Враг

The enemy of truth daily wages against us, beloved, a strong and varied battle. And he wages this battle, as you yourself know, turning our wishes against us into arrows and always borrowing strength from us in order to harm us. Since the Lord bound a lot of his strength with insoluble laws and did not allow him to wipe out the human race from the earth with one desire, the envious Tatsky 28 is already gaining victory over us, taking advantage of our unreason. As crafty and self-interested people, who have one thing and one plan - to enrich themselves with someone else's, but do not have the strength to boldly use violence, they usually make ambushes along the roads and, if they see some place near them, either dug up by deep ravines, or covered by dense trees, they hide there, and with such covers, preventing travelers from seeing into the distance, they suddenly attack them, which is why they cannot notice dangerous snares until they fall into them, so this one, hostile and hostile to us since ancient times, resorting to the shadow of worldly pleasures, which along the path of this life can conveniently hide a robber within themselves and harbor an evil one, unforeseenly sets up a net of destruction for us here (1). If a brother or sometimes a priest treats me wickedly and is hostile to me, then is it possible for me to keep the commandments about enemies in his judgment? In the commandments about enemies, the Lord did not give instructions regarding the distinction between enemies or enmity, but, on the contrary, determined that the same sin is heavier the higher the rank, saying to them: why do you look at the mote in your brother’s eye, but do not feel the beam in your eye? (Matthew 7:3). Therefore, in the reasoning of such people, who are revered as more eminent, care and attentiveness are especially needed, in order to take due care of them with appropriate long-suffering - either in admonition or in reproof - and even in this respect to preserve ourselves innocent, having dealt with them and in everything else according to the commandment of the Lord (5). You might be interested in: