Слово 19. О печали и скорби

God put sorrow into our nature not so that we would indulge in it unreasonably and untimely, under unfortunate circumstances, not so that we would destroy ourselves, but so that we would receive the greatest benefit from it. The time of trouble is not when we suffer disasters, but when we do evil deeds. Meanwhile, we have perverted this order and changed the times: when we do thousands of evils, we do not repent even for a short time, but if we suffer some little thing from someone, we lose heart, become embarrassed and ask to be delivered from this life, not knowing that sorrows and temptations, and the sorrows that befall us, no less than the blessings, reveal God’s care for us. What am I saying about the troubles here? Even the threat of Gehenna, no less than the Kingdom of Heaven, shows His love for mankind, because if He had not threatened Gehenna, no one would have achieved heavenly blessings so easily. In fact, the promise of benefits alone is not enough to turn to virtue, if those who are more careless about it were not also prompted by the fear of punishment. In addition, sadness and grief do not exist so that we grieve over death, over the deprivation of money, or over anything else similar, but so that we use them to exterminate sins. After all, even a warrior who fears death will never do anything valiant. So, the mourner needs to grieve not because he is being punished, but because he irritates God with his sins. The first kind of grief alienates God from us and makes Him our enemy; The second kind of sorrow most of all reconciles Him with us and makes Him close to us. You did not come into this life, man, to eat idly, not to not endure any disasters, but so that you would be glorified through suffering. It is not the business of a valiant husband to seek peace and indulge in pleasures; such a desire is more characteristic of a mindless worm than of a (human) possessing reason. Of course, pray not to fall into temptation; but if you ever fall into trouble, don’t complain, don’t be embarrassed, don’t be discouraged, but try with all your might to become even more glorious. Do you not see how the most courageous of warriors, when called by the sound of the trumpet, turn their gaze to trophies, to victories, to their ancestors who distinguished themselves by the exploits of their ancestors? So you too, at the sound of the spiritual trumpet, become stronger than the lion; come forward, even if there is fire in front of you, even if there is iron; and the elements know how to respect those who show such courage; and animals know how to fear such valiant fighters, and no matter how fierce they are, whether from hunger, or by their very nature, they forget everything and overcome their passion. So, if a Christian is sad, he can have only two reasons for grief: either when he himself angers God, or when his neighbor does the same. It is not those who are reproached who should fear and tremble, but those who inflict insults, because it is not the former who need to justify themselves for the evil speeches they have heard, but the latter for the evil they have spoken; all danger threatens these latter. Thus, those who hear bad things said about themselves should remain carefree, because they will not give an account for what another has said badly; on the contrary, those who speak evil should fear and tremble, since they will be brought to the Last Judgment for this. Let us therefore grieve not because we hear bad speeches about ourselves, but because we hear such speeches deservedly: if we live viciously, then, even if no one blames us, we turn out to be the most unhappy of all; on the contrary, if we are jealous of virtue, then, even if the whole world speaks badly of us, we will be the happiest of all. If our spirit is in a good mood, then, even if countless storms arise from everywhere, we will always remain in a quiet haven; and vice versa, when it is not well-maintained, then, even if everything is favorable to us, we will be in a position no better than those who are in ruins. This can also be observed regarding food. When our stomach is strong and strong, then no matter what coarse or raw food it takes, it turns everything into healthy juice, since natural dissolution overcomes the bad properties of food; on the contrary, when his strength is relaxed and becomes sluggish, then, even if you offer him the best quality food, he turns it into the worst and completely spoils it, since his weakness destroys its good properties. A soul stricken with sorrow and enveloped in a cloud of despondency is unable to either calmly listen to or say anything useful. A soul depressed by grief does not want to dwell on words for a long time; but just as a thick cloud, running into a ray of sunlight, throws it all back, so the cloud of despondency, when it stands before our soul, does not allow the word to pass freely, but strangles it and forcibly holds it inside. And this happens not only to those who speak, but also to those who listen. Just as grief does not allow the word to fly freely from the soul of the speaker, so it does not allow it to penetrate with its inherent power into the soul of those listening. So, for example, when his friends came to Job, learned about the misfortune with his house and saw the righteous man sitting on a dungeon covered with sores, they tore their clothes, wept and sat silently near him, showing that for those oppressed by grief there is nothing more useful at first than silence and silence. So, know that the One who allows temptation to be, Himself also knows the time for the cessation of temptation. God is able to stop all disasters, but until he sees the conversion completed, he does not stop sorrows. Marvel at those who are exposed to temptations and endure them courageously, such as the three youths. No one would have been surprised at the latter because they were not burned if they were far from the Babylonian cave; but what is amazing for everyone is that, after being in the fire for so long, they came out unharmed than those who were not in it. The same must be said regarding the saints: if no temptation had been sent to them, then we would not be surprised that they rejoiced unceasingly. Meanwhile, being surrounded by countless waves from everywhere, they felt better than people enjoying undisturbed silence. If there was nothing that made them sad, then there would be nothing great for them that they could always rejoice; but when they, despite the many dangers that could plunge them into despondency, remained above them all and rejoiced in the midst of the most sorrows, this is worthy of every surprise. In fact, doesn’t death seem the most unbearable thing? Meanwhile, waiting for her not only does not sadden them, but even more only makes them happy. They knew that the coming of death is the end of labor, that the Lover of Mankind always honors His servants, and often even grants them the salvation of others. This is what He did, for example, with Saint Paul, that teacher of the universe, who everywhere emitted the rays of his teaching. Precisely, when he was being led to Rome, one day a strong storm arose at sea, so that everyone on the ship trembled for their salvation and had no hope due to excessive excitement; then he, calling everyone, said: “I urge you to take heart, because not a single soul of you will perish, but only the ship. For the Angel of God, Whom I belong and Whom I serve, appeared to me that night and said: “Do not be afraid, Paul! ...God has given you all those who sail with you" (Acts 27:22-24). We will always remember this. Truly, nothing brings us such benefit as the constant remembrance of God’s benefits, both general and private. If we warm our souls when we remember the good deeds of a friend, or hear a pleasant word or deed, then we will be much more zealous towards virtue when we realize what dangers we were exposed to, and how God delivered us from all of them. So it was with Paul. About what this blessed one endured for the sake of preaching, about hunger, thirst, nakedness, ruins, dangers, intrigues, prisons, scourgings and everything else, I think there is no need to say anything. Each of these disasters was enough to greatly confuse and crush this holy soul. But when he says: “Whoever faints, with whom would I not faint? Who is tempted, for whom would I not be inflamed?” (2 Cor. 11:29) - these words indicate what most of all caused him constant and unbearable grief. In fact, if he was inflamed because of everyone who was tempted, then this flame could never go out in his soul, because there was no shortage of those who were tempted, and thus provided food for the fire. And seeing, in addition, also unbelieving Jews, could he have even the slightest rest from sorrow and torment? “I would like,” he says, “to be excommunicated from Christ for my brothers who are related to me according to the flesh, that is, the Israelites” (Rom. 9:3-4), that is, it would be more desirable for me to fall into Gehenna than to see the Israelites as unbelievers. If he decided to suffer in Gehenna just to bring all the Jews to faith, then it is obvious that, having not achieved this, he suffered more than those who suffer in Gehenna. The following words were also spoken to him: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9), i.e. It is enough for you that you raise the dead, heal the blind, cleanse lepers and perform other miracles; Do not also seek to live safely and carefree and preach without difficulty. But do you suffer and mourn? Do not, however, consider it a sign of My powerlessness that many do you harm, beat you, persecute you and scourge you; on the contrary, this is where My power is revealed (“for My power,” he says, “is made perfect in weakness”), when you, being persecuted, overcome those who pursue, being persecuted, you overcome your persecutors, being imprisoned in bonds, you convert those who bind you. Of course, it’s hard to hear reproaches about yourself and anyone else; when one of the benefited does this, when he reproaches and reviles the benefits shown to him, then the insult especially becomes unbearable, and in addition to grief, it also arouses such anger that it can even strangle the offended person. Anyone who suffers an insult from some great person finds considerable satisfaction in the feeling of pride in the very superiority of the one doing him harm; the one who suffers from an insignificant and despicable person experiences much greater grief and considers his grief unbearable. But pay attention not to whether people laugh at us, but to whether they laugh fairly and deservedly; and if it is fair, then even if they did not laugh, we should cry; if it is unfair, then, even if everyone laughs at us, we will consider ourselves happy, and cry for them as the most unfortunate people, no different from those who are raging - although for those oppressed by grief there is nothing more intolerable than a word that can hurt the soul. Say this daily to yourself and to each other, whenever possible. If someone who intends to ask someone, even if his request is reasonable, waits for a convenient time to approach the person on whom he depends to fulfill the request, when he is in a calm and good mood, and thanks to a well-chosen time receives what he asks, then the speaker needs to look much more for a convenient time. We must care for each other as much as we care for ourselves, and spare our neighbors just as God spares us. Truly, no one spares himself as much as God spares us all, Who wants us much more than ourselves that we should not suffer any evil. To Him belongs glory, power, honor and worship, now and forever. Amen. Ἐκλογαί άπό διαφόρων λόγων . Under this name are known collections of conversations compiled by various persons after the death of Chrysostom on certain topics, from those related to the topics and especially liked by the compilers of the works of the saint. The passages are given partly in a literal presentation, partly in a free retelling and are borrowed both from the original works of Chrysostom, and from works only attributed to Chrysostom, which have not only survived to this day, but have also been lost. These Eclogues (selections) were widespread and were used by both private individuals and kings. Known, for example, is the luxurious collection of Eclogues, owned by the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros Botaniatus (1078–1081), registered among the codices of the Koalene Library under No. LXXIX. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: