About storing feelings

Essay by Rev. Nicodemus of the Svyatogorets “On the Preservation of Feelings” (or “Admonitory Guide”) was published in Vienna in 1801. The book is a guide to the internal struggle with passions through the storage of feelings, with the goal of restoring the pristine state of the soul - purity, humility and unity with God. In the preface, the author shows why modern man, immersed in sensual pleasures, consumer culture and external splendor, finds himself in a spiritual emptiness. St. Nicodemus draws a parallel between the Egyptian “meats” of the Israelites and modern temptations: luxury, entertainment, bodily comfort - all this, according to his teaching, is “watered down graves” (Matthew 23:27), an illusion of happiness leading to destruction. Then, in 10 chapters, the doctrine of storing the 5 senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch), as well as imagination, mind and heart is consistently revealed - that is, all the internal and external “windows” of the soul through which passions penetrate into it: “... all evil and passion enters the soul through the senses. And if you don’t preserve feelings, then it’s impossible to destroy passions.” In the last chapter, “On guarding the mind and heart,” mystical asceticism is revealed. Through the Jesus Prayer, the memory of death and inner contemplation, the mind returns to the heart - and there, in silence, a person sees his sinfulness, cries, humbles himself and receives grace. St. Nicodemus insists that the Jesus Prayer is intended for all Christians. *Title of the work in Greek – ᾿Εγχειρίδιον συμβουλευτικόν (1st edition), Συμβουλευτικὸν ᾿Εγχειρίδιον (2nd edition). With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II Preface to the modern reader No one would refuse to ascend to Heaven and enjoy endless bliss if this could be achieved without effort and deed. We are all ready to be with the Lord in His glory, but there are few who will remain faithful to Him in sorrows and reproaches. And even if we have already decided to follow Christ, at the first difficulty our old man begins to cry out about the violation of his “rights”, about the unbearability of such a path. He is ready, like the ancient Israelites, to return back to the Egyptian “meats”, ready to turn back, like Lot’s wife. And then what kind of work is required to curb it, to remain faithful to the Lord and not give up the cross that you have taken! For those who are experiencing this, this book is addressed as guidance and strengthening. Only by the narrow path will we enter the Kingdom of Heaven; Only with effort, according to the true word of the Lord, only through many sorrows, only by denying ourselves and hating our soul, wallowing in the filth of sin, will we be able to carry our cross to the end. But sometimes, in moments of shameful cowardice, it is useful to reflect on what constitutes the joy and delight of this crazy world into which the old man pulls us. So what? Dress up in elegant clothes, which in essence are nothing more than a crafty cover for our sinfulness inherited from Adam - after all, our forefathers walked through paradise naked and were not ashamed (see: Gen. 2:25). What else is worldly happiness? Eat well, tastier and more, amuse the senses with pleasures, pamper the body with feather beds, enjoy the fragrances, and so on and so forth. That's all? But these are “washed tombs” (cf. Matt. 23:27). This is an external shine with internal emptiness and rottenness. And these are the majority in the modern world! So is it really necessary to rush after this noisy stream, rushing along a vast path to destruction? But, the old man will say, not everyone is like that: there are also those who devoted themselves to science, art, family... And well, have they found happiness? Look for the happy ones in this world - and you will not find a single one! The wise Solomon knew all the pleasures of this world, all the glory of this world and concluded - “vanity of vanities, all vanity” (Eccl. 1:2). Needless to say, all our endeavors are vain and transitory. There were so many great conquerors and famous poets in the world - and most of them are forgotten, all of them were hidden by the earth. All human deeds are vain and perishable, with the exception of those that are done for the sake of God and with God, and which through this become eternal and immortal, as God Himself is. Don't believe this? Look, a happy married couple is raising children: just as parents grow old in troubles and bustle, so their children will become a thing of the past in troubles and sorrows. But if all this is sanctified by the presence of God, then both parents and children will find joy and consolation in the Lord and after death will be honored with Eternal Life. And exactly the same in everything else: only our works done in God and with God acquire meaning and, from being transitory, become immortal. So, do not look back, soul, flow on your way, taking up your cross, “take courage, and let your heart be strong, and be patient with the Lord” (Ps. 26:14). Your path may be sorrowful and narrow, but the Lord Himself and all the saints who now look at your procession and help you have traversed it. Of course, you must overcome the old man within yourself, you must hate sinfulness and vanity - then your dead soul, your soul, will rise for the Divine and Heavenly, you will find true and inalienable joy in loving the Creator and His creation in order to fulfill the good will of God. “And you have sorrow now; Then I will see you, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22). Why the mind is enslaved to sensual passions 1 There are two reasons why the mind is enslaved to sensual lusts. The first and most important reason is that after the fall of Adam, passion penetrated into the entire human being. In passion, a person is conceived and grows in the womb, as the prophet David says: “Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sins” (Ps. 50:7). The second reason is that a person throughout his childhood, due to the imperfection of his mind, cannot force his mind to guide his feelings and direct them to spiritual pleasure. At this time, the feelings are subordinated to the body, which uses them not only in what is necessary for life, but also in its passions, subordinating the mind itself, imperfect and unintelligent, to sensual pleasure. And until about the age of fifteen, until a person reaches the maturity of full development, the mind is guided by feelings: the eyes get used to looking at physical beauty with passion, the ears are delighted by a pleasant melody, the nose gets used to smelling the sweetness of aromas, the tongue and lips strive for exquisite dishes, the skin gets used to the touch of soft and pleasant clothes for the body. And how can you then convince a person that this is not what true joy consists of, that this is not spiritual pleasure, but carnal, animal pleasure? And what will help a person get rid of such enslavement to feelings? Maybe the mind? Although he understands that such a state is characteristic of dumb animals, he himself, having learned in the first years of his life to be under the power of the senses and to regard his submission to them as a blessing, and in adulthood finds himself shackled, like iron shackles, by these five senses. The mind suffers because, having been created as a king over the body, it has become a slave to it and yet, willy-nilly, it inclines towards the pleasure of the senses. What will convince a person of the need to get out of such a pitiful state? Maybe imagination? But it is also full of passionate images and idols of sensual pleasures that have occupied him for so many years that fantasy would rather arouse in the mind and feelings a sweet memory of them than prevent the desire to plunge into them again. Maybe the heart? Alas, the heart itself is filled with sensual lusts and in some way inclines the mind, imagination, and body to satisfy them. But that's not all. Satan himself, who is the master of all bodily lusts, tickles the mind, the heart, and all the feelings. How the mind gets rid of sensual lusts So, after childhood has passed, after the mind has gained maturity and learns from the Holy Scriptures and from the Holy Fathers that there is another kind of pleasure that is akin to it - not carnal, but spiritual - pleasure, then it, being kind by nature, cannot bear the fact that the feelings of the body in which it lives are enslaved to passions, that it itself is enslaved by it, and from a master and king it has become a slave and a captive. And having realized his rights as a king and master over the body, granted to him by the Creator, he with all his strength, all his desire and all his understanding, with the assistance of the grace of God, strives to eradicate from his feelings these long-standing, established habits and thus not only get rid of the tyranny of passions, but also to subordinate them to his will. How and in what way does the liberation of the senses and their subordination to the mind occur? Listen. When a king wants to easily capture a walled city, he deprives its inhabitants of all sources of food and thereby forces them to surrender. The mind also uses a similar means in the fight against feelings: it little by little reduces the lusts that are familiar to it from each of them, no longer allowing them to be satisfied, and so easily and in a short time subjugates them to itself. At the same time, he does not remain carefree, but, receiving freedom from bodily pleasures, he turns to the spiritual food that is natural to him, which consists of reading the Holy Scriptures, creating virtues, keeping the commandments of the Lord, praying, and reflecting on the creation of the visible and invisible world. But that's not all. The mind should, as far as possible, resist the bodily senses, leading them to become accustomed to spiritual pleasures, just as before it itself enjoyed sensual pleasures, so that the body also becomes spiritual. The much-lamentable fall of our forefather Adam consisted precisely in the fact that, according to the testimony of the Holy Fathers, he abandoned spiritual food and pleasure and fell - alas! - into bodily and sensual pleasure, and from Adam we inherited this ancestral desire for the sensual. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the knowledge of sensual pleasure: having enjoyed good, that is, sensual pleasure, the forefathers also knew evil - suffering inextricably linked with it. For this reason, the New Adam came - Jesus Christ, to lead us from sensual addictions to spiritual pleasures. And this is easily achieved by those who have cut off bodily lusts and, desiring spiritual sweetness, have left the world and fled into the desert. There, not finding reasons that excite sensual passions, they easily subordinate the feelings to the mind and in a short time are awarded the Divine and sweetest peace. This is what I ask of you, beloved, so that you learn from the Holy Scriptures that spiritual pleasure, which consists in feeding on spiritual food, is natural for the mind, and sensual pleasure is unnatural for the mind. And moreover, according to Saint Callistus, spiritual pleasure alone is worthy of being called pleasure, since by tasting it and enjoying it, a person experiences joy. Sensual and bodily pleasure is not really pleasure, since both during its consumption and after it it causes only heartfelt sorrow. Needless to say: carnal pleasure is like a fly in honey, which, having tasted the sweetness of honey, stuck to its surface and drowned. It is like poison, which is sweet to the taste, but deadly, as Solomon says about the same: “Honey drips from the lips of a harlot’s wife, even though it delights your throat for a while, but later you will find something bitterer than gall” (Proverbs 5:3-4). But since your feelings have been enslaved to bodily pleasures for so many years and your mind has submitted to them, leaving the spiritual food that is natural to it, then what should you do? It is necessary to strive with great care to, as far as possible, master your five senses, providing them only with what is necessary for bodily needs and cutting off everything unnecessary and leading to pleasure. In this way you will become the master of your passions, you will be able to cleanse your feelings of false sweets and, freeing your mind from carnal lusts, you will lead it to the spiritual sweetness it desires. According to Saint Basil the Great, eyes are two disembodied hands with which the soul senses what is at a distance. So, it is necessary to stop the gaze of the eyes on bodily beauty, which leads the soul to inappropriate passion, as Solomon teaches: “Let your eyes see rightly, and let your eyelids anoint with righteousness” (Proverbs 4:25). Hear also what Job says: “I have made a covenant before my eyes, that I will not think against a maiden” (Job 31:1). Apply all your attention to observing your vision, since this feeling is like a thief: it quickly seizes the mind, so that in the twinkling of an eye, from a passionate gaze, the image of an idol is imprinted in the memory, the soul delights in it and the heart lusts for it - and the person sins, as the Lord said: “...everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5, 28). That is why Solomon commands us to guard our eyes: “Son, let not the lust of kindness overcome you; let your eyes be caught below” (Proverbs 6:25). If this thief sneaks in and catches you, then strive so that the idol of Aphrodite, that is, vile lust, is not imprinted on your soul. How? Through calling on God: after all, according to the psalmist, “salvation is the Lord’s” (Ps. 3:9); or by turning your attention to a spiritual image 2 so that the image can be overcome by the image and the imagination by the imagination. If Satan does not stop bothering you with that idol that is imprinted in your imagination, then St. John Chrysostom and the Venerable Syncletikia advise you to resort to the following remedy: mentally take out the eyes of this idol, remove the skin from it, cut off the lips - and then you will see that what remains is so terrible that a person cannot look at it without disgust and shudder, because it is nothing nothing more than bloody meat and bones. Watch your eyes carefully, since the idols of vision, deeper than the idols arising from the action of other senses, are imprinted in the memory, which we know from experience: images imprinted in the imagination from other senses are more easily erased, and visual images remain for a long time, so that even with many efforts we are not able to get rid of them: if we are awake, they do not stop attacking us, and if we are sleeping, they appear to us in dreams, and so we grow old together, together we die. 3 Pay attention to yourself, and if possible, do not meet or talk with those who can involve you in mental warfare. If you need to talk to women, then lower your eyes or close them altogether and mentally repeat the words of the psalmist: “I have seen the Lord before me, as if he is at my right hand, let me not move” (Ps. 15:8). And besides this, let one or two more brothers be with you, so as not to give the enemy freedom. One day, Abba Isidore went to Alexandria to see Patriarch Theophilus, and when he returned, the fathers of the monastery gathered and asked: “How is the world, Abba? What are people doing? And he replied: “I have not seen a human face except the face of the patriarch, for I forced myself not to look at people.” And everyone marveled at his abstinence (from Fatherland). From this example you can understand how dangerous it is to let your eyes wander. That is why Saint Simeon the New Theologian teaches not to look not only at women and the young, but also at the elders. So, watch your eyes, asking the Lord together with Sirach: “Lord Father and God of my life, do not allow my eyes to be exalted and turn away lust from me” (Sir. 23:4). And, of course, be careful not to look at those faces to which lust has previously crept into your heart, because, looking at them, you are doubly fighting against the devil: and from the inside - passion from previously perceived lust, and externally from real contemplation. Guard your eyes, for through them many robbers enter and take possession of your soul. After all, if our forefathers had kept their eyes, they would not have been expelled from paradise; If the Sodomites had kept their eyes and had not seen the two Angels, they would not have been destroyed; If David had not seen Bathsheba bathing, he would not have fallen into double iniquity: adultery and murder, so that, taught by sad experience, he prayed to the Lord to turn his eyes away from vain beauty: “Turn away my eyes from seeing vanity” (Ps. 119:37). Why talk too much? The truth is recognized by everyone that from contemplation lust is born and vice versa: where there was no contemplation, there will not be concupiscence, as Sirach writes: “Women’s fornication is in the exaltation of the mind” (Sir. 26:11). That is why the eye is surrounded by eyelids, so that, like a maiden (in Greek κόρη - pupil and maiden), it can hide from strangers in the inner chambers. Saint John Climacus said this well: “We will run away with all our might, so as not to see or hear about that fruit that we promised never to eat, for I am surprised if we consider ourselves stronger than the prophet David” (Sermon 15, 64). Keep your ears from hearing depraved melodies, since the soul, enjoying them, remains insensible to spiritual pleasure and does not recognize its disastrous state; because from lustful songs the mind imprints passionate images in the imagination, and the heart is inclined to accept them. According to the famous legend, Odysseus plugged his ears with wax so as not to hear the sweet songs of the sirens and not die. And we need to close our ears from hearing debauched songs, so as to never be caught by these deadly sirens of voluptuousness. That is why Xenocrates taught young men to wear earplugs in order to protect their hearing from depraved and inappropriate conversations. It is necessary to protect your sense of smell from the delight of perfumes and aromas, because otherwise the soul becomes pampered, the mind becomes empty and tends more likely to debauchery. The Prophet Amos says: “Woe to those who smear the first stench” (cf. Amos 6:6). And the prophet Isaiah foretells the punishment of those who anoint themselves with fragrances: “And instead of a good stench there will be a stench” (Is. 3:23). Fearing this curse, the Monk Arsenius the Great, who was a noble courtier, after becoming a monk, never changed the water in which he soaked the date branches, so that it became very fetid. Having been asked why he was doing this, the monk replied that he was doing this as a punishment for himself for the incense with which he anointed himself at court. So, brother, if you want your body to smell fragrant, then do not be idle, but make fifty and a hundred prostrations to the ground every day, so that all the excess water, which is the cause of its stench, leaves your body, and the body, dried up in this way, begins to emit a fragrance. After all, we see that the bodies of all workers, and especially monks, do not emit a stench, but are fragrant. The sense of taste, although it is fourth on the list of physiologists, is the first among others in terms of its power of influence on a person. Where do these rich meals and delicious dishes come from? Of course, not out of necessity or according to the need of the body, but to delight the larynx. And what do these valuable dishes produce? Of course, nothing good, but only bodily and mental passions. Gluttony, gluttony, drunkenness, obesity, gout, fornication and all carnal hypogastric passions in general are the product of gluttony. The Holy Scripture says about the Jews that they, having eaten and drunk, “rose up to play” (Ex. 32:6), meaning by this fornication and all uncleanness. One of the elders said that if Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar’s chief cook, had not come to Jerusalem, then the church of the Lord would not have been destroyed, meaning by this that “if gluttony does not prevail over the soul, then the mind will not be subjected to demonic warfare.” And that's not all. Polyeating hinders piety, as we read about the Israelites: “become fat, become wider, and leave God who created him, and depart from God your Savior” (Deut. 32:15). Likewise, the Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, calls those who have “god in their belly and glory in their cold” (Phil. 3:19) enemies of the Cross. Gluttony especially harms young people, whose blood is already boiling, and strong food turns their unfortunate bodies into the “cave of Babylon.” Therefore, train yourself to eat once a day: this will make your body lighter and healthier, and your mind cleaner and more capable of spiritual reflection. But even then, please, don’t overeat. Indeed, according to Saint Gregory of Sinaite, there are three degrees of satisfaction of hunger: abstinence - when after eating there is still a feeling of hunger, content - when you do not feel hungry and are not burdened, and satiety - when you are burdened a little. So if you are not able to observe the first two degrees, then at least do not overeat, remembering the words of the Lord: “Woe to you, because you are full now, for you will hunger” (Luke 6:25) and that rich man who feasted every day. Fear his fate, because for the sake of the contentment he perceived in this temporary life, he lost Abraham’s bosom and prayed to have his larynx cooled with a finger dipped in water. Saint Basil the Great advises young people not only not to have enough to eat, but also not to eat to their fullest. So, whenever you eat or drink, remember the words of the psalmist: “What profit is there in my blood if I ever go into corruption?” (Ps. 29:10) - and repeat this often to get rid of overeating and heavy drinking. While preserving the larynx from overeating, keep it from condemnation, profanity and idle talk, remembering that for every idle word we will give an answer at the Last Judgment (see: Matt. 12:36), and may your words always be dissolved with the salt of grace, as the Apostle Paul commands (see: Col. 4:6). Be careful also from laughter, remembering the words of the Lord: “Woe to you who laugh now, for you will weep and weep” (Luke 6:25) and: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). So, let us avoid laughter, as it prepares eternal weeping, and let us love weeping, as the cause of endless joy. Although the hands are considered primarily the organ of touch, in reality this feeling is characteristic of the entire surface of the body, since every part and every member of the body can become an organ of touch. So, beware of gentle handshakes, because the feeling that comes from touching leads to sin much more quickly. Know that it is difficult to free yourself from passionate feelings that arise from touch, and listen to yourself with all your might. And the actions of other senses are significant, although sometimes it seems that they are far from sin; touch is already the beginning of sin. Take heed so as not to bring your hand or foot close to the body of another, much less a young one. Do not stretch your hands unnecessarily to your own body, even to scratch yourself, because through this seemingly insignificant touch the evil one gets used to inducing sins and drawing in your imagination unusual passionate images that defile the purity of your thoughts. That is why Saint Isaac commands: “Proceed with chastity to fulfill the necessary need, as if ashamed of the Angel guarding you, and do the work with the fear of God” (Homily 9). The sense of touch encourages us to wear soft and luxurious clothes. Refrain from wearing elegant clothes, remembering that clothes are a constant reminder of expulsion from paradise and of punishments for breaking the commandment, since the forefathers who were in paradise under the cover of grace did not need clothes and only after disobedience, which deprived them of the grace-filled cover, they needed leafy aprons. Remember also that we need clothes to keep us warm in winter and to protect us from the heat in summer, according to St. Basil the Great, so Solomon, who had the most luxurious clothes, eventually called all this “vanity of vanities and vexation of spirit” (cf. Eccl. 1:14). Leave this vanity, brother. Remember that, according to the Apostle Paul, “the image of this world passes away” (1 Cor. 7:31) and that everything visible is transitory, but everything invisible is eternal. Death comes, and after it comes judgment, and after judgment comes hell and endless torment. And when death comes, youth and vanity will end, and fine clothes will no longer be needed. The sense of touch prompts us to seek soft beds, which softens the body, prolongs sleep and inflames lust. As it is narrated in the Fatherland, one elder was asked by his brother: “Abba, how can I get rid of prodigal warfare?” He replied: “Abstain from overeating, from condemnation and from everything that excites passion.” But the brother said: “While observing all this, I did not find any deliverance from the abuse.” And often asking, the brother bothered the elder, so that he went to his cell and, seeing the soft bed on which his brother was sleeping, exclaimed: “Oh, here, this is the reason for your abuse, brother!” About storing all feelings in general Guard all your feelings, since they are like doors through which either death or life enters the soul: life enters when we manage them well and do not allow habitual passions to enter; death - when they allow in deadly and soul-harming passions. Take care to cleanse your soul of the filth that feelings bring in from the outside. After all, just as stormy streams, overflowing their banks during the rains, sweep away stones, trees and everything else in their path, so the senses, as soon as they remain without the supervision of the mind, immediately rush to everything sensual and perceive every vulgar sight, every foul language - in short, every dirt of lusts, and then bring all this into the unfortunate soul, making it a den of robbers. The prophet David once cried out to the Lord about these stormy streams in grief: “And the streams of iniquity crushed me” (Ps. 17:5). Strive to hold on to your feelings, since they lead to evil, desecrating the soul through unclean desires, as St. Gregory the Theologian says about this, and since the devil constantly watches us and, as soon as we open one of the feelings, enters the soul and kills it, as St. Isaac the Syrian says. Those who live in the world amidst temptations should have more attention to themselves than hermits, for whom their solitude serves as a wall, protecting them from indecent scenes, from vulgar conversations and all other filth, so that hermits are like those fighting from hiding, and you fight the enemy openly, face to face, and bullets fly from all sides - everywhere you meet reasons for sin. Hermits are like those who are far from a cliff, and you are like someone who is on its edge, as Abba Pimen said: “Those who live far from the world are like those who are far from an abyss, so that when Satan pulls them to the cliff, they cry out to God, and He, having come, frees them. Those who live in the world are like those who are close to an abyss, so that when Satan seizes them, they do not have time to resort to God and perish” (from Fatherland). So, since you are at the precipice, as soon as you carelessly relax one of your senses, you are close to destruction, and therefore guard them with all your might. After all, according to the Venerable Synclitia, “our feelings are stolen even without our desire. And is it really possible for smoke from the street not to get into a house with open doors?” (from her Life). Aristotle's axiom says: "Nothing enters the mind unless it first enters through feeling." This axiom is not true in cases where good is involved - after all, the mind was created by a good Creator, since all of God’s creations are “very good” (Gen. 1:31). If we imagine that no good idea that arises from feelings enters the human mind, and that it remains simple, ugly, like an unwritten board, then this simplicity of the mind will be its primary good. The mind was created simple and formless in the likeness of its Simple and Formless Creator, “in the image and likeness” (Gen. 1:26). So, in contrast to external sages who teach their minds various ideas and knowledge about nature and man, the whole struggle and care of ascetics consists in freeing their minds from all images, forms and ideas that are imprinted in it, so that the mind becomes ugly and through this simplicity unites with God and returns to its first infantile state, about which the Lord spoke: “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom Heavenly" (Matthew 18:3). St. Neil of Sinai writes about this: “Blessed is the mind that, during prayer, is immaterial and non-covetous and maintains complete insensitivity to everything” (Philokalia). If we are talking about evil, then Aristotle’s axiom turns out to be absolutely true: since evil is unnatural and alien to the nature of the mind, created by good, then it cannot enter the mind in any other way except from the outside, through the senses. So the idea of ​​sin crept into Adam’s mind not through his own thoughts, but from the outside, through the feelings and instigation of the devil. And what follows from this? That all evil and passion enter the soul through feelings. And if you do not preserve feelings, then it is impossible to destroy passions. And how to store them? Listen: the windows of Solomon’s temple were covered with mesh so that unclean insects would not get through them, and this served as an image of the fact that those who want to preserve their soul from unclean sensual lusts must close the windows of their senses with a net - the memory of death, of the answer at the Last Judgment, of eternal torment. In this way a person can reject the lusts and sins that confront his senses. And the Monk Isidore Pelusiot, teaching how to guard feelings from lust, says that a person’s mind should stand like a king and autocrat, and have the thoughts that strong and armed warriors have, so that they guard the gates of feelings and do not let enemies in, because if they do not enter, then the battle is easy, and if they enter, then victory is doubtful. And in this way, not only will you be preserved from external bodily passions, but also internal spiritual passions (formed from previous impressions), when the access to sensual lusts ceases, will gradually weaken and over time completely disappear. The Venerable Abba Pimen speaks about the same thing: “Just as a snake, if it is closed in a vessel, will die over time without food, so the passions lurking in our heart, if we do not feed them through the feelings with incoming images, will weaken and disappear” (from Fatherland). And after that, the devil, whose food is passions and lusts, deprived of this food, will perish, as Job says: “I perish for evil, having no food” (Job 4:11). Saint Nile interprets these words in such a way that the devil is called “devil,” since every passion at first seems small, like an ant, but then becomes huge, like a lion. Do you see what enemies you have to defeat? Do you see that you will defeat both passions and the devil if you cut off sensual lusts? But this cutting off and victory will not come to you without a fight, just as you cannot win an external battle without it. Of course, you will have a difficult battle both with a sinful habit and with the devil, but stand courageously, not bending to the will of the enemy, remembering the following words of St. Gregory the Theologian: “Sloths do not become heroes, but victories create glory.” By courageously resisting the lusts of your feelings, let the enemy understand that you are truly a faithful slave of Christ, who defeated the passions and Satan, and always show the enemy that you are not a slave of your feelings, but a king and master, that you are not just flesh and blood, but also a mind, given by God to rule over the dumb passions of the body. When struggling with a bad habit, bring to mind the wise saying: “Good wean off evil” - and say to yourself: “If I accustomed my feelings to lust, so that they developed an evil habit, then why can’t I now accustom them to the opposite, so that a good lesson develops from a good lesson? But am I going to experience bitterness and hardship in the beginning? Let me experience them, so that later I can experience both joy and lightness, because if the first deeds and lessons of virtue that give rise to a habit are difficult and bitter for the feelings, then the deeds born of this good habit are sweet and easy.” In short, here are the heavenly Angels invisibly standing, holding crowns in their hands, here is the Crowned Christ sitting - and how many times you win this battle and do not succumb to sensual lusts, so many times you will be crowned with incorruptible crowns. But, having been defeated once or twice, do not stop fighting, but call on God for help, and if you do this, the grace of God will immediately come to your aid and will not leave you to perish completely. Do not think that victory here is possible easily and quickly. Truly, beloved, victory over passion and over sensual lust is greater than victory over a hundred enemies and the subjugation of your feelings to the mind is higher than the subjugation of vast kingdoms, which is why King Alexander the Great, when they pleased him for his victory over the whole world, wisely replied: “All my victories will be in vain if I do not win victory over myself,” since many, being masters of the world, remained slaves of their own passions. Imagination is a wide board on which is depicted what we saw with our eyes, what we heard with our ears, what we felt and touched. Aristotle calls imagination a general sense: general - because it embraces the impressions of all five senses; feeling - since the impression that each of the senses produces separately can be produced by the imagination (for example, if someone eats a lemon, and another stands next to him and looks at him, then this other begins to salivate. But the same thing is experienced by someone who just imagines a lemon in his imagination). Therefore, beloved, just as it is necessary to protect the outer senses from passionate impressions, it is also necessary to protect the inner sense, that is, the imagination, not allowing it to imagine any passionate images that the eyes have seen, nor inappropriate words that the ears have heard, nor a fragrance that the nose has felt, nor exquisite dishes that the mouth has tasted, nor passionate touches that the touch has experienced, since what is the use of preserving the external senses and not preserving the imagination, which contains everything? impressions of the senses that excite lust and produce the same confusion in the soul? And we must guard our imagination with even greater attention, because if the external senses act only in the presence of sensory things, then the imagination is the opposite. Even when a person is locked alone in a house or lives in the desert, when he opens the book of imagination, he imagines images, speeches, and the like. It is necessary to preserve the imagination, because if it gets carried away by the presented image, it also inclines external feelings to sympathy (as the example with the lemon clearly shows). Moreover, the imagination acts faster than all other senses, capturing, and then imagining and delighting in sinful images, so it is necessary to monitor it with the greatest care. Having captured any image, the imagination, by its nature, does not leave it in oblivion, but brings it out. So, for example, when the names Martha and Sophia are mentioned, the imagination immediately draws images of Martha and Sophia and reproduces a certain attitude towards them. And it happens that we have already buried a person we know and held his bones with our own hands, but our crazy imagination still pictures him alive and confuses us with the idea of ​​him. And finally, with all the strength of our soul, it is the imagination that the devil has a special affinity for, using it to deceive a person. After all, he, being himself created by a simple and ugly mind, like other Angels, imagining that he could become like the Most High, from an Angel of light became a dark devil. He deceived Adam through imagination, so that he imagined himself equal to God, and before the Fall the human mind had no imagination. But not only Adam, but in general all people who have ever fallen into sin or delusion were seduced by the imagination. Therefore, I ask you, beloved, to preserve your imagination as much as possible so that no harmful images entering through feeling are imprinted on it. And when they approach you, beware of joining with them and combining them in your heart, but immediately run to the Lord with heartfelt prayer. Use your imagination for contrition, humility and tenderness of heart, imagining death, the Last Judgment, eternal torment, or to think about the creation of the world, about the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, about his Nativity, Baptism, Crucifixion, Burial, Resurrection. And when the enemy fights you with bad fantasies, counter them with good and spiritual images. Do not be frightened or afraid of vile images of the imagination, but despise them and disdain them as empty space. They are false, baseless and untrue. And when you get used to neglecting your imagination, you will be able to neglect the very things that it drew. Know that if you depict beautiful and good images on the board of your imagination, you will be praised on the day of Judgment, when everything hidden will become clear, and if you depict bad and vicious pictures, you will be condemned. Saint Basil the Great speaks about it this way: the painter, sitting in a secret place every day, draws a picture and, when he draws it and brings it to auction, he is praised if he has chosen a good subject for the picture and painted it well. And, on the contrary, one is blamed if one chooses a bad subject and draws it poorly. So every person, when after death he appears before the judgment of God, will be exalted and blessed by God, the Angels and the saints, if he has adorned his mind and his imagination with bright, Divine and spiritual ideas (Word on Virginity). You now know how to take care of your feelings, you know how to take care of your imagination. Find out how to take care of the heart, which is the seat of the soul. Holy Syncletikia says that, just as a ship can sink either because of the waves of the sea, or because of an internal leak, so the soul is harmed either externally - from sensual things, or internally - from evil thoughts and passions of the heart. Therefore, a person needs to protect his feelings from polluting impressions, and his heart from evil thoughts and passions. The heart is the natural center of man, since it appears in the body earlier than all other members and is destroyed later than others, and since it is the root of all sensory and mental powers of the soul. The heart is also a supernatural center, since we accept the supernatural grace of God, given to us in Holy Baptism, in the heart, which we find confirmation in Holy Scripture. So the Lord says: “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), and the Apostle Paul: “...God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts crying: Abba, Father!” (Gal. 4:6), and in another place: “...the love of God is poured out into our hearts” (Rom. 5:5). So Saint Diadochos writes: “I understood from the Divine Scriptures that before Baptism, grace from without inclines the soul towards good, and Satan nests in the depths of the heart, but from the moment of rebirth the devil becomes outside, and grace is inside.” The heart is also a subnatural center, since all subnatural passions, all blasphemous, proud and evil thoughts and all evil desires are born in the heart and are found there. And just as ashes hide the sparks of fire, passions hide the Divine grace received in Holy Baptism, as Saint Callistus says; there is the root and beginning of all the sins that we commit after Baptism, there is Satan - if not in the depths of the heart (after all, there is grace in it), then on its surface. And the Creator of hearts Himself says this: “From the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy. This is what defiles man” (Matthew 15:19–20). Therefore, it is necessary to guard your mind and heart. Having freed your mind from all external things by storing feelings and imagination, you need to return it to your heart and constantly study the Jesus Prayer, inclining your will to say the prayer with all desire and love. At the same time, the mind must be formless and formless, since God is beyond everything sensible and imaginable. The fruit of this work will be that the mind will, over time, become accustomed to dwelling in the heart, will hate sensual lusts and ideas, and will cease to be combined with evil and evil thoughts. The mind, staying in the heart, will see there the ugliness of the inner man, defiled by the vile sights that he has seen, the evil words that he has heard, so that the person will involuntarily humble himself and weep over his sinfulness. And how can he not cry, seeing his thinking full of proud, nasty and blasphemous thoughts, how can he not cry, seeing his will captivated by dirty desires? How not to cry and shed bloody tears, how not to cry out in pity for Jesus, so that He would free and heal? After all, he (the mind) sees his heart bound by so many passions, he sees that his entire inner man is not the church of God, but a den of thieves. And seeing crying and contrition, the Lord will free him from passions and demons. The fruit of prayer is both the purification of nature and the supernatural grace of the Holy Spirit given to purity. After all, the reverend fathers, having freed themselves from passions through fasting, vigil, kneeling, abstinence and other deeds, discovered a natural way of returning the mind to the heart, so that it would be easier and faster for a person to cleanse both the mind and the heart and thus become capable of receiving the supernatural grace of God. Solomon commands: “Guard your heart with all care” (Proverbs 4:23), because the heart is the center of all the feelings and powers of the soul, and it is impossible to cleanse the hearts without cleansing all the feelings. If one of the feelings or one of the forces of the soul is defiled, then this defilement will enter the heart, and from the heart the defilement will pass into all other feelings. But through mental prayer, your heart, which has a hidden spark of God’s grace hidden in itself, will be cleansed from the ashes of bad passions, so that you will see the fire that the Lord came to bring to the earth of your heart, and you will rejoice with unspeakable joy, and you will shed warm tears of joy. And then, by doing the commandments of God and other virtues, you will kindle the Divine fire in your heart, which with its heat will burn all passions and drive out the demons that fight you, and will delight your heart, giving you joy, peace, love for the Lord and love for your neighbor. Then your mind will be enlightened by the light of wisdom and reasoning, and thus, through this mental activity, your entire inner man will be recreated into the temple of the Holy Spirit: the heart is like an altar and a throne; the mind is like a priest; desire and disposition are like sacrifice; like incense - a prayer raised to God from the heart. What may we all be worthy to achieve through the grace, generosity and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Him be glory forever. Amen. Biography of St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain 4 Saint Nicodemus was born in Greece, on the island of Naxos, in 1749. In Holy Baptism he received the name Nicholas. His parents, Anthony and Anastasia Kallivursis, were pious and virtuous people. Subsequently, Anastasia took monastic vows in one of the Greek monasteries. Nikolai grew up as a very smart and attentive boy, but he avoided noisy children's companies and thereby preserved his soul from the bad influence of the world. He stood out among the children for his amazing intelligence, observation and good memory. The first teacher of the youth Nicholas was the parish priest, who taught him not only to read and write, but also to love Christ, His Holy Church and, in general, everything useful for the salvation of the soul. With reverence and zeal, the youth helped the pious priest during the Liturgy and other sacred rites. So well prepared by him, Nicholas entered the school of Naxos. There he studied the Law of God under the guidance of a virtuous and wise teacher - Archimandrite Chrysanthus, brother of the famous martyr Cosmas of Aetolia. Young Nikolai was eager to continue his education. At the age of sixteen, he and his father went to Smyrna, where he entered the city Greek school, known for its high level of knowledge and teaching 5 . The young man Nikolai studied at this school for five years. He excelled in his studies and amazed his teachers with his abilities. For his peers who could not cope with their lessons, he became a wonderful mentor, explaining and teaching them what they did not understand in class. For this his comrades loved him very much. At school, Nikolai learned Latin, Italian and French. He also studied ancient Greek, of course, so much so that he knew this language perfectly in all its variants and historical varieties. In addition, he had a gift from the Lord to present the meaning of sacred texts in the most accessible form, so that they became understandable even to illiterate simpletons. In 1770, when the Turks began persecuting Christians 6, Nicholas returned to his homeland, to the island of Naxos, where he became the secretary of Metropolitan Anthimus (Varda), who wisely and patiently prepared him for further service to the Lord. So he lived on Naxos for five years, when the Lord sent him a meeting with the pious Svyatogorsk hieromonks Gregory and Niphon and the monk Arsenios. These were people who succeeded in virtue and achievement. They told Nicholas about monastic life, about the equal-angelic residence of ascetics on the Holy Mountain and initiated him into the secret of mental-heart prayer. From meetings and conversations with them, the desire to leave for Athos was kindled in Nicholas’s heart. Meetings with Metropolitan Macarius 7 and Elder Sylvester 8 further strengthened him in his desire for monasticism. In 1775, having received a letter of recommendation from Elder Sylvester, he made the final decision to go to the Holy Mountain, renouncing the world and himself and wanting, according to the Lord, to bear his cross. ...When Nikolai went down to the sea, he saw a ship preparing to depart for the Holy Mountain. He glorified the Lord, seeing how quickly his desire was being fulfilled, and asked the captain to take him on board the ship. The captain promised that he would call him when the ship was ready to sail. However, the Lord sent Nicholas a test: the ship sailed, but they forgot about the young man. Seeing the departing ship, Nikolai began to scream in despair and make signs, reminding himself of himself, and when he saw that this did not help, he jumped into the water and swam to the ship. Only then did the sailors notice him and turn the ship around. When Nicholas reached the Holy Mountain, he experienced unspeakable joy. First of all, on the advice of Elder Sylvester, he went to the monastery of St. Dionysius, Dionysat, where at that time many venerable men, adorned with all kinds of virtues, modesty and grace-filled gifts, labored. Nicholas was amazed by their godly life and remained in this monastery. Here he was tonsured into monasticism with the name Nicodemus. The brethren of Dionysates knew about the excellent education and extensive knowledge of Nicodemus. They were inspired by both the accuracy in observing all the rules of the hostel and the humble disposition of the new monk. Therefore, he was soon appointed reader and clerk of the monastery. In 1777, Saint Macarius, Metropolitan of Corinth, visited the Holy Mountain. He stopped in the cell of St. Anthony, where he invited the Monk Nicodemus and advised him to edit for publication the spiritual books “Philokalia” (“Philokalia”) and “Evergetinos” (“Benefactor”) and the book he wrote “On Holy Communion.” Saint Macarius saw through the spiritual gift of Nicodemus and directed him to spiritual achievement, which subsequently revealed the blessed ascetic as a great lamp of the Church and teacher of the universe. Saint Nicodemus began with the Philokalia, which he carefully studied, changed its construction where necessary, compiled a short biography of each spiritual writer, and provided the book with a wonderful preface. He then edited “The Benefactor” from the manuscripts that were in the Kutlumush monastery, and composed a preface to this book. And finally, Saint Nicodemus edited and expanded the book “On Holy Communion.” Saint Macarius then took all his works and took them to Smyrna to publish them there. After the departure of the saint, Blessed Nicodemus remained in Kareya, in a cell in the name of St. George, which belonged to the Great Lavra. There, within a year, he rewrote the book “The Alphabet,” written in verse by the Monk Meletius Galisiot, a confessor. Then he returned to his monastery. Seeking solitude, Saint Nicodemus lived for some time in the cell of Saint Athanasius, where he spent time in spiritual reading, unceasing prayer and copying books. And when the virtuous elder Arsenios of the Peloponnese came from Naxos to the Holy Mountain (the same one who, together with Metropolitan Macarius, once inspired the young man Nicholas to monastic feat) and settled in the monastery of the Pantocrator monastery, Saint Nicodemus came to him and became his novice. There, in the monastery, the spiritual feat of the blessed one reached its highest development. He surrendered to the silence that he so longed for, studying night and day in the law of God (see: Ps. 1), in the inspired scriptures and in the works of the wise fathers of the Church. And who will tell about the exploits of a monk who completely renounced himself, abandoned all care for earthly things, killed carnal wisdom with fasting, unceasing prayer and other hardships of an ascetic life? And to whom will the Divine joy be revealed, filling his soul and heart, enlightening his mind with heavenly light? Like a new Moses, he ascended the mountain of virtues and in the luminous cloud of spiritual contemplation saw, as far as possible for man, the invisible God, and heard ineffable verbs. He became God by grace and an Angel in the flesh. For such a high and God-pleasing life, he was filled with grace and wisdom, having received from God the gift of teaching, and appeared as a lamp of the Catholic Church and an invincible fighter against all heresies and heterodox teachings. His holy hand, like the “reed of a scribal scribbler” (Ps. 44:1), wrote many letters and holy books, spiritual songs and hymns. He also wrote services to the holy saints of God. The following case is noteworthy. One day the Monk Nicodemus was chosen to talk with Catholics who came to the Holy Mountain. As always, Nicodemus was in rags and bast shoes. Catholics began to protest and be indignant at the fact that some poor simpleton would answer them, the learned sages. Nicodemus began the conversation. The listeners, surprised by the power and wisdom of his words, asked whether there were other monks on Mount Athos like their interlocutor. And the holy father answered them: “A whole multitude, I am the last of them.” In 1782, Elder Arsenios moved from the skete belonging to the Pantocrator to the small island of Skyropoulos, located next to Athos. Nicodemus followed him. Living conditions there were very difficult, so the ascetics had to endure a lot of hardships. Nicodemus did not even have books, but this did not prevent him from being filled with inexpressible joy, being in mental prayer, which enlightened his mind with unearthly wisdom. Having, as said, no literature with him, he, at the request of his cousin, Bishop Hierotheus, began to write a book full of Divine and human wisdom, based on the works of both the Holy Fathers and external philosophers; This book was called "An Instructive Guide" 9 because it presented the science and advice on how to guard feelings, thoughts and heart. This work indicates both the richness of God’s grace in the blessed one and his amazing memory, since he wrote it in the desert, without any sources at hand, and the “Manual”, meanwhile, is full of quotations and references to books that he remembered by heart. (The memory of the monk was truly extraordinary. One day on Holy Saturday, Saint Nicodemus came to the Church of Protata to partake of the Holy Mysteries. The canonarch and reader who served in the church agreed to hide the Triodion in order to force the monk to recite the prophecies by heart. And indeed, when the time came for reading the prophecies, there was confusion on the choir: there were no books. “Teacher, we ask you, begin the prophecies so that there will be no confusion in the church,” the monks who served in the altar turned to him. He, not suspecting their cunning, began to recite the prophecies by heart, surprising the fathers and those ministers who in the altar followed the Triodion and were amazed at the accuracy of the prophecies pronounced by heart and the fact that when the page ended, the teacher unconsciously made a gesture with his hand, as if turning over the page of a book that he did not have. hours, and the amazement of those around him was indescribable. But Saint Nicodemus did not even suspect that he had done something worthy of surprise). In 1783, the Monk Nicodemus returned to the Holy Mountain and was tonsured into the great schema by the Elder of Damascus. A little later, he settled in the kaliva he had bought, located above the church of the monastery of Pantocrator. A year later, he took as his novices one of his compatriots, John, who was tonsured Hierotheus, who served him for six years. There, blessed Nicodemus lived a solitary life, collecting the honey of grace and teaching everyone who came to him for instruction. On the advice of Metropolitan Macarius, who had newly arrived on the Holy Mountain, he began editing and preparing for publication the works of Simeon the New Theologian. He also edited the Exomologitarion (a book about confession), collected and embellished the Theotokaryon (a book about the Mother of God), The Invisible Warfare, the New Martyrology (a collection of the lives of the new martyrs) and the Spiritual Exercises. These books are full of Divine grace and wisdom and teach to avoid sin, bring sincere repentance, resist devilish temptations, and strive in virtues. Then, on the advice of the teacher Athanasius of Paria 10 and Metropolitan Leonty of Ilioupolis, Saint Nicodemus collected from the libraries of Athos and prepared for publication the works of Saint Gregory Palamas and sent them to the Vienna printing house. But, unfortunately, these valuable manuscripts were lost: the printing house was closed and looted due to the publication of revolutionary leaflets addressed to the Greeks. Among the materials seized by the authorities were the manuscripts of St. Gregory, which the Latins destroyed as being contrary to their spirit. When the news of this reached Nicodemus, he wept bitterly over the loss of these wonderful works, realizing what great benefit they could bring to pious Christians. After this, the learned hieromonk Agapius came to the Holy Mountain. On his advice, Blessed Nicodemus began work on the systematization and interpretation of the canons of the Church, necessary for the guidance not only of the clergy, but also of any pious Christian. This valuable work, completed with the help of Hieromonk Agapius, was called “Pidalion” (“Nurse”), since he directed and led the Church of Christ. Having completed work on the book, Blessed Nicodemus sent it to Constantinople for consideration. A year later, Patriarch Neophytos, having received approving reviews of the book from Metropolitan Macarius of Corinth and Metropolitan Athanasius of Paria, gave it conciliar approval. The book was sent to Saint Nicodemus. Since he did not have the funds to publish it, the monks of Athos collected donations and handed over the proceeds, along with the manuscript, to Archimandrite Theodoret of Ioannina, asking him to take care of publishing the book in Venice. A new test awaited the Monk Nicodemus: Theodoret turned out to be a crafty false brother. Among the interpretations and explanations of the canons, he crossed out something, and in return added something of his own in defense of heterodox beliefs, alien to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, so that these additions completely distorted the work of Nicodemus in eighteen places. When blessed Nicodemus saw these distortions, which could mislead Orthodox Christians, he was greatly upset and could not find peace for a long time after that. He spent two months in great sorrow in the cell of the Skourteos brothers, then settled with Elder Sylvester in a cell in the name of Saint Basil. There he continued his spiritual exploits, wrote the work “Christian Ethics”, and edited “Funeral Hymns”. Having completed these works, Saint Nicodemus left the cell of Saint Basil due to difficulties that arose in his relationship with the novice Elder Sylvester, and settled in the Pantocrator monastery. But then his love for solitude prompted him to settle in a deserted kaliva next to a cell in the name of St. Basil. There he lived like an Angel in the flesh, not even having his daily bread. The Skourteos brothers helped him, often inviting him to meals. But even then, even after suffering from hunger, he was ready to forget about food and began a conversation if someone asked him spiritual questions, so that the elder of the cell had to ask Blessed Nicodemus to stop in order to give the brethren who listened to the eloquence of the monk the opportunity to finish the meal. In this desert kaliva, the Monk Nicodemus edited the Prayer Book, the second “Exomologitarion” (book of confession), and then began to work on exegesis. He interpreted the four epistles of the Apostle Paul and seven conciliar epistles, translated and interpreted the “Explanatory Psalter” of Euthymius Zigaben and nine cantos of the Holy Scriptures. The holy elder called this work “Garden of Grace.” All his interpretations are full of deep theological thoughts and moral teachings. What can we say about all the temptations and persecutions that this great lamp of the Church endured? While he labored and wrote his spiritual books by revelation from above, he experienced so many unrighteous insults from uneducated people and from invisible enemies - demons! The saint did not say anything about the former, because, considering them to be true brothers and his benefactors, he endured everything and forgave everyone from the bottom of his heart. His invisible enemies often at night, when he was awake and writing, began to talk loudly right under the window of his cell. The monk did not pay any attention to them, and often laughed at their crazy and shameless antics. One night, when he was still living on the island of Skyropoulos, he heard such a noise that he thought that the wall next to their kaliva had fallen. The next morning he saw that the wall stood still. Another time he clearly heard a voice: “This scribbler.” Sometimes he heard a knock on the door of the kaliva. When he was interpreting the thirty-fourth psalm, verse six: “Let their way be darkness and creeping, and the angel of the Lord chase them,” he heard such a noise as if a whole army was passing by. The demons did everything they could to frighten blessed Nicodemus. And it must be said that at the very beginning of his exploits he was very timid, so that when he went to bed, he left the door of his cell open so that, if necessary, he could call the brethren. But when Saint Nicodemus began to live in solitude, he was so strengthened by the grace of God that he considered all these demonic insurances to be pranks and “arrows of infants.” This is how the old man’s life passed in exploits. He was tested by adversities and temptations, “like gold in a furnace” (cf. Proverbs 17:3), and his virtues shone brighter than the sun. In the last years of his life, the Monk Nicodemus moved from place to place, studying various lists and manuscripts kept in the monasteries of Athos. He wrote and lived by Christ who strengthened him, so that he could say with Paul: “I live as no one, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Seven years before the death of the blessed one, his works were rewritten by the monk Cyril Karyophallis, who also compiled a list of his seventeen works and their publications. The fame of the virtues and wisdom of this great Father of the Church spread everywhere. Those who needed spiritual guidance rushed to him for consolation and advice. Stung by their sins, leaving their bishops and confessors, they flocked to Nicodemus not only from monasteries and monasteries, but also from different countries and outskirts, to see him and receive instruction from him. This feat of spiritual nourishment, together with ordinary prayers, vigils and other feats, which the Monk Nicodemus did not abandon, undermined the elder’s health and forced him to take refuge in the cell of the icon painter Cyprian. Shortly before his death, he collected a three-volume Synaxarium, interpreted the canons of the Lord's and the Mother of God's feasts ("Iorthodromion"), and interpreted the degrees of the Octoechos ("New Ladder"). And finally, he wrote “Confession of My Faith” - in denunciation of the malicious attacks to which he was subjected from some ill-intentioned monks of Athos. Saint Nicodemus spent his entire life in spiritual endeavors and writing soul-helping books. His only concern was to do the will of God and benefit his neighbor. Having received the talent from the Lord, he increased it like a faithful servant. He wore no other shoes except bast shoes, had neither a change of clothes nor his own home, but lived throughout the Holy Mountain, which is why he was called Svyatogorets. Feeling the approach of his death, the monk returned to the Skourteosov’s cell. He became very weak and then developed paralysis. Preparing for his departure from this world, he confessed, received unction and daily received the Divine Mysteries. On July 14, 1809, blessed Nicodemus gave up his soul into the hands of God, which settled in the villages of the righteous among the saints and theologians, and now he sees face to face the One Whom he served on earth all his life and Whom he glorified in his labors. Creations. M., 1892. T. 1. P. 68. By spiritual image we can understand the contemplation of the Cross of the Lord, on which human sins are atoned for; the glory of the Queen of Heaven, the Most Holy Theotokos; exploits of the holy saints of God. The Ancient Patericon tells us how severe warfare can be against images imprinted in the imagination: “There was one ascetic in a monastery. The enemy brought to his memory one woman, very beautiful, and greatly outraged him. By God's providence, another brother from Egypt came to the monastery; Between conversations he said that so-and-so’s wife had died. And this was the same woman with whom my brother was indignant. Hearing about this, the brother took his tunic at night and went to Egypt; opened the coffin of the deceased, wiped her rotting corpse with a tunic and returned to his cell; placing this stench near him and fighting with the thought, he said: “This is the object for which you have a lust - it is in front of you, be satisfied!” Thus, he tormented himself with this stench until his struggle was over” (Ancient Paterik. M., 1991. P. 76). The biography of St. Nicodemus is compiled from his life written by Archimandrite Harlampius (Vasilopoulou). Later it was called Gospel. The teacher of the future saint was the learned ascetic Hierotheus Vulisman (Editor's note) The Turks were irritated by the defeat of their fleet in Chesme Bay and believed that the Greeks were helping the Russians. (Editor's note) Metropolitan Macarius (Notar) of Corinth. (Editor's note) Elder Sylvester of Caesarea, who labored in a deserted cell outside the island. (Editor's note) Another name of the book is “Simvulevtikon” (“Advice on preserving the memory of feelings, imagination, mind and heart”) (Editor’s note). At that time he taught in Thessaloniki (Editor's note). You might be interested in: