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(1) A person must first receive strength from Christ through holy Baptism and then take up the fulfillment of the commandments, for holy Baptism makes those baptized either completely motionless or difficult to move to evil, just like the second baptism of repentance. Also what priests should be like. 1. Whoever says to another: do this, but don’t do that, speaks, of course, to a person who can do this, but not do that. But whoever says this to someone who can do neither one nor the other, is he not saying such words in vain? The Lord said to His disciples: Go and teach all languages, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. So, the first thing that is given is cleansing and strength through holy Baptism. And then the Lord says: keep them often, as many as you have commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). So, anyone who, without first being strengthened by the power of holy Baptism, undertakes to keep the commandments of Christ will labor in vain. And whoever commands someone who is not strengthened by the power of holy Baptism to fulfill the commandments of Christ is a blind man. For first he must be strengthened in spirit by the grace of Christ, which cleanses the soul through holy Baptism, and then he must be given to fulfill the commandments. For how is it possible that the earth, full of thorns and thistles, having received the pure seed, does not choke it? But the divine Baptism of Christ has great power - to make those who are not baptized and are ready to commit evil motionless to evil as soon as they are baptized. Or even if they don’t immediately become so motionless, they become immobile in every possible way. This is a sign of the power that is received from holy Baptism. It makes them even more capable of doing good, like angels, strong in strength, doing the will of God (Ps. 103:20). For the same reason, Christ the Lord bestowed His divine Blood, so that those who believe in Him would partake of it, and through this become partakers of the divine nature, as those who partake of the Blood of God, and then, as already divine and having the strength of divine power, so that they would live according to the perfect law of the Gospel of Christ and do the will of God, as strong by strength. If now the one who believes in Christ and confesses Him, after he has become strengthened with such power and has received the opportunity to create the law of Christ, despises it and does not live according to the will of God, then let him know that he has renounced Christ, as, according to the word of the Apostle, he trampled upon the Son of God and committed the blood of the covenant filth (Heb. 10:29). If some, after holy Baptism and communion of the divine Body and Blood of Christ, are still inclined to do evil and are not strong in strength to do the will of God, then it is clear that they have not yet believed in Christ as they should believe. They must resort to bishops, priests and spiritual men, confess and repent with all their souls of all their sins, and especially of this great ignorance of theirs, that they do not have perfect knowledge of the sacraments of Christianity, do not know what faith consists of, and what every Christian should know in general as a Christian; after this they need to make a catechumen so that they know the word of faith and everything necessary, as we said, and begin to believe in Christ as they should; finally read a prayer of permission over them with the laying on of hands, and thereby complete the completion of what was missing in them. When the Gospel of truth is thus revealed to them, they will receive a spiritual feeling in order to feel and understand the intelligent grace of Christ that they have accepted, which will then, as it were, overshadow their soul, making it contrite and humble and instilling in it the saving fear of God. This always serves as the beginning of a good path and a guide for those who will finally accept life in Christ as they should. Then let them partake worthily of the most pure Body and Blood of Christ, so that they may be partakers of the Divine nature. Having been sanctified in this way, they will no longer be dominated by sin as before, for this is sanctification, that a Christian becomes strong through strength to do the will of God, and for this reason receives the name of a faithful Christian, as one who has been entrusted with the grace of Christ and who, by the power of this grace, lives in the spirit of Christ. There is no other way to become and be a Christian. But whoever, having received the power to live according to the law of Christ, indulges in negligence and does not do the will of God, great satisfaction is required on his part through suffering due punishment (church penance), so that his correction corresponds to the extent of his sin; Moreover, an outpouring of as many tears was required as there was water in the font in which he was baptized; it is also necessary to earnestly beg the Lord to extend his life, so that he has time to be healed and not die unhealed, and not go into eternal torment for that. For who can guarantee that death will wait until he is healed? Here, in this life only, healing penances are appropriate. Here it is necessary, for the necessary time, not to allow such things to happen before Holy Communion, to excommunicate or separate him from Christ and from communion and fellowship with other Christians. Here weeping, groaning, fasting, vigils and other bodily sufferings are required, and only after such labors can we honor him with the Most Pure Mysteries. And such satisfaction is demanded of him completely righteously, since he did not preserve the divine sacrament, which was reasonably accepted. No one can say about such a sin that it is less than Adam’s sin. Adam, if he knew that God dwells inside him, would not have wanted to eat from the tree of knowledge and transgress the commandment of God. But as soon as he was created, he received the grace of God, and was not previously deprived of this grace, so that, having received it later, he would know and feel that he had once again received God, which is why he did not know that God was in him. And this one, before Baptism, was naked of Christ and put on Him through holy Baptism, as St. Paul says: if you were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). Every soul, as soon as a person is baptized, receives in the spirit the grace of Christ, by which Christ is immediately imagined in it. But those baptized as infants do not feel the sanctification received in Baptism, because such a feeling of sanctification is a mental matter, and infants are not yet perfect in mind to understand the grace received. Why, with the passage of time, do they little by little change and go over to the evil side, and the grace of Holy Baptism in some fades out and is completely lost, while in others a small spark of it remains, from which this great mercy is then ignited in them again, if they resort to their spiritual fathers and repent, as we said, accept the catechumen, restore faith properly and trust in God. In such people, God's grace soon flares up again and gives clear evidence of itself. After this, if with zeal and zeal they begin to place under it the handles (bundles of firewood) of humility and mercy, then a great flame will kindle within them and enlighten even those around them: humility - thinking and feeling that what they are experiencing is not the fruit of their own efforts, but the gift of God; mercy - making sure that the one granted such mercy must himself be merciful, and really showing it to all others. If some of those who, having received the second baptism of repentance through the perception of an angelic image and became monks, do not feel in the spirit the divine and omnipotent power of the All-Holy Spirit that they received, because the grace they received when perceiving the angelic image retreated from them, just as the grace of holy Baptism retreats from those who were baptized as infants, as we said, as a result of which they find themselves susceptible to evil, as they were first, their faith is in vain, and their second baptism of repentance is in vain, for the sacred robes of the angelic image are placed on the insensible and dead in spirit, who do not feel acceptable grace. There is only one confirmation of the effectiveness of salvation - this is the spiritual feeling of the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, given from God for the sake of faith to the spiritual power of the mind. Those who believe in Christ are honored to receive such grace of the Holy Spirit during Baptism - some to perform signs and wonders, but most to be motionless towards evil and easily moved towards good, and diligently live a godly life with joy and cheerfulness. This is the rite of believers in Christ. But let us take heed to the good, so that none of the deacons, or priests, or spiritual fathers and leaders of Christian souls may be out of this rank, and the wrath of God will not befall us in that we will no longer have a catechumen who would proclaim the teachings of the faith, or a teacher who would teach, or spiritual men who would restore those who were upset by the divine restoration that surpasses every human word. For no one should ascend to the teaching chair before receiving Divine grace, so as not to attract God’s wrath, since some of those who were wise in words, but did not receive Divine grace, became leaders of heresies, others were defeated by the words of heretics and fell into the pit of destruction. But as such, they did not feel the power of rebirth that was in them through holy Baptism, then they must first go to spiritual men, so that through repentance and other acts that we spoke about above, fasting, prayer, the laying on of hands by experienced spiritual fathers and builders (economists) of this great sacrament, as well as the sacred catechumen by those who know how to proclaim, they may be deemed worthy to receive revival and the mysterious formation of spiritual powers and, having been strengthened by Divine grace and power, begin to work in the city of God, so that their faith and confession will not be in vain. For when their faith is in vain, then neither calling themselves believers in Christ nor worshiping Him will bring any benefit. God did not become a man so that they would worship Him and believe that He was God and a man - it just happened; but He became man so that we could become partakers of the Divine nature, just as He became partaker of human nature, and, having learned the power of this sacrament and felt the grace, we thanked Him. Those who have experienced the received grace are the friends of Christ, who have been entrusted with the mysteries and who live their lives in the spirit of Christ. Those who did not receive such grace at all, that is, those who were not baptized, and who received it but did not know it, such are the enemies of God. For everyone who does not partake of the Divine nature, that is, does not have Divine grace, is carnal and cannot please God, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, and flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Such a one will finally hear this Gospel word: from the one who has nothing and thinks he has, it will be taken from him (Matthew 25:29). The grace of God is limitless, it is always poured out in abundance and never becomes scarce. If, let’s say, someone lived a thousand years and during this thousand years grace were given to him every day, he would be filled with it and immersed in it, and it would still remain intact, not diminished in the least. However, it naturally follows that in one who has received grace, it either increases if he strives, or decreases if he neglects; and if this negligence continues, then little by little she will become completely impoverished in him, and will leave him completely empty. She will leave her, and he will think for a long time that he has her. For grace departs secretly, as hidden by nature and mysterious, therefore, when it departs, it does not allow him to feel his retreat, and he does not immediately recognize its retreat. Grant us, Lord, to be worthy so that, having received the grace of God, we multiply it in ourselves, adding deeds to deeds, in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory forever. Amen. You might be interested in: