Глава V. Благодатные средства совершенствования в христианской нравственности.

The most important means of spiritual and moral growth of a Christian, according to St. Tikhon, are contemplation of God and prayer. To acquire good skill in this work, the saint, placing his trust entirely in the gracious help of God, at the same time encouraged himself and his readers and listeners to ascend with their minds as often as possible from the visible to the invisible, from objects of the created world to spiritual objects. For this purpose, as is known, the creation “Spiritual Treasure Gathered from the World” was written. “We see,” the saint writes, for example, “that a person remembers something like this on occasion; When he sees or hears something, something similar comes to his mind. Christian! Remember, on occasion, similar things that are necessary for the creation of your soul. You see how humbly, meekly and prudently either children walk before their father, or slaves walk before their master: remember that before God, who is omnipresent and looks at everything, we walk, live and turn, think, speak and do. If men walk before men with fear and decorum and take care of everything so as not to anger them and fall under punishment, how much more should we walk before our God with fear and reverence, live and convert, and not do anything that is contrary to His holy will” (27, 93). In a similar way, external impressions can give a Christian a reason to think about the properties of God, about the endless benefits to the human race, about the final destinies of the world and each person. Thought of God, quenching love for the world, keeps us from sin, despair and leads to repentance, encourages prayer, strengthens faith, love for God, leads to the glorification of His name and is itself praise to God (27, 790–791). God-thinking was characteristic of Saint Tikhon, according to the memoirs his cell attendants, to the highest degree. Describing his walks with saint in the vicinity of the Zadonsk monastery, I. Chebotarev recalls, that the saint “dear everything said, or matter from the grass will take, or from the Holy Scriptures, which texts he explains to me, and tilted everything towards eternity.” These thoughts "about the last four" (death, the Judgment of Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal torment) were especially inherent in the saint. The same cell attendant writes how the saint talked (“almost daily”) with the monk Theophan who lived with him, whom I loved for his simplicity and hard work. “Feofan, it’s time, it's time to go to the fatherland; I'm already truly bored with this life, I would be glad even though it would be blissful to die now, just not to lose eternal bliss”; and will say: “Poor, wretched us! Now God's chosen ones rejoice and they have fun, and will rejoice forever, and we, strangers and strangers, in this short life we are in poverty and worried. There, – he will say, “Feofan, we must always mentally strive to do not lose being participants with them! May Feofan, worldly peace loves, and we will certainly always strive to get it from above. That’s it, Feofanushka!” Sim will finish. He always has first thoughts and there was talk about death, which is why he painted the picture, which depicts a gray-haired old man lying in a tomb, in a black robe; the picture was nailed to the wall at his feet. He often looked at this picture, and from the depths of his heart he sighed and said: “Tell me, Lord, my death, and the number of my days, which I have, but I understand that I am deprived.” This text is like daylight, so at night, sitting and walking, he often sang, always with tender tears and heartfelt sighing” (6 “Notes”, 12–13). Four or five years before his death, the saint himself prepared a coffin for himself. “At this coffin,” writes I. Efimov, “looking often every day, with considerable feelings, he mourned the fall of the first man and the entire human race, imagining man as a rational creature, and often said to those who served with him as a moral lesson: “What has man brought himself to, that like cattle he buries himself in the ground, having been created by God blameless and immortal.” According to this imagination, with crying and sobbing and a strong cry, he went into a secluded cell, and his voice was like the voice of those crying for the dead; then he will delve deeper into thinking about a double eternity, happy and unhappy, sitting more on the bed; it so happened that when the cell attendant, who was not always allowed to have access to him, came in to him, then from his deepening, the bishop seemed not to see or hear the person who had entered at all” (6 “Notes”, 19-20). The saint advises every Christian to think about his death. In “A Brief Exhortation on How It Befits to Enter Holy Churches for Doxology” he writes: “When you come to the church, you see the graves of your brethren and remember that you too will dwell in the depths of the earth a thousand times, and the dust that you trample under your feet will cover your face. And therefore sigh to God for those who have passed away, that He may have mercy on them. This will be useful not only for them, but also for you: for you show love to your neighbors, and, seeing them dead, remember your own death, so that you will pray to God more earnestly” (2, 100-101). Another subject of the saint’s constant deep reflection was the passion of Christ, the suffering on the cross of the Son of God. I. Efimov reports about one of the miraculous visions, which the saint was once honored with. “In 1770, while the saint was practicing his essay “On True Christianity,” he had this vision: he was thinking about the suffering of Christ, the Son of God (since he was a great lover of the Savior’s passion), sitting on a bed against which on the wall was nailed a Passion picture, which represented Christ crucified on the Cross, being taken down from him and placed in the grave. And in that deep reflection, as if being beside himself, he saw from that picture, like from Mount Golgotha, from the Cross itself, Christ coming towards him, all wounded, all wounded, tortured, bloodied. From such a great, wonderful vision of joy and heartfelt condolences, rushing to the Savior’s feet in order to kiss them, he publicly uttered the following words: “Are you, my Savior, coming to me?” – feeling like at the feet of the Saviors. From that hour he began to delve even deeper into thinking about His suffering and the redemption of the human race" (6 Notes, 23-24). Thought on God is inseparable from prayer. Both were one of the main deeds of the saint during his retirement in the Zadonsk monastery. I. Efimov, recalling how diligently the saint was busy writing his works at that time, adds that “between his soul-beneficial works, he did not abandon, however, the cell rules befitting a solitary stay, with bows and kneeling; Moreover, he practiced contemplation of God at night and in the morning, not leaving the morning to read the psalms of the porphyry-bearing prophet king. When praying and contemplating God, he had an excellent gift for tears; His cry and sobbing could often be heard in a solitary cell, with the pronunciation of a vocal prayer: “Have mercy, Lord! Have mercy, Lord! Be patient, O our goodness, with our sins! Hear, Lord, and do not destroy us with our iniquities! and so on." (6 “Notes”, 26). The saint did not abandon his thoughts of God during prayer in the church. The same cell attendant recalls that “while listening to the Divine Liturgy, he sometimes became so deep in thought about God’s love for the human race and about its redemption through the incomprehensible mystery of the incarnation of Christ, the Son of God, about His suffering and about the sacrament of the Eucharist, that sometimes in crowded meetings he cried, even sobbed. And when he noticed that during the invocation of the Holy Spirit by the priest for the saving Gifts those standing in the church were not praying, without hesitation he reprimanded everyone and encouraged everyone to proper prayer and supplication” (6 “Notes”, 35-36). The saint writes about the need for prayer in the matter of salvation in general and for the moral improvement of a Christian in particular as follows. “All our efforts without the grace and help of God are not strong. A person may conveniently become corrupted, but he cannot correct and save himself without God. For this reason, Christian, when you want to live piously and be a true Christian, and thus be saved, constantly pray to God and ask for help from Him with zeal” (6, 153). The saint derives many provisions of Christian morality directly from the texts of prayers. Indicative in this regard are his explanation of the Lord's Prayer (4, 95–102) and comments on some psalms (2, 185–199; 4, 102–109, etc.). As an example, let us give the thoughts that arise in the saint at the first words of the prayer “Our Father.” Already by this conversion we “learn,” he writes, “that God is the true Father of Christians, and they are the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26), “therefore, they are brethren among themselves” and must, “like spiritual brethren, have love among themselves and pray for each other to God, and, moreover, be like God in good morals.” As children of one Father, all Christians “have the same honor and glory in this, and for this reason they should not despise each other.” Those who pray: Our Father “must be the sons of God, and the sons must have properties similar to the father. How can anyone say to Him: Our Father, while he himself resembles cattle or the devil in his morals? It is clear from this that a faulty Christian, until he corrects and cleanses himself with true repentance, cannot call upon God to his advantage.” The words in heaven “the one who prays is taken away from the earth and raised to the heavenly abodes” (4, 95–96). However, not only the meaning of prayers, but also the act of prayer itself teaches those who undergo it many truths of Christian morality 109 . “Let us,” admonishes the saint, “let us listen to God’s command and fulfill His commandments, if we want the Lord to hear us. God will not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a reader of God and does His will, he will listen to him (John 9:31)” (2:194). In turn, prayer - the fruit of righteousness (James 5:16) - contributes to the improvement of a Christian in other virtues. Thus, prayerful practice teaches the person praying humility and brings him to an awareness of his spiritual poverty. Just as “the one approaching the king and asking for his mercy stands with reverence, bows his head and falls to his knees, does not think about anything else, but has a deepened mind in his single petition, so we, Christians, must learn to approach the King of Heaven with a petition, with what humility, reverence, humiliation of ourselves before His Majesty to fall, bow our heads and hearts and the whole composition of our souls before Him cast down, as God only looks upon the humble” 110 (3, 33; 5, 31). “By prayer to God, faith is confirmed and multiplied, in the likeness of a tree, which the more it is watered, the more it grows” (3, 300). “Prayer kindles hope in the one praying (“for God is omnipresent, therefore he hears our prayer; omnipotent, and therefore can give everything; the most kind and merciful Father of all” (2, 184)), itself coming from hope in God, rich in mercy and bounty” (3, 300). Finally, prayer to God fills the heart of the one praying with love for everyone, since we must pray not only for ourselves, but also for each other, for everyone who is in power (1 Tim. 2:2), and for those who bring us harm and drive us out 111 (Matthew 5:44). The effect of congregational prayer is especially beneficial. Already on the way to the church it is necessary to pray for the granting of reverent prayer. “While standing in church,” the saint writes, “it is extremely necessary to avoid talking, laughing and other indecent actions, and only diligently listen to reading, singing and prayer.” All worldly worries should be abandoned. “What you have heard in church, whether read or preached,” the saint exhorts, “discuss in your home and strive to do according to it, so that the word of God you have heard and not done will not be a greater condemnation for you” (27, 448, 562–563, 1062–1063, 1158–1159). Every “sin committed when someone does not want to give up sin” hinders prayer; anger and malice towards one's neighbor is nourished in the heart; “unmercy towards one’s neighbor and insult” caused to him 112, and this difficulty in prayer exposes the improper state of the heart (3, 303–304). For someone who, from a sinful path, “has not turned to God with a true heart, but remains in sins,” the saint writes, “reading psalms and prayers does not benefit anyone” 113 (2, 195). But if prayer is completely abandoned, then faith gradually “becomes impoverished and disappears, and so a person falls into fearlessness, delusion and extreme corruption” (2, 184; 4, 301). Prayer is necessary regardless of the spiritual and moral state of a Christian. The saint writes: “Just as a righteous person, despite his truth, should pray, so a sinner, for the sake of sins committed, should not give up prayer, but everyone should look with humility at the one mercy of God. Just as a righteous person has truth from God, and not from himself, so a sinner must also seek truth from God through prayer, petition, a contrite heart and true repentance. The Pharisee, who still looked at his truth in prayer, was rejected; and the publican, burdened with sins, since he held God’s mercy before him in prayer, was heard” (3, 302). The saint especially speaks “about the lawless and ungodly invocations of the name of God,” when “many have the custom of saying in all conversations and to almost every word: “That’s why God!” or “God sees!”, or when, “what is worse and worse, many in jokes, many in order to seduce and deceive their neighbors, remember the great name of God, at the remembrance of which one should tremble and bow one’s head with one’s heart! But a fearless heart does not reason about this... Oh, if only these people’s inner eyes would be opened and they would see that God is a being in Whose hand is the whole world, and they themselves, and death, and their belly: they would see how they are in a disastrous and dangerous state, and henceforth they would be afraid to remember God’s name without reverence and fear!” A violation of the commandment about not calling the name of God in vain is also “the custom of sending the offender to God’s court: “God judges him!” - “What are you saying, stupid man? - asks the saint. – You say: “God judges him,” but Christ says: pray for those who bring harm to you. So consider with what spirit you here call on the name of God and ask God for judgment against your brother. He offended you yesterday, and you offended him today, and maybe before; You are asking for justice against him, and he is asking for justice against you. And what would happen if God did what we wanted? There would hardly be anyone left alive in the world, for we sin so much against each other and before God.” Those who “read the holy psalms and other prayers quickly” sin against the holiness of prayer (“this prayer is not prayer, but the reading of written words, or rather noise and sound,” says the saint); who “send their readings in two voices, when some sing, and others read together” (“what can a person who comes to church understand in such noise? From here it follows that such people have no correction in life, but only corruption and temptation, for they never pray, although they often go to church”); who has the custom to sing from the holy psalms between glasses and congratulations” 114 in imitation of Belshazzar, who died for his iniquities (“since it is indecent, or even more ungodly, to add a consecrated song to carnal knowledge!” writes the saint. “For the holy psalms are the work of the Holy Spirit, but drunkenness is the work of the devil”) (3, 33, 304–306; 5, 31). A necessary condition for the spiritual and moral success of a Christian, along with prayer, is fasting, in a broad sense - abstinence in general. As a virtue, continence is the fruit of faith; as one of the main components of Christian moral and ascetic life - a means of strengthening faith (27, 138). “Everyone who begins to work for the Lord must be tempted,” says the saint. The Lord, after a forty-day fast, defeated the tempter, “showing us an image, so that we also strive and overcome Satan, defeated by Him, by His divine power and grace” (2, 24). “There is physical fasting,” writes the saint, “there is also spiritual fasting. There is bodily fasting when the belly fasts from food and drink; spiritual fasting is when the soul abstains from evil thoughts, deeds and words. Physical fasting is useful for us, as it serves to mortify passions, but spiritual fasting is absolutely necessary, so that physical fasting is nothing without it. True fasting is abstinence from all evil.” But not only that. “Repent, and, abstaining from every evil word, deed and thought, learn every virtue, and you will always fast before God,” the saint exhorts, citing an extensive quotation from the book of the prophet Isaiah (58, 4-10) (5, 166-167). Those who fast lawlessly sin (2:37-42); no less, those who fast hypocritically may appear to be fasting men. The first are denied to the Mother - the Church openly, the second - secretly, “since they do not do good for the sake of God, but either for the sake of vain glory, or for the sake of something else, and therefore they cannot please God” (27, 299), in both cases acting immorally. A certain indicator of the Christian perfection of a fasting person is his attitude towards the fasting of others. “A strict guardian of the statutes of the Church, the saint had a high degree of Christian kindness and condescension towards others. Such a case has been preserved in legend. One day the saint entered the cell of his friend the schema-monk Mitrofan and found him at table with Cosmas, a citizen of Yelets, whom the saint also loved very much for his good life. It was Lent, the Friday before the holiday of Vai. There was a dish of fish on the table. Knowing the strict life of the saint, the friends were greatly embarrassed, and Mitrofan even fell to his knees before him, asking for forgiveness. A strict faster, knowing the impeccable life of both, the saint not only did not reproach them, but only said: “Sit down, I know you: love is higher than fasting.” And in order to calm them down even more, he himself tasted the fish soup, while he constantly observed fasting in all severity” (6 “Notes”, 58). The sacraments “under some visible form bring the invisible grace of God into the soul of the faithful” and are established “for the healing of our salvation” (27, 1033–1034). Without touching upon sacramentology itself, let us briefly speak only about the influence of church sacraments on Christian morality. It becomes possible to talk about it when a person enters the Church of Christ, dies to sin in the baptismal font and is spiritually born “from above from God, by faith in Christ, the Son of God” 115. The very memory of how God “mercifully and humanely elevated man, His apostate, to such a height of dignity” encourages the Christian to “live not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (4, 373). The fact that the Sacrament of Baptism is not morally neutral follows from the likening of baptism to an oath found in patristic literature, according to which, according to St. Tikhon, those baptized “swear and promise, having renounced Satan and all his evil deeds, to serve Christ alone with faith and truth throughout the entire duration of their life” (27, 442). But the actual moral consequences of the Sacrament of Baptism entail the granting of the grace of the Holy Spirit to the baptized. “You must preserve the holiness given to you in baptism,” the saint writes, “and for this purpose, keep yourself from all defilement of the flesh and spirit, avoid all uncleanness and other things that separate you from communion with God and His Son Jesus Christ” (27, 829). A Christian should not only avoid evil, but also do what “Christ wants and the duty of righteousness requires, so that he can show that he has truly put on Christ, as the Apostle teaches” (Gal. 3:27). It helps to remind yourself of the vows given at baptism. To the one who violates them, baptism will not only not bring any benefit, but will be imputed “to judgment and condemnation” if correction and repentance do not follow 116. It is precisely this side of the Sacrament of Repentance as a “tearful baptism” given by God in view of the weakness and complacency of human nature to sin that the saint highlights, saying that the sacrament of repentance “is pity and pain for sins committed after baptism, which through unfeigned and true confession and contrition of the heart are forgiven through priestly permission” (2, 2). Repentance as turning from sin to the path of salvation has already been discussed. But completing this path is impossible without repentance, both as a virtue and as a sacrament. Repentance shows the harmfulness of being carried away by worldly vanity. “When someone who gets drunk on wine begins to become sober, he will learn how harmful it is to drink,” writes the saint. “So he who is drunk with the lust of the world, when he begins to come to his senses, will know how harmful the essence of the lusts of this world are.” By repentance, faith is renewed and strengthened in the heart of a Christian, already in the Gospel preceded by the preaching of St. John the Baptist and the Savior Himself. A truly repentant person remains in constant contrition for his sins. And if the very awareness of one’s weaknesses humbles a person, then all the more so does repentance lead to the recognition of spiritual poverty, by bringing which a Christian receives from God a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 18:31), “other thoughts, undertakings, intentions, other efforts and deeds” 117. A truly repentant person, as one who has abandoned past sins, will not only “not be harmed by his former lawless life,” but moreover, in repentance, after the forgiveness of sins, the grace of baptism returns to him, giving him strength to again lead a life worthy of a Christian. The saint also speaks about false repentance, which, like beautiful prayer and hypocritical fasting, is destructive for spiritual life. False repentance is brought by those who do not forsake the sins of which they repent; who, not wanting to forgive his neighbor, has a heart “full of malice and anger”; who postpones repentance until old age or illness 118 (27, 701–731). The Sacrament of Repentance involves the imposition of penance on the penitent, which, as the saint writes, must be “reasonable and moderate, considering the person of the penitent, his rank, his years, sins, reasons, etc.” (2, 3) - obviously, in order to help correction, to contribute to the improvement of a Christian and Christian morality. The Sacrament of Holy Communion as the most important means of strengthening in virtue has already been discussed, so here we will only briefly summarize. “Do you remember,” asks the saint, “that you are sacramentally partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ and therefore Christ Himself? Oh, a great and incomprehensible thing! But listen and heed what the priest proclaims at the Liturgy: “Holy to Holies,” that is, what is taught. And before communion, and after communion afterwards, always beware of all sin as defilement, and approach with fear and faith, as the priest or deacon always calls. It’s bad for someone to leave, but it’s also bad for someone who’s out of order to start 119. And from there it follows that a Christian must absolutely correct himself and live like a Christian, as our faith requires.” Thus, communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ moves one to move away from sin, strengthens and increases faith and renews the Christian (27, 338). The saint speaks of the Sacrament of Anointing as “a mystery in which, through anointing with oil, consecrated through the priestly prayer, the sick are given remission of sins, salvation of the soul and health of the body,” and at the same time - time to bring repentance and show its fruits - Christian virtues (2, 5). The two sacraments, Marriage and Priesthood, are similar in that they increase the level of spiritual and moral requirements for those over whom they are performed. Both sacraments are not necessary in the matter of salvation, and the voluntary choice of the life path determined by them also increases the responsibility of those who approach them. In earthly life, those who marry are responsible for saving not only themselves, but also their family; the shepherd has to give an account for the verbal flock of Christ entrusted to him. The priesthood “is a mystery, in which, through the ordination of bishops, special power is given from God to the priest to serve and act in official Divine mysteries” (2, 4). For such a high service, the special grace-filled help of God is necessary, which is given at the time of ordination to the priesthood and invisibly helps the one who receives it in his service. He himself is required to have both special qualities (primarily virtue, intelligence, teaching) and work to warm himself up and multiply the grace of the Holy Spirit received during ordination. “The priest,” writes the saint, “must be a model for everything, set an example for God’s people in everything: for he is a shepherd to the sheep, a leader for the blind, a guide for the lost, a prayer book for sinners, God’s servant, the light of the world, the salt of the earth, a city standing on the top of the mountain, a lamp placed on the candlestick” (2, 63-64). The shepherd is called to correct others, “but first correct himself”; must teach others, but also “do what he teaches”; must “call to the Kingdom of Heaven, but also go there himself.” The shepherd must shepherd his flock with attention, constantly testing himself to see how he fulfills his duties. For the saving passage of his ministry, he must study, “with the intention of teaching extended to the glory of God and for the common benefit,” and first of all study the Holy Scriptures. It is even more important for a pastor to have the fear of God, maintain purity of heart and mind, strive to increase love for God and his flock, avoiding vanity, and serve as an example of humility. The ascetic shepherd will experience attacks from the devil more than others, endure slander, reproach, and persecution from those whose sins and vices he denounces. But, imitating the Lord and His disciples, he must generously endure and forgive, thereby setting a good example for his flock. On the contrary, a sinning shepherd brings much more temptation than a layman. He is subject to reproaches in this life, and at the Judgment of Christ he will give a strict answer for his negligence (27, 650–673). Issues of family life, as well as pastoral ministry, are usually considered in separate works. Therefore, as briefly as we talk about the moral side of pastoral ministry, let’s talk about the moral qualities of Christian spouses, parents and children, the requirements for which are so high that the Church, in a special sacrament, gives the grace of the Holy Spirit to those entering into marriage. Those who marry, according to the word of God, become “one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). Others are derived from this most important property of the marital union. The main ones are mutual love and mutual fidelity, which after marriage must be preserved by the spouses “until the end of their lives.” At the same time, the marital status of husband and wife is not the same. Just as Christ is the head of the Church, so in the Christian family - the “small Church” - the husband is the head of the wife, and the wife is the husband’s helpmate. Therefore, a husband, loving his wife, “should not treat her cruelly, having her as a slave,” but should not fall under her influence. A wife should lovingly submit to her husband. Abstinence in family life, in order to avoid temptations, can only be by mutual agreement for the exercise of virtue (1 Cor. 7:4-5). “In the event of weaknesses, husband and wife must bear with each other and endure each other with love,” bearing their cross, thereby maintaining harmony and peace in the family (2, 365–366; 6, 159–161). The rites of the Sacrament of Marriage especially highlight the blessed birth and Christian upbringing of children. Parents are fully responsible for the moral state of their children. To do this, while giving birth to children physically, they must raise them spiritually. The very attitude towards this responsibility indicates the degree of moral maturity of Christian spouses. To raise children correctly, parents must pray for their children, asking for help from God, live worthy of the name of Christians, protect their children from temptations, remembering that children imitate their actions more than listen to instructions. Neglect by parents of their duties is not only immoral (according to St. John Chrysostom, “worse than murder,” since the souls of children are destroyed along with their bodies), but will also be a grave accusation for them at the Judgment of Christ. The main virtues of children in relation to their parents are obedience and love for them, conscientiousness in doing what they tell them to do, helping them in old age, indulgence in their infirmities, and prayer for them. The punishments for those who do not honor their parents are as severe as for those who neglect parental responsibilities (Deut. 27:16; Lev. 20:9) (4:362–364; 6:161–164; 27:300–304, 795–800). Along with reading the Holy Scripture (which was discussed in the second chapter), an important factor in the moral improvement of a Christian is reading the patristic works. They “warn and restrain the faulty sinner, striving for destruction, saying: “Poor sinner! Where are you going? You will be in trouble there." But the “holy books” not only warn of danger. “From there,” the saint calls, “learn Christian pious living and do not let a single day pass without reading; and pray to God to make you understand what you read.” Soulful reading comforts the Christian soul. And although reading in itself does not save, but only indicates “the path to salvation,” it is an important means for acquiring virtue, enlightening the mind, moving to repentance, inciting to prayer, and thus, as it were, directing a Christian to Christ. The saint advises reading a little, but regularly, trying to imprint it in your memory and carry out what you read as best you can. The saint paid special attention to reading in church, both during divine services and during non-liturgical times. “According to the prayer behind the pulpit at the Liturgy,” he wrote (July 14, 1763), “on every Sunday and holiday, read either the explanatory Gospel, or from another book accepted by the Holy Church, or at least a useful word from the Prologue. On other Sundays, read from the Followed Psalter the very useful word, stimulating for a sleepy and careless soul, by St. Cyril of Alexandria “On the Exodus of the Soul” 120 . Reading can not only benefit the soul, but also harm it. “It is senseless and, even more so, lawless for those Christians who move away from the word of God and, leaving this life and holy source, amuse themselves in obscene books, which amuse their flesh, but corrupt their souls, and thus by reading they destroy themselves, rather than build them up. Others strive to know what is happening in America, Africa, Asia and other distant countries, but they do not want to know near themselves or within themselves what is happening to their soul, in what state it is in; they do not try to know from the word of God. Others try to test the nature of herbs, potions, trees and other things, but they do not want to examine their own nature, corrupted by sin, from the word of God. Some people learn to count the stars and measure the earth, but they don’t want to examine the short lives of their days and the countless falls into sin, for which we are guilty before God all the days before God, from Scripture” (27, 1173–1175). The saint writes the following about the manner of performing prayer and teaching it. It is possible to pray “in any place and at any convenient time for prayer.” “We must always pray (Luke 18:1) and unceasingly (1 Thessalonians 5:17), in every undertaking and deed we must raise our mind, heart and sighing to God and ask for His mercy, help and intercession.” “Prayer can be performed with the mind itself and without words,” while “the mouth without the heart, words without the mind, and the outer voice without inner heartfelt zeal are of no use.” One must, therefore, “pray not only with the tongue, but also with the heart,” with zeal (Luke 11:5–8; 18:1–8; Matt. 7:7) and with faith (Matthew 21:22), trying “although always, but especially in prayer to see God before oneself.” To do this, “we must begin and perform prayer with meditation and pray to God for this, so that He will teach us to pray in spirit and in truth” (3, 301–303; 4, 94). In the words of the psalm: be gracious to me, and hear my prayer (4:2), according to the interpretation of the saint, “David first asks for mercy from God, and so his prayer be heard; as if he said: “I am poor; You, God, have mercy on my poverty and thus hear my prayer” (2, 193). Standing before God in prayer encourages “not to be angry with anyone, not to be angry, but to leave every offense, so that God himself will forgive them their sins, for which purpose reconcile with those who have been offended in word or deed” (2, 183-184). The saint sees the Old Testament story of the salvation of the family of righteous Noah as an incentive to correct the morals of Christians. “It’s wonderful,” the saint writes, “that in Noah’s ark the beasts were fiercely meek and agreed: it was done by God’s command; and so they put aside their cruelty and ferocity, otherwise they would not have been able to fit in. Thus, those who have entered the holy Church put aside their former morals, such as brutal and bestial, and become meek, agreeable and peaceful. Through Baptism, everyone is renewed and the most holy disposition of Christ takes upon themselves” (27, 1158). “How can you say: “My Lord,” writes the saint, “but you yourself work for mammon, and are a slave of sin? How can you say: “Hear me, Lord,” but you yourself don’t want to listen to him and don’t stop making him angry? How can you sing: “My soul cleaves to You,” while you yourself cleave to the world? How can you raise your hands to Him, which you defile with theft, robbery, beating, unclean touch, etc.? How will you open your mouth to glorify and praise His holy name - lips that you defile with slander, foul language, flattery, slander, condemnation? (3, 303–304; 4, 251; 27, 1158). As we see, it is a sinful custom that is persistent in Russia, which the Venerable Theodosius of Pechersk denounced in his sermon “On Troparions and Drunkenness” back in the 11th century. The saint writes in many places in his works that in baptism a Christian is conformed to the death and resurrection of Christ, adopted by God, renewed and becomes a “new creation” and heir of eternal life. In the Sacrament of Baptism, the soul is betrothed to the Bridegroom - Christ. The saint speaks briefly about Confirmation as “a mystery, in which we are given strength through the Holy Spirit, so that we may firmly confess the name of Christ and the Orthodox faith” (2:2), which is the basis, in particular, of Christian morality. “Just as before repentance the mind was occupied with earthly, temporal and vain things, so after conversion in all plans and deeds it strives towards the one eternal and heavenly. Where his treasure is, there his heart turns” (27, 716). “Many put off repentance until old age,” writes the saint, “very badly! Ponezhe: 1) In old age, bodily strength will not be able to raise labor in repentance, and mental strength will be weakened in will and desire by evil custom and habit. If the Ethiopian changes his skin and the lynx changes his color, you can do good by learning evil (Jer. 13:23). 2) This postponement is a grave sin before God, because they sacrifice the best part of their life, that is, youth, to sin, the world, and the devil, and they want to offer the worst part, that is, old age to God. But whether we will be able to accomplish this is unknown, since how long we live and when we die is not in our power, but in God’s. And even then, do we want to live with God when we finish living? Should we then cease from sins when we can no longer sin? Should we then turn to God when God calls us to Himself even if we don’t want to? There is a devilish plot! He puts this thought into our heads so that he can destroy us more conveniently.” “When you are sick,” the saint further writes, “it is very difficult to fight the illness, think about sins, regret, and raise your mind and heart to God. In illness, there is a frenzy of mind, unconsciousness, loss of tongue, etc. Indignation, melancholy, mortal fear, the gravest of any illness. Satan here strives to drive and destroy the poor sinner into despair... We must beware, as someone from the father said, so that the weak do not have weak repentance, and the dying do not have dead repentance” (27, 729-730). Those who partake unworthily, although they partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, “they become blinded and are no longer enlightened, they become hardened and are not corrected, and so from sin they fall into sin, but they do not know their sin,” depriving themselves of the grace of God (27, 833). At various times, the saint sent out brief instructions throughout the diocese for reading in churches: “How it is appropriate to enter a holy church for doxology” (2, 100–101); “What every Christian from infancy to death should always keep in mind” (2, 101–102); “Some notes for awakening oneself from a sinful sleep” (2, 107–113); an explanation of Christian duties (possibly 2, 102–107). “When he learned that they did not want to listen to the catechetical teachings offered according to his instructions, he himself spoke and ordered an accusatory admonition to be sent out to the churches” (6 “Notes”, 49).