Гимн 22. Божественные вещи ясны (и открыты) одним только тем, с которыми чрез причастие Духа Святого весь со всеми соединился Бог 228 .

Tell me, where do you come from and how do you enter the cell, which is locked from everywhere? After all, this is something unusual, beyond the mind and the word. And the fact that You suddenly appear inside me and shine, being visible as light-like, like a moon full of light - this, my God, amazes me and makes me speechless. I know that You are the One who came to enlighten those who sit in darkness (Luke 1:79), and I am horrified, and I am deprived of thoughts and speech, because I see an extraordinary miracle that surpasses every creature, every nature, every word. However, I will now tell everyone what You grant me to say. O every human race! kings and princes, rich and poor, monks and laity, and every tongue of the earthly, listen now to me, (who intends) to speak about the greatness of God's love for mankind 229. I sinned before Him like no one else in the world. Let no one think that I am saying this out of humility. For truly I have sinned more than all people, I have done, to tell you briefly, every sinful and evil act. However, He called me and immediately, as I know, He heard me. But what do you think He called me to? Is it for worldly glory, or for luxury and peace? Is it for wealth, or for the friendship of princes, or for anything that we see here in life? Slander away! On the contrary, He, I say, called me to repentance, and I immediately followed the calling Master. So, I ran after the one running, and I again chased the one running, like a dog chases a hare. When the Savior went far from me and disappeared, I did not give in to despair and, as having lost Him, did not turn back, but, sitting in the place where I was, I cried and sobbed, calling on the Master who had hidden from me. So, when I was struggling and screaming like that, He, approaching very close to me, became visible to me. Seeing Him, I jumped up, trying to grab hold of Him. But He soon ran away. I ran faster, and therefore managed to repeatedly catch the hem (of His clothing). He stopped a little, (which) I was extremely happy about. And (again) He flew away, and I gave chase again. Thus, although the one who came left and the one who appeared disappeared 231, I did not at all turn back, did not become lazy and did not slacken my run, in no way considering Him to be my deceiver or tempter; but with all my strength and abilities I began to look for Him Whom I had not seen, examining the paths and fences to see if He would appear (to me) somewhere. Shedding tears, I asked about Him to everyone who had once seen Him. But who do you suppose I asked? Do you think that I (mean) the wise men and experts of this world? - Of course not; but - Prophets, Apostles and Fathers, truly wise, who have acquired all that wisdom that is Christ Himself - God's Wisdom. So, with tears and great sorrow of heart, I begged them to tell me where they had once seen Him, or in what place, or how and in what manner. (Having listened to) their answer to me, I ran with all my might, did not sleep at all, but forced myself; therefore I saw my Desired One; but I didn’t see Him for long. Seeing Him, I quickly, as I said above, gave chase. So, when He saw that I counted everything as nothing, and even everything that is in the world, with the world itself, I say, and from the soul I consider all those in the world (people) as if they did not exist, and that through such a mood I separated from the world; then all of me allowed myself to see Himself, all of me united with all of me - the One who abides outside the world, who bears peace with everything in the world and with one hand holds the visible with the invisible. So, listen, He, having met, found me; where and how He came from, I don’t know. For how could I know where He came from - here or where He came from, when no one has ever seen Him or known Him, where He is, where He grazes (ποιμαίνει), where He rests? For He is not seen at all, not comprehended at all, but dwells in an unapproachable light, and is the Trinitarian Light, in an ineffable way [absiding] in unlimited spaces - my unlimited God, one Father, (one) also the Son with the Divine Spirit, one - three, and three - one God inexplicably. For the word is not able to express the inexpressible, nor the mind to clearly comprehend. After all, I can hardly explain to you (although) somewhat what is in us: but neither I nor anyone else will be able to explain to you how God is beyond everything in His essence, nature, power and glory, and how He is everywhere in everything, especially in the saints and dwells in them intelligently and essentially, being Himself completely transcendental; how in (human) entrails is contained He Who contains all creation; how He shines in the fleshy and coarse heart; how he is inside him and outside of everything and fills everything himself - he shines both night and day, and is not seen. Will the human mind understand all this, tell me, or will it be able to express it to you? - Of course not. Neither an Angel nor an Archangel would have explained this to you without being able to express it verbally. The Spirit of God alone, as Divine, knows and knows this, being alone co-natural and co-throne and co-eternal with God and the Father. Therefore, to whom He illuminates and with whom He mutually combines abundantly, He shows everything in an indescribable way, in deed, I tell you, all this (shows). For just as a blind man, if he receives his sight, sees, firstly, the light, and then in the light, it’s amazing to say, every creature; so, illuminated in the soul by the Divine Spirit, as soon as he partakes of the light and becomes light, he sees the Light of God and God, of course, Who shows him everything, better yet, what He commands, what He wills and wants. To whom He enlightens with illumination, He allows them to see what is in the Divine Light; and those who are enlightened see this to the extent of love and keeping the commandments, and are initiated into the deepest and most intimate Divine mysteries. Just as if someone, holding a lamp in his hand, or preceded by another holding a lamp, entered a dark house and saw for himself what was inside the house; So, clearly illuminated by the rays of the intelligent Sun, he sees what is unknown to everyone else and speaks (about it) - not about everything, however, but about (only) what can be expressed in speech. For who will ever be able to explain what is there, what it is, how great it is and of what kind, when it is incomprehensible and invisible to everyone? For who can understand the form of the formless, the quantity of the unquantified, and the beauty of the unthought? How will he measure it, how will he even be able to express it? What words will describe the image of something that is devoid of image? No way, of course, you tell me. But only those who see know this. Therefore, let us hasten, not in words, but in deeds, to seek in order to see and learn the wealth of the Divine mysteries, which the Lord gives to those who diligently seek and have clearly acquired oblivion of the whole world and those things that are in it. For whoever seeks them with all-soul willfulness, how will he not truly forget all these things here and, having acquired (himself) a mind naked from them and from everything external, will he not soon find himself united? The One God, seeing him become one for His sake and renounce the world and that which is in the world, the One, having found one, unites with him. O terrible economy! O ineffable goodness! What (should) come next, don’t ask, don’t explore, don’t search. For if no one can count the multitude of stars, drops of rain, or sand, and other creatures (cannot) express or comprehend the greatness and beauty, nature, position and causes of them; then how could he express the compassion of the Creator, which He reveals to the souls of the saints with whom He will unite? For through union with Himself He completely adores them. Therefore, whoever wants to tell you about the deified soul, about its morals, nature, disposition, way of thinking and everything that is characteristic of it, then [it’s the same as] he, I don’t know with what speech, is trying to present to you what God is. It is not permissible for those who are in the world or live according to the flesh to seek this, but it is perceived by faith alone; they must imitate the lives of all the saints, with tears and repentance and other strictness of life, and strive to endure temptations in order to become outside the world, which we touched upon above, and to find, as I said, everything without exception 232. Having found it, they will be horrified and amazed, and for me, the most unfortunate, they will earnestly pray, so that I will not lose it, but will receive the very thing that I wanted and desire to receive, and (with this) desire I weaken and dull the desire. I once heard that desire kindles desire, and fire feeds flame; This is not the case with me, but I cannot say how the superiority of love extinguishes my love 233. For I do not love as much as I want, and I believe that I have by no means acquired the love of God. Striving to insatiably love, as much as I want, a wondrous thing, I lose (even) the love for God that I had. Just as a money lover who has a treasure thinks that he has absolutely nothing, because he does not have everything, although he has a lot of gold; So, without a doubt, I think, it happens in this (case) that I am unhappy. Since I don’t love as much as I want and, of course, as much as I want; then I think that I don’t even like her at all. So, to love as much as I want is love above love, and I compel my nature (nature) to love above nature. But my weak nature is deprived (even) of the strength it had, and living love dies miraculously. For then, on the contrary, it comes to life 234 in me and blossoms. And how it blossoms, I cannot find examples to explain to you. I’ll just tell you one thing: everyone is powerless to express this in words. May He, who is the only God and truly the giver of such blessings, grant to all who seek them through repentance, weeping and weeping, and being cleansed with goodness, to taste them, having become from here partakers of them with feeling, and to depart with them and rest in them, and enjoy eternal life, and through them become partakers of ineffable glory forever and ever. Amen. In P. r. 29 word; in l. paragraph 20 chapter. In P. r. ἀκούσατε λαλοῦντι, etc. and then added; διηγουμεωῳ, i.e., listen to the speaker and the narrator, etc. In P. r. instead of οὖν there is αὖ here. Κρυπτομένου φαινομένου - these words are not in P. r. Instead of ἀπαραλείπτως in P. k. it reads ἀπαραλλάκτως - immutable. deleted by translator - ed. Wed. II Cor. 12, 9 – 10... “Whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” You might be interested in: