ЗДОРОВЬЕ

“Behold, you are cured; Sin no more” (John 5:14). Experience shows that sins and passions destroy the health of the soul and body, and victory over passions brings heavenly peace to the soul and health to the body. Defeat the many-headed hydra of sin - and you will be healthy. Keep peace of mind within yourself and do not be indignant, do not be irritated by any contradictions, insults, faults, untruths - and you will always enjoy mental and physical health. Excitement, indignation, the fire of various passions give rise to many mental and physical illnesses in us (6). Do not have any addiction not only to food and drink, to clothing, to a spacious and well-decorated home, to rich household utensils, but also to your health, even to your life, do not have the slightest addiction, having surrendered your whole life to the will of the Lord, saying: “for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). “Whoever hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life” (John 12:25). Addiction to temporary life, to health leads to many deviations from the commandments of God, to indulgence of the flesh, to breaking fasts, to evading the conscientious performance of service duties, to despondency, impatience, and irritability (6). It’s an amazing thing: no matter how much we worry about our health, no matter how much we take care of ourselves, no matter how healthy and enjoyable foods we eat, no matter how healthy drinks we drink, no matter how much we walk in the fresh air, what ultimately ends up happening is that we are exposed to disease and decay. The saints, who despised the flesh, who mortified it with incessant abstinence and fasting, lying on the bare ground, vigil, labor, and unceasing prayer, immortalized both their soul and their flesh: our bodies, much nourished and sweet, emit a stench after death, and sometimes during life, and their bodies are fragrant and bloom both during life and after death. It’s an amazing thing: while we create, we destroy our body, but they, while destroying, created; We, pouring fragrances over it, do not avoid its stench, but they, caring not for the fragrance of the body, but for the soul to be a fragrance for God, scented their bodies. My brothers! Understand the task, the purpose of your life. We must mortify the multi-passionate body or carnal passions through abstinence, work, prayer, and not revive it and its passions through delicacy, satiety, laziness (6). Health and the belly are those idols, especially among the people of this century, from them I am a great sinner, for which we live and whom we constantly serve, to the point of neglecting the affairs of our Christian calling, for example, reading the Word of God, which is sweeter than honey and honeycomb, prayer, this sweet conversation with God, and composing sermons on the Word of God. Walking a lot for health and to stimulate a better appetite, eating with appetite - these are the objects of desires and aspirations of many of us. And because of our frequent walks, because of our addiction to food and drink, you see: this is irretrievably missed, and this is not done, and this does not come to mind, because after a delicious lunch or dinner, is there anything serious to do? (6) You might be interested in: