About Joseph and Chastity

Helmsmen in the midst of a stormy sea, when neither the mainland, nor mountains, nor hills, nor any capes help them determine their position, turn their gaze to some stars and, guiding their ship along them, continue their safe voyage. And the disciples of the Church, overwhelmed by the sea of ​​this life, do not turn their gaze to any stars, but, directing their spiritual eyes to their fathers and following them with spiritual love, reach the same (as they) pier of the heavenly kingdom. That is why, of course, our Lord revealed their lives in the sacred books, so that not only, hearing about them, we would praise, but also be jealous of imitating their lives. Knowing that the nature of people by nature strives for good and always strives for the best out of ambition, I suggested, as if as some decorations, the exploits of our fathers, so that each of you prepares yourself for whatever feat you wish. So, the best lesson of patience is the life of blessed Job, kindness - the life of Moses, strength - David, fasting and prayer - Daniel, chastity - Joseph and blessed Susanna. The life of Joseph is decent and suitable for young men, and for young women, especially those leading a married life, the virtuous feat of Blessed Susanna: after all, both have an equivalent struggle. One, out of chastity, overcame fear of his mistress, the other, out of love for chastity, despised the deadly threats of the elders. But first we must describe the life of Blessed Joseph, since he is older, and then the life of Blessed Susanna. So, blessed Joseph, descended from noble parents, while still young, with barely visible down on his cheeks, with a beautiful appearance resembling a rose blooming on a golden chin, with pupils of his eyes resembling spring violets, with milk-white teeth, crimson lips, with thick eyebrows extending under his brow, the color of lilies. Out of envy of his brothers, he was sold, as it seemed to them, into slavery, but as God had predetermined, he was sold into the kingdom; he was taken to Egypt as a youth, almost a weak child; those who bought him had not yet seen the wealth of his virtues and did not suspect that the virtue of abstinence would give him dominion over all of Egypt and that the whole country would be saved by him from death by starvation. And so he is brought to Egypt and sold a second time, and yet he is never enslaved. Of course, someone who is free in spirit, even if he has been sold a thousand times, will never become a slave; on the contrary, someone who has the character of a slave, even if he has been freed a thousand times, will never receive freedom, because whoever his own character does not free, countless charters and ink receipts cannot free. So, he is taken to Egypt, sold to an Egyptian house, becomes the favorite of his master, and gains the favor of his mistress. But the master’s love was kind, and the mistress was possessed by an unclean passion. He loved him for his honesty, and she fell in love with him as an instrument of pleasure; and as time dragged on and his beauty blossomed, at the same time her shameful passion increased and the fire of love devoured her heart the more. Trying to seduce the young man, she used all the usual means to seduce young eyes, coloring her face like some meadow, rubbing her cheeks with rouge and her forehead with whitewash, and lining her eyes with black, decorating her neck and hands with gold, and soaking her luxurious clothes with various incense; in a word, a destructive trap was prepared for all the senses, as she thought, in order to seduce the young man, (charming) his eyes with visible decorations, his hearing with caresses, and his sense of smell, irritating with incense. But look at the courage of this noble fighter! And I think that God allowed the young man to be tempted, so that together he could discover the virtue hidden in the young man, and give the church the greatest lesson in his life, since there is no good from the fathers that God would not approve as a way that carries a lesson for life. So, look at the courage of this noble man, how many things fought against him: his own youth was against him, lust raged inside, and his wife attacked without, seducing with promises and enticing with flattery; the women sent incited him and flattery tickled both his ears and his feelings, but none of this could overcome him. He did not succumb to her caresses, nor was he carried away by her promises, nor did he yield to threats, and did not betray the wealth of virtues, but he bridled all the members of his body with a chaste thought. And after she could not seduce the young man with all these means at her disposal, she herself, in some room, secretly and by force, wanted to entice him to a disorderly bed. It was necessary to see this greatest spectacle, not earthly, but heavenly. Joseph fought against the threatening temptation, the field was opened, the fight was completed, the trumpet sounded, the commander of the fight from above looked on the competition and the faces of the angels closely watched it; from below, demons offered rewards to the Egyptian woman, and from above, angels crowned Joseph with wreaths; It was the Egyptian woman who was assisted by demons, and the angels took Joseph’s side. The struggle was great - who would defeat whom; The angels took great care of Joseph, so that the woman’s incense would not somehow turn the young man’s head, or soft clothes, or looks, or appearance, or gait, or hearing, or caress, or seduction would weaken the young man; Great was the concern for the angels, great were the hopes of the demons. Joseph fought for a crown, the Egyptian woman fought for shame; one is about life, the other is about death. And what did the Egyptian woman say? On the one hand - seduction, on the other - threats; She wanted to frighten the young man with threats and charm him with seduction. Threatening, she said: “I am your mistress, you were bought with my money; For this purpose I bought you; if you contradict, chains and prison await you, and then inevitable death; If you listen to me, honors, rewards and power over my entire house will all be in your hands. Are you afraid of reproof? Neither your husband nor your family will know anything, rely on me, agree with me - and you will be the master of everything.” Hearing this, Joseph said to the Egyptian woman: “O woman! I have never been a slave: after all, I am the son of noble parents: Abraham and Isaac, who talked with God, are my grandfathers, and Jacob, who fought with the angel, is my father, which is why I boldly fight with you. I was sold to you through the envy of my brothers, but the name of a slave can in no way harm the nobility of my soul. After all, often an envious cloud, having run up, darkens the bright rays of the sun for a short time, but does not produce complete darkness, because it is immediately dispersed by the power of the sun’s rays; in the same way, the name of a slave will not extinguish the radiance of my nobility, because after a little it will be dissipated by the brilliance of my character and the beauty of my nobility will shine throughout Egypt. I was bought by you - I agree, I do not deny: I am performing my due service. I did not deceive you, did not harm you, did not act against honor - I am free from deceit, cunning, blameless: you cannot accuse me of anything. And now you are forcing me to do a crazy thing and secretly whispering to me like a snake, thinking to seduce me and with deadly threats to persuade me to the act of intemperance you desire? Don't be deceived, lady, don't look at my youth; a young skin may contain old wine, and a new frame may contain ancient pearls. You consider me a young green shoot, but look at the antiquity of my root. I look very young by nature, but my heart is old in fulfilling the law. Do not be deceived, wife, you will not defeat my virtues, you will not defeat Joseph, the son of Jacob, that Jacob who, even in his mother’s womb, served as a stumbling block for his brother and was then able to fight with the angel: do not be deceived, I fight just like my father. It is in vain that you think of seducing me with promises. What can you, tell me, promise me as great as chastity? What kingdom can surpass it, what treasure can equal it? Don't you know that chastity is a heavenly acquisition, the destiny of angels, a gift of God? Keep your promises to yourself: your honors will only dishonor me; the honor you promise is the beginning of shame; your gold is the product of the earth and the spoils of corruption. And my gold is a product of God, an eternal plant. But are you thinking of hiding this matter? Don’t you know that the eye of God does not sleep, that he sees all the things that happen in darkness? Just think, how many angels are there now? How many witnesses must this deed take place? Remember, wife, about your husband, about your brothers, about friends, neighbors, relatives who boast of your impeccability; remember the upcoming angels and be ashamed of them, or be afraid of the absent people. With what eyes will you look at your husband, whom you are now ready to cheat on? What kind of hugs will you open to the one you wanted to kill? With what words will you please the one whose bed, as far as it depended on you, you have desecrated? Remember what you promised him: how you promised to remain faithful to him and chastity, how you swore to love him more than yourself. Imitate, wife, the turtledove; she, having united with one spouse, is no longer combined with another; and if it happens that her male becomes the prey of a hawk or falls into the claws of an eagle, she does not give herself to another male, but remains to always wait for her beloved and dies of longing for him. And the fear of God, and the law of the Jews, and the purity of life of the ancients - everything teaches you, wife, to imitate her.” Having said this and seeing that she still shamelessly clings to his clothes and is engulfed in the flames of passion (because passion flares up even more when it cannot take possession of the object of desire), like a courageous fighter, throwing off his clothes and almost throwing her and her clothes to the ground, the naked man fled from a dirty crime. Chastity triumphed over passion: the Egyptian woman was left with the leaves of intemperance, and the son of Jacob carried away the fruit of righteousness. Triumph in heaven accompanied Joseph's victory: the angels rejoiced, the demons cried, Joseph was crowned, the Egyptian woman was put to shame. But she was irritated by this victory, and she resorted to false accusations, slandering Joseph to her husband, attributing to him the intention to disgrace her. “Why,” he says, “did you bring a young Jew here to make fun of us?” The husband is indignant and throws him into custody. Of course, there was a need for a lamp for those sitting in darkness, a nourisher for the hungry, a consolation for the distressed, a doctor for the exhausted. Pharaoh's two eunuchs are also thrown into the same prison; they see dreams and cannot understand them; turning to Joseph; he explains their meaning. The eunuchs are released from prison: everything that Joseph predicted is justified on them. Pharaoh himself has a dream; there is no interpreter; the eunuch remembers Joseph; they take him out of prison. And notice what a mystery: because of a dream he was sold, and because of a dream he was released. What's next? He explains the pharaohs' dream, the king appreciates the sharpness of his mind and frees him to rule the kingdom, entrusting him with power over all of Egypt. Having come into power, Joseph does good to everyone during famine - natives, foreigners, enemies, friends, and strangers. His father comes to Egypt; His mother bows to him along with his father. Although she died during the journey, she, nevertheless, bowed down in the face of her husband: after all, husband and wife are one flesh. His eleven brothers also come and bow to him, and the vision that Joseph saw was fulfilled: “the sun and the moon and eleven stars worship me” (Gen. 37:9). Why eleven? Because Judas hanged himself; after all, the sold Joseph was a prototype of Christ, sold by Judas. Do you see how he was justified by chastity, how he reigns in heaven for chastity? We said all this so that you too imitate his life and give God the same glory. We need to talk about blessed Susanna, especially since we have already promised; but since it is better to let the listeners go when they are ready to listen, than when disgust appears in them from satiety, we will leave the conversation about this until another day, if God wills, but now let us hasten to the mystical cup, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: