Слово 49. О вере и о смиренномудрии

Do you, little man, want to find life? Keep faith and humility in yourself, because with them you will find mercy, and help, and words spoken in the heart by God the Guardian, who is secretly and openly with you. Do you want to acquire this, that is, the sacrament of life? Walk with God in simplicity, not in knowledge 310. Simplicity is accompanied by faith; and conceit follows refinement and resourcefulness of thoughts; conceit means moving away from God. When you stand before God in prayer, in your thoughts become like an ant, like a reptile on the ground, like a leech and like a babbling child. Do not speak before God anything out of knowledge, but draw closer to Him with your childish thoughts and walk before Him, so that you may be worthy of that paternal providence that fathers have for their children and infants. It is said: “The Lord protect the children” (Ps. 114:6). The baby approaches the snake, takes it by the neck, and it does not harm him. The baby walks naked all winter, when others are clothed and covered, and the cold enters all his members; and he sits naked on a day of cold, winter cold and frost - and does not get sick. For the body of its simplicity is covered with another, invisible garment by this hidden Providence, which guards its tender members so that no harm comes near them. Do you now believe that there is some hidden Providence by which a tender body, inclined by its tenderness and weak constitution to immediately accept any harm, is protected among those that resist it and is not overcome? It is said: “The Lord protect the little ones” (Ps. 114:6), and not only those little in body, but also those wise in the world who abandon their knowledge, rely on this all-sufficient Wisdom, by their will become like infants and then learn this wisdom, which is not felt from the works of learning. And the God-wise Paul beautifully said: “Whoever thinks he is wise” in this world, “let him be so that he may be wise” (1 Cor. 3:18). However, ask God to give you the measure of faith. And if you feel the pleasure of it in your soul, then it is not difficult to tell me that there is nothing to turn you away from Christ. And it is not difficult for you every hour to be taken into captivity far from earthly things, and to hide from this weak world and from the memories of what is in the world. Pray for this without laziness, ask for this with fervor, beg for this with great zeal until you receive it. And also pray so as not to become exhausted. You will be worthy of this if you first, with faith, force yourself to cast your care on God and replace your care with His providence. And when God sees in you this will, that with all the purity of your thoughts you trusted God Himself more than yourself, and forced yourself to trust in God more than in your soul, then this unknown power will dwell in you, and you will tangibly feel that there is undoubtedly power with you - that power that, having felt in themselves, many go into the fire and, walking on the waters, are not shaken in their thoughts by fear to drown; because faith strengthens spiritual feelings, and a person feels within himself that something invisible convinces him not to listen to the vision of terrible things and not to look at the vision that surpasses the senses. Perhaps you think that such spiritual knowledge is acquired by someone through this spiritual knowledge? Not only is it impossible to receive this spiritual knowledge with this spiritual knowledge, but there is even no possibility of feeling it with feeling or being granted it by anyone who zealously practices spiritual knowledge. And if some of them want to get closer to this knowledge of the Spirit, then until they renounce this spiritual knowledge, and all the twists and turns of its subtleties, and its polysyllabic methods, and put themselves in an infantile way of thinking, they will not be able to approach, however little, spiritual knowledge. On the contrary, the skill and concepts of spiritual knowledge are a great obstacle for them until they erase this little by little. This knowledge of the Spirit is simple and does not shine through in the thoughts of the soul. Until the mind frees itself from the thoughts of many and comes to the single simplicity of purity, it will not be able to feel this spiritual knowledge. This is the order of this knowledge - to feel the pleasure of this life of this century; Therefore, it discourages many thoughts. This spiritual knowledge, except for a multitude of thoughts, cannot cognize anything else acceptable in the simplicity of the mind, according to the word of the One who said: “Unless you are converted, you will be like children,” you cannot enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew 18:3). But many do not come to this simplicity, but because of their good deeds we hope that they will have a share in the Kingdom of Heaven, since from the meaning of the Gospel beatitudes, which the Lord depicted in different ways, we can understand that with these beatitudes He showed us many changes in different types of life: because every person, on every path in which he walks towards God, opens the door before himself with all those measures 311 Heavenly Kingdom. But no one can receive this spiritual knowledge unless he is converted and becomes like a child. For from now on only this delight in the Kingdom of Heaven is felt. They say about the Kingdom of Heaven that it is spiritual contemplation. And it is not acquired by the works of thoughts, but can be tasted by grace. And until a person purifies himself, he does not have sufficient strength to hear about it, because no one can acquire it by studying it. If you, child, achieve purity of heart, produced by faith in silence from people, and forget the knowledge of this world, so that you do not even feel it, then spiritual knowledge will suddenly appear before you, without searching for it. They say, build a pillar and pour oil on it, and you will find treasure in your bosom (see Gen. 35:14). If you are entangled in a network of spiritual knowledge, then it is not inappropriate for me to say that it is more convenient for you to free yourself from iron bonds than from this network; and you will always be close to the snares of delusion, and you will never understand how to have boldness before the Lord and trust in Him; at every hour you will walk on the edge of a sword and in no way will you be able to be without sorrow. In a feeling of weakness and in simplicity, pray that you may live well before God and be without care. For as the shadow follows the body, so mercy follows humility. Therefore, if you want to live by this, then do not give your hand to weak thoughts. If all harm, all malice and all dangers surround and frighten you, do not worry about it and do not care about it. If you once entrusted yourself to the Lord, who is all-sufficient to protect you and look after you, and if you follow Him, then do not worry about anything like that again, but say to your soul: “For me, every work is sufficient for Him to whom I once committed my soul. I'm not here; He knows it." Then you will actually see the miracles of God: you will see how at all times God is close to deliver those who fear Him, and how His Providence surrounds them, although invisible. But because this guardian 312 who is with you is invisible with your bodily eyes, you should not doubt him, as if he does not exist; for he is often revealed to the eyes of the body, so that you may have boldness. As soon as a person rejects all visible help and human hope and follows God with faith and a pure heart, grace will immediately follow him and reveal its power to him in various help. First, he opens it - in this obvious thing that concerns the body, and helps him with providence about it, so that in this he can most of all feel the power of God's Providence about him. And by understanding the obvious 313 he will also be confident in the hidden, as is characteristic of the infancy of his thoughts and his life. For how else can the things he needs be prepared for him, when he did not care about them? Many blows approaching him, often full of danger, pass by when the person did not even think about them; Meanwhile, grace imperceptibly and very miraculously reflects this from him and protects him, like a bird feeding its children, which spreads its wings over them so that no harm comes close to them. Grace allows him to see with his own eyes how close his death was to him and how he remained unharmed. This is how he teaches him about the unseen, revealing to him the intricacy of thoughts and thoughts that are difficult and incomprehensible. And a person can easily find the understanding of them, the mutual connection between them and the charm of 314 them, and to which of these thoughts a person is attached, how they are born one from the other and destroy the soul. And grace puts to shame before his eyes all the malice of the demons and the abode of their thoughts, and puts into him the mind to discern the future; in his simplicity, a hidden light shines in order to fully feel the power of thoughts in subtle thoughts, and, as if with a finger, shows him what he would have suffered if he had not known this. And then the thought is born in him that every thing, small and great, he should ask for himself in prayer from his Creator. When Divine grace confirms his thoughts so that in all this he trusts in God, then little by little he begins to enter into temptation. And grace allows temptations to be sent to him, corresponding to his measure, in order for a person to bear their burden. And in these temptations, help is tangibly approaching him, so that he does not fear until he gradually learns and acquires wisdom, and in trusting in God begins to despise his enemies. For it is impossible for a person to become wise in spiritual battles, to know his Provider, to feel his God and to be intimately established in faith in Him except by the strength of the test he has passed. As soon as grace sees that a certain conceit has begun to appear in a person’s thoughts and he has begun to think highly of himself, he immediately allows temptations to intensify and become stronger against him, until he recognizes his weakness, resorts to God and cleaves to Him with humility. Thus a man comes to the measure of a man, perfect in faith and trust in the Son of God, and is elevated to love. For the wonderful love of God for a person is known when he finds himself in circumstances that destroy his hope. This is where God shows His power in saving him. For man will never know the power of God in peace and freedom; and nowhere did God tangibly demonstrate His effectiveness except in the camp of silence and in the desert, in places devoid of conversations and confusion, which are common among those living with people. Do not be surprised that when you approach virtue, cruel and strong sorrows pour out on you from everywhere; because even that which is not accompanied by difficulty is not considered a virtue. For for this very reason, as Saint John said, it is called virtue. “Virtues,” he says, “usually encounter difficulties; it is worthy of blame when it is tied to peace.” Blessed monk Mark said: “Every virtue is called a cross when it fulfills the commandment of the Spirit.” Therefore, “all who want to live in the fear of the Lord and in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). For He says: “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and come after Me” (Mark 8:34). He who does not want to live in peace, having lost “his soul for My sake, will find it” (Matthew 16:25). For this purpose, He preceded you and offered you the cross, so that you would determine death for yourself, and then send your soul to follow Him. Nothing is as strong as despair 315: it does not know that anyone has defeated it with its gums or with its hands. When a person in his thoughts cuts off hope in relation to his life, then there is nothing more impudent than him. None of the enemies can resist him, and there is no sorrow, the hearing of which would lead to exhaustion of his wisdom; because every sorrow that happens is easier than death, and he bowed his head to take death upon himself. If in every place, in every matter, at every time, in everything that you would like to do, you doom yourself in your mind to work and sorrow, then not only at all times will you prove to be daring and not lazy in order to resist every inconvenience that presents itself to you, but from the power of your mind, the thoughts that frighten and terrify you will flee from you, usually generated in a person by thoughts directed towards peace 316. And everything that is difficult and inconvenient for you will seem convenient and easy to you. Often you will encounter something contrary to what you expected; and perhaps nothing like this will ever happen to you. You know that the hope of peace at all times has made people forget what is great, good and virtue. But even those who live in this world for the body cannot fully achieve the fulfillment of their desires if they do not decide in their minds to endure sorrow. And since experience testifies to this, there is no need to convince of this with words, because in every generation before us, and even to this day, not from anything else, but from this very thing 317, people are exhausted and not only do not gain victory, but are even deprived of the best. Therefore, let us say briefly that if a person neglects the Kingdom of Heaven, it is for no other reason than the desire for a small local consolation. And this is not the only thing that happens to him, but often strong blows and terrible temptations are prepared for every person who follows his own will, and his thoughts go towards this, because lust rules him. Who doesn’t know that birds also approach the net with peace in mind? In comparison with the knowledge of birds, perhaps our knowledge of what is hidden or hidden by circumstances, place or something else is more meager, in which the devil initially catches us with the promise of peace and thoughts about it. But having in mind that the speech should flow as desired, I deviated from the goal that I suggested in my speech at the beginning, namely, that at all times we should set in our thoughts the goal of sorrow in every matter with which we want to begin the path to the Lord, and carefully affirm the end of the journey at this beginning. How often does a person, when he wants to start something for the Lord’s sake, ask: “Is there peace in this? Is it possible to conveniently walk this path without difficulty? Or perhaps there are sorrows on it that cause languor to the body? This is how everywhere, through thick and thin, we strive for imaginary peace by all means. What are you saying, man? You want to ascend to heaven, accept the Kingdom there, communication with God, peace in the bliss there, communication with Angels, immortal life, and you ask: isn’t this path difficult? Strange thing! Those who desire what is in this transitory age swim over the terrible waves of the sea, dare to travel along arduous paths - and do not at all say that there is labor or sadness in what they want to do. And in every place we ask about peace. But if at all times we imagine in our minds the path of the cross, then let us think about what kind of sorrow is not easier than this path? And is anyone yet convinced that no one has ever won victory in battle, no one has even received a perishable crown, no one has achieved the fulfillment of his desire, even if it was praiseworthy, no one has served in any way in the affairs of God and has not succeeded in any of the praiseworthy virtues, if he did not first neglect the labors of sorrows and did not reject from himself the thought that encourages peace, from which negligence is born, despondency, laziness and fear, and from them - relaxation in everything. When the mind becomes jealous of virtue, then the external senses, such as sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, do not yield to victory over such difficulties that are alien to them, extraordinary, beyond the limits of natural powers. And if at any time natural irritability reveals its activity, then bodily life is neglected more than the mind 318. For when the heart becomes jealous in spirit, the body does not grieve over sorrows, does not become afraid and does not shrink from fear, but the mind, like adamant, with its firmness resists all temptations. Let us also become zealous with spiritual zeal for the will of Jesus, and all negligence, which gives rise to despondency in our thoughts, will be driven away from us; because jealousy gives birth to courage, mental strength and bodily prudence. What kind of power is there in demons when the soul stirs up its natural strong jealousy against them? And also zeal is called a product of jealousy. And when she puts her power into action, she gives the soul an insurmountable strength. And the very crowns of confession, which ascetics and martyrs receive for their patience, are acquired by these two deeds - jealousy and zeal, which are generated by the power of natural irritability: they do not feel suffering in the fierce sorrow of torment. May God give us such zeal to please Him! Amen. Shown in the Gospel beatitudes. Through knowledge of industry in the obvious. That is, when a person defines himself in grief before death. You might be interested in: