Seven words

“Seven Words” is a collection of excerpts (often very inaccurate) from various works of St. Macarius the Great. Spiritual Words and Messages New Spiritual Discourses I-XXVIII Word 1. About Keeping the Heart 1. How can anyone say: “Because I fast, I lead a wandering life, I give away my property; then am I holy? Can anyone really be holy without purifying his inner man? For purification is not just abstinence from bad deeds, but the acquisition of perfect purity, purity in conscience. Strain your thoughts, man, and go into this captive and slave of sin - your mind, and consider this, at the very bottom of your mind, in the depths of your thoughts, in the so-called recesses of your soul, the creeping and nesting serpent that killed you, striking the most important members of your soul; because the heart is an immense abyss. And if you kill this serpent; then boast of your purity before God. And if not; then, having humbled yourself as a needy and sinful person, beg God for your secrets. 2. True death is hidden within, in the heart; and the person is killed internally. Therefore, if someone has passed in secret “from death to the life” (John 5:24); then truly he lives forever and does not die. Even if their bodies are destroyed for some time; then, since they are sanctified, they will rise with glory. This is why we call the Dormition of the Saints a dream. 3. The whole effort of the opponent is to be able to distract our minds from the remembrance of God and from the love of God, using earthly lures for this, and turning us away from the truly beautiful to the imaginary, but unreal, beautiful. For every good deed, even if a person does it, the evil one is ready to denigrate and defile, trying to mix with the commandment his own vanity or conceit, so that the good done is not done for the sake of God, and not out of good zeal alone. 4. So, what and how should we begin, having never entered into the heart? Standing outside, we will strike with fasting and prayer, as the Lord commanded, saying: “Press, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:8). For if we continue in the word of the Lord, in poverty, in humility, in all the virtues required by the commandments, striking day and night at the spiritual door of the Lord, then we will be able to acquire what we are looking for; because deliverance can be obtained through this door to anyone who wants to escape darkness. There he finds freedom of the soul, accepts its thoughts and the opportunity to acquire the heavenly King Christ. 5. When the mind forgets spiritual and pious sorrow; then he forgets the commandments. That is why, thinking to go forward, he turns away from the smooth path and walks along crooked paths; and therefore meets wild animals. If we had not interrupted this work to remain in prayer and hope; then they would not be subject to error. For the Scripture says about those who grieve in their souls: “God is faithful, who will not leave you to be tempted more than you can” (1 Cor. 10:13); “And those who are not admonished will be destroyed by evil” (Deut. 31:29). 6. Just as outer eyes see thorns and rapids from afar, so the perspicacious mind, being quick, foresees the machinations and preparations of the opposing force, and warns the soul, serving it as an eye. 7. Much struggle and secret invisible labor is required in order to test the thoughts and exhausted feelings of our soul through long teaching “in the judgment of good and evil” (Heb. 5:14). The constant stimulation of the mind towards God should revive the weakened members of the soul; because our mind is called to this, so that, according to Paul’s saying, there will always be “one spirit with the Lord” (1 Cor. 7:17). We must have this secret struggle, and meditation on the Lord, and this work, day and night, in every fulfillment of the commandment, whether we pray, eat, serve, drink, or do anything else, so that every good undertaking we undertake is accomplished for the glory of God. For all our deeds in accordance with the commandments are sanctified and performed in purity by constant remembrance of God, fear and love for Him; and then what is done according to the commandments of God is no longer under the influence of the defiler. 8. And Patriarch Abraham brought the best of the spoils as a gift to the priest of God Melchizedek, and thus received a blessing from him. What else does the Spirit give us to understand conjecturally through this? Doesn’t it indicate the highest speculation, as the most excellent, and the very bones of the whole fusion of our nature, that is, the very mind, the very conscience, the very disposition, the very thought, the very power of love in the soul, the firstfruits of our whole man, who at all times devotes himself to the same remembrance and contemplation of God, we must first of all always offer to God, as a sacred sacrifice of the heart, as the most precious and best of good things? thoughts? And in this case, assisted by God’s grace, we will be able to grow and succeed daily, and the burden of the commandments of the required righteousness will seem light to us; because, with the assistance of the Lord himself, we will fulfill all the commandments purely and blamelessly by our faith in Him. Regarding visible asceticism and what good intention is higher and is the very first, know, beloved, that all the virtues are supported by one another, and are mutually interconnected, and, as if in some sacred spiritual chain, depend on one another: prayer from love, love from joy, joy from meekness, meekness from humility, humility from service, service from hope, hope from faith, faith from obedience, obedience from simplicity. Just as on the opposite side, vices are produced by one another: hatred by irritability, irritability by pride, pride by vanity, vanity by unbelief, unbelief by hard-heartedness, hard-heartedness by negligence, negligence by laziness, laziness by negligence, negligence by despondency, despondency by cowardice, cowardice by voluptuousness, and other vices mutually depend on one another: so on the good side of virtue in the mutual relationship dependencies. The head of all virtue and the crown of good deeds is constant presence in prayer; through it, by asking God, we can daily acquire other virtues. 9 . If humility, simplicity and goodness do not adorn us; then a prayerful appearance will not bring us any benefit. We say this not only about prayer, but also about any feat, or labor, or virginity, or prayer, or about any feat or deed performed for the sake of virtue. If we do not find in ourselves the abundant fruits of love, peace, joy, meekness, humility, simplicity, sincerity, faith and patience, then all our exploits were vain and in vain; because every such work and all these feats must be performed for the sake of fruits. If the fruits of love and peace do not appear in us; then all work is done in vain and in vain. Those who practice without fruit on the day of judgment will turn out to be like the five holy fools, who, since they did not bring spiritual oil from here in the vessels of their hearts, that is, the virtues counted above, are for this very reason called holy fools, and are not allowed into the spiritual palace of the kingdom. For the lack of virtues, for the fact that they did not have the clear dwelling of the Spirit in themselves, and the very feat of virginity is imputed to nothing. Just as when cultivating a vineyard, every care is taken to enjoy the fruits; and as soon as there is no fruit in the vineyard, all the labor of cultivation becomes futile and in vain: so, if, with the effectiveness of the Spirit, with spiritual feeling we do not recognize in ourselves with all certainty the fruits of love, peace, joy, humility and other virtues enumerated by the Apostle (Gal. 5:22), then the feat of virginity is in vain, and the work of prayer, psalmody, fasting, vigil turns out to be of no use employees; because these mental and physical labors must be performed in the hope of spiritual fruits. The fruitfulness of the Spirit in virtues is the spiritual enjoyment of them with uncorrupted pleasure for the hearts of the faithful in which the Spirit acts. With great discernment of understanding, let the work, labor and all natural exploits, through faith and hope produced in the worthy by the Holy Spirit, be assessed. A wonderful thing is fasting, vigil, wandering life; even this is the color of a good life. However, there is a more internal order of Christians, and no one should place their trust in these things alone. It happens that some are partakers of grace, and the vice that still lives in them is cunning, voluntarily gives way and does not act, but makes a person think that his mind has become pure and leads him into conceit, and he says: “I am a perfect Christian.” And then, when a person thinks about himself: “I am already free” and indulges in negligence; then the hidden vice attacks a person like a robber, tempts him and brings him down to the depths of the earth. If people who have repeatedly engaged in robbery, or who have been warriors, know how to play tricks on enemies, make ambushes, hide, go behind enemy lines, and suddenly surround them and kill them; How much more so is the malice that has been engaged in this matter for so many millennia and destroys so many souls, able to hide in the heart and not act until the time has come to lead the soul into conceit of its own perfection. 10. The basis of Christianity is that a person, even if he does works of righteousness, does not rest on them, and does not consider himself great, but is poor in spirit; and, if he became a partaker of grace, he did not think of himself as if he had acquired something, did not recognize himself as something important and did not begin to teach, but with a good pilgrimage, with a good life, fasting a lot, wandering, praying, becoming a partaker of grace, he did not highly value his soul; especially then, as the first fruit of grace is supposed to be in him, he remained in labor, in thirst, did not recognize himself as satiated, righteous, or enriched by grace, but wept and shed tears. And how if a mother had her only begotten son, taught him, and when he reached manhood, death happened to him; then no matter how many comforters the mother had, they would all encourage her to cry more, and the mother would remain inconsolable: so a Christian must mourn his fall and constantly shed tears, and most of all have a contrite heart. 11. If the royal house has many rooms, different courtyards, many vestibules and internal churches, where the king himself resides, where his purple and treasures are kept; then the one who enters the outer courtyards will not think that he has already entered the inner churches, where the glory of the king, and purple, and treasures. So it is in the spiritual. Let those who fast, who are in vigil, in singing, in prayer, not think of themselves as having already entered into rest; because they only enter the vestibules and courtyards, and not where the purple and treasures are. Therefore, the brethren should not rely much on the external way of life and say about themselves: “I mean something.” Even if someone has become a partaker of grace, he should not think of himself that he has already achieved the goal, or has become very close to the King; because he is still in external mansions. Everyone should not inquire: did he find a treasure in a meager vessel, did he put on the purple of the Spirit, did he find the King and rest? Because the soul is like this: it has some kind of depth and it has many compositions. The sin that has entered into it already possesses all its components and thoughts of the heart. Then, when a person seeks, grace comes to him and takes possession of the two components of the soul. Why, the inexperienced, excited by grace, thinks that the coming grace has taken possession of all the components of the soul, and sin has been eradicated; whereas the greater part of the soul possesses sin, and only one part possesses grace; and man is deceived and remains in ignorance. Often grace acts in a person incessantly, just as the eye acts in the body. But sin also abides in a person and leads the mind into deception. And the unreasonable one, as if he has already achieved his goal, dreams a lot about himself and becomes arrogant, as if he has become free. But in reality this is not the case; because, as I said, Satan hides in secret, not acting before the time to make a person think about himself: “I am pure and perfect.” He who plants a vineyard does not suddenly gather grapes from it and make wine. Whoever sows seed in the ground does not immediately reap and receive fruit. And a newborn child cannot suddenly become a perfect husband. Or, a new recruit in the army does not immediately become a commander; he must first work hard and, having entered into battle, gain victory and be crowned. 12. A wonderful thing is non-covetousness, psalmody, fasting, vigil; It’s wonderful to be worthy of God’s grace. But whoever has not yet begun to dig and lay the foundation as it should (and in this too the mind must be blameless and partaker of grace), already dreams a lot about himself and values ​​his soul highly. Look at Jesus: from what glory and to what suffering and crucifixion He, the Son of God and God, descended! And for this humility he was exalted and seated at the right hand of the Father. The serpent first sowed in Adam the exaltation: “you will be like God.” Therefore, you know to what dishonor the race of Adam reached through this arrogance. I am looking for a man who is poor in spirit, and I do not find him. Just as another rich man, having treasures in his house, appears to be needy and poor, walks around and asks everyone: so Christians have grace, become rich in God, but are poor in spirit, as if they have nothing. For example: a man must purchase one hundred liters of gold, and he, having received five liters, was content with that. And others, so to speak, have ten ounces of grace, and mentally make a hundred of them, which they boast about. And others, not infrequently, having five ounces of sin, make half an ounce out of them. This happens to them either out of ignorance, because, being deceived in the reasoning of grace itself, they do not know the matter, or out of vanity, when they are ashamed to say that evil is at work in them; because they already proclaim themselves to be perfect. A person must both do and speak the truth, confess in himself both the gifts of grace and the effects of sin. He who says he has a pure heart is lying. In reality, it does not happen that suddenly, as soon as grace visits, a person becomes pure. He gives himself over to enemies and temptations for exercise and training, as Job was in temptation; because even evil, although not by good intention, contributes to good. And a Christian, having five ounces of sin, must say: “I have twenty and am filled with evil.” And having, for example, twenty ounces of goodness in himself, he must say: “I only have half an ounce.” But if out of vanity he is ashamed to say this: then let him speak the truth, confess the effectiveness of grace; but let him confess sin on the other hand. And as I said above about the soul, that it is deep; then, with the help of similarities, we will depict its composition. Just as there is a sun, and many rays come out from it; or, there is a tall tree and it has many branches; or there is a great city, and is surrounded by many neighboring countries: so the intelligent essence, the immortal soul, is a beauty worthy of more than all creatures, the image and likeness of God. Now the coming grace shines in the soul with two rays; or from a whole tree it illuminates two branches; or from the entire city - two neighboring countries; but very many parts of the soul are still possessed by sin, but the soul thinks that it completely and entirely belongs to the good part, all in grace and in lordship; and whoever, for example, acquired five liters of gold imagines that he has acquired a hundred liters. Has the fetus in its mother’s womb already become a perfect person? Or has he who laid one foundation stone already finished the building? Or has the seed buried in the ground already become an ear? Did the merchant, as soon as he began trading, immediately fill his pantry? And having partaken of a small share of grace has already become a Christian? Even the first and great, in relation to perfection, are the same as a low official in front of a chief commander, or a small stream in front of the Euphrates River. Anyone who intends to go to a city that is thirty marches away, if he goes two or three marches away, will not think that he has already arrived in the city. since the resistive force only motivates, and does not force; then the grace of God motivates, because of the freedom and sobriety of nature. If now a person, prompted by Satan, does evil; then it is not Satan who is condemned in his place, but the person himself who suffers torture and punishment, as having submitted to vice of his own free will. Likewise, if a person turns to goodness, and God’s grace prevails, then grace does not attribute the good to itself, but rewards the person for it and glorifies him; because man is the author of good for himself (such is his nature); and the grace that comes to him does not in the least bind his will with a coercive force, and does not make him unchangeable in goodness, even if he wanted or did not want it. On the contrary, the power of God inherent in man gives place to freedom, so that the will of man is revealed, whether he respects or does not respect the soul, whether he agrees or does not agree with grace. Many showed respect and agreement, while others declined; for the Apostle says: “Before you were made in spirit, you are now finished in the flesh” (Gal. 3:3). The law is not laid down by nature, but by free will, which can be inclined towards good and evil. That is why the Lord says: “Fire has come to burn on the earth, and whatever I want, even if it is already on fire” (Luke 12:49). The Lord wants heavenly fire to kindle in human hearts; and some want this, while others do not want it. Similarly, he also says: “Kolkrat wanted to gather you together, like the kokosh’s chicks, but you didn’t want to” (Matthew 23:37). You see, the Lord wants; but people again do not want to draw closer to the Lord and find mercy? 13. Whoever wants to come to the Lord, to be worthy of eternal life, to become the dwelling place of God and to be worthy of the Holy Spirit, must make such a beginning in order to be able to produce fruits blamelessly and purely according to the commandments of the Lord. First, he must firmly believe in the Lord, devote himself entirely to the words of His commandments, renounce the world in everything, so that the mind is not at all occupied with anything visible; He must always remain in prayer and not despair, constantly expecting visits and help from the Lord and at all times having this as the goal of his mind. Then he must always force himself to do everything good, to keep all the commandments of the Lord, even if his heart does not desire it because of the sin that resides in him; for example, forcing oneself to be humble before all people, to consider oneself inferior and worse to everyone, not seeking honor, or praise, or glory from anyone, as it is written in the Gospel (John 5:44), but to always have before the eyes of the one Lord and His commandments, desiring to please Him alone. In the same way, let him, even if his heart does not want to, force himself to meekness, as the Lord says: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29); and also, to the best of your ability, with compulsion, let him accustom himself to be merciful, condescending, humane, kind, as the Lord says: be kind and forgiving, “just as your heavenly Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36); and also says: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15); and one more thing: force yourself; because “the needy women delight in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 11:12), and: “strive to enter through the strait gate” (Luke 13:24). May a person always have before his eyes, as an unforgettable example in everlasting memory, the Lord’s humility and life and treatment of people. And, as much as he has strength, let him force himself to constantly remain in prayer, asking at all times with faith that the Lord will come and dwell in him, perfect and strengthen him in all His commandments, and that his soul may become the abode of Jesus Christ. And thus, if he does anything now under compulsion and against the desire of his heart, trying to accustom himself to goodness every hour, to always remember the Lord and hourly wait for Him in great goodness and love; then the Lord, seeing such his willfulness and good zeal, how he constantly forces himself to remember Him and to everything good, to humility, to meekness, to love, how he constrains an unwilling heart and, as much as he has strength, forces himself to go forward, then, I say, the Lord will show His mercy to him, deliver him from his enemies and from the sin living in him, filling him with the Spirit Saints. And thus, without compulsion and without any labor, he will always fulfill the commandments of the Lord in the very truth, or better yet, the Lord himself will fulfill in him His commandments and the fruits of the Spirit, as soon as a person bears fruit in purity. But it is necessary that he who approaches the Lord, even against the desires of his heart, first forces himself to do good, constantly awaiting the Lord’s mercy with undoubted faith; forced himself to be merciful, to have a compassionate heart, forced himself to endure neglect, to be generous when humiliated or dishonored, not to be angry, according to what was said: “not to avenge himself” (Rom. 12:19), forced himself to prayer, not yet having spiritual prayer. And then God, seeing that he struggles so much and with effort, even against the will of his heart, directs himself to the good, will give him the true prayer of Christ, will give him the “womb of generosity,” true kindness, in a word, will keep him spiritual fruit. And if someone, not having prayer, forces himself only to pray in order to receive grace-filled prayer, but does not force himself to humility, love and observance of the other Lord’s commandments; sometimes, at his request, grace-filled prayer is given to him, even partly in peace and joy, but in morals he becomes like the same thing to which he was like before. For he does not have meekness, because he did not seek it with difficulty, and did not prepare himself to be meek; does not have humility, because he did not ask or force himself to do so; does not have love for everyone, because he did not care about this, and did not seek this intensely in prayer. For everyone who forces himself and forces himself, even against the desire of his heart, to pray, must also force himself to love, and to meekness, and to all patience and generosity, according to what is written, with joy; and in the same way, one must force oneself to humiliation, to consider oneself the worst and lowest of all, so as not to talk about unprofitable things, but to always learn from the words of the Lord and utter them with the lips and heart. You also need to force yourself not to be irritated, according to what has been said: “Let all sorrow, and anger, and crying be taken away from you with all malice” (Eph. 4:31), so that in this way the Lord, seeing the will of a person, gives him, without labor and coercion, to do everything that previously he could hardly maintain with coercion, because of the sin living in him. And all these beginnings of virtue will turn for him, as it were, into nature; because the Lord finally comes to him, comes and abides in him, and Himself carries out His commandments in him without labor, fulfilling him with spiritual fruits. 14. If someone forces himself to pray until he receives gifts from God, and does not force himself to this, that is, to humility, love, meekness and other virtues to the same extent, then sometimes God’s grace comes to him through his prayer and petition; because God is good and merciful, and gives to those who ask Him what they ask. But, without preparing and accustoming himself to the virtues listed above, he either loses grace, or accepts and falls, or does not succeed from arrogance; because he does not devote himself wholeheartedly to the commandments of the Lord. The abode or resting place of the Spirit is humility, love, meekness and other commandments of the Lord. Therefore, those who intend to truly please God, to receive heavenly grace from Him, to grow and be perfected in the Holy Spirit, must first force themselves to preserve all the virtues, even against the will of the heart, according to what is said: “For this reason I have been guided by all Your commandments” (Ps. 119:128). Just as someone forces and forces himself to constantly remain in prayer until he succeeds in this, so let him force and force himself to all the endeavors of virtue, and become accustomed to good habits. And thus, if he constantly asks and begs the Lord and receives what he asks, his spiritual talent grows and blossoms; and this gift given to him, resting in his humility and other virtues, teaches him true humility, true love, true meekness, which he previously forced himself to and what he craved. And thus, when he grows and perfects himself in God; then he will be worthy to be the heir of the heavenly kingdom. For the humble never falls: and where can he fall when he is the lowest? Great height is humility, and honor and dignity are humility. Let us also, even against the desire of our hearts, train and force ourselves to humility, asking and beseeching God with faith, hope and love, in constant hope that He will send His Spirit into our hearts; and we will pray and worship the Father by the Spirit, and the Spirit himself will pray in us, the Spirit himself will teach us true prayer, humility, meekness, love, and what we cannot do now and with compulsion, mercy, goodness, he will teach us to truly fulfill all the commandments of the Lord without labor and compulsion - he will teach us, by fulfilling, as the Spirit himself knows, His fruits. And thus, when the commandments of the Lord are fulfilled in us by the Spirit himself, who alone knows the will of Christ and cleanses us from sinful filth, then He will present us to Christ as beautiful, pure and immaculate brides, and we will rest in God, and Christ will rest in us for endless ages. Glory to His generosity, His mercy and love, that He has granted such honor to the human race, calling us and making us His brothers and sons of the heavenly Father! Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever! Amen. Word 2. On spiritual perfection 1. By grace and the Divine gift of the Spirit, each of us acquires salvation; by faith and love, with the effort of free will, one can achieve the perfect measure of virtue, so that, as much by grace as by truth, one can inherit eternal life, both being vouchsafed complete success not only by Divine power and grace without the addition of one’s own labors, so again achieving a perfect measure of freedom and purity not only by one’s diligence and strength without the assistance of God’s hand from above; because “unless the Lord builds a house and preserves a city, it will be built in vain,” as well as the one who works and the one who builds in vain (Ps. 126:1). 2. /Question/. What is the will of God, to the knowledge of which the Apostle calls and convinces each of us to ascend (Rom. 12:2)? /Answer/. Complete cleansing from sin, liberation from shameful passions and acquisition of the highest virtue, that is, cleansing and sanctification of the heart, undoubtedly accomplished by the communion of the perfect and God's Spirit. For it is said: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8); and: “Be ye also perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). And it is also said: “make my heart blameless in Your justifications, so that I will not be ashamed” (Ps. 119:80); and again: “Then I will not be ashamed; I will always look upon all Your commandments” (Ps. 119:6). And also to the questioner: “Who will ascend to the mountain of the Lord?” - the answer is given: “blameless in hand and pure in heart” (Ps. 23:3-4), and this means the complete destruction of sin both in deed and in thought. 3. The Holy Spirit, knowing how difficult it is to get rid of implicit and secret passions, and that they are, as it were, rooted in the soul, shows through David how cleansing from them should be accomplished. For it is said: “Cleanse me from my secrets” (Ps. 18:13), that is, with the help of many prayers, faith and perfect aspiration to God, with the assistance of the Spirit, this can be accomplished by us; if, moreover, we strain our strength to do this, and guard our hearts with all care. 4. And blessed Moses, showing in images that the soul should not follow two thoughts, good and bad, but one good, and that it is necessary to cultivate not two fruits, good and bad, but only good ones, says this: do not harness different kinds of animals together on your threshing floor, for example, a bull and a donkey; but harness those who are of the same kind, and thresh your harvest (Deut. 22:10), so that on the threshing floor of our heart there will be work not of virtue and vice together, but of virtue alone. Clothes made from wave are not woven with linen; and also from flax with wool (Deut. 22:11). Thou shalt not cultivate two fruits on the same piece of land (Deut. 22:9). Do not bring together a foreign animal with a foreign animal, but mate like-kind with like-kind (Lev. 19:19). All this mysteriously makes it clear that, as has already been said, we should not cultivate both virtue and vice together, but give birth to only the fruits of virtue, and the soul should not be in communion with two spirits - with the Spirit of God and with the spirit of the world. For it is said: “For this reason I was guided by all Your commandments; I hated every way of unrighteousness” (Ps. 119:128). 5. Not only from obvious sins, such as: fornication, murder, theft, gluttony, condemnation, lies, love of money, covetousness and the like, a virgin soul must be pure, a virgin who desires to unite with God, but much more, as we said above, from secret sins, that is, from lust, vanity, man-pleasing, hypocrisy, lust, flattery, malice, hatred, unbelief, envy, pride, arrogance and other similar things. For the Lord, as Scripture says, places these secret sins of the soul on a par with outward sins. It is said: “scattering the bones of people-pleasers” (Ps. 52:6); and: “The Lord abhors a man of blood and flattery” (Ps. 5:7), which shows that God equally abhors both flattery and murder. And it is also said: “those who speak peace with their neighbors,” and so on (Ps. 27:3); and also: “for in your heart you bring iniquity to the earth” (Ps. 57:2); and: “Woe to you when people speak good things to you,” that is, when you have a desire to hear good things about yourself from people, and you are attached to fame and human praise. For is it possible for those who do good to completely hide themselves? Moreover, the Lord himself says: “Let your light shine before men” (Matthew 5:16). However, as it has been said, try to do good for the glory of God, and not for the sake of your own glory, and not as those who love human praise; for the Lord called such unfaithful, saying: “How can you believe, since you receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that comes from one God” (John 5:44)? Look how the Apostle commands to do everything, even eat and drink, for the glory of God; for he says: “Whether you eat or drink, or do anything else, do it for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31); and the divine John, putting hatred on a par with murder, says: “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15). 6. “Everything covers everything, endures everything. Love no longer exists” (1 Cor. 13:7-8). The words: “no longer falls away” means that those who received the above-mentioned gifts of the Spirit, but were not granted the highest freedom from passions for the most complete and effective spiritual love, have not yet come to safety; but on the contrary, their cause is still in danger and under fear from evil spirits. This measure, according to the instructions of the Apostle, is no longer subject to fall and there is no other similar state; why the angelic language, and prophecy, and all knowledge, and the gifts of healing are nothing in comparison with love. 7. This Apostle pointed out the goal of perfection, so that everyone, realizing himself to be impoverished from so much wealth, would hasten with a burning and tense spirit to this final limit, and thus proceed in the spiritual field until he reaches it, according to what was said: “so strive that you may comprehend” (1 Cor. 9:24). 8. Understand that to renounce oneself means to surrender oneself to brotherhood in everything, not to be led in anything by one’s own will, and not to be the master of anything except a single robe, so that a person, having become completely independent, can joyfully adhere only to what is prescribed to him, and like a slave behave with everyone, and even more so with superiors, obeying Christ who said: “Whoever wants to be first in you and “he who has given”, let him be a servant to all, and a last, and a slave (Matt. 20:26-27), not seeking honor, glory, or praise, “not working before his eyes,” “like a people-pleaser,” but considering himself obligated to serve the brethren in everything in love and simplicity (Col. 3:22). 9 . The superiors of the brotherhood, as those assigned to a great cause, must overcome the machinations of counter-strategic malice, so that, through the passion of pride, ruling over the brothers as over subordinates, instead of doing great good, they do not harm themselves. On the contrary, as compassionate fathers, having dedicated themselves to serving the brotherhood, both physically and spiritually, for God’s sake, let them take care of the brothers, and at all times exercise care, reprove them, as children of God, where necessary and, where necessary, console them, so that, under the pretext of humility and meekness, the monasteries do not fall into disarray, not observing the proper order between superiors and subordinates. In the secret of their minds, let the superiors consider themselves to be the unworthy slaves of all brothers, and, like mentors to whom spiritual children are entrusted, with all complacency and with the fear of God, let them try to guide everyone to all that is good, but not knowing that for them there is a great, inalienable reward that exceeds all work. 10. Just as those who have taken upon themselves the duty of being the guardians of young people, even sometimes of their own masters, for the sake of education and good morals, do not find it difficult to deal blows to them with all their freedom: so the superiors, not out of the passion of anger and arrogance, not taking revenge for themselves, must punish brothers who need some kind of admonition, but with all kindness, for the purpose of spiritual benefit, bring them to correction. 11. Great zeal, and work, and care, and ascetic life lead us to the state of acquiring love for God, by the grace and gift of Christ imagined in us. After this commandment, it is not difficult to fulfill the second one - I mean the commandment to love one’s neighbor. Prefer the first to everything else, and try harder for this than for the other; in this case, the first will be followed by the second. If anyone, having neglected this great and first commandment, I mean the commandment of love for God, which is formed in us by our inner disposition, good conscience, sound concepts of God, together with the assistance of God’s help, only intends to devote himself to the second commandment, concern for external service; then it will be impossible for him to fulfill this commandment sensibly and purely. For insidious malice, as soon as it sees that the mind is devoid of remembrance of God, love and striving for Him, or presents the commandments of God as difficult to fulfill and difficult, and arouses in the soul grumbling, sadness and complaints about serving the brothers, or deceives a person with conceit about his righteousness, and convinces him to consider himself worthy, great and fully fulfilling the commandments. 12. When a person considers himself a keeper of the commandments; then he clearly sins and does not keep the commandments faithfully; because he pronounces judgment on himself, and does not wait for the Giver of true judgment. When the “Spirit” of God “obeys our Spirit,” according to Paul’s saying (Rom. 8:16): then only we become truly worthy of Christ and children of God, and not when we justify ourselves in our own self-conceit. For it is said: “Do not praise yourself, this one is skilled, but the Lord praises him” (2 Cor. 10:18). When it turns out that a person has neither remembrance of God nor fear of God, then there is a great need for him to love glory and to catch the praise of those whom he serves. And the Lord called such an infidel, as this has already been explained; for it is said: “How can you believe, receiving glory from one another and not seeking glory from the one God” (John 5:44)? 13. One can succeed in the love of God, as has been said, with great struggle and labor of mind through holy meditation and unceasing care for all that is beautiful; because the enemy hinders our mind and does not allow it to be held in divine love by remembering everything beautiful, but deceives the feeling with earthly desires. Death and, so to speak, strangulation to the evil one, when it turns out that the mind remains undistracted in the love of God and in the remembrance of God. From here can flow sincere love for a brother, true simplicity; as well as meekness, humility, sincerity, kindness, prayer itself, and the entire adorned crown of virtues, through the one and only first commandment of love for God, accept perfection. Therefore, great struggle, secret and hidden labor, testing of thoughts, and teaching the exhausted feelings of our soul to reason about good and evil, strengthening the tired members of the soul, and reviving them by carefully directing the mind towards God are required. For our mind, thus always clinging to God, according to Paul’s saying, becomes one spirit with the Lord. 14. Lovers of virtue must continually have this secret struggle and labor and meditation when they begin to fulfill every commandment, whether they pray, or serve, eat, or drink, so that whatever good is done is done for the glory of God, and not for our glory. Every fulfillment of the commandments will be convenient and easy for us when the love of God makes them easier and resolves all their difficulty. 15. All the effort, as has been explained, and the zeal of the enemy to come to the opportunity to distract the mind from the remembrance of God, from the fear of God and from the love of God, with earthly seductions and lures, turning it away from the truly good to the imaginary good. 16. The virtues are connected to one another and are supported by one another, like some kind of sacred chain in which one link hangs on the other. For example, prayer rests on love, love on joy, joy on meekness, meekness on humility, humility on service, service on hope, hope on faith, faith on obedience, obedience on simplicity; just as the vices that are contrary to them are connected one with another, for example, hatred with irritability, irritability with pride, pride with vanity, vanity with unbelief, unbelief with hardness of heart, hardness of heart with negligence, negligence with laziness, laziness with negligence, negligence with despondency, despondency with impatience, impatience with voluptuousness; and in the same way the other members of vice rest on one another. 17. It is desirable for the evil one to denigrate and defile every good deed, no matter what a person does, with an admixture of his seeds, such as vanity, conceit, and sometimes grumbling, or something like that, so that the good done is done either not for the sake of God alone, or not with zeal. For it is written that Abel brought a sacrifice to God “from the fat and from the firstborn sheep,” and likewise Cain brought gifts, although from the “fruits of the earth,” but not from the first; and therefore, God “looked upon” the sacrifices of Abel, but “he did not heed” the gifts of Cain (Gen. 4:3–5). From this we can learn that something good can be done not well, such as: either carelessly, or carelessly, or for something else, and not for God; and from this it happens that even a good deed can be unpleasant to God. 1. The main thing in any good speech and the height of success is diligence in prayer, by which we acquire everything else, when the One we call stretches out a helping hand to us; because through prayer, in those who are worthy, a communion of mysterious effectiveness is accomplished, through indescribable love for the Lord, a combination of a disposition towards holiness before God and the mind itself. For it is said: “Thou hast given joy in my heart” (Ps. 4:8). And the Lord himself says: “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). With the words: “the kingdom is within you,” what else is meant but that the heavenly joy of the Spirit is clearly expressed in worthy souls? For worthy souls, through the effective communication of the Spirit, here still receive the guarantee and the firstfruits of that pleasure, that joy, that spiritual joy, of which the Saints in the kingdom of Christ will partake in eternal light. It is said: “my heart and my flesh rejoiced in the living God” (Ps. 83:3). The words: “As with fatness and ointment may my soul be filled” (Ps. 62:6), and other sayings that agree with this lead to the same thought and make clear the effective joy and consolation given by the Spirit. 2. How the matter of prayer is superior to others; Likewise, one who is diligent in prayer should have great care so that, in an inconspicuous way, malice does not rob him. For whoever cares about a greater good is subjected to greater temptation by the evil one; why, a lot of sobriety will be needed so that the fruits of love, humility, simplicity, goodness and prudence daily increase in the one who remains in prayer, and just as in himself they produce clear progress and growth in the Divine, so others are called to equal zeal. 3. “Pray without ceasing” and constantly remain in prayer are taught to us, both by the divine Apostle himself (1 Thess. 5:17), and by what the Lord said: how much more “God will take vengeance on those who cry out to Him day and night” (Luke 18:7); and also: “watch and pray” (Matthew 26:41). Therefore, “it is appropriate to always pray and not be cold” (Luke 18:1). But as one who is constantly in prayer, he chose for himself the most important thing of all; so he must remain in great feat and unremitting tension; because it will encounter many obstacles that malice presents to diligence in prayer: sleep, despondency, heaviness in the body, predominance of thoughts, fickleness of mind, relaxation and other beginnings of malice, and then sorrow and uprising of the evil spirits themselves, stubbornly fighting with us and opposing us and not allowing the soul, which truly unceasingly seeks God, to come closer to Christ. 4. With all zeal, with sobriety, with patience, with mental struggle and bodily effort, one who cares about prayer should take courage, so as not to weaken in spirit, giving in to absent-mindedness, or too much sleep, or despondency, relaxation, confusion, and engaging in noisy and obscene speeches, or turning his thoughts to something similar, being satisfied with one constant standing and kneeling, and allowing the mind wander somewhere far from what is happening outwardly. For if someone does not prepare himself with strict sobriety, resisting many unnecessary thoughts, subjecting each of them to testing and analysis, and always desiring the Lord; then nothing will prevent his malice from being caught in inconspicuously different ways, or he himself exalting himself above those who cannot yet constantly remain in prayer. And as a result of such tricks of malice, he will spoil the beautiful work and betray it to the evil demon, 5. If humility and love, simplicity and goodness are not closely connected in us with prayer; then prayer itself, or better yet, this guise of prayer, can bring us very little benefit. And we affirm this not about prayer alone, but also about every feat and labor, virginity, or fasting, or vigil, or psalmody, or service, or about any kind of deed performed for the sake of virtue. If we do not see in ourselves the fruits of love, peace, joy, meekness, I will add humility, simplicity, sincerity, faith, as much generosity and friendliness as we should: then we have worked without benefit; because this is why we undertake labor in order to benefit from the fruits; and when the fruits of love do not appear in us, then, without a doubt, the work is in vain. Why, these are no different from the five holy fools, who, because they did not yet have spiritual oil in their hearts, that is, the spiritual effectiveness of the virtues listed above, were called holy fools, and were pitifully left outside the royal bridal chamber, having benefited nothing from the feat of virginity. Just as when cultivating a vineyard, all care and all labor are applied in the hope of fruit; and if there is no fruit, the work turns out to be in vain: so, if we do not see in ourselves, through the action of the Spirit, the fruits of love, peace, joy, everything else listed by the Apostle (Gal. 5:22), and we are not able to recognize them in ourselves with all certainty and from a spiritual feeling, then the feat of virginity, prayer, psalmody, fasting and vigil will turn out to be unnecessary. For these labors and exploits of soul and body must be performed, as we said, in the hope of spiritual fruits; and the fruitfulness of virtues is the spiritual pleasure of uncorrupted pleasure, inexpressibly produced by the Spirit in the hearts of the faithful and humble. Why, labors and exploits should be revered for what they really are, labors and exploits, and fruits - fruits. But if someone, due to the poverty of knowledge, considers his work and deeds to be the fruits of the Spirit; then it turns out that he is clearly deceived, deceiving himself, and with such an opinion depriving himself of the truly great fruits of the Spirit. 6. Just as one who has completely given himself over to sin with pleasure and pleasure, as something in accordance with nature, acquires unnatural, shameful passions, that is, debauchery, fornication, covetousness, hatred, flattery and other vicious endeavors: so the one who is truly and perfectly Christian, with great pleasure and with spiritual pleasure, without difficulty and easily, like something natural, acquires all the virtues and all the supernatural spiritual fruits, then there is love, peace, patience, faith, humility and other, truly golden virtues of all kinds, invincible by harmful passions; because I was completely delivered from them by the Lord, and from the good Spirit I received in my heart the complete peace of Christ and joy. He clung to the Lord and came into one Spirit with Him. 7. Those who, due to spiritual infancy, cannot fully devote themselves to spiritual love, should take upon themselves the service of their brothers with reverence, with faith and with the fear of God, and serve as God’s commandments and as a spiritual matter, and not expect rewards, or honor, or gratitude from people, and not at all give room for grumbling, or arrogance, or negligence and laziness, so that this good thing is not desecrated and damaged. the matter, but it was all the more pleasing to God because of our reverence, fear and joy. 8. With such love for mankind and goodness (divine mercy is truly great!) the Lord condescends to people, taking care not to leave anyone without a reward for a good deed, but to raise everyone from small virtues to great ones, and not to deprive them of reward for a cup of ice water. For he said: “Whoever gives a cup of cold water to drink, only in the name of the disciple, Amen, I say to you, he will not lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42); and again: “Before you have done this alone, you have done it for Me” (Matthew 25:40). Let only what is done be done according to God, and not for glory; for he added: “Only in the name of the disciple,” that is, with fear, out of the love of Christ. And those who do good for show, the Lord reproaches, and confirming the word with a decisive sentence, adds to them: “Amen, I say to you, they will receive their reward” (Matthew 6:5). 9 . First of all, let simplicity and sincerity, and mutual love, and joy, and humility in all ways be laid as a kind of foundation in brotherhood, so as not to make our feat useless, exalting ourselves before each other and murmuring against each other. And let him who constantly remains in prayer not exalt himself over those who are still incapable of doing the same. And whoever devotes himself to service, let him not murmur against those who remain in prayer. If the brethren treat each other with such simplicity and such disposition; then the excesses of those who remain in prayer will compensate for the shortcomings of those who serve, and vice versa, the excesses of those who remain in prayer will compensate for the shortcomings of those who remain in prayer. And thus, equality will be best observed, according to what has been said: “I do not accept any excess, either much or little” (Ex. 16:18). 10. Then the will of God happens, “as it is in heaven and on earth,” when, as it is said, we are not proud of each other, when not only without jealousy, but also in the communication of simplicity, love, peace and joy, we are united with each other, considering the success of our neighbor as our own, as much as we should, and imputing his deprivation as loss to ourselves. Whoever is lazy in prayer and in serving his brothers, and in any other work done for the sake of God, behaves lazily and carelessly, the Apostle, directly calling him an idle person, declares him unworthy of bread itself; for he said: the idle “let him eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). And once it is said: God hates idle people; and: an idle person cannot even be faithful. And Wisdom said: “Idleness has taught many evil” (Sirach 33:28). Therefore, it is necessary that everyone bear fruit in any work done for the sake of God, and at least be zealously disposed towards something good; otherwise, turning out to be completely fruitless, he will be completely uninvolved in eternal blessings. 11. Those who claim that it is impossible to achieve perfection and complete liberation from passions, even if someone has been granted communion and filling with the good Spirit, must present evidence from the Divine Scriptures and prove that they know the matter poorly and speak falsely, and at the same time with danger to themselves. The Lord says: “Be ye also perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), meaning thereby perfect purity. And: “I will, that where I am, they also may be with me, that they may see My glory” (John 7:24). These are the words of Rex: “heaven and earth pass by, but My words will not pass by” (Matthew 24:35). What the Apostle said leads to the same thought: “let us present every man perfect in Christ” (Col. 1:28); and: “until we attain all things to the union of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). And thus, those who have perfection in mind achieve two wonderful acquisitions: in an intensified and continuous feat, they strive towards the end in the hope of reaching this measure, and I will even add: in the hope of ascent; and are not caught up in arrogance, but think modestly about themselves and recognize themselves as small, as those who have not yet achieved perfection. 12. Those who affirm the above cause very great harm to the soul in three ways: firstly, they turn out to be unbelievers of the Divine Scriptures. Secondly, without having imagined the highest and perfect goal of Christianity, and without striving to achieve it, they cannot have labor and zeal, hunger and thirst for truth; but, being satisfied with external images and customs and some small merits, they are deprived of blessed hope, and perfection, and complete purification from all passions. Thirdly, thinking about themselves that they have achieved the very top through success in small, as they say, virtues and not striving for perfection, not only are they least likely to have humility, poverty and heartfelt contrition, but justifying themselves as having already achieved the goal, they are incapable of daily success and growth. 13. Those who consider this progress impossible, which is accomplished in people by the Spirit, and which is a new creation of a pure heart. The Apostle clearly likens those who, because of unbelief, were not worthy to enter the land of promise, and “their bones” for this “fell in the wilderness” (Heb. 3:17). For what is there, apparently, is the land of promise, here, according to a mysterious sign, is deliverance from passions, which, according to the instructions of the Apostle, is the end of every commandment. And this is the true land of promise; It is for her sake that all this is presented in images. That is why the God-wise Paul, caring for the safety of his disciples, so that no one would be caught in the wisdom of unbelief, says: “Take heed, my brethren, lest there be in any heart of you the deceit of unbelief, so that it will live to depart from God” (Heb. 3:12). He used the word “fall away” to mean not renunciation, but disbelief in God’s promises. And precisely, allegorically describing what happened to the Jews in a representative way, and applying this to the truth itself, he continues: “For those who heard Him were angered, but not all those who came out of Egypt with Moses. Who is angry about fourty years? Haven't they sinned? and their bones fell in the desert. Whom did he swear not to bring into His chamber, apparently because he resisted? And we see that we are not able to account for unbelief” (Heb. 3:16-19). And he also adds: “Let us be afraid, lest when I leave the promise to bring Him into His rest, someone who has been deprived of you will appear. For we have the gospel preached to us, just as it was preached to us; but we did not use the word of hearing, which was not dissolved in the faith of those who heard. We enter into rest for those who have believed” (Heb. 4:1-3). And a little lower he continues: “Let us strive to enter into this rest, lest anyone fall into the same parable of disobedience” (Heb. 4:11). What other rest for Christians is there except deliverance from sinful passions, the most complete and effective infusion of the good Spirit in a pure heart? Therefore, leading them again to faith, he says: “Let us draw near with a true heart in the declaration of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from the evil conscience” (Heb. 10:22); and one more thing: how much more will “the blood of Jesus cleanse your conscience” from dead works, that I may live and serve God in truth” (Heb. 9:14). Therefore, it behooves us, as grateful slaves, to confess the immeasurable goodness of God towards people promised in these sayings, and to recognize these promises as true and firm, so that if, through inactivity and weakness of will, we imperfectly dedicated ourselves to the Creator, and did not strive to achieve high and perfect degrees of virtue; then, at least, they could receive at least some mercy for a right and uncorrupted way of thinking and for a sound faith. 14. The work of prayer and serving the word, done properly, is above all virtue and commandment. And the Lord himself is witness to this. For when he came to the house of Martha and Mary, and Martha was busy serving, and Mary sat at His feet and enjoyed the sweetness of His Divine lips, the sister reproached her for not helping her, and therefore approached Christ with a complaint: then, giving priority to the most important over the secondary, the Lord said; “Martho, Marfo worried and spoke about the multitude: but there is only one thing that is needed, but Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). He said this, as we have already noticed, not condemning the work of ministry, but giving, without a doubt, preference to the greater over the lesser. Otherwise, would He have allowed this service? Why does He Himself turn out to be the performer of this, having washed the feet of the disciples? But the Lord is so far from intending to prohibit service that he commands his disciples to do the same with each other. And you can also see that the Apostles themselves, who first served at meals, preferred this higher work, I mean prayer and service to the word. For they said: it is unfair for us, who have abandoned the word of God, to serve tables. But “having prayed, let us appoint men filled with the Holy Spirit over this service: but let us continue in the ministry of the word and in prayer” (Acts 6:2-4). You see how they preferred the first to the second, although they knew that both were branches of the same good root. Word 4. About patience and prudence 1. Those who want to obey God's word and produce good fruit are accompanied by the following signs: groaning, lamentation, downcast gaze; silence, anointing the head, prayer, silence, staying in one place, painful crying, heartache for piety, and works: vigil, fasting, abstinence, meekness, generosity, continuous prayer, teaching in the Divine Scriptures, faith, humility, brotherly love, obedience, labor, suffering, love, goodness, honesty and all the light, that is, the Lord. The signs of those who do not produce the fruit of life are the following: despondency, arrogance, wandering eyes, inattention, murmuring, lack of understanding, and their deeds: gluttony, anger, irritability, desire to second-guess, arrogance, untimely talkativeness, unbelief, inconstancy, forgetfulness, confusion, covetousness, love of money, jealousy, sneakiness, contempt, idle talk, untimely laughter, self-will and all darkness, that is, Satan. 2. According to God’s providence, the evil one was not immediately sent to Gehenna, which he had inherited, but was left to tempt and test man, so that he, reluctantly, through patience, could make the Saints more righteous, and be the cause of greater glory for them; and prepare for yourself the most righteous punishment with your persistence in evil and your intentions against the Saints; “let it be,” as the Divine Apostle says, “because sin is greatly sinned” (Rom. 7:13). 3. The enemy, having seduced Adam, and thus, having dominated over him, took away his power, and himself was called the prince of this age. In the beginning, the Lord made man the prince of this age and the ruler of what is visible. Neither fire overcame him, nor water drowned him, nor the beast harmed him, nor the poison-bearing animal could have any effect on him. But after he yielded to the seduction, he also betrayed his superiors to the seducer. Therefore, the magicians and sorcerers, through the action of a resistive force, with God's permission, turn out to be miracle workers, have power over poisonous animals, boldly go into fire and water, like Jannes and Jambres, who resisted Moses (2 Tim. 3:8), and like Simon, entering into competition with the chief Peter 4. I think that the enemy, seeing on the face of Moses the shining glory, similar to the first glory of Adam himself, was no less amazed, concluding from this that his kingdom was ruined. Nothing prevents us from including here the Apostolic saying: “kingly death from Adam even to Moses and on those who have not sinned” (Rom. 5:14). For, in my opinion, the glorified face of Moses contains in itself the image and likeness of the first man created by the hands of God. And death, that is, the culprit of death, the devil, as then, seeing this, already guessed about the fall of his kingdom, so he really suffered this from the Lord. Why, true Christians are clothed in this glory even now, and they are internally reduced to inaction by death, or shameful passions that no longer have power over them, when the spiritual glory will tangibly and with all certainty shine in their souls. 5. The enemy, having deceived Adam through his wife, as through something similar, took away from him the glory with which he was invested. And thus, the man appeared naked, and recognized his ugliness, which he had not seen before, because his thought was delighted with the heavenly beauties; for, as a result of his crime, his thoughts became earthly and reptiles, the simple and good wisdom in him was mixed with carnal and vicious wisdom. And that paradise is concluded and the Cherubim was commanded with a flaming sword to prohibit man from entering it, we believe that in a visible way it really happened as it is written, and together we find that this happens mysteriously in every soul. For the heart is wrapped around in a veil of darkness (by darkness I mean the fire of the worldly spirit), and it does not allow the mind to stand before God, nor does the soul, of its own free will, either pray, or believe, or love the Lord. In all this, experience serves as a teacher for those who have sincerely devoted themselves to the Lord, both through unceasing prayer and intense focus on the fighting enemy. 6. The prince of this age is a rod of admonition and a scourge that inflicts wounds on those who are infant in spirit; and for them, as was said before, he prepares great glory and great honor with these sorrows and temptations, because as a result of them people become more perfect, but he prepares for himself a greater and more severe punishment. For in general, through him, some very great economy is being built, and as it is said nowhere, the evil one, through his evil will, contributes to the good; because for souls who are good and have a good will, the imaginary sorrow finally turns into good, which is the meaning of what the Apostle said: “For those who love God, all things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28) 7. This rod of admonition was left for this purpose, so that through it, like vessels heated in a fiery furnace, those who stood the test would turn out to be stronger, and those who could not stand it would be exposed in their fragility, because they did not endure the fiery kindling. However, the devil, as a slave and creature of the Master, tempts not as much as he pleases, and not to the extent that he himself wants, brings sorrow, but as much as the Master’s beck allows him with his permission. God, knowing exactly the condition of everyone, how much strength each has, allows one to be subjected to temptation to the same extent as the Apostle thinks about this; for he says: “God is faithful, who will not leave you to be tempted more than you are able, but will create with temptation an abundance, so that you are able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). 8. He who seeks and knocks on the door and asks to the end, according to the Lord’s word, will receive what he asks; only let him have the boldness to continually strive for this with his thoughts and lips, and unremittingly remain in bodily service, without binding himself to worldly affairs, and without enjoying harmful passions. For He who said: “Everything you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” is false (Matthew 21:22). And those who assert that if someone does everything commanded, but does not receive the expected grace, then in this age there will be no benefit - they know the matter poorly and speak in disagreement with the Divine Scriptures; because there is no unrighteousness with God; and if we have done what is due, then He will not neglect what is from Him. Just be careful that at the time when your soul is detached from this poor body, you appear to be struggling, hastening, waiting for the promise, firm, believing, seeking with prudence; and I tell you, be sure that you will go away with joy, you will have boldness, and you will appear worthy of the kingdom. And such (I say this in weakness through faith and zeal) is already in communion with God. How “he who looks upon a woman lusts after her already commits adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28); and although he has not desecrated the body, he is nevertheless accused of fornication: so, whoever has turned his heart away from the evil one, and cleaves to the Lord with desire and seeking, that is, persistent abiding and a God-loving disposition, is already in communion with God, and from now on has from God a great gift - the very thing that persistently remains in prayer with good zeal and virtuous living. If giving a bowl of cold water does not go unrewarded; then all the more does God grant the promised to those who are devoted to Him and who ask day and night. 9 . To those who say in bewilderment: “What is this? “There isn’t a day when I don’t have hatred for my brother, or I don’t recognize something else evil in myself, to which I am sometimes exposed even involuntarily?” - we must say the following: this is the whole feat, this is all the zeal of a person, to resist the evil one and evil thoughts. But it is impossible for the darkness of passions and death, hidden in carnal wisdom, not to bring, secretly or openly, some kind of fruit, that is, vice. Like an ulcer on the body, until it is completely healed, it is impossible, at least to some extent, not to become covered with pus, even with all the care for it, when nothing necessary for its healing is denied; an ulcer, left in negligence, sometimes produces rottenness and destruction in the whole body: imagine spiritual passions in this way. And with great diligence, they continue to smolder with inner fire, however, with prolonged care, by the grace and assistance of Christ, they receive perfect healing. For there is some kind of hidden defilement and some kind of excessive darkness of passions, which through the crime of Adam came into all of humanity contrary to the pure nature of man, and this darkens and defiles both body and soul. But just as iron is purified through heating and forging, or gold mixed with copper and iron is separated by one fire, so the soul, inflamed and crushed by the good Spirit through the most pure suffering of the Savior, is cleansed from all passion and from all sin. 10. Just as many lamps, filled with the same oil and lit with the same fire, often do not emit the radiance of the fire in equal measure: so, according to the difference in good deeds, gifts also have a different radiance of the good Spirit. Or, as in a city, of the many inhabitants who inhabit it and share the same bread and water, some are men, others are infants, others are children, and others are elders, and there is great dissimilarity and difference between them; or, like wheat, sown in the same field, produces different ears of itself, then is gathered into one threshing floor, and poured into one granary: so imagine that at the resurrection of the dead, those resurrected will be glorified and distinguished with different glory, according to the merits of their merits, according to the participation of the Spirit of God that still dwelt in them. And this means: “star differs from star in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41). 11. Let this alone be the subject of care, so that a person, having been reborn by the Holy Spirit, may become sober from the sin living in him; because this rebirth by the Holy Spirit, to some extent, has the image of perfection, in form and in members, but not in strength, or in mind, or in courage. For one who has reached adulthood is perfect and, as he grows older, usually leaves behind the characteristics of infancy. And this means what the Apostle said: “Even if the Gentiles, or if prophecies are abolished” (1 Cor. 13:8). Just as one who has become a man does not tolerate either food or words suitable for a youth, but already looks at this with displeasure, because he has entered into a different way of life: so one who grows to the perfection of the Gospel virtues and raises his infancy to perfection: “whenever there was a man,” says the Divine Apostle, “he rejected the child” (1 Cor. 13:11). 12. He who is born of the Spirit, as we have said, is, in a certain sense, perfect; just as we call a child perfect because he keeps all his members intact. Moreover, God does not give the Spirit and grace so that a person will fall into sins; but people themselves are the culprits of their own bad deeds, not being led by grace, and therefore being caught up in evil. A person can also crawl from his own natural thoughts if he is careless, or negligent, or driven by conceit. For listen to what Paul says: “Let me not be arrogant, for I am a despoiler of the flesh, an angel of Satan” (2 Cor. 12:7). You see that even those who have reached such degrees need to be careful. Moreover, if the person himself had not given Satan a reason; then Satan would not dominate him by force. Therefore, this deed is not ranked either as part of Christ or as part of the enemy, but he who remains faithful to grace to the end becomes part of Christ’s part; and whoever is not like that, even if he was born of the Spirit, that is, became a partaker of the Holy Spirit, will have the power to follow the will of Satan. And if the Lord himself, if even Satan, took power by force; then a person would not be to blame for the fact that he falls into Gehenna or receives the kingdom. 13. A lover of virtue must take care of great prudence, so as not to be deceived in distinguishing between good and evil, and to enter into the study of the manifold intrigues of the evil one, who is in the habit of deceiving many with specious ideas, at least to understand that what is safe is beneficial for everything. Therefore, do not succumb lightly and quickly to your seduction, to the suggestions of spiritual forces, even if they were the heavenly Angels themselves; but be slow, putting this to the most careful test, appropriating the beautiful and weeding out the evil. For the effects of grace are not hidden; and sin cannot produce them, even if it takes on the guise of good. If, according to the words of the Apostle, Satan knows how to transform himself “into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14) in order to deceive; then, even if he imagined bright visions, it would not be possible, as has been said, to produce a good action; which is its exact sign. It cannot produce love for God or neighbor, meekness, humility, joy, peace, improvement of thoughts, hatred of the world, spiritual peace, lust for heavenly fruits, nor pacify passions and voluptuousness; all this is clearly a work of grace. For it is said: “spiritual fruit is love, joy, peace,” and so on. (Gal. 5:22). Most likely, Satan is able and powerful to instill arrogance and arrogance. So, let the spiritual light that shines in your soul be recognized by its effectiveness, whether it is from God or from Satan. However, even to the soul itself, if it has sound prudence, this difference soon becomes clear through spiritual feeling. Just as vinegar and wine look the same, but the larynx, through the sense of taste, distinguishes the properties of both: so the soul, by its very spiritual sensation and effectiveness, can distinguish between the gifts of the Spirit and the dreams of others. 14. The soul most of all needs to keep in mind and provide for it, so that even for the shortest time it will not be caught by the power of the enemy. Like an animal, when even one member of it gets entangled in a net, everything of necessity loses its freedom and is given into the hands of the catchers; This is how the soul usually suffers from its enemies. And the Prophet clearly represents this when he says: “I have prepared a net for my feet, and a slush for my soul” (Ps. 56:8). 15. Whoever intends to enter the house of a strong man by a narrow path and plunder his vessels must not be content with physical health, but be strengthened by the good Spirit, keeping in mind who said: “flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15:50). How should one be strengthened by the Spirit? We must heed the Apostle, who says that the wisdom of God is counted as foolishness by men (1 Cor. 1:23). And the Prophet says: I saw the Son of man, and “His appearance is dishonorable, more humble than all the sons of men” (Is. 53:3). Therefore, whoever wants to become a son of God must first of all, like the Lord, humble himself, endure when he is considered crazy and dishonest, not turn his face away from spitting, not chase after glory, the beauty of this age and anything like that, not have anywhere to lay his head, endure reproach and humiliation, be despised and trampled upon by everyone, be subjected to open and secret attacks and confront them with your mind. And then the Son of God himself, who himself said: “I will dwell in you and look like you” (2 Cor. 6:16), will be clear to his heart; and he will receive strength and strength to bind the strong man and plunder his vessels, to tread on the asp and basilisk, on the serpent and on the scorpion. 16. No small feat lies ahead of us to crush death. For it is said: “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). And in some way, the one who is at war with us and captivates us turns out to be within us. Therefore, let the soul never weaken until it lays down the one who takes it captive dead. And then all sickness, sorrow and sighing will flee, because “the waters burst forth in the thirsty land,” and the desert turned into many waters (Isa. 35:6). 17. The soul, overwhelmed by despondency, is clearly obsessed with unbelief; and therefore, he puts it off day after day, not accepting the saving word, and often deceives himself with dreams, not noticing the inner battle within himself, being overwhelmed by conceit. And conceit is the blinding of the soul, which in no way allows it to recognize its own weakness. 18. Just as a newborn baby retains within itself the image of a perfect husband; so the soul is a certain image of the God who created it. And just as a child, gradually growing up, gradually recognizes his father; and when he comes of age, then agreement is established between father and son and between son and father, and the father’s treasure is revealed to the son: so the soul, before disobedience, should have prospered and come “to a perfect man.” By disobedience, the soul was immersed in the sea of ​​oblivion and in the depths of delusion, and began to dwell in the gates of hell, and, as if having moved to a great distance from God, could not approach Him and completely know the Creator. But God initially, through the Prophets, turned the soul to Himself, called and attracted it to the knowledge of Him. Finally, He Himself came, took away oblivion, took away delusion, and then, having crushed the gates of hell, He entered into the lost soul, offering Himself to it as a model, so that through this it would be possible for it to reach the measure of age, the perfection of the Spirit. Therefore, according to the economy, the Word of God is tempted by the evil one, then endures reproach, humiliation, insults and strangulation at the hands of daring people, and finally the very death on the cross, showing this, as we said, what kind of disposition should have towards those who revile us, humiliate us, or threaten us with death, so that for those who are deaf, man himself becomes mute and does not open his mouth, so that, seeing the action and subtlety of wickedness, as if pierced by nails on the cross, “with a strong cry” he cried out “to Him who is able to save him from death” (Heb. 5:7), and said: “Cleanse me from my secrets” (Ps. 18:13), and: “If they do not possess me, then I will be blameless” (Ps. 18:14). Then, having become blameless, he finds “all things submissive to him” (1 Cor. 15:21), reigns and rests with Christ. For the soul, as a result of disobedience, was absorbed in material and impure thoughts, and became, as it were, unreasonable; why, no small work is required for it to arise from such a substance, to understand the subtlety of wickedness and to free itself from it in order to come into dissolution with the beginningless Mind. 19. If it pleases you, man, to enter into yourself and restore to yourself the glory that you had before, and which was lost through disobedience; then, just as before, having neglected the commandments of God, you heeded the commands and advice of the enemy, so now, having retreated from the one whom you obeyed, turn to the Lord. However, know that with great labor and “in the sweat”, as it is said, “of your face” (Gen. 3:19) you will acquire your wealth; because the easy acquisition of goods is not good for you. For, having received without difficulty, you have lost what you received, and handed over your inheritance to the enemy. Therefore, let each of us know what, and when, he lost; and let us lament with the Prophet: truly “our wealth is turned to strangers, and our houses to foreigners” (Lamentations Jer. 5:2); because we disobeyed the commandment, gave in to our desires, began to delight in unclean and earthly thoughts; why did our soul then move a great distance away from God, and we became like orphans without a father. Therefore, whoever cares about the soul should try, as much as he can, to put away evil thoughts “and every charge that is charged to the mind of God” (2 Cor. 10:5). And when we make such efforts, to keep the church of God undefiled; then He who promised to dwell and walk in us will come. Then the soul will accept its inheritance and be worthy to be the church of God. For He Himself, having driven out the evil one by His army, will already reign in us. 20. What the Creator said to Cain in the literal meaning of the word: “groan and shake” and in anxiety “you will be on the earth” (Gen. 4:12), in a mysterious meaning it was a kind of sign and image of all sinners. For the race of Adam, having departed from the commandment and become guilty of sins, is in the same way shaken by fickle thoughts, filled with fear, apprehension and confusion; while the enemy himself overwhelms every soul unregenerated by God with desires and various pleasures, and shakes it like wheat in some sieve. And the Lord himself said to those who follow the desires of the evil one, showing that they observe in themselves the image of Cain’s wickedness, in reproof of them: “You want to do the lusts of your father, murderers. He has been a murderer from time immemorial, and does not stand in the truth” (John 8:44), 21. One must imagine how desirable and attractive it is for people to see the king of the earth, and for everyone who comes to the city where the king resides, it is desirable to see at least his precious and magnificent clothes; and perhaps those who live spiritually do not care about this and do not value it highly, because they are wounded by another beauty and desire another glory. If carnal people so desire the sight of the mortal king; Isn’t it all the more gratifying to see the immortal King for those on whom some drop of the good Spirit has fallen, and whose heart has been wounded by Divine love? For this reason, they renounce all affection in the world, so that they can constantly have this divine love in their hearts and not have any other in preference to it. However, there are very few who would add the same ending to a good beginning, and remain without stumbling to the end. Many come into contrition, many become partakers of heavenly grace and are wounded by Divine love; but, unable to endure the labors and temptations encountered, which the evil one builds with his many different and varied intrigues, they remain in the world, plunging into its depths, due to delicacy and weakness of the spirit, or due to addiction to earthly things. And those who intend to complete the course to the end in safety do not tolerate other commitments and other loves being mixed with this heavenly love. 22. Just as great and inscrutable are the blessings promised by God, just as many labors and exploits are required, performed with hope and faith. And this is clear from the following: “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and come after Me” (Matthew 16:24). And again: “Unless anyone hates father and mother, and brothers, and wife, and children, and also his own soul, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). The majority of people are so unreasonable that they want to receive the kingdom, inherit eternal life, reign forever with Christ (which is very high and above any concept), but they live according to their own desires and will follow them, or rather, they will follow the one who sows such vain and obviously harmful thoughts in them. 23. Those who unfalteringly complete the course to the end, who have completely hated all worldly desires, themselves, all distraction and pleasure in the world and the pursuit of worldly affairs. For this means to deny oneself. Therefore, everyone is ejected from the kingdom by his own will, by the fact that he does not take on labors according to the truth itself, and renounces himself, but with this Divine love he wants to enjoy something in this age, and does not devote the entire aspiration of his will to God. One example will explain the case we are considering. Everyone clearly discerns, and it is not hidden from him, that whatever work he seeks to do is incompatible with anything. For first, doubt is expressed within his heart. The scales and the scale arrow in his conscience first show within himself a clear preponderance of either love for God or love for the world; and then it also reveals itself in external reasoning, because, as has been said, everyone discerns this well. For example, if he happens to quarrel with his brother, then the person argues with himself, and first makes objections to himself: “Should I tell me? No; I won't tell. Should I respond to this reproach made to me? No; I’d better keep quiet.” We adhere to God’s commandments, but we do not put aside our own glory. No one dares to completely deny himself. If the inclination of love for the world even slightly tugs the scales in the heart, immediately an evil word comes even to the lips. And then the mind, as if drawing a bow inside, shoots its neighbor with its tongue, and evil reaches the hands, and sometimes to wounds, and even to murder itself. From this one can see how, once it began, to what horrors this short-term movement of the soul extends. Therefore, understand that the same thing happens with every sin and undertaking. Vice caresses and beckons the spiritual will with worldly desires and carnal pleasures. This is how fornication is prepared, this is how theft is prepared, this is how covetousness is prepared, this is how vanity is prepared, this is how every evil deed of any kind is prepared. 24. And the best enterprises are often carried out for the sake of empty glory; and God condemns this on a par with theft, despondency and other great sins. For it is said: “God scatters the bones of people-pleasers” (Ps. 52:6). Thus, the enemy wants people to serve and please him with the kindest deeds; because he is a deceiver, varied and cunning in his intrigues. 25. What a person loves in this present world, his thought burdens him, as if dragging him down and pushing him down, and does not allow him to rise up. Such people have balance, inclination, and predominance of the will of the heart, as if depending on this; and this turns into a test for the entire human race, whether Christians live in cities, or in mountains, or in monasteries, or in fields, and in desert places; because he who is voluntarily caught up in what he loves has clearly not yet devoted his love entirely to God. For example, another happened to love property, another gold, another loved to serve the belly, or to please carnal lusts, and another loved much-taught wisdom for the sake of quick-to-perish glory, and some - the authorities, some - honors from people, some - anger and vexation; It seems to him that he is proving his devotion to his friends. Another loves to talk about unnecessary things; others simply love to be distracted, or to listen to idle talk, or to be a teacher, and then for human glory. Who indulges in bliss and negligence; who delights in the decoration of clothes; this one is a dream, and that one is a wit; another is attached to something small or great in the world, and is possessed by it, and this does not allow him to gather his strength. For whatever passion a person does not fight courageously, does not resist it with all measures and delights in it, it attracts him and holds him, as it were, with some kind of bonds, and he, bent over, cannot raise his thoughts to God and serve Him alone. But the soul, having truly directed its desire to the Lord, turns all its desire to Him, renounces itself, and does not follow the desires of its own mind. 26. An example can teach how a person dies of his own free will. For out of love for something in the world he throws himself into fire, plunges into the sea, gives himself into captivity. Imagine that someone's house or village caught fire. Therefore, whoever wanted to save himself, as soon as he felt the fire, ran naked, not caring about anything except his soul; and the other, since the idea came to him to save some of the household things from the fire, remained to take them, and while he wanted to take them, the fire had already embraced the whole house, and he himself was captured and burned. You see how, of his own free will, out of attachment to temporary things, which, apparently, he loved more than himself, he died by fire. Still others are caught in a shipwreck: whoever wants to save himself undresses and throws himself naked into the water; and thus it becomes possible for him to save his soul; and whoever wanted to save some of the clothes with him drowned in the water and for the sake of small self-interest (what a disaster!) he destroyed himself. Imagine also that news of some kind of enemy invasion spread; and one, as soon as he heard it, immediately ran as fast as he could in his legs, not caring about anything; the other did not believe the rumor, wanted to take some of the things with him, then slowed down and was captured by the entering enemies. You see that a person, of his own free will and from negligence and from attachment to something worldly, is subject to the death of body and soul. 27. The few who have fully acquired perfect love for God regard all worldly pleasures and desires as nothing, and generously endure the temptations of the evil one. However, one should not, therefore, despair and carelessly abandon good hope. Although many ships are wrecked; but, no doubt, there are those who swim across the sea and enter the pier. Therefore, we need a lot of faith, patience, attentiveness and deeds; moreover, we need to hunger and thirst for good with great prudence and great prudence, and we also need fervor and persistence in asking. For many of the people, as we said before, want to receive the kingdom without labor and sweat. And they please the holy men, desire their glory and talents, but do not want to have fellowship with them in equal sorrows, labors and sufferings. But everyone desires this, harlots, tax collectors, and every man. And temptations and trials are coming in order for those who truly loved the Lord to become evident. And they will justly receive the kingdom of heaven. 28. Understand that in sorrows, in suffering, in patience and in faith, the promises, the very glory and acceptance of heavenly blessings, are hidden. And a grain of wheat thrown into the ground, or a tree, I mean grafted, must first be subjected to decay and dishonor, and then it receives the multiple fruits of its splendid attire. And if they had not gone through this decay and through this, as it were, dishonor, they would not have been clothed in this final splendor and this beautiful appearance. The Apostle has the same thought. For he says: “Through many tribulations it is fitting for us to enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). And the Lord says: “In your patience you will win your souls” (Luke 21:19); and “you will be in a world of sorrow” (John 16:33). 29. To the extent that each of you, for your faith and diligence, has been deemed worthy to become a partaker of the Holy Spirit, in the same way on that day his body will be glorified. For whatever treasure he has now collected internally in his soul, the same will be revealed externally - in his body. We see an example of this in trees. When winter passed, the sun began to shine brighter and with greater strength, and the winds blew as they should: then the trees sprouted sprouts and, like clothes, were clothed with leaves, flowers and fruits. In the same way, the flowers on the grass at this time emerge from the depths of the earth, and the earth is covered with them, and is clothed, as it were, with a splendid veil. So the bodies will be glorified by that ineffable light, by that power of the Spirit that now resides in them. This will then be for them clothing, food, drink, amusement, joy, peace and everything - eternal life. Word 5. On the elevation of the mind 1. Blessed Moses, in that glory of the Spirit that shone on his face, and which no man could look upon, presented to us an image of how, at the resurrection of the righteous, the bodies of the Saints will be glorified with the same glory that the faithful souls of the Saints are still vouchsafed to have in the inner man. For it is said: “we with revealed face,” that is, in the inner man, “behold the glory of the Lord, being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). It is also written about Moses that for forty nights and the same number of days he did not remember either food or drink; and this is not characteristic of human nature, unless Moses partook of spiritual food, the same food that holy souls still partake of from the Spirit. 2. The glory with which the souls of the Saints are still enriched here will, at the resurrection, cover and clothe their naked bodies and take them up to heaven; and then they will, together both body and soul, ceaselessly rest in the kingdom of God. God, having created Adam, did not give him bodily wings, like birds, because after the resurrection he intended to give him spiritual wings, so that he would soar on them and be admired, no doubt, wherever the Spirit would delight. These intelligent wings are still given to the souls of the Saints, and they delight the Saints to heavenly wisdom; because Christians have a different world, different clothes, a different meal, a different pleasure. For we know that Christ will come from heaven to resurrect those who have fallen asleep since the beginning of the age, as the Divine Scriptures teach, and that He will divide those resurrected into two parts, and so on. 3. Those who care, as perfectly as possible, to succeed in the Christian life, should especially take care with all diligence of the meaning, reason and the sovereign power of the soul, so that, having accurately distinguished between good and bad, and having separated from pure nature the passions that have arisen contrary to nature, they can live without stumbling, using reason as an eye, and be able to refuse to agree to the impulses to vice. For in the soul there is a desire to keep the bodily members clean from the corruption of feelings, to protect oneself from worldly entertainment, to protect the heart so that its thoughts do not scatter throughout the entire space of the world, but collect them from everywhere and keep them from earthly cares and pleasures. Therefore, the Lord, when he sees that a person lives in this way, behaves with such severity and is ready to serve Him with fear and trembling, then gives him the help of His grace. But what would God do with someone who voluntarily gives himself up to the world and follows its pleasures? 4. These five sober virgins, who took into the vessels of their hearts oil unusual for their nature, that is, the grace of the Spirit, were able to enter with the Bridegroom into the bridal chamber. Other foolish and evil virgins, satisfied with their own nature, did not become sober and did not strive to take the same oil of joy into their hearts, but seemed to give themselves up to sleep because of negligence, laziness and conceit about their righteousness; why is the palace of the kingdom closed for them. For it is clear that they were delayed by some worldly ties and worldly affections, and therefore did not show their perfect love and commitment to the heavenly Bridegroom. And the souls who have sought this shrine of the Spirit, unusual for their nature, and who have clinged to Christ with all their love, walk there; there they pray, there they reason, there they reflect, withdrawing from everything else. For the five spiritual senses: understanding, knowledge, prudence, patience, mercy, if they receive grace from above and the holiness of the Spirit, will become truly wise virgins. If they remain with their nature; then they truly become holy fools, and turn out to be children of the world. 5. Just as vice is something strange for our nature, it crept into us as a result of the crime of the first man, and we accepted it, and over time it became, as it were, nature for us: so by this extraordinary thing for our nature (I mean the gift of the heavenly Spirit), we must again expel vice from our nature and restore ourselves to primitive purity. Why, if we do not achieve this through many prayers, faith, attentiveness and aversion from worldly things, and if our nature, defiled by vice, is not sanctified by this love, that is, by the Lord, and we do not remain unstumbling to the end, fulfilling His Divine commandments; then we will not be able to receive the kingdom of heaven. 6. I intend to present, if possible, some subtle and profound teaching. The infinite and incorporeal Lord, through infinite goodness, embodies Himself; The Great and All-Essential, as another would say, diminishes in order to become able to merge with His intelligent creatures - souls, I mean Saints and Angels, so that it becomes possible for them to partake of the immortal life of His Divinity; because every creature, angel, soul, and demon, by its own nature, is a body. For although they are subtle; however, in their essence and in their distinctive features and in their image, according to the refinement of their nature, they are a subtle body, while this body in its essence is fat. So the soul, being a subtle body, was clothed and clothed with the members of this body, clothed with the eye with which it looks, clothed with this ear with which it hears, and with a hand, and with nostrils, and in one word, the soul clothed itself with all the members of the body and merged with them; as a result of which she performs all the functions that lie before her in life. In the same way, the unspeakable and unthinkable goodness of Christ diminishes, embodies itself, merges with the souls faithful and loving Christ, embraces them and, according to Paul’s saying, becomes with them “one spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17), soul, so to speak, into soul and hypostasis into hypostasis, so that such a soul can live His Divinity, achieve immortal life and enjoy uncorrupted pleasure and unspeakable glory. 7. For such a soul, the Lord, when He pleases, becomes a fire, consuming in it everything that is worthless and has come from outside, just as the Prophet says: “Our God consumes fire” (Deut. 4:24); and sometimes it brings indescribable peace, sometimes it warms and envelops the soul with joy and peace. She must only make an effort to love Him and please Him with good morals, and in actual experience, in a tangible way for her very senses, she will see those indescribable blessings, “which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor breathed into the heart of man” (1 Cor. 2:9), and which only the Spirit of the Lord can bring, now into repose, now into joy and pleasure, and into life for the soul that has proven worthy of Him; because He embodies Himself both in spiritual food, and in a robe and in inscrutable moulds, in order to thus fill the soul with spiritual joy. For he says: “I am the bread of life” (John 6:51), and: “drink of the water that I will give to the south; there will be in it a fountain of water flowing into an eternal belly” (John 4:14). 8. So God appeared to each of the priests and saints, as His will was, and how useful it was for those who were granted the vision; for example: otherwise he appeared to Abraham, otherwise to Isaac, otherwise to Jacob, Noah, Daniel, Moses, David and each of the Prophets, diminishing and fleshing Himself out, as it is said, being transformed, and thereby to those who loved Him, according to the great and unthinkable love that He had for them, allowing Himself to be seen, not what He Himself is in Himself, because God is incontainable, but according to their capacity and strength. 9 . The soul, which has been honored to contain within itself the power from above and this Divine fire, having in its members the dissolved love of the heavenly good Spirit, completely renounces the bonds of vice. Just as iron, or lead, gold and silver, put into the fire, dissolve and the hardness of their nature changes into softness and, while they are in the fire, from the power of the fire they become stubborn, compliant, putting aside their natural hardness: so the soul, having accepted the heavenly fire of spiritual love, is eliminated from all addiction to the spirit of the world, freed from the bonds of vice, putting aside its natural sinful nature. rigidity, considering everything worldly small and unworthy of respect. I say that if she has extremely beloved brothers, and they begin to hinder her in this love, then the soul, captivated by such love, will renounce them. For if carnal love separates those entering into a marriage union from their father, mother, and brothers, and if someone loves one of them, he does not love much, yet he directs all affection and all affection towards his partner, and if carnal love so separates from any other worldly affection: then those who have given themselves up to this dispassionate love can hardly be delayed by anything worldly. 10. God, as a good and philanthropic person, is long-suffering and greatly expects repentance from each of those who sin, counting the conversion of the repentant as a heavenly holiday. For He Himself says: “There will be joy in heaven for one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:7). But if anyone, seeing this kindness and long-suffering, seeing that God does not punish for every sin, expecting, as we said, repentance, despises the commandment and goodness itself, - alas! - will turn into a reason for negligence, adding sin to sin, building on one fall into another, adding laziness to laziness; then he will fulfill the measure of sins, and will already be caught in such a sin from which it is impossible for him to rise, and he perishes, in vain fleeing from crushing and in the end betrayed to the evil one. So it was with the Sodomites; they fulfilled, even exceeded, the measure of sins; and when there was no spark of repentance left in them, so to speak, - according to the judgment of God, they became prey to fire. This is how it was with Noah. Indulging in unbridled desires for vice, without showing any repentance, people accumulated such a burden of sins for themselves that they completely corrupted the entire earth. So to the Egyptians, who sinned a lot and offended the people of God, God was kind, did not betray them to complete destruction, but led them to repentance with various executions. When, having barely turned to God, they returned to vice again, indulged in their former unbelief, and finally pursued God’s persecuted people: then God’s judgment destroyed and destroyed them completely. Thus, when Israel sinned a lot and killed the Prophets of God, God maintained His usual long-suffering. But when the Israelites became so successful in their malice that they were not ashamed of the dignity of the Master, but laid murderous hands on it: then they were forever rejected and cast down; prophecy, and the priesthood, and worship were taken away from them, and given to the believing pagans. 11. Let us earnestly flock to the calling Christ, pouring out our hearts before Him, and let us not persistently despair of our salvation. For this, too, is the trick of the evil one – with reminders of past sins, it leads to despair. But we must imagine that if the Lord, having come, was a doctor and healer of the blind, paralytic and deaf, resurrected the dead who had already undergone decay; how much more will it heal the blindness of the mind, the relaxation of the soul and the deafness of a careless heart; because no one else but He Himself, who created the body, also created the soul. And if he was so favorable and merciful to that which is destroyed and dies; Isn’t it all the more philanthropic to heal the immortal soul that was possessed by the illness of vice and ignorance, and then comes to Him and asks Him? For this is His word: My heavenly Father, “shall He not take vengeance on those who cry to Him day and night?” To her “I say to you, he will take their vengeance quickly” (Luke 18:7). And also: “Ask, and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7); also: “Even if he does not give it to him, he is a friend; but because of his lack of courage, he will give it to him and demand it” (Luke 11:8). And by this He convinces us to ask relentlessly and constantly; because for the sake of sinners he came to convert them to himself. Only we, having retreated from previous bad deeds, will surrender to the Lord; and He will not despise, but will be ready to give us His help. 12. As in the reasoning of those possessed by illness and infirmity, when their body is no longer able to accept food and drink, this leads to despair and serves as a sign of death; why, friends and relatives begin to cry at this: so God and the Angels recognize those souls who are not able to feed on heavenly food as worthy of great sorrow and tears. Therefore, if you have become the throne of God, and God sits in you, if your soul has become all the spiritual eye, all light, saturated with the food of the Spirit, filled with living water, spiritual wine, gladdening the heart, if you have clothed your soul in the robe of ineffable light, if your inner man has experienced and undoubtedly learned all this: then you are already living eternal life, and now resting in Christ. If you have not received this and have not entered into this possession; then shed hot tears and weep that you do not yet have such wealth, and may you have both concern and unceasing prayer for your poverty. And oh, if only the feeling of his wretchedness would appear in the one who dwells in it, and he would not behave carelessly, as if he were satiated with Divine wealth! For it is said: “Whoever seeks finds, and to the one who interprets it will be opened” (Matthew 7:8). 13. If this compound oil has so much power that those anointed with it already enter into royal glory; then how much more so will those whose minds and inner man are anointed with the sanctifying oil of joy, and who have received the pledge of the good Spirit, will ascend to the measure of perfection, that is, the kingdom and sonship of Christ, becoming co-secretaries of the King himself, at any time, having the right to enter the Father and proceed from Him. For although they did not receive the perfect inheritance, being still burdened with the burden of the flesh, nevertheless, because of the pledge of the Spirit, their hope is certain, that they will reign with Christ and will be in the abundance and fullness of the Spirit, they do not doubt this, because, while still in the flesh, they have already experienced this power and this pleasure. For the descending grace, through the cleansing of the inner man and mind, completely takes away the veil of Satan, imposed on people by disobedience, and tears away from the soul every filth and every unclean thought, with the goal that the soul becomes pure and, having accepted its own nature, with clear eyes and without restraint looks at the glory of the true light. And such people here are still admired in this age, and contemplate the beauties and wonders there. Just as the bodily eye, when it does not suffer from anything and is healthy, boldly looks at the sun’s rays: so they, having an enlightened and pure mind, at all times contemplate the impregnable radiance of the Lord. But such a degree is not easily achieved by people; on the contrary, this requires long labor, innumerable feats and sweat. For there are many in whom active grace is present, and from whom the vice hidden in them has not in the least departed; on the contrary, two spirits - the spirit of light and the spirit of darkness - act in one and the same heart. And what was said: “what fellowship is there between the light and darkness” (2 Cor. 6:14), and: “the light shines in the darkness” and so on. (John 1:5) must be accepted in various respects, and not in a one-sided manner. Others are reassured by the grace of God to such an extent that they can control themselves and not yield victory over themselves to the sin that lives in them. And it happens that sometimes, while remaining in diligent prayer, they are at peace, and then are subject to the action of unclean thoughts and are robbed by sin, although grace itself abides in them. Why, frivolous people who did not comprehend exactly how much Divine grace operates in them, thought that sin had been completely destroyed in them; those who have prudence and intelligence will not deny that when God’s grace dwells in them, they are shaken by nasty and inappropriate thoughts. 14. We often saw that some of the brethren received rich grace, and, over the course of five or six years of action, their lusts completely withered and faded away, and then, when they thought that they had reached a haven and silence, vice, as if emerging from an ambush, attacked them with such hostility and ferocity that it brought them into amazement and bewilderment. Therefore, none of the people of insightful mind dared to say about themselves: “Because grace remains with me; then I am already free from sin;” because, as has been said above, there are two spirits at work in the same mind. And although frivolous and ignorant people, having some subtle spiritual thread in themselves, already say: “we have won!” however, it seems to me that in reality this is what happens. When the sun shines purely, suddenly darkened air or fog finds itself, darkening its beautiful light. In almost the same position there are those who have been honored with the grace of God, but have not completely purified themselves, and in the depths are still possessed by sin; why, it really takes a lot of judgment to believe this is the most perfect experience. 15. Just as without eyes, tongue, ears and legs it is impossible to see, or speak, hear, or walk: so without God and the effectiveness given from Him, it is equally impossible to become a partaker of the Divine mysteries and to know God’s wisdom, or to be enriched in spirit. The wise among the Hellenes study verbal sciences and diligently spend time in verbal debates; and the servants of God, although they are unfamiliar with verbal sciences, are perfected by Divine knowledge and God's grace. 16. I say with confidence that these very Apostles, filled with the good Comforter, were not completely free from worries, but after the joy and inexpressible joy there was a certain fear as a result of grace itself, and not because they gave an excuse for evil to act in them. For grace itself placed them in safety from even the slightest deviation from the right path. Just as a child, throwing a small stone at a wall, will not do anything to it, or just as a weak arrow will not in the least damage strong armor: so any part of the vice, having attacked them, turned out to be ineffective and futile; because they were well protected by the power of Christ. However, even with all the perfection, there was freedom of arbitrariness in them. And some foolishly say that after grace there is renunciation and liberation from worries. The Lord also seeks from the perfect the spiritual will to serve the Spirit, so that there is mutual agreement. For the Apostle says: “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). 17. It is possible and convenient for anyone to convey the matter in simple words. So, let's say for example, it is easy for anyone to say that bread is made from wheat; but not everyone has enough knowledge to describe its preparation in detail, and only experienced people can do this. Similarly, to speak simply about dispassion and perfection is not difficult and convenient, but to find out the matter through experience also means that to comprehend by deed and in truth how perfection is acquired. 18. I liken those who offer spiritual teaching without tasting or experiencing it to a man who, in the summer, at midday, walks along a deserted and waterless plain, then, with a strong and burning thirst, imagines in his mind that near him there is a cool spring with sweet and clear water, and imagines that he is enjoying the water to the full without any obstacle; or, I liken it to a person who has not tasted even a drop of honey, but is trying to explain to others what its sweetness is. Such are truly those who, without actually knowing and from their own confirmation what perfection, holiness and dispassion are, want to explain this to others. For if God allows them to gain even a small awareness of what they are discussing; then, without a doubt, they will learn that the truth and the matter itself are not similar to their interpretation, but are very different. The Gospel decisively commands every person to do one thing and not do another in order to become pleasing to the man-loving King. For he says: do not be angry, do not covet: “If someone strikes you on the right side of the cheek, turn to him the other too” (Matt. 5, 39). The Apostle, gradually explaining what was commanded, instructs how little by little the work of purification should be accomplished, namely, with patience and generosity, and first nourishes with milk, like infants, then leads to growth and finally to perfection. And, to put it this way as an example, the Gospel prescribed: make a perfect tunic out of a wave. The Apostle perfectly explained how to spin a wave, weave and prepare a tunic. 20. Others abstain from obvious fornication, theft, covetousness and similar bad deeds, and therefore place themselves among the Saints; but they lack much to become saints in reality and truly; because vice often still hides, lives and creeps in the mind, and has not moved away from them at all. A saint is one who has sanctified and completely purified the inner man. One of the brothers, praying together with other brothers, was captivated by Divine power and in admiration saw the mountain city of Jerusalem, the bright dwellings there, the boundless and indescribable light, and heard a voice that said: “This is the resting place of the righteous!” Then, having become arrogant and having a high opinion of himself, he fell into the depths of sin, and subsequently became the prey of great evils. If this was the case with him; Is it possible for a simple person to say: “since I fast, lead a wandering life, give away my property, and have kept myself from the aforementioned bad deeds, then there is nothing left for me to be a Saint?” Abstaining from visible bad deeds is not yet perfection, as it is said; but purification of the mind is perfection! 21. You, who assume this, with vigilant supervision over your thoughts, enter your mind, the captive and slave of sin, and consider what is at the bottom of it, in the depths of your thoughts - this, I mean, the serpent nesting in the so-called recesses of your soul and killing you in the most important members of your soul. For the heart truly is an immense abyss. Therefore, if you have killed this serpent, if you have cleansed yourself from all lawlessness, cast out sin from yourself; then boast in God about your purity; Otherwise, having humbled yourself as a meager and a sinner, come to Christ, praying for your secrets. For all the old and new Scripture seems to talk about purity; and every person, Jew and Greek, desires the word about purity, although it is not effective in everyone. It is possible to achieve this, that is, purity of heart, only through Jesus alone. For He is the hypostatic and existent Truth, and without this Truth it is impossible both to know the truth and to achieve salvation. 1. How, in relation to this visible thing, you renounced the external man, dividing and wasting your property; so you need to renounce your former morals. And if you have studied carnal wisdom, or the knowledge of things, renounce this too. If you relied on works of carnal righteousness; give up on them, humbling and humiliating yourself. For, in this way, you will be able to learn “the violence of preaching” (1 Cor. 1:21), and with it you will gain true wisdom, which consists not in beautiful words, but in the power of the cross, in the being possessed by these who are worthy to acquire it; because the cross of Christ, says Paul, “is a stumbling block for Jews, and foolishness for Greeks, but for us we are saved by God’s power and God’s wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:18-23). 2. At least you received a heavenly taste, at least you became a partaker of this wisdom, and already had peace in your soul; and in this case, do not be arrogant, and do not be arrogant, as if you have already comprehended and understood the whole truth, so that you do not hear: “Behold, you are full, behold, you are rich; On the contrary, having tasted Christianity, think of yourself as if you had never touched it. And let this not be a superficial thought in your mind, but something as if always implanted and established in your mind. 3. Just as a rich man, although he collects many thousands, is not satisfied with it, but his desire becomes even more unsatisfied; or, just as one who is still deprived of sweet drink, before he is satisfied with it, is inflamed with greater thirst: so the tasting of God’s sweetness is higher than all satiety. On the contrary, the more someone enriches himself with this wealth, the more he imagines himself to be poor. Such Christians themselves do not highly value their souls, but remain extremely humble before God, and consider themselves slaves of every person. In such a soul, because of its humility, the Lord rejoices greatly and rests in it. Therefore, even if a person has something, let him not think about himself that he means or has anything; because self-conceit is an abomination to the Lord. It initially drove man out of paradise, when, having heard what was said: “You will be like gods” (Gen. 3:5), he trustingly surrendered to this vain hope. Know how your God and King and Son of God “has exhausted Himself and taken on the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:7), how He has become impoverished, how He has been imputed with the dishonorable, how He has suffered. And if He is God; Are you, a man made of blood and flesh, earth and ashes, and alas! completely uninvolved in anything good, but a complete uncleanness, do you think highly of yourself and are arrogant? If you are intelligent; and about the very thing that you received from God, all the more say: “This property is not mine, having received it from another, I have this and, when He pleases, without a doubt, what He has given me will be taken away from me.” Thus, attribute everything good to the Lord, and everything bad to your weakness. 4. By the treasure that the Apostle speaks of, that he has it “in scanty vessels” (2 Cor. 4:7), we mean the sanctifying power of the Spirit, which the Apostle was honored to receive while still in the flesh. For he also says in another place: “And now we have received wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and deliverance” (1 Cor. 1:30). Whoever has found and has in himself this heavenly treasure of the Spirit can accomplish all the righteousness required by the commandments, and fulfill all the commandments, not only purely and blamelessly, but even without labor and fatigue, which was not previously possible without labor; because, even if a person wanted to, he cannot truly cultivate spiritual fruit until he partakes of the good Spirit. But, however, everyone, completing the course with patience and faith, constantly forces himself, and fervently prays to Christ to receive this heavenly treasure. And then about Him and through Him it will be possible to fulfill all truth purely and completely, and I add, easily and comfortably. 5. Those who have within themselves the Divine wealth of the Spirit, when they communicate spiritual words to others, teach them as if taken from their own treasure. And those who have not collected into the heart’s treasuries this wealth, which exudes from itself the goodness of Divine thoughts, and mysteries, and the highest verbs, those, having collected several flowers from the Scriptures of both Testaments, wear them on the end of their tongue, or, having become listeners of spiritual men, boast of their teaching, offering it as their own, and appropriating for themselves the work of others. And they give others easy pleasure in what they teach, but they themselves, after their conversation, turn out to be like beggars; because each of their words, as it were, returns to the property of those from whom it was taken, but they themselves did not acquire their own treasure, so that they could first enjoy themselves with it, and then communicate it to others with benefit. Therefore, we must first ask God so that this true wealth is already in us, and then it will be convenient for us to come to a state and benefit others and teach them spiritual and mysterious teachings. For the goodness of God was pleased to dwell in everyone who believes. The Lord says: “He who loves me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and I will appear to him myself” (John 14:21); and in another place: “I and the Father will come and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). 6. Those who have been deemed worthy to become children of God and have within them Christ who enlightens them, are governed by the Spirit in different and varied ways, and grace warms them in the innermost parts of their hearts. But it is best to present some of the visible worldly pleasures on Wednesday in order to liken them to the Divine consolations of grace in the soul. For those who have been granted these consolations sometimes rejoice as if at some kind of royal supper, and rejoice with some kind of inexpressible and ineffable joy; then they enjoy themselves spiritually, like a bride and groom; how some disembodied Angels feel such ease of movement and lightness in the body that they do not even consider themselves clothed in a body; sometimes they are brought into joy as if by some kind of drink, and are intoxicated with the inexpressible rapture of spiritual mysteries; sometimes, crying and lamenting, they tearfully pray for the salvation of all people; because, burning with Divine spiritual love for all people, they take upon themselves the cry of the whole Adam; and sometimes, with a delight of the spirit, indescribable by words, they are kindled with such love that, if it were possible, they would compassionately shelter every person in their own bosom, without making any distinction between bad and good; sometimes they humiliate themselves so much that they cannot even imagine a person who would be lower than them, but they consider themselves to be the last of all; then they are absorbed by the unspeakable joy of the Spirit; then, like some strong man who put on the whole armor of the king, went out into battle and put those who resisted to flight, they, in the same way, having protected themselves with spiritual weapons, go out against invisible enemies and lay them down at their feet; at other times great silence and silence surround them, the world is at peace, and they are enveloped in wonderful pleasure; at other times, by understanding, Divine wisdom and the unsearchable knowledge of the Spirit, by the grace of Christ, they become wise in what no tongue can express; and there is a time when you see them in no way different, apparently, from any of the people. Thus, Divine grace, which changes and diversifies itself in many different ways, seems to want to educate and exercise the soul in order to present it perfect and immaculate and the purest to the heavenly Spirit. 7. The actions of the Spirit counted here occur in those that stand at high levels and are very close to perfection. These various consolations of grace are produced in them by the Spirit, although in different ways, yet continuously, so that one action of the Spirit is followed by another. When a person comes to the perfection of the spirit, completely cleansed of all passions, and through ineffable communication, completely entering into unity with the Comforter Spirit, when the soul itself, as if dissolved by the Spirit, is worthy to become the Spirit: then everything in it becomes light - everything is joy, everything is peace, everything is joy, everything is love, everything is mercy, everything is goodness, everything is kindness, and how she would be immersed in the virtues of the power of the good Spirit, like a stone surrounded by waters from everywhere in the abyss of the sea. In this way, having united in every possible way with God’s Spirit, such people become like Christ Himself, having in themselves the immutable virtues of the Spirit, and showing such fruits to everyone. The Spirit made them internally blameless and pure; therefore, it is impossible for them to bear the fruits of vice outside themselves; on the contrary, the fruits of the Spirit always shine in them in everything. Such is the progress of spiritual perfection, “the fulfillment of Christ,” which the Apostle advises us to achieve, saying: “that you may be filled with all the fulfillment of Christ” (Eph. 3:19); and again: “until we reach a perfect man, according to the age of the fulfillment of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). 8. Sometimes a person comes in to bend his knee, and his heart becomes full of Divine activity; his soul, as has already been explained, rejoices with the Lord, like a bride rejoicing over the groom. The great Isaiah speaks about this: “As the groom rejoices over the bride, so the Lord will rejoice over you” (Is. 62:5). It also happens that such a person is busy for whole days, but for one hour he turns to prayer; and then the inner man is delighted with prayer, and is embraced by the infinite depth of this age, and he feels such an indescribable pleasure that his soaring and admiring mind is completely delighted, and oblivion occurs in his thoughts about this earthly wisdom; because, as has been said, his thoughts are filled with it, and like captives he is led away into the boundless and incomprehensible; why does it happen to a person at this hour that, through his prayer, his soul departs along with the prayer. 9 . And to those who propose the question: does a person have enough strength to always remain in such a state, the following should be answered: there is no time when grace does not exist and is not rooted in a person: and in whom it resides, it becomes, as it were, something natural and inalienable; Being one, she, in various ways, as she pleases, builds an economy in a person for his own benefit. Sometimes the fire ignites in him stronger, and sometimes weaker; and the light sometimes shines to a greater extent, and sometimes it diminishes and dims, no doubt, according to Divine vision; and although the lamp burns unquenchably, sometimes it becomes clearer, and then a person celebrates, as if in greater rapture of God’s love, and sometimes the very light that appears in the heart opens the door to an even inner and deepest light, so that a person, completely absorbed in its sweetness and contemplation, is already beside himself, and seems to the world boisterous and harmful because of the new charms of love and pleasure and the depth of the mysteries that he honored. And it often happens that at this time a person reaches perfect measure, and becomes free from all sin and blameless; after this, grace is diminished in some way, and a veil of resistive force descends on the person. 10. So reason about the actions of grace: suppose that ascending to the twelfth degree is perfection, and such a measure is sometimes available; but grace again begins to act weaker; and having descended to one degree, stops, so to speak, at the eleventh. These miracles were revealed to him, and man experienced them experimentally. And if this always continued in the same way, then it would be impossible for him to take upon himself the management and burden of the word, he would not be able to hear or speak about anything, or would not take care of anything, even for the shortest time, but would only lie, cast down in one corner, overwhelmed with delight, soaring upward and intoxicated. That is why the perfect measure is not given to a person so that he has time to take care of his brothers and serve the word. 11. Having heard the word about the kingdom and being brought to tears, we will not dwell on these tears, and we will not consider ourselves satisfied either with our ears, as those who have heard well, or with our eyes, as those who have seen well; because there are other ears, and other eyes, and other tears, as well as another understanding, and another soul, that is, this Divine and heavenly Spirit who hears, and cries, and prays, and knows, and actually does the will of God. For even to the Apostles, promising the highest gift of the Spirit, the Lord said: I am coming. “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things” (John 14:26); and again: “The Imam spoke many things to you, but you cannot bear them now: but when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:12). He will pray, He will cry. “We do not know what we will pray for as we should,” says the Divine Apostle, “but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:26); because God’s will is revealed only to the Spirit itself. It is said: “No one knows God’s message, but the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11). And on the day of Pentecost, when, according to the promise, the Comforter descended, and the power of the good Spirit settled in the souls of the Apostles, the veil of sin was completely removed from them, the passions were brought into inaction, the eyes of their hearts were opened; and then, having been filled with wisdom and elevated by the Spirit to perfection through the same Spirit, who became sovereign and royal in their souls, they learned to do the will of God, and were guided by Him into all truth. Therefore, when it happens to us that, hearing God’s word, we begin to cry, let us with undoubted faith beg Christ so that the Spirit will come to us who truly hope, hearing and praying in accordance with His will. 12. Imagine it this way: some force, like thin air, lies and covers a light mind. Although the lamp, as it has been said, always burns and shines, yet on this light there lies, as it were, a kind of veil. Therefore, such a person cannot deny that he is still imperfect and not completely free from sin. One can say that he is both free and unfree. But this, of course, does not happen without God, but according to God’s will. And sometimes this mediastinum of the fence is ruined and crushed, and sometimes it is not ruined at all. And such a prayerful state is not always the same; but it happens that sometimes grace ignites more, and comforts, and reassures, and sometimes it becomes less bright and weak, as grace itself builds this for the benefit of man. However, at other times I came to perfect measure, tasted and experienced this age, but I have not yet seen a single Christian who is perfect or completely free. Although another rests in grace, becomes a partaker of mysteries and revelations, and reaches a feeling of great grace-filled sweetness; however, sin also abides in him. Such, because of the abundant grace and the light that shone in them, and I will say, due to inexperience, thought of themselves that they were perfect and free. But, as I said, I have not yet seen one that is completely free. since at other times I also happened to partially come, as it was said, to this measure; then, taught by experience, I know what a perfect person is like. 13. When you happen to hear about the communication of the bride and groom, about the celebrations, do not imagine anything material or earthly; because this is taken as an example, only as an example. since all this is inexpressibly spiritual and inviolable for carnal eyes, but becomes understandable to a faithful and holy soul: the very communion of the Holy Spirit, and heavenly treasures, and the faces and festivities of the holy Angels are visible only to those who have experienced this, and it is completely impossible for the uninitiated to even imagine it in their minds: then listen to this reverently, until you yourself, by faith, are worthy to achieve such knowledge - and then by experience itself You will see with your soul’s eyes what blessings Christian souls can still partake of here. For in the resurrection the body itself will be able to become a participant in such blessings, and to see them and, as it were, to possess them, when the body also becomes spiritual. 14. Your own spiritual beauties and good fruits, such as prayer, love, faith, vigil, fasting and other virtuous endeavors, when they are in unity and communion with the Spirit, then they themselves, like incense put into the fire, will emit a rich fragrance; and it will be easy for us to lead life in accordance with God’s will; because without the Holy Spirit, as has already been said, it is impossible for anyone to understand the will of God. For just as a wife who enters into marriage with her husband is led by her own disposition before union, and acts according to her own will; when she is united with him, then, ceasing to pay attention to herself, she begins to live completely under his guidance: so the soul, although it has its own will, its own laws and its own affairs, but as soon as it becomes worthy to be united with the heavenly husband - Christ, it submits to the law of the Husband, and no longer follows its own will, but the will of its groom - Christ. 15. By the wedding robe, understand the grace of the Holy Spirit. He who has not become worthy to put on it will not be a participant in the heavenly marriage and spiritual supper. Let us make an effort to taste this spiritual and divine wine, and become drunk with this sober rapture, so that, just as those who have drunk wine when they are full become talkative, so we, being filled with this spiritual wine, can speak the Divine mysteries. For David says: “And your cup makes me drunken, like a mighty one” (Ps. 23:5). 16. That soul is poor in spirit, which recognizes its ulcers, recognizes the darkness of passions surrounding it, and always asks for deliverance from the Lord, endures hardships, but does not rejoice in any earthly good, relying only on the wonderful Physician and his healing. How will this manifested soul be beautiful, comely, worthy of cohabitation with Christ? Not otherwise, unless attention is paid to how she was originally created, and how clearly she recognizes her ulcers and her poverty. If she does not take pleasure in those ulcers and scabs of passions that she has on herself, she does not excuse her mistakes; then the Lord will not impute the ugliness to her, but, having come, will heal and heal her and return to her dispassion and imperishable beauty; If only she, as it was said, did not enter into communication with her will with what the passions require and did not deign to do what they produce, but with all her might she cried out to the Lord, so that from His good Spirit she might be worthy of liberation from all passions. Therefore, blessed is this soul. But woe to that soul that is not aware of its ulcers, and because of its great and immeasurable depravity, does not think that it has any vice; the good Doctor does not visit her or heal her; because she does not care about her ulcers, considering herself unharmed and healthy. “They do not require, it is said, a doctor’s health, but those who are sick” (Matthew 9:12). 17. Truly blessed and worthy of wonder, both in life and in supernatural pleasure, are all those who, driven by an ardent love for virtue, have experimentally and tangibly acquired knowledge of the heavenly mysteries of the Spirit, and have their residence in heaven. They are superior to all people - and here is clear proof of that. Which of the strong, or wise, or prudent people, while still on earth, ascended to heaven, and there performed spiritual deeds, contemplated the delights of the Spirit? And now some outwardly beggar, extremely poor, and humiliated, and even completely unknown to his neighbors, prostrates himself on his face before the Lord, and, guided by the Spirit, ascends to heaven, and with undoubted confidence in his soul enjoys the miracles there, acts there, has a life there, according to the word of the Divine Apostle. For it is said: “our life is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20); and again: “Whose eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has the heart of man breathed what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). Then the Apostle adds: “He revealed to us food by His Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:10). They are truly wise and strong people; They are noble and prudent people. 18. However, judging the Saints not by their heavenly gifts, but also by their real talents, you will not doubt to say that they are higher than all people. Think about it this way: Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned in Babylon, once gathered all the peoples under his control to worship the image he had carved; According to the all-wise dispensation of God, this served to ensure that the virtue of the youths became known to everyone, and everyone knew that there is one true God who lives in heaven. Three youths, moreover, captives and deprived of freedom, had boldness before the king, and when everyone in great fear worshiped the image and did not dare to disobey, but were drawn like almost silent cattle, they not only do not agree to act like the others, but do not even want to leave their piety unknown, do not tolerate it being hidden, and in the hearing of everyone they say: “We do not serve your god and the golden body that we set up.” You are, we do not bow down” (Dan. 3:18). Although that terrible cave took them into itself for punishment; however, she did not exert her influence on them, but, as if in reverence for them, she kept them without suffering evil. Everyone, including the Tsar himself, came to know the true God through them. Not only those on earth, but also the heavenly hosts were amazed at them. And that the heavenly ones are not far away during the valiant deeds of the Saints, but look at them, this is shown to us by the divine Apostle; for he says: “It is a disgrace to both angel and man” (1 Cor. 4:9). You can see something similar to this in the example of Elijah: he alone overcame very many by bringing down heavenly fire. And Moses overcame the whole of Egypt and the tormentor Pharaoh. You will also see in the example of Lot, Noah and many others; Apparently, they were in great disrespect from people, but they prevailed over many noble and powerful ones. 19. It is common for every visible thing, unless another extraneous nature comes to its aid, to remain inactive and unsettled in itself; because the ineffable wisdom of God in visible things shows us secrets and images, just as human nature itself cannot show the perfect beauty of virtues and the spiritual splendor of shrines, unless God’s hand assists it. For example, land left to itself, unless farmers take care of it, and the rain and sun do not contribute, is good for nothing and is least capable of fertility. And every house has a need for this sunlight, which is not of the same nature as the house, and without light it will be full of darkness and uninhabitable. And you will see many other things about which something similar to this should be said. Likewise, human nature itself does not have the ability to perfectly bear the fruits of virtues, but has a need for the spiritual Farmer of our souls, that is, the Spirit of Christ, Who is truly unusual for our nature; because we are a creature, and He is not created; and He, by His art, having cultivated the hearts, I mean, of the faithful, who have given themselves up to this Worker with all their will, prepares them for the growth of the perfect fruits of the Spirit, and His light will shine in the house of our soul darkened by passions. 20. Christians are faced with a twofold warfare and a twofold struggle: firstly, with things that are visible with this eye; because they irritate, touch and cause the soul to become addicted to them and enjoy them; and secondly, with the principles and powers of the terrible ruler of the world. 21. The glory that Moses had on his face was an image of the true glory of the All-Holy Spirit. Just as no one there could look at the face of Moses: so now the darkness of passions cannot bear this glory that illuminates the Christian soul, but flees, driven by its rays. 22. To the lover of truth and the lover of God, who has tasted heavenly sweetness, has grace implanted and dissolved in his soul, and has completely devoted himself to the will of grace, everything in this age is hateful; because he is placed above everything that is in the world. Whether you name gold, or silver, or honors and glory, or pleasures and praises, he cannot be caught by anything like that; because he has experienced other wealth, another honor, another glory, nourishes the soul with uncorrupted pleasure, has a feeling and full assurance of the communication of the Spirit. 23. He is as different from people in understanding, knowledge and prudence as a reasonable shepherd is different from dumb sheep; because he participates in another Spirit, another mind, another understanding, and another wisdom, different from the wisdom of this world. It is said: “We speak wisdom to those who are perfect, but we speak wisdom not of this world, nor of the princes of this world who are passing away, but we speak the wisdom of God in secret” (1 Cor. 11:6-7). Therefore, such a one, as it is said, is different in everything from all people who have the spirit of the world, both reasonable and wise, and, according to what is written, “he fights against all” (1 Cor. 11:15). He knows about everyone, where he says what he took from, what he stopped at, and where he is located; no one who has the spirit of the world can know it and judge about it, but only one who has a similar Spirit of the Divine can, according to the word of the divine Apostle: “The spiritual is judged by the spiritual. A spiritual person does not accept what is the Spirit of God, for it is foolishness for him: but a spiritual person strives for everything, but he himself does not contend for a single thing” (1 Cor. 2:13-15). 24. It is impossible to receive this All-Holy Spirit otherwise, unless someone, having withdrawn from everything that is in this age, devotes himself to seeking the love of Christ, so that the mind, freed from all worries about material things, is directed towards this only one goal, and thus is worthy to be one Spirit with Christ, as the Apostle says: “Be joined to the Lord; there is one Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17). A soul that is completely attached and addicted to something in this age, for example, to wealth, or to fame, or to worldly affection, will be impossible to avoid and bypass the darkness of evil forces. 25. Truth-loving and God-loving souls do not tolerate even the slightest weakening in their love for the Lord, but, fully and completely nailed to His cross, they are aware of the feeling of spiritual progress revealed in them. Why, wounded by this love and, so to speak, hungry for the truth of virtues and illumination from the good Spirit, although they are worthy of the Divine mysteries, although they are made partakers of heavenly joy and grace, they are not confident in themselves, and do not think that they mean anything; but to the extent that they are worthy of spiritual gifts, to such an extent, and with even greater insatiability and with great effort, they seek the heavenly; and the more they feel spiritual progress within themselves, the more hungrily they desire to partake of these gifts; and the spiritually rich, as much as depends on them, are likened to the poor, in accordance with Divine Scripture. For it is said: “Those who eat Me will still hunger, and those who drink Me will still thirst” (Sirach 24:23). 26. Such souls are granted freedom from passions in everything, and perfectly accept the illumination and communication of the Divine Spirit in the fullness of grace. Lazy souls, impatient of work, and, since they are still in the body, do not try with constant patience and generosity, not partly, but completely here, to accept the shrine of the heart, do not hope with full feeling and assurance to enter into communion with the Comforter Spirit, and through Him to free themselves from harmful passions. Although they are worthy of Divine grace, they are robbed by vice and abandon all concern for themselves, as having already received grace, comforted by it and enjoying spiritual sweetness; and therefore, they are very prone to conceit, do not have a contrite heart, are unhumble in their way of thinking, do not feel thirst, do not strive for a perfect measure of dispassion, but are content with this small consolation of grace, succeed in exaltation, and not in humility, and sometimes they are most likely deprived of the grace that they were vouchsafed. For a truly God-loving soul, as the word showed, even if it has performed thousands of righteous deeds, even if it has exhausted the body with strict vigils, has been granted various gifts of the Spirit, revelations and mysteries, behaves so modestly, as if it had not yet begun life according to God, and has not acquired anything good; because with commitment and insatiability she is disposed towards the love of Christ. 27. It is not possible for anyone to reach this measure suddenly, nor is it easy, but perhaps after many previous labors and exploits, with many years of diligence, through testing and various temptations, it is possible to achieve the measure of perfect dispassion. Only in this way is a person who is true in all labor and self-exhaustion, who has complacently endured all the temptations into which malice leads, to be finally awarded great honors, spiritual gifts and divine wealth; and then becomes heir to the heavenly kingdom. 28. The soul that does not have the said severity in life, and has not yet accepted the feeling of sacredness in the heart, let it cry and fervently ask the Lord to be worthy of this good and the effectiveness of the Spirit, which is revealed in the mind by ineffable contemplations. How, according to church law, those convicted of carnal sins are first excommunicated by the priest, and then, having demonstrated their repentance in due measure, are allowed into fellowship; and those who lived without stumbling and purely, those ascend to the priesthood, and from those who stood outside are brought inside the altar, and receive the dignity in order to remain sacred and present to the Lord: in the same way let us talk about the mysterious communion of the Spirit, about which the Apostle says: “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Cor. 13:3 ). And here you will see that consistency is observed. For the Divine Trinity dwells in the soul, which, with the assistance of divine goodness, keeps itself pure; it dwells not as She herself is, because she is inconceivable for every creature, but according to the ability and acceptability of man. How quickly a person deviates in any way from living in accordance with the will of God, and offends the Divine Spirit, his mind is erupted and separated from spiritual joy; because Divine grace and love, and every good action of the Spirit are diminished in him, while he himself gives himself over to sorrows, temptations and evil spirits, until the soul begins to walk again in the right way, to please the Spirit. Then, having demonstrated his repentance in all confession and humility, he is again finally granted a grace-filled visit, and receives heavenly joy to a greater extent than before. If the soul does not offend the Spirit in any way, but lives pleasingly, resisting all evil thoughts and constantly clinging to the Lord: then such a soul, in justice and in proportion to this, prospers, is honored with unspeakable gifts, passes from glory to glory, from one rest to the most perfect rest, and then, having achieved the perfect measure of Christianity, will be counted among the perfect workers and blameless priests of Christ in the eternal kingdom of Christ. 29. In all this visible, imagine the images and shadows of the hidden: in the visible church the image of the church of the heart, in the priest the image of the true priest of Christ’s grace, and so on. As in this visible church, if readings, psalmody and other rites of the church are not preceded first, then the priest should not perform the Divine Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ; also, if all the church rules are fulfilled, but the sacramental Eucharist was not performed by the priest, and there was no communion of the body of Christ, then according to the church rules the sacred rite is not completed and the service of the sacrament is insufficient: understand this about the Christian. If he has succeeded in fasting, in vigil, in psalmody, in every feat and in every virtue, but on the altar of his heart the mysterious action of the Spirit has not yet been accomplished by grace, with full sensation and spiritual peace: then all such rites of asceticism are not perfect and are almost useless; because a person does not have spiritual joy that is mysteriously produced in the heart. 30. A wonderful thing is fasting; a wonderful thing is vigil; and an equally wonderful thing is asceticism and a wandering life; and these are the beginnings of the life of a God-loving man. But it is completely unreasonable to rely confidently on such things alone. It sometimes happens that we participate in some grace, but the vice hidden within us, as has already been said about this, is contrived and voluntarily gives way, does not act in its own way, but on the contrary, makes a person consider his mind to have achieved purity, and thereby leads to conceit about his perfection, then attacks the person robberly and casts him into the underworld. People often, having spent twenty years as robbers or in military service, know how to intrigue enemies, hide, deliberately set up ambushes, go behind enemy lines, and, accidentally surrounding them, kill. Moreover, sin, which has been in the world for thousands of years, and considers the most important thing for itself to be the destruction of souls, knows how to deliberately make such ambushes in the secrets of the heart, is capable of hiding for a while and not acting in order to draw the soul into the conceit of its perfection. The basis of Christianity is this: if someone fulfills all the works of righteousness, do not rest on them, do not hope much for them, and do not think that something great has been done; If anyone becomes a partaker of grace, do not consider yourself to have reached the goal and to be satiated, but even then to hunger and thirst, to cry and shed tears, to have a completely contrite heart. 31. So imagine your spiritual state. Suppose that there is some kind of royal house, and with it there are various courtyards, and several vestibules, and other external premises, and then again in order there are internal churches, in which purple and treasures are usually stored, and behind them there is also an internal church with all the amenities for the royal stay; and just as he is mistaken who, having entered the outer courtyards and dwellings, thinks that he has reached the inner churches: so, accordingly, it happens in the spiritual. If those who struggle with their belly and with sleep constantly remain in psalmody and prayer; then let them not think that they have already reached the end and peace. Why? - Because they are still at the vestibules and in the courtyards, and not where the purple and royal treasures are kept. If they have been granted some spiritual grace; neither let this and this deceive them into thinking that they have reached the end. Therefore, you should test: Have you found treasure in this meager vessel? Have you put on the purple of the Spirit? Did you see the Tsar and calm down? For imagine also that the soul has some depth and many members, that sin that has entered occupies all the components and thoughts of the heart, and then, when a person has sought the grace of the Spirit, it comes and occupies, perhaps, two members of the soul. Therefore, the inexperienced, comforted by this grace, falls into the thought that all members of the soul are occupied by grace, and sin is completely eradicated; and yet he does not know that most of the soul still possesses sin. For, as has been explained many times, it is possible for grace to continually act, just as the eye acts in the body, and yet there can be vice that conceals the mind. Therefore, someone who does not know how to judge, as if having already received something great, thinks highly of himself and becomes arrogant, as if he has reached the extreme degree of purification. But much more is required for the truth to justify him in this. For, as the previous word showed, this is one of the wiles of Satan - at other times, to voluntarily give up one’s place and stop one’s usual actions, with the aim of arousing in ascetics conceit about their perfection. But whoever plants a vineyard does not at the same time gather the fruit; and whoever sows seeds in the ground does not immediately produce a harvest. So what? Is it possible that a newborn baby immediately achieves perfection? Look to Jesus. Christ, the Son of God and God, from what glory and what suffering he descended upon, what reproach and cross! And for this humility He was exalted again and sat down at the right hand of the Father! The evil serpent, from the first desire sown in Adam to become God, reduced him to such dishonor with this conceit! Therefore, imagining this in your mind, protect yourself as much as possible, and try to always humble yourself and have a contrite heart. 1. When you hear that Christ, having descended into hell, delivered the souls held there, do not consider this to be far from what is happening now. Imagine that your heart is a coffin, that your thoughts and mind are buried there, enveloped in heavy darkness. Therefore, the Lord comes to the souls crying out to Him in hell, that is, He comes into the depths of the heart, and there, commanding death, He says: “Release the imprisoned souls who have sought Me, Who can deliver them.” Then, having rolled away the heavy stone lying on the soul, he opens the coffin, resurrects a truly dead soul, and frees the one imprisoned in a prison devoid of all light. 2. It often happens that Satan, instructing you, rants in your heart and says: “Confess how much bad you have done; your soul is filled with iniquities, burdened with many and the most serious sins.” Let it not be unknown to you who is acting in this case, and under the pretext of humility is trying to plunge you into despair. From the very time sin entered into you through crime, Satan has daily access, like man to man, to converse with the soul in any way possible, and to instill in it absurd thoughts. Therefore, you answer him: “I have evidence in the Scripture; God says: “I do not want the sinner to die, but to be converted” to repentance, “and I live to be like him” (Ezek. 33:11). For what purpose did His descent have, if not to save sinners, to enlighten those in darkness, to revive the dead? 3. Both the resistive force and the grace of God turn out to be motivating, and not compelling, so that freedom and arbitrariness are fully preserved in us. Therefore, for those bad deeds that a person does at the instigation of Satan, it is no longer Satan, but man, who is punished; because a person is not forcibly involved in vice, but is driven to it by his own will. And similarly, in a good deed, grace does not attribute to itself what was done, but to the person, and therefore assigns glory to him because he himself became the author of good. For grace does not make his will indispensable, binding, as it is said, with an involuntary force: but, remaining in a person, it gives room to arbitrariness, so that it becomes clear whether his will is inclined towards virtue or towards vice. For the law is not given to nature, but to free will, which can bend to both good and bad. 4. We must guard our souls and warn them against conversing with nasty and evil thoughts. Just as the body becomes defiled by coming together for uncleanness with another body, so the soul becomes corrupted by making friends with evil and nasty thoughts, agreeing to them, and deigning not only to wickedness, but also to every vice, such as: unbelief, deception, vanity, anger, envy and discord. This is what it means to “cleanse oneself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit” (2 Cor. 7:1). For reason like this: there is corruption and fornication committed by obscene thoughts in the recesses of the soul. And just as, according to the word of the great Apostle, “whoever corrupts the church of God,” that is, the body, “God will corrupt this one” (1 Cor. 3:17): so the one who corrupts the soul and mind, deigning to do something indecent, is subject to punishment. Therefore, it is necessary to preserve both the body from visible sin and the soul from obscene thoughts, because she is the bride of Christ. “For I have betrothed you to one man to present a pure virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2). Listen to what the Scripture says: “Guard your heart with all care: from these come life” (Prov. 4:23). And also listen to what the Divine Scripture teaches: “an obstinate mind separates you from God” (Wis. 1:3). 5. Having interrogated and tested his soul, let everyone demand an answer from it: what is it disposed towards? And if you happen to see that the heart does not agree with the laws of God; then with all his might he will try to keep both his body and his mind uncorrupted and not willing to entertain evil thoughts, if he only wants God, according to the promise, to dwell in his pure soul. For He promised to “dwell and walk” (2 Cor. 6:17), without a doubt, in pure and love-loving souls. 6. Just as a farmer, taking care of his own land, first renews it and destroys the thorns on it, and then throws seeds into it: so he who expects from God to receive the seed of grace must first cleanse the land of his heart, so that the seed of the Spirit that falls on it will bear perfect and abundant fruit. But if this is not done first, and a person does not cleanse himself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, then he is still flesh and blood, and is far removed from life. 7. One must look with all discernment to see if there is any deception, cunning, or villainy from the enemy on some side. Just as the Holy Spirit through Paul serves all things to all men in order to win all (1 Cor. 9:22): so the evil one strengthens himself to be all things to all, in order to bring everyone down to destruction. Namely, he pretends to be praying together with those praying, with the aim of deceiving, under the pretext of prayer, deceiving him into conceit; He fasts with those who are fasting, intending to deceive them with self-conceit; with those who have knowledge of the Scripture he also undertakes, desiring that, under the guise of knowledge, they should fall into error; to those who have been granted the light of revelation, he himself appears to be the same; for it is said that “Satan is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14), in order to be deceived by the appearance of such light, to attract him to himself; in a word, he takes on all kinds of appearances for everyone, so that, subjugating himself by this likeness, under a plausible pretext he prepares destruction. It is said: “the mind is deceiving, and every exaltation is levied on the mind of God” (2 Cor. 10:5). You see to what extent this arrogant one extends the audacity of his intention to bring down those who have truly known God. Therefore, we must guard our hearts with all care, and ask God for much understanding, so that he may give us the opportunity to discover the machinations of evil. It is also necessary to constantly exercise and cultivate the mind and thoughts with understanding, and to agree them with the will of God. There is no other cause as high and honorable; for it is said: “confession and splendor are His work” (Ps. 110:3). 8. A God-loving soul, even if it does all good, usually attributes each deed not to itself, but to God. Therefore, God, for His part, seeing the sound and right understanding and knowledge of the soul, imputes every matter to it; and as if she herself worked and produced everything by herself, the reward is proportionate. And if He were pleased to enter into court with us, then nothing would be found that, in true truth, belongs to man: because both property and all the imaginary benefits on earth with which a person can do good, and the earth and everything that is on it, the very body and the very soul belong to Him. And not only everything else, but also man’s very existence is by grace. Therefore, what property does he have left that he could rightfully boast of or justify? However, God accepts what people bring as the greatest gift, and from what is brought, it is most pleasing to Him if the soul, knowing well the relationships of things - everything that does good, in which it works for God, that it understands and knows - is imputed to Him, and everything is attributed to Him. 9 . How Israel, while he was pleasing to the Master, although not to the extent he should have been, nevertheless, apparently, had to some extent sound faith in Him, was preceded by a pillar of fire and cloud, and the sea parted before him, and many other miracles were performed for him; and as soon as he retreated from fidelity to God, he was betrayed to his enemies and burdened with bitter slavery: so imagine a soul that, by grace, knew God, and was first cleansed of many impurities, and then became worthy of grace-filled gifts, but, not maintaining to the end due fidelity to the heavenly husband, she lost the life that she had already participated in. For it is possible for an opponent to rebel against those who have reached such a level. Therefore, as much as we have, we should try to take care of our lives with fear and trembling, and especially those who have become partakers of the Spirit of Christ should not do anything small or great with negligence, so as not to offend the Spirit of the Lord. As, in the words of Truth itself, “there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents” (Lk. 15:10): this is also the case with sadness over a single soul that is deprived of eternal life. 10. When the soul has been granted grace, then knowledge, understanding and prudence are most useful to it; and this very thing is given to her by God, at her request, so that she may serve well the Spirit, Whom she was honored to receive, and not be robbed by malice, and not be subject to stumbling through ignorance, not be seduced by negligence and an ungodly life, and not do anything against the Master’s will. 11. Just as the effectiveness of the passions, that is, the worldly spirit of flattery and sinful darkness, dwells in such a person who is filled with carnal wisdom: so, on the contrary, the effectiveness and power of the luminous Spirit dwells in a sanctified person, according to the words of the one who said: “or seek temptation for Christ speaking in me” (2 Cor. 13:3); and again: “I live not for anyone, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20); and: “as many as were baptized into Christ, they put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). And the Lord says: “I and My Father will come and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). And not secretly, not inactively, but in power and truth, this is accomplished in those who are worthy. For before the law edified people with a non-hypostatic word, it imposed a heavy and unbearable yoke on them, and did not know how to give them any help; and precisely because he was unable to communicate the power of the Spirit; for it is said: “What is weak in the law is that the flesh is weak in it,” etc. (Rom. 8:3). Since the coming of Christ, the door of grace has been opened to those who truly believe, and God’s power and the effectiveness of the Spirit are given to them. 12. since Christ, the first and natural goodness, sent down the gift of the Spirit to the divine disciples; then, from that time on, this Divine power, overshadowing all believers and dwelling in their souls, began to heal them from sinful passions, deliver them from darkness and mortification; because, until now, the soul was ulcerated, imprisoned and possessed by sinful darkness. Of course, even now there is a soul in darkness that has not yet been granted the Lord to dwell in it, and so that the power of the good Spirit will overshadow it effectively, with all its strength and certainty, in those whom the grace of the Divine Spirit has visited, having settled in the very depths of their mind, the Lord becomes, as it were, a soul; for, says the divine Apostle, “having cleave unto the Lord, one spirit” will be “with the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:17). And the Lord himself says: “As I and You are one, that they also may be one in Us” (John 17:21-22). What kindness, what kindness to human nature, humiliated by so many vices! However, since the soul, indulging in depraved passions, was, as it were, one with them, and although it had its own will, it could not do what it wanted, about which Paul says: “I do this not as much as I will” (Rom. 7:15): then how much more, when the power of God comes to the aid of the soul, sanctified and made worthy of it, the will of man will be one with God. For the soul, truly, then becomes like the soul of the Lord; because voluntarily and with all his disposition he surrenders to the power of the good Spirit so that it reigns in it, and no longer walks according to his own will; so it is said: “Who will separate us from the love of God” (Rom. 8:35)? That is, who will separate when the soul is in unity with the Holy Spirit? 13. Therefore, whoever intends to become like Christ, so that he himself can be called the son of God, born of the Spirit, must first of all endure the sorrows that he encounters complacently and patiently, whether they be physical illnesses, or insults and reproaches from people, or also intrigues from invisible enemies. For, according to God’s vision, the testing of souls through various sorrows is allowed, so that the souls who sincerely love the Lord will undoubtedly become evident. The proof of this is that from the beginning of the century, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, and martyrs walked the close path of temptation and sorrow, and thereby pleased God. For the Scripture says: “child, if you begin to work for God, prepare your soul for temptation: guide your heart and be patient” (Sir. 2:1). And in another place: and accept everything that is done to you for good, knowing that nothing happens without God (Sir. 2:4). Therefore, a soul that intends to please God, more than anything else, must be stocked with patience and hope. For malice always has the same trick - to plunge us into despondency during sorrow in order to deprive us of hope in the Lord. But God never allows a soul that trusts in Him to be so exhausted by temptations as to reach despair: for, says the Apostle, “God is faithful, who will not leave you to be tempted more than you can, but will create with temptation an abundance, so that you are able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). And the evil one grieves the soul not to the extent that he has desires, but to the extent that God allows him to do so. If people know what burden a mule can bear, what a donkey can bear, and what a camel can bear, and they impose on them what they can; and if the crafter knows how long the vessels should be kept on fire so that, if left longer than necessary, they do not crack, and those removed before sufficient burning do not turn out to be unfit for use; If, I say, a person has so much understanding, then isn’t it even more so, and isn’t it infinitely more clear to God’s understanding to what extent each soul must be subjected to temptation in order for it to become well-qualified and useful for the kingdom of heaven? 14. Like a hemp stalk, if you chop it for a short time, it will not be suitable for spinning the thinnest threads from it; but the longer they beat it and the more they comb it out, the cleaner it becomes and the more suitable for use; and like a vessel made of clay, if it has not been in fire, it is unfit for human use; and like an infant, still unskilled in worldly affairs, cannot build, plant, sow, or perform any other worldly work: so often souls, although, by the goodness of the Lord, for the sake of their infancy, have become partakers of divine grace, and are filled with the sweetness and peace of the Spirit, however, as inexperienced and untested by various sorrows from evil spirits, they remain in in infancy, and, so to speak, are still unsuitable for the kingdom of heaven. For the divine Apostle says: “Even if you are without punishment, all are partakers of him, for you are by nature adulterers, and not of sons” (Heb. 12:8). Therefore, temptations and sorrows are sent to a person for his benefit, making the soul all the more skillful and firm. And if she endures to the end with trust in the Lord, then it is impossible not to receive spiritual promises and deliverance from evil passions. 15. How martyrs, subjected to many tortures, and showing their firmness even to death, thereby became worthy of crowns of glory; and the more they experienced the most difficult labors, the greater glory and greater boldness they acquired before God: so, like this, souls given over to various sorrows - which are either visibly inflicted by people, or mentally produced by obscene thoughts, or stem from bodily illnesses - if they endure them to the end with patience, they will be awarded the same crowns as the martyrs and the same boldness. For just as the martyrs suffered from people, so these too, from the action of evil spirits on them, suffer the torment of sorrows; and the more sorrows they suffered from the enemy, the more they will not only receive greater glory from God in the future, but also here they will be rewarded with the consolations of the good Spirit. 16. since there is no doubt that this is the path that leads into life, and it is narrow and cramped, which is why few follow it; then, trusting in the good things prepared in heaven, we must endure with firmness every temptation of the evil one. For no matter how many sorrows we endure, will we give anything equivalent to either the future promise, or the consolation that is still given to souls by the good Spirit, or deliverance from the darkness of evil passions, or the multitude of debts, that is, our sins? It is said: “the passions of this present time are unworthy of the glory that desires to be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). For the sake of the Lord, we must endure everything with firmness, as has been said, like courageous warriors, not fearing to die for our King. For why, when we were busy with the world and the affairs of this life, did we not fall into such sorrows, but now, since we came to serve God, do we endure these manifold temptations? You see that these sorrows are for the sake of Christ; because the enemy envies us the reward we hope for, and wants to put relaxation and laziness into our souls, so that we will not be worthy of what we hope for for a godly life? All his tricks against us are destroyed by the combating Christ. Let us think that He is our protector and patron - so this age has passed away: reviled, persecuted, and finally desecrated, he completed everything with a shameful death on the cross. 17. If we want to easily endure all sorrow and temptation; then may death for Christ be desirable for us and always before our eyes. For such a commandment was given to us, taking up the cross, to follow Him, that is, to be well-ordered and ready for death. If we are so disposed; then, according to what has been said, we will very easily endure all kinds of both secret and obvious sorrow. For whoever has a desire to die for Christ will hardly be upset when he sees the labors and sorrows? That is why we consider sorrows to be severe, because we still do not desire death for Christ, and our thoughts are not constantly attached to Christ. Whoever desires to be an heir of Christ, let him also desire to compete with the sufferings of Christ. Therefore, those who claim to love the Lord know from this that, with trust in Him, they endure every sorrow they encounter not only courageously, but also willingly. 18. Whoever comes to Christ must first even forcibly attract himself to goodness, although our heart would not want it. For the true Lord says: “The kingdom of heaven will be received with need, and the needy will delight it” (Matthew 11:12). And he must also make an effort to “get through the narrow gate” (Luke 13:24). Therefore, as it has been said, one must force oneself to virtue against one’s will; - to compel those who do not have love to love; - to compel those who lack it to meekness; - to force one to have a compassionate and humane heart, to endure dishonor and contempt, to be patient when humiliated. And when God sees that, not yet having the ability to pray, and not having acquired spiritual prayer, we strive in this way, and, although our heart seems to resist, with need we attract ourselves to good; then he gives true prayer, gives mercy, patience, generosity, and in one word fills us with all the fruits of the Spirit. If someone, being poor in other virtues, perhaps begins to force himself to pray alone in order to have the gift of prayer, but is negligent and does not care about meekness, humility, love, and all this noble family of virtues, also about being firm in faith and trust in Christ; then, although such a person, at his request, is sometimes given by the good Spirit some prayerful grace in joy and peace, he remains deprived of all other goodness, because, as it is said, he did not force himself to acquire them, and did not beg Christ for it. For one must not only urge oneself to the above, even against one’s will, and ask God to grant this, but also urge one to judge which speeches are useless and completely idle and unworthy of the tongue, and always learn with the lips and heart the words of God; also to encourage not to get irritated and not to scream; for it is said: “Let all sorrow and wrath and crying be taken away from you” (Eph. 4, 31); and also to encourage not to slander or condemn anyone, not to be arrogant. And then the Lord, seeing that a person, as it is said, controls himself and forcibly drags himself, without a doubt, grants him to do without difficulty and comfortably what he was previously unable to do even with compulsion, due to the wickedness living in him. And then all these virtues turn into nature for a person; because the Lord, according to the promise, comes and already abides in him (just as he abides in the Lord), and Himself fulfills the commandments in him with great convenience. 19. Whoever, as the word previously explained, having forced himself to prayer, does not teach and force himself to humility, to love, to meekness and to this whole chain of other virtues, reaches such an end. Sometimes, at his request, divine grace visits him, because God, as good, kindly gives what he asks to those who ask Him; but without acquiring the skill, and without making it a habit for himself to practice the above-mentioned virtues, he either loses the grace he has received and falls from arrogance, or he does not succeed and does not grow in grace itself; because the abode, so to speak, and rest for the good Spirit, are humility, love, meekness, and all in order, the holy commandments of Christ. Therefore, whoever intends to grow in all these virtues and reach perfection, first, as has been said, let him force himself, and let him try to make his stubborn and contradictory heart compliant and submissive to God. For whoever forced himself in this way at the beginning, and completely softened the stiff-necked soul with a good disposition, and became obedient to God, and with such a disposition of soul asks and prays; in him the gift of prayer, given to him by the Spirit, which he sought for himself beyond love and loving meekness, grows and blossoms, resting in his modesty. And then the Spirit grants him this, and teaches him true humility and unfaithful love and meekness, which he sought, having previously forced himself to do so. And thus, growing and becoming perfect in the Lord, he turns out to be worthy of the kingdom; because the humble never falls. And where should one go who considers himself lower than everyone else? Therefore, just as arrogance is a great humiliation, so, on the contrary, humility is a great exaltation and safe dignity. 20. Those who truly loved God decided to serve Him not for the sake of the kingdom, as if for purchase and gain, and not because of the punishment prepared for sinners, but as adherents to the one God and together to their Creator, realizing by natural order that slaves are obliged to please the Lord and Creator. And they act with great prudence in all the circumstances they encounter; because there are many obstacles to those who want to please God. Not only poverty and disgrace, but also wealth and honors, equally serve as a temptation for the soul. In part, the consolation itself, and this peace, by the power of grace, enveloping the soul, if the soul that has been granted it does not come to consciousness and is not guided by great modesty and prudence, can very conveniently turn into a temptation and an obstacle for it, because malice contrives, under the pretext of grace itself, to weaken the spiritual strength, to produce laziness and negligence in the soul. Why, grace itself requires that the soul partaking of it be reverent and thoughtful, honor grace and show worthy fruits in itself. Therefore, the soul is in danger, that not only sorrows, but even peace itself can be a temptation for it. For the Creator tests souls with one and another, so that it will clearly be revealed who bases their love for Him not on self-interest, but recognizes Him alone as worthy of great, in the true sense of commitment and honor. But as for the careless, poor in faith, and infantile in mind, the following serve as an obstacle to eternal life: sorrows, difficulties, illnesses, poverty, disgrace, on the other hand, wealth, glory, pleasure from people, and on top of that the battle of the evil one, striking in secret; so, on the contrary, you will find that the faithful, the prudent, and the courageous will all the more benefit from this in achieving the kingdom of God. For, according to the words of the divine Apostle, “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8:28). And from this it is revealed that a true lover of God, having dissolved, overcome and passed everything that is considered an obstacle in the world, is embraced by one divine love. For, the divine Prophet says, “the sinner has bound himself to me: and I have not forgotten Your law” (Ps. 119:61). 21. The Divine Apostle Paul, with all the detail and clarity, depicted how the perfect mystery of Christianity, in every believing soul, is experimentally known by Divine effectiveness, that is, by the illumination of heavenly light in revelation and the power of the Spirit, so that others, in the thought that spiritual enlightenment is acquired only by rational knowledge, would not be in danger, through ignorance and negligence, of remaining incomprehensible of the perfect mystery of grace. And therefore, for a decent image of knowledge, he presented as an example the glory of the Spirit that surrounded the face of Moses, and says: “If the ministry of the death of the letter was formed in stone, it would come to glory, since the power of the son of Israel did not look upon the face of Moses, the glory for the sake of his face ceases: how will the ministry of the Spirit not increase more in glory? If the ministry of condemnation is glory, much more abundant is the ministry of righteousness in glory. For what was glorified in this part was not glorified for the glory that surpasses it. For if that which perisheth, endureth by glory: much more is that which abideth in glory” (2 Cor. 3:7-11). “Perishing” he called that glory of light that surrounded the mortal body of Moses. Then he adds: “If we have this hope, we act with much boldness” (2 Cor. 3:12); and a little below shows that this immortal glory of the Spirit, revealed in revelation, will now shine immortally and in an unceasing manner in the immortal inner man; therefore he says: “we are all,” that is, born of the Spirit by perfect faith, “with revealed face we behold the glory of the Lord, being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as the Spirit is of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). We look with “open face,” that is, with our soul, and as soon as someone turns to the Lord, “the veil is taken away. The Lord is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:16–17). And this clearly shows that there was a veil of darkness on the soul, which, as a result of Adam’s crime, found a place for itself in humanity; and now, by the illumination of the Spirit, it is taken from the souls of the faithful and truly worthy. For this reason there was the coming of Christ; because God has pleased that true believers should achieve such a measure of holiness. 22. Such spiritual illumination is not only the revelation of thoughts and grace-filled, as they say, enlightenment, but a constant and continuous luminosity of the hypostatic Light in the souls. For what has been said: “He who said that the light should shine out of darkness, who has risen in our hearts to enlighten the mind of the glory” of Christ (2 Cor. 4:6); and also: “enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep into death” (Ps. 12:14), that is, the soul, resolving with the flesh, may not be darkened by the veil of the death of sin; - as well as this place: “Open my eyes, and I will understand the wonders of Your law” (Ps. 119:18): and also: “Send Your light and Your truth: She taught me, and led me to Your holy mountain, and to Your villages” (Ps. 42:3); and: “The light of Your countenance is marked upon us” (Ps. 4:7), and other places of Scripture express the same thought. 23. And the light that enveloped blessed Paul on the way (Acts 9:31), with which he was caught up to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2), and became a hearer of unspoken mysteries, was not some kind of enlightenment of thoughts and knowledge, but a hypostatic illumination of the soul by the power of the good Spirit; and unable to bear the excess of the brightness of this illumination, the carnal eyes were blinded. With this illumination, the revelation of all knowledge is given, and God is truly known by a soul worthy and pleasing to Him. 24. Every soul, for diligence and faith, here still, by the power and certainty of grace, has been vouchsafed to be completely clothed in Christ, and has entered into unity with the heavenly light of the incorruptible Image, now itself being hypostatically secretly led to the knowledge of all the heavenly mysteries; and on the great day of resurrection, and her body, glorified by the same heavenly Image of glory, and according to what is written, caught up in spirit into heaven (1 Thess. 4:17), and deemed worthy to become conformed to the body of His glory, will have an eternal kingdom, not successive in co-inheritance with Christ. 25. To what extent has anyone, through his diligence and faith, partaken of the heavenly glory of the Holy Spirit, and adorned his soul with good deeds; to that extent on that day his body will be made worthy of glorification. For what a person has gathered inside himself now will then be revealed externally, just as fruit, hidden inside trees in winter, appears outside in spring, which was explained before. Therefore, the God-like image of the Spirit, even now, as it were, imprinted inside the Saints, will make their body, in appearance, God-like and heavenly. The veil of the worldly spirit, lying on the soul of the defiled and sinful, having made the abomination of passions (woe is me!) and the mind itself darkened and ugly, will reveal the body, in appearance, darkened and filled with all shame. 26. As in the crime of Adam, when the goodness of God condemned him to death, he first suffered death in his soul, because the intellectual feelings of the soul became extinguished in him and, as it were, killed by the deprivation of heavenly and spiritual pleasure; subsequently, after nine hundred and thirty years, physical death befell Adam; So now, through the cross and death of the Savior, God, reconciled with humanity, restores the truly believing soul, while it is still in the flesh, to enjoy the communion of heavenly lights and mysteries, and also gives insight to its intelligent feelings with the Divine light of grace and words; subsequently the body itself will be clothed with immortal and incorruptible glory. 27. Those who withdraw from this world, living honestly and virtuously, but since we have all become guilty for disobedience to the primordial, still wearing the veil of passions, that is, carnal wisdom, rightly called by the Apostle death (Rom. 8:6), are like people who walk at night, illuminated by the light of the stars, that is, God's commandments. It is impossible for them, as those who have been imperfectly liberated from darkness, to see everything clearly; and therefore it is necessary, with much labor and with great faith, taking care of virtue, to beg the Sun of Christ’s truth, so that it may shine in their hearts, and they will be able to see everything exactly, both various kinds of attacks on us by mental beasts, and the secretly visible, ineffably pleasing delights of the incorruptible world, which becomes open and obvious to those who have reached the height of virtues and in whose the intelligent Light effectively shone in the hearts. For, as Blessed Paul says, “those who are perfect have solid food; those who have senses are trained by long training in the discernment of good and evil” (Heb. 5:14). Yes, and the divine Peter says: and you, “having heeded the prophetic word, like a shining light in a dark place, do good, until the day dawns, and the bright star shines in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19). Many are absolutely no different from those who walk at night, when all light is impoverished, without even using short-term illumination, that is, God’s word, which has the power to illuminate their souls, and are likened to almost blind people. These are people who are completely entangled in material connections and worldly ties, are not restrained by the fear of God, and do not practice any of the virtues. For among the worldly people, those who, as has been said, are illuminated by the holy commandments, as if by some stars, listening to faith and the fear of God, are not completely enveloped in darkness, which is why they can have hope of salvation. 28. How people collect wealth in the world in different ways and occupations, some through the rank of city ruler, some through trade, and some through hard work, agriculture, or some other way; So imagine the same order in the spiritual. Some collect heavenly wealth with various gifts, as can be seen from the words of the Apostle: “But those who have various gifts, according to the grace of God given to us” (Rom. 12:6); and others with various exploits, various righteous and virtuous deeds performed for the sake of one God. But those who dig up gold are not unknown, that is, those who carry out their course with generosity and patience, partly consoling themselves for the time being with the good hope of getting rich. Also not unknown are those who, as it were, are mercenaries, who, being voluptuous and lazy, immediately, as it were, devouring everything that comes their way, and not finishing with patience what they have in their hands, always walk in nakedness and poverty. Such people have great readiness and ardor to receive grace, but since they are fickle, they barely touch it before they already feel satiated, and they turn out to be unwilling and clumsy to work, then they are deprived of the grace that they have already been awarded; because laziness, inactivity and careless will are always recognized now, and in the next century they will turn out to be inconsistent with grace, devoid of good deeds, unskillful and inglorious before God. 29. Man, as soon as he transgressed the commandment of God and lost his life in heaven, immediately became bound by double bonds; namely, by the bonds of worldly affairs, carnal pleasures, wealth, fame, friendship, attachment to wife, to children, to relatives, to the fatherland, to property, in a word, to everything visible, from which God’s word commands us to renounce, according to our own free will, and also by invisible bonds; because the spirits of evil bind the soul with some kind of bonds of darkness, which is why it is impossible for it to love God, to believe in Him, or to use prayer as it would like. For since the time of the transgression of the first man, opposition to everything, both visible and invisible, has entered into all of us. Therefore, when a person begins to listen to God’s word with a humble ear, withdraws from worldly affairs, and renounces all carnal pleasures: then, constantly standing before God and constantly abiding with Him, he will receive the ability to know that in the secrets of the heart there is hidden another struggle and another battle of thoughts. And being in such a feat, asking for the bounty of Christ for himself, when patience is followed by great faith in him, and moreover, God’s beck is added, he will be able to free himself from these internal bonds and barriers, and from the darkness of the spirits of malice, that is, from the actions of hidden passions. We are able to stop this battle only by the grace and power of Christ; and without God, and without oneself, it is impossible for a person to get rid of it, even to free himself from the struggle with thoughts; It is possible to resist thoughts and not enjoy them. 30. If anyone is held back by the cares of this world and various bonds, and driven by evil passions; then, as we said before, he is far from knowing that there is another struggle, and another invisible warfare. But it is desirable that a person, having renounced everything visible, moving away from carnal pleasures, beginning to relentlessly stand before the Lord, comes to a state of cognizing the ongoing struggle of passions within us, and the warfare hidden within us. For if, as we said, this does not happen, and a person does not love with all his soul and completely stand before God, then he will not know these secret evil passions and inner bonds, but is in danger, having ulcers on himself and nourishing hidden passions, to honor and present himself as healthy. But to him who despises lust and glory, it is first possible for him to know this; and then, when he begs Christ with faith and receives from heaven spiritual weapons, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith and the spiritual sword, and overcome all this. 31. The enemy, who is trying to distract us from the love of Christ, has thousands of tricks against us. Or, with the help of spirits of evil, he brings inner sorrows to the soul; or he prepares in her bad and inadmissible thoughts, bringing to mind previous sins, as if with the intention of plunging the soul into relaxation and instilling in it thoughts of despair, namely, that it is impossible for her to achieve salvation, and that the soul seems to give birth to these thoughts completely from itself, and not an alien spirit of malice implants them in the soul, and tries to do this hidden. Therefore, the opponent either does what was said above, or inflicts physical labor, or seeks reproaches and sorrows from people. But to what extent does the evil one direct these kindled arrows at us; In the same way, we must be more and more inflamed with hope in God, knowing exactly what God’s will is for this - to put our souls, flaming with love for God, to the test to see whether they truly loved Him. 32. The thousands of years of this age in comparison with the imperishable world and age are the same as if one grain of sand were taken from all the sand of the sea. Consider it this way again. May it be possible for you alone to become the king of the whole earth, - alone to take possession of all the treasures of the universe; Let us also assume that the beginning of the existence of people is also the beginning of your reign, and its end will be the change and transformation of the entire visible and entire world; what? If they give you a choice; Will you really exchange for this kingdom a true, permanent kingdom, which does not have anything transitory or destroyable in itself? I don’t think so, if you have the ability to reason and understand well what is good for you. For it is said: “What does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and loses his soul” (Matthew 16:26)? We know that nothing can replace it: because the soul alone (not to mention the kingdom of heaven) is much more valuable than the whole world and the worldly kingdom. We call the soul most precious because God deigned to bring into unity and communion with the Spirit of His own nature not another creature, or the sky, or the sun, or the stars, or the sea, or the earth, or any other visible creature, but only one person, whom He loved more than His creatures. Therefore, if for the greatest thing in the world, I mean the above-mentioned wealth and possession of all the earth granted to one person, judging sensibly, we will not exchange the eternal kingdom; then on what basis do many consider it equivalent to things that are worthless and the most ordinary, for example, some kind of desire, little glory, little gain, and something like that? For whatever someone loves and is bound by in this age, without a doubt, the kingdom of heaven exchanges for that; and what is worst of all, he recognizes as God, as it is said in one place: “Whoever is overcome is the one who works” (2 Pet. 2:19). Therefore, one must completely, completely flow to God, cleave to Him and be crucified with soul and body, walking in all His holy commandments. 33. And if so; then do you really consider it fair that this corruptible glory and a one-day kingdom and everything else, like this temporary one, should be acquired by those who desire it with much labor and sweat, and that an endless reign with Christ, the acquisition of these unspeakable blessings, should be so worthless and easy that the one who wishes would succeed in this without labor and effort. 34. Oh, what an economy of Christ's coming! Oh, what a return to the primitive state, and restoration of our nature! Christ restored to human nature the dignity of the primordial Adam; and moreover (oh the divine and truly great grace of the Good Spirit!) bestowed upon him a heavenly inheritance; having brought our nature out of a dark prison, he showed the path and the door to life; and whoever strikes it and enters with it may be in the kingdom; for it is said: “Ask, and it will be given to you; press, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). By entering through this door, it is not difficult for anyone who wishes to lead his soul into freedom, and for the soul to perceive its own thoughts, to be enriched in cohabitation with Christ, and, through the communion of the good Spirit, to have Him as if it were its bridegroom. Do you see what an inexpressible love the Lord has for man whom He created in His image! You might be interested in: