ЗРЕЛИЩА

What am I talking about a spectacle? Often, even in the square, when we meet a woman, we become embarrassed; and you, sitting above, where there are so many incentives to immodesty, seeing a prodigal woman coming out with her head naked, with great shamelessness, dressed in golden clothes, making gentle and seductive body movements, singing lewd songs and depraved poems, uttering shameful words and committing such obscenities that you, the viewer, imagining in your mind, lower your head looks - how dare you say that you don’t experience anything human? Is your body a stone? Is it iron? I won't stop repeating it either. Are you more wise than those great and valiant men who fell just from one such glance? Have you not heard what Solomon says? “Can anyone take fire into his bosom so that his dress does not burn out? Can anyone walk on burning coals without having their feet burned?” (Prov. 6:27–29). Even though you did not have intercourse with a harlot, you had a relationship with her by desire and committed a sin by will. And not only at that time, but also when the spectacle is over, when she has already left, her image, words, clothes, looks, gait, harmony, dexterity, adulterous limbs remain in your soul, and you leave, having received many wounds. Isn't this where the troubles in the house come from? Is this not where the death of chastity comes from? Isn't this where marriages end? Isn’t this where the fighting and quarrels come from? Is this where the pointless troubles come from? When you, occupied and captivated by her, come home, then your wife seems less pleasant to you, and the children - more annoying, and the servants - intolerable, and the house - disgusting, and the ordinary worries of organizing proper affairs seem burdensome, and everyone who comes - unpleasant and hateful (5). Do not be captivated by disorderly spectacles, do not defile your thoughts with alien songs. You can curb your thoughts, even if habit takes you in that direction. You are not a slave, but a free one, and they do not forcibly take you captive and enslave you, but you, of your own free will, sell yourself to sin (9). People cannot wait for the day, burning with impatience, and even at night they seize places of darkness in order to please their eyes with obscene spectacles or to watch the fights of fighters with wild animals. And sitting there, often the spectators - people - express more affection for the animals than for people like themselves. Don’t you feel sorry for that unfortunate person who, for a piece of bread, voluntarily gives himself up to be eaten by animals and, for the sake of an insatiable passion, saturates the bellies of animals with himself? But his stomach is insatiable, and your eyes are insatiable. Others act like a buffoon, make antics to their own shame, expose themselves to laughter for a fee, are not ashamed even if they beat him in public, expose their cheeks to blows, shave off their hair with a razor so that not a single hair testifies against their shamelessness. Another devotes himself to lustful female dances, contrary to nature and with annoyance at the fact that he was not born a woman to his parents, and is even proud of such a perversion of nature. What people don’t do for the sake of their belly and selfishness and because of vanity are shameful deeds; about such it is fitting to cite the testimony of Paul: “their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame” (Phil. 3:19). Do not go there, do not rush to take steps in that direction, and do not allow obscene amusements at your feasts (9). Do you want to compare prisons and spectacles, [these places] one for lamentation, the other for pleasure? Let's see what happens in each of them. There [in prison] there is great wisdom, because where there is sorrow, there will certainly be wisdom. There a man, formerly rich and arrogant, does not shy away from talking with anyone who turns to him; fear and sorrow, as if some powerful fire, penetrating his soul, softens its rudeness. There he becomes meek and humble; there he comprehends the vicissitudes of life and patiently endures everything. In the spectacle, everything is the opposite: here is laughter, shamelessness, demonic joy, disorder, loss of time, useless use of whole days, arousal of unclean desires, exercise of vicious lusts, a school of adultery, a school of debauchery, encouragement of immorality, incentives to ridicule, examples of obscenity. This is not a prison: there is humility, admonition, exercise in wisdom, contempt for worldly goods. Everything [earthly] is trampled upon and despised, and fear watches over a person, like a nurturer over a child, directing him to everything that should be done. But, if you want, let's look at the same places from the other side. I would like you to meet a man who is coming from a spectacle, and another who is emerging from prison: you would see how the soul of the first is indignant, restless, truly bound, and how the soul of the latter is calm, free, sublime. He leaves the spectacle, blinded by the sight of the women there, carrying shackles that are heavier than any iron, the shackles of those places, words, actions. And the one leaving prison, being free from all this, does not feel anything regrettable, comparing his situation with the situation of others. He will consider it fortunate that he is free from bonds, he will neglect human affairs, seeing how many rich people fall into misfortune and, having previously been in great honor and strength, are kept there in prison; if he experiences any injustice, he will bear it patiently, because there are many examples of this; will remember the future Judgment and shudder when he sees the present places [of imprisonment]. And just as a prisoner in this prison becomes meek towards everyone, so those, even before the Judgment, even before the next day will become meek towards their wife, and towards their children, and towards their servants. But not so [returning] from the spectacle: he will look at his wife with displeasure, he will treat the servants cruelly, he will be angry with the children, he will be fierce towards everyone. Much evil is caused to cities by spectacles, great evil, we don’t even know how great (10). You might be interested in: