Слово 14. О любезном для всех и лукавом владыке, чреве

1. Having the intention of talking about the womb, if ever, then now most of all, I assumed to be philosophical against myself; for it would be wonderful if someone, before descending into the grave, were freed from this passion. 2. Gluttony is a pretense of the belly; because it, even being saturated, cries out: “Not enough!”, being filled, and dissipated from excess, cries out: “I hunger.” 3. Gluttony is the inventor of seasonings, the source of sweets. Whether you have abolished one vein of it, it flows from another. Have you blocked this one too, another one breaks through and overcomes you. 4. Gluttony is a deception of the eyes; we contain it in moderation, but it incites us to absorb everything at once. 5. Saturation is the mother of fornication; and oppression of the belly is the culprit of purity. 6. He who caresses a lion often tames him: and he who pleases the body increases his ferocity. 7. The Jew rejoices about his Saturday and about the holiday, and the gluttonous monk rejoices about Saturday and about Sunday; during Lent, he counts how much is left until Easter; and prepares food many days before. The slave of the belly calculates what food to honor the holiday with; and the servant of God is thinking about what gifts he can enrich himself with. 8. When the stranger arrived, the glutton was all moved towards love, instigated by gluttony; and thinks that the opportunity to console his brother is a solution for him too. He considers the coming of others as an excuse to allow him to drink wine; and under the guise of hiding virtue, he becomes a slave to passion. 9. Vanity is often at war with gluttony; and these two passions quarrel among themselves over the poor monk, as over a bought slave. Gluttony forces one to allow permission, and vanity inspires one to show one’s virtue; but a prudent monk avoids both abyss, and knows how to use the convenient time to repel one passion with another. 10. If the flesh is inflamed 51, then it must be tamed by abstinence at all times and in all places. When it subsides (which, however, I do not hope to wait for before death), then he can hide his abstinence in front of others. 11. I saw elderly priests, mocked by demons, who gave blessings to young people who were not under their guidance to have wine and other things at feasts. If they have a good testimony about the Lord, then with their permission we can allow a little; if they are careless, then in this case we should not pay attention to their blessing; and especially when we are still struggling with the fire of carnal lust. 12. The godless Evagrius 52 imagined that he was the wisest of the wise, both in eloquence and in the height of his thoughts: but he was deceived, poor thing, and turned out to be the most insane of the insane, both in many of his opinions and in the following. He says: “When our soul desires various foods, then we must exhaust it with bread and water.” Prescribing this is the same as telling a little boy to climb to the very top of the stairs in one step. So, let's say in refutation of this rule: if the soul desires various foods, then it seeks what is characteristic of its nature; and therefore we must use prudent caution against our cunning belly; and when there is no strong carnal warfare, and there is no opportunity for a fall, then we will cut off first of all the food that fattens, then the food that inflames, and then the food that delights. If possible, give your belly sufficient and digestible food to get rid of its insatiable greed through satiation, and through rapid digestion of food to get rid of the burning sensation, like a scourge. Let us delve deeper and see that many of the dishes that swell the stomach also arouse movements of lust. 13. Laugh at the trick of the demon, who, after dinner, tells you to eat later in the future; for on the very next day, when the ninth hour 53 comes, he will force you to abandon the rule established on the previous day. 14. One abstinence is appropriate for the innocent, and another for the guilty and repentant. For the first, movements of lust in you are a sign of the perception of special abstinence; and the latter remain in it even until death; and until the very end they do not give their body consolation, but fight with it without reconciliation. The first always want to maintain a good mind; and the latter, through spiritual lamentation and meltdown, appease God. 15. The time of joy and consolation with food for the perfect is the putting aside of all care; for the ascetic it is a time of struggle; and for the passionate - a holiday of holidays and a triumph of celebrations. 16. In the hearts of gluttons there are dreams of food and dishes; in the hearts of those who cry are dreams of the final judgment and torment. 17. Be master of your belly before it dominates you, and then you will be forced to abstain in shame. Those who have fallen into the pit of iniquities, which I do not want to talk about, understand what I said; the chaste did not know this by experience. 18. Let us tame the belly with the thought of the future fire. Obeying the belly, some finally cut off their innermost members and died a double death. Let us be careful, and we will see that gluttony is the only reason for the drownings that happen to us. 19. The fasting mind prays soberly; and the mind of the intemperate is filled with unclean dreams. The saturation of the belly dries up the sources of tears; and the womb, dried up by abstinence, gives birth to tearful waters. 20. He who serves his own belly, and yet wants to overcome the spirit of fornication; he is like putting out a fire with oil. 21. When the belly is oppressed, then the heart is humbled; if it is calmed by food, then the heart is lifted up by thoughts. 22. Test yourself in the first hour of the day, at noon, an hour before eating, and in this way you will learn the benefits of fasting. In the morning the thought plays and wanders; when the sixth hour came, he weakened a little, and at sunset he finally humbled himself. 23. Oppress your belly with abstinence, and you will be able to stop your mouth; for the tongue is strengthened by the abundance of food. Strive with all your might against this tormentor, and remain vigilant with unflagging attention, watching him; for if you work even a little, then the Lord will immediately help. 24. Bellows 54 when softened, spread out and hold more liquid; and those left in negligence do not take the same measures. He who burdens his belly expands his bowels; and for one who strives against the belly, they are drawn together little by little; those who are constrained will not take much food, and then, according to the need of nature itself, we will be fasters. 25. Thirst is very often quenched by thirst; but it is difficult, and even impossible, to drive away hunger with hunger. When the body defeats you, tame it with labor; If, due to weakness, you cannot do this, then fight it with vigil. When your eyes are heavy, take up your needlework; but do not touch it when sleep does not attack; for it is impossible to work together with God and mammon, that is, to extend your thoughts to God and to handicraft. 26. Know that the demon often sits down on the stomach and does not allow a person to get enough, even if he devoured all the food in Egypt and drank all the water in the Nile. 27. When we are full, this unclean spirit departs and sends a prodigal spirit upon us; he announces to him the state in which we are left, and says: “Go, stir up such and such: his belly is full, and therefore you will work a little.” This one, having come, smiles and, having tied our hands and feet with sleep, does whatever he wants with us, desecrating the soul with vile dreams and the body with discharges. 28. It is an amazing thing that the mind, being incorporeal, is defiled and darkened by the body, and that, on the contrary, the immaterial is refined and purified by struggle. 29. If you promised Christ to walk the narrow and cramped path, then oppress your belly; for by pleasing him and expanding him, you will deny your vows. But listen, and you will hear the speaker: the path of gluttony is broad and wide, leading to the destruction of fornication, and many follow it. “But narrow is the gate and hard is the way of self-control, which leads to a life of purity, and few enter through it” (Matthew 7:14). 30. The leader of demons is the fallen star; and the head of passions is gluttony. 31. Sitting at a table full of food, imagine death and judgment before your mental eyes; for even in this way you can hardly tame the passion of gluttony even a little. When you drink, always remember the ocet and gall of your Lord; and in this way you will either remain within the limits of abstinence, or at least, having revolted, you will humble your thoughts. 32. Do not be deceived, you cannot free yourself from the mental Pharaoh, nor see the Passover on high. If you do not always eat bitter herbs and unleavened bread. The bitter potion is the compulsion and patience of fasting. And unleavened bread is wisdom that is not puffed up. May this word of the Psalmist be united with your breath: “When the demons always attacked me, I clothed myself in sackcloth, and humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned to the bosom of my soul” (Ps. 34:13). 33. Fasting is violence of nature. Rejection of everything that pleases the taste. Extinguishing bodily inflammation, exterminating evil thoughts. Liberation from bad dreams, purity of prayer, luminary of the soul, preservation of the mind, destruction of heartfelt insensibility, door of tenderness, humble sighing, joyful contrition, restraint of verbosity, cause of silence, guardian of obedience, relief of sleep, health of the body, cause of dispassion, resolution of sins, gates of paradise and heavenly pleasure. 34. Let us also ask this enemy of ours, especially the chief commander of our evil enemies, the door of passions, that is, gluttony. This is the reason for the fall of Adam, the death of Esau, the destruction of the Israelites, the exposure of Noah, the destruction of the Gomorrites, Lot's incest, the destruction of the sons of Elijah the priest, and the leader of all abominations. Let's ask. Where does this passion come from? And what are its offspring? Who crushes it, and who completely destroys it? 35. Tell us. Tormentor of all people, who bought everyone with the gold of insatiable greed: how did you find the entrance to us? When you come in, what do you usually do? and how do you leave us? 36. She, irritated by these annoyances, furiously and ferociously answers us: “Why do you, who are guilty of me, beat me with annoyances? And how you try to free yourself from me when I am naturally connected with you. The door through which I enter is the property of food, and the reason for my gluttony is habit; the basis of my passion is long-term skill, insensibility of the soul and oblivion of death. And how do you seek to know the names of my offspring? I will count them, and they will multiply more than sand. But find out, at least, what are the names of my firstborn and my most amiable offspring. My firstborn son is fornication, and the second offspring after him is hardness of heart. The third is drowsiness. A sea of ​​evil thoughts, waves of defilements, a depth of unknown and ineffable impurities come from me. My daughters are: laziness, verbosity, insolence, ridicule, blasphemy, bickering, stiff-neckedness, disobedience, insensibility, captivity of the mind, self-praise, insolence, love of the world, followed by defiled prayer, soaring thoughts and unexpected and sudden misadventures; and behind them follows despair - the fiercest of all passions. The memory of sins wars against me. The thought of death is strongly at odds with me; but there is nothing in people that can completely abolish me. He who has acquired the Comforter prays to Him against me, and He, being entreated, does not allow me to passionately act in him. Those who have not tasted His heavenly consolation seek in every possible way to enjoy my sweetness.” In the Slavic translation: “violent, strong existing flesh.” St. John speaks here of Evagrius of Pontius, who was a follower of Origen and was condemned with him at the Fifth Ecumenical Council, which took place in 553, during the life of St. John Climacus. (See: 1st canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council; see also Church history of Evagrius Scholasticus, book 4, chapter 38). That is, the time of eating. Leather bags that hold various liquids. You might be interested in: