediately forbid the patient what he asks, but promises to fulfill all his requests. The patient diligently listens to his pleasantries, which are pleasant to him, and the doctor hides the real medicine; and while the first accepts them and endures them with joy, the second, being wise, shows him something similar to what he asked for, inside of which is hidden a medicine, different in taste, but amazing in its power of action. And as soon as the weak person touches the medicine, through just one touch he receives healing beyond all hope: the inflammation of passion immediately stops, the wound completely disappears, and in the future he does not even remember what he previously so ardently desired. You need to see and consider the miracle that has happened, which surpasses any word: for without any other help, with just touch and contemplation of medicines, he heals the sick, heals wounds and swelling, quenches the fire of thirst and makes those who thirsted for destructive and harmful foods henceforth desire healthy ones, and others are told about the amazing doctor and his wonderful method of healing. Let the healthy hear and understand what we have said in secret, if only they have accepted the grace of Divine knowledge. Because those who are sick do not know this, and they do not understand that they are sick. And who will ever be able to convince those in such a state that they are possessed by weakness and disease? For they believe that health consists in doing the will of the flesh 845, satisfying all one's lusts and impulses. And just as no one can make the insane and insane realize their own condition, so those who are whirling in passions, possessed by them and not feeling their dominion, no one can ever convince them that they are in poverty, or induce them to change for the better. Being blind themselves and not believing that anyone else can see, they live like this, deprived of sight, and do not allow themselves to be convinced that it is possible for them to see. And if they agreed to believe in this, they would immediately begin to ask for insight and, having received their sight, they would clearly see and recognize those who crucified themselves to the world. However, not wanting to free themselves from passions, they voluntarily close their ears and do not want to listen to the apostle, who says: “For me the world is crucified, and I for the world 846. And it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me 847”; and again: “So put to death your members on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust and covetousness” 848. And the one who died for the world - for this is the cross - and it is no longer he who lives, but Christ lives in him, who has mortified his earthly members, that is, the passionate sensations of the body, so that he has become motionless for every passion and every evil lust, how, tell me, will he allow the feeling of any passion in himself, or will he succumb to the craving for pleasure, or will his heart be shaken in general? If you still do not believe and doubt, then look at whom you bring such accusations and who you call involved in sin. Oh, impudence! Do you think that the hearts of those who have Christ living and abiding in them are being robbed of sweetness? In your opinion, Christ became a participant in sin, Who committed no iniquity and there was no flattery in His mouth 849, Who takes upon Himself the sin of the world 850 and Who cleanses from all passion the souls of those who united with Him? Don’t you understand at least now what we are talking about and what you are blaspheming? Do you not tremble and put your hand on your lips 851, and do you not teach your tongue not to babble that which you have not yet experienced and have not comprehended with your mind, which you have not yet seen with your own eyes and whose greatness your ears have not comprehended? Do you know that in deed and word those who have acquired such experience laugh at you as a slow-witted person when you undertake to talk about these subjects, confusing one with the other? If you have been granted grace from above, then speak freely about what concerns grace, and theology freely about the nature of God. If not, then at least tell us about the adoption of the sons of God and, as far as is possible for man, about becoming like Him through grace, tell everyone without hesitation about how the saints are slaves of His glory. If you admit, and do it correctly, that you are not involved in such a gift, and you do not feel that you yourself have become dead to the world, and you do not realize that you have already ascended to heaven in order to hide there and not show yourself at all; and did not become outside the whole world, according to Paul, either in the body or outside the body 852; and did not realize that you had completely changed and seemed to have become a spirit in the removal of the body of the flesh 853, comparing the spiritual with the spiritual 854, then why don’t you love kind silence and ask in repentance and tears to receive it and learn it, but you want to talk in vain about something that you have not learned for certain, and you love when you are called a saint, having none of the above, and you behave as if you were already saved, daring to accept the thoughts of strangers and teach others? Do you not tremble to lead others to the light, being yourself deprived of the Divine light? Aren’t you afraid to care for your brothers, while you yourself are sitting in darkness 855 and have not yet acquired that eye with which the true Light is contemplated 856? Aren’t you ashamed to treat others while you yourself are sick and not aware of your own wounds? Tell me, if you have not yet realized that you are dispassionate and have not seen the dispassionate God living in you, then what did you hope for and dare to imitate the works of the saints and take upon yourself the ministries of the holy servants of God? See to it that, having forgotten yourself, you do not step onto other people’s steps, and take up other people’s ministries, and do not be cast out into outer darkness, like a daring and worthless slave 857 . Be careful lest you find yourself stripped of the clothes and dignity of those called, by which you understand nothing more than the grace of the Spirit, and, bound hand and foot for this, be thrown into eternal fire 858. Beware and do not undertake pastoral care until the Good Shepherd Himself 859 becomes your true friend, because know that you will not gain anything else as soon as you give an answer before God - not only for your unworthiness, but also for the sheep that you destroyed with your inexperience and passion. Beware, I ask, of taking on other people's debts, although you yourself owe something, do not dare to give remission of sins before you have acquired in your heart the One who takes away the sin of the world 860. Look, brother, do not undertake to judge another before you yourself become a strict judge and examiner of your own mistakes, and before you cancel the righteous verdict against yourself with tears and sorrows. And then, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, freed from the law of the flesh and the death of sin, 861 you will be rightly appointed by the grace of God as a judge for others, as one ordained to this by God through the Spirit. Look, none of the worldly leaders dares to assume this position until the king has included him in the cohort of judges. And if such order and fear are maintained in relation to worldly offices, so as not to offend the earthly king, then what reverence should we show to the offices of God, so as not to approach the Divine with self-ordination and before a calling from above and not fall into the hands of the Living God 862. Shudder, man, be ashamed of God's long-suffering and do not show yourself to have less fear in relation to God, the Heavenly King, than worldly rulers have in relation to the king of the earth. Do not neglect the wealth of His kindness and long-suffering 863 for the sake of the love of fame and power, because He is the Lord of all and a terrible Judge, rewarding everyone according to his deeds and thoughts 864. But just as they honor the earthly, so do you give at least the same honor and fear to the Heavenly King and God, so that, by showing Him honor and fear, you can keep His commandments and, having prepared yourself through the fulfillment of the commandments, you will be honored to become the dwelling place of His Tri-shiny light according to His false promises. For He said: “He who loves Me will keep My commandments, and I will love him and appear to him Myself,” 865, and again: “I and My Father will come and make our abode with him” 866. Having become this way, you will no longer live for yourself, but you will see yourself dead to the world, as if wearing a dead body and completely motionless for sin, but alive for God, as if quickened and moved by Him. Having seen yourself in such glory, you will then exclaim loudly in the joy of your heart along with the divine Paul: “I thank you, my God, because the law of the Spirit of life has freed me from the law of sin and death.”867 And in the future for you there will no longer be a difference between the male and female sexes, and you will no longer receive harm from this, as someone who has achieved what is by nature and does not look at God’s creations in an unnatural way. And when you are with men and women, talking with them and giving them kisses, you will remain unharmed and unshaken in your natural state and mood, you will look at them as precious members of Christ and churches of God. Before you reach this measure and see in your members the life-giving deadness 868 of Christ and God, you will do well if you begin to avoid soul-harming spectacles, in which there is no reason for evil, but because of the ancestral sin living in us (προγονικῆ ἁμαρτία) we are carried away and tempted inappropriate lusts. By doing this, you will spend your life in safety and will not stumble with your foot on the stone of sin, 869 either having already acquired God, or striving to acquire Him, in Christ our God Himself, to whom belongs all glory, honor and worship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. Word 7th. About those who work for God: who they are, what they are and how many there are; about who the repentant is and what his work is, who is the one going through the ascetic life and what his work is; about who is truly one who works for God and what his work is. Also that if we do not acquire virtues, then liberation from passions alone will not bring us any benefit. Since we consider ourselves Christians and faithful without [good] works, only because we have received Divine Baptism, and, believing in the consubstantial and indivisible Trinity and in the one Lord and God of our Jesus Christ, out of simple habit alone we rank ourselves among the servants of God and call ourselves that, and when we write to others, at the beginning of the letter we call ourselves by this title, not knowing, perhaps, what slavery to God is and who worthy to be called and to be a servant of God, then I, prompted by the Word Himself to engage in words, hasten to say about those who work for God: who they are and what they are like, how many there are and what works they do for the sake of the Lord, so that from their own actions everyone can learn about himself, whom he serves with his deeds and whom he works, or to know whom he served and whom he has worked until now, and so that it does not happen that, pleasing himself, he thought that he was working Lord. However, we will not say anything about those who live in the world and are under the yoke of worldly duties, since St. Paul clearly says: “The unmarried man cares about the Lord, how to please the Lord; but a married man cares about worldly things, how to please his wife” 870 and the world. All our words will be about those who have renounced the world and what is in the world. Those who, out of their own conviction and good will, enter the lists of repentance and engage in bodily exercises to the best of their ability 871, I’m talking about both beginners and those who have spent a long time in repentance, think that they are working for the Lord, and hope to be justified by their works 872. For they, not heeding the light of the Divine Scriptures, but always wandering outside this light in some roundabout ways and being obsessed with the darkness of their own evil understandings, do not know that there is a great difference between those who repent and strive, practicing virtue, and those who work for the Lord Christ 873. For those who repent, who regret the evil they have done, ask for forgiveness for their failures. Such were the publican 874, the harlot 875, Peter himself, who, being frightened and denying three times, wept bitterly 876, as well as that dissolute son who, with harlots and tax collectors, squandered his father’s inheritance 877. It is not said about them and others like them that they work for the Lord, but that, being His enemies and offenders, they are reconciled with Him through repentance and confession. Also, those who lead an ascetic life and zealously practice virtue are still only trying to overcome passions after repentance, carefully and diligently brought about the sins they have committed. And not only this, but they strive to establish virtues in themselves instead of passions. He who is still just repenting grieves, cries, fasts, stays awake, sleeps on the ground and serves his neighbors, endures all the troubles, always thinking about his own sins and considering himself worthy of even greater torment, calmly endures everything that happens to him, so that for this patience his debts would be forgiven. And whoever fights as an experienced ascetic, not only through avoidance of sins, but through war with passions, he practices all of the above and does much more than that. He joyfully accepts every sorrow that comes to him, and when it does not come, he torments himself; Every feat performed by the ancient saints, about which he hears, or performed by those living next to him, which he sees, such an ascetic, to the best of his ability, tries to perform himself, in order to, through a variety of ascetic virtues and exploits, destroy the numerous and varied passions through which demons acquire power over us, and completely remove them from his soul, collecting in himself with all the strength of his soul the virtues that are opposite to them. If he does not act in this way and does not acquire a good habit of exploits, then there will be no benefit to him from merely moving away from passions. After all, it is not the one who is not covetous who is praised, but the one who gives alms 878 , and it is not the one who has saved the talent given to him that has been saved, but the one who has doubled it 879 , and it is not the one who avoids evil, but the one who has done good that is blessed, 880 , and the one who shows his love for the king is not the one who is not in cahoots with his enemies, but who arms himself and fights against them for king The Lord Christ Himself testifies to this, directly saying the following: “He who is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters” 881. Saying this, He shows that the one who does not keep His commandments in all ways and with all his might, and does not acquire virtue through doing the commandments, and does not ascend higher and higher through them, but abstains only from evil thoughts, and does not really adhere to good ones, and who is prevented by negligence from collecting virtues through the commandments, such a person will not be able to preserve even what it seems to him that he has 882, because through laziness he will destroy this too; This is indicated by the words: “He who does not collect wastes.” In relation to sensory objects, this is impossible, because if someone does not collect, but sits idle, this does not mean that he is wasting. But in spiritual matters it is not so, but the one who does not do good is considered by the Divine Scripture to be a sinner and makes it clear that he is subject to condemnation: “So whoever knows to do good and does not do it is sin” 883, and also: “Cursed is every person who does the works of the Lord carelessly” 884. For me, the first, arrogant and lazy, this is already enough for condemnation. If he who carelessly fulfills the commandments of God was cursed, then how much more will he be subject to the curse who only partly fulfills what he can, or does not do it at all. Both in civil laws and in worldly affairs you can find something similar. For the master of that slave, who saw how certain people were robbing his master’s house and stealing his property, even though he did not assist the thieves, but did not hinder them or shout, but allowed them to take everything and secretly escape, considers such a slave his traitor and thief along with those 885. So what? Wouldn't you all judge such a crafty slave in the same way? The same, of course, will happen to me first, unfortunate and poor - I’m afraid to say: and to all of you - if we begin to abstain from evil deeds and actions, and do not try with all our might to install virtues in their place to such an extent that we become perfect men and come to the measure of the full stature of Christ 886, as the Apostle Paul commands us all. And rightly so: after all, if we do not become like this, then how can we work for Christ? How can we fight for Christ? How can we spiritually arm ourselves and be enlisted in the ranks of the army of the living God 887 and appear terrible to our enemies? No way. Thus, let him who fasts, or is awake, or hungers, or thirsts, or sleeps on the ground, or grieves, or weeps, or patiently endures the reproaches and temptations that come upon him, do not imagine that he is working for God or rendering a service to anyone else by such deeds. No, he is useful only to himself, and then only if he endures and fulfills this in humility and spiritual knowledge; otherwise he does not benefit himself. For a work that is done without humility and spiritual knowledge, whatever it may be, will not help the doer in any way. How exactly this happens, those who want to know learn through the Divine Scriptures. We only wanted to prove here that both those who have spent a long time in repentance and those who have grown old in asceticism do not work for the Lord, but benefit themselves and provide a service only to themselves. If you like, let's turn to examples to verify and confirm the word. Who do we call the servants of the king of the earth? Those who remain in their homes, or those who follow the king everywhere? Those who have fun on their country estates, or those who are forced to spend time on military campaigns? Those who, in open clothes and pleasures, drown in the luxury of houses, or those who show courage in battles and receive wounds, and also inflict wounds themselves, exterminate many enemies, free their captive comrades and put their opponents to shame? Gold and copper craftsmen or weavers, who are always working and can barely earn a living for themselves and their loved ones, or governors, commanders and other authorities, as well as people under their direct command? Is it not obvious that the latter serve the earthly king to a greater extent than the former? Because the coppersmith, the goldsmith and the carpenter, if they do any work for the king, then accept a pre-agreed payment for it from his servants and return home as complete strangers and strangers to the king, without seeing him and without having any friendship with him. And all the governors and commanders are known to the king as his servants, and some as friends, and through them, the people who are directly subordinate to each of them. Reason in the same way regarding the Heavenly King and those who work for Him. For we are all His slaves, both created and created by Him: believers and unbelievers, slaves and free, rich and poor, priests, bishops, kings and rulers. But those who, of their own free will and with all their might, keep His commandments and through this show undoubted faith in Him, are called good and faithful servants 888. And those who are careless and lazy, although they show a desire to work for Him, are called wicked and lazy servants. And finally, those who act or speak contrary to His commands are enemies and adversaries, although they are weak and can do absolutely nothing against Him. So, we, having heard the Lord saying: “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me,” 889 and the Apostle who teaches: “Children, do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world 890; because love for the world is enmity against God 891,” and that “the loving world becomes an enemy of God,” 892, having apparently abandoned everything, followed our Savior and God, or better yet, left the world as hindering us in virtue, and moved into the abode of life, as if they left a hostile land into which they had previously voluntarily retired as captives, and moved into the region of our Master and King Christ. At the same time, we, dressed so far only in the schema of the people sanctified by Him, do not fight for Him or serve Him with clothing, just as those who wear a similar costume are not called the king’s warriors. And although we say that we now submit to His kingdom, being clothed in monastic attire, we do not consider that we are fighting for Him through this attire, because our weapon is not carnal, but spiritual: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the spirits of wickedness in high places” 893. When we put on the weapon of light 894: shield, helmet and everything else that St. Paul lists, and take the sharpened sword of the Spirit 895 in our hand, then we will say that we have begun to fight and are well prepared for battle. In the meantime, having been clothed in monastic robes and entered the field of repentance and asceticism, let us consider, if you like, what we are doing. We are crying. For what? Of course, in order to receive forgiveness of our sins, and not only for this, but also to cleanse the filth that comes from them. Are we fasting? Undoubtedly, in order to pacify the movements of the flesh and make the heart softer. Do we spend our nights awake and sing psalms? In order not to think evil and not fall into distraction. Do we perform bodily prayer? In order not to be captured by the enemy with your thoughts and to achieve the goal of thinking about good things, always and unceasingly pray spiritually with your mind. Are we sad? Undoubtedly, in order to enjoy joy for this sadness. We wear poor clothes and rags, sleep on the ground, and many of us restrain our bodies with chains. For what? Without a doubt, in order to weaken and constrain this blooming body and not allow it, like some unbroken horse, not restrained by a bridle and drawn into the abyss, to plunge both itself and the mind sitting on it into the abyss of destruction and eternal fire. By doing all this, what benefit do we bring to those who see us? Of course, none. If we bring no benefit to those who see us, then how much less to Him who gave us both wisdom and strength in order to save ourselves. But perhaps we endure the reproaches and sorrows that come upon us with gratitude and unforgettable malice? However, even in this case, we are doing a favor to ourselves, and not to others. Listen to what the Lord says about this: “If you do not forgive people their sins from your hearts, then your Father will not forgive you your sins” 896. No matter what reproaches, blows, stranglements, mockery, spitting we endure, if we endure them with thanksgiving and sincerely forgive those who cause us all this, then we benefit ourselves by receiving remission of our sins before God. If we are vindictive and try in every possible way to take revenge on them, then we harm ourselves, making our sins remain unforgiven. We sit hopelessly in a cell, run away to the mountains, live in caves and climb pillars. For what? Because we are trying to run away from the one who, like a lion, walks and roars menacingly, looking for someone to devour 897. So, if God grants - for without His help we would not be able to escape his teeth and various snares, wherever we turn - and we are saved without becoming food for this terrible beast, then how can we say that by such deeds we are serving the Lord? This seems unreasonable to me; I think so do you. How can a person who is being pursued and running away with all his might say that by his flight he is doing a service to the one who accepted him into his home and, standing at the door, delivered him from the pursuing enemy? No, but rather he should constantly thank him, as if he had benefited him and been delivered from the enemy. Or how, tell me, can poor beggars, who, due to the weakness of the body or from idleness and laziness, do not want to work, claim that they work for those who give them alms and serve them; Isn’t it the other way around, it is obvious to everyone that those who have mercy themselves serve the poor and work for them? Likewise, all of us, who have become poor and needy because of previously committed iniquities, cannot in any way say that in such a state we work for God, who has mercy on us, since, as it is said, all of us: some because of previously committed sins, some from an evil habit, some from laziness and failure to do the commandments of God, some from evil will, some from preference for pleasures, some from ignorance of the Divine Scriptures and disbelief in them, some from conceit and because they think that they need nothing more to save their souls, they are poor and naked. And not only this, but we are also wounded, possessed by various diseases, and as if in various hospices and nursing homes we are lying or barely walking, unfortunate, in our cells and monasteries, crying, crying and sobbing, calling on the Doctor of souls and bodies Himself - and these are only those of us who have felt the pain from our wounds and passions, because there are such wise men who do not even know that they are sick or possessed by any passion - so that He would come and heal our wounded hearts and give health to our souls lying on the bed of sin and death, for we have all sinned, according to the Divine Apostle 898, and are in need of His mercy and grace. How can we even dare to say that we work for the One who has mercy on us, being in such a disastrous state, as has already been said, and for the One who takes pity on us, and who heals our souls, and who teaches us about salvation, and who, after a short time, brings us healing from our wounds and illnesses? We will not dare, because no one will say about the one who was wounded by robbers and lying half-dead that he works for the one who put him on his donkey and brought him to the inn, and poured wine and oil on him 899, but rather we will say that this unfortunate man was pardoned, healed and recovered with his help. So we, exhausted, disfigured and wounded, not caring about our healing and not trying in every way to do what I said, how dare we say or think that we are working for the Lord? No way. But what are we doing? We ask, as I have already said, if we only feel our condition, begging for the healing of our illnesses. When this happens and we, by the power from above, gradually take off our illness, like an old, torn and threadbare garment, and put on health, like a radiant double mantle, embracing the whole body from head to toe, then we ourselves, serving others and healing them through wine and oil, and other plasters and medicines, will be counted among those who work for the Lord Himself, who said: “Since you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me” 900. If, having not previously become such, but while still sick, we undertake this, then the Lord will tell us: “Physician, heal yourself” 901. When we talk about the double chlamys, meaning by it the health of the soul, then do not try to laugh out of ignorance at this word and do not think that we are talking about bodily health, but about some incorporeal, divine and mental health, which is usually acquired not with the help of medicines and herbs, and also “not from any kind of deeds, so that no one can boast” 902. And just as a person who begins to connect dead bones and joints with each other 903, which should be understood also regarding deeds and deeds of piety, will not receive any benefit from this if there is no One who could grow flesh and nerves on them. But even if this happens, and he fastens the joints with veins, and clothes these dead bones with flesh and skin, and makes a body out of all this, then again there will be no benefit if the body turns out to be deprived of the life-giving and moving spirit, that is, it remains without a soul. Think the same thing about the dead soul, turn your mind to its internal members and see how all actions taken together, such as fasting and vigil, sleeping on the ground and a hard bed, non-covetousness and the custom of never washing, and the like, are like dead bones, fastening and connecting with each other, as if they make up the whole body of the soul. What is the benefit if this body lies soulless and lifeless when the Holy Spirit is not in it? For only He, having come and dwelling in us, binds together with the veins of spiritual strength and unites with love for God our dead good deeds, like soulless members separated from each other, and thus makes us from the old new and from the dead alive. It is impossible for the soul to be alive in any other way. Just as our body, whether sick or healthy, cannot move or live at all without a soul, so the soul, whether it has sinned or not, without the Holy Spirit is dead and incapable of living eternal life. If the sting of death is sin 904, then the sinner stung by it undoubtedly died, and since there are no sinless people - for all, says the apostle, have sinned and fall short of the glory of God 905 - then all of us who have sinned have died and remain dead. So, think of yourself as spiritually dead. For how could you truly live if you were not united with true life, that is, with the Holy Spirit, through whom every believer is regenerated and made alive in Christ? I am, says Christ, the truth 906 and the resurrection and the life 907. The servants and disciples of Christ are also light, 908 truth and life. The Lord says: “Whoever receives you receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me” 909. Therefore, if we are dead, and He alone is eternal life, then let us not say that we work for the Lord until we are united with Him and come to life. For how can the dead work for anyone? If we do not consciously put on Him as in a double robe, then let us not imagine that we have been completely freed from our illnesses and from the passions that trouble us. Just as darkness is not removed unless light appears, so the illness of the soul is not driven out until the One who takes upon ourselves our infirmities comes and unites with us 910. When He comes, He is called Health, because He drives away all illness and all mental weakness, giving us health of soul. When He enlightens us, He is called Light, being above all light; and when it gives life to us, it is called Life, being above all life. When He illuminates us all, surrounding and warming us with the glory of His Divinity, then He is called Clothing, and thus we say that we are clothed in Him, completely intangible and elusive. When He unites inseparably with our soul and makes it all like light, then it is said that He lives in us and is indescribably described. Oh, miracle! He who is above all becomes everything to us: bread, cover and water, about which in ancient times he told the Samaritan woman that he who drinks from her will never thirst 911. So, if you are still thirsty, it means you have not yet drunk from this water: for He who said this does not lie. And I heard one person say that since the time when the philanthropic Lord gave him plenty of this water, if he happened to forget and start asking to be given it to drink again, as if he had never drunk, then the same water that he had drunk before began to flow from inside his heart and he felt like a light-like stream and immediately saw it. And she seemed to be murmuring in him with a fast current and saying: “Don’t you see that I am with you, inside you? And how do you ask to give me to you or for me to come to you from somewhere outside? Don’t you know that I am always close to those to whom I once gave myself to drink, and I become an immortal source in them?” So, brother, if you know that this is happening in you, then you are blessed. If you have already seen Christ, but He has not yet given you the gift of drinking from this drink, then fall on your knees, cry, beg, complain, hit yourself in the face, like Adam once did, tear out your hair; do not lie down on the bed, but let the earth always be your bed; do not give sleep to your eyes and no slumber to your eyelids 912. Do not pay attention to anything earthly or heavenly - for what do you care about everything else if you see the Creator of all things before your eyes? Never fill your belly with food and do not satisfy your larynx with sweet food and drink. Do not be curious about what is happening around you, and do not look at those who live indifferently and carelessly, so as not to fall into conceit or condemn them; but also never sit among them to your own detriment. Do not wander around in search of famous monks and do not ask about their lives, but if by the grace of God you have found a spiritual father, tell him everything about yourself; if not, then, looking to Christ, always trust in Him and have Him alone as an eyewitness of your shame and sorrow. Show Him, or better yet, let Him Himself see your unwashedness, your extreme lack of covetousness, your non-money-loving disposition. So that if all the wealth of the world flows from somewhere, or even a lot of gold is thrown at your feet - because this also happens through the cunning of the evil one, his assistants and squires - you do not even turn your eyes a little and do not want to look at it, even if for the sake of the poor it seemed sinless to you to receive and distribute. Let Him see how they beat you, but you don’t fight back, how they scold you, but you don’t respond in kind, they scold you, but you bless those who scold you 913; let Him see that you are not looking for glory, honor, or respite, that you are doing everything and bringing everything to the end, not retreating at all and not turning back 914 until He, having mercy, gives you to drink this terrible, ineffable and nameless drink. And when you are worthy of this, then you will learn more than what we are talking about now and what they told you about before. “For we,” says the apostle, “we preach not the transitory wisdom of this world, but we preach the secret, hidden wisdom of God” 915. If you have never been worthy to see Christ Himself, then how else do you consider yourself alive? Do you think that you are working for someone you have never seen? And if you have not seen Him and have not been worthy to hear His voice 916, then how could you know His holy, pleasing and perfect will 917? And if you say that you learned this from the Holy Scriptures, then I ask you, how can you, being dead and buried in darkness, be able to hear and fulfill them so that you can live and see God? No way. So what? If we are dead 918, says the apostle, and walk in darkness, then how can we come to life or how can we see Christ, the true Light 919, who has come to earth? Listen carefully and do not want to justify yourself, but humble yourself before God and say: “Lord, who does not want the death of the sinner, but that he should be converted and live 920 , and for this purpose you came to earth, in order to resurrect those who are lying and killed by sin and in order to make them worthy to see You, the true Light, as far as it is possible for a person to see, send me a man who knows You, so that, having worked for him, as for You, and with all my strength Having submitted to him and fulfilled Your will in his will, I have pleased You, the only God, and I, a sinner, have been honored with Your Kingdom.” If you knock in this way, with all your soul and with all your strength, asking and pleading with Him, then He will not leave you, but either Himself personally or through one of His servants will teach you what you should do, and by His goodness and through the prayer of His servant He will give you the strength to do it. Because without Him you will not be able to do anything, 921 but He Himself, as I have already said, will continuously become everything to you. If not to all, then at least at your exit you will find Christ, Whom you are looking for; by submitting and working to His friends and stewards, you will find Him through them; at the very least, you will do not your own will, but the will of God’s servants, and God’s will is the will of His servants; in any case, you will remain in work, and not in idleness, in humility, and not in conceit. Remember what I told you, that all the military leaders and leaders of Christ are servants, and some are friends of God, and through them the people surrounding each of them are considered servants of God. Some of them, although they do not see the king and do not meet with him, but, diligently serving their military commander or leader as the king himself, through them they hope to receive gifts and titles from the king himself, while others receive them at the intercession of their leaders. There are also those who become famous for their own courage and valor, receive a reception from the king, are rewarded by him and are made leaders and intercessors for others, and thus are honored to serve in the face of the king himself, to speak with him and hear his voice. If you do not want to ask and knock 922 as stated above, but prefer to obey inglorious military leaders, that is, to be an unfit novice to the unfit, and do not want to work for spiritual leaders, then why else do you complain about me for calling you dead, or blind, or weak and fallen, and far from working for King Christ? But maybe you’ll say: sit in your cell, pay attention to yourself and don’t offend anyone? And will you agree if your slave or servant does the same and, despising serving you, goes to another cell and sits there, without offending anyone or himself? However, will any of the people even agree to hear about this? How, sitting in your cell and accepting service from others, do you say that you are working for Christ? What kind of things? Tell. If you serve yourself in everything and, through the labor of your own hands, provide yourself with everything you need for your body, then because of this you cannot still say that you are working for Christ. Because the slave is praised not because he feeds and clothes himself, but if he does not daily give a portion of his labor to his master - which is usually called quitrent, then he is punished and condemned as worthless. How can we, living free and indulging in bliss, negligence and laziness, and not only doing nothing and not serving others, but also being indignant, cursing and complaining at every hour, if others do not serve us, how can we still say that we work for God and do not offend anyone? After all, if someone can serve others, but does not want to do this, then he thereby offends them and exposes himself to the judgment and sentence of the Master, which reads: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry...”, and then listing them in order, he concludes: “I was sick, and you did not serve Me” 923. How will we see Him and with what face will we appear before the One who comes to test the work of each of us? Do not deceive yourself 924: God is fire 925 and He came to bring down fire on the earth 926 This fire goes everywhere in search of a substance that it could embrace, that is, in search of a good intention and a free choice to fall on it and ignite. When it ignites in someone, it rises with a great flame and reaches even to heaven and no longer allows the ignited one to remain idle or indulge in peace. And it is not unconsciously, as some of the dead believe, that it burns the soul that it has inflamed - for it is not an insensible substance - but from the very beginning it reveals itself in feeling, and consciousness, and torment: after all, the soul has feeling and is intelligent. After this, having completely cleansed us from the dirt of passions, this fire becomes food and drink, enlightenment and unceasing joy within us, and through mixing with us it turns us into light. Just as a heated stove initially smokes more due to the smoke that the wood emits, but when it burns well, it becomes radiant and like fire, and no soot is mixed in with it. So the soul, which begins to burn with Divine desire, first sees in itself the darkness of passions, emanating from it like smoke in the fire of the Spirit, and from here, as in a mirror, it sees its inherent blackness, cries and feels thorny thoughts and twigs of memories, finally burning out in it and turning into ashes. When they burn out, and the being of the soul remains alone without passions, then the soul essentially unites with this Divine and immaterial fire, and immediately ignites and shines, and becomes like a furnace that is heated by this material fire; In the same way, the body, partaking of the Divine and ineffable light, becomes fire by communion. However, we will never achieve this if we do not abhor the world and everything that is in the world, and if our very souls do not lose the commandment of the Lord 927, for this fire does not otherwise kindle in us. And those who accepted this fire were not only completely freed from mental illness, but also many others who were sick in soul and weak, having delivered them from the snares of the devil, were healed and brought them as gifts 928 to the Lord Christ. Having wisely learned from this Divine fire all knowledge and all art, they in various ways throughout their lives pleased God in every possible way. Such was the divine apostle Peter, who received the keys of the Kingdom 929, such was Paul, raptured into the third heaven 930, and also all the divine apostles. Such were our holy and God-bearing fathers and teachers, who destroyed heresies like thorns with this Divine fire; who commanded demons as obscene and weak slaves (and those, obeying them with fear, became and always become such slaves), and who loved God so much that they did not spare their own souls. So, such can say about themselves that they have worked and are always working for God, and not those who are still subject to sins and are like evil servants who grieve their master. It is not those who are still possessed by passions who always fight and oppose or even suffer defeat; not those who have not yet acquired virtues, but are striving to acquire them, and who can be likened to people with bodily injuries, or to the poor who do not have the most necessary things for life, who rather themselves need the members or means they lack, while they cannot provide others with the necessary or are unable to work for free. According to the word of the Apostle, we should fulfill every virtue, so that our man would be perfect according to God, 931 that is, lack nothing in anything, and receive the grace of the Spirit from the heavenly King Christ, just as soldiers receive their maintenance from the earthly king. And then, as having become perfect men, having come to the age of Christ and to the measure of 932 grace and numbered among His servants, we will fight against the enemies, since, as the divine Apostle Paul said, no warrior “ever serves on his own pay” 933 . What does he call content? Food rations from the king. If we do not receive from God the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world 934, that is, the grace of the Spirit, for this is the spiritual ration with which those who fight for Christ are fed and with which they are spiritually clothed instead of weapons, then how, tell me, will we stand in the ranks of the army of God or how will we be numbered among His servants? Come and rise, all who wish to escape from the slavery of passions and come to Christ, the true Master, so that we may become His slaves. Let us also try to become what the previous word depicted. Let us not neglect our salvation and deceive ourselves, excusing ourselves for our sins 935 and saying: “Modern people will never be able to achieve such a state.” Let us not philosophize against our salvation or practice eloquence against our own souls. Everything is possible if we want, and so possible that our will alone is enough to raise us to such a height: for there, says [St. Basil the Great], where the will is ready, there is no longer any obstacle 936. God wants to make us gods from people if we wish and do not resist; and we will shirk, rejecting the good deed? God wants this so much that, inseparably emerging from the bosom of His blessed Father, He condescended and came into the world for this purpose. And if we want this, then no one will be able to prevent us from doing so. Only let us rush to Him through warm repentance, and He, approaching us and touching our hearts with just the edge of His most pure finger, will light the lamps of our souls and will never allow them to go out even until the end of time and centuries, forever 937, because all glory, honor and worship are due to Him now and to the endless ages of ages. Amen. Word 8th. About love for God and faith and how love for God begins in a person; about illumination and contemplation of light and about mysterious conversation with the Spirit. If you wish, let us now listen to our Savior God, Who clearly calls to us: “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world” 938. And wanting to show the method of salvation, he says: “God sent His Son into the world, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” 939. So, someone who believes in this from the heart and is convinced that Christ came not to judge him, but to save him, and not for works or for labors and shed sweat, but for faith in Him alone, how, tell me, will he not love Him with all his soul and with all his thoughts? 940 Moreover, when he hears how much He suffered, wanting to save him and everyone else, about His descent from Heaven, about the entry and conception in the womb of the Virgin and Mother of God, about how He who is above all heavens immutably became a man, 941 Who is equal and consubstantial with the Father and Who holds all creation in His hand with His power 942, abiding in Heaven with the Father and agreeing to become a baby on earth according to the law of our nature. In addition to this, when he reflects on the other mysteries of God’s economy, on what passions He Who is by nature impassive endured for His sake, that is, on His inexpressible birth, on the swaddling clothes, on this cave, on the manger of dumb animals in which the King of the universe was laid due to poverty, on the flight to Egypt and on the return from there, on Simeon’s acceptance and how He was blessed by him as a simple man and brought into the Church, about His submission to his parents, about the baptism of John in the Jordan, about the temptation from the devil, about the miracles He performed, which were not so much surprised as they were envied, scolded and ridiculed (and who? wicked and godless people, whose talkative lips He could have shut both openly and secretly, and dried up their tongues, and drowned out their voices); about the betrayal of the disciple, about the bonds to which He was subjected by the murderers and, like a villain, was led by them, and handed over to Pilate as a condemned man, and suffered strangulation from a slave, and silently accepted the sentence of death (“he says to Him: don’t you answer me? Don’t you know that I have the power to crucify You and the power to release You?” 943); then about scourging, mockery, abuse, about purple, the cane with which He was wounded in the most pure head by the murderers of God, about the crown of thorns, about the Cross, which He bore on Himself, Who wears everything with His word 944. And when he thinks how He was led outside the city to the place of execution, surrounded by executioners and soldiers with a multitude of people who came to the spectacle, and on top of all this trembling angels, God and the Father, looking at the one-substantial and one-throne and equal Son, suffering this from the wicked Jews and naked crucified on the Cross, and pierced with nails in the hands and feet, and with a spear pierced in the ribs, and drunk with gall and vinegar, and not only enduring everything with patience, but also praying for those who crucify him, then how can he not love Him with all his soul? For when a person remembers that Christ, being God without beginning from the beginningless Father, co-natural and consubstantial with the All-Holy and Worshiped Spirit, invisible and incomprehensible, descended to earth, became incarnate and became a man, and endured all of the above and much more for him, in order to free him from death and corruption and make him the son of God and like God, then, if he were harder than stone and colder than ice, wouldn’t he will his soul soften and his heart not be warmed by love for God? I am convinced, and this truth is obvious to everyone, that if anyone believes all this from the heart and to the depths of the soul, he will immediately have love for God in his heart. They say that when the shell of a shell opens, a pearl is formed from the dew of heaven and lightning. In the same way, think about it, love for God is sown in us. For the soul, hearing about His foreshadowed sufferings and little by little believing in them more and more, opens up in accordance with its faith, although previously it was shackled by unbelief. And when it opens, then love for God, which is connected with indescribable light, like the dew of heaven, mentally falling into our hearts like lightning, becomes like a shining pearl, about which the Lord says that the merchant who found it went, sold all his property and bought this single pearl 946. So, whoever is worthy to believe as we have said, and to find in himself this mental pearl of love for God, cannot help but despise everything and distribute all his property to the poor or leave it to be plundered by those who wish, in order to keep the love of God intact and not diminishing in the least. For it, growing every day in the heart of the one who prefers it to everything else, becomes in it a miracle of miracles, completely inexpressible and indescribable, elusive to the mind and indescribable to the word. And being in a frenzy from this ineffable and incomprehensible miracle, completely immersed with his mind in its study, he completely goes outside the world, not with his body, but with all his feelings: because they, too, rush after the mind to what is contemplated within him. At a certain moment, the one to whom this happens realizes what he is seeing; he sees, and behold, light. It seems to him that this light comes from above. And upon examination, he discovers that this light does not pour out from any point and has no center. While he is surprised at this, and behold - Three in one: through Whom, in Whom and to Whom. Seeing this, he asks for an explanation and hears clearly: “See, I am the Spirit, through whom and in whom the Son” and: “See, I am the Son, to whom is the Father.” And while he is even more surprised, the Father again says: “Behold, you see.” “And I,” says the Son, “am in the Father.” And the Spirit said: “It is indeed I: for through Me he who sees sees the Father and the Son, and, seeing those who are seen, goes into a trance.” Where does he see them? “In this one Mine and Ours, transcending essence, essence and nature, which none of the people or angels have seen.” How then, says the Spirit, is this nature in Me? “The whole thing, for I am completely inseparable and indivisible, although I am only one of the Hypostases. If you abide in Me even a little, you cannot say that you have not seen anyone. Since you are a limited person, living in a limited world, then one of Us has become limited and mortal. “I myself, by My nature, am completely invisible, indescribable, formless, intangible, inviolable, immovable, eternally moving, fulfilling everything and completely belonging to no one, neither to you nor to any other of the ancient or present angels or prophets approaching Me, to whom I have not appeared entirely and will never appear.” And can someone who mysteriously sees such things and is initiated into that which exceeds both angelic and human perception be able to remain with feelings or reason among people? For if the one who is worthy to talk with a mortal king and stand before him forgets about everyone and completely listens to the words of the king, then how much more is he who is worthy to see, as far as it is possible for a person to see, the very Creator and Lord and Lord of all, “Whom no one has seen and cannot see” 947 , and to talk with Him, and to hear the voice of Him who will judge the living and the dead 948 , isn’t it will come out of himself, and will not truly become outside the world and the flesh, and will not desire to be with Him, but, having retreated from such a great thing, which exists above all that is so great, will he turn to everyday concerns 949 and begin to care about things that are completely perishable or transitory and temporary? I don’t think anyone in their right mind would agree to pay attention to this. It is well known that the blessings of this age are accompanied by their inherent sadness, weariness and suffering, while life in God, conversation with Him and contemplation of His ineffable blessings surpasses all bliss and eclipses all glory, prosperity, joy and relaxation, as exceeding all honor, luxury and enjoyment of everything that is considered good in this life. For how much more comfortable it is to rest on a luxurious and soft bed than on a lit brazier, so much the joy and exultation that occurs in the soul from communication and conversation with God surpasses all the joy and pleasure of this life. Therefore, it often happens that one who, out of ignorance or carelessness, has retreated from the best and turned to the worries of this world, when he feels the bitterness and unbearable harm hidden in it, runs back to what he left, strongly reproaching himself for being completely upset and finding himself among the thorns of this world and the fire that scorches the souls of men, runs and returns to his Master. And if He had not been philanthropic, if He had not accepted us returning, not only not remembering evil and not being angry, but even more favorably accepting the one who returns to Him, “then no soul” 950 would have been saved, not even a saint, even if he had reached the average or any other measure. Therefore, all who have achieved perfection in holiness and virtue are saved freely, and not by works of righteousness 951. And not only they, but also everyone who later strives for perfection will be saved in this way. Since salvation for us believers is accomplished “not by the works of the law, so that no one can boast,” 952, according to the divine apostle, we should not at all rely on works, that is, on fasting and vigils or sleeping on earth, hunger and thirst, nor shackle the body in iron, nor torment it with hair shirt. For these exploits are completely insignificant, since many evildoers and the poor have endured this and remained the same, so that neither their malice diminished nor did they get rid of wickedness. They also help someone because they bring the body into humility or, rather, into exhaustion. However, God wants from us not only this, but more desires a contrite spirit and a contrite and humble heart 953 and so that our heart, in self-abasement of thought, always calls out to Him: “Who am I, O Lord my Master and God, that You condescended, became incarnate and died for me, in order by death to deliver me from corruption and make me an accomplice and partaker of Your glory, as well as Deities? When you are thus disposed in the innermost feelings of your heart, you will immediately see how He mysteriously embraces you, kisses you and gives you the spirit of rights in your womb, 954 the spirit of freedom and remission of sins, and not only this, but also crowns you with His gifts and makes you glorious through wisdom and knowledge. What else is so pleasant and pleasing to God as a contrite and humble heart, as well as self-abasement in the spirit of humility 955? For in such a dispensation of the soul God Himself dwells and rests, but every trick of the devil remains completely ineffective and all choking sinful passions completely disappear, and only the fruits of the Holy Spirit abound in it, that is, love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, humility and comprehensive abstinence 956, which in due time will be followed by Divine knowledge, knowledge of the Word and the abyss of the hidden thoughts and sacraments of Christ. The one who has achieved and been worthy of this is changed by a good change and from a man becomes an angel, so that in body he walks here among people, but in spirit he dwells in heaven, communicates with angels, and from inexpressible joy the love for God is revealed and grows in him. None of the people will ever be able to approach this love unless they first cleanse their hearts with repentance and many tears, and come into the depths of humility, and become pregnant with the Holy Spirit, the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, honor, power, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. Word 9th. About true knowledge and that the knowledge of God is not acquired through teaching, but is born from purity and from the highest grace in one who is diligent; about how dangerous it is to judge; and the reproof of those who believe that they have known the things of the Spirit without the Spirit, and there about the holiness of the father 957; about how useful faith is, and what its fruit is, and how it grows; that those who have acquired the treasure of the Spirit in themselves see It in others; about what are the distinctive signs of saints and how and who can recognize them; that if someone has not been born again, he will not be able to see God who gave birth and recognize the one who has already achieved this with the help of the Spirit. Now is the time to loudly proclaim with David: “The Lord has looked down from heaven on the sons of men, to see if there is one who understands or seeks God”; and further: “Everyone has turned aside and become equally indecent; there is no one who does good, no, not one” 958. In order to add the apostolic words to what has been said, I will continue: “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the questioner of this century? Has not God turned the wisdom of this world into foolishness? 959, because through it no one could know true wisdom, the truly existing God. And if the knowledge of true wisdom and the knowledge of God were given to us through books and teaching, then why would faith, and Divine Baptism, and communion of the Mysteries of Christ themselves be needed? There is absolutely no need. “Since through wisdom the world did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching” 960. This is what the preacher and leader of the Church of Christ says. I will justly complain and weep about the contrition of my members, my people, my brothers in flesh and spirit, because we, who have put on Christ through Baptism 961, do not count the sacraments of Christ as anything, but we think that we receive knowledge of Divine truth through worldly wisdom, and from the fact that we only read the inspired patristic writings, we imagine that we have already mastered Orthodoxy, and we consider this to be accurate and firm knowledge of the Holy Trinity. And not only will I weep for this, but also for the fact that some, the most high-ranking among us, foolishly consider in their thoughts a figment of the imagination, the contemplation that the Spirit alone produces in the worthy. Oh, foolishness, oh, stubbornness! Some, however, who are attempting by the unclean to penetrate into the depths of God 962 and hasten to theologize when they hear about God that just as the light of three suns merges into one, so the radiance of the one Divinity in the Trinity, immediately imagine in their minds three suns that are united by light, that is, by essence, and separated by hypostases, and foolishly imagine that they see the Divinity itself, and thus believe that the Holy and The Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity is similar to the example above. But it's not like that, it's not like that. For no one can, from just reading the Scriptures, thoroughly understand and express the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, but, accepting it by faith alone, he is content with this and is no longer curious about anything, and to those who are curious and overzealous in exploring the Divine, he cannot say anything other than what is written and what he has been taught. And that this is really so, listen to what Christ says: “No one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wants to reveal it” 963. With these and similar words He stops the shameless and unrestrained lips of those who speak and hope through external wisdom and book teaching to cognize the real Truth, that is, God Himself, and to acquire knowledge of the mysteries hidden in the Spirit of God. If no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and the one to whom the Son wants to reveal His depths and mysteries, for “My secret is for Me and Mine” 964, then who else among the people living on earth, be it a sage, a rhetorician or a scientist, except those who have purified their minds with higher philosophy and asceticism and have trained the feelings of the soul to correctly perceive everything that happens 965, will be able to, without revelation from Lord from above, by human wisdom alone to know the hidden mysteries of God, which, through mental contemplation produced by the Divine Spirit, are revealed to those who are given 966 and are always given to see this through the highest grace? The knowledge of these subjects belongs to those whose minds are enlightened every day by the Holy Spirit for the purity of their souls, whose eyes are fully opened by the rays of the Sun of Truth, whose word of knowledge and word of wisdom are through the Spirit alone 967 , whose conscience and fear of God are securely guarded by love and peace in goodness and simplicity of morals with faith 968 . To such belongs the knowledge of Divine objects; to such rightly belong the words spoken to the apostles, whom they imitated: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God, but to others in parables” 969. Such, moved by the Divine Spirit, know the equality and unity of the Son with the Father. For in the Father they contemplate the Son, and in the Son through the Spirit they contemplate the Father, as it is written: “I am in the Father and the Father in Me,” 970 because the Spirit is undoubtedly always with the Father. For if the Spirit proceeds from the Father, 971 and the Father is wholly present in the Son, then the Holy Spirit is wholly present in both of them. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God, to whom every breath worships 972. How can you say about three suns that they are one? For if you unite them, then they will unite and from three they will become one, and if you do not unite, then you will not achieve unity. And on the contrary, you cannot imagine the Father without the Son and the Spirit, just as you cannot imagine the Son without the Father and the Spirit and the Holy Spirit as alien to unity with Him from Whom He comes. Therefore, believe that in the Spirit abides the Father and the Son, and in the Son the Father together with the Spirit, and in the Father the Son lives and abides forever and ever, with the Holy Spirit shining with Him. They are one God, and not three, in three hypostases the Existing One Himself, eternally Existing, unchangeably Existing, in one nature and kingdom and Divinity, glorified by innumerable angelic powers. And although in each of these hypostases the properties of the Divine nature are contemplated, three are one and in one there are three, which cannot be with the suns. I would like to bring some image, although a little clarifying the meaning of what we have said for those who boast that they comprehend the depths and mysteries of God with false knowledge 973, without the penetrating Spirit 974, but I fear God, who said that one should not give the shrine to the shameless and daring and throw pearls 975 before those who consider the Divine secrets to be publicly available and their own with thoughts crawling on the earth and unclean souls they dishonor and seem to trample on them. God blinded their minds, as the prophet said, and hardened their hearts 976 so that seeing they would not see and hearing they would not understand 977 . And fair enough. Since they made themselves unworthy through conceit and evil customs, they were left by God to walk in the darkness of unbelief and their own malice, as David said: “Therefore I left them to the stubbornness of their hearts, let them walk according to their own thoughts” 978 . For those who had before their eyes so many examples of fulfilling God’s commandments, which our fathers left for us believers to imitate virtue, and did not want to understand 979 and did not want to imitate them, but on the contrary, even scolded them and slandered the life of those who labored for God, as if it were displeasing to God, are not only unworthy of Divine knowledge, as sons of unbelief and destruction 980, but are guilty of every punishment and condemnation for the fact that, having forgotten to test themselves, whether they are in the faith 981, they judge others and recklessly examine and test what exceeds their measure, not at all ashamed of God, who commanded us: “Judge not, lest ye be judged” 982 and: “With whatever judgment you judge, so will you be judged” 983, nor of His disciple, saying: “O man, “Who are you, judging a stranger servant? Does he stand or fall before his Lord?’” 984 and “Do not judge others and do not slander one another” 985. How can those who reject the words of Christ and His apostles, which He and His disciples commanded, without fulfilling them and not following in the footsteps of the Teacher, be recognized as believers and Christians? How can those who clearly transgress the Divine commandments clearly see the light of the commandments? No way. “Let no one deceive you with empty words, brothers” 986. And the Apostle Paul calls us brothers because of the spiritual rebirth and kinship that comes from Divine Baptism, for in our actions we have become, as I see, completely alien to the brotherhood of saints. And I will try to prove this from the real state of affairs, or rather, our very deeds and words will expose us, and therefore I will continue my speech, as if addressing one person. Have you, brother, rejected the world and the things in the world? Have you become non-covetous, obedient and alien to your own will? Have you acquired meekness, have you become humble? Have you succeeded in severe fasting, prayer and vigil? Have you acquired complete love for God and do you treat your neighbor as yourself? Have you prayed with tears for those who hate and offend you and for those who are hostile to you, and have you been the first to sympathize with them from the heart, as deserving of forgiveness, or have you not yet ascended to this height of virtues? Tell. If you are ashamed to say “no,” or again, out of humility, do not want to say “yes,” then I myself, brother, will tell you what follows, and I will show you, thanks to what deeds and skills, anyone who truly strives with much reasoning and true holiness rises to this height. For if, as has been said, you succeeded in all of the above, and loved your enemies, and often wept for them from your heart, praying, of course, for their conversion and repentance, then you, undoubtedly, gained the upper hand in everything else: through exploits you became completely dispassionate, acquired a heart pure from passions, and in it and through it you saw the impassive God. Otherwise, it is impossible to pray with love for our enemies with a compassionate heart if we do not first cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit 987 through union and cohabitation with God and through contemplation of Him with the assistance of the Good Spirit. So, if, by the grace of God who saved you, you achieved this through virtue and much humility, then why, brother, do you not believe your companions, who together with you strived for the same thing, why do you envy, scold and slander them, trying to overthrow the good opinion about them? Don’t you know that those who labored from the first hour, who were envious of those who came at the eleventh hour for the reason that they received the same wages as them 988, were cast out into outer fire for this 989? And how do you, doing and saying the same and even more unsightly things against the saints, whose life, virtue and intelligence shines like the sun, think that you will not be subjected to the same and even worse torment and punishment? Or don’t you know that the saints have no envy of the saints, as it is written: “Where there is envy, there lives the father of envy, the devil, and not the God of love” 990? So, being sick with envy, how can you even consider yourself a saint when you cannot even be recognized as a believer or a Christian due to your lack of love for God and your neighbor? And that the situation here is exactly this way, that one who is sick with envy has the devil within himself and cannot belong to Christ, since he does not have love for his neighbor, is clearer than anyone who hears the Divine Scriptures. If you have not yet been granted such gifts and have not reached such a height of idolizing virtues, then how do you even dare to open your mouth and speak? How do you want to teach, being yourself a catechumen, and trying to penetrate into what you do not know and have not heard about, and, as if knowing the Divine, you dare to talk about such subjects? Don’t you know that you must stand behind the doors of the church, where it befits a catechumen, although out of arrogance of thought you rush to place yourself along with those who pray correctly and purely, not following the apostolic canons 991? For at present, not only an unbeliever is called a catechumen, but also one who does not see the glory of the Lord with the open eyes of the mind. I mourn your extreme foolishness, that you, completely not believing that even now anyone can be as holy as they were in ancient times, counting yourself, like an ignoramus, with all the other ignoramuses, speaking as if by the Holy Spirit, as if some holy and God-bearing man, about something that you do not know at all and which you have not seen, heard and are not worthy to accept into your heart, in which you yourself you admit, being amazed by the word, you are not at all ashamed to interpret and, as if knowledgeable, explain these subjects, without blushing even from human laughter. If you have not yet become dispassionate, as we said, and have not been worthy to have the Holy Spirit, and if you are not yet holy, then how do you say that you know, like a saint, that which belongs to the Spirit, “which, as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of earthly man, what good things God has prepared for those who love Him”? 993 And I will tell us in madness 994, because you make me, the last and foolish, by His ineffable goodness to us, God revealed this by His Spirit through the prayers of our blessed and holy father Simeon, “so that we might know, as the apostle said, what is given to us from God” 995, “for the Spirit penetrates even the depths of God” 996, “but we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit from God" 997. And through Him He revealed and made Himself known to us, sinners and humiliated, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 998 and Savior, the great God 999, in Christ and God Himself, whom no one has seen and cannot see 1000. “Because He who commanded the light to shine out of darkness is precisely the One who shone in the hearts of us” 1001 , insignificant and worthless, being contained in clay vessels 1002 of our [bodily] huts 1003 , like some kind of treasure. He, boundless and indescribable in all respects, is depicted 1004 in us in a diminished form, although he has no image or appearance and incomprehensibly fills everything with Himself, as great and abundant. And the fact that the truly existing God is depicted in us confirms nothing less than the fact that He truly remakes and restores us and transforms us into the image of His Divinity. This is exactly what Saint Simeon the Reverent became, who labored in the Studite monastery, as we have seen from our own experience. Having established our faith in him on the revelation of the Spirit existing in him, we keep it indisputable; or, better to say, having ignited by succession from his light, as if from a certain lamp, the lamp of our own soul, we keep it unquenchable, being protected by his prayers and intercessions. Our faith in him, supported by them, is growing and will continue to grow—I say boldly in God—bearing a hundredfold fruit in that very Divine light. For the fruit of faith is holy and unfading light, and holy light is the multiplication and growth of faith: as long as the light flows, faith multiplies and ascends higher and higher. And as faith 1005 grows, it is quite obvious that the fruit of the Spirit also abounds: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control,” 1006 which everyone who has this knows well. For just as the one who has pearls and shiny stones: sapphire, amethyst and all sorts of others, knows, if he is not ignorant, what the appearance and value of each of them is, so the one who has grown virtues in himself through many labors and tears and has brought forth the fruits of the Spirit, understands perfectly what the appearance and property of each of them is, and has tasted their sweetness. And what is even more important and surprising, he recognizes this fruit in others, if it is present in them. Just as people of different nationalities can be recognized by their clothing, and even more so by the sound of their speech and language, in the same way saints are recognized by their modesty, decent gait and other external signs, and the most accurate and true sign is their own word, which is born from them. For what is not in the heart, the mouth cannot utter, and even if they do utter it, they are immediately exposed in their own words as not being able to speak. After all, “a good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart” 1007. Look at the depth of the Spirit in the fact that the Lord did not say that a person simply “brings good things out of a good heart,” but added, saying: “From the treasure of the heart,” so that you would know that none of us can have an empty heart or not filled with anything, but each of us, either through good deeds and true faith, is filled with the grace of the Spirit, or through unbelief, neglect of the commandments and the performance of wicked deeds, carries within himself the evil devil. And lest you think that the Lord calls those who have the treasure of the Spirit those who partially keep the commandments of Christ, and partially neglect them, but only those who keep them all exactly, the Lord said: “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he loves Me; and whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father; and I will love him and appear to him Myself. ...And I and the Father will come to him and make our abode with him” 1008. Do you see how the one who, through labor and observance of the commandments, acquired a good heart, himself became an abode for the whole Divinity, Which is that very good treasure? And about the fact that such a treasure does not dwell in one who violates even one small commandment, that is, in one who neglects it and does not fulfill it, listen to what He Himself says: “Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so, he will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven” 1009. He called these commandments the least, not because they really were like that, but because that’s how we think about them. For we consider it nothing to talk idle, or to covet something that belongs to our neighbor, or to gaze passionately, or to curse someone and are indifferent to this, forgetting the One who subjects us to judgment for all this. After all, what did He say? “For every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment” 1010; and in another place: “You shall not covet anything that is your neighbor’s” 1011; and again: “Whoever looks lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart” 1012. Whoever says “cancer” to his brother is subject to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says “madman” is subject to fiery hell 1013. And the apostle, wanting to show that the devil is at work in those who commit such acts, said: “The sting of death is sin” 1014. So, if sin is nothing more than a violation of the commandment, and the commandment is not to covet, not to lie and not to steal, but also not to talk idle talk and not to speak rudely to one’s brother, then everyone who does this is wounded by the sting of death, that is, sin, and in this wound, or bite of sin, the devil is immediately wound up and dwells like a worm. Do you see how the devil himself, who is the evil treasure, lives in those who have not cleansed their hearts again with tears and repentance? This is exactly how a good person brings out good things from the good treasure of his heart, and an evil person in the same way brings out evil things. True repentance through confession and tears, like a kind of plaster and medicine, cleanses the wound inflicted on him by the sting of intelligible death, and removes the scar on the heart, and then throws it out and kills the worm nesting in it, healing and completely curing this wound. But this happens only to those who, with sorrow, tears and repentance, ask for the healing of their hearts. Because others even take pleasure in these wounds; and not only this, but they comb them even more and try to add others to them, considering the fulfillment of their passion to be healthy. That is why they boast when they do something evil, sinful or absurd, and count their shame as their glory 1015. Why are they suffering such misfortune? Because they do not know the pleasure and joy of complete purification, or rather, because they do not believe and convince themselves that it is impossible for a person to completely cleanse himself of passions and accept into himself substantially (οὐσιωδῶς) the entire Comforter. For this reason, they always say and do everything against their own salvation, closing the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven for themselves and preventing everyone else who wants to enter 1016. If they ever hear about someone who lawfully strives in the commandments of the Lord and has become humble in heart and thoughts, cleansed from all passions and preaching the greatness of God to everyone, that is, about what God has done with him according to His false promises, and for the benefit of those who listen, he says that he was honored to see the Divine light and God in the light of glory, that he clearly understood in this light the visitation and action of the Holy One Spirit and himself became holy in the Holy Spirit, then they immediately, like mad dogs, bark at him and, if possible, try to devour the one who says this. “Shut up,” they say, “you deluded and arrogant one. Who in our time has become the same as the holy fathers? Who has seen, and who can even see God? Who has received the Holy Spirit to such an extent that through Him he was deemed worthy to see the Father and the Son? Shut up, otherwise we will stone you.” These people, I think, should not answer as their foolishness requires, for the wise Solomon said: “Do not answer a fool according to his foolishness, lest you be like him. But answer the foolish man in spite of his foolishness, lest he appear wise in his own eyes." 1017 Of you, oh, foolish ones, as you yourself said, no one has ever seen God, and of those who chose to take up the cross 1018 and walk the narrow path 1019 and lose their own souls 1020 for the sake of eternal life, many have seen before, and even more people, I think, see God now, and anyone who wishes will still see, although you, through the ignorance of reason and the zeal of malice 1021 and you cannot recognize them. Look what the evangelist said: “To those who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the power to become children of God, who were born neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” 1022. So, if you were not born of God, then, obviously, you are not His child, if you did not come out to meet Him, did not accept Him into yourself, then for this reason He did not give you power and you cannot become a child of God. And if you have not become a child of God, then how will you see your God and Father who is in heaven? No one has ever seen his father before he was born, and no man will see God unless he is first born of Him. That is why the Lord said: “Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” 1023, and again: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” 1024, that is, the holy comes from the holy; “for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” 1025. If you were born only of the flesh and do not know the birth of the Spirit, and you yourself have not yet become the Spirit, having been born of Him, then how can you explore the depths of God, and especially how can you see God? Of course, no way, you admit it yourself, even if you don’t want it, brother. So be it! What follows from this? “Are you like that yourself? - you ask. And how can we be sure that you are like that?” I myself, without grace from above, would not have been able to say this, just as I think neither Paul nor John would have been able to. However, I groan over the hardness of the hearts of those who ask me about this and try to somehow recognize the one who has become a perfect man and has reached the measure of the age of 1026 Jesus. Do you want to know how to recognize such a person? - Just as the blind recognize other people, just as Isaac recognized Jacob, clothed in the clothing of Esau, his brother. You all know how he said in bewilderment: “Hands, hands of Esau; and the voice, the voice of Jacob" 1027. From this it is clear that he did not recognize the deception of the clothes, because he was blind, but he recognized the familiar voice of his son. And if he were deaf, then, of course, he would not be able to recognize him by the sound of his voice. Likewise, you, who are in such bewilderment, who find yourself not only blind, but also deaf, how can you recognize a spiritual man? Of course not. And that this is true, and whoever does not see spiritually cannot also hear spiritually, listen to how the Lord Himself says to the unbelieving Jews: “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you cannot hear My word” 1028, and a little further: “He who is from God listens to the words of God. The reason you don't listen is because you are not from God. Your father is the devil; and you want to fulfill the lusts of your father" 1029. So, if you too, because of unbelief and wickedness, neglect of the commandments and their transgressions, became flesh, that is, I say, you have hardened hearts and stopped ears of the heart, and the eye of the soul is closed because of passions, then how can you recognize a spiritual and holy man? I ask you, my fathers and brothers, let us each try in every way to know ourselves, so that from what concerns us, we can someday know what exceeds us. For it is impossible for anyone who has not previously known himself to be able to say with David: “I am a worm and not a man,” 1030, and again, like Abraham: “I am dust and ashes,” 1031 - to know any of the spiritual and Divine speeches spiritually and worthy of the supernatural and all-wise Spirit. Let no one deceive you with empty and cunning words 1032 as if anyone can perfectly comprehend the Divine mysteries of our faith without the mystical and enlightening Spirit. However, without meekness and humbleness of mind, no one can become a receptacle for the gifts of the Spirit. All of us, undoubtedly, need to first lay a good foundation of faith in the depths of our soul, then, through various types of virtue, build piety within like an impenetrable wall. And when the soul is protected from everywhere and virtue is firmly hammered into it on a good foundation, then it is already possible to erect the roof of this building, that is, the divine knowledge of God, and to build a ready-made dwelling for the Spirit. When, in proportion to repentance and fulfillment of the commandments, the soul is cleansed with tears, then, firstly, a person is awarded the grace to know what concerns him. Then, after a long and persistent purification and deep humility, he begins to gradually and, as it were, vaguely understand what relates to God and divine objects, and, as he understands this more, he is more amazed and acquires more and more humility, considering himself completely unworthy of the knowledge and revelation of such secrets. Therefore, being protected by this humility, like an impregnable wall, he remains inside, invulnerable to the conceit of thoughts, daily growing in faith, hope and love for God and clearly seeing his success in increasing knowledge and ascent. When he reaches the measure of the age of fullness of knowledge of Christ 1033, and truly acquires Christ Himself and the mind of Christ 1034, then he feels like he knows nothing and has nothing at all and thinks of himself as a worthless and insignificant slave 1035. And what is surprising and supernatural, or rather, completely natural, he believes that in the whole world there is no person more insignificant and more sinful than him. How he achieves this I cannot say. The only thing I could understand about this praiseworthy state was that something like this really exists. When the soul is worthy by the Spirit to plunge its mind into the depths of humility in Christ God, then it forgets the whole world and those who are in this world 1036, but always contemplates only itself and only its own. Having spent a long time in this exercise and acquired sufficient skill in it, she sees herself truly humiliated and worthless and cannot believe that of all the people in the world there is someone as bad. Thus, the more someone considers himself in his soul more worthless and worse than all people, the more he becomes the first of all, as our Lord and God said: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Let us also, brothers, try to achieve this measure and state, and then we will easily recognize the saints who have already achieved this and will be honored with both present and future blessings, by the grace and love of mankind of the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Word 10th. About the terrible day of the Lord and about the future Judgment, that it is already here before death in us, cleansed through tears, and whoever it is accomplished in this life will not be judged in the future; about what the day of the Lord is and for whom its discovery comes as a surprise; that faith in Christ itself cannot save us unless we consciously become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and that not all those who are baptized receive Christ in Baptism; about how a person can find out whether he carries Christ within himself and whether he has become a partaker of the Holy Spirit. Along the way, an interpretation of the Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word.” Praise to those who, as a result of their exploits, were granted a visit by the Spirit. We would have much to say, beloved, about the Judgment, but it is difficult to interpret 1038 because we are not talking about present and visible things, but about future and invisible ones. Therefore, prayers, diligence, purification of the mind are greatly needed, both for us, the speakers, and for you, the listeners, so that we can well know and express, and you can listen and understand, what we are talking about. What is the purpose of this word? The purpose of this discourse on the great and glorious 1039 and terrible day of the Lord is that we may know why it is called the day of the Lord 1040 . So, this day is called the Lord’s day not because it will be the last of these days, and not because on this day the coming of the Lord will take place, as we say about the days of the present time: the day of Easter, the day of Pentecost and the day when the king should arrive for one or another purpose. And it is not called the Day of Judgment 1041 because judgment will take place then. For it cannot be said that one thing is the day of the Lord and another is the Lord who will come on that day. But this day of the Lord is called because the God of all and the Lord Himself will then shine with the glory of His Divinity. At that time, the sensual sun will darken 1042 before the radiance of the Lord and become invisible, just as now the stars are eclipsed by this sun and disappear; so then the stars will go out, and everything visible will be folded together like a book scroll 1043, that is, it will be eliminated, giving place to its Creator. And this one day will remain, he is also God, who now remains invisible to everyone and lives unapproachable in the light, 1044, and then He will be revealed to everyone as He is, and will fill everything with His light, and for His saints there will come a sacred and endless day of eternal joy, and for lazy and sinful people like me He will be completely inaccessible and invisible. Since, while still living here, they did not show any diligence to see the light of His glory through purification and for Him to fully dwell in them, then in fairness He will remain unapproachable for them in the future. God, from the very beginning, wished to make the good our own, as the Divine Scripture says, 1045, granted autocracy to the primordial ancestors, and through them to us, so that they, not with grief or not under compulsion, 1046, but out of goodwill and love for Him, of their own free will, joyfully working and keeping His commandments, would be recognized as having acquired virtues with their labors and then brought them to the Master like gifts, and through them, as they succeeded, they ascended to the perfect image and likeness of God 1047, and so that they would not be scorched and die a bodily death when they approach the Unapproachable, but from generation to generation everyone who strives would reach Him. Since the primordial people, the first to submit to the will of the enemy, became transgressors of the commandment of God and not only fell away from the highest hope, that is, from remaining in the non-evening light, but deviated towards corruption and death and plunged into impenetrable darkness, becoming slaves of the chief of darkness and completely falling under his dominion, and through sin found ourselves in the darkness of death, after this we, who were born from them, bowing before the will of this tyrant, enslaved him, and not by force (this was clearly demonstrated by all those who before the law and during the law labored and subordinated their will to the Master God, and not to the devil), then the humane Lord, wishing to save from eternal darkness those who before the law and during the law pleased God, and to grant those living after the law freedom in grace and all, so to speak, together to free those who pleased Him before the law, under the law and after the law from the tyranny of the devil, He decided to do this Himself without outside help, being omnipotent and gentle. The one whom He created with His own invisible hands in the likeness and image of His 1048, and after falling away, God wanted to restore not through someone else, but Himself, in order to better honor and glorify our race by the fact that He became like us in everything and became equal to human measure. Oh, indescribable philanthropy and goodness! After all, He not only did not punish us, criminals and sinners, but He Himself agreed to become the same as through crime we also became, becoming corruptible man from corruptible man, mortal from mortal, sin 1049 from the sinner, being incorruptible, immortal and sinless, allowing the world to see only His deified flesh, although it was not deprived of Divinity. Why? Because He came not to judge the world, but to save the world 1050, as He Himself said in His Gospel. The point is that the revelation of the Divine becomes a judgment for those who see Him. For no flesh would have endured the glory of His Divinity if the godly combination and ineffable unity had appeared in undisguised form, but every creature would have been completely destroyed, soul and body, since in our time everyone is obsessed with unbelief. Divinity, that is, the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, has never appeared to anyone in the absence of faith. If it did appear or, beyond expectation, appears to any other people, it will turn out to be terrible and formidable, not enlightening, but scorching, not life-giving, but terribly punishing. This is clear from what happened to blessed Paul, the chosen vessel 1051. When the brilliance of the impregnable light began to sparkle, his eyes were wounded, he was not enlightened, but rather darkened rather than illuminated, and lost his bodily vision 1052. And this is the one who was then to become the great teacher of Christ’s Church! Such a great man, who said: “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, which has shone in our hearts” and a little further: “But this treasure” - that is, the radiance - “we carry in our hearts” 1053 - then could not see even a small reflection of it. From here we clearly see that for those who are still possessed by unbelief and passions, grace is completely inaccessible and invisible, but for those who, in fear and trembling, work by faith to fulfill the commandments and show worthy repentance, it opens and becomes visible, and by its very action it unmistakably carries out future judgment in them. Or rather, grace itself becomes the day of God’s Judgment, so that the pure one, constantly illuminated by it, sees everything in the true light: himself, as he is, and his actions, both committed in deed and performed in the soul, sees everything in detail. And not only this, but he is judged and tested by Divine fire, and, saturated with the water of tears, his whole body is moistened with tears, and after a short time he is baptized entirely by Divine fire and the Spirit 1054 and becomes all pure, all unsullied, a son of light and day 1055, and not the son of a corruptible man. That is why such a person will not be judged at the future Judgment and Test, because he has already gone through the trial; he is not convicted by this light 1056, because he is already enlightened; nor, entering this fire, is he tested or burned, because he has already been tested; and does not think that only then did the day of the Lord appear, because from constant conversation and being with God he himself became a clear and bright day; and he is no longer found in the world, does not live in a worldly way, but remains entirely outside it. “For I,” says the Lord, “have chosen you out of the world,” 1057 and the apostle said: “If we had judged ourselves, we would not have been judged. Being judged, we are punished by the Lord, so as not to be condemned with the world” 1058, and also: “Walk as children of light” 1059. So, for those who are now becoming children of this light and sons of the next day, and can behave well as during the day, 1060 the day of the Lord will never come, because they already remain in it always and continuously. For the day of the Lord will open suddenly and will turn out to be terrible, like a raging fire, not for those who are always illuminated by the Divine light, but for those who sit in the darkness of passions, lead a worldly life and are addicted to worldly things. Moreover, this fire of God will not be absolutely spiritual, but, as someone would say, it will appear incorporeally in the body (ἀσωμάτως ἐν σώματι), as the resurrected Christ previously appeared to the disciples, as the evangelist says. When the Savior ascended to heaven, the angels turned to the disciples: “Just as you saw Him ascending into heaven, so He will come again” 1061. If this were not so, then how could He be seen by sinners, unbelievers, heretics and Doukhobors, who are blind in soul, whose eyes are sealed with the filth of sin and unbelief, as the Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. Having spoken about the dead, and about the future glory, and about how all the saints will be caught up in the clouds, he says: “There is no need to write to you about times and seasons, brethren, for you yourselves know with certainty that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. For when they say: “Peace and security,” then destruction will suddenly befall them, just as the pain of childbirth befalls one who is pregnant, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness for the day to overtake you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of day: we are not sons of night nor of darkness. So, let us not sleep, like others, but let us stay awake and be sober" 1062. And a little further: “Because God did not destined us to wrath, but to receive salvation, so that whether we were awake or asleep, we would live with Him” 1063. But you, beloved, hearing about the sons of light and the sons of the day, do not say in your heart 1064 that since we were baptized into Christ, and believe in Him, and give Him Divine worship, then we have clothed ourselves with Him 1065, and undoubtedly, although imperceptibly, we are the sons of the day and the sons of light, and not at all night and not darkness. Yes, you cannot say or think in such a way that you do not spend the rest of your life in carelessness and carelessness, only imagining and thinking about yourself that you are something, being nothing 1066. Better look and think carefully about yourself and say: “If all the people living in this world and seeing this sensual sun are in darkness 1067, then I, since I do not see anything more than others, of course, I myself am in darkness with them. And just as this sun sets every day, night comes, and I no longer see anything, in the same way after my death I will not see any light, but forever I will remain in gloomy and impenetrable darkness and will never see this sensual light with my own eyes; for people, when separated from the body, are immediately separated from everything sensory. So, if I am in darkness now, I will be in darkness after death. Then, undoubtedly, for me the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night and like a disease in the belly of a woman, and I will not be able to escape” 1068. Our salvation lies not only in baptism with water, but also in Baptism in the Spirit, just as the remission of sins and the communion of life are given not through the eating of Bread and Wine alone, but through the Divinity that mysteriously and inextricably accompanies them and is mixed with them. And “mysteriously” is said here for the reason that the Divinity is not revealed to everyone, but to those worthy of eternal life, and makes those who see Him sons of light and sons of the day. For those who do not see the light, even if it shines brightly, sit in darkness. Let no one deceive you, brothers, with vain words, 1069 and let no one rely on faith in Christ alone. For the apostle says: “If you are circumcised, Christ will not profit you at all” 1070, and also: “Faith without works is dead” 1071. Just as a body without a soul is dead, so faith without works is dead. Those who confess Christ as God, but do not keep His commandments, will be counted not only among apostates, but also among those who dishonor Him. And not only that, but they will justly be condemned even more than those who circumcise their own bodies, because they truncate the commandments of God. Can he who dishonors his father be called a son? Can one who has withdrawn from the light walk in it as in the day? No way, brethren. If they say that no one can keep all the commandments, let them know that they are slandering God and condemning Him as having commanded us the impossible. They will not escape the inevitable judgment, but will be condemned, just like the one who said: “I knew you, that you are a cruel man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter” 1072, and they will be like that serpent who said to Adam: “God knows that on the day on which you eat from this tree you will become like Him, and for this reason He commanded you not to eat from it” 1073 . Such people call God a liar, a deceiver and full of envy. A liar - because when God says: “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” 1074, they imagine it not only not to be light, but also to be heavy. A deceiver because they claim that God came down, supposedly promising a lot, but not wanting to give us anything and even envying our salvation, he commanded us to do and observe the impossible, so that when we are unable to fulfill this, he will take advantage of this opportunity to deprive us of those benefits. But woe to those who say so, unless they repent. For our Master and God did not command us anything heavy, nothing excessive, but rather everything light and convenient, because believe me, I myself was convinced of how easy God’s commandment, and His command, and His Kingdom are. I will explain this to you with the following example. One man served in the militia of a certain enemy hostile to the Christian king. Having won numerous victories and performed feats against the slaves of this king and having been honored with great honor by this tyrant and his warriors, he received a letter from the king of the Christians with an offer to come over to his side in order to receive great rewards and reign with him. For many years he did not agree to this proposal, but raised even greater accusations against it. But one day, having changed his mind and repented in his soul, he decided to run away and come alone to the king, reasoning with himself that although I had not listened to the king’s message until now, I believe that now that I am turning, he will not blame me for such many years of delay and procrastination, because he, as I hear, is compassionate and kind, will take pity on me and will give me everything that he promised. Having thought about this in his heart, he did it in practice: coming to the king and hugging his legs, he asked for forgiveness with tears. And the good king, immediately accepting him with unexpected joy, listened favorably and considered his repentance and humility a miracle, that instead of being daring and demanding honors for the love and trust he had shown to the king, he, leaving the enemy militia and coming to his kingdom, lay weeping about his delay and about the atrocities he had previously committed. Having picked him up, the king “fell on his neck and kissed him” 1075 and kissed his eyes, streaming with tears, for a long time. Then, ordering to bring a crown, clothes and shoes similar to those that he himself wears, the king personally dressed in them the one who only yesterday was an enemy and adversary, without reproaching him at all. And not only this, but day and night, rejoicing and having fun with him, hugging and kissing his mouth, the king loved him so much that even in his sleep he was not separated from him, sharing his bed, hugging and wrapping him on all sides with his own blanket and protecting every member of his body like the apple of his eye. This is our attitude towards God, and in the same way, I saw, the man-loving God accepts and loves those who repent, who flee from the deceptions of the world and from the ruler of the world 1076 and come to Him as the King and God, naked from the things of this world. May it not seem difficult to anyone to leave the one who gave birth to him, to renounce close friends and relatives, to renounce the wealth of the perishing, since I myself did not find anything difficult, or sorrowful, or unpleasant in this when I ran to my God and Savior. But if I need to tell you the truth about something that I did not want to make obvious to everyone, then I will reveal it to your love in order to convey something good to at least one of you. In all kinds of adversity, sorrow and what people consider to be suffering, I more than saw in myself an abundance of joy and gladness welling up through the revelation and appearance of His face, so that what Paul said to me was actually fulfilled: “Our momentary light suffering produces eternal glory in an immeasurable abundance” 1077 and what David said: “In trouble You gave me room” 1078. For this reason, I counted the sorrows and temptations that came upon me as nothing, comparing them not with the future, but with the glory 1079 of Jesus Christ already revealed to me in the Holy Spirit. Thanks to communion and contemplation of this glory, I considered insignificant even mortal illnesses and any other severe suffering and pain that can happen to people, forgetting all suffering and bodily sorrow. Thus, I began to consider the burden of the commandments light and the yoke of the Lord good, 1080 and, believe me, it was an unbearable sorrow for me that I could not find any reason to immediately die for Him. So, my beloved brethren, leaving everything, let us run naked and, having come to the Lord Christ, let us fall down 1081 and weep before His goodness, so that He, seeing our faith and humility, may receive us in the same way, or even much better, and honor and adorn us with His robe and diadem, and make us worthy of participating in a meal with the heavenly Bridegroom. For it is not the same thing to move from one corruptible kingdom to another, having received an earthly kingdom, or to ascend from earth to heaven, being worthy of eternal glory and the incorruptible kingdom, to become a co-heir and partaker of God and to become not just a king, but a god from God and to rejoice with Him forever and ever. I ask you, brothers, let us not prefer anything earthly and perishable, so as not to fall away from the glory of Christ and communion with Him, but already here, purifying ourselves, receive crowns; rather, let us try to acquire Himself, Who is above all, in all, and Himself is the all-encompassing Good. Let no one say: “From the time of Holy Baptism I have Christ in me,” but understand that not all those who are baptized receive Christ in Baptism, but only those who correctly believe, who have prepared themselves with perfect knowledge (γνώσει τελείᾳ), as well as by preliminary purification (προκαϑάρσει), and have already thus come to Baptism. The student of Scripture 1082 learns about this from the apostolic words and deeds, for it is written: “The apostles who were in Jerusalem, hearing that the Samaritans had received the word of God, sent to them Peter and John, who came and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet descended on any of them, but only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit" 1083. Do you see that not everyone who is baptized immediately receives the Holy Spirit? Now I have learned from the apostles themselves that some who had already believed and were baptized did not put on Christ through Baptism 1084? After all, if this had happened, then they would no longer need prayer for them and the laying on of hands of the apostles: for having received the Holy Spirit, they would have received the Lord Jesus Himself. After all, Christ and the Spirit are not something alien. Who's talking about this? God the Word Himself says this to the Samaritan woman: “God is Spirit” 1085. If Christ God, by the nature of the Divinity, is a Spirit, then he who has Him also has the Holy Spirit. And he who has the Spirit again has the Lord Himself, as Paul says: “The Lord is the Spirit” 1086. We must look after ourselves, brothers, and examine our souls, whether we have really accepted the Lord Jesus preached to us and acquired Him within ourselves, so that, as the Evangelist John says, we may know whether we have received from Him the power to be children of God 1087. So, let everyone heed what the Holy Scripture says, and check himself, as we said, so that it does not happen that, deluding himself in vain and considering himself a believer, he turns out to be an unbeliever, and, thinking that he has the Lord in himself, leaves the body empty, and is condemned as having nothing, having lost even what he thought he had 1088, and will be cast into the fire 1089. How can we know whether Christ is in us, and how can we understand ourselves? By collecting words from the Divine Scriptures and peering into them, like into a mirror, with our souls, we will see ourselves entirely in them. But let’s take the word even higher, and with the help of God, who gives the word and opens my unclean lips 1090, I will explain to you, my brothers, a way to at least somewhat understand this. Just be careful, I ask you, because we will talk about sacred objects. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was in the beginning with God. Everything came into being through Him... In Him there was life, and life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" 1091. Having said this, the evangelist pointed to the indivisible Trinity, calling God the Father, the Word the Son, life the Holy Spirit, since the three are one Light that shines in the darkness. How dark is this? Of course, he spoke about the darkness of the visible creation, because God is present always and everywhere, being the shining Light. But “darkness did not embrace Him,” he said instead: “The filth of sin did not come any closer to Him, the creature did not prevent Him from shining, did not know, did not find, did not unite and did not see Him.” That is why, repeating the same thought to make it clearer, he added: “There was the true Light, which enlightens every person who comes into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him” 1092. From the very beginning, says the evangelist, God was everywhere, quickening every person who came into the world, and before the world was created (κόσμος), He was in the world (ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ). How? Such that everything pre-existed with Him 1093 and in Him, and what has not yet happened is not non-existence for God, but is existence. Then, when God created the world, He did not withdraw from it, says the evangelist, but was in the world, and the world did not know Him. How, then, before the creation of the world, God was everywhere and, having created the world, shone in the world, but the world did not comprehend Him? Listen carefully. “Who is everywhere and doeth all things” 1094 did not retire to another place after he produced this sensory world, but is far from it by the nature and glory of the Divine. In other words, nothing created can approach or fully comprehend Him, but, being inseparable from everything, He is quite obviously present in everything. “And no one knows Him except the Son, and to whom the Son wants to reveal Him” 1095. Thus, God, present in the world and not being known by the world, “came to his own, and his own did not receive Him” 1096. Here He called the world and those who are in the world His own, because He is the Creator and Ruler of them all, and also for the sake of kinship in the flesh. So, do not hastily pass by what has been said now, but understand that that Word, which in the beginning was with God, which is God and has life in Himself, and created everything, and is the Light that enlightens all people, which before the world was in the world, and created the world, and lives in it, and is not known or comprehended by the world, this very Word, having become incarnate, came into the world, so that those who by faith would receive Him as God, and fulfill His commandments, and take up their cross, to reveal His Divinity, so that they know Him as He is; here - to the best of one’s ability, as far as anyone can accommodate, and in the resurrection - more clearly. “To those who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God, who were born neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father" 1097. So, the mirror that I told you about before is these very words. And look how precise the words of the Gospel are, how clearly they teach us what the signs of believers are, so that each of us can know ourselves and our neighbors. To those who accepted Him, he says - obviously, through faith, having confessed Him as God, and not just a man - He gave the power through Baptism to become children of God, freeing them from the tyranny of the devil, so that they would not only be believers, but, if they want, follow His commandments and by doing the commandments they would acquire holiness, as in another place the Lord says: “Be holy, because I am holy” 1098, and again: “Be ye therefore merciful, just as I am holy.” Your Father is merciful" 1099. And after this He explains the method of adoption: “Who were born neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” He here calls birth the spiritual change that occurs and is contemplated in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, as the true Lord Himself said: “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” 1100. Those who are baptized by this Baptism become as if they were light within light, and they know Him who gave birth to them, because they see Him. And that Baptism alone is not enough for our salvation, but that communion of the Flesh of Jesus and God and His precious Blood is also required, listen to the following: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” 1101. That these words point precisely to this, listen to the Lord, who says this: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him” 1102. When this happened and we were spiritually baptized through the All-Holy Spirit, and became children of God, and the incarnate Word, through the communion of His most pure Body and Blood, dwelt in us as Light, then we saw “His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father” 1103. When we were spiritually born, he says, from Him and from Him, and He physically dwelt in us, and we consciously began to live in Him, then, at that very moment, at the very hour when this happened, we saw the glory of His Divinity, the glory as the Only Begotten from the Father, which no one else has, neither angel nor man. Because there is one God and Father, one His Only Begotten Son, and they both have one glory, cognizable and revealed to all whom the Son wills, through the Spirit who proceeds from the Father. So, let each of you, brethren, incline your mind to the meaning of these words, look at yourself. If he accepted the Word of God who came, if he became a child of God, if he was born not only of blood and flesh, but also of God, if he learned that the incarnate Word had dwelt in him, and if he saw His glory, the glory as the Only Begotten of the Father, then he became a Christian, and saw himself reborn, and knew the Father who gave birth to him, knew him not only in words, but also by the deed of grace and truth 1104 . Let us, brethren, constantly heed this mirror of truth and deviate from the destructive and heretical teaching and fiction of those people who say that in our time the glory of the Divinity of the Lord Jesus is not revealed to us believers through the gift of the Holy Spirit; for the gift is given in revelation, and revelation works through the gift. Because no one receives the Holy Spirit except in revelation and mental contemplation, and no one sees revelation unless he is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and no one can be called a complete believer unless he receives the Spirit of God, as Christ said to the Samaritan woman: “Whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never thirst; but it will become in him a source of water flowing into eternal life” 1105. “And this He said about the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive” 1106. Do you see that those who do not have the working and speaking Spirit within them are unbelievers? For Christ is innocent, Who committed no sin, and no guile was found in His mouth 1107. And if He says that the Holy Spirit is given to those who believe in Him, then it is obvious that those who do not have the Spirit are not believers from the heart. If anyone says that each of us believers unconsciously and intangibly receives the Spirit and has Him, then such a person utters blasphemy, representing Christ as a liar, who said that “he will become in him a fountain of water flowing into eternal life” 1108, and again: “Whoever believes in Me, from his belly will flow rivers of living water” 1109. For if a source gives out water, then those who look at it, of course, see a stream pouring out and falling. If, according to them, all these spiritual gifts act in us unconsciously, so that we do not feel any of this, then it is obvious that we will not be able to feel the eternal life that is associated with them and abides in us, and also will not see the light of the Holy Spirit, but will remain dead, blind and insensitive, both now and then. As a result, our hope for those blessings has become vain 1110 and running in vain 1111 as long as we remain in death and do not feel eternal life. However, this is not so, not at all, as I have said many times and am saying now and will never stop saying. The Father is Light, the Son is Light, the Holy Spirit is Light, one light, timeless, indivisible, unmixed, eternal, uncreated, without measurement, lacking in nothing, invisible, so that it exists and is thought of outside everything and above everything, which no one could ever see before he was purified, and which no one could accept before he saw it. For many saw this light, but did not acquire it, just like those who were worthy to see countless treasures in the royal storerooms and left with nothing. Those who repent with a warm feeling initially experience divine illumination and enlightenment many times over, but it immediately passes. And if, until their very death, they completely devote themselves to exploits and search with pain, presenting themselves to the Lord as worthy and blameless in everything, then he will return to them again and they will receive him for good. And if they are a little careless and weaken their labors, loving their own souls 1112, then they will become unworthy of such a gift and will not enter eternal life while still in the body. If they do not enter now, then it is clear that they will not enter even after leaving the body. After all, if the one who received one talent and hid it was condemned for not multiplying it 1113, then how much more will he be condemned who could not even save what he received, but through negligence destroyed it. So, as all the inspired Scripture says, 1114 already here the people gather for competitions, here gymnastic apparatus and here crowns are given to those who win and deserve a reward as a pledge, and for the vanquished the beginning of their shame and torment becomes clear. Look how the holy forty martyrs and all the others who suffered for Christ testify to this. The first, standing in the lake, received crowns from the hand of God, and the one who ran away into a warm bath immediately disintegrated and went into eternal fire 1115. And Eustratius, famous for his virtue, when he endured suffering for Christ, said that “now I have learned that I have become the church of God and His Spirit lives in me. Depart from me, all you who practice iniquity" 1116. And the tyrant who was holding trial over him answered: “If the feelings of your thoughts had not been corrupted, and your soul had not been tuned to earthly things by the leaven of passions, then I would have shown you this crucified Savior, who became a redeemer and benefactor.” Do you see now that faith without works is dead? 1118 For before beginning the feat of martyrdom, the saint, since he had only faith, did not yet have the Holy Spirit within himself. When he showed his faith by deeds, then he learned about himself that he was the church of God, and consciously saw with his intelligent eyes the Holy Spirit living in him. What could be clearer than this evidence? If someone says that these were martyrs who suffered for Christ, and how can we be equated with them, then we will answer them in such a way that you yourself, if you want, will be martyrs every day, not only every night, and every hour, suffering and enduring persecution for Christ. How is this possible? If you also resist harmful demons, if you always resist sin and your own desires. They had earthly rulers as opponents, and we had demons and destructive carnal passions, which attack our souls day and night and every hour and force us to do what is incompatible with piety and angers God. So, if we stand against them and do not kneel before Baal 1119, if we do not listen to the advice of the evil demons and do not serve the flesh, caring for it and fulfilling its lusts 1120, then we ourselves will justly become martyrs, struggling against sin, when we remember the martyrs and reflect on the unbearable wounds inflicted on them and through this resist the devil. Looking at their labors, and thinking how far we are from their exploits, and sighing about this from the heart, we ourselves will be rewarded with their crowns, albeit not for quantity, but for quality, by the goodness of God to us. And although we are not equal to them in boldness, we will, in any case, be equal in patience and in gratitude for the most severe suffering. They hope to be saved by the deeds and sorrows of martyrdom, and we - by the deeds and sorrows of asceticism, and all together - by the love of mankind and the grace of the Lord: they - by sweat and martyrdom, and we - by tears and ascetic deeds; they - by shedding their own blood, and we - by cutting off our own will and by always feeling ourselves as having within ourselves a sentence of death 1121 and expecting death every hour, readily exposing our necks in order to die for every commandment of our Lord God rather than transgress it even with a single word. Therefore, all of us, brethren, along with them, must despise everything here. For it is impossible, absolutely impossible for any of us to receive the incorruptible if we do not reject the corruptible like rubbish, just as it is impossible for those who hold on to the temporary to acquire the eternal, and also to have Christ living within themselves through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for those over whom even one, even a small, passion rules. After all, God, as I tell you again, brothers, is Light, as He Himself said: “I am the light of the world” 1123. So, if you say that He is light according to the flesh, then after He ascended and hid, that is, separated from the disciples and moved away from them, and therefore from us, the whole world, in your opinion, plunged into darkness. If you confess that He is the Light of the world according to Divinity, then how do you say that you do not see Him, although you suppose that He abides in you? If Christ is the Light of the world, then those who do not see Him are obviously blind. And if the Holy Spirit is also Light, just as He is Light, then how do you say that you do not see Him, but think that He unconsciously (ἀγνώστως) dwells in you? If you claim that passions close the Spirit in you, then, without knowing how, you make the Divine describable and possessed by malice: after all, an evil thought is darkness, even without bodily sin. Whoever says that he has light in his heart, hidden by the darkness of passions, which he himself does not see, thereby asserts that darkness dominates the light, and represents the Holy Spirit as a liar, who says: “And the light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” 1124. The Holy Spirit says that light is not covered by darkness, but do you think that He is hiding in you behind the darkness of passions? Know yourself first, who affirms, no matter who you are, that you are clearly and consciously sinning. After all, if you admit that the darkness of passions covers the light that is in you, then first of all you accuse and condemn yourself for the fact that you know that you are sitting in darkness 1125 and enslaving to passions 1126, and, having received the power to be a child of God 1127, that is, of light, and to become a son of the day 1128, you remain inactive and idle, you walk in the night, not wanting to set about doing God’s commandments and driving away the cloud of passions, but you despise Him who came down from heaven for your salvation, lying in your unclean heart like in mud. For this reason, the Light says this: “From your mouth I judge you, evil servant 1129, because when I came to you, as you say, and dwelt in you - I, unapproachable even to the highest ranks of angels - then, knowing this, you yourself left Me to lie hidden in the darkness of iniquities, which is what you yourself are talking about. And after so many years, when I hesitated and waited for your repentance and kept waiting for the fulfillment of My commandments, until the very end you did not deign to seek Me in any way, and did not take pity on Me, suffocating and oppressed in you, and did not allow Me to find you, the drachm I had lost 1130, not allowing Me to light up and see you and become visible by you, but left Me forever covered the passions within you. So, depart from Me, you worker of unrighteousness 1131, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels 1132. For I was hungry for your conversion and repentance, and you did not give Me anything to eat; I thirsted for your salvation, and you did not give Me anything to drink; I was naked of your good works, and you did not clothe Me with them; was imprisoned in the narrow, dirty and dark prison of your heart, and you did not want to visit Me or bring Me to the light; You knew that I lay in the weakness of your laziness and inaction, and did not serve Me with your good deeds and deeds. Get away from Me." So the Lord will say then and so now says the Lord to those who claim that they have the Holy Spirit within them, but covered and hidden by the darkness of passions and not visible to the intelligent eyes of their souls. And to those who claim to know Him, but admit that they do not see the light of His Divinity, He says this: “If you knew Me 1133, you would know Me as the light: for I truly am the light of the world” 1134. However, woe to those who ask, “When will the day of the Lord come?” 1135, but they themselves do not try to achieve it. Because the coming of the Lord has already happened for the faithful and is always happening, and for everyone who wants it, it has already come. For if He, the Light of the world and His apostles, said that He would remain among us until the end of the age 1136, then how will He, being among us, come to us? No way. We are not the sons of darkness, nor the sons of the night, so that the light may take us by surprise, 1137 but we are the sons of light and the sons of the day of the Lord. Therefore, whether we live, we abide in the Lord; whether we die, we live in Him and with Him, 1138, as Paul said. Gregory the Theologian speaks about this: “What the sun is to sensible beings, so is God to intelligible beings” 1139. For He Himself will be the age to come, and the day without evening, and the Kingdom of Heaven, the Bridegroom and the bridal chamber, and the land of the meek, 1140 and the servant, as He Himself said: “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching; Truly I tell you, he will gird himself and make them sit down, and he will come and serve them.” 1141 All this, and even much more, which is impossible to count, will be Christ for those who believe in Him, not only in the next century, but first in this life, and after and in the century to come. And although this happens implicitly here, and more completely there, from here believers clearly see and receive the firstfruits of everything that is there. And even without receiving all the promises here, they do not remain completely deprived and have not tasted them, hoping only to receive everything there. But since God established by His economy that through His death and resurrection he would give us the Kingdom, incorruptibility and eternal life, then with our souls we already here undoubtedly become accomplices and partakers of future blessings, since [with our soul] we are incorruptible, immortal, sons of God, sons of light and sons of the day, as well as heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven, for we carry it within ourselves 1142. After all, we receive all this already here in the feeling of the soul and consciously, unless we are false in some way in faith 1143 or lack in doing the commandments of God. With our bodies we do not yet participate in future blessings, but we wear this corruptible body, just as Christ God did before the resurrection, so that the soul, surrounded and bound by it, does not contain all the glory revealed to us. Looking 1144 at the ineffable ocean of glory, we admit that we see only a small drop of it, and therefore we say that we see as in a dim mirror and fortune-telling 1145 . At the same time, we understand that we ourselves are spiritually similar to the One whom we contemplate and who contemplates us in this life. And after the resurrection, this body will become spiritual. And just as He Himself, having torn His body from the tomb by Divine power, resurrected Him, so we all will receive our spiritual body and, having become like Him first in soul, we will then become like Him together in body and soul, which means: “We will be like Him” 1146 - people by nature, gods by grace, just as He Himself is God by nature, and for His goodness became man. How can those who have accurately understood this mystery not begin to thirst and strive for death? The apostle said about this: “We who are in this hut sigh 1147, waiting with hope for the revelation of the sons of God 1148.” If all this is not so and if we, the elect, already here, being in the body, do not achieve communion and communion of eternal blessings and do not accept grace, then Christ is only a prophet, and not God; and everything that is said in His Gospel is only a prophecy about the future, and not a gift of grace. And the apostles only prophesied, and were not the fulfillment of prophecies; They themselves did not accept anything and did not pass it on to others. What is the ignorance and darkness of those who think so?! In their opinion, our faith is nothing but empty words, devoid of deeds. For if the grace of God, saving for all people, appeared 1149 in words alone, and not in deeds, and we think that this is how the sacrament of our faith was accomplished, then who could be more unfortunate than us 1150? If Christ is the light of the world and God, and we believe that no man has ever seen Him, then who is less worthy of trust than us? So, if He is the Light, and we say that those clothed in Him feel nothing, then how are we different from the dead? If He is the vine, and we are the branches 1151, then until we fully realize our unity with Him, we will remain soulless, fruitless and dry pieces of wood, prepared for unquenchable fire. And if those who eat His Flesh and drink His Blood have eternal life 1152, according to His holy word, and we, eating them, do not feel in ourselves anything other than ordinary food, and do not realize that we are receiving another life, then we have partaken only of bread, and not of God. After all, if Christ is God and at the same time a man, then His holy Flesh is not only Flesh, but Flesh and God inseparably, although unfused, so that by His Flesh, that is, by Bread, He is visible to sensual eyes, but by His Divinity He is invisible to sensual eyes, but we contemplate with the eyes of the soul. That is why in another place He says: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him” 1153. He did not say that the eater abides in Flesh and Blood, and they in him, but: “In Me,” that is, in My glory, in My light, in My Divinity. “For I am in the Father and the Father in Me” 1154; and “I am in you and you are in Me” 1155. If we think that all this happens in us unconsciously and imperceptibly, then who can truly mourn our insensibility? Truly no one. On the contrary, blessed are those who found in darkness 1156 Christ who came as light, for they became sons of light and day. Blessed are those who are now clothed with His light, for they have already put on the wedding garment. They will not be bound hand and foot and will not be thrown into eternal fire 1157. Blessed are those who have seen Christ Himself in the flesh. But thrice blessed are those who saw Him mentally and spiritually and worshiped Him, for they will never see death 1158. Do not doubt this, knowing that similar things happen on earth: those condemned to death, if they are worthy to see the earthly king, are immediately released from the death sentence. Blessed are those who eat Christ every day with the same contemplation and knowledge with which the prophet Isaiah - coal 1159, for they will be cleansed from all filthiness of soul and body 1160. Blessed are those who, at every hour, taste the ineffable light with the lips of their mind, for they will behave well, as in the daytime 1161, and will spend all the time in chastity. Blessed are those who have already here recognized that the light of the Lord is He Himself, for in the next century they will not be ashamed to appear before Him. Blessed are those who always walk in the light of Christ, for they are and will always be His brothers and joint heirs, now and forever. Blessed are those who have now kindled the light in their hearts and kept it unquenchable, for they will greet 1162 the Bridegroom radiantly at their departure from life, and together with Him they will enter the bridal chamber 1163 as candlebearers. Blessed are those who do not allow the thought that people do not receive notification of their salvation here, but only at the end of life or after death, for they will strive to receive it already in this life. Blessed are those who do not doubt anything we say and do not suspect a lie in it, for even if they do not have any of this, which may not happen, they will try in every possible way to acquire it. Blessed are those who try with all their souls to achieve the light 1164, despising everything else, for even if they do not have time, while still in the body, to enter the light, they will leave here with good hopes and, although to a small extent, will find themselves in the light. Blessed are those who always cry bitterly about their sins, for the light will embrace them and turn bitter tears into sweet ones. Blessed are those who are illuminated by the Divine light, and see their own weakness, and clearly understand the ugliness of their spiritual attire, for they will continually cry and be filled with streams of tears. Blessed are those who approached the Divine Light and entered inside it and themselves became entirely the light, mingling with it, for they have finally taken off their defiled clothing and will no longer cry bitter tears. e Blessed are those who see their robe shining like Christ, for at every hour they will be filled with inexpressible joy and weep sweetly in surprise, convinced that they have already become sons and partakers of the resurrection. Blessed are those whose mental eye is always open and who, during every prayer, see the light and converse with it mouth to mouth 1165, for they have become and will become equal to the angels, even, I dare say, above the angels, for those sing praises to God, and these communicate with Him. If they became and are becoming so while still in this life, being bound by the corruption of the flesh, then what will they be like after the resurrection, when they receive that spiritual and incorruptible body? Of course, not only equal to the angels, but also similar to the Lord of the angels, as it is written: “We only know that when He is revealed, we will be like Him” 1166. Blessed is the monk who stands in prayer to God and sees Him, and is seen by Him, and feels himself to be outside the world, but existing in God alone, and is unable to understand whether he is in the body or outside the body, for he will hear ineffable verbs that are impossible for a person to retell 1167, and will see what the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and has not come to the carnal heart of man 1168. Blessed is the one who sees in himself the emerging light of the world 1169, for he, having Christ within himself as an embryo, will be recognized as His mother, as the Unfalse One promised Himself, saying: “My mother and they are my brothers.” Who exactly? “Those who hear the word of God and do it” 1170. And those who do not keep the commandments voluntarily deprive themselves of this grace, because this work was, is and will be, was and is being done and will be done in all who fulfill His commands. And so that we will not be suspected, if we leave this without proof, that we are saying something of our own and teaching about the impossible as possible, we will again present to you the blessed Paul, the mouth of Christ, who clearly exhorts us: “My children, whom I am bearing again in pain, until Christ is formed in you!” 1171. Where, according to him, will Christ be, or in what place and part of the body do you think He will be depicted: on the forehead, on the face or on the chest? Not at all, but inside, in our heart. And do you not suppose that He is represented in us bodily? Away with this assumption: although He is clothed with form, it is not bodily, but as befits God. And just as a woman knows for sure that she is pregnant, because the child is playing in her womb 1172, and she cannot but know that she has him in herself, so he who has the born Christ within himself recognizes His movements, that is, illumination, and unmistakably determines His leaps, that is, brilliance, and contemplates His image in himself. He sees Him in himself like the light of a lamp, which is reflected in a mirror, but not as illusory as the reflection in the mirror, but showing Himself in that light essentially and hypostatically, in an unimaginable image invisibly contemplated and in an elusive idea incomprehensibly comprehended. In this way, brethren, the incomprehensibility of our faith is comprehended. And in those to whom the Father and the Son will come in the Holy Spirit and truly make an abode with them 1173, They are contemplated and perceived undoubtedly, invariably cognizable in the one Light, which we have already spoken about 1174. However, just as someone who is pursuing someone running away, even if he thinks that he is already close to him and is stepping on his heels, and considers that he has already felt and touched him with the edge of his fingers, still cannot grab him, being within a hair's breadth of his goal, according to the well-known proverb, so we, if through negligence or laziness we have any small thought or agreement with the thought, for example, unbelief, or double-mindedness, or timidity, or any other passion, or if we begin to covet any small and insignificant thing, then we will not be able to become partakers of the Divinity 1175, we will not ascend to the height of this glory. For whatever a hair is, so is this small passion in spiritual matters. And if we do not completely despise our soul and body, as those called to martyrdom, and do not surrender ourselves and our souls to any kind of torment and any death, and do not stop thinking and caring about anything useful for the life and health of this corruptible body, then we will not become friends and brothers, nor partakers and joint heirs of God and will not partake in contemplation, knowledge and experience of the above-mentioned mysteries of God. Therefore, the one who is not worthy to achieve and master these blessings, let him blame only himself and not say, looking for excuses in sinful deeds 1176, that this is completely impossible, and if it happens, it happens outside of our consciousness. Let him learn from the testimony of the Divine Scriptures that this is possible and true, that it actually happens and happens with our knowledge, but as we are inactive and abandon the commandments, everyone deprives himself of such benefits. May we all be worthy to receive these blessings and already here taste how good the Lord is, 1177 and then see Him completely and rejoice with Him for endless ages of ages. Amen. Word 11th. About the life-giving deadness 1178 of the Lord and God Jesus Christ, always perceptibly operating in the perfect; about how the acquisition of virtues is acquired by blood and how virtues are born one from the other, and that he who passes the first step of the ladder leading to the Kingdom of Heaven will never enter it; that the perfect have joy and gladness, and not tears, and they exude rivers of theology. And in conclusion, that we should not be an upstart and strive to become leaders without grace informing our hearts, calling us to shepherd the people of God; about the duties of primates, what their concern is for the verbal sheep, and how the latter should be nourished by shepherds. The power and glory of the life-giving death of the Lord and God Jesus Christ and its miraculous power, which always acts in the perfect, will not be understood by everyone who hears, even if it seemed to him that he knows it, but only by those who have come to know and have actually achieved what the most sacred word of the Apostle says: “The image of this world is passing away, so that henceforth let those who have wives be as if they had not, and those who buy as not.” those who own, and those who weep, as if they were not weeping, and those who rejoice, as if they were not rejoicing, and those who use the world, as if they were not using” 1179, and also those who care, as if they were not caring, and those who work, as if they were not working. And again: “It’s as if we are dying - but we are alive; as if they had nothing - but possessed everything” 1180. Do not pass these words lightly and do not think that you can so easily understand the meaning hidden in them, but consider exactly your inner spiritual disposition, beloved, and we, using the example of visible things, will present you with a picture that explains what has been said. And you diligently listen to what we say. He who has already died is incapable of perceiving anything visible; and whoever has nothing is deprived of everything, needs everything, desires everything. On the other hand, whoever possesses everything, can he really desire any more things of this world if he has already mastered everything and there is nothing left that he could still want to acquire? However, blessed is the one who sought this out by deed, tested it from his own experience, saw it and understood it. What we say are not empty words. Just as along the roads and fields there are houses, cities and palaces in different places, so on the path leading to Heaven, each in its place, the commandments of God and the exploits of virtues stand. We talk about virtues to the extent that the word is able to clarify the means of acquiring them, their greatness and beauty. Can the reader become their contemplator based on words alone? No way, you say. If he cannot become their contemplator, then how will he become the owner of at least one of them? It is still possible to see virtues, at least partially, but not to acquire them. Because seeing or hearing and again retelling what you heard to others is easy and simple for everyone, but acquiring something like that is worth a lot. And they pay for such things not with gold or silver, but with blood 1181, because each of us who desires buys these virtues one after another - with blood. Truly, if someone does not give himself up to the slaughter, like a sheep, for one, even the smallest virtue, and if he does not shed his own blood for it, he will never acquire it. God providentially arranged for us to receive eternal life through voluntary death. Die and you will live. Don't you want to? And now you are dead. Let's see what those abodes and dwellings of virtues are, the acquisition of which is worth shedding one's blood. The first abode is blessed humility: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” 1182. If the one who strives to enter this monastery and with it acquire the Kingdom of Heaven from the very beginning does not surrender himself to the slaughter of all who wish, if he does not sacrifice himself and die outside the gates of the 1183 Kingdom like a goat 1184, tied hand and foot, having killed his own will, then he will never enter inside and will not acquire it; and if he does not acquire this virtue, then no other. Because whoever steps over this step will never reach the next one, since God arranged them in a certain order according to the degree of increase. Imagine islands scattered in the middle of the open sea; so the virtues are separated from one another, but at the same time they seem to be connected by some kind of bridges, elevated above everything earthly, and securely fastened to one another. The first of the virtues is blessed humility. He who enters into humility through repentance through the western gate and has spent a sufficient time in it leaves through the eastern door 1185 and, walking along the bridge, thus heads to the monastery and home of lamentation. Having lingered there, washed, cleansed and satiated with its beauty, he passes into the haven of meekness. And from there he quickly moves to where those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are; in like manner he reaches the palace of mercy and compassion. Having passed through it, or better yet, once inside it, he finds the royal treasury of purity and, being in it, sees the King of glory sitting inside it, the One who is invisible to all creation. This palace means the body, and the royal treasury means the soul of every person, combining with which for the sake of doing the commandments, God fills it all with Divine light and makes it a god through His visitation and grace. Anyone who walks the designated path of virtues walks precisely in this God-established sequence. But to pass in any other way and, having bypassed one monastery on the left or right, is completely impossible by cunning to end up in another. This entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven was established by the Lord Christ Himself, and it will not be possible to enter in any other way. For if the sea cannot leave its boundaries 1186, then all the more will these inviolable and unshakable institutions remain unchanged. The ascent of those who strive to Heaven can be likened to the ascent of a ladder with steps. All that depends on us here is to encourage each other to be more zealous in order to quickly climb this ladder and get ahead of our neighbor. But it is impossible for any person to start not from the first step and climb the stairs out of order, but somehow jump over and step on the next step. Those who walk outside this straight path or in a different sequence are greatly mistaken. For just as it is impossible to enter the high room without steps or find yourself in the royal bedchamber, where the king himself resides, without first passing through the front rooms of the palace, so it is impossible for anyone who does not follow the indicated order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. All such move outside the royal path - let no one deceive them! - without feeling your mistake. O Lord, guide of the lost 1187 , straight path 1188 for those coming to You, turn us 1189 all of us, place us in front of this ladder of Yours and with Your hand guide our hands 1190 so that we grab onto it, strengthen us to tear ourselves off the ground and ascend to the first step, so that we realize that we have done at least something and rise above a little earth. For first we must ascend a little to You, so that You, the good Lord, will then show great condescension and unite with us. Show us, Master, the door to the hallway of Your Kingdom, so that we focus on it and knock on it until, for the sake of our determination to die, it opens to us. And when we find ourselves inside and begin to knock on the next door in line and open it, You Yourself, having heard our groaning and beating in the chest, will hasten to descend from Your lofty heights, O most compassionate and compassionate God. And we will hear the steps of Your most pure feet 1191 and understand that You are opening to us the inner doors that were closed to us sinners. When you come to us, You will say: “Who is knocking here?” And we, in exclamations and tears, will answer You with awe and joy: “It is we, Master, we are Your unworthy, poor, rejected and crafty servants, who until now have miserably wandered through the mountains, rapids and abysses 1192. It is we who foolishly desecrated Your Baptism and rejected the vows given to You. These are we who fled from You and voluntarily gave ourselves over to the enemy and the accuser of our souls and desecrated ourselves. Now, remembering You and Your love for mankind and kindness, having fled from there and labored, we came to You in great fear and trembling. Forgive and do not be angry with us, Master, but, having pity and mercy on us, the unfortunate, open to us, Lord, and do not remember the evil we have done. Do not be an avenger for our ingratitude - after all, we have been standing and knocking for a long time, and do not turn Your ear away from us, Your servants, so that we do not fall into cowardice and turn back. We have labored, striking at the outer doors of Your Kingdom: open to us, O lover of mankind by nature, have mercy on us. For if You, little by little, open the door of Your mercy to us, then who will not tremble when he sees You? Who will not fall in fear and trembling and ask for mercy? Who, seeing You, who has myriads of myriads of angels and thousands of thousands of archangels, thrones and powers, that You, sitting on high, came down to us, met and revealed to us, received us favorably and fell on our neck and kissed 1193 - who will not immediately be amazed and faint as if dead? His bones will be shed like water on the earth, 1194 he will weep day and night, 1195 meditating on the sea of ​​Your mercy and goodness and contemplating the glory and radiance of Your face. Glory to You, who arranged everything this way. Glory to You, Who has deigned to appear to us and unite with us. Glory to Thee, invisible by nature and by the heavenly powers themselves, that through the abundance of Thy mercy Thou openest and become visible to us. Glory to You, who shows us unheard-of mercy and, for our repentance, has been pleased to live and walk among us.” 1196 Oh, the greatness of unspeakable glory, oh, the abundance of love! The One who embraces everything dwells inside corruptible and mortal man, who can endure everything by the power of the One who dwells in him, and the person becomes like a pregnant woman. Oh, the amazing miracle of the incomprehensible God, the works and sacraments of the incomprehensible! Man consciously carries God within himself as light, carries the One who produced and created everything, including the bearer himself. She carries Him within herself as an inexpressible, ineffable Light, without quality or quantity, formless, immaterial, indescribable, extraordinarily beautiful to look at, completely simple, like a Light that exceeds all light. This man walks among us, completely focused on himself, and no one living next to him has any idea about anything. Who can adequately portray the joy of such a person? What else could he wish for? Is he not more blessed and glorious than any king? Isn't he much more powerful than any ruler? Are they not richer than anyone, even many worldly people we see? Will he ever need anything? Truly, he will never suffer a lack of any of the Divine blessings. However, be careful, you who have been honored to achieve this, for I now address my word to you, to the one who has completely become the abode of God, lest you do or say with your lips anything contrary to His will, because you will immediately lose the treasure hidden in you and it will move away from you. Honor Him as much as you can and do not allow into His dwelling anything objectionable or not inherent to Him by nature, so that He, angry, does not leave you and go away. Do not talk too much with Him and do not bother Him, shamelessly reasoning within yourself and saying: “I will show Him my extreme ardor and great zeal of love, so that He will be favorable to me and know how much I love and honor Him.” Know that before you think so, He already knows all your thoughts, and nothing is hidden from Him. Do not try to hold Him with your mental hands, because He is elusive, and when you dare to touch Him or think that you have already mastered Him, you will find yourself empty inside. He will immediately hide from you, and you will greatly repent and cry, lamenting and tormenting yourself, but, truly, you will not receive any benefit. Being joyful, He does not want to enter the home of the dejected and sad, like a hard-working bee into a house filled with smoke. When you return to a state of serenity and joy, He will again be inside you. And then leave the Lord in the peace of your soul to rest, as if on a bed. And don’t start telling yourself again that if I don’t cry in front of Him, He will turn away from me, as if I neglected Him. For if you, having already achieved perfection, want to cry as if you were still repentant, then He, looking at you mostly from afar, hiding, and perhaps illuminating you, will allow you to do this to cleanse and decorate your home. But after repentance and tearful cleansing, He will come to give you peace from labors and groaning, joy and joy instead of sadness. So, stand up straight (ὄρϑιος) 1197 I’m talking not only about the body, but also about the movements of your soul and its aspirations. Give place to silence (ἡσυχία), since the King of kings 1198 has come to your home. Say strictly to all the gatekeepers of your house, that is, to the feelings: “The king is coming, stand properly at the door; stand in silence and with much fear 1199 . Let no one come to the door and knock, let there be no screams near or far, let no one hide who wants to sneak in, for otherwise, leaving you, the Tsar will leave again.” Having said this, stand in the joy and gladness of your soul, indescribably contemplating how your indescribable Master has become describable in you, examining His unimaginable beauty and incomprehensibly comprehending His all-holy face, inaccessible to angels and archangels and all heavenly powers. Be amazed, rejoice and, leaping spiritually 1200, rejoice and be glad, reverently listening to what He commands you to say or do. Be attentive to what is said to you. God is not looking for you to serve and help Him, as do earthly kings who need servants, because He does not need anything and comes to the house of His servants for no other reason than to enrich them. Since He, as it is said, does not lack anything and by His coming has enriched you and made it so that you do not need anything, then be attentive to what He 1201 inseparably left the blessed bosom of the Father 1202 and came down from heaven 1203 to your humility. You will understand that our good and humane Master did not do this in vain, but according to His custom, He always does this for the salvation of you and many others. So, if, as was said, you honor and accept Him, give Him a place and provide peace (ἡσυχία), then be sure that you will hear ineffable verbs from the treasury of the Spirit, not falling on the chest of the Master, as before Christ’s beloved John, but inside your chest carrying the whole Word of God. You will theologize about the new and the old 1204, you will well understand all previously expressed and written theology, and you will become a harmonious musical instrument on which you can perform any music. If you ever allow sadness to enter your home, the joy will immediately disappear. If you allow anger or malice, the Meek and Calm will immediately leave. If you allow hatred or hostility towards someone, he who is called Love 1205 and who is truly hypostatic love by His nature will immediately flee. If you get to the point where you feel envy or enmity, then the Unforgiving and Good One, abhorring this, will become completely invisible. If you find out that cunning and fussy resourcefulness are wandering near your home, and you do not immediately drive them away with anger, but treat these enemies more meekly and agree to their approach, then the Simple, Gentle and Artless will leave so that you will not even notice it, and will leave you completely insensitive. And even if you, who have been honored to meet such a Lord, have become an eyewitness of such glory, have come into possession of such wealth, such a kingdom - I’m talking about the Kingdom of Heaven, which is God Himself - you will be guarded from all of the above so that it does not penetrate the house of your soul, and you will completely protect the King from all these evils, but at the same time you will turn your face, that is, your mind, to something else and begin to carry on conversations and talk with someone else, thus turning your back to the unapproachable God, to Whom the heavenly armies gaze unblinkingly with fear and trembling, then isn’t it right that He will immediately leave you as irreverent and unworthy? Are you saying that He is philanthropic? And I tell you the same thing, but He is philanthropic towards those who feel His philanthropy and show Him due respect and gratitude. If you, having imputed His love and sweetness into nothing, turn your love to something else, completely connect the aspiration of your soul with this and begin to receive pleasure from it, so that your soul imprints within itself the desire for some food, or drink, or clothing, or a pretty face, or gold, or silver, or anything else, then He Who is by nature pure, blameless and blameless, Who made you so too But through the Spirit, will he not fully understand this deviation of yours and immediately leave you? The answer is completely clear. And even if you don’t do anything like that, but you drive away all passion from yourself and renounce every vice, drive away all lust from yourself, leave behind addiction and carnal love for relatives and for any person, achieve complete sinlessness and purity, which we described above, and in addition to this, completely immerse yourself within yourself, I will explain, so that what I want to say here will again become clear to everyone - without disturbing or disturbing anything. in which, not deviating from the One who is above all heavens 1207, but living together with God, directing the mind upward to the highest Heavenly Kingdom; and after all this, someone will suddenly call you and show you a large earthly city with a multitude of people, various houses and spacious palaces, majestic and beautiful churches, priests, bishops, with the king and the sacred council surrounding him, chiefs and bodyguards, and if then - I leave all other reprehensible motives and ways to achieve the goal, all of them, that is, the king, the chiefs and the whole multitude of townspeople, will begin to call with tears and to ask you to take upon yourself the care of them and pastoral care for their benefit, and you, before approval from God, Who has appointed you to reign with Him 1208, despise and leave the heavenly and eternal blessings given to you from Him and, having descended to the rebellious world, begin to revolve among corruptible and visible objects together with those who called you, then is it not fair that He will deprive you of all those blessings and leave you in inheritance only these, both in this life and after separation from the body? So, even if God Himself speaks and convinces you to come down to feed souls, then you must prostrate yourself, cry and say to Him with tears and much fear: “Master, how can I leave You and go to this vanity and long-suffering life? May this not happen, Lord. Do not be angry with me, Your servant, and do not cast me away from such a height into this chaos. No, Master, do not deprive me, pitiful and unfortunate, of such a great light of Your glory and do not bring me into such darkness. Maybe I have sinned something out of ignorance, Master, and for this reason You are returning me to where You kindly took me from, O Merciful One? Do You really turn away from me so much, having taken many of my sins and iniquities onto Your shoulders? But even if I have sinned in some way, You Yourself will punish me here, and You will also take care of me. If you please, execute me, just don’t send me there.” If He continues and says to you: “Go, feed My sheep 1209; go, convert your brethren 1210,” then you must say to Him again: “Woe is me, Master, how can I be separated from You?” And if to this He again tells you: “No, I will be with you there too 1211,” then you should immediately fall down before Him, cry and mentally wash His pure feet with your tears and say thus: “How will You be with me if I go down there and die? How will you unite with me if my heart, being fickle, inclines towards human flattery and praise? How will you accept me if I become proud? How can you not leave if I do not boldly denounce kings and nobles regarding justice and the insults and iniquities they commit? How can I do all this and so on to please You, so that You remain with me and strengthen me, do not leave me fallen and do not withdraw from me unworthy, leaving me lying down? I am afraid that stinginess and love of money will take possession of me, I am afraid that the rebellion of the flesh will seize me; no matter how much pleasure seduces you or worries darken you; lest I become exalted from the honors of nobles and kings; lest the greatness of power instill in me pride in front of my brothers; lest I be tempted by luxury and drinking beyond measure, lest the thinned flesh of my soul become coarsened from drunkenness (αἱ λεπτυνϑεῖσαί μου σάρκες τῆς ψυχῆς) 1212; lest threats from people frighten me and I become a transgressor of Your commandments; lest the requests of my fellow bishops and friends make me an accomplice of iniquity, or force me to remain silent when they commit iniquity, or make me their accomplice when they do wrong, and I do not reprove them with boldness and do not fight with them for Your commandments. But how can I retell everything, Vladyka? I am surrounded by countless dangers, which You, Lord, know better than I. Do not expose me, Lover of Humanity, to such disasters. You know the hostility of people, their ridicule, abuse, slander, especially those of them who are more educated and proud of worldly wisdom, doomed to abolition 1213 by Your grace. Have mercy on me, Lover of Humanity, and do not send me down there to live among so many and such terrible disasters.” You must express all this and more to God and beg him not to return from heaven to this earth. And even if the humane and all-good King, having accepted your love and humility, again says to you: “Do not be afraid 1214. Since I promised to be near you, no cunning plans of the enemy will prevail over you. I will be your assistant in everything and will glorify you even more down there, and after that you will return here in greater and more magnificent radiance and you will reign with Me for endless ages,” then even then you should not be daring and indulge in carelessness, but with such fear and trembling ascend to the metropolis or patriarchate or any other authority, be it a bishopric or the leadership of the people, as if you you fall from a height into a deep well filled with all kinds of snakes and animals. If you admit that you are not like the one depicted in the previous word, but rather imagine yourself ascending from a low position to a height, then what is your insolence, what is your darkness and extreme ignorance?! Such thoughts and moods are not appropriate for sensible people, but for senseless and pagans, or, better said, for the dead, who do not see, do not feel, do not live, and do not know God at all and what awaits us at the coming Judgment of God. No one argues that it is useful to intercede for the flock and take care of the salvation of our neighbor, since love is the fulfillment of the law and the main goal of the prophets 1215. And Christ, having asked Peter three times whether he loved Him, when he answered: “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You,” said to him: “If you love Me, feed My sheep” 1216. And that one should not rush into such service thoughtlessly and just anyone, but do it after careful reflection and with fear, is clearer than that for those whose soul’s eye has not yet been completely darkened. After all, many, not even knowing what these words mean, and not understanding exactly how the Lord commanded Peter to shepherd His sheep, alas, boldly ascend to positions of authority and do not hesitate to boldly lead the flock of Christ. But let's take a look, if you like, and reflect on these words and their meaning. When the Lord says to Peter: “Feed My sheep,” is He really saying this about worldly patronage, meaning concern for the things and goods of this life that belong to His verbal sheep, so that through the care of the Apostle they are preserved and increased? Is he really talking about him taking care of their food and providing them with clothes? Or that when they travel, he brings them into his home, and when they are sick, he ministers to them? Or does He instruct the apostle that when all the believers are gathered together, he should feed and clothe them? Not at all. God did not command him anything like that. Where does this come from? From the words of the Lord Himself, Who says to His apostles: “Take for yourself neither gold, nor silver, nor a staff, nor a scrip, nor two shirts” 1217. How could He, who commanded them not to acquire anything at all, order them to give to others or generally take care of such things? Again he says: “Take heed to yourselves so that your hearts are not burdened with overeating and drunkenness and the cares of this life” 1218; and again he commands and commands not only them, but through them also to us: “Do not strive for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life” 1219, and much more. He who said: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will wear. Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin." or what to drink? or what to wear? Because the pagans are looking for all this and because your Heavenly Father knows that you need all this. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you. So, do not worry about tomorrow" 1221. Having said all this and much more, He concludes this way: “What I say to you, I say to everyone” 1222. If He does not even allow us to take care of anything tomorrow, but commands us to seek only the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then how, contrary to His own instructions, could He order the Apostle to take care of food and clothing for His sheep or command them to patronize them and protect their property? No way. He speaks clearly about this in the following words: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves,” 1223 and also: “But I say to you: do not resist evil. But whoever hits you on the right cheek, turn the other to him; and whoever wants to sue you and take your shirt, give him your outer clothing too 1224; and do not demand back 1225 from the one who took what is yours.” If He sent His disciples like sheep in the midst of wolves and commanded them, and through them us, that whoever strikes us on the right cheek should turn the other as well, and whoever wants to sue and take our shirt should be allowed to take our outer clothing, and not demand it back from the one who took ours, then how could He order the future shepherd of His sheep to sue for some earthly thing, or even touch a little on earthly worries, or plunge the flock into such worries and enterprises from which the First Shepherd Himself commanded to withdraw? No way. This truth was confirmed by the apostles themselves after the Lord’s ascension into heaven. For not only did they not care at all about what was useful for themselves and their disciples, but even with the means that the believers in our Lord Jesus Christ brought and laid at their feet, they did not at all want to manage and take care of the food and clothing of the brethren. And they said to the people: “It is not fitting for us to leave the word of God and serve tables. Select, brothers, from among yourselves seven men who have a good testimony, full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will entrust this service to them. We will constantly remain in prayer and the ministry of the word” 1226. So, since it has already been proven that we are not commanded to take care of anything earthly, even the most necessary things, and to defend ourselves or our brothers who are offended and tempted by someone, then let us examine what the words spoken by the Lord to the chief of the apostles mean: “If you love Me more than these, feed My sheep” 1227. However, I see that this has already become clear from what was said, and many smart people, perhaps, understood the meaning of these words. And for those who do not understand, we should also say something small, out of love for you. The work of shepherding is nothing more than caring for the flock through word and teaching. This is indicated by Christ Himself, who says to Peter: “How many times has Satan asked to sow you like wheat? But I prayed for you, so that your faith would not fail.” And then he adds the following: “And you, having once turned, strengthened your brothers” 1228. What does it mean: “Strengthen your brothers”? By your own example, convince them, says Christ, never to fall into despair, no matter how seriously they sin. For what could be worse than to deny Me, the Lord of all? When you repented and cried bitterly 1229, I immediately honored you with favor, and although you denied, I called you to the mountain along with the other disciples 1230 and did not reproach you with a single word for what happened. And now, having turned, encourage your brothers: feed My sheep. You will not feed them so as to drive them from pasture to pasture and make them increasingly fat and fat in body, and not so as to enclose them with fences and walls, but you will teach them to observe everything that I have commanded you. Not to keep one thing and neglect another, but to keep everything that I have commanded you. “Go therefore,” says Christ, “teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you” 1231. And he adds: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; and whoever does not believe will be condemned" 1232. "Feed My sheep." The shepherd of dumb sheep does not think about agriculture, nor about trade, nor about the house, nor about the abundance of meals, nor about fame, nor about honor. He does not care about other everyday affairs, and in general does not tolerate doing all this, but leaving his home, his wife, and children, he turns all his zeal to his own flock, keeping watch for it and going on long journeys, having neither a bed nor a cover, enduring the heat of the day and enduring the cold of the night, always fighting the winds, cold and dampness and does not leave his guards and care. It is fitting for you, Shepherd of the Church, to shepherd My sheep both in the house, and on the road, and while lying in bed, and while sitting at meals. How? Teaching them to have immaculate, sincere and unshakable faith in Me, to love Me with all their soul, with all their mind 1233, just as I loved them. For I laid down my life 1234 for them and died. Offer them, instead of wordless food, the life-giving food of My commandments, teach them to be satisfied with their fulfillment. Advise and exhort them to feed on them every hour so that they are satisfied and filled with My blessings. What are My blessings and by what deeds are they acquired, explain to them, saying this: “Sell your possessions and give alms; make for yourself containers that will not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven 1235. Love your enemies, pray for those who offend you 1236. Do good to those who hate you 1237. None of you repay anyone evil for evil 1238. Forgive, and you will be forgiven 1239. For if you do not forgive people their sins, then your Father will not forgive you your sins 1240. Be poor in money to become rich in spirit 1241. Scorn earthly glory to enjoy heavenly glory.” Two things are offered to us to choose from - I’m talking about life and death; and two worlds lie before us: the visible, decaying, and the invisible, eternal and indestructible, present and future; and two persons opposing each other act in these worlds, I speak about God and the devil who opposes Him, - of which the first tries to save us and calls us to life and the eternal Kingdom, and the second desires destruction and death and roars every day, [looking for] someone to devour 1242, striving through temporary pleasures to make us guilty of eternal destruction. Therefore, we must flee from the evil enemy and adversary and resort to the saving Lord, call on Him for help, so that the prince of darkness does not take possession of us and we do not get entangled in his machinations, working for him and sin. About the fact that the devil is the prince of peace and eternal darkness, listen to what Christ Himself says: “The prince of this world comes, and has nothing in Me” 1243. The devil is called a prince not because he controls or owns the world - away with such blasphemy, for he has no power over pigs 1244! - but because he rules over those people who enslave themselves to him through addiction to money or the things of this world. And he is called the prince of darkness because in ancient times, through exaltation, he himself fell from the light and became the heir of eternal darkness. And our God and Lord, as the Creator and Organizer of all things, by His very nature and sovereignly owns everything heavenly, earthly and underworld 1245, being the unevening and unapproachable Light 1246, Lord over everything present and future. Those who love God keep His immaculate commandments, enjoy temporal blessings in moderation, partake of them with gratitude and self-restraint, and by these very visible blessings are raised to the incorruptible and eternal 1247, as those who have submitted to the King and God of all and have kept His commandments. And those who do contrary to His commandments will find themselves prey to the enemy, becoming real enemies of God, as the Savior Himself said: “He who is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters” 1248. I fear lest any of you, beloved, join the prince of darkness and ruler of the world 1249 lest he be numbered with him; lest he begin to fight against our Savior and God together with the devil and his angels; lest he go against his own soul and begin to struggle to inherit the eternal fire. No, I beg you, no, children, fathers and brothers. It’s scary to even hear that we can become enemies of God. And how can someone fight against Christ and work towards their own destruction, I will now tell you. If someone justly or unfairly scolds you, scolds or slanderes you, and you cannot bear the dishonor with meekness or become sad and wounded in your heart, you will not subdue and pacify the impulses of your soul, but you will either begin to respond to the abuse and scold the offender, or you will do something else against him, or, even if you abstain from all this, you will leave with anger against him in your heart, and you will not forgive him with all your soul 1250, and you will not pray for him from your heart, then behold, you have already begun to fight against Christ, doing something contrary to His commandments, and you have become an enemy to Him, and you have also destroyed your own soul, consolidating and aggravating your previous sins and making them unforgivable. If someone hits you on the right cheek, and you do not turn the other one back to him 1251, but respond even more strongly to the blow, then you have thereby become a warrior and servant of Satan, and struck not only your brother, but through him also the One who commanded not to hit, but it is better to turn him the other cheek. If someone takes gold or something else from you secretly or openly, maybe by borrowing from you or even by force, and then does not want to give it back, appearing unhappy or denying your debt, you will not bear it gratefully and without rancor, but you will drag your debtor to the courts, hire lawyers, seeking help from people, and appear before the court, dejected, upset, dragging your brother, you will swear, including false oaths, forcing your defendant to commit oath-breaking and lies, which in itself is worse than everything else, and in addition to this you will betray him to the jailers and do everything in order to get back what is yours, then isn’t it obvious that you are your own enemy? If God commands you to visit prisoners in prison and, to the best of your ability, to provide them with assistance 1252, do not demand back from the one who took yours 1253 and to the one who wants to sue you and take your outer clothing, give him your shirt 1254, and not only that, but also give up your own soul 1255 to death for God’s commandment, and you are suing over lost money, violating God’s commandment, you are sad, If you get upset and put your brother in prison, isn’t it obvious that you are going berserk, angering God, fighting with Him and depriving yourself of eternal life? He who wants to shepherd the flock of Christ and feed His sheep with the above instructions, so that they become nourished and fruitful in virtue, can at the same time take care of estates and the acquisition of wealth, sue for them, drive away offenders and threaten them, and then demand justice, then resort to disputes and lies, forcing others to oaths and perjuries? After all, it is inevitable that if one speaks the truth, then his opponent lies and clearly breaks his oath. How can a God-loving soul bear it if events begin to develop in this way, and will it please God, who said: “But I say to you: do not swear at all, but let your word be: “yes, yes,” “no, no”; and what beyond this is from the evil one” 1256 and again: “Truly, truly, I say to you, for every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment” 1257? If you truly believe Christ and my words, then we, ordinary people, should not pursue positions of authority and all sorts of powers for the sake of human glory, pleasure and peace of the body. Let us fear the Judgment of God and that terrible sentence which, through the prophet Joel, God pronounced upon the shepherds who unworthily shepherd His sheep: “Thus says the Lord God: O shepherds of Israel, do shepherds feed themselves? Isn't it the shepherds who tend the sheep? You eat milk and clothe yourself with wool, you slaughter the fat, but you do not feed My sheep. They did not strengthen the weak, and did not heal the sick sheep, and did not bandage the wounded ones, and did not return the stolen ones, and did not search for the lost ones, and insulted the strong ones with labor, and ruled them with violence and cruelty. And My sheep were scattered, because there were no shepherds" 1258. And a little further: “Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will seek My sheep out of their hand, and will bring them down, so that they no longer feed My sheep” 1259. And again: “If the guard sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, then when the sword comes and takes away the life of one of them, he will be captured for his sin, but I will require his blood at the hand of the guard” 1260. These words are terrifying, brothers, and inspire awe. Let us first of all try to shepherd ourselves well, as the flock of Christ, as the royal priesthood 1261, and to subordinate the flesh to the spirit, so that the best in us will not be overcome by the worst. And when we descend into the depths of humility and wash away the filth of sins with the streams of tears that flow from it, from contrite wisdom we acquire a meek and peaceful spirit, a great thirst for the truth of God is satisfied with the ineffable blessings of His Kingdom through the invocation of the Spirit; when then, having received from here mercy 1262 and compassion, we acquire a pure heart in complete dispassion and see the light of God, that is, the Holy Spirit Himself, acting 1263 in us and speaking 1264 about the hidden secrets of the Kingdom of God 1265, in deep peace uniting what is divided in us 1266 into a single wisdom, when we first pacify ourselves and imagine yourself to God as a well-tuned instrument of soul and body in the Spirit; and not only this, but when in many temptations, sorrows and troubles we stand firmly with Christ, endure when we are persecuted, pray when we are reviled, bless when we are cursed 1267, keeping our mind (τὸ δοκίμιον) unshakable within the boundaries of virtues, and when, thus, through all of the above we grow before Christ, we will become a perfect man, we will come to the measure of the full stature of Christ 1268, with perfect knowledge of God and understanding of those words and secrets that are given by the All-Holy Spirit, then we will give ourselves, as the last slaves, for the benefit of others. And even then we will agree to this only if there is a calling from above, according to the word of the Lord: “Whoever wants to be first among you must be a slave of all and a servant of all” 1269. Until we achieve this through many deeds, we will withdraw, I ask you, submitting to our Godly fathers and to God Himself, who contains everything, repenting every day and purifying ourselves with God-pleasing tears, so that we can know God and that He is false 1270 in His promises, which He gives to those who love Him and fulfill His Divine commands. He will give everyone a reward according to his deeds 1271, after God the Father has subdued everything to Him 1272, and He Himself will transfer the Kingdom to the Father 1273, to Whom belongs all glory, honor and worship, now and ever, and to the endless ages of ages. Amen. Word 12th. In response to what the apostle said: “[Walk with caution], valuing time, because the days are evil” 1274; and how to properly use the time of real life. Nothing else can bring so much benefit to a soul that wants to study the law of God day and night as the study of the Divine Scriptures 1275. The gracious plan of the Spirit hidden in them fills the mental feeling of the soul with all-encompassing pleasure and, elevating it above the misery of earthly and visible things, makes it angelic and involved in angelic life. Let us see what the divine Apostle tells us every day, and wisely examine some of his inspired words, so that we may be enriched by the riches contained in them and enjoy the grace of the Spirit in true joy and gladness of the soul. What exactly are we going to explore? What the Apostle Paul calls for: “Walk cautiously, making value of the time, for the days are evil” 1276. These words will become completely clear to us if we consider what usually happens in the world. Every merchant, artisan and farmer, and even a representative of any other profession, must put a lot of diligence and care into his business, and if he neglects it for even a short time or even an hour, he will suffer great damage. The same thing happens in exploits and spiritual deeds. As an example, we will tell your love more about the activities of a merchant. If all the merchants are rushing to the fair to sell something and make a profit from trade, and one of them looks at those walking in front of him and at those catching up behind him, but he himself is in no hurry; or if he sits at home and watches how other merchants pass by and run to the fair, and he himself, being obsessed with carelessness and laziness, and even carried away by drunkenness and pleasures and pitifully defeated by the spell of female fornication, does not want to go to the auction, postponing from day to day, then isn’t it obvious that the first value the time of their lives, having traded and returning with great profit, and this sloth ruined the time of your life, wasting it on useless and empty things, simply squandering it? Or if this unlucky merchant arrives at the fair with the rest of the merchants, who carry money with them and immediately upon arrival begin to trade, collecting for themselves those goods that they hope to resell at a profit; and this one, having nothing with him, walks in circles, looking for someone to borrow from so that he can trade himself; but before he found someone to borrow from, or soon after he received the money, the fair closed and he was left without any profit, did he not waste his time by arriving at the fair without money? Even if he comes to the fair with money, but instead of trading diligently, he will begin to go around the tents of innkeepers, taverns and sellers of all kinds of food, try this one thing, then another, eat and drink; and not only this, but he squanders his money in drunkenness and excesses, then hasn’t he also wasted time and recklessly squandered his property? If some merchant ends up at a fair with money and does not make all the mistakes we have listed, but, having arrived there together with his comrades, begins to do nothing but go around the entire market, looking out and finding out about everyone he knows and does not know, about his friends and strangers, how anyone is trading, but he himself does not sell anything, and while he was so aimlessly circling, the fair will close again and everyone will go home, then isn’t it obvious that he will diligently those who traded valued their time because they were doing what they should have done and received benefit, but the one who was curious about other people’s affairs and did not trade, although he was with them, wasted time, not receiving any benefit from being at the fair? Again, if others, in the hope of profit, despise the danger from robbers, the fatigue of travel and the distance of the journey, and this one, afraid of everything, although others persuade him to go with them along and promise to protect him from supposed dangers, although he hears them, does not want to go with them to the fair and trade, then isn’t it obvious that those who traded well and made a profit value their time, and he foolishly suffered damage, fearing fear where there was no fear 1277. The same thing happens in every spiritual matter and activity. When others walk in the commandments of God, working with zeal and fervor in all the deeds of virtue, and we get stuck in laziness and idleness, then they value time and receive great benefit, but we destroy both time and ourselves. Let's find out the meaning of these words even more precisely. Why did the apostle say: “... value time, because the days are evil”? What is this time, and how should it be treasured, and what are these evil days through which we must redeem the time 1278? The time of activity for any person is a period of real life; and the days of this life are evil, obviously, for those who do not make the best use of them. Anyone who spends the days of his life wisely and righteously, with judgment, courageously and patiently enduring difficulties and sorrows from temptations and sorrows that come, whether from visible or invisible enemies, uses time wisely and earns from the evil days of this present life. To make this clearer, I will give an example of what happens to us almost every day. The one who knows how to correctly use the present time, when sorrows, reproaches, contempt and ridicule fall upon him, knowing in advance what benefit and profit he can get from this, he himself grabs them, puts them on his shoulders and goes rejoicing, instead of money, paying with patience alone, and thus in an instant acquires what others cannot find, receive and acquire through long years of fasting, vigil, lying on the ground and many other works. And whoever does not know how to use this life ruins the time of his salvation. If you like, let's give another example. Let us assume that two people were forced by some persecutor to transgress the commandment of God. If one of them, fearing torment and torture, fled and hid, and the other showed courage and endured much suffering or even death for fulfilling God’s commandments, then which of them used the time correctly? The one who hid and escaped torment, or the one who suffered a lot, endured and, perhaps, even died? It is absolutely clear that the one who suffered torment and did not refuse to die was the one who used time correctly, while the other one lost time and harmed the salvation of his own soul. Those who reason correctly, through local sorrows and temptations, buy eternal blessings and unceasing joy, and through bodily death, an eternal and immortal home and dwelling with the immortal and eternal God. Just as a merchant who has found many beautiful goods sold at a low price, for a penny or a penny, joyfully and hastily buys them, intending to acquire these riches, so the one who strives for the sake of the commandment of God joyfully and hastily accepts death, wanting for it, as for some penny, to acquire eternal blessings. But for those who love the world, those who love life, lovers of fame, lovers of flesh, lovers of voluptuousness and lovers of money, everything is not so. When someone in power begins to force them to transgress God’s commandments, they, not being able to endure his anger, contempt or deterioration of relationships, as well as material losses, easily betray eternal and priceless benefits, and in return they recklessly acquire temporary, perishable and worthless ones, and are deprived of their own salvation, that is, eternal life. They prefer to buy peace for the short days of this life and earn themselves torment for endless centuries. So that we do not tolerate this, let us, I ask you, take advantage of the present time, while the fair of our life is still going on, because the days of this life are very evil and daily raise the raging salty waves of sin against us. Sometimes these waves come through the pleasures of the body and its disorderly movements, filling our souls with confusion and storm, sometimes through attacks of visible and invisible enemies, plunging us into despondency, lust and wild anger, disturbing our hearts, and through all this completely removing us from the Kingdom of Heaven. So, let us take advantage of the time of our lives, turning all our intentions to God, devoting ourselves exclusively to doing the commandments of God and acquiring virtues, so that with the load of the gifts of the Spirit we can reach the refuge of God and avoid these evil days, so as not to hear the terrible voice that sends sinners into the outer fire, prepared for the devil and his angels 1279. Let us take advantage of the prudence of our souls, despising visible objects and studying the best; let us flee from the thoughts of the flesh, which cannot please God 1280, so that the pleasure of the temporal does not captivate us and so that we can ascend in thought to the abiding and eternal. Carnal thoughts do not allow those possessed by them to live according to the will of God, but always cast the soul into more and more bestial aspirations of the flesh, making a person completely bestial. Let us take advantage of our righteousness, through which we become our own to God 1281, with all piety and reasoning, separating the righteous from the unrighteous and preferring virtue to vice, not giving the evil one entry or boldness to our own destruction. Let us give everything its due: provide the body with sufficient food and clothing 1282, and give the soul all our strength, feeding and purifying it with thoughts of the Divine, prayers, tears and reading, in anticipation of the Divine light, the very Sun of Truth 1283 - God, who will justify us by the gift of His Holy Spirit, and by unity with Himself will make us righteous, partakers of His ineffable blessings Kingdoms. Let us take advantage of the courage of our souls, enduring temptations with great patience and steadfastness, according to the word of the Lord: “With your patience save your souls” 1284. Let us resist sin with a courageous thought, throwing weapons 1285 of the Spirit at the enemy, enduring suffering like a good warrior of Christ 1286, in fasting, vigils, lying on the ground, in prayers, crying, in sackcloth and repentance, in unceasing supplications, so that we may receive the crown of victory and reign with Christ forever. Let us take advantage of the chastity of our body through all abstinence and humility, because he who lawfully exercises and struggles in the field of piety abstains from everything 1287, according to the word of the divine Apostle. If we acquire chastity, we will escape the evil day of wordless lust and burning, as well as the body itself, which truly wars against the Spirit 1288; let us avoid the desecration that they cause to the soul, let us avoid condemnation of conscience, uncleanness of heart, neglect from people and rejection from God Himself. In this spiritual trade we will make a great profit by wisely using the time of this life and walking this path in righteousness and chastity, courageously enduring the fatigue of the day and the heat 1289. Spending the present time in this way, yielding temporary blessings to those who desire them, and ourselves, on the contrary, caring only for the incorruptible and eternal, we will reach the calm haven of the Kingdom of God with a rich load of [gifts] of the Spirit and will not be afraid of that terrible voice by which sinners are sent into the outer fire 1290, nor of cruel torment, a terrible day and condemnation at judgment, carrying with us a pearl of great price 1291 Spirit, which we found and acquired, directing all our desires, thoughts, intentions and strengths towards buying it during this life. May we all find this pearl, having bargained well during our earthly life, with the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Word 13th. To what the apostle said: “The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven" 1292; and how we put off the dusty man and put on Christ, becoming His relatives and brothers. Blessed Paul, having well treated us with the previous meal of Divine words and greatly pleased our hearts, immediately sets for us another table with inspired verbs, filled with such spiritual dishes that nourish our inner man 1293, cheer and at the same time strengthen his heart with the bread of the word of life 1294 and the cheering wine 1295 of wisdom and knowledge of God; filled also with the grace of the Divine Spirit, from which the soul is filled with joy and pleasure and, leaving earthly affairs, flies with light wings of thought into the sky and towards God. Let's see what kind of apostolic table this is and what kind of treats are on it. And for this, let us take our thoughts away from earthly and perishable things, as those who are about to hear the words of God; Let us listen very carefully, so that we may be worthy to partake with you of the hidden mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven 1296, which the Spirit speaks through the Apostle. Paul says: “The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven" 1297. Do not pass by these words, beloved, and do not consider them too simple, because they contain a great many thoughts that require careful study. Prepare your ears and you will recognize the depth of God’s mysteries hidden in these words. “The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second person is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, so are the earthy; and as is the heavenly, so are the heavenly” 1298. The apostle calls Adam the first and dusty man, as it is written: “And God created man, taking dust from the earth” 1299. Having been created from the dust of the earth and having received the spirit of life, which the Word usually calls the rational soul and the image of God, man was placed in paradise, receiving the commandment to cultivate and preserve it 1300. For what? So that as long as a person keeps this commandment and cultivates the Garden of Eden, he remains immortal, constantly talks with angels, eternally sings to God with them, receives the insights there, sees God with his mind and hears His Divine voices. And when he transgresses the commandment given to him and eats from the tree, from which God commanded him not to eat 1301, he will immediately be put to death and will damage the eyes of the soul, revealing the robe of Divine glory, blocking his ears, falling away from being with the angels and being expelled from paradise. This is exactly what happened when a person transgressed the commandment and fell away from immortal and eternal life. Having transgressed the commandment of God just once, allowing the deceiver the devil to whisper in his ear, listening to his insidious words when he spoke against the Creator and Master, and obeying him, Adam ate from the tree, and his sensual eyes were opened. Having looked passionately at the nakedness of his body 1302, he, in justice, lost all his blessings, became stupid, so that he lost the ability with defiled ears to correctly and spiritually hear the words of God, sounding only for those who are worthy of them. At the same time, man also lost the ability to contemplate that ineffable glory, since his mind voluntarily retreated from it, passionately gazed at the fruit of the tree and believed the words of the serpent: “In the hour when you eat of it, you will be like gods, knowing good and evil” 1303. Having been seduced by the hope of deification and having tasted the forbidden fruit, earthly man was completely deprived of all intelligible and heavenly blessings and fell into a passionate perception of earthly and visible creations. In relation to those blessings from which he fell, man became - I repeat what was said again - deaf, blind, naked, insensitive, mortal, corruptible and foolish, becoming like dumb beasts according to the word of the prophet: “He was attached to senseless cattle and became like them” 1304. Do you see from what glory, pleasure and immortal life man fell and into what dishonor, shame and ignorance he fell, into what poverty he came after such abundant wealth? This is how the first man became and remained, created from the dust of the earth, although we were not able to tell about everything in detail. From the Divine Scriptures we also know and are taught who the second man is, the Lord from heaven. He is God from God, the beginningless Father, the beginningless Generation, the incorporeal from the incorporeal, the incomprehensible from the incomprehensible, the eternal from the eternal, the impregnable from the impregnable, the incontainable from the incontainable, the immortal from the immortal, the invisible from the invisible, the Word of God and God, through whom all things came into being 1305, in heaven and on earth 1306. To put it briefly, being the Son of God, being in the Father and having the Father abiding in Himself, without being separated from the Father and not leaving Him in the least, He descended to earth and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary; without changing, he became human, becoming like us in all respects, except for sin, so that, having gone through all our circumstances, he could remelt and recreate that first man, and through him all those who were born and received being from him, who are like the one who gave birth to them. Since Adam, who gave birth to them, became corruptible and mortal as a result of the Fall, I will also add: deaf and blind, naked of the Divine robe and insensitive, then just as he is ringed, so all those born from him became dusty, corruptible, mortal, deaf, blind, naked and insensitive, no different from dumb animals, or better yet, much worse than them, because from all of them they collected various passions and submitted to them. The earthly people who were born from earthly food reached such ignorance of God and His Divine commandments that the honor that should have been given to God was given to the visible creation, and not only to the sky, earth and sun, moon and stars, water and fire, and other elements, but they even deified shameful passions, which God Himself forbade to even think about, let alone perform them, they made gods out of them - oh, insensibility! - and bowed to them. What passions exactly? Fornication, adultery, unnatural cohabitation, fratricide and similar passions that God does not accept - such blasphemy away! - but the devil protects, spreads and welcomes, having enslaved and continues to enslave with their help the entire human race, making people his subordinates and slaves. Even if there was someone in ancient times from the countless number of people who did not obey his bad commands and sinful wishes, then such a person, as a descendant of those who sinned, was still a slave of the mistress of death and the corruption associated with her, and was sent to hell without mercy, because no one could save him and redeem him. For this reason, God the Word, who created us, had mercy, came down, as He Himself knows, and became a man, not from intercourse and the flow of blood; they appeared after the crime, but from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Having received animate flesh from Her most pure blood, He became man, the Son and Word of God immutably and invariably became flesh, as it is written: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” 1307. This miracle is incomprehensible and inexplicable for everyone, because He remained unchanged by God and became perfect as a man. Just as God created Adam from the earth and gave him the spirit of life, so that Adam, without intercourse and flow, became a perfect man with a living soul, so He who created him becomes a man without copulation and flow. And just as it is written in the Old Testament that God plunged Adam into an ecstatic state, and when he fell asleep, he took one of his ribs and created a wife out of it, 1308, so He did the same here. How exactly did you do it? Listen carefully. Adam's rib is the wife. From this rib of Adam, that is, from his wife, God the Word took animate flesh and created from it a perfect husband in order to truly become the son of Adam. Having become a man and becoming like us in everything except sin, He immediately turned out to be a relative in the flesh for all people. One of those who came before us said this: “Having put on flesh, He also put on brotherhood” 1309. Since He is both God and man, His flesh and soul were and remain holy and most holy. God always was, is and will be holy; and the Virgin [Mary] was spotless, undefiled and pure; The rib taken from Adam was the same. But other people, although they were His brothers and relatives in the flesh, being earthly, remained so, and did not immediately become saints and sons of God. Listen carefully to what the Spirit says: God became a man, a relative and a brother to all people. Being at the same time the Son of God, God and man, He alone was, is and will forever be holy, one righteous, one true, one immortal, one loving of mankind, one merciful and compassionate, one powerful, one light of the world 1310, being an unapproachable light 1311. This is what our Lord Jesus Christ is like, and we are subject to death, corruption and have nothing in common with Him, except that, as was said, we are in a bodily relationship with Him. Therefore, faith in Christ was made a mediator between both, that is, between God and people 1312, so that, although we cannot bring anything 1313 for our salvation, God, in exchange for everything else, accepted faith in Him, had mercy on us and granted us remission of sins, liberation from death and corruption and freedom. God now grants all this to those who believe in Him with all their souls, and not only this, but also much more, which He announced to us and proclaims every day in the Holy Gospels. What exactly? About our rebirth and new creation by water and the Spirit 1314, about the fact that He numbers us among His servants, that is, among the saints, gives us the grace of His Holy Spirit, and through Him allows us to join in the blessings of the land, which the meek will inherit 1315 in the joy and gladness of the heart; that through the Holy Spirit we are united with Christ and with each other in God the Father 1316. In all this we participate and enjoy only if we observe everything He commanded and deviate from everything forbidden, without returning, like dogs, to their vomit 1317. If we preserve everything that God Himself has told us and is saying, then we will truly be believers, demonstrating our faith through works 1318, and we will become, like Him, holy and perfect 1319, entirely heavenly, children of the heavenly God 1320, like Him in everything 1321 through adoption and grace, since He also became like us, except for sin 1322. If, having despised His holy commandments, we deviate into negligence and do something contrary to His commands, we will immediately lose all the benefits that were given to us by God in Baptism. Just as Adam, after a crime, is deprived of paradise, and sweetness, and communication with angels, finds himself naked and expelled from the face of God, so we, by sinning, move away from the Church of His holy servants and by sin we strip off that Divine robe, that is, Christ Himself, in Whom we believe and have put on in Baptism 1323. And not only this, but we are deprived of eternal life, and this unapproachable light, eternal blessings, sanctification and adoption to God. Thus, we again become earthly, like that first and earthly man, instead of being heavenly and becoming like the second man, the Lord Jesus Christ, in everything. In addition to this, we become guilty of death and darkness, we are sent into the unquenchable fire 1324, where we suffer with great crying and gnashing of teeth 1325. After all, now we are not being expelled from the sensual paradise, as Adam was then, and not as he was condemned to cultivate the land, but we are expelling ourselves from the Kingdom of Heaven and depriving ourselves of those blessings about which it is written: “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and it has not entered into the heart of man,” 1326 and we become guilty of Gehenna. And if it had not been given to us to return through repentance, then no one would ever have been saved. Therefore, the humane and merciful God, who wants our salvation, wisely established confession and repentance between us and Himself and gave everyone the power to atone for their fall and through this return to their former closeness, glory and boldness before God; and if he shows warm repentance, he will become the heir to all the above benefits, and even greater ones. Each person, as he repents, acquires boldness before God and closeness to Him, so that he consciously and directly talks with Him face to face, as with a friend, 1327 and clearly sees Him with intelligent eyes. Those who, after Baptism, do not have a clear notice that they are in such closeness to God that they have boldness and participation in the blessings enumerated, and do not realize that they are clothed in Christ, and do not see in the light of the Spirit the light of His Divinity 1328 - let them look into their conscience and, having thoroughly tested it, discover that they have partially or completely rejected all the vows made at Baptism; if not, then they buried the talent of holiness and adoption to God that was given to them, did not let it into the work 1329 and for this they lost the opportunity to see the Lord. God is unchangeable in word 1330 and does not repent of His gifts 1331; and He said, “Whoever loves Me will keep My commandments; and I will love him and appear to him Myself” 1332. They heard what the Master said: “Whoever loves Me will keep My commandments; and I will love him and appear to him Myself”? So, if Christ is the truth, as He said about Himself: “I am the truth” 1333, and truth cannot lie (“...it is impossible, says the apostle, to lie to God” 1334), then let no one who has not seen the Lord say that this is impossible. On the contrary, it is very possible. If the Savior says: “I am the light of the world,” 1335 then those who do not see Him are undoubtedly blind; but they remain blind because they did not love Him and did not keep His commandments. If they had loved Him and kept His commandments, they would have greatly desired to see Him and would have sought Him with all their souls, and He, who is not false, would have revealed Himself to them, being by nature truth and truth. For this reason, He came into the world, so that everyone who is in the world, that is, in darkness, would be enlightened not by any other light, but by the light of His Own glory and Divinity. So, those believers who do not spiritually see the Lord and are not clearly and tangibly illuminated by His light, who do not constantly remain in the contemplation of His glory, seeing God within themselves, let them not say that this is impossible. Let them not rant about this, like unbelievers, but let each of us, beloved, having examined our conscience, as was said above, admit ourselves guilty of having lost the Master and His Divine glory. Let each of us repent and mourn for himself, who remains in such a state and has lost so many and great blessings, lost glory and fallen away from the contemplation of the Heavenly King. Let us try through repentance and confession to receive heavenly blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom belongs glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. Word 14th. About [church] holidays, about how they should be celebrated; about what symbolizes what happens during the holidays, and about those who like to show off at them; about those who receive communion worthily and unworthily, and what is the difference between them; about in what cases a person is united with God through Communion, and in what cases he is not united. Whoever was able to understand and see that he came into this world naked, being created from nothingness, will begin to honor his Creator, fear Him alone, love Him and work for Him with all his heart. He will never give preference to anything visible, being too well aware of himself as a stranger to everything earthly and heavenly, but he will put all the strength of his soul into serving his Creator. After all, if he is alien to the elements from which he is created and among which he spends his life, then he is even more distant from everything that is in the sky - both in natural properties, and in essence, and in habitat. Whoever realizes himself as a stranger among material things and sees that he entered the field of this world naked and will leave it naked 1336, can he not cry? Will he be able not to weep not only for himself, but also for all people related to him and in the same position? Who loves and fears only God, will he rejoice in the body or celebrate in the body according to human custom, ignorantly and recklessly? The Lord Himself says to such people: “The world will rejoice, but you will be sad 1337; but take heart: I have overcome the world 1338. When all the bad things in the world are swallowed up by life 1339, which everyone receives as a reward from My Spirit, then I will rise within you. And when you see Me, your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you” 1340. Can he who sees the heavenly Lord desire anything earthly or think about what is displeasing to God? He who recognizes himself as a naked and wretched wanderer, even if he has everything, according to the word of the Apostle 1341, will he show off, show off his movements or attach importance to the abundance of candles and lamps, incense and oils, will he boast that the people have gathered, that a luxurious and rich meal has been served, that noble friends and revered men on earth have come? Of course not. He knows the price of all this and remembers that everyone who exists today will leave tomorrow, now they are proud of their wealth, and after a short time they will disappear. Such a person, who knows how to celebrate correctly, does not turn his mind and feelings to the actions performed [during worship] - for this is the lot of those who cannot imagine anything other than what is visible - but with a wise mind he sees the future in the rituals being performed as the present, rejoices about it in his heart and thinks that he has already achieved this and is with others celebrating in heaven in the Holy Spirit. He does not look at the lamps, not at the multitude of people or the gathering of friends, but always thinks about what will happen after a short time: the lamps will go out, the friends will go home, and he will be left alone in the dark. Therefore, do not remind me of the dates, months and periods of the church year and do not say: “Here, I celebrated the Nativity of Christ, the Presentation, the Epiphany, the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Descent of the Spirit.” Don’t tell me about this, listing all the holidays, and don’t think that this is enough for you to save your soul. Do not think that the holiday consists of bright clothes, magnificent chariots, precious incense, candles and lamps, and a multitude of people. This is not what makes the holiday bright; all this is not a true holiday, but only its symbols. What good will it do me, beloved, if I light a lot of candles and lamps in the church and the meeting of believers - I don’t say many candles and lamps, but, if I can get them, the sun itself, and instead of lamps I hang many stars on the vault of the church, so that I will make it a new sky and an amazing sight; What if I begin to rejoice in this light, accept admiration and praise from those gathered, and after a short time, when all this illumination goes out, I remain in darkness? If today I anoint myself and those who came with a fragrant myrrh, and tomorrow the uncleanness of my body reeks of a stench, then what is the benefit of this, tell me, you who boast of a brilliant holiday? And, if you have reason, according to the word of the Wise One, answer wisely 1342. Truly, none, since you are silent, convicted by the word. If today I am in bright light and tomorrow in darkness, if today I rejoice and tomorrow I am sad, or if one day I enjoy health and the next I fall into illness, then what good is it to me? Tell. And what's the fun in that? “These are not the holidays I have chosen,” says the Lord 1343. “Who demands this at your hands?” 1344 This is not how Christ commanded us to celebrate. How? Listen carefully. To begin with, I will give you the objections of those who do not agree with our words. They say: “What? Are we really not allowed to light candles and lamps? Or should you not bring incense and incense? Is it really impossible to invite people we like, to gather famous husbands, friends and bosses? Is this what you're talking about? Is this what you are suggesting? That's not what I'm talking about. It won't happen! On the contrary, I advise and approve of doing all this with even greater generosity. However, I want you to know the method of real celebration, and I will tell you now what the secret of the holiday is for believers. what? It is to present everything you do [during worship] in a figurative form. For example, lamps indicate the mental light hiding within you. Just as the church, this magnificent building, is illuminated by many lamps, so the house of your soul, which is more precious than the church, should be mentally illuminated and illuminated by the spiritual virtues burning and shining in you, that is, by the Divine fire, so that not a single part of it remains deprived of light. Many burning lamps depict light-like thoughts with their visible fire, so that every thought of yours shines and not a single dark thought remains in the house of the soul, but they all constantly burn and shine with the fire of the Spirit, and light-like thoughts arise in you in an unbroken chain. Anointing with myrrh, made from various aromatic substances, indicates intelligible myrrh and should teach you to acquire this wealth within yourself. Because for spiritual people, the external anointing with myrrh serves as an image of dew descending on the mountains of Zion, and [oil flowing] onto Aaron’s beard and onto the edges of his garment 1345. And that myrrh, which pours out abundantly from within and, like water, refreshes the spirit, is a source of water flowing into eternal life 1346, exuded by the Divine Spirit; it ignites and rises with fragrant smoke. This ointment shines brightly and is at the same time perceived by the senses as a spiritual fragrance 1347, being the light that the pure in heart see. It is also the tree of life, on which the lusts of the flesh are crucified, 1348 fragrant to the whole world and gladdening the faithful with spiritual joy. However, the meaning of church rituals is not limited to this, but also has another spiritual explanation. If God so decorated and glorified the soulless ointment with its fragrance, then He will adorn you much more with virtues and glorify you with the fragrance of the Holy Spirit, if you wish, because He created you in His image and likeness 1349. The myrrh, composed by human hands and felt by you as a fragrance, paints and wisely points to your own creation. Just as perfumers make myrrh with their own hands, composing it from many aromatic substances, so you were created by the hands of God, wisely composed and harmoniously combined with the spiritual members of the intelligible world (μύρου τοῦ νοητοῦ), that is, with the gifts of the Life-giving and All-creating Spirit. And you should be so fragrant with the aroma of the knowledge and wisdom of God that those who listen to your teachings are delighted by the feelings of the soul and rejoice in spiritual joy. The multitude of people who have gathered to serve you, loudly chanting God, represent the heavenly ranks and innumerable angelic forces who praise the heavenly Lord for your salvation. The hymn of praise they sing implies that mysterious song that the holy angels continually sing, so that you yourself may become like them and, like an earthly angel 1350, with the immaterial lips of your heart, continually secretly praise the God who created you. And the friends, acquaintances and nobles who have gathered for the service teach you by their coming that you too, through diligent fulfillment of the commandments and a wealth of virtues, should try to become a partaker and table-fellow of the apostles, prophets, martyrs and all the saints. If you celebrate with such thoughts and you yourself have become such as our word depicted, then you celebrate truly, you celebrate spiritually and become a participant in the celebration of the heavenly angelic powers. If your thoughts are not like this, and you have not improved through fulfilling the commandments, then what is the use of celebrating? I am afraid that you, like the ancient Jews, will not hear: “I will turn your holidays into mourning 1351; and your joy turns to sorrow 1352.” Well, is it really impossible for us to celebrate physically and sensually if we could not become as you showed in your word? Not at all. “Celebrate” 1353, says the Lord, and, to the best of your strength, perform those actions by which God and His saints are honored. Call together whomever you can: kings, nobles, bishops, priests, monks, laity, so that through all of them God may be glorified by you. And then all their praises will be imputed to you, as if you alone were offering them, and you will become pleasing to God. This does not mean that the honor we give to God and the saints in any way increases their glory. Why? Because this glorification “does not turn out to be glorious because of the predominant glory” 1354, and the saints have no need for earthly and human glorification. But celebrate so that you may receive mercy from God through their intercession. However, do not consider this celebration of yours to be true, but think of it as an image, shadow and symbol of a true holiday. For what, tell me, do sensible, soulless and devoid of all perception objects have in common with that which is intelligible, Divine and animate, or, better to say, spiritual, alive and gives eternal life? For you, who celebrate wisely and piously, let the holiday consist not in the light of the lamps, which soon goes out, but in the clearly shining lamp of your own soul, that is, in the knowledge of Divine and heavenly objects, the understanding of which is brought to the Israeli 1355 by the Holy Spirit. Let this knowledge shine all the days of your life, shining brighter than the rays of the sun for all the inhabitants of the universal house through the pure light of your word, seasoned with the salt of the Spirit 1356 according to the commandment: “Let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” 1357. Instead of many lamps, let you have light-like thoughts, with the help of which a whole world of virtues is built and the varied structure and beauty of the spiritual church becomes apparent to those who see correctly. Instead of peace and incense, let the intelligible aroma of the Holy Spirit, indescribable to the sense of smell and luminous in movement, be fragrant for you. Instead of a multitude of people, may ranks of angels be present with you, glorifying God for you and always rejoicing over your success, ascension and salvation. Instead of friends, leaders and kings, let those who should be our friends celebrate with you, namely the saints to whom we pray and venerate. Love them and prefer them to everyone else, so that when you become poor, they will accept you into their eternal abodes 1358, as Abraham accepted Lazarus into his bosom 1359, although there is a different understanding of these [Gospel] words. Instead of a rich meal and luxurious dishes, let you have one living Bread 1360, not only sensual and visible, but the one that is inside the sensual bread and through it becomes sensual for you and is given to you - that Bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world 1361. Those who eat Him are not only satisfied, but also quickened, and raised from the dead as if alive 1362. May He be for you a delight and food that does not satiate and does not fail. And let your wine be not this visible one, but that which seems like wine, but is perceived by the mind as the Blood of God, unspeakable light, indescribable sweetness, eternal joy. If you always drink it worthily, you will never thirst. Just drink with the feeling of your soul, bringing its forces into a peaceful dispensation. Let us consider in more detail the meaning of what was said. If you eat with feeling and reason, then you receive communion worthily. If not, then, of course, you eat and drink unworthily. If you receive communion purely theoretically, then you do not receive communion. It is necessary to become worthy of this meal, and if you do not do so, then you will not get closer to God, you will not unite with Him in any way. Let those who unworthily partake of the Divine Mysteries not think that they can so easily unite through them with the invisible God. This has never happened and never will happen. Only those who, with the acceptance of the Divine Flesh of the Lord, have been vouchsafed to touch Him spiritually, to see with the eye of the mind and to taste with spiritual lips the revelation of the invisible Divinity, will know how good the Lord is 1363. They eat and drink not only sensual bread sensually, but along with it they spiritually taste God, feeding on one visibly and the other invisibly, with two senses at the same time. They are united with both natures of Christ, becoming co-corporeal with Him 1364 and becoming partakers of His glory 1365 and Divinity. In this way, those who worthily, in reason and contemplation of the sacrament, eat from this Bread and drink from this Cup with a sensitive soul and heart are united with God. And those who do this unworthily do not have the gift of the Holy Spirit in themselves, feeding only the body and not the soul. Be quiet, beloved, when you hear the truth we tell you. If you confess that the Flesh of the Lord is the Bread of Life, giving life, and that His Blood also gives life to those who partake and becomes in those who drink It a source of water flowing into eternal life 1366, then tell me, when you partake of them, you do not receive anything new for your soul, but even if you feel some small joy, after a short time you find yourself again the same as you were before, not seeing any new life in yourself, bubbling source or smart light? This sensual bread seems to be food for those who cannot rise above the senses, but spiritually it is an inconceivable and unapproachable light; likewise, wine is light, life, fire and living water. So, if you eat the Divine Bread and drink the Wine of Joy, but at the same time you do not know whether you have begun to live an eternal life, whether you have taken into yourself, like the prophet 1367, this light-like and fiery Bread, or whether you have drunk the Blood of the Lord like flowing 1368 and speaking water (ὕδωρ ἀλλόμενον καὶ λαλοῦν); If you haven’t seen or experienced any of this, then how else do you think that you have become a partaker of life? Do you think that you are touching an impregnable fire, or how do you hope to taste the eternal light? Truly, none of this will happen to you as long as you are insensitive to everything. The light illuminates you, but you are blind; the fire warms you, but does not touch you; life dawned on you, but did not connect with you; The living water passed through your soul as if through a gutter, because it did not find a worthy relationship with itself. Thus accepting, thus touching the inviolable and thinking that you are tasting, you remain not accepting, not tasting and having nothing in yourself. Because the unapproachable Word, the Bread that comes down from heaven 1369, cannot be grasped sensually, but He Himself embraces, allows Himself to be tasted and is inseparably united with those who are worthy and well prepared to meet Him. If you celebrate in this way and thus partake of the Divine Mysteries, then your whole life will be one holiday, and not just a holiday, but the beginning of an [eternal] holiday and a continuous Easter, a transition from the visible to the intelligible and resettlement to where all the shadows, prototypes and local symbols will be abolished, and we, the pure, will eternally and immaculately enjoy the purest Sacrifice, in God the Father and Consubstantial Spirit, always seeing Christ and being visible by Him, living with Christ and reigning with Him, higher than which there is nothing in the Kingdom of Heaven, to which belongs all glory, honor and worship with the Father and His All-Holy and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and to the endless ages of ages. Amen. Word 15th. About silence (ἡσυχία) and what those who remain in it must do courageously and patiently. Having gathered to tell a little about one of the highest virtues, I ask you, who are eager to achieve this measure and through success in all other virtues are preparing to ascend to the height of silence: open your ears, that is, raise your mind by paying attention to what is said, so that, having learned from words the deed, you, striving for the honor and wealth of silence, will be worthy to accept this virtue and exercise in it. With this address to the zealots of silence I will begin my short speech. He who is silent and labors alone in his cell must become the same as the First Martyr Thekla 1370. Sitting by the window and listening to the teachings of the Apostle Paul, she completely forgot about worldly things and bodily needs, as it says in her Life, but as if glued to the window, she did not leave to eat or drink, but only listened to Paul. And when he left, Thekla hurried after him, leaving her parents, her fiancé, and everyone else, looking only for him and strove after him, not allowing herself to remember anyone else but Pavel. She was so attracted to the Apostle Paul that, walking around the places where he sat and preached, she kissed the ground on which his feet stood. Don't think that I told you about this by chance; and if you don’t understand, then ask for clarification, and you will understand. Let the silent one, if you wish, become like the [gospel] harlot, spiritually grasping, kissing and weeping with tears the feet of the Lord 1371, not looking at anyone else, but only at the One who is able to forgive his sins. Let him, just like that maid whose eyes are fixed on the hands of her mistress, 1372 incessantly look at the hands of the Lord and her God. Let the silent one also become like a newlywed (νύμφη), sharing a bed [and waking up with her husband], dying and rising with the Bridegroom Christ into eternal life, or better yet, always abiding in Him and carrying Him in oneself. And if he can, let him become like one of the princes standing before the earthly king in his bedchamber, talking with him in a friendly and secret manner, talking face to face 1373 with his Lord. Let the silent one become like those apostles who ascended with Jesus to Mount Tabor and contemplated the brilliant radiance, the transformed clothes and the light of His face, saw the bright cloud and heard the Father’s voice: “This is My Beloved Son” 1374, after which they fell on their faces in amazement, so that he too could say, like the Apostle Peter: “Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles: for You, and Your Father, and Your Holy Spirit, one Kingdom, namely, the soul, body and mind, we will make Your eternal abode, renewing, preparing and exalting them with purification and a variety of virtues.” Or let him become like those who were in the Jerusalem upper room 1375, so that he himself can expect to receive power from above 1376, or, like the apostles, accept the descended Comforter and look as if he had drunk sweet wine 1377, in the eyes of carnal people he will be known as a self-praiser who wants to jump above his own head, because he expounds a new teaching and interprets the old 1378 , speaks in tongues and subverts the speeches of those who resist the teaching of the Spirit. Let him become like Moses on the top of the mountain, going up there alone, going inside the cloud and hiding from the eyes of strangers. If the silent one becomes like this, he will see not only the back 1379, but will consciously appear before the face of God, contemplating Him alone, being seen by Him and hearing His voice. To begin with, he himself will be initiated into the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, and then he will become a legislator for others; he himself will be enlightened and others will be enlightened by the light of knowledge; He will be pardoned himself and will then be able to pardon others. He asks and receives 1380, and having received, he gives it to those who ask him; frees himself from the shackles of evil and in the same way resolves 1381 others. Let him who is properly silent be like those who sat behind locked doors, fearing for the sake of the Jews, 1382 in order to see Jesus who came to him, or better yet, omnipresent and abiding within him. Let him ask the Giver for peace, and receive from Him who breathed the Holy Spirit 1383 - and accept it with fear and trembling. Let him carefully examine and feel 1384 well with his intelligent hands and spiritual senses of the soul to make sure whether this really is the God of all. For He will not be angry with you for such a thorough investigation, but, accepting your praiseworthy fear, will say to you something like this: “Why are you embarrassed, and why do such thoughts enter your heart? 1385 Peace be with you: it is I, do not be afraid 1386. Behold the glory of My Divinity; touch Me and make sure that it is I Myself 1387. Taste and see 1388 that the enemy, being darkness and taking the form of an angel of light 1389 only in the imagination, and not in reality, does not and cannot convey to you goodness, sweetness and joy, freedom and peaceful dispensation, spiritual feeling and enlightenment of the soul, while I have all this 1390 and perform the corresponding action in you.” The silent one must not only reflect and reason about all this in his mind and in words, but also see in himself every day each of these spiritual fruits in practice. If he sits in his cell in vain, then what is the use of locking his body within four walls? The mind is immaterial and incorporeal: it is not walls, but the Divine Spirit that keeps it in that which transcends nature and in conversation with God. So, what else should a person sitting in a cell do, if not contemplating what we have said, making this his constant spiritual activity? Anyone who has withdrawn from the physical fulfillment of the commandments and has abstained from work, if he does not work spiritually, will obviously be deprived of both. If idleness is evil, then the one who dwells in it sins gravely, while for those who are knowledgeable in spiritual work, solitude is not an obstacle to the bodily fulfillment of God’s commandments. On the contrary, he participates in them even more and fulfills the commandments with greater convenience. And one who is engaged only in external work, that is, going through an ascetic life without [spiritual] art, if he leaves bodily work, he will not be able to work in the spiritual. Why? Because the tools and material are in his hands, and without mastering the art, he cannot put them to work and produce anything, but turns out to be weak and fruitless in his activities. And so that you better understand the meaning of what was said, I will explain this to you using the following examples. How many people have expressed a desire to cry like the [gospel] harlot 1391 - can you say this about yourself? - but did not receive remission of sins, as she received? How many have climbed Mount Tabor and are still climbing, but do not see the transfigured Lord there 1392? Not because Jesus Christ is not there, for He is there, but because they are unworthy to be contemplatives of His Divinity. How many Jews came into the house where the apostles were sitting? 1393 And none of them received the Comforter. How many people interpret the Scriptures and are completely ignorant of Him who speaks through the Scriptures? How many have slept in caves and mountains and have not become better than the world, so that the world turns out to be unworthy of them 1394? But they too – O Thy judgments, O Lord! - were numbered with this world 1395. How many people have labored in silence and are still laboring and do not even know the meaning of this term, not to mention the mystery that is hidden in silence? Because it is not through external silence that the knowledge of God is given, as some misunderstand the psalm saying: “Be still and know that I am God,” 1396 but, on the contrary, from the knowledge of God silence is born in the one who labors lawfully 1397 and rightly. For if we begin to identify tranquility with withdrawal from affairs, and silence with idleness and prefer them to doing the commandments, then how will we fulfill the law of Christ and the apostolic commandment when the Savior says: “As you want people to do to you, do so to them” 1398; and again: “If I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, then you should wash each other’s feet” 1399; and again: “Whoever wants to be first among you must be last of all, and slave of all, and servant of all” 1400; and the apostles command: “If anyone is a slacker, let him not eat” 1401; and in another place: “In everything I have shown you that, working like this, you must support the weak” 1402; and: “These hands have served my needs and [the needs] of those who were with me” 1403? The apostles and all the God-bearing fathers who followed them never preferred silence to engaging in godly deeds, but, having first witnessed their faith by fulfilling the commandments, they were rewarded with the love of God in knowledge. And after that, as those who labored legally, who received as a reward for victory the knowledge of God in love and who wished to be with Him, they retired from this field and found themselves outside the excitement of battle. And even those who are now legally laboring are already standing outside of all this, serenely enjoying the fruits of their labors far from all base things and sorrows. And when they are insatiably satisfied with this good and are convinced that “that the present temporary sufferings are worth nothing in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us” 1404 and that “everyone will receive a reward according to their labor” 1405, then they are no longer satisfied with their previous labors, but again, after a respite and pleasure, take up their exploits, and, according to the Theologian 1406 , they move from silence to speech, not for their own sake, although for their own sake too, but out of reverence for God, Whom they loved and Who reciprocates their love. However, now they fight with enemies no longer as before, inflicting and receiving blows, but they intimidate enemies even with their very appearance. With their mere appearance, these ascetics make their enemies tremble and put them to flight. And these ascetics immediately heal the Christians wounded by them, bandage them and anoint them with oil for further battles, teaching them how to attack the enemy, what weapons to use and what tricks to use. If the silent person, the abbot and teacher of others, does not know all this in detail, then he is not a silent person, although he considers himself such, but sits in ignorance, locking only his body in the walls; he is not an abbot, although he fancies himself an abbot, but, walking along a road that he himself does not know, or better yet, completely off-road, he plunges everyone who follows him into eternal fire; and he is no teacher, although he imagines that he teaches others, but a liar and a deceiver, because he does not have true Wisdom in himself, our Lord Jesus Christ. What can we say about those who, in such a state, dare to knit and loosen, when even those who have within them the Comforter who forgives sins tremble lest they do something against the will of the One who dwells in them and speaks through them? Who is so crazy and impudent that before accepting the Comforter he will begin to speak and do the works of the Spirit, and without the will of God will begin to engage in the affairs of God? Woe to those who dare to do this, on the terrible day of Judgment, when the incorruptible and infallible Judge the Lord will sit on the terrible throne and dais, rewarding everyone according to their deeds 1407, according to their thoughts and according to their words, to whom befits all glory, honor and worship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the endless ages of ages. Amen. Books of the Old Testament translated by P.A. Yungerova. Great prophets. M.: Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2006; Prophet Daniel. Minor prophets. M., 2006; Educational books. M., 2012. Syméon le Nouveau Théologien. Traités théologiques et éthiques / Intr., texte critique, trad. et notes par Jean Darrouzès // Sources chrétiennes 122. Paris, 1966; 129. Paris, 1967. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 31, 14 // РG 36, 149a; rus. trans.: PTSO 1 (2010), 382; St. John of Damascus. Exact presentation // PG 94, 829b; rus. trans.: Exact presentation 1, VIII. St. Petersburg, 1894. pp. 25–26. From the further context it is clear that St. Simeon calls his opponent a “new theologian” in comparison with the apostle. John - a true Theologian. The negative meaning of the nickname “new theologian” is obvious. It is possible that this apt characteristic was later used by opponents of St. Simeon in relation to himself, as often happens in disputes, but “ultimately turned into an honorary title” (see: Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev). Rev. Simeon the New Theologian and Orthodox Tradition. M., 2013. P. 370). Therefore, in this translation it was decided to leave, as in the original, “new theologian”, without trying to obscure the similarity with the title of St. Simeon are synonymous with “new theologian” (as in the translation of St. Theophan: Word 60 / Creations. T. 2. M., 1890. P. 79) or “modeme theologien” (instead of “nouveau theologien”, as in SC). – Approx. lane Wed: St. John of Damascus. Exact presentation 1, VIII // PG 94, 820a; see rus. trans.: Exact presentation 1, VIII. St. Petersburg, 1894. P. 20. Innate, or inner word (ἐνδιάϑετος λόγος) is the gift of speech, or literature, with which man was endowed at creation. Usually for brevity prp. Simeon calls this ability of the human soul simply “word.” – Approx. lane Isaiah 24:16 (in Lucian's Septuagint version). See: Rev. Simeon N.B. The word dogmatic 2, 303; Moral words. 9, 58–59. The sovereign soul (τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν τῆς ψυχῆς) the mind, or spirit of a person, the guiding principle in a person. John 6:35. Thus, Rev. Simeon emphasizes that the words “whether you eat or drink” (1 Cor. 10:31) refer specifically to the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. Note lane Wed: St. Simeon N.B. Moral words 10, 376 (interpretation of John 1:4). Isaiah 24:16 (in Lucian's Septuagint version). See: Rev. Simeon N.B. Theological word 1, 325; Moral words. 9, 58–59. “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). 2Cor.3:17. Wed: St. Simeon N.B. The word dogmatic 1, 89. Wed: St. Simeon N.B. The moral word 1, 3, 53. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 31, 3 // РG 36, 136. We are talking about the three previous theological Words. Note lane In the Paris Manuscript (U) of the Works of St. Simeon, dating from the 14th century, which is replete with extremely valuable notes in Greek, the following reasoning is given to this place: “Someone in bewilderment will ask: “If Adam was incorruptible and powerful, although not by nature, but being endowed with these qualities from the outside, and had all the conditions for eternal life, then why did he so easily admit the evil thought and agree with it, from where did the others come [trouble]? To this we answer that Adam was fickle and changeable - for only the Divine nature is characterized by immutability - and inconstancy comes from nothing other than ignorance and oblivion. [Adam was allowed] oblivion so that he would constantly be awake, and ignorance so that he would have humility and obedience to the Creator. If Adam had had more patience and kept the commandment, he would have become master over both - oblivion and ignorance, so that, knowing all his duties, he would never have fallen into oblivion of his Creator, and thus, of necessity, would always have remained in goodness. Compare: Ezek.14:7; Matthew 18:12. St. Simeon N.B. Moral words. 1, 5, 127–129. Gen.2:23; cf.: Eph.5:30. Lev.12:6; Ezek.46:13, etc. Wed: Ps.77:49. In Greek Psalms: δι’ ἀγγέλων πονηρῶν, lit.: by crafty angels. Luke 18:41–42; Wed: Luke 5:13. Wed. Eucharistic exclamation: “Thine from Thine is offered to Thee for all and for all.” – Approx. lane At St. Simeon here and further everywhere stands λῆμμα - profit. M. b., so it was in the text he had, Romans 11:5. Or he deliberately uses a homophone to emphasize his messianic-victorious understanding of the word λεῖμμα of the Apostle Paul, going back to the prophet Isaiah (Is. 11:11, 37:32). To avoid confusion, in the Russian translation, as in the French SC, “remainder” is written everywhere. – Approx. lane St. Simeon N.B. Moral words. 1:1–2. St. Simeon N.B. Moral words. 2:2: 69. Eph.5:31. Wed: Gen.2:24; Matthew 19:5. Apophthegmata patrum (Abba Longinus) // PG 65, 257b. St. Simeon N.B. Moral words. 1–2. Just as, for example, Christ withdraws from one who receives communion unworthily. Note lane So in the publication. – Editorial of the ABC of Faith. Wed: Gen.3:8; Deut.4:12; Isa.53:1; Avv. 3:2, etc. Wed: Deut.30:12–14; Rom.10:6–9. Anastasy Sinait. Interpretations for the Sixth Day. XII // PG 89:1068cd. Matthew 20:25–26; Mark 9:35, 10:43–44. St. Simeon N.B. The chapters are theological, speculative and practical. 1:86 // SC 51. Orationes theologicae. 1, 86. 1 Thessalonians 5:5; St. Simeon N.B. Theological chapters. 1, 90. Wed: St. John of Damascus. Accurate presentation. 2, 26 // PG 94, 957d. St. Simeon N.B. Theological chapters. 1, 91. St. Simeon N.B. Theological chapters. 1, 98. St. Simeon N.B. Theological chapters. 1, 95. 2 Cor.4:10. See: Rev. Simeon N.B. Moral words. Word 11. St. Simeon N.B. Theological chapters. 1, 62. For the text from the beginning of this paragraph, see: Rev. Simeon N.B. Theological chapters. 1, 76. Compare: Nicetas Stethatos. Opuscules // SC 81, p. 62, 5–6. Compare: Ex.16:4; John 6:31–32. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 38, 11 // PG 36:324a. See also: St. Nikita Stifat. Works // SC 81, 158:3. St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 38, 9 // PG 36, 320. See also: St. Nikita Stifat. Works // SC 81, 66:3a. Wed: St. Maxim Isp. Chapters. 2, 25 // PG 90, 1136b. St. Vasily Vel. Conversation 13, 5 (for Holy Epiphany) // PG 31, 433a. Wed. rus. transl.: St. Vasily Vel. Conversation 13 // PTSO 3 (2012), 994. 2 Corinthians 4:10: The central theme of the 11th moral Word. Wed: St. Simeon N.B. Moral words. 1, 9–11. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 2, 17 // PG 35, 428a. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 45, 9 // PG 36, 683 p. See rus. transl.: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 45, 9 // PTSO 1 (2010), 563. Compare: Rom.14:17–18; Col. 3:24. Luke 15:30; Wed: Matthew 21:31. For one of these laws, see: Constantine Armenopoulos. Manual (Hexateuch). VI, 12:2. Matthew 6:15 (“from your hearts”: Matthew 18:35). John 1:29; Wed: Matthew 8:17; Isa.53:4. St. Vasily Vel. For Holy Epiphany // PG 31, 437b. Elien. De nat. animalium X, 13/Ed. Didot. P. 171, 45–46. Wed: Rom.3:20; Gal.2:16. We are talking about St. Simeone the Reverent, spiritual father of St. Simeon the New Theologian. – Approx. lane Isaiah 24:16 (in Lucian's Septuagint version); Theological words 1, 325. Possibly an allusion to John 8:44 and Rev. 2:13. Wed: 11th rule of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea // PG 138, 545. Ezek.30:3; Joel.2:11, etc. Allusion to St. Gregory the Theologian ·. Word 3, 15 // PTSO 1 (2010), P. 32, PG 35, 424s, and on pp. John of Damascus: An exact exposition. Book 2, ch. XII (26), PG 94, 920b. 2 Corinthians 5:21: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our place, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Gal.3:27; Wed: St. Simeon N.B. Moral words. 5, 61; 10, 169. Luke 20:38: “For with Him all live.” Minology, March 9 // PG 117, 945b-p. The suffering of St. Eustratia // PG 116, 476d. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 28, 30 // PG 36, 69a; PTSO 1 (2010), p. 349. St. Simeon N.B. Moral words. Word X, 516 et seq. Wed. the saying of Abba Longinus: “Give blood and receive the Spirit”; St. Simeon N.B. The word of morals. 2, 7:203. Compare: Job. 38:8–11; Ps.103:9. Wed. liturgical exclamation: Σοφία ὀρϑοί. Wed. liturgical exclamation: Τὰς ϑύρας, τὰς ϑύρας... στῶμεν καλῶς, στῶμεν μετὰ φόβου. Life at John of Damascus // PG 94, 445c; St. Nikita Stifat. Creations // SC 81, 230, 24. Perhaps this is another indication of the subtle materiality of the soul. See also: St. Simeon the New Theologian. Moral words. 1, 5. – Approx. lane Wed. John 10:11; 1 John 3:16. Wed: Col.1:26; Matthew 13:11. Compare: “The uncut stone from the uncut mountain, to you, Virgin, Christ, who unites the distance of nature...” (Canon of the Resurrection, tone 4, irmos 9 cantos). The words of the apostle “using time” or “valuing time” in the Slavic translation sound like “redeeming time” (Eph. 5:16). All these three meanings: to use, to treasure and to redeem are present in the Greek expression ἐξαγοραζόμενοι τὸν καιρόν. Bearing in mind this palette of meanings, St. Simeon speaks either about the correct use of life's time, caring for it, or about extracting the greatest benefit from it. Note lane Compare: Hebrews 2:14–17; St. Gregory of Nyssa. Against Eunomius XII // PG 45, 885b. St. Gregory of Nyssa. Word 45, 7 // PG 36, 632a. Acts of Paul and Thekla // PG 115, 824d, 825d, 829a. That is, they were condemned as worldly people. Note lane Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 21. Praise to St. Athanasius the Great // PG 35, 1104b.