Гимн 38. Учение с богословием, в котором (говорится) о священстве и вместе о бесстрастном созерцании 308 .

How will I, Master, tell you about Your wondrous and wonderful (deeds)? How will I tell in words about the depth of Your destinies, Which You do daily on us, Your servants? How You despise the countless multitude of my sins And do you not impute, O Lord, my evil deeds? But you have mercy and nourish me, my Savior, you enlighten and cover me, As one who fulfills all Your commandments? And not only do you have mercy, but moreover, You make me worthy to stand before You Glory and strength and greatness, And uttering the verbs of immortality, you talk with me Weak and despicable and unworthy of life? How You enlighten my desecrated soul, Making it pure and Divine light? How do you make my pathetic hands luminous, Which, by sinning, have I desecrated with sinful filth? How You change my hands with the shine of Your Divinity, Transforming them from unclean to saints? How You cleanse, O Christ, my foul tongue, Making me a partaker of the eating of Your flesh? How do you deign (Yourself) to see me and to be seen by me, And to be held by my hands, You are the one who contains the whole (universe), Invisible to all heavenly ranks And unapproachable (even) for Moses, the first of the prophets? For neither he was worthy to see Your face, None of the other people, so as not to die. So, how can You, the incomprehensible and the only ineffable, You for everyone inconceivable and for everyone unapproachable And hold, and kiss, and see, and taste, And I am worthy to have in my heart, Christ, And I remain unburnt, rejoicing together and trembling, And chanting Your great love for mankind, O Christ? So, as (people) are blind and carnal, ignorant of You, Without feeling, it’s better to show your Illness and darkness and all the best Deprivation, they dare to say: What need is there for a man to have the priesthood? If he does not acquire one of three things: either food of the body, or income of gold, Or (one of) the high and rich episcopal sees? O darkness! oh blindness! O extreme madness! O great misfortune! O great ignorance! O earthly and empty, vain words! O impudence! O the wisdom of Judas the traitor! For like that terrible Lord's Supper And he counted the most pure body as nothing, And he even considered a few pieces of silver to be the best; So these corruptible things are to the incorruptible and Divine Preferring, they choose spiritual strangulation. Tell me, O vain (people), if you know: Who, having acquired Christ, will become more in need of other things? Any of the blessings of this age? Who, having the grace of the Spirit in his heart, He did not acquire the honest Trinity that dwells in him, Enlightening and making God? Who, having become God by the grace of the (Holy) Trinity And having been worthy of the highest and first glory, Would I consider anything more glorious (that) To liturgize and see the highest Nature, All that is accomplished, ineffable and inaccessible to all? Or would I wish for something more brilliant in life, Is it in this momentary thought, Or another, do you agree with me, that has no end? If you knew the hidden depths of the mysteries, He would not have forced me to talk or write about it. For I tremble and fear, tracing (something) Divine And (like a shadow) depicting in writing the ineffable for everyone. If you saw Christ and received the Spirit, And through both of them would be brought to the Father, Then you would know what I’m saying and what I’m telling you about, And what is great and terrible, and above all Glory and splendor, leadership and power, Wealth and power and every kingdom - Liturgy with a clear conscience of the heart Pure and holy and immaculate Trinity. Don't tell me about the sinlessness of the body And about those actions and evidence, the depth of which you do not understand, But (listen) to what God said through the Apostles, And through the wise and fire-tongued Vasily, And through the simple testimonies of Father Chrysostom, And through Gregory, who theologizes well about this; Listen and be sure what it should be Liturgical to God, the Creator of all; And from your reverence and virtue You will marvel at the greatness of this dignity. Do not flatter yourself, brothers, and do not at all dare Touch or approach the Unapproachable nature. For whoever does not deny the world and the things in the world And he will not deny his soul and body, And the whole thing, with all the feelings, will not become dead, Regardless of anything pleasant in this world, Desiring absolutely nothing from the things of the world And not enjoying any human speech, Who will not become deaf and blind to the things of the world? Deeds and customs, actions and words, Although seeing what the eye tends to see, But not allowing anything to enter inside, into the heart, And the features and images of these (objects) are imprinted in it, Likewise, listening to what human hearing perceives, But remaining as if a soulless and insensitive stone And not remembering either the sounds or the meaning of the words; He cannot make a mysterious and bloodless sacrifice Offer purely by nature to the pure God. For if he truly feels this, Then he will withdraw from the whole world and what is in the world, And he will know and believe me (in what) I want to write about again. Everyone (who) crossed that dark air, which David calls a wall (Ps. 17:29-30) And the Fathers called the sea of life, He, having come into it, finds every good thing. For there is paradise, there is the tree of life, There is sweet bread, there is Divine drink, There is an inexhaustible wealth of talents there. There the bush burns unburnt, And the boots on my feet 309 immediately take off. There the sea parts and I walk 310 alone And I see enemies drowned in the waters. There I contemplate a tree in my heart The thrown, and everything bitter (in it) is transformed. There I found a rock dripping with honey, And from then on my soul was not involved in sorrow. There I found Christ, the Giver of these (blessings), And with all his soul he followed Him. There I ate manna - the bread of angels, And he no longer desired anything human. There I saw Aaron's dry rod prospering, And he marveled at the miracles of God. There I saw my barren soul bearing fruit, And like a dry tree it produces beautiful fruit. There is an unclean and prodigal heart I saw pure, chaste and virgin, And I heard [in my soul]: Rejoice, full of grace 311, For God is with you and in you forever! There I heard [the command]: wash in the font of tears, And having done so, he believed and suddenly received his sight. There I was buried in a grave through perfect humility, And Christ, coming with immeasurable mercy, Rolled away the heavy stone of my vices And he said: come here as if from a ditch - from this world! There I saw how dispassionately my God suffered And how, being immortal, He became dead and rose from the grave without breaking the seals. There I saw the future life and incorruption, Which Christ gives to those who seek Him. And I found the kingdom of heaven, which is inside me, Who is the Father, the Son and the Spirit - An indivisible deity in three persons. Those who did not prefer Him to the whole world, Those who did not consider fame, honor and wealth Only one worship, service and standing (to Him) Unworthy of this pure vision, And pleasure, and joy, and all the best, Of which those who have not achieved repentance will not partake, If they do not learn and taste, as we said, all (of this), And they will not carefully do everything that is said by my God. And then hardly anyone [is worthy] with great fear and reverence, If God commanded, touch the untouchable. For it is not permissible for everyone to serve such (things), But if (anyone) receives all the grace of the Spirit And from the [womb] of the mother he will be clean from sin. Besides the commandment from God and His election, Certifying a person’s soul through Divine illumination And kindling her with the desire of Divine love, It is unreasonable, I think, to sacredly celebrate Divine (things) And touch untouchable and terrible Secrets, To whom is due all glory, honor and worship, Now and always, unceasingly throughout all ages. In P. r. here μου is added, omitted in the printed text. In P. r. not διέρχεται, but διέρχομαι. In Greek in the language καρδία – a woman’s heart. kind, so a literal translation of this passage without an insertion would be unsuccessful. Literally, this verse should be conveyed like this: ... to those who hear: Rejoice, gracious one, that is, heart. 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