Against those who are strengthened by looking at the stars to predict the future, and about the free will of man

Arming myself for exploits for the truth of the Gospel, and preparing myself for the destruction of lies, being inflamed by the fire of zeal for the truth, I find it timely to say with blessed David what he said for the edification of the prophet-killers, or better yet, the murderers of Christ and the Jewish race: “Sons of mankind, as long as you are hard-hearted, love all vanities, and seek lies.” (Ps. 4:3)? Truly, those who are hard-hearted are seekers of vanity and lies, and those who are darkened by deep darkness are those who, not submitting to the apostolic, prophetic and paternal teachings, cling to the Babylonian demonic servility, or rather, follow the tricks and atrocities of the demons, and so stubbornly that they are more likely to renounce their soul if someone were tormented to torture them because of their wickedness, rather than to give up some stargazing servility to demons. And this is not surprising: for it is fitting that the leader and legislator of this deception, the father of lies, who in the Holy Scriptures is called the Assyrian mind, as one who does not think at all pleasing to God and piously, should have, as it were, some representatives, firm in mind, exposed to him as living and acting in them. He, the flatterer, had such people under Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, whom he put up against blessed Moses, trying through them to darken those obvious miracles. He incited such people against the blessed Jeremiah, trying to show that his saving answers, which he gave to the Jewish people, were worthless. He erected such a thing against blessed Peter, in the person of the Samaritan Simon, wanting, bad, at the very beginning of the gospel sermon to make this sowing obscene. He armed one such, in the person of Iliodor, against the Most Reverend Bishop Leo of Catania. With many of these, even now, the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church of Christ is still being damaged by this destructive dragon, which attributes everything that the Creator planted in man, created in the image of God: freedom of will and reason, which is what man is primarily created in the image and likeness of God over other creatures, he attributes to the combination of the zodiacs and stars, and to this he assigns dependence in the choice of virtues and vices. And this god-fighting apostate has reached such a frenzy that he shamelessly asserts that even piety and honest living will cease, and that through the action of Zeus and Ares (Mars) it will soon be reintroduced into the Church of Christ, and there will be a renewal and a new law, depending on the movement of the planets and zodiacs. Oh what a blasphemy! Alas, what satanic malice! To what heights of wickedness has this nasty one risen! What Christian ear, even if only the corner of its lips touched the apostolic infusion, will tolerate this? It seems to me that those who say this secretly think to themselves, although they do not yet dare to openly preach their lies, that our Savior Jesus Christ was produced by the movement of the planets, of necessity took flesh and was given to the cross, and of the same necessity performed all those wondrous and supernatural miracles. That these bad people think so is clear from the fact that they shamelessly say that Zeus and Ares will again introduce our piety and pure living. What could be more wicked, now or later, than such wisdom? If the rotation of the stars, their combination and approach, gives us divine gifts, and they are renewed after they weaken, and our mind and the will of our souls are dependent on the properties of the zodiacs, and they are directed either to virtue or to a vicious life, then the apostolic preaching is unnecessary, and our faith is also unnecessary. In this case, let the law be rejected, let the preaching of the Gospel stop, let prayers and sacrifices stop: all this is unnecessary and useless if we are under the violence of such rapists - rulers, and by them we are drawn against our will to evil: either by Aphrodite - to fornication, or by Ares - to murder and robbery, or to theft - by Hermes, or to anger and irreconcilable enmity - the most hostile Kronos. Let no one care about virtue or try to lag behind vices; but, having learned his lot, what it is, let him expect good from it, if he fell into the lot of a good master, and if he fell into the lot of an evil one, then let him not try in vain to free himself from enslavement to his master, for he will never be able to free himself from this enslavement, no matter how many feats he undertakes for this. Let him not be afraid of the terrible trials of the righteous Judge, for he will then have sufficient justification, consisting in the violence of his evil ruler, by whom he was drawn to various vices against his will. Likewise, the one who has succeeded in virtue should not expect reward from the Judge for justice and truth, for his virtues depended not on his own will, but on the violence of that ruler to whom he was accidentally given by lot, and by whom he, like some kind of beast of burden, was directed to follow the right path and protected from the abysses of evil located on both sides. Our judge promised to reward those who turn out to be good by choice, and not by force, saying: “If anyone wants to walk after Me, let him deny himself” (Matthew 16:24), and so on. Saying this. The Creator of our nature clearly showed that both good and evil deeds depend on our will, for he said: “If anyone wants, let him deny himself,” and did not say: let him deny the power that controls him. If He knew that this does not depend on our power, He would clearly say: if anyone can follow Me. For this reason, the one who asked Him how he could receive eternal life answered, saying: “if you want to be perfect,” and so on, and did not say: “if you can,” which would mean that good or evil does not depend on one’s will, but said: “if you want.” And to want or not to want clearly shows that he is powerful in his affairs. For this reason, everyone’s deeds are preserved for judgment, as arising from arbitrariness, and not from coercion and violence of the zodiacs and planets. Moreover, aren’t they clearly slandering God and annoying Him who attribute everything we have to the stars and claim that apart from their arrangement, nothing happens that concerns us? For if God, Who is the very Truth and Truth and Goodness, Who from the very beginning, in every possible way, invented our salvation with His ineffable and incomprehensible advice, - if He knew that there is some compelling force invested in us, invested in the zodiacs, which would attract each of us according to its quality and, against desire, would force us to do what we do not want, then how would He again command us, commanding: “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness” (Matthew 19:18), and the like? Will they say that God took away from the stars the power that had previously been invested in them over us, and then commands us this way? But it is absurd to think so about God, much less to speak, for this would serve as a sign of His unreasonableness and disorder. “Unrepentantly,” Paul said somewhere, “the gifts of God” (Rom. 11, 29); and David testifies of Him that He is “terrible in counsel than the sons of men” (Ps. 65:5). Or will they say that the Lord was jealous of the salvation of people, and therefore did not tell Moses and the prophets about the power of the stars? But if so, then as David speaks of God: “He told the children of Israel His desires” (Ps. 102:7). And if God was jealous of our salvation, then how does David again speak of Him: “How good is the God of Israel with a right heart” (Ps. 72:1)? If there is envy in Him, then how does He turn out to be merciful and not want the sinner to die? Why was He crucified and died? Obviously, he is lying who, contrary to the law of the Creator, rants that the combination of planets and zodiacs is something of the highest; our Creator is true, Who did not subjugate man to anyone, but left him free and honored him in His image, creating him good by nature, and not by the influence of the stars on him. Moreover, if God knew that the stars have a coercive force, then why, when man in Eden, on the advice of the serpent, sinned, did He impose punishment on the sinner and on the one who deceived him? Why did He not pour out His righteous anger on the main culprit of deception - the planet Mercury (Hermes), but on the serpent, who deceived Adam and ruined the council of the Creator? It was also fitting for the Creator to warn man about the power communicated to him by the stars, so that he would prepare as best as possible (to obey them) and so that out of ignorance he would not anger his Master. This befitted the goodness and truth of the Creator; now we find nothing of the kind, but on the contrary, we see that illnesses and punishments were sent by command (of God), just as the day of judgment is called “a cruel day” (Is. 13:9), and in another place it is said that for sinners this day is full of sorrow and illness, for it is said: “on a cruel day the Lord will deliver him” (Ps. 40:2). Another prophet, having listed various punishments prepared by God (for sinners), speaks as if on behalf of God: “Have not all these gathered together with Me, and been sealed in My treasures? On the day of vengeance I will repay, in the time when their foot is tempted: for the day of their destruction is near” (Deut. 32:34–35). Let us listen to what has been said, meaningless ones, and, although it is late, someday we will begin to philosophize about what God has hidden and imprinted in the treasures of His zeal. Who revealed to you, who were mistaken regarding the power of the stars, their actions - were they angels or archangels, and “which” of them “understood the mind of the Lord?” (Isa.40:13) Or perhaps some prophet, illuminated in every way by the Holy Spirit? Show us who it is, and then we will shut up. “On the day,” he says, “I will repay vengeance” (Deut. 32:35), and not on the day of the appearance of Kronos, or some other planet that instills demonic fear in you. Then he gives more precisely, showing the reason: “at the time when their foot stumbles” (Deut. 32:35), that is, when they begin to walk not upright, breaking His commandments. Let us understand that God provides providential punishments upon us, if we sin, it is for our correction, and not by the appearance of the stars, and that these punishments befall us at the time when we fall into crimes - befall us according to the will of God, and not when Kronos or Mars want. God calls to us even more clearly, saying: “You see, you see, for I am, and there is no God except Me: I will kill and make life, I will smite and I will heal, and I will cut off everything that is not from My hand” (Deut. 32:39). I, he says, am God Himself; with this He distracts you from the lies of stargazing and from any other demonic fear, teaching you to place your hope in Him alone and to recognize Him alone as punishing you as a father, for He heals you not through evil stars, but with stern words, illnesses and sorrows that happen to us at the command of God. What has been said here is sufficient for those who piously and obediently bow their necks under the yoke of the Holy Scriptures. But since not all those who are called are and are chosen, according to the word of the Gospel, then for greater confirmation of those who doubt the truth, it is necessary for me to provide evidence from the writings of the holy fathers. Our great father Vasily, in the sixth conversation of the six-day period, having first exposed this star-divining deception and shown it to be false and in everything worthy of laughter, adds, saying: “But they do not stop at this alone, but attribute to the celestial bodies the reason for what the will of each of us has power over, that is, the reason for the disposition towards virtue or vice. On the one hand, it is ridiculous to dispute them, but on the other, since many are infected with this error, perhaps necessity requires not leaving this in silence. So, first of all, let’s ask them: don’t the figures of the stars change a thousand times every day? For the so-called planets are constantly moving, and some converge more quickly with each other, while others make slower revolutions, often appearing at the same hour and in sight of one another and are hidden from each other. And at the moment of birth, as they say, it has very great power to be in sight of a beneficent or malevolent star. And often, out of ignorance of the smallest part, not finding the time at which the star showed itself to be beneficial, they described it as being among the unfavorable. For I am forced to use my own expressions. But in their words, of course, there is a lot that is unreasonable, and much more - wicked. For the evil stars transfer the cause of their evilness to their Creator. If evil is natural to them, then the Creator is the creator of evil. And if they become evil at will, then, firstly, they are living beings, gifted with will, indulging in spontaneous and free aspirations; to assert this about inanimate things is the height of madness. Then, how inconsistent with reason is it that evil and good are not given to each according to their merit, but that a star should be beneficial because it is in such and such a place, and that it should become evil because it is seen under such and such a star, and again would immediately forget its malignancy if it deviates somewhat from a certain figure! And that's enough about this. If at every moment of time the relative position of the stars changes from one type to another, and given the countless number of such changes, more than once a day outlines are drawn up showing the birth of kings, then why are not kings born every day? Or why do they inherit the kingdom from their fathers? For, of course, not every king carefully considers the birth of his son with the royal outline of the stars. And what kind of person has the power in this? How did Uzziah beget Jotham, Jotham Ahaz, and Ahaz Hezekiah? And not one of them happened to be born in the hour of slavery? Moreover, if the principles of vicious and virtuous actions do not depend on us, but are necessary due to birth, then in vain there are legislators who determine what we should do and what not to do, in vain there are judges who reward virtue and punish vice. Neither the thief nor the murderer is guilty of a crime: even if he wanted to, it was impossible for him to restrain his hands, because necessity inevitably prompted him to such actions. And those who work on the arts are the most deceived. On the contrary, the farmer will reap abundant fruits without throwing seeds into the ground or sharpening his scythe, and the merchant will become rich, whether he wants it or not, because fate will collect a lot of money for him. The great hopes of Christians will turn into nothing among us, because neither righteousness will be honored, nor sin will be condemned, since people do nothing of their own free will. For where necessity and fate reign, there is no place for reward according to one’s worth.” Thus, according to the special inspiration of the Holy Spirit acting in him, says the divine Basil, who betrayed this to the pious. Let us strive with all our might to follow his teaching if we want to be pious in divine subjects. Let us also listen to how blessed Gregory the Theologian, in agreement with Basil, argues and writes in his sermon about love for the poor, in which, testing the causes of the misfortunes that happen to people, such as illnesses and poverty, as well as the causes of prosperity, where and from what comes this and that, and weeping for those who falsely recognize everything as an accident and attribute it to some kind of fate or happiness, depending on the fact. which one was given by lot, attributing everything to the movement of the stars, says about them: “These are the ones we are talking about. They don't want to admit that God is wiser than them. And if they happen to be perplexed about some incident, then, instead of either working hard to find the cause of it, in the hope that the truth may be given to a hardworking search, or to consult about this with people who are wiser and more spiritual than them, since wisdom is one of the gifts, and “not everyone has understanding” (1 Cor. 8:7), or through the purity of life to grasp knowledge and to seek wisdom from the Source of wisdom - they, due to ignorance, turn to what is closer to them, and falsely philosophize that everything in this world happens without any reasonable reason, because they themselves do not understand the reason for what is happening. And thus, due to their ignorance, they become wise, or from excessive, so to speak, wisdom they become unwise and senseless. That is why some have invented happiness and randomness - such a fiction that they really only invented it by chance. Others have come up with some kind of unreasonable and inexorable dominion of the stars, which by their own will weave, or, better to say, are involuntarily forced to weave our destiny through the combination and opposition of planets, and the general dominant movement. But these, as I said, will be rejected, since even before us the word of God condemned them, saying: “Their foolish heart is darkened. It says to be wise, corrupt, and change the glory of the incorruptible God” (Rom. 1:21-23), distorting the all-encompassing Providence with some fables and shadows. But we, if we, as rational beings and servants of the Word, listen to reason, should neither invent such monstrous opinions ourselves, nor accept the opinions of those who think so, no matter how cunning their language may be in composing absurd speculations and teachings, and no matter how seductive the novelty of their inventions may be.” Is it clear to us that this divine father recognizes the doctrine of birth and the demonic fear of a false opinion about the influence of the stars as nonsense, and that some have deviated into this wickedness only because they could not understand the reasons for the various dispensations of divine providence? Let us flee from their teaching, and we will understand that everything is controlled and accomplished by the incomprehensible providence of the Lord and His unspeakable wisdom, and not by the connection and separation of the stars! Let us also listen to what Blessed John Chrysostom says in the 75th discourse of his commentary on the Holy Gospel of Matthew: “Where are those who oppose the dominion of nature and the cycle of time to the teaching of the Church? Does any of them remember that another Christ would ever appear, that such an incident would happen? So, what kind of rotation are you talking about? There was no Sodom, no Gomorrah, no other flood. How long will you mock and talk about transformation and emergence? How, you say, do many things that are predicted come true? Since you have deprived yourself of God’s help, neglected it and placed yourself outside of providence, the devil manages and disposes of your affairs as he pleases.” Do you hear what this blessed father says? The devil, he says, helps and promotes the servants of the stars and, as he wants, turns the circumstances of believers into astrologer teaching. Let us be afraid and, although it is too late, somehow let us become chaste, we will not give place to the devil in ourselves, and then Christ, “God’s power and God’s wisdom,” will dwell in us (1 Cor. 1:24). Then again (St. Chrysostom), continuing his speech, explains what birth is, calling birth a fortune-telling by the confluence of stars, good or evil. He says: “What, in fact, does fortune telling by the luminaries mean? Nothing more than lies and confusion, due to which everything happens at random, and not only at random, but also recklessly.” Then, answering those who contrast (in defense of their teaching) not the same, but diverse circumstances that happen every day, he says: “But you will say: if the luminaries have no influence on the fate of a person, then why is one rich and the other poor? Don't know. So I will answer you first in order to teach you not to boldly test everything and not think at all, for this reason that everything happens by chance and without a purpose. You shouldn't invent something that doesn't exist just because you don't understand it. Good ignorance is better than harmful teaching. Now I’ll tell you why some are rich: God gives wealth to some, but allows it to others. Here's a short and simple explanation of why. Well, the erring one will say, does He make rich the adulterer and the one who abuses his wealth? He does not make him rich, but only allows him to acquire wealth; and between doing and allowing, there is a great and even infinite difference. Why, however, does He allow it? Because the time for judgment has not yet come for everyone to receive what they deserve.” Have we understood from what has been said what kind of madness, disorder and wickedness is caused by the astrologer's madness? Or do we still need evidence against this lie? But it seems to me that the one who is not convinced by what has been said will not submit to any other evidence, like someone who is incurably ill, and if someone asked him: what reason does not allow him to agree with the true evidence - whether the reasoning of the spiritual mind or some star hostile to the truth, then he could not say that the star: for all the works of God are good and, in any case, according to the word of the blessed Apostle, those who fear God “will make haste for good” (Rom. 8:28). Therefore, the star, as God’s creation, is good, and the Creator did not put the properties of hatred of the truth into it, for He is good and the Creator of all good, and not evil. On the other hand, we know many from history and now we see many who have learned the falsity of star divination and learned the truth. This would not have happened to them if they had been subject to the violence of the stars. From here it is clear that man was created autocratic and with free will, in the image of God, and if he voluntarily turns his thought to God, then no one can easily distract him from his chosen object until he again voluntarily weakens and brings condemnation upon himself in ignorance of good. We, being pupils of the Church of the Savior Christ, or, which is the same, stewards of the truth - for our God, Jesus Christ, is Light and Wisdom and Truth - we will hear what the blessed prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah say, and we will hate all pagan demons and star-gazing lies, and we will remain within the limits of the prophetic and apostolic truth, without being seduced or deceived by eloquence and intricately woven evidence of imaginary Hellenic sages. Their teacher is the devil, who makes them wise by secretly putting into them beautiful speeches and demonstrative reasoning in order to deceive the more frivolous. That fortune telling by the stars is a deception and a disastrous abyss - this was clearly proven by the divine prophet Isaiah, prophesying against Babylon and saying: your wisdom and your artistry have deceived you. And again: “Let your astrologers now become and save you, the astrologers of heaven, looking at the stars, and let them tell you what they have to come to you. Behold, your pride will burn with fire, and you will not take your soul out of the flame” (Is. 47:13-14). Let us listen carefully and fear the living God - we Christians who, in sorrowful circumstances, abandoning trust in God, resort with faith to astrologers, seeking help from them and hoping to receive it. The prophet says that they, like brushwood, will burn with fire. These are the good rewards God has prepared for those who listen to star divination! To this we should also add the well-known apostolic saying that “the worker is worthy of his reward” (1 Tim. 5:18). But we, who want to get rid of the eternal fire and be with Christ, will adhere to His holy scriptures, listening to the blessed Jeremiah, who on behalf of God says this: “Do not learn by the way of tongues, and do not be afraid of the signs of heaven, as the pagans fear them.” Since then the laws of the tongues are vanity” (Jer. 10:2-3). And, indeed, they are vain, unsubstantiated, deceitful and full of all deception, for they were established not by God, but by soul-destroying demons. And it was not the prophets of the living God who spoke them through the Holy Spirit and testified to their piety and salvation, but the servants of the evil (Pythian) spirit - people who led an unclean life and devoted to all kinds of vices: the Chaldeans, Babylonians, Egyptians, Arabians and Phoenicians, who from the beginning became famous for their wickedness, and also from the Hellenes - those who were followers the charms of Epicurus and Diagoras, who was called godless for his wickedness. Neither Socrates, nor Plato, nor Aristotle, these most respected and true-loving of the Hellenic philosophers, ever inclined to agree with the deceptive fortune-telling by the movement of the stars, as is clearly evident from their writings. Therefore, as it seems, Aristotle, realizing that this is a deception, and that in vain they use the name of science for this fortune-telling, condemned it, recognized it as despicable and false, saying somewhere in his writings regarding predictions about future events that this is not the final truth, and that there is neither vision nor science about this. How can stargazers dare to shamelessly guess about the future destinies of God, claiming that there will be a new law and a new time, flourishing in piety and purity, and that this will be introduced by Zeus and Mars? If, according to the Hellenic philosopher, there is neither science nor vision of any kind about the future, for foreknowledge of the future is a matter of Divine grace alone, and not a matter of astronomical demonic teaching, which constitutes a meaningless science, largely erring and using the assistance of Satan, then it is not for her to talk about divine objects. The God-given laws were beautifully and perfectly established and approved many centuries ago by many councils of the glorified God-bearing holy fathers, and no exceptions or additions can be allowed to these establishments. And that the astrologer’s demonic science is helped by Satan with his suggestions, and through them it exists - an irrefutable witness to this is Augustine of Hippo, who in the first chapter of interpretations on the world’s existence says this: “Although astrologers often give true predictions about the future, this does not come so much from heavenly signs, but from the secret suggestion of Satan, to which sometimes, unbeknownst to themselves, human minds are subjected, and thus these predictions occur together, from agreement with the devil." By this, this blessed father clearly showed where this demonic teaching comes from, and that the devil reveals to the followers of astrologer science what will happen to them one day to predict truly, what happens at the inspiration of demons. Which Christian, a true and not a hypocritical believer, will ever agree to gain knowledge of such satanic deception and enter into conversation with demons? Unless only those who prefer being with demons to eternal life. Hearing St. Augustine speaking about stargazers that they often predict the future, do not be shaken in your mind for this reason, and do not think that they are always and in everything true, but remember that this holy father says that they mostly acquire this with the help of Satan, and not from heavenly signs alone. And with these words, this blessed father clearly showed that Christians should reject and hate such demonic teaching, and that they should not believe such predictions, and in no way say that this ability to predict, which some have, comes from heavenly signs, for the opinion that heavenly bodies show the truth about the future in advance is a lie and a delusion. According to the teachings of Blessed John of Damascus, the future is unknown to the angels, but only what God will reveal to them and command them to predict, and therefore what they say will come true. Demons also predict, sometimes foreseeing what will happen long in advance, and sometimes they guess; but for the most part they lie, and therefore one should not believe them, although sometimes their predictions come true. Let us beware of the brew of the Pharisees, that is, the bitter and sour demonic teaching of false astrologers, for they, according to Blessed Augustine, are for the most part under the influence of demons, and therefore, even if they happen to predict the truth about human suffering, we will not believe them, as Blessed John of Damascus commands us. Let us be ashamed of so many teachers and preachers filled with the grace of Christ the Savior, and we will not honor the teaching of demons more than the teaching of the Church. Let us fear the truthful and true reproach with which the Apostle reproaches the Galatians, who enslaved themselves to observing the rules of the law, saying to them: “But then, not knowing God, you serve not by nature as God; Having now come to know God, and even more so having been known by God, how come you return to the weak and evil elements, which you again want to serve from above? You look at the days, and the months, and the seasons, and the summers. I am afraid for you, for I labored in vain in you” (Gal. 4:8-11). Who are those who order to observe the days, months, times and years, if not the wicked star-watchers, who frighten with an almanac regarding every matter, so that those who trust them do not dare to take a step, unless they first find out in the wicked book - the “Almanac”, what position the planets are in. Such people neglected the Holy Scripture, which says that all the days of the week were created good by the Creator, and that the Creator blessed and sanctified the seventh day by stopping all His works; They, the bad ones, divide the days into evil and good, and especially recognize the seventh day as evil, while God sanctified it and established it as a holy and respected holiday for those under the law. These same people, sick with wickedness, having far rejected all fear of God, sacrilegiously stole it from the living God and attributed it to the deceiving planet Kronos (Saturn) and consider it evil and malevolent. They also separated the third day from Mars, calling these days evil and asserting that on them one should neither begin any business nor travel, since the planets that own these days are opposed to the fact that affairs begun on these days come to a good end. Oh, what wickedness! What a frenzy! Those days that the Creator God blessed everyone “and sanctified is the seventh day” (Gen. 2:3), bad astrologers slander and desecrate, as if they were higher than God. And while the Holy Scripture cries out, saying: “And God saw all the trees that were created, and behold all the good things” (Gen. 1:31), - bad astrologers, arming themselves against God, call them evil and destructive, assigning to them the names of zodiacs and planets, of which some are considered beneficial, and about those who are born under them, they claim that all this will come true for them; what is characteristic of these planets - whether they want it or not. And thus, a person, created by nature good and autocratic, is recognized as involuntarily enslaved to the influence of the planet under which he was born, even if he did not want it. Who legitimized this? Or which of the holy men testified by God taught this? Or better yet, who among the saints does not condemn this? Why is the third day unlucky? How can you prove this? What scripture? In particular, how can what was created after possess what was before? Was it not on the fourth day that the great luminaries and other stars were created? How did the deceptive and flattering planet Mars, created on the next day, make the third day maleficent, which the Creator had created good and beneficial? And not only in this are they convicted as ungodly, but also in the fact that the false Lord promised the blessed Noah, that is, that there will be no more flood in the world forever, saying to him like this: “And I will establish My covenant with you: and all flesh shall not die by the water of the flood, and to whom there shall not be a flood of water that will destroy the whole earth” (Gen. 9:11). And a little further on, the all-generous Lord says a second time: “and no one shall have water for a flood, for he shall consume all flesh” (Gen. 9:15). And while the Creator of all gives such multiple certificates to the righteous, these, as if they knew something better than God, in their most deceitful book “Almanac”, boldly placed a positive word, saying that there will be a terrible flood throughout the entire universe that will destroy all flesh in general, such as has not happened since the foundation of the world. In this word, as if laughing at us, they speak in the most godless manner, saying: lift up your heads, O Christian people, and understand. By saying this, they clearly confess about themselves that they are not Christians, as they write and speak contrary to the Holy Scriptures. Someone justly and opportunely said to them: “Aren’t you ashamed to so openly and brazenly contradict God-inspired scripture? If you are Christians and boast about Christianity, why do you mix into it something that has nothing in common with it, thinking in Hellenistic terms? If you prefer Babylonian demonization to Christian teaching, then why are you called Christians in vain? How long will you cover the wolf with sheep’s clothing?” Give up, although it will be too late, stubbornness and learn the truth, if not from others, then at least from the most blessed Sylvester, Pope of Rome, who, like a luminary, illuminated the entire universe with the radiance of his words. This blessed one, as the book written about him tells, was perfectly adorned with all wisdom, both Hellenic and Roman; when he was honored with the “garment of incorruptibility” and was filled with “unflattering verbal milk” (1 Pet. 2:2), then, realizing the charm of the astrologers that prevailed in the world at that time throughout the universe, who even called the days of the week after the names of the planets, as the Latins are still accustomed to calling them, hated this charm and, guided by apostolic and bishop’s reasoning, renamed the days after number of them, giving them a more pious name. And he called the first day on which the universal resurrection of the Savior took place the Day of the Lord, the day following it (Monday) he called the second, dedicating it to the blessed ethereal forces, which are the second lights after the First Beginningless and Incomprehensible Light; The next one after what we call (Tuesday) is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. He called the next day (Wednesday) the fourth, dedicating it to the Life-Giving Cross and the Mother of God. And the one that follows him (the quarter) he called the fifth, dedicating it to the holy apostles; the one who followed him (Friday) called “paraskevi”, that is, preparation, which in number is the sixth of the week, dedicating it to the Life-Giving Cross and the Mother of God. And the seventh that follows him, which the Jews call Saturday, that is, rest, left it with this name and dedicated it to all the holy martyrs in general, since through their exploits and holy blood the Holy Church of Christ the Savior was freed from persecution and its countless labors and sorrows ceased. And it was not in vain that the blessed one invented this, but wanting to eradicate from the minds of the faithful the observation of the planets, which, by the grace of Christ and the prayers of His saints, was accomplished in the Eastern churches and is still preserved by all the pious. For this reason, it was established by the holy fathers for believers, every day of the week at Vespers, to sing pleasantly and evenly composed songs and chants to the glory of God and to the praise of those saints who happen every day, and who, being sung, sanctify the minds of the faithful, driving away from them all demonic and pagan flattery and pouring into them considerable spiritual pleasure; about Apollo and Artemis, Mercury and Mars, about Jupiter, Venus and Saturn, they have no trace of memory. They rejected all this, leaving it to the Greeks and Egyptians, obeying the saying of the Holy Spirit, commanding: “For let not my mouth speak of the deeds of men, for the words of Thy lips I have kept the ways of cruelty” (Ps. 16:4). And again: “I will not remember their names in my mouth. The Lord is part of my wealth and my cup” (Ps. 15:4-5). What kind of cruel paths are these (from which the prophet saved himself), if not the evil teachings and traditions of God-fighting star-watchers, and especially the observations of the most evil “Almanac” regarding days and hours and moments, with which he, as if by what paths, leads to the perilous abyss of those who listen to him and does this not only mentally, but also sensually. What I want to tell the listeners here, I saw with my own eyes, and not from anyone else, and I will tell it as before God, out of love for the truth. In Italy there is a glorious and populous city, which was called Mediolan, abounding in countless blessings needed in life, and especially wise and noble people; Hospitality and kindness also flourish in him; it is located in a country called Lombardy. In this city there was a ruler, dux in Latin, named Louis, nicknamed Moreau, whose power was destroyed by the famous king of the Western French, Louis XII. For the said Dux Louis, in addition to his other countless atrocities, tortures and tricks, acquired for himself a certain master’s fortuneteller in the stellar course, named Ambrose Rosada, who was considered the first among the astrologers of that time. This accursed one, with his atrocities and flattery, soon so dominated the dux that he began to believe that he would soon become the owner of all Italy, as Ambrose assured him of by star divination. Therefore, he then caused countless evils to the Venetians, raising against them the wicked Sultan of the Turkish Bayazet, who, coming from Constantinople with a powerful army, conquered by war some regions and cities of Hellas, Modon and Coron, which had hitherto belonged to the Venetians. And many other countless evils were caused to Italy by this Dux Louis, who so completely submitted to Ambrose’s sorcery that he ordered painters to depict himself in paint on boards and on walls sleeping on his left hand, and with the hand of his right hand embracing the whole world, which indicated his comprehensive power. Even when it was necessary to mount a horse, and if Ambrose happened to be there and told him that this hour was not favorable, he would take his leg out of the stirrup, and then a little later, according to astrology, he would allow him to ride. They even said that Ambrose prepared for him a part of the land, in which, through magical art, he imprisoned some kind of deceitful spirit, from whom the dux received advance notices of the future. Having been seduced in this way, that accursed dux became exalted in his mind, brought all the affairs of Italy into confusion, became the cause of countless bloodsheds, and finally found himself, as the famous parable says, heaping a stone on himself, or as the divine scripture says, “sinners will fall into their depths” (Ps. 140:10). For the French king sent an army against him, and quickly conquered everything that was under his power. This impudent one, who dreamed of his sole dominion and embraced the whole world with picturesque images, now, being possessed by fear and trembling, fled with great shame to Germany to the Emperor Maximilian. Then, after some time, he returned with an army, intending to regain power and recapture some cities, and showed such valor: while fighting against a certain city called Navarre, he was overtaken at night by the French, who took him alive and captured his entire army. And the one who dreamed of being the autocratic ruler of the entire universe - alas! - was immediately captured, sent to France and imprisoned there in some strong tower, where he died shamefully. Such was the end of this devotee of astrologer deception; He was honored to receive such benefits from fortune telling by the stars: he lost his valor, lost his leadership and his life. None of this would have happened to him if he had listened to the righteous Anna, who says: “The Lord brings poverty and riches, humbles and exalts. He raises up the wretched from the earth, and lifts up the poor from the pit of rot; make him sit with the mighty people” (1 Samuel 2:7-8), and not the combination and rapprochement of the planets and the zodiac and the like, which bad star fortune tellers prattle on about. Anyone can understand their madness and the falsity of their insignificant cunning from the fact that each of them, and there are a lot of them, writes his own long reasonings for each year, which he offers for sale in the markets, where everyone writes about the same thing, and it is impossible to find any of these reasonings so that it agrees with the other. For everyone, understanding in their own way the influence of this or that star, describes it differently. This would not have happened to them if the science of astronomy was true. And since their foundation is not true and solid, then everything that happens from here is false. Being deceitful and wicked, as stated above, the astrologer’s deceptions are cunningly decorated, with the assistance of demons, with various words for the destruction of souls. Let us try with all our might to retreat from them for the sake of the bounties of Christ and, placing our trust in God, from Him alone we will always hope to receive benefits both in this life and in the future, diligently fulfilling His saving commandments. If we fulfill them sincerely, and not hypocritically, then everything will be successful for us and everything will be arranged for the benefit of divine Providence. For blessed David says that God is “near to all who call on Him in truth” (Ps. 144:18). That’s why he added the words here: “in truth,” to show that this refers to those who fulfill His commandments in word and deed; This is what the Savior in the Holy Gospel said to the Jews who transgressed His commandments: “What do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not do the things I say” (Luke 6:46). When the commandments of God are fulfilled by us by deed, then all grace will come to us from heaven “from the Father of lights” (James 1:17), as it is written; when they are violated, then punishment is immediately sent from the commanded Lord, and not from the zodiacs and planets, for they are soulless and deaf and have no power over the image of God, that is, over our autocracy, with which we were respected at first. A reliable witness to this is Saint John of Damascus, who says this: “The Greeks attribute the management of all our affairs to the rising and setting of the sun, moon and stars and their combinations; We affirm that through them there are signs of rain and lack of rain, warmth and cold, dampness and drought, the action of winds and the like; our affairs - not at all; for we, being created by the Creator as autocratic, ourselves have power regarding our actions. If it depended on the course of the stars, then we would find ourselves acting under compulsion in what we do. And what happens under duress is recognized neither as a virtue nor as a crime. If we have neither virtues nor vices, then we deserve neither praise, nor rewards, nor blame or punishment. But God will also turn out to be unjust, giving blessings to some and sending sorrows to others; It will also turn out that God has no providence for His creatures, since everything happens out of necessity; but the very concept of virtue and vice is completely unnecessary for us. If there is no action pleasing to God, then the reasoning taught about this is superfluous, for rationality is given to us for reasoning; Therefore, every rational being must necessarily be autocratic.” Maybe someone will say: do wars really not depend on the signs of celestial bodies? (We will answer this) Didn’t we rightly say at the very beginning of this word of ours that of everything rotating in the sky, be it planets or zodiacs, nothing serves as the cause of what is or is not in our power, for our affairs are governed by the beck of the Lord and His righteous standards, which are known to Him alone; The planets rotating in the sky are all soulless and deaf and do not serve as the cause of anything, neither evil nor good, but only serve as an indication of what happens against our will in creation, at the behest of the One who contains everything and controls everything, such as rain and lack of rain, heat and cold, and similar random phenomena. The damned star fortune-tellers, not understanding what difference there is between the causes of these and other signs, but insidiously accepting the signs in the sky established by the Creator for the benefit, and as if inspiring and deifying them, recognized them as the lords and rulers of all our deeds and reasoning - good and evil, also - glory and dishonor and the like. What could be more wicked than this? For whoever understands this, necessarily rejects that all this consists and is governed by God the Creator, and introduces chance or some kind of Imarmenia (fate), which the Greeks incorrectly and unreasonably allow in the management. If the stars forcefully draw human nature to praiseworthy or unpraiseworthy deeds, then there is no longer any place for faith that God watches over everything and controls everything, and that there will be a test and a worthy reward for deeds. It will even turn out that God is the cause of evil, while He is the highest Goodness and Truth. What true Christian, if he does not hypocritically maintain faith, will allow himself to allow this? Therefore, I beg every believer not to be lightly seduced by such wickedness, even if those who teach this seem to some to be great in Orthodoxy and distinguished by wisdom; for our enemy the devil, knowing for certain that our salvation depends on true faith and hope in God, constantly manages in every way to distract us from this faith and hope, offering us all deceptive predictions of followers of the false astrologer teaching, whom for the most part he encourages and teaches in this matter, trying to deceive us, as St. Augustine and the divine Chrysostom taught us this. He, the all-evil one, knows that by deceiving predictions he can easily distract us from God to himself, making us believe that the stars control our actions and judgments; when this faith is accepted, we will no longer care at all, or very little, about our sins, excusing ourselves by the inevitability of the influence of the stars. When sad circumstances occur, we blame God for this as the creator of evil. By doing this, we will necessarily have to lose the intercession of God, and then it will be convenient for the enemy to take possession of us and bring us to the bottom of hell. May our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and true God, to whom belongs all glory, honor and worship, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages, deliver us from his snares. Amen. You might be interested in: