Inspired Christian Instruction

1. When you get up from sleep, let your first thought be about God, your first word and prayer to God, your Creator, who contains your life, who can always kill and revive, strike and heal, save and destroy. 2. Bow down and give thanks to God, who raised you up from sleep and did not destroy you with your iniquities, but is patiently awaiting your conversion. 3. Make a beginning for something better, speaking with the Psalmist: “I said, ‘Today I have begun’” (Ps. 76:11), and so on, for only the one who begins well every day makes his way to Him well. 4. In the morning, be a Seraphim in prayer, a Cherub in deeds, and an Angel in your behavior. 5. Don’t waste your time in vain, do only the most necessary things. 6. In all deeds, words and thoughts, let your mind be directed towards God. Do not outline in your mind anything other than Christ, let no image touch a pure heart except the pure image of Christ, our God and Savior. 7. Encourage yourself in every possible way, as much as you can, to the love of God and always say to yourself like this with the Psalmist: “In my teaching a fire will burn” (Ps. 38:4). 8. Always look with your inner eyes at the presence of God, Whom you want to love unceasingly, and therefore leave behind every evil deed, word and thought, but do everything, speak and think honestly, humbly with filial fear. 9 . May there be in you together meekness with praise and humility with dignity. 10. Let your word be humble, quiet, honest and useful. In your silence, ponder the words that you want to say, but let no idle and rotten word come out of your mouth. 11. Laughter, if it happens, should only be to the point of a smile, and then not often. 12. Keep yourself from rage, passion and quarrels, and be restrained in anger. 13. Always maintain abstinence in food and drink. 14. Be lenient towards every thing, then God will please you and people will praise you. 15. Death is the end of everything, and we must always think about it.