О памятовании смерти, о добродетели и о богатстве

I must obey the one who says: “Comfort one another and build one another up” (1 Thess. 5:11). I must not because I am able to teach and I can do it with my diligence. On the contrary, I know (the truth from) him who said: “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of generous gifts and the God of all joy. Comfort us in all our sorrow, for you are able to comfort us in all sorrow, with the consolation with which we ourselves are comforted from God” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). Therefore, I considered it necessary to write to you about everything that I have learned from the Divine Scriptures, what I have been instructed in by reverent men, and what I have comprehended through my own experience, so as not to be like those envious artists who, out of ill will, hide much in art from their students. I believe who said: “God is the one who works in us, to do whatever we will and to do for good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). Virtue is not diminished if many take it up and many succeed in it, as one of the saints said. The acquisition of virtue is such that even if everyone shared in, its wealth would not be exhausted. It is not like earthly acquisition, in which those who divide into shares add as much to one part as they subtract from the other, and the excess of one becomes a deficiency for the other sharer. This is why people, out of hatred for belittlement, quarrel over more. But whoever acquires virtue for himself does not arouse envy by increasing his acquisitions, and whoever admires more virtue for himself will not cause any harm to the one who wants to have acceptability (less), but will only be filled with good desire; the wealth of virtue is not exhausted by those who warned (intended) to prevail over it. So, let us begin (the story) that we have proposed, with the assistance of the grace of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. For those who are sober, negligence is the cause of many evils, little by little distracting them from spiritual life, cooling the fervor of their faith and teaching them to serve pleasures as if they were masters, for it does not allow them to think about future rewards after leaving this life. A careless person, even if he listens to the Scriptures announcing future punishments after death, accepts them without any feeling that the punishments were assigned to someone else, and he himself is not subject to blame. As much as negligence is harmful, sobriety is so useful, supplying us with everything good. A sober person always has the remembrance of God on his mind. And where the remembrance of God is rooted, all activity of the evil one ceases. By constantly renewing in us the insatiable desire for future benefits, it shortens our course (shortens the path to virtue). Just as physical achievement requires healthy limbs and visual acuity, so spiritual achievement requires a purified soul. The body is taxed and relaxed by the excess of the disease. But nothing harms a sober soul, just as the anxiety of suffering and the fact that he sat in the open air on a dunghill did not harm the courageous Job. The strongest thing is piety, but the most miserable and unhappy is a life devoted to passions. The more pleasant the temporary, the more it increases the disaster. As the thrifty, having lost one or two drachmas, lament, wounded by covetousness; and the rich man, having not received for his share a small vineyard and a small plot suitable for cultivating the land, laments, unable to bear the loss - so the rich are also haunted by grief, reminding them of separation from wealth. Especially if someone sees himself approaching old age, he mourns himself as if bound with iron shackles, or imprisoned, not finding any way to ward off old age, although he thinks of removing the memory of death with pipes and timbrels, and other musical instruments. But the more he tries to weaken that remembrance, the more he strengthens it, because, without any doubt, he will finally be deprived of all fun. The applause, games and the most pleasant sound of pipes will cease. Sorrow never ceases to burn his insides and devour his womb. And the most tragic spectacles in their fables (stories about them) and wars constantly talk about death and extermination. And if he had remembered death, then the fear of waiting, of course, would have changed his disposition and turned him to good activities. Of which of the unbelievers and wicked will they say that he remembered death? Let this not seem terrible to you, because the thought of death is inseparable from every person. But unbelievers make bad use of it, complaining only about separation from the pleasures of life. Believers use it as a benefit and as a cure for shameful passions. So, we are all sure that believers and unbelievers will die, but not everyone believes that there is a Judgment after death. The righteous, always having him before their eyes, according to the word of the one who said: “And as man is destined to die alone, then comes the Judgment” (Heb. 9:27), - day and night they send up prayers and petitions to God in order to get rid of fiery hell and other torments and be worthy of standing with the holy Angels. But among the wicked and sinful there is only one simple remembrance of death. They do not care about what will happen after death; they only complain about the loss of the pleasures of life and about separation from them. And if one of them comes to the thought of death, which worries the righteous, then the first sorrow will give way to the second, for such a person will not be of one mind with those who reason: “Let us drink and drink, for in the morning we will die” (1 Cor. 15:32). He will not agree to accumulate treasures for the useless and to work on the fruitless, or, better said, to prepare for himself torment. On the contrary, as a wise husband, he will be concerned with the best, or with the desire for the most perfect, the care of which the wicked avoid. But for those who love earthly things, their whole life is spent in vain hope. And the greater the abundance of wealth, the more it increases the fear of death, for the memory of death, living inside them, causes grief depending on the sensitivity of each. But (they mourn) not for the improvement of their chastity and prudence, truthfulness and courage, not for the arousal of thoughts about Gehenna and about the justice of God - no, they, not knowing how to help themselves, cry about their wealth and say: “Who, after our death, will own such an estate. After all, it is pleasant for kings to know who will rule the kingdom after them! Who will prevail over this gold and silver? Who will then use so many golden things? Who will inherit gold-woven and silk clothes, colorful and expensive bedspreads? Who will ride the golden-bridled and chosen horses? Who will be accompanied when going out by many servants gathered from different nations? Who will live in the towers and dining rooms, which I decorated with such care with marble, in which the floor is lined with multi-colored stones and the ceiling is gilded? For whom will the bakers and butlers work after this? To whom will the eunuchs serve? Who will recline on silver-plated beds, the decorations for which were exported from India? Who will receive the fruit, and the wine, and the first-fruits of my gardens? Who will get the necklaces and gold belts? Who will be the owner of the armories, chariots and horses trained for the road and military formation? Who will the house servants call their master? Who will anoint himself with the scent of ointments? Who will get the dogs, the hunters, and the birds that serve in the hunt? To whom will my shepherds bring the firstfruits? Who will collect taxes? And when a person, carried away by thoughts in different directions, does not find a solution, after many sighs he returns again to caring for the house, without taking on the trouble of preparing treasure in heaven. When everything he desires comes to an end - the contentment of fruits, and the abundance of income, and the fertility of livestock, and a noble rank, and valiant deeds in the war with enemies - then the revived thought of death will revolt the heart. And if the members are bent by extreme old age and can no longer serve indecent and forbidden pleasures, then life itself becomes disgusting to him. If someone is cruel, fierce and arrogant, and in an abundance of peace and prosperity considers himself very far from the thought of death, then through this he does not become out of danger of death - for he is like a sick person who pretends to be healthy and eats food that is contrary to his illness, thinking thereby to overcome the disease. But this does not make the suffering easier, because the disease, having intensified in the members, will convince him against his will that the suffering is beyond his strength. As soon as he sees that one of his fellow tribesmen is suddenly abducted by death from various attacks, then he will involuntarily become convinced that the death sentence will come to him too. If someone is young or has recently gotten married, then even in this case the thought of death (even) will mix sorrow with the most pleasant sensations. As soon as he sees his wife’s beloved face, fear of separation will certainly come into him, and if he hears the sweetest voice, he will imagine that he will never hear it again. And when he could be amused by the sight of beauty, then he will most begin to tremble from the expected crying, reflecting that this beauty will be lost, and instead of what is visible, disgusting bones will now remain, no longer having any trace, no reminder, no remnant of real beauty. And if he imagines all this and the like in his mind, will he live in joy? Will he rely (will he) rely on the present as something useful and permanent? Isn’t it obvious that he will lose his disposition and trust in life as in sleepy seductions, looking at the visible as something alien? The careless and negligent, being darkened by sinful seduction, with the increasing number of days in their lives, still think that they are far from the hour of death, not caring in the least about their passing. On the contrary, they assign themselves many years and a long life. But they are like travelers walking in the dark at night, who think that they are far from the rapids and abyss ahead, until, having fallen, they resolve their doubts by actual experience. Therefore, whoever with a pure spiritual eye looks at the seductions of this life and has become above those who care about this here, he will, without a doubt, understand that whether he eats, drinks, sleeps, works, whether he scatters himself, every day and hour nature brings him closer to old age and to the end of temporary life. Therefore, despising everything as a snare, he will try to free himself from addiction to life, so as not to have any communication with what is bad in human life. So, whoever has a virtuous life in mind, enriches himself with virtue, which is not limited by any human limit, can he go through real life without contrition and tears? Will he not bow down with his soul to the one that creeps on the earth and is trampled underfoot? Will he still marvel at earthly wealth or human power, or anything else that people foolishly covet? “Whoever is still partial to such things, let him be outside such a group (assembly), and it is not about him that we are talking. But whoever thinks higher and soars in thought to God is, without a doubt, above such things and strives with all his might to follow virtue, because there is nothing more worthy in the world than it. It makes people friends of God. All gold in her eyes is the same as a few grains of sand, and silver is counted as dust to her. She does not fade from suffering; weakness does not darken her. Death, which is terrible for everyone, is not terrible for those who have succeeded in virtue, because with boldness they will exclaim with the apostle, who said: “Their desire is to be resolved, and to be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23). Glory to him forever and ever! Amen. You might be interested in: