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Know, child, that there are eight thoughts that produce all evil: gluttony, fornication, love of money, anger, untimely sadness, despondency, vanity, pride. They fight with every person. And you, child, if you want to overcome gluttony, love abstinence, have the fear of God and you will win. If you want to overcome fornication, love vigil and thirst, always think about death, and never have conversations with a woman, and you will win. If you want to overcome the love of money, love non-covetousness and wastefulness. If you want to overcome anger, acquire meekness and generosity and keep in mind how much evil the Jews did to our Lord Jesus Christ, and yet He, as a lover of mankind, was not angry with them, but, on the contrary, prayed for them, saying: “Father, forgive them” this sin: “for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). If you want to overcome untimely sorrow, never grieve about anything temporary; but if they insult you with words, or bother you, or dishonor you, do not be sad, but rejoice. Then only be sad when you sin; but even in this case, observe moderation so as not to fall into despair and perish. If you want to overcome despondency, do some handicraft at least for a while, or read, or pray often. If you want to overcome vanity, do not like praise, honor, good clothes, or preference. On the contrary, love to be reproached and dishonored, constructing lies against you; reproach yourself that you are more sinful than any sinner. If you want to overcome pride, no matter what you do, do not say that this is being done by your own labors or by your own strength. Whether you fast, spend time in vigil, sleep on the bare ground, sing psalms, or serve, or make many prostrations, say that with God’s help and with God’s protection this is being done, and not by my strength and not by my efforts. Try, child, to always be simple-hearted and sincere and do not keep one thing in your heart and another in your mouth, because this is deceit. Be truthful and not deceitful, because lies come from the evil one. Do not repay evil for evil, but if someone does evil to you, forgive him, so that God will forgive you too. If rancor overcomes you, pray with all your heart for that brother, rancor will leave you. Be careful not to allow the passion of envy into yourself, so that the devil does not consume you alive, but quickly confess and pray to God to deliver you from such danger. If you see someone sinning, do not disclose his sin, do not condemn him, do not harbor hatred towards him, so that you do not fall into the same sin, but rather say: “I am worse than him, and today he sinned, and in the morning I will sin.” Know also that demons are afraid of silence, fasting, vigil, abstinence, humility, prayers, tears and other virtues of a monk. If you want God to give you tears, contrition and dispassion, constantly bring to your memory death and your grave. If you are deceived by the devil and fall into a small or great sin, do not fall into despair and do not bring yourself to destruction, but resort to confession and repentance, and God will not turn away from you. Glory to him forever! Amen. God accepts you. Don't like going to cities. For if you do not see the evil one, you will remain pure. Do not drink wine to the point of intoxication, otherwise your heart will rush wildly towards pleasure. Do not eat twice a day, so that your body does not become coarse, and with it your passions do not become stronger. Do not shut your door against a stranger, because “when you measure with the least amount, it will be measured back to you” (Matthew 7:2). Visit the sick, and God will visit you too. Don’t sleep too much, but constantly ask for God’s help, so that you can escape “like a bird from a snare” (Proverbs 6:5). Don't talk much so as not to fall into a lie. Do not acquire anything for yourself beyond your needs, but live with moderate income. Keep quiet and do your job. Keep your tongue and belly in check with all your might. Have humility: be like one who does not know and is ignorant. Be gentle with all people. There is a lot of harm from talkativeness and laughter, and a prudent husband maintains silence. Always have sorrow and death before your eyes, and temptation will never lead you to despair. Both in the evening and in the morning, test yourself how you spent your time. But this cannot be done without difficulty. Know that just as the earth cannot bear fruit by itself without seed and water, so it is impossible for a person to bear fruit without suffering and humility. Constantly take care of yourself as God’s image. Fear God, as you are obliged to give Him an answer about all your deeds. Ask yourself every day what passion you have conquered. He who believes that there will be judgment does not judge a single person, but protects himself even from the small and unimportant. He who believes that his body will be resurrected takes care to cleanse it from defilement. So, beloved, establish yourself in the fear of God, guard and do everything that you should do, without causing any offense to your conscience. But be attentive to her, so that she too can be your guard and show you every time what you are falling into, and not leave you, letting you fall into the hands of your enemies. Know that when the mind of a monk begins to run away from its will and resort to God, despondency first attacks him. To destroy despondency, prayer and constant meditation on God serve, meditation is supported by abstinence, and abstinence is protected by bodily labor. This is the narrow path, “lead into the belly” (Matthew 7:14). The narrowness of the path, as in a mirror, is revealed to the monks in the word. For everything present is bitter for them: having property is dangerous, using it is unreliable, giving it up is painful; poverty is bitter, poverty is painful, asceticism is difficult, abstinence is difficult, the severity of life is not safe, silence is painful. A monk, if he denounces him, is obliged to bow to the ground; if he remains silent, he weakens in zeal for God. In every good deed, the demon, a hater of goodness, opposed a similar bad deed: he opposed almsgiving with self-interest, asceticism with conceit, vigilance with accusations of drowsiness, prayer with laziness, non-acquisitiveness with stinginess, love with flattery, hospitality with coldness or gluttony. He mixed everything, brought everything into unity, and began to participate in everything. Monastic life is in danger of finally collapsing. The head and legs suffer harm, the eyes and hands suffer from illness. The acquisition of property weakened faith, consumption changed asceticism; autocracy makes violence to humility, the acquisition of the temporary has cast down hope; bodily activity has darkened spiritual affairs; care for the flesh weakened the suggestion of the mind; conscience does not take the trouble to crush a thought. Thoughts are in no hurry to promote repentance. If I am not mistaken in saying this, then such a state is an image of captivity. For we are blinded and do not want to understand that the soul cannot do both good and evil together; he accepts the bad, hiding behind the good: during fasting he becomes vain, and during abstinence he is proud. He does not want to listen to God, who says: “no one can work for two masters” (Matthew 6:24). So, if you truly loved the Lord, and are making an effort to improve the future Kingdom, and have vowed to work because of your sins, then remember judgment and eternal torment, awaiting with fear your departure from this world. Have no attachment to money, nor to property, nor to parents, nor to worldly glory, nor to friends, nor to relatives, nor to brothers, nor to anything earthly; have no care or concern about this. But, breaking off all connection, putting aside care and hating this, even baring your own flesh from all this, carelessly and unlazyly follow Christ, always looking to heaven and expecting help from there. For death is sudden, judgment is near, and woe to the unprepared! Woe to you, soul, that you remain insensitive in this life, every day indulging in luxury, laughter, absent-mindedness and living dissolutely; in the next century you will cry like a rich man, tormented in the flames of eternal fire. Woe to you, soul, that you cannot bear any sorrow caused to you by your brother, not even a cruel word, but you immediately enter into contradiction and resistance, and for this you lose the crown of patience and meekness and will be forever condemned with those who are malicious. Woe to you, soul, because you hate and revile your brother or tolerate others doing the same; for this you will be punished with the murderers. For it is said: “If you hate your brother, he is a murderer” (1 John 3:15). Woe to you, soul, that you neglect God’s commandments and assume that salvation is in one image and the name of a monk. For on the terrible day you will hear that the Lord will say: “Not everyone who says to Me: Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven; but do the will of My Father” (Matthew 7:21). “Depart from Me, cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angel” (Matthew 25:41). Woe to you, soul, that you love human glory, and honors, and elegant clothes, and the acquisition of material things; therefore, on the day of Judgment you will be an abomination before God, rejected from His presence and numbered among the arrogant demons. Woe to you, soul, that you sin every day, and put off repentance day after day. Death will come upon you suddenly, like a thief in the night, and, bound, you will be led into fiery hell, shedding tears to no avail and blaming your foolishness. Woe to you, soul, that you do not tremble, thinking how on the Terrible Day of Judgment, when the Heavenly Powers will move from fear, you will appear before the face of God, wearing a vile and defiled robe. You might be interested in: