Слово 35. Послание утешительное к князю Димитрию, о терпении в скорбях

The evil-doer, murderer and good-hater the devil, because of his great envy, never ceases to fight and confuse the human race in every way, wanting to destroy it and imputing human destruction to himself as joy and triumph, although the wicked one knows that by doing this he is preparing for himself the strongest and most bitter torment. But such, O noble Prince Dimitri, is his enmity and rage against us. Who deprived our ancestor of a blessed and equal life in the paradise of God? Was it not he who, through the terrible serpent, deceived the foremother Eve, and through her the primordial one, and thus introduced into our entire pitiful race physical and, at the same time, spiritual death, which continued until the very incarnation of our Creator and Savior Jesus Christ, by whose humane and divine coming and saving death the charm of the enemy was destroyed and the power of spiritual death was exhausted when our Savior descended into further hellish countries and destroyed the darkness there, which is nothing more than the deprivation of the light of life according to God. Who filled the inhuman soul of the accursed Cain with envy and murder and shed that righteous blood with his brother’s hand? It is obvious that the same God-fighter, the devil, envied the righteous man, recognizing in him, by his sacrifice favorable to God, the leader and mentor of people, who could teach them how to appease their Creator. Who brought the entire first world to the point of drowning? Isn’t it the same one who forced them to anger the Creator who created them with unsatiated and bestial fornication and all kinds of evil deeds? Who divided the hitherto one language into different dialects? Isn’t that the same all-wicked one who advised them to build themselves the highest pillar, so that if God wanted to bring a second flood on them, he could not drown them, hoping, crazy, to overcome the almighty power of God with human intent? Who was the great-grandson of the faithful patriarch Abraham, the beautiful Joseph, who sold his brothers to the Ishmaelites at his childhood? It was he, the wicked one, who attempted to kill the righteous man, fearing that through him the righteous descendants of faithful Abraham would not multiply and fill the entire universe with the blessing of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that is, with the true knowledge of God, according to the promise given by God to blessed Abraham: Truly I will bless you, and by multiplying I will multiply your seed, and All the nations will be blessed because of your seed (Gen. 22:17, 18). Here the Creator calls blessing the infallible knowledge of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit, about which the holy Apostle Paul says: For we did not receive the spirit of work and fear, but rather received the spirit of sonhood, for which we cry: Abba, Father (Rom. 8:15). And the Supreme Apostle Peter says: Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For there is a promise for you and for your children (Acts 2:38–39, 3:26). From these words of the apostle it is clear that it is not wealth and abundance of short-term acquisitions that God promises to Abraham and all nations who have faith in Christ, who was to be incarnate in the last times, but an infallible knowledge of God, and faith, and truth, and the fullness of all Abrahamic virtues, through the action of the Holy Spirit. Who, then, put that righteous man, about whom the Most High himself testified that he was blameless and godly, on a rotting heap outside the cover, naked, deprived of all acquisitions, homeless, childless, humble, deprived of servants and all consolation, covered in rot from head to toe? Was it not this godless one who slandered him before the Most High, saying: Eating tuna Job honors the Lord? Who threw the prophet of God Daniel into a ditch and imprisoned him with lions, and threw the three youths bound into the oven? Was it not this wicked man who wounded the hearts of the Persian nobles with envy because of the special honor and glory that those saints received from their kings? Who made God's chosen one and anointed David wander for many years and move from place to place, from one nation to another? Isn’t he the same all-wicked one, who raised up the envious Saul, the king of Israel, against him? Who subjected the greatest of all prophets, John the Baptist, to the removal of his head? Isn’t it the same one who enraged the nasty adulterous Herodias against him? Who nailed the Savior and Author of our life to the cross and killed him according to human nature, and not according to the Divinity, which is immortal and impassive? Isn’t it the same godless one who armed the vile souls of the godless scribes and Pharisees with envy and anger? Was it not he who, through the wicked kings of ancient Rome, armed with irreconcilable hostility against believers in Christ, filled the entire universe with the blood of martyrs? Having such an irreconcilable enemy, a fierce persecutor and an envious catcher of our souls, O noble prince and my lord Demetrius, let us not be surprised at the troubles that befall us. It is impossible for any person who has appeared in this world, even if he has ascended to the very top of prosperity, to spend this much-painful life without any sorrows. A true witness to this is the hymn writer (John of Damascus in the aftermath of the burial), who says: “What worldly sweetness is not involved in sorrow, what kind of glory stands immutable on earth? All the canopy is most weak, all the sleep is most charming, for the coming death destroys all this.” Blessed David also says: Many are the sorrows of the righteous, and the Lord will deliver me from them all (Ps. 33:20). If the righteous endure many sorrows through the destinies of God, then how can I, a great sinner, be able to spend this life without sorrow and sorrow? And I mean this if there is any concern of the righteous Judge for my salvation. But I know and am firmly convinced that He cares about the salvation of all of us who believe in Him, and arranges everything for the benefit of our souls. Let us not grieve and despair immeasurably. Blessed is man, says the Holy Scripture, if you chastise him, O Lord, and teach him from Your law, to tame him from the days of cruelty (Ps. 93:12-13). And another instruction: Son, do not despise the punishment of the Lord; let him who is reproved from Him weaken; for the Lord loves him, punishes him, and beats every son whom he accepts (Prov. 3:11-12). And Blessed Paul: If you endure punishment, God will be found to you as a son. Who is a son, isn’t his father punishing him? If you are without punishment, then all of you are partakers of God, for you are naturally adulterous, and not filial. And a little further: Any punishment at the present time does not seem to be a joy of being, but sorrow, but later the fruit of peace rewards those who have learned righteousness (Heb. 12: 7–8, 11). My most noble lord, Prince Dimitri! Forgive me, for the Lord’s sake, for out of the great spiritual love that I have for everyone, I dared to briefly write this small consolation to your nobility. From what I myself have suffered for many years, I have learned to teach others to have the same patience in the unexpected sorrows brought upon them by the ineffable destinies of God for some of our sins. For we all, as people, sin every day by transgressing the commandments of God before the righteous Judge, Who rewards each of us according to our deeds. May the Lord always keep you healthy in soul and body, and may He deliver you from real sorrows. Amen. For God’s sake, do not grieve, but take courage, and let your heart be strong, and endure the Lord with all thanksgiving, with undoubted faith and unshameful hope. I bow a lot to your nobility - your poor pilgrim is such and such. You might be interested in: