Беседа 6. Того же мар Исаака. Указательные знаки ко спасению. 364 И о видах истинной связи 365 с Богом, которые усматриваются в душе.

1. I give you two true signs, my brother; and at the time when God honors you with inner illumination, 366 through them you will feel the light of your soul. They are enough to show you the truth that has shone in your soul. 367 2. When, by the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, that illumination of reason about which the Fathers speak shines in you, these two signs will give you confirmation regarding this. But when you do not find them in yourself - even if you are sure that you have achieved perfection, 368 - know that you are very far from them. 3. One of these signs is the following. When that hidden light already shines in your soul, a sign of this will be that every time you finish reading or praying, your mind will be captivated by some verses and the thoughts contained in them and will begin to reflect on them, examine them and, according to your own impulse, consider their spiritual meaning; he will be so attached to them that he will not be dissipated by anything else from the created. 370 Even if you don’t particularly care about this as something inherent to you, this naturally happens to the mind - however, not entirely and completely, but, of course, partially. 371 4. The second sign, just as accurate as the first, is the following. When the soul comes out of darkness and becomes light from within, then prolonged kneeling is given to the hermit, and his stay 372 in them turns out to be so enjoyable that for three days he kneels on the ground in prayer, not feeling tired due to pleasure and not wanting to even get up from the ground. 373 And even every time he raises his head, wanting to get up, because of this long-lasting heartfelt delight that envelops his heart, he again falls on his face, and prayer is no longer so important to him, 374 for the minute when prayer enters his heart, he feels help to such an extent and the pleasure in him intensifies so much that his tongue stops and his heart becomes silent. And so, that delightful silence seizes his heart and his members, 375 so that even the Kingdom of Heaven, so to speak, he does not consider comparable in pleasure to this silence 376 in prayer. Silent, he lies prostrate on his face night and day. And in the same way, in accordance with how and to what extent a person enters into this illumination of the mind, he is rewarded with pleasure in kneeling. 5. All this is for those who are constantly in silence, I write, my brother: not for those to whom these divine things that happen between God and the saints in inexpressible mystery seem worthy of laughter. 6. What other need do I have, my brother, to tell you about something that is impossible to talk about, because it is incomprehensible? 377 Give yourself over to the work of prayer, and you yourself will gain what you cannot hear from anyone else. 7. I saw one husband among the fathers, and he told me: “I can never kneel in prayer without silence falling into my heart at the very moment I begin to pray. And even if I am on my knees all day in prayer, I am not able to say anything, but I am silent involuntarily. Only after much labor did I find this; thanks to silence I suddenly acquired this.” Only from this one old man did I hear about such things, and I have not met another person who would have acquired a similar experience in the same way, 379 or who would speak about it with the same authority as he. But since not every person is able to hear about this or achieve this grace of pure prayer and the power contained in it, even those who, by grace, have acquired these, keep them within themselves, thanking God, who gave them such consolation to heal their sorrows. 8. The one who writes these, my brother, writes about this from experience, and, by the grace of Christ, he himself knows a little of a lot about them, and he is confirmed in them. Other things that are greater and exceed his measure, by grace, were revealed to him in his thoughts, however, he has as witnesses and guides the writings of ancient and trustworthy men. 380 When, for some reason, he was deprived of what was discussed above, he was also deprived of this action, and he did not see those two signs in his soul. You, too, make sure of them and look for these signs in yourself. 381 And when bowing is difficult for you and staying in them is tiring for you, or when, at the end of the divine words and prayer, your mind wanders without fruit and without remembering these words 382, ​​then know that great darkness has accumulated inside you. 9 . While there is despondency in your prayer and service, I cannot admit that the door of life has opened in you. 383 But the cure for this darkness is born from the very work of prayer, when you struggle and spend time and labor in it. Then you will quickly and in a short time feel help from prayer, if there is no reason for worrying about something external or about any person within you. Lit. “indications and signs of life,” or “indications and signs of salvation.” Lit. "about true connections." Var. "to be illuminated from within." Lit. “even if you think in every possible way that you are good.” Lit. "the content that is in them." Lit. “He will not wander through anything other than created things.” Var. “Even if you, for your part, do not care much about this subject, it is because such things happen to the mind of its own volition - not entirely, but to a large extent.” Lit. “and prayer constantly becomes something small (insignificant) for him.” It's about praying out loud. Lit. “namely, that it is truly incomprehensible.” Lit. “certified”, “verified”. Lit. “about what is in them”, i.e. about the content of what is read in Scripture. You might be interested in: