Слово о том, как душа, когда искушает ее враг, должна со слезами молиться Богу

A soul suppressed by sorrow comes to You, Holy Master, and appears with tears, complaining about the destroyer, the enemy, and with all humility falls, asking for protection from the opponent who oppresses it. Since she approaches You without shame, listen to her quickly and carefully visit her, who comes running to You with love. If you despise a soul suppressed by grief, it will perish. If you are slow to listen to her, who is oppressed, then her strength will become impoverished. But if you visit according to Your generosity, you will find it; if you look at her, you will be saved; If you hear it, you will strengthen your strength. Be jealous of her, for the soul is betrothed to You. The Apostle Paul betrothed her to You, who said that You are an immortal zealot (Heb. 12:29 and Deut. 4:24). Do not despise her, lest the enemy think that You are divorcing her and send her away from You. Punish me, O Lord, according to Your mercies, but do not deliver me into the hands of the destroyer. Behold, I have collected my thoughts from everywhere, and I cannot remember anything good before You, except for one thing: I do not know any other God besides You. The grace of Your healing is immeasurable breadth, and it bestows healing on all who come to You; My ulcers are often healed by Your generosity, but they rot again due to my negligence. While I am healthy, I forget the doctor, but the doctor also forgets me in my illness. That my sins grieve You, I know; Having mercy, I anger You - and this is also not unknown to me. I also do not forget that You support me with Your mercy, like a compassionate mother rejected by her own child, but who is unable to despise it, being overcome by her ardent affection for it. And if she does this, then how much more is Your mercy! Behold, Lord, the bird’s compassion is poured out on its chicks, and every hour it visits them, bringing them food, working to feed them, because it is overcome by its ardor. If the dumb are so compassionate, then how much more does Your grace, overcome by mercy a thousand times, have mercy on those who come to it and truly seek it! Here is a spring full of water, flowing continuously, abundantly supplying drink to everyone who comes to it, and has no shortage of human praise. But man praises him not because he gives him drink freely, but because he glorifies You in him, for it is clear that the source gives drink according to the goodness of Your grace. Thus, the source represents the boundless sea of ​​Your bounties. You abundantly nourish the Heavenly Powers and provide food for every breath on earth, having no need for praise and glorification of all creation, You are glorified in the essence of Your greatness and in the splendor of Your glory. Thy love, desiring our salvation, itself bows to us, so that we, glorifying it, will be saved in it. I am confident that the very love of Your grace accepts and protects those who come to it. And as the Foresight, Lord, You see whether he has completely withdrawn from the world, and before he comes to the door, You open it to him; Before he falls, you stretch out your hand to him; before he sheds tears, You shower Your bounties on him; Before he confesses his debts, you give him forgiveness. You don’t blame, you don’t say: “Where did you waste your time? Why did you miss the deadline? “You don’t ask about the number of his sins in the manuscript.” You do not remember that I angered You with my negligence; You do not reproach for neglecting Your good deeds, but, anticipating humility, crying and heartfelt disposition, you proclaim: “Take out the first garment and clothe it, slaughter the fat calf for peace and joy; let the angels gather together and rejoice at the finding of the lost son and the return of the lost heir” (Luke 15:22, 27). Just as they greet a merchant who has returned home with great wealth, so Your grace welcomes a sinner who comes to You with all his soul. For He loves to see tears, longs to see repentance, rejoices at the diligence of those who try to repent. Therefore, show me Your great mercy, and give me rest from the oppression of the destroyer. For, having ulcerated me, he (the enemy) stands and mocks me. And just as the disciples came to the sea and awakened You, and from the blessed voice of Your lips the windy storm ceased (calmed down), the confusion of the waves subsided, so hear my tears, which awaken You day and night. Having worked for twelve years, the imaginary doctors were not able to heal the bleeding (referring to the Gospel story about the bleeding wife - editor's note), being more tormentors than healers. But what they could not give, you yourself gave; What they declared incurable, You made healthy and without difficulty granted healing. Hoping to hide, the bleeding one secretly began to open Your garments. She approached without touching the holy body, Your robe gave her healing and comfortable release from many doctors. Free, merciful Physician, my soul, suppressed by grief, from the shame and reproaches of the enemy who oppresses me. Show Your great wisdom on my members, make my sores undefiled and cover them with the beauty of virtue, and Your grace, sinless Lamb, slain for the salvation of the world and pacified heaven and earth, will be proclaimed that it has saved me. Do not reject me because I approached You without shame, and do not tell me: “What have You suffered for my sake?” “On that terrible and tremulous day you will say to us sinners: “Do you know what I suffered for your sake? The Invisible One became visible to you, the Immortal One was condemned for you, the Sinless One was bitten to death for you, and the One who was crucified did not get angry, the one who was mocked did not curse. I am the Lord, inaccessible to any sin and accusation, for your sake I endured all this. And you, the guilty ones, have you suffered anything for Me? Therefore, none of you has an excuse!” Remember, Lord, that You endured all this for our sake, out of Your mercy, out of Your goodness and truth, and not because of our merits. For as then You were betrayed for us, Holy, Sinless, so now You are the same, Master, because the mercy of Your Divinity, which You have by nature, has not changed. And we were wicked and wicked then, and now we are sinners and weak. Therefore, do not take away from us the gift that has been given to us by Your mercy. For if then You had redeemed us according to our righteousness, and now, when we had sinned, You began to be angry for it and withdrew Your hand, then in justice we would say, Holy One, that just as You redeemed us then for our righteousness, so now, because we have sinned, You have departed from us. But, as I said above, we were wicked then, and now we are sinners. Therefore, may the gift that You have given us through Your love for mankind be established in us to the end. I, a soul suppressed by grief, cry out to You again and again, Master, and find myself forced to complain to You about my enemy. Look, Master, be my refuge and forbid the robbers of it (the demon), because every hour they attack me, but I don’t even understand it; They plunder me, and I don’t know; They scatter me, but I do not regret it; They prevent me from calling You for help, because they know that if I cry out to You with tears and weeping, You will not leave me. Alas, what an opponent I have in my field! But blessed am I that I have such a Redeemer and Rewarder for my deeds! The basilisk (a huge serpent) is a terrible beast both in appearance and in ferocity, and this serpent is more cunning than him in both, both in struggle and in shamelessness. You, Holy Power, who have absorbed the rods turned into serpents, forbid this serpent too, because he impudently approaches me, but with the impudence of his struggle he acquires (helps to obtain) treasure for those who withstand his attack; in the sorrow that his threats cause, bliss is hidden. The joy of this age is full of sorrow, but sorrow and sighing bring joy and eternal life. I have always been weak, Lord, and now I am weak. Your grace unceasingly looks down on me and heals me, but every hour I have humiliated and am humiliating the price of its healing. Since the medicines of Your grace are invaluable, you give them freely, and since you give them for tears, then grant me the medicine of my soul for my tears. Everyone knows that our age is like a race, and that a strong serpent enters into battle with everyone. By others he is conquered and trampled upon, and by others he himself conquers and tramples; by others he is deposed and ridiculed, and others he himself deposes and ridicules. Some are crowned for their struggle with him, while others in that struggle yield victory over themselves; Some, for the bitterness of this earthly age, acquire the sweetness of eternal life, while others, for its sweetness and their relaxation, receive the bitterness of eternal torment. Some people conveniently overcome it with their high non-acquisitiveness, while others it overcomes it with their attachment to earthly things. For those who love God with all their souls, fighting with him is the same as nothing, but for those who love the world it is difficult and unbearable. Blessed are those who have loved God and, out of love for Him, have neglected everything! Blessed are those who weep day and night to escape the wrath to come. Blessed are those who voluntarily humble themselves, for there they will be exalted. Blessed are those who are abstinent, because heavenly pleasures await them. Blessed are those who exhausted their bodies with vigil and struggle, because they are destined for joy in paradise. Blessed are those who voluntarily became the temple of the Holy Spirit, for they will stand at the right hand. Blessed are those who have acquired the love of God in their souls, for they will be called lovers of Christ. Blessed are those who crucified themselves, because their thoughts day and night were on God. Blessed are those who have girded their loins with the truth, having their lamps ready and waiting for their Bridegroom when He returns from marriage. Blessed is he who has acquired contemplation with his mental eyes of future blessings and eternal torment and has diligently labored to obtain eternal blessings. Blessed is he who constantly has that terrible hour before his eyes and strives to please while there is still time. Blessed is he who is dispassionate on earth, like an Angel, so that on that day he may rejoice with the Angels. So, brothers, let us try to look at the things above, to think about the things above, to imagine the things above, to reason about the things above, to remember the things above, to study the things above, to philosophize about the things above, to talk about the things above, to do the things above, to be occupied with the things above, to be fully and completely in communion with the things above, and not to incline our eyes to things below, where are the pleasures, where are the lusts of this vain and deadly age. But how wonderful it is to always peer with the eye of the heart, so that something does not fall into the apple of the eye - or an evil thought, or something else that is not pleasing to the Lord God - and does not darken the mind. But listen, reader (I’m saying this about myself)! We have something that you can always think about, we have Angels, we have Archangels, we have Powers, we have Glories of Dominions, we have Cherubim, Seraphim, ourselves, but the main thing is the Lord of all, God, a beautiful and holy name; We have prophets, we have apostles, we have the Holy Gospels - the Words of God, we have martyrs, all the saints, we have confessors, there are holy fathers, patriarchs, there are shepherds, there are priests, there is heaven and everything that is in them. This is what you think about and you will be a son of the Master God, by the grace and love of mankind of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion, now and always and unto the ages of ages! Amen. You might be interested in: