Часть III. Подвиги обновления духа

But this is not the end of all the ascetic’s labors. And woe to him if he limits his activities to this, stops there and calms down. What awaits him ahead is the work of restoring the image of God damaged by sin in his soul. According to the apostle, an ascetic Christian must not only “put off his former way of life, the old man, which is corrupted by the deceitful lusts, ... but also be renewed in the spirit of his mind and put on the new man, created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24). It is necessary that not only the soul of a Christian be cleansed, but also that the image of God be renewed and restored in it. The image of God is revealed to us in our Lord Jesus Christ (See Phil. 2:6-7), in whom all the fulfillment of the Divinity shone forth bodily - in the flesh. And “those whom He foreknew” (the Lord), “those He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” – our Savior (Rom. 8:29). To form a soul in the image of God, to restore it in it, means nothing more than to depict and infuse Christ in it, which means, by imitation of His most holy properties, to achieve “a perfect man, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). The Christian ascetic must renew his entire soul, must give all its powers and abilities a different, god-like direction, other, god-like principles of activity, since sinful corruption has penetrated all of it. But just as before, when listing the feats of self-purification, the Venerable Climacus named only the most important, fundamental sins, so here, in the series of feats of self-renewal, he lists only the feats of renewing the initial, fundamental forces of the soul: mind, will and feelings. With a change in the direction of the basic forces of the soul, the direction of other abilities of the soul subordinate to them must naturally change. Reverend Climacus begins with the heart. It must be remembered that St. John in his Ladder follows a practical order. And in life, the heart is the main source of our actions, both good and evil (See Matthew 12:35; Matthew 15:19; Proverbs 4:23). Consequently, the work of spiritual renewal must begin with the heart: when the heart changes to a good one, one might say, the whole soul will change. The depravity of our heart is revealed most of all: in ungodly feelings towards other people - not being warmed by the warmth of a Christian disposition, it is unloving towards them, irritable, angry, vindictive, etc.; in no less ungodly feelings towards ourselves, the beginning of which in this case is self-love and pride. In these two respects, our heart requires renewal and a change in its feelings and dispositions to the feelings that dwelt in the Divine heart of the Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself testifies with what feelings He was filled when, offering Himself to us as an example to follow, He says: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). Therefore, the Venerable One advises the ascetic who wishes to adorn his soul in a godlike manner to acquire loving meekness and “God-loving humility.” Holy meekness consists of complacently enduring insults and troubles of all kinds. This disposition is completely opposite to that property of the corrupted heart, which is called anger or irritability, and the destruction of which, as we have seen, constituted the first feat of self-purification. True meekness consists not only in not repaying the offender with evil, not showing displeasure at him only outwardly, but not even in the depths of one’s soul feeling upset at the offender, but, on the contrary, invariably maintaining a feeling of Christian love for him, and the more he offends us, the more diligently we pray for him. That is, meekness must be sincere, coming from the simplicity of the heart and without any guile or hypocrisy. In this case, the ascetic must imitate the simplicity and artlessness of children, according to the words of the Lord Himself: “unless... you are like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3). It is rare to find meekness in this pure form; for the most part, some element of hypocrisy and deceit is mixed in with it. In order to ensure that those in whose meekness there is still an impure admixture do not remain in error about the true state of their hearts, and in order to encourage them and others to completely expel this admixture from their souls, the Reverend describes the properties of hypocrisy and deceit. “Hypocrisy is a position of the body that is contrary to the disposition of the soul. Evilness is the rejection of the integrity of the heart... feigned behavior... ambiguous words, a deeply hidden heart, inconspicuous deceit, ordinary lies... natural pride, the enemy of humility, feigned repentance... false insight, by which the evil one imagines that he directly understands the thoughts of others from words and body movements, the stupidity of presenting oneself as sad, feigned piety - in a word, it is the life of the devil. The evil one and interlocutor of the devil is one spirit with the devil.” In order for an evil person to change and become simple-hearted, it takes a lot of work and effort. As the best means in this matter, the Reverend points out perfect avoidance of dissipation, obedience and keeping one’s lips. The monk finds that acquiring simplicity of heart is especially difficult for one who has some knowledge and is occupied with it. “Wisdom,” he says, “puffs up, but ignorance in some way humbles, and thus, just as the former blocks, so the latter paves the way for simplicity. Just as “it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23), so it is difficult for the arrogant sages of this age to become simple-hearted.” A remedy that can destroy or at least weaken this obstacle: “Try to laugh at your own wisdom. If you do this, you will gain salvation and rightness of heart.” This is worth noting for many monks who have embarked on the path of the cross and self-sacrifice with a large or small supply of knowledge, and it is worth noting for every Christian who has more or less tasted book wisdom. Turning to the feat of humility, St. John dwells on it with special love and does not find words to adequately praise “God-loving humility,” even to properly describe it. He calls humility “a nameless gift of the soul, named only by those who have experienced it.” Without classifying himself among them, he tries to give an idea of ​​this high virtue in words not his own, but those of others, i.e. in the words of those who are skilled in it. From these words it is clear that humility is a trait of the heart, completely opposite to that (meaning pride) that is imposed on a person by the demon who has taken possession of him, that humility consists in the most humiliating concept of oneself, and not only in the concept, but also in behavior in accordance with it - in all cases, before God and people. This disposition, carried out in life itself, entails an innumerable number of virtues. The Monk John did not hesitate to say that a truly humble person is not subject to any vice. This is not enough. As a God-imitating quality, humility at the highest degree of its development “illuminates the heart of the ascetic with the ineffable light of the presence of God.” The Venerable Climacus believes that the means to achieve this virtue are: 1. Self-test. Whoever wants to achieve humility, then let him not stop entering into his conscience, let him constantly and impartially examine all his actions, words, thoughts, intentions, rules and plans. The strength and effectiveness of this remedy cannot be overlooked the first time. If humility is humiliation of oneself in one’s own eyes, then testing one’s conscience is the best way to do this, since it can reveal in all its nakedness all the spiritual poverty and misery of a person, all his uncleanness, corruption and irresponsibility before God, all the weakness and inadequacy of his own strength in any matter, and especially in the matter of saving the soul. 2. However, in order to achieve humility, it is not enough to see and recognize in yourself shortcomings, infirmities, an extreme tendency to temptation, but you must constantly contain all this in your thoughts, always remember, always, so to speak, have before your eyes all your past sins, misdeeds and your irresponsibility for them before the justice of God. 3. To make our unworthiness clearer and more striking, when examining our conscience it is useful not to lose sight of what Divine holiness we are called to, what high virtues we should and could acquire with the powers given to us by God, given “for life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). And in order not to reassure ourselves with the thought that everyone else is no better than us, it is useful to compare our lives with the holy lives of those who have pleased God and glorified ascetics, even with the lives of those who are still asceticizing with us. 4. Among the more external means of achieving humility, the Venerable Climacus especially distinguishes between obedience and a wretched state, in which for one’s very sustenance one must use outside help, because both of these means crush in us any sense of pride and thus pave the way for true humility. 5. And most of all, we must ask the Lord God that He Himself, with His all-effective grace, fill our hearts with the spirit of humility 33 . Degrees XXVI, XXVII and XXVIII After correction and achievement of the Christ-like mood of the heart of the ascetic, St. The Climacus on the next three degrees shows him the path to renewal of another spiritual force - the mind. The purpose of this power is, mainly, for it to be for our soul, like a spiritual eye, like a light on our path, so that it guides us to holy activity according to the will of God, showing us unmistakably “what... is true, what is honorable, ... what is of good report” (Phil. 4:8), allowing us to understand “what is the will of God” (Eph. 5:17); to be, so to speak, the king in our soul, controlling all its forces, both higher and lower, to improve and put their activities in proper order, especially vigilantly supervising the abilities directly subordinate to it: memory, imagination, reason; in constantly ascending to her Prototype, contemplating His endless perfections and abiding in His light. Meanwhile, as a result of the fall, our mind is surrounded by a thick darkness, which deprives it of the ability to clearly distinguish between good and evil. That is why even our good actions are for the most part of such a kind that there is always an admixture of evil in them. They just say that the mind is the king in the head, but in fact it does not always have legitimate power in our soul. All its forces very often act completely independently, and sometimes directly contrary to the mind, being fulfillers of the demands not of it, but of sensuality. From the height of the bright region of the spiritual world, from the height of contemplation of God, where our mind should direct its flights and where it should constantly hover, it fell into the lower region of the spiritual, carnal, sensory world, in the concepts of which it now revolves. Therefore, an ascetic who wants to renew his mind, raise it to its original dignity, strength and significance, bring it closer to the Divine mind, must: firstly, regain the lost ability to distinguish with all accuracy between good and evil; As the best means to this, or as the very acquisition of this precious ability, the Venerable Climacus assigns in the ascetic labor of the twenty-sixth degree the practice of reasoning about thoughts, vices and virtues, and, moreover, prudent reasoning, i.e. deeply attentive and subtle; secondly, to return to the mind the lost rights to control the forces of the soul and improve their activities, so that the inner life goes on quietly and serenely; as a proper means to achieve this, the Reverend assigns silence to the ascetic of the twenty-seventh degree; thirdly, to remove the mind from the unclean and sinful abyss and direct its gaze to the non-evening light, to the Sun of truth; the means and at the same time the very action of raising the mind to the heavenly world, to the height of contemplation of God, in addition to the constant remembrance of the omnipresence of God, is prayer. Therefore, the Reverend designates exercise and training in it as a feat of the twenty-eighth degree. Defining more fully the essence of the feat indicated at the twenty-sixth degree of the spiritual ladder, the Reverend says: “Reasoning at the lowest level is a certain sense of the mind that infallibly distinguishes true good from natural good and the opposite; and in the perfect it is knowledge, which with its light can disperse darkness in other hearts.” Or: “reasoning consists in accurately understanding the will of God in every time, place and action, in order to know which actions correspond to the good will of God and which are mixed with vices, and therefore contrary to God’s holiness.” In a word, this is the same gift of wisdom, that spiritual understanding that the apostle asks from God and in which he commands Christians to thrive: may God give you “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation... and enlighten the eyes of your heart” (Eph. 1:17-18). “See that you walk carefully, not as fools, but as wise. Do not be foolish, but know what the will of God is” (Eph. 5:15, 17; Rom. 12:2). "Brethren! Do not be children in mind: be infants in evil, but be adults in mind” (1 Cor. 14:20). In order to achieve such knowledge, according to the reverend teacher, the ascetic must mortify self-willed desires, since as long as a person wants to do his own will, the will of God cannot be known to him well; with pure faith and simplicity, pray to the Lord, so that He Himself would teach him to “do His will” (Ps. 142:10); learn from the law of the Lord as often as possible, since “the law of the Lord... enlightens the eyes, makes children wise” (Ps. 18:8-9); then, read books telling about the exploits of the Holy Fathers, since their examples and imitation of them can teach us a lot; finally, putting aside all pride, humbly ask the fathers and brethren for advice and accept the advice taught from them, as from from the mouth of God Himself. The Rev. Climacus devotes a lot of space in his book to the degree in question. Not content with the dry concept of reasoning or distinguishing between good and evil, not content with indicating the means to acquire such an ability, the Reverend, to further enlighten the ascetic, offers numerous experiences of this reasoning itself, puts various thoughts and actions on trial and determines their moral dignity: whether they are good or evil; if some of them in themselves can be both, then in what case will they be in accordance with the holy will of God, and in what case will they not. On this occasion, he expresses many useful truths for the ascetic. But the purpose of the essay does not allow us to present these wonderful experiments here 34. So we move straight to the next degree. The reverend teacher assigns silence as the subject of the twenty-seventh degree, as a means of pacifying thoughts and bringing into good order the general activity of spiritual forces and restoring the dominion of reason in the soul. Indeed, silence is the best means for this. “Silence,” says the Reverend, “is the knowledge and well-establishment of bodily movements and feelings, silence is the knowledge of one’s thoughts.” In a lover of silence, the mind is courageous and stern, which, standing at the door of his heart, with a vigilant eye catches all the bad thoughts that enter it, or drives them away, or kills them. Of course, this cannot be proven tangibly. “But he who diligently remains silent,” continues the reverend teacher, who himself has deeply experienced the silent life, “understands this opinion proposed by us.” Elsewhere he says: “The properties of those who live a rationally silent life are the following: an undisturbed mind, pure thought, admiration for the Lord and a disposition to think about Divine objects, prudence.” “Exercise in silent living is bringing your heart so that it is not plundered by thoughts.” That is why the apostle not only instructs, but even implores Christians to “try hard to live quietly,” i.e. remain silent (1 Sol. 4:11). Silence can be of two kinds: as a special way of monastic life, consisting in constant and complete solitude, in removal even from monastic communication; and as a private rule of life, which can be followed by every zealot of piety and which consists in possible removal from everything that can entertain and dissipate. The purpose for which silence is offered here to the ascetic is fully achieved only by silence of the first kind, which is called hermitage. That is why the Reverend, speaking about silence, means silence of precisely this kind. This, however, does not mean that hermitage is absolutely necessary for everyone who just wants to free themselves from the storm of thoughts. While in itself the surest means to this end, it can sometimes turn out to be a disastrous means, since a silent life is associated with extreme difficulties and dangers, which not everyone can overcome. “Silence,” says the Reverend, “destroys unskilled people.” Therefore, it can be useful only for a few who have already succeeded, and for the majority it is better not to resort to such a dangerous measure at all, so as not to become a subject of laughter for your enemies, and a subject of temptation for other ascetics. “Let no one dare to direct his feet towards silence when he is still subject to pride, hypocrisy and self-loathing, lest he bring upon himself only madness instead of the expected benefit.” It will be more useful for such ascetics to practice silence of the latter kind, since it, although not to the same extent as hermitism, can nevertheless lead to the desired goal. If our venerable teacher tries to this extent to reveal the way of life of a silent, solitary life, then only in order to give some concept about it for those who are able to go through it, and not at all in the form of encouraging all ascetics to it. On the contrary, he is even afraid to philosophize and spread much about this kind of life, lest his words be mistaken for calling every monk to it, and he tries to assure that for those who courageously strive in community life, the same crowns are woven as for those living in solitude. “Prayer,” says the Reverend, “is the constant action of raising thoughts to the mountain, communication and union of a person with God, or the admiration of our entire soul to the Lord” 35. In order for our prayer to be pleasing to God, before performing it, we must prepare our soul by putting it in order and in a mood for reverence of all its abilities, as the wise one advises: “before you begin to pray, prepare yourself, and do not be like a man who tempts the Lord” (See Sir. 18:23). Having appeared and presented ourselves to the face of God, we must stand before Him with reverence and a soul free from all extraneous worries and thoughts, 36 remembering: if the one who stands before the lawful King turns his face away from his Sovereign and begins to talk with his enemies, he becomes hateful to him, so the prayer book is also disgusting to God who, while praying, is occupied with thoughts, and especially with unclean thoughts; with contrition, trembling and gentleness of heart, like criminals before the righteous Judge, who has mercy only on the one who has mercy; with filial boldness, as before a merciful Father, which, however, should not go beyond boundaries, but should be tempered by humility. The subject of our prayer should be either glorification and thanksgiving to God for His countless benefits to us, or offering petitions, first of all and most of all for spiritual needs and then for physical needs. The constant and main subject of these petitions should be a petition for forgiveness of sins. In this case, one must observe one rule of prudence prescribed by the Reverend: “Do not count in detail during your prayer all bodily vices, what they are in themselves, so that you yourself do not become a slanderer.” At the request of another, you can earnestly pray for his salvation, even to someone who has not yet acquired the gift of prayer. But here, too, the monk must also remember one rule of prudence, indicated by the Reverend: “Beware of praying without reasoning for any woman, so that the enemy does not attack you from the other side.” “At least,” says the Reverend, “you have entered the very top of the ladder of virtues, but always pray for the remission of your sins, imitating the Apostle Paul, who, with all his holiness, considered himself the first sinner” (See 1 Tim. 1, 15). As for the external actions of prayer, such as external physical manifestations, words, etc., they constitute its actual accessory, as a necessary expression of internal reverent prayerful dispositions, and at the same time they are means of arousing them. They must be done with diligence and non-sloth. In particular, in expressing prayers in words, the Reverend advises to avoid verbosity (See Sir. 7:14) and eloquence, since both are completely useless in themselves and can entertain. In general, we must engage in prayer diligently and constantly (See 1 Thessalonians 5:12; Eph. 6:18), staying in it especially in those happy moments when some inner pleasure is felt from it: “Because,” says the Reverend, “at that time the Guardian Angel is praying with us,” and perhaps we will not receive such a time, so convenient for the forgiveness of our sins, another time in our entire life. It is not permissible to postpone prayer because of some ordinary matter; this can only be allowed for the sake of performing the most necessary spiritual matters. It is unforgivable not only to abandon prayer completely, but also to weaken it a little, even in those cases when, after praying for a long time, we do not receive our petition (See Col. 4:2). “However,” the Reverend concludes, “prayer cannot be learned from books, we must practice it, and only then will we learn its dignity.” To complete spiritual renewal, the ascetic still has to promote the change, the rebirth of his will, accomplished by grace; instead of a sinful will, always inclined to evil, always obedient to passions, to acquire a holy, dispassionate will, striving only for that “that which is true, that which is honorable, that which is pure, that which is only virtue and praise” (Phil. 4:8), and above all, the highest good – God Himself. The venerable teacher designates the accomplishment of this as a feat of the twenty-ninth degree of his Ladder. The essence of this feat - dispassion - the Reverend explains as follows: “Dispassion is the soul that is as accustomed to virtues as depraved people are addicted to voluptuousness and luxury. The royal diadem is not made from one precious stone, and likewise, dispassion cannot be perfect if we despise even one virtue.” A dispassionate person no longer lives himself, but Christ lives in him (See Gal. 2:20). “He is truly dispassionate who cleanses his flesh from all corruption, lifts his mind above every creature, subdues all his feelings to reason, and presents to the face of God his soul, which strives towards Him with all its strength.” If so, then the one who fought the good fight at the previous degrees has already sufficiently prepared himself for this god-like dispassion. Why is this so? Because our will is only evil as long as it is inclined towards sinful actions, while evil thoughts are still hidden in the heart and evil thoughts are justified by the mind, while the vicious, sinful principle lives in it. They have been cleansed and sanctified; our will will also become holy and favorable, prepared for every good deed, since it is the service power of the first two powers. And through preliminary labors the ascetic has already updated and completely corrected them. That is why the Reverend does not indicate any special means for acquiring dispassion of the will, considering previous feats to be the best means for this. Finally, the ascetic is already near the limit of his arduous and painful feat. He just has to take one more step, the ladder of spiritual perfection has been completed... About the ladder that Jacob saw in a dream, it is said: “The Lord stands on it” (Gen. 28:13), i.e. at the very top of it. And the same can be said about our ladder of spiritual perfection: it is crowned by God Himself, as the highest example of our perfection and as the final goal of all our labors (See Matt. 5:48). Therefore, entering the last degree of the Ladder is nothing more than entering into the most sincere communication with the Lord God Himself with all the powers of the soul: mind through living faith, feeling through firm hope, will through fiery love, especially through love, which most of all makes us like God (See Eph. 5:1-2) and brings us closer to Him. That is why the highest measure of Christian perfection is always considered to be the union of faith, hope and love, with a special, however, preference for the latter! That is why St. John, at the last degree of his Ladder, indicates this union to the ascetic, and also with a special exaltation of love, may all ascetics be rooted and established in it (Eph. 3:18)! It is difficult to give a clear understanding of these virtues to someone who does not possess them, whose heart has not been imbued with them; knowledge of them is acquired by everyone’s own spiritual experience. That’s why our teacher doesn’t talk much about them. The reverend explains the close relationship between faith, hope and love by the relationship that exists between a ray of sunlight, light and the sun itself. Faith, in the sense of knowing God, is acquired through purity of heart and love. Hope is, as it were, some enrichment with invisible wealth and, before receiving the treasure, almost certain possession of it. Love... “Whoever truly loves someone always imagines the beloved person and embraces it in his mind with pleasure, so that even in his dream she appears to him. Just as it happens in physical things, so it also happens in spiritual things.” As for the strength of this holy feeling, which it should have in ascetics in relation to God, no limits can be assigned to it; love for the infinite God must be limitless. “It is not so much that a mother is committed to her baby,” says the Reverend, “as much as the son of God’s love cleaves to the Lord.” Love is a more filial feeling, fear is alien to it, hatred towards any of our neighbors is alien to it, who are all children of the One Heavenly Father, therefore, dislike towards them also applies to God Himself and is an expression of a lack of love for Him. “Love produces the gift of prophecy and miracles. Love is the abyss of enlightenment. Love is a fiery source, which the more it flows into the human heart, the greater the thirst it produces and inflames it. Love is an angelic state. Love takes us to blissful eternity.” That is why the end of the Reverend’s will “is love from the heart!” (1 Tim. 1:5). So, we have seen the path of ascent to abiding and heavenly glory, outlined by the Venerable Abbot of Sinai. What can I say in conclusion about this spiritual Ladder of his? With full conviction we can repeat here what we said at the beginning of our analysis. What the Venerable Abbot of Raifa wanted and hoped to receive from the creation of the Venerable John Climacus, all this it represents. It sets out everything necessary for monastic life, and not only for monastic life, but in general for those seeking salvation. It contains rules that indicate the true path to salvation and which, without a doubt, lead those who want to ascend to the gates of heaven, like a ladder, there. This book is precious for monks and deeply edifying and multi-useful for the laity. It remains only to wish that this wonderful work of spiritual experience of the reverend man would find as many admirers as possible, that as many people as possible would be found who, according to his wonderful Ladder, would with all zeal and diligence set out to ascend in their hearts and reach “to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:13) for their salvation and for the glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Appendix What is needed for salvation? From the notes in Bose of the late Athonite hieromonk Arseny 1. Have a strong Orthodox faith, as our mother the Holy Church teaches: do not follow any schisms and heresies, for they lead to destruction. 2. Visit the church of God more often and pray fervently, remember where we stand and why we came. It is correct to make the sign of the cross on yourself. If anyone stands carelessly in the church of the Lord and does every work of God negligently, such a person incurs the wrath of God, according to what is said in the Holy Scripture: cursed is everyone who does the work of the Lord carelessly. Likewise, those who in their deeds rely not on God, but on themselves or on people, are also subject to the wrath of God: their heart, as the Holy Scripture says, has departed from the Lord. 3. Fasts or fasting days should be strictly observed and most of all, be wary of and refrain from excessive consumption of hot drinks and the lustful passion that results from them, through which many people die. Those who died without repentance will forever burn in fiery hell, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 4. Every year one should fast during Great Lent, and whoever is able should also fast during other fasts - this is a great help to the salvation of the soul and an invaluable gift of God. 5. Have love with everyone, live in peace and harmony, and with anyone who is at enmity, God does not accept their prayer. Even if you were not to blame, be the first to hasten to reconcile, and for this you will receive a reward from God, according to the word of the Holy Gospel: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for these shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). If someone does not have love for his neighbors, then neither his fasts, nor his prayers, nor anything will please the Lord. 6. Do not judge anyone, but consider yourself worse and more sinful than everyone else, do not envy anyone for anything, honor your parents and all elders. Whoever we see sinning, feel sorry for him and pray to God for him, and not condemn him. He who condemns someone places his sins on himself. 7. Do not take or covet someone else’s, but share your own with the needy according to your strength. The hand of the giver will not fail - it is said in the Holy Scriptures. 8. Do not swear, do not lie, do not slander, do not talk idle, do not blaspheme - this leads to the destruction of the soul. Do not believe in dreams, fortune telling, and various omens - all these are demonic machinations. 9. Visit and comfort the sick and sorrowful, keep the lost, drunkards and libertines from perishing and admonish them that they will forever burn in the fire of Gehenna. If someone guides a perishing person to the path of salvation, then such a person will have a great reward in this and the next century. 10. Remember the hour of death more often and ask God to grant a Christian death, for there is no repentance beyond the grave; here we must tearfully repent, beg God, while there is time, not rely on any of our own deeds, but on the sole mercy of God, for without God we ourselves cannot accomplish a single virtue. If we do something good, but attribute it to ourselves, to our efforts, then we become like the Pharisee mentioned in the Holy Gospel. Everything good we do should be attributed to God. 11. Pray to God more often and more earnestly with tears, ask for forgiveness of your sins, every hour read to yourself the prayer “Virgin Mother of God, rejoice!” until the end and every day, having set a convenient time for yourself, think about your life: how we live, and bring the hour of death to mind - for it is unknown when that hour will befall a person - and be prepared for it every day. Whoever does all this will save his soul. “Let us exercise,” says the Reverend, “in prayers and petitions until, with God’s assistance, through our humble and humiliated exercises, we free the boat of our soul from the always ferocious sea of ​​pride.” As an example, we can point to the following reasoning of the Reverend: “In all your undertakings and actions, both novice and others, both external and internal, adhere to this rule - do they correspond to God’s intention or not? How can you find out? For example, if, upon entering monasticism, we begin to practice in some matter, and if, despite this, we do not feel humility in ourselves to a greater extent than we had it before, then, it seems, such a matter does not agree with the will of God, whether it be a small matter or a great one.” “A small spark burns a whole forest; So, a small indulgence spoils all your work.” “Monastic life, both in relation to deeds and in relation to words, thoughts and movements of the soul, must be led from a sincere heart.” “For if a good will is not laid down, then good deeds cannot follow.” “What good,” exclaims the Reverend in another place, “what good can be higher than clinging to the Lord (here meaning prayer) and remaining with Him in indissoluble union?!” This rule is violated and our prayer becomes contrary to God and serves us as a sin: 1) when, during our presence before God, obscene dreams are imagined in our minds; 2) when the thought wanders around insensitively; 3) when some extraneous dream enters the soul and 4) when we indulge in vain worries.