К монахам

(In these poems, St. Gregory rebels against the custom according to which a man or woman devoted to the contemplative life chose a person of the opposite sex to take care of household affairs, under the name of sinizakta and sinizakta, or also agapita (beloved) and agapita (beloved)) 1. If husbands or wives begin to praise the life that is common to many, so that, under the bonds of unanimity, they take care of standing around the merciful King, and, by vow, under one roof, strive for one goal and one path, then this is very good. For nothing beautiful likes to be seen alone; and that is still imperfect, which does not even succeed in comparison with the good. And friendship that sets narrow limits for itself brings little pleasure, just as unscrupulous friendship can be dirty. But I advise you to establish a great divide here too, so that men or wives, having devoted themselves to piety, live separately and have only common glory. Envy haunts not only those living in the aggregate; They have a lot of fighting ahead of them. And if you want to live alone in communion with the one Christ, and this is kind. However, everyone has the same fear as me, namely: struggle with the enemy and a disastrous fall. 2. I already have gray hair; I exhaust my flesh, I humble my eye; With day and all-night labors I exhausted the unfortunate soul, just to get rid of the fire, but with all this, not without difficulty, I keep my body in obedience. How can you, although you are still young and your flesh is wider than that of an elephant, with all this, rest yourself as a man who has achieved purity and spiritually loved his beloved? No! We must avoid love that does not think about Christ. 3. Your guardian, virgin, is the ever-living Christ, your beloved Bridegroom, jealous of your heavenly image. Therefore, do not accept flesh again as the guardian of your poor flesh, but avoid the gossip of evil people. Do not cover the undefiled tunic of Christ with shame, bringing reproach upon all the virgins. 4. Fire near straw is not safe. It is not safe for you, monk, to keep a virgin woman under the same roof. Let us suppose that the hope of better blessings separated man and woman from each other; but nature still hides a secret illness within itself. As long as you keep yourself away, you have one spark. But as soon as you come together, with a small breeze you will ignite a fire. 5. A mixture of white and black produces a grayish color. Life and death have nothing in between. And I don’t know where to classify these, as they are called, sinizakts? Should we admit that they are married, or call them celibate, or leave some kind of middle ground for them? But I (let them say bad things about me) will not praise this. There are more intemperate people in the world, and everyone, due to his own weakness, is quick to suspect others. You bear flesh and live together with your beloved, who also has flesh. What do you think those who live uncleanly will conclude about you? Let the chaste say nothing, but who will listen indifferently to the ridicule spread by the mob? Marriage is a legal and honest matter. But even better than the flesh (and much better) is freedom from the flesh. And if, beloved, there is, in addition to this, a celibate marriage, then you will live in a dubious marriage. 6. Try, firstly, to really be chaste, and secondly, not to give even a suspicion of anything vile. You are pure; you are purer than gold; however, it pains me to see that with body and eyes you are devoted to your beloved. You call her beloved; it's still an honest name. But alas, alas, that there is no impure love here! You say: “Nothing is unclean.” Yes, I believe you. But this will show others the way to live unholy with women. When a chaste man lives with a chaste woman, he is a muddy hole for her; I say this to men and women living together without marriage. Although the conscience is clear, one must avoid slander. And the tongue is most ready to speak evil. Who will put a flaming sword to my paradise? Who will provide the guardian of the great virginity? Who will prevent any beloved from ascending to my paradise, so that the tongue of the envious does not creep in there? Ridicule does not spare even saints. 7. Heavenly, great-hearted, radiant, high-ranking maiden! You, who are co-throne with angels who do not know marital ties and lead a lonely life, remember God, avoid the arrows of the flesh and do not disgrace your life by bringing a male guardian into your house! 8. How difficult it is to avoid carnal revolts during carnal intimacy! Therefore, monks, keep yourself away from women, because there are many secrets of marriage by which the attracted gaze defiles the soul. 9. Virgo, be a virgin both for prying eyes and in secret, and do not introduce a male guardian to yourself. Your beloved is Christ. Look at every husband with contempt. Why do you need to have deadly poison inside your home? Merge your eyes with your eyes; word with word, but pure with pure; after this we will decorate you with crowns of chastity. It is characteristic of the pure not to tolerate the idol of unreasonable flesh; and when men and women live together, the disease is not far away. 10. To both husbands and wives who come together under the name of lovers, I will say this: disappear, you are an ulcer for Christians, you, who are trying to cover up the frantic attraction of nature, disappear! And there is something fornicating in the eyes. 11. Virgo, keep everything clean, and most of all your eyes! Do not allow a male assistant, even the wisest one, to live with you in the house. You are blameless, but I am very afraid of envy, I am afraid that, having wounded you with slander, it will not destroy in you pure jealousy for the life that you loved. Away from me is the one who, although he honors purity, nevertheless takes into his house to live a virgin - an interlocutor of disembodied angels! What do you need fire for? Are you stronger than fire? How can you avoid the smoke, denigrating yourself with the disease of vain talkativeness? Virgo, you were taken from here and live in a higher world. Caring for meager food and clothing is a burden for you. But for their sake, do not expose yourself to shame and, instead of a guardian, do not accept an accomplice in shame and in life, although you are blameless, so that Christ does not cast you out as double-minded. 12. Avoid every man, especially sinizakt - this is the bitter water of Marah; trust me on this, maiden. I praise chastity and the chaste. And these lovers also mix some kind of bile into the honey (oh envy!). I praise the bigamist more than the lover, because marriage is not a shame; and even the stone does not spare the Sinizakts from reproach. 13. Monks! Lead a monastic life. If you live with your lovers, you are not monks. It is not typical for you to live as a couple. The image of angelic glory is loneliness. And if you are consoled by your beloved, then you are lovers of a mortal couple. I believe that you live with a pure person. But if you are now chaste with a woman, then I fear for tomorrow, lest some wind cause great disturbances to those who live for Christ and are comforted by their beloved. There is either fire or signs of fire in lovers. Avoid only external chastity. You might be interested in: