БЕЗМОЛВИЕ (См. УЕДИНЕНИЕ)

Silence must be preceded by a struggle with passions. While sitting in your cell, don’t think that you are doing something great. You boast of your silence, but what benefit has it brought you when you have not tolerated even one falsehood? Look, who should be silent? Those who have fooled themselves in dealing with their brethren and have killed their furious and self-loving passion. You will find this in the superscript on Nil Sorsky and in the book of St. John Climacus. He writes: whoever is prone to anger, arrogance or deceit should see below the trace of silence, and you write that you have vanity, pride and other passions; How can you defeat them in silence if no one touches or insults you? I do not distract you from your cell by this and do not give you advice to bypass the cells and disperse, but I advise you not to think that you are doing something great while sitting in your cell. Read from Simeon of Euchaites, how he advises the silent person to “reproach himself while sitting in his cell” (Enraptured Classes) (II, 118, 179–180). When you want to walk the path of silence, have the message of St. Simeon of the Euchaites to John the Monk... Briefly I write out some matter from it: “more than any other person, you consider yourself to be a passion and a sinner, and you condemn yourself for living idle, and in all your activities you accept humility and love. If you love your enemies, if you love those who hate, if you do good to those who do evil, if you bear burdens, if you reproach and slander those who bless you, if you bless all people as you love yourself, and so on, according to God, this is your work, and as it befits you to sit in your cell; Otherwise, be careful, Father, that you do not labor in vain” (VI, 41, 64). Silence multiplies the dream of one's corrections and leads to pride Saint John Climacus, St. Cassian and others strictly prohibit silence for the unskilled; and your residence there was of this kind; How would you know your passions and infirmities and how could you reconcile yourself? Just dreaming of your corrections would bring you to complete darkness. Be grateful to the Lord that He carefully called you to serve Himself and to fight against invisible enemies. There you would not have had any abuse, and all your vices would have been left behind, except for one, which could complement all the others, according to the word of St. John Climacus (III, 40, 109). You might be interested in: