Беседа 34. Того же блаженного мар Исаака. Об утешениях, которые милосердный Бог дает тем, 1134 кто пребывает в безмолвии ради Бога.

1. Who will reach the heights of God’s grace and who will measure the great depth of His mercy? For those who serve before Him not for reward, but out of duty, He rewards with great consolation. Those who serve as if for the sake of reward are those who, enduring sorrows, failures and all other sad things for the sake of our Lord, do not rejoice; on the contrary, when, having worked for a short time, they are not consoled and calmed according to their expectations, they fall into indifference, complaints and cowardice. 1135 For they did not realize in their minds that sorrow for the sake of God is a great holiday for us - even if it overcomes us until the end of our lives, without consolation or interruption. And if someone does not accept with such a feeling 1136 and does not endure these Divine things, then neither God will collect and prepare for him in accordance with His own, nor will he himself be able to endure 1137. Verily, those who sow with tears, with unlimited thoughts, like children, will reap with joy, 1138 beyond the expectation of their understanding. 2. It happens that a person sits in this concentrated and enlightened silence, and there is no entrance or exit for him. But thanks to a long conversation with the Scriptures, constant prayer and thanksgiving in his weakness, when his gaze is constantly directed towards the grace of God, after great despondency in silence, little by little a certain spaciousness and germination begins to arise in his heart, giving birth to joy from within, although it has no reason in the person himself or in any single-mindedness of thought. 1139 He feels that his heart is rejoicing, but why - he does not know. A kind of jubilation seizes his soul, and a pleasure in which he despises everything existing and visible, and his mind, through its strength, sees on what this admiration of thought is based - but he does not understand the reason for this. A person sees that his mind is elevated above everything that exists 1140 and in its flight is above the world and memories that are below it. He despises the 1141 temporary world and pushes it far away and forever. And he no longer makes a distinction between the expansion of the mind during this beating of the heart and long-suffering 1142 in suffering. 3. There is no one who can comprehend the nature of 1143 these events, which by the grace of God happen to him. But truly 1144 blessed is he who, in the hope of the grace of God, endured despondency, which is a hidden test of his virtue and growth of reason. This is similar to the darkness of winter, which causes the growth of the hidden seed as it decomposes underground, with sudden changes in stormy weather. After a long wait for fruits, when this wait lasts a very long time, he drives away despondency so that it does not darken the eye of his soul due to reflection 1145 about those on whom his gaze is directed; after all, some of them usually evoke joy and beauty 1146 of the mind. The wait is long, and not soon. For if he does not receive quick consolation in his labors, he falls into despair, 1147 like a hired worker who is deprived of the wages he has earned. It also happens that skillfully and wisely 1148 he will be inspired by the hope of speedy deliverance, 1149 in order to cut off despondency from the soul through promises of this kind, and will find relief. For the soul easily accepts hopeful thoughts 1150 and very often, through hope, it changes sadness to relief. 4. If there were no struggle, there would be no need for warnings. There are many who consider these and similar warnings unnecessary, as if nothing happened to the person at all! 1151 If this were so, all people would equally receive blessings and equally gain spiritual benefits: then either no one would be recognized as sober or diligent, or, on the contrary, everyone would turn out to be evil. But I know that such a thought is the action of laziness, which is born from relaxation, which gives rise to this thought in despondency. Then there will be no more wakefulness, no sobriety, no prayer, no supplication of any kind: let every person calm down and not worry! If a diver found a pearl in every oyster, 1152 then every person would quickly become rich. And if the diver immediately got it, and the waves did not hit him, and the sharks 1153 did not meet him, he would not have to hold his breath so that he would suffocate, 1154 and he would not be deprived of fresh air, which is available to everyone, and would not descend into the depths - then pearls are more often than lightning strikes, and pearls are in abundance. 1155 5. So understand me. And let those who plunge into the ocean of silence be teachers - those who come across treasures in the ocean depths. 1156 Let us consider as oysters prayers that the mind stumbles upon, contemplations, insights, divine knowledge, wisdom, spiritual joy. 6. very often they are omitted, but they find ordinary flesh, 1157 and only sometimes a pearl in one. The same applies to our trade, to prayer: 1158 unless one falls into our hands, giving comfort 1159 in our fatigue. 7. Those who are skilled in the craft, who have reached the age of 1160 and who have spent a long time in labor, also know what movements to use when diving into deep places, where they can find beautiful pearls, very precious. In a similar way, this happens with the power of thinking during prayer; it floats in places where it is not easy for every person to swim. 8. As for us, weak, floating towards land, only these small pearls come across to us, if at all, and then only when we dive diligently, many times in a row, holding the breath of the thoughts of this world in our prayers and in our services, which are a short rest from tears. 9 . For a warm feeling 1161 from the grace of God falling upon us: through it we receive forgiveness of our sins, sweet and peaceful warmth, joy and unexpected lightness, as well as, from time to time, evidence of faith regarding our true hope, and some insights about the care and mercy of God towards us. 10. Who has not ever experienced these blessings of silence, each in its own time? Who will deny and say that he is deceived by the grace of God that accompanies him? 11. So, if, while we are still babies, we strive into the bottomless depths of the 1162 ocean into which our great Fathers plunged, we are obsessed with the desire to see the riches that they acquired and are acquiring, then we will drown in the ocean. 12. And if, because 1163 are easily accessible and of little value in our eyes compared to theirs, or if we avoid the storms of the ocean and completely lose zeal, then we will never learn to swim in prayer; 1164 we will not achieve mental art, which is spiritual wisdom, and we will not descend into the depths where the riches are. And perhaps even our daily bread will not be sufficient to support our short-term life, and we will end up always remaining in poverty and need. For the hand of the Lord is not so small, which taught the Fathers the conscious navigation of the mind 1165 and confidence when traveling across an ocean so full of riches, so as not to give us in Him time strong equipment to withstand the waves of the terrible ocean, so that we reach those places from which we extract spiritual treasures. Lit. “which by the mercy of God are given to those.” Lit. "little consciousness." Lit. “will not find itself in transference.” Those. the inner joy that a person receives does not depend on his own thought, but on God. Lit. “His mind is raised above connection with anything.” The expression naggiruta d-réyana (lit. "stretching of the mind") appears to be synonymous with the expression naggiruta ruha (long-suffering, patience in suffering; lit. "stretching of the spirit"). Or “essence” (literally “whatness”). Lit. "due to interview reflection." Lit. "to the depletion of hope." Lit. "with cunning wisdom." Lit. “he will give himself hope that it will soon (close).” Lit. “thoughts that are about hope.” Here and further Rev. Isaac uses the image of a diver getting oysters in the depths of the sea. Coming from the province of Qatar on the shores of the Red Sea, Rev. As a child, Isaac undoubtedly watched how oysters were harvested, and perhaps he did it himself. During the time of Rev. Isaac had a widespread view, according to which a pearl appears in an oyster at the moment when a ray of sun (or lightning) enters the oyster through its open valves. Lit. "to the riches of the ocean in the heart of the earth." Lit. "to our trade of prayer." Rev. Isaac continues to use the image of a diver who, having found a pearl in an oyster, then sells it at the market. Lit. "in which there is consolation." Lit. “who is skilled in craft and age (of antiquity).” Lit. "into the deepest depths." Lit. "light and small." Or “we will not know about the swimming that is in prayer.” Var. “gnostic immersion of the mind”, “spiritual swimming of the mind”. You might be interested in: