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(1) About repentance, and that to cleanse the soul, the distribution of property alone is not enough, if we do not acquire it and cry. – (2) About the expulsion of Adam from paradise, and that if he had repented of the crime of God’s commandment, he would not have been expelled from paradise. – (3) What benefit did repentance bring him, and what benefit did he bring after his exile? – (4) How one who wants to truly repent should repent. – (5) About the second coming of the Lord. – (6) Reproof of those who do not live badly, but not with a good disposition, but in a pretense. 1. A good deed is repentance and the benefit that comes from it is great. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of all things, knew this, and said: repent, the kingdom of heaven is drawing near. Do you also want to learn and know that without repentance it is impossible for us to be saved? I mean repentance that happens with all the soul and with all the heart. Listen to the Apostle who says: every sin that man commits is besides the body, but the fornicator sins in his own body (1 Cor. 6:18). And again in another place: it is fitting for us all to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that everyone may receive what he has done with his body, either good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10). But to this another may say: I thank God, I have not desecrated my body with any shameful deed (which I, having committed every sin, cannot say) - and by saying this, he has some consolation from this, that he is clean from carnal sin. But our Lord Christ, in the parable of the five foolish virgins, gives decisive evidence that we will not receive any benefit from bodily purity alone if we do not have other virtues. Those five virgins also had a little oil in their vessels, that is, some external virtues, they also participated in some gifts, from which their lamps burned for some time, but for their negligence, ignorance (in spiritual matters) and laziness they were condemned to eternal torment. They did not bother to cleanse themselves of the passions hidden in their souls, which were driven by demons, and did not even know them properly. That is why, under demonic influences, their hearts were corrupted through association with thoughts with which they secretly mixed, being captivated and overcome by them. But what kind of demonic actions are these? Passions - envy, jealousy, quarrels, contentiousness, condemnation and slander, hatred, anger, bitterness, resentment, vanity, man-pleasing, self-indulgence, love of money, carnal lust, which they enjoyed and, through sweetness, committed fornication in thoughts; to this also - the passions of unbelief, fearlessness (before God), fearfulness (not knowing what), despondency, sadness, contradiction, laziness, drowsiness, conceit, arrogance, pride, gluttony, lust, hopelessness, and all other subtle and secretive sinful passions set in motion by demons. The blessed Apostle Paul calls out, like Christ, and says: have peace (διωχετε, persecute) and holiness with everyone, of whom no one else will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). For what reason did he say: persecute, that is, always seek peace and holiness, seek unceasingly? Because it is impossible for us to become saints in one hour. One must begin with less and, gradually succeeding, ascend to more and more perfect holiness and purity. And even if we have lived in this life for thousands of years, we will not be able to achieve the complete perfection of the shrine, but we have a duty to strive for its sake incessantly, as if we were just making a beginning. Saint Paul shows this very thing when he says about himself: I persecute, even if I perceive, I was put to shame because of Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:12). Therefore, I beg you, my brothers, take heed of what I say to you, and listen to the words of your sinful brother. Come, let us worship and fall before our good and humane God, let us precede His face in confession and weep before Him who created us, for He is our Lord, we are His people and the sheep of His pasture, and He will not turn His face away from us. Let us only repent with all our hearts and renounce not only evil deeds, but also the most crafty and unclean thoughts of our hearts, let us destroy them completely. For the Divine Scripture says: rend your hearts, and not your garments (Joel 2:13). What is the benefit, tell me, if we distribute our property to the poor, but do not give up evil and do not hate sin? What is the benefit if we do not commit any carnal sin in deed, but in our hearts we nurture shameful and unclean thoughts, thus committing sin secretly in our soul and possessing unclean spiritual passions? Let us reject, I pray you, along with silver and gold the slavery to passions that is usual for us; Let us not stand in negligence, as hitherto, but let us embrace the feat of washing away the filth of passions with tears of repentance. As if some king, sitting on his throne, with a crown on his head and in royal robes, of his own free will takes something unclean and with his own hands smears his face with it and smears his senses until it is impossible to see, hear and smell, and then, repenting that he did so, decides to cleanse himself of this filth, but does not immediately enter his home to wash himself with water and, having washed off that uncleanness, again clean, as he was before, to sit on his throne, and instead of washing away this uncleanness, he begins to distribute his treasures and his wealth to the poor, then even if he distributed all his movable and immovable property, he will not receive any benefit from this if he does not wash off his uncleanness with water, and everyone who looks at him, when he, having such uncleanness on his face, treats his council and his princes, will to make a mockery of him: it is also impossible for someone who also gives away all his wealth and becomes completely poor to receive any benefit, unless he forsakes sin, turns away from evil and cleanses his soul with repentance and tears. Let any person, who has sinned and covered the feelings of his soul with the impurity of sinful pleasures, distribute all his wealth to the poor and leave the glory of his ranks, magnificent houses, slaves, relatives, friends and known ones, and, having become impoverished in this way, come poor and have nothing and become a monk, but with all this, while he is alive, he also needs tears of repentance, which are absolutely necessary to wash and cleanse with them the defilement of sins, especially if he, like me, is unclean not just with some, but with large and many sins. Итак, если хотим очистить души свои от скверн греховных, то для этого недостаточно только раздать бедным имущества свои, но потребно еще плакать и проливать слезы от всего сердца. Я так думаю о себе, что если не очищу скверны грехов моих слезами моими, но отыду из настоящей жизни оскверненным, то праведно буду предан поруганию и Богом, и Ангелами, и ввергнут в неугасимый огнь вместе с демонами. Yes, my brothers, so it is truly. Ничего не внесли мы в настоящую жизнь, чтоб, когда согрешим, дать то Богу для искупления грехов наших, как и Евангелие говорит: что даст человек измену за душу свою? (Matthew 16:26). This is the right court! Се праведное и истинное смирение, как говорит и Дух Святой устами Давида: не прииму от дому твоего тельцов, ниже от стад твоих козлов. For all the beasts of the oak forest and so on are mine (Ps. 49:9-10). And one more thing: if you had wanted sacrifices, you would have given them: you do not favor burnt offerings. The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God will not despise a broken and humble heart (Ps. 50:18–19). Опять и Христос говорит: не мните, яко приидох разорити закон или пророки: не приидох разорити, но исполнити ( Мф.5:17 ). For the old law could not heal souls from the invisible disease of sinful passions with earthly medicines, that is, bodily justifications, gifts, sacrifices, burnt offerings, and so on. Why does the Baptist John say: behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Likewise, the Apostle Paul: the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus freed me from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2). Do you want to know how Christ fulfilled the law and the prophets, as He Himself says? Listen. The Law says: Thou shalt not kill, but Christ: Thou shalt not be angry; the law: Thou shalt not commit adultery, and Christ: Thou shalt not lust; law: do not swear falsely, and Christ: do not swear at all. Consider now: whoever is not angry, how is it possible to kill? Who does not allow lust, how is it possible to commit fornication? For one who does not swear at all, how can one swear falsely? So, Christ the Lord, by the law of the Spirit, that is, the Gospel, cuts off the roots of sins from the soul, and this is the fulfillment of the law - so that no one justifies himself for some deed or considers himself righteous, but so that in everything and before everyone he is as dead, so that he is not at all embarrassed or alarmed, and does not quarrel with those who sadden him with something regrettable, but live completely according to the commandments of Christ the Lord and fulfill them zealously commands. All the commandments of Christ were given to us in opposition to sins; These commandments must be lived and zealously fulfilled by everyone who wishes to be worthy of the kingdom of heaven; for everything else you have to be inactive and dead. Christ the Lord says: If you abide in Me, and My words will abide in you, ask if you want, and it will be given to you (John 15:7). Let us follow the word of Christ with zeal and zeal until we reach the place where Christ dwells. Where Christ Himself dwells, He draws those who follow Him there and places them in the Holy of Holies, like the Great Bishop, where, as a man like us, He entered first, as He Himself says: no one will come to the Father except by Me. I am the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). And again: Father, these you have given to Me, I will, that where I am, they also may be with Me, that they may see My glory, which you have given to Me (John 17:24). Let us also be crucified with Christ, that is, we will endure every temptation that may come upon us, and we will die out of love for Him for all worldly pleasures, in order to live with Him. Let us walk with Him on the path leading to heaven, keeping our hearts pure, for when we walk the path of His commandments and follow Him without turning back, then our enemy the devil will not be able to cause us any harm, especially if we walk with a wise leader and good companions. Let us fear the example of the barren fig tree, cursed by Christ for barrenness, and bring worthy fruits to Christ through repentance. Let us not allow ourselves to slumber through the negligence of our souls, and let us not allow ourselves to wander (being attracted. - Ed.) hither and thither in the delights of the world, at a time when we should be working in doing the commandments of God, so as not to extinguish the lamp that was kindled and shining under the influence of the fruits of repentance and not to become like the five foolish virgins. But through good and godly deeds we will increase the talent of Christ’s grace. For for everyone in general, not only for monks, but also for laymen, it is possible to always repent and cry, pray to God and succeed in all virtues. And that what I say is true, Saint John Chrysostom, the great pillar and teacher of the Church, confirms my word, in a conversation in which he interprets the fiftieth psalm, where he says that for one who has a wife and children, slaves and many servants, great wealth and honors, and who is great and glorious in worldly affairs, it is possible not only to cry, pray and repent every day, but to achieve the perfection of virtue and receive the Holy Spirit, become a friend of God and be worthy of contemplating Him. These were those who lived before Christ: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Lot, Moses, David - I will leave the rest, because there were many of them, and in the new grace during the incarnate economy of Christ our God, the Apostle Peter, an unlearned fisherman, preached Christ throughout the entire universe. However, who can count them all when they are greater than the sand of the sea? There were many kings, princes and people in power (not to mention the poor), who with great dedication built cities, palaces, churches of God, almshouses, hospices that have survived to this day. Having all this during their lives, they used it piously and godly, not as lords and rulers, but as servants of God, disposing of what God gave them as it pleased God. They used the world, as St. Paul says, but did not abuse it. Why, while living in the world, they were glorious and famous, and in another life in the kingdom of heaven for endless centuries they will be the most glorious and brightest. Likewise, if we were not careless and careless despisers of God’s commandments, but diligent, zealous and attentive fulfillers of them, then we would not have the need to leave our property, withdraw from the world and become monks. But to better convince you of this, listen to what will be said next. 2. God at the beginning created man as the king of everything on earth, and not only on earth, but also on what is under the roof of heaven, for the sun, the moon, and the stars were created for man. So, being the king of all this visible, did man suffer any harm to virtue from this? No, I couldn't stand it. On the contrary, if he always thanked God, who created him, for this, and dedicated all this to Him, then he would be even more successful in virtue. And if he had not transgressed the commandments of God, then, of course, he would not have lost the kingdom that he had, and would not have fallen from the glory of God. But because he transgressed the commandment of God, he was righteously expelled from paradise, and began to live in labor and trouble, and died in exile. And listen, I’ll tell you something that no one has yet expressed with complete clarity. Divine Scripture says: God said to Adam: Adam, where are you? (Gen.3:9). Why does the Creator of all things say this? Of course, in order to persuade Adam to come to his senses, recognize his sin and repent. That’s why he says: Adam, where are you? As if he were saying: Adam, enter into yourself, recognize your nakedness and understand what kind of clothing and what glory you have lost: Adam, where are you? In some way, He seems to awaken him and say: O Adam, come to your senses and humbly confess your sin. Come out from where you are hiding. Do you think to hide from Me? Say: I have sinned. - But he doesn’t say this (or better said: I, poor thing, don’t say this, because this is my own passion), but what does he say? I heard the voice of You, walking in paradise, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself (10). What did God say to him in response to this: Who can tell you that you are naked, except from the tree of which you were commanded not to eat? (11). Do you see, beloved, the compassion of God? That when God said to Adam: where are you, and Adam did not confess his sin, but said: I heard the voice of you, walking in paradise, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and hid myself, - He was not angry with him immediately and did not turn away from him, but again asks him, saying: Who can tell you that you are naked, except from the tree whose commandments you have this alone? not to eat, did you eat from him? -Have you understood the depth of the wisdom of God - that when Adam said: Naked I am, God said to him: Why do you say that you are naked, but hide your sin? Do not think that I only see your body, but I do not see your heart and your thoughts. For Adam was deceived and really thought that God did not know about his sin, in some way saying to himself: I will say that I am naked; God, not knowing the reason for this, will ask: why did you become naked? And I will answer him: I don’t know. So I will deceive Him and again receive the same protection. Even if I don’t receive this, at least He won’t expel me from paradise now and send me to another place. This is what Adam thought, as many do now, and I myself first, hiding my sins. But God, not wanting Adam’s sin to be burdened by this lack of consciousness, says to him: how did you know that you were naked if you had not eaten from the tree from which you were forbidden to eat? It was as if He were saying to him: And do you think to hide from Me? I don’t know what you did? Why don’t you say: you have sinned? Say, unfortunate one: to her, Master! I truly sinned, transgressing Your commandment, I listened to the advice of my wife and committed a great sin, acting on her word and transgressing Your own. Have mercy on me, God, and forgive me. But he does not say this, does not humble himself, does not lament; his heart is hardened, as is mine, poor one. If he had said this, he would again have remained in paradise and would not have suffered the hardships that he experienced later. With this one word: he sinned, he would atone for all the many years he spent in hell. That's what I promised to tell you! But listen further, and you will understand how true my word is. God said to Adam: if one day you take away from him, from the forbidden tree, you will die death (Gen. 2:17), death, that is, spiritual death, which happened immediately, the man took off the clothes of immortality, and neither God said anything more (that definition), nor anything special happened after that. God, foreseeing that Adam had to sin, and wanting to forgive him if he repented, did not say anything more than was said. But Adam denied his sin and did not repent, even when he was rebuked by God, for he said: the woman whom you gave with me, she deceived me (Gen. 3:12). Alas for his blinded soul! Having said this, he said as if to God: You yourself are to blame, because I was deceived by the wife you gave me. What I am suffering most now, poor and unhappy, is when I do not want to humble myself and say with all my heart that I myself am to blame for my death, but I say that that one over there prompted me to do or say this and that, he advised me and led me astray. Alas for my poor soul, who speaks such words full of sin! Oh, the most shameless and most unreasonable words of a shameless and unreasonable soul! So, after Adam said this, God also said to him: in the sweat of your brow, bear your bread until you return to the land from which you were taken; For you are earth, and to earth you will go (Gen. 3:19). He seemed to say to him like this: I told you to repent in order to remain in your previous state, but since you are hard-hearted and unrepentant, then move away from Me. This separation of you from Me will be enough for your punishment: you are earth, and to earth you will go. Have you now understood that Adam, because he did not repent and did not say: I have sinned, was expelled from paradise, condemned to spend my life in labor and sweat and to go to the ground from which I was taken? Then, leaving him, God approaches Eve, wanting to discover that she, too, is righteously condemned along with Adam to exile, since she did not want to repent, and says to her: what have you done? so that at least she would say: I have sinned. For for what other reason would God say such words to her, except perhaps to encourage her to say: Oh, Master, out of my foolishness I did this, poor and unfortunate, and disobeyed You, my Lord, have mercy on me and forgive me! But she didn't say that, so what? The serpent deceives me. O petrified insensibility! And you, Eve, - after you agreed to talk with the serpent, who spoke to you words contrary to your Master and God, preferred him to God, your Creator, found his advice better than the commandments of your Lord and considered it more true than the commandment of God - do you not admit that you did something bad and do not repent?! - So, since she did not want to say: I sinned, then she too was expelled from the paradise of sweetness and alienated from God. Delve into the depths of the mysteries of the man-loving God and learn from this that if they had repented, they would not have been expelled from paradise and condemned to return to the land from which they were taken. How is this possible? Listen. 3. Since, having been expelled from paradise, they immediately began to hunger and thirst, to chill and tremble, to endure toil and sweat, and to endure all those hardships and sorrows that we are enduring today, they soon realized what a bitter state they had descended into and what a great calamity they had been subjected to. Then they realized their hardness of heart and unrepentance, and God’s inexpressible condescension and compassion towards them. Why, walking and sitting outside paradise, they repented and shed tears, struck themselves in the face and pulled out the hair of their heads, mourning their former hardness of heart. And they did this not one, or two, or ten days, but their entire lives. For how could one not cry, remembering that meek and benevolent Master, that indescribable sweetness of paradise, those indescribable kindnesses and beauties of the flowers of paradise, that carefree and effortless life and fellowship with the Angels? How does it happen in worldly life that servants assigned by some eminent master to serve him, as long as they observe attention, respect and obedience to their master, enjoy his favor and love and live with him in peace and contentment, and when they become proud and begin to deviate from the will of their master and despise their fellow servants, they not only lose their boldness before him, but also his favor and love, and at his command they are expelled to a distant country, where they are exposed to countless needs and sorrows, and the more they suffer and suffer, the more they feel the sorrow of their situation, remembering the calm and contented life they lost, so our ancestors suffered the same thing, living in paradise and enjoying its great benefits. They learned the greatness of these blessings and their value when they lost them, being expelled from paradise; Then they realized the greatness of the evil they had suffered. Why did they incessantly grieve and cry, calling on God’s compassion? What does God do, quick and ready to show mercy and inert to punishment? He foresaw that they would finally humble themselves and repent, therefore he predetermined a special way to cancel his righteous sentence on them, but he did not immediately carry out this predestination, but appointed his own time, place, and image for this, in order to teach us to be philosophical and not to rebel against our Creator and God. As He predestined, so He later did, and for those whom He expelled from paradise for their insolence before Him and an unrepentant heart, because they humbled themselves and mourned themselves, He made a way for the return of what was lost. Namely: for this, the Only Begotten Son Himself and the Word of the beginningless Father descended from heaven to earth and not only became a man like them, but also deigned to suffer a violent and shameful death, then descended into hell, brought them out from there and restored them. So, Christ, as you hear every day, suffered for them in order to return them from such a distant exile, would he not have taken pity on them if they had repented then in paradise? How is it possible that He who is essentially humane and compassionate and who created them so that they would enjoy the blessings of paradise and glorify their Benefactor would not take pity on them? But in order for you to know this better and believe my word, listen again. If they had repented while they were still in paradise, they would again have received only paradise and nothing more. But since they were expelled from paradise for unrepentance, then repented, cried a lot and suffered misery, then the Lord of all, God, for their labors and sweat, for the disasters they endured, and for their good repentance, deigned even more to honor them and glorify them, in order to make them forget all the evil they suffered. And what does it do? Look how great His love for mankind is! Having descended into hell and brought them out from there, He did not bring them back into the same paradise from which they had been expelled, but He brought them up to heaven and, when He sat down at the right hand of His God and Father, He made them sit with Him. Think, with what great honor did He honor Adam, who was His slave by nature, and was deemed worthy to be His father through a grace-filled economy? Do you see to what height our Lord Christ raised him for his repentance, humility, crying and tears! Oh the power of repentance and tears! O sea of ​​inexplicable philanthropy and unexplored mercy! 4. And not only did God honor and glorify Adam, but also us, his sons, who, that is, imitated his repentance, tears, crying and everything that we said - and even to this day He glorifies and honors, like Adam, those who repent properly and do what Adam did - also those who from now on and in the end will do so and repent, whether they are laymen or monks, He will to glorify him, as He Himself said, our true God: “Truly I say to you, I will never leave them, but as My brothers and friends, fathers and mothers, relatives and joint heirs, I will show them, glorify and glorify them, both in heaven and on earth below, and their life and joy and glory will have no end.” Tell me, my brother, what benefit did this effortless and carefree life bring to our ancestors, which they had in paradise, when they were careless, despised God by unbelief in Him and transgressed His commandment? For if they had believed Him, then Eve would not have considered the serpent more faithful than God, Adam would not have believed Eve more than God, and they would have been careful not to eat from the forbidden tree. But they tasted it and did not repent, and for this they were expelled from paradise. However, from the exile again they received not harm, but great benefit. This is due to the economy of our salvation. For our Lord Christ came down from heaven, by His death he loosed the bonds of our death and removed the condemnation that passed on us from the crime of our ancestors, by the power of holy Baptism he reborn us, recreated and delivered us from this condemnation and made us completely free in this world, so that our enemy the devil would no longer act in us and on us violently and coercively, he honored us with the autocracy that was granted to us in the beginning, and gave us strength against the enemy, so that those who wish can conveniently defeat him, more than all the saints who were before the incarnate economy of Christ. But even when such people die, they do not descend to hell, like the ancients, but ascend to heaven and are deemed worthy to receive peace there and eternal joy - now only to a certain extent, but after the general resurrection completely and entirely. So, let no one invent excuses for their sins and say that, due to Adam’s crime, we are entirely subject to the (unresistive) action of the devil and are forcibly drawn to sin. Those who think and say this, believe correctly that the incarnate dispensation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was useless and in vain - which word is the word of heretics, and not of the Orthodox. For for what other reason did Christ descend and become incarnate and for what other purpose did He suffer, if not in order to resolve the condemnation that came from sin, and to free our race from slavery to the devil and from the action in us of this (powerful) enemy of ours? That is true autocracy, so as not to be ruled by anyone else in any way. We are all born sinners from our forefather Adam, who sinned, criminals from a criminal, slaves of sin from a slave of sin, cursed and dead from cursed and dead, and because of Adam, who accepted the action of the evil devil, was moved to sin by his advice, enslaved to him and lost autocracy, and we, as his children, are subject to the action and power of the devil and we become his slaves. For this purpose, our Lord descended from heaven, incarnated and became a man like us in everything except sin, in order to destroy sin, - he was conceived and born in order to sanctify the conception and birth of people, - he was raised and grew little by little, in order to bless every age, - he began to preach, having already become a perfect man, thirty years old, in order to teach us - not to get ahead of ourselves and not to preempt in anything those who are more intelligent than us and virtues, that is, more reasonable and virtuous than we are, especially if we are still young and imperfect in reasoning and virtue, - he preserved all the commandments of God and His Father in order to resolve every crime and free us, criminals, from condemnation - he became a slave, taking on the form of a slave, so that again we, the slaves of the devil, could be elevated to the dignity of masters and made masters and rulers of the devil himself, the former our tyrant, - which is confirmed by the saints who cast out the devil as weak and infirm, and his servants, not only in life, but also in death - was hanged on the cross and became a curse, as the Prophet says: cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (Deut. 21:23), in order to resolve the entire oath of Adam - died to put to death death, and was resurrected to destroy the power and the action of the devil, who had power over us through death and sin. Thus, our Lord, having plunged into the midst of the deadly poison of sin the ineffable and life-giving action of His Divinity and His flesh, freed our race from the action of the devil and, cleansing us with holy Baptism and life-giving by communion of the Most Pure Mysteries of His venerable Body and Blood, makes us holy and sinless - but again leaves us to have autocracy, so that it does not seem that we serve To our Lord Christ under compulsion, but according to our own free will. Why, just as in the beginning Adam in paradise was free and sinless, and by his own autocratic will he obeyed the enemy, was deceived and transgressed the commandment of God, so, on the contrary, we, being reborn by holy Baptism, freed from slavery and becoming free, if we do not obey our enemy the devil of our own free will, then this evil one cannot in any way instill any evil in us. Now, if before the law and the coming of Christ, without the benefit of those means about which we spoke, many, very many pleased God and appeared blameless, of whom God honored the righteous Enoch with transfiguration, and raised Elijah to heaven in a chariot of fire, then what kind of justification can we give if after the manifestation of grace, after such and such a good deed, after the destruction of death and sin, we are not saints, if after rebirth we are saints? By the baptism that we received, being under the protection of the holy Angels, with whom we were protected, and under the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit, of which we were vouchsafed, we do not even find ourselves similar to those who were before grace, that is, before Christ, but we remain in negligence, we despise and transgress the commandments of God? - And that we, if we neglect our salvation, will be punished more than those who sinned before Christ, this was shown by the Apostle Paul, saying: if the word spoken by the angels is known, and every crime and righteous disobedience receives retribution, how will we be convinced of our careless salvation? (Heb.2:2-3). 5. So, each of us, no matter what sin he has fallen into, let him not blame Adam, but blame himself, and let him show, like him, true and worthy repentance, if he wants to be worthy of the kingdom of heaven. If you do not want to strive in every possible way to keep yourself sinless and keep the commandments of Christ, or if, having not kept them and having sinned, you do not want to repent until the end of your life and bitterly mourn your sins, but remain in hard-hearted unrepentance, then this is what the Lord says to those who do not keep His commandments or do not repent immediately, but put off day by day, who do not believe and do not listen to His words after such and such miracles, after the incarnate economy and such a light of truth spread throughout the whole world: “the earth will shake under them and be torn apart in many ways, not tolerating on its backbone the ungrateful, stiff-necked and disobedient to Me, and they will see their fall approaching their feet, and they will tremble. For when the earth shakes and the sky moves and rolls up with a crash like a scroll from those terrible horrors, then their inflexible and insensitive hearts will be horrified, like a hare’s at the hour of slaughter; the light will darken, the stars will fall, the sun and the moon will fade away above them, and from the barriers (crust) of the earth will arise fire, overflowing like the waves of the sea.” - Just as during the flood the abysses of heaven opened and the water descended and little by little covered the whole multitude of people, so then the foundations of the earth will open and fire will rise up, not little by little, but all at once, and will cover the whole earth, like a sea of ​​fire. Then what will those do who say: they would only leave me in this life, and I would not want the kingdom of heaven? What will happen to those who now laugh and talk like that? How can they protect themselves then? Can they say that they did not hear, or that no one taught us, or that we did not know the name, authority, strength and power of the Lord of all? No, we cannot say anything like that. For to this our Lord Christ will say to us: O wretched ones! How many times have I proclaimed My will to you through the prophets, apostles and almost all My servants!? How long have I taught you and revealed to you all the truth? Have you not heard My Gospel, which says: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:4)? I called, but you did not listen. I cried: blessed are the weeping, and you laughed, looked at each other, talked to one another and continued your idle talk and then invited each other to feasts, working for your belly. Didn’t I say that the path that leads to the belly is narrow and sorrowful (Matthew 7:14), and that the kingdom of heaven is in need and only the needy delight it (Matthew 11:12)? And you lounged on soft beds and invented all kinds of rest for your flesh. Didn’t I say that whoever wants to be first should be last and slave and servant to everyone? But you preferred chairs and ranks (first, highest places in assemblies. - Ed.), authorities and great ranks, and did not want to humbly serve the poor, the wretched and abandoned by everyone. Did I not say: Whatever ye will, let men do unto you, and ye do unto them likewise (Matthew 7:12)? And you fulfilled only your own desires and lusts, extorting, kidnapping, offending, and generally pleasing only yourself. Didn’t I say: if someone hits you on the cheek, turn him the other too (Matthew 5:39)? And some of you only laughed while listening to this, while others did not even want to hear it, saying how bad and unfair I prescribed it. Did I not say: if anyone understands you in strength for one race, go with him two (Matthew 5:41)? And you, never doing this yourself, only forced your brothers to do this. Didn’t I say: blessed are you when people revile you and destroy you, and say all kinds of evil things against you who lie, for my sake (11)? And you couldn’t bear even a somewhat harsh word, not only from your equals, but also from your great ones. Did I not say: rejoice and be glad during persecutions and tribulations? But you loved honor and glory more than praise, and when you happened to experience some kind of sorrow, you were not happy with your very life. Have I not pleased the poor? But you never from your heart wanted to become beggars. Did I not say that the meek will inherit the kingdom of heaven? And you were like wild animals in relation to those who did not fulfill your slightest desires; when they saw that they did not fulfill My commandments, then they sympathized with them and were lenient and meek, saying that the Lord commanded them to be lenient and meek towards such people. Didn’t I tell you: love your enemies... do good to those who hate you and pray for those who harm you (Matthew 5:44)? And you said that this is the work of the Apostles and great saints, for who else can do this? Poor and unfortunate! Why didn’t you yourself become saints? Have you not heard me say: Be holy, even as I am holy (1 Peter 1:16)? But you remained in sin and lustful uncleanness. He will especially say to the wives: have you not heard how in church they read the life and deeds of Saint Pelagia, who was formerly a harlot, and later became a saint? The life and deeds of the Venerable Mary of Egypt, who was also prodigal and unclean, and then became an earthly angel? The life of Saint Theodora, who fell into adultery and then appeared as a wonderworker? Haven’t you also heard the life of the virgin Euphrosyne, who was transformed into Smaragda? And also the life of Ksenia, truly strange and wondrous? Haven’t you heard how they left their relatives, wealth and their very betrotheds and, having served Me in poverty and humility, became saints? Why didn’t you also imitate them - harlots to harlots, harlots to harlots, married to married, virgins to virgins? Again, He will also say to men - kings and rulers: did you not hear how David sinned, and when the Prophet Nathan came to him and denounced him, he did not contradict him, did not become angry and did not hide his sin, but immediately stood up from his throne and, falling to the ground in front of everyone, said: I have sinned before my Lord - and all my life I did not stop crying day and night, shedding tears about it? They did not hear that the same David said: Because of the voice of my groaning, my bone cleaves to my flesh. Have you become like the tawny owl of the desert... You eat ashes like bread, and dissolve my drink with weeping (Ps. 102:6–7,10)? And again: I am weary with my groaning, I will wash my bed every night, I will wet my bed with my tears (Ps. 6:7)? They did not hear him yet say: Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hand, if I have rewarded those who repay me with evil, let me then fall away from my enemies; May the enemy then marry my soul, and overwhelm me, and trample my belly into the ground, and place my glory in the dust (Ps. 7:4-6)? Why didn’t you imitate him and others like him? Didn’t you think that you were more glorious and richer than him, and therefore did not want to humble yourself before Me? Poor and unfortunate! Despite all the fact that you are perishable and mortal, you wanted to be autocrats, and if somewhere there was someone who did not obey you, you immediately rebelled against him, as against your insignificant servant, despite the fact that he is your fellow servant and you have nothing superior to him: how did you not want to work and submit with fear and trembling to Me, your Creator and Master? And when you did evil to those who sinned against you, why did you think about what you yourself sinned against Me? - That there is no one who would exact the blood of those who are wronged by you? Or that there is no one who can see everything you do in secret? Or have you forgotten me, your Creator and God, and thought that there is no one greater than you? Or did you not realize that you had no time to appear before Me naked and against your will? You have not heard that I said: Whoever wills to be in you, let him be your servant; and if anyone wants to be first in you, will he be your slave (Matthew 20:26–27)? How did you not tremble and come to your senses in order to realize your insignificance and humble yourself, fearing to fall into pride from the vain glory of this world, to transgress My commandment and be betrayed into the unquenchable fire of hell? Have you not heard how David, when Shimei reviled him, calling him a murderer, not only did not get angry, but recognized himself as worse than him and forbade those who wanted to kill him? So, behold, Moses, and Joshua, and David, and many others before the incarnate economy and many more after it now, as you see, are glorified along with Me. Many of them were kings, rulers, rich, like you, but they spent their lives in the fear of God, in truth and humility, not repaying anyone evil for evil, although they were many times dishonored and despised not only by their equals, but also by their inferiors, and leaving Me to take vengeance for them, and what they sinned against Me, they repented of it with all their souls and cried about it with fear and trembling all their lives, for They heard that there would be a day of My second coming and judgment, and they believed it. You have despised my commandments as if they were some insignificant and powerless person. So with those with whom you preferred to treat, whose words you obeyed, whose deeds you did and followed, together you will receive what was prepared for them, that is, fiery Gehenna. In the same way, He will contrast the sinful patriarchs with the patriarchs of the saints: John Chrysostom, John the Merciful, Gregory the Theologian, Saints Ignatius, Tarasius, Methodius and all the others, who were images and likenesses of the true God, not only in word, but also in deed. And He will contrast the sinful metropolitans with the metropolitan saints: Basil the Great, Gregory, Brother Vasiliev, Gregory the Wonderworker, Saints Ambrose, Nicholas - and, in a word, He will compare every patriarch, every metropolitan and every sinful bishop with the Apostles and holy fathers who shone before them in the same dioceses, and, having placed all of them, some against others, that is, the righteous against the sinners, or, as it is said, the sheep on the right hand and the goats on the left, he will say to the last: didn’t you spend your life in the same places as those who pleased and served me? Didn't you sit in the same pulpits? Why did you not imitate their deeds? How were you not afraid to hold and eat Me, pure and immaculate, with unclean hands and even more unclean souls? How were you not horrified and trembled when you did this? Why did you spend the property of the poor on your own pleasures and on your relatives? Why did you sell Me for silver and gold, like Judas? Why did you buy Me, like some indecent slave, and use Me to satisfy the desires of your flesh? Why, just as you did not honor Me, so I will not take care of you. Get away from Me, you workers of sin, get away! Thus, finally, fathers will be condemned by fathers, slaves and free will be condemned by slaves and free, rich and poor by rich and poor, married by married, unmarried by unmarried, and, simply to say, every sinner on that terrible day of judgment will see someone like himself against himself in eternal life and in the indescribable light thereof, and will be condemned by him. How to say, every sinner will see against himself a righteous man like him, that is, a king - a king, a boss - a boss, an unrepentant fornicator - a repentant fornicator, a poor person - a poor person, a slave - a slave, and he will remember that he was a man, and he had soul and body and everything else, like he had in this life, the same dignity, the same art, the same craft, but he did not want to imitate him; and will cover his mouth, not having anything to say in his defense. When lay sinners see righteous lay people in the kingdom of heaven, sinful kings see righteous kings, rich and married sinners see rich and married saints, and all other sinners who are in hell, similar to themselves in the kingdom of heaven, then they will be covered with shame, like that rich man, who, being burned with unquenchable fire, saw poor Lazarus resting on the bosom of Abraham. We, monks, are those who, like me, are lazy, careless and sinful - what will we suffer then? What shame, what torment will befall us when we see those who in this life had wives and male and female servants, rejoicing in the kingdom of heaven along with their wives and children? When will we see those who corrected various positions and possessed wealth that pleased God? Or, in short, when will we see all those lay people who corrected every virtue and spent their lives in repentance and tears, with the fear of the Lord, standing in the joy of the lordship of the righteous? - When we think that we, who left our fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters and the whole world in general for the salvation of our souls - some of us left ranks, wealth and all the other blessings of this world - and, having retired from the world, became beggars and monks to acquire the kingdom of heaven, for our negligence and laziness and for indulging our evil lusts, we brought ourselves to the point that we were thrown out along with the fornicators and adulterers and with all those who lived indecently in this world, then - alas for us! – what fear and trembling and what shame will cover us?! Believe me, brothers, that this shame will be more painful for us than any torment of sinful laymen. When will I, having rejected the world and everything worldly, stand alongside the sinful laymen who had wives and children and were preoccupied with worldly affairs, so as to be equally tormented with them, and they, turning and seeing me with them, will say: you, a monk who has left the world, are you standing here with us? How is this, how? “Then how can I defend myself against them and what can I tell them?” Who, my brethren, can properly describe in words the great sorrow with which I am then overcome? Of course no one. And what to say and how to defend yourself? We, monks, left the world and everything in the world, but did not turn away from it with all our souls; Meanwhile, this is truly withdrawal from the world and everything worldly, when someone, having escaped from the world, begins to hate everything worldly. And what is the world? - Listen. He does not eat silver, nor gold, nor horses, nor mules, nor food, nor wine, nor bread, because we, monks, use everything that is necessary to maintain bodily life, we eat and drink as much as we need. It is neither houses, nor fields, nor vineyards, nor country dwellings; and what is there? Sin, addiction to things and passions. What is the essence of the world? Let John the Theologian, beloved disciple of Christ, tell us this: do not love the world, nor what is in the world... for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of desire and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is of this world (1 John 2:15-16). Why, if we, having withdrawn from the world and left it, do not observe this, what benefit does it bring us from just leaving? No matter what part of the world we come from and no matter what country we move to, we will meet the same things and the same needs everywhere, therefore, being people, no matter where we go, we cannot live anywhere differently than people live, like people. Wherever we are, everywhere we need what we need for the body, and in addition, everywhere we will meet wives, children, wine, all kinds of fruits, and so on. This is how our life works. So, you can’t run away from all this, but what can you run away from? From addiction to this. Then it is easy to avoid sin. If we have the lust of the flesh, the lust of desire and the soaring of thoughts, then how, being in the midst of all this, can we avoid sin and not be wounded by its arrows? But I know very well that many, both in ancient and in modern times, have kept and keep themselves unscathed from it, and, being among the things and affairs of the world, among the cares and worries of life, they have spent and are leading their lives in perfect purity and holiness, following the instructions of St. Paul, who says: time has ceased; Yes, having wives, as if they had not... and women buying, as if they did not contain... For the image of this world is passing away (1 Cor. 7:29–31). Therefore, keep in mind the other things, that is, whoever is dishonored and offended and thereby provoked to anger, let him not be angry; whoever is praised, let him not keep in his mind what is said in his praise; whoever is moved to take revenge on someone, let him be in peace as if he were dead with all his heart, and so on. Whoever has once become such, let him be diligently zealous to always keep himself unconcerned even about the very life of the body. Such were and at all times are those who labor diligently. If we do not strive to become like this and lead such a life, then what will we say at the future judgment? Why did they despise fame and fortune? But the Lord will tell us: but you have not abandoned envy, contentiousness and enthusiasm. And that this removes and separates us from God, the Apostle James speaks about this: if you have bitter envy and zeal in your hearts (there is also good zeal, when someone is jealous of another for a good purpose, that is, so that you yourself can do the good that you see in your brother), do not boast or lie about the truth. This wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, spiritual, demonic. Where there is envy and zeal, there is disorder and every evil thing (James 3:14-16). A little later he says again: You ask, and do not receive; you ask evilly, so that you may depend on your pleasures (James 3:4:3), and to this he adds: Adulterers and adulterers, do you not know that the love of this world is enmity to God? (James 3:4). And think about it, he didn’t say that the world is not only an enemy of God, but also the love of the world, because because of it we become adulterers and adulterers. And that this is true, listen to Christ the Lord Himself, who says: everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:28). And in another place it is said: You shall not covet as much as your neighbor (10th commandment). From this it is clear that not only does he move away from God and become an enemy of Him who commits sin by deed, but also he who loves him and lustfully desires some thing, that is, has a predilection and attachment to something earthly and worldly, because this is what the love of the world consists of. Why, even if someone is naked and deprived of everything earthly and worldly and clearly does not commit any sin, but has love and passion for this, then he is an enemy of God, as John the Theologian says: if anyone loves the world, the Father’s love is not in him (1 John 2:15). But our Lord Jesus Christ also says: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind (Luke 10:27), so that whoever has disposition, predilection and attachment for something else no longer fulfills this commandment. We, poor and unfortunate, have left what is great, glorious and lofty in the world, and having become monks, we love some light robes, some other beautiful clothes, some belts, some shoes, some sweet food and drinks, some knives and other tools or other things, even more insignificant, because of which we fall away from love for the King of all Christ and become His enemies without feeling it. Why, if we do not repent of this as we should and do not tear away from our souls all evil lust and all wickedness, contentiousness, fervor and pride, then we will certainly be condemned to eternal fire, along with tax collectors, fornicators, sinners and those rich people who lived uncleanly. Let us embrace the feat, my brothers, and begin to practice every virtue, but we will reject every evil and every passion with all our souls, we will hate every thing, both large and small, that endangers our souls, and we will use only those that would not occupy our minds and do not delight our hearts, so as not to end up with the sinful laity, because of such insignificant things, and not to see our brothers and fathers standing at the right hand of God and condemning us, I say, the sinful abbots of each monastery will not see the abbots who pleased God in the same monasteries; sinful deacons - those who shone like luminaries in the same diaconate; sinful novices and handicraftsmen - those who, doing the same thing or undergoing lower obediences, appeared as saints and for that were crowned along with the holy martyrs; those who have defiled their youth with carnal sins will not be able to see those who have preserved this youth in purity; men who have fallen through their negligence will not see those who endured carnal warfare from youth to old age, and yet retained their chastity; old people, who until the end of their lives did the deeds of foolish children, will not see those who repented in old age or even became monks and in a short time, under the influence of the fear of God, cut off the evil habit that had taken root from adolescence; those who laughed - those who cried; who ate and drank untimely until they were full and satiated - those who did not eat enough at a certain time; who spent their time in joy and fun - those who were always sad and despondent, remembering the terrible day of judgment and their sins; who, leaving wealth and glory, came and became monks and, however, did not at all want to obey and humble themselves - those who came to us from poverty, but lived with us in humble obedience and for their humility became brighter and more glorious than many kings and patriarchs standing there with them at the right hand. 6. Well, my beloved brethren, have you understood what I said to you? Do you know now what a shame it is to cover us up then? Have you imprinted on your mind and perceived the hour? Or should I repeat the same thing again for my own benefit and that of careless and lazy people like me? After all, the same thing will happen to us on that terrible day of judgment; many of our brethren will find themselves standing on the right hand of God in great glory, and many will find themselves standing on the left hand and will be condemned by them. And how can they not be condemned? When two people practicing the same skill, or two young men, pure from all sin and poor, having renounced the world, become monks, and one of them, of his own free will, does every virtue, and the other does every bad thing, then how can one not approve of the first, and not condemn the second? And don’t we see that this almost always happens between us? We see one obedient, attentive, humble, he treats the brethren as a servant of God, and not of men, he serves the brethren faithfully and respectfully, his wisdom is humble and contrite, but he judges himself in this way and says: I, an honest father (I have heard this from such people more than once), lived in great need and cramped conditions in the world, and with great difficulty obtained food for myself, how can I not care about obedience when I came here, and Is there monastery bread for free? For this God will punish me on the day of judgment. But since I came here to work for God, I will work as much as I can, so that the fruit of my labors exceeds the expenditure on my maintenance; I will obey my superior and all my brothers to death, without grumbling, as if I were obeying Christ Himself, and I will try not to be disobedient in anything before them. We see the other as vain, inattentive, disobedient, and he reasons with himself in everything opposite to the first and says: Behold, God has given me a dwelling, bread, wine, and various foods in abundance, I have become equal with the former, and first before those who are to come after me; I am a brother to all of them, whether they want it or not; So I will eat, drink, and sleep to my heart’s content, because what need do I have to work and work so that others will benefit from my labors? And if they order me to work on something, I will tell them that I am weak, I can’t, and if they force me to do this, I will answer: at least strangle me, or kick me out, I can’t work, and I will frown as if I were crying, I will scream and say: my knees are buckling and my vision has darkened; for this reason, I will receive permission to eat as I please in the morning; or I will grumble, scold, contradict and murmur in any obedience that they give me, and in every possible way they will get bored of messing with me and will leave me alone, even if they don’t want to; and if sometimes they give me some small obedience, then I will not care about it at all; say, for example, if they force me to look after the mules, then first I will say that I don’t know how to follow them, and then I will deliberately leave them without drink and food, then inevitably they will either leave me, or give me an assistant, on whom I will dump all the work, while I myself will do something for show and lie down; if they tell me to be a baker, then, so as not to seem disobedient, I will pretend to assure them that I do not know how to bake bread, and I will say that I have never seen how bread is baked, but I will go and bake them such bread that it will be like a stone, and they, not being able to eat it, will no longer force me to such obedience; if they send me to serve in the kitchen, then I will not listen to the abbot and, without even bowing to him, I will say: Lord have mercy! Father, was it you who chose me out of everyone to subject me to such low obedience? Are there no other brothers in the monastery? He thinks of saying this in order to get rid of this obedience too. Then he reviews all the obediences and prepares to answer everything: I don’t know how, I can’t, and if forced, perform them somehow and ruin them. As he plans, he then does it, or even worse. So, here we have before our eyes two brothers, one of whom submits in everything with complacent obedience and a humble heart, without laziness, murmuring and guile, and the other acts completely opposite to this. Now, when death comes and takes them both as they are - and on the day of the Last Judgment, this wicked and lazy one, having been placed on the left side of the Lord Christ naked and bound, turns and sees at His right hand that brother, interlocutor and co-worker, who with him became a monk, that he is all dressed in light and glory, like Christ Himself - what does he have to say then? Truly, my brothers, he will have nothing to say then, but, groaning and shaking and gnashing his teeth, he will go into the eternal fire of hell. In the same way, each of us sinners will be condemned by our saints - the unfaithful will be condemned by the faithful, those who have sinned and unrepentant will be condemned by those who have sinned, perhaps even more than them, but who have shown great and warm repentance. Why do I ask you all, if you know for yourself that you have done something bad and sinned in some way, and with your sins you have hurt and killed your souls, take care from this very hour to correct yourself, show repentance worthy of your sins and strive in every possible way to become worthy to stand at the right hand of Jesus Christ, our Savior and God. If you know any mistakes in yourself, even small ones, throw them away as quickly as possible, so that for these small things, as it seems to you, you don’t have to become a big deal. Do not consider these little things small and insignificant, but consider them great. For whoever sins of his own free will in small things and guards himself from more, is subject to punishment by the greater, since, having conquered the greater, he allowed himself to be conquered by the lesser. Moreover, passion alone is enough to plunge us into hell, as we said above, bringing the Apostles themselves - John and James - as witnesses. To further confirm this with an example, I ask you: whoever has a fight with ten or twelve enemies, if, when the war begins, from the very beginning he defeats and kills all his primary opponents, the most courageous, but, seeing that there are still one or two weak and infirm ones who oppose him with timidity, does not rush at them from afar and, having grabbed them, does not tie them up or kill them, then will he not be killed by them? If he, in his pride, having thrown off his arms, falls asleep, despising those two weaklings, then won’t these two, or even one, rush at him in order to tie him up and take him as a slave, or kill him and make him a laughing stock in front of all the people who will righteously say: it serves him right that he fell into slavery or was killed, is it for his pride and carelessness? I’ll say better: for his unreason and senselessness. For he is not so much worthy of praise for his courageous struggle at the beginning and the victory won over stronger enemies, as of censure, contempt and rejection for allowing himself to be overcome by that one, weak one. In the same way, my beloved brethren, we will not receive any benefit if, having conquered the greater passions, we remain defeated by the lesser ones, namely: if we preserve our flesh from defilement, if we do not succumb to anger, envy and self-interest, but are enslaved to gluttony, wine drinking, or sleep, or laziness, or bickering, disobedience, or murmuring. What is the benefit for us to abstain only from the evil deeds that we have spoken about? If we secretly take only a piece of bread, or something else, and eat it without the blessing of the abbot, or if of our own free will, without illness or extreme need, we do not go to church services, who can say that we are free from sin? Someone whose whole body was covered in wounds and then healed cannot be called completely healthy if he still has at least one small wound left, but he should be called properly healthy who erases, if possible, the very signs of the wounds that were on the body. So, let us stop considering small things as small things, but, hearing that many were condemned for them and severely punished, let us refrain with all our might from them in order to avoid the harm caused by them. Let none of you, my brethren, remain bound by any of the little things, or by any other passion, but from now on, let him make the beginning of repentance. No one should be ashamed to discover victory over himself by confessing his sin, if he is overcome by some passion, so that the enemy the devil will be put to shame and stop his attacks. Let us not allow ourselves to be dominated by envy, anger, rage, or nonsense, from which obscenity and cursing usually arise. Let vanity, pride and arrogance not rule over us to cast us into the depths of hell. Let us drive all this far away from ourselves, and instead acquire every virtue. Ask, who can see all these small sins in order to abstain from them and not be guilty of one of them, when there are countless of them? I will tell you who, by the grace of God, can not be guilty of them. He who always remembers his sins and thinks about the future judgment, repents and cries, overcomes and overcomes all passions in general. For he rises so high by the power of repentance that no passion can reach him and seize his soul, soaring grief. But if our mind does not rise and achieve a measure of dispassion through repentance, tears and spiritual humility that comes from tears, then it is impossible for us to be free from these passions. We will be constantly wounded by one passion or another and consumed by them like wild animals, both here and after death for them we will not be worthy of the kingdom of heaven, and we will be tormented by them all eternity. Therefore, I beg and will not cease to beg all of you, my spiritual brothers, do not neglect your salvation, but strive in every possible way to rise a little from the earth, because if this miracle happens to you, that you (spiritually) seem to hang in the air above the earth, then, having admired this miracle, you will no longer want to come down to the earth or stand on it. I call earth the wisdom of the flesh, air the wisdom of the spirit. What I have said means that when our mind is freed from evil thoughts and passions and we, by virtue of this, taste the freedom that Christ our God has given us, then we will no longer want to descend into the former slavery of sin and carnal wisdom. But let us always be vigilant and sober, and let us pray unceasingly, as our Lord commanded us, saying: Watch and pray (Matthew 26:41), until we enter into the blessed kingdom of heaven and receive the promised benefits through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs all glory forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: