ОТЧАЯНИЕ

He is truly worthy of despair who despairs himself; he no longer has any hope of salvation. It is not so much scary to fall into the depths of evil as to remain in it once you have fallen; It is not so much wicked to fall into the depths of evil as it is to remain careless after falling. Why, tell me, don’t you take care of what you should especially try to do? Did you fall after receiving so many wounds? But there is no spiritual wound that cannot be healed; there are many such wounds on the body, but not one in the soul; and about those we constantly worry, but about these we do not worry at all (10). Despair does not come from a multitude of sins, but from the wicked disposition of the soul. Therefore, even if you have fallen into all kinds of vices, say to yourself: God loves mankind and desires our salvation: “If,” He says, “your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18), that is, I will change into the opposite state. Let us not despair; it is not as dangerous to fall as to lie down having fallen; it is not as terrible to be wounded as, being wounded, not to desire healing, because “who can say: “I have cleansed my heart, I am clean from my sin?” (Prov. 20:9). I say this not to make you more careless, but to keep you from despair (12). You might be interested in: