Слово 1. Весьма душеполезное для внимающих ему. Беседует ум к душе; здесь же и против лихоимства

Why, my dear soul, do we indecently consign to oblivion the glory and bliss of the heavenly crowns with which Christ, the King of all, promises to crown those who courageously resist their bodiless enemies? Why do we not keep in our minds the divine purpose for which we were created by God in His image, but like animals alien to reason, we spend the entire time of our lives pleasing the belly? Why, having been created to inherit heavenly blessings, do we senselessly, O soul, hold on to earthly ones? I am the image of God: accordingly, we must philosophize in order to acquire primitive kindness. But know that you then act in accordance with your Prototype, with which you must have real similarity, when you diligently, even until your last breath, direct your life according to his Divine commandments; when you remove yourself far from submission to the passionate desires of the flesh; when you root out every lie, flattering disposition and destructive envy from your heart; Let us love the truth, right reason, holy kindness and holy life in everything. Otherwise, let no one call himself the image of God unless he has acquired in himself all the beauties of the Prototype. We were created on earth to be guardians of immortal beauty and participants in God's secret conversations. Let us recognize, soul, the height of our glory and let us not senselessly liken ourselves to dumb animals. The end will not be the same for us and for them, O soul, just as the image is not the same for both. They tend to always bend down and constantly fill their wombs with earthly growths; With us, the soul and the very appearance of the body are beautifully designed by the wise Artist. I will not speak about your other god-like beauties, with which you are very magnificently adorned: they sufficiently convince us that our fatherland is heaven, and that we can boast that we have the most high God as our father. Therefore, we will always try to direct our minds to the mountain where our Father and our residence are. The Most High calls us his sons: then why are we, as humans, dishonorably expelled from this (divine) life (Ps. 82:6-7)? Let us glorify the Most High on earth, so that He too may adorn us with heavenly crowns. Let us glorify the Most High with all our hearts by the righteous and immaculate keeping of His commandments; let us take hold of eternal life. Let us hate with all our hearts everything base and throw away from ourselves the yoke of enslavement to passions. Let us stand on the firmament of high freedom, on the firmament of godlike freedom, with which you were enriched before you fell into the power of the destructive demon, when, having lost your immortal glory, you became like senseless cattle (Ps. 49:21). You, face to face, boldly enjoyed the divine conversations of your Creator: try to enter this glory again with the godly morals of true piety. How long, O soul, will we be enslaved to carnal sensuality, the end of which is a worm and a fire that burns without end? How long, chasing after what exists, as if after something positive, will we be seduced by the mind, dwelling in seductive thoughts? How long will we love sweet food with frantic love, like some kind of endless bliss? How long will empty glory deceive us, delight us with gold, and defile us with debauchery? Fickle, oh soul, this life is here, there is nothing true in it, it is all full of sorrows and deception. Fame and all kinds of sweet food, wealth, coveted beauty - all this, like the color of spring, passes and disappears over time. So you became famous, ate well, enjoyed yourself, won famous victories, lived for many decades; and after that what? - Worm and rot, disgusting stench and countless terrible torments in the underworld... What benefit can we, soul, expect after death from those blessings when such destruction awaits us? Isn’t everything like a dream and smoke, quickly disappearing and crumbling, as if from the wind? If you, soul, after death turned into non-existence, like dumb natures, and you would not have to give an answer to the Judge of all and the King about your deeds and plans; then it would not be criminal to enjoy temporary blessings, since your life would last only until the grave. And how you were created immortal, rational and eternally incorruptible, and, being the image of God, you carry within yourself the knowledge of the properties of your Prototype, which is why you actually stand above the nature of the dumb and are, according to the word of God, the most holy house of the Most High, which, as you should, you have not preserved: therefore you must reject from yourself everything that will not follow you after death, such as: wealth, bad desires, sweet food, pleasure in drinks, quick-to-perish glory, laziness, pride and insolence of this damned life, and all this vanity, and accept the opposite virtues; Having the fear of God as an infallible guide, with the warmest zeal and ever-sober thought, walk after your divine Prototype. If you really want to be worthy of his divine glory and enjoy the shining grace of his mental beauty and be called a servant of the Heavenly Father: then unceasingly come to your King, Jesus, in the morning, beseeching Him with sacred prayers and earth, unvisited by foul and wordless thoughts, that is, flesh, exhausted by dry food, cleansed of passions and empty , as the God-speaking hymnist says, appear, O soul, to the King of the highest, so that you may see His holy glory, and may your lips be filled with the fatness and ointment of heaven and may you sing with lips of joy; The destructive demons, always seeking your destruction, will descend into the pits and dark abysses of the earth and surrender into the hands of the destructive weapons of the underworld, and will become part of the fox (Ps. 63:2-11). Do not, O soul, without your mind prefer perishable things to eternally abiding heavenly blessings, lest what was said by the Meonian Homer, who says: “A foolish person then comes to consciousness when he falls into trouble and is no longer able to help himself,” may happen to you. After all, the feat of virtue is established in this life, in which we previously fell a terrible fall, where our opponents are always present before us, with whom if we bravely fight, then we joyfully reach our beautiful fatherland, Eden created by God. We should have one, only one main goal, this is to work joyfully until the very grave for the glory of God. This wonderful feat is bestowed upon those who strive well by He Who is Himself the giver and preserver of life. This is the only and truly sweet joy, to have divine kindness living in the heart. This is true and firm hope, to express hope by doing good deeds. The only acquisition that usually follows us after death is that which is collected through diligence towards divine virtues; This is the only wisdom and true art to always conquer your absurd passions; Only true wealth is the spiritual wealth that Christ the King bestows on his friends. All the rest is laughter, which amuses the heart for a moment, and then punishes it forever with the torments of the underworld. Let us not, my soul, be foolishly seduced by the vain wisdom of carnivores, but let us set about with great zeal for a passionless life, adhering to a chaste and honorable disposition. A mirror, covered with a thick layer of dust, cannot perceive the brilliance of the sun's radiance; and the soul, enslaved to vile carnal passions, does not accept the rays of unflickering light; deprived of it, she is no different from dumb animals; for the beauty of the rational soul lies in its warm zeal for God. This, soul, is what we will seek with all our hearts. For everything else that is beautiful on earth is all rot and lies, completely vain and fleeting. Just as it is indecent to weave wool on a gold base, or to decorate a golden image with copper, so it is shameful for those who bear the name of Christ to be defiled by the destructive passions of the flesh. Christ is the King, completely pure, beautiful and holy, and His followers must also be saints. And those who are not like that will be like those vainly chasing a flock of pompous birds. For no one who is not holy will see God, as the wise Paul clearly testified. So, rather, soul, let us know ourselves, and let us philosophize in a manner befitting our nature, without plunging into sleep and laziness, as if passing through a completely quiet swim. You have been appointed by the Most High to suffer and to exploits, to fight against invisible enemies, and you are destined for honor or punishment, depending on whether you courageously fight or suffer defeat. And if you are courageous, you will receive honor, ageless life and heaven itself with all its inhabitants, and you will be a beloved child of the Most High God, being satisfied with the great wisdom of your Father. What wonderful honors are reserved for you, soul, if you overcome! If you have sound reasoning, then constantly strive for them. If you turn your back, then terrible torment and illness are in store for you, and the fire that constantly scorches wicked people, where there is incessant weeping and gnashing of teeth, where the terrible worm incessantly gnaws, where there is darkness and gloom and one never-ending night - in the very bottom of the underworld, from where there is no hope for those condemned there by the righteous judgment of God to come out. Who, soul, determined this and that for you? Isn’t it He whose wave shakes the whole earth from its very foundations, and disturbs the seas with strong stormy winds, Who holds and carries everything in His hand, like God; - Who, through the good and quiet spirits of the All-Holy Spirit, and by unlearned people, destroyed the rhetorical speeches and harmful philosophical teachings that were fierce like a storm, and the malicious and destructive demonic charm that was previously revered throughout the entire universe, tore apart the fabric of a cobweb, and like deep dark smoke instantly dispelled from everywhere, and put teaching into human thoughts infallible theology and undoubted mysteries - Christ the King, the One terrible and mighty God, having the power of life and death? If, out of your madness, you do not obey, you accursed one, the true and divine words of your Lord, then at least accept the external sages who speak about the same thing as guides to the knowledge of the truth. There is no reproach for you to use the herb cheremitsa to cleanse the internal pain of the stomach, as long as it does not have a very strong effect and does not cause death. Understand, if you have correct reasoning, that I am telling you fortune-telling. Let not the soul-destroying serpent seduce you, assuring you that there will be no test of human deeds, and that the Lord does not care about the prodigal falls of youth, and that it is impossible to demand sinlessness from everyone without exception. This, soul, is a soul-destroying thought, this is the charm of the evil serpent, who wants to bring you with him, wretched one, to the very bottom of the underworld. Do not bend your ear to his advice, but stand strong in firm faith, and protect yourself tightly with divine fear, rejecting all unbelief from your heart. There is a righteous Eye that sees and experiences everything, as all the writings of the ancients testify. If no other reliable word and no reason could make you expect a future judgment: then let the cunning Odysseus, who descended into hell and saw noble people in the Champs Elysees, always illuminated by a beautiful light, and others again given over to bitter torment, convince you. Also let Minos and Rhadamanthus, these fabulous judges in hell, and the fiery rivers Cocytus and Acheron, into which all the lawless are condemned for their wickedness, assure you. Think also prudently about why the Lord adorned you with such divine gifts: immortality, intelligence, the gift of speech, reason and free will, and the fear of torment leads you away from evil - if He had not assigned you rewards and crowns for courage, and condemnation and torment for negligence? Know also that it is not in vain that people themselves write their laws and prescribe exploits and the glorious honors associated with them, but actually give glory and honor to those who strive, and disgrace and sorrow to those who break the law. If people care so much about truth and rationality, then how should one, soul, understand about God? He is all goodness, wisdom and truth. The Most High is terrible, and He created all things with wisdom, and He rules by very righteous standards. He also adorned you, soul, more than all the creatures that exist on earth, enriching you with divine gifts, so that you, following correct reasoning and reason, would always imitate His divine goodness, hate all malice, and with godly singing would always honor your Creator, following Him on the straight paths. It is impossible for Him to leave your virtue without reward, nor to leave your atrocities without punishment. Just as it is the nature of fire to warm and the nature of light to shine, so it is the nature of God to reward everyone according to his deeds. Suppose, soul, in God there is love for truth, although to the extent that earthly authorities also have it, who do not neglect the crimes of their subordinates, but torment them without mercy; and those who are known to lead a commendable life are glorified, even if they were foreigners. And you praise earthly authorities when they punish evil and honor virtue: but about Him who is essentially the very truth, the depth of generosity and the only goodness, you think that He does not rejoice in good righteous deeds, nor does He punish the malice of the proud! Truly, you are the craziest of all people and are no different from the most animals. But, having rejected far from your thoughts all such concepts as blasphemous, subordinate yourself to the laws of piety and, as having many invisible adversaries against you, always be sober and beware of their destructive attacks, knowing that real life is a feat of life and death. Reject all laziness, knowing that you have Christ God as a witness to your labors, Who from above philanthropically extends His strong hand to help you. Know also that the most pure heavenly forces are diligently helping you in your labors against terrible adversaries - destructive demons who are constantly trying to deprive you of eternal life. Oh, how beautiful, beneficent and great, soul, is the feat of your sacred labors! Your feat is not about temporary life or death, but about either receiving a place in heaven with honor, or being imprisoned in dark tartarus and endless torment. With all your heart, throw away every empty thought and stand boldly, arming yourself with that divine weapon with which Paul, raising you up to fight your incorporeal enemies, arms you. And instead of a shell, accept immaculate faith, instead of a shield, hope, and instead of a helmet, unceasing love for God; instead of the sword - the word of God, which the heavenly inspired books prepare for you through the fire of the Holy Spirit of the Paraclete (Eph. 6:17). To this add pure and unceasingly spoken prayer, and the bridle of the raging flesh - meager food. Know, then, that pure and godly prayer, which always enters the ear of the Most High, is the one that is kindled in the heart with sacred tenderness, through the ember of humility, which is harmful to passions; The mind infallibly directs such a prayer to the very heavenly gates and, leading there, places it before the heavenly thrones. The heart, O soul, is likened to a good-willed harp, and the mind is likened to a skilled artist of musical singing, the tongue is likened to an instrument striking the strings, and good-willed lips are likened to the strings themselves. But you, begging the terrible Judge, if you want to bring a godly song to the King and with it to win Him over to you mercifully, see that everything agrees with each other. For this, let the tongue always sing, in harmony with the lips, divine songs to the King of all and God, and from below let the heart cooperate with frequent sighs, being completely inflamed by the divine fire; Let your eyes, with pure streams of tears, wash your earthly composition from filth; the mind, having moved to the sky, passing all the stars, may it all cast itself at the feet of all the King. Thus, you will appear, soul, as a beautiful and favorable sacrifice to the King of all and to God. Hate acquisitions, as the cause of the destruction of the soul, and vain glory, this destroyer of virtues; love the thinness of robes and brushes, and sacred vigil - the mother of chastity; I mean vigil by which the soul is enlightened by book teaching and richly anointed with sacred prayer. Bridle your insolent tongue with a strong bridle, setting a limit for it both in conversation and in silence - so that you say only what serves to glorify the Lord and gives spiritual grace to those who listen. Beyond this, love silence, fearing the sinful abyss into which an unbridled tongue leads. Continuously practice reading divinely inspired books, so that divine love always grows in you, which, soul, you will draw abundantly if you introduce their sacred teachings into your thoughts and diligently always carry them out in action, for the glory of the Most High, and not for the sake of earthly beings. I see that you are terribly ill with vanity, and I am greatly afraid of your superstition. Why are you so furious for the sake of empty human glory and catching it in every way? What benefit, tell me, do you hope to get from it in this life or later? On the contrary, if you want to think rationally about it, you will find that it is the cause of great evils: it gives rise to terrible disputes and enmities among people, destructive envy and flattering speech. Another, desiring it, obscenely flatters everyone, and all his words and actions are imbued with flattery, and if he does not achieve it, he melts with heartfelt sadness, and seeing another who has achieved it, he is jealous and hostile to him in every possible way, and does not cease from enmity until he deprives him of this glory. If he cannot achieve this, then he turns to secret slander, and thinks about how to deprive him of this light. The desire for glory, if it is not achieved, gives rise to envy, and from envy all disastrous consequences are born. Its parent (envy) is generated by terrible pride, and this mother is the crime of the holy commandments, and madness, which serves as the cause of all evil and destruction of unfortunate peoples. Have you understood what evils are caused by your beloved desire for empty glory? Run her, soul! Strive unceasingly with all your heart for eternal glory, according to the commandment of the Lord. Do not consider anything, soul, more honest and kind than divine love, for it, as a rule, makes its divine guardian the abode of the entire Divinity, and reveals itself as a terrible, invincible and completely strong fighter for its opponents. Cling to Jesus with ardent love, as one would cling to his beloved father; Fear Him as the Lord, and hasten to fulfill all His commands, like a prudent servant. In no way can the divine desire remain for long in a heart obsessed with destructive corruption, but, like from a cruel stone, it flies away, leaving the entire interior alien to light. Ignite yourself entirely with the divine fire of the Paraclete and offer yourself to the living God as a living and pure sacrifice. Monastic life, the soul, is like a field on which wheat is sown, and needs great hard work. If you want it to bear abundant ears of fruit, and not thorns and all kinds of weeds that serve as food for livestock, then be sober and work to bring your Lord fruit a hundredfold, or sixty, or thirty. This will also be required of those who have legally married their wives. Try to prove to your heavenly worker good earth, and not a stone, nor a road, nor thorns, so that, either through laziness, you are not robbed by destructive birds, stealing everything from above in your heart; or from the heat of sorrowful circumstances it would not soon dry up, as if it had not taken root in the depths of the heart; or would not be crushed by the destructive cares of this life, like thorns, and would not bear heavenly fruit. Let your eyes be constantly directed downwards to the earth, and let your thoughts rise to where the divine angelic ranks glorify Christ together with the beginningless Father and the all-good Spirit - the omnipotent, sovereign and life-giving Trinity. Do not accept obscene words into your ears; run away, as much as you can, from all lawless speeches: they are sharper than any knife, and with them the enemy then wounds the heart through memory. Having laid your hand on the corner of the Gospel commandments, be careful not to turn back. Hurry to the honor of the heavenly calling, always forgetting past labors and reaching out to upcoming exploits, until the sickle of death cuts you off from this life. Walk along the narrow path with your full foot, so that your foot may be worthy to stand in the vast heavenly fatherland. Always take care of the pipe of your larynx so that it does not plunge you into the depths of the always agitating abyss of gluttony. Try to eradicate from your heart every partial desire that pleases the flesh; on the contrary, upset her with a cruel life, abhorring everything that delights her. Don't forget that you are tied to a terrible beast that is furious at you and constantly barks. Try always to tame his soul-destroying aspirations with all kinds of fasting and extreme poverty. Pleasant drinks, tasty foods, and soft beds, and long sleep - all this inflames this beast, and you retreat from it. If, indeed, you want to tame his madness, then with a non-covetous life, with a light stomach, always make your everyday voyage, praying to Christ. Consider the life here as an exile, to which you are condemned for your crime - condemned with the fact that if, during the secondary struggle, you recover yourself from the victory with which in ancient times you were defeated by the evil serpent, then you will no longer be a worker in the Garden of Eden with fear of the threat of death in case of eating the forbidden fruit; but, as the false promise of Christ says, wherever the Lord Himself is Divine, there you will also be, saturated with His divine glory. Be careful that you do not spend the time God has appointed for you to heal your spiritual scabs, madly eating sweets and drunkenness, and, instead of the never-ending light, do not enter into terrible darkness. Have you heard that the inhabitants of heaven have more joy over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine righteous ones? This promise of Christ is not false, and it serves to clear knowledge of the divine mercy that the Lord has for the human race. Always try to please the angelic faces by fulfilling the Lord’s commandments, and not to please the nasty and man-hating regiments of destructive demons with lawless deeds. Just as the holy angels rejoice over your salvation, so the vile demons rejoice over your destruction. In everything, soul, you are like a ship sailing across the abyss, and you are overwhelmed by all sorts of terrible winds that are intensifying to cast you to the bottom of the underworld and burn you with an ever-burning fire. Make sure that you are always guided by the quiet cool winds, that is, by the instructions of the Holy Spirit, that you always contemplate Him and listen to Him alone, that you fill your mental sails with them, that you unshakably strengthen the mast of your heart, so that you can reach the heavenly pier without loss, keeping intact all the wealth of your virtues. Keep the lamp of your body in simplicity, so that all of it will always be light, illuminated by an impregnable light. Otherwise, the natural light living in you will be transformed from negligence and intemperance into terrible darkness and will throw you into utter darkness, where there is terrible gnashing of teeth and incessant (useless) tears. Acquire for yourself the God-given wealth of tears with which Christ the King soon bows to mercy. Acquire patience, this unshakable pillar of the soul against the misfortunes that come your way. But even then, do not fall when a storm of evil temptations attacks you. For no one gets married unless he strives lawfully. Avoid being like the crazy and godless Pharisee, and do not judge your neighbor; always see the beam that is in your eye, that is, the excessive burden of your vices. Always take care to place yourself far from this comparison, so that not only in your tongue, but also in your heart, you always consider yourself an unclean dog and a trampler of people. But do not allow yourself to consider the speck that is in your neighbor’s eye, that is, an insignificant sin. For everyone, O my dear soul, will then give an answer to the Judge of all about his sins. Always have, soul, the memory of hellish torment and walk straight along the path of piety. For every criminal and one who delights in lawless deeds will be given over to endless torment. Always firmly adhere to the divine commandments, diligently directing your life according to them. For otherwise it is impossible to be saved, just as those who do not obey doctors will not receive health. Let him assure you of this who, from the most divine wedding feast, was cast out into the flames of torment, because he did not have clothing suitable for sacred marriage, woven from pious deeds. Faith, the soul, is like a golden warp, and every beautiful woof (for this fabric) is good deeds. And just as both, being in themselves separately, cannot be recognized or called a beautiful fabric: so faith without good works, as well as good works without immaculate faith, are both dead. Fire, he says, came to earth (Luke 12:49), signifying by this zeal and divine zeal for His saving commandments, with which, like some divine fire, all uncleanness and carnal filth are destroyed, and around you the luminous robe of holiness blossoms, marvelously covering you. Try to cleanse all the filth of your flesh with this divine fire. And do not be seduced by the heresy that claims that after death in fire the carnal filth of sinners is cleansed. This is a terrible charm, and the final abyss, and the teaching of Origen's delusion. After all, it was not by purifying fire, but by compulsion that the Judge commanded himself to manage to delight the kingdom of heaven; also, before the door of heaven is closed, we are commanded to try to enter by the narrow way. By the narrow path, my soul, understand forcing yourself to fulfill the holy commandments, and by the stern closing of the door after death, understand God’s great long-suffering: for if we live righteously, then this door is always open for us and kindly receives those who are put in from everywhere; if we live lawlessly and without repentance, then it is mercilessly closed for us when we are kidnapped from here by death. This harsh conclusion of the divine door exposes the obvious falsity of the doctrine of purifying fire. If only for the wicked and unrighteous who disappear from here there was any hope of a cleansing fire after death; then the door of the divine bridal chamber would not have been closed to the virgins who did not take oil with them in the vessels, and the idle word, which is the lightest of all sins, would not have been preserved for an answer at the final judgment. Those virgins did not spend their lives in prodigal ways or in disorderly laughter; but some of them were always hungry, others were crying; And when they prayed that the gates of heaven would be opened for them, they heard: We do not know you; get away from Me, the workers of iniquity (Matt. 25:11–12 et ch. 8, 23; Luke 13:27). Also: the one who calls his neighbor a crazy idle talker would not be condemned to eternal fire (Matthew 5:22). With all this, soul, the Lord clearly teaches that real life serves as a time of exploits, both for the acquisition of virtue and for the destruction of all evil, and after death, accordingly, either a reward or punishment is obtained. This is more clearly shown by that divine parable in which the Lord teaches us by example, showing a rich man who was burned for his unmercifulness in the fire, but was not cleansed, and presenting Abraham, who says to him: O child, thou hast received thy good in thy belly, just as this poor man has received his evil, having endured with great patience many sorrows (Luke 16:25). By this He clearly showed that this life is intended for all people both to acquire virtue and to rid themselves of sin, as was said above; and in the afterlife either reward or torment awaits us. But a certain great father (Antony the Great), when he prayed that it would be revealed to him what place the souls of the righteous and the souls of sinners receive after death, it was shown to him from above that the souls of the righteous fly like high-flying birds, and the sky itself receives them inside; and those who end their lives in iniquities are thrown into the terrible underworld, a dark and stinking lake, and some gigantic hand casts them into hell, and not a cleansing fire cleanses them and releases them clean from there into the light. Both of these are great and praiseworthy: both the one who talks about this (Athanasius the Great), and the one who mentally contemplated it (Antony the Great). Of these, one is the wise saint of Alexandria, and the other is the most excellent head of the sacred monks. So, do not be seduced by the empty words of false wise men, but, obeying the teachings of the Gospel, try to wash away the severity of your many sins with good deeds and humble tears. To do this, with all diligence, always fulfill to the last iota the divine commandments of the Savior, if you do not shamefully desire to be then standing at the right hand of your Lord. For then,” says the psalmist, “I will not be ashamed, even if I regard all Your commandments.” And again: May my heart be blameless in Your justifications, so that I will not be ashamed (Ps. 119:6, 80). A heart that is immaculate and not shamefully abiding in the commandments of the Most High is the one who does not dare to despise any of them without fulfilling them, or to change them, but faithfully fulfills everything with fear. Avoid harmful idleness and drive away thoughts of despondency with the work of your hands. There is nothing more destructive than idleness, and from it all evil has arisen in our generation. Do everything for the sake of God, and whatever profit you get from it, don’t spare it into the hands of the poor, and don’t mindlessly save it for yourself, if you really want to inherit eternal heavenly wealth. For where your treasure is, says our Lord, there your heart will be (Matthew 6:21). Eat from your righteous labors, as the divine command of the Lord originally prescribed: “By the sweat of your brow,” it says, “you shall bear your bread all the days of your life (Gen. 3:19), and do not have villagers as your assistants, like a ruler; but, as a disciple of Christ, live like an apostle, earning your own bread with your own hands, having first given everything you have to the poor, according to the commandment of the Savior. Prefer to work for others yourself rather than to rule over others. For you are the first to exalt yourself, and the last you are to divide yourself in two: if, according to God’s decrees, you organize the leadership entrusted to you, you will be blessed; If you violate these regulations, you will be condemned with the lawbreakers. Prefer to be poor than to have silver in abundance. If you are bothered by shortcomings, choose to endure rather than bother others. Make this a rule, and do not want to feed on the blood of the poor, demanding interest on silver from them. You are not the last to follow the impoverished Christ, you accursed one, but to follow the lawless pagans, and you make yourself subject to the curse of the law and the heir of the unquenchable fire. For cursed is everyone, it is said, who gives his money with interest to his neighbor (Lev. 25:36; Deut. 27:26). Have you heard, O soul, that he who “spends away” and “distributes to the poor,” and does not give more than money, righteousness abides forever (Ps. 112:9). Why, like a deaf asp, do you cover your ears? If you truly love the crucified Jesus Christ, and want to inherit His blessed glory, become poor with Him and be crucified with Him, and all your desires will be transferred to heaven. For your relatives, for your acquaintances and friends, be as if strange, unknown, homeless, having neither a fatherland nor a title - and no matter how little sense. Give everything you have to the poor. Hate and throw away from yourself all former customs and all will that is kind to you. Remain in greed and thirst voluntarily and involuntarily; endure sorrow; Rejoice if you are imprisoned. “Whoever serves me,” said the Savior, “let him follow me, and where I am, he will also be my servant (John 12:26). Flee the evil of godless usury, which is followed by the terrible transgression of God’s commandment and His righteousness; impudent contradiction and crime and flattery constantly bypass the city walls, for the sake of which tongues are drowned (Ps. 54:10), being cut from above with the divine sword. Flee the evil of covetousness, which makes everyone who takes comfort in it an antichrist, that is, an opponent of the Gospel commandments. For Christ the Lord, as it is written, came to loose the souls of the poor, bound by unrighteous gains (Ps. 71:14; Luke 4:18.); the moneylender, enraged by the fury of his love of gold, again binds them with interest-bearing shackles. Flee usurious evil, which turns its follower into an infidel and a servant of godless idols (Eph. 5:5). If extortion is complete service to idols, as we hear from the divine preacher: then with all your might avoid the evil of extortion. If you want to irrevocably dwell in the divine mountain along with the saints who have pleased God, and to have fun with them forever in the light: then flee from this abomination, whose lovers are the pagans, the divine song, through the mouth of all the faithful throughout the universe, curses and always prays with great zeal for their drowning, saying: Flood, O Lord, and divide the tongues... (Ps. 55:10) and other well-known reading and neglected by them. Feeding on the blood of those living in poverty and comforted by the pernicious surplus, you become like some kind of bloodsucker beast, and try to suck the brains out of dry bones, like dogs and crows. You are commanded, O foolish one, to feed the poor with your labors, and not to drink the blood of others through covetousness, to serve others, and not to rule over others. Why are you sharpening a knife on your heart? Christ the Lord loved extreme poverty to the end, so that He had no place to lay His sacred head. You, accursed one, are not afraid to constantly torment the poor villagers with destructive surpluses. Oh, what a terrible fury! Are you not ashamed of the very life of your Christ, in whom you boast? How do you understand, soul, about Christ? Do you really think that He does not pay attention to this and will not demand an account at the Last Judgment? Fear His threat, for He says: I will reprove you and bring before you all your iniquities (Ps. 49:21). Or do you think that with a few of your pieces, which you sometimes give to the wretched approaching your gates, you will be delivered upon death from the execution and torment in the flames deserved by your inhumanity? You are crazy, you are deceiving yourself; you stand far from the path that leads the righteous to the kingdom of heaven. For the covetous will not inherit the kingdom of heaven, cries the divine Paul, these unfaithful lips of Christ (Eph. 5:5). If you do not diligently become like the one who gave fourfold to those who were offended by him, and do not, like him, distribute half of your property to the poor, then you will not receive Christ the King to dwell in your house, and do not hope to hear from Him: Today salvation has come to this house (Luke 19:9). Mercy shown to the poor and love from a pure heart for the Lord and for all people - that’s all that Christ God requires from us; without this, everything else is of no benefit - neither abstinence in food, nor prolonged prayerful deeds. For, he says, I do not want sacrifice, but mercy. Let the example of the wild virgins, who had no oil in their vessels, convince you that they received no benefit from their other virtues, but were expelled from the heavenly palace. Always remember, soul, the terrible Judge, how, during the Last Judgment, He weaves crowns and bestows an endless kingdom and life and heavenly glory for His benefits to the poor, then standing at His right hand; and for his lack of mercy towards them, he will menacingly say to those standing on the left: Disappear from Me, curse, into unquenchable fire. All other good or evil deeds of both are not mentioned at all - not because they deserve neither praise nor blame; but this clearly shows that both virtue and evil lie in either having mercy on the poor living in sorrows, or despising them. So, do not rejoice when you see the sighing or suffering of the poor; for the terrible avenger and champion for them is the Most High himself. Stop burdening the poor with all sorts of taxes and godless usury. For the passion for the sake of the poor and the groaning of the needy, now I will rise, says the Lord (Ps. 11:6), and so on. Be afraid, crazy one, be afraid, and throw away your senseless habit, which you acquired long ago through your insatiable love of gold. Love the poor with all your thoughts, so that you will attract not anger from above, but divine grace. Do not become like the destructive drones, always filling your belly with the labors of others; be zealous for the praiseworthy work of the wise bee, always feeding on your righteous labors, so that you may then appear standing at the right hand of the Judge, and be numbered among those who treated Him, who became impoverished here, with all kinds of alms given to the poor, and not among those who passed by Him without mercy. The commandments of God are like a crown of gold woven, studded with precious stones; try to present it all intact to your King in order to receive grace from above, and not anger. Perform this celibate feat without covetousness, as your Hero of the Deed legislates for you, if you really want to taste that divine supper, which you lost by recklessly retiring to the village. Do not be seduced by cursed and harmful thoughts that advise you that you need to have acquisitions - gold and property, in case of extreme old age and often serious illnesses. What kind of justification is this for you, wretched one, when you supposedly gave up your property for God’s sake and instead acquire someone else’s? After all, you again fall into the same destructive worries, blinding your intelligent eyes with all sorts of destructive excesses of the flesh, which, like wild thorns, pitifully suppress what was sown from above in your heart, and you clearly imagine yourself as a criminal, again creating what you previously destroyed. Thus, you become like someone who runs away from smoke and falls madly into the fire itself. Know that these are the nets of a flattering fisher, entangling you with supposedly righteous cares, and with them flatteringly turning your thoughts away from the holy love of God and again tying you to the destructive thorns that you rejected when you denied this life. Do not bind yourself again, soul, with such nets, lest you be torn out of the heavenly chamber. How will you be recognized as having taken up the cross, or having denied yourself and followed steadily in the footsteps of Christ, when you are again obsessed with godless worries about gold and estates? No one, - it is said, - lay your hand on the hand, - the work here is called the doing of the divine Gospel commandments, - and then returning again to the evil deeds of this life, he is sent to the kingdom of heaven (Luke 9:62). You cannot, soul, two Masters work together: God and mammon (Matthew 6:24), just as you cannot look with one eye to the earth, and with the other to the heights of heaven; but both need to look either up or down. If you love Christ, completely hate gold, because one is opposite to the other, like life and death, or light and darkness. What do Christ and gold have in common? Christ the King wants you to remain completely with Him, always cry and repent, not caring at all about food itself or about clothing, but leaving all this behind, irrevocably following Him, wearing the only acquisition - the cross of self-mortification. This is what Christ demands. And gold, again surrounding you from everywhere with harmful cares, holds you like a terrible serpent, from which the mind is gradually separated from heavenly and angelic vision and divine desires. For the flesh, constantly fattened with tasty foods, plunges into a long sleep, producing nasty carnal desires and defilements, often, alas, not only in sleep, but also during wakefulness; the eyes of such a person look down upon him, since his heart has become very elevated with vain hopes for wealth and acquisitions, and he already considers himself to be someone great, and not, as before, he considered himself the last of all. Therefore, every deed he does is aimed at receiving earthly praise. Then, having achieved what he wanted, immediately, if he had previously shown any trace of hypocritical humility, he throws it back and shamelessly reveals the pride that was previously hidden in him. The sacred teaching, which condemns and compares with the unfaithful and rebellious the proud slave, greatly enraged by the desire to rule and dispose of those like himself, he throws back, and out of his pride already thinks that he has been appointed to dispose of the law itself, and not to be led by it for the correct management of his subordinates, he is proud, lawless, very angry, torments, knits, takes bribes, eats incontinently, his whole mind busy with gold, and all his multi-rebellious care is about how to please the authorities. His tongue is loosed, without the sacred bonds of silence; He speaks everything with anger and annoyance, and there are many things on his tongue that are characteristic of despicable people and nasty harlots. But the hand is not idle either; and raising the rod upward, it angrily threatens to hit the wretched man on the spine; his mental eyes are blinded by the love of vain glory and terrible pride. In addition, having destroyed spiritual kindness, seething with a multitude of spiritual riches, he only always tries to decorate his appearance with multi-colored and soft silk fabrics, gold, silver and precious pearls; and to the divine teaching, which gazes at those who dress in soft things, he, like a deaf asp, stops his ears. His hands, forgetting to stretch out to give alms to those obsessed with terrible poverty, alas, without mercy, torture them with whips for large interest-bearing debts that they are unable to pay, or he deprives them of their freedom and writes them into slavery forever; or, having deprived them of their property, empty-handedly expels the poor from their places. Owning villages, he is greatly exalted by this in his heart; but to take care of the villagers as if they were his own members, according to the commandment of the Lord, he does not have this; but, like bought slaves, he constantly exhausts them with all sorts of hard labor; if they are guilty of anything, he immediately, with terrible anger, shackles their legs in iron shackles. Having become proud of his power, he now, without any fear, rushes across the disastrous abyss, like a ferocious horse, which, breaking free from its bridle, boldly throws its rider off its back, and freely rages, flying to and fro, neighing and galloping uncontrollably, until, poor thing, it meets carnivorous beasts, and is torn to pieces and eaten by them. So the soul, which has become proud because of the multitude of possessions, little by little casts out the fear of God from its heart, and having lost it, it is no longer wary of lies, gods, or any kind of theft, it envies, gets angry, is terribly exalted, and very much rejoices in destructive strife, feeding, like a leech, on blood, and always spying on the sins of others, but never feels its own. They praised her and she rejoiced; but they did not deign to pay attention, she is overcome by brutal anger, and great sorrow covers her. She despises the Holy Scripture, which commands not the rich, but the poor, to call to their table, and always luxuriously treats the rich, rejoices in them, and with both hands mercilessly squanders the property of the poor for all kinds of pleasures of her heart. She herself always has fun in every possible way and dresses in the most expensive warm clothes, and does not pay any attention to them, who are pitifully dying from hunger and cold, but only eats luxuriously every day, having many servants and slaves standing in front of her. And there’s a lot to say! By your everyday actions you prove that you consider the divine commandments to be mere words, and that you consider monasticism to consist only in black clothing. But He is true who said: by their fruit you will know that they hypocritically pretend to be pious. He also says: An evil tree cannot produce good fruits. Food comes from thorns, or from figs! (Matthew 7:16–18). Thus, having rejected the fear of God and deprived of the light that exposes spiritual passions, she vigilantly observes only external uncleanliness, which has no meaning: she always tries to wash her hands clean with soap to remove external dirt; and that they are constantly desecrated by the godless filth of covetousness is not at all good. If it happens that your teeth begin to bleed, you consider it impermissible for you to begin the Holy Mysteries; and that the tongue is terribly desecrated by countless godless profanities, you impute this to nothing. When involuntary defilement occurs in a dream, he even disdains to touch his clothes, and with the delicious foods and drinks that produce it and long sleep, he always satiates himself to the point of satiety, without abstinence. He is careful not to taste wine and oil on Wednesdays and Fridays, observing the rules of St. Fathers; but fearlessly gnaws at people, hurting them with slander and unheard-of slander, and with its tongue it secretly spies and mercilessly slanders them, while it hypocritically shows the appearance of friendship to its face. Because of the villages, he often goes to court - he quarrels strongly with his rivals, and, not having strong evidence against them, but very much wanting to accuse them, asks permission from the judges to resolve his dispute in the field with weapons. And while it is commanded to quickly reconcile with one’s rival, and not to resist the offender to the last bit, and to throw away everything of one’s own and dismiss it as rubbish, she, for a small piece of land, and often not her own, fights against her opponent, alas, with weapons, not at all trembling either God himself or the very witnesses - the angelic ranks, before whom she chose a non-covetous life, not trembling and not ashamed of her promises, which promised herself to God. By sinning so terribly, she thinks that she is doing great virtue: and this is a sign of ultimate madness. Every sin is terrible; but to boast in what constitutes sin is proof of ultimate, deep depravity. Being so indecent, O wretched one, when will you come to consciousness and acquire saving tears of repentance? How can you instill in your heart the fear of God and the memory of death and hellish torment? And when will you acquire pure prayer, being terribly outraged by the dust, that is, by the countless multitude of confusions and everyday worries? How will you acquire meekness, humble wisdom and sacred silence of heart when you are often and uncontrollably carried away by rage and disputes about lands, either with the villagers or with your neighbors? And if it turns out that they have offended you in some way, then you try to mutually insult them as enemies. How can you be willing to die for your neighbor when you always torment him without mercy with all sorts of hardships and destructive usury? And without acquiring these virtues, you will forever be condemned to gloomy darkness and given over to the torments of hell, having received no benefit either from frequent and prolonged prayers, or from the black clothes that you wear. For prayer and this black robe are then pleasant and valuable before God when you diligently and precisely fulfill all the commandments of God - and not as you reason about it, but as your Lord commanded and established; for He does not require anything else - neither long prayers, nor abstinence from food, but only the fulfillment of the commandments. After all, it was only for the sake of fulfilling the commandments that all prayers, fastings, vigils, and solitudes were established; and therefore do not boast of any of this if you neglect to fulfill the commandments. Try to achieve this fulfillment above all else, preferably over any other virtue. For the Savior said: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him (John 14:23). And again he says: Not everyone who says to Me: Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but do the will of My Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21). You, the accursed one, mercilessly reveling in the blood of the wretched through covetousness and other unrighteous deeds, thereby provide yourself in abundance with everything you want, when and how you want, riding around the cities on thoroughbred horses, with many servants, some of whom will follow you, while others run forward with shouts and whips, driving away the people who bully or embarrass you. By doing this, do you think that with long prayers and these black hair shirts you are pleasing Christ, Who loves alms more than sacrifice, and condemns everyone who hates the beggar? Truly, you have been terribly deceived and lost your way from the straight path, and you are building your church on sand, and not on solid stone, which is the fulfillment of all the commandments of the Savior. Beware, so that you, who have enjoyed your entire life, do not hear: You have received your goodness in your belly. After all, you, accursed one, enjoy amassing wealth for yourself through unrighteous covetousness, like a Jew, always trying to have your pantries filled with all sorts of food supplies and tasty drinks, and every year, accursed one, you accumulate large and frequent stacks in your villages, which, because of the desire for greater profits, you deliberately store for times of famine, not in the least afraid of the threat proclaimed by God to which you expose the curse of those who leave their kindred people to starve, saving wheat and all livestock to sell at a higher price, guided by the desire for greater profit (Proverbs 11:26). Flee, soul, the reasoning of the one who decided to spread his barns, so that you too will not be called foolish by God, like him. Hate the likeness of that rich man who always ate delicious dishes and despised the beggar. Imitate with all your heart the prudent Lazarus, so that you too will be accepted by the sacred bosom of Abraham, and not by the abyss of fire that burns endlessly. Having promised your Lord, when taking monastic vows, to fulfill all His holy commandments in deed, try with all your might to be above all the vain worries of this life, hearing the verdict of Christ, your King, that if you do not acquire virtue through praiseworthy actions, which is better than the scribes and Pharisees, then you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20). If you turn out to be, damned one, in virtue not only no better than those, but also much worse: then what should you expect after that? Alas, what shame and what sorrow will befall you then? For it is clear that your life is much worse than both the scribes and the Pharisees. If that proud Pharisee was neither unrighteous nor a predator, but even gave a tenth of his income to the poor; We, with our destructive love of money, always dry up their labors and blood without any mercy with covetousness: then how can we, being lawless worse than the Pharisees, receive eternal life and glory? These are infantile, soulful, and stupid concepts, and an obvious deception of invisible enemies. No one can be freed from the harm of a destructive fever unless he obeys the orders of a wise physician; Likewise, the helmsman, in distress at sea, cannot steer his ship to the pier without favorable winds. In the same way, the soul, without having washed away all its impurities with all the divine commandments, cannot safely reach a safe haven without the grace of the Holy Spirit guiding it. Behold, my dear soul, we are promised from above a spacious sky, where there is celebration and the sacred sweet singing of the firstborn (all saints), and mental angelic ranks, shining with light, and the mysterious heavenly Bride himself - if we acquire clothes suitable for this, woven from godly labors and virtues. From below, the earth again, opening its mouth wide, shows us the dark bottom of hell and threatens us with the unquenchable fire of hell if we do not lead our lives according to the rules of piety. Let us fear what is below, and when we come, let us always seek with firm foot those on high, until we ascend there. Here is a table (the whole sacrament of faith), three-legged (faith, hope, love) and completely round, and on it is a golden cup (gifts of the Holy Spirit), full of heavenly nectar (i.e., a drink that gives immortality). If you wish, soul, to be satisfied with this and enjoy divine grace, then firmly establish in your heart the three corresponding virtues that support the meal. Each of them always certainly needs the others, so if you leave one of them, the rest will be useless. Try with your warmest desire to acquire the greatest of them (love). For without it, everything else turns out to be useless: the relocation of the highest mountains, and the knowledge of the languages ​​of men and angels, and generosity towards the poor, and the burning of the body: desire it sincerely. You have completely renounced yourself and recognized yourself as strange for this whole vain life, and therefore do not enjoy delicious food, nor fame, nor wealth, nor friendship with nobles. He who immediately rejected all this through a non-covetous life, tears, silence, prayers and vigils, and the exercise of reading books, mentally feeding on divine kindness, rejoices, being always full of divine joy. This is what the life of reverend virgins is all about! This is their wealth! This is their true glory and joy! This is the hundredfold reward they promised, constituting, as it were, some kind of pre-betrothal of future benefits, and not in again receiving the acquisition of perishable property, as ministers and lovers of gold falsely think. “You cannot,” said the Lord, “work for God and mammon.” And no one can serve two masters. If anyone then desires to be satisfied with that divine supper together with the saints, then, being called, let him not refuse madly because of the village, or because of a pair of oxen, or because of marriage with his wife (Luke 14:18–20). If he refuses for any of these reasons, then let him know with certainty that he is deprived of the divine feast - and the witness of this is He who confirmed this defection with an oath. Therefore, run around the community of wise men in the world; love the everlasting silence that conveniently unites you with God. Rejoice when you are dishonored; endure reproach courageously, repaying all your offenders with prayers. By doing this, someone turned out to be foolish before people, but pleasing to God, having wisdom hidden in his heart. In addition to all this, acquire humility, which is a solid and unstealthy treasure of virtues, and not that which is usually falsely expressed by low bows, quiet speech, dyed clothes and an externally flattering, beautiful arrangement of the body, in the absence of anything sublime hidden inside, about which the reigning city rejoices, namely: so that the fear of God is hidden in the heart; to continually shed warm tears; to always condemn yourself in everything and consider yourself waterless land and ashes; so that you can always reveal your corrections to the One who knows the secret, and expose your sins without shame before people, and count every reproach from people as praise; to always disdain walking through cities, but rejoice in very impassable deserts; to always be at enmity against destructive demons only, but to rejoice equally over all the faithful. This is the one for me, this divine one, try to acquire for yourself a Dog that confirms your spiritual works. Fill your sails with this quietly blowing zephyr, making a very exciting monastic voyage. The quiet coolness that leads to the pier is likened to a venerable thing - humility; carefully controlled by it, you will conveniently avoid the snares of the adversary; with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, having acquired, like a dove, mental wings silvered and gilded between the spaces (Ps. 67:14), you fly with joy from the earth to the heavenly dwellings. So, if you really want to receive what has been said, and not talk about it in vain with words alone, then try to impeccably fulfill in deed what you teach, so that you may be called great in the kingdom of heaven. – The following is said as if on behalf of this word. If someone is sincerely, and not hypocritically, internally devoted to good faith and purity; If anyone is alien to evil faith, all double-mindedness, vain glory and curses, and always wants to approach greater success in Christ, above Whom there is nothing glorious on earth or in heaven, let him accept me with joy, and write into his thoughts this bad edification and these unsophisticated speeches, filled with good reason; the wise should have the greatest diligence about them if they want to have useful things always written and abiding in their thoughts, and not just listening out of the corner of their ears. The cypress tree grows straight, stretching far in height, but is pleasing to the eyes alone. The fig tree is surrounded from the very bottom by gnarled branches, but its honey-like fruits delight the larynx. You might be interested in: