Книга IV. Письма

We write to you again, knowing that you expect edifying words from our humility, wanting to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Brother, do not indulge in the amusements, worries and cares of this life that is harmful to the soul. What are you waiting for? Will you have time to repent? Man is like a breath; his days are like a shifting shadow (Ps. 143:4). And you don’t take care of yourself by decorating inanimate walls. The Lord created you carefree, and you torment yourself with troubles. He delivered you from worries, and you entangle yourself in squabbles. Everything you do will not benefit the soul. Be careful, son, that in seeking human glory you do not lose the glory of God. Because you can achieve fame only by avoiding it, and while we are chasing fame, it runs away from us. If you want to be famous, don’t lust after fame. If you want to elevate yourself, don’t elevate yourself. Be attentive to yourself, child, do not be deceived by thoughts of the priesthood and abbotship. I fear for you, so that while saving others, you will not destroy your soul. For he who saves his soul is holy. Therefore, child, listen to me, a humble father who loves and takes pity on you in Christ. Leave the plans that creep on the earth. Be silent in your cell, closing it from everyone, so as not to communicate with anyone, except for one service on Saturday and Sunday. Then you will know what is good for the soul and that you will have to endure many sorrows, temptations, and infirmities. But blessed are you if you endure. And if you don’t do this, then it’s better to move from there to another place. If you want to come into contrition, do not read pagan books, neither historical nor allegorical, do not even touch the Old Testament, it is better to read the New Testament, acts of martyrdom, the writings of the fathers and stories about the saints, you will receive great benefit from this. I do not advise reading Old Testament books, not because they are rejected by the Church. On the contrary, the Church accepts them and cannot do without them; they are spoken by the Holy Spirit. But in monks and the silent they do not cause contrition. Be careful, brother: the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few (Matthew 9:37). Do not leave it, lest you reap straw instead of ears. The grape harvest is plentiful, do not stop collecting spiritual fruits, do not start looking for the grapes after you have gathered the grapes. Leave earthly things and take up heavenly things. Reap and gather the fruits of truth. And if you want to calm down and become a friend of the Lord, become dead to every person. Become the slave of a single Master, while you are enslaved by many. He who reveres the One will not fear many, or rather, many will fear one. Why, child, have you deviated from the path that says: who am I? dust and ashes (Gen. 18:27). You want to follow the wrong path, full of sorrows and dangers. Where did you leave my words, kept for you day and night? Where have you been and where do you see yourself prevailing? Where have you been and where do I wish you to be? Where are you now, because you love to boss and you don’t keep your incessant tongue on a leash? Where are the commandments I gave you? Won't they complain about you? Cry and shed tears, do not indulge in lust, do not compare yourself with others in anything. Turn your love to another path, reject the world, finally ascend to the cross, soar from the earth, as it is said: shake off the dust from your feet (Matthew 10:14). Disregard shame, give every person preference over yourself, mourn your dead: first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see how to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (Luke 6:42). Make your house threatening to fall. Cry: Jesus, Son of David! have mercy on me (Mark 10:47). Know that every mouth is stopped (Rom. 3:19), and do not be lazy to give thanks at all times. Lock your door against the enemy, and let your words be weighed in the scales (Sir. 21:28). Close your door and do not fall asleep carelessly, lest you suddenly hear: behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him (Matthew 25:6). What do you say then? No time, I'm busy. The Lord has calmed you, but you want to work. You have no time to grieve, shed tears and cry for your sins. Remember what the Lord said about the doors being closed. Hurry, lest you be left out with the foolish virgins. Move your thoughts away from this vain life into the future. Put aside earthly things and seek heavenly things. Leave the corruptible and find the imperishable. Flee in thought from the temporary and you will meet the eternal. Mortify the flesh so that you can live a perfect life. You know why I'm saying this, so come to your senses. Work hard at this and you will find treasures in God. Do not disgrace my gray hairs, who pray for you day and night. And don’t say, brother: like all monks, so am I. I tell you - there are many plants on the mountains, on the hills, in the forests, in the fields, but the fruitful ones are worthy of a garden, but the barren ones are suitable for burning with fire. It is said: everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin (John 8:34), whether he is a priest, a king or a monk: For there is no respect of persons with God (Rom. 2:11). If one who has been honored to put on the holy schema does not do deeds befitting it, he is like a tree covered with numerous leaves, but barren. Therefore, for you, who says, like all monks, so do I, these words will not bring any benefit at that hour when your soul is separated from your body. On the contrary, it will become a farewell to torment. And do not be arrogant, brother, because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Be careful, brother, that while you hope for repentance and collect a multitude of evils, you do not reap sin and remain without mercy. As it is said: God is not mocked (Gal. 6:7). Because what is done involuntarily is made up for by sincere repentance, and what is done voluntarily is devoid of any excuse. Child, run wild. Understand that its fruit, repentance, will be more bitter for you than gall and a two-edged sword: for whoever is overcome by someone is his slave (2 Pet. 2:19). If we give an answer to God even for an idle word, then even more so for voluptuousness. It is written: If anyone destroys the church of God, God will punish him: for the church of God is holy; and this church is you (1 Cor. 3:17), and: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I, then, take away the members of Christ to make them members of a harlot? It won't happen! (1 Cor. 6:15). Run away, brother, from voluptuousness - the mother of destruction and death, do not listen to it, because it is like a wolf caressing sheep. Avoid all entertainment, all amusement, idleness, luxury, beauty of face and temptation of the eyes. Sweet speech is like an arrow to the ear, it betrays the members to voluptuousness. The soul of such a person is a pleasant place for evil spirits, and the body is the preservation of unclean thoughts that he hides from himself. Honor, brother, your Guardian Angel, do not sadden the holy Angels and do not bring joy to the demons. Remember the stench of women and the fact that there is no benefit from this except unquenchable fire, undying worms and gnashing of teeth, because voluptuousness is enmity against God. Remember the vigilant Eye, watching your actions, penetrating your heart, knowing your thoughts and detecting your thoughts. As it is said: fear him more than he who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28). Challenge yourself. Know your nature, know that your body is mortal, but your soul is immortal. Despise the flesh because it is transitory. Take care of the virtue of the immortal spirit. Sin is great and serious - that’s why you need confession, bitter tears, intense prayer, unceasing vigil and continuous fasting. Be attentive to yourself, child, because you are walking among networks, among snares hidden by the enemy. Beware, do not harbor iniquity in your heart, because everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:28). And although many do not sin in body, the one who sins in intention, with the speed of thought, commits sin. Remember that what is pleasant to you in the present will lead to a bitter end. Pleasure that excites the body will give birth to an undying worm, which will torment us in fiery hell, and the excitement of the flesh will give birth to eternal fire. Think, child, about sorrows and the cessation of prayer. And I, child, did what I could according to the word of the prophet: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel, and you will hear the word from My mouth, and you will admonish them from Me. When I say to the wicked man, “You will surely die!”, and you do not admonish him and speak to warn the wicked man from his wicked way so that he may live, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will require his blood at your hands (Ezek. 3:17–18). And in previous letters I told you and now I say the same thing. The degree of priesthood is not useful for you, it is not useful for you to teach others and to rule over anyone. Many monks, piously distinguished by fasting and abstinence in the desert, became like a shining luminary, but, willingly or unwillingly, elevated to the level of priesthood, they became closer to the world, destroying those virtues that they acquired with great difficulty. Having come to serve others, they themselves fell, giving in to the passions of gluttony and love of money, fell into fornication, and finally, mutilating themselves, they died a mental and physical death. That is why the apostle advises us: Everyone remain in the rank in which you are called (1 Cor. 7:20). I tell you, brother, as someone who is insightful and capable of understanding my words. May God give you reason to understand and do good. For I think that you have not strayed far from the teachings of the fathers; on the contrary, you remain an example for the benefit of others. Take care, brother, that the name of God is not blasphemed for your sake. Do not become a temptation for those who want to be saved; it is better to be a lamb, not a wolf. Otherwise you will become a destroyer, sour fruit and not sweet, chaff and not wheat, straw and not gold, excitement and not silence. Let the rumors not come true against you - do not become a laughing stock for the laity. Because if you pay attention to them, you will lose prudence. Rather: Turn away from evil and do good (Ps. 36:27). For I believe that you will obey our insignificance. But may the grace of God be with those who keep the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ! To him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen. If the smell of river fish could put a demon to flight and drive him away from the daughter of Raguel, then much more will the aroma of the Holy Spirit drive out from you the demon of voluptuousness, hiding in your body and arousing in you voluptuousness and lust and darkening your thoughts. More powerfully than the fierce winds that agitate the sea, vanity overwhelms the soul of one who has received holy orders. Therefore, most of all, fight vanity, do not indulge in carelessness. Fast, abstaining not only from bread, wine, meat and other food, but much more abstaining from thoughts, from listening and talking about anything bad and harmful. Refrain from irritability, envy, laughter and similar obscenities. In the world, when recruiting soldiers, only strong men and young men are chosen, elders are neglected, children are abandoned, slaves are not approved, and women, due to the weakness of nature, are driven away. For exploits in God, when recruiting warriors of piety, the elders are called, and the young men flock, and the children come running, and the slaves boldly present themselves, and the women are awarded the choice. Everyone eagerly and courageously rushes towards the devil and, struggling, defeats the enemy, erecting victory monuments, and is crowned for defeating their opponents. Spiritually understand what is written: The lamp of the body is the eye. So, if your eye is pure, then your whole body will be bright (Matthew 6:22), here the soul is called the body, and the mind is called the eye. During the War of Harlotry, refuse invitations to the feast. If a guest comes to you, serve him and calm him down, and secretly protect yourself with abstinence. The soul abandoned by God is scattered and amused by all possible sins, which is why the Lord says: And I will scatter you among the nations, and scatter you throughout the lands (Ezek. 22:15). When, having fallen into evil, a person wanders, drowns and is overwhelmed by passions, but subsequently, having sobered up, returns to natural good, then God says to him: and I will put an end to your abominations among you. And you will make yourself despised in the eyes of the nations, and you will know that I am the Lord (Ezek. 22:15-16). Your clothes are abhorred by you, that is, your flesh has hated your mind, which forces it to do what is forbidden. For the death of their subordinates, the abbots who remain silent when they need to speak will also be punished. As the Lord said: When I say to the wicked man, You will surely die! You say that you wish not to fear a single person, but to fear only God. If you want to succeed in this, renounce everything earthly and temporary and have nothing for yourself. I give you my word that you will not be afraid of anyone, neither the consul, nor the mayor, nor the executioner, nor robbers, nor sea robbers, nor the prince, nor the king, nor the demons and the devil themselves. Why do you have to go far, man? Imagine that you are the son of a widow, 144 that is, a state that becomes a widow, having lost a righteous and firm way of thinking. Therefore, pray tearfully that the Lord Christ, touching the bed, that is, your passionate body, will stop those who bear, that is, the desire for sin. Because when their progress in evil stops, then the mind will resurrect and will be given alive to the mourning mother in Jerusalem above. As it is said: a voice is heard in Rama, weeping and mourning and great crying (Matthew 2:18). In Rama - means in the highest - where weeping and sobbing for fallen humanity is heard. Imitate the great Job, who scraped off pus and cleansed worms from wounds. Cleanse yourself from all the worries of this age, put aside the bad thoughts and earthly pleasures that nest inside you like worms. If Job suffered visibly, then you must secretly strive and fight to please the Angels. Because the Angels of God rejoice when we repent and turn to salvation, and they are sad when they realize that we are voluntarily enslaving to demons. What will you do when the end comes? When will the sources of life become scarce? When will difficulty and sorrow happen to you? When will the doctors give up on you? When will your neighbors despair of you? When, tormented by dry and rapid breathing from intense heat, will you sigh from the depths of your heart, but will not find someone sharing your melancholy? Will death come and gloomy and unmerciful angels take you away? When will they drag away a soul bound by sins, turning back and crying out without a voice? How will you cry then, but the sources of tears will already dry up! How will you sigh, mourning what you have done out of evil intent! What will you say when you see the joy of the righteous and the gloom of sinners in the deepest darkness? What do you say? Alas, I did not throw off the sinful burden through repentance! Alas, I have not washed away the filth and I bear the marks of iniquity! Now I would celebrate and have fun with the Angels! I would enjoy eternal blessings! I suffer forever for temporary sinful pleasure! For carnal pleasure I am consigned to eternal fire! God's judgment is true! They taught me, but I didn’t listen! Some of the pious testified to me, and I laughed! You will say this and similar things, mourning yourself, if you do not listen to good admonitions now, when you are taken to a place where everything that encourages repentance will not bring you any benefit. Although we are honored with free will, we cannot accomplish a single worthy deed without assistance from above. For it is said: I know, Lord, that a man’s way is not in his will, that it is not in the power of him who walks to direct his steps (Jer. 10:23). Therefore, we will not take credit for victory in our exploits. It is up to us only to choose the best and try to accomplish it. But only God can fulfill our good desires. Do not repeat useless excuses that because of the poverty of your virtues you are afraid to ask the Lord. It is said: This beggar cried out, and the Lord heard and saved him from all his troubles (Ps. 33:7). And what could be more regrettable than sin for those who know themselves? Although I am far from virtue, you say, I nevertheless accept and praise virtuous men, and especially the silent Rufinus. Know this: he who receives the pets of virtue receives great benefit by being rewarded by God. And I respect the husband you mentioned. We need nothing more than time. The teaching is long, but our life is short and its end is near. So stay awake, man. You wanted to know how God betrays those who neglect His commandments to become slaves of unclean passions, according to what the apostle said: Therefore God gave them over to shameful passions (Rom. 1:26). This is as if someone said: the sun threw a man into a ditch who did not want to see him. It is clear that it was not the luminary itself that caused the person who did not use the light to fall into the ditch. So God rejects those who do not heed His laws and plunges them into the ditch of sin. Labor, effort, suffering are short-lived in this life, but the eternal gifts given by Christ to lovers and doers of virtue are great and numerous. Therefore, before the time of eternal torment comes, let us use the medicine of repentance, since God never turns away from someone who approaches Him with tears and begs for mercy. Thus, those who cry about their sins receive great consolation. It is useful to confess your sins without putting off turning to the Lord day after day. For through the mouth of Isaiah the Lord says: speak thou in order to be justified (Isa. 43:26). Because if you confess your sins and ask in frequent prayers, then the Lord will answer you: I myself blot out your crimes (Isa. 43:25). How wonderful it is when a person rushes to serve God, and God immediately brings His sincere servant closer to Himself. Reverent fear and awe are truly desirable, so as not to be deprived of eternal life and the grace of the Holy Spirit. When we hear that the Divine Scripture tells us: take off your sandals from your feet (Ex. 3:5), then we must understand that we are commanded to leave and cast off our former bad habits. 23. I intercede in the affairs of Parnassius Lust is a devilish snare that leads to destruction. Lust prepares for us eternal fire and feeds the never-ending worm. Voluptuousness is the death of the immortal soul. Voluptuousness gives a little pleasure and then produces a bitter belch. Voluptuousness with ardor, forcibly induces a person to enjoy uncleanness, and when the defilement is committed, it leaves the seduced person with reproach, sadness, confusion and fear. Which prudent husband would want to throw mud at him? Which sane person would want to smell rot and admire worms? Who would agree to sit by open latrines and at the sources of unclean city underground ditches, constantly looking at human droppings? Who will agree to descend daily into the pit of passions and into the mire of destruction (Ps. 39:2)? Which of those who tremble at God will ever decide, like your foolishness, to covet the rottenness of Kallinika? The repository of the soul must be expanded by faith and good deeds in order to worthily accept God's grace. For it is said: open your mouth, and I will fill them (Ps. 81:11). When, like a swallow, we open the mouth of our minds, feeling our sinfulness and humiliation, turning to God with all our souls, then the grace of the Lord will not be slow to visit us and give us food, like a chick opening its mouth. The grace of the Lord imparts to us divine consolation, delight, tenderness, fear, wisdom, love and joy, revealing to us the revelation of the great Mysteries. 26. Silentiarius Gaudentius It is said: Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its sweet fruits (Song 4:16). It says here that the Lord came into His garden, created providentially by Him and for His sake, that is, into our world. So let us bring Him the fruits of the Gospel, which He will taste with pleasure. Namely: The fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. Against such there is no law (Gal. 5:22–23). Because we are not under the law, but under grace, as true sons, obedient to the Father. Every person, through demonic obsession, has fallen away from virtue and fallen into a bad life and acquired a vicious habit, without a doubt, feels tired, as the prophet repeatedly says: we work and have no rest (Lam. 5:5). It is said: remember the Lord from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your heart (Jer. 51:50). Jerusalem is a peaceful state of mind. Those who were previously distant from the Lord because of their bad disposition now cleave to Him with hope, faith and prayer. It is said: I remember God and tremble (Ps. 76:4). Because in times of crampedness and despair, the memory of God not only quenches sadness, but brings joy, comforting the heart, burdened with the burden of temptation, with inexpressible consolation. He who does not feed his subjects with the word of God prepares his backbone for spiritual scourges, and may he courageously endure every temptation. You read in Ezekiel: And he said to me, Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house do. Israel in the dark, each in his own painted room? for they say: “The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken this land” 145 (Ezek. 8:12). If you have read about this, be careful, in the secret room of your soul do not put up idols of shameless passions, do not idolize them and do not serve them. The secret room of the soul is the heart, in which many iniquities are committed, visible only to God. Therefore, elders often commit iniquity in their hearts. You ask how long it takes to succeed in not swearing. I don't think it will take ten days to break this habit. But if after ten days you continue to swear, then we will impose a punishment, determining how to atone for each sin. What? So that the fallen does not remain in the fall, but in repentance seeks salvation, like Lamech, like the prodigal son, like the thief hanging on the cross, who through one word of faith became an inhabitant of paradise. You say that you don’t know what words to use to beg for mercy from the Lord who has angered you. You have a book of St. Daniel teaching you. Therefore, using his words, beg God: Bow down, O my God, Thy ear and hear, open Thy eyes and look on our desolations and on the city on which Thy name is called; for we present our supplications before You, trusting not in our righteousness, but in Your great mercy. God! hear; God! sorry; God! take heed and do it without delay (Dan. 9:18–19). Dare to finally begin to please God, without losing heart, exerting care and hoping for success. Because anyone who wants to learn any art, if he is afraid, thinking about everything that can interfere with the matter, will never be able to bring the matter to an end. So, for example, a swimmer who is afraid of shipwrecks, or a merchant who calculates failures. On the contrary, each of them gets down to business and takes on it, reinforcing himself with good hope. There is no disaster that cannot be resolved by God's will. Immediately, with one wave from the good Lord, the sinful ulcers are resolved and disappear. Just don’t weaken, begging with tears the humane Savior Christ and keeping good hopes. And if you are faint-hearted, you will lose salvation. Therefore, take heart and be strong, keeping hope in your heart, do not forget your heavenly fatherland, so that, having loved a poor alien home, you do not lose eternal salvation. People, not knowing the future, despair of saving those who live viciously. God does not give up hope until they die, but, looking at what follows, he exhorts them and calls them. Now the demons are tormenting you with various temptations, plunging you into grave sadness and disaster - despair and hopelessness. But remember God’s watching over you, protection, help and many blessings you received even before accepting the monastic image. This memory will restore a soul that is ready to fall, strengthen it by reviving hope, and repel enemies who bring the soul to despair. In addition, think about the fact that the Lord took care of you before, when you had not yet served Him, and even more so now, providing for you, He will help with His good deeds and will guide you, to the best of your ability, working for Him and serving His mercy. 37. To Mayor Konon If the Lord brought you from non-existence into existence, then all the more can he correct you, who exists but is mired in sin and has become seduced into an unnatural state. This is all the Lord wants, if only you want it. There is no vice that repentant tears cannot wash away. You will easily be convinced of this if you remember the Lord’s net, which from the depths of depravity brought out the publican - this elusive prey. The network that made the earth gold, the captive a valiant warrior and a writer of the Divine Gospel 146. How did the Lord save the harlot? How did he make a thief worthy of heaven? How did he make the wise men and sorcerers the preachers of His coming into this world? How did he eat and drink with publicans and sinners, out of mercy wanting to benefit them and convert them? How did he give the grace-filled gift of praising God to blasphemers and persecutors? How did he force them to lay down their heads for the truth, convinced them to live not for themselves, but for God, imitating in their bodies the life of heavenly Angels and considering everything visible as rubbish? How did he bring those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, because of voluptuousness and wickedness, by arbitrarily remaining in vices, into the light, prompting them to abhor lawlessness, forced them to reject uncleanness, transforming them into a state of chastity and piety? With this in mind, never despair of salvation. The devil will plunge you into despondency and hopelessness, but encourage yourself, comfort the grieving, admonish the weary, strengthen and encourage, and do not cease to calm your own heart by thinking about God. Because we have a Lord who loves mankind, who laid down His soul for us. We have the Lord and Savior Christ, the great Physician of souls and bodies, Who is above all sickness and infirmity. Therefore, even a sinful soul, worthy of eternal torment, should not despair. To be careless, not wanting to endure various calamities for Christ, is characteristic of the unreasonable. The hymn writer says that the oppressed is saved: “When he falls, he will not fall, for the Lord will hold him by the hand.” That is, if a good person stumbles somewhere, he will not be lost, having God as his Intercessor and Helper. Watch your tongue and eyesight, stretch out your hands to heaven in attentive prayer, walk according to the will of the holy and most pure Master. In conversations, observe decorum, respect and deliberation, walk firmly and observe abstinence in food, be moderate in sleep, showing zeal in abstinence. Man is the most beautiful creation of a man-loving God. Therefore, do not despair and do not complain - God desires salvation for all people. Don’t stop doing good and don’t prefer anything material to the salvation of your soul. For even for the weakest it is possible to ascend at least one step on the ladder of virtues and become, as far as possible, above the earth. Do not despair of changes for the better, do not extinguish the lamp - the trust and hope of the soul in God. As you know, the Lord raised Lazarus from the dead and the wives received their dead resurrected (Heb. 11:35). Therefore, strengthened by hope, you can be freed from death in the tomb of sin. If you don’t ask a doctor who comes to you to explain how he treats you, but only ask him to cure you, then why are you asking God about the method of salvation? When you approach the Lord in repentance, do not be curious about the way to cleanse your sins, but believe, worship and give thanks. Otherwise, tell me about Divine wisdom, in what way was this rational animal - man - created from the earth? If you cannot say in what way God created you, do not demand explanations of how the soul is healed by Divine power and God’s love for mankind, how it is cleansed from many sins. Because where God acts, there is no need to explore the method of salvation. It is said: he shut the sea with gates (Job 38:8), that is, with alms he restrained the evil of the devil so that it would not drown you by attacking suddenly. For, as it is written: The Lord does justice (Ps. 102:6), sparing the human race and not allowing the enemy to tempt beyond his strength. Sin exhausts and dries, but faith in Christ nourishes the soul, contributing to its flourishing. The Lord does not abandon a person who undoubtedly and uncomplainingly trusts. For it is written: But the more they scourged him, the more he increased (Ex. 1:12). When, remembering the face that offended you, you overcame yourself and were able to free yourself from this memory, you acted like David, plucking the prey from the mouths of the lions. By lion I mean irritation, but when you overcome the bear - that is, an evil desire, then it will be possible to apply to you what was said: His soul will remain in goodness (Ps. 24:13). Those who have plunged themselves into hopelessness suffer from oblivion of the Lord, because the saving spirit of conversion has been removed from their souls. It is said about them: Neither the dead will praise the Lord (Ps. 113:25). Those who grieve over their sins and their laziness, who are attentive to their salvation, and who trust in Christ the Savior will be counted among those who live eternal life to praise the Lord. Likewise, every soul saddened by the magnitude of all evil, a weak soul, a thirsty and humble soul - will give glory to the Lord. You asked me what the heads of those around were (Ps. 139:10). Remember that the Lord commanded that the heads of the serpents be struck. The first carnal and biased thought instilled by the enemy produces and gathers around itself many evil thoughts. Therefore, we will call the origin of evil thoughts a chapter. In addition, since the devil himself gathers hordes of demons around himself, he is called the head of wickedness. The devil himself and the way the enemy tempts people are called temptation. You asked what it means when it is written: the hungry rest (1 Samuel 2:5)? Know this: those who greedily desire divine truth do not care about earthly goods. They despise everything visible, leaving everything earthly in order to soar with pious thoughts. They passed by everything material and, walking through the sky, triumph with the Angels. Try not to fall into carelessness, drowsiness and scattered thoughts. Force yourself to work and deeds of virtue, reasoning that constant work is better than a carefree state. Now, for our own benefit, the devil and the fierce forces surrounding him are tempting us. Now we need feat, war and struggle with the opposite. Now we can show spiritual courage. A little more (John 14:19) - as Scripture says, and we will receive great help from above, crush the devil and step on our mental enemies. Let us step on snakes and scorpions and all the power of the enemy, only if we are not careless. Blessed are you, being in silence, serenity and security, because you despised all the vanity of this mortal life, entered a quiet haven, finding yourself in a beautiful land. You fled from the human sea and the waves of human suffering, having acquired one concern, how to please the Lord Christ, how to enter His glory and Kingdom. As we prepare to taste the mysterious Easter 147, let us protect our souls by abstinence. With this we will break the needles of mental thorns that prevent us from ascending into the invisible and subtle undertaking. In order for the body to remain calm, without being disturbed by any of the passions arising from satiety, one must take care of moderation of behavior, establishing a measure and rule for the use of things that serve for consolation, not pleasure, but necessity. If pleasure is mixed with necessity, because poverty makes everything necessary pleasant, then one should not reject the necessary because of the subsequent pleasure. Thank God by making the most of everything. Despise sensual pleasure and, in constant poverty, thanking God, use what is necessary. One must avoid servility, servility and intemperance in food, but one must accept what is offered with modesty, fear of God and gratitude. The conductor of much evil is the indifferent consumption of modest food and immoderate laughter. Because intemperance in laughter and gluttony give rise to an innumerable multitude of sins. The bishop must avoid all sin. I heard that, bound by laziness, you sit from early morning until sunset, holding a book, as if soldered to a bench with lead. But this is not what our leader Anthony did, 148 on the contrary, at the direction of the Angel, he first sat down to do needlework, then again stood up to pray. At the same time, he was so enlightened that he once said to a philosopher: as if from a book, I read the Lord’s word in the nature of creatures. He came so close to God during the night, when pitch darkness set in, that at dawn he exclaimed: “What is there to me in this sensual light?” Therefore, if you know that you cannot build a house from one stone, then do not think that you must master only one virtue - that is, reading. Finally, we must engage in prayer, psalmody, sobriety, vigil, and the like. In this way you will be able to gradually improve yourself as you should in God, being zealous for all the virtues and throwing off the dirt of painful laziness. You write to me that you are preparing to erect a majestic church in honor of the holy martyrs and Christ Himself, glorified by their martyrdom. You ask whether it would be appropriate to put icons in the sanctuary, and paint the walls on both sides with images of catching animals, so that nets stretched along the ground, fleeing hares, chamois and other animals pursued by hunters with dogs can be seen. And also nets thrown into the sea, fish caught, and fishermen’s hands taken to land. In addition, various stucco images. In the place of the general meeting of the faithful, you want to depict many crosses, as well as various birds, animals, reptiles and plants. In response to your letter, I will say that it is only proper for children to seduce the faithful with such pictures. It is appropriate for a mature and sensible husband to depict a cross on the eastern side of the church. Because the cross saved the human race, and it preaches hope to all those who despair. Let the hand of a skilled painter fill the holy church with the stories of the Old and New Testaments, so that the illiterate, who cannot read the Divine Scripture, looking at the picturesque images, will remember the exploits of those who served the true God. This will arouse in them jealousy for such exploits, with which the earth is exchanged for the sky and the invisible is preferred to the visible. In a place of general meeting of the faithful, divided into many areas, it is necessary to equip each church with a cross, and leave everything unnecessary. I advise you and beg you to remain in prayer, unshakable faith and giving alms. Instruct your spouse and children to be adorned with humility and unfailing trust in God, to learn from divine words, to have compassion for fellow tribesmen, to treat servants kindly, and to fulfill all the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ. In every place, at different times, the Lord performs miracles, calling those of little faith and infidels to firm faith and increasing the faith and hope of the faithful. Out of thousands of miracles, I want to tell you about the miracle of the martyr Plato. In the mountain called Sinai, where Moses received the tablets of the Testament from God, monks lived. Among them, the elder Galatian and his son labored, loving a solitary life. One day, pagan barbarians suddenly invaded - people completely desperate. They easily captured the monks and among them the son of the elder Galatian; Having tied their hands, they led them into the desert, driving the hungry and naked and without shoes through waterless and impassable places. The elder, hiding in a cave, tearfully prayed for his son, the Lord Christ, and called on the martyr Plato for help. At the same time, the elder’s son, being in captivity, asked God, through the prayers of the martyr Plato, to have mercy on him and perform a miracle. Their prayers were heard. And then the martyr Plato suddenly appeared to the young man, sitting on a horse and leading another saddled horse. The young man immediately recognized him, because he often saw the image of the saint on icons. The martyr ordered him to immediately get up and, taking a horse, mount it. And immediately, like a web, the ties that bound him were torn apart. Following the holy martyr on horseback, the young monk quickly reached the cave where the elder was praying and crying. And the victorious martyr who saved the young man became invisible 149. Thus, everywhere and everywhere, holy ascetics perform miracles for those who cry out to God through them. I wrote this to you as an admirer of the martyrs, always ready to honor their memory. From the works of St. Nile of Sinai... Fetters on the legs are an obstacle to a quick procession, and sadness is an obstacle to contemplation. The barbarians bind the prisoner with iron, and the prisoner of passions binds with sorrow. Sadness does not increase when there are no other passions, just as ties do not knit when there are no binders. He who is bound by sadness is overcome by passions, and wears bonds to expose his defeat, because sadness is a consequence of failure in carnal desire, and desire is associated with every passion. He who has conquered desire has conquered passion, and he who has conquered passion will not be overcome by sadness. The abstinent one does not grieve that the food was not successful, and the chaste one did not have time in his foolishly conceived lewdness, and the non-angry one was unable to take revenge, and the humble one was deprived of human honor, and the non-lover of money did not suffer a loss. They forcibly rejected the desire of all this, because just as an arrow does not pierce one dressed in armor, so sorrow does not sting the dispassionate one. Dejection weakens spiritual strength, and vanity strains the mind, which has fallen away from God, makes the sick healthy, makes the old man stronger than the young man, if only there are many witnesses to what is happening; then fasting, vigil, and prayer are easy, because the praise of many arouses zeal. But do not sell your works for human glory and do not give away future glory for praise that is worth nothing. The glory of man remains in dust, and its praise fades away on earth, but the glory of virtue endures forever. A man is great when God helps him, but when he is quickly abandoned by God, he recognizes the weakness of nature. You have nothing good that you would not receive from God. Therefore, why do you boast of strangers as your own? Why do you boast in the grace of God as your own possession? Recognize the Giver and do not boast too much; You are a creature of God, do not despise the Creator. God helps you, do not deny the Benefactor. You ascended to the heights of life, but God guided you. You succeeded in virtue, but God acted in you. Confess the Exalted One, so that you may remain strong on high. Recognize your fellow tribesman, he is of the same essence as you. Do not deny kinship out of arrogance. The word of the humble is a softening ointment for the soul, but the word of the proud is filled with arrogance. The prayer of the humble bows down God, but the petition of the proud insults God. Humility is the crown of the home and keeps the one who enters safe. When you ascend to the heights of virtues, then you have a great need for protection. For he who stands on the floor and falls will soon rise up, but he who falls from above is in danger of dying. A golden setting befits a precious stone, and the humility of a husband shines with many virtues. But worthy of praise are those who are now passing through the mediocrity of non-covetousness, who have not been carried away, along with the covetous, by the fickle lightness of thoughts and have not bound their minds with empty worries. For in those who lack firmness, just as everything improper produces jealousy for imitation, so especially bodily splendor, which greatly contributes to pleasure and human glory, since a long-standing custom has taught these wise ones to consider blessed those who live in abundance, who enjoy fame for their wealth and abundantly enjoy what is acquired by wealth. And truly great should be honored and called courageous those who, as in the field, win, while thoughts, of course, not without reason, fight and compete, as if by convincing body movements trying to prove that one must agree with the opinion of many and recognize what seems good as really good, not refuse what, in the general opinion, is respectably worthy of the price, not shy away from the possession of what has been given for use from the Creator Himself and with arrogance imaginary wisdom should not in vain denounce the acquisition of something that was brought into existence for a certain purpose, and not for nothing. So, since the path leading to the Kingdom has so many difficulties, being narrow and surrounded on both sides by rapids, then what is the need, having burdened oneself with heaps of money or having listened to those who praise or blame, to attempt to follow this path in such a way as it is impossible to go? Concerns about material things, dissipating, strongly draw one down, and attentiveness to glory or dishonor, both here and there, makes the fall easy, since any soaring presents convenient opportunities for crawling, when the eye has no leisure where safety requires great care, and, moreover, the most sober one. For even in this case, the procession barely passes without falling, presenting many difficulties due to the narrow path along the rapids. And if, according to the Lord’s word, the way is narrow and straitened, bring it into the belly (Matt. 7:14), then the one who walks must, without a doubt, be careful and watchful, not burden himself with weight, not become exhausted during the procession, and not fearlessly look around here and there, because on both sides there is a great and extremely terrible danger and the slightest deviation can lead to death into a yawning abyss. The body requires a little consolation - take care of this consolation, because for the time being you are connected with the body, so that you can have it as an accomplice in the practice of virtue and so that the progress of the soul, which wants to acquire everything in a short time and has barely been granted a little for its needs, does not encounter obstacles. And whoever cares about oxen, counts herds of sheep every day, constantly tends to vineyards, groves, fields and gardens, so that even the continuation of the day is not enough for him to do this work, where and when will he have time to remember God? When should he start singing psalmody? When to pray? How much time should I devote to exercising myself in moral, natural, and theological speculation? And if he finds the opportunity to do this occasionally between many things, then how will he bring pure prayer to the Lord when his thought is not detached from what he has a lot of care and concern about? How can one follow the movements of the passions in order to find out the difference between yesterday and today in the change for the better or for the worse? How will he find the interweaving of thoughts that are replaced by one another in a variety of ways and make observation itself difficult? Every visible luminary teaches something useful. The Sun, with its radiance, brings the Son to the understanding of the Co-Eternal Father, and I present Paul as a witness in this, who says: Who is the radiance of glory and the image of His hypostasis (Heb. 1:3). For the Apostle understood what he saw, just as the nature of the visible taught us to recognize with the keen eye of the soul that hidden law in the structure of the sun, which the Creator put in, symbolically raising the minds of those looking to the relationship that His Co-original Son has to Him. And the moon, waxing and waning, makes it possible to see the versatility of our affairs and by recurrent changes in its appearance teaches us that we should not rejoice at prosperity as constant, and consider the days of trouble as regrettable as long, because one day is soon replaced by another, so that with the speed of passing they do not produce the sensation of their presence, while one day takes the place of another and the previous one continuously replaces the one following it, like incessant modifications of the moon, which are inferior to one another to the same extent as ordinary revolutions take place both in life and in the increase of light, and changes in them are hardly noticeable, because the gradual addition or decrease is naturally hidden from the senses. Likewise, many things that increase and decrease in a similar way have daily changes that are not obvious (in anything), and no one is able to conveniently find out how much the age of those growing increases every day, succeeding in everything and not revealing the measure of success, until time allows one to notice what is not noticeable during continuous observation of what is happening. When He approached the city gates, they carried out the dead man, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and many people went with her out of the city. Seeing her, the Lord took pity on her and told her: don’t cry. And, approaching, he touched the bed; those carrying them stopped, and He said: young man! I'm telling you, get up! The dead man got up, sat down and began to speak; and Jesus gave him to his mother. And everyone was seized with fear, and they glorified God, saying: A great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited His people (Luke 7:12–16). Idols were usually placed in painted rooms and sacrifices were made to them. We are talking about Saint Matthew the Evangelist, who was previously a tax collector and tax collector. Mysterious Easter - communion. This refers to St. Anthony the Great, the founder of monasticism. The miracle described happened to the Monk Neil of Sinai himself and his son. You might be interested in: