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“Woe to those who, from early morning, seek strong drinks and warm themselves with wine until late in the evening; and the harp and harp, the tambourine and the flute, and the wine at their feasts; but they do not consider the works of the Lord, neither do they consider the work of His hands” (Isa. 5:11, 12). Having exposed their great covetousness, he [Isaiah] lays down the root of evil. This root was drunkenness, which is the cause of countless evils, especially when one indulges in it with such immensity. Look how well he ridicules them. He says they spend the whole day on this. They do not do this when it is time to dine, he says, but they make every time a time of drunkenness, and from the very beginning of the day, when they especially need to be attentive, they indulge in great intoxication, and then involuntarily remain in this illness until the evening. If they one day hasten to plunge into the abyss of intemperance, lose their natural sense and surrender their souls to the disastrous power of drunkenness, then, just as a ship, not equipped with ballast and without a helmsman or sailors, rushes to and fro, carried everywhere by the disorderly movement of the waters, so they too rush, carried into the depths by intoxication. That is why the prophet says: woe to those who are looking for strong drink early in the morning. They did not satisfy the need and did not expect the awakening of the need in order to satisfy it, but that is what they did and took care of in order to constantly get drunk. That's why he says: who... are looking for strong drink. Here, strong drink is the sap of palm trees, which they prepared by grinding and squeezing palm fruits to turn it into wine. It has a stupefying property and produces intoxication, but they did not pay attention to this, looking for pleasure in everything. They warm themselves up with wine until late in the evening. This is the property of drunkenness: over time it intensifies and arouses painful thirst. Further, the prophet points to another guilt, no less than the first: “and the harp and harp, the tambourine and the flute and the wine at their feasts.” Indeed, it is a sign of extreme wickedness and mental corruption to turn your home into a spectacle and indulge in such songs. What darkening drunkenness produces, music also produces, weakening the strength of the mind, crushing the vigor of the soul and predisposing to greater voluptuousness. But they do not look at the works of God and do not think about the works of His hands; he speaks either of His miracles or of the contemplation of nature. How can they contemplate it when they turn day into night, and at night are no better than the dead? How can they see the rising sun, the brilliant beauty of the sky, the varied evening chorus of stars and the order and activity of all other creatures, when they are deprived of both external and internal eyes? Thus, they caused considerable harm to themselves if they departed from real life without contemplating the miracles of God, being immersed all the time in the darkness of drunkenness (4). As the cause of all vices, we will point to drunkenness, which many look upon as absolutely nothing. First of all, it damages the mind, then leads to stinginess, since someone who has nothing to pay needs to indulge in stinginess. And the bonds of stinginess are iron - just as if you tie any member with bonds, then the whole body is dragged along with it, wherever the bonds are dragged. This is not enough: the drunkard loses his strength, becomes stingy, a robber, angry, jealous, cruel and insane (4). What's more disgusting than a drunk woman rocking back and forth? The weaker the vessel, the more severe the ruin. Whether it be a free wife or a slave, the free woman dishonors herself among slaves, and the slave does the same among slaves, and thus they do something that blasphemes the Gifts of God in a senseless manner. I hear many people, when such cases occur, say: damn the wine! Oh, stupidity; oh madness! Others sin, but you condemn the gift of God. What kind of extravagance is this? Is wine, O man, the cause of such evil? No, not wine, but the intemperance of those who abuse wine. So, better say: disappear drunkenness, perish luxury! And if you say: lost, wine, then you can then say: lost, iron - because there are murderers; lost, night - because there are thieves; perish, light - because there are slanderers; let the wives perish, because there are harlots. Thus, you will finally want to destroy everything. But don't do that - it's a satanic spirit. Do not despise wine, but despise drunkenness. When the drunk comes to his senses, describe to him all his disgrace. Tell him: wine is given for amusement, and not to disgrace yourself; given in order to be cheerful, and not in order to be a laughing stock; given to promote health, not to cause distress; for the healing of bodily infirmities, and not for weakening the spirit. God has honored you with this gift: why are you dishonoring yourself with the immoderate use of this gift? Listen to what the Apostle Paul says: “drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” (1 Tim. 5:23). If this saint, even obsessed with illness and frequent ailments, did not drink wine until his teacher commanded him, then how worthy of condemnation will we be when even healthy people get drunk? He was told: drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach; and the apostle will say to every one of you who gets drunk: drink less wine, because from drunkenness comes fornication, foul language and other evil lusts. If you do not want to abstain from drunkenness for this reason, then abstain, if only because it arouses vile lusts. Wine is given for joy, - it is said: “wine that gladdens the heart of a person” (Ps. 103:15); and you denigrate this good quality of his. Indeed, what kind of joy is it to be out of your mind, tormented by many illnesses, to see everything spinning, everything in darkness and, like those in a fever, to have the need for someone to anoint your head with oil? I'm not talking about everyone, or rather, about everyone; not because everyone drinks; no, but because those who don’t drink don’t care about those who drink. That’s why I especially appeal to you – to you who are in a healthy state. So the doctor, leaving the sick, talks with those who are sitting near them. So, I turn my word to you: I beg you, do not become infected with this disease; and take those who are infected out of trouble, so that they do not turn out to be worse than the dumb. In fact, cattle do not require anything more than what they need; and those who indulge in drunkenness become more senseless than them, transgressing the boundaries of moderation. And truly, isn’t a donkey much better than such people? Isn't a dog much better? Each of these animals, like all animals in general, whether they eat or drink, know the limits of contentment and do not extend beyond what is necessary. And even if thousands of people force them, they will never allow themselves to reach the point of immoderation. So, you are worse than dumb people in this respect, and not only in the eyes of healthy people, but also in your own eyes. And that you think worse of yourself than of pigs and donkeys is evident from the fact that you do not force these animals to eat beyond measure. Why is this so, they ask? You will say: so as not to harm them; but you don’t even use this precaution about yourself. Consequently, you think worse of yourself than of cattle, and, always overwhelmed, you neglect yourself. You suffer from drunkenness, not only on the day you are drunk, but also after that day. Just as after the passing of a fever, traces of its harmful influence still remain, so after the passing of the intoxication, a storm rages in your soul and in your body. The poor body lies relaxed, like a ship broken by a storm, and the soul is poorer than that, because even in a relaxed body it stirs up a storm and kindles lust. When, apparently, he comes to common sense, then he becomes especially mad, imagining wine, bottles, glasses, bowls. Just as when the excitement is tamed after a storm, traces of its destructive effect remain, so it is here. Like goods there, almost everything good is thrown away here. Whether someone has acquired chastity, modesty, decency, meekness, humility - all this drunkenness plunges into a sea of ​​wickedness. And what else drunkenness does after that cannot be compared with anything. There, after unloading, the ship becomes lighter; but here, on the contrary, there is a new burden: instead of wealth, the ship is loaded with sand, salt water and all sorts of rubbish, which is why the ship, both the swimmers and the helmsman, immediately perishes. So, in order not to suffer the same thing, let us move away from this storm. A drunkard cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven. “Do not be deceived,” says the apostle, “neither drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9, 10). And what do I say: the Kingdom of Heaven? A drunk person does not see real objects; drunkenness turns days into nights for us, light into darkness; a drunk, looking with all his eyes, does not even see what is under his feet. And not only is evil born from drunkenness, but then drunkards are subjected to another, most severe punishment: insane despondency, frenzy, relaxation, ridicule, and reproach. What kind of pardon can expect for those who kill themselves with such disasters? Absolutely none (7). Just as someone who gets drunk on wine, the more cups he drinks, the more he desires them, so the person who loves money, the more he acquires, the more he kindles the flame of passion and the more he languishes with thirst. In this they have similarities with each other, and in another the lover of money, in turn, has an advantage. What exactly? The fact is that one endures something in accordance with nature, because wine has an intoxicating property and, enhancing the innate dryness, thus produces thirst in drunken people. And why does a covetous person constantly want big things? Why does it happen that when he gets richer, then he lives in greater poverty? This passion is incomprehensible and looks more like a riddle. But let's look at them, if you like, when their intoxication has passed; however, a money lover can never be seen after drinking, he is always in a state of intoxication. So, let's look at both of them in a state of intoxication, figure out which of them is funnier, and depict them with the most accurate features. Let us imagine a man who has lost his mind from wine, how, when evening comes, he looks wide-eyed and sees no one, how he wanders around aimlessly and without reason, bumps into people he meets, vomits, how he is disheveled and naked to the point of shamelessness, how his wife, daughter, maid and everyone laugh a lot at him. Let us also bring the money-lover into the middle. Here actions are worthy not only of laughter, but also of curse, strong anger and countless thunder. However, let's look at one funny thing for now. And the lover of money, like a drunkard, recognizes no one, neither friends nor enemies, is just as blind, although he looks with all his eyes, and just as he sees wine everywhere, so this one sees money everywhere. What he spews out is much more vile, because he spews out not food, but words of blasphemy, insults, enmity and death, thereby attracting thousands of heavenly lightnings onto his head. Just as a drunk’s body is blue and relaxed, so is the soul of a money lover, or better yet, his body itself is not free from this disease, but is susceptible to it to a greater extent, because worse than wine, worries, anger, and insomnia eat away and gradually exhaust him. He who is obsessed with drunkenness can sober up even at night, but a lover of money is constantly drunk: both during the day and at night, both while awake and in his sleep, being subjected to punishment more than any prisoner and workers in the mines, or even other more severe torment. Tell me now - is this life, and not death, or - is it not worse than any death? Death brings peace to the body, delivers from ridicule, shame and sins, but these two types of drunkenness plunge into all this, block the ears, blind the eyes and keep the mind in great darkness (11). Do not indulge in drunkenness - this source of sorrow, the consolation of the devil, the culprit of countless evils, which causes sleep like death, and dizziness, and illness, and oblivion, and mortal exhaustion. You, of course, would not dare to meet even a friend while drunk: how dare you, tell me, indulge in such drunkenness, having Christ in you? But do you like pleasure? That's why stop indulging in drunkenness. And I wish you pleasure, but true pleasure that never fades. What kind of pleasure is this true and always blooming? Call Christ to dinner, share with Him your or, better yet, His [goods]: this is where endless and ever-blooming pleasure lies! But sensual pleasures are not like that; As soon as they appear, they immediately disappear, and the one who enjoys them is not in any better, but even in a worse state than the one who does not enjoy them (12). This is talking about the Jews. – Approx. ed. You might be interested in: