Theological poems

The surviving poetic heritage of St. Gregory the Theologian includes 408 poems, most of which belong to the last period of his life (383-389). Saint Gregory wrote in an archaic language, used traditional meters for ancient Greek poetry, based on the alternation of long and short syllables (hexameter, elegiac distich, iambic, iambic trimeter and pentameter), and often imitated Homer, Euripides and other ancient poets. Poems by St. Gregory the Theologian are devoted to various aspects of Christian life, they reflect most of the theological themes discussed in other works of the saint. Corpus of poetic works of St. Gregory is divided into “Theological Poems”, “Historical Poems”, “Epitaphs”, “Inscriptions”. The cycle “Theological Poems” contains 78 verses and is divided into two sections: dogmatic (38) and moral (40). Among the dogmatic poems, the cycle “Mysterious Songs” (verses 1-5, 7-9) stands out. This is a kind of short course in dogmatics, presented in poetic form and including poems about the basics of theology, about the Son, about the Holy Spirit, about the world, about the Providence of God, about angels, about the soul, about the coming of Christ, about man, etc. Separate poems are devoted to the parables and miracles of Jesus Christ, the number of canonical books of the Holy Scriptures. Moral poems reveal ascetic issues; they address issues of chastity, voluntary poverty, the fight against passions, spiritual and worldly life, etc. St. Gregory in his poems strives to arouse love for virtues and aversion to vice and offers in them rules of life, both general - for all people, and private - for family members, monks, virgins, depicts the vanity of human life, the impermanence of everything earthly, and especially glorifies virginity. *The title of the work in Latin is Carmina theologica. Contents Section I. Dogmatic poems 1. About the Father 2. About the Son 3. About the Holy Spirit 4. About the world 5. About Providence 6. About the same 7. About intelligent beings 8. About the soul 9. About the covenants and the coming of Christ 10. About the incarnation (against Apollinaris) 11. About Christ's incarnation 12. About the genuine books of the Inspired Scripture 13. [Twelve] Patriarchs - the sons of Jacob 14. Egyptian Plagues 15. Mosaic Decalogue 16. Miracles of the Prophets Elijah and Elisha 17. To the Church of Elijah, called the Widow's Church 18. Genealogy of Christ 19. Twelve Apostles 20. Miracles of Christ according to Gospel of Matthew 21. Miracles of Christ according to the Gospel of Mark 22. Miracles of Christ according to the Gospel of Luke 23. Miracles of Christ according to the Gospel of John 24. Parables of Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew 25. Parables of Christ according to the Gospel of Mark 28. Parables of Christ according to the Gospel of Luke 27. Proverbs The four evangelists of Christ 28. The storm pacified by Christ 29. A song to God 30. Another song to God 31. Another song 32. Evensong 33. Thanksgiving 34. Another thanksgiving 35. Prayer before reading the Holy Scriptures 36. A prayer for one who goes on a journey 37. Another prayer for a good journey 38. A prayer about the same other Section II. Moral poems 1. Praise of virginity 2. Advice to virgins 3. Admonition to virgins 4. To the virgin 5. To monks in the hostel 6. On chastity 7. On purity 8. Comparison of spiritual life and worldly life 9. On human virtue 10. On virtue 11. Conversation with the world 12. On the frailty of human nature 13. About the same 14. About human nature 15. About the low value of the external world 16. About the ways of life 17. Bliss and definitions of spiritual life 18. About human life 19. About the same 20. Addiction 21. The death of the kind 22. Unkind friends 23. About the same 24. On those who often swear 25. On anger 26. On a person of high birth and low in morality 27. About the same 28. On rich lovers 29. On women who love clothes 30. Thoughts written in one line 31. Thoughts written in couplet 32. Couple 33. Thoughts written in quatrain 34. Definitions lightly written 35. On wise poverty 36. About that the same 37. On patience 38. About the same 39. Happiness and prudence 40. About human vanity Section I. Dogmatic poems I know that on a fragile boat I set off on a long voyage or on small wings I am carried away to the starry sky - I, in whom the idea was born to discover the Divinity, 5. or the definitions of the great God, and the key for everything, while the heavenly minds do not have the strength to revere God as much as they should. However, since the Divine is often pleased with the gift not so much of a full hand as of a hand pleasing to Him, albeit meager, I will boldly speak the word. But whoever is wicked, run away! My word extends either to those who have been purified or to those who are working to purify themselves. 10. Desecrated? Just as the animals that touched the mountain when Christ shone from its top and wrote the law to Moses on the tablets (Ex. 19:13), were immediately beaten with stones that were rejected, so it will be with them. So the word from our face drives out the evil ones, 15. who have a heart that fights against God. And I will put on the pages as a preface what the ancient godly men - Moses and Isaiah (I say this to those who know), 20. when one gave a newly written law, and the other reminded of the broken law in order to tremble a hard-hearted people - presented words as evidence. Look, heaven, and let the earth hear my words (Deut. 32:1; Isa. 1:2)! Spirit of God! You awaken my mind and tongue in me, make them a thunderous trumpet of truth, so that all who cling with their hearts to the entire Divinity may delight! 25. There is one God, beginningless, guiltless, unlimited by anything, either previously existing or having to be after, and in the past and in the future, embracing eternity, boundless, the good, great, Only Begotten Son, the great Father, Who in the birth of the Son did not suffer anything inherent in the body, because He is the Mind. There is one other God, 30. but not another in Divinity - this Word of this God, the living seal of the Father, the one Son of the Beginningless and the Only One, equal in everything to the Father (except that one is entirely the Parent, and the other the Son), the World Maker and Ruler, the power and thought of the Father. 35. One Spirit is God from the good God. May everyone perish who is not so imprinted by the Spirit that His Divinity is revealed, who either has evil in the depths of their hearts or an unclean tongue - these half-bright, envious people, these self-taught sages - this blocked source (Prov. 25:27), a lamp hidden in a dark bosom (Luke 11:33)! First of all, let us glorify the Son, honoring the blood - the cleansing of our infirmities. For because of the evil, suicidal tongue that has rebelled against God, it is necessary for mortals to help those in heaven. 5. Nothing existed before the great Father, because He has everything in Himself. And He is known by the inseparable from the Father - the Father-born, flightless Son, the Word of the great God, the Image of the Archetype, the Nature equal to the Parent. For the glory of the Father is the great Son. 10. And how He appeared from the Father, only the Father and He who appeared from the Father knows, because no one was near the Divinity. However, it is undoubtedly known to every person and to me that my birth, that is, the course, the inglorious section, cannot be attributed to the Divine. If I become a parent not without suffering, because I am made up of parts, 15. then it does not follow from this that He who is not at all complex and incorporeal should be subject to suffering. For what is surprising if those who are far from each other by nature have different births? Although time is older than me, it is still not before the Word, Whose Parent is flightless. 20. Just as the Father leaves nothing for mental representation above the beginningless Deity, so the Son of the Father has as his beginning the flightless Father, just as the beginning of light is the great and most beautiful circle of the sun. However, any likeness is lower than the great God, and it is dangerous that, 25. placing something between the ever-present Father and ever-present Son, we cannot tear the King-Son away from the King-Father. For to suppose that time or will is before God, in my opinion, means to dissect the Divinity. The Parent is great as God, as the Parent. But if it is the highest thing for the Father not to have any cause of the venerable Deity, 30. then it is no less high for the venerable Birth of the great Father to have such a beginning. Do not cut God off from God, because you do not know a son who is far from his father. And the words “unbegotten” and “begotten of the Father” are not equivalent to the word “Godhead.” 35. Otherwise, who produced these two kinds of Deity? In relation to God, both of them are not included in the concept of essence; nature, in my understanding, is uncut. If birth belongs to the Word, then the Father, being incorporeal, does not accept anything inherent in the flesh (the human mind will never reach such wickedness as to think this); and you have a Son-God, worthy of the glory of the Parent. 40. If you, the vain-wise one, wanting to exalt the Divinity of the Great Father and in vain instilling empty fear in the heart, rejected the birth and relegated Christ to the category of creatures, then you have insulted the Divinity of both. The Father is deprived of your Son, and Christ is not God, if only He was created. 45. For everything that has never been belongs to creatures; and that which is born for important reasons remains and always will be equal to God. What is the basis for the fact that you, the best, through Christ’s suffering later, when you move from here, will become a god, and Christ a slave like you, 50. instead of Divine honor, only superiority among slaves will be attributed to Him? If, just as a forge, intending to make a chariot, prepares a hammer, so the great God in later times created a useful tool in order to acquire me with his firstborn hand, then the creature in many respects will be superior to the heavenly Christ, 55. if only the Word is for the creature, and not the creature for Christ. But who would assert this? If He took on flesh to help your infirmities, and for this you bring the glorious Divinity into measure, then He who had mercy on you has sinned. And for me, He is all the more wonderful, 60. because He did not diminish the Divinity, and saved me, like a doctor, touching my fetid scabs. He was mortal, but God; the race of David, but Adam's Creator; flesh-bearing, but incorporeal; according to the Virgin Mother, described, but immeasurable. 65. The manger contained Him, but the star led the wise men to Him, and those who brought gifts came and knelt before Him. As a man, He was in struggle, but, as irresistible, He defeated the tempter in a threefold struggle. He ate food, but He fed thousands and turned water into wine. 70. Baptized; but cleansed the sins; but the Spirit loudly proclaimed Him the Son of the Beginning. Like a mortal, He fell into sleep and, like God, tamed the sea. He was weary on the way, but He strengthened the strength and the knees of those who were weary. He prayed, but who heeded the tender prayers of the dying? 75. He was a Victim, but also a Bishop; Priest, but also God; brought blood as a gift to God, but cleansed the whole world; lifted up to the cross, but sin nailed him to the cross. Why list everything in detail? He venerated the dead, but rose from the dead, and before that He Himself raised the dead. 80. If one showed the poverty of a mortal, then the other showed the wealth of the Ethereal. At least you, seeing in Him what is characteristic of mortals, do not dishonor the Divine. It made glorious the earthly image, which the incorruptible Son formed out of love for you. Why are you delaying, my soul? Sing also the glory of the Spirit; do not separate in the word the One who is not excluded by nature. With trepidation we honor the great Spirit: He is my God, through Him I came to know God, He Himself is God and in that life He makes me God. 5. He is omnipotent; He is the dispenser of gifts, the subject of the hymns of the pure face of heaven and earth; He is the Giver of Life, sits on the exalted throne, comes from the Father. He is God's power, the Autonomous Ruler. He is not the Son (because there is only one good Son of the one All-Good One), but He is not outside the invisible Divinity, but is of equal honor. 10. Whoever wants to find the Divinity of the heavenly Spirit on the pages of the inspired law will see many frequent and converging paths, if only he wishes to see, if he has attracted at least some pure Spirit with his heart and his mind is sharp-sighted. 15. And if anyone demands the open words of the all-loving Deity, then let him know that his demand is unreasonable. For until the Divinity of Christ was revealed to the majority of mortals, it was not appropriate to place an incredible burden on hearts that were extremely weak. The most perfect word is not for beginners. 20. Who will show the full brilliance of fire to still weak eyes or saturate them with exorbitant light? It is better to gradually accustom them to bright shine, so as not to damage the very sources of sweet light. So the word, having first revealed the entire Divinity of the King the Father, 25. began to illuminate with light the great glory of Christ, which is revealed to the few rational people, and then, having more clearly revealed the Divinity of the Son, the Divinity of the luminous Spirit shone to us. And for those it shed a little light, but provided most of it to us, to whom the Spirit was then abundantly 30. and in tongues of fire, showing clear signs of His Divinity when the Savior ascended from the earth. I know that God is fire for the wicked and light for the good. Thus I proved to you the Divinity of the Spirit. If you are surprised, partly hearing about the Son and the non-Son of the one Godhead, 35. and partly convinced by the opposite, easily perverted passages of Scripture, then here too God Himself will descend and give me the word. From one primordial 2 came the wife and Seth, and the half and offspring of a couple according to the laws of marriage, and the unborn and the begotten, although both were equally human. 40. Remembering this, do not humiliate the Divine, do not prefer One, humiliating the Other. One is nature immeasurable, uncreated, flightless, good, free and equal. There is One God in three Illuminations, who rules the world. By them I too am excited to a new life when, 45. burying death in the font, I return to the light. For the Trinity Divinity has given me the power to shine as luminous. No, I won’t deceive you, lover of cleansing. If I, washed by the Divine, began to dissect the bright Divinity, it would be better... but I’m afraid to finish the unkind word. 50. I entered the font in the hope of receiving God's gift. If God has purified all of me, then all of Him is honorable to me. But may that wicked mortal who cuts his own Divinity receive the unequal gift of God! 55. If in God’s word and among God-bearing men you hear either about the Son or about the good Spirit, as if they have a second place to God the Father, then I advise you here, in the words of deep wisdom, to find the meaning that it does not dissect the Divinity, but goes back to a single beginningless root, so that you see the unity of the power, and not the difference of venerability. 60. From the Unity the Trinity, and from the Trinity again the Unity. Here it is not the same as a key vein, a key and a big river, and yet a single stream, rushing across the earth in three forms; not like a candle from a blazing fire that is put back into it; not the same as the word coming from the mind and abiding in it; 65. not the same as the reflection of wavering and sunlit waters flickering on a wall, not stopping for a single moment, but moving away before approaching and approaching before moving away; not the same - because the nature of God is not something impermanent, or fluid, or merging again; on the contrary, God is characterized by immutability. 70. And you, thinking like this, bring a pure sacrifice in your heart. In the three Lights one nature is motionless. One is not innumerable because it rests in three Kindnesses. The Trinity is not venerable in different degrees, because the nature is not divided. There is One in the Divinity, but those to Whom the Divinity belongs are three in number. 75. Everyone is one God, if you name one. And again, there is one God without beginning, from Whom is the wealth of the Divinity, when the word mentions the Three. In the first case, the venerability of the Three Lights is preached to mortals, in the second we glorify the blessed autocracy 80. and do not admire the multi-principal council of gods. For, according to my reasoning, plurality of command is the same as complete anarchy, located in mutual struggle. And struggle presupposes discord, and discord quickly leads to destruction. Therefore, let my multiplicity be as far away from the Divine as possible! 85. Three gods could be called those who were separated from each other by time, or thought, or power, or will, so that each would never be identical with the others, but would always be in conflict with them. But my Trinity has one power, one thought, one glory, one power; and through this, the individuality of which there is great glory in the united harmony of the Divine is not violated. 90. This only revealed to the light that is within me the Trinity radiance from behind the curtains of the curtain inside the church of God, behind which the royal nature of God is hidden. And if something more is revealed to the angelic faces, then much more is known to the Trinity Itself. Let us also sing praises to the creation of the great God, refuting false opinions. One God; and what the Hellenic sages imagined about matter and form, as if they were co-originating, is a fable based on nothing. 5. Just as all these venerable forms, made by their gods, did not exist from the beginning, but received existence by the will of the great God, so has anyone ever seen matter without form? Or who found form without matter, although he worked very hard in the innermost recesses of the mind? But I did not find either a colorless body or an incorporeal 10. color. Who separated from each other that which nature did not separate, but brought together? But let us separate form from matter. Consider: if they were completely unconnected, how would they come together, or how would the world be formed when they are completely separate? And if connected, how did they connect? Who, besides God, merged them with each other? 15. But if God is a connector, then recognize Him as the Creator of everything. And the potter on his wheel gives shape to clay, and the gold smelter to gold, and the stonemason to stones. Concede, lover of anarchy, concede to God something greater than our meaning; and let this greater thing be matter with moving forms. 20. The multi-artistic parent of all things, God's Mind, thought, and matter clothed in forms came into being; because He is not like a painter, in whom the image visible before his eyes aroused something similar to this image, which the mind alone could not have drawn. And you, evil Manichaean darkness 3 25. were not from the beginning equal to the highest Light! If there was God, then there was no darkness; because evil could not argue about equality with God. If there was darkness, then you do not give room to God: it is indecent for Him to be in agreement with darkness. If you imagine them in a fight, the strongest will overcome. And if you say that they are equal, who is the third who brings them into unity with his wisdom and stops the fight? 30. And it is very surprising that, having aroused terrible enmity, you immediately forget about this struggle and imagine those at war agreeing [with each other]. I consist of soul and body. And the soul is a stream of infinite light - the Divine, and you produce the body from a dark beginning. And you bring those who are so far apart into one. 35. If I am one common nature, then enmity has ceased with me. And if the cruel enmity in me is irreconcilable, then I do not constitute one nature, united from soul and body. For it is not hostile, but friendly principles that produce the overall product. Such darkness will cover your heart! And according to my teaching, there is one God, without beginning, who does not fight with anyone, one good Light, 40. the power of high-ranking minds, simple and conjugated, heavenly and earthly; and darkness arose subsequently and is not some easily describable independent nature, but ours, in fact, sin. Sin is a violation of the commandment, just as night is the setting of the sun, 45. weak old age is the passing of youth and terrible winter is a consequence of the sun moving upward. The first of the heavenly lights, having lost its light and glory through its pride, haunts the human race with everlasting hatred. From him the first man tasted murderous sin 50. and death, which, through his cunning, kindled 4 a flame in me. Such is the nature of the high-born evil of which he is the father! Rust is a detriment to solid iron; and I, a suicide, planted destruction in myself - sin, by my own intention, following the insidious suggestions of an envious person. 55. If even then you, O world, were close to the glory of the beginningless Trinity, then why did the Christ-bearing Lights, versed in the Divine, place you in such a distance, and why are very few years counted after the great Word of God established you? But if you were erected subsequently, 60. then I ask: since inactivity and imperfection cannot be attributed to God, what was God’s thought occupied with before the Most High, reigning in the emptiness of centuries, created the universe and adorned it with forms? She contemplated the longed-for luminosity of Her goodness, the equal and equally perfect luminosity of the 65. triscendent Divinity, as this is known to the only Divinity and to whom God has revealed it. The World-Generating Mind also considered in His great mental representations the images He himself composed of the world, which was produced later, but for God even then was real. 70. God has everything before his eyes: what will happen, and what was, and what is now. For me, such a division is established by time, that one is ahead, the other is behind, but for God everything merges into one and everything is held in the muscles of the great Divinity. Therefore, listen to what my mind has invented. 75. The Mind gave birth to everything within itself, and the birth outside took place subsequently in good time, when the great Word of God was revealed. He wanted to create intelligent natures, heavenly and earthly - these mirrors of the first Light, permeable with light, so that one, shining mountain, 80. would remain a great luminous servant of the King, while the other would have glory here. He exudes Divinity to them in order to reign in a greater number of heavenly minds and for a greater number to be a blessed light. For this is the property of my King - to impart bliss. But so that the creature, approaching God, does not desire equal glory with God 85. and does not pursue light and glory, whereas it is best to observe moderation, and excess is the worst thing - the high Word, having good thoughts about future creatures, alienated both from the Trinity everything surrounding the throne of Light, and from the angelic faces of mortal nature. 90. However, It did not alienate the ministerial angelic nature very much, but much more our nature, because we originated from dust united with the Divine, while simple nature 5 is more perfect. Of the worlds, one was created first. This is another heaven, the abode of the God-bearers, contemplated by a single mind, 95. most luminous; the man of God will subsequently enter into it when, having purified his mind and flesh, he becomes god. And another, corruptible world was created for mortals, when the beauty of the luminaries, preaching about God with beauty and greatness, and the royal palace for the image of God had to be established. 100. But the first and last worlds were created by the Word of the great God. Thus the wide-founded world is erected by the great infinite Mind, Which bears everything in Itself and is Himself above all. But what kind of thought is it to embrace the immensity? God, as soon as he created the world, from the very first moment, according to great and immutable laws, moves and leads it, 5. like a head over heels 6 walking in circles from the blow. For the nature of this vast and beautiful world, to which nothing similar cannot be imagined, is not spontaneous, and for so long it has not been left to spontaneous laws. 10. Has anyone seen a house, or a ship, or a fast chariot, or a shield and a helmet that was not made by hand? The world would not have lasted so long if there had been no beginning in it. And the face of the singers will be upset if no one rules them. It is not typical for the universe to have any other ruler than the One who created it. 15. You, who represent the stars as the leaders of our birth, our life and the whole world, tell me: what other sky will you spread over the very stars and above it will you place another new and new one, so that there will be someone to guide those who lead? Under one star will be born one king and many other people, some of whom are good, 20. and others are bad, one is a vitiator, another is a merchant, another is a vagabond, and another is made arrogant by the high throne. For many, born under different stars, the fate is equal both at sea and in war. Those who were connected by the stars were not connected by the same end. And others, although separated by the stars, were united by the same death. 25. If everyone has their own first necessity, then this is a pure fable. And if the common strongest still dominates over it and there are stars opposite to the stars, then who mixed them up? For whoever combined, if he wants, will dissolve the union. And if God did this, then how did that which replaced my God with you become the first, 30. if you do not subordinate God Himself to your stars? If there is no ruler, then how will the world stand? I don’t see this possibility, even if someone wanted to expel God with such reasoning. For it is necessary for someone to control it - either God or the stars. What I do know is this: God controls the universe. 35. God's Word, both here and there, distributes everything that is destined in His council to be in heaven and on earth; and some creatures are given forever an immutably constant harmony and flow, while others are given a life that changes and takes on many forms. God has shown us other things about them, and others he keeps in the secret places of 40. His wisdom, with which he wants to expose the empty vanity of a mortal; one He has placed here, and the other will appear in the last days. And the farmer reaps everything that is ripe; so is Christ, the best judge of my life. This is my word; it is independent of the stars and goes its own way. 45. Tell me about your horoscopes, about the small parts of the zodiac circle and about the measures of the path; Destroy my laws of life - the fear of the wicked and the hope of the good, fighting to the end! If everything is given by the circle of stars, then I am also attracted by its rotation. 50. And the very desire is produced in me by the same circle; I don’t have any willpower or mind that would lead me to good; but heaven also draws me to this. Do not mention to me about the great glory of Christ, the star of the gospel, which from the east guided the Magi to that city, 55. where Christ, the flightless Son of the mortal race, shone! It is not one of those whose interpreters [are] astrologers, but it is not ordinary and has not appeared before, but was noticed in Jewish books. Of these, the Chaldeans, who had devoted their lives to theology of astronomy, had foreknowledge of the star, 60. when with surprise they distinguished it from the many stars they observed and noticed that with a new radiance it was rushing from the east through the air to the Jewish land, they concluded about the birth of the King. And it was precisely at the time that the astrologers, together with the inhabitants of heaven, bowed to the King, and they lost concern for their art. 65. But let these fiery, ever-moving stars, inexorable from their paths, both stationary and wandering, describing, as they say, the same circles, flow their way, which the King Christ showed them; 70. and we will leave without investigation whether the nature of fire is possible, maintained without nourishment, or whether there is some so-called fifth body. As for us, let's go our own way. For although we are earthly prisoners, we nevertheless hasten to a rational and heavenly nature. Away from me are those who deny the Divinity, who do not attribute this inexpressible goodness in the universe to any all-creating and all-containing Essence! 5. Away from me and those who recognize a whole swarm of gods or the dominion of good and evil spirits! Away from me also are those who deny Providence, as if they are afraid to receive salvation from God, and, on the contrary, everything in the world is either attributed to fickle desire or subordinated to the movement of the stars. 10. But how and by whom are the stars set in motion? If God moves them, then why is it that God moves first? He who has tied something can also untie it. And if it is not God who moves, how can they establish themselves in the absence of beginning 15. or in the struggle with the Most Perfect? And how can there not be a struggle here? For denial of Providence is rebellion against God. Can you really say that God is subject to fate and involuntarily bears violent bonds on Himself? Thus, these speculators become entangled in their own teachings. 20. But we have one God who rules this universe as He pleases; He Himself, according to His own movements and laws, wisely sets everything in motion and mutual connection, although apparently not everything is going well. For both in ancient times and now, many of the wisest 25. found the inconsistencies noticeable in life here difficult. And is it necessary to list everyone? Look what David experiences within himself (Ps. 73:2-14)! Seeing that the evil ones act, in their opinion, successfully, he comes into strong hesitation and is afraid that someone else will leave the very nature of things to blind striving and think that there is no one in charge over us. 30. However, David also knows the solution to the difficulty. He says: look at the end of every person, how it corresponds to life. You have sown; You will also see the ear of your crop. And if you do not know the laws, this does not mean that the Word does not know them either. 35. For if you do not know painting, it does not follow that the painter does not know it either. Or, if you do not know the properties of lines, you should not let them be as unknown to the geometer as they are to you. You yourself have comprehended some things, but you have agreed with others wisely. And that is already a sign of reason, to submit to reason. If everything is clear, then tell me: where is the place for faith? 40. For faith is unquestioning agreement. And I (and perhaps wisely) reason this way: when you entered, I promised you not this, not wealth, not carelessness, not bodily health or prosperity, but a blessed life and expected benefits, 45. so that in return for the present you would expect more for yourself. Would it be fair, for example, when buying something to demand the purchased item and keep its price? Are you the only one who needs this preference over everyone else? But this would mean excessive insatiability and extraordinary pretentiousness. 50. Either give back what you bought, my dear, or pay the price, if you must stand by your word and you do not deviate from excellent conditions. You will say: why did the ancients have these benefits? At that time faith had not yet taken root, 55. the present served as evidence of what was imagined: in the same way, infants are fed milk until they grow up. And the proof of this is that then very important crimes were in some way excused and not very high virtues 8 were respected, 60. so that the dignity on both sides was balanced, and the punishments imposed by the wise exceeded the measure. David, Moses and Elisha, whose name I pronounce with trepidation, will convince you of this. One was easily punished for his sins; another, for small merits, was awarded the sight of God, accepted the law from God and saved a great army; 65. The third, for a minor insult, and, moreover, to children, rewarded them with a severe punishment beyond expectation. The law was so secret back then! 70. Thus, cleansing was accomplished with the blood of victims and cleansing of defiled flesh - with an unimportant sprinkling! So it was considered perfect to avoid the bad, even if nothing else was added! And all this because piety for those who lived then was confined within narrow limits. 75. Should I tell you something more important than what has been said so far? And I will say this. They did not have the gift that we have in the sufferings of God, in the Lamb slain for my sins. 80. Therefore their labor was greater; and if more, then agree that they should have received a greater reward for their labors; but we should do less because we have more funds. But instead of everything and first of all, it is also necessary to say: do not praise too much the well-being of this life, as someone who has been taught to think about what is more important than what is visible. 85. Look: isn’t the difficult path leading me to heights, and the ease of the path leading you to rapids? For me, emaciated flesh is better than your fat one. Have you sometimes seen oxen in the corral? One is tall, fierce, shiny with fat, 90. holds his head high; the other has his head down to the ground, is wrinkled, ugly, and wears the signs of agriculture: the first is saved for slaughter, and the second feeds both himself and the master. Which of them, in your opinion, has the best lot: 95. Is it not exhausted, is it not broken? This goes without saying. But you love what is broadened, even if this in itself is bad and leads to bad things. Are you really going to praise the thickness of someone suffering from water sickness? Does a man with a crazy mind really seem like a strong man to you? 100. Do sweets really have to be a life-saving medicine? Bitter often saved many people, but sweets often make matters worse. For a smart son, isn't the parental rod worthy of respect? Isn’t condescension evil for him? 105. He who is not a son does not know even the blows of the rod. What if, like Job, you strive for crowns? Repeat this to yourself more often, and it will not be difficult for you to find consolation for yourself in your labors, and gain hope through your gratitude. 110. Only a bad slave can show respect to his master when he smiles, and consider him evil when he strikes. I must accept without grumbling, wherever the helm is turned, with which God drives me out of struggle and life, until I enter a quiet harbor, 115. unless He built this ship in vain, but for a good and successful end. Just as a ray of sunshine from a cloudless sky, meeting with visible clouds still reflecting it, from which it rains, spreads a multi-colored rainbow and the entire surrounding ether shines in 5. continuous and gradually weakening circles, so the nature of lights is maintained in existence by the fact that the highest Light with Its rays constantly illuminates the lower minds. And the source of lights - Light is unnameable, incomprehensible, flees from the speed of the mind approaching It, 10. always anticipates every thought, so that in our desires we constantly stretch to a new height. And the secondary lights after the Trinity, which has royal glory, are luminous, invisible Angels. They walk freely around the great throne, because they are swift-moving minds, 15. flame and divine spirits, quickly transported through the air. They diligently serve high commands. They are simple, spiritual, imbued with light, do not originate from the flesh (because all flesh barely thickens before it is destroyed) and do not enter into the flesh, but remain as they were created. 20. I would like to say that they are completely invincible by evil, but I will restrain the too greyhound rushing horse, pulling with the reins of my mind. Of these, some stand before the great God, others support the whole world with their assistance; and each was given special authority from the King 25. to have people, cities and entire nations under supervision, and even to dispose of the verbal sacrifices of the earth-born. But what will you decide on, my spirit? The mind comes into awe as it approaches the heavenly beauties; A dark cloud appeared before me, and I was perplexed whether to extend my word forward or stop. 30. Now a traveler has come to a steep river and wants to cross it; but suddenly the thought wavered; he hesitates in his crossing, struggles in his heart for a long time, standing on the shore; sometimes necessity put courage into him, sometimes fear bound his determination; more than once he put his foot into the water and more than once retreated back; 35. However, after all the struggle, need defeated fear. So, approaching the invisible Divinity, on the one hand, about those who stand before the pure All-Tsar and are filled with light, I am afraid to say that they too are accessible to sin, so that through this I would not pave the way for many to vice; 40. On the other hand, I am afraid to portray unchangeable kindness in my song, since I also see the prince of malice gone astray. For it was not in the nature of the Good One to plant an evil quality in us and to incite rebellion and hatred in those whom he loves. It also cannot be assumed that evil is equal in power to good and has a special nature, 45. either subsequently occurring, or without beginning, like the King Himself. But when I was perplexed about this, God gave me the following thought. The first pure nature of the Divine is always unchangeable and is never many instead of one. For is there anything more perfect than the Divine, into which It could deviate? And multiplicity is the deviation of a being from itself. 50. The second place is occupied by the great servants of the highest Light, as close to the original Kindness as the ether is to the sun. And thirdly, we follow – air. And one nature of God is completely unchangeable; The angelic nature is inflexible towards sin; and we, the third generation, are complaisant 55. and the further we are from God, the closer we are to sin. Therefore, the very first light-bearer, having exalted himself highly, when, distinguished by predominant glory, he dreamed of the royal honor of the great God, destroyed his radiance, fell here with dishonor and, wanting to be a god, became all darkness. 60. Although he is light by nature, he nevertheless fell to the low earth. Since then, he has persecuted with hatred those who are led by prudence, and, irritated by his loss, he blocks the heavenly path for everyone, he does not want God’s creation to approach the Divine, from Whom he fell away, but he wanted people to participate with him in sin 65. and darkness. And this envious person cast out from paradise those who desired to have glory equal to God. Thus, for his exaltation, he will be cast down from his heavenly circle; but he was not the only one who fell. And since his insolence destroyed him, he carried away many into the fall, namely, all those whom he taught to sin, 70. just as the attacker who persuaded the royal army to treason, carried away - out of envy of the godly host of the One who reigns on high and out of the desire to reign over many evil ones. Since then, there have appeared in multitudes supermundane [spirits] of evil, demons, followers of the evil king - 75. murderers, weak, dark, ominous ghosts of the night, liars, impudent, teachers of sins, vagabonds, wine-drinkers, laugh-lovers, laugh-makers, soothsayers, two-tonguers, lovers of quarrels, bloodsuckers, the underworld, hiding, shameless, teachers of magic. 80. When they come, they beckon to themselves and hate those who give themselves to them. They are both night and light together, to catch either openly or by deception. Such is the army, such is the leader! But Christ did not destroy it with a single movement of will, with which he created the whole world and with which he could have destroyed it too, 85. if he had wanted, because it is difficult to hide from an angry God. However, He did not leave my enemy free, but allowed him to be at the same time among the good and the evil and raised up a cruel mutual warfare between them, so that as an enemy he would be subjected to terrible shame here too, 90. fighting with those who are weaker than him, so those who strive in virtue always had their glory, being purified in life, like gold in a crucible. Subsequently, perhaps soon, when the substance burns up and fiery retribution comes, this indomitable one, humbled in advance by his tormented servants, will suffer punishment. 95. For such is the punishment of the one who gave birth to evil! This is what the Spirit taught me about the luminosity of the angels, both the first and the last. But here too she found a measure. And this measure is God. As someone approaches the King, he becomes light, and with enlightenment he acquires glory. The soul is God's breath, and, being heavenly, it tolerates mixing with earthly things. This is a light contained in a cave, yet divine and unquenchable. For it is indecent for the image of the great God to be destroyed ingloriously, 5. as reptiles and irrational animals are destroyed, although sin intensified to make it mortal. The soul is not the nature of destructive fire, because it is not characteristic of the devourer to animate the devoured. She is not the nature of air, now exhaled, now inhaled, and never remaining at rest. 10. It is not a bloody current running through the body, not even the harmony of the constituent parts of the body brought into unity, because the nature of flesh and immortal form is not the same. And what advantage would the virtuous have over the most vicious, if the dissolution of the elements made them either good or bad? 15. Why do the dumb also not have a rational nature (since the dumb also have harmony of form and mortal flesh)? According to this teaching, he is the best in whom there is the improvement of the elements. But they reasoned this way on the assumption that 20. with the removal of which the soul leaves the body should be considered animate. Why can’t you also call food animate, without which it is completely impossible for a mortal to live, since food alone strengthens? I also know another teaching, which I will never accept, because I do not have some common soul, divided by everyone, but wandering in the air. Otherwise 25. everyone would inhale and exhale the same soul; and all those who live in the world, having given up the ghost, would remain in other living ones, because the nature of the air at different times is diffused in different things. And if the soul is something abiding, what did it have in itself and what constituted my embryo - also a living being in the womb of the birthing womb, if I was attracted by it from the outside? 30. And if you assume that the one giving birth is the mother of many children, then you should credit her with honor for the fact that she gave birth to a greater number of souls. And this is not the teaching of smart people, but an empty bookish amusement, as if the soul constantly changes different bodies, each in accordance with a previous life, good or bad, 35. as a reward for virtues or as some kind of punishment for sins. They either clothe or undress the soul indecently, like a person in clothes; troubling themselves in vain, turning the wheel of the evil Ixion 11, they force her to be now an animal, now a plant, now a man, now a bird, now a snake, now a dog, now a fish, 40. and sometimes both twice, if the wheel turns that way. Where does this end? But I have never seen a wise beast with the gift of speech, or a speaking thorn. The crow is always talkative, the silent fish always swims in salt water. 45. If, as the inventors of this empty teaching themselves say, there will be a final reward for the soul, then it will suffer punishment either without the flesh (and this is very surprising), or with the flesh (then which of the many will you commit to fire?). What is most incomprehensible is how, after you connected me with many bodies and this connection made me know many things, only one thing escaped my mind, 50. namely: what kind of skin did I wear at first, what kind then and in what kind did I die, because my bond-maker was not so rich in souls as in bags. Or was it also a consequence of long-term wandering that I fell into oblivion of my former life? Now listen to our most excellent teaching about the soul. And we will try to sweeten the song a little by starting it like this: 55. There was a time when the high Word of the Mind, following the great Mind of the Father, established a hitherto non-existent world. It spoke, and everything that He desired was accomplished. But when all this - earth, sky and sea - made up the world, a spectator became needed 60. Wisdom is the mother of all, and a reverent king of the earth. Then the Word said: “The vast sky is inhabited by pure and ever-living servants, immaculate minds, good Angels, hymns, incessantly singing My glory. But the earth is decorated only by irrational animals. 65. Therefore, it pleases Me to create such a kind of creatures, which would contain both, a kind of creatures intermediate between mortals and immortals, an intelligent person who would rejoice in My deeds, would be a wise secret of heaven, a great ruler of the earth, a new Angel of dust, a singer of songs. My power and My mind." 70. Thus spoke the Word and, taking part of the newly created earth, with immortal hands formed my image and gave it His life, because he sent into it a spirit, which is a stream of the invisible Divinity. Thus, from dust and breath, man was created - 75. the image of the Immortal, because in both the nature of the mind reigns. Therefore, like the earth, I am tied to this life and, like a particle of the Divine, I carry in my chest the love for the future life. This is how the first-born man was formed; and subsequently the body is taken from the flesh, but the soul is mixed in an unknown way, 80. bringing from outside into the earthy composition, as He who united it knows this, Who in the beginning breathed it in and coupled His image with the earth. And another, having come to the aid of my song, boldly and following many, will add the following reasoning. Just as the body, originally dissolved in us from dust, 85. later became a stream of human bodies and does not cease from the primordial root, enclosing others in one person, so the soul, breathed by God, from now on co-incorporates into the formed composition of man, being born again, from the original seed distributed to many 90. and in mortal members always maintaining a constant image. Therefore, the soul receives intellectual dominion as its lot. But just as in thin pipes, the strong breath of even a very skilled person produces weak and discordant sounds, and when wide-sized pipes are given to him, then they pour out the most perfect sound, 95. so the soul, which turns out to be powerless in a weak structure, manifests itself in a strengthened structure and then reveals the whole mind. But since the incorruptible Son created His man so that he would acquire a new glory and, having changed the earthly things in himself in the last days, like God, marched from here to God, 100. He did not leave him to his own freedom and did not completely bind him, but, putting the law into his nature and imprinting good inclinations on his heart, placed him in the midst of an ever-blooming paradise, although in such a balance between good and evil that he could, by his own choice, incline to one or the other. another, however, pure from sin and alien to all duplicity. 105. And paradise, in my opinion, is heavenly life. God placed man in him so that he would be an unflagging doer of God’s words. He forbade him to use one plant, which was more perfect than others, containing within itself the power to completely distinguish between good and evil. For what is perfect is good for those who have succeeded, 110. and not for beginners. For the latter, it is as burdensome as perfect food for a baby. But when, through the cunning of an envious murderer, having heeded the persuasiveness of a woman’s word, a man tasted the prematurely sweet fruit, 115. and he put on leather vestments - heavy flesh, and became a corpse-bearer, because by death Christ put limits on sin, then he came from paradise to the earth from which he was taken, and received a difficult life as his inheritance; and God set His fiery jealousy as a guardian to the precious plant, 120. so that any Adam, like before, would not ascend inside prematurely and before he fled from the devouring food of the sweet tree, while still in evil, would not approach the tree of life. 125. Just as a sailor, carried away by the stormy waves, is carried back and then, either giving up the sail to the lightest wind, or with difficulty at the oars, sets sail again, so we, having sailed far from the great God, again, not without difficulty, complete the desired voyage. And this newly implanted sin passed on to unfortunate people from the progenitor; Hence the ear froze. 9. About the covenants and the coming of Christ Now delve into the meaning of the double law, promulgated under the name of the Old and under the name of the New, and given first to the Jews, because they were the first to know the God reigning in the highest, and then to all the ends of the earth. 5. For God the All-Knowing governs man, uttering to him commands that do not contradict, as some ignorant mind does, and do not change, which is blamed even on mortals. This is my concept of the help of God who loved us. The evil enemy, after expelling the first Adam from paradise, 10. having seduced him with the harmful fruit of the murderous tree, just as one strikes with weapons an army in which the leader is killed, tried to instill evil and death in the children of Adam. With a malicious plan, he distracted man from the heavenly God, turning his gaze to the starry sky, 15. shining with luminous beauties, and to the images of dead people, which love built, and brought into glory the fable, first accepted with faith by kindly friends, then not caught by anyone in a lie, but over the years, constantly acquiring new strength. And the sacred Jewish race destroyed the mind, did not obey the prophets, 20. who complained, begged and constantly threatened with the wrath of the King, and in former times even killed them. The kings themselves did not have the fear of God, but for the most part they turned out to be malicious; and groves, mountain heights and bloody sacrifices to demons were not completely left with them. 25. За сие евреи навлекли на себя ревнивый гнев великого Бога и погибли; and instead of them I set out on the path so that, by arousing competition in them, I would force them to return to pious faith in Christ, after late repentance, when they were filled with grief 30. about their preference for the newly introduced people who took their place. But this will happen later. since the Jews despised the law, the human race was finally awarded the following honor, but by the wave of the immortal Father and the action of the Son. When Christ saw that 35. soul-destroying sin had destroyed in the human body everything that was invested in heaven and that the cunning serpent reigned over people, then in order to return His property to Himself, He did not send other helpers against the disease (because weak healing is not enough in great suffering), but He Himself, having exhausted the glory 40. which He had as the motherless Son of the immortal God the Father, appeared without a father in an extraordinary way for me. a son, not even an extraordinary one, because he came from me, and the Immortal, becoming mortal, came through the Virgin Mother to save a whole person. 45. And since the whole Adam fell through criminal eating, then, according to human and at the same time non-human laws, incarnating in the honest womb of a wife who had not known marriage (oh, an incredible miracle for the weakest!), God came and at the same time a mortal, combining two natures - one hidden and the other visible to people, of which 50. one was God, and the other was born for us in the last days. In two natures there is one God - my King and Christ, because he is united with the Divinity and from the Divinity man became, so that, having appeared among earthly beings as another, new Adam, he could heal the former Adam. But He appeared, hidden from everywhere by a curtain, 55. because otherwise it would have been impossible to approach my infirmities, and moreover, it was necessary that the serpent, who considered himself wise, approached Adam, met God beyond his expectations and crushed his malice against His fortress, as a noisy sea crushes against a solid rock. 60. When Christ appeared, at His birth the earth and heaven shook. The heavenly face proclaimed chants, and a star from the east showed the way to the Magi - the servants of the newborn King, bringing Him gifts. This is my word about the new birth of Christ! 65. There is nothing shameful here, because only sin is shameful. But in Christ there is no place for shame, because He was created by the Word, and He did not become man from human seed. But from the flesh of the most pure, unbrided Mother, which was previously purified by the Spirit, a self-created man came forth and accepted the purification for my sake. 70. For I also fulfilled everything that was lawful, as I think, in order to give reward to the law, as an educator, and funeral honor, as if it were being abolished. But when the One who was foretold as the most luminous lamp of the great Light appeared, the Forerunner in birth, the Forerunner and in the word, crying out in the midst of the desert (Mark 1:3), 75. that my Christ is God, then He became the mediator of two peoples, one distant, the other near (because He was the cornerstone common to them), and granted mortals a twofold purification: one of the eternal Spirit, and cleansed in me the previous damage born of the flesh; the other is our blood 80. (for I call my own the blood that Christ my God drained), the redemption of original infirmities and the deliverance of the world. If I were not a changeable person, but an irresistible one, then I would only need the commandment of the great God, and it would adorn me, save me and lead me to high glory. 85. But now God did not create me as a god, but placed me in balance, willing to bend here and there; That’s why it supports me with many supports, one of which is the grace of washing for people 13. Just as Jewish children were once saved from destruction by anointing with blood and cleansed the 14 doors of Prague, 90. while in one night all the firstborn of Egypt perished, so for me this is the seal of God who delivers us from evils, and for infants only a seal, and for adults - healing and the most perfect divine seal of Christ the Light-Giver, so that, having been saved from the depths of sorrows and having somewhat lightened my neck from the burden, I turned 95. your feet to life. For the traveler, having rested from fatigue, raises his knees strengthened in strength. Just as the air, the earth, the wide sky and everything that entails the circle of annual times are the common property of all, so the saving font has become the common property of people. 10. On the Incarnation (against Apollinaris) 15 We know that the highest Mind has composed the entire human nature from three component parts: the soul, the mind and the plump body. And at first He created the whole Adam, except for sin. 5. And when man did not become a god, God himself, in my honor, became a perfect man, so that, through what he had received, recreating what was given, he could destroy the condemnation of total sin and, through the One who died, put to death the one who killed. 10. God is simple from the beginning, then associated with humanity, and then nailed down by deicide hands - such is your teaching about God who has entered into unity with us! God's Word, like the Father, was from the beginning God, the Creator of all things, 15. superior to time and suffering and body. When man was struck by the tree of knowledge, and envy attacked our entire nature, as something perceivable and subject to condemnation, then, in order to overthrow the exaltation of envy and 20. recreate the damaged image, God's Word is born for us, for it is conceived in the pure Virgin and God comes into being, the whole God and man, who saves the whole me, the Son, both intuited and visible. 25. In your opinion, I am a man-worshipper, because I honor the whole, mysteriously united Word with me, the only God-man Savior. And you (by the way, I will turn your own wit against you), you are a worshiper of the flesh, because you introduce a person who has no mind. 30. Either agree on this, my dear, or condescend to me, if you only want to be a fair judge in the word! If the worst in man (because the flesh is much worse than what is created in the image of God 16) for you is God from God, then I recognize this as the best, because the mind is closer to God. 35. Moreover, with you one half of a person is in danger, because what is not received by the Word is not saved. What are you saying, wise defender of the Word, who takes up arms against those who dissect the Divinity? And don’t you yourself dissect what God has put together? 40. You give one of my constituent parts to Him, but not the other; you bring the flesh into unity with Him, but cut off the mind, as if you were afraid that a whole person would not be formed. You reason: how can one person contain two perfect ones? Is there really a danger that the bottle will burst (Matthew 9:17)? 45. What foolishness! One soul contains both mind and word. Again you ask: why is the mind so necessary and important for you where God Himself is? “But if in Him the flesh is without understanding, then I am deceived.” My skin, but whose soul? What does the birth of God from the Virgin mean? 50. How did distant natures come together? - It's a secret; but as it seems to me, measuring with a small mind what exceeds the mind, the purifying Spirit descended on the Virgin, and the Word Himself created a person in Her, 55. a complete replacement for the whole deceased 17 person. Since God is not united with the flesh, and the soul and mind are something in between, because they coexist with the flesh and because they are the image of God; then God’s nature, uniting with what was akin to Himself, 60. through this akin, entered into communion with the plumpness 18 of the flesh. Thus, both the Deified and the Deified are one God. Therefore, what did both endure? As I reason, One entered into fellowship with the stout, and the other, like the stout, shared my weaknesses, except the infirmity of sin. 65. I ask: to whom was the blood of God shed? If it be the evil one, then alas! The blood of Christ was given to the author of evil. And if God, then why was this necessary, when another took possession of us, but the ransom is always given to the owner? Of course, there is no doubt that Christ offers Himself to God, 70. so that He Himself may snatch us away from Him who possessed us, and so that the Anointed One will be accepted in place of the fallen one, because the Anointing One is elusive. So let's talk about this. But we also respect images. I said my thought. - Worship the Trinity! 11. About Christ's Incarnation 19 He is unreasonable who does not give equal Divine honor to the King, the ever-bearing Word of God, with the heavenly Father; The one who does not give equal divine honor to the heavenly Word to the King the Word, who appeared on earth in human form, is also unreasonable, 5. but separates either the Word from the great Father, or from the Word the human image and our fatness. The Father's Word was God, but became our man, so that, uniting with those on earth, he could unite God with us. It is both one God; insofar as man, 10. inasmuch as he makes me a god from man. Be merciful to me, the Almighty, who was irritated for me! This is all I can tell you. Will you also ask me about the mind, about the ineffable unity? But when discussing God, mortals, love moderation in words! If I convinced you, good! And if you continue to blacken the paper with many thousands of verses, 15. then in a few verses I will inscribe these letters, on your tablets, with my writing, on which there is nothing black. 12. About the authentic books of the Inspired Scripture Constantly train your tongue and mind in God’s words! And God, as a reward for your labors, gives you either to see some hidden meaning in them, or, even better, to come into contrition when reading the great commandments of the pure God, 5. or, thirdly, by such activities He diverts your thought from earthly things. But so that your mind is not deceived by foreign books (for there are many counterfeit books, unjustly included in the Scriptures), accept from me, my dear, the following correct enumeration! All historical books of 10. ancient Jewish wisdom are twelve: the very first book is Genesis, then Exodus and Leviticus, then Numbers, then Deuteronomy, then Joshua and Judges. The eighth book is Ruth, and the ninth and tenth books are Acts of the Kings, 15. Chronicles, and the last book you will have is Ezra. There are five books written in verse; of which the first is Job, then David, then the three books of Solomon: Ecclesiastes, Song and Proverbs. 20. Likewise the five books and the prophetic Spirit. There are twelve prophets in one composition: Hosea, Amos and the third Micah, then Joel, then Jonah, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, then Zechariah and Malachi - 25. and this is one book; and the second is Isaiah, then Jeremiah, called from infancy, then Ezekiel and the grace of Daniel. I have offered you twenty-two Old Testament books, they are equal in number to the Hebrew letters. 30. Now I will list the books and new sacraments. Matthew described the miracles of Christ for the Jews, Mark for Italy, Luke for Achaia, and the great and heavenly preacher John for everyone. Then follow the Acts of the Wise Apostles, 35. fourteen epistles of Paul and seven of the Council, including one of James, two of Peter, three again of John, and the seventh of Judas. Now you all have books; and those who exist besides them are not among the genuine ones. 13. [Twelve] patriarchs – sons of Jacob From the great father Jacob came twelve patriarchs: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and with them Judah; then those born of concubines: Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher; and then again nobly born from spouses: Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and the last Benjamin. Always list in your mind the plagues of evil Egypt and the trembling of God’s great power. The waters of this land first turned red with blood (Exodus 7:19), and then boiled with destructive frogs (Exodus 8:5–6). 5. Thirdly, the air and the earth were covered with scrip (Ex. 8:17). Fourthly, dog flies suddenly appeared (Ex. 8:24). Fifthly, the death of destruction befell the four-legged animals (Ex. 9:6). The sixth tribulation is festering scabs on human bodies (Ex. 9:10). Seventh, there was hail along with fire - this rain from incompatible elements (Ex. 9:23-24). 10. Eighth, the locusts destroyed everything that grew from the earth (Ex. 10:14–15). Ninth, night covered the land of Egypt (Ex. 10:22). The tenth plague is the death of the firstborn (Ex. 12:29). 15. Mosaic Decalogue God once inscribed these ten laws on tablets of stone (Ex. 20:11–17; 31:18), and write them on your heart. Do not know another God, because honoring only one thing is possible - the one God. Do not put up an insignificant idol and a soulless likeness. 5. Never take the name of the great God in vain. Keep every Sabbath, both open and hidden. Blessed is if you give thanks to your parents, if, where necessary, you avoid desecration of the hands of murder, someone else's marriage bed, malicious theft, 10. false testimony and desire for someone else's property - this spark that ignites death. 16. Miracles of the prophets Elijah and Elisha The miracles of Elijah the Tishbite are numerous (see: 1 Kings 17–21, 2 Kings 1). At first he was fed by ravens, then he himself richly nourished the Sarepta widow with a few remnants of oil and flour, 5. whose son he raised from the dead with his breath. He held back and then sent down rain from God, burning the victim with extraordinary fire during extraordinary sacred rites. Then he spent many days without food, 10. turned two Pentecostals into ashes, crossed the Jordan, cutting it with a mantle, ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire, and sent down both gift and grace to Elisha. Consider Elisha’s miracles (see: 1 Kings 19; 2 Kings 2–9, 13). 15. He crossed the Jordan, cutting it with a mantle, made the springs give fertility with the help of sprinkled salt, and destroyed the scolding children with beasts, brought streams of water out of Edom to the thirsty army; 20. With streams of oil he freed a widow from her debts; and to the Somanite woman he first gave and then raised a son; he took away the deadly power of wild potions and saved many from hunger with meager food; cleansed Naaman the Syrian from leprosy, 25. and sent Gehazi the same disease; then he made the ax float from the depths of the Jordan to its surface; having darkened the views of the Syrians, he betrayed them to their enemies; predicted an abundance of food for the army; 30. And the dead man raised the dead one with his bones lying nearby. 17. To the Church of Elijah, called the Widow's Church Behold, wanderer, Zarephath of Sidon; Here is the tower of that widow who kindly received the prophet of God, Elijah the Tishbite, to her when famine was devastating the cities, 5. and she had a little oil in a vessel, and only a handful of flour was hidden in a waterpot! But having given all this to the stranger without thrift, she discovered in her gift some source from which her house was fed. Elijah not only nourished her son while he lived, 10. but also raised up the dead one from the darkness of death. And the mother, who mourned her childlessness, again became a mother without new birth diseases (see: 1 Kings 17). The great Matthew wrote about Christ, and the most excellent Luke also wrote, and one introduced one genealogy into the books, and the other another. Both of these genealogies reduce Christ to the blood of the primordial. But why did one evangelist limit himself to a larger number, and the other to a smaller number of forefathers? 5. The river of generations before King David is inseparable for both evangelists, and then flows in two streams, which finally merge, going, as if to a boundless sea, to Christ. And to see this for you, listen to my word. David's sons were Solomon and Nathan. 10. One of them, like the current of a great river, flowed with royal blood, and the other flowed with the blood of saints and luminous priests. Christ became both, both the great King and the Bishop. Therefore Matthew wrote by the Spirit of God to the descendants of Solomon, and Luke addressed himself to Nathan. 15. But of these two genera, in one the stream came out longer, and in the other shorter, which is not surprising, for it is not in the proper sense that one is shorter than the other, but only the number of genera in them is unequal. And thus, what was initially divided later merged into one. But solve this question for me: how did Joseph come from two fathers? 20. It was legalized by Moses: if a Jew died without leaving behind a seed, then, so that his memory would not be destroyed among people, one of the brothers or close relatives of the deceased was obliged, taking his beloved wife and property, to restore the seed and house of the deceased. 25. And therefore I discovered the following secrets about the God-man. Matthan, who descended from Solomon, was married to Esphana, but after his death Esphana had a descendant named Melchi as his wife. And she gave birth to sons - one Jacob, and the other Elijah. After the death of Elijah, since he had no family left, 30. Jacob, who was born of a different father than him, immediately took his house and his wife and gave birth to his brother the valiant son Joseph. So Joseph was the son of Jacob, and the law attributed him to Elijah. And one of the evangelists, Matthew, pointed to natural origin, and the other, Luke, to legal origin. 35. Therefore, you too stop disturbing the excellent agreement of the evangelists. “How then does God, who appeared on earth, trace His descent from King David? How did the immortal God come from a mortal mother? But what about Joseph? He was the son of the Virgin and a descendant of Levi according to Mary, because Miriam was of Aaron’s blood, 40. as the Angel testifies to us. Announcing the birth of the Forerunner of the great Light to the godlike Mary, he elevated both mothers to the great Aaron. The royal and priestly tribes did not mix with each other.” Not true! The tribes were divided, 45. but also mixed many times. Even in ancient times, the daughter of the great Aaron was brought into his famous house by Nahshon, and he was the sixth from Judah. Afterwards, when the city was destroyed by Assyrian weapons and everything was shaken by the dominion of the Babylonians, the immiscibility of the tribes was no longer strictly observed. 50. Thus Christ is elevated to kings both through his mother and, as I asked you to note, through his imaginary father. Under Augustus Caesar, when they imposed taxes on everyone and everyone in their own city was registered in the census, in David's fatherland - 55. Bethlehem, which received the great Christ into its bosom, soon both the betrothed wife and the chaste Joseph came to register, because both were of the same tribe. And here, in a manger, the Virgin Mother gave birth to the King of the whole world. Thus, through his father, He is elevated to kings. 60. The Great Luke led the genealogy in reverse order - from Christ to Adam, but Adam came to me for Christ. The first man Adam was brought into being by God's hand; from Adam came Seth, from Seth Enos, from him the fourth Cainan, from Cainan Maleleel, from Malaleel Jared, 65. begat a son Enoch, who was taken alive into heaven. From Enoch was Methuselah, who begot a son, Lamech, and this is the father of Noah. Shem was the son of this Noah; from Shem came Arphaxad, Cainan, Sala; and the son of Shelah is called Eber, and the son of Eber is called Peleg; 70. From Peleg came Raghab, and this one begat Serukh, to whom he begat Nahor. After these followed Abraham the son of Terah the son of Nahor. Abraham's son Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Judah. And Judah begat Tamar to Perez, Perez to Hezrom, Hezrom to Aram, 20 and this Aminadab, and Aminadab to Nahshon, 75. Nahshon to Salmon, Salmon to Boaz; from Boaz came Obed, Obed begat Jesse, and from this came the great David. The son of David was Nathan, who begat a son Matthan 21, and this Mainan, Mainan Meleai, and this Eliakim, Eliakim Johnan 22, Johnan Joseph, 80. Joseph was born to Judah, from him was born Simeon, from Simeon Levi, from Levi Matthan 23, from Matthan Jorim, from Jorim Eliezer, from Eliezer Jehoshaph 24, from Joseph Ir, from Er Elmod 25 and this had a son Kosam, Kosam had Addi, Addi Melchi; from Melchi came Neri, from Neri Salathiel, Zerubbabel, Risai, Jonan, 85. Judah, Osok 26, Shimei, Matthias 27, Maath, Naggai and Elim 28. From Elim came Nahum, Amos, Mattathias, Joseph, Jannai, Melchi, Levi, Matthan 29, Eli, Joseph. So Luke, what about the great Matthew? 90. From Abraham to David according to what was said above. And where Luke moved on to the priestly generation, Matthew places a line of kings. Now let's say how many there were and what the sons of David were called: Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa; from Asa 95 came Jehoshaphat, and the seventh was Joram; then Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah; and after this Jehoiachin, who was carried captive to Babylon, Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Abihu, Eliakim, 100. Azor; from Azor Zadok, from Zadok Achin 30, from Achin Eliud, from Eliud Eliezer 31, from Eliezer Matthan, from Matthan Jacob, the very last, the imaginary father of Christ, Joseph. Christ the great God has twelve disciples: Peter, Andrew, John, James, the fifth Philip, the sixth Bartholomew, then Matthew, Thomas and James Alpheus, 5. Judas, Simon and another Judas, whom it would be better not to mention. 20. Miracles of Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew According to the Book of Matthew, these are the miracles performed by King Christ, who entered into union with human flesh. Firstly, he delivered him from a severe disease - leprosy (8:1-4). Secondly, he strengthened the members of the centurion’s servant (8:5-13). 5. Thirdly, with His hand He quenched the heat in Peter’s mother-in-law (8:14–15). Fourth, he calmed the great turbulence and winds (8:23–27). Fifthly, he sent demons among the pigs in Gergesene (8:28–32). Sixthly, he [caused] the one who was paralyzed to take up his bed (9:2-7). Seventh, Christ stopped the source of blood in the bleeding woman who touched Him (9:20–22). Eighth, 10. The prince’s daughter returned to the light (9:23–25). Ninth, He gave light to the blind (9:27–29). Tenth, the dumb man began to speak after the demon was cast out (9:32–33). Eleventh, Christ loosed the withered hand from bondage on the Sabbath (12:10–13). Twelfth, he freed his eyes and ears from the demon (12:22). 15. Thirteenth, he filled twelve baskets, feeding five thousand men with five grains (14:16-21). Fourteenth, He went up on the waters onto the ship, and the troubled great sea submitted to His feet (14:24-33). Fifteenth, he cast out the spirit from the Canaanite woman, 20. bowing to the strong pleas of her mother (15:22-28). Sixteenth, he filled seven baskets of seven loaves, while the number of those who were saturated was four thousand (15:32-36). Seventeenth, he was transformed into the Divine image and shone before the disciples more than the sun (17:1-8). 25. Eighteenth, at the request of his father, he freed his dear son, who was suffering in the new moon, from illness (17:14–18). Nineteenth, on the way he gave light to the eyes of the blind men of Jericho who were sitting by the road (20:29–34). Twentiethly, he restored sight to the eyes 30. and strengthened the weakened knees (21:14), eliminating all filth from the church (21:12-13); On the way from Bethany, he performed the greatest miracle - he immediately dried up the fig tree, which he found barren (21:18-19). Then deep darkness poured out from the cross when the Light departed (27:45), the wide curtain of the church was torn (27:51), 35. the earth shook, stones were scattered in the ground and the awakened dead left the tombs (27:52-53). Finally, He Himself opened the tomb on the third day (28:1–7), and soon appeared to His beloved (28:16–17) in Galilee. 21. Miracles of Christ according to the Gospel of Mark Mark, believing the word of the great servant Peter, wrote the following miracles of God for the Auzonians. The demon (1:23–26), fever (1:30–31), leprosy (1:40–45) and weakened limbs (2:3–12) yielded to the word of Christ; 5. Then the withered hand stretched out (3:1–5). Christ also tamed the power of the winds or the sea (4:36–41); The legion submitted to him (5:1-20); He stopped the bloody current (5:25–34); fed many with five loaves (6:35–44). Then he pacified the sea and walked on the waters (6:47–51), cast out a demon 10. from the Phoenician woman (7:25–30) - as a sign to the Tyrians and Sidonians; healed a deaf and dumb man (7:31–37); He also fed thousands with seven loaves of bread (8:1–9); and the blind man saw the light (8:22–26). Then His face shone (9:2-8); having cast out the demon, he freed the tongue from its bonds [dumbness] (9:17–27); and Bartimaeus, 15. the blind man of Jericho saw the light (10:46–52). And when Christ, being hungry, found the fig tree barren, he put it to death with just one word (11:12-21); He also healed the blind and lame near the church. 22. Miracles of Christ according to the Gospel of Luke Luke, believing the word of the great servant of Christ Paul, described the following fourteen miracles of God: the demon (4:33-35), fever (4:38-39), leprosy (5:12-14) and weakness of the limbs (5:17-25) yielded to the Word, and the withered hand was stretched out (6:6-10). 5. Then he made the centurion’s servant healthy (7:2-10); to the widow at Nain he gave a son raised from the dead (7:11–15); with His word He cleansed from sins the woman who anointed His clean feet with ointment (7:37-50); calmed the winds (8:22–25) and the great legion (8:27–39); stopped the flow of blood (8:43–48); 10. brought Jairus’ daughter back to life (8:49–56); with five loaves and two fish he fed five thousand men in the desert (9:12–17); showed the radiance of His face (9:28–36); cast out an evil demon from a young boy (9:38–42) and another demon that tied the tongue (11:14); and also 15. healed a Jewish woman crippled by a severe illness (13:11–13); freed from the water burden (14:2–4); cleansed ten lepers, one of whom was a Samaritan (17:12–19); gave light to the blind man from Jericho sitting by the road (18:35–43). And Luke also described those signs that were seen during the death of Christ 20. and when Christ appeared from the dead to His beloved. 23. Miracles of Christ according to the Gospel of John In the sacred book of John you will find few miracles, but many speeches of Christ the King. There was a marriage, and the cupbearers dissolved the wine from the water (2:1-10). Christ spoke, and the suffering son of the nobleman was healed (4:46–53). 5. He said and took up his bed, having not received deliverance in the font (5:1-9). Then he performed the miracle of the five loaves (6:1-13); then he walked on the boiling sea and saved the disciples (6:17–27). He healed a man who was blind from birth by anointing his eyes with clay (9:1-41). It was already day four, and Lazarus was awakened from the grave (11:1-44). 10. Finally, Christ the King Himself, Who died for the dead and rose to give them life, spoke openly with His friends (20:21). 24. Parables of Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew Delve into the mysterious meaning of Christ’s hidden words, which mean: a house built on shifting sand (7:26–27); identical seed, but not equally fallen to the ground (13:3–8); and good seed, into which were mixed the seeds of the enemy (13:24–30); 5. small mustard seed tree (13:31–32); and also the leaven hidden in flour (13:33); a field bought for treasure (13:44); the pearl of great price that the merchant purchased with all he had (13:45–46); a net that brought all kinds of fish out of the sea (13:47–48); 10. a lost sheep picked up on a ramen (18:12–13); the king was unmerciful to the servant who was unmerciful to his debtors (18:2334); the last who received wages equal to the first (20:1-15); two sons sent into the vineyard, not alike in any way (21:28–30); the vinedressers who put the heir to death (21:33–40); 15. guests gathered from the crossroads to the feast in the bridal chamber (22:1-13); vigilant virgins with lamps (25:1-12); the master who divided the slaves according to an unequal number of talents (25:14–30); goats placed opposite the sheep (25:32–33). 25. Parables of Christ according to the Gospel of Mark 32 The Great Christ has accomplished so much: truly He spoke words in parables; about the fact that one seed on earth is not like and not akin to the seeds of thorns (4:7), and about the mustard seed (4:31), about the heir killed by the hands of the wicked (12:7). 5. Mark, whose all this is, is Peter’s pupil. In spacious Hellas, Paul’s [pupil] Luke wrote this: about the demon (Luke 4:33–35), fever (4:38–39), fishing (5:4–9), leprosy (5:12–13) and paralysis (5:18–26). 28. Parables of Christ according to the Gospel of Luke Luke mentioned the following parables: the one who laid a sure foundation on a rock (6:47–49); about the one who receives more benefits and loves more (7:41–43); about the seed that fell on the four 5. kinds of the earth (8:5-15); about a traveler who fell into the hands of robbers (10:30–37). Then someone, arriving untimely at the door, asks and receives no evil (11:5-8); the unclean spirit dwells with the other seven spirits (11:24–26); 10. The rich man, rejoicing at the abundance of fruits, indulges in vain hopes, not knowing where he will be (12:16–21). After this, it is also the case that, while waiting for Christ to return from marriage, we must watch and serve Him as best as possible (12:36-40); and that the barren fig tree is heaped with manure (13:6-9); leaven (13:20–21); beggars at marriage (14:16–24); 15. joy over the found coin (15:8-10) and over the found sheep (15:3-7); a father who took pity on his fallen son (15:11–32); the steward who, prudently robbing the master, forgives each of his debtors a certain part of the debt (16:1-9); Lazarus and the rich man (16:19–31); the widow's annoying request (18:2–5); 20. the publican and the arrogance of the Pharisee (18:10–14); equal division of ten minas (19:12–27); evil farmers, murderers of their master (20:9-17). 27. Parables of Christ by the four evangelists I am afraid that, having laid the foundation of life on sand (Matthew 7:26), I may be destroyed by rivers and winds. I am afraid that, like a seed that fell on dry and barren land, I too, having vegetated soon, will dry up even sooner, 5. when the sun's rays and light misfortunes strike me, or that I may be eaten by birds and crushed by thorns (Mark 4:3-8). I am afraid that the sower of bad tares and an envious enemy will not mix in bad seed during my sleep, and that when I lay my hand on the 10. good and bad plants that have vegetated together before they sprout, I will not destroy the good plant with the tares, because few have an experienced hand and know how to destroy only the tares where virtue and vice live. alternately, they became close to each other and where the bad grows along with the good (Matthew 13:24–30). 15. I praise the small mustard seed, which, despite its smallness, very quickly grows into a tree and reaches such a height that it becomes a shelter for the birds of the air (Matthew 13:31–32). Oh, if only I, having loved Your beauty, precious and famous Pearl (Matthew 13:45-46), would become a great merchant and, 20. selling everything I have, down to the last tunic, would receive in return expensive acquisitions and become richer than everyone else, when I acquire the only jewel or treasure hidden in a field in the depths of the earth! I also know that the whole world is involved in the sea, when the fishers of men, 25. fulfilling the commands of Christ the King, surrounded it with their net, so that those floating in the bitter waves of this life would be snatched from the depths of the sea and presented to Christ. But when you pronounce judgment on this fishing and divide what you catch into parts, 30. do not throw me away like one of the worthless fish, but put me in vessels to be kept for the King (Matthew 13:47–50). Oh, if only I could enter God’s great, beautiful and blooming vineyard early in the morning and endure greater labor than others (Matthew 20:1-16), and receive reward and glory on an equal basis with at least the last! 35. What is there to envy if God, along with labor, also imputes the desire to work? The father sent his sons into the vineyard to take care of it, and sent the eldest first. He willingly accepted the order, but did not fulfill his father’s wishes, as promised, and the youngest son refused to fulfill the order, but nevertheless fulfilled it (Matthew 21:28–32). In my opinion, [however] 40. it would be better, and the parent would be more pleased than both of them, with a son who would both accept the order and fulfill the hope. But those who are destined for the fire will kill the heir outside the vineyard (Matthew 21:33–41). Here is the wedding feast, which the good father institutes (Matthew 22), rejoicing over the best son. Oh, if only there was a place at this supper for me and for everyone who is of the same mind with me! 45. But the one who prefers either a village, or a pair of newly purchased oxen, or a wife, to marriage merriment will remain outside the feast. I am also afraid that, among the feasters who are dressed like a wedding, I alone, whose clothes are defiled, will be bound hand and foot 50 and cast out of the bridal chamber far from both friends and the wedding feast. When ten pure virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), awake, with lit lamps and with watchful eyes, are waiting for the longed-for Bridegroom - the King of God, so that they can go out bright to meet Him who comes with joy, 55. then do not put me among the poor in mind and foolish virgins, so that at the very coming of Christ I will be burdened with sleep Having noticed with my eyes the barely flickering brilliance of the lamps, it was too late not to wish for drops of the oil of bright life, and the locked doors did not block my entrance to the marriage, 60. where the Word, uniting with pure souls with great bonds of love, bestows upon them boldness and glory. When, my King, returning from marriage, you suddenly come to both those who are waiting and those who are not, oh, if only I could then be among those waiting and earn praise, 65. as a good servant (Matthew 25:21, 23), who had fear, was condescending to those in authority, and was a truthful dispenser of lives - a firm word! And on the terrible day, when the sheep and the goats are separated (Matthew 25:3233) - pious and reverend people, do not place me in the land of the goats, 70. but command me to stand with the sheep on the right hand, and let only the worst remain on the left hand! If there is any luminous lamp in me (Matthew 5:15), let it shine outside, on top of the candlestick! But it is also good that God alone, Who watches over everyone with His eye, sees something different in me. Oh, if I could always and most of all love God, whether He sends something bitter 75. or good, because everything is wonderful for me! But if robbers attack me on my way out of the great city of Christ, then do not let me die from murderous hands. And if you extract the spirit of life from me, then let the enemy not attack me with his multitude, as a person good for nothing! 80. Do not destroy, O King, the useless fig tree, but wait for more fruit (Matthew 21:19; Luke 13:7); Do not flog me, but take care to renew my strength! Having found a drachma, a sheep and a completely lost son (Luke 15:8-9; Matt. 18:12-14; Luke 15:11-32), one on the ground, the other in the mountains, and the third at the feet, who returned to his father’s house in a pitiful state, 85. count me again, O King, among your sons, sheep and drachmas! Since the King is kind to my weaknesses, let me not be an merciless torturer (Matthew 18:23–35) of slaves like me! And it would be good if I had enough prudence to secretly reduce something from their debts, so that later I could have help for myself in times of need! 90. I would like to be Lazarus both here and in the future life; because the other was arrogant here, and there he became dishonest and because of his satiety he was tormented in the fire (Luke 16:19–31). I won’t be tall; for I am an unworthy publican and with tears I will attract mercy to myself (Luke 18:10–14); and let the Pharisees be humiliated! If I ever send an exhausted widow away from my doors (Luke 18:1-8) with nothing or from my own hands, 95. Instead of the desired bread or tasty fish, I give someone a stone or a terrible snake (Matthew 7:9-10), covering up enmity with friendliness, then may I myself receive the same reward from God! If I already have a seal attached to some of my storehouses, and others are filled with fleeting hope (Luke 12:16–21), 100. then let the night destroy me and my empty dreams! No, no, I do not want the talent that God entrusted to me (Matthew 25:15-30), who bestowed great grace on others, and the mina shared equally by all, that is, the gift of the natural word, remained in my hands unused; on the contrary, 105. I will put them into circulation, and it is better for me to receive glory for this than to be subjected to severe punishment and shame. 28. The storm calmed by Christ 33 Once upon a time, Christ was resting in a natural sleep on a ship, and the sea was shaking from stormy winds, and the swimmers were crying out in horror: “Awake, Savior, and help those who are perishing!” The king, having rebelled, commanded 5. the winds and waves to subside (Luke 8:24). Then those on the ship understood the miracle-working God in this miracle. O Thou Who art above all! For what else am I allowed to say about You? How will the word praise You? For You are ineffable by any word. How will the mind look at You? For You are incomprehensible to any mind. You alone are ineffable, because you have produced everything that can be spoken! 5. You alone are ignorant, because you have produced everything that is comprehended by thought. Everything verbal and non-verbal sings your praises loudly 34. You are honored by everything, both gifted and not gifted with reason! The common desires of all are directed towards You; All hearts ache for You; Everyone sends prayers to you; 10. Everything that understands Your beckons utters silent hymns to You. Everything exists through You alone. Everything in its entirety strives towards You. You are the end of everything; You are one and all; You are neither one, nor one, nor all. O All-Named One! What shall I name You, the only unnameable One? 15. And what kind of heavenly mind will penetrate through the clouds? Be merciful, O You, Who are above all! For what else am I allowed to say about You? Let us glorify, let us glorify You, the incorruptible Monarch, the King, the Lord! Through you there is song and praise, 5. and angelic faces, and endless eyelids; With you the sun shines, with you the path of the moon and all the beauty of the stars; 10. Through you, man, distinguished by honor, like a rational animal, received as his inheritance the thought of the Divine. You created everything, you indicate its order to each thing and you embrace everything 15. with Your Providence. You spoke the word and the deed was done. For Your word is God the Son, consubstantial and equal in honor with Him who gave birth. 20. He brought everything into order so that he could reign over everything. And the all-inclusive Holy Spirit God preserves everything through His providence. 25. I sing praises to You, living Trinity, the one and only one, the unchangeable, beginningless Nature, the Nature of the unspeakable essence, the Mind incomprehensible in wisdom, 30. the heavenly Power, infallible, incomparable, limitless, the Radiance inconceivable, but observing everything, 35. from the earth to the abyss in nothing. knowing the depths for Himself! Be merciful to me, Father! Grant that I may always serve this shrine; and cast away my sins, 40. clearing my conscience from every evil thought, so that I glorify God, raising my holy hands, blessing Christ and 45. kneeling asking Him to accept me, His servant, when He comes in the kingdom! Be merciful to me, Father! May I find mercy and grace from You, because 50. To You be glory and thanksgiving forever! Glory to God the Father and the Son - the All-King, glory to the All-Praised and All-Holy Spirit. The Trinity is one God, who created and created everything: the heavens for the heavenly and the earth for the earthly; 5. He created the sea, rivers and springs for those who live in the water, giving life to everything by His Spirit. So that every creature sings praises to the all-wise Creator - its only Reason for life and existence. Especially the rational nature always glorifies Him - 10. The Great King and the Good Father: with breath, soul, tongue and thought. Let me also praise You purely, Father! Let us bless You now, my Christ - the Word of God, Light from the Light without beginning, and the Spirit without beginning, 5. The Triple Light united into one glory, Who, having abolished darkness, established the light in order to create everything in the light and, 10. forming the impermanent substance into the world and the present well-being, enlightening the human mind with the Word and Wisdom - 15. the lightness from above, and establish [Your] image on earth, so that Light may be contemplated by light and become entirely Light. You have illuminated the heavens 20. with varied brilliance. You made it so that night and day meekly yield to each other, honoring the law of brotherhood and friendship. And to one - setting a limit 25. to the fatigue of the laborious flesh, to the other - raising to work and deeds dear to You, so that, avoiding darkness, 30. we would hasten towards the day, by day, and not by night, destroying the darkness. You send a light sleep to my eyelids, 35. so that the hymn-speaking tongue may rest in a short sleep. But even with alternating choirs of Angels, Your creation [sings You] without stopping. Let the bed experience 40 together with You. pious thoughts, so that none of the unclean things done during the day expose you at night, and so that nocturnal fun does not disturb you in your sleep. 45. But the mind, even without the body, God proclaims to You - to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit - honor, glory and power forever. Amen. I thank You, King and Creator of all things, the sky is filled with Your glory, and the whole earth is filled with Your wisdom. God the Word - Your Son created everything. Your Holy Spirit gives life to everyone. 5. The Divine Trinity is merciful to the world; be merciful to us, the Son of God, in spirit, and man in the flesh, Who suffered the death of the cross as a man; on the third day, like God, he smashed the gates of hell; Having torn apart the bonds of death, He rose again, 10. And having restored nature to the race of mortals, He revived everything that was characteristic of us, so that we would always glorify You, the Immortal. I thank You, King and Creator of all things, I thank You, who created intelligent [creatures] - in a word, [beings] visible - by command and confirmed them, who were not before, and manifested them from the unmanifested [into manifestation]. Pure singers [Thy] surround Thy throne, 5. on the one side - myriads, on the other hand - again thousands. The fiery choir of angelic armies - from the beginning the imperishable tribes of the firstborn, the choir of shining stars, the spirits of men of God, the souls of the righteous - all gathered together and surrounded Your throne, 10. with joy and fear they sing continuously, chanting a pure and silent song. I thank You, King and Creator of all things, and let this pure song of mine [sound among] the heavenly choirs. Yes, and I pray to You, Immortal Father, 15. and I bow the knees of my heart, and my mind falls on my face before You, my Immortal Father, and my head bows to the ground in prayer, and I lie on it, praying to You and shedding tears. For I am not worthy to look at the sky. But You, merciful Father, have pity on me, be merciful to me, 20. You are the healer of the suffering, with Your hand take me from the clutches of death, purifying all my thoughts. Do not strip me of Your Spirit, but fill my chest with strength and boldness, so that with both my heart and lips I sing Your beauty. 25. Appear to me, Your servant, as my Parent. Give me a pure life, a pure death, good hope, mercy and grace. All that I have sinned from my youth, I will destroy as a good King, because thanksgiving is due to You every day, thanksgiving to You every day and forever and ever. 35. Prayer before reading the Holy Scriptures All-Seeing Father of Christ, hear our prayers. Grant divine singing to the voice of Your servant. After all, this sacred trail leads to the path of knowledge of the Divine, God as the Self-Generated One - the only one among the living, 5. and Christ - the King who saves mortals from evil, Who once had mercy on the human race, which suffered grievously, and, on the advice of the Father, wished to voluntarily change His image. And the immortal God became mortal, and freed all those languishing in Tartarus from their bonds with His Blood. 10. So, come now, and from this sacred and pure Book, feed your soul with God-inspired speeches, for then you will see the servants of Truth, proclaiming life with a heavenly voice. 36. Prayer of one going on a journey My King, Christ! Thou art in whom are all good things for Thy people; You, who are the straight path for them in everything; You led the army with fire and cloud; You opened a way for Your beloved in the divided sea, and You drowned Pharaoh in it; 5. You sent them extraordinary bread from heaven, you brought forth a river from solid stone; You (oh, great miracle!) stopped the swiftness of hostile people in the desert, when Moses extended his arms, foreshadowing the cross - my help; You stopped the flow of the moon and the sun, made the river recede before those who hastened, 10. and a convenient path opened to the land that You Yourself promised and indicated; You finally showed people the path to heaven itself and added a new one to the ancient path, when you came to our land 15. You are God and man together, and again ascended from here to heaven to come to those who were waiting more luminous than before. You yourself walked on the seas, with your feet you trampled the waves, overwhelmed by strong winds. Come now, O Blessed One, to accompany me, the calling one! 20. Give me a good procession and a good Angel, guide, protector, helper, so that he, both night and day, as far as possible, leading me away from all evil and after labors bringing me the desired end of the path, both brought me out of the house unharmed, and returned me home again - to my family 25. and to friends who loved a similar path of life, and I, free and unperturbed by anything, could lift up to You day and night prayers, leading a life not defiled by sins, and an inspired mind constantly rapt to You, Light of my life, until I complete the last and common path for all 30. and until I reach the end of my labors, one with the pious! For You I live, my King Christ, for You I speak, for You I sit in one place, for You I lift my foot, because You cover me with Your hand. But now lead me to the good end of my journey! 37. Another prayer for a good journey 36 Without You, Christ the King, it is impossible to raise even a foot; in You are all good things for Your people; You are the straight path for them in everything; I trust in You, and I walk along this path. 5. Convey me unharmed and grant me what my heart hopes for! Bring me back, O King, to my meager home, where I could in freedom appease You day and night! 38. Another prayer about the same thing You, who led the army with fire and cloud; You, who opened the way to the sea for the persecuted and made the waves solid for them, and sent extraordinary bread from the sky to the needy, issued a stream from the rocky stone! 5. Come and now accompany the servant who calls You, Christ, Light of men, Giver of all success! Section II. Moral poems Let us crown virginity with our crowns, singing it from the bottom of our hearts in pure songs! This is a wonderful gift of our life, the most brilliant gift of gold, electra 37 and ivory - a gift to those 5. in whom the fire of love for virginity has cast down earthly life, raising from here the wings of their mind to the most exalted God. Let the guardians of purity listen to my song with joy, because it is the common reward of all the chaste; and let the envious block the doors of hearing! 10. If anyone wants to open them, then cleanse your heart with teaching! I greet you, great, God-given virginity - giver of blessings, mother of a comfortable life, Christ's lot, cohabitant of heavenly beauties, to whom marital ties are unknown! But they do not know these bonds, firstly, God, then - the face of the ever-present God; God, 15. this source of lights, the unnameable, incomprehensible Light, which flees from the speed of the mind approaching Him, always warns every thought, so that in our desires we constantly stretch to a new height, and the face of God, these lights are secondary after the Trinity, which has royal glory. 20. The First Virgin is the pure Trinity. From the beginningless Father, not excited by anyone (because He Himself is the path, root and beginning for everyone) and who does not give birth to anything like mortal children, like light from light, comes the Son the King. 25. From the Son there is no other beloved son who delights in such glory, so that the Father is entirely the Parent, and the Son is only the Son and the only Son of the only Father, having this in common with the great Spirit, that both are equally from the Father. One God, revealed in three Lights - 30. such is the pure nature of the Trinity! After the Trinity there are luminous, invisible Angels. They walk freely around the great throne, because they are fast-moving minds, flames and divine spirits, quickly transported through the air. They diligently serve high commands. 35. They have no marriages, no sorrows, no worries, no terrible and criminal rebellion of passions. Neither members nor abodes separate them from each other. They are all of the same mind with each other, and each is identical with himself. One nature, one thought, one love around the great King God. 40. They do not seek pleasure either in children or in spouses, or in carrying out sweet labors for them; They do not desire wealth, nor do they desire those thoughts of evil that the earth brings to mortals. They do not sow, do not sail the seas to please the unbridled womb - this source of sin. They all have one perfect food - 45. to saturate the mind with the greatness of God and draw immeasurable light from the bright Trinity. These pure servants of the pure God lead a lonely life. They are simple, spiritual, imbued with light, 50. They do not originate from the flesh (because all flesh, as soon as it thickens, is destroyed) and do not enter into the flesh, but remain as they were created. For them in virginity, the path of godlikeness is ready, leading to God, in agreement with the intentions of the Immortal, Who wisely rules the helm of the great world, as well as strong-hearted mortals, heavenly and earthly - 55. this sacred race of distressed people, this is the glory of the King. But now I will proclaim the venerable mysteries of God, how virginity has shone in recent times. There was once a time when black night covered everything, the kind light of dawn did not yet shine, 60. the sun did not pave a fiery path from the east, the cuckolded moon did not appear - this is the decoration of the night; but everything, one with the other mixed and bound by the dark bonds of primeval chaos, wandered without a goal. You, blessed Christ, submitting to the wise thought of the great Father, 65. perfectly distributed each thing its place in the world and, first of all, indicated that there should be light, so that all Your deeds, filled with light, would be delightful; and then he rounded out the greatest of miracles - the starry sky, permeated with the light of the sun and the moon, which You gave, 70. so that from the dawn of the morning one would illuminate people with streams of immeasurable light and determine the hours with its flow, and the other would illuminate the darkness and bring about the second day. He placed my land at the foot of the sky; then he bound the sea with handfuls of earth, and with the sea the earth, 75. washed by the waters of the ocean, so that all this, the earth, the sky, and the sea (the sky adorned with celestial bodies, the sea with fish, the vast earth with terrestrial animals), made up the world. Then, having surveyed and then found everything in order, 80. The Father rejoiced in the deeds of the Son of the King, in agreement with His advice. There was also a need for a spectator of Wisdom, the mother of all, and a reverent king of the earth. And He said: “The expansive sky is already inhabited by pure and ever-living servants, immaculate minds, good Angels, 85. hymns, ceaselessly singing My glory. But the earth is decorated only by irrational animals. Therefore, it pleases Me to create such a kind of creatures in which both would be mixed, a kind of creatures intermediate between mortals and immortals, a rational man who would rejoice in My deeds, 90. be a wise secret of the heavenly, the great ruler of the earth, a new Angel from dust, a hymnographer of My power and My mind.” So the river and, taking part of the newly created earth, with immortal hands made my image and gave it from His life, because He sent into it 95. the spirit, which is a stream of the invisible Divinity. Thus, from dust and breath, man was created - the image of the Immortal, because in both the nature of the mind reigns. Therefore, like the earth, I am tied to this life and, like a particle of the Divine, I carry in my chest the love for the future life. 100. But when the divine creature appeared on earth and in the earthly valleys of the ever-blooming paradise, man, however, did not yet have an assistant in life like him, then the all-wise Word performed truly the greatest miracle: created to be a spectator of the world, 105. that is, my root and seed of a diverse life, dividing into two parts, with a powerful and life-giving hand, took one rib from the side to create a wife, and, pouring love into the depths of both, prompted them to strive for each other. 110. But so that not every wife strives for every husband, she sets a limit to lust, which is called matrimony, - this bridle for a substance that knows no measure, so that with its swiftness and unbridled impulses, when people are attracted to each other in groups, the sacred human race is not cut off from illegal intercourse 115. and conquered by uncontrollable recklessness, lust does not arouse in all wars and grief. Until Mother Earth saw man on herself, she did not have her highest decoration, which she should have received. But even the very first of people, 120. due to his own foolishness and the envy of the evil serpent, cast out from paradise for the crime of eating from the murderous tree, began to gravitate with his leather vestments to the earth. However, then there was the best couple among people, and marriage, having given rise to the human race, served as salvation from destruction, 125. so that when some die and others take their place, the changing generation of people flows like a river, which does not stand in one place due to the prevailing death, and is always full due to new births. But how soon both the bowels and the wide ends of the earth, the east and the west, and the southern and northern countries 130. were filled with these one-day creatures, and the dirty vale boiled with insolence; the creation was humbled by many lessons: the division of languages, floods, rains of fire, the decrees of the written law, the prophets. Since she did not want to throw off the bonds of original sin, 135. on the contrary, she was constantly entangled in the strongest captives 38 of the flesh, indulging in voluptuousness, drunkenness and idolatry, then finally, by the beck of the immortal Father and the action of the Son, the beloved race received the following honor as its inheritance. 140. Christ, seeing how soul-destroying sin consumes in the mortal body everything that He put into it from the heavenly portion, and how the cunning serpent dominates people, to restore His property, he did not leave other helpers to heal the disease, because weak healing is not enough in great suffering, but he exhausted the glory 145. which He Himself had - the heavenly and unchangeable Image of the Heavenly. Together, according to human and non-human laws, having been incarnated in the most pure womb of an unskilled Woman (oh an incredible miracle for the weakest!), 150. He came to us, being together God and mortal, combining two natures (of which one is hidden, and the other is visible to people, one is God, and the other was born for us at the end of the time when God united with him in the human womb) and abiding in both natures one God; because man united with the Divinity, and from the Divinity, man is the King and Christ. 155. A new connection took place because I neglected the first. In the first, I was granted God’s breath, and in the last, Christ took upon Himself my soul and all my members, took on that Adam, originally free, who was not yet clothed with sin until he recognized the serpent, and did not taste the fruit 160. and death, but fed the soul with simple, heavenly thoughts, and was the bright secret of God and the divine. For this re-creation, God came into human nature, so that, having overcome in the struggle and defeated the murderer by death, taking gall for eating [the forbidden fruit], nails for intemperance of the hands, 165. for the tree [of paradise] - the cross, for the earth - the ascension to the cross, to raise Adam back to life and glory. And having spread out [his] holy body according to the ends of the world, He gathered the human race from all ends, united it into one man and imprisoned it in the bosom of the great Divinity, 170. with the blood of the Lamb, cleansing all impurities and removing the filth that blocked the path from earth to heaven for mortals. But who will open the mind and its depths in You, King? You know the number of raindrops and sea sand, You know the paths of the wind. 175. Who will also know the traces of Your advice, O Blessed One? You, reigning in the heavenly places, see everything and control everything, no matter what the boundless age hides within itself. The human mind, reaching out to You, sees only a small radiance and, as it were, fast-flying lightning running through the air. 180. But, however, it is certain that You, with Your suffering, took man away from here and placed him in a new life: instead of a sinful one, a free one. Previously, life on earth was many-sorrowful and the world was many-sick; the earthly king was surrounded by numerous people, treacherously kidnapped from the great King. 185. But now Christ, having freed us from the power of terrible sin, again leads us to the great King and to a better world. And the first was for people the fruit of marriage, and the other was the fruit of godlike virginity. Marriage served as an adornment for the earth, and virginity for God’s heaven. 190. Just as a painter, depicting soulless likenesses of things in a picture, first shades the image with light and vague features, and then paints the full image with different colors, so virginity, the property of the ever-present Christ, first appeared in a small number of people 195. and while the law reigned, shaded by faint colors, shone in a few features with a hidden light. But when Christ came through a pure, virgin, unmarried, God-fearing, undefiled Mother without marriage and without a father and, since He was about to be born, 200. purified the female nature, rejected the bitter Eve and rejected the carnal laws, according to the great statutes the letter yielded to the spirit, and grace was clearly revealed - then bright virginity shone for people, detached from the world and renouncing the weak world from itself, 205. as much preferable to marriage and worldly ties as the soul is preferable to flesh and the wide sky to earth, as much as the unchangeable life of the blessed is better than a fleeting life, as much as God is more perfect than man. And around the radiant King stands the immaculate one, 210. the heavenly host are those who hasten from earth to become gods, these are Christ-bearers, servants of the cross, despisers of the world, dead to the earthly, caring for the heavenly, the luminaries of the world, clear mirrors of light. They see God, God sees them, and they see God. 215. Come now, you who are in unanimity with your side, who have dedicated yourselves to the secrets of marriage, who raise your head high and boldly turn your eyes, who adorn yourself in gold mixed with precious stones, and who clothe your tender limbs in magnificent clothing, come and show us, 220. what benefits are brought to mortals by marriage bonds and matrimony! Then we will also call those who do not know the bonds of marriage. And the first will not hesitate to say majestically: “Dear children of marriage, this king of the earth! Listen to us, for whom marriage and the bonds of life are sacred! What law for the human race and for our blood decreed 225. The Son of the immortal Father at the very time when he mated the first Adam with his side, so that the fruit of man would be man and that he who is mortal in himself would continue his race, like ears of corn, producing children - the same law and the same loving yoke of marriage, honoring, 230. and we live together and, as having come from dust, we follow the most ancient law of dust or God Himself. It is true that those natures to which the wide sky is given as their inheritance do not know marriage; they are above passions and heavy worries; 235. But for us, one-day-old creatures, marriage and bonds are useful; it is the root of sweet branches and kind fruits, it is the good support of a sweet life. First, God is the parent of everything; and forgive me, Christ! initially or first of all there is a place for Your pure laws, and then - the bonds of love; because both the earth and the ether, 240. and the sea bloom with childbearing - the gifts of marriage. If it is true that there is a law of love even for tall palm trees, a male and female branch, united by the hands of a gardener in springtime, bears abundant fruit; if, as those who tested the nature of stones say, from two stones coming together, 245. a new stone is born, then even inanimate creatures have matrimony and bonds of love. But what do I care about the love of others, about stories and affections unknown to me! Look what prudent marriage has brought to people. Who taught the coveted wisdom? 250. Who discovered the depths that the earth, the sea, and the sky closed in themselves? Who gave laws to cities and even before this who erected cities and invented arts? Who filled the marketplaces, houses and stadiums? Who builds armies in wars and tables at feasts? 255. Who gathered the chanting crowd in the fragrant church? Who exterminated animal life, taught to cultivate the land and plant trees? Who sent a black ship driven by the winds across the seas? Who connected both the land and the wet sea along one path? 260. Who else if not marriage? Who, besides him, combined the most distant things together? Such are the gifts of marriage in this respect; but they are even more excellent if we take them higher. Bound by the bonds of marriage, we replace each other’s hands, ears, and feet. 265. Marriage makes even a weak person twice as strong, brings great joy to well-wishers and sadness to ill-wishers. The common concerns of the spouses ease their sorrows; and common joys are more delightful for both. For spouses who are unanimous, wealth becomes more pleasant, but in poverty, unanimity itself is more pleasant than wealth. For them, marital ties serve as the key of chastity and wishes, 270. the seal of necessary affection. One lot of love (Prov. 5:19) warms the spirit with leaping; They have only one drink from a domestic source, which is not consumed by outsiders, which does not flow out anywhere and does not flow in from anywhere. Composing one flesh, they have one soul and by mutual love they equally arouse in each other zeal for piety. For marriage does not remove one from God, but, on the contrary, binds one more, because it has more motives. Like a small ship, even in a weak wind, it moves forward, quickly carried across the waters by outstretched sails, 280. even the hands easily force it to run with the blows of the oars; a large ship cannot be moved by a light breath; on the contrary, when it goes out to sea with its cargo, only a strong and fair wind can give it speed; those who have not entered into marriage, as if they are not burdened with everyday worries, have less need for the help of the great God; 285. And whoever is obliged to be the trustee of a dear wife, estate and children, who cuts through the vast sea of ​​​​life, needs great help from God, he mutually loves God more. These are the fruits of marriage! But life without love is incomplete, harsh, invisible, homeless and loves to wander through the mountains; 290. It does not save from suffering, it does not heal decrepit old age, it does not make parents come to life in their children, it does not cement life with pleasant connections. Those who have not committed themselves to marriage find no consolation either in public meetings or at feasts, but are gloomy and alien to the world; having been born for life, 295. they do not love the very root of life and in their hearts they do not have unanimity with people. If anyone, out of zeal for virtue, despises conjugal love, then let him know that virtue is not alien to this love. In ancient times, not only was marriage dear to all the pious, but even the fruit of tender marital love were 300. spectators of Christ’s suffering or prophets, patriarchs, priests, victorious kings, adorned with all sorts of virtues, because the earth did not give birth to the good from itself, as they say about the monstrous tribe of giants, but they are all both the offspring and the glory of marriage. 305. Who pointed out the Almighty God to people who had moved away from Him? Who filled the mind with divine love and raised us from here to another life? Who purified the soul in all luminous men? Faith translated Enoch [to heaven] (Gen. 5:24). The great Noah, in a small number of souls and in floating seeds 310. saved the whole world from drowning (Gen. 6:8–9:1). Abraham was the father of cities and nations and offered his bound son to the altar as a sacrifice to Christ (Matthew 22:1-13). Moses, with great miracles, brought the people out of difficult Egypt (Ex. 3-14), 315. He accepted the law from above on tablets of stone and saw God face to face (Ex. 31:18; Deut. 34:10). Aaron was a faithful priest among the ancients. Courageous Joshua [Joshua] prolonged the course of the moon and sun to smite and bury his enemies (Joshua 10:12–13). And you, blessed, blameless Samuel, who lifts up the horn of the anointed (1 Samuel 2:10)! 320. David, most glorified of all kings! Solomon is the first glory of wisdom! I will not forget the prophets. Elijah was taken up into heaven by a chariot (2 Kings 2:11). Who did not marvel at the environment of the law and the Spirit, the great-voiced Forerunner of the Highest Light - John! 325. Who did not later marvel at the twelve glorious disciples! Who did not marvel at the jealousy of the high-spirited celestial Paul! Should we talk about other excellent men who were and what we have today - about this support of the word, the glory of the world, about this affirmation of people? All of them are given to people by Christ and marriage. 330. And the women who became famous for their piety and of whom we see a great number in the inspired books did not achieve their glory outside of marriage and carnal bonds. I will present my strongest evidence in favor of marital love. And Christ was incarnated, although in a pure, yet in a human womb 335. and was born from a betrothed wife, receiving half of the human marriage into union with the Divinity. But my main advantage over everyone is that if virgins gain the upper hand, then they, like everyone else, are my race, because virgins do not come from non-encroachers, 39 but from spouses. And I advise the children to stop arguing. If you are not fathers, then you received life from your fathers.” The marriage said so; then 345. virginity appears with a sad look, in a thin hair shirt, with emaciated limbs, without shoes, withered, with eyes cast down to the ground; barely opens his lips with bashfulness, while his cheeks turn purple from the rush of honest blood; removing the veil from her head, she wraps herself in it silently. And I turn to him with these pleading words: “Daughter of heaven, filled with inner glory, 350. already standing in the great choir of those singing the songs of the heavenly King, although flesh and earth keep you here - come and speak the word! I myself will be your protector. For you, God-given queen, have already come to me, come; and, oh, if only she visited me more often and was favorable to me!” 355. “Who raises me against my will to this seat? Who draws me into empty competition and argument of words, when I burn with the desire to serve my God in silence with my deeds, devoting to Him my daily labors, my nightly chants, sources of tears and holy cleansings? 360. My power is not in the circle of people; I am not quick with words, I do not go to public assemblies, I do not admire the verdicts of favorable judges, who observe justice little and for a few, and most often tilt the scales of justice here and there. 365. I provide others with the benefits of life here; but I have one law, one thought - imbued with love, to move from here to the Light-Giver God, who reigns in the heavenly places. The desire for other blessings, about which empty people think highly, who are puffed up by vanity, 370. which are quickly acquired and even more quickly destroyed, occupies my heart as much as smoke, or steam, or flowing air, or sand, raised and carried everywhere by the winds, or the trace of a ship on the sea. 375. Not to see honor among people, but to have even a small, eternally abiding glory in heaven, is more desirable for me than to have everything, but to be at a distance from God. However, I come to tremble and fear, lest any of those who have soared and rushed through the ethereal spaces on the newly-feathered wings of virginity, having heard these reasonings, immediately rush to the ground. 380. That’s why I go out into the middle, to give help to my children, with the assistance of God, defending the right word. First of all, I will tell my mother what is only proper for me to say. What you said in favor of married life is fair: and I agree 385. (for I will begin with what you recently ended with) that marriage is the root of virgins. Indeed, it is the root and the beginning. For which sane person would renounce his parents? However, not everything you said is true. Although you are a mother, nevertheless accept a wise and reasonable word and regarding birth, listen 390. to the secrets of high wisdom revealed to me in the secret places of the great God. A man is not the father of the whole man, as they say, but only of flesh and blood - that which is in the dying man; the soul is the breath of the Almighty God, 395. coming from outside, it forms dust, as He who united them knows this, Who first breathed in the soul and combined His image with the earth. My words are confirmed by your own love, which is incomplete, because you love not the soul in children, but only the body; you lament when the body becomes weak, and rejoice when it blooms. 400. The father and the venerable mother are more heartbroken about unimportant physical defects in their children than about important vices and great spiritual shortcomings. For they are parents to the body, but not to the soul. If I call you mother, then this is the worst part. 405. Why do you envy children because they have a better Father? So, voluntarily yield to the great Parent of men, honoring the virginity that follows the Father God. I tell you this as a mother; And that’s enough of what I’ve said so far. And I, dear children of all the King - God, enter, as it were, into communion with God and leave the love of dust out of respect 410. for that law of longed-for consent, which in ancient times the Son of the immortal Father (born from an unbound by marriage bond, Incorruptible from an indestructible Parent) decreed at the time when he introduced the first Adam into heaven, 415. not bound by marriage, then, giving the law, he prescribed cleansing for the people, he cleansed those born with the law, and he honored the church by the fact that the priests who performed their duties in it observed bodily purity. My witness in this is the great father of John, who not before having completed God’s mysteries in purity, conceived a beloved son, about whom he received a promise inside the church - 420. this harbinger of Christ. The end of the law is that Christ entered into communion with humanity in a virgin’s womb, so that marriage would bow its head to the ground and so that it would give way and a better adornment would appear. 425. And death, through the perishable flesh of the first-born [Adam], which entered into those born from the moist seed and subject to destruction, attacked virginity and died, like a huge wave near a coastal stone or a flame saturated with water. Moreover, who admires cities and impotent laws, popular assemblies and unrest? 430. Who admires the struggles that the fable established in memory of the prematurely dead young men? Who praises the army in battles and the abundance of food at feasts? Who extols vainglorious wisdom, which consists in sleight of hand or in cobwebby words and fabrics 435. woven from fraying threads and disintegrating in the air? Who admires the work of a gardener or the running of a fast-moving ship under a fast wind? Marriage did not teach all this, but this is a small part of the original punishment that befell Adam; 440. in this the evil serpent creeps in, guarding my heel. But if these are gifts of marriage, then get away from me with them! They are not my companions, because I am hastening from here to another life, and all these benefits here will perish either now, or along with the fickle flow of the world. And you yourself make up something fluid, you swim across the stream of fluid life, 445. barely touching it and running over something running. If you admire the wise because they were born from you, then imagine the vices of the wicked, for which you are also the root! In you is the root of Cain, Sodom and those foolish people whom Christ scattered during the pandemonium (Gen. 11:6-9), as well as those whose pride was extinguished by the heavenly rain [in the time of Noah], which cleansed the whole earth and everything that breathed on it (Gen. 6:9). Who nourished the unreasonable Pharaoh, the insolence of Achaab (1 Kings 16–22) and the most grievous Assyrian kings? Who raised the destroyer and child killer Herod (Matthew 2:16), to drink the voluptuous movements of the daughter who gave the righteous blood [John the Baptist], or the murderers 455. of the All-King Christ, as well as all the persecutors who were before, and after, and in present times, of the latter the first evil is this ditch of the Belials, the terrible power of the destroyer of souls, Julian, who was struck down from above because swore to fight against Christ, 460. and whose ashes have not yet cooled down, instilling great horror in the wicked? Who will list all the liars, murderers, treacherous, perjurers, thieves of neighbor's property, desecrators of someone else's bed, whom marriage has produced or will produce? For everyone knows, 465. that to the extent that there is more dust than gold, in the same way the vicious ones are more numerous than the virtuous ones, because both of them follow unequal paths: the path of the vicious ones is low and quickly traversed, but the good ones make their way along a difficult path, and therefore the wicked ones far outnumber the good ones. 470. But if you stop admiring children and calling life spent in communion with the Divine insufficient, then let’s conclude our word with this. Enjoy dubious fame. I do not envy my earthly parent at all, not at all. If, having received a secondary place as an inheritance from God, you look towards the primacy, 475. then I will speak to you a fair, although regrettable word for you. Which of the people took care to conceive the best son? And what kind of art is it to give birth to a worthless son? The painter paints another picture from a picture no worse than the original; the sculptor cuts sculptures similar to the model; 480. art fashions from gold whatever the mind conceives; the farmer reaps a good ear from a good seed, and the desire does not remain unfulfilled. But a mortal, neither good nor bad, does not know the properties of his offspring, what will come out of it. And a good one cannot guarantee that he will produce a better one. 485. Another, being Paul, will give birth to a son who is a Christ-killer - the lawless Annas, or Caiaphas, or even some Judas. And another, himself completely in sin, like Judas, but is called the parent of the divine Paul or Peter - the indestructible stone to which the keys are trusted. And the father does not know whether 490. he will give birth to a dear son or daughter, but only the rebellion of the flesh is quenched on the marital bed. From one firstborn came both the envious Cain and the virtuous Abel, who made a godly sacrifice. Both the evil Esau and the good Jacob are Isaac’s children; and what is most remarkable is that 495. twins and children of the same father are in no way similar to one another. And Solomon was first a sage, then he became the most vicious, following the morals of evil wives. Pavlov’s power is great in both cases: when he humiliated Christ, 500. and when, having changed his fiery zeal into good love, he began to preach Christ to everyone. What of all this can we attribute to marriage? At least, I won’t attribute anything, because those who are mating do not achieve the image that they wanted. Whoever amuses himself with the game of grain 40 depends only on throwing the dice, and whether it comes out even or odd, 505. This is not done by the hands of the player, but by the random transformations of the dice; Likewise, marriage, when it sows children, does not give birth to them as prudent or bad, but nature or science instructs them to do so. And if you want to know the true reason, then the most perfect are perfect because they are formed by the Spirit or the Word. 510. For a spark of piety is hidden in a person, just as the power of fire is hidden in some stones. By striking iron, light is extracted from flints; so the Word brings out from mortals the piety hidden in them. But the worst, for the most part, borrow this property from marriage, for it produces the worst in greater numbers. 515. And in this transitory world, the same nail nails everyone’s flesh to the ground and the same leaden burden weighs down the soul, the same inheritance goes to everyone born on earth. But let's stop talking about children; and you do not show me the good ones, and I will not point out the bad ones. 520. And for other reasons, how much better is a pure life! You will recognize this if you consider the love of God and the love of heavy flesh, also the nature and twofold limit of the world. For if you at least somewhat cleanse your eyes from the pus 525. with which they are covered when the light shines, or from darkness, and you are able to look with an open eye at the brightness of our sun, to see everything with a pure mind, then you will find that virginity, taken in its entirety, is such an offering to God, which is brighter than gold, electrum and ivory, that it is prudent, clear as day, 530. light-winged, high-natured, light, bright, above dust, not restrained in the earthly vale, dwells in the vast heavenly city and far from the flesh, with one hand clings to ageless life, and with the other accepts unceasing wealth and glory, 535. is not like a turtle, which, under the burden of its bone house with slow steps, barely drags its wet body, is not divided between Christ and the ruling flesh, according to the law of the water-earth, which either cling to dry land, or remain day and night in the waters, 540. but directs its entire mind to God, and blossoms with births from above, which are better than earthly children - with hope and pure thoughts sent from Clean. On the contrary, marriage either completely moves away from Christ due to the disastrous inflammation of the flesh and all kinds of worldly concerns, 545. or slightly touches the divine. Just as someone who suddenly looks at two heads or two faces or sees doubly written letters on pages does not correctly grasp the whole image, although he wishes to, but embraces one part, and the other runs away from weak, scattered vision, so love is weak if it is divided between the world and Christ, but, on the contrary, it is strong if it is directed towards the One. A man either, possessing Christ entirely, neglects his wife, or, having given place to earthly love in himself, forgets about Christ. I happened to see a stonecutter 555. or someone who makes something out of wood, if he is a smart and prudent person, when it is necessary to cut in a straight line, he closes one eye with his eyelashes, and with the other he strains all his vision, combined together, and correctly determines where the tool has made a mistake. 560. Likewise, concentrated love brings us much closer to Christ, Who loves the one who loves, sees the one who turns his eyes to Him, sees and goes out to meet the one approaching. The more someone loves, the more constantly he looks at his beloved, and the more constantly he looks, the more deeply he loves. This creates a beautiful circle. 565. And I, having loved Christ, left my life here; I cannot turn my attention to other objects. Sweet bonds hold me, captivating me with beauty, which amazes every looking thought, and a bright flame arises in me and makes me all beautiful and radiant. 570. For only he who loves Christ in the very love of his beloved draws beauty for himself; and blessed is he who accepts. On the contrary, you nourish a different kind of love in your chest, and you think a lot about yourself, as if you are getting closer to heaven because, as you say, of caring about children, about property, or about parents, 575. because this is easy. But wise love does not mean that it is easy. The ship is small, the journey is not far, and the acquisition of something perishable is not important. But for you it is an endless voyage; and if you cross the bay, then, having gathered your sails, you will boast of sailing on the Ionian waters. 580. Here everything is moved by the breath of the wind, and the more favorable the wind, the better the sailing. And if the wind is contrary, it’s a small problem to die in the waters. But the navigation of the soul is remote; it requires a good wind. Therefore, I come into trembling and hold on to Christ even more tightly, and not only in the storm, but also in times of silence, I seek Him - my pure desire, 585. for Christ is a strong refuge for those who love Him. He who only in need turns his eyes to God’s right hand, leaves his temporary love as soon as he considers himself not in need. But if Christ from above wounds your heart and pierces you through with a saving arrow, 590. then, having examined each love separately, you will know how much sweeter it is to be wounded by the King. What else are you saying? Parents live a new life, seeing their sons caring for them around them; A wife blooms under the care of her husband, and a husband blooms under the care of his wife. They have common joys, and sorrows and worries are easier. 595. The one who has healthy legs is the greatest support for the lame. But for me, those are the parents who taught me goodness, and those children who were taught by me. I have one Christ as my spouse, who loves virgins primarily, although he became a man for everyone and lifted the cross for everyone. 600. I look at Him with joy even when He sends me sorrows; I rejoice that through sorrow He makes me lighter, like gold that was mixed with dust and then purified. And if chastity is protected in you by marriage and marriage, then I have made it its guardian, not the flesh, but the Word and love, which, possessing me, 605. drove away all extraneous affection, just as a lion drives away the weakest animals. Flesh and flesh have the same passions, and therefore they know how to please each other in other ways. Your table is laden with dishes, but a small piece of bread satisfies me, 610. with which the great Christ fed thousands in the deserts. You have a drink prepared with art, and my drink always flows abundantly from springs, rivers and deep wells. Your face is full and your clothes are light, but my attire is unkempt hair and a dark robe. 615. But I have clothes with golden cassocks rattling 41 - this is Christ, the best inner decoration of my soul. You have a soft bed, but my bed is sackcloth, tree branches and earth wet with tears. You value gold highly, but for me dust is more desirable. 620. You are more indomitable than a calf, I lower my bashful gaze to the ground. You are bursting with laughter; a smile has never appeared on my cheeks. You thirst for glory, and my glory is not on earth. But, having examined and seen all this, look again at how many difficulties there are in marriage for those who serve the flesh. 625. A wife buys herself a husband, and what’s worse, often not a good one. And the husband has a purchased and often hated wife; This is an evil that he imposed on himself and which he cannot put aside. For if spouses are good, then they are unanimous, because they have everything in common; 630. and if they are thin, then they have trouble at home, an incessant quarrel. Let us assume that they are not bad and are unanimous, but a difficult fate often befell the newlyweds. Today a groom, tomorrow a dead man; Today is the marriage bed, and tomorrow is the coffin; sorrows are mixed with joys; a cheerful song comes shortly before lamentation. 635. The wedding lamp was lit by some, but by others it had already been extinguished. One baby began to call his father, and the other suddenly became sad, like a branch covered in wind. First a virgin, then a wife, and then a widow; and all this sometimes in one night and one day. 640. She tears off her curls, throws her bride's outfit far away, torments her cheeks with weak hands, forgets her girlish shame in bitter suffering, calls for her unfortunate husband, mourns the empty house and the lot of widowhood, and untimely grief. 645. I will keep silent about the diseases of childbirth, about carrying a dead burden in the womb, about the pitiful and motherless fetus, when the woman giving birth first becomes a coffin for it, and then gives birth; about the death of babies before their birth, about barren pregnancy; I will keep silent about the production of premature, feeble-minded and deformed people, 650. about this distortion of the human race, about this play of the flesh. If anyone weighs this and looks where the scales are drawn, then it will clearly be revealed to anyone who is prudent that my life is strongly drawn upward, towards the God reigning in the heavenly places. We will not even talk about what is shameful for us, because 655. the honest lips of virginity are accustomed to avoiding reproaches. If, in reproach to God-like virginity, you point to the one who, no matter how much he disgraced my path and covered Christ’s innocent tunic with shame, in sinful seduction chose the first of your blessings and, fleeing a pure, high life, entered into a late marriage, then I will also remind you of the vile betrayals of the marriage bed, when they lawlessly violate marital fidelity, trampling God's threats. For this is one of the most destructive evils for mortals and devours the insides more powerfully than all-consuming fire, 665. when a malicious adulterer, approaching someone else’s bed, makes both the family and the bonds of love doubtful. But you are not kept from the bond of marriage by adulterers and wicked people. Both the one who has not yet washed away human blood from himself, plunging a sword into the enemy’s heart to avenge adultery, and the one who barely escaped the dagger, marry. 670. Will some crazy passion distract me from Christ? Will a small stone really block a wide river? It would be both indecent and unfair. It is much better if, out of many who soar upward, some fall (if it is permissible to say such a 675. difficult word to pronounce) than for everyone to remain on the ground for fear that the wings might melt and fall down. For the good are the glory of Christ, but the wicked... may he who threw a stone into heaven take sin and shame upon his foolish head! 680. Dennitsa was formerly an Angel, but after his fall the inhabitants of heaven did not lose their glory. And Judas did not reproach his disciples with his fall; on the contrary, he was removed from among the elect, and the eleven apostles remained perfect. 685. One was destroyed by the sea, and the other, having spread his white sails, sails where he sees in front of him the coffin of a dead sailor, or unties a ship from one tomb in order to tie the stern to another. Will you command me, my mother, to leave life, aspiring grief, or will we put an end to the word, because the upper hand is on the side of the daughter? If those who gave birth to me can boast of anything, then this is my praise. 690. You admire the fact that you are the mother of virginity; what is my glory? Don’t you know that all the most perfect people you have listed, although they came from parents, are more righteous and better than their parents? And Christ, although Mary’s Son, is much higher than Mary, and not only Mary, but all those covered with flesh, 695. and even higher than those minds that the vast sky hides within itself. And the ear from the small seed sprouted, and from the grains of sand a piece of precious gold was formed. But to put the crown of speech, let the word for both kinds of life, both celibate and married, invent some kind of similarity, 700. in which you would see the end of my word! Snow belongs to winter, flowers belong to spring, gray hair belongs to wrinkles, and strength belongs to youthful years. However, flowers also appear in winter, and snow appears on spring days, 705. and youth produces gray hair; and it happened to see a vigorous old age, and an old man with much greater strength than a barely blossoming young man. So, although marriage has an earthly beginning, and celibate life is a disgrace to the All-King Christ, it still happens that virginity is cast down to heavy earth, 710. and married life leads to heaven. Therefore, if one blamed marriage, and the other blamed virginity, then both would have told a lie. But, my friends, and you, parents, and you, celibate youths and virgins, how long will you, like a despised turtle, or an octopus that does not walk straight, 715. or a long snake that creeps on its belly, how long will you drag out a life burdened with the terrible burden of the flesh? Let us finally listen to Christ’s advice, rejecting beauty, glory, wealth, race, happiness and all the seductive products of disastrous sin, 720. let us rise from here, ascend into an easy life, purify ourselves, let us be unanimous with the heavenly pure Powers, so that, having entered into the host of those who stand before the great God, we will joyfully sing a celebratory song to the King! Just as, cast out from the bright paradise, we received marriage as our inheritance, 725. and the arduous land, and everything that accompanies the lost, so through a life that does not know the bonds of everyday life, we will ascend again to glory, to that good tree of paradise, which we lost for recklessness.” Thus spoke the godlike virginity. The judges, although they were more attached to married life, nevertheless crowned the chapter 730. with virginity. And Christ, who rewards both, will place them next to Him, one on the right hand, the other on the left. But even that is great glory! Your victory! Even he who is a great friend of the flesh will pronounce the same judgment. However, venerable maiden, so prudent and prudent, incline your ears somewhat to my suggestions, 5. allow me to put my word into your heart! The best advice comes from gray hair. Do not be hurt by thoughts, carried away in your impulses beyond the clouds. Often a fall raised one from the ground to a height, and an elevation brought one down to the ground. God has laid down this law: to show favor to those who weep and to cut off the wings of the arrogant. 10. Measure the path of your life with no small measures. If you are ahead of someone who is returning back or the most vicious, then do not think that you have already reached the limit of virtue. To surpass a few is not the height of perfection. The commandment and God must be your measure. And you are still far from God, although you go faster than others. 15. Keep in mind not how many people you have become superior to, but how many people you remain even lower than, and wish to be more perfect than everyone else. The wide sky is above you, and you are high among the low ones. I have heard that the moon, the sun, and the stars appear to fish under water, 20. not because they are really there, but because the fish, seeing faint reflections of reality, delight in these unclear images as if they were the luminaries themselves; and the real heavenly bodies, never coming to the surface of the gray sea, were never seen by fish; otherwise, perhaps they would have distinguished what light is and what the play of light in water is. 25. Thus, some, since they have not seen the true height of the King, barely rise a little, they already think that they are standing at the very height. But, although you have acquired some things and hope to gain others, nevertheless continually stretch your gaze forward, and ascend many steps to everything else. The worst thing is to stop. Hurry to acquire one after another, 30. until Christ takes you to the last step. Beware that you are not accidentally struck by ridicule and an evil tongue that spews snake venom at your perfections. A person has two paths, and reproach comes in two ways. One way is bad; it also leads to a bad end. 35. The other way is good; and its end, as naturally, is desired. But ridicule follows a person on both paths. And if the tongue attacked only those who are bad, what would be more excellent than it? Now, with equal fury, he attacks everyone, good and evil. And you be careful and circumspect 40. in both cases. Fear the tongue, which pursues the wicked in order to flee, and the vice itself, which is attacked by the tongue; and fear the tongue, which the evil enemy wields against the good, as much as a cliff jutting out into the sea fears the wind and the waves crashing against it. 45. Never do anything shameful, although many people like it, and do not abandon a good deed, although it is hated by a vicious one. Try to act in such a way as to earn fame. And if she moves away from you, do not be upset by false rumors, but prudently go your own way. Let others bark in vain; 50. They will not do any harm to divine love, and envy will only cry its own eyes. Having escaped from Sodom, having escaped from the ashes of this life and from the terrible threats of God's fire, 55. do not look back at Sodom, otherwise you will suddenly harden into stone and remain a monument to sin and terrible death (Gen. 19:26). Your feet are no longer on the soil of Sodom; Do not hesitate on the neighboring plains that are close to the fire, but escape to the mountain as quickly as possible so that the fiery rain does not overtake you! Do not be too timid of the flesh, as if it were by nature indomitable. The fear that makes a person bound is not from God. 60. Do not indulge too much in carnal bliss, lest satiation beyond your aspirations throw you off the rapids! Be willing to walk the uneven path. And if you go up, see if the path is slippery, so that you can reach your goal and pass through the narrow gate without falling. 65. There is light, and glory, and peace from all disasters. If you are afraid that even a small spark ignites the straw, then take heart in hope: the great flame will be cooled by rain from above. Prayers, sighs, days spent in tears and nights without rest and complete love for the King - 70. these are the wonderful medicines of chastity! With them, my excellent one, you will never place in your heart an idol of the worst love, but you will have an immaculate mind, like a church of the great God and the radiance of the Spirit. Virgin, be virgin in both hearing and eyes, 75. and tongue, because sin invades through everything. Strain your hearing for only good broadcasts, and for shameful and shameless speeches, block it with the door. Keep your eyes chaste in the bridal chamber, that is, in your eyelids, and do not wound your heart with lustful movements. 80. Keep your lips closed, like the unopened cups of a flower, so that your word remains an object of desire. Legs that walk like greyhounds are unreliable witnesses of virginity; and there is something prodigal in the gait itself. Respect the old chiton, and not the face beaming with pleasure, and not the beautiful silk fabrics. Let others be adorned with pearls, let others' 85. members shine with gold; leave this to those whose faces are colored, these creatures of earthly hands, alien to the heavenly image, these vile images, signs of voluptuousness, silent accusers, moving pictures that reveal the secrets of the auspicious night, 90. this brilliant ugliness, these coffins hiding the stench within them! But move further away from them, you, bride of King Christ, who is famous for your inner beauty. Merge eyes with eyes and word with word, but only pure with pure; never mix laughter with laughter and insolence with insolence, 95. for this leads people to disastrous attempts. Run away from every man, especially do not accept any one as a co-worker in your home life. Believe me, pure virgin, that even if it were purer than gold and harder than adamant, it is still bitter water from Marah. Because there is danger on both sides. 100. Although you rely on your own flesh; however, who will vouch for the members living under the same roof? And your eyes and mind are not entirely pure and undefiled, and the thought of another may hide something earthly in itself and expel the spirit [from the soul]. Having soared from the earth, you have already moved from the carnal to the spiritual; Why, by again approving cohabitation with the flesh, 105. do you dishonor the sacred Bridegroom, Who is jealous of your image? Be careful that He does not deprive you of His love for double-mindedness, for the fact that you worship on both knees. Your beloved is Christ, therefore withdraw from every man. Why do you find it necessary to have as an assistant someone who himself needs an assistant? 110. A horse is dear to a horse, a deer is dear to a deer, a starling is dear to a starling, but the pure is dear to the pure. But, however, you should run away from the malicious adviser, so that, with all your prudence, he does not deceive you. He is most at enmity against the wise, and often turns good into evil, even to the good. 115. Now he is light, but later he will be darkness. There is death inside, and food on top. Attracts with sweetness and destroys with hidden poison. He often brings together people who are close in spirit, comes to them in a bright image, hides behind the honest name of Christian love, and then 120. in those who have become close, changes heartfelt love into carnal love and kindles a flame or leaves pitiful traces of the flame. And if there are no traces of flame left in you, then most likely you will strike those who are watching from the sidelines. But we are all ready to sin; the stream flows down the slope itself. 125. But the house, clothes, table, infirmities brought you to this shame, forced you to choose a helper for decrepit old age. You exchanged gold for copper if, instead of a bright life, you acquired small and indecent consolation. If you give me heaps of gold and amber, 130. green fields, fat herds, a magnificent house and Alcinous’s meal, if instead of this life you give me another ageless one, and then I will not agree to live vilely and through this lose Christ. Let my bread be scarce and water a rare drink; 135. Let me, like Adam and Eve of old, be covered with fig leaves (Gen. 3:7) and let a cleft in a stone or a hollow in a beech serve as my home; My life is simple and no better than that of an animal; or, burdening the earth, like the beggar and new Lazarus, abandoned at the gates of the proud (Luke 16:20), 140. I drag out a miserable life and a sickly body; all this now, and there is an abyss and a terrible reward for all the pleasures here. You have satiety, but for me, grief is short-lived, and then everything is forgotten. Behind the grave we will all become one, we will all be one dust. There is only one place for slaves and kings, 145. no one has an advantage in the underworld. Therefore, do not be captivated by the present blessings, and do not occupy your thoughts too much with the sorrows of this life. Along with pleasures, you will leave all sorrows, and soon. For what lasts in one day's life? You are a stranger and a stranger here (Ps. 39:13), creeping on a land alien to you. 150. From here God will raise you up to your homeland. Your exploits are not long-lasting, and the reward is higher than your labors. And you, wise adviser Jonadav, convincing your dear children to enjoy the highest happiness for people, offered them this law and this word: “Behold, my children, 155. You will receive from your father wealth, which my dear father did not give me, which every other son did not receive from his father; receive wealth that is always permanently preserved. Do not build a house limited in space for your [bodily] members, do not cultivate the land. What good do grapes do you? Live in tents; and never, children, 160. never pour any intoxicating or sweet drink into your throat. Live for God and place your wealth in the one ever-living God, Who is always equal to Himself and is not disturbed by anything.” Thus spoke the father, and the children fulfilled his commandment (Jer. 35:6–7). 165. And I know the people being brought into the land of promise. A pillar of fire and cloud walked ahead and dragged him along an unfamiliar desert. The mope parted before him, the sky gave him food, the stone poured out water, the widely flowing river retreated back, the sun slowed down the running of his chariot; 170. someone, with outstretched hands signifying the cross, erected a victorious monument, and faith tied the edges of the swords together (Ex. 17:9-13). And Elijah was fed by ravens and nourished the elderly Sidonian widow with a few drops of life, because the small vessel did not lack flour 175. and the clay vessel always exuded wet oil in the same quantity as the hands of the hospitable widow drew (1 Kings 17:16). The Jewish youths, desiring food that was characteristic of them, so as not to be defiled by the king's meal, joyfully entered the Assyrian flame and, 180. having cooled in it (Dan. 3:50), returned to their homes. Daniel, thrown to the rage of lions, when he stretched out his hands, did not feed the lions, but he himself received God-sent food into his hands from the prophet (Dan. 14:37). The divine Jonah was vomited from his entrails 185 by a sea beast (Jonah 2:11), holding him in the womb for three days (what a great miracle!), because the prophet was accompanied by faith even in the whale’s womb. John was served with locusts and wild honeycombs as food, as clothing as the hair of tall camels, as shelter as the wide sky, and as a desert bed as the earth (Matthew 3:4). 190. Who saved Thekla 42 among the fire? Who bound the indomitable power of bloodthirsty beasts? What a great miracle! Virginity put the animals to sleep, and they did not dare to desecrate the pure virgin body with their teeth. No, I will not forget to mention (this would be unfair) about the immaculate 195. Susanna, who, although she bore the marital yoke, nevertheless had so much love for chastity that, when she escaped the most lawless hands, but was drawn to death by the unjust sentence of the judges, she was saved from death by the wise reasoning of the righteous judge, who, being young in spirit, but gray in mind, bound her with his word 200. corrupt and lawless Babylonian elders (Dan. 13:48). Listen to Paul yourself, with what malice he fought, how much labor and painful worries he endured from friends and from enemies, on sea and on land, 205. how he ascended to the third heaven and enclosed the whole world in the coveted realms. He admired his sorrows more than the other's prosperity. Virtue is always surrounded by adversity, like a rose by hated and prickly thorns. 210. Remembering this, you too, with the best hopes, guard your life for Christ the King in complete integrity and do not allow yourself to be deceived by need, which most likely subdues even wise men. That is why the evil enemy who tempted Christ the King, as soon as he saw the God-man hungry, hoped 215. that he would catch the one feeling the need in his net, and ordered to turn the stones into food (Matthew 4:3). But he did not catch God, and he flatters you, a mortal man, like God. You strive for God and further drive away the enemy from yourself, remaining entirely in God and above the flesh. 220. It is not good if, as in a circle dance, one is held with the right hand and the other with the left, so you, touching the Divine together and separating from Him, belong to Christ with [one] half, and the flesh with [the other] half. It is not good if, setting out to sea on a fast and well-equipped ship, 225. as soon as the wind rises and disturbs the calm waters, you delay the quick voyage with an anchor or are seduced by being on land and make your way through the waters, becoming like both a sailor and a pedestrian. It’s not good if flesh rushes at your life - this fish is sticky, 230. stopping the ship in its tracks. But just as a stream passing through a narrow tube, as soon as as much moisture as it can hold has accumulated in the interior of the rounded lead, it begins to flow upward, not being held captive, because it is strongly pumped from behind, 235. So I advise you, having imprinted love in your chest, rush upward to meet Christ or irrigate some good and fat field. If you spill here and there, over deep sand, or over stones, or over a meadow, or over furrows, 240. then your good stream, unrestrained by anything, will perish without any benefit. If your dear father, who gave birth to you, is alive, or if your dear mother is alive, then your love is not reproached. If you rely on brothers who are well disposed towards you and on your parents, when they are alive, helping you or demanding help from you, then no one will reproach you 245. for living with them; For this, ridicule will not turn an evil and unforgiving gaze on you, although it often notices the creaking of your shoes. However, it is also useful for me that the evil one turns his eyes on me. Let him look, and let my heart remain steadfast. 250. But I ask you to flee from love for others, even not only from love, but from the dangerous stay in one house, or from deceptive and unreliable self-confidence in people of blossoming years - to flee to the same extent as one who is firmly attached to Him with ever-living love should surrender to Christ. 255. You, who boast of chastity, having love for the coveted virginity, should not open your whole heart to other passions. This is worst of all if, through the cunning of an envious person, evil is born out of good. I don’t think that it is necessary to avoid marriage and marital duties, 260. through marriage, God continually multiplies the human race, but I choose virginity as a medicine and aid against my passions. And if I see a day free from them, then I have something to thank my lonely life for! But when, having fenced off an expensive field with a wall, I open the doors to the animals or surround one part of it with a dense fence, 265. on the other I leave paths for passing travelers, then won’t the same thing happen as if the enemy were given the opportunity to burst in from everywhere and destroy my field? But the enemy also plots against you in everything, to openly and secretly attack you from the outside and catch you from the inside. No one will escape his malice, 270. if he does not have Christ as his constant helper. Sometimes do not charge unimportant things with sin, but do not resist weakly even unimportant things, so as not to encounter, no matter what, the worst. It's good to listen and speak. But what you say, 275. examine it carefully. Vision should motivate you to action, and everything should help one another - goal and word, sight and hearing. Avoid bad seed, so that you may reap good ears. Do not harbor within yourself an adulterous love for the world; and it is hidden by the one who has given room within himself to even a thin root of vice: 280. From this root many branchy stems will spread hither and thither. A few drops of bloody moisture curdle the milk in a large vessel. One stone, falling on the surface of stagnant water, suddenly muddies the beautiful spring; 285. many circles, constantly forming at one point, scatter throughout the water and disappear on the circumference. From a blow in one place, the whole body around it swells and feels pain. I did not eat much, and I became dead, because sins followed the eating, like one brave man 290. the whole army goes through the enemy wall. The wound inflicted by the asp is not great, but it instantly plunges one into a dying sleep, and death itself is pleasant for the dying. Therefore, try not to defile your heart even in the slightest. If your belly is shut, then perhaps you will be saved from sin. 295. And if his doors are open, then I am afraid that the dust will become insolent. When the body is tamed, then shameless lust is tamed along with it. Wine is gall for virgins, it brings them a lot of disgrace, and anger leads them to frenzy; yet this is the path to death. Virgo, do not be captivated by your worn out tunic; 300. and to please the eyes with low value is bad. Do not excite the enemy by bursting your cheeks with laughter; let them be ugly twisted among those who overflow with joy and keep the house open. And let a quiet smile 305. flash on your face and let a blush appear as soon as possible and hide the fun. And the blush inspires respect from those watching. It is fitting for women not to talk much about God, just as much as they can know about the venerable nature of the Trinity, about the threefold in the Divinity, the one grace, 310. for it is not good for the verbs of piety to be consigned to silence. They should listen more. But both, speaking and listening, must be done with a reverent mind and reverence, putting a veil of modesty on everything. Let wise people, who overthrow the infidels, practice in contradictory words. Let not the hated cares steal God away from you, which even instantly brought down the high-born to the earth. 315. Let your mind strive towards the goal, without rushing here and there, like a seeker of victories, an indomitable horse, and without running away into the distance from the great glory of Christ. If you are carried away by evil beliar, and your mind wanders, then, as soon as possible, change direction and go to the goal in a straight path. 320. Let the weaver's shuttle, yarn, teaching in God's word, wisdom, divine songs, intelligible, but not loud, not tormenting sounds, more of which remain in the chest than heard on the lips, occupy you. The enemy often broke through the ears even of the deaf. 325. You, most chaste virgin, who, having tasted the divine drink, escaped marital ties and every burden worn by women, do not enter into other people’s beds and marital affairs, so that instead of a virgin they will not call you the wife of the jugular; do not spend time in other people's houses, at other people's meals, 330. do not treat servants, do not take part in domestic unrest, do not throw a flattering word for a piece of bread. Love in moderation in your love of strangeness. To those who are adorned with virtues, warmly open your cramped home. And whoever is not higher than others, show mercy from afar. 335. Let your abode be protected from rumors. It is better for a Virgo to be inhospitable than to open her home to all strangers, because shame is lost in crowds. And how can bright virginity be disgraced, do not collect evidence from all corners of the earth. Respect gray hair and imitate honest morals. 340. Prudent gray hair will bring you more benefit than youth. And with pious intention do not move from place to place. Let your foot, hastening to holy places, no matter how distant they may be, meet, often contrary to decency, with the foot of frivolous men. 345. King Christ is in everyone’s home, He is close to the lover - in his heart. Give the first place to God, and then the next to the priest, the earthly Christ, the leader of your life. Hurry after him on wings, submit to him silently, rejoice with him when you stretch upward, and submit to him when you fall, so that, having come to fear, you will rise high again. 350. Die for everyone else - this is better for a virgin than to lead a life open and exposed to everyone. I praise those women whom men do not even know, who live far from the world, but are secretly visible to God. 355. Be very pious, but do not look very arrogant. If you chase after human glory, you will easily lose your good reputation. Women's glory perishes as soon as it becomes visible to men. Be jealous of the virtuous and avert the vicious. 360. It is equally bad to envy the good and to love the vicious. Do not stop on your way when you see that the wicked lead a peaceful life, and do not be tormented in your heart when you see that the good are exhausted. This is one game of life, and you only look at the end. Enjoying favorable weather, you are happy, but you still don’t know clearly what will happen. Beware lest a deadly wind blow from some direction. 365. Therefore, throughout your life, either fear, or prepare for fear. When a vicious person falls, then strengthen your foot even more. And when a successful one falls, strengthen yourself even more. For if those who are perfect fall, it is very difficult to go through life without slipping. All life for you is coals under your feet, and the coals are hot. 370. You always walk on hidden networks. I am afraid that, having laid the foundation of my life on sand, I will be destroyed by rain, rivers and winds (Matthew 7:26–27); I am afraid that, like a seed that fell on dry and barren ground (Matthew 13:5-6), I too, having sprung up quickly, will dry up even sooner, 375. when the sun's rays and light misfortunes hit me; I am afraid that during my sleep a sower of worthless weeds and an envious enemy will mix in the bad seed (Matthew 13:24–30). When ten pure virgins (Matthew 25:1-12), awake, with lit lamps and with watchful eyes, wait 380. for the longed-for groom - the King of God, so that they may go out bright to meet him who comes with joy; Then do not put me among the poor in mind and foolish virgins, so that already at the very coming of Christ, with eyes heavy from sleep noticing the barely flickering shine of the lamps, it is too late not to wish for myself 385. drops of the oil of bright life and so that the locked doors do not block my entrance to the marriage, where the Word, according to the great statutes of love, uniting with pure souls, gives them radiance and glory. This is the wedding feast (Matthew 22:2-14), which the good Father institutes, rejoicing in the best Son; 390. Oh, if only there was a place for me at this supper—for me, and for everyone who is of the same mind with me! But the one who prefers either a village, or a pair of newly purchased oxen, or a wife, to marriage merriment will remain outside the feast. I am also afraid that among the feasters, who are all dressed like a wedding, I alone, 395. whose clothes are defiled, will be tied hand and foot and thrown from the bridal chamber far from friends and from the wedding feast. When my King, returning from the wedding, suddenly comes to those who are waiting and to those who are not waiting, oh, if only I could then be among those waiting and earn praise, 400. as a good servant who had fear, condescending to those under his command and a truthful distributor of the bread of the steadfast word! I command this to virginity, as a meekly advising and heartily loving father; and you, children, daughters, and sons, listen to your beloved father. And if, as I hoped, 405. I have any grace from God, then do not despise the commandment of your father, like the sons of Eli (1 Sam. 2:12-34). Do not do this, child, so that you do not suffer the same punishment as them. And to the rest [I will say] the following word: and without fear, holding the scales evenly (God is my witness), I will pronounce equal judgment on both of them - 410. on virgins and on those living in marriage. Just as virginity is preferable to marriage, so is an immaculate marriage preferable to dubious virginity. Therefore, you, a zealot for perfection, either completely love pure virginity, if you have the strength and disposition for it, or 415. choose marriage, as they say, after the first, the second is also a good voyage. But avoid those who want to combine one and the other life, both celibate and married, that is, they mix gall with honey, dirt with wine, and evil Samaria with holy Salim. 420. Labor is in vain - after completing the path, suddenly go back; An archer is not out of danger if the arrow he shoots falls almost at his feet, and does not reach where it should and does not hit a high target. And for the one who offered virginity as a gift to King Christ - 425. this verbal sacrifice, this bloodless slaughter, to enter into marriage again is not only a loss, but also the greatest fall, close to death, and on top of that, endless shame. This means, suddenly slipping, falling down to the ground from a steep mountain, which you climbed with great difficulty in the intention of discovering gold there or spending time 430. in a pleasant activity, chasing an animal. Who, hearing about the evil Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11), who suffered an evil death for their own gain, will not be afraid to reduce even a little in their vow? And one of the ancients, when secretly, without the knowledge of the leader, 435. appropriated a golden tongue 44, clothing and several money, thereby harming an entire nation (Joshua 7:10-21). To the extent that the lot of an animate creature is higher, to the same or even greater extent is it bad for a virgin to return back. 440. Let such a marital union perish, which is not sealed by the marriage law! Always beware from the sting of the one who constantly draws back souls that stretch forward, so that he can reign over a large number of humiliated ones, who was the first to be brought down from heavenly glory to earth and drags out here the yoke of shame imposed on the proud. 445. Now I will speak good advice to parents, relatives and chaste guardians, in whose hands are the life, shame and good glory of virgins. It is impermissible and indecent to act violently 450. with the creature of the great God. We are all a genus of the One; and whether someone rules or is counted among those ruled, whether someone is rich or poor, whether someone sits on a great throne or bows to the ground, whether someone is covered with gray hair or blooms with youth - everything is from the One, everyone has one breath, we all strive for one end; 455. God was born a man for everyone, and died, and rose again; He gave everyone a wide sky. And therefore, no one, to please the unreasonable flesh, should lead a virgin against her will to the marriage bed when she takes herself to Christ and lives with the best love, 460. just as no one should drag a polyp from its stone bed or drive a songbird out of the nest it has built. On the contrary, if you have a Christ-loving heart, if God has bound you with divine bonds and snatched you from the world, then with all readiness present a beautiful bride to Christ 465. or a young son, as the once child-loving Anna presented Samuel - the sacred fruit of her pure wombs (1 Samuel 1:20), an animated sacrifice, which is more sacred than any firstborn, as well as an ear or bunch cut by a good farmer as a firstfruits to God. And if you walk in the middle between Christ and the world, 470. then weigh both married and single life on equal scales, well and wisely collecting in your mind all the advantages and disadvantages of both, and, having outlined a double goal, choose the path to which ardent love attracts, and help in one case to enslavement, and in the other to heavenly aspirations. When a virgin has reached the age of maturity to enter into marriage 475. or to fulfill a chaste intention, although just as the husband serves as a bond to the wife, so the daughters are the parents, and both of them are the fear of God, but the one who has not entered into marriage is the love of Christ, however, do not remove from marriage a virgin who desires to have a husband, and do not forcefully bring into the house of a husband one who is striving for God. 480. Until you are absolutely sure, I do not prevent you from doing some tests. But if you give your whole thought and hand to married life, have already joyfully arranged the bridal chamber, and dances, and feasts, in the joy of your heart you have forgotten your old age, and meanwhile the virginity that you have driven away will come to Christ 485. (as justice once ascended to heaven with a complaint for the killing of the farmer’s ox), then I am afraid that God, before whom is all dust, will be angry with your unjust decision. nature humbles itself like fat wax before fire; I am afraid that the fear of God will bind you according to the flesh. And here there is a service similar to heavenly, 490. and in mortals there is a mind approaching the Divine. The one who sinned was the one who mixed the incorporeal with the fleshly natures, who, from angelic lust, produced strong giants and thought to cleanse the earth with the sins of the celestials. Let us leave this to the Hellenes, because in defense of their passions 495. they intended to represent the gods as obscene, thieves, androgynes, adulterers, corrupters of people, murderers, destroyers of their parents or children and, not content with this, made sacrifices to the passions themselves. Look at the first of their gods: what did his voluptuousness not do? 500. An ox, a swan, a snake, gold, a husband, a bird - everything that the playful Eros - this weak child - commanded him to become. They despised the kind virginity that imposes bonds on the flesh. For them, the luminosity of the flesh was incredible. 505. They measure everyone by their lewdness. But a pure eye does not tend to see the stars darkened. The earth [although] stands firmly, but whoever is dizzy does not trust it. And it is indecent for us to speak reproachfully about virginity. Why is it incredible that love for Christ the King can lull human lusts and carnal love, 510. as before, it stopped the flow of blood from the bleeding wife who touched it? God allowed His grace to be stolen from Him, and the dry stream became a flowing source as soon as it dried up. 515. Was not the courage in Christians higher than fire, and swords, and water, and ferocious beasts that tormented their members with merciless teeth? When the persecutor pressed them, raising a battle for faith in God, then what do we see from them? Isn't it a life spent without sleep and without shelter? Is it not prayers and unceasing sighs? Don't they shed tears? 520. Do they not ascend from the earth in night and day songs, leaving the world and the flesh? Is it not small crumbs of food that support their breathing? Do they not serve as a home in caves, and as a bed - stones or soft grass and dry branches? 525. Do they not live under the same roof with ferocious beasts, just to avoid evil suggestions and the bonds of dust? There is a legend about the phoenix bird that, when it dies, it grows young, after many years it is reborn in fire, and from the outdated ashes a wondrous native fruit appears. So they too, when they die, become ever-living, 530. burned with fiery love for King Christ. In weakness itself lies the strength of the godly. He who sees all this will reluctantly enter into a union with young flesh, because he is inflamed by the best love. Mother nature common to all! I will proclaim not my own, but your miracles, 535. which you have lavished on land and in the seas. I hear that a feathered turtledove, after the death of her dear turtle dove, out of chaste love for the bed that shared her, does not accept another spouse into her nest. Wise bird! But for a person, how much better is a clean life! 540. The grey-feathered crow is talkative, but she also lives faithful to youthful love and, when she loses her dear husband, she hates every husband. And the fish of the sea have their own law; Few do not know any rules regarding marriage, but many care about the chastity of both the marriage bed and their spouse. 545. And here the rights are valid. Others do not strive to have more than one fruit. Others (and most of them) indulge in the pleasures of love only in spring. Nature itself has set a limit to desires. And the time of tender love is determined 550. for all living creatures, both air and water, and those that walk on land. They do not harbor any desires within themselves any longer; in madness itself, passions are bound by timing, when spring excites them. And some run together in heaps to perform marital affairs, while others maintain constant affection for their dear spouses 555. and preserve the law of love; and for some it is enough to give birth to children once in their life, as evidenced by those who described the birth of animals and everything that concerns them. And if even the foolish have some concern for chastity, then will you, God’s creature, not bind all the laws of the flesh if you want? Man is as yielding to reason as copper is to fire. 560. If reason is not the king of the flesh, then the image of God has deified me; then what is our advantage if we yield to the same movements? Although nature is uncontrollable in most people, we also know that the commandment often overcomes the general nature. And I have a similar body, 565. but I was bound by the cross that raised me, to which I nailed heavy flesh. For I desire to die with Christ, so that I may rise with Him, having everything that belongs to Christ: mind, body, nails, and resurrection. Another arbitrarily bound the flesh not out of Divine love. Such bonds are not called chastity. 570. However, there is also God’s gift to live uncorruptedly, to have an unperturbed and unshakable mind. Some people are disgusted by pleasant intoxication, others by food, and others cannot tolerate the smell loved by others. Some have a hateful disposition 575. towards their own kind, live in deserts and willingly flee away from people. But your mind does not believe those who renounce marital ties, even, I think, it does not disbelieve, but you run away out of fear, while you forget about the disadvantages of married life. The small salamander does not run away from the destructive fire, but on its low legs jumps in it as if on the ground. 580. There is a fire-like fish; appearing to be inflamed, she does not die from this wondrous fire, but, burning, shines among the water. Doesn't a stone magnet attract iron weights to itself? And isn't adamant indestructible? There is a stone that does not shine when struck with iron; 585. and the other shines from drops of water, but, giving off a shine in water, ceases to shine from oil. But how many more amazing miracles are there? Who can count them, although he recounts many? The High Mind, mixing many different images of things, in one way or another 590. rebuilds the whole world as it pleases. But out of many, I will mention a few that I myself have seen or that books and rumors assure me of. Don't all rivers have the same flow - down? Isn’t it the same law for the seas to be connected by shores? 595. Isn’t there only one way for a blazing fire to rise upward with frequent impulses? However, there is a river that crosses the bitter sea and remains a river; one water does not mix with another, and sailors, bringing the ship closer to the stream rushing towards land, draw sweet drink from the sea. 600. I saw the fast Euboean strait - this narrow passage and open source of the sea, I saw how it rages in its return currents. The mope arrives and flows back. 605. The ocean either moves away from the earth, then again invades the land in hasty waves; and on the Cimmerian shores there is a field, then a sea. But there is another stream - a fiery flame, if it is true that this incredible watercourse erupts from the cliffs of Etna - a river of fire, and the incompatible is united by the will of Christ. I can point out similar miracles in small ways. 610. Among the fruits there is the so-called “ox horn”. It is the only one drier than everything grown by a fruitful field, has a body that is not softened by moisture, does not collapse in the ground, does not become fat from rain, but is completely strengthened and forever remains harder than horns; 615. This horn is not crushed even by the horn of an ox, when the hand of the farmer scatters the fruits across the field; therefore, from the horns he received both his name and property. But if the sages know some other reason for this, then it is unknown to me. Nature produces this; listen to what art has achieved. 620. Starlings speak like a person, imitating someone else's voice, which they have adopted, seeing in the mirror an image of a carved starling made of wood and hearing the human voice of a trainer hidden behind the mirror. And the raven also steals sounds from humans. And when the elegant and crooked-nosed parrot 625. in his lattice house speaks like a human being, then he even deceives the ears of man himself; Ropes are hung on the horses, and horses walk on top of them. The sedate bear walks on its hind legs and, like a smart judge, sitting in the judge’s seat, holds in its paws (as one might think) 630. the scales of justice; and the beast appears to be gifted with intelligence. Man taught him what nature did not teach him. I also saw an animal tamer who sits on the ridge of a mighty lion and tames the power of the beast with his hand. He holds the reins, and the running lion, forgetting his rage, obeys the master and caresses him. 635. I also saw a heavy and tall beast with large teeth; an Indian boy sits on it and with a small rod makes it move like a ship, turning the body of a strong elephant this way and that. 640. The one who first planned to tame the beast was fearless, put a yoke on its neck and drove a huge chariot. But you attribute more to animals than to man if you agree that coercion has overcome nature in animals, and people cannot be taught goodness, even if they have the word as their assistant. 645. How can you, ignoramus, insult the creation of the great God to such an extent? Who has ever been such a hater of his own kind? But this is not the thought of me, who reason sensibly. On the contrary, I know husbands and wives who are heavenly in thoughts and blameless in body. All the difference between them is in the members [of the body], 650. and both have common virtues, and a common path to a glorious life. All the advantage is in diligence, and that comes from work. But your mind does not believe those who renounce marital ties; I don’t even think he doesn’t believe, but you run away out of fear and meanwhile forget about so many disadvantages of married life. This I command to those who are close only to those who ascend to heaven; and you, virginity, take care to protect yourself from everywhere and be well established in God, 655. become a perfect pearl among the stones, a morning star among the stars, a dove among the birds, an olive among the trees, a lily in the fields, goodness in the sea. You, virgin, having despised the whole world and all the pleasures of life, stand next to the radiant Christ and, 660. holding hand in hand, lead Him into your bridal chamber, filled with joys, wafting with sweets and fragrant; mix your own myrrh with the heavenly worlds; add your love to the unspoken desires of love poured out here, add beauty to beauty, hidden beauty to the hidden, luminous to the luminous, 665. so that Christ may become a good lover of your glorious image, so that Christ became your bridegroom, so that Christ would open the veil, joyfully see a bride worthy of beauty, adorned with good pearls, sitting on a richly decorated seat, holding her head high, so that He would make so many beautiful ones even more attractive, 670. so that Christ would bring you, filled with joy, into His abodes, offer you a wedding supper among the great undefiled faces, with heavenly hymns crown your head forever with blooming pleasantries, he placed before you a cup of fragrant drink, 675. showed you the secrets of wisdom, the likeness of which we see here in the mirror, and opened the true light to your unveiled mind, when rough bodies will give way to spirit, and airy bodies will receive ageless life. 680. We, dear young men and virgins, who harbor immaculate love for the King, let us sing of the marriage of the heavenly God, lighting lamps - these likenesses of Divine light, unquenchable, spiritual lamps, which constantly become brighter and brighter from pure deeds and high, even heavenly, thoughts. 685. Come to us, O Merciful One, and be merciful to us, pure Trinity from the One, combined into one, You, Who now illuminate the bright eyes, and later you will illuminate even more brightly those enlightened by You, You are the only God - from the Parent through the Son in the great Spirit, the perfect Divinity resting in the Perfect. In this word he imitates Syracuse, for he was the only poet who used rhymes and columns, despising poetic meter. Virgin, bride of Christ, glorify your Bridegroom, continually purify yourself with word and wisdom, so that you, pure, can forever coexist with the Pure One. This union is much higher than a perishable combination. 5. While living in the body, imitate spiritual forces, live an angelic life on earth. Here alliances are made and dissolved, here bodies are born from bodies, and in the life above each force lives alone and is indestructible. The first forces receive the ray of pure Essence - 10. these are spirits and fire - servants of God's commands. And the carnal combination is invented by matter - this constantly flowing nature. However, God put a measure on this too, legalizing marriage. But you, who fled from the affairs of matter, become friends with the heavenly, as the mind becomes friends with the mind, merging into divine harmony, 15. and, waging war with the flesh, help the image of God. For you are the breath of God, coupled with the worst, so that after struggle and victory you can receive the crown, raising up the things that are above and the dust that has been beautifully subdued. Let us assume that marriage is also commendable for you, but above marriage is incorruption. 20. Marriage is a concession to weakness, and purity is the lightness of life. Matrimony is the root of the saints, and purity is their ministry. She was also respected in ancient times at the established times, for example: Adam in paradise, Moses on Mount Sinai, the father of the Forerunner Zechariah, serving in the church. 25. Marriage is the root of godly virginity, but it is also the law of the flesh and servility to carnal lust. When the law, and the canopy, and temporary ministries were in force, then marriage, as something childish, retained primacy; 30. When the letter gave way and the spirit replaced it, when Christ, born of the Virgin, suffered in the flesh, then purity shone forth, and it cuts off the world, from which, with the ascended Christ, we must move into the things above. Proceed valiantly, maiden, to the mountain, save yourself in those above, do not look back at Sodom, lest you harden into a pillar of salt. 35. The nature of the flesh should not frighten you too much, but do not be too courageous, so as not to go astray. The spark ignites the straw, and the water quenches the flame. You have many cures for pure virginity. Encourage yourself with the fear of God, exhaust yourself with fasting, 40. vigil, prayer, tears, sleep on the bare earth and complete love for God, which, when truly directed, lulls every desire alien to the heavenly. Rise up the fallen, show mercy to the shipwrecked, and make a safe voyage yourself, spreading the sails of hope. 45. Those who fall are not those who grovel, but those who suffer grief. The wings of a few become weak, but the flight of many is successful. The morning star has fallen, but the sky is peopled with Angels; Judas became a traitor, but the eleven disciples became luminaries. Just keep yourself completely pure, virgin; 50. Do not desecrate Christ’s most pure tunic. Let your eye be chaste, your tongue virgin, neither your mind nor your laughter commit fornication, let your feet not walk disorderly. Value your unwashed clothes and unkempt hair above pearl and silk headdresses. 55. A beautiful color is the blush of modesty; great decoration - pallor; beautiful fabric - crowned with all virtues. Let another disfigure the image of God with rubbings, become an animated picture, a silent accuser of internal vices; and you mortify in yourself, as much as possible, and the beauty that you have, 60. Shine with the beauty of the soul, which finds adornment for itself in God. Avoid the gaze of men, even chaste ones whenever possible, so as not to offend another and not to be wounded yourself by the mocking Belial. Do not enslave your eyes, do not attract words with words, and do not let your cheeks give courage to the cheeks of another. 65. Do not eat the fruits of the condemned tree, lest the serpent remove you from the tree of life. Listen to me, virgin: do not live together with your guardian, having Christ as your bridegroom, who is jealous of your purity. Why do you, having fled the flesh, return to the flesh again? 70. Not every man can accommodate your simplicity. Just as a rose is surrounded by thorns, so you surround yourself with multitudes and walk on top of deceitful nets. Who equips the marriage bed, and who confines the groom to burial; one became a father, and the other suddenly became unhappy. How severe are the pains of birth, sometimes insoluble! 75. How painful is the jealousy of a spouse who is afraid that someone will steal the love of his wife! Is it easy to raise and teach children and then see disrespect and receive bitter retribution for your efforts! 80. But you have one concern - to constantly look to God. You need a small piece of bread and close shelter. And through this the tempter led Christ into temptation, when Christ was hungry, and he asked to turn stones into bread. Do not expose yourself to anything shameful for this. Don’t be worse than the birds who find ready-made food everywhere. 85. Because of your faith, the oil in your vessel will not fail, and the raven will feed you like Elijah in the desert. Look how Thekla was saved from fire and beasts, how the great Paul willingly endured hunger and cold, so that you, virgin, could learn to look to the one God. 90. God knew how to saturate thousands of people in the desert. Beauty fades, fame is fleeting, wealth is a steady stream, dominion is given to a few. And you escaped the pleasures of a deceptive world, joyfully entered the Holy of Holies 95. and you will forever rejoice with the Angels, taking the best place between sons and daughters. But watchfully wait, virgins, for Christ, meet the Bridegroom with unfading lamps, so that, having ascended with Him into the palace, you will behold the Bridegroom’s beauty 100. and partake of the heavenly mysteries. 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 it, 5. having wounded you with slander, will destroy in you pure jealousy for the life that you loved. Away from me is he who, although he honors purity, nevertheless takes into his house to live a virgin, an interlocutor of the disembodied Angels! What do you need fire for? 10. Are you stronger than fire? How can you avoid the smoke, denigrating yourself with the disease of vain talkativeness? Virgo, you are delighted from here and live in what is above. Caring for meager food and clothing is a burden for you. But for their sake, do not expose yourself to shame 15. and instead of a guardian, do not take to yourself an accomplice in shame and in life, although you are blameless, lest Christ cast you out as double-minded. 5. To the monks in hostel 47 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, 5. then this is very good. For nothing beautiful likes to appear alone, and even that which is not perfect is not even superior to the good. And friendship that sets narrow limits for itself brings little pleasure, just as unscrupulous friendship can be dirty. But I advise that a great divide be established here too, 10. so that men or wives who devote themselves to piety live separately and have only a 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 [befits] the same fear as I do, 15. namely: struggle with the enemy and a disastrous fall. It is good to commit to marriage, only chastely, devoting most of it to God, and not to a carnal union. It is better to remain free from bonds, to give everything to God and those above. 5. God is celibate, Angels are incorporeal, and matter is conjugated and full of corruption. He who enters into marriage cares about his wife and dear children, but virgins have all their care for Christ. If your wife can give you the same as God, then married life is equal to celibate life. 10. And if it cannot, then there is no equality between these kinds of life. Therefore, do not reproach me, parents, who prefer marriage rather than purity: I do not disparage marriage, but I choose purity for myself. But [you say that] others have fallen... 15. Away from me, you who take as an example the weak, and not the perfect! The weak are a shame to themselves, but the perfect are our glory. Is it really possible that, fearing hail, one should not cultivate the land and plant vines? Does Mope bring into the harbor anyone who gives himself to him? 20. Why should I take examples from afar? The hosts of Angels were not carried away by the fallen star. Judas became the murderer of the Master, and the other apostles became His glory. You do not look at the misfortunes of your marriage, at the seductions of fornicators, 25. who make both the object of your love and your family alien to you. Go up, and let envy stay below. Maintain purity in everything, virgin, unconvinced of the one Christ, keep the beauty sealed. Christ is merciful, but also jealous, 30. does not tolerate anything ugly, nothing indecent. In clothing, the best decoration is unadornment. Avoid effeminacy, be modest in your movements, do not attract my gaze to you with your gaze; observe chastity in your walk; spend time in solitude; 35. close your ears with a key; do not allow laughter to commit fornication; quite a lot, if you allow yourself a sign of laughter. Anger, drunkenness and the devil are equally dangerous for virgins, and the worst thing is satiety of the womb. Let beauty give way to prayers and vigils. 40. And don’t let your brother live with you unless absolutely necessary. Why have before your eyes what inflames the disease? Nothing is so vile as remembering only the earthly thing. Only your father and God are reliable for you, young one, and let others flee from you, like the beasts once did from Sinai, when the law was written on the tablets. What was brought as a gift to God and the virgin should be inviolable not only to the defiled, but also to the gaze of all. And don’t let your bodily needs completely enslave you. If you need anything, 50. God will pour it out of the jug, and a waterpot will replace your cultivated field (1 Kings 17:12). A large crowd is satisfied with five loaves: how much more will you, who stand before God, be satisfied. Therefore, [already] having the most pure Bridegroom, whose beauty is incorporeal, do not mate with another. He will not be your husband, 55. but an adulterer, taking away the beloved from the living Spouse. Is it possible that, having dedicated a vessel to God, you will appropriate it for yourself? Will you really, having escaped the fire of Sodom, return to it again? Don't harden into salt stone. 60. You are more than a widow. But a widow’s marriage is not innocent if it exceeds the limits of purity. What is less important than a gold bar and one didrachm? But they, being kidnapped, destroyed the army (Joshua 7:21). 65. Look at this, virgin, and obey God. Every virtue elevates the righteous one level higher. He who does not know the marriage bed is equal to the Angels. Whoever strives in abstinence tries to compare with the virgins. He who observes marital fidelity becomes equal to the abstinent. Only strive in chastity in order to achieve the highest degrees. 8. Comparison of spiritual life and worldly life Spiritual life. Life is worldly. Judge J.D. and M. Won't you judge us, stranger? J.D. and M. Two lives argue with each other. S. What kind of lives are these? And what are they arguing about? J.D. and M. Worldly life and spiritual life. And we argue about which of us is better and should be chosen [and called] wise. 5. S. It’s not easy, it’s true, to judge, but you must listen. J.M. Born from the world, I know and love worldly things. And that is piety, to respect the father’s law. J.D. Having been born of God, I know and honor God. And even pious, to know perfect worship of God. 10. And if the worst is most precious to you, would it not be fairer to consider the best as precious to me? J. M. My mother is flesh; I am closely connected with the body and desire one thing - replenishment of the rejected flesh. J.D. My father is God; I have united myself with God 15. and I desire one thing - to imitate the Image from which I came. J. M. But tell me: how would the human race exist if carnal marriage, kept within proper limits by both God’s law and nature, had not come to the rescue? J.D. Although the law is like this, I must now, 20. having renounced, hasten to another life, which is better than the present and free from bonds and corruption. J.M. Why did virgin life appear so recently? J.D. It existed in ancient times, but in secret; shone now after the Virgin appeared as the Mother of God. 25. For now and the old law gave way to the new, the letter lost its power, but the Spirit reigns. J.M. But without married life, could there be any tonsured person or any righteous person? J.D. You are very funny when you want to assure that flesh enters into an alliance to produce good people. 30. Time makes people good or bad. And whoever sows does nothing other than yield to the insolent demands of the flesh. But it’s funny to think of yourself in passion as cooperating with God’s will. J.M. What did you give to life? J.D. Do you want to know? Branches. 35. J. M. So that they dry out or so that the wind scatters them. Give me the root, and then take possession of the branches. J.D. Enough to be born. Let another work for decay, educate, teach and then suddenly mourn, and whoever is no longer in the world, he depicts on the walls and looks at this 40. lifeless beauty, at this motionless son. J.M. And I have my nobility. J.D. What kind of person are you? Who is your ancestor? Don’t you know that everything is from the same dust? Only nobility is imitation of God. And you own the coffins and new decrees; 45. They include you among the noble ones, but do not make you noble. J.M. I have wealth for this; it overthrows enemies, consumes the evil with envy, wins me friends, gives me thrones and the right to exalt myself in society. J.D. And I have poverty; she gives me the fact that I have no enemies. 50. It is safer to arouse compassion than envy. And thrones are shaky, and friends for the most part are only for the time being. But if they are constant, then it is better to submit to God than to have primacy in everything visible or to stand above everything visible. 55. I will become famous in the mental city. J.M. But how can a beggar’s life be protected? Where are his walls, doors, military weapons, squires? J.D. I need them so that the bodies are not stolen! One [only the body] and a small rags constitute all my property. 60. Let the robber or oppressor go to others. A thief is dangerous to those who have something. My only wealth is God. If I have acquired Him, no one will steal Him, although they will take everything else. And let anyone who pleases, let any hand plunder my belongings! 65. No one lives in such security as a poor person. The rich man makes sacrifices for his wealth (Hab. 1:16), kisses his own hand (Job 31:27), as a friend, and does not praise God, the giver of blessings. And finally, what he has collected will pass into the hands of a stranger, 70. whoever he wants; What am I saying: to a stranger? - even, perhaps, to the enemy, and from the enemy to another, wherever the wheel turns. But if I die, everything I have acquired will go with me, there will be nothing left, neither envy nor false happiness. J. M. How good it is not to look into the hands of the neighbors, 75. while others, perhaps even pious ones, look into my hands! J.D. How good it is to look into the hands of God alone, whether He gives or takes away in a fatherly way; not to do anything shameful out of the desire to acquire, not to imitate the bloodthirsty leech, 80. so that, possessing one thing, direct one’s thoughts to another, look at others with unkind eyes, and at least imagine others in dreamy hopes and always beg, wanting more and more! J. M. How can someone who 85. has no reinforcement in grief endure the blows of difficult times? J.D. Ask me: how can a person avoid a well-aimed arrow? It is not easy to cross a hairline even at close range with an arrow. Let us assume that you will be in difficult circumstances, but will avoid the desire for evil. Reeds withstand the winds, but oaks cannot, 90. because the former yield to them, and the latter are crushed by their own weight. J.M. I can allow myself pleasure. J.D. And my pleasure is not to seek pleasure in satiety and in satisfying the belly, not to become fat and not to suffer from the disease of the rich, not to emit from the larynx the smell of filth pleasant to the taste 95. and not to suppress thoughts within myself with the accumulation of gross impurities. J.M. I have the most delicious foods. J.D. And my delicacy is bread, for me the most delicious seasoning is salt. Having them, I despise luxurious undertakings like bitterness. J. M. My pleasure is the scent of ointments, songs, applause, 100. measured bends of the legs to the tune of slender and euphonious organs. J.D. Do you really approve of this? And for me, this is precisely why wealth is bad, as a teacher of vices. For us, psalmody is better than your organs, 105. which attunes the soul to the mental world. But Christ is more fragrant than any world, Who emptied Himself for us in order to destroy the stench with which the deadness of sin had filled me. I applaud when I see the fall of my murderer, who inspired me with some bad word or deed. 110. I also have a dance - this is delight in God. J. M. Perhaps you will also say that poverty helps with illnesses and serves as the best medicine for the body? J.D. I won’t say this, because it’s not true. 115. It is better to say what is fair. A poor person is much stronger in strength than a wealthy person. And God, equalizing His gifts, gave strength of strength to the poor, and medicine to the rich. Does the poor man work and sweat? This depletes him of excess substances. He endures hunger and cold, 120. is scorched by the sun at midday, tired of walking, burdened with burdens, gets wet in the rain, at times he takes simple and not complex food, and does not even know those seductive foods that cooks and ministers of luxury 125. extract from the earth and sea in order to offer men a woman's meal. Tumors, colds, pain in the legs and joints, heaviness, pallor, relaxation - these are the property of the rich, these are the fruits of satiety! 130. The rich do not find pleasure in what they possess; They often look for someone to leave their burdens to, and they envy healthy people who are poorer than them. These unfortunate lucky ones do not benefit from anything. Gold, expensive stones, all kinds of jewelry, 135. multi-colored clothes, picturesque images shining in purple on the walls, on the ceilings and on the stones with which the floors are lined; silver, partly hidden in the bowels of the earth (rightly confined in the same coffins from which it was taken), and partly displayed and shining at feasts; 140. horses, carpets, chariots, charioteers, dogs, hunters, finders of animal tracks; all pleasures for the evil master are the belly, everything pleasing to the larynx, which collects tribute from everything; bed-keepers, door-keepers, speakers, sleepers, 145. flower bearers, sprinkling incense, wiping plates, tasting food, producing shadows, observing gestures; bathhouse attendants testing hot water with their fingertips, women's haircut - this delight for the eyes - these are the accessories of a rich coffin, painted dust! 150. But the poor man stands firm; Even if he falls, not suddenly, exhausted by illness or many years, he will not cause any trouble to his friends. He will die like a lion, roaring, and the dead for the most part are more magnificent than the great rich. What else can I say 155. about contempt, about anger, about frenzy, about insolence, about drunkenness, about unbridled laughter, about shameful speeches, about neglect of God, kinship, friendship? All this does not happen to the same extent in the poor as in the rich, because wealth brings with it contempt, and contempt follows destruction. 160. But the poor, as we most often see, do not raise his head up because he lives in oppression, especially if the fear of God comes to the rescue - this strong mentor of all good. Now make a brief overview, compare one with the other and assign a true price to both lives; 165. if it does not seem offensive to you that the poor become equal to you, breathe the same air, bear the same name, think to live under the same roof, sail on the same ship. You envy the virtuous, but I pity the vicious, 170. because the worst thing is to be vicious, although the path of those who flow to a disastrous end is prosperous. You despise the poor, as if they have a different God, but I know one creature, I know that we will all appear at the same judgment. And the second creation is good morality. 175. You exalt yourself in the comforts of life, but I am humbled by fear. Difficulties exhaust you, but hope relieves me, because nothing is permanent, but everything flows away with the passage of time. Night ends the day, and day ends the night. Joy gives way to sorrow, and disaster ends in something pleasant. 180. And therefore we should not stop attention on this as if it were something indispensable. Nothing seems scary to you, you are not afraid of even the greatest vices, because a luxurious life prevents you from judging sensibly. But even small offenses seem worthy of tears to me, because sin is alienation from God. 185. How can I endure it when I lose God? You have a restful sleep, your rib lies comfortably; pleasant dreams for you are repetitions of the same things that happened during the day; you drink, play dice, accept gifts, joke, laugh. And most of my life passes without sleep, 190. because labor wakes up those who fall asleep. If I steal some sleep, it will be with tears. I am frightened by visions of a cruel night: a court, an incorruptible Judge, a trembling presence before the judgment seat, on the one hand a river bubbling with unquenchable fire, on the other 195. a worm gnawing forever, and in the middle is conscience - this accuser who does not need written evidence. And God [then] is God to you only when He gives you success in everything; and for me He is venerable, although He sends the opposite. For the fight against misfortune is a saving medicine for me. 200. The more I am oppressed, the closer I come to God; suffering unites me more closely with God; For me, this is a pursuing army of enemies that forces me to take refuge in the walls. Your comforters are children, wife, friends, and to lose them is the greatest disaster for you. 205. And in hunger, and in cold, and in sorrow, God is my support and joy. Insult me, beat me, reproach me for the meanness of the family and poverty, trample, oppress - you will not offend me for long, but I endure everything for God and turn my eyes to Him, 210. I extend my thoughts to the next life, I rest there, but I do not know anything beyond this, and thus I conveniently get rid of all sorrow. What else can I say? It seems to me that it will be intolerable for you not to receive an approving vote now. He who is accustomed to always gaining the upper hand 215. does not tolerate others gaining the upper hand over him. But it’s absolutely the same for me to receive or not to receive approval. God is enough for me, even if someone else takes over everything else. This height of glory is my greatest victory. J. M. What if others and high ones fall? 220. J. D. What if they fall from the second degree? It is possible for both to succeed and to fail. One is equal to the other. But I consider those who fall in the most excellent life to be much worse. I don't tolerate vices that much. 225. In whom the superiority is more worthy of respect when he gains the upper hand, for him the fall is more disastrous when he is subjected to it. But I ask you not to blame life itself if someone is very bad, for he is already the enemy of this life. Consider and examine separately the morals, 230. on the one hand, good, and on the other, vicious, and do not tilt the scales at all in one direction or the other, which would be unfair, but let it outweigh what in itself has more weight. Only then will you know what the difference is between one life and another. But do not compare the best donkey with the worst horse 235. and the most excellent person in worldly life with the worst of mine. In this case, I have no doubt that yours will turn out to be the most perfect. But if you compare tall with tall and thin with thin, you will know how great my superiority is. 240. Notice also that at all times we have those who stumble, but we also have those who triumph. They say that one swallow does not bring a wonderful spring and one gray hair does not bring old age. So what do you say? Will you vote in my favor, or should I say goodbye to you? P. 245. I give, and why not give? Then will I even think of preferring a long life to your life, when, having lost my mind, I equate one of the mortals with God? But until I destroy my mind, I won’t do that either. Go now. However, it is better for you to live in peace 250. both among yourself and with the great God. And you, worldly life, must yield primacy to the superior life; and you, spiritual life, must accept secondary life as a sister. If you do not have primacy, nothing prevents you from standing in second place, which is also not dishonorable. 255. And through this our life will become safe. 9. On human virtue 49 I love virtue; however, this did not teach me what virtue is and where it comes from to me, who loves it so much. And unsatisfied desire torments. If virtue is a pure stream, 5. not mixed with the waters that flow from every place, both from snow and from rain, then I ask: who found it on earth? For everyone either had heart impurity within himself, or accepted it into himself, while he drags along a heavy body and is indignant from the outside at the enemy of our life, who darkens and denigrates us with the abyss. Yes, and it would be unusual for me, who myself am nothing more than a solidified stream, 10. and am constantly drawn by the stream of life, to be something non-fluid. If virtue is not a completely silvery stream, but accepts the worst into itself and is a discordant mixture, then say: how is it virtue? 15. At least my quick mind works quite a bit on this. Snow is naturally cold and white, while fire is reddish and warm. And they are not connected to each other, and, when connected by force, they are destroyed rather than connected. How vile was mixed with virtue, humiliating the image of God in me; 20. How did malicious sin touch the image of the great God, if I really am God and do not in vain boast that I am Your property, O God? I hear about the beautiful river Althea, that it flows through a bitter sea, and its sweet waters (to surprise!) do not suffer harm during this course. But just as for the air corruption is fog 25. and for bodily members it is illness, so for virtue it is our sinful night. I often lifted my leg to march towards heaven, but heavy and heart-consuming worries brought me down to the ground. Often the most pure light of the Divine also illuminated me, but suddenly a cloud appeared before me, covered the great radiance and crushed my spirit by 30. the fact that the light fled from what was approaching it. What does this incommunicability mean? Or was such a law written for a mortal that I should always be tormented by desire? Or is it for my own benefit that I have difficulty acquiring and difficulty maintaining? For that is what is durable, what the mind has worked on. 35. Just as a cunning beast covers one trace with another, so often the enemy obscured in me the ability to distinguish between good and evil, in order to deceive the hunter of virtue with this cunning. One thing is prescribed for me by the flesh, the other is a commandment; one is God, the other is an envious person; one is time, the other is eternity. But I do what I hate (see: Rom. 7:15), I delight in evil 40. and with an inwardly bitter, malicious laugh I laugh at the terrible fate: for me, death is pleasant. Now I am low, then again I am exalted. Today I abhor contempt, 50 and in the morning I myself am a contempt. As times change, so do I and, like a polyp, I take on the color of the stones. 45. I shed hot tears, but sin is not cried out with them. Although their flow has dried up, yet with new crimes I am preparing another within myself, and I have rejected the means of healing. In the flesh I am a virgin; but I don’t know clearly whether I’m a virgin at heart. Shame lowers the eyes, and the mind shamelessly raises them up. 50. I am sharp-sighted for the sins of others and short-sighted for my own. In words I am heavenly, but in my heart I am stuck to the earth. I am calm and quiet; but as soon as even a light wind blows, I rise in stormy waves, and the excitement will not stop until silence comes; 55. And then it is not very surprising that anger will subside. Rarely does one who has walked the good path with good hopes and has already reached above mediocre virtue suddenly been thrown down from a height by a destructive enemy; 60. and it was as if he was ascending on sand, which was rolling backward under an unsteady foot. Again I stretch upward - and again I return back with greater shame than before. I am always on the move, always in great fear; and as soon as I take a few steps forward, I immediately fall. My life is long, but I don’t want to give up my life. I wish for healing, 65. but healing is far from me, because as the days go on, I collect more sins. Therefore, in our family, let the following truth be indisputably known: The first, pure nature is the Trinity, and then the angelic nature; thirdly, I, a person placed 70. in balance between life and painful death, I, who are destined for a majestic goal, but achieved with difficulty, if only, at least a little, I open the door of a sinful life, for such a feat is intended by God for my mind. And that one of us is the most perfect, who, among many evils, carries within himself a few idols of sin, 75. who, with the help of the great God, keeping in his heart a fiery love for virtue, hurries to the heights, and drives sin away from himself, just as the flow of a river, flowing into another fast, and muddy, and indomitable river, although it mixes with it, 80. however, with the superiority of its purity, it covers its dirty flow. Such is the virtue of a complex being; greater perfection is left to celestial beings. And if someone else on earth saw God or, having taken heavy flesh from here to heaven, ascended to the King, then this is God’s gift. Let there be a measure for mortals! 85. But now I’ll put in your mind a word about how to rise to the heights of great virtue, which alone is pure sacrifice to the Pure. I don't think this is possible here. For here a multi-layered fog lies before our eyes. It is also desirable if, along with this life, I leave behind my many lamentable sins. 90. Virtue is not only a gift from the great God, who honored His image, because your desire is also needed. It is not the product of your heart alone, because it requires the most excellent strength. Although my vision is very sharp, it does not see visible objects by itself and not without the great luminary, 95. which illuminates my eyes and is itself visible to the eyes. And for my success I need two shares from the great God, namely: the first and the last, and also one share from me. God created me receptive to goodness, God gives me strength, and in the middle I am a current in the field. I am not very light on my feet, 100. but not without hope of reward I strain my muscles in running, because Christ is my breath, my strength, my wonderful wealth. He makes me both vigilant and kind. And without Him we are all mortal playgrounds of vanity, the living dead, stinking of sins. 105. You have never seen a bird fly where there is no air, or a dolphin swim where there is no water; so a person without Christ does not lift his feet up. Do not think too highly of yourself and do not rely on your own intelligence, although you are very wise. 110. If you see someone below you, do not boast, as if you have surpassed everyone and are close to the goal. He has not yet reached his goal who has not seen the limit of his path. You need to have a lot of fear, but you shouldn’t become excessively timid. Height brings you down to earth, hope lifts you up to heaven, 115. but God is angry at great pride. You can take hold of some things with your hands, touch others only with hope, and give up others altogether. And that is a sign of chastity - to know the measure of your life. It is equally bad for you to put aside good hope and to have too bold a thought that it is not difficult to be perfect. 120. In both cases, your mind is on a bad road. Always try to ensure that your arrow hits the very target, be careful not to fly further than the commandment of the great Christ, beware of not fully fulfilling the commandment: in both cases the goal is not achieved. And excess is often useless when, 125. desiring new glory, we strain the arrow beyond measure. If you think a lot about yourself, then I will remind you where you came into life, what you were before - when you lay in your mother’s womb, and what you will be later, namely: dust and food for worms, because you will bring with you to the dead no more than the weakest. 130. And if you think low of yourself, then I will remind you that you are Christ’s creature, Christ’s breath, Christ’s honorable part, and therefore together heavenly and earthly, an ever-memorable creation - a created god, walking through Christ’s suffering into imperishable glory. 135. Therefore, do not please the flesh, lest you love this life to excess. But try to build the most beautiful church, because man is the church of the great God. And he builds himself into this church who renounces the earth and unceasingly moves towards heaven. And I advise you to guard this church so that it is fragrant from all your deeds and words, so that God always dwells in it, 140. so that it is always perfect, and, moreover, essentially, and not externally. A ship not painted, multi-colored, and shining with counterfeit beauties is led along the sea ridge, but firmly nailed together, comfortable for navigation, skillfully equipped with the hands of an artist, and moving quickly through the waters. 145. Let everyone stretch forward, yet let everyone cling to God; whoever is wise, whoever is strong, whoever is rich or poor - let everyone grab onto this undeceiving support! Here everyone should tie their boat, especially me, who sits on a high throne and through sacrifices raises people to heaven - I, who, 150. if I dishonor Christ in a darkened heart, are threatened with sorrow to the same extent as good glory awaits if I approach the Divine. For just as the measure of our life is measured according to God’s measures, so God’s measure is measured according to the measures of life. 155. Reasoning like this, you will comfortably complete the field of life here, and then on the day when this gloomy life is resolved, you will move from here, in the good accompaniment of God Himself. I hear from many, and I would like to say that I hear not in vain, but the deed should serve as a justification for the word - I hear that those who carefully watch every step of young people consider you a God-loving youth, 5. showing good signs of good behavior, because, according to the proverb, a lion can be seen even by its claws - I hear that with pleasure they report this to each other as a miracle. It is good if Providence, which arranges everything for the good and desires your success, 10. paves the way for you to do things with such rumor, so that, warned by a good opinion of yourself in this glory, you have for yourself, as it were, some guarantee of a calling to piety! But let whoever wants to make guesses about this, 15. and I will begin my speech with what I hear, namely, that you are trying to see with your soul into the mountain heights and, having broken the darkness that covers our here completely earthly life, directing your gaze higher, 20. leaving behind you the dust, casting off the bonds of this complex tormentor who rises to the image of God, you want to devote yourself to God. This alone should be considered a subject of study, the first and greatest benefit for people. 25. For will you find anything like this in things that are dragged down, and in other toys with which people are puffed up, in these, as they say, gifts of time and happiness, even if all the goods that belong to everyone are gathered together, which actually exist or are considered good in a sorrowful life? 30. Will you find so many benefits, although you seem to exceed the limits? Let us assume that you have what you possessed, Gyges, showered with gold, and, silently ruling, with one turn of the ring you set everything in motion. Suppose that gold flows to you like a river, that you become proud, like the Lydian king, and that the Persian Cyrus himself, 35. magnified by the power of thrones, sits below you. Let us assume that you will take Troy with the notorious armies, that peoples and cities will sculpture your face in copper, that with one wave you will set in motion popular assemblies, that your speeches will be worthy of crowns, 40. that you will show the spirit of Demosthenes in the courts, that Lycurgus and Solon will yield to you in legislation. Let Homer's muse live in your chest; Let your language be Platonic, which people consider to be honey-melting, and indeed it is! Let us assume that you entangle everyone with strong objections, 45. as if they were inevitable and cunningly cast nets. Let us suppose that you turn everything upside down, with Aristotle or some new Pyrrhon, weaving concepts into hopeless labyrinths. Let us assume that you will be carried upward, inspired, by these fabulous 50. (whatever they mean) Pegasus or the arrow of the Scythian Avaris. All this that I have said, as well as a brilliant marriage, a sybaritic table and everything else that our thought is exalted with, will it bring you so much benefit, 55. how useful is it to put all this below yourself, and to keep in mind the dignity of the soul, to know where it came from, to whom and where it should return, and what aspiration in it is consistent with reason? Since, as I guess 60. and as I hear from the wise, the soul is a kind of Divine stream and comes to us from above or the whole, or its ruler and ruler is the mind, then it has one and only natural task - to soar the mountain, to enter into communication with God, 65. to constantly direct its gaze to what is related, as little as possible enslaving to the infirmities of the body, for the body itself strives towards the earth, and the soul is drawn downwards, leading into this pleasant wandering through visible objects, 70. into this darkness of the senses, in which the soul, not controlled by reason, gradually sinks, falls lower and lower. But if the mind controls her and often, like a bridle, restrains her with a word, then, exalted by it, perhaps 75. she will soon reach the sacred mountain city, and finally receive what she has long desired, that is, having passed through all the veils, all the current shadows, all the local fortune-telling, all the reflections of beauty in the mirrors, 80. with her unveiled mind she will see the unveiled good, what it is in itself, and will cease her wandering, saturated with the light that she wanted to be worthy of, and having prevailed there with the highest beauty. For He Who created everything with the all-wise Word, through the dissolution of opposites, Who created the indescribable harmony of the universe 85. and Who brought this world from disorder to order, showed an even greater miracle in the nature of a living being. But I’m going to split hairs with you by starting the word a little higher. 90. God is either the mind, or another most perfect essence, comprehended by the tensions of the mind alone. God knows whether He is completely comprehensible to higher minds; but it is not clearly comprehended by us, over which the cloud of coarse flesh is spread - this hostile cover. 95. We know so much about God, but we will learn more later. Since we have given the firstfruits of the word to God, let us now see what is also that which is from God. There are two extremes here and two opposite natures. One is close to God and worthy: 100. she is called verbal and full of intelligence; this name is derived from the Word; and this, as far as is known, is the rank of beings standing before God, the supreme and minor Angels, which is above everything sensible and corporeal 105. and is the first illuminated by the superior Trinity. The other nature is very far from God and the Word; she is called dumb; because it is devoid of words, both hidden in sound and spoken. But God the Word, 110. as the most perfect Artist, having separated these natures and wisely united creation, creates me - a living being, composed of both natures, combining together both word and dumbness, that is, an invisible soul in which I bear the image of the Most High God, and an unreasonable body 53. 115. Such is the confusion of this venerable creation, which can be called the new world, in the small world - the great world! And since He Himself is full of light and goodness, He also gave me some goodness; I wanted it to be my business. And for this purpose he showed me at the same time the boundaries of this and that life 120. and defined them in words, gave the law to help the creature, made me a spontaneous doer of good, so that through struggle and feat I would acquire a crown, because for me this is better than living free from restrictions. 125. This is the law in the structure of my composition. But he is incessantly indignant at the numerous upheavals of life here, torn here and there, surrounded by objects, sometimes harmful, sometimes beneficial, with which he, poor man, is kindled and tempted, 130. like gold on purifying coals. And the fruits of what we sow will be harvested later, at the righteous judgment of God; there the sharpening stones are ready to receive the fruitfulness of life. And therefore, whoever keeps the law, 135. honors the particle of the Divine that he has in himself, in every deed, word and movement of the mind, is as pure as possible from everything that is trampled upon and is not defiled by anything transitory, but on the contrary, he draws the very dust with him to heaven, he, as a reward for his labors 140. (truly, the greatest and wisest sacrament!) will become a god, and although a god by adoption, nevertheless filled with the highest light, the beginnings of which he reaped to some extent while still here. And whoever, bowing to the worst in his union and combination, 145. finding himself an accomplice of the earthly, a slave of the flesh and a friend of the fleeting, offends the Divine nobility with his life, no matter how prosperous he may be in the impermanent, proud of insignificant dreams and shadows, 150. becoming rich, luxurious, exalted in ranks, alas! for that the scourges there are severe, where the first of the disasters is to be rejected from God. And you, hearing this and being convinced of what has been said, walk the right path, leave the evil path, 155. if only you listen to a sincere adviser (and I know that it is better for you to obey) and accept my word. A good adviser, as the ancients say, must arm himself with three armors: experience, friendship and courage; 160. And as you will find, I have no shortage of any of this. I have extended my experience to such an extent as is fitting for a man who has worked for a long time and spent a lot of time conversing with the writings of the wise and with the writings of God-inspired teachings - 165. this sweet source, accessible only to the chaste, in which I have almost exhausted other things to the depths. And as for what I said secondly, that is, goodwill, this is the strongest confirmation, for for you, dearest one, I wish you the same thing that I first advised myself when thoughts and reflections flocked together, 170. and the danger of the stormy sea that united me with God, since fear is often the beginning of salvation. It’s better for you not to see experiences of courage either from me or from people who are strangers to you. Yes, you won’t even see them, 175. if you listen to my words, because you will be worthy of praise, not reproach. And for all this, surrender yourself to me, surrender, I say, and I will hand you over to God, whoever surrenders to Him will himself be a gain, because God Himself becomes the property of the one who surrenders to Him. 180. You will achieve the truth by reasoning like this. And the Hellenes have wise men, but they are not wise. For can those be called wise who have not cognized the highest nature - God, the first cause of all goods, 185. while the intelligent are led to God by both nature and the order of everything visible and intuited? Can we call those wise who either completely expelled the Divine from thought, or rejected Providence, or set a measure for Him so that God would not be bothered in saving? 190. Some of them, taking sight as their mentor, entrusted the power to the stars, which are our co-workers, and were themselves led very poorly by such leaders of all things. Others, falling even deeper, began to worship vile animals. 195. Others, in the shadows of demons and in fables, found defenders of their passions, erected monuments worthy of their madness, and churches - the work of matter and human hands. Who would be so unwise as to recognize them as wise? 200. However, if you like, they were also wise. You will find that they disagreed and were far from each other in other teachings, namely: in the concepts of the intelligible and visible, about God's providence, about ideas, about fate, about infinite matter, about the structure of bodies, 205. about the soul, about the mind, about the deceitfulness of the senses. From this came the Stoics - those pouting faces, the Academies, the intricacies of the Pyrrhonists, bewilderment and pause over empty and arbitrarily composed words. But, not agreeing on this, 210. they all equally and unanimously praise the good and put nothing above virtue, although it is acquired through many efforts, countless labors and a long time. I will mention a few as examples, 215. so that you can learn virtue from here, and from thorns, as they say, by picking roses, and from infidels learning perfection. Who hasn't heard of the Sinope dog 54? He (I’m not talking about his other affairs) 220. led such a cheap and moderate life (and in this he was his own legislator, and did not keep God’s law and was not led by any hopes) that he had only one property - a stick, and his home was a barrel rolling in the open air in the middle of the city 225., which sheltered him from the attack of the winds, and he preferred it to the golden-topped palaces. Food for him consisted of something that could be easily taken without cooking. Likewise, Crates, having overcome within himself the attachment to money and all his possessions, 230. as conducive to vice and carnality, leaving them in desolation, ascended the steps of the altar and, since he recognized the service of covetousness as slavery, as if in the midst of Olympia, loudly pronounced these amazing and repeated words: “Crates gives freedom to the Theban Crates.” 235. About him (however, some attribute this to another philosopher 55 of a similar way of thinking) they say that during the voyage, when the storm was raging, and the ship was burdened with cargo, 240. He willingly threw his property into the depths, saying these memorable words: “I thank you, chance, my perfect mentor: how conveniently I am reduced to a cloak!” One gave up his property to his relatives, 245. and the other, having surpassed this as something human, and having turned everything he had into one piece of gold, sets off into the sea and there gives away to the depths this seduction of vanity, reasoning that one should not lend to others what is not good for oneself. 250. I praise for this too. One of the ancient dogs 56 came to the king and asked him for food, either really needing it, or wanting to test the king; and when the king, either as a sign of honor, or also for testing, willingly ordered the talent of gold to be given to him, he did not refuse to take it, but having received it, 255. immediately in the eyes of the giver, he bought one piece of bread for the entire talent and said: “This is what I needed, and not pride, which cannot be bitten!” This is almost similar to my laws, which inspire me to imitate 260. the life and nature of birds, content with one-day and unsown food, and together with lilies, magnificently clothed in beauty, they promise me a cover of artless fabrics, if I direct my gaze to the one great God. 265. But if I must more accurately test the deeds of these sages, so that my stories do not turn out to be in vain, then I will say that these admirers of non-covetousness and a free life, detached from all bonds, firstly, strove for perfection in the wrong ways. 270. There was more boasting in them than love of good, otherwise why would altars and proclamations be needed? Secondly, they renounced gluttony, because they avoided not satiety with wealth, but the worries and labors of acquiring it, 275. Meanwhile, sometimes they turned poverty into a reason for voluptuousness. This is proven by the barley loaves thrown away for the sake of sesame pie, and the verses from the tragedy, especially one, said very opportunely: “Stranger, make way for the masters” 57 . 280. The same is proved by chicory - the food of the poor, a plentiful gift of the earth, hiding among sweets. But for us, what is done for show is not even among the virtues; Our first rule is that the left hand should not clearly know the movements of the right (Matthew 6:3). 285. If abstinence testifies to divine life, Cleanthes’s well is beautiful, and Krato’s meager life is beautiful. But how vile so many things are! For example, these Charmides and the cover of cloaks, under which this valiant man (truly this is divine!) talked with the young men, 290. because some are beautiful and gifted! Let no one grasp virtue through carnal love—let such reasoning perish! The borders of the Medes and Lydians do not meet. Will anyone praise Alcmaeon's action? 295. One of the first among the famous Athenians, excellent in both birth and power, he gave himself up to the greed for money as much as he should have been above this passion. Croesus received him cordially many times; 300. and one day, showing him all his golden treasures and, as their owner, proud of his happiness, he ordered him to take as much gold dust as he could grab. Then Alcmaeon (marvel at his immoderation!) filled his bosom and mouth with gold, even covering his hair with gold dust, 305. He came out to the Lidians as a rich man worthy of laughter. And what is Plato, this wisest of men! What is Aristippus, I mean this sweet Aristippus. What is this, I think, charming Speusippus? One led the life of an unsuccessful trader 310. and for profit endured sea labor, carrying oil. Maybe you can’t call him insatiable for this, but you can attribute something else to his poverty. But Plato grovels at the royal tables - where is learning and honest work? 315. I will not talk about how they sold it at auction, and would not have gotten away with it if one Libyan had not been found who turned out to be better than Plato’s Hellas and for a small price bought himself Plato’s fame and learning. And this Cyrenian had a lot of openness, 320. However, he mixed voluptuousness with freedom and harmed virtue with his bitter teaching. Anointed with incense, he smothered his fellow guests with them, and he used his amiable disposition and talkativeness as a means to receive gifts. 325. So, the wise Archelaus, I don’t know why or for what, once gave him women’s clothing. Plato did not accept such a gift, saying on this occasion a verse from Euripides: “I cannot put on women’s clothing.” 330. But Aristippus, as soon as the gift was brought to him and fell into his hands, eagerly takes it and the verse spoken by Plato wittily reflects with another verse, saying: “The chaste one will not lose her chastity at bacchanalia.” 335. This same Archelaus, as they say, when Sophocles wanted to receive some thing from him, gave it to the wisest Euripides and at the same time said: “You seem to me worthy of asking from me, and Euripides is worthy of receiving,” which made it clear 340. how excellent a noble character is. But the son of Lysimachus, who gave the Hellenes laws on taxes, and, moreover, was the first, both in popular assemblies and in military affairs, turned out to be so uncovetous, 345. that the city, having married off his daughters with its own money, honored his wonderful poverty and buried himself also with public money, because he did not have anything to bury himself with; not to mention the fact that because of his deeds he had a name; he was one of all, and was called truthful. And in order to establish myself not only on ancient examples, 350. I will not remain silent about the virtues of the Romans. Fabricius, having defeated Pyrrhus in battle (and this was one of the most famous leaders), triumphed over him even more in the next. 355. Since Pyrrhus's hope was crumbling, he tried to bribe the Roman commander with several talents of gold. Fabricius did not accept the gold, but concluded a truce. When Pyrrhus, as they say, during a friendly conversation with him 360. showed him one of the largest and tallest elephants in full armor, Fabricius, who until then did not even know elephants by appearance, was not afraid of the elephant’s trunk that unexpectedly appeared, but calmly said: “Gold did not captivate me, neither will the beast.” 365. This is enough; and that would exceed the measure, what another despiser of covetousness could say. Therefore, do not approve of the unkind rules in the old books with which you, my good man, have been nourished. For example: “Let them call me thin because I make a profit; 370. this is better than, honoring the laws of the gods, living as a beggar, thereby seeking glory,” “Don’t bother looking for a family: my nobility is a piece,” “Money is the most honorable thing for people. No one is as pitiful as a beggar,” 375. “Without copper, even Phoebus does not prophesy.” “No person is happy in all respects; but either of the good kind, but he has nothing to eat; or of low birth, let him cultivate a rich field.” But would you call someone unhappy who, although poor, 380. is richer in good morals than many? Truly, the person who reasons so poorly is unhappy. Therefore, flee these rules and those who spoke them; and also run and everything that you find similar in books. But approve of the following wise sayings: 385. “If you make a profit from a bad deed, consider it a guarantee of misfortune,” “Do not look for benefits in everything,” “Do not shame yourself,” “Achieving success through unrighteous measures is not without fear,” “Do not tell me about Pluto: I do not respect such a god, 390. whom even the most vicious easily attracted to his side,” “This man is poor, but rich in good morals,” “It is better for me.” a poor sage than a vicious Midas.” In my opinion, Theognis speaks complete nonsense when he prefers rapids and abysses to a meager life 395. and prescribes bad rules for Cyrnus regarding the acquisition of property. How do you, Homer, attribute so much to the impermanent thing that in one place in your poems you say: “Virtue follows wealth”? Would you say: I did not express what I think myself, 400. but I said this in mockery of those who have such a pitiful thought. For in this Odysseus, who, having endured numerous disasters, escaped from the sea, appeared as a naked wanderer to the queen and with his words inspired the respect of the maiden, 405. even the Phaeacians seemed worthy of attention - in this, I say, Odysseus do we not see clear praise of virtue? I also praise the Phrygian fable; how beautiful she is! Midas, who asked for everything to be full of gold, 410. God, as a punishment for immoderation, gives the fulfillment of what he wants. But you can’t eat gold; and for whom everything became gold, he died of hunger. But what do I care about other people’s fables and moral teachings? Now look at my laws. 415. From the first good I trace my family. I came from him and I give life to him, trying to free myself from the bonds. And the so-called nobility among the people below, which originates from the body and decay, from the brilliant and long-rotten dead, 420. is no nobler than flowing mud. And the physical fatherland is not free: it is burdened with taxes, randomly crossed by sea bays, surrounded by forests, constantly changing its miserable inhabitants, 425. alternately being both the mother and the coffin of its offspring, crushing those who tore its bowels apart - what a punishment, truly a punishment for tasting and deceiving the progenitor! But in that fatherland, which the wise seek for themselves instead of earthly things, to which, looking and here we no longer drag, 430. like a blade of grass carried on the waters - in this fatherland the borders are vast, the abodes are majestic; it constitutes the eternal heritage of its inhabitants, it is the mother of the living, it is free from labor - this is the face of those who silently sing songs of the great Christ, 435. the triumph of the firstborn, written in heaven and in the eternal books (see: Heb. 12:23). I also extol the glory reserved for me in the heavenly places, these righteous scales, this most undeceitful good! And the glory here is the wind, the insignificant mercy of the insignificant. 440. Even if it is fair, it does not add anything. And if it is not true, it even turns into harm, for the very thing that I became visible took away a lot from what I am in myself. But the wealth here is fleeting and delightful; it is blind, moves from one to another, 445. puffs up many and tries in vain to find happiness; this is the same as the distension of the womb 58 in water sickness: it communicates to others a pathogenic poison - a costly delusion to time and envy 59 . But I have a wealth that is inexhaustible and constant, 450. firm and unshakable, above all losses; and this wealth is to possess nothing except God and things above. No one will acquire or has ever acquired everything, even if he wanted to, but one can suddenly despise everything 455. and thus become above everything. Let others build armed regiments and suffer more than they inflict evil, now deposing others, now mourning the uncertainty of decisive moments, now fighting without loss or success, 460. now buying with blood some burden of wealth or the power of autocracy; let some unfortunate profit-seekers measure the depths of the earth and the indomitable sea, let others deliberately pervert the court and give mutual laws for small gifts! 465. But I exchanged everything for the one Christ and I carry the poor cross richly, having rejected that it serves as prey for moths and depends on the game of happiness. Although the first law of Christ for man was the original pleasure, yet we are going to a paradise blooming with trees, 470. and a source divided into four principles (Gen. 2:10) - not gold, not electrum, not silver, not the pleasantness of good-colored and transparent stones, which the earth gives to those who bow to the ground; on the contrary, Eden fed fruits alone abundantly 60, 475. who was a worker of God and divine pleasure. And here there was a limit to pleasure, given in moderation. The law removed opposites from the tree of knowledge and, not observed, deprived me of everything, consigning me to the disasters of my mother earth. 480. One of these disasters is to have more than what is necessary, not to know any measure in acquiring, choosing the worst by healing from the bad, and, heating yourself up with drink, the more you feel thirsty. And from this, look what incongruity there is! 485. We always consider ourselves poor, trying to acquire what we still lack; but we cannot find consolation for ourselves in what we have acquired, because our hearts are tormented by what is not there. Therefore, the first law is to live in moderation; but there is also a second one. 490. Abraham the patriarch, the seer of God, the great man, the Steward of the highest mysteries, having drawn him away from his home, from his clan, from his fatherland, he easily transferred him to a foreign land as a stranger, a solitary, homeless, wandering; 495. he was attracted by faith in the fulfillment of great hopes. And Jacob, when he goes to Mesopotamia, asks for himself, as Scripture says, only bread and cover (Gen. 28:20), although he later returns with numerous herds, having acquired them as a fair reward for his labors. 500. It would be good to add this to what I said. Moses, who privately talked with God inside the cloud, accepted a twofold law on the tablets and ruled a great people according to it; when dividing the land already given by God to other tribes, he measured out this or that plot in the land that was still alien; he did not assign lots to the sons of Levi alone, because their inheritance was the sovereign God Himself (Num. 18:20). And Jonadab, who knew how, 510. He definitely knew how to philosophize, although poverty was not even then considered among the miracles. Once teaching children a lesson about non-covetousness and high life, he uttered the following words befitting the kindest father: “I leave you, children, the greatest legacy, 515. which no father, even the richest, has ever given to children. Flee from all inheritance, lead a free life, not tying yourself to any ties, live in booths, that is, in mobile houses. Let another dissect the bowels of the earth, 520. and let another, whom wine makes merry, plant grapes; but you do not drink wine, maintain an abstinent life. If you lead such a life, you will live safely” (Jer. 35:6–7). That was Jonadab! Where shall we give a place for Elijah, whom the great Carmel fed 525. through a raven and from a stream in a thirsty land? He was poor and the last of the beggars, but before kings he stops the rains and the depths of streams, brings down fire from the sky on enemies and victims, turns drops of meager food into an inexhaustible stream for widows, being meager, 530. richly nourishes those who feed, resurrects the dead as a reward for hospitable shelter, and flies into the sky on a fiery chariot. And Elisha’s legacy is Elijah’s grace and the mantle that fell from the heights! 535. And sanctified to the point of womb-bearing - what a miracle! Without a doubt, you know the great Samuel. His mother's prayer led him to God, and (if it is not too bold to say this about him) he already possessed God, having been dedicated to Him from infancy. 540. Who formed the medium between the Old and New Testaments of God, as between a shadow and the real body, closing the one and opening the entrance to the other? Who is this great lamp that foreshadowed the heavenly Light? Who is first among those born, of which God is witness? 545. Who lived in the desert, had extraordinary food and wore clothes made of camel hair with a leather belt? My word depicted John, who did not allow himself to have even two rags. 550. What would another say about Paul, who earned his living by his craft, or about Peter, who ate only lupins 61? What can we say about these great apostles, who drew the whole world into God’s net (see: Matt. 4:19; Mark 4:17), whose hands poured out the riches of generous gifts to the poor? 555. And the other apostles, when they were [also] called by God to better fishing, left fishing ships for their relatives, because they were attracted by the most perfect teaching of Christ, Who is the Highest Mind and the first nature of the mind, 560. but became poor to the coarseness of the flesh and, setting the poor as heralds of the word, gave one faith as companions who had neither clothing, nor copper, nor bag, nor shoes, but in everything those in need, entrusting them with the secret of a whole new universe, 565. did not allow even a rod in their hands, so that faith would constitute the power of the word (Mark 6:8; Luke 9:3; 10:4). But listen to the most important thing. To the young man who wanted to know how to achieve perfection, Christ places the pinnacle of perfection in nothing else, but in 570. giving everything to the poor, always carrying the great cross on his shoulders and, having died for what is below him, following Christ to those who want to ascend with God (Matthew 19:21). Thus, by His coming, Christ also perfects the publicans, 575. who willingly offer everything as a gift to God, as Zacchaeus will convince you of this (Lk. 19:2-10), who, having become rich in evil, through mercy towards the poor and those offended by him, is enriched by poverty and cleansed from filth. Enough about property. 580. And there are few examples of abstinence among the ancient sages, both Hellenic and barbarian, although even among the barbarians virtue was respected. What examples do they have and how many? Is it necessary to write about this when it is open and known to everyone? 585. Listen to the following passages from the wise tragedy: “Learn to keep your belly in a tight rein: it alone does not give thanks for the blessings shown to it,” “In the satiety of Cypris 62, but in the hungry there is none,” “A white belly will not give birth to subtle thoughts,” 590. “Fill your bag with honeycomb or barley flour - it will make no difference in the entrails of the belly,” “What a pleasure is it to draw with a leaky barrel?”, “The insatiable belly opened the way for ships, it taught people to frantically arm themselves against each other.” 595. And the fact that all the expensive foodstuffs of sensualists drown as in an abyss, and become no longer food, but something prepared in the most unusable garbage vessel, is rightly said in one place by the excellent Kerkid, who, himself eating salt, 600. looks with contempt at the death of the luxurious and at the bitterness of luxury itself. Who wouldn’t praise someone who said to a voluptuous young man: “Stop putting new chains on yourself and don’t irritate the predatory beast.” What is the custom of venerable Stoics, 605. as if to someone outsider, to address their body with such speeches: “What do I owe you, you pathetic bag? Shall I give you something to eat? It’s a lot for you if I give you bread in times of need. Дать ли пить? We'll give you water and vinegar. But you are not asking me for this, but for sweet and satisfying food, 610. expensive drinks from crystal vessels? We’ll give it to you with all our will, but only a noose.” And isn’t this better than the effeminacy known among the ancients of Sardanapalus, Nin’s son, who, abounding in wealth and frustrated by voluptuousness, 615. for the duration of pleasure, desired a throat longer than a crane’s? O divine David! When you wanted to quench your thirst from a well in the land of foreigners, and drink was obtained, 620. since some served your desire, sacrificing blood and through warfare, you, taking water in your hands, poured it out and did not agree to satisfy your desire with the misfortunes of others (2 Samuel 23:15-17). And if verbal food is the bread of angels, because it is not the body that feeds the incorporeal nature, then how many of us do we have, 625. who live an angelic life, keeping within ourselves (and then reluctantly, for the sake of God’s command only) barely small sparks of earthly life? For one must remain in bonds until God gives permission. I will not present examples from books, and, moreover, from the Old Testament, like others, 630. having become deified through bodily cleansing and, as it were, freed from bodies, for whole, and even many, days they did not eat food, were not afraid of fiery punishment and lions’ jaws, just so that in a foreign land they would not touch food, 635. defiled by the command of the barbarians (Dan. 1:8). But after the enemy, having attacked Christ, retreated from the courageous flesh, defeated by forty days of not eating food (Matthew 4: 2-4), to the greater shame of the one who stumbled in this experience 640. the law was given about the desired exhaustion in exploits. What a wise confrontation! What bloodless and divine sacrifices! The whole world worships the Lord; not bulls and rams are slaughtered, as prescribed by the Old Law, 645. not any external offering is made imperfect (because everything dumb is insufficient), but everyone exhausts himself with abstinent eating of food, enjoying - a truly new way of pleasure! - enjoying what knows no pleasures. Everyone tries to purify himself into the church of God 650. through all-night vigils and psalmody, and the migration of the mind to the great Mind. They live in shadows and ghosts only to the extent that they can perceive the hidden in the visible. From this alone, 655. having imposed iron bonds on rough flesh, they humbled its insolence; others, confining themselves in darkness, in cramped dwellings or in the crevices of wild cliffs, stopped the harmfulness of wandering feelings; others, 660. in order to avoid brutal sin, gave themselves over to deserts and wilds, the dwellings of animals, refusing communication with people and knowing the one world that was before their eyes. And another attracts God's mercy to himself by sackcloth, ashes, tears, reclining on bare ground, 665. standing for many days and nights, even whole months (and I would say) and years, but this will seem incredible; however, this is very likely for me and for those who witnessed the miracle, for faith and fear of God, 670. having previously taken the mind from the body, made them unshakable pillars. You will also hear about the extraordinary seasoning of food and drink - about ashes mixed with tears. And for others, jealousy led to paths that had not yet been paved by anyone: 675. they live without bread and water, which, it seems to me, defeats the laws of nature. How does it feel? Will you really begin to marvel at the virgins, the daughters of Leo, who joyfully gave themselves up to death for Athens? Or the zealous sacrifice of Menoeceus, dying to save the city of Thebes? Or the glorious leap from the height of 680. the sage Cleomurotus to be separated from the body, for, having been convinced by Plato’s teaching about the soul, he was inflamed with the desire to be separated from the body? Or will you point to Epictetus’ shin, which they could rather have broken 685. than to tear out a slave’s word by force? For this man had, as they say, a slave’s body, but a free disposition. Or can you imagine how Anaxarchus’s hands were being pounded in a mortar, and he, as if not being there, 690. ordered his bag to be beaten out harder, because he himself, that is, the invisible Anaxarchus, was indestructible? Or will you mention Socrates’ cup of hemlock, that extraordinary drink drunk with such pleasure? You praise all this, I praise it too. But to what extent? 695. In the inevitable disasters they were courageous, for I don’t see how they could be saved from them, even if they wanted to. Moving from here to the divine struggle of my ascetics, hearing or remembering them, you will be horrified. 700. With what countless dangers have we increased the venerable and new sacrament of Christ, who have been honored to be called by the name of Christ! Envy has repeatedly inflamed many enemies and persecutors of the word against us - 705. these rage-breathing, ferocious beasts. But we have never yielded to the dominant force of time. On the contrary, if there was any carelessness during the peace, if anyone turned out to be bad in anything else, then in this everyone was strengthened by God, 710. burning with fiery jealousy, they withstood the insolence of their enemies, being defeated with glory. No one seeks salvation with such pleasure as we took on these wonderful dangers. Others, as fun, encountered fire, sword, earthly abysses, hunger, strangulation, 715. bloodthirsty animals, stretching and twisting of joints, deprivation of eyes, burning, dissolution, torment of members, cold, immersion in the depths or darkness, overthrow from a height, prolonged vision of various torments; 720. and the latter (I say this to those who know) is worse than all suffering, because when suffering is brought to its extreme degree, then fear ceases, but to wait incessantly means to continually suffer and, instead of one death, to die many painful deaths. 725. I will not talk about expulsions, about confiscation of property, about the fact that one must endure this in the eyes of husbands, wives, comrades, children, friends, which makes even the most courageous cowardly. And why endure? Maybe in one syllable. What am I saying: per syllable? For one wave, which, serving as a sign of renunciation, 730. could save, although to harm. In short: we stood for God, and he who betrayed God cannot find another. But why expand? Lift your eyes around, survey the whole universe, 735. which is now embraced by the saving Word, which tied us to God and united with us through suffering - a union marvelous and exceeding in God’s laws! This universe, almost all of it, is illuminated like stars by open altars, high-topped thrones, teachings, assemblies, 740. concourses of entire families, chants worthy of feats - these illustrious victorious bearers of the Slain shine forth. And so great is the reverence for the truth that a small part of the dust, 745. some remains of ancient bones, a small part of hair, fragments of clothing, one sign of drops of blood is sometimes sufficient to honor a whole martyr; 750. Even the place of the relics is given the name “holy relics,” and it receives equal power, as if a whole martyr were in it. Wonderful thing! I think one memory saves me. What else can be said about the incredible deliverance from diseases and from demons at the tombs, 755. which were once honored to contain precious relics? And they repel the attacks of spirits. Such are the miracles of my ascetics! Praise me Pisa and the Delphic dust, Nemea and the Isthmian pine 63, 760. from whom the unfortunate youths found their glory, relying on small rewards for small feats, for fistfights, for wrestling, for the speed of running and racing, in which it is not important to win or remain defeated, because the reward is not God and not salvation, 765. both according to my laws and for My struggle gains heavenly glory and heavenly crowns. You have seen examples of courage, which are best and most salutary to imitate in the daily struggle with the persecutor, who from the depths and 770. secretly overthrows us through deceived feelings; Now look at the examples of chastity that we especially praise. There are, indeed, among the Hellenes 775. lovers of chastity; they existed in ancient times, and they will still be found today; I do not refuse to believe what is being divulged about them; I have no envy that even those who are strangers to us are chaste. They say about Xenocrates that once, tempting him, 780. they slipped a harlot to a sleepy man at night; Feeling this, he was not struck by the extraordinary nature of the insult, but also did not get up and did not think of running; both were low for Xenocrates. On the contrary, he remained motionless and invulnerable, so that the woman, 785. rushing to run, shouted: “Why did they laugh at me, putting me next to the dead man?” Although Epicurus tried to prove that pleasure is the reward for deeds of virtue and that pleasure is the end of all good things for a person, however, in order not to give the thought that 790. as if he praises pleasure for some kind of pleasure, he behaved decently and chastely in order to reinforce his teaching with good morals. I will not keep silent about Polemon, since they talk a lot about this miracle. 795. Previously he was not one of the chaste, but even one of the vile servants of voluptuousness; but when he became embraced by the love of virtue, having found a good adviser (I don’t know who it was: some kind of sage or himself), 800. suddenly turned out to be a great conqueror of passions. And I will present only one proof of his wonderful life. One intemperate young man invited his friend to his place. She, as they say, had already approached the doors, but on the doors there was a picture of Polemon; and his image had such a respectable appearance that the libertine, 805. seeing him, immediately went back, amazed by this vision and ashamed of what was written, as if alive. And this incident, as far as I know, is retold by many. Dion 810. (I mean the Dion who was in great glory) did not have a very pleasant smell, they say his breath smelled, and one of the city residents laughed at this. Dion, as soon as he met his wife, said to her: “Why didn’t you tell me about my illness?” But the wife answered with an oath: “I thought that this was the shortcoming of every man, 815. and not just yours.” She kept herself so far away from all men and female friends; because this answer is clear proof of honest morals. Who does not also praise Alexander [the Great] for the fact that, having in his power the daughters of Darius, whom he defeated, and hearing 820. that they were beautiful, he did not want to see them out of fear, because it would be a shame for the conqueror of husbands to give up victory over himself to the virgins. Although this is not yet close to my samples, I still praise it. Why? 825. Because it is very pleasant to see a white face among the Ethiopians or a sweet stream in the middle of the sea, and equally very surprising, given bad and harmful rules, to find something chaste. Where the deities themselves are devoted to passions, 830. there to submit to passions is, without a doubt, considered an honest deed. For who makes passion his god, using a bad helper in a bad deed? Who, tell me, do we see examples of unnatural love? It was necessary for your gods to have some advantage. 835. Whose Phrygian youths participate in the feast and serve sweet nectar in a depraved manner? But I am ashamed to reveal Diev’s (Zeves’) secrets. Whose fornications, whose violations of marital fidelity constitute for the convened a shameful spectacle that arouses laughter? 840. How do women make everything out of Zeus, and a bull, and lightning, and a swan, and a man, and a beast, and gold, and a serpent? Such are the love transformations of Zeus - this instigator and adviser of all evil deeds! Who considers the queen of voluptuousness to be a goddess? 845. Who erects altars and churches to the passions? Whose nights, truly worthy nights, are devoutly honored by the symbols of dishonorable deeds? Whose Iphifals and Fals laughingly add to their idols a new god, 850. about whom it is shameful to even speak? Who has Hermaphrodites, Pans - this is a shameful generation, these gods with goat legs, but goats in morals? Even their maidens dance at their weddings; 855. They need something contrary to marriage to be added to marriage. Among them, the handsome give in marriage to the unpretentious, bringing as a dowry what they acquired fornication; and these indecencies are committed in honor of one of the demons, so that a philanthropic deed does not remain a completely shameless deed. That is why shameful deeds enjoy freedom; 860. Fornication, the price of fornication, desecration of honor are legal among them. And their sages depict Aphrodite in the form of their mistresses, in order to bring divine honors to the latter with such an invention. And Phidias writes on the finger of the virgin goddess in memory of his shamelessness: the beautiful has enough of everything 65. 865. From this, along with courageous and military exploits, they receive brilliant picturesque images, applause and descriptions, and this icy beauty. Look how many harlots are honored by their churches and recognized as goddesses. Euphro, Phryne, Leena 66 - 870. in the form of a beast, because her name was honored among the churches. But this notorious queen of Hellas, born in Iccari, the shameful libertine Laisa 67 and many others, I will not deign to even say a word. Therefore, my good one, 875. as one who knows how to recognize the goodness of silver, borrow from them what is good and discard what does not make you better, but follow all our instructions, follow the examples of chaste husbands and wives whose teacher is hope and God, 880. who with their lives write better laws than what the hand writes. When others call adultery a vice and punish it according to the laws, we demand even more, forbidding both to look shamelessly and lustfully (see: Matt. 5:39), 885. considering as one both the sin committed and the cause of sin, such as, for example, murder and anger (Matthew 5:28), from which there is murder, perjury and readiness to swear (Matthew 5:36 ). By not allowing everything without which there can be no sin, we avoid the worst. 890. So my chastity is safe. That is why I have a large number of virgins imitating the life of the disembodied Angels and God Himself, Who alone cohabits with them. Where does this lead? To the fact that everyone strives for a future life, 895. wants to move from here, freed from the bonds and laws of marriage. Since Christ, the Son of the Virgin Mother, came to me, He has made me a virgin according to new laws. Since I have entered into life and, 900. bound by transience and decay, am forced to know what is fleeting and subject to decay, in order to learn the best from what is visible and wandering, I joyfully raise an image to God through 905. a free and unbound life, not leaving here a trace of my skin, but despising it, as others despise some other inflated fur, I strive entirely for the whole To God, having as sincere companions many others, who, looking at the one desired life 910., brought as a gift to the giver of all things, God, not hair and property, but the first of all that belongs to us - purity and incorporeality. These are the hosts of new Nazarenes, filled and shining with those inner beauties, 915. which virgins revere to the point of bleeding. What could I tell you about some Thekla or about all those who, in order to keep their beauty sealed for God, boldly walked into danger? Isn’t that one thing that has always been very well known to everyone? 920. Do you see the constant psalmody of husbands and wives to God, who have forgotten their nature, so numerous, so high in life and deified? Do you see two faces of Angels, now in agreement, now in opposition, both mountain and valley, 925. hymning God’s greatness and nature? So you should honor purity, having so many motives and models; looking at them, purify yourself in order to receive laws from God for you. Although everything depicted in the word requires your prudence 930. (for without prudence is anything praiseworthy possible?), however, the first and most important thing for you is to know God and sincerely honor Him in word and deed, because for everyone there is one and the same source, one salvation. God is contemplated for others, although somewhat; however, no one will say 935. and no one can hear what He is, although others were too sure that they knew this. For with every thought about God there is always, like darkness, mixed in with something mine and visible. How can I penetrate this darkness and enter into communication with God, 940. so that, without working any more, I can possess and be sure that I have what I have long wanted to acquire? The most destructive thing is not to honor God and not to know that He is the first cause of all things, from whom everything came into being and continues to be observed 945. according to ineffable order and law; but to imagine oneself knowing what God is is a corruption of the mind; this is the same as, having seen the sun’s shadow in the water, thinking as if you were seeing the sun itself, or, struck by the beauty of the vestibule, imagining, 950. as if he saw the ruler of the inner palaces himself. Although one is somewhat wiser than the other, because he attracted more rays of light to himself, because he looked more closely, yet we are all lower than God’s greatness, because God is covered by light and His cover is darkness. 955. Whoever cuts through the darkness is illuminated by the second barrier of the upper light. But it is very difficult to penetrate the double cover. The One who fills everything and is Himself above all, who makes the mind wise and avoids impulses of the mind, 960. carrying me to new heights with the very thing that constantly eludes me - keep this God especially in mind and honor, proving your love by zeal for the commandments. But it is not necessary to seek out what He is everywhere and not always, and it is not convenient to speak a word about it in front of everyone. 965. Say something else about God, but with fear; and let others remain inside and, silently revered, be honored in secret by the mind alone; for others, only open your ears if the word is being taught, for it is better to endanger your ears than your tongue. 970. Let us pray for the rest, so that we may know this clearly, having renounced the whiteness of the flesh; and now, as much as possible, let us cleanse ourselves and renew ourselves with a bright life. Thus you will receive into yourself the intuited God, for there is no doubt that God Himself comes to the pure, 975. because only the pure can be the abode of the pure. Conclusions lead little to the knowledge of God, for to every concept there is another opposite, and my teaching does not tolerate complaisant faith. It is very important to adhere to what has been said: 980. whoever loves will be loved; and whoever is loved, God dwells in him (John 14:21–23). And in whom God is, it is impossible not to be granted light; The first advantage of light is to cognize the light itself. Thus love brings knowledge. 985. This path to truth is better than the path of the mind and its subtleties, respected by many. And what can be said, let us reveal it. Beginningless, Beginning, Spirit - the venerable Trinity. Having no cause, Begotten, Proceeding, 990. and the first is the Father, the second is the Son and the Word, the third is not the Son, but the Spirit of one essence - One God in Three and common worship. They are released from the mortal cast. And you be a worshiper of Them, keep Them in yourself, 995. rejecting all impurity of this life, an honest life, true teaching and hatred of fiction, and rush to the heavenly. And I would like you to become richer than me and to have greater boldness. Question. I want to sue you, world. Answer me first of all: who and where are you from and where are you going? How do you lead me around, twirling me around like an ant? Answer. I don’t know where I came from, but, without a doubt, from God. 5. I strive for the best. It’s not me who is leading you, but you yourself are disorderly, you yourself insult me. Question. So, why do you stand firm and I am fickle? Answer. I am not like that on my own; and what is this superiority? And you are gifted with will; if you want, you can get even more. Question. 10. Okay! And what is outside of me, who is driving it? Answer. What's wrong with that? This chance brings salvation to the perfect. Question. Or is it better to blame yourself? Answer. Absolutely true! 12. About the frailty of human nature The world is friendly, but not friendly in everything! Why do you, like a spinning top, when I would like to go the opposite way, quickly carry me away like a small ant, no matter how much I complain about cruel violence - you, so majestic, carry me away - an important creature? 5. I know that you are from God and God’s glory, but I myself was created by the hand of Christ and made up of both, from earthly and heavenly. Although my body is from the earth, my soul is the breath of the great Mind. But what a multitude of disasters am I dragged here and there, disasters that 10. came either from myself or from the enemy! Like a dolphin accustomed to the sea, on land I die from the air. My life is over, O world; lead the people unharmed! Like birds or like ships on the sea, we overtake each other - both I and time, having nothing permanent in ourselves. But what I have sinned in does not pass away, but remains; and this is the worst thing in life. 5. I don’t know what to wish for myself, whether continuation of life or death; in both cases I am overcome with fear. Judge for yourself. My life is burdened with sins; and if I die, alas! Alas! there is no longer any cure for previous infirmities. If this promises a life in which there is so much sorrow, 10. it means that death does not deliver from disasters. There is an abyss on both sides; what are we going to do? Is it not better to turn our eyes to You alone and to Your mercy? 14. About human nature 69 Yesterday, crushed by my sorrows, I sat alone, far from people, in a shady grove and was consumed by my heart. In suffering, I love such healing and willingly talk alone with my heart. 5. The winds hummed and, together with the singing birds from the tree branches, sent down a good sleep even to those who were too weak in spirit. And in the trees, the favorites of the sun, sweet-sounding grasshoppers from musical larynxes filled the entire forest with their chirping. 10. There was cool water nearby and, quietly flowing through the grove moistened by it, washed my feet. But I was dominated by grief just as strongly as before. Nothing around me entertained me, because the mind, when burdened with sorrows, does not want to find consolation anywhere. 15. And I, carried away by the whirling of the soaring mind, saw in myself such a struggle of opposing thoughts. Who was I? Who am I now? And what will I be? Neither I know this, nor the one who is richer in wisdom than me. Like one covered with a cloud, 20. I wander hither and thither; Even in a dream I don’t see what I would want, because everyone on whom lies a dark cloud of plump flesh is both low and mired in delusions. Is he wiser than me who is more deceived than others by the deceitfulness of his own heart, which is ready to give an answer to everything? 25. I exist. Tell me: what does this mean? Another part of myself has already passed, another I am now, and another I will be, if I ever will. I am not something indispensable, but a stream of a muddy river that flows incessantly and does not stand still for a minute. Which of these 70 will you call me? What do you think most constitutes my self? Explain this to me; and see, 30. that now this same me, who stands before you, does not leave you. You will never again cross the same river stream that you crossed before. You will never see a person the same as you saw him before. At first I was contained in my father’s body, then my mother accepted me, but as something common to both; 35. and then I became some kind of dubious flesh, something not like a person, shameful, without form, possessing neither words nor reason; and my mother’s womb served as my coffin. And here we are, from grave to grave, living for corruption! For in this very life that I am going through, I see one waste of years, which brings me disastrous old age. And if there, as the Scripture says, 40. eternal and incorruptible life will receive me, then say: real life, contrary to your usual opinion, is not death, and will not death be life for you? I have not yet been born into life. Why do I lament at the sight of disasters, as something brought into my composition? This is one thing and immutable for day-old creatures; 45. This one thing is close to me, unshakable, does not grow old, after, having emerged from the bowels of my mother, I shed my first tear, before I touched life, mourning all the disasters that I must face. They say that there is a country like ancient Crete, 50. in which there are no wild animals, and also there is a country where cold snows are unknown. But no mortal has yet boasted that he, without experiencing the severe disasters of life, moved from here. Powerlessness, poverty, birth, death, enmity, evil people - these animals of the sea and land, all sorrows - this is life! 55. And just as I have seen many misfortunes, and misfortunes without any delight, I have not seen a single good that was completely devoid of sorrow, since the destructive taste and envy of the enemy branded me with bitter disgrace. I turn to you, flesh, to you, so incurable, 60. to you - my flattering enemy and adversary, who never stops attacking. You are a viciously caressing beast, you are (strangest of all) a cooling fire. And it would be a great miracle if, in the end, you too became favorably disposed toward me! And you, my soul (let a decent word be said to you), who, where and what are you? 65. Who made you a corpse-bearer, who tied you to life with firm bonds, who made you constantly gravitate towards the earth? How did you, the spirit, mix with fatness, how did you, the mind, mate with the flesh, did you, the light one, combine with heaviness? For all this is opposite and opposes one another. If you entered into life, having been sown along with the flesh, 70. then how destructive is such a pairing for me! I am the image of God - and was born the son of shame, with shame I must call lust the mother of my dignity, because the beginning of my vegetation was the expired seed, and it decayed, then it became a man and will soon be not a man, but dust - these are my last hopes! 75. And if you, my soul, are something heavenly, then it would be desirable to know where you come from? And if you are God’s breath and God’s lot, as you yourself think, then put aside untruth, and then I will believe you, because it is unusual for even a little filth to exist in something pure. Darkness is not the portion of the sun, and the bright spirit has never been a product of the 80. evil spirit. How are you so indignant at the increments of the destructive beliar, although you are associated with the heavenly spirit? If even with such help you bow to the ground, then, alas! Alas! how powerful is your destructive sin! 85. And if you are not from God in me, then what is your nature? How scary, am I puffed up with vain glory! God's creation, paradise, Eden, glory, hope, commandment, rain - the destroyer of the world, rain - fire from heaven, and then the law - written medicine, 90. and then Christ, who united His image with ours, so that the suffering God would give help to my sufferings, and make me a god through His humanity... But my heart is not brought to life by anything. In a suicidal frenzy, like boars, we press on the sword. 95. What is the benefit of life? God's light. But even this is blocked by an envious and terrible darkness. I have no advantage in anything, unless the evil ones have an advantage over me. Oh, if only I could have an equal share with them during great labors! I am thrown into exhaustion, 100. struck by the fear of God, crushed by the worries of the day and night. This tall and creepy guy is chasing me from behind, stepping on me with his heel. Tell me about all the insurances, about the gloomy Tartarus, about the flaming scourges, about the demons who torture our souls: 105. For the wicked, all this is a fable! For them, what is best is what is under their feet. The threatening torment does not bring them to their senses at all. It would be better for the wicked to remain unpunished later than for me to now lament the misfortunes of sin. But what about people? 110. Why describe in such detail the sorrows of our family? Everything has its sorrows. And the earth is not steadfast, and the wind shakes it. The seasons are rapidly giving way to one another. The night drives away the day, the storm darkens the air, the sun obscures the beauty of the stars, 115. and the cloud the beauty of the sun. The moon is reborn again. The starry sky is only half visible. And you, Lucifer, were once in the angelic faces, and now, hated, you have fallen from heaven in shame! Have mercy on me, royal, venerable Trinity! 120. And You have not completely escaped the tongue of reckless one-day creatures! First the Father, then the great Son, and then the Spirit of the great God were the subject of blasphemy! Where will you lead me, evil tongue? Where will my worries stop? Stop. Everything is below God. Submit to the Word. 125. It was not in vain (I will resume the song again) that God created me. Such a thought comes from our cowardice. Now there is darkness, and then reason will be given, and you will understand everything when you either contemplate God or burn in fire. As soon as my dear mind sang this to me, my sorrow was quenched. 130. I came home late from the shady grove; and sometimes I laugh at those who argue differently, and sometimes, if the mind is in a struggle with itself, my heart is tormented with sorrow. 15. On the low value of the external world 71 Who was I? Who am I now? And what will I be after a short time? Where will you bring and place, O Immortal, a great creature, if there is a great thing among creatures? But in my opinion, we are meaningless, one-day creatures and in vain we raise our eyebrows high, 5. if there is one thing in us that people see, and we have nothing but perishing life. The calf, having barely left the bowels of the giving birth [mother], is already jumping and tightly squeezing the sweet nipples, and in the third year it wears a yoke, drags a heavy chariot 10. and puts its mighty neck into a strong harness. A mottled deer, barely out of its mother’s womb, immediately stands firmly on its feet next to its mother, runs from bloodthirsty dogs and from a fast horse, and hides in the thickets of a dense forest. 15. Bears, a breed of destructive boars, lions, tigers equal to the speed of the wind, and lynxes see iron only for the first time, immediately their fur bristles, and with fury they rush at strong trappers. The newly feathered chick, barely fledged, 20. and high above the nest is circling through the spacious air. The golden bee left only a cave, and now she is building herself an abode opposite and filling the house with sweet honey; and all this is the work of one spring. They all have ready food, the earth gives a feast to everyone. 25. They do not cut through the furious sea, they do not plow the land; They have no storehouses, no cupbearers. And the fast-flying bird is nourished by its wings, and the beasts are nourished by the wilds. If they work, they only have a small one-day job. And a huge lion, as I heard, having torn to pieces the beast he had killed, 30. abhors the remains of his feast. Moreover, they say that he alternately eats food on one day, and on the other, with one drink, he cools his greedy larynx in order to accustom his belly to abstinence. So their life is not burdened with work. They always have a home ready under a stone or branches. 35. They are healthy, strong, beautiful. When the illness subdues them, they carelessly give up their last breath, do not accompany each other with lamentable songs, and friends do not tear out their hair. I will say even more: they fearlessly lose their lives; 40. And the beast, dying, is not afraid of any evil. Look at the pitiful human race; Then you yourself will say with the poet 72: “There is nothing weaker than man.” 45. I am the fruit of the expired seed; My mother gave birth to me with illnesses, and I was raised with great and hard labor. At first, my mother carried me in her arms - sweet labor! and then, not without painful cries, I descended to the ground; then he began to walk on the ground like a four-legged man, until he stood up on swaying feet, supported by someone else’s hands. 50. Over time, my mind flashed through the hints of a silent voice. And then, under the guidance of others, I cried out to myself. At the age of twenty I gathered my strength, but before that, as someone who labored in the field, I met many defeats. Some things remain with me, others have perished for me, and others (let it be known to you, my soul!) you will still work on as you go through life 55. - this is a desire that is contrary to you in everything, this wild stream, this wavering sea, boiling here and there from the incessant gusts of wind. I am often overwhelmed by my own recklessness; and it was brought upon me by the enemy of our life - the demon. 60. If you set the scales correctly and weigh everything that is pleasant and sad in life, then one cup, loaded to the top with evil, will go to the ground, and the other, on the contrary, with the blessings of life, will run upward. War, the sea, cultivation of the land, labor, robbers, acquisition of property, inventories of estates, tax collectors, intercessors for cases, 65. records, judges, an unrighteous boss - all these are still children's toys in a difficult life. Look at the pleasantness of life: satiety, burden, singing, laughter, a coffin always filled with decayed dead; marriage gifts, marriage, second marriage if the first one is dissolved, 70. adulterers, capture of adulterers; children - anxious grief; beauty is a false lure; ugliness is innocent evil; worries about good children, sadness about bad ones; wealth and poverty are pure evil, contempt, pride - all this is like a ball flying from hand to hand among young people. 75. So, looking at this, my heart is consumed if they consider that which has more evil than good to be better. Do you not cry when you hear how many sorrows there were among those who lived before us? However, I don’t know whether 80. you will cry or laugh. The sages of antiquity found both decent for themselves; and this brought tears to one of them, and aroused laughter in the other, that the Trojans and Achaeans, rushing at each other, fought and destroyed each other for the sake of their adulterous wife; that the Curetes and the warlike Aetolians fought over a pig's head and the bristles of a young boar; 85. that the sons of Jacob, with all their great glory, died, one - among enemies from a violent hand, and the other - from love of women; that Amphitryon’s son was named 73, but this all-destroying one also died from poisonous clothing. Cyrus and Croesus, as well as our seemingly yesterday’s kings, did not escape the evil fate of 90. And you, revered as the son of the serpent, an unstoppable force - Alexander, were destroyed by wine when you walked around the whole earth! What is the advantage between the rotten? The same ashes, the same bones - both the hero Atrid and the beggar Ir, 95. Tsar Constantine and my servant; and whoever suffered and who prospered, everyone has nothing but a coffin. Such is the lot here; but what about in another life? Who can say what the last day brings to the unrighteous? There is a bubbling flame, a terrible darkness for those who have retreated from the light, 100. a worm, an everlasting remembrance of our sins. It would be better for you, sinner, not to enter the gates of life and, if you did, for everything to be destroyed along with the beasts, than, after enduring so much sorrow here, to suffer another punishment that is heavier than anything you have endured in this life! 105. Where is the great glory of my ancestor? Destroyed by food [of the forbidden fruit]. Where is the wise Solomon? Subdued by wives. Where is this Judas, numbered among the twelve? For small gain he is enveloped in darkness. I pray to You, my King Christ: grant, O Blessed One, 110. Your servant immediate healing from his evils by relocating him from here! For people there is only one good, and a lasting good, and that is heavenly hopes. I breathe a little of them, but I feel a great aversion to other benefits. And I am ready to provide one-day beings with everything that drags along the earth, 115. the fatherland and the foreign side, thrones and the honors associated with them, loved ones, strangers, pious, vicious, frank, secretive, looking with an unenvious eye, consumed by internally suicidal sin. I yield to others the pleasures of life, but I myself willingly avoid them. 120. Oh, how long have disasters made this life! How long should I sit at the pus? It’s as if all the blessings of our life are contained in one consolation - day after day, either taking in or throwing out what is measured out. Not many people use the larynx, and everything else turns into a drain of sewage. 125. Still winter, still summer; now spring, now autumn alternately; days and nights are the double ghosts of life; sky, air, sea - in all this, both what is motionless and what rotates, there is nothing new for me, I am satiated with everything. Grant me another life and another world, for which I will willingly endure all the hardships of labor. 130. It would have been better for me to die when You locked me in my mother’s womb, for as soon as I began life, darkness and tears became my lot. What kind of life is this? Rising from the grave, I go to another coffin and, rising from the grave, I will be buried in merciless fire. 135. Yes, and this time, while I am breathing, is a fast stream of a running river, in which one thing constantly leaves, another comes, and there is nothing permanent. Here everything is just dust, which covers my eyes, and I fall further and further from God’s light, groping along the wall, clutching at this and that, 140. wandering outside of the great life. I will venture one truthful word: man is God’s game, similar to one of those we see in cities. On top is a mask made by hands; when it was removed, I turned to stone with shame, suddenly appearing different. 145. Such is the whole life of pitiful mortals. They have a dreamy hope in their hearts, but they do not enjoy it for long. But I, who hold on to Christ, will never renounce Him while I am bound by the bonds of this earthly life. I have a dual nature. The body is created from earth, 150. and therefore is prone to the dust inherent in it. But the soul is God’s breath and always desires to have the best fate of those above heaven. Just as a stream flows from a source on level ground, and a flaming fire knows one unchanging path - to ascend upward, 155. so man is great; he is even an Angel when, like a snake, having stripped himself of his variegated old age, he ascends from here. Rejoice, priests: I am dead! And you, evil neighbors, will no longer be in awe of me as before! You yourself are blocking the great mercy of the ever-living King. 160. And I, having left everything, have one thing - the cross, the bright pillar of my life. When I am taken away from here and touch the heavenly victims, to whom the hidden evil - envy - does not approach, then (if I may say so) I will also unenviously pray for the envious. Who am I? Where did you come into life? And after the earth accepts me into its depths, how will I emerge from the rising dust? Where will the great God place me? And, having snatched away from here, will he lead you to a calm haven? 5. There are many paths to a troubled life, and each has its own sorrows; there is no good for people that is not mixed with evil; and it would be good if sorrows were not a greater measure! Wealth is wrong; throne - the dreamer’s pride; 10. being in subjection is painful; poverty - bonds; beauty is the short-term flash of lightning; youth is a temporary effervescence; gray hair - the mournful decline of life; words are volatile; glory - air; nobility is old blood; strength is also the property of a wild boar; 15. satiety is impudent; marriage is a yoke; having many children is a necessary concern; childlessness is a disease; national assemblies are a school of vices; inactivity relaxes; arts are befitting of reptiles on the earth; someone else's bread is bitter; cultivating the land 20. difficult; most of the sailors died; the fatherland is one’s own pit; the other side is a reproach. Everything is difficult for mortals; everything here - laughter, fluff, shadow, ghost, dew, breath, feather, steam, sleep, wave, stream, ship's wake, wind, dust, 25. a circle, forever spinning, renewing everything like before, and motionless and spinning, and collapsing and unchanging - in the seasons, days, nights, labors, deaths, worries, fun, illnesses, failures, successes. And this is the work of Your wisdom, Parent and Word, that everything is impermanent, 30. so that we retain within ourselves the love of the constant! I flowed around everything on the wings of my mind - both ancient and new; and nothing is weaker than mortals. There is only one thing that is beautiful and lasting for a person: taking up the cross and moving from here. 35. Beautiful are tears and sighs, a mind nourished by divine hopes, and the illumination of the heavenly Trinity entering into communion with the purified. Beautiful are the renunciation of the foolish dust, the non-corruption of the image we have received from God. It is wonderful to live a life alien to life, and, 40. exchanging one world for another, patiently endure all sorrows. 17. Bliss and definitions of spiritual life 75 Blessed is he who leads a desert life, has no communication with those tied to the earth, but has deified his mind. Blessed is he who, in communicating with many, is not amused by many, but has transferred his whole heart to God. 5. Blessed is the one who, instead of all acquisitions, has acquired Christ, who has one acquisition - the cross, which he carries high. Blessed is he who is master of his own acquisitions, pure from unrighteousness, and who gives the divine hand to those in need. Blessed is the life of happy virgins, 10. who, having shaken off the flesh, are close to the pure Divinity. Blessed is he who, having yielded a little to the laws of marriage, brings as a gift to Christ the greater part of love. Blessed is the one who, having assumed power over the people, reconciles Christ with the earthly beings through pure and great sacrifices. 15. Blessed is he who, belonging to the flock, takes his place among the flock, like the most perfect sheep of Christ. Blessed is he who, in the high soarings of a purified mind, sees the luminosity of the heavenly lights. Blessed is he who with laborious hands honors the king 20. and serves as the law of life for many. All of them fill the heavenly winepresses - these repositories for the fruit of our souls, although each virtue leads to a special place, because there are many mansions (see: John 14:2) for many kinds of life. 25. Blessed is he who has shown a great spirit, impoverished by passions, who spends his life here in tears, who always hungers for heavenly food, who through meekness makes himself an heir of great promises, who with his compassion attracts God's great mercy to himself, 30. who is a friend of the world and pure in heart, who endures great sorrows for the sake of Christ - great glory, and himself goes to meet great glory. Go whichever of these paths you want. If you all go, that's best. If you go with a few, you will have a second crown. And if you go alone, 35. but it’s excellent - and that’s nice. Abodes are destined for everyone according to their dignity - both the most perfect and the less perfect. And Rahab led an unseemly life, but she also made that life glorious through her excellent love of strangers (Josh. 6:16). The publican, for one thing - for his humility, received an advantage over the Pharisee, 40. who boasted much (Luke 18:10-14). A virgin life is better, truly better! - but if she is devoted to the world and earthly things, then it is worse than marriage. The life of the chaste non-covetous people who grow up 76 in the mountains is high, but pride has brought them down more than once, because they, 45. without measuring their virtue by other most perfect examples, sometimes in their hearts call it height, which is not high, and not rarely, with a flaming mind, legs like hot horses carry them further than the goal. Therefore, either fly higher and higher on light wings, 50. or, remaining below, make a safe flow, not fearing that some weight will bend your wings to the ground and you, having ascended, will fall in a miserable fall. A small ship, fastened with frequent nails, lifts more cargo than a large ship, poorly tied. 55. A narrow path is built to the gates of God, but many paths lead to one road. Let some follow one path, and others another, which nature shows to whom, as long as everyone enters the narrow path. Not everyone enjoys the same food, 60. and Christians are suited to more than one way of life. Tears, vigils and labors are excellent for everyone. It is good for everyone to curb the fury of restless passions, overcome intemperance, bow under the sovereign hand of Christ and tremble for the coming day 77. 65. If you follow a completely mountainous path, you are no longer mortal, but, according to Gregory’s word, one of the celestials. 18. About human life 78 Fir, clay, swirling dust! The earth again unites with the earth, is wrapped in earthly shrouds and again becomes dust, like dust, which is raised high by a strong circulation of winds and then thrown down. 5. For in the same way our whirling life is lifted up by the storms of evil spirits to a false glory, 10. but the dust immediately falls down and remains down until the word of the Creator puts together again what was united and destroyed by need. And now this dust, in which the spirit with the image of God is embedded, as if emerging from some depth, 15. proclaims earthly sad songs and mourns life, apparently smiling. This short and varied life is a kind of wheel spinning on a motionless axis: sometimes it goes up, sometimes it leans down, and although it appears to be something motionless, it does not stand still; when running away, it stays in one place, and, while holding on, it runs away; jumps rapidly and cannot budge; he tries to change his position with his movement, and from the same movement he returns to his previous position. Therefore, life cannot be compared with anything better than smoke, or a dream, or a wild flower. Any addiction is dangerous. Addiction to a loved one is a double danger. Predilection for a young girl is a triple sting. If she is beautiful, then this is even greater evil. And if the possibility of marriage presents itself, 5. then the very interior of the heart has become food for fire. Every grave evokes grief. The coffin of a son is a double grief; a son with good qualities is such a disaster that burns like fire. And if the son has barely gotten married, then the parents’ hearts are torn to pieces. It's hard to suffer, and even harder to suffer from friends. If friends bite secretly, then this is unbearable; and if they are believers, it is even more intolerable; and if God’s servants, 5. then where to turn then? How to avoid the pursuit of evil? It's hard to bear grief. And if a friend insults you, that’s low. If he bites secretly, it’s brutal. And if this is a chatty wife, then you live in the same house with a demon. And if this is a judge, 5. then thunder and lightning are needed. And if you are a clergyman, then You, O Christ, listen and judge (Ps. 42:1). 24. On those who often swear What's worse than an oath? I reason that there is nothing worse. Tell me, how will you prove this? The most obvious and clear arguments. 5. Next; answer me and we'll see. Say, dearest one, what you can say. Do you know what is higher than everything you know? What kind of things are you asking about? About everything that is visible and mental. 10. I cannot imagine anything higher than God. You answer correctly, but I asked incorrectly. God is not something higher, because He is incomparable. Isn't it clear? Therefore, perhaps, it was necessary to ask this: what is the highest? But isn’t this also said in the sense of comparison? How can you say it? Nothing can be highest except in relation to what is akin to it. 20. What is akin to God? Therefore, it is necessary to express ourselves differently about God. As you say, so I am ready to accept. So what? Should it not be said that God is incomparable to anything known? Isn’t He the only one worthy of honor for every nature? The only honorable one; that's well said. And being venerable, can we also be insulted? How to connect the incompatible? Let us consider: does an oath serve the honor of God? 30. But, at least, not to insult. So; if there were no danger from a false oath, then an oath would be a matter of piety. 35. But now look, what is the matter and where is it heading? I almost understand, but I ask you to explain the speech with obvious similarities. What would it be like? Have you seen a big stone falling from a mountain? And he rolled down with great noise? It even instilled great fear. Did you also see that he was conveniently stopped? Did anyone else see it, but I didn’t, 45. because the stone forces itself to fall and is stronger than any hand. The truth is yours. The same thing happens to me: impetuosity carries me into a violent act. But at first it would not be very difficult for me, just like the stone, to keep calm? 50. It’s not very difficult, and why not resist? Every vice is like this stone, especially, I think, the bad habit of swearing. Listen: this vice has considerable appeal. 55. And if a person gets addicted to it, what happens then? He can no longer hold on until he plunges into the swift abyss. What do you mean by rapids? The greatest of rapids is a false oath. 60. It would be nice to hear why this is. And many people don’t know how bad it is. Doesn’t it often happen that someone swears by his own salvation? 65. What is this? He is afraid that, having done something bad, he will not suffer evil for it, and he himself places his own salvation before God, deciding to perish if he somehow lies to his word. Make the same reasoning if you swear by God. Which one? It is advisable to see. You rely on God for your faith. 75. And for those who swear truthfully, God is preserved, but if we swear falsely, then in relation to us He is lost. But tell me, what does it mean, in your opinion, not to keep God for yourself? 80. I think this means renouncing God. So, a false oath, as has long been proven, is a renunciation of God. 85. Let us acquire such morals that would inspire confidence. The well-behaved need less oath; What do I say: less? They don't need an oath at all. Good morals are a guarantee for them. Tell me, what do those who swear a lot gain? What else can we add to this? Is it that they are not believed when they tell the truth? 95. So, listen to me and, using the medicines of reason, especially put in yourself barriers to this illness. Many of those known to me have prevailed over illnesses and the strongest ones. 100. What do you mean by severe illnesses? Anger, envy, intemperance and the like. Because the wish is greater. And whatever the desire is for, the attachment is stronger. Quite thoroughly. 105. But if the illness in you is uncontrollable, what then should you do? At the very least, beware of continually multiplying heavy oaths on every occasion. When, what and under what cases will you allow oaths? For example, will you allow it when the need arises? 110. But add what exactly the need is. Isn’t she the one to save others from danger? Then at least the oath is useful. Or rid yourself of accusations of a heinous crime. 115. Yes! But an oath should never serve me to acquire property, because this seems extremely vile and can very easily involve me in a false oath. And what, other than self-interest, more often leads to false oaths? When it comes to money, 120. very many turn out to be malicious. Who wouldn't agree with this? And the Sophists argued the same. Not at all. But if we imitate and turn out to be the worst, then it will be shameful for us. 125. And very much. What oaths should you especially avoid? However, it is safer to hear from you. I affirm that the most terrible oaths must be avoided. Are you afraid to talk about them? 130. In short, those in which the name of God is mentioned. And in which Scripture, Christ’s suffering and offerings to God are mentioned? And most of all we are in the habit of swearing like this. This is why I shed tears. 135. For what is established by custom turns into law. However, what cannot the mind overcome? What kind of oath will you allow? I would like not to allow any, but otherwise let there be some other oath. Shouldn't he swear by his wife, children, salvation, 140. life and future carefree age? This is the essence of a curse, although they are also revered by an oath. Let them be revered; If only we, struck by this oath, would not perish. In this case, there is no danger for the soul, 145. which to destroy is already final death. You're right. But you, as soon as your heart began to boil, are ready in your tongue in any case: God, the holy meal, what is most dear to you, the cross, your wife, God’s Blood, your own blood, 150. the earth and the sea - in a word, everything that your worthless recklessness presents to you, first of all, with the assistance of your destroyer, who even makes the disease itself seem pleasant to you; and you (strange unreason!) 155. remain confident that gold is flowing from your rotten tongue. It happens exactly as you say. One wave raises another when you breathe, maybe anger, or maybe passion for money. 160. For there are many snares, and man does not consider the oaths he squanders a terrible thing. Yes, he doesn’t consider it scary. But he, poor man, is choked by an oath if he retains it within himself. You, like a painter, depict this passion. 165. He thinks to assure thereby, through which he becomes more unworthy of trust. Isn't this understandable? Why do you need many words if one thing is powerful? Why would you need many oaths if only one were valid? I think that then there would not be a need for many. 170. Therefore, many oaths are already a sign that there is no trust in you. Not otherwise; you are telling the truth. Therefore, either don’t swear at all, or swear as rarely as possible. 175. If one oath is broken, then all will be broken. Will someone else say: it is better to believe many oaths? But can you put a few specks of dust together and make gold out of it? 180. Who will do this? Is this in the nature of things? And on what basis can the probable be made out of many incredible things? It seems to me that there is no reason for this. Will you finally stop preferring the most worthless wealth to everything, 185. that is, always and in every activity, whether you eat, play dice, sail, travel, whether you are in happiness or misfortune, selling or buying, rejoicing or sad, being in the circle of friends and feasting, 190. spewing out oaths, like one who is full of food or drink? It is a very disastrous thing to do so. Don’t you also swear for the sake of everything, as if you were no longer yourself, as soon as others took over you, 195. whether in word, or deed, secretly or violently? For the most part, this happens in reality. By this you insult everyone - both God and creatures. So that you mix everything together, even what is not equal to each other. 200. And this is the rope from the bridle. What can you say to this? Don't we find that God sometimes swears? Of course, you won't find anything more perfect. 205. And if there is nothing more perfect, it means that God cannot swear. How does Scripture say that God swears? As soon as God says something, it is already an oath of God. How does Scripture say that God swears by Himself? How? He would cease to be God completely if he told a lie. 210. You are saying something terrible. And this is in the nature of God, not to lie. No one will argue against this. And what? The Old Testament does not prohibit oaths, but requires only true ones. 215. But then it was legal to kill, but now it is not even allowed to hit. Then the commission of a bad act was condemned, but now the very first movement towards sin is condemned. It seems to me so because we are reaching for greater perfection. 220. And therefore the chaste does not swear. So what? Do we give them, like infants, only the first fruits of food, so that later they can receive perfect food? Both fair and very smart. 225. They say that Paul also swears. Who told you this? Right, some kind of idle talker? Paul himself says: God is my witness (Rom. 1:9), and: God sees. Indisputable confirmation of the importance of what was said. 230. Allow me to do the same. Oh, if only you could become Paul in everything, to the best of your ability! This is the right measure for you. Won't you give in something to anger? And in anger, of course, everyone swears. 235. Is it really in your opinion that equal evil is worse than double evil? How would you feel if someone who was not irritated by anything suddenly began to swear? 240. What if I am irritated and do yet another evil? And this is also bad. However, it is less bad if it is done out of ignorance. But I am subject to responsibility for any of my voluntary movements. But what if I swear, although arbitrarily, in order to save me from danger? Let someone else allow it! 245. What if someone writes an oath without uttering it in words? What does the letter mean? Handwriting binds stronger bonds. Why wouldn't you die then? It would be necessary to accept death first. 250. What if an oath was taken when the Scripture was not laid before the swearer? What makes an oath sacred: the page or God? You are afraid of parchment, but I am more afraid of God. 255. Many are susceptible to this disease. The same thing happens to many as to a man who beats and dishonors a master, but gives freedom or is even ready to show honor to his slave. Or who protects the royal image, 260. and overthrows the king himself from the throne. And this happens. But if there is still something left to say, add that too. Many people say: the tongue made an oath, but the mind did not take it. 265. But it is easier to find an excuse in everything else than in an oath. No one deceives himself at all. In any case, the oath has been taken, but by double-mindedness how much more sin increases! 270. What is an oath? Decisive thought. I am horrified hearing your words. So you say; but until I see it in experience, I don’t know if this is true. For deeds are true. And the pig is immediately horrified when he hears the cry of another pig. 275. But this is not yet a great thing. If the word touched the heart, then I praise you for it. But what? Don't I have a cleansing font 80? What should we judge? It cleanses the Fall, but does not always cleanse morals. 280. When can morals also be purified? In that one case, if [you yourself] pre-clean several of them. You need fear in order not to sin in the future, and the fact that much has been forgiven is not yet dignity. Why is this? Explain it to me. 285. Dangerous so that secondary purification is not required. What kind of cleansing is this? Explain. Purification through long-term tears and exhaustion of the flesh. I wouldn't want to have any need for it. Yes! It's scary to lose a more convenient gift. 290. These are God's tablets. Exactly, God's; but write it on the tablets of your heart. Do you want to know that in this you can see the scolding of an envious person who envies your successes? 295. You will do a great favor by telling me about this. For I endure many insults from the enemy. I listened not without tears when you spoke. What's happened? I won’t refuse if I said so. 300. You used to say: if I utter a word, but do not confirm it with an oath, then I am ashamed of my speeches, as if they were something incomplete. There is no doubt that he used to say so. And what is missing, you yourself will add to the speech. 305. This is an oath - a bad addition. Truly, a terrible flame! But Plato does this. So as not to swear by some god, out of reverence... I know very well what you will say. There was some kind of sycamore, he swore by it alone, 310. but not directly. Although he knew what he was swearing by, he did not add: I swear by such and such a sycamore. What is this? Some kind of shadow of an oath, a nameless indication, an oath and not an oath at the same time. 315. So the sages swore by someone else's genius. And this means nothing more than swearing on something. But here's how we'll end our conversation. So soon you threaten to leave me without satisfying my thirst. If the oath seems to you to be something unimportant, 320. I do not praise it. And if you regard it as what it really is, that is, a very terrible thing, then I will dare to use a sharp word and conjure you with the oath itself, to avoid the oath. 325. Oh, if this is really so, I will glorify You for this, my Christ, who works miracles now, as You worked miracles before! Then we will all unanimously exclaim: Amen, let it be! I’m angry at the demon at home, at anger, and it seems to me that this anger alone is justified if we really have to endure something that is common for people. 5. And since, bearing fruit worthy of the word - silence 81, I have already put barriers to the oath with a word and am sure that of the many roots from which this evil - the oath sprouts, the wildest and blackest is anger, then with the help of God I will try to destroy it too, 10. cutting off as much as possible with the edge of the word. But first of all, I ask you not to be angry at the word, for this disease is so uncontrollable that often one shadow embitters us against our most sincere advisers. And I, probably, when I undertake to talk about such strong evil, 15. will have to use not soft words. When it bubbles, swirling with an ardent flame, the fire spreads from place to place and, after repeated increments, flares up, flows upward with a living desire and, whatever it encounters on the way, greedily appropriates everything for itself, 20. then it is necessary to extinguish it by force, throwing water and dust into it. Or when it is necessary to exterminate a beast - the monster of the dark forests, which roars, throws fire from its eyes, pours foam, loves battles, killings, defeats, 25. then they surround it with hounds, strike it with spears and slings. So, maybe, with God’s help, I will overcome this illness, or at least make it less cruel. And for me this is also important, that is, a small weakening of the great evil, just as it is important for anyone burdened with a serious illness. 30. Let us delve into this illness a little deeper: what it is, what it comes from, and how to protect yourself from it. Let's look into the reasoning of ancient men who delved into the nature of things. 35. Others call the frenzy the boiling of blood near the heart. These are those who attribute this disease to the body, just as others and most passions are derived from the body. And others called anger a desire for revenge, 40. attributing the vice to the soul, and not to the body; and this desire, if it rushes outward, is anger, and if it remains inside and builds evil, it is rancor. Those who recognized this disease as something complex and therefore composed the very concept of it said, 45. that it is the boiling of the blood, but has a cause in desire. Now is not the place to enter into a discussion as to whether this is fair; however, it is very well known that the mind is the master of everything. The Lord gave him to us as a champion against passions. 50. Just as a house shelters from hail, just as those fleeing a battle find refuge in the walls, and bushes serve as a support on steep slopes and over precipices, so reason saves us in times of irritation. As soon as the smoke of what kindles your thoughts appears, then before the fire 55. ignites and the flame swells, as soon as you feel the movement of [this] spirit in yourself, immediately throw yourself before God and, thinking that He is your patron and witness of your movements, 60. restrain the swiftness of the illness with shame and fear, while the illness still listens to admonitions. Call immediately in the words of the disciples: “Master, terrible excitement surrounds me; shake off the sleep” (Luke 8:24)! And you will repel irritability from yourself while you still have control of your reason and thoughts 65. (for this disease will first of all suppress them in you), until it, like a horse that cannot bear the bridle, bites the bit and rushes off quickly, leaving behind the road, hills and ravines and darkening the guiding eyes with anger. 70. It is easier for reason to control those who have not come out of subordination than to restrain by force someone who has already seized power over them. Such a one, inflaming himself, will not stop until he brings down the rider from the heights of reason. 75. After this, consider what shame the anger brings to those who are cruelly struck by it. Diseases of another kind are hidden, such as carnal love, envy, sorrow, evil hatred. Some of these ailments are either not detected at all, or little is detected, and the disease remains hidden inside. 80. Sometimes she herself would rather languish in the depths of her heart than become noticeable to strangers. And even then it’s a benefit if the trouble is hidden in secret. But anger is an obvious and completely naked evil, it is a sign that shows itself against the will of the body. 85. If you have seen those caught up in this passion, then you fully know what I am saying and what my word wants to portray. A mirror should be placed in front of the angry, so that, looking into it and humbled by the thought 90. before the silent accuser of their passions, they would somehow reduce their insolence. Or let your offender himself be this mirror for you. In it, if you are willing to look, you will see yourself, for those suffering from the same disease have the same seizures. The eyes are bloodshot and distorted, 95. the hair is bristling, the beard is wet, the cheeks of one are pale, like a dead one, the cheeks of another are purple, and the other is like lead (and this, I think, is because this is how this frantic and evil painter wants to paint a person), 100. the neck is tense, the veins are tense, speech is intermittent and at the same time rapid, breathing is like raging, the gnashing of teeth is disgusting, the nose is widened and expresses complete contempt, the throwing of hands, the stamping of feet, 105. bowing of the head, rapid turns of the body, laughter, sweat, fatigue (and who tires? No one except the demon), nodding up and down are not accompanied by a word, the cheekbones are swollen and make some kind of sound, like a threshing floor, the hand, beating its fingers, threatens. 110. And this is just the beginning of the anxiety. What word will depict what happens after that? Insults, shocks, indecencies, false oaths, generous outpourings of a bubbling tongue like the sea when it covers the cliffs with foam. 115. He calls one thing bad, desires another, is burdened with another, and immediately forgets all this. Indignant at those present if they are calm; demands that everything with him be in excitement. He asks for thunder, throws lightning, and is dissatisfied with the sky itself because it is motionless. 120. He already carries out one evil deed, saturates his thoughts with others, because he imagines everything he wants done. Mentally kills, persecutes, burns. But what will this make of it? So blind and vain is his ardor! 125. He has a voiceless, powerless, ox-driver, who was recently our vitiator, Milo, king. You yourself are rootless and poor, but you call the one who is noble and rich, without family and poor. You yourself are a reproach to humanity, and to those 130. who are the color of beauty, you attribute a slavish appearance. You cannot say about yourself who you are and where you are from, but you call a famous person inglorious. I don’t know whether to cry or laugh at what’s happening. Anger turns everything, even the unprecedented, into a weapon. This is a monkey and becomes Typheus, 135. twirls his hand, breaks his fingers, looks for a hill or the top of Etna, so that with the force of his hand from afar he can throw both an arrow and a coffin at the enemy. What fire or what hail will stop insolence? 140. If the slings of words are exhausted, then the hands are put into action, hand-to-hand combat, brawling, and violence begin. The one who prevails over the enemy is the one who is most unhappy and defeated, because to gain the upper hand in a bad situation I call defeat. 145. Isn’t this a demon? Even more than a demon, if you exclude one fall; but it also happened to see the fall of those outraged by anger when they were carried away by an impulse of spirit. Is this not a clear alienation from God? And what else? Because God is meek and forgiving, 150. it is not good to desecrate the image of God, but to put an unknown idol in its place! Mental disorders are not so terrible for us, physical illnesses are not so terrible. 155. These illnesses, although cruel and torment me while they continue, because every real illness seems more painful to the sufferer than all other illnesses, do not make us unhappy by our own will; they are more worthy of pity than of damnation. Of evils, obvious evil is the least dangerous; more harmful is that which is not recognized as evil. 160. Drunkenness is evil. And who will argue that it is not evil? Even evil is arbitrary. Those who indulge in drunkenness know what it causes, and yet they indulge in it, obviously becoming the perpetrators of evil themselves. But there is the most serious consequence of evil, 165. that you will become ridiculous; and one dream will soon end this evil. But tell me, what other evil is worse than excessive anger? And is there any cure for this? In other diseases, an excellent cure is the thought of God. And anger, as soon as it once exceeded the limit, 170. first of all blocks the door to God. The very remembrance of God increases evil, because an angry person is ready to insult God. I have sometimes seen stones, and dust, and a reproachful word (what a terrible frenzy!) thrown at Him Whom is nowhere, no one can catch; 175. laws were put aside; friend is not recognized; and the enemy, and the father, and the wife, and relatives - everything is equalized by one desire of one stream. And if someone stands opposite, he will attract anger upon himself, like an animal lured by noise. 180. And the defender of others himself already needs defenders. With such reasoning, most of all, overcome your anger; and if you are prudent, then no more will be required for you. And if a very long song is needed to soften your heart, then look at the lives of those who, both in ancient and in recent times, 185. acquired boldness before God with their good morals. In what did those most pleasing to God practice initially or primarily? These Moses and Aaron, beloved by God, David, Samuel, and much after them Peter? Moses and Aaron, 190. although Egypt, struck by many plagues, was not brought to their senses, they nevertheless spared Pharaoh’s insolence, until the offenders, who did not know how to respect long-suffering, 195. were immersed in waters to teach everyone to respect it, because it was fairer to despise the daring, and not the meek. I praise Samuel! It was once difficult for him to bear the insult when Saul tore his robe, however, begging for forgiveness, 200. he immediately forgave the guilt (1 Sam. 15:27-31). What could be more lenient than this? Remember David and the rattling with which he delivered Saul from the evil spirit. When he found the king ungrateful, 205. fleeing and wandering to save his life, he spared Saul, who was delivered into his hands, although (as you know this) he barely escaped himself. And a sign that Saul was in his power was the cut off part of the robe (1 Sam. 24:5) and the stolen vessel from the helmet (1 Sam. 26:12) 82. 210. What can we say about how David tolerated his patricidal son, who illegally sought power? He mourns his death and calls out to him with tears and cries; 215. He persecutes the one who announced the misfortune, accepting him as an enemy, and not a good messenger, because nature cried out louder than accusations and undertook to defend the guilty one, so that David, having opposed the army through this, almost lost his power (2 Sam. 19:7). And what else? 220. Did he not tolerate the insulter Shimei, who wished him harm instead of a glorious return (2 Sam. 16:5-13)? But I also marvel at the wise Peter, when he generously and very courageously endured the wonderful boldness of Paul, 225. in such a city and with such a multitude of readers and disciples of the Word, being convicted of not openly sharing a meal with the pagans (Gal. 2:11-13), although Peter thought to benefit those teaching, because his only motivation was the fear of God and enlightenment by the word of preaching. I will not remain silent about the wonderful virtue of Stephen, in whom I see the first fruits of martyrs and victims. He was covered with stones, but even during the beating (isn’t this wonderful?) his voice was heard, 235. uttering forgiveness to the murderers and, as benefactors, offering up prayer for them to God (Acts 7:60). Isn't this a clear likeness to God? Isn’t it an imprint of the sufferings and teachings of the One who, being God and the Lord of lightning, 240. was led like a silent lamb to the slaughter (Isa. 53:7), endured so much spitting and strangling, when Malchus experienced His mercy even on his wounded ear (Luke 22:51), and did not cry out to show and carry out His power, not reproached in nothing, 245. did not crush the one crushed by sin, but although it threatens to extinguish the light flame of thought, nevertheless he spares, like a merciful one, in order to subdue his kindred with meekness? You have so many high examples in your Lord! 250. Compare with His sufferings what you endure. Even if you endured everything, there will still be a lot missing if you judge the suffering by taking into account the dignity of the Sufferer. These noble lessons are enough for us, that is, the laws inscribed on the tablets and the morals prescribed on the mountain. 255. Should something unclean be added to this? It wouldn’t be bad at all to put something good and amiable out of something bad. To get ahead of many others is not very commendable; but how bad it would be if they were many ahead of you! 260. Therefore, I will also mention the pagans, but briefly. The Stagiri philosopher 83 wanted to hit one person whom he caught in a shameful and bad deed, but when he soon felt that anger had entered into him, fighting passion as if it were an enemy, he stopped and, 265. after being silent for a short time, said (a truly wise word!): “Your extraordinary happiness is that my anger protects you. And if it weren’t for him, you would have left me beaten. Now it would be a shame for me, the bad one, to hit the bad guy and, when I myself am overcome by passion, to get the better of a slave.” 270. So he reasoned. They say about Alexander that during the siege of a Hellenic city, when he repeatedly discussed what to do with this city, Parmenion once told him: “If I were Alexander, I would not have spared this city.” 275. But Alexander answered: “And I would not have spared it if I were Parmenion. Cruelty suits you, but meekness suits me.” And the city escaped danger. But isn’t this also worthy of praise? One man, not one of the respectable citizens, slandered the great Pericles and until the evening 280. pursued him with many and evil reproaches. But Pericles remained silent, accepting this insult as an honor; when the scolder got tired and went home, he ordered him to be escorted with a lamp and thereby quenched his anger. 285. And another, when the insulter added the following threat to the multitude of insults: “So that I myself may die unhappily if I don’t put you, the worthless one, to an evil death at the first opportunity!” - forced him to change his disposition with such truly philanthropic words: “So that I too will perish if I don’t make you my friend!” But so that more than one ancient thing comes into our word and what we ourselves are witnesses does not go unnoticed, 290. it would be fair to mention Constantius, who, as they say, once uttered a memorable word. What is it? One dignitary wanted to irritate him against us 84, 295. because he did not tolerate many of the advantages that were given to us. For Constantius, as we know, was a most pious sovereign. The dignitary, among other things, said the following word: “What animal is as meek as a bee? 300. But she does not spare those who collect her honeycombs.” The king listened to this and answered: “Don’t you know, my excellent one, that the sting is not harmless to the bee itself? She stings, but at the same time she dies.” You have so many medical remedies for this illness, 305. but the most important of all, as has been said, is the commandment that does not allow you to respond with offense even to the one who hit you. For those of the Old Testament were commanded: “Thou shalt not kill,” but you are commanded not even to be angry (Matthew 5:22), and not only not to hit and not to dare to kill. 310. He who prohibits the first does not allow the last. Whoever destroyed the seed prevented it from growing into an ear. And not to look with evil desires means to cut off fornication. Not swearing is a preventive measure against a false oath. So not to be angry means to put yourself in safety from attempted murder. 315. For think this way: anger leads to a word, a word leads to a blow, from a blow there are wounds, and after wounds, as we know, comes murder, and thus anger becomes the mother of cruel murder. Who has ever received a reward for not killing? 320. But not being angry is one of the praiseworthy deeds. The reward for the former is that you avoid danger, and the reward for the latter is that you are promised a piece of precious land. Listen to what Christ desires for the meek when he enumerates the beatitudes 325. and determines the measure of future hopes (Matthew 5:5). For this end He gives you laws in accordance with this. Did you get hit on the cheek? Why do you allow your other cheek to remain without acquisition? If the first one suffered this involuntarily, her merit is not great, and you, if you want, have to do something more, 330. namely, arbitrarily substitute another cheek in order to become worthy of the reward. Have you had your tunic taken off? Give away other clothes too, if you have them; let them even take away the third: you will not be left without gain if you leave this matter to God (Luke 6:29). Are we being slandered? Let us bless the wicked (Luke 6:28). 335. Are we spat upon? Let us hasten to gain honor from God. Are we being persecuted? But no one will separate us from God (Rom. 8:39); He is our only inalienable treasure. Is anyone cursing you? Pray for the one who curses (Matthew 5:44). Threatens to do you harm? And you threaten that you will endure. Starts to carry out threats? 340. Your duty is to do good. In this way, you will gain two important benefits: you yourself will be a perfect keeper of the law, and your meekness will turn your offender to meekness and turn your enemy into a disciple, thereby overcoming the fact that he has taken over you. 345. So, do you see? What you wish most of all is not to be angry at all, because that is the safest thing to do. And if not so, try to stop your frenzy before evening, and do not let the sun set on your anger (Eph. 4:26), both the one that sends its rays to your eyes from the outside, 350. and the one that shines inside the wise; and the last sun sets for those whose minds are wounded, but it illuminates the perfect and good and gives great power to illuminate those who see. You will say: well, didn’t nature itself give us anger? 355. But she also gave the power to control anger. Who gave us the word, sight, arms and legs that can walk? All this was given by God and nature, but given for good; and I will not praise you, who use them for evil. The same must be said about other mental movements. 360. These are God's gifts - under the guidance and control of the mind. Irritability, when not exceeding its limits, serves as a weapon for competition. Without a strong desire, God is inconceivable. But I also know a mentor in goodness - this is reason. 365. If all this is turned for the worse, then irritability will produce insults and atrocities, desire will inflame us to vile voluptuousness, and reason not only will not suppress this, but will also help with its tricks. Thus, good gifts are given into the power of our molester! 370. But it is not good to mix God’s gift with evil. If you hear in Scripture that God is angry and is likened to either a lynx, or a bear, which becomes enraged from love, or inflamed by wine and intoxication, or a sword flashing at the evil, 375. then do not take this as advice to indulge in passion. Otherwise, it will mean that you are inventing evil for yourself, rather than seeking liberation from it. Listen to Scripture with good intentions and not with evil intentions. God does not tolerate anything like what I tolerate. Don't tell anyone this! 380. He never leaves Himself; This is characteristic of complex beings and those who are mostly in a struggle with themselves. But God, as is obvious, is an unchangeable nature. Why is He portrayed like this? According to the laws of allegory. For what? To frighten the minds of simple people - 385. what purpose does much of what is expressed in words have? Understand that the speech here is not direct, and then you will find the meaning. Since we ourselves strike when we become angry, the defeat of the evil ones was presented in the form of anger. In the same way we have sight, hearing, hands; 390. and since we need them to bring something to completion, we attribute them to God when He does the same according to our imagination. Moreover, you hear that the wicked suffer from the wrath of God, not the good, and they suffer according to the laws of justice. But your anger does not set limits for itself 395. and makes everyone equal. Therefore, do not say that your passion was given to you from God and is characteristic of God Himself. Or if you think about yourself that you are an imitator of God, then imitate; but first let the winds dispel your illness. And if you have read anything about the anger of pious men, you will find that their anger was always just. 400. And I even think that it was not anger, but a punishment rightly inflicted on the wicked. And this punishment was not an evil for them, on the contrary, the blows were very useful for those who required a lot of purification in life, 405. because the needle branch itself calls upon itself the edge of iron - they were useful, I say, both before the law and under the law, until it acquired the proper strength, as it was still imperfectly rooted in people. So you will extinguish this illness in yourself, satisfying it with the reasonings offered to you, just as 410. others charm snakes. But here’s the second concern: how to restrain yourself so that anger from someone else’s anger does not flare up in you, like fire from fire? For it is equally bad both to initially indulge in evil and to come to the same disposition as one who has given himself over to evil desires. 415. First, immediately resort to God and ask Him to mercilessly crush the hail that is striking you, but at the same time spare us, who did not offend others. And at the same time, put on yourself the sign of the cross, of which everyone is horrified and trembles 420. and the protection of which I use in any case and against everyone. Then get ready to fight with the one who gave the reason for this anger, and not with the one who gave himself up to it, so that you, 425. well armed, can more easily defeat passion. For the unprepared cannot withstand the attack. And whoever is well prepared will find the strength to win. And what does it mean to win? To endure victory over oneself with indifference. Thirdly, knowing where you came from and what you will turn into, do not think too much about yourself, so that you are not embarrassed by a high and unworthy opinion of yourself. 430. For the humble one indifferently endures victory over himself, but the too arrogant one does not yield to anything. But those who, in order to somehow stop their exaltation, call themselves earth and ashes, as I know from them, are God’s friends. 435. And you, as if perfect, refuse to tolerate insults. Be careful that you are not punished for your conceit. How can you really agree to endure something unpleasant when you can’t even endure words with complacency? Fourthly, know, my good one, that our life is nothing, 440. and we are all not sinless judges of good and bad deeds, but for the most part and most often we rush here and there and constantly wander. What is vile for us is not vile for the Word; 445. And what is not so for me, then perhaps it will be so for the Word. One thing, without any doubt, is vile - this is evil. And the local glory, earthly wealth and nobility are just children's toys. Therefore, for what I lament, perhaps I should rejoice, 450. And at what I raise my eyebrows, this is why I should humble myself more than I now exalt myself, being arrogant unreasonably. Fifthly, let us have more prudence. If there is not the slightest truth in what he says, inflamed and blinded by anger, 455. then his words do not concern us at all. And if he tells the truth, it means that I myself have caused some kind of offense to myself. Why am I complaining about the one who declared what had hitherto remained hidden? Anger cannot remain faithful. 460. For if he often resorts to untruth, will he keep the secret within himself? After this, you will calm yourself in anger, reasoning like this: if this outburst is not evil, then it is unfair to blame it. And if it is evil, which is really what you yourself admit, 465. then isn’t it a shame to tolerate in yourself what you condemn in others when you suffer from them yourself, and not be taught by the example of your enemy? Moreover, if the person who gets excited and breathes insolence has not previously enjoyed a good opinion of himself, then now the blame will obviously fall on him, and not on you. 470. And if he is an excellent person, they will not consider you sane, because the opinion of the majority always leans in favor of the best. But did you do him good? Moreover, he will be condemned. But did he hurt you? Don't do him harm. But should he be stopped? What if more fury comes? 475. Was he the first to start? Let him who is admonished by both your word and your good behavior crush his rage as soon as possible, like a wave that soon crumbles on land, or like a storm that does not meet any resistance. It's a shame! “Exactly, it’ll be a shame if you fall with him.” Are we really going to respond to the reproaches of the sick with reproaches? 480. Do you not indifferently endure the frenzy of the raging, I mean those who involuntarily spew slander? Why not transfer this from someone who is insane and in a strong rage? Of course, you should endure it if you are of sound mind. 485. What can we say about drunks whose minds are darkened by wine? What if a mad dog runs past you? What if a camel, out of its natural impudence, screams at the top of its lungs and stretches out its neck towards you? Will you go into a fight with them or will you run away out of prudence? 490. What if an indecent woman shames you with her shameful deeds? And with obscene women this is a common thing; It seems most shameful to them to know shame; and they know one art - not to be ashamed of anything at all. They say about [Diogenes-]Sinopes that, when he came to those living in obscene houses, 495. he tried to irritate them. With what intention? In order to accustom yourself to endure insults without difficulty through their insults. And you, if you think about it, will begin to despise insults. I'll tell you one artificial way. Although he is not worthy of the attention of those who prefer meekness; however, I will say 500. because it can pay off the trouble. Have you sometimes looked at fist fighters? First of all, they challenge each other for an advantageous position, which is what they strive for, so that one can become higher than the other, because this contributes a lot to achieving victory. So you try to take the most advantageous position, 505. and this means, try to bring down the one who is enraged with jokes. Laughter is the most powerful weapon to overcome anger. As in fist fights, whoever, in strong impetuosity and fury, throws blows in vain, gets tired rather than taking these blows upon himself, 510. exhaustion of strength is an unskillful technique in battle; Likewise, for someone who insults a person who is not angry at his attack, but laughs at him, this is most distressing; on the contrary, if he encounters resistance to himself, it brings him some pleasure, because new food is provided to anger, 515. and anger is very pleasant and insatiable to him. Let the conclusion of my advice to you be the following. Which creature is predominantly meek? God. Who has the most irritable nature? The murderer, who (let it be known to you!) 520. in addition to other names expressing his cunning, is also called anger. Which part do you intend to choose? But it is impossible to choose one or the other. Judge also who will be ridiculed and who will be praised. For this is also important for a sensible person. 525. What else can I say? I conjure you, anger is the friend of vices, my hostile protector and patron, who puffs me up and betrays me into the gates of hell, submit now to God and the word. Submit, wrath, this effervescence, this completeness of the murderer, 530. this obvious ugliness of the face, this overwhelming thoughts, this intoxication, these spurs forcing one to fall into Tartarus, this legion of demons, this multi-syllabic evil, tearing apart the bonds and shackles on the feet - submit, for Christ, Whom the universe cannot contain and 535. Who infallibly moves the whole universe with His helm, devoting life to both people and Angels, and diligently grants permission to those who call on Him from evil spirits and from passions, Christ wants you to immediately flee from here and, entering the swine (see: Matt. 8:32), 540. hide in the abyss! This herd, descending into the depths, is ready to receive you. But don’t touch us, about whom God Himself cares! This is the word of my silence! And you, who have permitted speech, if you say anything worthy of broadcasting, broadcast it to me too. And if your word is worthy of silence, then do not say it to me either. Then I will bind the ear for the word, just as I bound the word. 26. For a person of high birth and bad morals A certain man, extremely thin, but descended from good parents, boasted of his ancestors to another, who was of humble birth, but inspired wonder in his deeds. This one, smiling with great pleasure, gave the following wonderful answer: “I am a reproach for the family, 5. and you are a reproach for the family.” Keep this in mind, and you will prefer nothing else to virtue. If someone reproaches you for being ugly or having an unpleasant odor, will you really say: 10. Was my father handsome, or did he always anoint himself with incense? If someone calls you a coward and lacking courage, will you really object: my ancestors acquired many victorious crowns from me at Olympia? Likewise, if you are accused of being vicious and unreasonable, do not tell me about your parents and do not point to the dead. Another has a gilded harp, but he plays it out of tune; the other takes whatever harp he comes across and plays a euphonious song on it. 15. Which of them, my dear, do you recognize as a guslar? Of course, the one who maintains harmony in his artificial rattling? But you were born, as you say, from golden parents, and you yourself are not good. Is this why you think highly of yourself? And you place the celebrity of the family in this one thing - in the ancient 20. dead, in the stories of old women? That's right, you're kidding! I look at you alone: ​​are you virtuous or vicious? And as for origin, we are all the same decay, we all have the same skin, although we are arrogant and exalted by the wealth, glory, greatness of the fatherland, 25. as if my father and family give me something extra. I am not fascinated by fairy tales or coffins, but I look at you alone, my good one. We are all one dust, we all come from one Creator. It is not nature, but violence that mortals are divided into two categories. In my opinion, the slave who is unworthy is the free one who is perfect. 30. And if you have pride, what is your relationship to your family? Is a donkey famous for his father, and will you reproach him for being descended from a donkey? Not at all. But what glory do donkeys have from hinnies? Eagles give birth and abandon their chicks. Why are you, keeping silent about yourself, telling me about your ancestors? 35. It is better for a virtuous person to come from a bad family than for a noble person to be the most vicious person. And the rose grew on a rough plant, although it is a rose. If you came out as a thorn on the soft ground, then you are fit only for the fire. How, being vicious, are you so proud of your ancestors? 40. You are a donkey walking on a wheel, but you think to carry your head like a horse. If I brought a monkey to you, trying to dress it up as a lion, would you be afraid at the sight of it? – How is this possible? - And what? Wouldn't a raven, that most ugliest of birds, be even funnier for you, 5. if he, painted with something white, began to pretend to be a swan? – For me he is very funny. And if a person of low morals is called nobility, should I respect him? No matter how brilliant the face painted in the picture is, I would not prefer it to a living person. 10. Let others write themselves; For me, morals replace gender. And truly, what happened to you, mortal men? There is no horse that was not born a horse; There is no bird that does not fly on wings. Looking at a bull, who can say that it is a dolphin? 15. Every thing is recognized for what it really is. But here are two funny phenomena in the field of our life - a living creature that creeps on the earth is exalted to the stars, and literacy makes the artistic noble! What kind of horse do you buy for yourself, is it good and fast 20. or good for nothing, but only known for its breed? - Of course, good. Don't you choose agile dogs too? - Yes. - Well? Don't you observe the same thing in everything? - Of course, the same. – And when you are more vicious than everyone else, do you call yourself noble? You shouldn't joke like that. 25. Let the plumb line show your straightness, then I will believe. You reproach me with the baseness of my race, although I am a free person. I laugh at your illness, if you, being the most vicious of all, think of the nobility of your family to cover up your bad morality. Those from whom you descend were recognized as noble, perhaps for their wealth, and not for their morals. 30. And you also add good morality. What good does it do you to come from a noble family and be the most vicious person? He who is noble in father, but low in morals, I consider him a stinking dead man for good deeds. One nobility is to have good morals. Alas! Alas! What evils the wicked are filled with! But they, poor people, don’t even know this, they don’t know how to use anything for their salvation, or some word, or an adviser, or remembrance of God; 5. And all this is medicine for the sick. But what a miserable disease! They consider themselves completely healthy. Thus, those who are mad in the mind and frenzied recognize the disorder of the mind itself as a strength and fly without wings, plow the land without oxen, 10. not having a military squad near them, they give help to others, without sailing, they swim, they alone enter into a fight without an opponent, get rich, reign, win lawsuits; and all this is a matter of illness. If you advise something, you are more likely to suffer evil yourself than to convince with a word, 15. so that they can use some kind of cure for an illness. For who will seek treatment and seek salvation when he is sure that he is not sick, but healthy? It is natural for a patient to care about healing, but the patient does not care to the extreme. But whoever considers the righteous to be sick, 20. will he accept him as a counselor in his suffering? You are rich and take every measure to ensure that no one is your neighbor. You want to take possession of the field, but it belongs to your neighbor, not to you - and that’s a problem! You need everyone to look at you alone. 25. If your body is struck, it is terrible. Whatever your neighbor has is a nail in your eye. And it would be good if it were really like that! Then, perhaps, you would stop constantly devouring more and more, like a flame, like a mountain stream, like an infectious disease, unstoppable by any barrier. In my opinion, 30. there is no benefit to you in what you already have until you acquire something of what you want. Slander is also ready to help your hands. Have I suffered a loss? You are my lender, and soon after, my torturer. Torture and shackles threaten; 35. The poor man feels sorry for his body; gives everything just to get rid of it and, reluctantly, is generous with everything he has. Well, aren't you obligated to report for service in the city or on the ship? Are you still a friend to the sea robber? And they call you by a name that has never happened in the world, just to frighten you and get something from you. 40. Yes, and your ox once offended my oxen. What kind of insult is this? - Tell me. The ox was such a poor man, but it bellowed louder and seemed to be challenging him to a fight or had already won. And the shadow from your trees, falling on my trees, harms them. 45. And your boy walked across my field. Be patient, or witnesses will be presented to this; and then your ox, your boy, and your garden were lost. This is open violence. And if an evil person happens to be smart, then his invention is even more plausible. 50. Taking on the appearance of a protector of others, he does not allow any evil to be done, but protects people in order to enslave them, and then devours them, like a lion who, having driven the animals away from the poor animal, does not show him mercy, but takes it to himself as an easy prey. 55. Why exhaust yourself? The simple thing is to be content with what you have. And with immoderate acquisition, the work is also great: quarrels, litigation, deceptions, false oaths, among other things, worries, like darkness, always bring them something alien. 60. If you, sitting at a table with people who are not below you in rank, do not observe moderation and upset you by grabbing handfuls of everything, then they will not praise you. The same must be said about acquisition, because greed is disgusting everywhere. 65. But this is not how it appears to you, whose mind is suppressed. You already own one, you desire another, you hope for a third; but for other purposes you have pimps and accomplices, like those who serve the corrupters of the flesh. You honor gold; moth food - 70. clothes are buried in your chests; You are always surrounded by grain buyers, trading in the most timeless things. Some cry, others feed on hope, because hope is a light daydream. And you put a seal on some granaries, and prudently open others, 75. considering, as I think, the course of circumstances. Alas! Alas! You take taxes from the misfortune of the poor, you collect the fruits from other people’s misfortunes; the predicament of others is a kind of harvest for you. Who are you who dares to do such things? Why are you doing this? And what do you hope for? 80. Perhaps the real night will catch you already dead, snatching from the environment everything you desire. How terrible it is! Others offer everything, both body and property, as a gift to God, from Whom everything is, but you want everything, you must have everything. 85. What are you gaining? What terrible treasures? You have piles of treats on your table - this is the delight of your narrow larynx, about which all your worries; you have a bloated stomach, a disease of satiety, for these are the fruits of excess in food; 90. You have huge houses, most of which stand empty, with golden ceilings, and glittering with paintings; You have servants dressed like women; you have shady and cool shelters; you have drunkenness, choirs of singers, friendly applause, 95. in which the beauty of the image of God is corrupted. You are puffed up with your brilliance, you wear your head high in front of everyone in the city, you boast about the highness of your rank, and ranks are a struggle of envy and autocracy. 100. For no one allows another to think highly of himself, but he puts himself above everyone else and is more proud of others than a snake has one row of scales over another. But so be it! What else do you have that is precious? The luxury of women in decoration with expensive stones and gold, which are sometimes united together, sometimes shining separately; 105. Chains on the hands and feet are a pleasant burden, not for a good purpose helping beauty, which strives to please many men. What else? Maybe you want to leave your children rich and the owners of what they acquired through their father’s arrogance. 110. It would mean something else if your hopes came true. And now no one knows where your ashes will rot and to what extent the harm of your acquisition will extend. You work and perhaps don’t sleep for a long time, and your nights and days pass by in worries; 115. That is why you have more sorrows than pleasures; you take an extortionate percentage, from one percentage you grow another, and how much to take from what is calculated on your fingers. But this is not being saved for you and not for anyone you hope for, but will go to someone, maybe a stranger to you, 120. and that’s still good! It will happen that your enemy will also get it - one of those who speak ill of you and your goodness, whom you did not even honor with your piece. Perhaps one of those who suffered evil from you, the one 125. who watered you and your house with tears and cries of salty drink, will feed on the labors of others, like a fat and over-looking rooster, not approving of much of what you are now depicting on the walls of the house, 130. and even if he meets your heir, he will not break bread. So vain are human dreams! To do this, if you can invent something, add to what you have acquired, torment yourself, do violence, do not leave any evil measures untested, search the depths of the earth and sea, cut, as they say, the hair of the dead, 135. devour the dead (Hab. 1:16), worship your hand, which has collected so much gold for you, put everything at nothing for profit - enemies, friends, relatives, and benefactors. This is no different from the ebb of the sea 140. or from Charybdis absorbing swimmers. A little more - and the wealth will be vomited, flowing like an unnecessary burden from a satiated womb. Wait a little longer and the judgment will come, either here, which is much better, or if not here, then in the future life. 145. Beautiful poverty is preferable to poorly acquired wealth. It is better to be humble than arrogant and to consider illness as health. It would be necessary for everything in you, as they say about Midas, to turn into gold, so that you too suffer the same fate as Midas 150. and justly suffer from hunger for a bad desire. Between the breeds of echidnas that are found in the Egyptian desert, there is a so-called dipsade. The very name 86 shows what her remorse is. It was given to the reptile because of that indefatigable thirst with which, suffering, the bitten one dies. 155. To whom this poison is communicated, he, having met the river, with his mouth open, completely immerses himself in it and drinks until his insides are dissolved from the burden taken in, and only with life does thirst cease. I don’t know if you have heard, my dear, 160. that once upon a time the sky rained down bread for the people when they walked through the desert, in which, as naturally, there was no means of subsistence? This gift, like God’s, was given generously and inexhaustibly. 165. But the immoderate also suffered punishment: any excess immediately becomes stinking, and the measure was the need of the gift (Ex. 16:20). It would be fair for the same thing to always happen to every unjust person, that is, for him to either be dissolved from his strong desire, or, along with his unjust acquisition, to become stinking. This alone might have stopped such people! Well? Why don’t you put your own body into profitable circulation? 170. Why don’t you choose the life of the chief of the robbers, don’t break down the walls, don’t disturb the coffins, if your only concern is to get rich, but how and from where there is no word at all? There is a measure of beauty, there is a measure of sight, 175. and running, and strength, and singing, and dancing, and speeches - all this is a matter of labor, and not predation. And there is no measure for acquisition. But a stranger takes possession of the property of someone who has worked and acquired honestly or who has legally received a paternal inheritance; it is taken by someone in whom there is little breath of life left, who, perhaps, will not have time to recognize everything that has come into his property. Shouldn't I give you the whole land alone? But if we give it away, won’t there be anything left? What will you do? Won't you make an effort to acquire that too? 185. Will you work unceasingly because you are a beggar until you have received the rest? But you will stop at something! Think about it now. You can use your property, but if you don’t know the limits, then know that you are adding poison to everything that you now have. Everything that comes to you unrighteously is fire for you; 190. It destroys with itself and what it is added to. Just as sea water does not quench the thirst of love and long-term vision of a beloved object does not quench the thirst, on the contrary, love is ignited twice as much, so for the insatiable, what they acquire becomes poison, 195. which constantly arouses in them the desire for even more. I would give advice to those who love a quiet life or to the poor - to sacrifice something to evil people, just as they throw food to animals, or as superstitious people give libations to demons, 200. If only through such a means it would be possible to acquire peace, and it would finally become possible to have something for themselves even to the poor, who constantly tremble even at the shadow of evil people. But now, excluding some evil ones, I know the cure for everything, for example: from hunger - food, from intemperance - poverty, 205. from water sickness - releasing water, from someone else's eye - darkness, from tears - prudence or a friend, from grief - time; and for swimmers in difficulty, a fire or a pier appears on the shore, and for those who are tired, anointing their limbs is a lifesaver. 210. But for the wicked there is no other medicine except God’s judgment and wounds. But the wicked do not feel even this; in their satiety they despise judgment. Their accomplice [the devil] covers their minds with darkness, and their backbone with copper, so that [he] like an iron anvil does not soften even in the midst of disasters. 215. They immediately resort to examples. What does this mean, my Christ? Why do you allow wicked people to see the stumbling blocks of the virtuous, so that they can find refuge in them for their evil behavior? No one pays attention to a good deed, although it is great; 220. And a bad deed, no matter how small, becomes some kind of sign for reckless and evil people. For good deeds they are iron, and for bad deeds they are wax and easily imprint everything bad on themselves. I am not chaste, says the vicious one. 225. Well, aren’t there people like me? And alas! He will name one of the wise. Am I a killer? Well, aren’t there people like me in this too, both ancient and modern? Am I enriching myself unrighteously? And others seized entire nations and cities into their power. Who doesn’t know, 230. how much worse is renunciation an oath? And therefore he pretends to be someone else’s renunciation in order to cover up his smaller wounds. In response to this, I want to tell you one fable (if only you can joke in the midst of disasters), a fable very fitting for your false thinking. 235. Someone laughed at the owl. And the owl dodged every ridicule with a clever answer. What a head you have! - they told her. What is Zeus's? - she answered. – What bright eyes! - Just like the light-eyed one. - The voice is dissonant! - And the magpie is even more dissonant. – 240. And the legs are thin! -What do you think the starling looks like? But having easily reflected all this, no matter how smart the owl was, it concedes in one thing. They say to her: you are so smart, just judge: everyone has one thing, but you have everything together and everything in excess: your eyes are bright, your voice is rough, your legs are thin, and your head is large. 245. And the dear owl, having heard this, went away in shame. But you won’t get even this from you; on the contrary, the bird in the fable is much smarter than you. Everything is in one thing - that’s your trouble. 250. To get carried away once or twice and fall, and at something unimportant, is still excusable. Let us yield something to the darkness of the flesh. It is the nature of God alone not to stumble in anything. But to fall intentionally, to boast about a bad deed, 255. to fall repeatedly, to fall into important vices and not be ashamed of this, but to laugh at it, not to want to be chastened by the punishments with which the most pitiful people are admonished, but to rush into danger with an open head - 260. this is the most terrible and malignant disease. Consider your affairs, consider what you are ordered to do and not to do. And in those matters, pay attention to the time and to what they serve as an image. Then faith had barely begun; people, like babies, 265. needed support and tender food, therefore those who fell found an excuse for themselves. But you cannot be forgiven for falling, because you have accepted the perfect word, and Christ suffered much for your sins. On the contrary, execution awaits you for previous sins. 270. What am I saying: for the former? And for those into which you are now plunging. I don’t even mention the hopes there; justice finds much to punish here too. You have a house, a wife, children, there is something else that is especially kind (for with all your pride you are attached to this), 275. as well as property itself, luxury, freedom, and, in conclusion, your own body. Therefore, having this, that is, such a burden of life, swim carefully. “But what? Don’t you also have illnesses and disasters? Isn’t your life too meager and homeless?” 280. Again you are grasping at other people’s misfortunes. What do you care about this? These are my misfortunes, because you yourself call them misfortunes. Do you really feel your illness less when you suffer if your neighbor is also suffering at the same time? But listen again: you and I have unequal suffering. 285. From this I myself chose something else for myself, and not to suffer through captivity. I voluntarily want to be a beggar and a wanderer in order to free myself from bonds and have my permanent home not on earth. For you all this is expensive, but for me it’s the opposite. 290. Do not set a long-tailed monkey as a model for a lion. Do you consider this a disaster? It really is a disaster for you. And for me, although it is painful, because I, as a person (I will not renounce this), have a dusty composition, I carry within me traces of the [paradise] tree and the pleasure it brings, 295. however, I endure it and even endure it with love. My suffering is better than your strength. Let's look at this again and so on. We both suffer evil. But your suffering is a punishment for your evil behavior. Your accuser is your morality, 300. this is bitter, internal and clear evidence. But for me, disaster is a certain cleansing even from accidental denigration. I’m not even talking about the fact that what is distressing can sometimes be a test and a struggle in which one can receive a crown for victory. 305. How will you listen to this? How will you use my words? No person, if he is of sound mind, deceives the doctor, otherwise the disease will quietly destroy him. Both are illnesses: to despise God, and to lose hope of mercy when suppressed by the burden of vices. 310. But accept my word, and you will not suffer any of these illnesses. Both contempt and despair of hope are equally bad. God is a Judge, but also a Father. You fear Him as a judge, 315. but boldly trust in Him as merciful. Reveal your illness, ask for salvation, shed tears on your wounds. Give also to the poor, your wonderful intercessors: they richly give us exactly what we need, that is, God’s mercy and trust in God. 320. But if you give to them, then give from your own, and do not serve either the holy meal or the beggar for strangers. The beggar is a creation of God's hand, and therefore should not be despised; and the holy meal is venerable. Do not deceive God as a short-sighted Judge, 325. so that He does not become even more angry with you. You teach the theft eradicator to steal. If it's convincing to you, so much the better. And if it’s not convincing, then at least stop, although it’s too late, to create violence. Everything, both good and bad, has its own satiety. 330. I will praise this in you too, because for the wicked it is very important to stop in vice. Whether you accept it or not, I will remind you of the coffin. This is the limit of all bad deeds; and you will have the same end as everyone else, although you will pass beyond the pillars of Hercules 335. or through the Caspian gates, appropriating for yourself the property of your neighbors and neighbors. And your grave, I think, will be dug up by someone with a similar disposition to you, who has adopted the crooked walk from your gait, an even worse student of such a wise teacher. 340. Remember also the inevitable and menacing day, behind which there is darkness, and flame, and Tartarus - these tortures of evil deeds here in order to find in us the image of God, which is covered with the nets of the serpent and the cunning, 345. deceiving us with malicious voluptuousness. And I am asking how I can avoid disaster, on which wings to save myself, in what depths of the earth and sea, or by what tricks and at what end of the universe, 350. with what darkness or cloud to cover myself, with what prayers to appease God? Everywhere for me these three disasters are the time, the place, and the opportunity for sin. I will set God's law before me. Which one exactly? 355. Move from city to city, for some will flee, said Almighty God to the apostles when they were persecuted. I will go around all the cities to the last light, avoiding the cruel attack of the evil ones. 360. And there, even those who do not wish will suffer execution. In the heavenly abodes they will not disturb and will not throw out the poor from there, as they do now, but will they themselves ask for a few drops of regret to cool the flames. 365. May the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) convince you of this (Luke 16:19-31), of whom one was punished solely for leading a luxurious life, when the other suffered both from lack of food and from wounds, because the rich man, like you, drove Lazarus away from him; and the other is honored because he endured all this. 370. End of the word, but listen to it with trepidation. Many things are called sin and are indeed sin, but an idolater (and this is the most serious sin in the world) is one who knows nothing and does not put money above money (Eph. 5:5), because he will most likely undergo idolatry 375. due to his illness if the time comes to receive profit through this, because he bows to wealth - this Chemosh abomination. So, let us reject, reject idolatrous images and let us honor the one God Whom we know. 29. For women who love dresses Do not, women, build towers of false hair on your heads, do not show off your delicate neck, do not cover God’s face with vile colors, and do not wear masks instead of a face. 5. It is indecent for a woman to show her bare head to men, even if gold is woven into her curls or her untied hair, like that of a galloping maenad, flutters back and forth with immodest breezes. It is indecent for her to wear a crest 10. like a helmet or a shiny tower visible from afar to men. It is also indecent for your hair, both covered and open, to shine through the thin linen, and, shining like gold where the veil has fled, to show the skill of your laboring hand, when, 15. placing before you a blind mentor - a soulless image of your face, with its help you painted your beauty. If nature has given you beauty, do not cover it up with polishes, but keep it pure for your spouses alone and do not turn greedy eyes on strangers, 20. because the heart follows the eyes indecently. And if at birth you did not receive the gift of beauty, then avoid the second ugliness, that is, do not borrow beauty from your hands - beauty that comes from the earth, which dissolute women buy, and buy for a few obols, 25. beauty that is erased and flows to the ground, cannot stay on you during laughter, when fun makes your cheeks tremble, beauty, which is exposed as a forgery by streams of tears, fear that moisturizes your cheeks and destroys drop of dew. Now your cheeks are shining and full of charms, but suddenly 30. (to great laughter) they are two-colored, in some places dark and in others white marble. For you, who have become surly and reddened, is it possible to retain the beauty that is exposed as a forgery? It would be decent on stationary statues, but your fake mask is destroyed for many reasons. 35. One body was given to you by God, and the other is the work of your hand; one is old, the other is new. This is a meadow in which flowers of two kinds grow alternately, both pleasant and unpleasant. This is a two-tone garment with many stripes running throughout it. Therefore, either do not paint your body, or, having painted it, try to save it; 40. Do not resort to shameful techniques to embellish your appearance. Do not labor over Penelope's cloth, in which you must unravel at night what is woven during the day: being Hecuba inside, do not be Helen outside. If you have the cunning to hide something from your spouse, 45. although it is not convenient to cover God’s image with a mortal mask, then be careful that the angry God does not say to you like this: “Answer, creature alien to Me! Who and where is this creator from? I didn’t paint a dog, but I created My own image. How can I see an idol instead of the image that is dear to Me?” But let’s give something up to your illness. However, if it is obvious 50. that you are a pictorial picture in which one face is superimposed on another, then know that you are erecting a pillar of shame, visible to people from afar, when you paint the animated image of Alcinous. Your charms are the barren garden of Adonis, the color of a polyp, writing in the sand. 55. But resembling the jackdaw described in the fable, and knowing that this bird, proud of other people’s feathers, is soon plucked and ridiculed, how can you not think about the final shame, about the destructive beauty? Or do you hope that your brilliant appearance will not change? But soon 60. you will see how much sorrow someone else’s beauty brings. I ask, what is the use of false beauty, when old age covers the face, hitherto blooming, with wrinkles, when decrepit members cannot be covered with any embellishments and the remainder of the flesh looks like something burned by fire and taken out of the ashes? 65. Then it is too late to mourn the deceptive beauty, when what remains, due to its many wrinkles, does not give room to the monkey. Such is the beauty of tinted members! But now, excellent one, place an image of your face as it was before. I do not honor him with the faithful, and first of all you should wish, 70. that none of those men who once glorified you and could not take their eyes off you had eyes when you walked with a proud step in front of them. It is also worthy of laughter that, while trying to hide from men, you lead men into the secrets of your beauty. 75. For those compositions that you admire were prepared by men - robbers of their own houses, builders of their insane passion. These are inventions not of chastity, but of debauchery, and debauchery is visible in everything that you contrive for men. They say about the proud peacock that when, bending his neck in the form of a circle, he 80. raises his golden and star-studded feathers, then he begins to affably call to his wives: it will be surprising for me if you also tint your face not for lustful eyes. If you have the same love for your husband as he has for you since he brought you into the bridal chamber as a blooming maiden, 85. then this is pleasing to him. But if you try to please the eyes of others, then this is hateful to your spouse. It is better for you to hide the charms given by nature inside your home, than to unseemly display counterfeit charms. For your spouse is satisfied with your natural beauty. 90. And if beauty is exposed to many, like a net for a flock of birds, then first you will begin to admire those who admire you and exchange glances, then grins and exchanges of words will begin, at first furtively, later with greater courage. But stop, loquacious tongue, 95. and do not say what follows. However, I will say for certain that every joke between a woman and a young man stings like a sharp sting. Here everything goes inextricably one after another, just as iron attracted by a magnet itself attracts other iron. 100. Oh, how good it would be to rub white and rouge (and more in abundance) not on women, but on those reckless men who, daily having this shame before them, cloud their own eyes with fog and delight in sin! They afflict beautiful women with slander, but with their shameful deeds they themselves become like pigs; 105. and maybe they would actually end up in dark pig stables if Circe had anointed them with the composition with which she turned people into animals; for they do not disdain embellishments and themselves add dry wood to the fire when it should be less, not more. And there are husbands who try to outdo each other in the attire of their wives, 110. so that one may have an advantage over the other in foolishness. Often and when their condition is insufficient, they use every effort to arouse the insolence of their wives. But you, truly, never gave the sword to your enemy and did not open the way to the mountain stream to your fields. They say that after the theft of the heavenly fire 115. Pandora came to people to punish one fire with another, and for a beneficent one with a destructive one. And so that it would inflame people as much as possible, the demons decorated it with various beauties, and each of them added something of their own; yet, having put it together, 120. they launched this polysyllabic seduction to people, this feast-loving, captivating, shameless, sweet-tongued delight, this never-extinguishing firebrand. I don’t believe fables, but I’ll say with your permission: don’t be a multi-faced Pandora. 125. Pandorin family - shameless women. But you are the image of Christ, and shine with chastity and prudence. But this is no longer a fable; listen to my advice, which I will tell you from the divine word. Or do you not know how in ancient times your forefather was seduced by the murderous tree with its 130. good color, and how the cunning of the enemy and the persuasion of his wife seduced him and immediately cast him out of the green paradise? From now on, my daughter, this is the father’s law - never rely on kindness. 135. For all beauty is a short-lived delight for me: spring brings it, and is immediately destroyed by cold winter, or prematurely depleted by illness, or destroyed by merciless time, leading behind it a circle of all-consuming years. It’s very funny, 140. when a woman, having an ugly appearance, knows this and, proud of her ugliness, despises Danae. But it is even more vile (so say those who know, I am incapable of such slander) when everyone has a common defect, but nevertheless wants to hide it from one another. What is more dangerous than such a disease? 145. A carpenter understands the work of a carpenter, a skilled singer recognizes someone skilled in singing, and a thief sees a thief. And women do not want others to understand in them what they themselves understand in others. So it is true that vice blinds the eyes. But men are funny when, 150. admiring the good color of moving pictures, they show respect to the persons at whom they themselves laugh. I think that they admire not so much the paintings as the whimsicality of men, as evidenced by the paints. They say that one wandered the cliffs, falling in love with an empty and formless echo called an echo. 155. And the other was inflamed with love for his own image and rushed into the source to embrace the likeness of his destructive beauty. And another one was wounded by love for the beautiful streams of the river, in mad passion she could not move away from the dear banks, she kissed the water, scooped it with her hands and caught the foam, 160. but even with the waters she could not extinguish the flaming love within herself. So blind and adamant is love! It is not at all surprising if you, colorful, pink-fingered, dressed in luxurious fabrics and wearing your head high, drive a young man crazy, and not even just one, but everyone for whom you paint your face. 165. I believe that one wise man, with his art, deceived the calf, depicting a heifer with paints on the board. Such love is extraordinary - 170. living animals strive for soulless images! But sometimes you manage to arouse the same in young people. Orpheus attracted animals with him, and you attract men whose minds are equal to those of animals and whose life is misogynistic. If you do not submit to carnal lust, but serve only the lust of the eyes, then this airy love is already a disease. But are you completely invulnerable? I am ready to believe this, but it is no longer good if rumor ascribes to me a sin that I did not commit. 175. In this case, although you yourself are prudent, you will teach many others a lesson in indecency. Vice flows fast. Others use art to cover up their bad lives, but you have some kind of blackness over your chastity. Even if chaste people begin to love outward splendor, then other women 180. cannot be convinced to have a chaste heart. According to the teaching of our law, one should not fix one’s eyes on another’s wife with lustful desire, because a shameless gaze is the beginning of shameless love, and only one who avoids such a gaze will avoid sin. 185. How can you, who opens your belt of love to men, keep yourself far from the sin of adultery? But (old age is talkative) I’ll tell you a fable that really suits your shame. According to one ancient legend, in the human race there was no distinction before who was good 190. and who was bad, but many, although they were virtuous, were considered lawless, and, conversely, many, although they were reckless, were considered good; the most dishonest people were accompanied by glory, and the perfect were pursued by infamy, but neither one nor the other received justice. 195. But the sin reigning in the world did not hide from the King God, and, grieving about this, He finally announced the following word: “It is unjust for My glory to be on both the good and the evil: from this sin will increase even more. Therefore I will give them a sure distinguishing mark, 200. by which it is easy to know who is wicked.” Having said this, he covered the cheeks of the good ones with blush, so that at the sight of something shameful, blood immediately spreads under the skin; He especially endowed women with a greater blush, because their skin was more transparent and their hearts were more tender. 205. But God thickened the blood of the wicked and made it motionless in the insides, so that even from shame it does not come into circulation at all. Where shall I rank you, who have adorned your cheeks? Your blush is not important to me, although it covers your appearance to the point of excessiveness, for it is the blush of shamelessness, 210. the product of that blush that was drowned in ancient times by the fire of Sodom. Do not paint your face, slutty woman, do not fake your color; I recognize the one beauty that nature has given, because the wealth left to me by my father is better than that which my hand has collected unlawfully, 215. even if it is small, it is more abundant than the latter. Likewise, I prefer a legitimate wife to an adulteress. Natural children, although ugly in appearance, are nicer than beautiful, but adopted ones. Remembering this, keep your body as it is by nature, 220. and do not desire to be considered other than what you really are. The Celts test in the flow of the Rhine whether their children are legitimately born 87. And often gold is tested on coals. So I can infer the chastity of your heart from the unadorned beauty of your face. Let the dark beliar not put its seal on you! 225. He will either completely turn you into ashes, or blacken you with his smoke and cover you with shame for a short pleasure. Gold, mixed with precious stones and striking the eyes with its shining shine, 230. in the form of a chain laid out on the chest, aggravating and disfiguring the ears or crowning the head with a pearl burden, is not dear to the noble. These golden clothes, these cunning works of thin threads, sometimes crimson, sometimes golden, sometimes transparent, sometimes shiny, are not for the noble ones. Ingredients that are not destructive to the cheeks, and lips that are not browned 235. adorn a woman. Her beauty does not lie in wearing a black eyebrow over her painted eyewear, turning her moist pupils inward, or attracting a favorable ear, arms and legs with a soft voice. having pulled together with golden bonds that are desirable and pleasant for you, pretend to be something slave, anoint your body and head with luxurious incense (crows flock to the corpses) 88 , chew something in your mouth that is not used for food 89 , keep your chin in constant motion 245. and, as if out of contempt for the chaste, sharpen your teeth and moistened lips foam. Do not admire the splendor of the seats, do not try to show yourself through skillfully made and see-through doors, looking out for those who are looking at you. 250. Do not be proud of the multitude of servants or maidservants - these likenesses of your heart. Heralds of spring are swallows, fruits are flowers; Based on the maids, one can conclude about the mistress. Think about all this. Although the indecency of one thing is not important, nevertheless, all together and one with the other is an undoubted destruction. 255. One color is kind in women - this is the kind blush of modesty. Our Painter paints it. If you want, I will give you another color: give your beauty pallor, exhausting yourself with deeds for Christ, with prayers, sighs, vigils day and night. 260. Here are rubbings suitable for both single and married people! And we will save the dyes for the walls and for such women in whom rabies and the droppings of young people are produced. Let them jump and laugh shamelessly, but we are not even allowed to look at dissolute women. 265. The best treasure for women is good morals, that is, to sit more at home, talk about God’s word, do weaving and yarn (this is the duty of women), distribute work to maids and avoid talking to them, wear bonds on your lips, eyes and cheeks, 270. do not often cross the threshold of your home, seek entertainment only in the company of chaste women and in your husband alone, for whom you are from God. blessings resolved the virgin belt. And set limits to your husband’s liberties, so as to assure him how far you keep yourself from other people’s men. Let him perish 275. who was the first to paint God’s creation, because he was the first to mix shamelessness into the paints. Just as sometimes shameless buffoons, unworthy of the name of husbands, expose to the surface the image of the ugliness hidden inside, and this is naturally followed by dancing, 280. vile antics of handsome limbs, which pleases reckless people, so these women, putting on someone else’s image on the outside - this ridiculous, and not sacred cover of modesty, then indulge in movements worthy of their speckled face 285. They have no peace for doors, or keys, or mirrors, or polishers, or cleaners; the whole house shakes. And all this from a vain desire to paint his face. But chaste beauty, which knows no decoration, does not require such worries. If you are so proud of false beauty, 290. then you cannot have a sound concept of genuine beauty. Esther had an attractive appearance (Esther 2:7), but what was the fruit of her extreme beauty? The salvation of an entire people. The beastly harlot Jezebel once painted her eyes (2 Kings 9:29–37) and washed her deeds with fornicator’s blood. 295. But you are not required to satisfy the king’s wrath, you have no share with harlots: take care of your chastity. How are you not in awe when you bow your head before the priests - this is a disgrace on which various disguises appear? How can these hands not tremble, with which you painted your tear-worthy beauty 300. and which you then extend to the mysterious Table? Even to the martyrs, in whose memory the zealous people, honoring the precious blood, compose tributes of praise, do you appear with a face that deceives many, like a market jester who drags a crowd through the city, 305. or like an animal tamer who pulls snakes out of dark holes? Listen to my advice, woman, and do not give in to the idea of ​​laying your hand on your face. With such women, my daughter, do not sail on the same ship, 310. do not go to general council, do not live under the same roof. Leave excesses to others, but be afraid to listen to praise from the lips of men - this is the glory of women. If your life is completely free from bonds, live for Christ alone, renouncing everything, be a bright, wise, 315. prudent virgin and a pure bridegroom of your heart, have the Word. And if love for that rib from which you are separated has taken possession of you, then take care of this one dear rib, nourishing kind, noble, and not vicious love for it; 320. Do not be familiar with other passions even in a dream. And you stand before the great God and will not hide if you mix something effeminate with something base. There are many witnesses to the fact that even with dirty clothes, indecent luxury is possible, but with luxurious clothes, decency is possible. 325. Know that one scar is more important to you than the deepest wounds for peace lovers. Respect pearls. A drop is not as noticeable on soiled clothes as on clean, one-color clothes. If I convinced you with this, then I did you a favor. And if you decide to stand in your own way, 330. then shine twice as much when you want, with gold, and amber, and silver, and ivory. I allow this to the newly painted beauties. And I have prepared a pillar, and I will make an inscription on it: come here, anyone, anyone, and admire this beauty. 30. Thoughts written in single verses 90 Have God as the beginning and end of everything you do. The best benefit of life is to die every day. Try to recognize all the actions of the virtuous. It's hard to live in poverty, but it's even worse to get rich unjustly. 5. When doing good deeds, think that you are imitating God. Seek God's mercy for yourself by showing mercy to your neighbors. Master the flesh and subdue it as best you can. Control your anger so that you don't act out of your mind. Keep your eye, and let your tongue know when to stop. 10. Let your ears be locked with a key, and let laughter not commit fornication. Recognize your mind as the lamp of your entire life. Be careful that appearances don’t let you slip away Understand everything, but do what is permissible to do. Know that you yourself are a wanderer, and respect strangers. 15. During a safe voyage, be especially mindful of the storm. Whatever is given from God must be received with thanksgiving. Better is punishment from the righteous than honor from the wicked. Stand persistently at the doors of the wise, but never stand at the doors of the rich. The unimportant is not unimportant when it produces the great. 20. Curb your arrogance and you will be a great sage. Take care of yourself, and don’t laugh at the fall of another. It is pleasant to arouse envy of yourself, but it is very shameful to envy yourself. Sacrifice your soul to God above all else. Oh, if only someone would keep this! He will be saved. 31. Thoughts written in couplets 91 Throw everything off yourself and then cut through the sea of life, but do not set sail like a heavy ship that is ready to sink immediately. Remember the incessantly terrible death, as if it were before your eyes, and you will meet it less formidable. 5. Continually build your mind into a church of God, so that inside your heart you have an immaterial support - the King. Know yourself, from what and how you are created, my valiant one, and through this you will conveniently achieve the beauty of the Prototype. 10. One day leads you to another; and he constantly barks 92 who is easy in himself; but in the heart of a well-ordered person there is an endless day. He who relies on what is transitory and what comes, entrusts himself to a stream that does not stand in one place. For me, both a worthless life and a worthless word are equally bad. If you have one, you will have both. 15. For an unclean person to begin a sacrifice means to offend God. But he insults Him even more who honors all the remains of the dead. Never stop on the path to perfection. It’s bad to constantly go into the depths. And you, who are just emerging from the abyss of sin, are still standing. 20. He who sees is blind who does not see how destructive his sin is. Being able to discover the tracks of an animal is a sign of acute vision. If, having a need for a doctor for your infirmities, you hide your illness, then you will not be saved from incurable rottenness. Your word is my business. Whoever has done an evil deed has a dubious helper - eloquence. 25. Saturation makes you insolent, but I, my valiant one, want to take care of what keeps the eternally nourished soul within proper limits. I also wish that you become rich in God alone, and always honor the whole world on an equal basis with the web tissues. 30. The benefits of real life are very alien to man; Human virtue is what alone makes up life. Proceed, the word of the undeceitful Adviser - God, cries out to everyone, proceed immediately to the knowledge of the heavenly Trinity! You, who have been bound by an honest marriage in this life, apply your mind to how you can bring more fruit into the heavenly winepress! 35. And you, virgin brides, who have accepted the Word of the great God into your arms, try to offer everything as a gift to God! Single life is an all-illuminating light, but you must remove your heart from the world and keep yourself away from the carnal. 40. It is insulting to faith not to have it in the heart, but to present it in any color. The paint is not difficult to wash off; and I love what penetrates into the depths. There is no need to have either inexorable justice or prudence that chooses crooked paths. The best thing is moderation in everything. Moderate your courage, otherwise it will be insolence and not courage. Some gaiety is also a sign of chastity. 45. It is wonderful to have a mind always open to God’s word; Through this, knowledge of heavenly laws is acquired. Hurry to become perfect; do not please those whom it is best not to please; to indulge sin is the most inglorious glory. 50. It is a shame for the virtuous to be the defender of the vicious; This is almost the same as stepping onto the path of vice with your own foot. Gold is tested in the crucible, and the virtuous is tested in tribulations. Often grief is easier than the state of being unharmed. He who has denied his father will easily deny the great God. And respect your mentor in piety as your father. 55. The moth eats everything; and do not leave your property for the grave; The best funeral honor is a good name. Have mercy on your neighbors, especially the dead, who have left everything and cannot do anything to you. 60. Leaving the whole world and every burden here, set sail for heavenly life. Continually strive for more and more perfect deeds, being made wise by God; Most of all, let the Trinity be the subject of your care. After a good beginning comes a beautiful end; the justice of this is shown by the very consequences of the deeds. This is the beginning that brings people a good end - work sacredly to purify your life! 5. Inspired by the teaching, do not fly without real wings, because without wings even a bird cannot fly. A person’s greatest glory in life is knowledge, but it also harms those who use it for evil. 10. Be careful that vain glory does not deceive you - this is a trap for people of narrow minds. While doing good, try to stand in it, because the transition to bad is quick. Curb your laughter and set a limit to your anger, and by all means drive away idle words. 15. First of all, fear God, honor your parents, speak of priests with praise and have respect for the elders. The law commands a son never to enter into an argument with his father, and before the law, nature. 20. What you do not want to endure from another, do not want to do to another. For someone who has committed a serious offense, anger is not severe, because the court only repays equals for equals. From the wise lips the sweetest words drip, and the bitter larynx spews out curses. 25. Streams of sweetness flow from a good-speaking tongue, and rotten speech will be born from immodest lips. Friends love and are loved by friends, but enemies despise and disgrace friends. 30. The doors of the rich are closed to poor friends, but the rich always welcome the brilliant palaces. Water is a wonderful drink: it does not disturb the clarity of thoughts, but drinking a cup of wine clouds the mind. Wine is by its nature unfamiliar with chastity; It produces pleasure because it irritates. 35. The mind is light and does not tolerate a burdened belly, because the opposite always struggles with the opposite. It is better to eat lightly than to be at a rich dinner, but only in a dream. 40. A fool in a dream becomes richer than the one who has a lot of money. It is better to be childless than to have stupid children: there one is childless, but here many are bad. For every dead person, the whole earth is a coffin, because everything that is from the earth is on the earth and turns into the earth. 45. The shepherd, when he wants, milks the goats, but instead of milk he squeezes streams of blood from them. A pig, when he sees that food is being prepared for her, knows how to restrain himself and eats ahead of time. And force disorderly people not to violate the decent and legal order. 50. By observing the law, you will drive out fear, because everyone who does the laws is without fear. A knowledgeable helmsman will avoid the ninth wave, and a mind enriched with wise thoughts will be saved from any misfortune. 55. Do not conceive anything contrary to a virtuous life, because the error of vice is obvious. A large anvil is not afraid of knocking, and a wise mind repels everything harmful. 60. A hare is frightened by the noise of leaves, but even a shadow frightens a timid person. I hate a poor man giving gifts to a rich man, like a man who speaks sweetly but forgets to feed him. A malicious speaker perverts the laws, but a well-meaning speaker is the most harmonious harmony. 65. The rich laugh at the reproaches of orphans; they even laugh at God’s punishment. Those who unlawfully demand observance of the laws boast of laws to their own detriment. 70. It is common for a poor person not to think highly of himself, because some rich people do not care about their means of living. Teach fools, taking into account, as much as possible, their nature; then, perhaps, beyond your expectations, you will make them prudent. When struck by iron, stones also ignite; a tightly twisted scourge will bring reason to the heart. 75. What the wicked fear - more than anything else - is the Cross and communion of Baptism 93. It is very bad to both take an oath and demand it; in both cases you insult the truth. 80. Store up treasure for an endless age, but the present age becomes impoverished even before its end. Do not be attached to happiness, which is destroyed by time; and what time builds, time also destroys. It is indecent for women to show masculine character; any other rule, except modesty, is alien to a well-behaved woman. 85. Pleasure for the one who enjoys it is short-lived; As soon as it comes, it flies away like a stone. For a sick person, no wealth is preferable to health; and nature acts wisely in that it always desires health. 90. The words of a foolish person are like the noisy splash of the sea, which hits the shores, but does not water the coastal plants. The gift makes even the wise who see not see; gold is as much a trap for people as a net for birds. Sorrows give birth to gray hairs prematurely; What our lifestyle has deprived us of, time will not restore. 95. Wealth is the most agile minion in evil, because with power it is easier to do evil. No acquisition is better than a friend, but never acquire a bad person as a friend. 100. Respect order and prefer it to power, because he himself is power and the ever-present guardian of power. A busy mind is a moth that wears away bones; the body thrives when it avoids worries. No satiety is chaste, because fire tends to burn matter. 105. Wine is a burning tow of cooled passion; and any substance added to the fire strengthens the flame. He who fears litigation will also avoid anger, because litigation often inflames the heart with anger. 110. It is terrible to add more labor to someone who is exhausted in labor, but labor often stopped labor. Some are afraid of the labors that others bear; and look: he himself is overwhelmed with the labors of his family. Always be concerned about eternal glory, because real glory deceives every day. 115. Anger is not a safe advisor for anyone; What is done in anger is never prudent. The snake is evil, the asp is cunning; in these animals one can see separately the malice united in one woman. 120. Looking at the bare bones, you will be convinced that everything here does not essentially belong to us. If a young cancer does not walk straight, then it follows the example of its mother’s gait. By forcing nature, and from bad teachers, you will undoubtedly produce good students. 125. Adorn yourself with the good distinctions of life and do not despise the poor orphan. When God gives, envy will do nothing; and when he does not give, no labor will help. 130. Are you giving birth, echidna? Do not avoid the pains of birth: when you conceive, you will experience what your mother experienced when giving birth to you 94 . No one is considered brave for obvious timidity; Victories alone earn praise. 135. A sleepy man is the inventor of dreams, because sleep is familiar only with ghosts, and not with real things. Coercion convinces even against one's will; it often ties the hands of giants. When a crowd of people is in error, everyone starts shouting and everything turns into chaos. 140. Never call an idle deed a deed, for everything idle is worthy of contempt. And the dogs that come running to scavenge respect order. When gold speaks, then all other words are invalid. It knows how to persuade, although it has no language. 145. Those who are devoted to the fleeting blessings of this life can still enjoy the world. 33. Thoughts written in quatrains I am the work of Gregory and in spiritual sayings I preserve a quatrain monument of wisdom. (1) 95 What will you give preference to - active or contemplative life? The perfect can practice contemplation, and many can practice activity. It is true that both are good and desirable; But whatever you are capable of, reach out especially to that. 5. (2) Someone asked me for a solution to a question about something spiritual. I am ready, I answered, if you have washed away the filth from yourself. But you already have a chaste mind. If you have washed away the previous defilement, you now need cleansing. Do not put fragrant ointment in a stinking vessel to save it. 3) Do not resist every word, nor follow every word, 10. but know which and when to resist or follow. Be more attached to God than stand for the teaching about God. Any word can be challenged with words, but with what can you challenge life? 4) Either don’t teach at all, or teach with a good life. Otherwise, you will attract with one hand and push away with the other. 15. Fewer words are needed if you do what you should. The painter teaches more with his paintings. 5) I especially advise you, ministers of the altar, not to be an eye full of darkness, so as not to be the first in a vicious life. 20. For if the light is dark, what will be the darkness itself (Matthew 6:23)? 6) A silent deed is better than an unfulfillable word. No one has ever become great without good deeds, and many have become famous without a red word. Grace is given not to the one who speaks, but to the one who lives well. 25. (7) The best gift to God is good morals. Even though you bring everything to Him, you will not bring anything worthy. Bring what the poor also give. The pure man does not take a share of the harlot's price. (8) Do not promise God anything (Eccl. 5:4), not even a little thing, 30. because everything that is God’s is before it is received from you. And what else can I say? By not giving what you promised, you are stealing it from yourself. What extraordinary duty will you take upon yourself? Let Ananias and Sapphira assure you of this. (9) Consider this life a marketplace. If you go into trade, you will be left with a profit, 35. because for small things you will receive great things in exchange, and for fleeting things, eternal things. And if you miss the opportunity, there will be no other time for such an exchange. (10) You have a long journey ahead of you, but an even greater reward. Suddenly imagining all the work, do not give up everything. And you won’t swim across the sea all at once. 40. And this is often the temptation of the enemy. (11) Don’t get your hopes up too much and don’t completely lose hope. One weakens, the other overthrows. Succeed in something, stick to something else as long as you have it, and don’t be envious of something else; what is incomplete will not make the work of the path you have completed useless. 45. (12) Do not rush into everything, but stick to what you have chosen. It is better to add something good than to take something away from it. We do not call those thin who stand low, but those who, having risen high, fall low. (13) And from a small spark a great flame ignites, 50. and the seed of the viper was often destructive. Seeing this, avoid that which produces little harm. Now the harm is not great, but over time it will become greater. (14) Consider yourself more than the affairs of your neighbors: some benefit you, others benefit your neighbors. 55. It is better to count your deeds than your money: the latter flow, but the former are constant. (15) Let your mind continually work, imprinting within itself divine thoughts and verbs of life. And be stingy with your tongue, because it is very capable of 60. doing harm and the faster it moves, the less benefit it brings. (16) My sight deceived me, but I restrained myself and did not set up an idol for sin within myself. And the idol was placed, but we escaped temptation. All these are degrees of struggle with a hostile enemy. 65. (17) Cover your ears with wax from rotten words and from the indecent twists of delightful singing. But open your ears to everything good and beautiful. The distances between words, hearing and deeds are small. (18) Do not be overly deceived by the pleasantness of smells, 70. softness of touch and taste. Having given over to them, will you do anything courageous? The pleasures appropriate for wives and husbands are different. (19) The belly says: give. I will gladly give it if, having received what you ask, you maintain chastity. And if you sacrifice this to others, 75. then you will receive dirt from me, and not in excess. When you become abstinent, then I will give you in abundance. (20) For sensible people, just as any laughter in general is worthy of laughter, even more so is prodigal laughter. Excessive laughter can lead to tears. 80. It is better to be gloomy than absent-minded. (21) Honor the splendor of the soul as beauty - not what hands can write, and time can destroy, but what is seen by the gaze of a chaste mind. And similarly, recognize spiritual vileness as ugliness. 85. (22) Sorrows, pleasures, hopes, fears, riches, poverty, glory, disgrace, thrones await you; let it all flow as it wants. A person established on a good foundation is not touched by anything unstable. (23) Exalt yourself more by life than by thought. 90. Life can make you godlike, but thought can lead you to a great fall. And arrange your life not according to small standards. No matter how high you ascend, you will still remain below the commandment. (24) Do not pursue all glory, and do not pursue too much; It is better to be than to be considered good. And if you cannot moderate yourself, 95. catch glory, but not vain and not new. What good does it do to a monkey if he is mistaken for a lion? (25) Praise another, but do not think highly of yourself when you are praised, for it is dangerous not to find yourself inferior to praise. And praise the other, slowly, 100. But first find out experimentally, so as not to incur shame when he turns out to be bad. (26) It is better to hear bad things about yourself than to speak bad things about someone else. If someone, wanting to amuse you, exposes your neighbor to ridicule, then imagine that you yourself are the subject of laughter; in this case, his words will most upset you. 105. (27) Do not boast of a good voyage until your ship is tied to the shore. For many, a happily sailing boat was broken at the pier. Many were carried away by the ninth wave. One thing is safe - not to blame it on happiness. 110. (28) It is better for him to have some boldness before the Master, who lives well and has worked hard, than for him to call Him to judgment, who is not distinguished by good deeds, although everything with him goes with reasoning. (29) Give up everything and gain the one God, because you are a distributor of other people's property. 115. And if you don’t want to leave everything, then give away most of it. If you don’t want even that, at least use the excess piously. (30) It’s good to protect something from moths and envy. It is better to have Christ as a debtor than to possess everything. 120. Christ gives the kingdom for one piece of bread, and by feeding the poor, you feed and clothe Christ. (31) A beggar came and left without receiving anything. I am afraid, Christ, that I, who am in need of Your help, according to my own laws, will not leave You without receiving anything. For he who has not given cannot hope to receive. 125. (32) The safest person is a poor person. He is turned to God and looks at Him alone. Cover him in your arms. And a powerful eagle, as they say, warms a small bird in its nest. (33) Poverty is better than unjust gain, 130. just as illness is better than poor health. A person does not suddenly die of hunger, but for the wicked, a bad life is death. (34) What do the words “master” and “servant” mean? What a bad division! Everyone has one Creator, for everyone there is one law, one court. 135. When accepting a service, look at the employee as a colleague, and you will receive greater honor when you are released from the body. (35) What should servants do, especially servants of God? Let them not refuse to please the masters. He writes life into both the free and the slave. 140. Christ came in the form of a slave, but He set us free. (36) Be ashamed of the name of a vicious, and not of low origin. The nobility of the family is a long-standing rottenness. It is better to begin than to enter into a race, just as it is better to be handsome yourself than to be born from beautiful people. 145. (37) In the reasoning of God and the divine alone, do not know the measure of saturation. God bestows Himself to an even greater extent to those who accept Him. He Himself thirsts for those who thirst for Him, constantly and abundantly pouring Himself out to them. And if someone is richer than you in some other way, tolerate this indifferently. (38) Do not worry about everything and always gain the upper hand. 150. It is better to concede victory over yourself with benefit than to win with harm. And among fighters, it is not always the one who lies below who is considered defeated, but often the one who remains at the top. (39) In other ways, suffer damage: this is often beneficial; Just like a plant is pruned so that it bears more fruit. 155. And if you add something to what you now have in a bad way, it will mean that you are putting fire under the firewood or that you are imparting illness to a healthy body. (40) If you are not guilty of anything before God and have not deserved punishment in any way, then have no compassion for those who are guilty before you. 160. And if you recognize yourself guilty before God, then show leniency yourself, because with God mercy is weighed by mercy (Matthew 6:14–15). (41) As soon as offense inflames your heart, remember Christ and His wounds, consider that what you endure is very unimportant in comparison with the suffering of the Master, and then, like water, you will quench your sorrow. 165. (42) Carnal love, drunkenness, jealousy and the demon are equal to each other. To whom they came, his mind was ruined. Mortification, prayer, tears - these are healing aids! This constitutes a cure for my ailments. (43) Avoid all oaths. But how can we convince others? 170. By the word and life, which confirms the word. A false oath is a denial of God. Why should you call on God to be your mediator? Let your good morals be your mediator. (44) What is shorter than this commandment about mercy: be this way towards your friends and neighbors, 175. as you want to have them towards you? But there is something else, and in short, this is Christ’s suffering. (45) Do not spare anything for a faithful friend, who showed himself not behind the cup, but in stormy times, who does nothing to please you except what is useful. 180. Know the limits of enmity, not favor. (46) The eye sees other things, but does not see itself; He doesn’t even see anyone else if he’s very blind. Therefore, it is necessary to have an adviser in every matter. And a hand needs a hand, and a foot needs a leg. 185. (47) If you follow the advice of the virtuous, then do not be ashamed when the vicious begin to ridicule you. And as soon as something vile comes to your mind, imagine that many are looking at you, and be ashamed of yourself. 1. Always prefer the good to the bad. 190. By dealing with the vicious, you yourself will certainly become vicious. Never accept mercy from a bad person, because through this he tries to find an excuse from you for his deeds. 2. I want them to use something from the hostile person too. For those who escaped his attacks, 195. I advise you to be more careful in advance. I’m afraid of bitter medicine, and I don’t approve of sweet medicine. 3. Reward the good, despise the evil. But show the latter one mercy, do not be in the least offended by their actions, so that with generosity you can make them good over time. 200. A wonderful gift is mercy. 4. Be merciful to everyone, if possible, and even more merciful to your neighbors. Why am I saying this? Who will believe that you are kind to strangers if you are unjust to those to whom you owe? 205. (52) Why do we blame everything on the poor enemy, when with our own lives we give him power over ourselves? Reproach yourself either for all or most of your misdeeds. We ourselves light the fire, and the evil spirit fans the flame. 53) Don’t give in too much to playful dreams. 210. They should not both frighten your mind with everything and inspire it with pleasant dreams. All this is often the network of a hostile enemy. 54) Let every right intention be preceded by hope. She sometimes helps in bad ways; 215. And therefore, is it not fair that she should contribute even more in good? It is unbearable for me that I overcome the evil. 55) Believe that prudence is more reliable than happiness. One is the rapid flow of circumstances, and the other is the helm. 220. Do not prefer anything to learning; it alone constitutes the property of those who acquire it. 56) If you want to be a god, show your activity not in doing evil, but in doing good. The latter is characteristic of a person who knows what is close to him. And both trine 96 and scorpio can kill without difficulty. 225. (57) It is a shame for a young man to be weaker than an old man, and for an old man to be more reckless than a young man. However, be wise even in your years, but the most perfect are chaste even beyond their years. (58) Continuously arrange for your salvation, 230. especially when the end of life approaches. Old age has arrived - this is the herald who announces the outcome. Everyone get ready, because the Judgment is near. (59) The end of the word: renunciation of God comes in two ways: one in word, the other in deed. 235. Be careful that the enemy does not catch you; he constantly threatens you with secret falls. Be afraid that final purification becomes necessary for you. 34. Definitions, lightly outlined God is the essence and the first goodness. The world is a combination of the transient and the imaginable. And what makes every thing one way or another is nature. Insubstantial nature – Angel, the first creature. 5. But what are Angels who have turned away from good? These are demons. The first of them, who was once a star, is the inventor and leader of the ugly darkness. Substance is the basis for images, the second creation. And beauty in matter is the appearance of matter clothed in an image. 10. The mutual limit of the transitory and the intelligible is heaven. The nature of stars is rotating fire. And light is ignited illumination and intelligence in the soul. Darkness can be twofold, like the absence of twofold illumination. 15. An age is an extension that continually flows not in time. And time is a measure of solar movement. The earth is a solidification of the substance surrounded by the sky. Fire is a nature that burns and strives downwards. Water is a fluid substance that falls down. Air is the filling of the void and the inhaled flow. 20. I am a man – God’s creation and God’s image. The body is substance and extended plumpness. The element is the original part of the body. The soul is an animating and moving nature; reason (λόγος) and mind (νους) are dissolved with my soul. 25. Life is the union of soul and body, just as death is the separation of soul and body. The mind is inner and boundless vision, and the work of the mind is thinking and imprinting on itself what is thinkable. Reason - searching for impressions of the mind; 30. You pronounce it through the vocal organs. The sensation is some kind of acceptance of the external into oneself. Memory is the retention of impressions of the mind, the deposition of memory is oblivion, and the deposition of oblivion is again some kind of memory, which I call recollection. 35. By desire I mean the inclination of the mind and the encounter with something that is in our power; but one shouldn’t want anything else. Moving where I want is freedom. I call such a strong movement zeal, and involuntary is violence of will. 40. By judgment I mean the discrimination of objects. Lust is a desire for either the beautiful or the unbeautiful; and inflamed and uncontrollable lust is love. Irritation is a sudden effervescence in the heart; prolonged irritation is anger; 45. And irritation, in which a person remembers evil and plans to do evil himself, is remembrance. Patience is what I call digesting grief within oneself; and calmly meeting an insult means not being angry; the ancients used to call it meekness. Consider the habit of good as a virtue 50. and, conversely, the habit of evil as a disease opposite to virtue. And recognize the former as a gift from God, and the latter as your invention. Beauty is proportionality in everything, and vileness, in my opinion, is a desecration of beauty. Courage is firmness in danger; 55. Boldness is courage where one should not dare; and some kind of constriction of the heart, when there should be something to dare, is timidity. Not giving in to pleasures is chastity, but giving in to pleasures is what I call debauchery. Not to strive to have more than others is justice, 60. but to go beyond the limits of equality is injustice. Prudence is experience in business. By wisdom you understand the contemplation of existing things. Simplicity is some kind of skill of being inactive towards evil. And double-mindedness is cunning of character. 65. Pleasure is some kind of softness of the soul. Grief is gnawing at the heart and confusion, and care is whirling, and its highest degree is anxiety. Reasoning is the opposition of judgments about what to do. The solution is the establishment of the definitions of the mind in one. 70. I consider the rejection of the definitions of the mind to be carelessness. Envy is contrition for the success of one's neighbors, and slander, moreover, harms out of envy. But reproaching vicious people is a commendable passion. Shame is some kind of compression of the heart from fear of being disgraced, 75. and contempt for shame is shamelessness. Diligence is a kind of persistence in what is assumed; I call the weakening of this fortitude negligence. Laziness is immobility towards anything. Jealousy is either imitation, 80. or some kind of sorrow that tenderness is secretly felt for a foreign beloved object; the ancients called it jealousy. I call boastfulness the arrogance of the heart, and arrogance the inflaming of the heart caused by frivolity. The proud person, in my opinion, likes to show off in front of others. 85. And I call self-gratification arrogance. To have humility means not to think about yourself and what you deserve; pretending to show one's humility is mockery. Generosity is when someone simply gives money to another, and I call wastefulness the devouring of money, 90. stinginess is frugality with money. Splendor is brilliance in business, but scrupulousness means thinking a lot about unimportant things. He is generous who endures everything with complacency, and not to endure even a little is a sign of cowardice. 95. Curiosity is a moderate desire for honor, and vanity extends beyond measure, while the desire for empty distinctions is vanity. To appear one way or another is glory (δόξα), but another matter is opinion (δόξα), that is, our ideas about things. 100. Resentment is an ignoble act or ignoble word of a hostile person. The slanderer tries to shame. Reproaching a friend without punishing him is a reproach. An accusation of something deserving punishment is a complaint. If the complaint is unfair, it becomes slander. 105. And if it was brought secretly, then I will call it a sneak. Any unaccountable reproach is blasphemy. And he who arms his mouth against everyone is evil-tongued. Courtesy is ease in conversation, and dexterity in address is ease, except in words, in movements, 110. Stupidity is the inability to say the right word. Laughter is a convulsive movement of the cheeks and a fluttering of the heart. I will call excessive drinking of wine drunkenness, the obscene state of the drunk is intoxication, and a hangover is an unpleasant consequence of yesterday's intoxication. 115. Murder occurs in two ways - either the body or the image of God, and in both cases the desired harmony is destroyed. Fornication and adultery are also of two kinds: this is either some kind of abduction by someone else’s body or by a demon, when the love that we owe to God is felt towards God’s enemies. 120. But whoever honors gold is also an idolater. If acquiring something is beneficial for the soul, then depriving it of something is harmful. Pity is compassion for misfortune, and mercy is when we provide some kind of benefit to the suffering. 125. A well-known skill in business is character, and behavior is a way of acting in which character is demonstrated. Education is education in deed and word. A perfect word heals the evil, but an imperfect word destroys the good. 130. By contemplation we mean thinking about what is imagined in the mind, and activity is some kind of action related to what we are obliged to do. A skill is some kind of permanent quality, and I call the product of a skill an action. Art is a routine procedure for acting based on experience, 135. and such a skill, from which it is impossible to deviate, is called knowledge. What is not for the sake of something, while the other is for the sake of this, I call the end, and the goal is what we strive for at the end. By petition we mean asking for what is necessary, 140. by prayer - asking for the best, by vow - the promise of a propitiatory sacrifice, and a propitiatory sacrifice is a gift offered in honor. Praise is a kind word about something of mine. Praise is reverent praise to God. The song, I think, is measured praise. 145. A psalm combined with singing is made by psalmody. To speak about something real as it is is untruthfulness, and to speak not as it is is a lie, but to speak contrary to it is wrangling, and what is worse than that in life? An oath is an assurance with God as the mediator. 150. And keeping what you swore is fidelity to the oath. By the word piety I also mean the veneration of demons. And piety is the worship of the Trinity. A renunciation of God will be both to humiliate One of the Three Persons and not to honor co-being in God. 155. Faith can be twofold: one by the persuasiveness of the word, and the other by some kind of ready agreement to everything. And the first is correct, because the leader of the word is the Word Itself. Hope is communication with an absent object, and I call the cessation of such communication despair. 160. Love, according to my definition, is unanimity, and love for God is together the path to deification. Hatred is some kind of disgust that gives rise to enmity. Hypocrisy is hidden bitterness. To love a person means to give honor to the Creator; 165. To serve the poor means to give honor to Him who became poor for our sake. He is a stranger who recognizes himself as a wanderer. Serenity in life is the desired peace, especially peace of mind, that is, the pacification of passions. 170. Enmity, in my opinion, is difference of opinion and discord. And enmity and war are the inventors of evil. Purity is communication with God. Consider sin to be nasty and nasty. Purification is the washing away of impurities, and I consider impurity to be the imprint of evil in oneself. 175. Marriage is a legal, carnal union. Virginity is a departure from the body. The monk who lives for God, and, moreover, for Him alone; and the monastery, in my opinion, is an institution that has the goal of salvation. Sin is a deviation from the good, 180. not permitted either by law or by nature. The law is a judicial determination of what I should do, and the commandment is the Sovereign command. A crime is a bad act under the existing law. By lawlessness I mean disobedience to laws. 185. The first law is Judaism, and the second is the sacrament of suffering. One is hidden and destroys the service of demons, and the other is clear and destroys fortune telling. The Incarnation of Christ is a new creation of me, man; 190. because God in the flesh suffered through my suffering. He fully repaid all my debts; by mercy to Eve he was born of a woman, but of a Virgin; for His first birth is from one Father; and the Unmarried came from the unmarried. 195. And the census was in the image of God's subsequent inscription. Being wrapped in shrouds is a substitute for Adam's nakedness. Beating babies is the abolition of infantile prototypes. The walking star is the worship of the creature. The coming of the Magi is the entry of the pagans into the Church. 200. Xpucmo's baptism was the purification of the waters for me. Spirit is a witnessed kinship. Fasting is an anointing for the fight against the enemy. Temptation was a taste of God's cunning. The crown of thorns and the vestment in purple - 205. is the taking away of power from the enemy in open struggle. The cross is a sign of victory, and the wooden one is a sign of the tree. The nails are the nailing of my sin. With outstretched arms Christ embraces everything. And eating bile is the opposite of Adam’s eating. 210. One of the thieves was saved - it was Adam who believed, and the other was thin, although he was nailed to the cross. The darkness from the sixth hour is a cry for the Suffering One. And the disintegration of stones will destroy the stones. 215. The resurrection of the dead and the entry into the city is the representation of the dead in the heavenly place. Blood and water flowing together from the rib is a double baptism of the font and suffering when the time of persecution brings danger. The deadness of Jesus is the destruction of the deadness in me. 220. The Resurrection of Christ from the dead is my liberation from hell. The ascension of Christ to the mountain and I am lifted up by grief. Let us now consider what follows. The people are a collection of God-worshipers. The church is a consecrated place of purification for the people. 225. A gift to God is purification sacrifices. The Divine meal is a pure repository of gifts. The priesthood is the sanctification of thoughts, bringing man closer to God and God to man. Sacrament is unspoken godliness. 230. By gift of grace I mean the Divine giving of the Spirit. I call prophecy a sermon about the unseen. And the Gospel is a sermon about a new salvation. Apostleship is the assistance of preaching. The catechism taught to the young is knowledge of the word. 235. Repentance is turning to something better. The spell is to expel demons. The font is the seal of the second life. Prosphora - communication of God's incarnation and God's suffering. 240. A sign is a miraculous event that goes beyond the ordinary. Tongues of fire – the presence of the Spirit. The spiritual man is far from perfect, the carnal man is extremely devoted to passions, and the spiritual man is not far from the Spirit. 245. Who is the Antichrist? A beast full of poison, a man of many powers. What is apostasy (2 Thess. 2:3)? This is the recent, most evil apostate [Julian] or the currently dominant teaching that dissects God. 250. After him, Christ will come again in the glory of the Father and with the body so that the deicides can see Him. After it is the resurrection, or the conjugation of the complex. After it, death is the destruction of the existing, and perhaps some kind of change for the better. After it comes judgment and fear. What is a court? 255. Own and internal burden or lightness of conscience and equating life with the law. And the cheerfulness of life, in my opinion, is bliss. What is the Kingdom? Contemplation of God, His praise and singing together with the Angels. 260. The darkness prepared for the most evil is a falling away from God. And the worm and fire are the consumption of material passion. If something else is better, then this is not beyond the possibility of God. What is chance, Providence, fate? A chance would be something that happened by itself without any reason. 265. Providence is the helm with which God sets everything in motion. Fate, as I imagine it, is a chain of God's plans. These are my definitions in their first essay! You are cheerful even in illness, you live in luxury, if only you are rich; True, you feel evil, but you also have a cure for the disease. And the other is poor, but abstinent. And he is three times blessed, because he has neither evil nor a cure for evil. 5. And I would prefer a rich man, but servile to passions, to a poor and wise man, when I agree to prefer a man strong in strength, but mad in his mind, to a man of sound mind, although weak in strength. Let one, having a lot of medicine against suffering, be seriously ill; and the other, without having any medicine, is very healthy: which of them will you please? Obviously healthy; but I know that everyone will say the same thing. 5. Likewise, a person who needs a little, although he is very poor, is preferred to the rich in both money and passions. When you meet a person who is thin and prosperous, know that he is being reserved for the end. And when you see a good person in misfortune, understand that grief serves as a purification. If he has not attracted a lot of 5. uncleanness onto himself, then work will be required to wipe it off so that nothing remains suitable for burning. Or misfortunes can also, by God’s permission, be temptation and abuse from the enemy. May victorious Job assure you of this. If, being an unfortunate product of sin, you prosper, then know that you are being prepared for final torment. And if, being virtuous, you receive a sorrowful life as your lot, then know that you are being purified like gold in a furnace. 5. Or if, like the new Job, your body is exhausted in the fight against an envious person, then in order to receive a victorious crown after the feat. Therefore, when you are prosperous, do not delight your thoughts with this, and in sorrows do not lose heart, accepting everything with a Christ-bearing heart. 39. Happiness and prudence One gold lover said somewhere: “I wish you a drop of happiness rather than a barrel of intelligence.” But the sage objected to him: “For me, a drop of intelligence is better than a sea of ​​​​happiness.” 40. About human vanity 97 Those who, like a spider, weave the threads of a web, and in this life mock the weak, let them know how easily all the pleasures of such a spider’s life are carried by the winds and scatter [into dust]. 5. Look, you who have decorated thrones, and are swollen by fickle advantages, at the final inevitable judgment, from which nothing can in any way be hidden. Poems No. 1–5 were included in the cycle “Mysterious Chants” (see: Works like the saints of our father Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople: In 6 parts 1843–1848. Part 4. pp. 177–193). In the pre-revolutionary translation, the first work was called: “Word 1, about the beginnings.” Further edition 1843–1848. will be indicated - TSO (Translation of the Moscow Theological Academy in the series “Creations of the Holy Fathers in Russian translation”). – Ed. Manichaeism is a heretical doctrine of the equal struggle between light and darkness. – Ed. Excite (ts. - syll.) - ignite, inflame. – Ed. That is, the simple spiritual nature of the Deity or the nature of the Angels. – Ed. Kubar - spinning top, top. – Ed. Translated by TSO: “About Fishery.” – Ed. Bill reads: τα ' δ᾿ ου᾿ μέγιστα τών κακών τιμητέα. But from the translation of Leunclavius ​​it is clear that instead of κακών (vices) he read καλών (virtues). Poems No. 7–9, translated by TSO, were included in the cycle “Mysterious Chants” (see: Part 4, pp. 193–206). – Ed. The mythical king Ixion was tied to an ever-rotating fiery wheel in Tartarus for his wickedness. – Ed. That is, the humanity of Jesus Christ. Here: jambs and lintels (Ex. 12:7). – Ed. Translated by TSO: “On Incarnation” No. 2. – Ed. That is, the rational soul in man. – Ed. That is, roughness, density, solidity. – Ed. Translated by TSO: “On Incarnation” No. 1. – Ed. Hezrom Joram, Joram Arama. Kayleigh concludes that this is a short fragment of a larger poem, and it must have a beginning and an end, and it speaks not only of parables but of miracles, and not only of Mark but of Luke. Here and further: a new translation from Greek was made for this edition by P.K. Dobrotsvetov. Poem No. 25 is translated from Patrologiae cursus completus Graeca (hereinafter referred to as PG). T. 37. Col. 495–496. – Ed. Translated by TSO: “Christ on the ship.” – Ed. This phrase is not included in the TCO translation. – Ed. Poems No. 31–35 inclusive have been translated into Russian for this PG edition. T. 37. Col. 509–513. – Ed. In the pre-revolutionary translation, the titles of poems No. 37 and 38 were not indicated. – Ed. Ilektrum is a special kind of amalgam of gold and silver, used by the ancients and highly valued. – Ed. Captives (ts. - seq.) - bonds, shackles. – Ed. Those who encroach (c. - s.) - those who enter into marriage, those who do not encroach - those who are celibate. – Ed. Zern - a game of dice, or grains. – Ed. Ryasny - embroidery, trim along the edge of clothing; see for example: all the glory of the princess’s daughter is inside, robe of gold and speckled (Ps. 44:14). – Ed. Holy Martyr Thekla. Memory 24 September. – Ed. Previous name of Jerusalem. – Ed. That is, an ingot. In Slavic translation: vessel of gold. That is, to justify people by the fact that they are led into sin by the example of the gods. Translated by TSO: “To the virgins.” – Ed. In the TSO, the cycle “To the monks” included the entire inscriptions “To those who love”, “About virgins”, “To the virgin”, “To the monks in the hostel” (see: pp. 398–401 of this edition). – Ed. In these poems, St. Gregory rebels against the custom according to which those who devoted themselves to the contemplative life, man or woman, chose to take care of household affairs a person of the other sex, under the name of sinizakta and sinizakta, or also agapita (beloved) and agapita (beloved). In TSO, poem No. 7 was published in the cycle “On Chastity”, without a title under No. 2. - Ed. In TSO, poem No. 9 was included in the cycle “Mysterious Chants” (see: Part 4, p. 206). – Ed. Contempt (c. - s.) - contempt, disobedience, obstinacy. – Ed. Gloomy (c. - s.) - gloomy, darkened, darkened. – Ed. Translated by TSO: “On humility, chastity and abstinence.” – Ed. In the Greek text, the Latin translator translated the difficult expression κα᾿ νοήτου σώματος as ex corpore non intelligente - “from an unreasonable body”; in the pre-revolutionary translation of TSO, the contradiction is “visible (νοητο᾿ ν) body.” But since νοητο᾿ ν is “intelligible” and, therefore, “invisible,” we choose the option α᾿ νο᾿ ητον - “unreasonable, insane.” In addition, the general context of this phrase, which contains a number of oppositions, leads to such an understanding. – Ed. A verse from Eurinides, applied by Diogenes to barley bread and sesame nirogs. Translated by TSO: “arrogance of the belly.” – Ed. In the TSO translation, the phrase “time and envy is a costly delusion” is missing. – Ed. Crusts, peelings. – Ed. Here: sensuality. – Ed. We are talking about Pythian and Nemean sports competitions dedicated to the pagan deities Apollo and Zeus. – Ed. The edition of the Bill lacks the following verse: Παντ᾿ α᾿ ρκεΐ καλφ, which can also be read as a name: To the Beautiful Pandark. Leena (Laena) is an Athenian harlot, a friend of Harmodius, whom Athenaeus depicted in the church in the form of Venus. – Ed. A famous slut from Sicily. – Ed. In TSO, poem No. 13 was published in the cycle “On the frailty of human nature,” without a title under No. 2. - Ed. In TSO, poem No. 14 was included in the cycle “Mysterious Chants” (see: Part 4, p. 212). – Ed. From what I was, am and will be. In TSO, poem No. 15 was included in the cycle “Mysterious Chants” under the title “Word 11, about the low value of the external person and about the vanity of the present” (see: Part 4, p. 217). – Ed. Homer. Odyssey XVIII, 130. In TSO, poem No. 16 is added as part of “Word 11, on the low value of the outer man” in the cycle “Mysterious Chants”. – Ed. Bill has poem 16. In TSO, poem No. 17 is included in the cycle “Mysterious Chants” (see: Part 4, p. 224). – Ed. Privitati (ts. - syll.) - to dwell (Ps. 103:12). – Ed. Judgment but general resurrection. In TSO, poems No. 18 and 19 are combined into the cycle “Human Life” under No. 2 and 1, respectively. – Ed. In TSO, poem No. 23 was published without a title in the cycle “Unkind Friends”, under No. 2. - Ed. From this and similar expressions found at the end of the poem, one must conclude that this poem, as well as the other: “On those who swear often,” were written when St. Gregory remained silent during Lent. The Seventy read: φακός του᾿ ύδατος (water vessel); at St. Gregory: φακός του᾿ κράνους. In TSO, poem No. 27 was published without a title in the cycle “For a person of high birth...”, under No. 2. - Ed. From Greek διψάω - thirst. – Ed. According to German custom, a husband who suspected his wife of infidelity immersed the baby she gave birth to in the waters of the Rhine, confident that the legitimate baby would not drown, but the illegitimate one would immediately sink to the bottom. Sim St. Gregory is probably making the hint that it is proper to anoint only corpses with incense. This refers to the custom of women who love to show off chewing wood or something else hard, so that, by constantly stimulating saliva in the mouth, they keep their lips fresh and prevent their lips from drying out. In Greek, every thought makes a verse, and the first letters of the verses follow the order of the Greek alphabet. In Greek, these thoughts constitute an acrostic; it is from the first letters of each verse that the following two verses emerge: "Thoughts of Gregory, eloquence in couplets, Wonderful fun for the young, and the last gift." To bark (ts. - s.) - to worry, toss around. – Ed. This verse is not included in the TSO translation (see: PG. T. 37. Co1. 922). – Ed. According to the legend of ancient naturalists, the echidna, when born, gnaws its mother's womb. The meaning of this parable is the following: whoever did evil to others, expect evil from others for himself; whoever annoyed his parents should expect annoyance from his children. The numbering in brackets shows the order of the verses of this work in the TSO edition. – Ed. Trigon is a sea fish of the stingray group, with a poisonous needle on a long, thin tail. Min writes that this short poem was present in Lat. translation of the Bill as the ending of Gregory's poem, but it was never published in Greek and is absent from the Greek text that guided the translation, in the Codex Reg. 1277. Translation made for this PG edition. T. 37. Col. 968. – Ed.