124. От рассеянности и празднословия воздерживайся трудом с молитвою Иисусовою, а от уныния спасайся плачем о грехах

I received your letter. Write in detail your various sins, open your soul to me in letters, and the Lord, after each sincere revelation of your infirmities, will give peace and relief. We must force ourselves to abstain from all sin, and also learn virtues with compulsion, otherwise sudden death will overtake us and our soul will perish forever. Write also those sins that, due to weakness, you have to repeat more than once. Always say the Jesus Prayer, because calling on the name of the Lord helped even the pagans. Refrain from distraction and idle talk by working with the Jesus Prayer, and save yourself from despondency by crying about your sins. “When you are depressed,” says the Apostle, “pray, and when you are cheerful, then sing psalms and spiritual songs.” I'm praying for you. Peace be with you. Invoking the peace and blessing of God, I remain with sincere goodwill. Beware of having different conversations during the psalter, otherwise the sins of those commemorated will fall on you for careless commemoration. You might be interested in: