Письмо 261

What I find to tell you about the main subject of your writings - the purpose of your search for salvation, admonishing the Lord, according to your faith, I write: You want to bring yourself closer to God, you want to live in a monastery, practice the art of painting, then you entered the monastery, you also practice this activity for obedience: but you grieve that you don’t go to church much, you have little time to read, you want a solitary life; Without achieving all this, you are confused. It is necessary to read the books of the fathers: St. John the Climacus, Abba Dorotheus, Ephraim the Syrian, Simeon the New Theologian, etc.; from which you will see that those seeking salvation must base faith, then deny themselves, i.e. your will and mind, and conquer them according to God, the spiritual mother who instructs you; To this end, one must have a good will for every good deed, for patience, for humility, for love, meekness, abstinence, prayer; which of course the enemy will resist, but humility is a weapon that crushes all the intrigues and networks of the enemy; and it is acquired, according to the word of Saint John of the Climacus, through obedience and rejection of one’s will and mind. You desire solitude so you can spend more time reading books and praying; and, according to the teaching of the holy fathers, solitude is not beneficial for everyone; and even more so, those who are afflicted with spiritual passions: anger, vanity, deceit and others, such as St. John Climacus teaches, below allows one to see the trace of silence. But for those who are passionate, it is more necessary to have communication with their neighbors, so that, through insults and annoyance from them, they will recognize their weaknesses and humble themselves, and when they receive healing from these passions, then they can go into silence with the blessing of those who teach; and in silence passions are not healed, according to the word of the holy fathers. So, I advise you to consider your dispensation and, in accordance with the writings of the fatherly books and with the advice of your mentor, manage your life with humility, to which the Lord looks upon and sends down His help. I remain a wisher for your health and salvation, much-sinful I.M. March 7, 1859. You might be interested in: