Conversation about abstinence

In a small “Discourse on Temperance” by St. John Chrysostom discusses the meaning of this virtue and calls for imitating the example of the saints in order to earn heavenly crowns. The salvation of our soul and the “saving antidote from vile lusts” is the Cross of Christ: “Just as the pillar of cloud - the image of our cross - covered the Jewish people so that they would not suffer any evil from the Egyptians (Ex. 13:21), so the cross before our eyes, contemplated by us, immediately drives away all evil lust.” The year and place of the conversation are unknown. The word about abstinence always seems to me to be very useful and fitting for Christ’s servants; in particular, now it will be opportune for us to turn to you with it, since, having put on Christ, the children of the Church must most of all demonstrate themselves by abstinence, preferably over other good qualities. After all, if someone, at the sight of the athletes who usually appear at the Olympic Games and go down to the lists, waxed and polished, spoke to them about struggle, self-control and victory, then, in the fair judgment of everyone, he would have done this at the right time. So now, when we see the Savior’s ascetics, who in the divine sacraments have received power from the Holy Spirit, whom we intend to send to a spiritual competition, it is natural for us to talk about abstinence. In human competitions, crowns are given after victory, but in Christ’s lists - before it. Why does Christ send us to fight already in crowns? In order to instill fear in enemies and excite our feelings; so that, looking at the honor given to us by God, we do not say or do anything unworthy of the Lord. If any king, dressed in scarlet and adorned with a crown on his head, under the influence of natural passions, does something unworthy of royal greatness, then immediately, as soon as he looks at the royal clothes, he corrects himself and takes care that after this he does not again find himself in the grip of vile passions. Likewise, you, having put on Christ, having been saved from shameful spiritual lust, constantly fix your gaze on the divine robe - and you will immediately become stronger and avoid danger from the wiles of the evil one. So, it is, of course, a wonderful thing to approve and praise abstinence, but to possess it is even more wonderful. And, no doubt, those who talk and listen a lot about it are greatly encouraged to abstinence. For this reason, God was pleased to glorify the virtues of holy men in the Holy Scriptures, so that all people would be inclined to imitate them and so that, carefully following in their footsteps, they would lead a temperate life. If during competitions in gymnastic schools, many, at the sight of crowned athletes, become inflamed, undress and endure a lot of intense and intense labor in order to earn crowns from olive or laurel branches, then with what swiftness, therefore, should we intensely take care of abstinence, at the sight of others, already crowned by God - so that we too, through good saving deeds, deserve this decoration - heavenly crowns. How is it not painful and how not deserving of great anger is the fact that athletes are lured by the laurel or olive leaf and the glory of this transitory life, and we are not in the least encouraged by the gifts of Christ to abandon all lust and prefer the fear of God to desires? Further, not only people, we see, imitate their own kind, but also irrational beings. Often, when doves see one of them flying away, they all immediately follow it, and a noble foal frolicking in a herd of horses carries the entire herd along with it. And among you, as if in the flock of Christ, there is a wonderful young branch - the most self-controlled Joseph, who with his heavenly agility calls us, his fellow servants, to imitate him. So, let us sing a spiritual dance together with the beautiful young man, praising his abstinence not only in words, but also through imitation of his deeds. He was a zealous and constant guardian of abstinence, although he could give orders to the queen herself and lead a rich and pleasure-filled life in pomp and luxury. Although he could be the master of such and such great benefits, however, having discussed that wealth, power and glory pass away along with real life, and that the benefit from them is only temporary, and that there is no end to virtue alone, he, therefore, threw the fear of Christ on pleasures - as if some kind of bridle. He ridiculed the wealth, pomp and promise of his mistress, considering suffering in prison more pleasant than life in beautiful palaces - although for those who are extremely handsome in body, it is difficult to control pleasure. He presented such an example of abstinence that with the beauty of his soul he obscured the beauty of his body, that in view of the beauty of his body he should be likened to some beautiful star, and in view of the beauty of his soul he should be likened to angels. We should be amazed not only at the young man’s abstinence, but also at the dangers to which he was exposed because of it, considering the work of serving pleasures more difficult and more terrible than even death. He will be amazed by those who carefully examine his virtue and who weigh the times at which he kept his soul pure. He retained freedom of mind before the appearance on earth of the Lord and Creator of the universe. He was brought up in the house of the wicked; many persuaded him to do very bad things; he had no temperance teacher. Everyone was a slave to pleasure - they indulged their belly, did nothing pious, nothing holy; however, living among so many such wicked people, when he saw his intemperate mistress reclining, he did not turn out to be a traitor to heavenly treasures, but kept the temple of the Holy Spirit unemptied, preferring to die than to serve pleasures. He had not yet heard the words of Paul that our bodies are members of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15); but before he heard the divine voice, he, teaching us in the churches how we should fight and keep our souls intact, showed himself to be not inferior in importance to those who were honored with heavenly promises. “If I,” Joseph may say, “who lived before the birth of Christ and did not hear the exalted Apostle Paul, who exclaimed that our bodies are members of Christ, thought that it was fitting for God’s servants to command pleasure, and did not turn out to be a waste of abstinence, although many dangers were prepared before my eyes, then to what extent should you live in abstinence with fear and trembling, so as not to be unworthy of honor, and lest the members of Christ become members of the fornicators!” This word can protect every soul with abstinence; this word easily extinguishes burning lusts. Rain falling on a fire does not suppress the flame as easily as it makes the bad lusts allowed into the soul fade away. The great Job can tell us the same words, who not only was a careful guardian of abstinence, but even laid down a law for his eyes, according to which they should not look at the face of a girl, for fear that the sparkling beauty would somehow deceive his mind (Job.31:1). Who would not be surprised and amazed at the sight of this man, who truly bravely fought the devil and destroyed all the cunning plans of the evil one, fleeing from the face of a young woman and turning his eyes away from the contemplation of a beautiful maiden? Seeing the devil approaching, he did not run away, but, relying on his own strength, remained in place like a lion; When he saw the girl, he did not stop or hesitate to examine her beauty, but immediately left. Without a doubt, he thought that in the fight against demons a courageous and courageous spirit is needed, and in the matter of caring for abstinence, victory is conceded not as a result of a person’s communication with girls, but as a result of moving away from them. So, whoever makes a promise of virginity will receive advice from the most abstinent of all people, who himself, even before the incarnation of Christ, was such a zealous guardian of abstinence. One should not listen with disdain that even before the incarnation of Christ there were righteous people who represented such an example of abstinence. After all, at that time there was no evidence that would encourage such virtue with such force, and even the virgins were not charged with the crime of their negligence in maintaining abstinence. How is this so? But for this reason, the highest God, the Creator of the universe, took our image in order to remove the chastity of the angels from heaven. So, if even after such an honor people indulge in sensual pleasures, it is impossible to express the magnitude of their recklessness, due to which, by making the members of Christ the members of a harlot, they weaken the manifestation of God’s mercy towards them and, as far as depends on them, make it useless for them. Demons listen and are afraid, because God does not allow them to unite with Him, but He unites us with Him. And after this, some of the faithful dare to sever their connection with Christ and unite with harlots? It is not as great an evil to fall from heaven into the mud as it is to become a member of Christ, to lose divine honor and become a member of a fornicator. Therefore, when vicious lust inflames the soul, immediately remember Christ, think about the fact that Paul is standing before you, admonishing you and saying: 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? (1 Cor. 6:15). If you bring these words to mind, you will immediately see how lust will run away from you. If a chaste and well-behaved mistress, by her very appearance, immediately makes chaste her maids who are devoted to shameful passion, then is it surprising if the remembrance of Christ immediately mortifies the lust that troubles you? Always have a shining cross before your eyes, and during this time you will leave clean from sins. Just as the pillar of cloud - the image of our cross - covered the Jewish people so that they would not suffer any evil from the Egyptians (Ex. 13:21), so the cross before our eyes, contemplated by us, immediately drives away all evil lust. After all, he is the salvation of our soul and the saving antidote to vile lusts. In fact, the infirmities of the body are healed by the art of doctors, and the sick soul is immediately healed by Christ’s sayings. Therefore, we ask and beg those people who have sinned and still serve the pleasures of the flesh to awaken and come to their senses, so that they do not find themselves completely in the power of passions, not be carried away by their onslaught and voluntarily fall into bitter slavery, but in order to resist in military ranks, strengthen their minds with the fear of Christ and drive out the cruel mistress from the fortress, so that, after removing all vice and many sins, we can with a holy and pure soul proceed to the divine and terrible sacraments of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power forever and ever. Amen. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: