30. Очерк просветленного благодатию внутреннего состояния словами Макария Великого. Способы возбуждать и усиливать решимость к доброй жизни

I can't wait. I take up a pen and begin to talk to you about the same thing - about the attractiveness of a blessed state - in order to set you on the path to achieving it, assimilating it and establishing yourself in it. Only now I will not offer you my own, but the words of the godly-wise Macarius the Great, and precisely from his eighteenth conversation. “If someone is rich in the world and has a hidden treasure, then with this treasure and wealth he acquires everything he wants. Likewise, those who have found and already have heavenly treasure (grace), with this treasure acquire for themselves every virtue and with the same treasure add to themselves even greater heavenly wealth. The Apostle says: “Imams... this treasure is in scanty vessels” (2 Cor. 4:7), that is, while still in the flesh, they were honored to find within themselves this treasure - the sanctifying power of the Spirit. Whoever has found and has within himself this heavenly treasure of the Spirit, immaculately and purely performs with it all righteousness according to the commandments and all practice of virtues, without coercion or difficulty. Let us beg God, let us seek and ask that He grant us the treasure of His Spirit, and thus be able to abide blamelessly and purely in all His commandments, to fulfill all righteousness purely and perfectly. One must force oneself to ask the Lord, that he may be worthy to find and receive the heavenly treasure of the Spirit and to come to a state without difficulty and easily to perform impeccably and purely all the commandments of the Lord, which previously could not be fulfilled even with all the effort. This treasure is acquired through diligent search, faith and patience in the work of this search. With heart disease and faith we must ask God to let us find His riches in our hearts, in the power and effectiveness of the Spirit.” Saint Macarius depicts what happens to those in whom the grace of God has begun to palpably manifest its effects: “Sometimes they are delighted, as if at a royal meal, and rejoice with joy and joy unspeakable. At other times they are like a bride, resting in divine peace in community with her groom. Sometimes, like disembodied Angels, while still in the body, they feel the same lightness and inspiration within themselves. Sometimes they are, as if in repose by drinking, rejoiced and rested in the Spirit, in rapture with the Divine spiritual mysteries. Sometimes the Spirit kindles them with such love that, if it were possible, they would accommodate every person in their hearts, not distinguishing evil from good. Sometimes, in the humility of the Spirit, they humiliate themselves so much before every person that they consider themselves the lowest and least of all. Sometimes their soul rests in a certain great silence, in silence and peace, sometimes it gains grace in the understanding of something, in ineffable wisdom, in the knowledge of what cannot be expressed with the tongue. Sometimes a person becomes like one of the ordinary ones.” What a coveted state! And here is another small sketch of an internal state enlightened by grace. “When the soul ascends to the perfection of the Spirit, having been completely cleansed of all passions and in ineffable communion having come into unity and dissolution with the Comforter Spirit, and, co-dissolved by the Spirit, it itself is worthy to become a spirit, then it becomes all light, all eye, all joy, all peace, all love, all mercy, all grace and kindness.” This is what the holy ascetics sought and tried to achieve! Agree that there was and is something to work for. But access to this area is open to everyone. This is not a protected meadow or garden. Such blessings are promised to everyone and a deposit is given for their acquisition - the grace of the Holy Spirit - in baptism and confirmation. All we have to do is dig within ourselves and get this treasure. There is a treasure in our garden - just take a shovel and start digging. From the very first blows of the spade, silver and gold will begin to jingle. And there, lo and behold, that’s all the treasure. There will be no measure of joy then. Well! What is the matter with you and me now?! In my last letter, I showed you the path by which one reaches determination, but I did not mention as a result of what particular ideas this determination arises and comes into final tension. I will now briefly point out this most important thing. And the beauty of the object excites energy, but here it is possible to leave the matter until tomorrow. When, on the one hand, extreme need and inevitability are clearly recognized, and on the other hand, available methods, then the decision is made irresistibly. Here's an example. Another sitter sits in the room - and you won’t call him, but let him see that there is a fire, where will the agility come from: he will give up his spirit. We need to do exactly the same thing with ourselves, and if we are indecisive, we need to ignite trouble around us, that is, convince ourselves that either do this or that, or you will perish forever. As soon as this is imagined in the mind, all our moral energy will immediately arise in full force and will be irresistibly drawn to the cause. How to do this in relation to the subject we are talking about, take the trouble to figure out for yourself. Let me remember for my part that today and tomorrow is death, but after death what? Well, what happened to the evil servant: “Take us from him - the gift of grace (Luke 19:24), and throw us into utter darkness!” Or what happened to the holy fools: the door will be locked, and you will hear: “I don’t know who you are!” (Matthew 25:10–12). After all, this or that, everything, of course, will happen if we do not kindle grace within ourselves and are not enlightened by it. Put yourself in this position more clearly, and I don’t think that your indecision, if any, will resist this. This idea is the strongest. Another ancient sage said: “Remember your last, and you will never sin” (Sir. 7:39). Try to imagine this more clearly and, once you have realized it clearly, do not weaken or darken this consciousness. To help yourself, take the book “Arise, Sleep” and read. It was given to you before. The availability of means is the second moment, which, when feeling extreme, gives courage and trustworthiness to escape from trouble and thereby inspires one to do something. Whereas, without this, the feeling of inevitable extremes plunges into despair. In the above example, if there is no door or open window, the person caught in the fire has only one thing left to do - tear his hair out. So in our subject, given the decisive extreme in which we truly find ourselves (without grace we cannot avoid the deprivation of the Kingdom of Heaven), if there were no means at our disposal, in the consciousness of such extreme we would only have to fall into despair. But, thank God, everything is already ready for us, with which we can avoid the inevitable extremes beyond the grave - everything is ready and we have it at hand, and even have it in ourselves. All that remains is to get down to business and act. Are we really going to continue to hesitate and put it off day by day while doing all this? In relation to you, I will also add that you are not supposed to start anything special. Live in the spirit in which you were brought up, and adhere to the pious practices that you see in your family and relatives. And all I’m saying is that you wholeheartedly choose this particular type of life and self-willingly decide to live like this to the end. It’s as if your life before was not yours. That's how you were sent. This is very beneficial, but it is fragile if you do not choose this particular life by your election and make it an urgent law for yourself. If you don’t do this now, you will be carried away by the evil spirit of secular life, or neither this nor that will come out of you, as I already mentioned. Think, for God's sake, about all this and hasten to make up your mind in your decisions. God bless you! You might be interested in: