Ответ

John wants John to rejoice. I have received, truly worthy of your lofty and dispassionate life and your pure and humble heart, sent by you to us, poor and poor in virtues, your honest writing, or, better to say, a commandment and command that surpasses our strength. So, it is truly natural for you and your sacred soul to ask for an instructive word and instruction from us, untrained and ignorant in deed and word; for she is accustomed to always showing us in herself an example of humility. However, I will also say now that if we were not afraid of falling into great trouble by rejecting from ourselves the holy yoke of obedience, the mother of all virtues, then we would not have recklessly dared to undertake an enterprise that exceeds our strength. You, wonderful father, should, when asking about such subjects, learn from men who knew this well; for we are still in the category of students. But just as our God-bearing fathers and secret teachers of true knowledge define that obedience is undoubted submission to those who command and in those matters that exceed our strength: then we, piously despising our weakness, humbly encroached on labor that exceeded our measure; although we do not think of bringing you any benefit, or explaining something that you, the sacred head, know no less than us. For not only I am sure, but, I think, everyone who is sane knows that the eye of your mind is pure from all earthly and gloomy disturbances of gloomy passions, and uncontrollably looks at the Divine light and is illuminated by it. But, fearing death, born from disobedience, and as if driven by this fear of obedience, I began to fulfill your honorable command with fear and love, like a sincere novice and obscene slave of the most excellent painter, and with my meager knowledge and insufficient expression, with only ink, monotonously inscribing living words, I leave it to you, chief of teachers and official, decorate all this, clarify it and, as the executor of the tablets and the spiritual law, make up for what is insufficient. And I am not sending this work to you; no, this would be a sign of extreme unreason, for you are strong in the Lord not only of others, but also of ourselves, to affirm in divine morals and teachings, but to the God-called squad of brothers who, together with us, learn from you, O chosen teacher! To them, through you, I begin this word; them and your prayers, as if lifted up by some waters of hope, despite all the weight of ignorance, I stretch out the sail of the cane and with every prayer I convey the feed of our words into the hands of our good co-pilot. Moreover, I ask all readers: if anyone sees something useful here, then let him attribute the fruit of all this, as a prudent one, to our great mentor, and let us ask for reward from God for this weak work, not at the poverty of the composition (truly filled with any inexperience), looking, but accepting the intention of the bringer, like a widow’s offering 10; for God rewards not the abundance of gifts and labors, but the abundance of diligence. At Paisiy Velichk. widow's proposal. You might be interested in: