To Stagirius the ascetic

The treatise “To Stagiri the Ascetic” (3 books) was written by St. John Chrysostom in Antioch around 381 or a little later. Stagirius, a young man of noble origin, left worldly life and took the monastic path, but by God’s permission he began to suffer from fits of demonic possession and tried to take his own life. Not being able to meet him in person, St. John Chrysostom sent Stagiria his essay, in which he consoled him for the misfortune that had befallen him. In the first book, “To Stagiri the Ascetic, Possessed by a Demon” (10 chapters), the saint calls on the monk to patiently endure the trials that befall him and to see in them the good Providence of God, since only sins remove us from God and make Him enemies, and punishments reconcile us with Him. He cites Adam, Cain, Noah, Abraham and Joseph as examples, thereby trying to show that God punishes those he loves for good purposes. In the second book, “Besides Stagirius, that despondency is worse than a demon” (12 chapters) St. John calls for freedom from depressing thoughts of suicide. Such thoughts do not always come from a demon, but sometimes from one’s own despondency, which needs to be dispersed. The best way to do this is to rise above the opinions of the crowd and think that there is only one sin to be ashamed of. Using examples from Holy Scripture, the saint shows that rewards are prepared for us in the future, and the present is a time of labor. In the third book, “Besides Stagiri, on despondency” (14 chapters), examples of saints are again given to show how they coped with difficulties and sent trials. The saint speaks of the disasters to which the friends of Stagiria were subjected, of the human misery in hospitals and prisons. God tests us to atone for our sins and is more lenient towards us than we are ourselves. *The title of the work in Greek is Λόϒος παραινετικὸς πρὸς Σταϒείριον ἀσκητὴν δαιμονῶντα. *The title of the work in Latin is Ad Stagirium a daemone vexatum (lib. 1-3). Contents To Stagirius the ascetic possessed by a demon In addition to Stagirius, that despondency is worse than a demon In addition to Stagirius, about despondency Stagirius, who came from a noble and wealthy house and was brought up in the rules of the Christian faith, in his pious mood renouncing wealth and worldly pursuits in Antioch, devoted himself to the ascetic life of hermits, in which he soon, by God's permission, was exposed to the action of a demon (demon or evil spirit), suffered from fits of demonic possession, which caused him such torment and such spiritual despondency that he even attempted take your own life. St. John Chrysostom, having learned about the plight of Stagirius, with whom he was on friendly terms, wanted to provide him with spiritual consolation through written exhortations, not being able to personally visit him due to his own illness, which befell him after his exploits in the desert at the end of 380 AD. At this time or at the beginning of 381, the proposed three words of the saint could have been written. To Stagirius the ascetic, possessed by a demon The terrible ordeal that befell Stagirius, and the desire to console him at least in writing. – Allowing us trials and benefiting both them and the fall itself. – Examples – Adam in Paradise, Cain, Noah during the flood, Abraham and Joseph. – Testing is one of the means by which the Lord increases our merits and brings our mind into submission to the Divine. - The reason why God allows the prosperity of the wicked and the grief of the good. – The inscrutability of God’s ways. – Eternity, as righteous retribution for the good and the evil. – The duty of a true Christian is to be submissive to God’s Providence. – An admonition to Stagiria to strengthen his conviction. 1. We should now be with you, my dear Stagirius, and take part in your suffering and, at least to the best of our ability, alleviate your despondency, comforting with words, helping with deeds and using all other means; but since bodily weakness and an ensuing headache, forcing us to stay at home, deprived us of the opportunity to serve in such a useful task, we will not hesitate to do, to the best of our ability, what remains both for your consolation and for our benefit. Perhaps this will help you to bravely endure a real disaster; if we do not succeed in this, then at least the thought that we, on our part, have not omitted anything that should be done will ease our soul. Whoever has done everything that he considers useful to stop the suffering that befalls his neighbor, even if he does not succeed in this, is at least freed from the reproaches of conscience and, having laid aside the burden of these reproaches, must bear only the burden of grief. If I were one of those who are pleasing to God and can do great things, I would not cease to pray and ask God for a person who is precious to me; but since many sins deprive me of this boldness and strength, I will try to offer you verbal consolation. This also happens with those who suffer from bodily illnesses: the destruction of suffering and the cessation of illness is the work of doctors, but the consolation of the sick is not prohibited to the slaves who serve them; They especially speak a lot in favor of their masters if they are well disposed towards them. So, if we say something that can stop your excessive sorrow, then what we desire will come true; if we cannot find anything to say, then of course our zeal will be approved by the One who, through blessed Paul, commanded to weep with those who weep and to follow the humble (Rom. 12:15-16). There seems to be only one reason for your despondency - the fury of the evil demon; but you can find many sorrows that are then born from this root. I say this now not on my own, but on the basis of those complaints that I often heard from you when you were with us; and firstly, (you complained) that in the past, when you led a worldly life, you did not tolerate anything like this, and when you were crucified to the world, then you felt such an illness that could confuse and plunge you into despair; secondly, to the fact that many of those living in pleasure, having been exposed to the same illness as you, after short-term suffering were freed from this illness and completely recovered, so that they got married, became fathers of many children, enjoyed the pleasures of this life, and again were no longer exposed to a similar illness - but you spend so much time in fasting, all-night vigils and other deeds, and yet you do not receive liberation from the suffering that befell you; thirdly, that that holy man who showed such great power on other people could not do the same on you, beloved, and not only he, but also those who were with him, who were even stronger than him, all left you equally unsuccessful. In addition, according to your words, you are grieving greatly because the power of despondency has so taken hold of your soul that often you almost threw yourself into a noose, or into a river, or into an abyss. There is a fifth complaint, which consists in the fact that you see how your peers and those who have begun to lead an ascetic life with you are in good spirits, while you are still in the most severe storm and living in the most terrible prison. According to you, it is not so much that one should cry when chained in iron, but rather when one is bound by these chains. Then, you told me, something else greatly worries you: you are afraid and trembling for your father, lest he, having learned about this, cause great trouble to those who initially accepted you as a saint; because, relying on his strength and wealth and abandoning himself to grief, he will dare anything against them and will not refrain from anything that he pleases. Until now, his mother was able to hide what happened from him and distract him when he was looking for you; but over time, the mother’s pretense will be revealed, and he will act cruelly both to her and to the monks. But the height of misfortune is that you cannot hope for the future and do not know for sure whether this illness will ever stop and end, after you have hoped for healing so many times and then again been subjected to the same torment. All this, of course, can disturb the soul and fill it with great confusion, but a weak, inexperienced and careless soul. If we want to be somewhat attentive and judge piously, we will scatter these causes of despondency like fine dust. Do not think that now I promise you this so easily because I myself am a stranger to this sorrow and storm. Even if my words seem incredible to others, despite this, I will speak; and you yourself, of course, will not, along with others, distrust us. When the unclean demon attacked your soul for the first time and overthrew you while you were praying along with everyone else, although I was not there (for which I thank the Humane-loving God), I knew everything exactly, as if I was there. My and your friend Theophilus the Ephesian, having come, told me in detail about everything: about the writhing in your hands, about the distortion of your eyes, about the foam on your lips, about the terrible and inarticulate voice, the shaking of your body, the prolonged fainting and the dream that you had that night: it seemed to you, he said, as if a wild pig, covered in mud, was constantly rushing at you and fighting with you; and when the one sleeping next to you, alarmed by this vision, woke up, he saw that the demon was tormenting you again. 2. When he told about this, he brought upon us the same darkness into which the demon cast you, beloved! But when, after a long time, I came to my senses, then everything unpleasant in this world ceased to seem unpleasant to me and everything pleasant - pleasant; Having long known all the vanity of everyday life, I felt it even more then, and my love for your piety became stronger. This is the property of misfortunes: they usually strengthen friendship; this is evident from the fact that they can easily stop hostility. And there is no person so cruel and insensitive who, seeing his enemy in misfortune, could still harbor hatred towards him. If we even pity our enemies and treat them as friends when we see them undergoing some kind of misfortune, then think how I must have felt, seeing in the grave torment of despondency the one who is dearest to me and whom I value as my own head. Do not think that we are strangers to your grief, and therefore do not accept my consolation with suspicion. Although I, by the grace of God, am free from the torment and attacks of the evil demon, I feel despondency and sorrow from these torments no less than you, which anyone who knows how to love as one should believe will believe me. Let us shake off this dust; then this despondency will be tolerable and easy in its nature, unless we want to carelessly allow this feeling to drag us into the abyss, but try to perk up and think about what needs to be done. Many seeming misfortunes appear great and intolerable until they are well considered; and whoever examines them rationally will find that they are much easier than they were thought to be; I hope this will happen now. So, take heart, do not follow the empty and unreasonable opinion of the crowd and do not make the enemy stronger against us. If I were talking to someone who is unfaithful or who thinks that everything happens by chance, or who attribute the providence of the world to crafty demons, then I would have a lot of work ahead of me to first refute the false opinion and instill conviction in the true Providence of the universe, and then turn to consolation; but since you, by the grace of God, have known the Holy Scriptures since childhood and, having accepted true and saving dogmas from your ancestors, undoubtedly believe that God provides for everything and especially for those who believe in Him, then, leaving this part of speech, let’s start with something else. When God created the Angels, or better yet, let’s talk from the highest, before the Angels and other Heavenly Powers came into being, there was a God who did not have the beginning of His existence. As a Being who never needs anything (for such is the Divinity), he created Angels, Archangels and other incorporeal beings; He created solely out of His goodness, and not for any other reason. If He had not been supremely good, He would not have created those whose service He did not need. After creating them, He creates, again for the same reason, both man and this whole world. Having endowed man with countless blessings, He made this small and weak creature ruler over so many creations, making him on earth the same as He Himself in heaven. For the words: “Let us make man in our image and likeness” (Gen. 1:26) mean nothing more than that man has been given power over earthly things. Having created him and placed him in such honor, God assigned him, as a king, the royal, most beautiful residence on all earth - Paradise. In addition, wanting to show him in another way how much higher he is than other creatures, God brings all the animals to him and commands him to give them all names; but he does not give any of them as helpers, presenting the reason: “There was not found,” he says, “a helper like him” (Gen. 2:20). Having shown this to man that he occupies the middle between two natures (heavenly and earthly), that he is above everything earthly and that of the multitude of these creations not one is equal to him, God then creates a wife, and with this he honors him with a new honor and clearly shows that the wife was created for him, just as Paul says: “For man was not created for woman’s sake, but woman for man’s sake” (1 Cor. 11:9). And not only by this did God distinguish man, but also by the fact that he, alone of all creation, gave him the gift of speech, honored him with knowledge of Himself, allowed him to enjoy conversation with Himself as much as it was possible for him, promised to give him immortality, filled him with great wisdom and gave him spiritual grace, so that he uttered some prophecies. God gifted man with all this when no good deed had yet been done on his part. What did man do after so many and great blessings? He trusted the enemy more than the One who gave all this, and, despising the commandment of the Creator, preferred the seduction of the one who tried to completely destroy him and deprive him of all benefits - he preferred, despite the fact that the devil did not show him any benefit, either great or small, but only said a few words to him. But did God destroy man because he showed such ingratitude at the very beginning and, so to speak, on his first step? It would be fair to destroy and remove from among the living the one who, having received countless benefits, at the very beginning of his life paid for these benefits with disobedience and ingratitude. But God continued to benefit him no less than before, showing that even if we sinned a thousand times and departed from Him, He will never cease to arrange our salvation, and that if we turn, we will be saved; if we persist in evil, then at least it will be clear that God is doing everything in His power. So expulsion from Paradise, and removal from the tree of life, and condemnation to death seem to be the work of one who punishes and takes revenge, but in reality it is no less than the work of the Provident (about man). Although these words seem strange, they are true: the events, of course, were opposite to one another, but the goals of both are the same and agree; that is, expulsion from Paradise, settlement in sight of it, prohibition (to eat) from the tree of life, removal from this tree, condemnation to death, temporary removal of this condemnation, all this, just like previous benefits, was done for the salvation and honor of man. I won’t say anything about the former (because it is obvious to everyone), but I must say about the latter. 3. How do we know that the latter was done for the benefit of man? (We will know) if we consider what he would have been subjected to if this had not happened. What would he be exposed to? If a person, after the devil’s promise to make him equal to God by breaking the commandment, remained in the same honor, he would fall into three extreme disasters. Firstly, I would consider God to be unkind, a seducer and a liar, and secondly, a real seducer, the father of lies and malice, a benefactor and friend; and besides, he would continue to sin endlessly. But God delivered him from all this, then expelling him from Paradise. Likewise, if a doctor does not touch a wound, he allows it to fester; if it cuts out, it stops the further spread of rottenness of the ulcer. What of this? - someone will say, God did not stop there, but also imposed feats and labors on man; because nothing is so incapable of enjoying peace as human nature. If even now, when such labors lie upon us, we sin incessantly, then what would we not dare to do if God left us in pleasure, but also in inaction? “For all evil,” says Scripture, “is the teaching of idleness” (Sir.33:28). This saying is confirmed both by daily events and by what happened to our ancestors. “And the people sat down,” says Scripture, “to eat and drink, and rose to play” (Ex. 32:6). And again: “Become thicker and wider, ... and the beloved is rejected” (Deut. 32:15). In agreement with this, blessed David also says: “Whenever I have killed, then I will seek Him, and I will turn and pray to God” (Ps. 77:34). And to Jerusalem God speaks through Jeremiah: “Be punished always, O Jerusalem: let not my soul depart from Thee” (Jer. 6:7–8). And that it is saving not only for evil, but also for good people to be subjected to humiliation and suffering, the prophet also says about this: “It is good for me, O Lord, for you have humbled me, so that I may learn through your justification” (Ps. 119:71). After him, Jeremiah says the same thing, although not in the same words: “It is good for a man who has carried a heavy yoke from his youth: he will sit alone and be silent” (Lam. 3:27–28); and for himself he prays to God like this: “do not spare me in the alienation... on the day of cruelty” (Jer. 17:17). And blessed Paul, who shone so much with grace and surpassed human nature, nevertheless had a need for this beneficial remedy; That’s why he said: “Here we are, a dirty tricker of the flesh, an angel of Satan, playing dirty tricks on us, so let me not be arrogant. For this I prayed to the Lord three times, ... and said to me: My grace is sufficient for you; for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:7-9). Although the gospel preaching could have been accomplished without persecution, without sorrows, without labors and exploits, Christ did not want this, providing for the preachers. That’s why he said to them: “You will be in a world of sorrow” (John 16:33). And He commanded those who wished to enter the Kingdom of Heaven to follow the narrow path, since otherwise it is impossible to reach it (Matthew 7:13). So, sorrows, temptations and all the troubles that happen to us, no less than joys, prove God’s care for us. And what am I saying about the sorrows here? The very threat of Gehenna, no less than the promise of the Kingdom of Heaven, shows God’s love for mankind. If He had not threatened Gehenna, then it would not have been possible to achieve heavenly blessings soon. The promise of good things alone is not enough to motivate one to virtue, if those who lack zeal for it are not encouraged by the fear of punishment. Therefore, God initially expelled the first-created man from Paradise, since the honor bestowed on him would have made him worse if he had remained firm and unshakable after breaking the commandment. And what am I saying about Adam? What would Cain not have done, living in Paradise and enjoying its pleasures, if he, having been deprived of this, and having before his eyes the punishment that befell his father, did not come to his senses, but fell into even greater wickedness: he was the first to invent and commit murder, and murder is the most criminal? He did not little by little and not over a long period of time reach this new atrocity, but suddenly and suddenly reached the very pinnacle of wickedness - he waylaid and killed the one who came from the same womb with him and did not offend him in any way; or perhaps Cain considered it an insult to himself that Abel pleased God? However, in my opinion, here too you can see God’s love for mankind: when Cain offended God Himself, the Creator admonishes him with words and consoles him in sorrow; but when he committed a crime against his brother, then God manifests His anger and imposes punishment. Meanwhile, the first deserved the same, if not more severe punishment. If among people it is considered a misdemeanor and an offense when one of the slaves saves the best for himself and gives the worst to the master: isn’t this even more applicable in relation to God? But Cain committed not only this sin, but also another no less sin—he was jealous of his brother’s honor. If he had repented of his sin, he would have pleased God with this wonderful change; but it was not from repentance, but from envy and hatred that his confusion arose, as the end of the matter showed. Cain was almost angry with God because God, offended by him, did not honor him and did not prefer evil to good; however, God, despite the fact that Cain’s sins required severe punishment, deals with the sinner much more mercifully than he deserved, and tries to calm his irritated soul. For Cain's grief came from irritation; That’s why God says to him: “Be still” (Gen. 4:7). Thus spoke God, although he knew to what extent Cain’s anger would reach; but He wanted to take away from the ungrateful any pretext (to grumble). If Cain had been punished at the very beginning, then many would have started to say this: “Wouldn’t it have been possible to instill words in advance, admonish and intimidate, and then punish if Cain had remained in the same disposition? His punishment is very cruel and severe.” Therefore, God is patient with the insults inflicted on Him in order to stop the mouths of such people, and at the same time show that He punished Cain’s father out of His goodness, and, moreover, to bring subsequent people to repentance with such His mercy. When Cain, through his stubbornness and unrepentant heart, “stored up wrath for himself” (Rom. 2:5), then He punishes; If Cain had remained unpunished even after the murder, he would have decided to commit another, even greater evil. It cannot be said that he sinned out of ignorance: could he not have known what his younger brother knew? However, if you wish, let us assume that the first (crime) arose from ignorance; but after he heard: “Be silent,” after he received forgiveness, did he really, out of ignorance, decide to kill, desecrate the earth and violate the laws of nature? Do you see that the first thing happened not from ignorance, but from malice, wickedness and extreme wickedness? What is the punishment for all this? “There will be groaning and trembling on the earth,” says God (Gen. 4:12). The punishment appears to be severe; but it will not be so if we think about sin and carefully consider the punishment itself. Cain, after making a sacrifice wrongly (Gen. 4:7), was offended that he, the one who had offended, was not honored by the offended God, rejected His suggestion, was the first to dare to commit murder, or better said, a sin even more criminal than murder, saddened his parents, and lied before God. “Food,” he said, “am I my brother’s guardian?” (Gen.4:9). And all this is punished only with fear and trembling! However, we can say that the goodness of God is visible here not only from the fact that punishment is easier than sin, but from the fact that there is considerable benefit in punishment. And the benefit is that all subsequent people are enlightened by Cain’s punishment and become better. Therefore, God did not immediately put Cain to death; because it makes no difference whether to hear that some Cain, who killed his brother, suffered death, or to see this murderer being punished. In the first case, they might not believe the story due to the excessiveness of the crime; and now that Cain was visible and many had witnessed his punishment for a long time, the event became obvious and reliable both for his contemporaries and for posterity. But, they will say, what benefit does this have for him? Very big: God also cared about his salvation when, with verbal admonition, he tempered his rage, as far as it depended on Him. But if we consider the punishment itself, then it will also prove to be of great benefit. If God had immediately killed Cain, he would not have given him time to repent and reform. Now, continuing his life in fear and trembling, he could have received great benefit from such a life for himself, if he had not been extremely insensitive and more of an animal than a man. In addition, the present punishment reduced the severity of future torment for him; because by the punishments or disasters that God sends to us in this life, a considerable part of future torment is eliminated. Evidence for this can be given from the Divine Scriptures. Christ, talking with his disciples and telling about Lazarus, says that Abraham, when the rich man asked him to sprinkle a little with the tip of his finger on his burning tongue, said to him: “Son, remember that you received your good things in your belly, and Lazarus also your evil ones: now here you are comforted, but you are suffering” (Luke 16:25). And Paul (when I talk about Paul, I also mean the commandments of Christ, because this blessed soul was moved by Him), when he writes to the Corinthians about the fornicator, commands him to be delivered to Satan “for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 5:5). And also, talking with them about those who unworthily partake of the Mysteries, he says: “For this reason, there are many infirmities and illnesses in you, and they sleep contentedly. Even if they had reasoned with themselves, they would not have been condemned. If we judge, we are punished by the Lord, lest we be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:30–32). Do you see the ineffable love for mankind and the boundless wealth of goodness? Do you see how God does and undertakes everything so that we, having sinned, suffer a punishment that is lighter than what we deserve, or even get rid of it completely? 4. If anyone says: why didn’t God destroy the ancient tempter, then (we answer that) He did the same here, taking care of us. If the evil one had taken possession of us by force, then this question would have some validity; but since he does not have such power, but only tries to persuade us (while we may not bow), then why eliminate the reason for merit and reject the means to achieve crowns? Moreover, if God, knowing that the devil is invincible and can conquer everyone to himself, had left him in the world, then such a question would not have been proposed; and then we ourselves would be guilty if he prevailed and defeated those who do not resist him, but submit voluntarily. However, what has been said would not be enough for those who do not want to come to their senses. And if there are many who have already overcome the power of the devil, and there will be many more who will overcome it, why should those who become famous and win a brilliant victory be deprived of this honor? God left the devil for this purpose, so that those who had already been defeated by him would overthrow him; and this for the devil is heavier than any punishment and can lead him to final condemnation. But, someone will say, not everyone can overcome it. What of this? It is much fairer for the valiant to have a reason to demonstrate their good will, and for the unvaliant to be punished for their own negligence, than for the former to suffer harm for the latter. Now the vicious one, if he suffers harm, is because he is defeated not by the enemy, but by his own negligence, as is proven by the fact that many defeat the devil. Then the virtuous would suffer harm for the vicious, because because of them they would have no reason to show their courage; and it would be the same as if the manager of a battle, having two fighters, one of whom is ready to fight with the enemy, show a lot of courage and receive a crown as a reward, and the other prefers inaction and fun to a tedious fight, removed the enemy and let them both go idle. Here the brave would suffer harm because of the worthless; and the last one is bad not because of the brave, but because of his own worthlessness. In addition, although the real question apparently concerns the devil, such reasoning, extending further along the connection of thoughts, in many respects will lead to accusation and censure of the Providence of God and will subject the entire universe to criticism. Thus, it will condemn the creation of mouths and eyes; because through the eyes many receive desires for what they should not and fall into adultery, and through their lips others utter blasphemies and teach harmful teachings. Is this really why people had to be without tongues and without eyes? So let's cut off the legs, chop off the arms too; because the hands sometimes become stained with blood, and the feet run to sin. And the ears could not escape the same strict condemnation, because they too perceive vain rumors and convey harmful teaching to the soul; Let us cut them off too. And if so, then food, and drink, and the sky, and the earth, and the sea, and the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the choir of stars, and all kinds of dumb animals - what will all of them be useful for when the one for whom they were created is disfigured in such a pitiful way? Do you see what funny and absurd thoughts such mentalizing inevitably leads to? The devil is evil for himself, not for us; We, if we want, can acquire a lot of good things through him, of course, against his will and desire; This is where the special miracle and superiority of God’s love for mankind is revealed. The fact that people become better in itself already torments and torments the devil; and when we achieve this through him, he will not be able to endure such shame. But how is this achieved through it? When we, fearing his cruelty, constant slander and continuous intrigues, will drive away the heavy sleep from ourselves, stay awake and always remember the Lord. These are not my words, but those of Blessed Paul; listen to how he awakens those sleeping among the faithful with almost the same words. In his letter to the Ephesians, he says this: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, and against the powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). He spoke thus not to deprive them of courage, but to encourage them. And Peter says: “Be sober, be vigilant, for the devil is your adversary, like a lion that walketh roaring, seeking whom he may devour: but unto him resist the firmament by faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9). He said this, wanting to make us more courageous and inspire us to cling more closely to God. He who sees an advancing enemy quickly runs and cleaves to the one who can help. Likewise, small children, when they see something terrible, run into the arms of their mother, grab her clothes, hold on tightly to her and do not lag behind, despite the efforts of many to drag them away; and when there is nothing terrible, they do not listen to her call or impulse, reject her invitations, turn away when she tries in every possible way to lure them to her, and do not even look at the food offered. Therefore, many mothers, when persuasion does not work, through scarecrows and monsters, manage to bring their children back to them and convince them to come running to them again. This happens not only to children, but also to us. When the evil one frightens and confuses us, then we come to our senses, then we know ourselves, then we resort to God with great zeal. But if the devil had been destroyed at the very beginning and did not exist, then perhaps many would not have believed what happened, that is, that he deceived man and deprived him of many benefits; but they would say that God did this out of ill will and envy. If even now, after such clear evidence of the devil’s deceptions, some dare to say this, then what would they not say, what would they not say, if they had not experienced his malice at all? However, if you pay strict attention to deeds, then (you can see that) the devil does not always push us to do evil; although he does us a lot of harm, we also harm ourselves a lot, solely due to our carelessness and negligence. Let's go back to where we started. When did the devil approach Cain and persuade him to commit murder? He spoke openly with his mother and seduced her, but did not do this with him; if they say that he put evil thoughts into him, then this too depended on Cain himself, who accepted the suggestion, obeyed and gave the devil a reason to attack. However, God did not leave Cain even then, but continued to teach and admonish him, thereby apparently punishing him. But what am I talking about the punishment of Cain, one man, when the flood in which so many people died can reveal God’s providence to us? And firstly, God did not suddenly or suddenly bring about this disaster, but predicted it, and not in a short time, but another hundred and twenty years in advance. Then, so that people, due to the remoteness of what was predicted, would not forget and fall into carelessness, He commanded that an ark be built before their eyes, which spoke more clearly than any words about the threat of God. Cain had already been erased from the memory of people, and this ark, which was before their eyes, was a constant reminder of the threatening disaster. But even after this, people did not come to their senses, but continued to cause and bring disaster upon themselves. God would never want to threaten a flood and bring it, as well as threaten Gehenna, but we ourselves are the cause of everything. Knowing this, the Wise One said: “God does not create death, nor rejoices at the destruction of the living” (Wis. 1:13). And God himself, through the prophet, says this: “I do not want the sinner to die, but to be converted... and I live to be him” (Ezek.18:23, cf. Ezek.33:11). If we do not convert, then we ourselves bring destruction and death upon ourselves, and not God, who does not want us to perish and shows the way to avoid the devil. But is this all we can say about the flood, and won’t we find any benefit that came from it? It is impossible to say how much benefit came from it, both for the victims themselves and for subsequent people. The former were deterred from further crimes; and the latter received even greater benefit, since, together with the sinners themselves, the leaven and cause of evil was destroyed, so to speak. If people can easily invent evil even without examples, then what would they not do if many encouraged them to do evil deeds? To prevent this from happening, so that subsequent people would not have so many teachers of evil, God destroyed them all at the same time. 5. But how wise, or rather, how insane is the judgment of those who, not wanting to do anything good, invent and say everything in order to lay the blame of their own sins on God! If, they say, God had not allowed it, then the devil would not have approached and would not have deceived him right away. But then Adam would not have known what good he had, and would never have humbled his pride. Who thought so highly of himself that he hoped to be a god, which he would not have dared to do if he had not been admonished? Suppose the devil had not suggested anything to Eve and had not said a word to her about the tree: would the first parents never have fallen in that case? You can't say that. Whoever obeyed his wife so easily, even without the devil, on his own, would soon fall into sin, for which he would be subjected to even greater punishment. Moreover, in the present event, it was not the devil’s deception alone that was the cause of all the evil, but the wife was carried away by her own lust and fell. Scripture also pointed out this, saying: “And the woman saw that it was a good tree for food, and that it was pleasing to see with the eyes, and that it was good to eat; I say this now not in order to free the devil from accusations of deceit, but to show that if the first people had not fallen voluntarily, then no one would have forced them to fall. He who so easily accepted seduction from another was careless and inattentive even before the seduction; and the devil would not have had such success if he had entered into conversation with a soul that was awake and attentive. But there are people who, when they are refuted on this side, leaving the devil, turn to the commandment and, without touching the person who has sinned, blame God and say: why did He give people the commandment when He knew that they would sin? And these are the words of the devil and the fabrications of the wicked mind. God, having given the commandment, showed greater care (for people) than if He had not given it; this can be seen from the following. Suppose that Adam, whose will was so careless, as the consequences showed, would not have received any commandment and continued to enjoy bliss: would his carelessness and effeminacy from these pleasures have led him to the worse or to the better? It is obvious to everyone that if he were not preoccupied with anything, he would reach the extreme degree of evil. If he, still unsure of immortality, with only a doubtful hope for it, reached such pride and madness that he hoped to become a god, although he saw that the one who promised him this was in no way worthy of trust, then to what madness would he not have reached if he undoubtedly possessed immortality? What sin would you not commit? Would you ever obey God? By blaming God, you act like those who would blame someone who forbids fornication because those who heard this prohibition would commit fornication. Aren't such words extremely insane? If the devil approached a person who had not received the commandment with advice to deviate from God, he would easily persuade him to do so; because whoever, upon receiving the commandment, despised the One who gave it, if he did not hear anything from Him at all, he would soon forget even that he is under the authority of the Lord. Therefore, God taught him in advance by His commandment that he had a Lord, Whom he must obey in everything. But, they will say, what benefit came from this? Even if there was no benefit, and this should be blamed not on God, who taught the instruction, but on the person who did not heed this wonderful suggestion. Meanwhile, the giving of the commandment did not remain useless even after its violation: and the fact that the first people hid and confessed the sin, and tried to blame the crime on the husband on the wife, and the wife on the serpent - all this shows that they were afraid, trembled and recognized the power of God over them. And how useful it was to move from the satanic hope of being gods to such fear is clear to everyone. The one who dreamed of equality with God has humbled and humiliated himself so much that he is afraid of punishment and torment and admits his sin! Not sinning unconsciously, but quickly noticing and recognizing your sin is a very important matter - the beginning and path leading to correction and change for the better. So, it is impossible to know or explain all the goodness of the Lord to us; I’ll tell you the main thing from what we know. After such disobedience, after so many sins, when the power of sin took possession of the entire universe, when the human race had to suffer the most severe punishment, completely perish and its very name be blotted out, then God showed us the greatest benefit, He gave His Only Begotten to death for the enemies who retreated, turned away and hated Him, and through Him reconciled us to Himself, and promised to give us the Kingdom Heavenly things, eternal life and countless blessings, “for which no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has the heart sighed” (1 Cor. 2:9). What can compare with this caring, philanthropic, and kindness? Therefore, He Himself says: “As the heavens are far from the earth, so is My way far from your ways, and your thoughts from My thoughts” (Is. 55:9). And the meek David, discussing His love for mankind, says: “According to the height of heaven from the earth, the Lord established His mercy on those who fear Him: the east is far from the west, He has removed our iniquities from us. As a father gives generously to his sons, the Lord will provide generously to those who fear Him” (Ps. 102:11-13), and even more than a father, but we do not know another better example of the highest love. Above this, Isaiah presented an example, pointing to a mother who is much more attached to her children than a father. He says this: “Will a woman forget her food as a child, and not have mercy on the offspring of her womb? Even if the woman forgets these, I will not forget you, says the Lord” (Is. 49:15), showing by this that God’s mercy is higher than natural affection. Thus spoke the prophets; and Christ, talking with the Jews, said: “If you, who are evil, know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him” (Matthew 7:11), expressing with these words nothing more than the fact that as much as good differs from evil, so much does God’s care differ from parental care. But don’t stop there, but penetrate even further with your mind. This is said in relation to your understanding; meanwhile, Whose wisdom and goodness are boundless, His love for mankind is the same. If we do not notice His love for mankind in every event, then this is also a sign of His infinity. God daily arranges for our salvation many things that are known to Him alone. He benefits our race according to His goodness, not needing either glorification from us or any other retribution, and therefore leaves very much hidden from us; and if sometimes he reveals, then he does this for us, so that we, imbued with a feeling of gratitude, will be worthy of even greater help from Him. Let us thank Him not only for what we know, but also for what we do not know; because He benefits us, not only when we desire it, but also when we do not desire it. Knowing this, Paul encouraged us to give thanks always and for everything (Eph.5:20). And that God cares not only for everyone in general, but also for each individual, this can be heard from Himself when He says this: “It is not the will of your Father in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:14), meaning those who believe in Him. He wants those who do not believe in Him to be saved by being corrected and believing in Him, just as Paul says: “He desires that all men should be saved and come into the understanding of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4); and He Himself said to the Jews: “I have not come... call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:13); and again: “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Matt. 9:13; Hos. 6:6). Even when people, even with such care for them, do not want to correct themselves and learn the truth, even then He does not leave them; but since they voluntarily deprive themselves of heavenly life, He provides them with at least everything necessary for real life, commands the sun to shine on the evil and the good, sends rain on the righteous and the unjust, and provides everything else for the continuation of real life (Matthew 5:45). If He provides for His enemies in this way, will He ever leave those who believe in Him and please Him according to their strength without care? No no; He cares about them more than anyone else: “And the power of your heads,” He says, “they have all been numbered” (Luke 12:7). 6. So, when you think that for Christ you have left your father, home, friends, relatives, countless wealth and great glory, and are now enduring such sorrow, then do not lose heart; from which bewilderment is born, our bewilderment will thereby be resolved. How? God cannot lie; and He promised eternal life to those who leave all this. You have despised and abandoned everything: what prevents you from hoping for this promise? What temptation has befallen you now? But what is it in relation to the promise? God did not promise us eternal life here; and even if this promise were to be fulfilled here, even then there would be no need to grieve; because a pious and believing person must rely so firmly on the promises of God that, seeing events opposite to them, he is not embarrassed and does not despair of their fulfillment. Look, what promise did faithful Abraham receive, and what was he commanded to do? The promise was that his descendants from Isaac would fill the whole world; and the command demanded that he slay that same Isaac, whose descendants were to fill the whole earth. So what? Did this bother the righteous man? No; and with such a disagreement and contradiction between the command and the promise, he was not embarrassed, did not doubt, and did not say anything like this: “God promised one thing, and now forces me to do another; from this son he promised me a great many descendants, and now he commands me to slay him; How will this come true if this root is cut off? It’s true, God deceived me and laughed at me.” Abraham didn’t say anything like that, didn’t even think about it, and quite rightly so; because if God promises, then, even if there are thousands of obstacles to the fulfillment of what was promised, one should not be embarrassed or doubt the fulfillment. The action of the power of God especially consists in finding a way out of a hopeless situation; This is how blessed Abraham reasoned then. Therefore, Paul was amazed at his faith and said: “By faith Abraham brought Isaac to the test, and he offered his only begotten, receiving the promise” (Heb. 11:17), pointing and hinting at the very thing that I have now said. And not only Abraham, but also his great-grandson Joseph, although he saw that the promise given to him remained unfulfilled for a long time and due to many circumstances, nevertheless remained adamant, because he turned his gaze only to the Promiser; and if he had given himself over to human reasoning, he would have despaired of the fulfillment of the promise. The dream he saw foreshadowed the worship of his brothers and parents, but the events were not like that, and in many ways did not correspond to this. Firstly, the very ones who should bow to him throw him into a ditch and, having sold him to foreigners, send him to a foreign and distant land; these events seemed so contrary to the dream that the unfortunate ones (his brothers) themselves mocked him and said: “Behold, this dreamer comes: now come, let us kill him and throw him into one of the ditches, and we say: the beast will eat him, and we will see that he will sleep” (Gen. 37: 19-20). Then those who bought Joseph again sell him not to any free man, but to the king's slave. And this was not the end of his misfortunes, but, having been slandered by his mistress and condemned, he lived in prison for many years, and, although others came out of there, he remained there for a long time. Despite so many circumstances that could have confused his soul, he remained unshaken. Our situation is the same, or rather, it is even more difficult. God promised us the Kingdom of Heaven, eternal life, immortality and countless blessings, but what is happening and happening to us now - namely death, corruption, punishment, torment and various and continuous sorrows - does not correspond to this. Why does God do this and allow such events to happen that contradict the promises? By this He accomplishes two greatest things: firstly, He provides us with undoubted proof of His power, that is, that He can bring into reality promises that are apparently the most incredible; secondly, it teaches our soul to trust Him in everything, even if events seem to contradict predictions. Such is the power of hope: it does not shame those who are sincerely devoted to it. If those who received promises of local blessings did this, then we should do this much more, who hope for the fulfillment of good promises not in this life, but in the next century. The Lord predicted sorrow and hardship for life here. What is it that confuses you? Why don't you trust God's promise? Only one who does not believe, doubts and considers the promise of God to be a deception can despise the whole world for Him and then say that He does not care; and this, truly, means going berserk and bringing upon oneself the fire of Gehenna. However, among people devoted to worldly affairs, are there those who live peacefully? “So, and this is what Christ predicted: “Amen, amen, I say to you,” He said, “that you will weep and lament, and the world will rejoice” (John 16:20). And between previous generations, the Babylonians, who did not even know God, enjoyed wealth, power and honor, while the Jews lived in captivity, slavery and extreme misery. And Lazarus, worthy of heaven and the Kingdom of Heaven, lay covered with wounds that dogs licked, and constantly struggled with hunger; and the rich man lived in honor, surrounded by society, in luxury and pleasure; but all this did not help him at all in Gehenna, just as hunger and wounds did not prevent Lazar from living his real life honestly; on the contrary, he, like a courageous fighter struggling in the most severe heat and heat, won and was crowned. Therefore, one sage said: “Child, if you begin to work for the Lord God, prepare your soul for temptation: guide your heart and be patient, and do not be hasty during the time of guidance” (Sir. 2:1-2). And a little lower: “For gold is tempted by fire, and men are welcomed in the furnace of humility” (Sir.2:5). And in another place it says: “Son, do not despise the punishment of the Lord; let us not be rebuked by it” (Proverbs 3:11). He who throws gold into the furnace knows how long it should remain in the fire, and when it should be taken out; That’s why the sage says: “don’t be quick during the guidance,” and Solomon, teaching the same thing, said: “below, weaken from him, we reprove.” Grief is a great thing, great for a person to become valiant and learn the virtue of patience. But what, someone will say, if with its excessiveness it shakes and overcomes (a person)? “God is faithful, who will not leave you to be tempted more than you are able, but will create with the temptation also an abundance, so that you are able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). If punishment comes from love, and abandonment without punishment comes from hatred (Heb. 12:7-8), then it is impossible for one and the same person to both love and hate the same person, punish and simultaneously ignore him. Why, someone will say, did many fall? Because they themselves fell away from God, and were not abandoned by Him. “For behold,” says Scripture, “those who separate themselves from You will perish” (Ps. 72:27). And they distance themselves because they cannot bear the admonitions of God, but are angry and indignant at them. Just as if bad children, having been sent by their fathers to teachers, trying to avoid the labors and small punishments there, completely run away from their parents, they do not receive any benefit from this, but are exposed to much greater troubles, finding themselves having to endure hunger, homelessness, illness, dishonor, and slavery in a foreign land, so the same thing happens with those who do not endure the suggestions of God with gratitude, but are indignant at Him: they do not only they do not receive any benefit from this, but expose themselves to even extreme disasters. Therefore, we are commanded: “to endure and strengthen our hearts” (Ps. 26:14). But have you suffered much more severe? – Likewise, educators of children do not assign equal and identical exercises to everyone, but give the weak weak ones, and give the strong opponents who are just as strong; because whoever has an opponent weaker than himself will not have proper exercise, even if he began to fight with him all day. Why, someone will say, did not God determine for everyone who devoted themselves to the same life to bear the same labors? Because God has more than one type of exercise, and people do not all need the same thing, even if they were in the same circumstances, just as many patients suffering from the same diseases do not need the same medicines, but some need some, others need others. Therefore, the methods of suffering are different and varied: one is tempted by a long illness, another by extreme poverty, another by insults and insults, and another by the fact that he constantly and continuously sees the death of his children and relatives, one by general contempt and disgust, and this by the accusation of something that he does not know is behind him, and the burden of disgrace brought upon him, another by another method, so that it is impossible to list everything exactly. Each of these sufferings, in comparison with your misfortune, seems light and insignificant to you, but if you yourself experienced them, you would find out that your misfortune, which you are now complaining about, is much more bearable than them. However, if some are punished even less than us, we should not be tempted by this; because an increase in work serves to increase rewards and is a strong bulwark against voluntary or involuntary attacks: it curbs pride, drives away carelessness, makes us more prudent and pious. In general, if anyone wants to list everything, he will find a lot of benefit from temptations, and none of those for whom God cares a lot is without sorrow, although it does not seem that way to us. 7. If Blessed Paul suffered a lot, and there is no one greater than him or even equal to him, then how is it possible that other people do not need this benefit? If some have not come to their senses through such sorrows, it is no longer through the fault of the One who sent the punishment, but through their own negligence. If medicine had not been applied to them, one would have thought that they died from inattention to them; and now a lot has been done to ensure that the Doctor is not blamed for anything, but only the patients themselves and their inattention. Although some who lived honestly before the temptations fell after being exposed to them; others, who indulged in all sorts of vices, did not experience any sorrow; and others, from the first age until their last breath, suffered countless misfortunes - but we should not be embarrassed by anything like this and fall (into despair). If we could and were obliged to know the actions of God’s Providence, and did not know them, then we should be despondent and embarrassed; but if the one who was a participant in the ineffable mysteries and ascended to the third heaven was embarrassed before this abyss and, having delved into the depths of the riches and Wisdom and knowledge of God, was only amazed and immediately retreated, then why do we in vain strive to learn the incomprehensible and explore the unsearchable (Rom. 11:33)? We will not contradict the doctor when he prescribes the opposite of what seems useful to us, orders, for example, to immerse a cold member in cold water, and does many other apparently strange things; but having convinced ourselves in advance that he is doing this according to the rules of his art, we willingly obey him, although he often makes mistakes. Why should we investigate (the actions of) God, Who is so superior to us in everything, Who is Wisdom itself and never makes mistakes? We will trust unquestioningly the one from whom we should demand an account; and from Him, Whom alone we must believe, shall we demand justification and an account of His actions, and be indignant that we do not know this? Is this characteristic of a pious soul? No, I ask and beseech you, let us not reach such madness, but about everything in which we are perplexed, let us say: “Your destinies are many in the depths” (Ps. 35:7). Even the fact that we do not know everything clearly is a matter of the Wisdom of God. If we obeyed God because we knew the causes of events, then our reward would not be great, and our obedience would not be an expression of faith; when we, not knowing them, lovingly submit to all His commands, out of true obedience and sincere faith, then we deliver the greatest benefit to our souls. We must be convinced of one thing only, that God sends everything for our benefit, and not to investigate the method itself, and not to grumble, and not to be discouraged when we do not know it. It is both impossible and useless for us to know him; first because we are mortal; the second because we are soon carried away by pride. We do a lot of things with our children that seem harmful to them, but are actually beneficial for them; however, they do not dare to ask about the reason, and we do not first convince them of the benefits of what we intend to do with them, but only inspire them to obey the orders of their parents and not ask anything else. If we treat our parents in this way, who are of the same nature as us, and do not grumble against them, then against God, Who is superior to us as much as God is superior to people, how will we grumble because we do not know everything? What can compare with such wickedness? Blessed Paul said indignantly to such people: “The same, O man, whoever you are, answer God; food says to the building that created it: why did you create me?” (Rom.9:20). I pointed to the example of children, and Paul gave an even better example - the potter and the clay he worked. Just as clay takes on whatever form the hands of those who shape it give it, so a person should act in accordance with what God commands, and accept with gratitude what He sends, without contradicting in the least and without trying to find out (the reason for this); because this is incomprehensible not only to us, but also to the holy and wondrous men who lived before us. So, Job said: “Because they live in wickedness, but they promise riches,” and so on (Job 21:7). And blessed David said: “For a little while my feet were not shed: for having been jealous of the wicked, the world of sinners is in vain: for there is no joy in their death and confirmation in their wounds: they are not in the labors of men, and they will not receive wounds from men” (Ps. 73:2-5). After him, Jeremiah also said: “Thou art righteous, O Lord: ... either way I will say to you: that the way of the wicked will be sung” (Jer. 12:1). They, too, were perplexed and asked, but not like the wicked, not grumbling against God and not accusing Him of injustice for His deeds. On the contrary, one of them said: “Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, your fate is many in the abyss” (Ps. 35:7), and the other, who suffered a lot, “in all these things that happened to him, ... you did not give foolishness to God” (Job 1:22); and in his book, discussing creation and explaining the incomprehensibility of the Wisdom and economy of God, he said: “Behold, these are the parts of His ways: and we will hear about drops of words in Him” (Job 26:14). And Jeremiah, foreseeing that others might doubt, before his question he expresses the following judgment: “Thou art righteous, O Lord,” i.e. I know that everything is done by You justly, but I do not comprehend the way in which this is done. Well, did they find out anything more? No, they did not even receive an answer, as blessed David explains in the words: “And the nepschevs understood: this is labor before me” (Ps. 72:16). They did not receive an answer so that descendants would learn not to ask about it. They asked only one thing, why the wicked enjoy prosperity and wealth, but they did not know this either; and those of today want to know much more of them, because now many more questions are proposed than then. Let clear knowledge be given to Him who knows everything before it happens. 8. If we ourselves, on the basis of what we already know, should present some solution to the questions posed, in order to reassure those who really want to know about this, then I will say that after the Kingdom of Heaven has been opened to us and reward has been promised in the future life, it is already indecent to investigate why (on earth) the righteous live in sorrows, and the wicked in peace. If everyone there expects reward according to their deserts, then why be indignant at the local circumstances, happy or unhappy? Through these disasters, God strengthens those who submit to Him as courageous fighters, and predisposes the weaker, careless and unable to endure anything heavy, in readiness for good deeds. The opposite of this often happens: that many righteous people live in peace and honor, while the wicked live in dishonor and extreme misfortune; This, for us, first of all refutes the previous position that the righteous suffer disasters and the wicked are blissful. If it still needs explanation, then I will say that God does not arrange our good in the same way, but, as he is inexhaustible in means, he lays out for us many paths to salvation. Since many do not want to accept the doctrine of the future life and resurrection, He still shows here in a small form the image of the (future) Judgment, when He punishes the wicked and rewards the good. This will be fully accomplished at that Judgment, but in part it is being accomplished now and here, so that those who, due to such a remoteness of the Judgment, have given themselves over to sin, will at least be enlightened by the events of the present time. If here none of the evil were punished at all and none of the good received rewards, then many of those who did not believe in the doctrine of the resurrection would shy away from virtue as the cause of evil, and would cleave to sin as the cause of good; on the other hand, if everyone here received reward according to their deserts, then some would think that the doctrine of the Judgment is unnecessary and false. So, so that this teaching is not questioned, and so that the majority of the ignorant people do not become worse through carelessness, God is still here punishing many of the sinners and rewarding some of the righteous; by the fact that He does not do this to everyone, He confirms the doctrine of the Judgment, and by the fact that He punishes some even before the Judgment, He awakens those sleeping in a deep sleep. In view of the punishment of the wicked, many are corrected, fearing that they too would suffer the same thing; and due to the fact that here not everyone receives reward according to their deserts, many involuntarily come to the idea that it has been postponed until some other time. The just God, of course, would not have allowed so many evil people to die unpunished, and the good to suffer countless disasters, if He had not prepared a different state for both in the next century. Therefore, He punishes and rewards not everyone, but only some, such as the king of Persia and Hezekiah, although there were many wicked like that Assyrian, and virtuous like Hezekiah, but God did not deal with everyone as he did with them; the reason is, as I said, that the time of Judgment has not yet come. And that this teaching is not mine, listen to Him Himself, who will then judge us. When they came to Him and told about the death of those crushed by the tower and about the madness of Pilate, which he showed in relation to the dead, mixing their blood with the victims, then what does Christ say? “Do you remember that these Galileans are the most sinful, more than all the Galileans, because they suffered? Neither, I say to you: but unless you repent, you will all perish the same way. Or are they eighteen, on whom the pillar of Siloam fell, and beat them, do you think that they are more indebted to you than all those living in Jerusalem? Neither, I say to you: but unless you repent, you will all perish likewise” (Luke 13:2–5). This is the reason for the slowdown. God does not suddenly punish everyone who deserves punishment, so that through the misfortunes of some, all others will become better. So let our proposed issue be resolved. But perhaps you want a solution to the question proposed above, which is much more difficult than this? However, I think that when this is explained by us as much as possible, then the beginning has been laid for the solution of the first question. What is it that puzzles you? The fact that many from childhood to death struggled with many misfortunes. To this, just as before, I will say that God punishes them, firstly, for their own vices; and then so that others may benefit from their misfortunes. If this does not happen to everyone, it is because now is not the time of Judgment. Why, you say, do some, before reaching the age when they can distinguish between good and evil, already suffer punishment like great criminals? There is not one reason for this, but many different ones. This can happen from the intemperance of parents, and from the negligence of educators, and from changes in the air, and from many other similar circumstances. Moreover, God knows about many of them that they will be vicious, and therefore binds them in advance with punishments, as if by some shackles. Don’t you see that many of the poor, in the most deplorable situation, commit many crimes, not out of grief or hunger, but solely out of their depravity? I once heard from some people that beggars, having seized a noble and beautiful woman, dishonored her in a deserted place. What need, what grief prompted them to do such a thing? What crime would they not have committed if misfortunes had not held them back like chains? And who could endure the fury and unbridledness of prisoners in prison? Those possessed by a demon behave no better than them. I’m not talking about what they do during fits of madness, but about what happens after these fits stop: they indulge in gluttony, and steal, and get drunk, and commit even more vile things. Therefore, just as a judge leaves many criminals to live in prison for a long time - and often they end their lives there - when he wants to warn the people, he takes one or two of them, sits on an elevated place and, in front of everyone present, orders the criminal to be led to death, not considering it necessary to do the same with all criminals to intimidate others; so for God, when He deigns to admonish us, all the evil ones are not needed, but He takes some of them, about whom He knows that they are incorrigible, and over them He reveals His power and wrath, and through this He does many useful things. By this He instructs the evil to abandon their wickedness, if they wish, and makes the good more attentive, and shows His long-suffering, and confirms for everyone, as I said above, the doctrine of the resurrection. But what is the benefit of this, you say, to those who spent their entire early years in misfortune and died before they could distinguish between good and evil? But what kind of harm, tell me, do they suffer when they are not yet aware of their misfortune, and do not know how to either be sad or rejoice? And not only with this I resolve the proposed question, but also with the fact that parents, brothers, and relatives are taught by such misfortunes; and there is no small gain if from what one does not suffer any harm, another receives the greatest benefit. However, there may be some other secret reason for this, known only to our Creator. 9 . One more question remains: why did those who lived righteously before the temptations fall after the temptations? But who truly knows those who live righteously, except “He who formed our hearts in private and He who understands all our deeds” (Ps. 32:15)? Many of those who seem virtuous often turn out to be the most vicious of all. This was also revealed in real life, but only for some, for some occasion and for some necessity. When he sits down to judge us, “He who searches the hearts and the bellies, the living, the active, and sharper than any two-sharp sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and body, members and brains, and judging by mind and thought” (Heb. 4:12), then, not just some few of the many, but you will see everyone openly as they really are, and neither the wolf will be hidden by the skin of a sheep, nor coloring the coffin with its inner uncleanness; because “there is no creation revealed before Him, but all naked and declared before His eyes” (Heb. 4:13). Paul, explaining this to the Corinthians, said: “Yet judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will bring the secret darkness into light and reveal the counsels of the heart” (1 Cor. 4:5). However, leaving the hypocrites, let’s talk about those who live righteously: how is it known that they, having many virtues, did not neglect the main one - humility? Therefore, God retreated from them, so that they would know that they did good deeds not by their own strength, but by the grace of God. If someone says that it is better to be proud when doing good than to be humble when sinning, he does not understand at all either the harm from pride or the benefit from humility. You, of course, know very well that a person who does good with pride, if it is possible to do good that way, will soon reach extreme destruction. He who allowed himself to fall and learned humility through the fall will soon, if he wants, rise up and correct himself; but whoever does apparent good with pride and does not tolerate anything unpleasant will never feel his sinfulness, but will increase his evil, and, unnoticed by himself, will leave here without good deeds, like that Pharisee who entered the church, thinking of himself that he was rich in every virtue, and came out, learning that he was poorer even than the tax collector (Luke 18:10). There is another type of evil that has great power to abolish good, collected with great effort and labor - this is the wind of vanity. It truly, like a rushing wind, scatters all the treasures of virtue. Now the second reason for the fall of those who live righteously, as you said, has been revealed to us. Many, who seem to us to have endured and are enduring great labors for the sake of virtue, because they did everything for the sake of honor with people, and not with God, were allowed to fall into temptation, so that they, deprived of human glory, for which they endured all hardships, and learning that it is in essence no better than the color of grass, would finally cleave to God alone and do everything for Him. In addition, there are many other reasons for this, but they, as I said, are hidden from us, but are known to our Creator - God. Let us not grumble at Him for what is happening to us, but let us give thanks: this is effective for grateful servants. You are surprised that the unclean (spirit) attacked you not in the past, when you were luxurious and surrounded yourself with worldly splendor, but now, when you abandoned all this and completely devoted yourself to God; but this is the same as if you were wondering why no one bothers the spectators, but the one who signed up as a wrestler, got ready and went to the place of wrestling, this one of all is attacked by the enemy, hits him in the head and hits him in the face. It is not surprising and regrettable that the demon upsets, oppresses and worries those who decide to fight - for this is the law of struggle - but if he overcomes, and overthrows, and deprives of rewards - that’s terrible! And while he is not able to do this, he will not only not cause us any harm, but will also provide the greatest benefit, giving us more honor through a strong fight with us. So, among warriors, the best is the one who can show the most wounds and who has entered into single combat with the strongest of the opponents; and of the fighters we are especially surprised by those who enter into battle with the invincible (as the bravest of opponents are called); and of the hunters he is considered the strongest who goes out to hunt the wildest animals. Is your demon shameless and fearless? But that’s why I never cease to be amazed and amazed at you, that, having received such an opponent, you did not fall, did not give yourself away, but remained adamant and did not yield to him in anything. 10. And what I now tell you without flattery, that you really received the greatest benefit from your grief, then let me speak directly; because otherwise I can’t prove it to you. You know and remember your previous life, i.e. life before temptation; look at it carefully and compare it with real life after temptation, and you will see what benefit has come from this disaster for you. Now you have great zeal for fasting, and for night vigils, and for reading, and for practicing prayers; also, patience and humility have reached their highest degree; and before you didn’t even think about books, and spent all your worries and labors on caring for the garden trees. Many, as I heard, even reproached you for pride and explained it by the nobility of your family, the glory of your father and your upbringing in great wealth. How lazy you were in your night vigils, you yourself know very well. Often, when others hurriedly got up in the dead of night, you remained immersed in a deep sleep and became angry with those who woke you. And now, since you entered into this struggle and warfare, all this has stopped and changed for the better. If you ask me why God did not allow the demon to attack you when you lived in luxury and were tied to worldly affairs, then I will answer that this was also the work of His Providence; He knew that then the enemy would soon destroy you, finding you easily defeated. Therefore, God did not call you to this struggle immediately as soon as you entered monastic life, but left you to practice for a long time, and then, when you became stronger, He brought you to this difficult field. You also mention those living in the world and point to your servant; After all, I think you mean it when you say that many of the worldly people, having been exposed to the same disease, very quickly received complete healing. But, dearest, your servant and others who were subjected to the same calamity as him did not experience it for the same purpose as you do now: God allowed this beast on him and others in order only to frighten them and through fear make them better, and on you so that you would fight courageously, gloriously win and receive a crown for patience. And victory does not consist in when a warrior avoids fighting the enemy even during the spectacle, but when he remains ready to fight at all times; then the enemy will not be able to drive him to any unprofitable thoughts even through despondency. And that this is really so, I directly conclude from the following. Everyone knows, although you humiliate yourself, how much better your life is than the life of your servant. That is why God provides and cares for you more than for him. If this is clear, then it is also obvious that if God’s permission was a matter of His anger, He would not have subjected the one whom He loved more to this for so long, while He soon delivered from the demon another who is much worse than you. I can confirm this not only with what has been said above, but also based on what you conclude that God has abandoned you, I will try to prove that He especially cares about you. If you had not shown great zeal and made long journeys to interview holy men who have the power to resolve these bonds, then some ordinary people might have become perplexed, since the reason why God allowed (you to suffer) for so much time would not be very clear. But since you visited the places of the martyrs, where many were healed even from those who (in a demon) bit people, you lived for a long time with wondrous, valiant men and always succeeded (in healing the sick), and did not omit absolutely anything that could free you from suffering, and yet you returned again with the same enemy; then you brought clear and intelligible proof of God’s Providence for you, even for very inattentive people. God, of course, would not have deprived you of His grace, and would not have allowed His servants to be shamed, if He had not seen great glory and greater benefit for you from this. Thus, what appears to be a sign of God’s abandonment of you is a sign of His great love and favor towards you. Moreover, Stagiria, that despondency is worse than a demon An exhortation to free yourself from depressing thoughts of suicide. – Such thoughts do not always come from a demon, but sometimes from one’s own despondency. “We need to disperse this despondency, and the best way to do this is to rise above the opinions of the crowd and think that there is only one sin to be ashamed of.” – Rewards are in store for the future, the present is a time of labor. – This is shown by the examples of saints. - The example of Abraham. - About the sacrifice of Isaac. - Sons of Oedipus. - Jacob's grief. – An example from the life of Joseph. 1. In the previous (word) we said about the Providence of God and that God tests you in a certain way, not out of disgust or hatred, but out of special love. But since you, according to your words, are very complaining for another reason, precisely because the demon often inspires in you the idea of ​​​​destroying yourself in the sea or an abyss, or ending your real life in some other way, then I want to talk a little about these thoughts. Such a suggestion comes not from him alone, but also from your despondency, and even more from the latter than from the first, and perhaps from despondency alone. This is evident from the fact that many of those who are not possessed by a demon are planning the same thing only out of sadness. Reject it and drive it out of your soul, then the demon will not have the power not only to persuade you to do such a thing, but also to begin indoctrination. Just as thieves at nightfall, having extinguished the fire, can very easily steal property and kill its owners, so now the demon, instead of bringing despondency into night and darkness, tries to steal all protective thoughts, so that, attacking a soul deprived of them and helpless, inflict countless wounds on it. When someone, having dispelled this darkness with hope in God and turning to the Sun of Truth, hastens to receive His rays into his soul, then the confusion from these thoughts will transfer to the thief himself; because even these criminals, when someone catches them and brings fire, tremble, are timid, and are embarrassed. How, you say, can you free yourself from this sadness without first freeing yourself from the demon that causes it? It is not the demon that causes despondency, but it makes the demon strong and inspires evil thoughts. Blessed Paul can testify to this; and he was afraid not of any demon, but of excessive sorrow, when he wrote to the Corinthians so that they would finally forgive the sinner his sin: “Not through much sorrow,” he says, “will such a one be sacrificed” (2 Cor. 2:7). But suppose, if you want, that a demon attacks you, and despondency is driven out of your soul: what harm will it do? What evil, great or small, can a demon do to us on its own? Even without it, despondency can do a lot of evil, and most of those who put a noose on themselves, or stabbed themselves with a sword, or drowned themselves in rivers, or destroyed themselves in some other way, were carried away to such a violent death by despondency; If among these people there are some who are possessed by a demon, then their death should not be attributed to the demon, but to the influence and power of despondency. How can you, you say, not lose heart? It is possible if, having rejected the opinions of the crowd on this subject, you will think about things above. Now your situation seems terrible to you because the crowd considers it so; but if you want to accurately examine it in itself, renouncing empty and erroneous prejudice, you will find that it does not represent any reason for despondency, as we have already proven many times. Regarding your peers (whose complacency and boldness in front of their brothers you see and therefore, I think, you become embarrassed and lose heart) I will say that if, while they spend their lives in abstinence, modesty and other virtues of a wise life, you spent all your time in indecent houses, in games and feasts, your despondency would have a reason; but if you follow the same path with them, then why should you be sad? If I were talking to someone else, one of those who are easily carried away by pride, then I would have kept silent about what I now intend to tell you. But since I am quite sure that you will never cease to be modest, and will always consider yourself among the last, even if you are immensely praised and extolled, I will say everything without pretending at all. You, I hear, have succeeded so much in your pious life that you are no longer inferior not only to those young men, but also to great and wondrous men. And from these, they say, you do not lag behind in anything, neither in fasting (and is it possible otherwise, when you eat only water and bread, and then every other day?), nor in the duration of night vigils, but like them you spend many nights in a row without sleep. And in passing the day, they say, you have already surpassed many of them; I hear stories from those who come from there that you spend all your time on prayers and tears; and just as those who labor in silence, or who shut themselves up in solitude in a cell, do not talk to anyone about anything, so, they say, you do the same, living among such a crowd. They even speak with amazement about your heartfelt contrition, about sorrow and lamentation, and with these stories about your exploits here they brought many into contrition. He does not look, they say, at anyone who comes there and does not give himself rest from constant work; we were often afraid that he would blind his eyes with tears, so that he would not damage his brain with excessive wakefulness and unrelenting and incessant exercise in reading. 2. So, you are saddened and embarrassed by the fact that you are already ahead of your peers, and having a strong and daring opponent, you have left far behind you those who struggle with you! Wasn’t it true when I said that your despondency is only a consequence of prejudice, but upon careful consideration it can give us many incentives even to complacency? Tell me, what is the benefit of not being possessed if at the same time life is neglected? And what is the harm from being possessed if at the same time the lifestyle is strict and comfortable? But perhaps you feel ashamed and blush when a demon overthrows you in someone’s presence? This happens because you judge a matter according to the opinion of the crowd, and not according to prudence. The fall does not consist in what you say happens to you, but in falling into sin; in such a fall one should be ashamed and lament. And now we are ashamed of something that has nothing shameful in itself; on the contrary, when we do something that is truly shameful and worthy of ridicule and severe punishment, we think that nothing bad has happened to us; if the soul falls every day under the weight of sins, then no one cries; and if something like this happens to the body, it seems heavy and unbearable. Isn’t this what demonization consists of, when the soul is in such a state and judges things so erroneously? If your fits were due to drunkenness, you should be ashamed and despondent; then the guilt would be arbitrary, but if they come from the violence of another, then it is not the one who suffers who should be ashamed, but the one who causes offense and violence. So in the square, if during a quarrel one pushes the other and throws him to the ground, we all blame the one who pushed, not the one who fell. It is good to be ashamed, but when we do something that brings upon us punishment from the One who will once judge us; and while we don’t know anything about ourselves, why should we be ashamed? If someone, attacking you alone, began to beat you or throw you to the ground without any reason or guilt on your part, and you endured everything with meekness and left, then your act would not be shameful, but wise and highly praiseworthy. So, if it is commendable to endure the insult caused by people, then why should he be ashamed, as if of some reprehensible deed, who complacently endures the rage of the most evil demon who commits the same thing? What could be more incongruous than such a contradiction? If you, having gotten up after your fit, began to do or say something obscene, then I would not prevent you from lamenting and complaining about one thing; But if you endure everything with thanksgiving and immediately turn to prayers, then what is there to be ashamed of? Maybe you are upset by reproaches from others? But what could be more reprehensible than people who do not even know what deserves reproach? These people are truly insane and possessed of demons - they are the ones who do not know how to look at things as they are in essence, and scold what is worthy of praise, and consider what is reprehensible to be praiseworthy. Crazy people say a lot of bad things to others, but those who listen to them do not think of being offended. So you, listening to these crazy people, do not consider what happens to you as a shame and harm, so that you actually do not become worthy of condemnation, angering God. If you consider shameful what God sends for admonition and benefit, then look where this evil leads. 3. If you want to see people who are truly worthy of shame and condemnation, then I will try to point out to you some of the many. Look at those who are seduced by female beauty, at those addicted to money, at those who love power and glory and are ready to do and endure anything for this, at those exhausted by envy, at those who plot maliciously against those who have not offended them in any way, at those who indulge in despondency without any reason, at people who are constantly carried away by the vanities of life; These and similar deeds are insane and worthy of punishment, worthy of condemnation, shame, and ridicule. And whoever, being attacked by a demon, despite the fact that he shows great wisdom in his life, deserves that everyone not only does not condemn him, but also marvels at him and adorns him with crowns because, with such bonds, he makes such a difficult procession and ascends the steep and narrow path of virtue. However, I almost forgot something else in which you have an advantage over your brothers - namely, that you can easily, if you have sinned in anything, atone for these sins with your current misfortune. We know this from what I said above when I spoke about Lazarus and the fornicator of Corinth. But I’m afraid for my father, you say; I can calmly bear my sorrows, but will it be easy for us to bear his embarrassment and indignation if he ever learns any of this? However, until now he has not found out; and to be depressed and tormented because of what will happen someday later, or perhaps will never happen, is very cowardly. And how do we know what he finds out? However, let this be known to us; Let us assume, if you want, that he finds out and does a lot of evil; I praise you for grieving over his sorrows, but I do not approve of you doing this to the detriment of yourself; those who think about things above, and not about earthly things, must overcome not only anger and lust and other passions, but also despondency; because it can cause us more harm than these passions, and those who do not want to completely perish must fight it courageously. If you yourself were to be the culprit of your father’s sorrows, then you really ought to fear and tremble as the culprit of such a disaster; but if he himself wants to expose himself to extreme grief, you have nothing to do with them; All that remains is to sympathize with my father. Moreover, we do not know how he will receive this news; often many things happened contrary to expectations; although this is not so common and rare, in this case it is both natural and very possible. Where can this be seen? Your father cares a lot about his side children, and such love for them can overshadow his sadness for you; Don’t torment yourself with unnecessary worries. If you need to complain about your father, then about his insane extravagance, feasts, pride, cruelty, and present prodigal life. Is it really a small evil, in your opinion, to have a relationship with another woman during the life of your wife, your mother, and give birth to children from lawless cohabitation? This obvious thing, leading to a bad end, is worthy of lamentation and tears; and what happens because of you, maybe it will be bad, and maybe it won’t be bad; to endure certain torment in view of an unknown future is very foolish. Let us even assume that the news about you will be received (by your father) with great indignation; but it will end very quickly and will go out before it flares up well; because a man so devoted to pleasure, preoccupied with many matters, feeding parasites and flatterers, and flaming with such passion for a woman with whom he has half-brothers, even if he pays attention to you, it will be short-lived and insignificant. I conclude this not only from what I have said, but also from what happened before; I know, I know well, that your father formerly loved you deeply and considered your head more valuable than anything else; but when you entered monastic life, he extinguished all this love, recognized your act as shameful and unworthy of the nobility of your ancestors, and said that you had disgraced his honor; If the force of nature had not held him back, he might even have renounced you. Thus - unless these words turn out to be very thoughtless - I believe that he is even glad about what happened to you, considering you to have suffered punishment for the fact that you resolutely did not accept his advice, although he often admonished you and wanted to distract you from this strict life. 4. This is what I can say about your father and your fears for him: and this, I think, is enough to dispel all your fear on this matter. But you said that the main problem is that you cannot hope for the future and do not know whether there will be an end to your suffering, or whether the one who entered into this struggle with you will want to fight with you to death. Regarding this, I cannot say anything true, and I cannot vouch for the future; however, I know for sure, and I also want you to be convinced that whatever happens will be for our benefit; and if you have such a conviction, you will soon drive away from yourself what you call the height of your misfortunes. In addition, one must keep in mind that the time of awards and crowns is the future century - a time of struggle and exploits. Blessed Paul wanted to explain this to us, saying: “In this way I flow, not as if it were unknown, in this way I strive, not as the beat of the air: but I mortify my body and make it into subjection, lest in preaching to others I myself should not be enslaved” (1 Cor. 9:26-27). When he approached his death, then he uttered the following blessed saying: “I have fought a good fight, I have passed my end, I have kept the faith, etc.... I have kept the crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 4:7-8), explaining that our whole life must be spent in struggle and labor if we want to enjoy eternal peace and countless blessings. If any careless person wants to enjoy both the pleasures here and the rewards prepared for workers there, he is deceiving and deceiving himself. Just as among fighters, the one who seeks peace during the struggle finds himself forever shame and ignominy, and the one who courageously endures all difficulties in the place of struggle receives crowns, glory and praise from the audience both during the struggle and at the end of it, so it is with us. He who makes the time of work a time of rest will groan, gnash his teeth and endure extreme torment when he needs to calm down with eternal peace; and whoever here endures sorrows complacently, both here and there will shine and enjoy immortal and true glory. If in everyday affairs a person who does something untimely does not achieve what he had in mind and exposes himself to countless disasters, then all the more will he experience this on himself who does not know the established times in spiritual matters. Christ said: “You will be in a world of sorrow” (John 16:33). Blessed Paul said: “And everyone... who wants to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12), meaning not only persecution from people, but also the machinations of demons. Job said: “Temptation is the life of man on earth” (Job 7:1). Why do you complain when you endure tribulations during tribulations? We would have to complain if we made the time, which Christ would call a time of sorrow, a time of pleasure and peace; if at the time when we are commanded to strive and work, we indulged in idleness; if we walked along the wide path, whereas He commanded us to walk along the narrow one. For this we would inevitably have to suffer punishment in that century. But what would you say, you say, about those who walk the broad path here and will rest there? Who are these people? I believe only the word of Christ, Who says that “narrow and strait is the way, let it lead into the belly” (Matthew 7:14). And that you can never follow the narrow path as you can the wide one, this, of course, is clear to everyone. If in worldly struggles no one received a crown without difficulty, moreover, having the same people as our opponents, then how can we, against whom the evil forces are fighting, defeat their fury without sorrow and embarrassment? 5. However, why do we need to prove this with inferences when we can resort to the blessed and valiant ascetics who lived in former times? Remember all those who became famous in those days, and you will see that through sorrow they all achieved boldness before God. First of all, if you want, let us turn to the son of the first created, the lamb of Christ, Abel, who did no evil, and yet suffered what the gravest sinners are subjected to. We suffer temptations as punishment for sins; and this righteous man suffered not for anything else, but for the fact that he was righteous. While he was not distinguished by anything great, his brother was favorable to him, and when he became famous for his sacrifice, Cain, blinded by envy, did not even look at nature. Why do you know whether it was not this reason that has now aroused the devil against you, and whether it was not the glory of your life that called him to this fight? If you laugh at these words of mine, I praise you for your humility, but I will not stop thinking so. If Abel, by bringing the fat, pleased God, all the more, having dedicated to God not something external, but his entire self, could arm the enemy against himself. God allowed him to attack you, just as He did not prevent the murder from happening then, but He allowed the righteous man to fall into the hands of a murderer, and did not deliver the one who suffered death for the sake of Him and His glory; He did not want Abel’s crowns to be diminished, and therefore he allowed him to reach the end. But, you say, what kind of punishment is death? Oh, if only I could now suffer such a punishment! This, beloved, you say now, but before death seemed more painful than anything and more painful than any punishment. Therefore, according to the Law of Moses, those who committed the greatest and unforgivable sin were subject to this punishment. And according to the laws of external (pagan) legislators, even now everyone convicted of the most heinous atrocities is punished in no other way; Meanwhile, this righteous man suffered equally with the wicked, or even much more severely, since he received a blow from the hand of his brother. What about Noah? And he was righteous and perfect, and in the midst of universal corruption, he alone pleased God, while all the others insulted Him. And yet he endured countless sorrows and grievous ones. He did not die as quickly as Abel, and did not undergo what seems easy to you, but he endured a long life, and for many years he lived no better than those who carry heavy burdens and are constantly exhausted by the heaviest burden. I will now fully explain this to you, having first said the following. For a whole year, Noah lived as if in a prison - in an unusual and terrible prison. I will not talk about the many animals and reptiles with which he lived for so long, imprisoned in such darkness; What do you think he endured from the peals of thunder, from the sound of rain? The lower abyss opened up, the upper abyss fell; and inside the ark he sat alone with his sons. Although he could be sure that the flood would end, due to the extreme nature of the event, he became numb with fear. If we, having houses firmly built on the ground, and living in cities, lose heart and are embarrassed when we see that the rain is pouring a little more heavily than usual, then what did he not endure, being alone inside the ark and seeing the most terrible abyss and the various generations of those who perished in it? The soul can be horrified when one city or even one house perishes in the waves during a flood; and when the whole universe suffered this, it is impossible to say in what condition he was in the midst of such a flood. And for a whole year he was in such fear. When the flood stopped, although his fear decreased, his sadness increased. As soon as he left the ark, he encountered another storm, no less than the first, seeing the great desert, violent death, the bodies of the dead mixed with silt and dirt, and everyone together - people, donkeys, and lower animals buried in one most pitiful grave. Although those who perished in the flood were great sinners, Noah was a man and had compassion for those who had the same nature as him. So Ezekiel, although he was righteous and knew that the Israelites were the most vicious of all, however, when he saw them defeated and falling, he also compassionated and cried; meanwhile, God revealed to him in advance all their wickedness and gave him the opportunity to see it with his own eyes, so that when he sees them being punished, he would courageously endure this misfortune; and yet, after such relief was brought to him, he complained and fell, crying out like this: “Oh, be cruel to me,...Lord! Do you consume the remains of Israel...?” (Ezek.9:8). And this happened to him not only once, but also another time, when he saw the killing of Jehoiachin. So Noah, although he knew about the countless crimes of his contemporaries, was not more courageous than either Ezekiel or Moses. And Moses suffered many times in the same way as the prophet, and seeing that those who sinned had to suffer punishment, he lamented and grieved more than those who were being punished. But under Noah the disaster was even more terrible; for such a death as happened with him was the only one. Then, when Noah was oppressed by such great calamities: loneliness, compassion for his fellow tribesmen, the multitude of those who died, the manner of their death, the desolation of the earth - and when his sadness on all sides greatly increased and increased, then another insult was inflicted on him from his son - an unbearable insult, very shameful and very regrettable. How many times more severe are insults from friends than insults from enemies, just as much more unbearable are insults from children than insults from friends. So, when a father sees that the one whom he gave birth to, whom he raised, whom he educated, for whom he endured many sorrows, labors and worries, treats him more offensively than anyone else, when he experiences this, he is unable to endure great spiritual sorrow. For a free person, insult in itself is intolerable; when it is inflicted by one’s own children, it can even drive the offended person into a frenzy; it's so heavy! Moreover, keep in mind not only this insult, but also conclude from it how the insulter treated Noah in all previous times. If Ham, still having a terrible event before him, having just freed himself from such a prison and still seeing the disasters of the universe, did not come to his senses by this, but insulted the one who should least of all be insulted; if he was not corrected either by the death of so many people, or by the devastation of the earth, or by the wrath of God, or by any of the other events that took place at that time, then what was he like before the flood, when there were many who led him to vices? Yes, then because of this (son) and other people the righteous man suffered a more severe storm than that which occurred during the flood itself. During the flood, only a lot of water surrounded him; and before the flood, he was surrounded on all sides by an abyss of vices, and the machinations of evil people worried him more than the waves. Left alone among such a multitude of lawless and wicked people, although he did not suffer any harm from them, he suffered a lot of ridicule and mockery, if not before, then when he told them about the ark and future disasters. And how such ridicule can outrage the soul, one who was sanctified from his mother’s womb and even wanted to renounce prophecy because of this can testify to us; “And I will not say this to anyone,” says (Jeremiah), “(Jeremiah 20:9). Moreover, how much grief, how much sadness it caused Noah simply because there was no one else equal to him either in soul or in life! Not only that: he endured a lot of sorrow and condolences for his contemporaries. Do the righteous only grieve when they see sinners dying, and when they see them sinning, do they not lament? No, in the latter case they are much more upset than in the former. And this can be well learned from the prophets. One of them cried bitterly: “Oh, dear soul! for the godly perished from the earth, and there is no one who corrects men” (Mic. 7:2). And the other said to God: “What kind of work and illness have you shown me, look?” (Hab.1:3). And greatly lamenting for the oppressed, he cried like this: “Make men like fish of the sea... those who have no elders” (Hab. 1:14). If this was the case when there were laws, and rulers, and courts, and priests, and prophets, and punishments, then imagine to what extent all the vices extended under Noah, when nothing like that restrained people. Moreover, with vices, human life did not last long, about seventy to eighty years; and then it extended to six hundred years or more. In addition to all of the above, how much work must he have endured, walking such a long path and trying for such a long time not to be led astray by the many obstacles encountered? What am I saying: many, when the entire path was like this, from one end to the other the earth was filled with rocks and thorns, wild animals and stench, infection and cold, and evildoers? Truly, it was more convenient to walk along a narrow path in the deepest night than along the path of virtue in those days: how many people were there who tried to seduce Noah from his path! When everyone can do whatever they want, and only one goes along the opposite path to them, how can he reach the end if everyone is crowding him and dragging him back? And how difficult it is to lead a virtuous life among a crowd of people, this is proven by those who have settled in the deserts, at the present time, when, by the grace of God, everywhere one can see a good life, unanimity and considerable love for each other. At the time, none of this happened, but everyone treated Noah more ferociously than even wild animals. 6. What could be more regrettable, what could be more miserable than such a life? I promised to show that Noah's condition was no better than the condition of those who constantly carry heavy loads and never have rest; but my word did much more, revealing to us that Noah’s condition was not only no better, but much more difficult than their condition. It seems to many that Abraham lived complacently all the time, which is why they are accustomed to comparing with him those who were prosperous and happy in all respects. Let us consider what happened to him. In my opinion, he is much better than both Noah and Abel... but it’s better not to say anything until the very consideration of events gives us a solution. What happened to him in Persia, and whether anything sad happened to him before he was seventy years old, no one can know for sure. And blessed Moses did not write for us the history of this time, but, omitting all these years of his life, he began the story from subsequent years. And that Abraham probably suffered in the same way as Noah, when he alone wanted to live piously among so many wicked people and foreigners, this is not as unknown as the rest, and even very foolish people can easily understand this. However, let’s leave this alone for now; We will begin our speech with the migration of Abraham, considering first of all how far the land of the Chaldeans was from Palestine, what was the condition of the roads, what were the mutual relations of people, what was the social structure. Because the righteous man easily obeyed, one should not now consider the deed itself easy, and because Moses spoke about the event concisely and briefly, one should not think that the deed itself is as brief as the words; it’s easy to say and describe it; but it is not so easy to do, on the contrary, it is very difficult. So, the length of the journey and how great the distance between these countries could be said with accuracy by those who would come to us from there, if there are any. But we did not see any of them, and having met one of those who were in a neighboring country and asking how long he had to spend on the road, we heard that it was thirty-five days; however, he said, he had not seen Babylon, but had heard from those who had been there that there was another, equally long way from there. Such was the distance then, such is it now; but the condition of the roads at that time was not the same as the present one. Nowadays, hotels, cities and villages are often located on the road, and a traveler can meet many travelers, and this is no less important in terms of safety than the hotel, city and village. Moreover, the city governors, having chosen from the country men who differed from others in physical strength and were capable of using javelins and slings in the same way as archers with arrows and spearmen with spears, and placing commanders over them, freed them from any other work and entrusted them only with guarding the roads. And then they came up with another, more reliable, security measure: having built houses along the road at a distance of a thousand steps from one another, they placed night watchmen in them, whose vigilance and supervision serve as a great obstacle to attacks by villains. But under Abraham there was none of this: no frequent villages, no cities, no hotels; it would not be long before one could see an inn or a companion, or anything else like that; I’m not even talking about the roughness of the roads and the fickleness of the winds, although these inconveniences, even without them, can cause quite a lot of trouble for travelers. This can be testified by those who, having carts and draft animals, do not dare to go on an ordinary road in them, unless they first pave it with stones and, having filled up the potholes from the streams, do not level the roads in this way. At that time the road was more desolate than uninhabited places, more impassable than mountains, more dangerous than ditches and rocks. But I have not yet spoken about the most important inconvenience, about what the mutual relations of people were, which caused them much more difficult difficulties than the road itself, since everyone was divided into nations, or even into cities. It was not so then as it is now, when one power extends over the greater part of the universe, and all obey one man and are governed by the same laws; but like one body cut into many parts, so the human race was then divided: the righteous man had to exchange one enemy for another, and as soon as he ran away from one, he always ended up with another; because in one place there was a plurality of beginnings, in another there was anarchy. What is harder than such a life? Moreover, Abraham feared and trembled not only for himself, but also for his father, and for his wife, and for his nephew. He also took great care of the servants when they were even at home, and even more so when they often had to be abroad. And if he knew exactly where his wandering would end for him, then his worries would not have been so unbearable; and now, having heard simply and vaguely about the land, not about this or that, but “I will show you now” (Gen. 12:1), he mentally walked around all the countries and experienced great confusion in his soul, because he could not stop in thought anywhere, but had to doubt and worry about many things. He could have thought that he would go to the very limits of the universe and to the very ocean, so that, although he did not cover the entire earth, he endured the anxiety of such a journey. In his soul he was ready not only to reach Palestine, but to follow everywhere, even if he was commanded to go through the entire universe or even go to islands located outside it. If the uncertainty of the command made one expect both this and the completely opposite, then this too was difficult. For someone who has to endure something difficult, it is much easier for him to clearly know what he will be subjected to and what he must prepare for, than to run around in thought everywhere and wait for something favorable, now for something unfavorable, and not firmly hope for anything, but equally not trust both. 7. This happened to Abraham before his arrival in the promised land; when he reached Palestine and hoped to finally calm down, then in the harbor itself he found an even greater storm. But it is not easy, on the contrary, it is very difficult when someone, having thought that his grief is over and that he is already free from it, therefore putting aside all care and concern, suddenly has to begin the fight against troubles again. He who expects disasters can more easily endure their onset; and whoever has calmed down and renounced worries, if something similar to what happened to him before happens again, he becomes indignant and more easily succumbs to grief for two reasons: because the disaster was unexpected and because he put aside all care and precautions. So what storm befell Abraham? Then there was such a severe famine in Palestine that Abraham immediately rose from there and went to Egypt. Having come there in the hope of finding deliverance from the disaster, he was again beset by a misfortune more serious than famine, being exposed to extreme danger. He then fell into such fear that he even decided to do what is most unbearable for all husbands; this is the abuse of their wives. He then went to such an extreme that he even resorted to hypocrisy, and what could be worse than that? What, do you think, was in his soul when he was forced to advise his wife the following: “I know that you are a good wife. It will happen, when the Egyptians see you, they will say, “This is his wife.” and they kill me, they will supply it for you. Rtsy, for I am his sister, may it be good to me for your sake, and may my soul live for your sake” (Gen. 12:11–13)? These words were spoken by the one who for God left his fatherland, his home, his friends, his relatives, and everything else in the house, and endured such sorrow and so much labor during his long journey. However, he did not then say anything like the following: “God abandoned me, turned away and deprived me of His Providence”; no, he endured everything courageously and with faith; and whoever should have been the most angry when his wife was subjected to great desecration, tried in every possible way to prevent the reproach from becoming obvious. And with what despondency and grief this is combined, it is impossible to express in words, but those who have had wives and fallen into anxiety and jealousy know this. Solomon also testifies to this passion when he says: “For the wrath of her husband is filled with jealousy: he will not spare on the day of judgment, he will not change hostility at any cost, but he will be resolved by many gifts” (Prov. 6:34-35); and again: “strong as death is love, cruel as hell is jealousy” (Song. 8:6). If a jealous person is so inflamed, then isn’t he more unfortunate than anyone who has fallen into such misfortune that he is even forced to flatter the offender and try in every possible way to ensure that the adulterer, who should have taken revenge, will conveniently take advantage of his wife? When these disasters ended, other difficulties appeared again: famine was followed by war. I am not talking now about the quarrel between the shepherds and the separation from his nephew, although this, if compared with other circumstances, could have caused (Abraham) great despondency. When Lot, who was saved by him and received so much good, is therefore obliged to yield to him in everything and punish his shepherds - when this man, taking advantage of the choice given to him, takes the most fruitful countries for himself, and leaves him more desolate places, who could easily endure this? I’m not talking about a loss, but about the fact that the one who showed respect is himself subject to disrespect and receives the worst part, which seems heavier than any loss. However, I am omitting all this now, because we are talking about the patriarch, and not about any of the ordinary people. 8. So, the famine was followed by a war with the Persians, and Abraham was forced to go against them, not at the very beginning, when both sides were still strong, but when the allies were all already put to flight, the victory remained with the enemies, and no one could resist them, since some were completely defeated, others disappeared, and some were enslaved by them. However, nothing kept Abraham at home, but, depressed by intense grief over what had happened, he went to share the misfortune with the vanquished, exposing himself to obvious death; for going out into battle with such a large army, having a little over three hundred household members, was possible only by counting and deciding on captivity, torture and countless deaths. So he went willingly to experience the cruelty of the barbarians; but when he was saved by God’s love for mankind and returned with booty and a relative, he again had to mourn his own grief - I mean the loss of children and the fact that he did not have an heir. If you only now hear him complaining before God and saying: “What mi dasi? But I go away without children” (Gen. 15:2), then do not think that now he only felt this grief; no, this care and anxiety entered the house of the righteous man together with his young wife, or even before the wife herself. Usually, all of us, as soon as we begin to consult and talk about marriage, are worried about all the worries associated with it, of which the most important is about children, and the fear (of childlessness) has been disturbing our souls from that very day. If it happens that after marriage one year or two, or even three (without children), then despondency intensifies and hopes for joy weaken; when even more time passes, then hope completely leaves us, and despondency takes possession of the soul, darkening all the pleasures of life and not allowing us to enjoy anything. Thus, if none of so many disasters had happened to Abraham, but everything would have been according to his desire, one despondency from childlessness, which accompanied all the events of his life, was able to darken and destroy all complacency. The promise of God followed already in his deep old age, when nature no longer gave hope (for childbearing); and he spent all the preceding such a long time in sadness and grief; and the more he saw his wealth increase, the more he grieved, not having an heir. What do you think he endured when he heard: “Your seed will be wonderful in a land that is not yours; and they will enslave me and make me bitter for four hundred years” (Gen. 15:13)? And the wife who either advises Abraham to take her maidservant, then, when he has taken her, reproaches and complains, calling on God against him, and forces him to expel the same maidservant who shared his bed and was preparing to bear him a son, who would not plunge into extreme despondency? To whom this seems unimportant, let him remember that entire houses were upset because of this, and marvel at the righteous man. Although he bravely endured everything out of fear of God, he was still a man and suffered and grieved from all this. Then the maid returns to the master's house and bears him a natural son, and Abraham becomes the father after such a long time; This event gave him some pleasure, but even greater despondency. The bastard son reminded him of what was legitimate and aroused the strongest desire for such a son. He thought that the words: “This (household member) shall not be your heir, but one who will come forth from you” (Gen. 15:4) were said about Ishmael, because nothing had yet been said about Sarah. When at last he received the clearest promise about Isaac and the time was appointed for his birth, before he could enjoy this hope, the disasters of the Sodomites brought a great cloud of sorrow over him. And that these disasters greatly outraged the righteous man is obvious to everyone from his very words and from the prayer that he offered to God for the Sodomites; and when he saw how that terrible rain poured down and everything suddenly turned to dust and ashes, he was already beside himself. If we, seeing burning houses from afar, become anxious and lose heart from sadness and fear; then what did he not tolerate, seeing how entire cities and villages, along with their inhabitants, were burned by an extraordinary, but strange and terrible fire? So were not these sufferings of the righteous man like waves on the sea, continuously following one after another? Just as there, when some waves have not yet disappeared, others rise, so it was throughout the life of this righteous man. As soon as the disasters of Sodom had occurred, the king of Gerar tried to inflict on Sarah the same dishonor as Pharaoh; and again the wife was forced to resort to deplorable hypocrisy, and dishonor would indeed have been inflicted on her if God had not again prevented her. And as soon as the son from the slave, and the wife, and the whole house began to rejoice at the birth of a legitimate son, one righteous man, in the midst of such joy, had to grieve and lament, being forced to expel the concubine along with her son; for, although Ishmael was a bastard son, and from a maidservant, his illegitimacy did not in the least diminish Abraham’s natural disposition towards him, and the low birth of his mother did not weaken the inevitable feeling in the father’s heart. This can be learned from the Bible itself. The strong and courageous husband, who decided to slay his only begotten (son) with his own hands, grieved when his wife demanded exile from him (Hagar); and he would not have yielded and would not have listened to Sarah, even if she then had even more courage and (more persistently) told him, if the fear of God had not prompted him to do so. So, when you hear that Abraham, at the command of God, sent away the maid with his son, do not think that his grief has ceased (this was impossible); but marvel at the great humility by which he, although tormented by compassion, did not resist God, but sent the child with his mother, not even knowing where they would go; he endured and endured with sorrow, because he was not above nature. 9 . Abraham suffered the same thing because of his legitimate son. Let no one say that he did not grieve and suffer like a father, and let no one deprive him of the highest praise, wanting to show his wisdom beyond measure. We are embarrassed and grieved, and often cry, when we see that people are being led across the square to death, convicted of shameful deeds and who have lived such a life for a long time, and, moreover, strangers and never seen by us; How could he not feel human sorrow who was commanded to slay his son, his legitimate, only one, born beyond his dreams after such a long time and in the deepest old age (from which love is more inflamed), to slay this son, still young, with his own hands and offer him as a burnt offering? What could be funnier than people objecting to this? If he were stone, or iron, or adamant, and then could he not be distressed and not touched by the beauty of his son (who was in the prime of his life), the wisdom of his speeches and the piety of his soul? He asked his father: “Behold, fire and wood, where is the sheep?” , - and heard that “God will see for himself a sheep for a burnt offering, little child” (Gen. 22:7-8), and did not ask anything else; he saw that his father was tying him up and did not resist; was laid on the firewood, and did not come off; I saw a knife being pointed at him, and was not embarrassed! What could be more godly than this soul? Who else would dare to say that Abraham did not suffer at all from all this? If he had to sacrifice an enemy and an enemy, if he were a beast, and then could he do it without grief? No no; do not attribute such cruelty to the righteous man: he lamented and lamented. “God,” he said, “will see for himself a sheep for a burnt offering, my child.” Do you see what a pity there is in these words? However, he held back and suppressed grief, and did everything with such readiness as people would do if they did not encounter anything that would hold them back. So, having sacrificed his son (for he sacrificed him in his intention), he returns him to his mother healthy and unharmed; and she, having accepted her son and not having had time to rejoice enough at him, leaves life. And this saddened Abraham a lot. Although she lived with him for a long time, this did not help him bear the misfortune any easier; on the contrary, it caused him even more despondency; because we are especially attached to those who have lived with us for a long time and have presented us with many proofs of their friendship and virtue. And that this is really so, the patriarch himself proved by his lamentation and crying for Sarah. And what can we say about his worries regarding his son, his wife and his (step) brothers, and everything else? Anyone who wants to delve into the details of this will see that the life of the righteous man was much more miserable and filled with greater worries than is now depicted. Scripture spoke only about the most important things, and left everything else that usually happens every day in a house where there are many servants, a husband, a wife, and children, and concern for many matters, to our consideration. So, you say; but with each of these griefs, the greatest consolation brought Abraham the fact that he endured all this for God. The same can serve as a consolation for you; temptation befell you not because of anyone else’s permission, but because of God’s. If evil demons, without His permission, once did not dare to attack pigs, then much less your precious soul (Matthew 8:30ff.). Therefore, just as Abraham received a great reward from the fact that he endured everything courageously and with gratitude, so the same reward will provide you; If only you did not lose heart and did not grumble, but thanked the Humane-loving God for everything. So blessed Job endured everything that he endured by God’s permission; but what brought him crowns was not only that he endured, but also that he bravely withstood all adversities; and we all marvel at him, not because the devil deprived him of everything, but because Job “in all these... sin not... below his lips” (Job 1:22). 10. Remembering Job, I wanted to express in my word both his long-term sorrows and the extremeness of his suffering; but, in order not to make the speech too long, I turn to Isaac. And you, if you want to know exactly what happened to Job, pick up his book and delve into the abyss of his misfortunes: and in them you will find great consolation for your own. Although this righteous man is much better than us, he fought with much greater strength; because the evil one rebelled against him with special force. However, feats are determined not by the measure of temptations, but by the significance of the deeds. Thus, although your current feat is less, this cannot in the least diminish your crowns. So, the one who brought two talents brought no less than the one who brought five talents. Why? Because, although the profit was not the same, the zeal was the same, which is why both received the same honor when they heard: “Enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matthew 25:21). What about Isaac? He was not sent on a long journey, like his father, and was not forced to leave his land, like him; however, he also suffered the greatest of evils - the fear of childlessness. When he stopped this evil with prayer, another fear, greater than the previous one, befell him; since it doesn’t matter whether you fear for childlessness, or for the very root of childbirth; His wife suffered so much in childbirth that for her life was worse than any death. Listen to how she herself says about this: “If this is how I want to be, why should I live?” (Gen.25:22). Isaac also experienced hunger; and although he did not go to Egypt, he also experienced what his father almost suffered there, having been exposed to danger for his wife. Moreover, all his neighbors respected his father, but they persecuted him as an enemy and adversary, and did not allow him to enjoy the fruits of his own labors; Having greatly constrained him, they themselves used his works. When he made friends and saw his children at full age, when he hoped to find great consolation in them and to have good helpers in his old age, then it was he who fell into extreme despondency. Firstly, the eldest son took a foreign wife, contrary to the wishes of his father, and brought disagreement and quarrel into the house, and thereby greatly saddened him. The filial wives caused Isaac and Rebekah many troubles, which Scripture did not list all of them, but pointed them out in one word, saying that “they resisted Rebekah” (Gen. 26:35), leaving it to those who had homes and children who had already married to understand what was said. Such people know more and better than anyone how much evil happens when mother-in-law and daughter-in-law quarrel with each other, and especially when both live in the same house. It was a constant evil. In addition, blindness of the eyes occurred: and how great this misfortune is, only those who themselves suffer from it know. Then there followed a misunderstanding in the blessing of his son, by which Isaac was so amazed in his soul that he exclaimed more sorrowfully than the victim himself from the substitution, and justified himself before him and said that he did not do this injustice voluntarily, but having been deceived. And their subsequent events resembled a theatrical tragedy and represented a drama from the life of Theban youths 1 . And here the elder brother, despite the old age and blindness of his father, expelled the younger brother from the house, and if he did not commit murder, like (the son of Oedipus), then the wisdom of the mother prevented this. Esau also threatened to kill Jacob and expected only the death of his father; but the mother, having learned about this and told the father, saved the younger one from the hands of the older one, and (the parents) had to force the one who was obedient and respectful to them to flee, while the evil one who made life unbearable for them (Rebekah herself says this) was constantly kept with them. So, when the one who always lived at home left (“he was not wicked,” it is said about Jacob, “living in the house.” - Gen. 25:27) and was mostly with his mother, how much should Rebekah grieve and cry, always remembering her son and looking at her husband, who was no better than a dead man, both in old age and in illness? What sorrow was the old man, who had to mourn his wife’s misfortunes, along with his own? When Rebekah approached death, not seeing her son standing with her and crying, closing his eyes and compressing his lips, dressing her and taking care of everything else - which for parents seems sadder than death itself - what did she not say, what did she not utter that could soften even a stone? And Isaac, seeing her dying in such a state, how could he feel in his soul both then and after her death? 11. This turned out to be the one who seemed to us happier than many. And there is no need to consider the life of Jacob in detail: it is sufficiently depicted by the words of Jacob himself. Talking with Pharaoh, he said: “Small and evil were the days of my life; did not reach in the days of my father’s life” (Gen. 47:9), i.e. I spent a life that was both very short and very miserable. Even without these words, his misfortunes are so well known that hardly any of the ordinary people does not know them. His grandfather, although he made a long journey, did so at the command of God, which gave him the greatest consolation; and Jacob (left his homeland), running away from his brother, who was plotting against him and plotting murder. Abraham never lacked necessary necessities; and Jacob considered it good and happiness to have only clothes and bread. When he escaped (from his brother), freed himself from the disasters of the journey and came to his relatives, he was forced to work, although he was brought up among complete abundance. You know that slavery is bitter everywhere; but when someone is forced to be a slave to his equals, and, moreover, having never experienced anything like this and having spent all the previous years of his life in freedom and contentment, then this misfortune becomes unbearable. However, Jacob endured everything courageously. Listen to how he himself talks about the misfortunes of his shepherd’s life: “I was rewarded,” he says, “...from me the Tatbins of the day and the Tatbins of the night: the days were burning with heat, and the nights were cold, and sleep departed from my eyes: behold, I am twenty years old” (Gen. 31:39-40). This was endured by the one who did not lead a wandering life, always remaining at home, and after such labors and hardships, after such a long time, he was subjected to an even more regrettable deception in marriage. Even if he hadn’t worked for seven years, even if he hadn’t suffered what he complained about to his father-in-law, even if he hadn’t loved his daughter, the mere fact that he was promised a better one, and instead was given a worse one, how much sadness, how much anxiety, how much grief would cause this blessed one? Another in his place would not have endured this insult so easily, but would have destroyed his father-in-law’s entire house, stabbed himself to death along with him, or would have destroyed him in some other way; but Jacob, being forgiving and long-suffering, did not do this, and did not even plan to begin it; but, having received the order to work for another seven years, he willingly obeyed: he was so meek and modest. If you say that love for the girl contributed to the meekness of his disposition, then, in agreement with me, you will again express the excessiveness of his grief. Imagine what grief he suffered when he was deprived of such a beloved girl and, hoping to get her, was forced to wait another seven years, amid cold and heat, and vigils, and continuous deprivation! Having finally received it and leading a miserable and difficult life with his father-in-law, he was, moreover, subjected to envy, and suffered deception a second time when receiving the reward, for which he himself convicted (his father-in-law), saying: “and you repaid my wages with ten lambs” (Gen. 31:41). Along with his father-in-law, his wives' brothers also rebelled against him, even more than the father-in-law himself. But the most painful thing was that his beloved wife, for whom he decided to work twice for seven years, indulged in extreme despondency, seeing that her sister was giving birth to her, and she herself did not even have hope for this, and from this despondency she went into such a frenzy that she reproached and reproached her husband, and called for death on herself if she did not give birth: “Give me children,” she said, “even if not, I will die.” (Gen.30:1). What could make him happy when his beloved wife was so grieving, and her brothers were plotting against him and trying in every possible way to bring him to extreme poverty? If great sorrow is caused when the dowry received without labor is taken away from wives, then can one who is in danger of losing what he has acquired through his own labor meekly endure such a loss? Therefore, Jacob, seeing that he was suspected and spied on, secretly left as a fugitive. What could be more unfortunate than this? So he, leaving with fear and danger both from his parents’ house and from someone else’s house, in both cases inevitably fell into the same abyss. Having run away from his brother, he came to his father-in-law; and having again been persecuted by his father-in-law, he was forced to get together with his brother; and the prophetic saying that Amos said about the day of the Lord was fulfilled over him: “If a man flees from the face of a lion, and a bear attacks, he jumps into (his) house and leans his hands against the wall, and the serpent cuts him off” (Amos 5:19). What can we say about the fear he suffered when he was overtaken by Laban, and about the sorrows during the journey, when so many herds and children followed him? When he was about to see his brother’s face, didn’t he feel the same as, according to the poets, they feel when they look at the head of the Gorgon they themselves invented? Wasn't he completely in such a state as if he was approaching death? Listen to his words and find out what kind of flame was in his soul: “Deliver me,” he says, “O God, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I am afraid of him, lest he come and kill me, and the mother of her children.” But you said, “I will do good for you” (Gen. 32:11). What joy would not this fear have driven away, even if Jacob had spent all the previous time in complacency? Meanwhile, his whole life, from the very day on which he, preparing to accept the blessing, first died of fear, was intertwined with misfortunes and dangers. Then such fear seized him that even after meeting his brother, who treated him kindly and humanely, he did not have the courage and did not stop worrying. When Esau urged him to go with him, he, as if wanting to be freed from some beast, hesitated and asked his brother to leave him: “My lord, this is good news,” he said, “for my children are young, and my sheep and beef are laden: if I marry one day, all the cattle will die. Let my lord go before his servant; I will strengthen myself on the way by slowing my progress, which is before me; and as soon as the children are able to go, until I will come to my master in Siir” (Gen. 33:13-14). Having calmed down a little from these dangers, he was then again exposed to another fear, much greater. When his daughter was kidnapped, he at first grieved over the insult to this daughter; and when the king’s son eased this sorrow by promising to enter into a legal marriage with Dinah, and Jacob approved of this intention, then Levi and his accomplices broke the agreement and, having exterminated all the men in the city, brought his parent into such fear that he even moved from there, due to the fact that everyone armed themselves against him. “And Jacob said,” says the Scripture, “to Simeon and Levi: You who have created me hate me, because it is evil for me to be all who live on the earth, in Canaanite and Pereziah: but I am small in number; And indeed, the neighbors would have decisively exterminated them all if God’s love for mankind had not curbed their rage and put an end to these disasters. “The fear of God,” says the Scripture, “came upon (all) the cities around them; and the children of Israel did not go after them” (Gen. 35:5). What happens after these disasters end? Has Jacob calmed down? No, then the greatest of misfortunes befell him - the death of his beloved wife, premature and at the same time violent. “Give birth,” the Scripture says, “to Rachel, and she was distressed at birth: but when it was suddenly cruel for her to give birth, the woman said to her: be of good cheer, for this is your son.” But when my soul left me and died, I called his name, “Son of my pain” (Gen. 35:16–18). And while this grief was still in force, Reuben increased the grief by disgracing his father's bed; It was so hard for the father that even at death, when parents are especially lenient towards children, he cursed his son, who, moreover, was the first-born among all the others, which has a lot of significance for parental love. The power of grief overcame all these impulses, and Jacob, calling him to himself, said: “Reuben my firstborn, you are my strength and the beginning of my children: cruel is he who endures, and cruel is the stubborn. Thou hast vexed thee like water, and thou hast not boiled: thou hast ascended upon thy father’s bed, and then thou hast desecrated the bed where thou hast ascended” (Gen. 49:3-4). When the son of his beloved wife came of age, and Jacob hoped to have in him consolation in his sorrow for her, then in this very son many sorrows were prepared for him. The brothers soaked Joseph's clothes in blood and showed them to their father, causing him much grief. He cried not only about his son's death, but also about how it happened; and there were many reasons that outraged his soul: this was the son of his beloved wife, the best of all the others, especially loved by him, who was at a very flourishing age, sent by himself, who died not in the house, not on his bed, and not in the presence of his father, without saying or hearing anything, not by death common to all, but during his life he was torn to pieces by fierce beasts, so that his father could not even collect his remains and bury him in the earth, and did not suffer this in his youth, when he could endure, but in very old age. It was the most pitiful sight - to see gray hair, sprinkled with ashes, an old man's chest, naked due to the torn clothes, and inconsolable crying: “Jacob has torn his garments to pieces,” says the Scripture, and put sackcloth on his loins, and he wept for his son for many days. All his sons and daughters gathered together and came to console him; and did not want to be comforted, saying: “For I will go down to my son lamenting into hell” (Gen. 37:34-35). And as if his soul should never have been free from sorrow, when this wound began to heal, he was greatly saddened at first by the famine that befell the whole earth; and then, when the sons, returning from Egypt, brought relief from this disaster, they at the same time brought another sadness, and the joy of deliverance from hunger was darkened by separation from their son Simeon. Not only this: they also demanded Benjamin from him, in whom alone he had consolation both for his dead wife and for his son, devoured by wild beasts. And not only this disposed him to keep Benjamin with him, but also his age and upbringing. “It won’t go,” said Jacob, “my son is with you; because his brother died, and he alone remained: and evil will happen to him on the way, even if you go, you will bring my old age with sorrow to hell” (Gen. 42:38). For all these reasons, at first he refused and said that he would not give Benjamin; when a strong famine came and a great extremity was felt, then he, although he greatly complained, saying: “Why did you do evil, telling your husband that he is your brother” (Gen. 43:6); - although he suffered most gravely, uttering sorrowful words: “Joseph is gone, Simeon is gone, and will you understand Benjamin? All this was on me” (Gen.42:36); - although he cried that after Joseph and Simeon they wanted to take Benjamin away from him, and declared that he would rather endure everything than let this son go, but he was finally defeated and gave him up with his own hands, saying: “And take your brother: and rise up, go to your husband: May my God give you grace before your husband and let your only brother go, and Benjamin: as... bezchadekh, bezchadekh” (Gen. 43:13–14). Jacob was so greatly overcome by his numerous calamities that although his insides were tormented and the number of his children was gradually dwindling, he endured everything, due to the excessiveness of (new) even greater calamities; for he was overcome with even greater sorrow for Simeon and Benjamin than for Joseph. So a misfortune that there is no hope of correcting, although it causes us great sorrow, is soon forgotten, plunging the soul into hopelessness; and when it still hangs over us, then it does not allow the soul to calm down with the uncertainty of the future, constantly intensifying and renewing the languor in us. Anyone can learn this well from blessed David, who cried for his son while he was still alive, and when he died, David stopped grieving; and when the servants were perplexed and asked him about the reason, he expressed the same thought as now (2 Sam. 12:15 et al.). So, naturally, Jacob was more afraid and afraid for Simeon and Benjamin. Then the longed-for meeting and sight of Joseph brought him joy. But what's the use of that? Like members severely burned by fire, no matter how much you cool them, nothing brings any benefit; so the soul of Jacob, oppressed by sorrows and strongly scorched by the flames of sadness, nothing could revive, especially in such summers when feelings are no longer vigorous. Barzillai also said this, apologizing to David: “How many are the days of the years of my life, that I might go up with the king to Jerusalem? The son of eighty years, I am today: shall I understand food in the midst of good and in the midst of evil? Or will your servant even understand whether he eats or drinks? Or will I hear the voice of those still singing and chanting? And how long will your servant be a burden to my lord the king?” (2 Samuel 19:34–35). However, why explain this by examples of others, when you can hear the same thing from the sufferer himself? After meeting with his son, Jacob, in response to Pharaoh’s question about his life, said: “Small and evil were the days of the years of my life: and in the days of the years of life my father did not attain” (Gen. 47:9). The memory of the past was always so vivid in his soul! 12. And this famous and glorious son of his, Joseph, who did not surpass with his misfortunes? Only one brother plotted against his father, but very many plotted against him; he was brought up throughout his entire early life in the midst of great contentment and tranquility, while this one, in a foreign land and even in adolescence, was forced to bear the hardships of travel. Jacob had a mother who protected him from evil intentions, and Joseph, even in his youth, when he especially needed his mother, was deprived of her help. Moreover, Esau saddened Jacob only with a threat, and Joseph’s brothers carried out their plan, and before this plan they constantly hated him and slandered him; and what could be more painful than to have your loved ones as enemies? They “and slandered him evilly, and having seen... that his father loved him more than all his sons, they hated him and could not speak to him anything peacefully” (Gen. 37: 2, 4). In comparison with this, I would not call his being under the power of merchants or under the power of a eunuch as great a disaster, because these treated him much more philanthropically than his brothers. However, even after this the storm of misfortunes did not become quieter, but even stronger excitement set in, which almost drowned him. Maybe someone will think that I will now talk about the mistress’s evil intent; but before this storm I will tell you about another, more severe one. Of course, it is hard, truly hard, to be slandered for such a crime, to be condemned and to live for so long in prison - for a free, noble youth who has not experienced such a calamity; but much more difficult than all this, I think, was for him the storm that depended on his youth. If he had rejected the love of his mistress, not at all worried by lust, I would not have extolled him and marveled at him, following the teachings of Christ; Christ says that it is not eunuchs by nature, but those who have made themselves eunuchs who are worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 19:12); and if this had not happened, what victory would Joseph have won? Who would he have won the crown by fighting against? Whom, having overcome, would he be declared victorious if no one fought against him and tried to overthrow him? We do not extol the chastity of those who do not copulate with the dumb, because in nature there is no desire for such mixing. So, if blessed Joseph were not worried about this flame, why would we extol his chastity? But if a shameless woman carried away a young man when this flame rises much stronger than at other ages (he was then twenty years old), and when the power of this flame is irresistible, even if nothing increases it, and if a woman gave this flame with her charms and decorations as much power as it had by nature, then who could depict the storm, confusion and languor of the soul of a young man, when his nature and age were agitated inside, and from the outside seduced by the tricks of the Egyptian woman, and not just for one or two days, but for a long time? I think that at that time he was not only afraid for himself, but also grieved for this woman who was rushing into such an abyss; this is obvious to us from the fact that he answered her with great meekness. He could, if he wanted, speak to her both more offensively and more boldly, because she, out of love, would easily endure everything; but he didn’t say or think anything like that; but, having expressed pious thoughts and only what he hoped to reason with her, he added nothing more. “Behold,” he said, “my lord knows nothing in his house, and all that is great to him is in my hand. And there is nothing above me in this house, nothing below has been taken away from me except you, since you are his wife: and how can I create this evil verb and sin before God?” (Gen.39:8-9). And with such modesty, after such an experience of chastity, he was slandered, and God allowed it! He was tied up, and at the same time did not expose the woman to malicious intent and unfair slander; He was destined for even greater rewards and the most brilliant crowns, which is why after the release of the royal slaves he still remained in prison. Do not tell me about the philanthropy of the prison guard; but delve into the words of (Joseph) himself and you will see the sorrow of his soul. Having interpreted the dream, he said to the cupbearer: “But remember me with you, when good things happen to you, and show mercy to me, and remember me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this stronghold: for by a thief I was stolen from the land of the Jews, and here I did nothing evil, but cast me into the house of this ditch.” (Gen.40:14-15). If he easily endured the imprisonment itself, then cohabitation with such people - grave diggers, thieves, parricides, adulterers, murderers (for in general this dwelling was filled with such and similar people) - was the most painful for him. And it was not this alone that saddened and upset him, but also the fact that he saw many languishing there innocently and in vain. Meanwhile, the slave, as you now complain about, was freed from his bonds, and the free man continued to languish. If anyone begins to talk about the subsequent greatness of Joseph, he will again remind me of the many worries, sleepless nights and countless activities that are generally not very pleasant for those who love a quiet and calm life. In addition, although something pleasant happened to the saints mentioned, at that time neither the Kingdom of Heaven nor the promise of future blessings was revealed to them. And now, when there are so many good things ahead and this is clear to everyone, who, tell me, will complain if in this life he does not enjoy anything pleasant, and even generally consider anything from here pleasant, knowing about future benefits? What would be lower than such a soul, which, hoping after a short time to move to Heaven, would seek local comforts and well-being, in no way different from the shadow? “Vanity of vanities,” says Solomon, “and all kinds of vanity” (Eccl. 1:2). If the one who most of all people experienced the pleasures of life pronounced such a sentence about them, then we should feel and think much more this way, who have nothing in common with the earth, who are inscribed in the Gorniy Grad and have received the command to turn there with all our minds. Moreover, Stagiria, about despondency Example of Moses. - Moses' grief in the desert. - The Sorrows of Joshua. – Explanation of the subject using the example of Samuel. - David's grief. – Daniel’s grief. – The tribulations of Elijah and Elisha. - Upset's chagrin. Pavel. - The disasters to which the friends of Stagirius were exposed. - Demophilus and Aristomenes. – A spectacle of human misery in hospitals and prisons. – God tests us to atone for our sins and is more lenient towards us than we ourselves. 1. The above can extinguish the flame of despondency and dispose one to complacency; but to make the consolation more complete, I decided to add this word to you, asking you the following question in advance: tell me, if someone called you to the kingdom of the earth, and meanwhile you had to, before you enter the city and put on a crown, stay in an inn in which there is dirt, and smoke, and noise from travelers, and dangers from robbers, and cramped conditions, great disorder, would you really pay attention to these troubles, and not neglected all of them as insignificant? So isn’t it strange that the one who hopes to possess the earth is not embarrassed by any difficulties encountered, inspired by the hopes of kingship, but the one called to heaven loses heart and is embarrassed by each of the troubles that happen to us in this hotel? The state of life here does not differ at all from a hotel and staying in an inn: this is what the saints wanted to express, calling themselves strangers and strangers, and with such words teaching us to neglect both the pleasures and troubles of this life and, having renounced the earth, to cleave to Heaven with all our souls. Let us turn to the saints themselves and move from Joseph to Moses. This meekest of all who were on earth was born at a time when his compatriots were in distress; Having been alienated from those who gave birth to him and not knowing his parents, he was raised throughout his entire early life by foreigners: what could be more painful than this for a young and intelligent Jew, even if he was considered the son of a king? But then it was not only this that was painful for him, but also the fact that he saw all his compatriots in extreme misfortune. Could he, not wanting to live or be written into the book of God without their salvation (Ex. 32:38), enjoy the benefits of the king's court, seeing them all in the midst of such a storm? If we, who were born so long after these events and have no such reason to sympathize with the Jews, are overwhelmed by pity at the thought of the beating of their children at that time, then what did this blessed one, tied with great love for the whole people, who saw with his own eyes their disasters, and those who caused these disasters, forced to call his parents, not endure? I think that he grieved for these poor children then more than the parents themselves, as can be seen from what he did later. So, unable to either convince or force his imaginary father to cancel the brutal and murderous command, he himself finally decided to share the disasters with them. However, I am not so much surprised by this as I am amazed by the flame of sorrow that Moses carried within himself at the previous time and which I conclude from the murder (he committed). He who was driven by grief to murder discovered through the latter the power of the former. He, of course, would not have taken revenge on the Egyptians so cruelly if the parents themselves had not lamented more about the misfortunes of their children. Well, after he took revenge and somewhat relieved his soul from such sorrow, did he have time to fully enjoy the joy that this vengeance brought him? As soon as the second day arrived, another sorrow befell this blessed one, heavier than the previous one, and he was seized by such fear that forced him to completely withdraw from Egypt. It’s hard to hear bad things from anyone; but when one of the benefited says something bad, he will begin to reproach him for the benefits shown to him, and reproach him like this: “Do you want to kill me in the same way that you killed the Egyptian yesterday?” (Ex. 2:14), then, then the insult becomes unbearable and can even drive the insulted person out of patience; She produces such irritation along with sadness! But for Moses, a third thing was added to this - the fear of the king, which so took possession of the soul of the righteous man that he even expelled him from the entire country there. This is how the royal son becomes a fugitive! If anyone considers his upbringing at the royal court happy for him, then let him now remember the courtly contentment and see that for the righteous it also became the cause of many sorrows and inconveniences, because it makes no difference whether he endured long wanderings and suffered disasters in a foreign land, who was brought up in a simple home and experienced many worries, many wanderings and difficulties, or was subjected to such suffering by someone who never experienced this for a short time, but always lived in contentment: the latter, of course, with a heavier feeling than the first, will take flight if he happens to go to such an extreme; which is what happened to Moses then. Having become a fugitive, he comes to a man who was an idolater and a foreigner; and to enjoy the hospitality of a person who has dedicated himself to the service of demons for such a long time is an important reason for grief. Here Moses, having taken that man into his charge of the flock, spent forty years in this occupation. If this does not seem at all difficult to anyone, then let us remember those who leave their homeland and hide not out of fear and fear, but leave home voluntarily for a short time, how they languish, how sad they are, what a blessing they consider returning to their homeland! When fear and a miserable life are added to this, and, however, the very hardships and sorrows seem easier than the desired return to their homeland, then imagine the picture of the misfortunes of Moses! Don’t just listen to what was said that Moses “was a shepherd” (Exodus 3:1), but remember the words of Jacob, with which he expressed a complaint to his father-in-law: “I have rewarded you from me with tatbins of the day and tatbins of the night; The days were scorching hot and the nights were cold, and sleep departed from my eyes” (Gen. 31:39-40). All this, of course, happened with Moses, moreover, for an even greater number of years and to a greater extent, since the country (Midiam) was deserted than the country (Mesopotamia). If Moses did not complain about this, then that blessed one would not have said such words if he had not been driven to great extremes and was not forced to do so by the ingratitude of his father-in-law. Thus, a foreign land in itself can oppress a person, even if he left his homeland only out of necessity. “For like a bird,” says the Wise One, “when it flies away from its nest, so a man becomes enslaved when he withdraws from his places” (Proverbs 27:8). Moreover, Moses then could not even be sure of his own safety; but just as a servant who has fled from a cruel master is constantly afraid and afraid that he will not be caught, so blessed Moses lived in constant fear. This is evident from the fact that even when God, after such a long time, commands him to return to Egypt, he refuses and hesitates, although he heard that “he who sought his life” died (Ex. 4:19). 2. When he obeyed and went to Egypt, being forced to leave his wife and children, then reproaches and insults and threats began again from the then king of Egypt, and complaints and curses from those receiving benefits. He says: “Whoa, Moses and Aaron, are you corrupting people... from their deeds? Go about your business, each of you.” And the Israelites say: “God sees and judges you, because you have hated our spirit before Pharaoh and before his servants, put a sword into his hand to kill us” (Ex. 5:4, 21). This is regrettable and painful; but the hardest thing was that he, who came and promised the Jews many benefits, freedom, deliverance from the disasters that weighed on them, seemed to them a deceiver, because the severity of the slavery that oppressed them not only did not ease, but increased even more, and the one who gave hope of being the deliverer of the entire people and promised this, turned out to be, apparently, the culprit of torture and beatings, an attacker and a destroyer. Who would not fall into despondency when, having promised to stop such great disasters, after the promise he himself saw the addition of other, even more serious disasters? Moses was despondent, as it is natural for one to despond who hears and sees such things; however, he did not fall under the weight of this grief, but remained adamant, although events not only did not correspond, but even contradicted his promises. Turning to God and talking about this, he cried a lot and said: “Lord, why have you embittered your people? And did you send me to Vskaya? And when he went down to Pharaoh, saying in Your name, he made this people angry, and You did not deliver Your people” (Ex. 5:22-23). Having shed tears and again hearing from God the same command as before, he again announces this to the Israelites, but they do not heed him, because their souls were oppressed by sorrow and despondency. “And she did not listen,” says the Scripture, “to Moses out of cowardice and cruel deeds” (Ex. 6:9). And this upset him a lot. When miracles followed, and Pharaoh laughed at him many times, he endured these ridicule courageously. When he finally left Egypt and, together with the Jews, began to hope for liberation, he had not yet had time to fully rest when the same or even much greater fear seized him. Less than three days had passed before the Israelites saw armed barbarians in front of them and experienced the same thing that some runaway slaves experience when in a foreign land they suddenly find themselves before the eyes of their masters, or what they themselves would experience if they happened to see themselves in freedom in a pleasant dream, and, upon awakening, find themselves again in Egypt and in the same disasters. However, I don’t know what can be called their dream, three days of freedom or the terrible and terrible sight that now presented itself to them: such a darkness of despondency covered the eyes of all of them. But Moses was enveloped in even greater darkness: he was afraid not only of the Egyptians, like the other Israelites, but also of the latter along with the former. Both now looked at him as a deceiver and seducer, some with ridicule and a readiness to attack, and others with anger and sadness. However, why judge by guesswork the despondency of this man, when his grief can be fully understood from the words that descended from above? When he was silent and did not even dare to open his lips, God said to him: “Why are you crying to Me?” (Exodus 14:15) - with this one word explaining to us the confusion of his soul. 3. When this fear passed, then even greater troubles arose again. Those led by Moses and receiving many benefits through him throughout the entire journey treated him worse than the Egyptians and Pharaoh. Firstly, they acted with great insolence, demanding Egyptian meat from him: they did not thank him for the present, but wanted the former; that was the hardest thing. Would he have suffered more trouble if he had been entrusted with command over the raving and the mad? However, the blessed one endured all this courageously, and if he did not have love for them, then this grief would be bearable, and he would only have to complain about his own situation; but since he loved them more than his parents, in his very concern for them he had another reason for grief - about their corruption and wickedness. It did not upset him so much that he was insulted as that they were insulters. It is also criminal that they were ungrateful before the miraculous food was sent down; but even among the miracles, they showed their wickedness, lawlessness and greed when collecting food, and having walked a little forward, they again grumbled, again expressed dissatisfaction with the benefits of God; and on each such occasion the blessed one lamented and grieved more than the sinners themselves. So, when they made the calf, they themselves played and had fun, and Moses lamented and grieved, calling upon himself a terrible curse, and yet nothing could force him to suppress his compassion for them. So, seeing that those whom he loved so much were constantly doing worse and worse, what grief was he in, what tears did he shed? If another, having one son, could not live, having learned that his son indulged in vices, even if he himself was the most vicious of all, then Moses, who considered so many thousands of people his children, or better said, loved them more than children - for no father would have wanted, like him, to perish with his son, without committing any sin himself - who had so many children, moreover, he hated evil and loved good, as much as you think he suffered, seeing that they all, as if agreeing, rushed into the abyss of vice? If the darkness of such extreme sadness had not darkened him and shaken him to the very depths of his soul, then, of course, he would not have thrown the tablets from his hands and would not have broken them, although he soon corrected this unhappily. But what, tell me, did he do for this? The very method of healing, although it helped the matter, was nevertheless filled with many tears; and there was never such a stone man who did not suffer at all at the sight of his brothers and relatives beating each other, subjecting up to three thousand people to this deplorable beating (Ex. 32:28). And we, when we catch our children doing something bad, of course, we punish and flog them, but we do not do this without regret, but, on the contrary, we grieve no less than those who are being punished. 4. During the then great tribulation of Moses and the army (the Jews), a new sorrow befell them. God threatened that He Himself would no longer lead them, but would leave them and hand over their leadership to the Angel; This was the most unbearable thing for Moses. Listen to what he says to God: “Unless You yourself go with me, do not bring me out from here” (Ex. 33:15). Do you see how fear was replaced by fear and sadness by sadness? But the disaster did not stop there: when Moses bowed down to God, and the Lover of Mankind was appeased and bestowed grace, the Jews again plunged Moses into new sorrows, angering the merciful God and exposing themselves to extreme misfortunes. After a much lamentable beating, they again angered God so much that they called fire on themselves, which would have destroyed almost all of them if God had not shown great love for mankind. And with all this, Moses had to experience double sadness - both from the fact that the Israelites were dying, and from the fact that those who remained alive were not corrected and did not receive any benefit from the death of their brothers. The beating had not yet ended, but the survivors already remembered the onion and, not content with what they had, said: “Who will feed our meat? Let us remember fish, which were poisonous in Egypt, and cucumbers and melons, onions, and scarlet onions and garlic. Now our soul is dried up, like manna before our eyes” (Numbers 11:4-6). Then Moses, no longer able to bear their ingratitude and exhausted from grief, renounces his leadership and wishes himself death instead of such a bitter life. Listen to his own words: “And Moses said,” the Scripture says, “to the Lord: Where have You embittered Your servant? And why did I not find grace before You to place the aspirations of these people on me? Did all this people wither away in the womb? Or did I give birth? As you say to me: take them into your bosom, as a milkmaid carries her milk, into the ground by which you swore by their father. Where can I give meat to all these people? As if they were crying at me, saying: give us meat, let us eat. I cannot alone lead these people, for this word is hard for me. If You (do not) do this to me, then kill me by murder, if I have found grace in Your sight” (Num. 11:11-15). This was said by the one who once said: “And now, if you forgive them their sin, forgive it; Otherwise, blot me out of Your book, You have written me down” (Ex. 32:32). So sadness changed him! The same often happens to parents when they are upset by the actions of their children. However, Moses, even after these words, did not cease to have compassion for the Israelites, as can be seen from what he did subsequently. When, after their attempt to kill the spies and throw stones at him, he escaped from their hands, he again turned to prayer for them and begged God to be merciful to those who wanted to kill him (Num. 14:10-20); so his love was stronger than even natural affection! Then, when the spies died and the time of the former mourning had not yet passed, the Israelites again caused him new sorrow, firstly, by not obeying his prohibition to fight, and secondly, by the fact that they were defeated by the Amalekites (Num. 14:41-45); and even before this war, many died from greed and gluttony (Numbers 11:33). “Kill,” says the Scripture, “the multitudes of them, ... yet I will destroy them in their mouths” (Ps. 77:30–31). After the spectacle of this great mortality, while the grief over it had not yet ceased, Moses was again plunged into another sorrow and placed in such an extreme that he prayed that his longed and beloved Israelites would end their lives with an unnatural and extraordinary death; then some were burned by a suddenly kindled fire, while others were swallowed up by the dissipated earth; and not a few, but more than fifteen thousand men suffered in this way. How did the relatives and friends of the dead treat Moses after this? In what disposition was Moses himself, seeing that from this misfortune both his children became orphans, and his wives became widows, that both his sister and brother died, and the latter’s sons were burned for some iniquity? Each of these events can sadden a soul that has not yet suffered at all, and even more so a soul that has endured so many calamities. When the Jews defeated the Canaanites and made a long detour, they again grumbled and again began to die, not from illness, as before, and not from fire and dissipated earth, as before, but from the bite of poisonous snakes, which would have destroyed them all, if Moses had not again appeared to God and begged Him. When they got rid of this death and avoided the curses of the sorcerer, they again rushed into the most disastrous abysses: after the blessings of Balaam, or better yet, God’s (for Balaam’s words depended not on his will, but on the power operating in him), they began to commit adultery with the daughters of foreigners and serve Beelphegor. Moses, seeing such shame and disgrace, again commanded them to kill each other, saying: “Beat every one of your snakes who served Beelphegor” (Num. 25:5), just as with a bodily wound that does not heal after repeated openings and cauterizations, they order again to cut and cauterize what remains. However, when you hear about these difficulties, do not think that they were the only ones; I have also omitted quite a few of those mentioned (in Scripture): wars, enemy resistance, long journeys, an insult from my sister, her punishment, which the meekest Moses especially complained about; but even if I carefully collected everything, then what was described would not have amounted to a thousandth part of what actually happened. If the manager of the few servants in the house encounters many reasons for grief and sadness, then he who is obliged to manage so many thousands for forty years and in the desert, where there was neither (healthy) air nor water, how many things must he have to do every day, how many worries, how many sorrows both during the life and after the death of people? He saw everyone he brought out of Egypt die, except only two men; he himself and their descendants were not honored to lead them into the promised land, but only saw it from the top of Mount Nabab and studied its nature well, but was not allowed to enjoy it together with the other Israelis, he remained outside of it and died, about which he himself lamented to the Israelis in the following words: “And the Lord God was angry with me because of your words, and they swore that I will not pass over this Jordan, and that I will not go into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. For I will die in this land, and will not pass over this Jordan, but you will pass over and inherit this good land” (Deut. 4:21-22). And the hardest thing is that God brought him to the grave with sadness, since Moses knew in advance what calamities would befall the Jews: idolatry, captivity, unspeakable misfortunes, which is why he grieved in his soul not only about what he himself saw and what had already happened, but also about what had not yet happened. Thus, having begun to grieve and grieve from an early age, he ended his life with the same despondency. 5. And his successor Joshua (Joshua) tasted with him, so to speak, everything bitter; if in his youth he avoided something, he made up for it after the death of Moses. Not only during the life of Moses did he tear his clothes and sprinkle ashes on his head, but after his death he was again put in the same, or even greater, extreme, so that not for a short time, but for the whole day he lay exposed to the ground. Listen to his words and lamentations: “And Jesus tore in pieces,” says the Scripture, “his robe, and fell to the ground on his face before the Lord, even until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and sprinkled dust on her heads. And Jesus said: I pray, Lord..., What did your servant bring this people across the Jordan, handing them over to the Amorites to be destroyed? Oh, yes, they stayed and dwelt near the Jordan. And what about the river? Now Israel shall turn away her neck from her enemies; and when the Canaanite and all those who dwell on the earth hear it, they will come among us and consume us from the land” (Joshua 7:6–9). Hearing this, God revealed to him the culprit of the defeat; and Jesus, having learned this, destroyed everyone, not only the sinner, but also his relatives and household, and many livestock (Joshua 8:24-26); and this greatly disturbed his soul. If we cannot look when they call strangers, then what did he not endure, subjecting his compatriots and comrades to such disasters? And how (upset him) was the deceit of the Gibeonites and the suspicion that fell on those tribes that settled on the other side of the Jordan? How hard was it to constantly be at war and in battles? What soul could remain calm at the same time? Even if he won victories, the pleasure of receiving trophies was overshadowed by worries about the upcoming wars. The division of plots also gave him a lot of work and a lot of anxiety; those who were entrusted with the division of even a small property between brothers or other heirs after someone know this. I don’t consider it necessary to talk about the subsequent misfortunes of the Jewish people; because the question now is not about whether someone led a sorrowful life, but about which of those who pleased God (led such a life). 6. Therefore, if you wish, let us omit Elijah, who offended God with the wickedness of the children, or rather, with his carelessness. He was punished not for having vicious children, but for sparing them more than necessary and not punishing them for violating the laws of God; Realizing this, he himself, after a strong threat from God, said: “The Lord Himself will do what is good before Him” (1 Samuel 3:18). So, leaving him, let’s move on to Samuel, who from childhood was brought up in the church, was always distinguished by piety before God and from an early age turned out to be so virtuous that, before he even had time to mature, he was numbered among the wondrous prophets, and moreover, at a time when prophecy became impoverished: “It is not,” says the Scripture, “that a vision is sent, ... and the verb ... is not honest” (1 Samuel 3:1). This Samuel, born after many tears, was first of all saddened and embarrassed, as a grateful and loving disciple, seeing his teacher stricken with a disastrous death; and then he had to constantly mourn the misfortunes of the Jews. His sons, wicked, evil and extremely devoted to vices, saddened him both with their lives and with the fact that they could not inherit the honor given to him (1 Samuel 8:3). This sadness was followed, or better said, it was not followed - since it did not stop - but it was also joined by the lawless demand of the Israelites, and Samuel became so discouraged that he needed great consolation. Listen to what God says to him: “It is not you who is humiliated, but Me” (1 Samuel 8:7). However, even after this, Samuel cared so much about them that he said to them: “If you sin in any way... let us stop praying for you” (1 Samuel 12:23). Therefore, when he saw them, so beloved by him, in poverty, defeated in wars, angering God, could he feel any pleasure, could he ever remain without sadness and tears? And when he installed Saul as king, sorrows again followed for him continuously one after another. So, when Saul made a sacrifice contrary to the will of God, when he, having defeated the Amalekites, spared their king, again contrary to the command, Samuel was so amazed in his soul that he no longer saw this man, but from that time until his last day he lamented and wept for him, although he was reproached for his excessive grief. God said to him: “How long do you weep for Saul, and have I humiliated him?” (1 Samuel 16:1). If he cried at these events, then what happened to him when Saul beat so many priests in vain and without guilt? - when another time he went to kill his benefactor, who had not done him any harm? - when he saw Saul naked, prophesying and lying on the ground? - when you listened to David’s numerous complaints and complaints about Saul? 7. Remembering David, I don’t know what to do: should I now set forth his long lamentations described in the psalms, or, leaving you to read them at your leisure, tell his misfortunes yourself. Thus, David suffered many disasters when he tended his flocks, repelling attacks from fickle elements and wild animals; the first is evident from what Jacob said; and the last is from what he himself told Saul about the lion and the bear. When he, having left this life early, began military affairs - I leave out the envy of his brothers, although it was very painful for him - when, having entered into single combat, he won a brilliant and wonderful victory, then in the blessed Saul he found himself an enemy stronger than the deposed Goliath; because Saul did not openly arm himself against him, but, disguised as a friend and pretending to be his admirer and trustee, acted hostilely towards him. And how unfortunate it is to receive evil for good, listen to the blessed prophet, who constantly cried, lamented and spoke; “I am repaid evil for good” (Jer. 18:20)? Even without any other trouble, one thing causes great sorrow to the military leader, that he is suspected by the king, who looks at him with displeasure. What am I saying to the king’s military commander? It is unpleasant for us if the servants treat us this way; when, moreover, intrigues are built against the life of the hated, then what life could be more woeful than this? However, David endured and endured everything; lived with the one who plotted to kill him, and participated in his wars. When he withdrew and withdrew from the war, although the very removal and discovery of (Saul’s) enmity contributed somewhat to (David’s) safety, but since he had to defend himself with four hundred men against Saul’s numerous army, he trembled more than before. Think about the situation he was in when he had neither a city, nor a fortress, nor allies, nor income, and had to fight with the one who had all this, while he himself could not, except for the desert and caves, find a place where to escape. Having taken the city, the so-called Keilah, he immediately left it when the priest said that God would not deliver him from the hands of Saul if he remained there. And this priest was the same one who escaped the hands of Saul and told David about the sad incident that had happened in Nob, and (David) uttered regrettable words: “I am guilty for the souls of all the house of your father” (1 Sam. 22:22). Thus, this priest, constantly being with David, served only as a reminder of that sad event; Looking at him, David constantly remembered the death of the priests, and remembering this death and blaming himself for this beating, he lived more miserable than anyone sentenced to death. If nothing else bothered him, then the mere thought that he himself was the culprit of the beating of so many priests was enough to sting and crush his soul. Meanwhile, he, lamenting this thought, which tormented his soul night and day worse than a worm, later received other wounds, continuously one after another. Thus, when Nabal insulted him in the presence of his servants and called him a fugitive, an exile, an ungrateful slave, he did not bear such words without sorrow; also, when, having come to Achish, he pretended to be mad, fell to the ground, distorted his face and emitted a lot of foam from his lips, he was more tormented by the thought of the real demoniacs about the extreme to which Saul, who had been so favored by him, had brought him. When David had some rest while living with foreigners, he had to go to fight their enemies; but the military leaders, envious of him and wanting to slander him before the king, removed him from the army, as if he were a useless, treacherous and treacherous man: “The foreign commanders were sad,” the Scripture says, “about him and said to him: return your husband, and let him return to his place where you placed him there, and let him not come with us to battle, and let him not advisor in half the workshop. And how will this man reconcile himself to his master? Are they not the heads of these men? (1 Samuel 29:4). David, amazed by these words, left with great grief and despondency. But when he arrived home, he found so many disasters that he almost died of sadness. The disasters that happened then could have darkened his soul even if they had been foreseen by him, but since they happened accidentally and unexpectedly, they seemed twice as serious and were already unbearable. He went home to rest and find relief from his former sorrow in his children and wives; but having arrived, he suddenly heard that he was in captivity among the enemies, and saw fire and smoke, and the blood of the dead, and before he mourned the dead and finished lamenting about the captives, he was attacked, fiercer than animals, by the inhabitants of the city, and each of them wanted to find relief from their sorrows in his death. As when opposing winds collide at sea, their struggle results in a great and fierce storm; so even then despondency and fear tormented the soul of the righteous man, in which there was great excitement and confusion from these feelings, constantly overcoming and then being overcome by one another. When he got rid of these disasters and returned his wives and all the captives, then before he enjoyed this victory, he was again struck by the sad news of the death of Jonathan, which so struck his soul, as can be seen from his cry: “Your love will attack me,” he said, “more than the love of a woman” (2 Samuel 1:26). What am I saying about this crying? The one who wept so much for Jonathan's father, his enemy and ill-wisher, who sought his destruction a thousand times, that he could feel when he learned that he had shared dangers with him, repeatedly delivered him from his father's machinations, participated in his secrets and concluded many agreements with him, that this man lost his life at a time when David could pay him tribute for his previous good deeds? 8. When this sorrow was still in full force, the military leader (Joab) again plunged him into new sorrow, who did not allow Abner to fulfill his promise, treacherously killing the one who promised to easily and without any difficulty betray the entire army to David. David was so upset by this murder that he then cursed Joab, and at the time of his death he instructed his son to take revenge on him for this dishonorable murder. The very words with which David loudly mourned Abner sufficiently depict to us the suffering of his soul: “And the king lifted up his voice,” says the Scripture, and wept over the tomb of Abner... and said: “Has Abner died by the death of Nabal?” Your hands are not tied; thy burdens are not in chains: thou hast not come as Nabal, thou hast fallen before the son of wickedness” (2 Samuel 3:32-34). What after this? Mephibosheth is treacherously killed, 3 and to David’s sorrow for him (for David also grieved for him so much that he even killed his killers) was added the opposition of the lame and crippled, which greatly outraged him. Having overcome both these and other enemies, he endures the ark with great joy, but at the very time when the ark was being transferred and everyone was rejoicing, in the midst of the fun, an event occurred that darkened the general joy and plunged the king’s soul into despondency and great fear. The wrath of God suddenly struck and killed Uzzah, who wanted to support the falling ark; and the fear of this shook David’s soul so much that he only decided to move the ark to himself when he learned what kind of prosperity it brought to Abeddar, who then accepted him (2 Samuel 6:8-12). Then, when the king of Ammon died, David, as a kind and philanthropic husband, sent ambassadors to console his son and convince him to bravely endure the death of his father; and he, having shamefully insulted the ambassadors for such an honor, sent them back to the king. Really, in your opinion, this is not enough to sadden and amaze the soul? Doesn’t this also prove this by the war itself, which had no other pretext and reached such bitterness that it subjected David to countless disasters (2 Samuel 10)? These disasters, even if someone mixed them with a thousand pleasures, are enough for David’s life to be considered sorrowful; but his subsequent misfortunes are such that before them, as if true sorrows had not yet begun. Truly, the sufferings of this king surpassed every fable and every tragedy; such extraordinary and continuous disasters befell his house, as if one evil was constantly trying to help another evil. So, look: Amnon loved his sister, and having loved her, he dishonored her; having dishonored her, she hated her and allowed both dishonor and incest to be revealed, ordering one of the servants to immediately expel her from the house against her will and send her through the (city) square, while she screamed and cried (2 Samuel 13). Absalom, having learned about this and having called all the brothers to the feast, among whom was this offender, kills him through the servants while he was eating and drinking. Then someone, leaving there and in confusion, not finding out exactly what had happened, announced to the king that all his sons had died. Then David, sitting, cried about the imaginary murder of all his sons; when he found out exactly what had happened, he threatened his son and said that he would kill him; and although (Absalom) fled to a foreign country, where he spent three years, the king continued to be angry all the time; even after this time, he would not have called him to himself if a smart military leader had not persuaded him to do such a thing against his will. But even having called his son, he had not yet healed the heart wound, but removed him from his face for another two years, and only after such a long time, at the request of the military leader, did he give his son permission to appear to him. But the son, having a grudge about the past or, moreover, striving for power, rebelled against his father and brought him again to the wandering and flight to which he was subjected under Saul, and even made his life much harder than before. David endured the sorrows of that time when he was a military leader; and now he was forced to wander after many years of reign and after victory, one might say, over all his enemies. And the one who brought him to this was neither a stranger nor an enemy, but “came out of his loins,” as he himself said with complaint (2 Samuel 16:11). Then he was in the prime of life and could endure everything courageously, and now, at a time when he should have had the joy of his old age in this worthless son, he met an attacker and an enemy in him. And the king left Jerusalem with a few, barefoot, covering himself and shedding tears. This war caused him not only grief, but also shame. The son then treated the blessed one more insultingly than Saul, dishonored his father’s concubines, and not secretly, but on the roof of the house in front of everyone; in a rage against his father, he violated both the rules of nature and the laws of treatment of women, and in a mad rapture, while the war was still going on, he dared to do what is usually done after winning a victory and taking enemies prisoner. Meanwhile, Ziba, having met David in such sadness and fear, outraged him even more by lying to his master and saying that (Mephibosheth) was plotting to take possession of the kingdom (2 Sam. 16:3). 9 . After Ziba, Shimei appears, an evil and ungrateful man, and directs a lot of slander against David, throwing stones at him with the following words: “Get out, man of blood and wicked man: the Lord return all the blood on you to the house of Saul, since you reigned in his place, and the Lord will give the kingdom in the hand of Absalom your son, showing you your wickedness, for you are a man of blood” ( 2 Samuel 16:7–8 ). Hearing and enduring this, David was distressed, as can be seen from his very crying, but did not dare to do anything and allowed Shimei to leave alive, saying: “Leave him to curse me, as the Lord told him. The Lord will look upon my humility and will return me good instead of his curse to this day” (2 Samuel 16:11–12); and he himself waited with anxiety and fear to see how the enterprise of Hushai would end. When this became known, a war began, the most extraordinary of all wars that have ever happened, and even similar to a mystery. The one who was the culprit of such disasters and gave all the reasons for such a war, with whose fall all these disasters were destroyed, David convinced his commanders to carefully protect and spare him, repeating: “spare the youth Absalom for me” (2 Sam. 18:5). What could be worse than this sad situation? What is more unfortunate than this difficulty? David was forced to start a war, in which it was equally painful for him to win and to be defeated. He did not want to be defeated, otherwise he would not have sent such an army, nor to win, otherwise he would not have forbidden to kill the one who started and waged the war against him. When the war was decided and ended, as it pleased God, when the parricide fell, then everyone else was in joy and joy, only David grieved and cried, and, locking himself in, called the deceased and grieved that he himself did not die in his place: “Who will give death to me,” he said, “instead of you... Absalom, my son?” (2 Kings 18:33). Have you ever heard of anything more terrible than this misfortune? When Absalom killed his brother, David wanted to kill him; when Absalom rebelled against him with fury, then he spares this very son. And he would not have stopped crying for the dead for a long time if Joab had not come and explained the inappropriateness of this sadness, if he had not aroused courage in him with a strong speech and had not persuaded him to accept the troops with due dignity. However, his misfortunes were not over yet; but, firstly, the soldiers rebelled and divided among themselves; then, as soon as they submitted to the king, and, moreover, after many gentle admonitions, they again abandoned him and joined Saveius; then another war began again, while the first one was not yet completely over. Outraged by this, David, having gathered his soldiers, sent them with military leaders against the enemies; but Joab, who was victorious in this war, did not fail to darken the joy of victory with sadness. In a frenzy of envy, he, without reason and completely innocently, villainously killed a military leader equal to him, who had brought the entire people under the authority of David; and this murder so alarmed and outraged the king that even at his death, he bequeathed to his son and asked not to leave the murdered Amasa unavenged. And what’s even harder is that David, being in such a state of mind, did not even dare to express the reasons for his grief, because he was already oppressed by countless disasters. After these wars, famine struck the entire country, and David, to stop this evil, was forced to hand over Saul’s children to death. This is what the decree (of God) commanded: “This iniquity is against Saul and against his house, until the Gibeonites were killed” (2 Samuel 21:1). And whoever remembers how David mourned Saul will then understand how he suffered at that time, handing over his children to the Gibeonites; however, he endured this too; and meanwhile further misfortunes followed again. After the famine, an ulcer came, and during the course of noon, seventy thousand men fell, and the king, seeing the Angel stretching out his sword, and uttering mournful words, said: “Behold, I... the shepherd... I have sinned and I... the shepherd have done evil, and this flock, what have you done? Let your hand be upon me and upon my father’s house” (2 Samuel 24:17). However, it is impossible for us to accurately recount all his sorrows; not all of them are set out in Scripture; but from his lamentable songs and complaints one can guess about the severity of his sorrows that are not mentioned, and that this righteous man never stopped grieving and lamenting. What is he saying? “The days of our years are seventy years, but if we are able, they are eighty years, and they multiply toil and sickness” (Ps. 89:10). If you say that here he depicted human life in general, and not just his own, then you will say more than what I myself want to say, and you will save us from long-winded speech, admitting that not only in the life of David, but also in the life of every other person there are much more sorrows than pleasures. Indeed, as you yourself correctly say, David pronounced such a sentence, referring not only to his own life, but also to others, and expressed the same thing as the patriarch, only with greater force; What he said about the part, this one after about all. He said: “my days are small and evil” (Gen. 47:9); and this one: “the days of our years”, i.e. the days of all people, “there are seventy years in them, ... and their labor and illness are multiplied.” 10. But this, as I said, I submit to you to study with all accuracy at your leisure, and I myself will move on to the other prophets. Although they did not leave us a description of their life anywhere, having, however, encountered difficulty in doing so due to the excessiveness of the disasters that oppressed them, I think that in one word we can call their whole life deplorable. And firstly, what was common to all of them, during their lives they were tormented by torture, scourged, sawn apart, stoned, imprisoned, died by the sword, wandered in sheep's and goats' skins, suffering disadvantages, disasters, and bitterness (Heb. 11:36-38). To this was added another sadness, even more severe, because they saw how the wickedness of those who caused disaster to them increased; They were tormented by this more than by their own sorrows. So, one of them said: “Oaths and lies, and murder and theft, and adultery are spread over the earth, and blood mixes with blood” (Hos. 4:2), showing us impunity, and diversity, and the spread of wickedness. Another cried out like this: “Uh, fierce me! before, like gathering sludge in the harvest, and like (gathering) the fruit in the embrace of grapes, I do not exist in a bunch” (Mic. 7: 1), mourning with these words the small number of virtuous people. Others also complained about something similar. The goat shepherd (Amos) not only lamented about the sins of the Jews, but also cried about their misfortunes more than about his own temptations, and prayed to God like this: “Be merciful,...Lord...who will raise up Jacob? Looks like he is small. Repent of this, Lord” (Am.7:2). But despite this, he did not receive what he asked for, as it is said: “And this the Lord will not say” (Am.7:6). And Isaiah, having heard that the whole earth would be devastated, did not want to be consoled, but constantly cried and said: “Leave me alone, so that the mountaineer may weep; You must not comfort me” (Is. 22:4), because this kind of death is higher than any misfortune. Who is able to read without tears the lamentable songs of Jeremiah about the city and about himself, both written specifically and scattered throughout his prophetic book? Sometimes he said: “Who will give my head water and comb out the source of my tears? And I weep day and night for this people.” Sometimes: “Who will give me the last vital place in the desert? and I will leave my people and go away from them, because they all commit fornication” (Jer. 9:1-2). And sometimes he cried plaintively: “Woe is me! My mother, Who gave birth to me... a man of good looks and judged throughout the whole earth? (Jer.15:10); sometimes he cursed his birthday: “Cursed is the day,” he said, “in the same day I was born” (Jer. 20:14). And the dirty ditch, the sorrows of the bonds, scourging and slander and constant ridicule brought him into such a state that he even began to despair. What did he experience when, after taking the city, he met care and respect for himself from the foreigners? Was he happy about this? On the contrary, it was then that he wrote a bitter lament for the dead, and saw disasters no less than before because those who remained alive after the war irritated God. Promising to obey Him in everything and not to resist anything, they however went back to Egypt, while the command (of God) demanded something completely different, and they took the prophet away with them, and with their ingratitude forced him to predict for them troubles worse than before. What about Ezekiel? What about Daniel? Didn't they spend their entire lives in captivity? Moreover, the first of them was punished with hunger and thirst for the sins of others; when his wife died, he was commanded to endure such misfortune without tears; and what could be more painful than when one is not allowed to mourn one’s own misfortunes? Now I’m not talking about the fact that he was forced to eat his bread on a dung heap, lie on one side for one hundred and ninety days, and endure everything else that was commanded to him. Even if none of the sorrows had happened to him, both those we have omitted and those mentioned now, then the very stay among enemies, foreigners and unclean people, for the righteous and pure would be more severe than any punishment. And Daniel, apparently, enjoyed great honor and lived as if not in captivity, being at the royal court and having power; but if anyone listens to his prayer, pays attention to his fasting, change of face and incessant prayers, and finds out exactly why he did this, he will see that this prophet was more sorrowful and despondent than anyone else. He was tormented not only by present disasters, but also by future ones, since he was honored to see with prophetic eyes what had not yet happened; looking at the Jews who had not yet freed themselves from their former slavery, he should have foreseen their other captivity; he saw the city, which had not yet been restored, already destroyed, and the church - desecrated by (unclean) sacrifices and devastated, and the entire shrine - overthrown. Therefore, he grieved and wept, and said: “We... are ashamed of our faces, and our king, and our prince, and our father, who have sinned against you,... Lord” (Dan.9:8). 11. I don’t know how, among the prophets, I missed one heavenly soul - the one who lived on earth as in heaven, who had nothing but mantle. What is this great and wondrous man, if one can only call him a man? After a bold speech before Ahab, after bringing down fire, after beating the priests, after he had closed and opened heaven at the time appointed by his desire, after so many and such great deeds, he was subjected to such fear and such excessive despondency that he said the following words: “Take ... my soul from me, for I am not my best father” (1 Kings 19:4). This was said by someone who is not yet dead. Not only that; he withdrew into the desert and slept there, exhausted from severe despondency. And his disciple received not only the deep spirit of the teacher, but also much more severe sorrows. Depicting these prophets for us and listing their disasters, blessed Paul said a little earlier: “The world is not worthy of them” (Heb. 11:38). This blessed one also came to our minds in good time. If he, appearing alone, can provide us with sufficient consolation, then what despondency and what sadness will he not destroy by appearing after the others? I do not consider it necessary to talk about hunger, thirst and nakedness, about shipwrecks and stays in deserts, about fears and dangers, about slander and prison, wounds and vigils, about countless dangers of death and about everything else that he endured for preaching. All this, although it caused some sorrow, did not give him pleasure. When all the Asian believers rejected him, when the Galatians, a whole famous people, deviated from the faith, when the Corinthians divided their church into many parts and, having indulged the fornicator, brought him to shamelessness, then what do you think Paul felt? What darkness enveloped his soul? However, why should we draw conclusions when we can hear his own words? Thus, in his letter to the Corinthians he said: “Out of sorrow... I wrote to you with many and heavy hearts with many tears” (2 Cor. 2:4); and again: “Let not my God come again and humble me among you, and let me mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented” (2 Cor. 12:21). And to the Galatians he said: “My children, even though I am sick, until Christ is imagined in you” (Gal. 4:19). He also complains about Asians to his student. And not only this tormented him, but also the dirty trick (of the flesh) given to him so crushed and worried him that he repeatedly prayed to God for liberation from him; for the word “three times” here means “many times” (2 Cor. 12:8). In general, could someone who even lamented the absence of a brother ever be calm? “I have not found Titus my brother,” he says, “I have no rest” (2 Cor. 2:13). And on the occasion of the illness of another brother, he again suffered in exactly the same way: “God had mercy on him,” he told the Philippians about Epaphras, “not only for him, but also for me, so that I would not accept sorrow upon sorrow” (Phil. 2:27). Also greatly grieving over the seducers and his opponents, he said in a letter to Timothy: “Alexander the Kovac has done evil to many; May the Lord reward him according to his deeds” (2 Tim. 4:14). So, could he have even the slightest respite from despondency and sorrow? In addition to the above-mentioned disasters that weighed on his soul, there were others that caused him constant grief. And he himself revealed this again, saying: “Besides the external ones, the attack (mine) is a hedgehog all the days, and the care of all churches. Who faints, and I do not faint? Who is tempted, and I am not relieved?” (2 Cor. 11:28–29). If he himself was inflamed for each of those who were tempted, then it was impossible for this ignition to go out in his soul: because there was never a shortage of those who seduced and provided food for this flame. When cities, and often entire nations, fell away, all the more so could this continually happen to one or another (believers) of so many churches in the universe. But let us assume in words, if you will, that no one was ever tempted or separated from Paul, and no other similar trouble happened to him, and in this case I cannot recognize him as free from despondency; for this again I do not need any other witness except the sufferer himself. What is he saying? “I prayed... I myself should be separated from Christ according to my brethren, my kinsmen in the flesh, who are Israelites” (Rom. 9:3-4). And this means the following: it would be more desirable for me to fall into Gehenna than to see the Israelites as unbelievers. This is exactly what the words mean: “I prayed that I would be excommunicated”; if he was ready to endure the torment of Gehenna in order to be able to bring all the Jews (to faith), then it is obvious that, having not achieved this, he led a more painful life than those tormented in Gehenna, because for him the latter was more desirable than the former. 12. In each of the disasters mentioned, pay attention not only to the reason that gave rise to despondency in those men, but also to the degree of sadness, and you will see that their sadness is much greater than your grief. Let us now examine whether they grieved more than you, and the degree of despondency is usually determined not only by the cause from which it occurred, but also by the words and deeds (of the sufferers). Many, having lost only money, complained more than you; so some threw themselves into the sea, others hanged themselves, unable to bear this loss; and some even lost their sight from excessive sadness: although losing money seems easier than suffering torment from a demon, many suffered the latter, and were struck by the former. Do not judge this by your soul and do not think that if you laugh at the loss of money, then others will treat it the same way; the loss of money drove many to madness and extreme frustration. Of course, none of these sorrows can crush a noble soul; but a soul weak and attached to the world is more tormented by the loss of money than by torment from a demon. Why? Because it is not the same thing to be constantly afraid of hunger, or to endure torment from a demon only on some days: in the last disaster, severe torment continues for a short time, like in a fever, or in a fever, or in some other periodic attack; and even much less lasts than in these diseases. If (you say that) the disease of demonization exceeds these diseases in strength, then I can point out to you many of those possessed by fever, who, when this fire engulfs them, go into a greater frenzy than those possessed by demons. And with poverty, the fear of suffering a lack of what is necessary, like an indestructible worm, nests in the soul of the poor, and eats it incessantly. What am I talking about poverty? If we want to list all human misfortunes, then not only we, but perhaps you yourself will begin to laugh at your crying and lamentations. But it is impossible for us to depict all, even the smallest part of these misfortunes; we don’t know them, and even if we did, we wouldn’t have enough of a lifetime to tell about them. Therefore, having selected only a few from many, I will leave you to conclude from them, if possible, about those that will be omitted. So, remember that dear old man Demophilus, from a great and noble house. For the fifteenth year now, he has been unable to do anything, like the dead, differing from them only in that he constantly shakes, screams and is clearly aware of his misfortune; he lives in extreme poverty and has one servant, a young man, although kind and attached to his master, but unable to alleviate his misfortune, because the servant can neither relieve the master from poverty, nor stop his shaking from relaxation; but he can only put a piece into the master’s mouth (his hands do not serve the latter in this either), give him the cup and clean his nose; other than that, he is unable to provide him with any help. This old man has been in poverty for fifteen years, as I said; At the same time, I also remember that paralytic who suffered from the same illness for thirty-eight years (John 5:5). In addition to these unfortunates, imagine also Aristoxenus of Bithynia, who, although not relaxed in body, like that old man, was obsessed with a disease that is much more painful than relaxation. Some kind of cramps in the stomach and pains, unbearable to any torture, sometimes pierce him worse than spits, sometimes devour him stronger than fire, and torment him every day and every night, so that those who do not know his illness consider him crazy: so the cramps distort his pupils, tighten his arms and legs, and make him speechless! And his screams and moans (he often begins to scream after numbness) are stronger than the moans of women suffering from childbirth; and often those living far away, who had patients suffering from long-term insomnia, sent with a complaint that their patients were getting worse from these screams. This does not happen to him at long intervals, but several times during the day and several times at night, and this is already the sixth year that he has been devoted to this evil illness; he has neither a servant to look after him, nor a doctor to ease his suffering; the first - due to poverty, and the second - because the art of medicine turned out to be powerless in the face of this disease; many doctors worked on him for a long time (since he had a lot of money before), and did not help him at all. And what’s hardest of all is that none of his friends want to see him anymore, but everyone has left him, even those who had previously benefited him greatly. If anyone comes to him, he immediately runs away: his room is filled with such a stench, because no one cleans it. Only one servant sits with him, who does no more than one woman can do, moreover, one who acquires food for herself by the labor of her hands. How many demons are more tormenting than his scourge? If these very calamities had not tormented him, what would he not have suffered from the thought of how long he had been lying on his bed, of the great expenses that had brought him to extreme poverty, of the contempt of his friends, of the lack of servants, and from the ignorance of whether the calamities would ever cease - for which you are always grieving - or, better to say, from the absolute certainty that they will never cease as long as he lives and breathes? This is what makes one think about the severity of the disease and the fact that his plight is getting worse every day. 13. But so that I don’t tire my listeners with a list of each and every similar sufferer, you go to the caretaker of the hospice and ask him to lead you to those lying there in order to see all kinds of suffering, strange types of illnesses and various causes of despondency. From there, go to the dungeon and, having recognized everything that is found in this dwelling, go to the vestibule of the baths, where some lie naked, using dung and straw instead of clothes and shelter, constantly tormented by cold, illness and hunger, begging passers-by with just their appearance, shaking their bodies and gnashing their clenched teeth, and not being able to either raise a voice or stretch out their hands from extreme exhaustion from such suffering. And don’t stop here, but go to the refuge of the poor, located outside the city, and then you will clearly see that the despondency that now torments you is a quiet haven. What can we say about men who are gradually being destroyed by leprosy, about women suffering from cancer? Both of these diseases are both long-lasting and incurable; Both those possessed by them are expelled even from the city, since these patients are not allowed to be either in the bathhouse, or in the market, or in any other place inside the city. And not only is this disastrous, but also the fact that they cannot be calm regarding their means of subsistence. What is the situation of those condemned to live in the mines, often without guilt and in vain? They all suffer much more grief than those possessed by a demon. If you don't believe it, it's not at all surprising; because we usually judge our own and other people’s misfortunes differently, but we recognize the latter only from the words and appearance of those suffering, and the former – through our own experience and feeling, and out of passion for ourselves we think that the latter are more unbearable than the former, even though they were in fact very easy and tolerable. If someone, having renounced all partiality, recognizes the nature of other people’s misfortunes and understands the situation of those subjected to them, he will give us a correct judgment about them. Perhaps you will say that all those illnesses relate only to the body, but your illness concerns the soul and is more severe than all of them. But that’s why it turns out to be easier than those: it doesn’t destroy the body like those, and it only disturbs the soul for a short time; Meanwhile, the above diseases, originating in the body, do not stop their harmful actions on it, but extend them to the soul, constantly tormenting it and crushing it with sorrow and great despondency. “Just as,” says the Scripture, “there is no benefit to harm, so the passion that falls in the body offends the heart” (Proverbs 25:20). So, don’t just say that some disease nests in the body, but prove that it does not extend its disastrous and destructive influence on the soul. So the infection is not born in the bodies themselves, but destroys the bodies; and the poison of snakes comes out of them and harms us. It’s the same with those diseases: they are born in the body, and the poison of their malignancy is poured into our soul. So, excessive despondency is more harmful than any demonic action, because if a demon rules in someone, then he rules through despondency, and if you destroy despondency, then you will not suffer any harm from the demon. But how, you say, can you not lose heart? And I ask you, how is it impossible not to lose heart? If you committed fornication, murder, or any other of the sins that deprive you of the Kingdom of Heaven, then be despondent and lament: no one will interfere; If, by the grace of God, you stand far from all these sins, then why are you torturing yourself in vain? 14. God put despondency into our nature not so that we would indulge in it unreasonably, untimely and under any circumstances, and not so that we would destroy ourselves, but so that we would receive the greatest benefit from it. How can we benefit from it? If we indulge in it at the appropriate time; and the time of despondency is not when we suffer evil, but when we do evil. We have perverted the order and mixed up the times; doing a lot of evil, we do not repent even for a short time, but if we suffer even the slightest evil from someone, we lose heart, go crazy, and hasten to give up and get rid of life. Therefore, this state (of despondency) seems unbearable and difficult to us, as well as anger and lust, which were also complained about by those who used them poorly and improperly. Here the same thing happens as with the medicines given by doctors: and they not only do not relieve the patient from suffering, but even more intensify the disease when they are used for diseases that do not correspond to them, and not for those for which they are prepared, but for completely different ones. Dejection works in exactly the same way, and this is natural. As a powerful medicine that corrodes and, so to speak, cleanses our depravity, it, when applied to an idle, pampered soul that has a great burden of sins, helps the one who receives it a lot; and when applied to a soul that is active, struggling, toiling, caring and subject to adversity, it not only does not bring any benefit, but also causes great harm, weakening it and making it susceptible to damage. Therefore, Paul, turning to those who stood and labored, said: “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again the river: rejoice” (Phil.4:4); and to those who are weakened in soul and possessed by a strong passion, he wrote: “And you will become proud, and no more than a fool” (1 Cor. 5:2). Whoever becomes fat with the fatness of sins, let him thin and dry himself with this medicine, but for someone who is healthy and maintains himself in proper well-being, why ruin his well-being with despondency? It is such a powerful medicine that when it was applied to those in need for longer than the proper time, it caused a lot of harm. Fearing this, Blessed Paul commanded that it be eliminated immediately after it had done its work, and for this he presented the same reason that I am expressing now: “Never mind,” he said, “he will be consumed by many sorrows” (2 Cor. 2:7). If it, by overpowering itself, destroys those who need it, then what will it not do to those who do not need it at all, if they surrender to it to a great extent? So, you say, I know this too; but I don’t know how to eliminate and remove despondency from my soul. What is the difficulty in this, my friend? If it were some kind of lust and crazy carnal love, or strong vanity - this indestructible evil, or some other similar passion, then you would have reason to find it difficult to free yourself from them, since if captured by them, although it is impossible, it is difficult to get rid of these nets. Why? Because pleasure promotes and helps them: it entangles those given over to passions, as if with ropes, on all sides, and the difficulty of correction, first of all, lies in the fact that the soul is inclined to desire and decide to free itself from them; just as if a person in need of healing from scabs and scabies found pleasure in this illness and plunged himself into illness. And the fact that we do not find pleasure in it helps us a lot to free ourselves from grief; whoever is burdened by something will soon try to free himself from it. But what if, although he tries, he doesn’t succeed? Let him never stop trying, and he will soon be successful. Keep in mind that for a Christian, if he ever grieves, there should be only two reasons for despondency - when either he himself or his neighbor offends God; and since your grief is not based on any of these reasons, then you are torturing yourself in vain. How do you know, you say, that we are not punished for our sins with this sorrow? This is well known, but for now I will not claim it. If you want, then let it not only be not unknown, as you said, but even well known that this sorrow is retribution for sins; Is it really, tell me, that’s why you’re complaining? But you must be complacent because you are still here freed from sins and will not be condemned along with the world. The one who mourns should not complain about the fact that he is being punished, but about the sins with which he offends God; sins remove us from God and make Him enemies, but punishments reconcile Him with us and make Him merciful and close to us. And that your feat and labor is not retribution for sins, but preparation for crowns and rewards, this can be seen from the following. If you had first lived shamefully and dissolutely, and then moved on to monastic life, in that case the thought of punishment for sins would be inappropriate. If God sends punishments in order to convert sinners to repentance, then when repentance is brought, the punishment is therefore unnecessary. God is so far from wanting to punish us that often, even when we do something worthy of punishment and need strong admonition, He admonishes us only with threats and intimidating words. You can see this in the example of the Israelites and the city of Nineveh: God not only did not bring punishment upon them when they repented, but immediately stopped the threat. He desires much more than ourselves that we should not endure any evil, and none of us spares ourselves as God spares us all. Is it possible that the One who often frightens those who have sinned only with words, but does not punish, but frees those who repent from fear itself, not only did not deliver you from the threat, but also subjected you to actual punishment, who showed such piety and such virtue? How can you believe this? If your previous life had been, as I said, depraved and vicious, this might still have occurred to someone; but since she was modest and filled with great honesty, although lower than today, then from all this it is clear to us that your exploits lead to crowns and the highest reward. Therefore, as I said, one should arouse such and similar thoughts in oneself; and at the same time, or even before this, this darkness of despondency must be dispelled with prayers and supplications. So blessed David, such a wondrous and great man, constantly used these medicines, and got rid of them from the severity of sorrows, then praying like this: “The sorrows of my heart have multiplied, deliver me from my needs” (Ps. 24:17); then arousing in oneself pious thoughts: “How sorrowful are you, my soul? And are you embarrassing me? Trust in God, for we will confess to Him” (Ps. 42:5); and he also said, turning from thoughts to prayers: “Loosen me, so that I may rest, first I will not even leave, nor will I be with anyone” (Ps. 39:14), and from prayers to reflections: “What... do I have in heaven? And what did You want on earth?” (Ps. 73:25). So Job, with reflections, objected to his wife, who inspired him to utter satanic words, and reproaching her, said: “What did you say ... alone from crazy women? If we receive good things from the hand of the Lord, will we not endure the evil ones” (Job 2:10)? And before God he resorted to prayers. And blessed Paul used both of these means to help those who fell into sorrow and temptation; sometimes he said: “If you are without punishment, you are by nature adulterers, and not sons. Who is a son, isn’t his father punishing him?” ( Heb. 12:8 ) - and sometimes he said with prayer: “God is faithful, He will not leave you to be tempted more than you can” ( 1 Cor. 10:13 ); and again: “If it is right with God to repay tribulation to those who insult you, and joy to those who are insulted” (2 Thess. 1:6). So, if you want to use both weapons and firmly protect yourself on all sides, blocking access to despondency with your thoughts, and building this strong fence with prayers, both your own and those of others, then you will soon see the fruits of such efforts. You will gain not only the benefit that you will begin to courageously endure real suffering, but, having been well strengthened by it, you will continue to be invincible to any everyday sorrows. Those. two sons of the Theban king Oedipus, whose actions are dramatically depicted in the tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles. Gorgo or Gorgon is a fabulous monster, represented by Greek poets with a head covered with snakes instead of hair, and petrified everyone who saw her. Of course, probably Ish-bosheth. See 2 Samuel 4:7. You might be interested in: