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It is not only necessary to maintain good order outwardly, but also to maintain it in the heart. This is the main thing Last year, from this Sunday, I began to explain to you what the path leading to salvation consists of, and in several conversations we came with you, if you remember, to the following definition: learn and contain in your heart everything that the Holy Church teaches, and, receiving Divine powers through the sacraments and kindling them through all other sacred rites and prayers of the Church, walk steadily along the path of the commandments prescribed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, under the guidance of legitimate shepherds - and you will undoubtedly reach the Kingdom of Heaven and be saved. I deliberately repeated this rule several times then, as I repeat now, so that you could more easily establish it in your memory. But with all this, I did not think of telling you anything new, but only wanted to please you, raising you to the consciousness that everything with which we hope to please God and save our souls is truly given to us by God, the only path to salvation, and having made you happy, to arouse the liveliest jealousy to follow this particular path, and not another - without hesitation, without lag and without wandering. Now what remains? All that's left to do is walk. Let us go, so that the Savior’s reproach to the Jews does not apply to us differently because they did not want to take advantage of the instructions of John the Baptist: “he is a lamp of burning and shining,” said the Savior, “but you will want to rejoice in the hour of his light” (John 5:35). That is, John the Baptist showed them the path of life in Christ the Savior, but they did not follow his advice. What happened then can happen now and at any time. You can stand on the path of salvation, hesitating with bewilderment as to whether this path is really the only path and whether there is another more convenient and convenient one. You can, believing in the truth and irrevocability of this path, sleep with it in carelessness or postpone the procession itself from day to day. You can stand and marvel at all the things passing by on your way, without moving from your place, or you can step on it and leave again, enter and leave. What a pity, having been so certain to receive eternal salvation, to be deprived of it on the day of distribution of the fate of all! I don’t think any of you belong to any of these classes. Deliver you, Lord!.. But you can still be in this state: thinking that you are going, and yet not going; you can move without leaning forward, like a mule turning a wheel. I ask you to pay attention to this. And there may be more than one case here. I'll show you the main one. This happens when someone stops at only the external, not paying attention to the inner mood of the heart, while the forward movement into the Kingdom takes place only in the heart and with the heart. It looks like a balloon ascending upward. They let the highest, lightest element into this ball, and it rises upward by itself. The same is true in the process of marching to salvation. Anyone who receives the heavenly Divine elements with a heart similarly attuned to him, and ascends spiritually to Heaven - in spiritual perfection. And the more he accepts those, the higher he rises, walking the straight path to the Kingdom of Heaven. So, everything is in the heart; and another, having nothing in his heart and only doing external things that are inevitable, may think that he is going to the Kingdom, whereas in reality he is not. So, zealous for salvation, all attention should be paid to the dispensation of the heart, or to the impression in it of truly Christian feelings and dispositions, although with the assistance of all that visible dispensation, which is necessarily part of the path of salvation. One should not, for example, limit oneself to knowledge of the Symbol and even the entire Catechism, but one must accept with one’s heart and love with one’s heart every truth expressed therein; One should not be content with mere external participation in the prayers of the Church, but one must also ascend intellectually – in the heart – to God; One should not stop at one good deed performed by the body, but one must cultivate in oneself also good feelings and dispositions, etc. For what is not in the heart is not in reality. If there is no faith in the heart, then there is no faith at all, even if someone wrote Orthodox. If there are no sighs in the heart, there are none at all, even if someone shakes the air or beats himself in the chest. If there is no fear of God in the heart, there is none at all, even if someone appears to be filled with reverence. If there is no purity and detachment in the heart, there is none at all, even if one were pure in body and had nothing of the blessings of the world. If a person is not in church with his heart, he is not here at all, even if he stands here with his body. So, everything must be done with the heart. To love with your heart, to humble yourself with your heart, to draw closer to God with your heart, to forgive with your heart, to contrite with your heart, to pray with your heart, to bless with your heart, and so on and so forth... For as someone is in his heart, such is God who sees him from the height of His throne and accepts him accordingly. Cain and Abel made sacrifices together, but God “looked... upon Abel and his gifts: but Cain and his sacrifices had no regard” (Gen. 4:4–5). The publican and the Pharisee prayed together in church, but the publican was accepted and the Pharisee was rejected. Where is the reason for such differences? In the mood of the heart. This is why God demands in the words of the wise: “Give me, son, your heart” (Proverbs 23:26). And the prophet David puts into our mouths the following prayer: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb” (Ps. 50:12). What should be the mood of the heart, characteristic of a Christian who is not going astray along the path of salvation, I will explain this to you little by little from time to time, although in the main features. Amen. November 13, 1860, 25th week after Pentecost As someone is in his heart, God has him this way and treats him this way. In the last conversation, I brought you to the idea that the most important thing in our life is the mood of the heart and that whatever one is in the heart, God has such, despite any external differences and advantages. I want to focus your attention on the same thought now, in order to teach you to value your internal movements and thus encourage you to look more strictly at your heart and everything that enters and comes from it. I won’t go into arguments about this. I present only a few cases and examples from the word of God and the lives of saints in confirmation of this truth. So in the Gospel read today, a rich man appears who, as usually wealthy, decided to rebuild his granaries on the occasion of a bountiful harvest. There is nothing reproachful here. And the Lord does not reproach him for this. But while he was planning this, the following thought came out of his heart: well, now just eat, drink and be merry; there is nothing to worry about and nothing to fear. It doesn't seem like a big word. But what did it mean?.. It meant that his heart had turned away from the Lord and was completely attached to wealth, relying on it alone and hoping to have a faithful guardian and ever-present protector in it, thus making it a god for himself. No one outside saw such thoughts in him. But God saw him from His holy heaven - and at the same hour gave him the due answer: “This very night your soul will be taken from you” (Luke 12:20). He lay down, not foreseeing any danger, and in the morning he was found dead. This is God's judgment not according to the external, but according to the heart. How many cases, brothers, do we know of sudden death! But who knows whether this is not the answer of God’s truth to the ungodly mood of the heart, which makes a person unworthy to live in a God-governed world - a mood about which, perhaps, the dead thought, and God does not know, just as no one knows from people! I will also offer you another experience of God’s judgment. You know that the people of Israel were beloved of God. How many mercies God showed him and how often God saved him in an extraordinary way!.. Israel, for its part, served God according to the law given by God Himself, and boasted before all nations in the name of the Lord of Hosts, Whom it served. Let us now mentally enter their church and see what is there... Sacrifices of rams and bulls are offered, a censer is lit, psalms are sung; and this is during the new moon, every Saturday and holidays - all according to the law of God. Looking at this, we would say: pious people! How pleasing to God to look at these works of their faith and devotion to God! But then the prophet Isaiah appears, and listen to what he says about them on behalf of God: “You are Sodomites, you Gomorrites... an evil seed... a sinful tongue! .. What is there for Me in your sacrifices... your censer is an abomination to Me... My soul hates your holidays... And do not come here to appear before My face...” Hearing this, you are ready to ask in amazement: why, Lord, is there such anger? And here is your answer: because their hearts are filled with hypocrisy, wickedness, robbery, hard-heartedness towards widows and orphans, injustice, carnality and debauchery. That's what was in their hearts!.. And look from the outside - they all seemed to be in good order. The prophet Ezekiel depicts the same thing even more strikingly. He said, I was sitting in my house, and the spirit took me and placed me - in a vision of God - in Jerusalem, in the vestibule of the church... Here I saw one hole in the wall. The husband who appeared at this time said to me: dig it up, and I dug it up. He said: come in and see the evil iniquities that they are doing here! I entered and saw: on the walls were depicted every likeness of creeping things and cattle and vain abomination, and the men of Israel were burning incense before them, each holding his censer in his hand (Ezek. 8). What is it? Was this real? No. This depicted what everyone thought on his secret bed, saying: The Lord does not see. Animals indicated the passions with which their heart was full, and incense indicated slavery to these passions. Such were the Israelis at heart!.. But who saw this?.. No one else... God saw and through the prophet pronounced His judgment on them according to what they were in their hearts. Because he says that they have given themselves over to uncleanness, saying: God does not see. But I am... “My eye will not spare them, neither will I have mercy” (Ezek.9:9-10). That's how it happened. And from their outward behavior they could seem honest. Remember in the life of Andrew, Christ the Fool for the Fool, how the inner mood of one person was revealed to him. Everyone revered this man for his hard work, friendliness and self-control. But Saint Andrew, approaching, saw the serpent of love of money entwined around his neck. Here one was on the outside, and the other on the inside. Another time, someone was walking, a man or a woman, I don’t remember. In appearance, nothing bad was visible, but Saint Andrew’s eyes opened, and he saw an angel holding his nose. When asked what this means, the angel said: the stench of fornication that this face possesses is unbearable. But the appearance did not represent anything like that. The life of Euthymius the Great tells that there was an old man in their country who was revered by everyone and greatly benefited from his instructions and advice. Everyone considered him holy and godly. But when he was dying, another elder came and saw that demons were surrounding his bed and were triumphantly awaiting the outcome of his soul... You see how everyone thought and how it turned out in reality! They also said that in the Egyptian desert there was an old man who, when someone sent him some kind of alms, immediately guessed what was in the soul of the one who sent it, and always said to his disciples: here is blood or tears, this is given by greed, and this is given by carnal impurity or vanity and pride. There have been many other cases showing that all power lies in the mood of the heart and that whatever one is after one’s heart, such is God, the angels and all the saints. But these are enough to convince you that this is so... Let us now turn to ourselves! If someone's smart eyes were opened and he looked around at us, now gathered here, what would be revealed?.. Grant, Lord, that we all be irreproachable before God according to our strength, as we are revered and wish to be revered among ourselves mutually in our relationships. But, brothers, why is there a word of flattery here? Do not be deceived by self-confidence, go inside yourself and analyze the subtle thoughts and aspirations of your heart - each your own - and by this judge yourself and determine without partiality what you are - knowing that you are open to God and the entire spiritual world as such and not otherwise. And then correct the bad in yourself, and plant the good. One of the holy fathers depicted the heart as a vessel full of all sorts of reptiles and snakes, which, every time a person plans to do something, come out of it and, if things are bad, feed on it, and if things are good, they try to defile it with their poison. If a person is attentive to himself, then, not allowing bad deeds and thus not giving food to snakes, he exhausts them and, cutting off their attempts to defile his good deeds, strikes them at the head. Continuing his work tirelessly, all in one kind and spirit, he finally kills these serpents and throws them out dead. Serpents are evil passions and inclinations. Their death is the cleansing of the heart from passions. This is what we're jealous about. Let’s stop committing sins, and let’s begin to do good deeds in such a way that no bad feelings or dispositions are mixed into them. And if something slips, we will clean it up with repentance. By doing this, we will appear pure not only before people, but also before the face of the all-seeing God... Grant, Lord! Amen. November 20, 1869, 26th Sunday after Pentecost Leads you inside and shows you what’s there More than once I have already brought to your attention the simple truth that in Christianity the essence of the matter lies in the mood of the heart, in the internal dispositions, or our internal activity, with which, I think, you yourself were and remain in agreement. But until now I have not yet attempted to go inside with you, to examine everything that happens there, so that through this each person can then learn to distinguish between the good and the bad in himself and treat himself accordingly. Let's do it now. Close your outer senses, turn your attention inwards and see what is there. At first you will not see anything there - not because there is nothing there, but because there is too much of everything there and everything is knocked down and wandering around in disorderly confusion. You will experience the same thing that you experience in thick fog. Just as in this case, fog, like a wall, shields all objects from us and hides them within itself, so whoever turns inward for the first time sees that, like a dark veil, everything inside is covered. You can verify this now. But do not stop working on self-deepening. Be patient in this work, and you will soon begin to discern little by little what is happening inside you, just as someone who enters a dimly lit room from the outside, after standing for a while, begins to discern the objects in it one by one. Intensify your attention and look: the object that occupied you has moved away - another has taken its place; this one is immediately replaced by a third; Before this one had time to appear, he was pressed by a fourth, driven in turn by a fifth, and so on. One thought is hastily replaced by another - and this is so fast that it is always almost impossible to give ourselves an account of what has passed through our head. This mobility of thoughts does not leave us not only in between classes, for example when moving from one place to another, but also during them, no matter how important they are: during prayer here, in church, or at home, and during reading and even in-depth reflection, etc. This is usually called thinking, but in essence it is theft of the mind, or absent-mindedness and lack of concentrated attention, which is so necessary in the matter of managing oneself. Make this the first feature of our inner man. Its similarity is the confusion of snowflakes falling in the wind, or the jostling of insects in the air on summer evenings. The opposite state for saints is the attention of the mind, according to which nothing voluntarily enters or leaves the head - everything is subordinated to freedom and consciousness, in which usually there is only God and the person contemplating Him. Between these opposites stand different degrees of souls, sweating in the struggle with thoughts and jealous of their pacification. Look even more closely - and you will discern in yourself, under this confusion of thoughts in the mind, in the will, a constant concern about the organization of one’s life, which constantly wears away the soul like a worm, drives the working person from one task to another, directing him forward out of dissatisfaction with nothing he possesses and, while doing one, always presenting hundreds of other tasks, as if inevitable. From our first awakening from sleep, care besieges our soul and does not allow us to sit still, or talk with anyone as we should, or even eat in peace, until the tired ones fall into the dead of night to rest, in turn outraged by caring dreams. This disease is called “over-concern,” which eats away at the soul like rusting iron. Make it the second feature of what happens inside us. The opposite property of the saints is carelessness, which is not carelessness, and humble work - correct - in surrendering oneself and one’s destiny to the providential care of God. The middle between them is a struggle - self-indulgence with humble surrender of oneself to the providence of God with one’s own labor and one’s own ability. Look even deeper - and you should see inside a captive, bound hand and foot, dragged hither and thither against his will, in self-delusion, yet dreaming of himself that he enjoys complete freedom. The bonds of this captive are addictions to various persons and things around him, from which it is painful for us to lag behind and painful to part with when others take them away from us. Like a fish caught in a fishing rod, it still swims, but no further than the thread to which the fishing rod is attached allows; or like a bird in a cage flies and walks, but never goes further than the boundaries of the cage - so passions still leave the soul the freedom to act as it wants, as long as it does not touch their objects. If you touch upon these objects, the soul will not be able to control itself. And the more addictions, the smaller the circle of freedom. And it also happens that someone is bound by everything and is unable to make movements in one direction without causing themselves pain in the other. Just as someone walking somewhere in the forest and getting tangled with his hands, feet, and clothes in the sticky grass, no matter what member he moves, feels tied up, so one who is addicted to many created things feels exactly the same way. Put this as the third feature of our internal state - “bias”. The opposite property of saints is detachment from everything, freedom of the heart, inner independence. The middle ground between them is working to free the heart from addictions. Theft of the mind, over-concern and partiality are not our whole lot. Although they have quality inside, they still hover, as it were, on the surface of the heart. Let us pay deeper attention to this heart and listen to what is there. Let me preempt your thoughts with a comparison. A traveler in the mountains sees a cave, the entrance to which is covered with overgrown grass, and there is darkness inside. Putting his ear to it, he hears the hissing of snakes, the growling and gnashing of teeth of wild animals - this is the image of our heart. Have you ever observed his movements? Try doing this for a short time and see what you can see there. If you get into trouble - you get angry, meet failure - you get sad, you get caught by an enemy - you get fired up for revenge, you see someone equal to you who took the highest place - you begin to envy. They thought about their perfections and became sick with pride and contempt. And here people-pleasing, vanity, lust, voluptuousness, laziness, hatred, and so on, one after another, strike the heart. And this sometimes lasts for several minutes. All this comes from the heart and returns to the heart. Rightly, one of the ascetics, attentive to himself, contemplated the human heart full of poisonous serpents, which are passions. When any passion ignites, it is as if a serpent comes out of the heart and, turning towards it, stings it with its sting. And when the serpent emerges, it hurts, and when it stings, it hurts... By stinging, it feeds on the blood of the heart and becomes fat; becoming fatter, it becomes more poisonous and evil and even more tyrannizes the heart in which it lives. This happens not with just one passion, but with all, and they never live alone, but always all together, overshadowing one another, but not destroying. Such is the heart of a person who works against sin, no matter who he is. The opposite heart of saints is free from passions, or adorned with dispassion. In the middle stand those who struggle with passions and lusts under the sign of the Lord, in His full armor. Enough! I won't expand further. But what, has the darkness that hides our inner thoughts now thinned out for you?.. And if it has thinned out, is it for joy or sorrow? Woe to those who are absent-minded, overly concerned, attached to sensual things and tormented by passions! Blessed, on the contrary, are souls who are attentive to themselves, who rest in God, who are detached from everything and who have cleansed their hearts of passions! Blessed are the labors of those who, leaving behind the destruction of the first, strive to ascend to the bliss of the second! Where will your conscience place any of you? I would like you all to be among the blessed ones who enjoy perfection in the Lord. If this is not our destiny, be at least among those working and fighting to receive this honor of the highest title. But let no one remain among the careless, stricken by insensibility and blindness, and in this hopelessness tormented by passions amid scattered thoughts, worries and all kinds of addictions. Amen. December 11, 1860, the 29th week after Pentecost A sign of inner grace-filled revival in the Lord “God... is rich in mercy, for your abundant love... with which you love us, and make us alive in Christ, who are dead in our sins; through grace is our salvation” (Eph. 2:4-5) - this is how the holy Apostle Paul teaches us today. God brought us to life when we were dead in sins through Christ. This is the essence of Christianity! For this reason the Lord came to earth, and the whole arrangement of our salvation in the Holy Church is directed towards this! We fell and died. We rise in Christ and begin to live again. But, brethren, this death and this resurrection from the dead is not some visible, tangible thing, but is something invisibly happening inside - in the heart of a person. The Apostle Paul says about the pagans: you were dead (Eph. 2:1), then adds: and we, that is, the Jews, were dead when we were like you (Eph. 2:5 ff). Thus, both the pagans and Jews like them, according to the apostle, were dead before the acceptance of Christ the Savior. Meanwhile, they walked, talked, worked, traded, went to court, and so on - did everything that is typical for living people to do. Then, when both of them believed in the Lord, the apostle says that they were quickened by Christ, although outwardly they continued to live the same human life as everyone else. So they came to life in their hearts, in their conscience before the face of God and for God, just as before they were also dead in their hearts for God. Stop, brothers, your attention on this invisibility and intangibility of our revival in Christ! It is invisible: therefore, nothing visible cannot be used as a sign and proof that it exists in us - has been accomplished and is active. These signs must be internal, invisible, like it itself. It cannot be proved, for example, by the fact that we were born and live among Christians, are registered in the Christian Orthodox Church, are not alien to Christian orders, and so on, for with all this, internally we can be dead, and if we are dead, it means that we are not involved in the Lord Jesus Christ - the Reviver; if we are not involved in Him, there is no salvation for us - we are among those who perish. I am showing this to you in order to encourage you to go inside yourself and more carefully trace the features of the inner revival in Christ, so that later you can more accurately determine whether it is at work in us or whether we only pretend to live, but in reality we are dead - and, having determined this, either rejoice that this is so, or be kindled with jealousy to put aside what should not be, and restore what should always take place in those quickened by Jesus Christ. Let us ask the apostle why the pagans and Jews like them were dead before the acceptance of Christ the Savior. He answers us: because they did “the will of the flesh and the mind” (Eph. 2:3). And what happened to them when they came to life in Christ? That, contrary to the will of the flesh and thoughts, they were created in Christ Jesus for good works. Thus, resistance to the will of the flesh and thoughts and striving in Christ Jesus for the good that is opposite to them is a direct sign of revival in Christ. As you can see, it is very simple. We will explain its different sides! The will of the flesh and thoughts must be clear to us. In another place, the apostle calls it simply the flesh, or the flesh with passions and lusts, or the sin living in us, and the opposite direction he calls the spirit and the main law of life for a Christian expresses it this way: “walk in the Spirit and do not commit the lusts of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). You walk by the Spirit, if you also live by the Spirit (Gal.5:24); But whether you live in the spirit, this can be seen from this if you do not commit carnal lusts. Initially, we did not have this lust - this sin living in us, these passions; we were spiritual. The stamp of humanity was in the spirit, and the spirit is a force that lives in God, drinks life from God and directs everything towards God both in man and outside of him - both internal and external. When this spirit was driven by the envy of the serpent on the path of its aspirations and, having heeded the flattery, accepted the serpent’s seed into itself, closed itself off and decided to live within itself, then the flows of Divine life were cut off, the spirit froze, and it was fulfilled: “If you take away the day... you will die” (Gen. 2:17). Meanwhile, the serpent's seed, which fell into the earth of our nature, did not remain alone, but kept multiplying and multiplying, and all its fruits were the fruits of death, or new influxes of deadening forces, which expanded so much that the whole world, according to the Apostle John, was nothing more than a region of death. The seed of the serpent in us is selfhood; its branches are passions: first, pride, self-interest, sensuality; further – anger, lust, hatred, envy, vanity; finally, all the innumerable multitude of passionate movements and skills, rough and subtle, about which one cannot often talk. All this is a mortal and deadening atmosphere, and everything encompassed by it remains in death. For when passions were established in this way, God was forgotten, spiritual aspirations extinguished and man became not like a man. Now, everyone, go inside yourself and consider what is active in you, what motivates you to do things, what is the main spring that drives your thoughts, feelings and deeds. And if you find that you are acting either to please the flesh and sensuality, or in forms of self-interest and interest, or in plans to show off and exalt yourself - and in general to please only yourself and your desires, not crossing yourself in anything and submitting unquestioningly to any passion as soon as it appears, then it is clear that you are a slave of sin and death, or, according to the Apostle, dead sinners, for you do the will of your flesh and thoughts. To do the will of the flesh and thoughts means doing what came to mind, doing what you wanted, and striving for it. Anger came - to scold; lust has come - soon to satisfy it; an opportunity for undue profit has presented itself - now take advantage of it; I wanted to improve - to take all the crooked paths to that. So with everything, whatever you want, do it immediately. Whoever is like this is very much like a beast of burden. Just like a mule, loaded, is led wherever they want, and then beaten, so the enemy has placed the burden of passions on a person, bound him with them, rules him through them and leads him wherever he wants, tyrannizing and mocking him. Righteously, the prophet David puts the following words into the mouth of a sinner who has repented and remembers his condition in sin: “on my back is the work of a sinner” (Ps. 129:3). And the apostle says that the unbelievers, as followers, are led “to mute idols” (1 Cor. 12:2), that is, as those bound, they are drawn along the path of passions and lusts. What kind of life is this? What's human here? Everything human here has frozen, and only the selfish, passionate, satanic acts, bringing fruit to death, not life. What should we do now? And so man will remain in this deadening region until he turns to the Lord and until, for the sake of his conversion, grace, coming, frees him from these bonds of death. It is stuffy and tedious for a person to be in such work. Although some seem to be satisfied because they satisfy their lust, they do not have joy and gladness internally. Just as rust eats iron or a worm sharpens wood, so inside him the sting of death morally gnaws at his living being, and he languishes in this extinction. And so, God willing, a person will come to his senses and, looking around, feel the burden of his condition and say: why am I working with these vile passions? I do everything to please them, but I have no peace, I only anger God and prepare eternal torment for myself. From now on, I don’t want to submit to them, I will give up all lusts and begin to work for the Lord God, my Savior, who came into the world for our sake and calls all sinners to Himself. When a sinner says this in his heart and in fact turns diligently to the Lord with heartfelt contrition and confession, then in the sacraments he will be given grace and strength - to persist in his intention and overcome habitual passions, no matter how forcefully they attack him. In this action of his determination to work for the Lord and in this sending down of grace to him in the sacraments, the seed of life in Christ Jesus is placed, which is the only true life, revealed and consisting in resistance to passions and overcoming them. The coming grace revives the spirit, which, having accepted its rights, begins to direct everything towards God and, encountering obstacles of passions along the way, overcomes them, drives them away and eradicates them. From now on, the struggle to death begins, and the more decisively someone resists passions and eradicates them, the faster he leaves the realm of death and enters the realm of life. When, by the grace of God, he completely freezes them in himself to the point that there is either no movement in him at all, or it will be like something alien, then in spiritual triumph he can say: behold, death has been sacrificed by the belly, for whom I do not work for sin and passions and do not prepare the elements of death for my own destruction. So, brothers, if you want to show revival in yourself about Christ Jesus, stand in the fight against passions and lusts. Whenever you sense their attack, resist them and drive them away. If, for example, someone said or did something offensive, anger comes and inspires you to take revenge on him - do not listen to these suggestions, drive away the anger and turn it into meekness. An opportunity for joy presents itself, sensuality arises and makes its demands - suppress it, refuse and restore sobriety and purity. A case arises that if you do only the wrong thing, you will either receive a benefit or gain significant distinction and promotion; self-interest or pride comes and persuades you to do something wrong - do not listen, overcome yourself and do contrary to them, as truth and conscience demand. So in everything, no matter what passion and no matter what the occasion comes - do not listen to its suggestions, do contrary to it, overcome it - and this will mean that you do not work for death, but live in the Lord Jesus Christ. I will give you several examples in this case in order to irritate your jealousy to resist passions. They tell about one young man who worked with passion in partnership with others. It happened that the grace of God acted in his heart. He repented and decided not to go into the same indecency any more. His comrades, who remained in their former slavery to passions, meeting him, said to him: let's go here and there, do this and that. Go ahead and do what you want, he answered, I’m not the same anymore. So let us say to every passion, our former friend: I am no longer the same - and we will turn away from its suggestions. Saint Abba John Kolov depicts even more vividly the state of the soul fleeing passions. In one city, he says, there was a harlot who had many friends. This is a soul with passions. The lord of that country came to her and said: promise me to live chastely, and I will take you into marriage. This is the Lord calling the soul. She promised, and he took her and brought her to his house. This is the soul repenting, making a promise not to sin and receiving grace to help itself. Her friends missed her and, knowing that she was with the master, they said: let's go and give her a sign. She will hear and come to us. It is passions that come and begin to captivate the soul again. But the former harlot, hearing the signs, covered her ears, ran into the inner chambers and locked the doors. This is a soul that, in repentance, does not listen to passions and runs away from them as from charming enemies. So we will run away from passionate suggestions every time we feel their attack. Let us also recall the legend of Saint Macarius the Great. He saw the enemy, hung with various vessels, and asked him: “What do you have?” He answered: “The instruments of my suggestions. I offer it to everyone, and whoever accepts it will immediately begin to act as I want.” “Where are you going?” - “That way.” - “So, they accept you there?” - “No, everyone is angry; There’s only one friend who, as soon as I show up, doesn’t know what to do with joy.” Having learned the name of that man, Saint Macarius turned him to the Lord and taught him to resist his passions. When the demon came again with his suggestions, he no longer accepted them and angrily rejected and drove away. Seeing the same demon again, Saint Macarius asked: “What, how is it now in that place?” - “Now everyone is angry; and the one who had listened to me before became angry, even more angry than the others.” So we too will be angry at passion, knowing that by doing so we defeat the enemy - the murderer. And the angrier, the more zealously, unyieldingly, and continuously we reject the suggestions of the passions, the sooner they will weaken and, not receiving food, will become completely exhausted and die, just as a tree freezes and dries up, not receiving moisture and light. Then the soul, remaining in sweet peace, will abundantly taste peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, drinking life from the bosom of the Lord with full lips. Then she will enter into a state completely opposite to the first. There she lived only for passion and was dead - now she is dead for passion and full of life. Now whatever passion comes, it is no longer felt and does not produce anxiety and confusion as before. This is all the same as the impact of light dust against a strong wall or the blow of a hammer in an airless place, remaining without an echo. Or how if some owner rests in the inner rooms, having ordered everything to be locked, and strangers come to him, knock on the windows and doors, but he does not hear; then they leave, saying: as if everyone has died out, there is no living soul. This is how we need to adjust our attitude towards passions. Let them hit the windows of the senses and the doors of the flesh - and we will hide in our hearts and rest in the Lord so that we do not feel anything, no matter how strong their excitement and irritation may be. This state is the height of perfection, the goal to which one should strive. Those who have achieved it enter into blissful dispassion, in which in the depths of consciousness the soul confesses: “I live not for anyone, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). It will now be clear to you what the holy fathers say about our attitude towards the passions. People, they say, in relation to passions are of three kinds: some act according to passions, others fight passions, and others have eradicated passions. The first remain in death, the second ascend from death to the stomach, the third have entered the realm of life and are drowned in its abundant tributaries. Knowing this, brethren, “think for yourselves the dead for sin, but the living of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let sin not reign in your dead body, if you listen to it in its lusts, present your hands as weapons of unrighteousness to sin, but present to yourselves the weapons of God as from the living dead, and your hands as weapons of God’s righteousness” (Rom. 6:11-13). May the Lord grant this to you, who came into the world to revive us who were dead in sins. Amen. On the 23rd week after Pentecost How to guard, nourish and restore the spiritual life begun through repentance and holy communion It’s already been a week since you approached the cup of the Lord, how you were again accepted into sincere communion with the Lord for your vow not to sin, how you accepted the intention to lead a new life and, strengthened by the grace of the sacraments, entered the holy field of true Christian activity. What then? Are your business going well? Brothers and fathers! I do not assume that any of you are careless or careless; I do not imagine those who, coldly, according to custom, having just begun the sacrament, continue now to live as they lived before, or to live as they live, without caring whether the order of their life is in accordance with the will of the Lord, received in the sacrament; Nor do I imagine those who, having approached the sacrament with sincere desire and having decided in their hearts not to offend the Lord any more, have already managed to fall back into their former passionate deeds and habits. I think that all of you are now bringing joy to the Lord and His angels, having appeared here with the same purity and fullness of life with which you were released from holy communion - and not only the same, but also greater, having managed to apply the fruits of good deeds as an acquisition for the grace-filled powers received. I ask one thing from the Lord and I will require it - so be it. But if so, then, zealous for a correct Christian life, caring about how to show yourself pleasing to the Lord, who has recently shown such great mercy to us, you probably came across the question: how to do so as not to fall again, how to arrange such an order so that it does not interfere with, but favors the new life, begun by vow, required by the conscience and desired by the heart. Probably everyone has already solved these questions for themselves, as best they can and as they find best. But so that no mistake can creep in in such an important matter, I’ll tell you a few words about it - exactly how we really need to arrange things so that the new life we ​​have begun is preserved, strengthened and grows. Christian life, taking root in the heart, develops and grows in the field of our life like a tree. Therefore, the knowledge of the ways of nurturing it in us can be achieved comparatively by the methods used in nurturing trees. Watch what the gardener does with young roots or grafts - and do the same with yourself and with your Christian life. He fences his tree and, when necessary, covers it so that the unfavorable effects of external elements do not damage it; this is the first. Having fenced it off from the outside, he waters it so that it has enough matter around it to absorb into itself and form nutritious juices from it; this is the second one. Further, so that it grows evenly, in addition to its supervision and cutting off excess branches, it is tied to a stamen or pole, firmly and reliably established in the ground. The same care should be given to the sprouts of our spiritual life. Firstly, it is necessary to protect him from harmful influences from the outside. What does this mean? We have set a firm intention not to sin... We must now put aside everything that could shake this intention, namely: change previous customs and abandon the habits that fed our passions; build a new order for your behavior, or your activities at home and outside, and all your relationships; and most of all, protect ourselves from tempting encounters with such objects, persons and things that can arouse the sinful passions that torment us... If we do not do this, we can easily fall - and the sprout of our spiritual life will again die out, like a tree subject to the harmful influence of heat, or cold, or malignant dew! But even having protected this sprout in the manner shown, it should not be limited to this alone... No, it is also necessary, secondly, to nourish it... It is necessary to provide it, so to speak, with the elements, which, by assimilating to itself, it would multiply its juices, grow and become stronger... That is, you need to do this: 1) read and listen to the word of God and the scriptures of the fathers, as well as reason about saving truths yourself and conduct conversations about this with like-minded people or persons, the most experienced in spiritual life; 2) go, as much as possible for anyone, more often to the Church of God for divine services and at home establish a prayer corner, a time of prayer and a prayer rule; 3) never omit any opportunity that presents itself for doing good or any feat of patience or self-sacrifice... If we arrange ourselves this way, then we will, as it were, surround our inner man with light, warmth and humidity and feed him with various kinds of spiritual elements, drinking which he will, like a tree planted at the outflow of water, develop and ripen magnificently and quickly; and if we don’t, then this sprout, like a tree on dry and sandy soil, will soon become exhausted, dry up and die. Finally, what kind of equalizer can we attach to this tree so that it grows evenly and does not produce unnecessary, superfluous shoots?! This is closest to your own reasoning. Watch everything yourself carefully and direct everything towards one goal. If you can’t do it yourself, you often stop in bewilderment - turn to your spiritual fathers: ask the elders, and they will tell you. But with all this, do not forget the chief gardener and educator of our inner tree of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom you surrender your souls entirely. The Lord never abandons those who are devoted to Himself, but either through His own inner suggestions or through His spiritual fathers, He leads them directly and unforgettably on a short path to perfection in the Christian life! This is what those who want to retain the beginnings of a new life and succeed in it should do! I don’t spread much, because those who are zealous for salvation do not need long convincing. Just remind them - and they immediately take into their rule everything that is considered soul-saving for them. I want you to be like that too; there is only one more thing I consider necessary to add... Having arranged everything that has been mentioned - and what has been mentioned is not just a set of words, but everything is essentially necessary in the matter of preserving and nurturing spiritual life - having arranged all this in this way, most of all, beware of distraction of the attention of the mind, from the attachment of the heart to any objects and burdening the will with much-concerned care. Absent-mindedness, partiality and over-concern are the three worst enemies of inner life. Once allowed inside, in a short time they will drown out spiritual life and plunge you again, as if into a lethargic sleep, into oblivion, carelessness and coldness. And this is spiritual death. May the most merciful Lord deliver you from this and make you wise for salvation! Amen. February 28, 1860, 2nd week of Lent A general outline of the flow of spiritual life based on the guidance from the ascension of kings to the accession of kings “To him who overcomes I will give to sit with Me on My throne, just as I I have overcome and sat with My Father on His throne” (Rev. 3:21) “Be wise on things above, not on earth,” commanded the Apostle Paul. The Holy Fathers, fulfilling this commandment, not only philosophized incessantly about spiritual objects, but also gave spiritual signification to the most external things and events, so that in this way, from the sensory, they could form around themselves a kind of spiritual school. They did this themselves, and they advised others to do this too. Let us submit to their wise advice. The Church and Fatherland are now celebrating the accession to the throne of the most pious sovereign, Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich. But there is, brethren, another Kingdom, other thrones, another ascension to them. This is the Kingdom and thrones of Christ and the Christian ascent to them. So, especially now, kindling sincere feelings of humble gratitude to the Lord, who gave the Tsar to the Russian throne, and a feeling of filial devotion to our beloved monarch, who was elevated to this throne by Him, as sons of the earthly fatherland, - as sons of the heavenly fatherland, from the earthly throne, let us ascend in thought and heart to the heavenly thrones. These thrones are distributed in another life according to the just and merciful determination of the Judge God, but one must earn them here, even in this life one must begin to ascend to them, begin and cheerfully continue until the end of life. We see the full image of this ascension to the heavenly throne in the ascension to earthly thrones. Let us follow this ascent in thought. The royal person, on whom the fate of entire millions depends, and depends not only on the time of his reign, but also for many subsequent centuries, is a person specially called to serve humanity. The Lord Himself raises up the king needed for the kingdom. The Lord Himself directly calls for succession to the heavenly throne - and one day He will glorify with it only those whom He has previously called now. Of course, without this calling, a person would not even think about these invisible and distant thrones, when near and visible blessings are scattered before him with such abundance. A sinner is the same as a sleeping person: if you don’t stir him up, he won’t get up; if you don’t force him, he won’t walk. Therefore, the Lord Himself goes around people with mercy and rebuke, stirring up each and every one in His special way to see if anyone will hear and submit to His saving call. And what would that mean? Here we all live together, and we live according to a long-established order, not suspecting any peculiarities either in ourselves or in others, but meanwhile it very often happens that one, another or a third apparently begins to separate from us: they leave a lot of the usual things between us, they do a lot of things wrong, some of their behavior is completely new; they became like strange people between us and, however, they were constantly deepened, constantly in intense activity, as if they were preparing for something important - as if they were getting ready to set off, wanting to leave us and move to another place. What does such a change mean? Where does this alienation come from? It was the Lord who invisibly came to them, secretly said to their hearts: follow Me, and they, leaving everything, joyfully followed Him. The Lord comes with a calling through an unknown path as the Spirit, Who “wherever He wills, He breathes, and you hear His voice, but do not know where it comes from and where it goes.” Do not be afraid that the Lord will pass over any of us. No, He wants to save everyone, He approaches everyone, He excites everyone. “I’m standing,” he says, “at the door and it’s no use if anyone hears.” You just need to listen more attentively to this calling and, when heard, hasten to open your imprisoned heart - then the Lord will unhinderedly enter this sanctuary and He will ascend to His throne. You only need to be afraid of your own bitterness and perseverance, and not of oblivion and abandonment of God. A royal person is of royal family. And those born of God can be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit,” says the Lord, “he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5). In the Kingdom of Christ everything will be new - both heaven and earth; How can one enter into it while remaining old? Therefore, it is necessary for those who await the succession to the throne of heaven to be completely reborn and renewed. And he who sincerely heeds the Divine calling always reaches this essential renewal in his entire life and in all his behavior in a direct way. For as soon as he inclines his attention to God’s voice, an extraordinary revolution begins to take place in his soul. Thoughts flow after thoughts, ideas, each most astounding, with particular strength and effectiveness, penetrate to the very depths of the heart and either soften it with mercies, or amaze it with fear, or terrify it with the proximity of death and judgment, or inspire it with hope. A person then feels all the indecency of his behavior, is fully aware of his guilt in that, is ashamed even of the name of the person humiliated by him, strikes himself with hatred and contempt, trembles at God, whom he sees with his mental eyes, and in the feeling of his heart experiences the fiery torment of hell. But exulting in the hope of salvation in Christ Jesus, he falls down in complacency, prays, sheds tears, makes a confident oath to never return to the path of unrighteousness, to leave everything and know nothing except the commandments of Christ; ready for anything, even death, if only the Lord would deliver him from destruction and comfort his troubled and tormented heart. The Lord sees the will of man and does not hesitate to sanctify it with His blessing and seal it with the grace of the Spirit in the sacraments of the Church. Then the heart, filled with joy, in fiery zeal for the glory of God, enters the path of righteousness with an inspired determination never to leave it, even if it costs sweat, blood, and life. From this moment a completely new life begins for him - life according to the spirit of the Gospel and the inspirations of grace. “Whoever is born of God commits no sin, for His seed abides in him, and cannot sin, for he is born of God” (1 John 3:9). Born from a king, the future king undergoes a royal education, in which he learns the high science of reigning. Those born of the Spirit, called to eternal succession to the throne, are also brought up - they are brought up in the midst of deep sorrows and mental illnesses. “It is fitting to make the Captain of our salvation suffer; “Through many sorrows it is fitting... to enter into the Kingdom of God,” and to everyone who follows Him. And blessed is the man who endures temptation, because having passed the test, he will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Heart illnesses, temptations and sorrows will inevitably meet those who ascend to the throne of heaven. The soul that obeys the call rises to an inspired determination to live and die only for Christ. But such determination, testifying to the rebirth that has taken place in the soul, is only the beginning of Christian life, and not its fullness; it is only the first entry onto the path to Heaven, and not its completion. The soul here hates sin, but it still lives in it; hates anger, envy, pride, vanity and all vicious feelings, but they are still in the heart and constantly break out of it like dark clouds, trying to obscure the dawn of spiritual life that has just risen. The courageous soul now enters into a cruel battle with itself - a battle that is more painful and painful than any visible battle, for here one’s own being is divided into parts, one’s own heart is struck, one’s own blood is shed, as it were, by one’s own hand. Blessed is he who endures this most sorrowful trial. But it will not end yet, as another will come. Often a person on the path of virtue will encounter general dislike - contempt, ridicule, reproaches, hatred, even anger, which prepares persecution and death. These temptations, fierce in themselves, are finally joined by even fiercer ones - the deceits and intrigues of the spirits of evil, which usually hasten to resist themselves, since they do not have time to seduce the seeker of truth through their minions. Sometimes all these temptations from outside and inside surround the soul working for the Lord with such strength and abundance that, as if drowned in waters, it turns to the Lord with a strong cry and cries out: O Lord! save me! oh Lord! Hurry up! These are the indispensable companions of the ascent to Heaven. The Way of the Cross is the only path to heavenly wedding; sorrow is the best school of piety and perfection for those who sit on thrones in the Kingdom of Christ. There will be many thrones of varying dignity and glory, but they are all thrones of martyrdom, which appears on earth in countless forms! He who has not experienced the diseases of internal warfare, who has not suffered for Christ in any way, hopes in vain to be married in the Kingdom of Christ. Finally, the heir to the throne in due course receives the royal crown and ascends to the throne. And the soul, having passed through all the degrees of Christian perfection, having passed into another life, is enthroned by the righteous judgment of God for victory over itself and is crowned with a crown of humility, or charity, or obedience, or chastity, or some other, depending on the feat and labor with which it worked. In real life, each person comes into the world with a special character, which, if considered in relation to sin, disposes the soul primarily towards one vicious desire, the source of all other vicious desires and actions. Thus, by nature, some are most sensitive to honor, others to something else. The soul that is zealous for self-correction primarily directs all its forces to where, as from a source, flows all the evil that covers it, to its dominant passion, it fights with it, it strains to defeat it. And therefore, on the day of rewards, he receives a special, unique crown - a crown of meekness for victory over anger, a crown of abstinence for victory over the flesh, a crown of mercy for victory over self-interest, and so on. In general, only the winners will receive these crowns and sit on these thrones. “To him who overcomes,” says the Lord, “I will give to sit with Me on My throne, just as I also conquered and sat with My Father on His throne.” There are people who naturally receive certain good qualities. Some are meek and gentle by nature, others are obedient, others are adorned with other virtues from birth. Such people will not be crowned for these virtues: they did not work on themselves, did not conquer themselves, did not cultivate these good qualities in their hearts with sweat and tears, but received them from God. But only the one who is by nature angry and acquires gentleness, who is by nature inclined towards intemperance and is temperate, who is by nature willful, and we see him as submissive and obedient, will be crowned. Such a one is truly a great conqueror of nature and a martyr. This, brothers, is the only path leading to the Kingdom of Christ! These are the degrees of ascension to the throne of heaven! Whoever does not follow this path does not go to the Kingdom of Christ; whoever does not stand at any of these degrees has not yet begun to ascend to the heavenly throne. All those who sit on the thrones of Christ in Heaven were taken from the earth and came there along this path, opened to us by Jesus Christ Himself. And every servant of Jesus Christ who obeys His will, humbly devoted to His leadership, who is zealous for his correction to the best of his ability, who does good as much as he knows and is able, may he rest in the will of God. Such hope is holy and righteous. God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, give birth to us in living hope, may He revive and strengthen this hope in us, and moreover, may He lay deeper in us the foundation of this hope - the spirit of Christian piety. Let us pray to Him for this, especially for our beloved monarch, that the Lord will grant him, through ascension to the earthly throne, to pass to the heavenly throne. Amen. On the day of the accession to the throne of the most pious sovereign, Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich The thirsts of our nature and the sure way to quench them For almost a week now, our ears have been filled with church songs about thirst. Each of us is inspired to cry out to the Lord: give my thirsty soul something to drink... And the Lord Himself calls all those who are thirsty to Himself, saying: “Let him who thirst come to Me and drink.” Now in the Gospel the Savior talks with the Samaritan woman about thirst. The Samaritan woman asks Him: give me such water that I won’t have to go here to the well for water and won’t even be thirsty at all. The Lord says: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst” (John 4:13–14). You can guess that the discussion here is not about simple thirst, when you want to drink water, but about another thirst, more valuable and more extensive. The word “thirst” signifies the highest needs of the human spirit, which cannot be found complete and lasting satisfaction anywhere except our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In this regard, the Samaritan woman represents the image of human nature, with an unsatisfied thirst turning to the Lord after repeatedly satisfying it from the well of self-invented created goods and still not finding peace from thirst. This Gospel is always read to us in the spring, so that we, having understood its meaning, do not rush like foolish children to the bait of pleasures that are usually revealed to us at this time of year, and do not cease to be in the Lord - the only source of all-satisfactory blessings. So that you yourself come to the same conclusion, I will only tell you what human nature is and what it seeks. You will see how many thirsts there are and how unfair we are to ourselves, satisfying one side and leaving the other in the shadow and contempt. Man, as you see, not only has a body, but also a soul, and in the soul itself, or in his inner life, not only a soul, but also a spirit, which is incomparably higher than the soul... Each of these parts of the human being - spirit, soul and body - has its own needs. The feeling of need is thirst. Therefore, we have three types of thirst: bodily thirst, carnal - sensual thirst, spiritual thirst and spiritual thirst. The first, carnal, seeks earthly and sensual pleasures; the second, spiritual, seeks the blessings of everyday life, or the blessings of the world; the third, spiritual, seeks spiritual goods - heavenly, or God and Divine things. I will indicate these thirsts in even more detail... So, in our body there is a need for self-preservation - to eat, drink, sleep; there is a need for movement - to walk, to work, toil, which is transformed into the need to walk, dance, fight with fists and so on; there is a need to use the senses - to look, hear, touch, smell. Three classes of carnal needs, three kinds and sensual thirsts, which are satisfied by the sensual things that surround us... Whoever is primarily occupied with satisfying these needs stands at the level of an animal. He got up, walked around, talked, dreamed, read, ate and then went to sleep again; took a walk, turned around, stared, listened to empty speeches and chatted himself and went back to sleep... This is the whole program of life... Empty; but, unfortunately, a very, very large circle of people belongs here. Here thirst is quenched for several hours and comes to life again and eats away at a person like a worm. There is a need for knowledge in the soul - a person wants to explore and find out everything scientifically, or by hearsay, or through reading. Every minute you hear: what is this, from what, how, for what?.. Everyone has this inquisitiveness. There is a need for enterprises or affairs in the household, in the trade sector, in military, academic, judicial, civil or rural life... Not a minute passes without someone planning to do something, and does it, and, having done one thing, takes on another... This is enterprise, care and much concern. There is a need to decorate yourself, your home and your life. You need good furniture, clothes, good paintings, sculptures, singing, music and the like. Man wants to plant paradise around himself to replace what was lost. These are the so-called innocent pleasures. So there are three needs in the soul: the need for knowledge, enterprise, or caring, and the search for aesthetic pleasures... There are just as many thirsts in it. Here the thirst is never satisfied, but constantly consumes a person, despite the fact that he does not give himself a minute of rest. You know all this yourself. In the spirit there is a need for contemplation of God and divine things, satisfied by knowledge of the spiritual world; there is a need for peace in God, or peace of conscience, satisfied by fulfilling the will of God; there is a need for communion with God, or tasting God, satisfied by prayerful disappearance in God. As many needs in the spirit, there are just as many thirsts, that is, a thirst for prayerful renunciation from everything, peace in God and contemplation of God, which, not being satisfied, leave melancholy, and being properly satisfied, they calm the spirit and bring peace to the soul and body, making up for their shortcomings with its fullness or replacing their methods with their own, for example: prayerful offering to God - aesthetic pleasures, peace of conscience - multi-care, contemplation of God and divine things - a fruitless search for truth in a scientific way. Here we have three classes of thirsts and three types of thirsts in each class - all nine, as if nine lips, from which a person hears an incessant cry: I thirst!.. All his life, some people struggle to somehow drown out this cry, and do not have time. Why? Because, first of all, it distributes these thirsts incorrectly. Look how it happens: sensory needs come first, and more care is taken about them; then spiritual ones, already less satisfied; and the spiritual ones are considered the last, and there is little or no care for them, so that a person is now in the wrong position - at the top he has what should be at the bottom. And in this form, working to satisfy a person is the same as trying to fill a vessel with water, turning it upside down. This is why a person does not have contentment - he is not satisfied, he thirsts and thirsts, despite the fact that he constantly strives for contentment and is surrounded by many blessings. Thus, whoever desires peace must correct this mistake - and peace and peace that surpasses all reason will be found. It is necessary, that is, first of all to satisfy the spirit, elevating it to communion with God, eating God and contemplating God. Further, by the strength of the spirit and according to his instructions and guidance, satisfy both mental and physical needs. God, the fullness of goods, having filled the spirit, through him will pour out additional satisfactions on the needs of the soul - on its knowledge, enterprises and pleasures - and on the needs of the body, giving them measure, weight, and purpose. You see now that a person can stop crying out: I thirst! Then, when the spirit is satisfied through communion with God. The question is: how to do this? Here's how. Man was originally created to be in communion with God - to live in God and be blissful. And so it was. In the fall, he separated from God and lost communion with God. Having lost communion with God, he became unsatisfactorily thirsty. His spirit weakened, being left alone; the soul with its needs prevailed over him, itself, in turn, submitting to the predominance of the flesh. To restore the fallen, the Lord came and, having satisfied the truth of God with His boundless suffering, sent down the Divine Spirit so that, being acceptable to believers through the sacraments, He would restore the spirit of man to His rank, and through it soul and body, and thus return to the fallen the perfection predetermined for him - a sweet and all-satisfied life in communion with God. All this happens like this: a person comes into repentant repentance about his lewdness and his guilt before God; then through faith in the Lord it arises to the certainty of salvation; further, having made a vow to belong to the Lord, he receives the sacrament. The grace of the All-Holy Spirit, which came through the sacrament, vividly unites him with the Lord, like a wild branch with a vine, and through the Lord leads him to the deepest communion with God. Having been filled with this communion with God, the entire human being is at peace and enters into Sabbath in God, undisturbed by any cries of lower needs. That's the whole secret! If anyone is thirsty, come to the Lord, and you will drink from Him water, from which those who drink thirst no longer. And without this, the nine needs shown will incessantly torment the poor soul, giving it no rest, whittling it away like worms whetting the heart of a tree, and draining it like leeches drain the vital juices of the body... This does not mean that those who have entered into communion with God do not feel their mental and physical needs and do not satisfy them, but that their thirst loses its burning intensity and persistence, and that under this condition a delightful all-sufficiency descends from God to them. He who lives in God has everything and lacks nothing or is not bothered by feelings of poverty and deprivation. That's where all the power lies! Now the Lord calls us all: “let him thirst, let him come to Me and drink...”. Let us all go to the sweetest Lord and quench our thirst with Him; but so as not to go to any wells after this, even if they were dug by some celebrities. Amen. What and how to feed the soul so that it grows spiritually When, passing through some deserted place, you come across a tree or other plant on sandy, rocky ground, you cannot help but regret it. It stands sadly. The lack of nutritious parts in the earth and air depletes it. It apparently dries up and withers and, it seems, clearly says to everyone passing by with its appearance and condition: I feel sick here, take me from here and transplant me to another place. A tree growing with flowing water on wet and rich soil inspires completely different feelings. It is full of life and, enjoying complete contentment, with all parts of its composition, it seems to sing a grateful song to the Planter of every creature for this opportunity to drink with all its lips the nutritious juices from everything that surrounds it. Don’t you, brethren, often find human souls in similar circumstances?! Yes, they often die of hunger and languish, as in a stuffy dungeon, from the lack of what can nourish them and give them contentment. And this is often in complete contrast to the external magnificent state of those people! Christianity - our holy faith - or the Holy Church is appointed by God to be a place of rest and contented education for human souls... But not everyone abides in it, and while abiding, not everyone properly uses everything that it offers. And here there are many souls exhausting and exhausting themselves through sheer foolishness. Look how all this happens. The plant, being of earthly origin, receives its food from the earth and from what is around it; on the contrary, the soul, created in the image and likeness of God, being of heavenly origin, can only be nourished by the elements of heaven, emanating from God and directed towards it or attached to it. So, the plant needs light, without it it withers. The soul also needs light—heavenly. This is the truth of God. It is abundantly offered in the Church of God to everyone who wants to listen; is offered in the reading of the word of God, and in sermons, and in church songs, and in the entire structure and rites of the Church, and in the writings of the fathers, and in many, many soul-saving books. Those who wish here abundantly draw the light of God's truth and rejoice under its radiance. But not everyone does this, and not everything that seems to be a container of God’s truth actually contains it. There are people who sit day and night studying some science - mathematics, physics, astronomy, history and others - thinking that they are feeding their soul with truth, but their soul withers and languishes. Why? Because there is no truth in the places where they want to find it! I don’t say this because the sciences cannot contain the truth... but because it is often expelled from there and replaced either by dreams or assumptions that are contrary to the truth. But you cannot deceive a soul, just as you cannot deceive a hungry man by giving him a stone instead of bread. Here she is languishing! But this seems to be another useful activity - scholarship. What can we say about those who greedily read our periodical writing? Look at the effort with which a young, and sometimes an elderly person, strives to quickly receive the usual monthly issue, with what uncontrollability he rushes to devour, as they say, the resulting prey! Here there is no food on the mind, and there is little sleep... And what fruit?! Two or three successful phrases, two or three flattering fantasies, two or three deceptive assumptions - and that’s it... the rest is no good. And the soul is dissatisfied. Another, third book is taken... still the same... My soul hurts! Mutual conversations are started... everything is the same, because both the subjects of the conversations and the way they are interpreted are taken from the same books... Add to this the pettiness of everyday activities and relationships, and you will understand that if you opened the ear that hears the speech of the soul, you would hear a bitter cry in it: take me out of this prison... I feel sick here! Let me look into God's light! That's how it is. But who will listen?! You see, it’s not the right thing to feed the soul with the truth of God!.. And it is tormented. And it would be good to go far for this truth. No, she is right there, but they do not want to open their eyes to perceive her light. Enter the church, listen to what is sung, read and acted here, and you will see the light of God’s truth. Open the Gospel or even hold this Divine book in your hands - and that will be more gratifying to your soul. Don’t we now have enough paternal writings in a translation accessible to everyone? And how many other spiritual books and periodical spiritual publications are there?! But we do not know all these treasuries of God’s truth, we have not even heard their names. Brothers and fathers! What kind of Christians are we when we don’t even pick up those books in which Christianity is explained, but read who knows what? And we torment the soul in the stuffy darkness - we, the sons of light and day, as the holy apostle called us?! I'll add one or two more thoughts. A plant needs air to live and grow. Without it, it will freeze. The soul also needs heavenly air... This, as I have already told you more than once, is all churchliness, or all the divine sacred rites of the Church... Here only the soul is, as it were, in its own atmosphere, and outside it it is suffocating. Just as a consumptive person withers away, so the soul withers away outside the Church, in the seemingly vast customs of the world... And this is why: who only knows that balls and theaters, festivities and parties, living pictures and buffoonery and the like, his soul deeply aches and languishes when he is left alone - with himself!.. She says to him then: I’m stuffy... take me from here - and lead me to where the air is always clean and the sky is bright. A plant needs moisture - juices, which it drinks with its roots and, passing into the trunk, forms itself as a transformed sediment of them... A kind of transformation and precipitation of spiritual juices is also necessary for the soul. This is accomplished by everyday good deeds, or the fulfillment of commandments, such as occurs in the ordinary course of our lives. Just as the juices in a plant or the food in our body, remaining unprocessed, only burden and burden without bringing benefit, so all the spiritual elements that the soul receives - the truth of God, the sacraments and sacred rites, etc. - will only burden it here and forever with the judgment of conscience and God, if it does not transform all this into its spiritual blood through good deeds. This is why the souls of people are sick, sorrowful and despondent, they are immersed in only everyday worries or only official matters, and even worse - in passionate matters, but have no thoughts about doing any good. They do not let a single particle of nutrition into the soul, and it dries and dries. I don’t say this because the affairs of the service and the affairs of everyday life - family worries, bargaining, various turnovers and various enterprises - were detrimental to the soul... No. They are not harmful in themselves, but what is harmful is if they are only engaged in them, without caring about virtue, and if, when doing them, they do it not for the glory of God, but for some selfish purposes. Just as the juices in our body turn into living blood by combining them with the oxygen of the air, so all matters, both official and everyday, can turn into elements nourishing the soul if we dedicate them all to God! And when this is not there, and there are no good deeds, then what should the soul feed on?! So she languishes then, and complains to a person, and clearly says to him: transplant me from this dry or rotten soil to the field of God, the field of good deeds required by the commandments of Christ. That's it! But you know all this, brothers! You know that the soul, abundantly illuminated by the light of God’s truth, contained in the pure and heavenly air of the prayers and sacred rites of the Church and strengthened by the nutritious food of good deeds, is like a tree planted “by the rising waters, which will yield its fruit in its season, and its leaf will not fall away.” And the other, deprived of all this, is like a noble plant, kept with bitterness in a place where there is no light, no clean air, no humidity... and withers! This is the news. But bless you if you create! Why do you, man, tyrannize your soul, indulging in the riot of worldly life in foolishness and blindness?! These thoughts to offer you were inspired by this day, dedicated to St. John Climacus, a desert dweller and mentor in desert living. It seems to many that the desert or some kind of monastic monastery is a dry place that offers nothing nutritious for the soul. But look at the deeds of St. John, unfold his “Ladder”, read something in it - and you will see how much life and strength he had! The desert exhausts only the flesh, but richly nourishes the soul with all heavenly food. The world seems fat to you, but it only fattens the flesh, and starves the soul, without even the slightest particle of nutrition for it. According to this difference, arrange your life, all who want to grow their soul - into a living tree, worthy of being transplanted into heavenly paradise. Amen. In the 4th week of Lent By virtue of the Ascension of the Lord, we need to recognize ourselves as higher and to seek those higher The Lord ascended in glory to Heaven. How did He ascend, Who, like God, is everywhere and fulfills everything?! It was through humanity that He ascended. It was man who He lifted into Heaven within Himself. The Lord ascended and sat at the right hand of God and the Father. How did He, who always inseparably abides with Him, sit at the right hand of God, the one-kingdom and co-throne? It was with humanity that He sat down at the right hand of God, it was man in Himself that He brought into co-kingship with God, into providential dominion over everything visible and invisible. Thus God's favor was fulfilled for us. The Son of God, having descended to earth, took man into His frame like a lost sheep, and brought him to His Father. Let us glorify the goodness and wisdom of God, the Lover of Mankind. He did not abandon us and did not betray us to our destruction, but He put to shame the malice of the enemy and, having deified our nature in Himself, He gave us savingly that with which we were seduced into destruction at the beginning. Let us now, brethren, shake off the frailty of our thoughts and, having raised our minds to Heaven, let us stand at the throne of God, at the feet of humanity glorified in the Lord, and let us instructively contemplate it. You see how human nature is exalted in the Lord: it is deified, it is co-royal with God, it is above all beginning, power, and strength. Let us be determined not to humiliate this nature within ourselves through sinful deeds, sinful thoughts and dispositions, and shameful passions of body and soul. As the Heavenly One is, so should we be, as we are called to be heavenly. As is the Head, the Lord, so shall the members be, all who believe; as the Firstborn is, so must all those be, whom He was not ashamed to call brethren. The Lord is the new founder. His generation is spiritually created from all the tribes of the earth. Among them we, and together with them, must form a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy tongue, a people of renewal, for we proclaim His virtues, who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). Let us strive to be perfect, just as our Heavenly Father is perfect. The Lord prayed for us, so that, just as He is one with the Father, we too would be one in Him. By faith and grace we are brought into this unity. What kind of zealots of life according to faith should we be in order to show ourselves standing in our rank?! This is the way we have chosen, O beloved, let us purify ourselves and always keep ourselves clean from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Let us imprint this thought on our hearts, so that we may not sin. But “if anyone sins, Jesus Christ the Righteous will be the intercessor with the Father” (1 John 2:1). In the beginning we sinned and fell away from God. By uniting with Jesus Christ, we are reunited with God. But if we sin here too, we again fall away from God and the Savior Jesus and at the same time we are deprived of all the advantages bestowed upon us in Him. What should those who fall back into sins do now? If you fall, get up. If you have sinned, repent. But do not despair, and through despair do not give yourself over to the hands of your fall. "The Imam's Intercessor to the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous". Look, He sits at the right hand of God the Father and intercedes for us. As a high priest, He entered with His blood into the Holy of Holies, into Heaven itself, so that He might appear to the face of God for us, always alive to intercede for us. The Lord's intercession will be heard and satisfied. You just need to attract this petition to yourself with sincere repentance and an unwavering and unwavering determination to renounce the sins with which the enemy manages to entangle souls with flattering promises of harmlessness and impunity of sins. Come, let us fall down and weep before the Lord, who created us, saved us, and saves us. “God, who is rich in mercy,” writes the Apostle Paul, “for His abundant love with which He loved us, and made us alive in Christ, who were dead in sins... and raised us up with Him and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4–6). So where is our place? Therefore, we should not live on earth as if we were supposed to live here forever, but live as they live on a foreign side. Wanderers live with their bodies on a foreign side, but with their minds and hearts they always live in their own homeland. So the Apostle commands us: “If you are risen with Christ, seek those on high, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Be wise on high, not on earth. You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:1-3). In Christ Jesus we are already in Heaven; we must move there with our minds and hearts - may our hearts be there too, where our treasure is. Everything needs to be directed there - thoughts, words and deeds. There we should arrange all our worries and our entire earthly stay in such a way that it would be a preparation for an eternal blissful stay in Heaven with Christ Jesus our Lord. You are tenacious on earth, you cannot help but do earthly and everyday things. But all this can be led in such a way that it will be a path leading there, where Christ is, at the right hand of God. There is wealth - they got there through the poor. There is power - the dominance there of acquisitions through the multiplication of beneficial actions. There is a talent - do not bury your talents in the ground, let them grow, so that the faithful in a few will be placed over many. If you have the strength, work hard, and you will taste the rewards of your labors. Even there is poverty, there is sorrow, there is illness - and with uncomplaining patience, complacency and gratitude, turn all this into a means of acquiring eternal contentment. “Go in wisdom to those who are outside,” the apostle commands (Col. 4:5). “Be careful... how dangerously you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming time, as the days are evil. For this reason, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of God is” (Eph. 5:15-17). Collecting these few thoughts together, we will receive such a lesson from the Ascension of the Lord. Having realized that “our life is in heaven, from here we wait for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20), as the angel said to the holy apostles who were watching the ascending Lord, we flow with zeal towards the honor of the high calling in Christ Jesus, “as much as is true, as much as is honest, as as is righteous, as much as “Most pure, ever most lovable, ever so highly praised, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, considering this” (Phil. 4:8), stumbling and standing up, but never weakening in zeal, forgetting what is behind, to reach out to what is before. So tetsite. And if you are mother-in-law like this, you will undoubtedly achieve what we all hope for through the grace of the Lord, who ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God and the Father. Amen. Imitate St. Mary of Egypt in repentance and self-correction This Sunday is dedicated to the memory of our venerable mother Mary of Egypt, and we have already praised her together with the Church at the all-night vigil in singing and spiritual songs and prayed to her for help in the difficult task of correcting our lives and our character. Now we will learn this matter from her. The Holy Church, offering us the example of Mary of Egypt, wants to inspire: if you want to repent and correct your life as it should, this is how you repent and correct yourself! But did you act like this during this post? If so, good for you... And if not, you still have two weeks left: you will have time to correct what is faulty or add to what was omitted. Just don't be lazy. But who will say: Mary of Egypt is an example to follow! Does everyone really need to flee to uninhabited places, to the desert, to the mountains? No, not everyone. But everyone should imitate her efforts in self-correction, her firm determination to change her life and how she reached this determination. Here are the sides to be imitated! How did the Monk Mary come to the decision to change her life? The Lord brought it. For what? Because, with all the uncontrollability of the passion that overcame her, she never thought of remaining forever in this bitter slavery. She endured violence from the flesh and the enemy who acted through this flesh, and succumbed to infatuation, but did not completely betray herself to it. The Lord took pity on the creature’s suffering and came to free it from the bonds that tormented it. This is the lesson from the most sinful part of the life of St. Mary of Egypt. So, if anyone has the misfortune of being enslaved to some kind of passion, carnal or spiritual, take at least enough strength so as not to surrender to it irrevocably, do not be like those who, having invested themselves in hopelessness, give themselves over to the work of a student. Passion definitely binds a person and, like a follower, leads him to deeds that satisfy it; but even with the bonds of slavery, you show at least a reluctance to do such things - remain dissatisfied with them. Don’t say: well, that’s right, so be it... let it be as it was, or let things flow as they flowed. But like someone who, not having the strength to resist, when he is dragged bound, at least rests his feet, and you, despite the strength of the passion that attracts you, at least show her resistance in some way, tell her: Well, this is the last time, I won’t give in again; and even if you fall again, say the same thing again, and so on; just speak not with your tongue alone, but also with your heart and cry out to the Lord for help. Just as one whom the enemy, having bound, leads into captivity, leaving his lips unbound, although he is drawn after him, but, having the opportunity to scream, cries out to see if anyone will hear and free him, so you too shout to the Lord: “Lord, before I even perish, save me; Lord, before the end, grant me to repent...” And you will be heard. Like a midwife lying in a cradle, although it cannot move with its arms or legs, but with its cry it takes its mother by the heart and, like a hedgehog, draws her to itself, so if you cry out, you will also attract the Lord to you, Who said that it is sooner for a mother to forget her child than for Him to forget those who cry to Him. When the Lord finally comes to you, pay attention then, brother, and do not allow yourself to fail to properly take advantage of this great condescension of God towards you. You will then resemble Saint Mary, when she was caught by the judgment of God at the entrance to the Holy Sepulcher. How she, struck by an invisible force, did not think for a long time, but immediately came to the realization that the reason for this was her sin, and immediately set the intention to leave behind this destructive sin of hers and never return to it - so you should do the same. Pay attention! When there is a strong remorse of conscience, or the fear of judgment and death, or the proximity of danger, like a sword over your head, or a feeling of the greatness of God and His great goodness, or something else that will deeply strike your heart and shake all your constitution, so that you feel as if all the bonds that had oppressed you until then have fallen from you - know that it is the grace of God that has touched you and gives you the freedom to enter the path of good - the freedom that you previously had was missing. Listen! This minute is dear! What you feel at that time is a work of grace... Add your case here too, exactly this - say: I lived badly, indulging passions... From now on I won’t... Then, having confessed and accepted permission, adhere to the required vow... This is what Saint Mary did. She did not put off her intention to change her life until tomorrow, no, but she immediately decided - and did it... This is what everyone should do. Grace, having come, definitely resolves the bonds of passion, but if someone does not immediately decide to lag behind passionate affairs, then he is again chained to these bonds. When the angel appeared to Peter the Apostle in prison, his bonds fell asleep, but if he had not then followed the angel out of prison, but remained in it, the prison guard would have come, put him in shackles again and locked the prison... and Saint Peter would still have remained a prisoner. Thus, the bonds of passion again bind everyone who, having felt the action of God’s grace freeing him from passion, does not decide to immediately change his life, but postpones it until another time. Don't delay, brother! For you don’t know whether such a favorable moment will come again. Having made a firm intention to correct oneself, one must begin this correction immediately and in action, as Saint Mary did. Leaving everything, strengthened by the sacraments, guided by the advice of her spiritual father, she rushed into the Trans-Jordanian desert - through solitude, fasting and prayer, to dry out the sinful habits sown and nurtured by a vicious life. Take up your labors and exploits immediately. Not everyone, of course, has the same path to conversion. Who retires into the desert and lives alone; who goes to the monastery and is saved among the brotherhood; who remains in order in family and civil life common to all. Many have already walked all these paths - and all of them have been saved and great people. Which one to choose, let him decide according to his own mood, the inspiration of God’s grace and on the advice of his spiritual father. Just know that you won’t get better without difficulty. A great struggle lies ahead for all who want to overcome the flesh that wars against the spirit. What the Monk Mary could not endure!.. And for everyone - work! It is necessary, as I said before, to remove everything that can feed passions; and this costs a lot of work. We must do everything that can nourish and strengthen the new life we ​​have begun; but this does not happen without difficulty. It is necessary to learn from the truth of God, to be under the influence of the sacraments as often as possible, to participate in the sacred rites of the Church, to struggle with passions and to do good deeds that are opposite to passionate habits; but all this is work. And most importantly - what is needed? You should never be left alone... Cling to your spiritual father, find someone who is like-minded, delve into the advice of the holy fathers and do nothing unless you have succeeded in all these places. Do not look at the Venerable Mary for this. She lived alone, but her path was according to God’s special election. It is better for us to adhere to the general order of life. The eagle soars solitarily to the heavens, and so high that it is sometimes invisible. But that is an eagle... So, imitate the work of the Venerable Mary in self-correction, her constancy in this and unwavering fidelity to her vow... and in other respects, follow the common path of those who are saved. Just be firm, do not allow yourself to relax... and, having worked a little, do not think that you have already done everything, for the end crowns the work. Write this blessed end in your mind - and flow towards it, according to the apostle, forgetting what is behind, and stretching to what is before, until you reach the place of rest from labors that the Lord has prepared for all His workers. Amen. On the 5th week of Lent One must take up the cross of self-correction; what is he wearing? By offering the honorable Cross to our worship and honor today, the Holy Church wants to incite us to bear the cross, if we have not yet taken up this holy work, and to confirm us in bearing the cross, if we have already begun it. She seems to be telling us this: do you see the Cross on which the Lord, by the will of us, stretched out his hand for our sake? Come and be crucified with Him. Now the Lord from the Cross invites each of you to take up your cross and follow Him. Take it... take it and do not be afraid, for just as the Lord from the Cross gave up His spirit to God and the Father, so from the Cross there is only one way for you - to the heavenly abodes following the Lord, Who will say to every cross-bearer, like a prudent thief: today you will be with Me in heaven! I don’t think that anyone would refuse this obligation, but it may happen that not everyone definitely knows what the obligatory cross-bearing for us consists of, and therefore can consider himself a crusader without being one. That there is no one in the world without a cross, everyone knows this; but among these crosses there is also a robber’s cross, on which people are also crucified. To avoid a mistake, which in this regard is very dangerous, I will briefly show you what the cross is made of, which each of us must take up and carry... It is composed primarily of the constraint of the flesh and of our entire external life and of the patient fulfillment of the rules that impose this constraint. We received the commandment from the Lord and the holy apostles to crucify the flesh with passions and lusts - to put to death the evils that are on earth, to present all the members of our body as instruments of righteousness, as before they were instruments of sin. Others consider this violence, but in reality it is essential for this to be so. Look what sin does in us! Establishing itself in the heart, it penetrates all the powers of our soul, fulfills all the functions and members of our body, establishes our home life in its own way and, according to its spirit, selects social relationships and connections... Thus, around the sinner there is, as it were, a sinful atmosphere, which the sin living in us produces and then feeds on. Having made a firm intention to work for the Lord, we must first of all dispel this atmosphere - disrupt this sinful order of life and establish new orders everywhere, according to the spirit of the new life. We must not go to places where we fell into sin or where we were kindled to sin... If this is a theater, leave the theaters; if there are festivities, refuse them; if dating, stop it. In our external relationships, leave only official affairs or matters of title, and, moreover, manage them in such a way that their fulfillment is according to God, and not to please passions, and then, abandoning previous acquaintances, connections and ways of pleasantly spending time, establish new connections and new activities in the hours remaining from positions: instead of empty conversations - conversations about spiritual subjects; instead of balls and evenings - visiting God-fearing people, instead of reading magazines - reading the word of God and the writings of the fathers, and so on. Having changed your behavior outside - in society, you need to change the order of your home life. Set other hours for getting up and going to bed, determine the prayer rule in the morning and evening, determine your table and time for it... and how to sit down and how to get up from the table, how to leave the house and how to enter it, what to use what free time for, how and who to receive and how to receive; The very decoration of our home should be different - we need to cleanse the passionate and place the edifying, spiritual. All this is done by everyone starting a new life, as if by instinct of this life. It’s embarrassing, of course... But it’s the sin that lives in us that is embarrassed, not us; We are freed from the bonds of sin through this constraint. This is one wing of the saving cross that we must take upon ourselves. Having rebuilt everything around us in this way, we move on to ourselves. And here, after all, every member of the body is the seat of sin. We must restrain him here too. The senses must be constrained... let the eye not look at tempting objects, let the ear not listen to passionate speeches, let the sense of smell and touch not irritate sin that has just subsided. Further, our belly worked for voluptuousness - we need to exhaust it and accustom it to sober saturation; the body loved to bask and relax in sleep and inaction - it must be accustomed to work and tension, to work and vigil. And lust, what outcomes did it not have?! They all need to be blocked. What did not the tongue say, this fire, the babble of untruth? It is necessary to bind him... to embitter his very skin somewhat with cruelty for his addiction to one pampering one. Having established such an order, we will kill the uds that are on earth, or we will make all the members of the body instruments of righteousness. This is hard, but it is saving. Acting in this way in relation to the body, we will do the same as those who wash clothes do, that is, rinse, squeeze and beat our body in order to force out everything sinful and passionate from it - and restore it to its original sober purity... Here is another horn of the saving cross that we need to take upon ourselves! All this together constitutes what I initially called the constraint of the flesh and our entire external life and the patient fulfillment of the rules that impose this constraint. That is, having imposed new rules on your external relationships and activities and on your body, you must strictly fulfill them so that they have their saving effect... Each of these constraining rules is the same as a plaster on a wound. The bandage is not removed from the wound until it has done its job; so we must remain in this new order, without changing it, until we are established and strengthened in it, until it becomes as usual for us as the sinful order was before. But all this is only an external cross... There is also an internal one. I’ll tell you about it briefly... It consists of self-coercion and self-resistance. While a person is in sin, he does not love good, does not sympathize with it and does not think about it. Having now made a firm intention not to sin, he recognizes himself as obligated to desire only good, to think about it alone, and to find pleasure in it alone. But turning to himself, to his inner self, he does not find these dispositions there. The mind wants to occupy itself with something else, it dreams and soars, the heart is cold to goodness, the inclinations of the will are turned to something else. What to do? It is necessary to tear them away from one and chain them to another - tear them away from the passionate and sinful and tilt them towards the good, dispassionate, spiritual. That is, you have to contradict yourself in the bad and force yourself to do the good... And this happens in almost every case. For example, there is an opportunity to help someone in need!.. Conscience says: help - and the person is ready; but selfishness sits on the side and repeats: don’t give, you need it for yourself. This selfishness must be overcome or suppressed and the soul must be disposed to voluntary giving. Who offended? The Christian conscience says: forgive, but pride forces you to take revenge. We must take our heart away from this unkind passion and incline it to meekness and condescension. So anyway. Everywhere one must tear oneself away from the passionate and lean towards the holy and godly... This is the internal warfare produced by self-coercion and self-resistance, as if with two hands. She's sick! How painful it is when a splinter is taken out, or how painful it is to tear off a finger stuck to an iron in the cold - so painful to the heart when it is torn from one thing in order to bend it to another. This is painful, but it is saving. That is why it is called the saving cross, exuding rich healing to our passionate heart. This consists of the inner cross, or the inner side of the cross, in connection with the previously described outer side, constituting one cross, which every Christian undertakes to take upon himself, and which indeed takes upon himself everyone who, having abandoned sin, is enslaved to the truth. The Lord bless your labors, workers of God! Be patient in this new order... The wounds of the cross are burning only at the beginning, and then the crucifixion nails will begin to exude healing oil on the wounds they themselves inflict. Such orders are constraining, but they are the path to freedom for the children of God. Be patient! Passions will subside - and your spirit will soar with an easy flight to the throne of God and, having established itself there, will begin to taste the bliss of the mental contemplation of God before it leaves the body, and before that day begins, after which there is no longer any sadness, no illness, no sighing. Amen. On the 3rd week of Lent Testament of the Lord from the Cross: a list of Christian feelings and dispositions Today the reading of the Gospels ends. And I want to draw your attention to what this reading means and what it obliges us to. What does it mean to read all the Gospels in these days? It is a repetition of the will given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord, having died for us, left a testament to all who had faith in Him - a testament written and signed with His blood. Everyone who comes to the Lord with faith enters into a covenant with Him and undertakes to fulfill the testament He left, depicted in the Gospels. Tomorrow the Passion will be celebrated. In a day, we will be offered to honor the image on the shroud of the Lord after He was taken down from the Cross, martyred and wounded. The first thought of anyone who comes to kiss the shroud will be the thought of the covenant confirmed by the death of the Lord. With His emaciated appearance and ulcers, He will remind each of us: do you remember and fulfill My testament, which you undertook to fulfill when you entered into a covenant with Me? So that every Christian before the shroud can conscientiously answer: yes, Lord, I remember your covenant and I know your testament, the Holy Church decreed that all the Gospels should be read before the Lord’s suffering, in order to renew in everyone’s memory the whole picture of the obligations bequeathed by the Lord. This is why all the Gospels are read in these days! Well, is the goal achieved? Yes, to a greater or lesser extent everyone knows what the Lord expects from him as a Christian. But perhaps not everyone clearly understands the whole essence of the matter bequeathed to us; did not bring, perhaps, under one overview all the obligations imposed by the Testator; didn’t depict everything related to this in one general picture? I undertake to help you and depict the entire content of the Lord’s testament in one short essay. This will help us, before the face of the suffering Lord, to either strengthen ourselves in life if it is working properly, or to encourage us to change it and correct it if it is not working properly. You know that the essence of Christianity is the restoration of fallen man. Man in creation is destined to be in communion with God in order to live in Him and be blissful. By transgressing the commandment, he fell away from God, lost true life and had to suffer both temporarily and eternally. The Only Begotten Son of God, having taken upon Himself human nature, revived it in Himself, by death satisfied the truth of God and returned man to bliss in God. In order for people to be able to assimilate these blessings at all times, He established the holy Church on earth - the house of salvation and the courtyard of those who are being saved. Anyone now who wants to achieve his destination - to taste the bliss of communion with God - can be granted this only through communion with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Church... “No one” can come “to the Father,” says the Lord, “only by Me...”. (John 14:6). This is the essence of His testament to us. From here it is self-evident that the more specific points of this testament concern: 1) the path of ascension to communion with Jesus Christ, 2) staying in God through communion with the Lord, and 3) staying in the Church, where all the forces and ways to accomplish both are found. 1. How do we ascend into communion with the Lord and what, as a result, lies with us? The path to ascent to communion with the Lord is as follows. Coming to repentance of his sins, a person would be ready to fall into despair if the Lord did not stand before him with merits... Having assimilated them to himself by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he arises in the hope of salvation and, receiving Divine powers, sets the intention to work for the Lord all the days of his life... and for this through the sacraments he is united with the Lord. Because of this, this is what is required of every Christian: a) “know and acknowledge your poverty and wretchedness” - that you are poor, and blind, and naked, and would perish temporarily and forever, if not for the Lord... b) “know and grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ,” who came into the world to save sinners. He satisfied the righteousness of God for you, quickened you in Himself and seated you at the right hand of the Father - in heaven; c) “believe” with complete faith that the Lord, who saved the whole world, “saves you,” and cry out to Him with Thomas: “My Lord and my God”; d) as a result of this, “hope to be saved.” Keep in your heart that the danger has already passed, but do not indulge in carelessness and bliss, but walk in deeds of selflessness, the oblivion of which has plunged you into trouble so many times; e) “warm up a sense of peace with God.” Contemplate in your spirit the bright face of God, benevolent to you, but do not weaken not only passions, but also passionate thoughts, and every time they break through against your will, hasten to cleanse yourself with tears of repentance, or always remain in tears of repentance, washing away with them all impurity; f) carry in your heart the conviction that you are the son of God, to whom has been given the power to cry out to Him: “Abba Father,” - and, remembering this, act as if on behalf of God, in the sight of God, for God, always to the glory of His all-holy name. Here is the first series of feelings and dispositions bequeathed by the Lord! 2. Having entered into communion with Jesus Christ, and through Him reunited with God, a person stands before the face of God, from Whom he had fallen, and contemplates Him in His endless perfections and in His works of creation, providence and accomplishment of everything... And these are the feelings and dispositions that everyone should be filled with at this! This is what the Lord requires from each of us: a) contemplating God as the most hidden, incomprehensible, be amazed at Him. May every thought be silent in you, just as every creature, heavenly and earthly, is silent before Him; b) contemplating Him as infinitely great, fall before Him in humiliation, filled with reverent fear and awe; c) contemplating the all-perfect, praise and glorify Him, together with the choirs of angels calling to Him: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, fill the whole earth with Your glory!” d) contemplating Him as omnipresent, all-seeing and all-fulfilling, walk before His face as you would walk before a king looking at you; e) God created you and preserves you, you are all His... Submit to Him as the Lord of life, in a feeling of complete dependence on Him; f) God, who created you, also provides for you - it has become, everything that is yours is His. Thank Him for everything... Be grateful and be patient if something unpleasant happens to you, and never allow your feeling of contentment with the orders of Providence about you to weaken; g) God, who controls everything, leads you to your destination. Therefore, everything that happens to you will be from God. So, surrender yourself to the will of the all-good God, Who knows better than you what you need, rest in Him, not allowing yourself to be tormented by empty perplexities and frustrations of spirit, and, nourishing full hope that He will lead you to His end, ascend to Him with your mind and heart in prayer; h) God, who created everything and controls everything, will put an end to the present order of things, transform heaven and earth and establish an eternal Kingdom of bliss for man... So, expect this second coming of the Lord and not only believe it, but also desire and prepare to meet Him at every hour... Prepare for death; remember judgment, heaven and hell and be like a stranger on earth. Here is the second series of feelings and dispositions bequeathed by the Lord! 3. Those who enter into communion with Jesus Christ, and through Him with God, achieve this in no other way than in the holy Church, according to its instructions and guidance, and are affirmed and remain in this communion in no other way than by being in communion with the Church. In the Church, all the grace-filled means necessary for this, and everyone in it who uses these means and turns to God becomes one body, filled with one spirit. The Church is the house of salvation, or the vessel of grace-filled means, and the courtyard of those who are being saved. A. The Church is a house of salvation, or a vessel of grace-filled means... So, turn to it and in it seek satisfaction of your spiritual needs. Everything you need can be found in it: a) you need enlightenment of the mind - the Church is an educator. Believe and keep in your heart that she alone is the pillar and affirmation of the truth, and in her seek this truth - in the word of God, in the scriptures of the Fathers, in the available church teaching. According to the guidance of this enlightenment, look for everyone else and trust him to them; b) you are weak, you need reinforcement - the Church is the giver of grace and the educator of the gracious spirit. Our mother’s seven breasts are open—seven sacraments. Approach them by faith and drink from them life-giving powers according to your needs and then warm them by walking in all the rules and rites of the Church - fasting, fasting and everything else; c) you are surrounded by enemies, you need intercession and protection - the Church is your intercessor and protector. Go to the churches of God. Gathering her children, the Church brings down her intercessory power on them... Here is the bloodless Sacrifice, here are choirs of angels and saints, here are prayers for every need of soul and body... Run here and protect yourself with church prayer. B. The Church is the courtyard of those who are being saved... All believers are one body with one spirit... So: a) remain in unity of spirit with everyone; remain in “unanimity”, not seeking independent views in matters of faith that cause heresies; remain in “sympathy” with everyone and in “readiness to promote the good of all.” These are the three elements of true love, which will further teach you to greet every brother with goodwill, goodwill and concern; He will teach everyone to create more honor for himself and to keep the face of his neighbor clean; will teach you to sacrifice everything for the good of your soul and body and, in constant mutual exchange, to be sincerely hospitable, modest, peace-loving, compliant, true-loving, etc.; will teach you to behave this way not only towards benefactors and friends, but also towards enemies and ill-wishers; b) The Church is the courtyard of those being saved; all believers are one body with one spirit... Be zealous with all your zeal to remain in unity with her and to bring yourself under one spirit with her... And for this, remember the vows given when you entered into her in baptism, and renew them more often in memory; deny yourself and continually sacrifice yourself to God; Devour your mind to Him and receive the mind of Christ; devour your will and walk only in the will of God; devour your heart and love nothing but Him; Devour your body to Him in the labors and embitterments of bodily salvation for the sake of... Be sober and vigilant... and keep your feelings undistracted... This is the third series of feelings and dispositions bequeathed to us by the Lord! There are also special testaments to parents and children, husbands and wives, servants and masters, superiors and subordinates, shepherds and flocks, those who sell and buy, judges and those judged - of every rank and status; but they are clear already from the first testaments by themselves... Let the spirit of love and self-sacrifice in zeal prevail everywhere, to create in everything the single will of God, to which all life should be devoted. This is a brief outline of the testament left to us by the Lord, and this is what the Church wants to reproduce in our minds, reading all the Gospels to us these days, in order to present us with a shameless face at the foot of the Cross, on which hangs the One who bequeathed this testament to us - to present us as at least knowing, if not fully fulfilling... But, brethren, what is knowledge?! It will only expose us! Let’s force our soul a little, won’t it become jealous to apply itself to knowledge and action?! Not enough time?! No, not a little. And in one minute everything can be corrected... Let’s do this: let’s check our lives according to the proposed outline and wash everything that we find faulty with tears of repentance; let’s make a firm intention to be correct in those parts in which we were previously faulty. The Lord who suffers for us on the Cross will accept the intention as a deed itself, as long as it is sincere and accompanied by the readiness to stand in it to the point of the stomach. Let us at least please the Lord in these days of His remembrance... There was a time in the Old Testament when the books of the law were read aloud to the whole people, with oaths to the disobedient and blessings to the submissive, and all the people answered: “Everything, as the Lord has spoken, we will do and listen...”. Here the Lord Himself repeats His covenant to us from the Cross; Let us open the ears of our hearts, put together our feelings and dispositions according to what is written, and say: Let us, Lord, keep everything You have commanded, even if we had to go to prison or to death for this. Amen. On Wednesday of Holy Week The main thing is to know and feel your poverty and the riches of Christ and to remain in union with Christ On Great Wednesday, if you remember, I offered you the covenant bequeathed to us by our Lord Jesus Christ, written with His blood and sealed by His death on the cross. The clauses of this will, in terms of their number, could then only be briefly indicated or just titled. But since they should all constitute the main subject of our knowledge, as well as the main concern of our life and activity, I consider myself obliged to explain them to you in more detail, and I ask you to apply all possible attention and patience in listening. I think I’ll explain this to you now because the Lord, after His resurrection for fourty days, appeared to His disciples, spoke to them about the Kingdom of God; The Kingdom of God, which is within us, consists of what else if not in the feelings and dispositions to which He who died for us and rose again obliged us? Thus, by talking about this, we will enter into participation in the conversations of the Lord and will in some way continue His work, which He accomplished in the days ahead of us. In addition, perhaps the very next weeks, in their content and meaning, will lead us to one or another point of the will that lies with us for execution. At least about this week this can be said affirmatively and without much effort of thought. Remember what the essence of God’s new covenant to us is. Here's the short story: in living communion with God through the Lord Jesus Christ in His holy Church. The main point is living communication with God. But it is impossible for us who have fallen to come into fellowship with God other than through the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must first be united with the Lord Jesus, who sincerely shared our nature; further, having achieved this, one must live in this communion with the Savior and the communion with God acquired through Him in union with all those who are united with God, constituting the Church of God, to which are entrusted all the means of salvation and the guidance of all those being saved. So learn this: the essence of our covenant is in communion with God through the Lord Jesus Christ in His holy Church. Arise, fallen one, look at the Lord and unite with Him, flow from Him through a number of other dispositions to God and immerse yourself in God-contemplation and God-enjoyment, but do this the way this is done in the Church of God - being in union with all who call on the name of the Lord. A true Christian, firmly holding this God-ordained order, walks along it with his mind and heart all his life and collects in it holy feelings and dispositions that please him here and reliably prepare him for eternal bliss. This is something I consider it my duty to discuss with you as often and as variedly as possible. It's all our business here. If we stand in this rank, it is good for us, but if not, we are lost. So, our first task is to unite with the Lord Jesus Christ. We have already been united with Him. All that remains is to preserve this combination, warming up the feelings and dispositions that support it. To those who are not with the Lord, one must say: arise, fallen one, look at the Lord and unite with Him. And whoever is with the Lord must be taught: do not forget the fall from which you were raised, do not take your eyes off the Lord who saved you, and with strong faith drink into yourself His saving power. Otherwise, it is like this: know and contain your poverty in the feeling of your heart, know and carry the wealth of Christ in the feeling of your heart, and then, by the power of faith and love, transfer this wealth of Christ to yourself - the poor. He who is united with the Lord constantly contains these feelings and, moving from one to another, maintains in himself or sets in motion his living combination with the Lord. So, you need: a) know and contain in the feeling of your heart your poverty, your wretchedness and your irresponsibility before God. This is the first truth about ourselves. We were highly placed, but through the envy of the devil, having violated the commandment, we were subjected to condemnation and oath, were upset in soul and body, condemned to external disasters, fell under the tyranny of Satan and are in danger of being cast into eternal fire after death, prepared for the devil and his angels. For those who believed, all this has already passed. But we must not forget this, so as not to fall into self-forgetfulness and fall back into the same place again. Our path lies over the abyss of flame, into which we are constantly ready to plunge if grace leaves us; but she will leave us if we forget that we ourselves are blind, and poor, and naked... This feeling will constantly direct us to the Lord or force us to run to Him, as one runs from a stuffy place or building engulfed in flames to freedom. Just as oil keeps a lamp burning, so this feeling will support the burning of faith in the Lord in our spirit. As the former weakens, so does the latter. He who loses it is out of action of those being saved. That's how important it is! Let us take care to kindle in ourselves the feeling of our poverty, our wretchedness and unworthiness before God, so that we can constantly remain in a feeling of self-abasement and humility... and cry out from the depths of our souls: Lord, save me, I am perishing; b) to know and carry the riches of Christ in the feeling of the heart. The feeling of one’s poverty, wretchedness and irresponsibility before God alone is joyless and, perhaps, can lead to despair - a completely destructive sin. Therefore, without abandoning it, we must dissolve it with the knowledge and feeling of the riches of Christ... For in fact, only man is not poor and perishing, but we are saved and enriched in the Lord Jesus Christ - in fact, there is such a dispensation according to which the Divine overshadowing of saving grace is extended over a perishing person. Therefore, we need to look not only at ourselves, how insignificant we are, but also at the Lord, how rich and good He is, that is, how the merciful God promised to send His Son for our salvation, who, at the fulfillment of times, actually came to us, became incarnate, suffered, sacrificed by death on the cross for the sins of the whole world, rose again and resurrected everyone, ascended and, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, intercedes for us and rules over like a King to everyone, arranging everything for our salvation. Containing in our minds such a dispensation of salvation, let us perceive it in our feelings, so that together with the apostle we can ascend to that state in which “all the skills of being are credited for the surpassing understanding of Christ the Lord.” The consequence of these two feelings will be: c) the very combination of the heart with the Lord. For when, in this way, both the feeling of one’s damnation and the feeling of Christ’s riches meet in one and the same spirit, what can keep them from combining with each other, as water is combined with dry earth, or as two elements akin to each other? The feeling of irresponsibility goes back to the Lord who has been sacrificed; the feeling of corruption accepts the Lord as our belly; the fear of death and hell is healed by the vision of the Lord - the King and Conqueror of all. Each feeling finds its corresponding satisfaction in the contemplated Lord. From this combination is born, like their heavenly daughter, true faith in the Lord the Savior, which is not just the knowledge of the Lord, not just the knowledge of one’s poverty, but is both together - in mutual penetration. The combination of the heart with the Lord by faith is an internal grace-filled action, by which all the fullness of Christ is transferred to our insignificance and poverty and assimilated to us. This is a Divine action by which a new hidden person of the heart is created within us. These are the elements from which it is composed: I, who was perishing, would have perished forever, but the Lord Jesus Christ, who took away all the evil that lay upon the human race, accepted me into His mercy - and by Him I am saved. Faith sees the Lord as the only source of its blessing, disappears in Him with its heart, embraces His love, lives by Him alone and for Him alone. When this combination of the Lord with the heart takes place, then what He promised happens to each of us: “I will go down to him and dine with him,” saturating him with all His endless blessings. As a result of this, in the depths of the human spirit it is said, as by Thomas after touching the Lord: “My Lord and my God!” This is the truest voice of faith and its truest symbol. Here is a brief summary of how the heart is united with the Lord!.. First, it will feel its poverty and irresponsibility before God; then he will feel the riches of Christ; finally, by the power of faith, he will transfer this last to himself, saying to himself: everything that the Lord has done for everyone, He gives by His grace to me and saves me... And, saying this, it is firmly grafted onto the Lord, like a child who loves his mother wraps himself around his mother’s neck... Having thus entwined with the Lord, the believing soul remains like this, looking with love into the eyes of the Lord, holding her over the abyss and saving her in For ourselves... May the Lord, who desires to save us all, help us to settle inwardly, so that all of us, even at the hour of His final appearance to the world, can boldly cry out with Thomas: Our Lord and our God! Amen. Light of knowledge, freedom of action and peace of heart in the Lord Jesus Christ: to Him go What an instructive example the Samaritan woman sets for us today! She went to draw ordinary water, but at the source of ordinary water she found a source of salvation. Her soul, apparently, was not completely absorbed in the worries of everyday life. Why did the Lord, in two or three words, transfer her thoughts from the earthly to the heavenly and, regarding the drawing of water, taught her to look for water from which the drinker will not thirst forever: “Whoever drinks of the water will thirst again, and whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will not thirst forever, but the water that I will give him will be in him a source of water flowing into his belly” ( John 4:13–14). Hearing this, the wife desirably cried out: “Lord, give me this water!” The Holy Church, in her songs for this day, especially brings this circumstance to our attention and presents the Lord Himself as crying out to us: “let him come thirsty and drink to Me” - expecting that we, like the Samaritan woman, will turn to the Lord and beg Him: grant us, O Lord, Thy water. Let us, brothers, delve into the lesson of the Gospel and listen to the voice of the Church! “Let him thirst and let him come to Me and drink,” the Lord invites. But you cannot come to the Lord with every thirst, but only with that which is appropriate to ask Him for satisfaction. What is more decent to ask from the Savior than salvation? So, having thirsted for salvation, let us approach the Lord in the hope of quenching this thirst, simply using the methods that He was pleased to outline for this. But the thirst for salvation is appropriate in whom? In one who feels constrained on all sides, surrounded by dangers, burdened with troubles and deprivations. You can say to everyone: come to the realization that you are in such a position, and you will flow to the Lord to seek salvation for yourself. ABOUT! If this is so, then there should be no shortage of compulsions to go to the Lord; and one must wonder why not everyone is already directed towards Him in order to draw water with joy from this source of salvation. Look what is around us and in us? Around us there is unbelief, doubt, indifference to everything holy, which, coming inside us, can shake our soul with perplexities and cover the mind with a fog of opposing thoughts, bringing discord into the area of ​​​​peaceful and pleasing faith. The mind seeks the light of knowledge and is blissful when it enters into it. And on the contrary, it is natural for him to languish when this light is hidden, just as the bodily eye languishes, being deprived of the material light for a long time. Why is it that one who is aware of the deprivation of the light of knowledge and who thirsts for it cannot help but cry out: Lord, send Thy light and Thy truth, so that it may guide me and place me in Thy holy mountain, from which I could freely survey the vast area of ​​Thy saving mysteries. Isn’t this the situation many of us are in now?! If so, then go to the Lord and do not depart from Him, for He is light and those who follow Him will not remain in darkness. Take a closer look at what is inside us, and you will see there a soul bound in all its movements, like a prisoner bound hand and foot. You want to begin some feat, somewhat difficult, but self-pity does not allow you to do this and takes away all the strength to do so. You want to do good, but selfishness shortens your hand. You want to forgive, but offended pride excites you to take revenge. You want to rejoice in the happiness of another - but envy extinguishes this joy. So on every good movement there are like chains imposed, preventing the soul from acting freely. And the soul is characterized by freedom. Why, finding herself so bound, can she not help but cry out to the apostle: “Who will deliver me?” (Rom.7:24), or with the prophet: “bring out of prison” this “my soul, to confess to Your name” (Ps.141:8). So, brethren, feeling ourselves bound and desiring freedom, let us approach the Lord, Who says: “If... the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). What's in our hearts? By his nature there is a desire for rest, peace, consolation, happiness; but in reality - one sorrow gives way to another, one anxiety drives another: then frustration from not fulfilling desires; then grief from the loss of what has been achieved; there is fear for oneself or others; there is languor from immoderate or disappointed hope; yesterday failure struck like an arrow; Now care, like a worm, wears away; Tomorrow an unfavorable combination of circumstances threatens to crush you like paralysis. How long will it be like this for us, brothers? Or are we the only ones who have quenched our thirst for peace, peace and bliss? Or do we have no one to turn to? Let us come to our senses and hasten to confidently turn to the Lord, Who calls everyone: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Thus, brothers, our soul thirsts for the light of knowledge, freedom of action and peace of heart. Realizing that we are deprived or being deprived of these essential benefits for us and thirsting to possess them, let us flow to the Lord, who calls those who are thirsty to quench their thirst. You who thirst for light, go to Him. He is the light, beyond which there is darkness. He will enlighten your mind with knowledge, not only externally through revelation, but also internally through the anointing from the Holy One, which teaches everything, as the seer experienced, and imparts such tangible confirmation of the truth that it is just as impossible to renounce it as to renounce your existence. You who thirst for freedom, go to the Lord. He will resolve the bonds of passions by which the soul is bound; will pour out a force for good that no passion can resist; Moreover, through the work of doing good, goodness will become so akin to the soul that it will not feel not only external, but even internal bonds - from the law, which does not lie with the righteous. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17). He sets up those who act “on a broad nose” (Ps. 30:9) - and they act in all the breadth of good intentions, under the blessing and assisting right hand of God. You who thirst for rest, peace and bliss, go to the Lord. He is life, peace and quiet, and He alone. He will drive away all worries from the heart, reviving in it other, unearthly worries and quests; He will extinguish the burning sensation of earthly sorrows, extinguish any urge for earthly consolations. He will allow Himself to be tasted - His good and pleasing Self - and thereby bring the taste for everything else into oblivion. For He is the fullness of all comfort. But what is especially important is that through a series of events before the grave, which can sometimes confuse, He shows the heart beyond the grave endless bliss, gives a foretaste of it now and assimilates it with hope in the future, in order to replenish the feeling of bliss in it, not only with its equanimity, but also with its continuity. So, go to the Lord, who calls us and promises to quench all thirst. Nowadays you hear many voices inviting those who are thirsty to you; do not follow them. The wise say: leave revelation and come to us, we will show you the light of truth in our minds. Don't go, they are deceiving. There is no truth in them, but lies. Humanists say: come to us, we will loosen all bonds and bring human nature into freedom. Don't go, they are deceiving. There is no freedom there, but only a change of bonds, more and more difficult. The sensual people say: come to us, we will bring you all kinds of pleasure and make your life enjoyable. Don't go, they are deceiving. They have no joy, but only stupor for a moment, which then responds to the gravest sorrow. So, don’t go anywhere, but instead stay with the Lord. He alone will give you water to drink, from which the drinker will never thirst. Amen. Different states and manifestations of God's grace in us believers Having addressed His saving word to the Samaritan wife at Jacob's well, the Lord took thought from the water and, by comparison with it, pointed out to the happy wife the great gifts brought by faith in Him and communication with Him, saying: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again, but the water that I will give him will never thirst.” him, there will be in him a fountain of water flowing into an everlasting belly” (John 4:13–14). This longed-for water is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given to believers in the Lord in His holy Church. For on another occasion the Lord said this: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink; Believe in Me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living waters will flow out of his belly. “This speech,” assures the holy evangelist, “is about Dus, whom those who believe in His name want to receive” (John 7:37-39). Having changed this allegory into simple speech, we will hear from the lips of the Lord the following instruction: if you thirst for salvation, believe in the Lord. Whoever believes is given the grace of the Holy Spirit. The grace of the Holy Spirit, having come and taken up residence in the heart, becomes the source of spiritual life leading to eternal life. What a comforting gospel! The believer receives grace, and grace produces in us and from us the source of salvation! And this is the advantage of all believers, all Christians. A non-believer - a non-Christian - does not have grace, and a person without grace does not have salvation. “Believe in Me,” says the Lord, “rivers will flow from his belly.” Faith, grace, salvation - all remain inseparable, so that where there is one thing, everything is there, and where there is nothing, there is nothing. Hearing this, others will ask in amazement: I am a Christian, and I am a believer, is it really possible that I also have the grace of the Holy Spirit in me?! If this grace exists, then it is in me a source of water flowing into an eternal belly. Is there really this source of water flowing into my stomach inside me too?! Is it really, brethren, that such ineffable mercy of God has been and is being accomplished over us and in us? That's how it is. And let no one sweep aside the grace of God. Or “do you not know... that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you” (1 Cor. 3:16), asks the apostle. We are amazed: is there really grace in us? And the apostle is amazed at our ignorance of this. Or “you don’t know,” he says, “how you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you.” And in another place, here is a strict definition issued: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not carry Him” (Rom. 8:9). So unrepentant are the gifts and promises of God! The grace of the Spirit is undoubtedly poured out on us in the holy sacraments and remains in us from the time we are baptized and anointed with myrrh, but it manifests itself differently, judging by our different attitude towards this grace. In others it remains hidden, unmanifested; in others it reveals itself in its characteristic effects on us, but it does not reveal itself continuously, but intermittently; for others, finally, it completely overshadows and relentlessly reveals its effect both for them and for others. I will explain these states to you. Everyone apply to yourself what is said, and take the necessary lessons from it. He who has received the sacraments already has grace, although it does not yet manifest its presence through human actions. So a seed thrown into the ground, but not yet vegetated and not sprouted from the ground, although it is there, is not visible. In another place there is a vein of clean and healing water, but it is hidden underground. People walk around that place and often drink bad water, but clean water is right there, but hidden. In another field some treasure lies underground; the owner works, cultivates the land and sometimes earns little through labor... but the treasure is right there, but not visible. In the same way, grace is hidden in our hearts, like a treasure, like a spring, like a seed, but it is not visible in others, does not show fruit, does not flow water, does not enrich. It is there, but does not reveal its actions. In the parable of the Savior, the one who received one talent and hid it in the ground had the talent, but neither himself used it, nor did anyone else see it. So it is here. He who has been baptized and anointed has already received the grace of rebirth and the gift of the Holy Spirit and has it, but by turning his concerns to other objects, he can bury this treasure in the soil of his heart so that neither he nor others can see it. He can languish with spiritual thirst or drink the rotten water of earthly pleasures - but the source of grace that can quench his thirst is right there, within him, and is blocked up. He can starve and be spiritually poor - but the all-enriching spiritual treasure and the seed of the fruitful and all-satisfying tree are right there in him, but are cluttered with the rubbish of earthly affairs and worries. Dig into the ground and perhaps you will discover a treasure or a spring of clean water. Moisture and warmth will pass to the seed, and it will germinate and bear fruit. So here too - give space for grace to act, and it will act and reveal its power in you and on you, either as quenching living water, or as an enriching treasure, or as fruit that nourishes and satisfies. What digging the earth in the material is like feats of self-mortification in the spiritual. What moisture and warmth are in the material, so are the works of good deeds and piety in the spiritual. God spoke to Noah’s contemporaries: “My Spirit shall not dwell in these men...”. “They are flesh” (Gen. 6:3). Consequently, He will dwell where the flesh is crucified with passions and lusts or where feats of self-sacrifice are carried out. The Apostle writes: “do not quench the spirit,” or: “do not offend the Holy Spirit of God, by Him you are marked on the day of deliverance” (Eph. 4:30) - and then lists the passions that should be avoided, and the virtues in which one should excel; therefore, the Spirit does not fade away there, where there is a struggle with passions and the work of doing good. In another place he teaches: “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourself in psalms and songs and spiritual songs, making melody and singing in your hearts to the Lord” (Eph. 5:18-19). Consequently, where there is singing, church and home prayer, and acts of piety in general, there will be the filling of the Spirit or the manifestation of the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Feats of self-sacrifice, works of good deeds and piety give scope to the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit in us, and it, hidden, then comes to light and its action shows both the grace bearer and others. But even having arrived or having already acted in the heart, grace does not suddenly reveal all its power or the fullness of its actions, but gradually, piecemeal, intermittently. Now it will act on one side of our nature, now on the other, now on one force, now on the other - now it will enlighten the thought, now it will delight the heart, now it will strengthen our strength. And there is not a single one who is not given over to some sinful passion - not a single one who does not sometimes feel the action of grace in himself. When any holy truth is imagined in the mind, for example: creation, providence, redemption, etc., or some gospel event: the crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, etc., is imagined so strongly that it captivates all the attention of the mind, and so clearly that it contemplates all the details and is convinced and nourished by it, then this is the fruit of the grace of God. When the heart is struck by the fear of judgment, or is filled with the hope of eternal blessings, or feels sweetness, tenderness, contrition, detachment from everything with such strength that it seems to be transferred to a completely different area from what surrounds us, then this is the action of grace. When the soul rejoices, is in good spirits, is ready for every good thing, for every labor, for every deprivation and even death, endures everything, does not fear any obstacles in pleasing God - all these and similar states are manifestations of the Spirit of God working in us. And it is not without reason that when someone is in any of these states, he calls it a state of grace. It gives man a taste of what nothing earthly can give. Everyone experiences these states, but not everyone has them permanently; they come and go, are given and taken away, just as in the visible world it is sometimes light and sometimes cloudy; sometimes quiet, sometimes windy; sometimes warm, sometimes cold. Thus, saving grace judged for our good, so as not to bind our freedom, so as to gradually educate us to a life of grace and teach us to appreciate the good that is not given suddenly, but after many experiences of giving with a hand, as if shortened. Grace, says Saint Diadochos, sometimes with some inexplicable sensation reveals its presence to the heart and then hides again, waiting for the soul to seek the Lord even more zealously, having tasted the benefits of striving for Him. Of those who have tasted this, who would not wish for these states to become more frequent and, having come, not to go away quickly, but to last longer and allow themselves to be felt longer? Work and search! But know that whether to aggravate or diminish, extend or shorten depends on the Lord, who arranges our salvation so that everything works out for our good. This is said not so that anyone would give up, but to intensify the work, which, as we know, by the grace of God overcomes everything. Work and search. To the deeds of self-sacrifice, to the works of good deeds and piety, pay special attention to yourself, stay inward and constantly turn your mind to God. Pay attention to yourself and, noticing what exactly brings you into a state of grace, be more diligent; Whatever upsets him, run from it like fire. If you acquire the skill and strengthen yourself in good conduct, then grace will shower you more abundantly, and if it judges, it will allow you to constantly possess what it now gives only in parts. Most of all, grace does not suddenly and completely dawn on the soul because the Lord does not believe in our faithfulness. Let us assure Him of His unchanging faithfulness by constancy in goodness - then He will entrust us with all the power of His grace. What are people who have reached this last degree, I will tell you not in my own words, but in the words of Saint Macarius of Egypt (extracted from Conversations 32, 37). “When the grace of the Spirit overshadows the soul,” he says, “with all its fullness and power and settles in its depths, then this soul becomes one spirit with the Lord and looks with a revealed face at the glory of God. Grace, coming through the cleansing of the inner man and mind, cleanses the soul from all filth and unclean thoughts, desiring that, returning to the state characteristic of its nature, it would see with open and clear eyes the glory of the true light... He who has grace rooted in the soul and dissolved with it, experiences another wealth, another honor and another glory and feeds the soul with incorruptible joy and feels and fully enjoys it through communication with the Spirit. As much as there is a difference between an intelligent shepherd and a flock, so much does such a person differ in meaning, knowledge and reasoning from other people, for he has a different spirit and a different mind, a different meaning and a different wisdom. Blessed indeed and happy in life and supernatural pleasure are those who, through a virtuous life, have received an experienced and tangible knowledge of the heavenly mysteries of the Spirit and have their home in Heaven. Such, having fallen on their faces before the Lord, under the guidance of the Spirit, ascend to Heaven and in the firm faith of their souls enjoy miracles there, they act there, they have a home, as the divine apostle says: “our life is in Heaven,” and also: what the eye has not seen, what the ear has not heard, and what has not entered the heart of man, “God has prepared for those who love Him. God “revealed” it to us “by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:9-10). Here are three states in which the grace of the Holy Spirit appears in us. Now everyone, try to enter into yourself and determine in what state grace is in you, and take a corresponding lesson for yourself from the proposed consideration. Is there grace hidden in you? Give her space to discover her power over you. Does grace work at times? Strive to ensure that it becomes constantly active in you, fulfills all of you and never leaves you. And when you achieve this, then sing glory to God, our Benefactor. Amen. The image and likeness of God in us – in creation and restoration As we now celebrate the Not Made by Hands image of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, let us not forget, brethren, that this holiday was established not only for the sake of the miracle revealed by the Lord in the giving of this image, but also for the sake of the connected with it, extremely necessary for us and highly edifying reminder, namely: we were created in the image of God and likeness, and when we have lost them, we are again recreated into the same image and likeness in the Lord Savior, in which lies the whole essence of salvation. Let's recreate ourselves. But just as we have lost the first-created image, we can also lose the recreated one. And who knows if we have it intact? We must enter into ourselves, examine what is there, compare it with the image by which everything within us should be edified, and determine whether the image and likeness by which we were recreated in the Lord is intact in us. On our own, perhaps, we would not have come to the idea of ​​doing this. And so the Holy Church, having established the holiday of the Image Not Made by Hands, says to each of us, as it were: looking at this Image Not Made by Hands, remember that you have your own image not made by hands. Go inside yourself and see whether it is intact within you and whether it is maintained by you in the form it should be. Do not refuse, brothers, to listen to the teachings of the Church and do this now. And I will help you by explaining what the image and likeness of God is, how they are restored and by what features one can determine whether they are intact in us. The image and likeness of God does not refer to the body, but to the soul. The image of God consists in the nature of the soul, and the likeness lies in the God-like qualities it freely acquires. The fact that our soul is immaterial, simple, spiritual, immortal and rationally free - this refers to the image of God. And when, through the proper use of reason and freedom, she comes to know the truth and begins to sincerely contain it, and decorates her heart with all sorts of virtues, such as meekness, mercy, self-control, peacefulness, patience, etc. - then these qualities will make her like God. So, for example, when the Savior said: “Be merciful, as your Heavenly Father is merciful,” then He showed us the trait of God-likeness, and whoever adopts it for himself will be God-like in this respect. When man came out of the hands of the Creator, then the image of God in him was pure and perfect and his likeness to God was complete, as far as human nature can accommodate this. When man later fell, the image and likeness of God deteriorated, became distorted, and became darkened. Instead of virtues, passions and vices came and began to crowd them out; instead of truth, lies entered the mind, the mind became weak in the knowledge and distinction of truth and good, freedom became bound by bad inclinations and habits; in its very nature, the soul has become coarsened and, as it were, solidified, indulging in sensuality and carnal pleasures. The merciful God did not want to leave man in this bad state, but was pleased to arrange his salvation and restore His image and likeness in him. For this, the Only Begotten Son of God, the radiance of glory and the image of the Father’s hypostasis, in the image of God, “received Himself in the form of a servant” and “was found in the likeness of a man.” Having come to earth, He established a holy Church on it and entrusted to it His Divine word and the holy sacraments. By accepting by faith the word of truth, the contents of the Holy Church, and receiving grace through its holy sacraments, a person is clothed in the image of Christ the Savior, and through this very thing - in the image of God, by the power of which he then achieves likeness. This is how it happens. In holy baptism a person dies to a carnal and sinful life and is reborn by the Holy Spirit to a spiritual and holy life, that is, he receives the power to live holy and spiritually. Through the restoration of this power, the image of God is restored in him. And the likeness of God is reflected later - not suddenly, but gradually - when a person begins to properly exercise the power he received in baptism to live holy and spiritually and in fact begins to live this way, avoiding lies and sin, destroying evil and passion in himself and planting good dispositions. Whoever, through sin, loses the grace of baptism, regains the power of baptism through repentance and, having here again restored the image of God, begins again, through the knowledge of the truth and the labors of good deeds, to imagine in himself the likeness of God. When in this way he fills his mind with the knowledge of all the truth of God, and adorns his soul with all virtue, then he will become like God, or will be clothed, as the Apostle teaches, with truth and the likeness of truth “in the image of Him who created him” (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10). This is how Saint Diadochos speaks about all this (in the Philokalia, §89; in his own words for clarity). What is in us “according to the image”, Divine grace gives “alone” in holy baptism, washing away all our filth and making our nature pure; the same thing that “in the likeness” she then does in us, not alone, but together with our freedom. When, having received the power in baptism, a person, with its help, begins to assimilate all truth and become accustomed to all virtue, then on what is “in the image”, what should be “in the likeness” will begin to be vividly written in him. What happens here is the same thing that painters do. The painter first draws the image of a person with only features, and then paints each part as it is in the person whose image he is drawing. So the grace of the Holy Spirit, first in holy baptism, makes a person the same as he was before the fall - restores in him that which is “in the image”; and then, when she sees that a person diligently desires the beauty of likeness and shows himself ready for every feat for this, then she, highlighting virtue after virtue and raising the spiritual form from beauty to beauty, perfectly outlines “likeness” in it - and then the person becomes perfect, in the image and likeness of God. Let me explain this to you a little from myself. The likeness imprinted by grace on the image embraces our entire inner self—thoughts, dispositions, and feelings—and makes the mind, will, and heart godlike. The mind is godlike when it clearly knows the Creed and holds everything contained in it unfeignedly. The Apostle Paul says about himself and about all the apostles: “we are the mind of Christ, imams” (1 Cor. 2:16). They did not keep this mind of Christ within themselves alone, but betrayed it to the Church and the believers - in the living and written word. The Holy Church collected it all together and outlined it briefly in the Creed. It became that the one who knows and sincerely contains everything that the Creed teaches has the mind of Christ, or the mind is similar to the mind of Christ, God-like. The active power of a person becomes god-like when it is adorned with all the virtues that are indicated by the Lord in the teaching of the beatitudes, namely: humility, contrition, meekness, true love and love of justice, mercy, purity of heart, peacefulness, forgiveness of offenses, patience, etc. That this is so, the Apostle Paul teaches this (Col. 3:9-17), for, having said that we need to put on the new man, renewed in the image of the Creator, he then explains in what image we should put on, saying: “Put on...”. “in the womb of generosity, kindness, humility, meekness and long-suffering,” to forgive if anyone has anything against another, to establish peace within oneself and to do everything with a pure motive, in the name of the Lord Jesus and the glory of God. And this is the same thing that is contained in the doctrine of the beatitudes. The heart becomes godlike when it renounces all earthly attachments and cleaves to spiritual and heavenly things. “On renunciation,” this is what the apostle commands: “We must, he says, live in such a way that those who have wives are as if they did not have them, those who weep as if they were not weeping, and those who rejoice as if they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as if they were not content, and those who demand peace as if they were not demanding (1 Cor. 7:29-31). That is, we need to tune in in such a way that everything that happens in the world is alien to us, passes around us, without disturbing or touching our inner being. And about clinging to spiritual and divine objects, the same apostle says this: “Seek the things on high... philosophize on things above, not on earth. You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:1-3). Now you see what the image of God is and what the likeness is, how the image is restored and how the likeness is restored, and what they consist of when restored. Now take everyone and look at yourself - your soul, its actions and properties - and compare it with the image and likeness that should be imprinted on them. Whatever you have, thank the Lord for it; and what you don’t have, try to acquire it, asking the Lord for help for yourself. If the image of God, restored in holy baptism, is again darkened and damaged by mortal sins, it must be renewed in repentance. If the image is intact, see if there is a complete likeness. Read the Creed and decide whether you know everything that is contained there, and whether you know as much as you should know. If you don’t know everything, find out; If you think wrongly about something, cast out these ungodly thoughts and take the thoughts of God. Take the doctrine of the beatitudes and see if you have all the virtues that are commanded there. What you have, preserve and strengthen them; which ones are not there, take care to acquire them. Take your heart and see where its treasure is, where it lives and where it provides its benefits. If you see that Christ “has gain for him to live, and for him to die” (Phil. 1:21), thank the Lord. And if you see that it is all entangled in earthly attachments, begin to free it from them little by little, hastening, however, to do this so that death does not overtake, for whoever is tied to the earth finds it difficult to die. If we decide to act this way from now on, then we will truly fulfill the lesson from the Feast of the Image of God Not Made by Hands. And if we then, by deed, eliminate all damage to the image and likeness of God in us and restore them within ourselves in all their integrity and purity, then we will fulfill all of God’s will for us, which is our holiness. The Lord, having imprinted His image on the ubrus without hands, may He take our nature, like a ubrus, and by touching His Theanthropic face, may He imprint in it not only the image, but also His likeness, and those who were like Him, after death, we will be honored to enter into the holy place not made by hands, where He entered for us - the forerunner - and with Him, as sons and heirs, we will forever enjoy the good things promised to us. Amen. On the Day of the Image Not Made by Hands Self-crucifixion is required to restore us to a primitive state Yesterday we sang: “Rejoice, O Blessed One”; Now we sing: “We bow to Your Cross, Master.” Yesterday we praised the Most Holy Theotokos for the fact that the Most High descended to us to eat; Now we praise Her for the fact that She is a mysterious paradise, in whom the cross, life-giving tree is planted on the earth. Yesterday the Holy Church wanted to lead us to a feeling of the joy of deliverance; Now she wants to inspire us to lift up the sorrows of crucifixion. What would such a combination mean? What is being instilled in us and what lesson is being given through this? This instills in us that without bearing the cross there are no true joys. If you want to rejoice, bear the cross first. Joy is the goal; the cross is a means. If you want the first, want the last. Although the combination of Christian holiday memories shown is not necessary, but happened only this year, nevertheless, it is not inappropriate to occupy your attention with an explanation of how and why the path to joy lies through the cross. Joy and gladness should belong to us by our nature. God created man in His image and likeness. But just as God is all-blessed, man also had to emerge from the hands of the Creator as the owner of bliss. That's how it was in the beginning. The man was blissful both externally and internally. But then, through the envy of the devil, being deceived, he disobeyed the commandment of God, through sin he upset himself and, instead of joy and joy, he inherited confusion and fear. Then, in accordance with the internal, and at the same time as punishment, God took away the external blessed dwelling from him. And man became burdened with sorrows and sorrows on all sides. Now it is obvious that whoever wants to again prevail in joy and gladness must destroy the damage that came into him through the fall and restore himself to the original order and dispensation. As soon as this is accomplished, joy and cheerfulness will again settle in us, become akin to us, as, for example, breathing is akin to us. What needs to be done for this? You need to crucify yourself - and here's why! Look what happened to us in the fall! The Apostle Paul calls the evil that came to us through the fall the old man or sinful man. Explaining this, Macarius the Great says that through the fall another man ascended into us - and a complete man, with all his members - was grafted onto the man who came out of the hands of the Creator, and drowned or killed him with himself: he surpassed him so that the head rested on the head, hands on hands, legs on legs, every part on itself a similar part; drowned out so that that primitive man became either not visible at all, or barely visible, and only this newcomer became visible and active. That is why a person lost the joy of life, because it was not a real person who began to live, but another, sinful person, who does not tend to rejoice. The primordial man was, as the wise man says, right, that is, he was a believer, God-fearing, trusting, prayerful, merciful, meek, humble, pure, benevolent, temperate, active - in a word, adorned with all god-like perfections. But the newcomer, a sinner, is disgusting to him in everything: he is an unbeliever, does not fear God, does not pray, relies only on himself, is not merciful, angry, furious, proud and vain, lustful, envious, unkind, lazy, devoted to sensual pleasures - in a word, burdened with all vicious feelings and passions. When the latter gained the upper hand over the former, this one began to be suffering, in slavery, under oppression. As a result, not having the freedom to act, she grieves and grieves. For example, if someone has suffered an offense, a right person wants to forgive, a sinful person demands revenge. As both converge in one person, then within us there is a struggle and anxiety, restless, painful. We see that the other rises in happiness and honor - our right person is ready to rejoice, the sinful one raises envy. They ask for alms - our right person is ready to share the latter out of goodwill, the sinful one, out of self-interest and selfishness, forces us to take care of what we have for ourselves... An opportunity presents itself to indulge in sensual pleasures - our right person commands to abandon them in order to keep himself clean, the sinful person is irresistibly drawn there, because he finds pleasure in impurities. So in everything - an alien, sinful person does not give freedom to the right person in us, created in the image and likeness of God, he torments him, keeps him in slavery and bitter captivity. That is why there is no joy in us while we are in slavery to sin. Now it is self-evident that in order to restore the joy of life to ourselves, we must kill this sinful and alien person within ourselves. And according to the apostle, this means putting off the old man with his deeds, crucifying the flesh with passions and lusts, or, what is the same, ascending to the cross. When this sinful man is killed, then the upright man will receive freedom and, having begun to act unhindered, as is natural for him, will have fun and rejoice. The sinful person within us will be killed and crucified, but since he has grown to us and dissolved with our nature, then, killing him on the cross, we cannot help but suffer and get sick ourselves. What happens here is the same thing that happens when doctors perform an operation, cutting out some attached, unnecessary, disease-causing part. The excess, foreign to the composition of the body, harmful, is cut out, but the whole body - including the real one - suffers. So in the crucifixion of the old man, what is harmful, not characteristic of us, what disfigures us, what is sinful, is put to death, but we cannot help but suffer, because it has been grafted onto us and has become, as it were, one with us. That is why this putting off of the old man is called and is self-crucifixion. This action is exactly like tearing off one’s skin. And really, how intense the pain can be sometimes. But this very pain is joyful, and all the more joyful are its fruits! So, brothers, the cross is needed, and we certainly need to climb it. But remember that the stranger is crucified, and we only hurt because we cannot tear him away from us without pain; in fact, we are not crucified, but are freed from bondage, healed, freed from bonds. As if these chains began to be removed from a prisoner, bound all over his body with chains that have grown into the body from long periods of time, then although it would be painful for him, he will willingly and joyfully endure this pain, knowing that through it he will receive the joy of freedom and, having suffered a little, will acquire for himself everlasting joy and joy - just like with us, during the crucifixion of a sinful person, there is pain and restlessness, but we will endure it complacently: a little more - and let us enter into the freedom of the children of God. There is no other way. One of two things: either always suffer in slavery to sin, or, having been a little ill, enter into the joy of freedom from sin. Here's something else you should remember! The very pain of self-crucifixion has a joy, and this is not only because it is expected, but also because in these moments it is felt - both from the action of grace and from the feeling of health that begins to spread throughout our entire spiritual makeup. You just need to decide to self-crucifixion one day and turn this determination towards everything generally sinful that characterizes us, no matter in what form it manifests itself. When such a turning point occurs, or this defeat of a sinful person at the root of his life, then his defeat in parts will not amount to any work, pain, or suffering. The only thing that will happen is that the more someone practices the actions of self-crucifixion, the more and more he himself will be freed from the bonds of sin, the more and more the hidden person of the heart will appear with one, another, third member freed, until finally he appears in all perfection, without filth, or vice, or anything from such, as newly created according to God in the truth and honor of the truth. Knowing this, brethren, let us be inspired to bear the cross, or self-crucifixion, having in mind not so much momentary pain as the joy of salvation. This is the only path to freedom for the children of God, the only gate through which they enter into the joy of the Lord. Who wants joy? Crucify yourself! Then, having put off the old, you will put on everything new and appear perfect in spirit, soul and body, a worthy child of the future restoration of all kinds. Wishing all of you this good, I remind you not to shy away from the internal and external crosses encountered in life, and, looking at their good ending, to be inspired to bear them complacently and patiently. Amen. In the 3rd week of Lent Warfare with passions and spiritual experience Today is the week in which we remember the miraculous healing of the 38-year-old paralytic by the Lord. The Gospel commemorates the miraculous Old Testament font, which was disturbed by the angel of the Lord every summer, and whoever first climbed into it when the water was disturbed was healthy, no matter what illness he was possessed by. There were five porches near the font, in which lay many sick people - blind, lame, dry - waiting for the movement of the water. It is very clear that the memory of Saint Abraham the Martyr is commemorated on this day. His incorruptible relics resting here are our miraculous font. Come whoever wants, and not once a year, but every day and hour, and do not wait for an angel, but stir up its miraculousness yourself with prayerful movements and sighs - and you will undoubtedly recover healthy from the illness that afflicts your soul and even your body, if the providential goodness of God finds you worthy of it. So this is understandable. But it’s not entirely clear why there was a holiday in your monastery on this day, sisters? It is obvious that by this they wanted to more strongly imprint that Gospel event in your thoughts. But why is this impression itself, and why do you, monastics, have it? What thought does this give about you, to yourself and to us, outsiders? Is it that you are a sheep’s font for those who come to you who are sick of various kinds of mental ailments, or is it that you in your cells are like five porches in which the sick lie, seeking and expecting healing movements outside themselves, from outside? It’s not clear that you are a healing font or a porch with the sick? I want to explain this to you because there is a very edifying lesson for you from here. In my opinion, you must be both. In yourself, in your feelings and in your opinion of yourself, you must be the sick, and for others - the healer of mental illnesses. You yourself must feel and consider yourself filled with spiritual ailments, spiritually blind, lame, dry; and for those who come to you with spiritual weaknesses, you must provide all kinds of healing, enlighten those who are blind in mind and self-deluded, correct those who are lame and indecisive, and revive the holy feeling in souls dried up by the vanity and worries of life. Don't think that there are inconsistencies here. Perhaps you will wonder: how is it possible to have ourselves mentally weak, and to provide spiritual healing to others? Where will the weak person get the healing power within himself for others? I will say to this that in external life it is exactly the same thing that happens that the meager does not give contentment and the powerless does not give strong support, but in spiritual life, on the contrary, the more weak someone sees himself, the stronger he becomes, for in weaknesses the power of God is made perfect; and the more humble one is, the more glorious and salutary the deeds he produces, for the one who humbles himself in his feelings about himself is exalted by the deeds God does through him. You, of course, know how spiritual life goes. When a person is devoted to passions, he does not see them in himself and does not share them, because he lives in them and by them. But when the grace of God influences him, then he begins to distinguish between the passionate and the sinful in himself, admits it, repents and sets the intention to abstain from it. The fight begins. At first this struggle is waged with deeds, and when a person weans the habit of bad deeds, the struggle begins with bad thoughts and feelings. And here it goes through many degrees, but the main thing here is what happens: thoughts and feelings are not suddenly freed from passions and sin, but before that they are still in captivity even after the bad deeds have already stopped. Then, although there are no sinful deeds, the soul thinks about sinful things and delights in passionate objects. Those who are zealous in the work of salvation will now notice this. The attention he pays to himself constantly reveals to him the entire web of passionate thoughts swarming inside him. Noticing this discord, he begins to drive away bad thoughts and suppress passionate movements, learns to recognize what passionate thought begins, how it creeps up, how it captivates and seduces the soul, and at the same time learns how to defeat it, drive it away and extinguish it. The struggle continues, passions are increasingly torn out of the heart. It also happens that passions are completely expelled from the heart. They are expelled! Pay attention here, what does this ejection of passions from the heart mean? Passions are erupted, but the struggle does not stop; are torn out of the heart, but do not leave our nature and remain in it. A sign that passion has been torn from the heart is when the heart begins to feel disgust and hatred towards the passion. But when a person achieves this, this does not mean that passionate thoughts no longer come and try to captivate his soul - no, and at the same time they will attack and seduce, although without success, because the heart then strikes them with hatred and disgust from the first time. Passion was torn out of the heart, but remained near it, became outside it, like a seducer. Let us suppose that this is done with one, another, a third passion - and with all that one has. All of them are thrown out of the heart, rejected and hated by it, but they all stand outside it and seduce. How do you think the person in whom this is happening will perceive and feel? Nothing other than unclean, for unclean passions, although he already hates them, he still sees in himself. Here comes vanity, here comes condemnation, here comes laziness, here comes envy, here comes lust. Although he drives them all away and rejects them, he still cannot help but see that they are in him and that, therefore, he cannot help but recognize himself as being powerless by them. Remember the legend about one great ascetic, how, sitting in his cell, he loudly condemned himself for various sins. His disciples from outside heard what he said, for example: you have already scolded; a little later - you have already eaten your fill; then - you have already become a judge and judged everyone, and so on; So he went through all the sins he allegedly committed. These were not sins, but thoughts came to him, and he judged himself unclean from them, an accomplice in them and a sinner. Meanwhile, in the course of life, he and others like him stand at a high level. And it turns out that the more perfect someone is in practice, the more weak he feels in his heart, he feels passionate and condemns himself in passion, when passions have already been rejected and hated. It must even be said that this is why he recognizes himself as passionate, because passions are rejected, because until they are rejected by the heart, a person reluctantly admits that he is guilty of them, and somehow he apologizes for them. But let him feel humiliated, as if he were covered in sins and wounds - that’s what he deserves. We look at what actually exists. After all, he has already overcome all the passions and plucked them from the heart, which means that he has actually learned how what passion and what passionate thought operates in us and how they can be overcome, he has known all the tricks of sin and passions and all the measures against them prescribed by spiritual wisdom, and he knows all this from his experience. But such a person is a treasure of spiritual healing: come to him with whatever mental weakness you want - he will tell you everything, what to do in what case and how to strengthen yourself and overcome yourself. For he has experienced everything and knows experimentally the healing properties of his remedies and their suitability in different cases - “having been tempted, he can also help those tempted,” as the apostle says, and even so that only such a one can be a real doctor of souls. When someone, without being healed himself, wants to heal others, then both the doctor and the healed person fall into destructive delusion and increase their leprosy mutually, and do not heal, just as if a blind man leads a blind man, then both will fall into a pit. Now you see, sisters, how someone who feels weak and passionate can be the most reliable healer of spiritual weaknesses and passions! From here, take a decision - just as you can have yourself sick, and for others represent a healing sheep font. Enter into a ruthless struggle with passions and thoughts - and this way you will achieve both. It is difficult for you to have any sinful deeds, but at the same time you can have sinful thoughts and still be sinners before God. Pay all your attention and all the zeal of asceticism to your thoughts. When, through this internal struggle, you purge passions from your heart, then you will be able to heal others, and thereby fulfill your purpose in the holy Church. Why were monastic monasteries established? Then, to prepare spiritual healers and healers. And you must certainly achieve this - this is what the Church expects from you, this is what all Christians expect from you. If this cannot be achieved without fighting passions, then fight, and fight without laziness. What will we have? In the world, passions rule and consume everyone. Someone comes to the monastery to rest his soul - and here the same passions arise. Where then can the laity go from passions? Take into account what you should be, and be jealous not only of appearing, but also of being what everyone wants you to be. Amen. On the week of the paralytic and in memory of the holy martyr Abraham Monasticism is a passionate life, the path to heart purity In the current Apostle we heard the commandment to cleanse ourselves “from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit” (2 Cor. 7:1). The need for such purification is seen by the holy Apostle Paul in our high purpose - to be in living communion with God, according to which he calls us the churches of the living God, in which He dwells and walks. Since God is pure, those destined for communion with Him must also be pure, for otherwise “what communion has righteousness with lawlessness? or some communication between light and darkness? What kind of agreement does Christ have with Belial” (2 Cor. 6:14–15)? What does it mean to cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit? This means cleansing yourself from mental and physical passions, for they are our uncleanness. We came out clean from the hands of the Creator, and when we sinned, we accepted an admixture of passions that made us unclean. Why does anyone want to ascend again to primitive purity, he must conquer and eradicate passions in himself. It is the duty of all Christians to conquer and eradicate passions. “They who are Christ's are the flesh crucified with passions and lusts” (Gal.5:24), says the apostle. But many, seeing how difficult it is to fight and overcome passions, being in everyday and civil concerns and connections, break these connections, leave family and society and enter the monastery for such a life and such orders that are directly adapted to the eradication of passions. Thus, monasticism is a life that is opposed to passions, passion-destroying, heart-cleansing. I want to remind you of this now, brethren, and not so much in my own words as in the words of our venerable and God-bearing father Pimen, whose memory is now being celebrated and who is praised in songs as the destroyer of passions and the leader in this for the monks. When one enters monasticism, this does not mean that the passions have already been destroyed. No, passions remain, but only a person enters into such orders in which passions have no food and support, which constitutes the adaptability of monasticism to fight passions and overcome them. In monasticism one is more able to overcome passions. Passions are silent when there are no objects to excite them. Moving away from the world, the monk moves away from these objects, and passions, not finding food for themselves, become weaker and weaker until they completely freeze. Hold yourself, monk, so that the eye does not see, the ear does not hear, and other senses do not feel anything bad and unclean - and you will be in a safe haven from the excitement of passions, which, not finding support for themselves, will remain silent. They asked Abba Pimen about unclean thoughts born in the human heart and about vain desires. He answered: “The food will be glorified by the ax without the one cutting it” (Is. 10:15)? Don’t shake hands with them - and they won’t do anything (in “Memorable Tales...”, chapter 15). In the monastery there is no food for the passions, no objects for them, only thoughts about these objects remain. But thoughts alone can inflame passions, replacing their objects. To prevent this from happening, Abba Pimen says: don’t give your thoughts your hand, don’t greet them as you greet friends, giving them a hand, but fight them off, reject them, drive them away. Sit in the monastery and fight your thoughts - and you will get rid of passions. By staying in the monastery, you move away from passionate objects, and by fighting with thoughts, you won’t even have thoughts about them, which is why passions, not finding food for themselves not only from objects that satisfy them, but also from thoughts about them, will freeze - just arm yourself with patience and maintain this order constantly. If a chest with a dress, says Abba Pimen (chapter 20), is left without care, then the dress will decay over time - and thoughts, if you do not actually fulfill them, will disappear over time, or, as it were, decay. Another time they asked him about the same thing, and he answered: if someone puts a serpent and a scorpion in a jug and closes it, then, of course, the reptiles will die over time - so bad thoughts disappear if you do not give them an outcome and languish them with patience (chapter 21). This is why monasticism is a direct path to purity of heart. An upright monk soon achieves dispassion. And that this goal is not achieved by others is because they do not look after their thoughts and either without deeds they become defiled by them alone, if they sit in their cells, or they do not even sit still, but move on from thoughts to passionate deeds. There is such a treasure at hand - purity of heart - but they are deprived of it. This is worthy of crying and lamentation! And it all comes from our corruption and weakening of zeal for salvation. If this jealousy weakens, your hands will give up. Here the enemy will approach you, first with thoughts, and then through them he will bring you to action. Pay attention, brothers, to yourself, so that your zeal does not weaken and your soul is constantly occupied with the one task of cleansing itself from all impurities. A monk must constantly carry in his thoughts the conviction that he is dead or that he carries a dead person within himself. Who is dead, how can he do anything? And who cares about a dead man, does he care about foreign objects? Likewise, a monk will not be carried away or entertained by anything if he confirms himself in these saving thoughts. Abba Pimen, when he was still a student, received the following lesson: go, sit in your cell and believe in your heart that it has already been a year since you were in the grave. And he strictly fulfilled this, so that the thought of death became fused with his soul. Why, if someone came and started talking about things alien to the matter of spiritual life, he did not answer anything, and when they asked: why don’t you answer anything? – he said: what should I do? I am dead, and the dead do not speak. It would be easy for a monk to think like this, for all his clothes signify the coffin and the shrouding of the dead (chapter 3). On the other hand, considering oneself dead develops the spirit of contrition and tenderness - the root and fruit of repentance and tears. To further irritate this spirit of tenderness and crying, it is advised to imagine yourself as a house in which there is a dead person. Just as in such a house everyone is in mourning and they don’t care about anything that is happening outside and around, so a person who imagines that he is carrying a dead person within himself will not care about anything outside. I will quote Pimen’s words again; he saw a woman sitting on the grave and crying bitterly, and said: if all the pleasures of the world appeared here, they would not attract her attention. So a monk should cry. Another time, having also seen a woman at the grave in tears and learned that she was crying because her husband, son and brother had died, he said to his companion: I assure you, if a person does not mortify all the lusts of the flesh and does not cry like that, he cannot be a monk. The whole soul and life of this woman was plunged into sorrow (chapter 72). This is what a monk needs too. Then he will not care about anything, not only about passionate or everyday things, but even about the most necessary needs. Where will there be a place for passions and passionate thoughts then? What especially drives away thoughts and passions in this disposition is the warmth and burning of the spirit. He who cries, more or less, has a burning heart. Burning with the pure flame of contrition and tenderness, it drives away everything unclean. Abba Pimen speaks about it this way: when a pot is heated from below by fire, then neither a fly nor any other reptile can touch it. The same thing happens with a monk. When he is in a hot mood, the enemy cannot touch or even approach him (ch. 111). You see, brethren, what a simple path to the purification of passions is offered to us. Burning of spirit, crying and contrition, struggle with thoughts and withdrawal from passionate objects! It is easier for monks to keep up with this. But the laity should not think that they are allowed to indulge passions and passionate thoughts. No, passions are the seed of Satan in us. To indulge them means to fraternize with Satan. But “what kind of agreement does Christ have with Belial?” No one in the world has yet managed to work with God and mammon together. And do not think about this trick, but rather, in the simplicity of faith, having recognized the impurity of the passions, enter into a struggle with them and defeat them, so that through this you can ascend to purity, and then be worthy of the reward promised to the pure and conquerors of the passions: “blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). “To him who overcomes,” says the Lord in the Apocalypse, “I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, just as I also conquered and sat with My Father on His throne” (Rev. 3:21). Amen. On Thursday of the 11th week after Pentecost, in the Murom Annunciation Monastery The monastery in the city is an open struggle with the passions and lusts of the world in the face of the world I am compelled to say what I can to you, fathers and brethren, so that I may have some fruit in you, as in others. And what will I tell you? Looking at the position of your monastery in the face of the world, I don’t know what to see in the organizers of this monastery - special wisdom or extreme short-sightedness - and in you, entering this monastery - special courage or extreme weakness?! Remember the words of one wise old man about temptations. To whom temptation is close, he says, he is like one standing on the edge of an abyss, and one slight push can throw him into the abyss. And he who is far from temptation is like one who is far from the abyss. The enemy must first attract him to this abyss in order to then push him into it. But while he continues to attract him, the brother will come to his senses, come to his senses and drive away the tempter. By establishing a monastery so close to the world, its founders placed monastics in the position of those who are close to temptation, who stand on the edge of an abyss. The enemy can push any of you into it at any time. But if so, then it means that they established a monastery of monastics for the destruction of monks, for a monk who has fallen into temptation and remains in it is no longer a monk. And indeed, if it were not possible to find any plausible idea for the establishment of a monastery in the face of the world, there would be nothing with which to justify its founders. But here's what comes to mind. Whoever starts a school, for example, wants, of course, that students study there as quickly as possible. Was it not a similar desire that forced you to give such a place to your monastery?! After all, in reality it happens that people learn, for example, to walk by walking; learn to swim by swimming; learn to read by reading. Likewise, monasticism, or the ascetic life, cannot be learned otherwise than by asceticism, entering into asceticism, struggling with passions and lusts. Passions and lusts are silent for the most part when there is no stimulus for them - and when there is excitement, they rebel and through this, by making it a rule for themselves to fight them, they give rise to battle, by entering into which and fighting, they learn to fight, to fight spiritually, to asceticize or monk as they should. This good thought probably lay at the foundation of your monastery. They wanted the world, being before your eyes, to keep you constantly in a state of temptation and through this give you a reason to fight; By introducing you into battle with passions and lusts, he taught you this battle, rather made you experienced fighters and thereby took away the danger from the proximity of temptations. Whether this was so or not, all of you who are monastic here need to keep this in mind. Being so easily tempted by the world, do not succumb to the world, but defeat it and shame its attempts on you with indifference or even aversion to its charms. The proximity of temptation calls and obliges one to courage in the struggle and cannot in any way serve as an excuse for someone who, through self-indulgence, succumbs to the temptations. No matter how strong the temptation, you must defeat it and put it to shame. And if you fall, the power of temptation will not serve as your justification. The character of monasticism is unchanged, no matter what the situation of the monastery - purity and for the sake of it struggle and feat; and when entering the monastery, one must have this in mind, and not relaxation. Whoever comes here in the hope of encountering worldly temptations more often is no longer a monk at the first step, and then - what can I say? If you want to live in a worldly way, do not leave the world; and once you have left the world, do not return to it not only in deed, but also in desire and thoughts. The monastery, standing before the world, does not oblige the world to monk; and the world, standing before the monastery, does not oblige those living in it to obey its demands. Here and here – it’s all about freedom. Understand this, brothers and fathers, and live the time of your life in this way. The monastery in the desert is a treasure hidden in the village. The abode near the world is the light of the world. You are a city built on top of a mountain that cannot be hidden. You are a lamp that should be on the candlestick, so that it may shine on everyone in the church of the world. Understand this word well: hail is on top of the mountain. The mountain is the totality of all Christian virtues, and the city at the top of it is the totality of all monastic deeds. You must already have completed Christian virtues, you must already be perfect in them, this work must be completed in you. Actually yours are exploits. The monk has Christian virtues in common with all laypeople. The difference between them is that a layman is jealous only of succeeding in virtues, while a monk must show himself already perfect in them upon entering the monastery. The work of a monk is directed toward something else—namely, toward the exploits with which he must conquer his nature in order to become the most perfect in spiritual life. These exploits are his hidden inner life, and the general Christian virtues should be obvious to everyone and visible in him to everyone. It is with them, in fact, that he shines for the world; and the laity, looking at him, are taught not about exploits, which are inconceivable for them, but about Christian virtues. Looking at monasticism from this point of view, tell me, what is a monk who is inferior to the laity in many virtues? And even more - what is a monk who is subject to weaknesses that are not often found among the laity? With this question I am creating a reminder to you, so that, having realized the inconsistency of such cases with monasticism, you keep yourself on guard. You are like being surrounded on all sides by enemies, or like a flexible tree exposed to strong winds on all sides. Take all the weapons of God, so that you can stand and stand, namely: fasting, vigils, church services, reading, handicrafts, obedience, questioning experienced people, and so on. To these bodily works, add mental work - attention of the mind and prayer, discernment of thoughts and unceasing walk before God, so that, both internally and externally, protecting yourself, you will remain unshakable in the work you have begun and successfully pursue what you intend, remembering that the Hero of God Himself sees your labors, and being inspired by this. Acting in this spirit, you will resist temptations and appear perfect in virtues. What and may our Lord and Savior grant you, to the glory of His most holy name. Amen. In the Murom Spassky Monastery All weapons for spiritual warfare “Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil: for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, and against the powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:11–12) “Woe to those who live on earth,” the holy seer heard a voice from heaven, “woe, for the devil has come down... having” a great malice... the great serpent, the ancient serpent... Satan, the flatterer of the whole “universe, has been cast out” to the earth, and his angels have been cast out with him (Rev. 12:12,9). An evil tribe has established its dominion here through deceit and flattery and, through hellish machinations, maintains and spreads it. Not a single creature was born that they did not burden and entangle with nets in order to drag him into their abyss. The Prince of Darkness strictly watches over everyone who enters his kingdom, and everyone who does not have his spirit, who does not live according to his laws, who does not recognize his power over himself, is the direct object of his secret malice, his cunning and violence. So, Christians seeking salvation, having left the works of darkness and entered into the light of the life of Christ, do not think of enjoying peace, do not think of being blissful. A great feat lies ahead of you! A whole horde of evil spirits will surround you every minute, will follow you step by step, will interfere in all your activities in order to at least mix their evil into something, to seduce you in some way. But having stepped out of the troubles of a sinful life onto the solid ground of holy truth, firmly establish your feet here! Satan will not grow weary in sending waves of temptation upon you; Strengthening yourself in the Lord, do not give up your place to him! Success in such a difficult task completely depends on heavenly help, but you should not remain inactive where your eternal fate is being decided; and on the other hand, Divine power can in this case act for you only through you. The Apostle Paul, who was plagued by the angel of Satan throughout his entire life, learned from experience how one can resist the devil and even how to defeat him, and in his time he proposed his rules to the Ephesians, and through them to all future ascetics. “Stand,” he says, “gird your loins with truth, and put on the breastplate of righteousness, and put on your shoes in preparation for the gospel of peace, and take up the shield of faith over all, in which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, making supplication with all prayer and supplication at all times in the Spirit” (Eph. 6:14-18). Anyone who needs it has, without a doubt, re-read this passage several times, and delved into the meaning and application of the rules contained in it several times. But it will not be superfluous if, to your own concepts, to your own observations, we add the observations and concepts of the saints who before you, in the same full armor, fought with the devil and defeated him. So, good soldiers of Christ, stand, first, having girded your loins with truth. What kind of belt is this in the soul and what should you wear in it? To understand this more conveniently, let us imagine the state in which the soul finds itself while living in sin. A sinful soul is dust blown by the wind, it is a waterless cloud carried in the air, it is a wandering star (Ps. 1:4; Jude 1:12–13). She is never still, in internal self-reflection; she is all distracted. Her imagination is the path of temptation along which, like shadows, the charms of the world pass, dragging the soul along with them - and the powerless one attaches itself to them, flows after them and becomes defiled by sin in itself. Against such absent-mindedness, those who want not to sin are the first to arm themselves, and especially pay attention to this in order to establish their imagination, strengthen the soul, destroy this mobility and, as it were, its frivolity, come to their senses in order to go from within themselves to God, enter into their inner church, so that here in deep silence they can more easily perform spiritual sacred acts to God. This is her first lesson, the first step towards self-correction. But it is at this first step that Satan primarily tries to catch the still inexperienced soul, and here he especially strives to return it to its former life - namely, to entertain the soul, to disperse its attention, to destroy its vigilance over its desires and thoughts. How cunningly and imperceptibly he acts in this case! During prayer or contemplation of God, while reading the word of God or some other pious activity, images of beautiful objects suddenly appear in the soul from nowhere. What does it mean? Where are they from? From nothing other than the flattery of the devil. In some secret way, Satan touches our soul, through a secret influence it sets in motion the memory - and from its depths, first one or another object appears before the eye of the soul, especially those with which it previously loved to enjoy, to which the heart was previously attached. If the soul pays attention to these objects, if it does not expel them from the moment of their appearance, then there is no doubt that it is defeated. One object will remind her of another, another of a third, and, thus moving from object to object, she will finally enter the full circle of a sinful life, transfer the world with all its delights into her heart and, while engaged in seemingly godly work, will forge evil in herself. It seems to us that daydreaming, giving free rein to the flow of thoughts, is not only not harmful, but also quite pleasant. But, brethren, since such a movement of thoughts is a means of temptation in the hands of Satan, then we must look for the most pernicious effect on the soul in it. Satan does not shoot arrows in vain. Anyone who has stood in the wind for a long time, having entered into a calm, feels that everything in his body seems to be out of place. The same thing happens in the soul. When she, having been rushing around for a long time in a whirlwind of thoughts, finally enters inside herself, she finds here a great revolution: the inner feeling is dulled, the desire to engage in spiritual matters disappears, weakens, if the very determination to eradicate the spirit of the world and live in the spirit of the Gospel is not destroyed - that is, exactly what the Savior says about the seed sown along the way happens in her. Through the imagination, the devil comes into the soul and takes the word from the heart, so that a person, having believed, will not be saved. Do you see how after dreams, after the free flow of thoughts, the soul remains, as it were, stolen? Not only does Satan not rob her, but she also fills her with all kinds of impurity. They notice that after a long time of entertainment the soul finds in itself either vanity, or dislike for any person, or envy, or some other sinful inclination and wonders where all this was brought into it, who sowed these tares of sin when it zealously tried to sow only the wheat of good deeds? The enemy of man did this when the soul's vigilance over itself was lulled by reflection; “all things... is the devil” (Matthew 13:39). Along with other objects, Satan enters the soul, seduces it first to one or another dreamed species and thus sows sin in it. A soul zealous for salvation! By this very zeal make sure to gird up the loins of your thoughts, not to give free rein to your imagination, to stop the movement of your thoughts. From morning to evening, according to the advice of Philotheus of Sinai, firmly keep God in memory, and, constantly offering spiritual prayer to Jesus Christ, courageously, unswervingly stand at the door of the heart, and on this spiritual guard kill all the sinners of the earth (Ps. 100:8), and, strengthened with delight in the remembrance of God, cut off with the help of the Lord the heads of the mighty and the beginnings hostile thoughts (On sobriety, chapter 2. – “Christian Reading”, XXVII, 1827). Secondly, “stand”, soldiers of Christ, “clad in the armor of righteousness.” Warriors usually cover their chests with armor or armor. What is the armor of the warrior of Christ and what is the armor with which he should cover this chest? According to the remark of researchers of human nature, the bodily breast corresponds to the will in the soul - such an ability that, according to its purpose, must choose, desire and do what is in accordance with our nature, with the laws of conscience and with the will of God - otherwise, the breast corresponds to the will that seeks truth. To understand what kind of armor should be for such a chest, let us remember how our will is clothed with truth. We are born with sin and in our lives we multiply only sins; By faith in the merits of Jesus Christ, the sinful oath is removed from us. But the justified man needs strength to walk “in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4); the grace of the Holy Spirit overshadows us and fills our souls with love for good and courage to do it. Thus, our will is not made righteous by itself; all its righteousness is not its own; all the good in it is God’s. The memory of this, the feeling of our insignificance in matters of truth, the conviction that it is not we, but grace, which is with us, that works in all the good that is in us, or, what is the same, “humility”, and this is the armor of truth in which the Apostle commands the warrior of Christ to put on, this is the protection of the will that seeks truth, protecting it from all stumbling blocks. It is difficult to defeat one who is clothed with humility. For whoever through humility has surrendered himself entirely to God, God Himself acts for him in everything. But Satan does not despair of success and constantly approaches the soul with temptations against humility. He knows that it is the same in spiritual life as the heart is in physical life, and therefore he primarily directs his arrows into it. You did some good deed: you hurried to church, prayed diligently in it, gave alms, gave good advice, gave up some pleasure for the benefit of your soul - immediately a feeling of self-satisfaction and thoughts about your dignity arise in your soul. This is a thought sown by Satan, with which he wants to draw your attention to his goodness and perfection. Moreover, sometimes he prompts someone to praise the virtuous; sometimes he reveals to one the secret virtues of another and inspires him to discover them, in order to thus make the praise more seductive, giving it a certain kind of miraculousness; sometimes he himself appears and praises for victory over himself - and all this in order to arouse in the soul a vainglorious thought of his superiority. The thought of vanity, says Saint Nile, is the most complex of all: it embraces almost the entire universe and, like an insidious traitor to a beautiful city, opens the gates to all demons (On vicious thoughts, chapter 15. - “Christian Reading”, XXVII, 1821). Just look with pleasure at your virtues as the fruits of your labors and your strengths, just let your heart attach itself to this thought - and you will actually see with what speed all the evil will rush into your soul. Self-satisfaction is the first fruit of self-indulgence; from complacency will be born condemnation, from condemnation is vanity, from vanity is the desire to appear better, hence hypocrisy, then the demand for attention and respect, then pride, and then, as Ladder says, anger, slander, rage, blasphemy, hatred, envy, bickering, waywardness, disobedience (Ladder, Word 23). That is, what the Savior says about the spirit returning to the former, already marked church with many evil spirits will be fully fulfilled over you. So, brothers, run away from this flatterer, this demon, the conductor of demons. Drive him away with humility, self-abasement, self-condemnation; say to yourself after every good deed: I am a worm, not a man; say to the ascending heart in the words of the Climacus: ascend with those virtues that you did before you were born; and those that you now, by birth, began to have are not yours, but were given to you from God - just like being itself. Whatever virtues you could do without the help of reason are yours alone, for reason itself was given to you from God. The feats that you could accomplish without the help of your body were only achieved through your efforts, for the body itself is not yours, but God’s creation. Say so and with greater zeal and with the strongest ardor flow “to the honor of the highest rank, reaching out to the front, and forgetting the back.” “Stand,” thirdly, soldiers of Christ, “having your feet shod with the firmness of the Gospel of peace!” The path, walking along it in sacred language means life in general, righteous or wicked. To put shoes on your feet means to prepare for the journey of life, that is, to choose a way of life for yourself, to determine the rules for your actions. Therefore, in the words: “Stand with your feet shod in the firmness of the Gospel of peace,” the apostle commands those who decide to live godly to choose a spiritual way of life as it is presented in the Gospel, to accept the rules of the Gospel as their rule for their actions, and not only to choose the Gospel as a guide for life, but also to walk according to the spirit and its requirements, not deviating either on the wrist or on the surface; put your heart into his word, decide not to deviate a single step from it, even if it costs the greatest sacrifices, the greatest sorrows and deprivations, even life itself. With only this determination, when entering the path of Christ’s life, we will not stumble on it; otherwise the enemy will easily tempt us - and our fall is inevitable. It is known that the time of self-correction is the time of eradicating bad habits, killing vicious passions, exterminating sinful inclinations - here you need to constantly be vigilant over yourself; constantly struggle with the sin living inside; extinguish passionate desires, which, sometimes igniting instantly, envelop the body and soul; tear apart a heart filled with addictions. And such an occupation, such a tense state, until the love of goodness has not yet been reborn in the soul, until the heart has yet tasted the sweetness of good deeds, is the most difficult occupation, the most painful state. Satan often instills temptation into the feeling of this heaviness, which is all the stronger because it is hidden behind love and condescension towards us. If anywhere, then most here he represents the most cunning flatterer in himself. You have already worked hard enough, he inspires, you can give yourself some relief, you can allow yourself some pleasures. You see, he stands for us, for our flesh, for our life, and while he tempts, it is as if he does not tempt. But look what a terrible abyss he covered with these flowers. Just agree to his proposal, just let the feeling of heaviness intensify - and Satan will not hesitate to push you into this abyss. The thought of relaxation, at first insignificant, will grow into desire, become stronger and destroy everything good in you. Now you have already begun to look for entertainment, now your feelings are attracting you to similar pleasures: the eye is looking for beautiful things, the ear is looking for sweet sounds, the taste is looking for pleasant food and drink, the tongue is trying to wear out from the soul the spiritual treasure that has been collected through long labor. Having come to your senses, you no longer feel pleasure either in thinking about God, or in prayer, or in reading the word of God. Again you indulge in entertainment, again you seek innocent pleasures, again you apply your heart to the delights of the world in order to reward with them the lost treasure of the soul. And now your soul has already lost its temper, now you are performing ordinary acts of piety hastily and not from the heart, you no longer stand in church and do not want to listen to singing and teachings in it. A day passes, another, a week - and your soul is filled with a whirlwind of the same vanities and anxieties, the same passions and inclinations, the same sins and crimes. You see how imperceptibly the waves of satanic temptations beat the boat of your life away from the quiet refuge of Christ and carry it into the stormy unrest of the worldly sinful life. And all this from one inattentively missed thought about relaxation, from one thought allowed into the heart about the difficulty and severity of self-correction. Take refuge from these waves, drive away this spirit of flattery at its first appearance, cut off this disastrous thought at the very entrance to the soul, not allowing it to reach the heart. The thought of relaxation pleases the lazy heart of flesh - and you will strike it with a knife of the strongest determination; Your soul is yearning for freedom - and you, with a new kindling of jealousy, invest it in the course of spiritual studies you have once chosen. Keep yourself firmly within your limits and never give way to the devil. Be patient with the Lord. May the Holy Spirit cleanse the church of your soul. Then the Father and the Son will come to you - and sweet peace and inexplicable bliss of the soul in God will begin. Fourth. Now, brethren, you have happily passed through several temptations, you have already become accustomed to repelling Satan, you have focused your soul on one thing and are firmly walking the path of virtue with humility, now you are already beginning to feel the joy of life in the spirit of the Gospel. Blessed is your procession. But be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength. New temptations await you, the most amazing ones. The evil one still has kindled arrows, and he is only waiting for an opportunity to hit you with them. As a certain necessity on the path of moral perfection, at times there appears in the soul some kind of extraordinary dryness, sometimes quite long-lasting. This is because the saving grace of the Spirit retreats for a while from the soul or hides its presence from it, and at the same time joy and cheerfulness retreat from it and all the consolations of grace are hidden. All-wise grace, without a doubt, has saving goals for the soul. Just as a mother sometimes deprives a child of her presence in order to let him feel the sweetness of this presence and then to embrace him with great fervor, so grace sometimes retreats from the soul in order to arouse in it the strongest desire for itself and then pour out into the soul thus disposed with great abundance. But while the path of salvation is so wisely arranged, Satan does not hesitate to take advantage of the favorable moment. Like a fierce beast lying in wait for its prey, it seizes the abandoned soul and surrounds it with evil spirits of blasphemy and doubt. And wherever the poor soul turns, everywhere it meets their attacks, everywhere it is subjected to their attacks. Will she read the Gospel, everything in it seems untrue and suspicious to her; If she enters the church, everything here seems to her to be one ghost without substance or reality. The very existence of the Lord Jesus Christ, the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, the entire structure of salvation, even the entire ordinary order of things seems to her to be deception and a lie. And the spirit of blasphemy, what dirty tricks it does for the soul! This, this, the holy Climacus calls out with fervor, the obscene spirit often during the Divine Liturgy itself, and at the most terrible hour of the sacred rite, mentally blasphemes God and the Mysteries being performed, and not only blasphemes God and all Divine things, but also inspires the most shameless and obscene words into our hearts, so that we either abandon prayer or are subjected to despair (Ladder, Homily 24). These are truly ignited arrows! Falling from other temptations, the soul can still rise, but defeated by the spirit of blasphemy and doubt, it perishes irrevocably, because the consequence of the fall in this case is complete despair. Such, says Saint Climacus, not only do not have any hope of salvation, but the poorest are the essence of every atheist and pagan (Ladder, Homily 2). Good soldiers of Christ! Stand firm, be strong in the Lord. Take “the shield of faith, in which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Only the flame of faith can drive away the darkness of blasphemy and doubt - the flame of faith, and not just mental consent to the entire contents of the Church. The last kind of faith is already defeated at the first appearance of doubt. Our thoughts cannot at the same time be in two opposite states, and if there is doubt in them, then there is no longer faith. The holy Apostle Paul prescribes not a mental, cold faith of the mind, but a living, fiery faith of the heart, which would love the truths of the Gospel, become akin to them, value them as the only treasure, value them as much as they value happiness. With such a disposition of the soul, even if the mind is filled with blasphemy and doubt, the heart will still remain faithful to the Gospel and reverent of the statutes of the Church, and not only will the heart itself remain whole and unharmed, but it will also drive out evil spirits from the mind and cleanse it of their obsession. Thus, from heartfelt faith a shield is naturally formed to repel the kindled arrows of blasphemy and doubt. Take therefore this shield of faith, protect yourself with it from the evil of the evil one, place it as a mediastinum between yourself and the dark power, hide behind it - and you will be safe from a desperate fall. Fifth. After defeating the spirits of blasphemy and doubt, Satan is deprived of his last opportunity to act directly on the soul. She is now filled with godlike perfections, the power and spirit of Christ dwell in her, and all the power of the enemy flees far from her. Satan now chooses a different path to temptation. He surrounds the righteous with circumstances in which there is no consolation for him, no joy, in which he is met with displeasure, sorrow and sorrow at every step. They begin to hate him, without knowing why, they begin to vilify him, persecute him, slander him, putting him on trial, without having a sufficient reason for it. The entire kingdom of Satan, the whole world, is arming itself against him: he is beaten, persecuted, deprived of his property, children and everything that consoled his difficult life. Not only that, but Satan sets up the worst tormenting spirits against him, who either frighten him with ghosts, or even torment and torment his very body. And all this sometimes gathers on the head of the righteous in a very short time. Christian ascetics! Walk among all these sorrows like lions, trusting; cover your heads from these blows of disasters with a helmet of hope: “receive the helmet of the hope of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:8) - and all the snares of Satan will pass you by, and all his malice will not touch your heart. Have you seen a stone cliff near the seashore? The waves hit him hard, even cover him, but he stands unshakable, and the waves run back in shame. This is the image of one who trusts! All misfortunes, all troubles, all sorrows do not seem to concern him, as if they are alien to him. Why is this? Because the one who trusts has no heart on earth. He transferred him to Heaven, tied him with strong bonds of love with the blessings of heaven - and all the blows that Satan wants to inflict on this heart do not reach him. So, Christians who endure the Lord, you will not escape the most striking troubles, the most touching for your heart. But be strong in the Lord, who does not allow those who trust in Him to be put to shame. Set your heart on your God. Despise everything earthly, with hope transfer your souls beyond the present, love the eternal, “endless” blessings of the Kingdom of Christ - and you yourself will experience the boldness that the Apostle Paul showed: “Who will separate us from the love of God? whether sorrow, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or trouble, or sword... In all these we overcome for the sake of our beloved” (Rom. 8:35–37); you will experience that extraordinary state in which the apostles were “as if in sorrow, yet always rejoicing; For the poor are poor, but the many become rich; as having nothing, but containing everything” (2 Cor. 6:10). Having equipped the warrior of Christ with weapons to repel evil spirits, the apostle gives him other weapons to defeat them. This is God's word and prayer. Sixth - “and take the sword of the Spirit,” he says, “which is the word of God.” Who doesn’t know how our Hero Jesus Christ Himself defeated the tempter? The word of God. And how did the apostles, holy fathers and generally all the righteous defeat him? The word of God. With the word of God we too can defeat them. On our part, one condition is required: we must contain this verb not only in memory or in the mind, but in the heart, we must become spiritually close to it and love its truths. In this case, no matter from which side Satan approaches us, no matter what thought the evil spirit instills in us, in the heart, structured according to the word of God, its disposition will always be revived, its even impetuous desire, completely opposite to the all-inspiring thought. If a thought of vanity enters the soul, the heart will say: I am a worm, not a man. If doubt comes, he will counter it with his conviction: “if” an apostle, “or an angel from Heaven brings good news” to me “rather... Let him be accursed" (Gal.1:8). Should a righteous man be deprived of all earthly consolations, his heart will console itself with these words: “Through many sorrows it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of God. The passions of this present time are unworthy for the glory that desires to be revealed in us” (Acts 14:22; Rom.8:18). In general, every vicious thought, every temptation to sin will be cut off by the word of God established in the heart. Moreover, the Spirit of God moves in the word of God, powerful and omnipotent. He who heartily receives this word and his own word in some way makes himself partaker of Divine power and strength. That is why the righteous man will say - and it is done, he will command - and the demons will obey him. Here is a reliable source of power and strength to defeat the devil’s hordes. Take, soldiers of Christ, this spiritual sword of the word of God. But the most powerful weapon for victory over Satan is prayer. Prayer is the turning of our thoughts and hearts to God; He condescends to us with His mercy and favor, and a secret connection is established between the soul and God, like a holy stream of light, along which the requests and hopes of the soul ascend to God and grace and mercy descend from God into the soul. And the prince of darkness, who hates light, involuntarily flees from those immersed in prayer. If you, says Saint Climacus, constantly ask the King of Heaven to protect yourself from spiritual enemies, then when they attack you, dare boldly, you will not have any difficulty. For your enemies themselves will soon leave you, because they themselves will not want to be witnesses of this, so that through your prayer, having fought with them, you will receive a crown for yourself: and for this purpose, by your prayer, as if being scorched by some kind of fire, they will retreat away from you (Ladder, Homily 28). If you wish to defeat Satan, pray with every prayer at all times in the Spirit. So, brothers, woe to those who live piously on earth! From the slander of the devil they will inevitably be met with temptations, temptations, sorrows, persecutions and all kinds of troubles. But, militant Christians, be patient with the Lord. Gold cannot but be in the fire in order to be purified; but they do not leave it in the fire forever, because only a certain amount of time is needed to cleanse it. The time for your purification will pass; A pleasant silence will finally settle in your soul. Then the Savior Himself will come to you, will sup with you, and from the bliss of this supper you will forget all your previous sorrows and sorrows. What should we do if we ourselves have made it necessary for ourselves to have this order of our salvation, if it is necessary to go through this fiery furnace of temptations in order to enjoy the longed-for peace in God? You can't fight forever. The time will come when the demons themselves will run away from you. But until this blessed time comes, take strength in the Lord and in the power of His strength: “put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the wiles of the devil.” The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ “will grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Eph. 3:16–17). Amen. On the 27th week of Pentecost How to fulfill the commandment of the apostle: as you worked for sin, so work for righteousness? How merciful and condescending the Lord is to us! How much He has done and is doing for us - and how little He requires! He adorned us with His image; He has put everything under our feet; when we fell, He Himself deigned to come to us and suffer for us and surrounded us with all saving means in His holy Church; guides us in every possible way on the path of righteousness and, keeping us here, promises the eternal Kingdom to the obedient. Is all this not enough? How much does he require from us? No more than how much we ourselves voluntarily give to destroying sin when we are devoted to it. “I say humanly,” teaches the Apostle Paul, “because of the weakness of your flesh, just as you presented your servants to uncleanness and lawlessness for iniquity, so now will you present your slaves to righteousness as holy” (Rom. 6:19), as you heard in the current Apostle. That is, work for the Lord with at least the same zeal as you worked for sin. I don’t think anyone would refuse such a small request. But perhaps it is not clear to everyone what exactly this requirement is. I will briefly explain its contents to you. The Apostle Paul defines it with the words: just as you imagined “your ods are slaves to uncleanness,” so now imagine these ods to be “slaves of righteousness.” Ouds are parts of our mental-physical composition, or the organs of our body and the abilities of the soul. This means that if we list these organs and abilities and show how each of them can work for the Lord in contrast to the work of sin, then it will naturally explain what exactly the Lord requires of us. Our body has the following functions: functions of the sensory organs - vision, hearing, smell, touch, taste; the direction of movement - arms, legs and the whole body, work and rest, sleep and wakefulness; the functions of nutrition, eating and drinking are the organs of speech. The soul has the following abilities: imagination and memory, meaning and reason, wishes and enterprises, sensations and aesthetic pleasures; and above all these are the powers of the spirit turned to God - vision of God, conscience, God's delight. When a person works against sin, he works for him with all these functions and abilities, just as when he turns to God, he can and must work for the truth with all of them. It's natural. Where a person is with his consciousness and heart, there he is with his whole being. In its varied composition, it resembles a sponge and absorbs the moisture in which it immerses itself - either the corrupting poison of sin, or the life-giving elements of God's truth. It's like this. We have sensory organs - eyes, ears, sense of smell, etc. When a person works against sin, then all these organs are directed only to that which bears the mark of sin and feeds it: the eyes look voluptuously, the ears love to hear sweet speeches and songs, the sense of smell is to smell aromas that excite lust. Hence - glazing, thirst for pleasant impressions, skin bliss, and so on. When he turns away from sin and enslaves himself to truth, then the eye abstains from visions, the ear from lustful hearings, and turns to one holy and saving thing - the vision of sacred images and the hearing of sacred chants; and all other feelings are connected, so that from them there will be as little as possible impressions and less entertainment, and so that the soul has more freedom to be alone in itself with the beloved Lord. Thus, the sensory organs are enslaved to the truth. We have functions of movement - arms and legs, the need for work and rest, sleep and wakefulness. When a person works in sin, look at what kind of movements he has?.. He loves festivities, dances and dances, or even worse - he is devoted to theft and robbery, or laziness and drowsiness; For others, the day is turned into night and the night into day. Enslaving ourselves to truth, we undertake to move only along the paths of truth: to set limits to sleep and wakefulness, work and rest; determine places to go and why to go; instead of dancing, love bowing, instead of disorderly festivities - going to churches and dwellings of poverty and suffering; train hands to work and give alms; taking away part of your sleep for prayer, etc. We have a need for nutrition, or consumption of food and drink. He who labors under sin is subjected to overeating, sweet eating, feasting, drunkenness, and the like. Being enslaved to the truth, one must love abstinence in order to eat food and drink in moderation - and according to the rules of the Church. We have an organ of speech. Sinners have sinful words. Hence idle talk, idle talk, gossip, laughter, jokes, witticisms and even blasphemy. But whoever has set it in his heart to please the Lord, faithfully fulfills the commandment: “Do not let corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth” (Eph. 4:29), remembering how much evil comes from the tongue. Thus, member by member, the whole body is enslaved to the truth and becomes a faithful instrument of salvation for those who seek the Lord. The holy fathers rightly say: enslave the body to the spirit and you will see what a friend and co-worker it is to you. But both the functions of the body and the abilities of the soul must be enslaved to truth in order to completely please God. The imagination, which loves to dream and admire evil images, must be bound by sobriety and concentration of attention, girdling, as the Apostle commands, the loins of thoughts. A memory filled with passionate objects must be cleared and filled with holy memories. The mind, self-willed and prone to false assumptions, must be subdued by frank teaching and adorned with the knowledge of the truth, so that it thinks about everything and understands everything, as the Lord commanded. The will, capricious and given over to passions, is to subordinate the yoke of the commandments, so that she desires and undertakes only what is in accordance with the all-holy will of God. The heart, greedy for sensual beauties, is to be distracted from them and to form in it a taste only for the holy and heavenly, in order to thus prepare it for the taste of heavenly blessings. So ability after ability - and the entire soul will submit to the truth. Whoever arranges himself in this way will work for the Lord with both soul and body and will become a faithful fulfiller of the commandment of the Apostle - to enslave all his people to righteousness, as opposed to enslaving them to lawlessness. It is clear to you now what is required of us in the words of the Apostle: “Just as you presented your slaves to uncleanness... so now present your slaves to righteousness” (Rom. 6:19). I don’t consider it necessary to apply any further persuasion after this. The matter is so obvious that it naturally obliges every conscience that sincerely desires to work for the Lord. I’ll just add one thing. Look at the end, where sin leads and where righteousness leads. Or what is the fruit of both. Now the apostle points out that the end of sinful deeds is death, but the fruit of righteousness is life. That is, sin kills, but truth gives life. Have you seen how, when sharp acids are poured onto any metal, these acids little by little begin to corrode and decompose its constituent parts and finally completely eat up the seemingly solid body, so that there is no way to guess what was before. This is exactly the same effect that sin has on our being. Like some poison, entering inside, it decomposes the soul and body and every part of the soul and body, and thereby destroys a person. Just as into a greenhouse full of various plants and flowers, the cold or harmful air introduced kills flower after flower that it touches, so sin destroys ability after ability in the soul and strength after strength in the body. It seems that there is enough incentive to run away from sin. On the contrary, just as spring warmth and moisture revives everything that froze during winter, so everything killed by sin comes to life in the composition of our being, when our spirit turns to God and devotes itself to pleasing God. For then the Sun of Truth shines in the mind, the breath of Divine love warms our soul, the life-giving elements of God’s grace penetrate and refresh all the powers of soul and body. God is the source of life. He who surrenders himself to the Lord is one spirit with the Lord and drinks with full lips the drink of life from this inexhaustible source. This alone is characteristic of true life. Or that's the only way he lives. Others have only a ghost of life, although they reveal a multi-moving and seemingly multi-sided life. God! Send Thy light and Thy truth, so that we can clearly distinguish between the paths of life and death, good and evil, fire and water, and, having gained wisdom for salvation, willingly become enslaved to the truth, freed from sin: let sin not reign in our dead body and so that we do not listen to it in its lusts. Amen. June 19, 1860, 4th week after Pentecost From words to the Tambov and Vladimir flocks, 1859–1866. You might be interested in: