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What Saint Gregory the Theologian said about himself when he returned from the village after Maximus’ attempt to take the archbishop’s throne in Constantinople I wanted to be with you, children, and you equally wanted to be with me. I believe this, and if the word requires confirmation, I swear: “I am testified of this by your praise, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord” (1 Cor. 15:31)! This oath was given by the Holy Spirit, who moved me to you, that I might prepare for the Lord “a special people” (Titus 2:14). Look what faith is like: I assure you for myself and I vouch for you. And this is not at all surprising. Where there is a common spirit, there are common feelings; and where they feel equally, they believe equally. He who has not felt something himself will not believe another; and whoever felt is ready to give consent; he is an invisible witness to an invisible feeling, he is his own mirror for someone else’s image. That’s why I didn’t have the patience to live any longer apart from you; although what I see here saddens and burdens me not a little - not only what is common in cities: crowds of people, noise, markets, spectacles, satiety, insults that attract and are attracted, causing and suffering harm, crying and mourned, weeping, rejoicing, getting married, burying, praised and blasphemed, all the reasons for vice, the fermentation of the world, sudden changes both in Euripus and in the direction of the winds, but even these respectable and worthy of respect people - I’m talking about those present at this altar and at the holy meal. Since I apparently have power over them, and I myself am among those who approach God, I am afraid that we are approaching badly, and, like straw approaching the fire, we will not endure the fire. With all this, I returned to you; and although I left under compulsion, I still come back without coercion, even with great desire, and as they say, my legs walked on their own; So the Spirit leads me like a stream that lifts upward with effort, but flows down quickly of its own accord. Truly, one day is a whole human life for those who suffer from love. For, it seems to me, there is no example here of what happened to Jacob, who, after working for Laban the Syrian for fourteen years for two virgins, did not get tired. For him, as it is said, “because he loved them,” all the days were like one day (Gen. 29:20), perhaps because the object of love was before his eyes, or because it is easy to suffer from love, although the delay is distressing. So, what comes easily into possession excites desires less, as someone said before us. And when I was with you, I felt little of the power of love, and when I was separated, I recognized love - this delightful tormentor. There is nothing unusual about this. The shepherd grieves for the calf that has fallen behind the flock, for the sheep that is missing ten, and the bird grieves for the nest that it left for a short time. One, taking a pipe, ascending to a high place, fills his pipe with sad sounds, calls the lost as if they were reasonable, and, if they listen, rejoices over them more than over the whole flock, which did not give him such worries. And the other one flies screaming to the nest, falls to the chirping chicks and hugs them with her wings. What kind of attachment should a good shepherd have to the verbal sheep, for whom he has already been exposed to danger, since this also aggravates love? Likewise, I am afraid that the “fierce wolves” (Acts 20:29), noticing the darkness surrounding us, will scatter the flock with exciting and daring teachings. For, not having the strength to act clearly, they expect timelessness. I am afraid that “robbers and thieves”, passing through the courtyard (John 10:1), will either shamelessly kidnap, or catch by deception, and then slaughter, kill, destroy, “tormenting the prey, they eat up the souls,” as one of the Prophets said (Ezek. 22:25). I am afraid that someone who was ours yesterday and the next day, finding the door unlocked and entering it as one of their own, will begin to plot intrigues for us, like a stranger. For the one who acts in this way has many different cunnings, and no one is as varied in ingenuity as our adversary, cunning for evil. I am also afraid of dogs 202 who are trying to become shepherds, and, what is especially strange, they bring nothing to the pastoral title except cutting off the hair that they have grown for bad reasons. They did not remain dogs and did not become shepherds, but only plundered, scattered and destroyed the work of others. Because it is always easier to damage than to preserve; “And a man is born,” says Job (Job.5:7), and a ship is built, and a house is built with difficulty; but anyone who wants can kill one, destroy another, and burn the third. So, let those who have assigned dogs to the herd not think much of themselves; they cannot say that they have acquired or saved even one sheep. For those who practiced evil did not learn to do good. If they destroy the flock; then a small storm, a slight illness, or one suddenly attacking animal does this. So, let them stop boasting about their dishonor, and if they can, let them stop doing evil, “let them worship, fall down and mourn before the Lord who created them” (Ps. 95:6), and let those of them who are not yet completely incurable join the herd. I am telling you this, a timid and cautious shepherd, who is reproached for inactivity for being cautious. For I am not one of the shepherds who “eat milk, clothe themselves with wool, slaughter the fat, but do not feed the flock” (Ezek. 34:3-4), or sell and say: “Blessed is the Lord, I am rich” (Zech. 11:5), who feed themselves and not the sheep (if you remember the words of the Prophets with which they defeat the evil shepherds); on the contrary, I am more one of the shepherds who can say about themselves with Paul: “Who faints, with whom I do not faint? Who is offended”, and I am not inflamed with care (2 Cor. 11:29)? “I do not seek yours, but you” (2 Cor. 12:14). “I languished during the day from the heat, and at night from the cold,” according to the words of the Patriarch, the shepherd (Gen. 31:40), whose sheep were “strong” and tried to “conceive” at the “troughs” there (Gen. 30:41–42) 203. So for these reasons I came to you who are in this situation. And since I came, we will give each other an account of what we managed to do during the separation. For it is not bad to remember that we will be required to account not only for words and deeds, but both for the whole time and for the smallest and shortest part of time. You “tell” me “your deed” (John 1:8), and I will offer you what I thought about in silence, talking to myself. Which of the high speculations, either borrowed from me, have you retained, or added from yourself, regarding either Theology or other dogmas, many of which I have often proposed to you? I demand from you not only debt, but also growth, not only talent, but also profit, so that someone, having hidden and closed what was entrusted, would not begin to slander the one who trusted that He is “cruel” and desires someone else’s (Matthew 25:24). So, what praiseworthy work have you brought into fruit, so that either “the left hand does not recognize” (Matthew 6:3), or your light shines before people (Matthew 5:16), so that the tree can be seen by the fruit, the teacher can be recognized by the disciples, and so that each of those watching us (and many do this, some out of goodwill, others out of curiosity) can say, “Truly God is with you” ( 1 Cor. 14:25), and you not only preach Him soundly, but also serve Him? For just as work without faith is not acceptable, because many do good for the sake of glory and according to a natural disposition, so “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). And let no one “deceive you with empty words” (Eph. 5:6), any of the people who willingly allow everything under the one condition that you adhere to ungodly teachings, and offer a bad reward for a bad deed. So, show faith by works, show the fertility of your land, did I not sow in vain, do you have at least one “sheaf of bread that has power to make flour” (Hos. 8:7), and is worth a barn, so that we can cultivate you even more diligently in the future. Who bears fruit a hundredfold? who's sixty? who is finally at least thirty? Or vice versa, who, ascending from thirty-fold to sixty-fold (for we see this order in the Gospel) 204 (Matthew 13:8); and with the Evangelist Mark in the reverse order: “and some brought forth thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred” (Mark 4:8), ending with a hundredfold fruit, so that, “prospering” like Isaac (Gen. 26:13), becoming great, going “from strength to strength,” singing songs of degrees and putting “ascension in the heart” (Ps. 83:6,8 )? “I seek fruit that will increase for your benefit” (Phil. 4:17). For the profit is yours, not mine. If it is mine, it is because it is yours; for the benefit from you returns to us like reflected rays. Have you fed the poor? Were strangers accepted? Have “the feet of the saints been washed” (1 Timothy 5:10)? Or, pleasing the belly, which “will be destroyed” (1 Cor. 6:13), did you delight (let us assume) in the commandments, since there is no pleasure that would be better and stronger than this for those who want to enjoy? Did they, to the best of their ability (let me also say this), restorate any of those who served the altar and were in great misery, so that, without having fun, they served the altar the more diligently, and, borrowing from yours, brought their own in return? It’s truly a shame for us to ask for this, and for you not to delete it. I did not notice “this so that it would be so for me, for for me it is better to die than” so that my praise would be destroyed (1 Cor. 9:15) and my gospel would remain without reward when I reap fruits here - for preaching the gospel is a matter of necessity, and preaching the gospel freely is a matter of zeal, but may you learn to do good to Christ by doing good to someone, even one of the little ones. For Christ, just as He became for me everything that is in me, except for sin, so He also takes upon Himself everything that concerns me in any way - whether you provide me with shelter or clothing, whether you visit me in prison, whether you come to the sick, or, most importantly, cool the tongue of someone tormented by thirst with one cup of cold water, as the rich man suffering in the flames asked poor Lazarus to do for him. a luxurious life, for the contempt of the hungry and scabbed Lazarus, is repaid by asking Lazarus and not receiving what he asked. This is what we demand from you, and I know that you will not be ashamed, both when giving an account to me, and on the last day, on which all our deeds will be collected, according to what was said: “And I will come to gather your thoughts” and your deeds (Is. 66:18); this is a man, and his work “and his reward is with him” (Is. 40:10). But here is ours, which we bring to you from the desert. For Elijah willingly preached wisdom at Carmel, and John in the desert, and Jesus himself performed deeds before the people, and prayed for the most part in freedom and in the deserts. What lesson does this teach? He, I think that for an undisturbed conversation with God you need to immerse yourself in silence and at least somewhat raise your mind from the fickle. For He Himself had no need for solitude; and there was no place where He could hide, being God and fulfilling everything; He retired so that we would know the time for both business and higher exercise. So, what are the fruits of my desert? Like a good merchant who collects profit from everywhere, I want to bring you something from it to buy. One day, when the day was already approaching evening, I was walking alone, immersed in myself, and the place of my walk was the seashore. I always have the custom of making my work easier with such rests. Because the bowstring, constantly stretched, cannot withstand the tension, but it must be lowered from the arrow so that it can be tensioned again, and so that it is not useless for the shooter, but useful in case of use. So I walked; my legs carried me from one place to another, and my gaze rested on the sea. The spectacle was unpleasant, although it is most pleasant at other times, when under a clear sky the sea is covered in purple, quietly and meekly playing, splashing into the shores. But what was happening at this time? I will gladly say, and even in the words of Scripture: “a strong wind was blowing” (John 6:18), the sea was agitated and howling, and the waves, as usually happens in such storms, alone rose in the distance and gradually, now reaching their greatest height, now lowering, crashed against the shores; while others, hitting nearby rocks and being reflected by them, turned into foamy and high-flying spray. Here small stones, growths, snails and the lightest shells were thrown out, and some were again absorbed with the ebb of the wave. But the rocks stood firm and motionless, as if nothing disturbed them except the fact that the waves were hitting them. From this I was able to extract something useful for philosophy. And how I apply everything to myself, especially if something that happened makes me dizzy, as was the case now, I did not look without attention at what was visible, and this sight was a lesson for me. I said to myself: isn’t the sea our life and human affairs? And there is a lot of salty and unstable things in it. And aren’t the winds the assassination attempts and all sorts of surprises that befall us? This, it seems to me, noting that the venerable David says: “Save me, Lord, for the waters have reached my soul”; deliver me from the depths of the waters, “I have entered into the depths of the waters, and their swift current carries me away” (Ps. 69:2-3). As for those who are tempted, some, I reasoned, like the lightest airy bodies, are carried away and do not in the least resist adversity, because they do not have in themselves the firmness and weight delivered by a chaste mind and ready to fight the circumstances encountered; and others, like a stone, are worthy of the Stone on which we are established and Which we serve. Such are all those who, guided by a wise mind and standing above the low rabble, endure everything firmly and unshakably, and laugh at those who waver or pity them - they laugh out of wisdom, they pity out of philanthropy. For themselves, they consider it a shame to despise distant disasters and not even consider them disasters, but to concede victory over themselves to the present, and, moreover, short-term ones, as if they were permanent, to show wisdom untimely, and in case of need to turn out to be unwise; which is the same as if one began to consider himself an excellent fighter who has never entered the field, or a skilled helmsman who thinks highly of his art in calm weather, but in a storm throws the helm out of his hands. But as I already dwelled on this reasoning once; then I came across another similarity, quite similar to the real thing. Perhaps you will consider me an old man and a fabulist when I tell you this; however, you must find out this; because, as is known, Scripture repeatedly uses such similarities for clarity of presentation. According to the fable, there is a tree that turns green when it is cut down and resists iron - and if the unusual should be expressed in an unusual way - which lives by death, grows from the cut, and multiplies when it is destroyed. Of course, this is a fable and an arbitrary invention, but it seems to me that a wise man is exactly the same. He is glorified in suffering, turns sorrow into a reason for virtue, is adorned by misfortunes, is not exalted “by the weapon of righteousness in the right hand,” does not faint “before the weapon in the left hand” (2 Cor. 6:7), but in different circumstances he always remains the same or becomes even brighter, like gold in a crucible. Let's look at him this way: is he of noble origin? Along with the nobility of blood, he will show good character in himself, so that he will earn respect in two ways; - will you begin to analyze his genealogy, or look at him himself. Or is he a statue of low workmanship and made of cheap clay (if there is a difference between clay and clay)? Replacing this with spiritual nobility, which everyone imprints on himself, for worse or better; and any other nobility that is instilled in us, or communicated to us by letters, should be marked as worthless and counterfeit. For nobility comes in three forms. One is from above, and according to it we are all equally noble, because we are all created in the image of God. The second depends on the flesh, and according to it, since it consists of corruption, I do not know whether anyone is noble. The third is known by vices and virtues, and we participate in it more or less to the extent that I think we preserve or corrupt the image of God in ourselves. It is this last nobility that the true sage and the truly wise will love. The fourth kind of nobility, which depends on letters and decrees, then honor the word when I agree to recognize browned beauty as beauty, or respect the monkey who was ordered to be a lion. Is he a young man? - He will courageously rebel against passions and take advantage of his youth in order not to be subjected to anything characteristic of the young, but in a young body to show old age prudence; and will rejoice in victory more than those crowned at Olympia. For he will win a victory in the general spectacle - in the spectacle of the Universe, and a victory that is not for sale 205. Does he bow to old age? – But he will not grow old in soul, he will meet his death as a predetermined day of necessary liberation, he will joyfully move into the life to come, where there is neither an immature nor an old man, but everyone is perfect in spiritual age. Is he endowed with blooming beauty? In one beauty, another shines through him, in the physical - spiritual. Has the color of its beauty been preserved without damage? He is deep within himself and does not know if others are looking at him. Is his appearance ugly? But his hidden person is beautiful, like a flowery and most fragrant rose, which has not yet opened from its shell, which has neither color nor smell. Red with kindness is greater than the sons of men, he will not give time to look at his appearance, turning the viewer to something else. Is he strong in appearance? He will use his health for the better: he will give advice, he will amaze with words, he will speak boldly, he will spend time in vigil, sleep on bare ground, fast, exhaust material things, contemplate earthly and heavenly, and think with all care about death. Will he become sick? Will fight the disease. And if he is defeated; then he will gain the upper hand, having achieved the point of no longer fighting. Is he rich? - He will manage to squander wealth and from his property, as a steward of someone else’s, will give to those in need, so that it will serve the recipient for the good, and he himself will concentrate in God, having nothing except the cross and the body. Is he poor? - He will become rich in God, laughing at those who have a lot, because just as they constantly acquire, so they constantly beg, having a need for even more, and drink in order to feel more thirsty. Is he hungry? - He will live with the birds that feed, without sowing or cultivating the land, he will live with Elijah with the Sarepta woman. “The jar of oil will not fail, and the jar of flour will not be exhausted” (1 Kings 17:14), the first will continually flow, the other will bring a bountiful harvest, so that the hospitable widow will be honored, and the feeder will have food. Is he thirsty? - Springs and rivers will give him a drink that does not quench and is given without measure; and if the waters everywhere become scarce due to lack of rain, then perhaps he will drink from the stream (1 Kings 18:5). Will he tolerate the cold? – Paul also endured him (2 Cor. 11:27). Moreover, how long will he endure? – There is also a robe made of stone, as Job will assure you of, who says: “having no shelter, they huddle in the rock” (Job 24:8). Consider even greater perfections. Will he be maligned? He will win because he will not repay slander with slander. Will they persecute him? - It will transfer. Will they blaspheme? – “He will be comforted” (1 Cor. 4:13). Will they slander? - He will begin to pray. Will they hit you on the right cheek? - He will convert the other one too; and if he had a third, he would have substituted that one too, so that he could quickly teach the one who hit him to be generous, and enlighten him with deeds when he could not with words. Will they scold him? – Christ suffered this too. And he will be honored by participating in Christ’s suffering. Will they call him a Samaritan, will they say that he has a demon in him? - Everything will be accepted with God. No matter how numerous his sufferings may be, he still lacks much: vinegar, gall, a crown of thorns, a reed scepter, a scarlet robe, a cross, nails from crucified robbers who pass by and blaspheme. God had to have the advantage in this matter, so that in the very shame he could endure more! There is nothing so irresistible and invincible as wisdom! Everyone will give in sooner than the wise man. This is a “wild donkey” in the desert, as Job says, unbound and free, “laughing at the cold city crowd and not hearing the cries of the driver” (Job 39:7). This is a "unicorn" - an animal without permission. “Will he want to serve you” and will he “spend the night at your manger” (Job.39:9), will you bring him under the yoke? “When he is deprived of everything on earth, his wings are ready, like an eagle’s, he will return to the house of his abbot and soar to God.” I will say briefly: only God and the Angel are irresistible, and thirdly, a wise man, immaterial in substance, unlimited in body, heavenly on earth, impassive in suffering, yielding victory to everything except self-conceit, and those who think to master him, victorious by his overthrow. Since my word, starting with the likeness I presented, depicted a wise man, then according to this image we will consider ourselves. “I think, and I have the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 7:40), although some of what has been said may hurt and overthrow me, so that my haters and enemies, if they find me defeated, have an excuse, if not for their intention, then at least for their behavior, and if I turn out to be more perfect and higher than those attacking me, they either leave their anger, or invent a new path of unrighteousness (since the real one is despised), and beyond their malice could not be convicted of folly, as “wicked in vain” (Ps. 24:3) and not having to commit iniquity, which they try to do. Let's see how those who decide to do everything that a person can do to offend a person will insult me? Will they be called ignorant? - I know one wisdom - to fear God. For “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 1:1). And “hear the essence of everything: fear God” (Eccl. 12:13). So said the wise Solomon. Therefore, let them prove that I have no fear; and then they will win. As for other wisdom, I partly left it myself, and partly I wish and hope to acquire it, through my trust in the Spirit. Reproach for poverty? “But she is my excess.” I would gladly take off these rags too, so that I could walk through the thorns of life without them! I would willingly, as soon as possible, put aside this heavy tunic 206 in order to get a lighter one. Will they be called a fugitive from the fatherland? - How lowly do these truly scolders and haters of the strange think of us! Do I have a fatherland defined by a place, for whom the fatherland is everywhere and nowhere? Aren’t you a wanderer and an alien? I don’t praise your monastery if you think so; take care that you do not lose your true fatherland, in which you must prepare your residence. And don’t blame us for old age and sickness. Not only matter and nature are to blame for this, but (learn something from my secrets!) the mind is also depleted (I will boast a little about that). And you, growing fat and feeding your flesh, are not a pleasant sight for me. It would be good if you, too, showed some gray hair and pallor, so that we could be sure that you are a reasonable and wise person! What else? Will they be dethroned? - From which ones? Did I now ascend the throne with pleasure as I did before? Do I consider those who ascend to thrones blessed? Will you make them pleasant for me, you who ascend unworthily? Didn't what happened recently reveal my way of thinking to you? Or was this just fun and a test of love, as people who are skilled at seeing their own vices in others can partly suspect and partly divulge? What did contrition mean? What did the conclusions that I publicly pronounced on myself mean? What did the tears mean that in me, who was almost hated for my resistance, aroused pity in you? Deprive him of the chairmanship? - But when and which of the right-thinking people valued it? And now, in my opinion, avoiding it is the height of prudence. For because of him everything among us becomes confused and wavers; for him, the boundaries of the Universe 207 are troubled with suspicion and wage some kind of invisible and nameless abuse; for him, we, created by God, are in danger of becoming a creature of men and losing a great and new name. Oh, if there were no presiding, no preference for places, no painful advantages, and we were distinguished by one virtue! But the current order - to stand on the right, on the left, in the middle, above and below, to go in front or next to us - has caused us a lot of unnecessary confusion, casting many into the abyss and placing them on the side of the goats, many not only from the lower ones, but even from the shepherds, who, being “teachers of Israel,” did not understand these (John 3:10). Will they not be allowed to the altars? - But I know another altar, the image of which is now visible altars, which was not ascended by either a tool or the hands of a stonemason, on which iron is not “heard” (1 Kings 6:7), which was not touched by artists and cunning people, but which is entirely a matter of the mind, and to which one ascends by contemplation. I will stand before him, and on him I will “offer what is pleasing” to God (Lev. 1:5), and sacrifice, and offering, and burnt offerings, as much better than those offered now, as the truth is better than shadow. About him, I think, the great David also philosophizes, saying: “And I will approach the altar” of God, “who makes glad” my spiritual “youth” (Ps. 43:4). No one will distract me from this altar, no matter how much I wish. Will they be expelled from the city? “But they will not drive us out of that city that is woeful.” If my haters can do this, they will truly defeat me. And until they are unable to do this, until then they only splash water at me and beat me with the wind, or amuse themselves with dreams. This is how I look at their attacks! - Will they take away the property? - Which? If it’s mine, then let them clip the wings that I didn’t tie up. And if it is church, then because of it all the fighting is happening, because of it “the thief is jealous of the ark” (John 12:6), and betrays God for thirty pieces of silver, which is the most terrible thing of all; for such a price is not worth the betrayed, but the traitor. Will they prohibit entry into the house? Will they stop the ways to luxury? Will they alienate you from your friends? But, as you see, we have burdened quite a lot of people, although we were invited by them (I don’t want to be ungrateful). If they burdened them, then perhaps it was all the more because they were spared, and not because they were accepted by them. The reason for this is that I was reposed in one pious and God-loving house, which was for me the same as the house of the Sumanite woman was for Elisha - kindred to me in the flesh, kindred in spirit, generous in everything, a house in which this people grew in unanimity, not without fear and not without danger, hiding their persecuted piety. May the Lord reward this house on the day of retribution! And if I pursue luxury, then let those who hate me make fun of me. There is no evil that I would not wish for myself to a greater extent. As for friends, I know well that alone, and having suffered something bad, they will not run away from me, for condolences are produced only by the common patience of insults. And if I am despised by others, then I have already learned to endure contempt. For some of the friends and sincere ones, even openly, “deviated from me”; others, the most philanthropic, “stand afar off” (Ps. 37:12–13), and on this night 208 everyone was offended. Peter hardly even denied, and perhaps he does not cry bitterly in order to heal sin. And it is clear that I am the only one bold and full of boldness, I am the only one trustworthy in the midst of fear, the only one is patient - both exposed to the people and despised in private, known to the East and West for the fact that they wage war against me. What arrogance! “If an army takes up arms against me, my heart will not fear; if war arises against me, then I will hope” (Ps. 27:3). Not only do I not consider any of the present events terrible, but I even forget about myself, I cry for those who offended me, for these once members of Christ, members precious to me, although they are now corrupted, for the members of this flock, which you almost betrayed, even before they were gathered together. How did you dissolve and dissolve others, like oxen “leaping” (Mal.4:2)? How was the altar built against the altar? “How can they accidentally come to ruin” (Ps. 73:19)? How did they inflict death on themselves by cutting themselves, and made us suffer? How was the simplicity of the shepherds used to destroy their flock? For I will not blame the flock for their inexperience, but I will blame you for your malice. “In your destruction, O Israel, who will help” (Hos. 13:9)? What kind of healing treatment can I find? What bandage? How can I unite what is divided? With what tears, with what words, with what prayers will I heal the broken? There is only one way left. The Trinity is Holy, worshiped, perfect, truly considered and revered by us. This is your work, the glory of accomplishment belongs to you! Restore to us again those who are so far removed from us, and let the separation itself teach them like-mindedness! Give us heavenly and serene rewards for our labors here. And the first and greatest of these blessings is to be illuminated by You more perfectly and purer, and to know that You, one and the same, can be represented as a Unity and found as a Trinity, that the Unbegotten and the Begotten and the Proceeding are one nature, three persons, “one God, who is above all, and through all, and in all” (Eph. 4:6), God, to whom nothing is added, and in whom nothing is transferred, not belittled, not cut off, Whom we already comprehend in part, in part we try to comprehend, and will someday be comprehended, like those who sought Him well here both in life and in contemplation. To him be glory, honor, power forever. Amen. According to Elijah’s explanation, the Holy Theologian here means Maxim and calls him a dog, like a cynic. At the same time, Elijah notices that the cynics grew their hair with special care. According to Elijah’s explanation, the Holy Theologian here means Holy Scripture, from which the verbal sheep must drink living water when they conceive the seed of salvation within themselves. From the Evangelist Matthew we read: “it brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold”: At the Olympic and other games, strong wrestlers often gave up victory over themselves to weaker ones for money. That is, the natural body, in order to put on the spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:44). In which the Egyptian bishops, entering one church, wanted to ordain Maximus. You might be interested in: