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Human malice has now increased to such an extreme that people who love them are rarely loved anymore. Where will we have hope of salvation if we become worse than the tax collectors themselves, as Christ says: “If you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t tax collectors do the same?” (Matthew 5:46). Christ wants us to reach the very top of virtue, to be higher than publicans; and we try to be lower than them. And what do I say: tax collectors? We are becoming worse than robbers, grave diggers, and murderers. And of these, everyone loves the one who treats him with love, and is often in danger for his loved one. What could be more worthy of regret when we, who have been honored with such great love for God, turn out to be worse than people who have committed thousands of evils? So, I beg you: thinking about the great punishment, about the extreme shame that awaits us there, we will recognize, although it is too late, our dignity, we will submit to the teachings of Christ and not only will we love those who love us sincerely, having driven out of our hearts all malice and hatred, but even if anyone were hostile to us, we will try to love them too. It is impossible for us to be saved otherwise if we do not follow this path. Let us try even more than those who love us to love those who help us achieve countless benefits. In this way, we will be able to receive forgiveness of sins and send prayers to God with a humble mind and a contrite soul. When the soul is free from all enmity and the mind enjoys tranquility, then with great courage it calls on the Lord and attracts great help from above (1). Love is usually aroused in us by the following three objects: either physical beauty, or a great deed, or the love of another for us. Each of these objects in itself can ignite love in us. Even if we have not received any benefit from some person, if we hear that he constantly loves us, praises us and is surprised at us, then we ourselves immediately become attached to him in soul and love him as a benefactor (2). Where there is love, there is great security, great favor of God. She is the mother of all blessings, she is the root and source of them, she is the cessation of wars, the extermination of strife. Indeed, just as disagreement and discord cause death and premature death, so love and harmony produce peace and unanimity, and where there is peace and unanimity, everything in life is safe and completely reliable. But why talk about the present? Love brings us heaven and unspeakable blessings; she is the queen of virtues (3). Every good deed is the fruit of love. That's why a lot is said about her. So Christ says: “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35); and Paul cries, “Owe no one anything except mutual love” (Rom. 13:8). He didn’t just talk about love, but commanded us to be, as it were, debtors in love for each other. Just as in relation to the body we must constantly provide it with food - and we constantly do, and this duty extends throughout our entire life, so it teaches us to act in relation to love, or, better said, even more, because it leads to eternal life and constantly remains with those who have it. “And now,” says the apostle, “these three remain: faith, hope, love; but love is the greatest of these” (1 Cor. 13:13). However, not only in words, but also in deeds themselves, we learn this virtue. And, firstly, by the way of our birth; having created one man, God commanded that everything come from him, so that we all consider each other as one person and try to live in love for each other. Then, through mutual relationships, He wisely arranged the need for us to have mutual love, and listen to how. Having filled the universe with many blessings, He bestowed on each country special kinds of fruits characteristic of it, so that we, forced by necessity, traveling to each other, communicating to others what is superfluous and receiving from them what we lack, would love those who are similar to us. He did the same with every person. He did not let everyone know everything, but he imparted to one the ability for medical science, to another for construction, and to another for another, so that, needing each other, we would love each other. Also in spiritual things, in turn, one can see the same thing, as Paul says: “To one is given the word of wisdom by the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to others gifts of healings by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another divers tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues” (1 Cor. 12:8-10). But there is nothing higher than love; That’s why He put her above all, saying this: “If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but do not have love, then I am a ringing gossamer or a sounding cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:1, 2). And even at this he did not stop, but announced that death itself for piety does not bring any benefit if there is no love at the same time. It was not without reason that He said this about love; he knew, he knew well, as a fulfiller of God’s commandments, that when love is firmly rooted, then the fruits of all good things will grow. The commandments: do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness against your neighbor, and every other commandment is contained in this one, as the main one: “the whole law is contained in one word: you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Ex. 20:13–16; Lev. 19:18; Gal. 5:14). However, why talk about the small, keeping silent about the great? Out of love, the beloved Son of God came down to us, began to turn and live together with people, so that, having dispelled polytheistic error and proclaimed true knowledge, he could teach people to love one another, as John testifies when he says: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Burning with it, Paul uttered heavenly words: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ: tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword?” (Rom. 8:35). Having despised this as insignificant, He added to it much more. “Neither death,” he says, “neither life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor the present, nor the future, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38, 39). Therefore, nothing could separate [from the love of God] this blessed one, who was burning with love, neither heaven, nor earth, nor the sea, nor the Kingdom Heavenly and hellish torments; he despised everything for the sake of Christ. If we look at the rest of the saints, we will see that they all pleased God with love (5). Nothing can compare with love... Nowadays love is becoming scarce; only her name remained, but in reality she was not there, but we were divided among ourselves. What to do to connect. After all, it’s easy to denounce, but that’s only half the battle: you still need to show how to organize communication; we need to take care of how we can unite the divided members. It is not only that we need to be concerned that we belong to the One Church or [contain] the same dogma; but what is not good is that, although we have communication with each other in everything else, we do not have it in what is necessary, and [apparently], being at peace with everyone, we do not maintain peace among ourselves. Do not look at the fact that we do not quarrel with each other every day, but at the fact that we do not have true and sincere love. We need binding and oil (see Luke 10:34). Let us remember that love is a sign of Christ’s disciples (see John 13:35), that without it everything else means nothing, that it is not a difficult matter if we want [to have it]. Yes, they will say, we know this; but how to achieve this? What do we need to have it? How can we make us love each other? Let us first eliminate what is contrary to love; Then we'll buy it too. Let no one remember evil, let no one envy, let no one rejoice over evil. This hinders love, and the other promotes it. It is not enough to destroy obstacles; you also need to have something that helps. Actions that violate love, and not create, are counted by Sirach, namely: “reproach, pride, revealing secrets and insidious villainy” (Sir. 22:25). For those [Jews], as carnal people, this was enough; for us, no; We teach you not only this, but also other things. For us, without love everything is useless. Even if you have countless blessings, what good is that? Let there be wealth, luxury, but without those who love you - what is the use of that? There is no good more beautiful than this, even in everyday terms, and, on the contrary, there is nothing worse than enmity. “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8); and enmity, on the contrary, suspects something that is not there. It is not enough just not to be an enemy, you also need to nurture love. Remember that Christ commanded this, and that is enough. Sorrow itself promotes love and strengthens it. But what, they will say, now that there is no sorrow. Explain how we can become friends? But tell me, don’t you have any friends? How did you become friends? How do you remain them? At least let no one be at enmity with another; and this is important; let no one envy; one who is not envious cannot be a slanderer. We all live in the same universe, eating the same fruits. This is not enough: we are granted the same Sacraments, the same spiritual food. Here are the incentives to love! But how, they will say, can we preserve the warmth of love? What arouses carnal love? Bodily beauty. Let us make our souls beautiful and nourish love for each other; After all, one must not only love, but also be loved. Let’s do this first, that is, to be loved; then it will be easy too. How can we be loved? Let us be kind - and we will achieve that there will always be those who love us. Let everyone care not so much about acquiring property, or slaves, or houses, but about being loved, so as to have a good name. “A good name is better than great wealth” (Prov. 22:1). This is permanent, and this is fleeting; This can be purchased, but that cannot be purchased. He who has earned a bad name finds it difficult to free himself from it; and a poor man with a good name can soon become rich. Let one have a thousand talents, and another a hundred friends: the latter is richer than the first. Let's do this not just, but as if making a purchase. How is this possible? “Sweet lips will increase friends, and a kind tongue will increase affection” (Sir. 6:5). Let us have lips full of praise and pure morals. With such properties it is impossible to hide. Look what kind of bonds of love the external [pagans] have come up with: nepotism, neighborhood, kinship. But we have something more than all this. This is the most sacred meal. Meanwhile, many of us starting it don’t even know each other. This comes, they will say, from the large number. No, because of our negligence. There were three thousand and five thousand believers [at the beginning], and they all had one soul (Acts 4:32); and now they do not know each other, and are not ashamed of it, citing their large numbers. He who has many who love him is invincible from anyone, he is stronger than any ruler: it is not so much the squires who protect the latter, as those who love him who protect the first. He is even more glorious than that: one is guarded by his slaves, and the other by people equal to him; one is protected unwillingly and out of fear, the other voluntarily and without fear. A wonderful phenomenon occurs here: unity in plurality and plurality in unity. As in playing the harp, although the sounds are different, there is one symphony, one musician playing the harp, so here: harp, this is love; sounds are friendly speeches arising from love, all producing the same harmony and symphony; musician, this is the power of love; she makes sweet singing. I would like - if possible - to introduce you to a city where there would be one soul; you would see what kind of harmony there is, sweeter than any harp and any pipe, not emitting a single discordant sound. This agreement brings joy to the Angels and the Lord of the Angels himself, serves as a pleasant object of spectacle for all the powers of heaven, tames the rage of demons, and curbs the impulses of passions. This agreement not only tames passions, but does not allow them to rebel, and produces great silence. Just as at a spectacle everyone listens in silence to the choir of players and does not make the slightest noise, so among those who love each other, when love sings its song, all passions are pacified and calmed down, like beasts bridled and tamed; and where there is enmity, everything is the opposite. But let’s not talk about enmity now; Let's talk only about love. If you say something rashly, no one condemns, but everyone excuses; whether you do anything, no one has suspicions, but shows great condescension. Everyone is ready to give a helping hand to someone who is falling, everyone willingly tries to lift him up. Truly, love is a strong wall, impregnable not only for people, but also for the devil. He who is surrounded by many who love him cannot fall into danger; he has no reason to be angry, but he always feels peace of mind, joy and cheerfulness; there is no reason to be envious; there are no cases of memory malice. Look how easily he carries out both his spiritual and everyday affairs. What can compare with it? It is like a city, surrounded by walls everywhere; and he [who does not have love] is like a city, unfenced by anything. To be the originator of love is great wisdom. Destroy love and you destroy everything, you overthrow everything. If the likeness of love has such power, then what must true [love] itself be like? So, I exhort you, let us strive to have those who love us; let everyone practice this art. But, they will say, I care about this, but he doesn’t care. For this, a great reward awaits you. Yes, you say, but it’s difficult. Why, tell me? But I say and assure that if only ten of you unite and you set about this work, just as the apostles did the work of preaching or the prophets did the work of teaching, if in this way you make friends, then you will receive a great reward. Let us arrange for ourselves images of the king; this is to recognize the disciples. And are we not doing more than if we had invested in them the power to raise the dead? The diadem and purple are the hallmarks of a king: without them, even if he were wearing golden clothes, he is not yet a king. So you, too, should adopt this attribute for yourself, and you will acquire those who love you both for yourself and for others. No one, being loved, will hate. Let us study these colors, how they are written, and from which this image is composed. Let's be friendly, let's not expect this from our neighbors. Do not say: if I see that another is waiting, then [by doing this] I humiliate myself before him; on the contrary, if you see him in such a state, then warn him and extinguish his passion. You see a sick person - why do you increase his illness? Let us especially and most of all strive for the honor of being “brotherly loving to one another” (Rom. 12:10). Do not think that giving preference to another means humiliating yourself. By preferring another, you honor yourself, making yourself worthy of greater honor. Let us always concede primacy to others. Let us not remember the evil done to us, but only the good. Nothing wins us the love of others so much as a tongue filled with gratitude, a mouth ready to praise, a soul that is not proud, a lack of vanity, and contempt for honors (10). Love does not consist in empty words and not in simple greetings, but in the manifestation and doing of deeds, for example, in relieving poverty, helping the sick, freeing from danger, patronizing those in difficulty, weeping with those who weep and rejoicing with those who rejoice. After all, the latter also serves as a sign of love; although it seems unimportant to rejoice with those who rejoice, it is nevertheless a very great thing and requires a philosophical mind. You can find many people who do very difficult things, but they turn out to be weak in it. Many weep with those who weep, but do not rejoice with those who rejoice; on the contrary, when others rejoice, they weep out of ill will and envy. Therefore, it is a considerable merit to rejoice when a brother rejoices; on the contrary, it is more important than both to weep with those who weep and to help in troubles (11). This is what is surprising about love: evil is mixed with other virtues, for example, a non-covetous person often thereby becomes arrogant, an eloquent person falls into the disease of ambition, a humble person often thereby exalts himself in his conscience, and love is free from any such infection: no one will ever become proud of his beloved. Imagine a person who would not love just one, but love everyone equally, and then you will see the dignity of love; or, better, if you want, imagine in advance one beloved and one lover, loving as one should love. He lives as if in heaven, always enjoying peace and weaving thousands of crowns for himself. Such [a person] keeps his soul pure from hatred and anger, from envy and pride, from vanity and vicious desire, from all shameful love and all vice. Just as no one will do harm to himself, so he will do harm to his neighbor. Such a [person], while still on earth, will stand on a par with [Archangel] Gabriel. Such is he who has love! And whoever works miracles and has perfect knowledge, but does not have it [love], even if he raised thousands of the dead, will not receive much benefit, being himself far from everyone and alien to union with slaves similar to himself. That is why Christ made love for one’s neighbor a sign of sincere love for Him. If you love me, Peter, He said, more than they, feed my sheep (see John 21:15, 16). Do you see how He again expressed here that this is higher than martyrdom? If someone had a beloved son, for whom he would be ready to give his soul, and if someone, loving his father, paid no attention to his son at all, then by doing this he would greatly upset the father, who would not even consider loving himself for contempt for his son. If this happens in relation to father and son, then much more in relation to God and people, because God is more loving than all fathers. Therefore, He, having said: “the first and greatest commandment: love the Lord your God,” continued: “the second,” and did not stop there, but added: “similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). And notice how He demands the latter [love] to almost the same high degree [as the first]. About God he said: “with all your heart”; and about your neighbor: “as yourself,” which is equivalent to the expression: “with all your heart.” Truly, if this were carried out with precision, then there would be neither slave nor free, nor master nor subordinate, neither rich nor poor, neither small nor great, and the devil himself would not be known, and not only one, but also the other, and even if there were a hundred or even thousands of them, they could not do anything if there was love. Rather, grass can endure the power of fire than the devil can endure the flame of love. It is stronger than a wall, it is harder than adamant, and if you pointed to another even stronger substance, the hardness of love will surpass everything. It is not overcome by either wealth or poverty, or, better, there would be neither poverty nor excessive wealth if there were love, but there would only be goodness arising from both. From wealth we would have contentment, from poverty we would have carelessness, we would not suffer either the worries that are inseparable from wealth, or the fears of poverty. But what am I saying about the benefits of love? Imagine how beautiful love is in itself, how much joy it brings, how much pleasure it gives to the soul; this is predominantly characteristic of her. Other acts of virtue, for example, fasting, chastity, vigilance, are associated with difficulty, accompanied by discontent, vicious desire, arrogance; love, in addition to benefits, also gives great pleasure, but there is no labor, and, like a good bee, collecting goodness from everywhere, it deposits it in the soul of the lover. Whether anyone is a slave, it makes slavery more pleasant than freedom, because whoever loves does not rejoice so much when he commands as when he obeys, although it is pleasant to command. Love changes the very essence of things and inseparably brings with it all benefits; she is more tender than any mother, more generous than any queen; She makes the difficult easy and convenient, she makes virtue attractive and vice disgusting. Look: giving away your own seems regrettable, but love makes it pleasant; taking someone else’s property is apparently pleasant, but love does not allow it to be considered pleasant, but makes you run away like a criminal; speaking ill of others seems pleasant to everyone, but love makes it mean, and speaking well seems pleasant; Nothing pleases us more than to praise the one we love. Also: anger has a certain pleasantness in it, but with love it cannot exist; she completely destroys him; if the loved one insults the lover, then there will be no anger, but there will be tears, admonitions, requests: so far [love] is from irritation! When she sees someone who sins, she cries and grieves, and this sorrow brings her pleasure. Tears and sorrow of love are more pleasant than any laughter and any joy; Those who laugh do not feel pleasure as much as those who cry for their loved ones. If you don’t believe it, then hold back their tears, and they will be upset, like those who have suffered something extremely unpleasant. But, you say, there is an unclean pleasure in love. No, man, give up slander; nothing is filled with such pure pleasure as true love. Do not talk to me about vulgar and base love, which is more a disease than love, but understand the love that Paul demands, which aims at the benefit of those loved, and you will see that such people are more tender in the love of the fathers themselves. Just as those who are addicted to money do not dare to spend it, but are willing to remain in a difficult situation rather than see it diminish, so the one who has love for another will agree to suffer thousands of misfortunes rather than see his loved one suffer harm. How, you say, did the Egyptian woman, loving Joseph, decide to harm him? She loved him with the love of the devil. On the contrary, Joseph did not have the kind of love that Paul requires. Remember what love his words were filled with and what proposals she made: disgrace me, she said, make me a harlot, insult my husband, upset the whole house, deprive yourself of boldness before God. Such words show that she did not love not only him, but also herself. On the contrary, Joseph loved truly and therefore rejected all this. But in order for you to be convinced that he cared about her welfare, delve into his answer. He not only rejected her proposal, but also uttered an admonition that could extinguish any flame: “Behold, my lord,” he said, “does not know anything in the house with me” (Gen. 39:8); he immediately reminded her of her husband in order to shame her; He did not say: your husband, but: my lord, what more could hold her and make her think about who she is and for whom she has passion - a mistress to a slave. If he is a master, then you are a mistress; Be ashamed to enter into a relationship with a slave and think about whose wife you are, with whom you want to copulate, towards whom you become ungrateful and treacherous; and I show him more favor. See how he extols his good deeds. She, a rude and shameless woman, could not think about anything lofty; therefore, he shames her with universal human thoughts and says: “he knows nothing about me,” that is, he shows me great benefits, and therefore I cannot offend my benefactor so sensitively; he made me the second master of the house, “and he forbade me nothing but thee” (Gen. 39:9). Here he elevates her ideas about herself, in order to at least in this way bring her to shame and show her great dignity. He doesn’t stop there either, but adds her name, which could hold her: “because,” he says, “you are his wife; How can I do this great evil?..” (Gen. 39:9). There is no husband here, you say, and he will not see the insult being caused to him? But God will see. However, the admonition had no effect at all, and she drew Joseph to her. She did this not because she loved him, but because she wanted to satisfy her violent passion, as can be seen from what she did afterwards. She demands trial, accuses, bears false witness, betrays the innocent to the beast and throws him into prison; or, better yet, she, as far as it depended on her, had already killed him, thus arming the judge against him. What about Joseph? Is he like that too? Absolutely not. He did not contradict or blame his wife. Because, you say, they wouldn’t believe him? No, he was very loved, as can be seen from what happened not only at first, but also after. If the barbarian had not really loved him, he would have taken his life, despite the fact that he was silent and did not contradict; This was an Egyptian, a boss, and, moreover, who thought that his marriage bed had been dishonored - and the slave who had benefited him so much had been dishonored. But all this was overcome by the love and favor that God instilled in him for Joseph. In addition to such love and favor, he had before him important evidence [of Joseph’s innocence], if he wanted to hear an excuse - the clothes themselves. If a wife had suffered violence, then her clothes should have been torn and her face torn, and not his clothes should have remained with her. “And when he heard,” he says, “that I lifted up my voice and screamed, he left his clothes with me and ran” (Gen. 39:15). Why did you take off his clothes? What would the abused person be more likely to do? Free yourself from the attacker. And not only from here, but also from what follows, I can prove the affection and love of Joseph. When he was forced to declare the reason for his imprisonment and stay in prison, even then he did not open the adventure - but what? “For I,” he says, “did nothing bad... but was stolen from the land of the Hebrews” (Gen. 40:15) and generally does not mention the harlot anywhere, does not boast of his deed, as anyone else would do, if not out of vanity, then at least so that they would not think that he would be thrown into such a dwelling for a bad deed. And even if people guilty of sin do not refrain from blaming, although that very thing exposes them to shame, how can one not be surprised at Joseph, who, being pure, did not speak about his wife’s passion, did not declare her sin, and even when he achieved power and became the ruler of all Egypt, did not remember evil and did not take revenge? Do you see how he cared for her, and she did not love, but raged? Yes, she did not love Joseph, but only wanted to satisfy her voluptuousness. Her very words, if you carefully examine them, are filled with anger and great malice. What is she saying? “He brought a Hebrew to us to mock us” (Gen. 39:14). She reproaches her husband for his good deed and shows him his clothes, becoming fiercer than any beast. But Joseph is not like that. But what am I saying about his disposition towards her, when he was the same towards his brothers who almost killed him, and never said anything bad about them, either at home or outside? That is why Paul calls love the mother of all good things and prefers it to miracles and other gifts. Just as with golden clothes and shoes, we sometimes need some other attire in order to recognize the king; and when we see purple and a diadem, we do not demand any other sign of royal dignity - the same is true here. When there is a diadem of love, then it sufficiently distinguishes a true disciple of Christ, not only for us, but also for the infidels. “By this,” says the Lord, “everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). This sign is more important than all signs, because by it a disciple [of Christ] is recognized. Let others perform thousands of signs, but if they harbor enmity among themselves, they will be ridiculed by the infidels; on the contrary, even if they did not perform a single sign, if only they sincerely loved each other, they will be respected by everyone and blameless. And we are amazed at Paul, not because he raised the dead, cleansed lepers, but because he said: “Who faints, with whom would I not faint?” (2 Cor. 11:29). Even if you compare thousands of signs with this, nothing will be equal; and he himself expected a great reward for himself, not because he performed signs, but because he was like the weak to the weak: “What is my reward for? Because, preaching the Gospel, I preach the good news of Christ freely” (1 Cor. 9:18); and then, when he spoke about his advantage over the apostles, he did not say: I performed more signs than they, but: “I worked more than all of them” (1 Cor. 15:10). He was even ready to die of hunger to save his disciples: “For for me,” he says, “it is better to die than for anyone to destroy my praise” (1 Cor. 9:15), he says not in order to praise himself, but so that they would not think that he was reproaching them. He never boasts of his perfections unless circumstances require it, and when he is forced to do so, he calls himself crazy (see 1 Cor. 1:25; 2 Cor. 11:1). If he ever boasts, it is in weaknesses, sufferings and great participation in the misfortunes of others, as he says here: who is weak, and I am not weak? Such words are higher than the most suffering; That’s why he delivers them after everything, strengthening his speech. What are we worth in comparison with him, who do not want to despise money for our own good and give away even the excess of our property? But he was not like that, but gave both his soul and body so that the very ones who stoned and scourged him would receive the Kingdom of Heaven. This is how to love, he said, Christ taught me, who taught me the beautiful commandment about love and who himself fulfilled it in practice; He, being the King of all and a blessed being, did not turn away from the people whom He created from nothing and endlessly benefited, who insulted Him and spat on Him, but became a man for them, treated harlots and tax collectors, healed the demoniac and promised heaven. After all this, people took Him, struck Him on the cheeks, tied Him up, beat Him, ridiculed Him, and finally crucified Him; but even then He did not turn away from them and, being hanged on the Cross, said: “Father! forgive them their sin” (Luke 23:34). He brought the thief who at first reviled Him into paradise, made Paul an apostle from a persecutor, and gave His closest and most devoted disciples to death to save the Jews who crucified Him. So, imagining all this done by God and people, let us imitate good deeds and nourish within ourselves a love that surpasses all gifts (12). She [love] is a great teacher; it can turn away from error, and correct morals, and lead to wisdom, and make people out of stones. If you want to know its power, then imagine a man who is timid, fearful and trembles before the shadow, or angry, rude and more like an animal than a man, or lustful, voluptuous and devoted to all vices, and give him into the hands of love, bring him into this school, and soon you will see how this timid and timid man will become courageous, generous and courageous in everything; and, what is most surprising, this will happen not because his being has changed, but because love reveals its strength in the most timid soul; here it is the same as if someone, having made a sword not from iron, but from lead, and without changing the essence of lead, brought it to the ability to do the same as iron. Look: Jacob was a modest man, he sat at home, did not know labor or danger, he lived a calm and carefree life, and like a maiden in a mansion, he, for the most part, remained to keep his house, but withdrew from the market place, from all noise and everything that happened in the market place, and constantly lived away from troubles and worries. So what? When the fire of love ignited him, this modest man who never left his home, then look how brave and hardworking he became; listen to this not from me, but from the patriarch himself. Reproaching his father-in-law, he says: “Behold, I have been with you for twenty years” (Gen. 31:38). And what was his situation for twenty years? “I was tormented,” he adds, “by heat during the day, and by cold at night, and my sleep fled from my eyes” (Gen. 31:40). Such was the modest man who did not leave his home and had previously led a quiet life. And that he was timid is evident from the fact that, while waiting for a meeting with Esau, he was mortally afraid. Then, look how the same fearful man became braver than a lion out of love: standing in front of everyone, like some kind of stronghold, he was ready to be the first to meet a cruel man who, as he thought, was breathing murder, and to protect his wives with his own body; whomever he feared and feared, he was the first to fight, because his love for his wives was stronger than his fear. Do you see how the timid suddenly became courageous, not because he changed his character, but because he was strengthened by love? He was timid even after, as can be seen from the fact that he moved from place to place. However, let no one think that this was said as a reproach to the righteous; timidity is not a vice; it comes from nature; it is only reprehensible to do something obscene out of timidity. It is possible for someone who is timid by nature to become courageous through piety. What was Moses like? Was he not afraid of one Egyptian, did he not run away and retire beyond the borders of [Egypt]? Meanwhile, this fugitive, who could not bear the threat of one person, after tasting the sweetness of love, boldly and without any coercion was ready to perish with his beloved: “Forgive them,” he said, “forgiving their sin, and if not, then blot me out of Your book, in which You wrote” (Ex. 32:32). On the other hand, that love makes the cruel meek and the intemperate chaste, there is no need for this. give examples; this is known to everyone: Even if someone was more fierce than any beast, he becomes humbler than any lamb through love. Who, for example, was more fierce and furious than Saul? But when his daughter released his enemy, he did not even say a harsh word to her; was held by the strongest bridle - love (for his daughter). By making meek, love also makes people chaste; whoever loves his wife as he should love, even if he was extremely voluptuous, out of love for her will not look at another: “strong,” says [Scripture], “love is like death” (Song 8:6). Consequently, debauchery comes from nothing other than a lack of love. So, if love is the culprit of every virtue, then let us plant it with all diligence in our souls, so that it brings us many benefits and so that we constantly to gather its abundant fruits, always blooming and never withering (12). You might be interested in: