Беседа 28

Hebrews 11:37–38. ...They wandered around in sheepskins and goatskins, enduring shortcomings, sorrows, and bitterness; those whom the whole world was not worthy of wandered through deserts and mountains, through caves and gorges of the earth. 1. And always, but especially when I reflect on the exploits of the saints, the thought comes to me - to condemn my own deeds; We never even in our dreams experienced what these men spent all their time in, not as punishment for sins, but constantly doing good deeds and constantly being exposed to sorrows. Imagine Elijah, about whom we now begin to speak; and here (the apostle) speaks of him in the words: “...they wandered about in sheepskins,” and he ends the examples with them, without leaving, however, others, since for them the same thing was an ordinary thing. Having said about the apostles that they “were stoned, sawn apart, tortured, died by the sword,” he again goes back to Elijah, who suffered like them. Since they did not yet have such an opinion about the apostles, he offers exhortation and consolation as an example of one who was exalted and whom they greatly marveled at. “They wandered,” he says, “in sheepskins and goatskins, enduring shortcomings, sorrows, and bitterness; those whom the whole world was not worthy of." Due to the abundance of sorrows, they had, he says, no clothing to cover themselves, no city, no home, no refuge, just as Christ said about Himself: “The Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). What am I saying: no refuge? Even peace. And in the deserts they did not find rest: the apostle did not say that they were in the deserts, but that they wandered there and were expelled from there, not only from inhabited countries, but also from uninhabited ones. Here he mentions the places where they were, and what happened to them there: “enduring shortcomings,” he says, “sorrows.” You, he says, are being condemned for Christ; they did the same with Elijah; but why was he condemned, persecuted, persecuted and forced to languish with hunger? They also endured the same thing then, as he says in another place, which the brethren decided to send to the suffering disciples: “Then the disciples laid down, each according to their wealth, to send assistance to the brothers living in Judea” (Acts 11:29). “Suffering… suffering,” the same thing happened to them. And the words: “wandered through deserts and mountains, through caves and gorges of the earth,” mean nothing more than the fact that they wandered, like fugitives and migrants, like people guilty of serious crimes and unworthy to look at the sun, and even in the deserts they did not find refuge, but constantly had to run, had to seek shelter, had to bury themselves alive in the ground, constantly be exposed to fear. “And all these, which were testified to faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that without us they would be made perfect” (Heb. 11:39-40). What, he says, is the reward for such hope? What reward? Great, and so great that it cannot even be expressed in words: “Eye has not seen,” he says, “Ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9); But they have not yet received this, they are still waiting, having died in such sorrows. So much time has already passed since they remained the winners, and have not yet received the reward; and you, while still in the struggle, complain? Think about what it means and what Abraham and the Apostle Paul should expect when you achieve perfection in order to then be able to receive a reward. The Savior predicted that he would not give them a reward until we came, just as a child-loving father tells well-behaved children who have done their work that he will not give them anything to eat until their brothers come. Are you complaining that you haven’t received an award yet? What should Abel do, who conquered first of all and remains uncrowned? What about Noah? What about others who lived in those times and are waiting for you and those who will come after you? Видишь, что мы имеем преимущество пред ними? Поэтому хорошо сказал (апостол): «Бог предусмотрел о нас нечто лучшее» . So that it would not seem that they have an advantage over us in that they are the first to be crowned, (God) determined that everyone should be crowned at the same time, and the one who has won in so many years will receive the crown along with you. Видишь ли попечение (о нас Божие)? And he did not say: let them not be crowned without us, but: “so that they do not reach perfection without us”; значит – тогда они и совер­шенными окажутся. Они предупредили нас в подвигах, но не предупредят в получении венцов; and this is not injustice to them, but honor to us, since they too are waiting for their brothers. If we are all one body, then it is more pleasant for this body when it is crowned entirely, and not in parts. The righteous are therefore worthy of admiration because they rejoice in the blessings of their brothers as well as their own. And they themselves desire to be crowned with their other members, because there is great pleasure in general glorification. «Посему и мы, имея вокруг себя такое облако свидетелей» ( Евр.12:1 ). 2. Scripture often borrows consolation in disasters from ordinary phenomena, as, for example, when the prophet says: “He will deliver you from the heat and for refuge and protection from bad weather and rain” (Is. 4:6), and David: “The sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night” (Ps. 121:6). So (and the apostle) here says that just as a cloud with its shadow protects the one who is scorched by the burning rays, so the remembrance of the saints restores and strengthens the soul dejected by disasters. He did not say: hanging over us, but: “there is such a cloud around us,” which means more and shows that, hanging around, (this cloud of witnesses) makes us safer. He calls witnesses not only the New Testament men, but also the Old Testament men, because they also testified to the greatness of God, like, for example, the three youths, the contemporaries of Elijah and all the prophets. «Свергнем с себя всякое бремя» . What kind of “all sorts of things”? That is, sleep, negligence, low thoughts, everything human. “And the sin that bedevils us.” “The besetting one,” he says, i.e. either conveniently mastering us, or conveniently conquered; the latter is better, since we can, if we want, easily overcome sin - “and with patience,” he says, “let us run the race that is set before us.” He did not say: we will fight, or: we will fight, or: we will fight, but what is easiest in the field, that is what he shows. He also did not say: let us strengthen the current, but: let us be patient in the same current, let us not weaken. “Let us run the race that is set before us.” Then he introduces the main consolation that he offers both before and after - Christ: “looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). So Christ himself constantly said to his disciples: “If the master of the house was called Beelzebub, how much more of his household” (Matthew 10:25)? and also: “A student is not higher than a teacher, and a servant is not higher than his master” (Matthew 10:24). “Looking,” he says, that is, in order for us to learn exploits, let us look to Christ. Just as in all arts and exercises we look to teachers and thus imprint the art on our souls, with the help of sight, extracting for ourselves some rules, so it is exactly here. If we want to strive and learn to strive well, then we will look to Christ, the author of faith and the perfecter of Jesus. What does this mean? That is, he introduced faith into us, he He made the beginning, just as Christ said to his disciples: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16); and Paul says: “Then I will know, just as I was known” (1 Cor. 13:12). “Who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb. 12:2), i.e., he could not have suffered if he wanted, because he “committed no sin, and no lie was in His mouth” (Is. 53:9), as he himself says in the Gospel: “the prince of this world comes, and has nothing in Me” (John 14:30). Consequently, he could, if he wanted, not go to the cross: “I lay down My life,” He says, “in order to take it again. No one takes it away from Me, but I myself give it. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again” (John 10:17-18). If He, having no need to be crucified, was crucified for us, then isn’t it all the more just for us to endure everything courageously? “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.” What does it mean: “despising shame”? He chose, he says, a diarrheal death. Let Him die: but why a blasphemous death? For nothing else than to teach us to value human glory at nothing. That is why he chose this (death), without being involved in sin, in order to teach us to face it courageously and to regard it as nothing. Why didn’t he say: about sorrow, but: about shame? Because (Christ) did not bear it with sorrow. Что же наконец? Listen to what he says next: “and he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Do you notice the winning reward? Paul says the same thing in another letter: “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:9-10). This he says (about Christ) according to the flesh. However, even if there were no reward, then this example would be enough to convince us to endure everything; Now we are offered rewards, and not just any, but great and indescribable ones. So, when we endure something like this, let us look to Christ before the apostles. Why? Because His whole life was filled with sorrows: he often heard them calling Him a madman, a deceiver, a sorcerer. Sometimes the Jews said: “This man is not from God” (John 9:16); and sometimes: “deceives the people” (John 7:12); and again: “that deceiver, while still alive, said: After three days I will rise again” (Matthew 27:63); and they accused Him of witchcraft, saying: “He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons” (Matthew 12:24), and that He is raging and has a demon: didn’t we say the truth when we said that He was “possessed by a demon and going mad” (John 10:20)? And He listened to such reviews from them, at a time when he was performing good deeds, performing miracles, and demonstrating the works of God. If He had listened to this without doing anything of the kind, it would not have been surprising; but if He, while teaching the truth, was called a deceiver, - casting out demons, was condemned as having a demon, - destroying everything contrary, was proclaimed a sorcerer - then isn’t this extremely surprising? Indeed, such accusations were continually brought against Him. 3. If you want to know those ridicule and censures that were directed against Him and which especially outrage our souls, then listen to how they laughed, firstly, at His origin: “Isn’t this Jesus,” they said, “isn’t He the son of carpenters?” Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers James and Joses and Simon and Judas” (Matthew 13:55; John 6:42)? And they laughed at His fatherland, saying that He was from Nazareth, and expressing it this way: “Look and you will see that no prophet comes from Galilee” (John 7:52). But he endured all these ridicule. They also said: “Does not the Scripture say that Christ will come from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, from the place where David was” (John 7:42)? Do you want to see the insults that were inflicted on Him at the cross itself? They bowed to Him in mockery, beat and strangled Him and said: “Prophesy to us, O Christ, who struck You” (Matthew 26:68); They brought vinegar and said: “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:40). Even the bishop’s servant hit Him, and (the Lord) said: “If I said bad, show that it is bad; What if it is good that you beat Me” (John 18:23)? Mocking Him, they dressed Him in a robe and spat in His face, and constantly mocked Him, tempting Him. Do you want to see accusations against Him, both secret and open, and from the disciples? “Do you also want to go away” (John 6:67)? - he told them; and: “Isn’t there a demon in You”? - said those who had already believed (John 7:20). Didn’t He, tell me, constantly retire to Galilee and Judea? Was it not from swaddling clothes that he was exposed to many temptations? Was He not a baby when His mother took Him and fled to Egypt? That is why (Paul) says: “Looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Let us look at Him, as well as at the (sufferings) of His disciples, reading and listening to what Paul says: “in great patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distress, under blows, in prisons, in exiles, in labors, in vigils, in fastings, in purity, in prudence” (2 Cor. 6:4-6); and again: “Even to this day we endure hunger and thirst, and nakedness and beatings, and we wander and toil, working with our own hands. They slander us, we bless; they persecute us, we endure; They blaspheme us, we pray” (1 Cor. 4:11-13). Can any of us say that he has suffered even the smallest part of such suffering? We, he says, are like deceivers, like dishonest, like having nothing (2 Cor. 6:10); and again: “Five times the Jews gave me forty stripes minus one; three times I was beaten with sticks, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the depths of the sea; “I have been on journeys many times,” in tribulations, in cramped conditions, in famine (2 Cor. 11:24–26). And that all this pleased God, listen to how he himself says: “Three times I prayed to the Lord to remove him from me. But the Lord said to me: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:8-9). “Therefore,” he says, “I take comfort in weaknesses, in insults, in needs, in persecutions, in oppressions,” in wounds, in prisons, “so that the power of Christ may rest on me” (2 Cor. 12:9-10). And Christ himself, listen to what he says: “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). “Consider,” continues (the apostle), “about Him who endured such reproach against Himself from sinners, so that you do not grow weary and faint in your souls” (Heb. 12:3). He rightly added this, because if the suffering of our neighbors encourages us, then what consolation will not the suffering of the Master give us? What won't they do to us? And notice how, without counting everything, in this addition he designated everything with the word: “dispute” (synod. - “reproach”); reprimands, ridicule, insults, reproaches, desecrations, he called all this “dispute,” and not only this, but also everything that happened throughout the life of His teaching. Let us, beloved, constantly remember this, let us keep this in our thoughts night and day, knowing that this will bring us great benefits, that we will receive great benefit from this. Great, truly great consolation for us is the suffering of Christ and the apostles. Christ considered this path to virtue so beautiful that he himself walked along it without needing it; He recognized sorrow as useful for us, as if it were a source of joy. Listen, in fact, to what Christ himself says: “And whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:38). With this instruction he seems to instill the following: if you are a student, then imitate the teacher - this is characteristic of a student. If he walked along a sorrowful path, and you walk along a joyful one, then you are not walking along the path that he walked, but along a different one. What kind of follower are you when you don't follow? What kind of student are you when you don't imitate your teacher? So Paul says: “We are weak, but you are strong; you are in glory, but we are in dishonor” (1 Cor. 4:10). Is it in accordance with reason, he says, for you to have aspirations that are opposite to us, and together to be your students and us teachers? So, beloved, great good is sorrow; it produces two greatest things, cleanses sins and makes us courageous. 4. But what do you say if she overcomes and destroys? No, it is not grief that does this, but our laziness. How so? If we stay awake, if we pray to God that He will not allow us to “be tempted beyond what we are able” (1 Cor. 10:13), if we are always devoted to Him, then we will stand courageously and endure the struggle. As long as we have Him as our helper, at least as long as temptations attack us stronger than any storms, they will be like hay and leaves for us, easily blown away (by the wind). Listen to Paul, who says: “We overcome all these things through the power of Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37); and also: “I think that the sufferings of this present time are not worth anything in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18); and again: “For our momentary light affliction produces eternal glory in exceeding abundance” (2 Cor. 4:17). Look at what dangers, shipwrecks, constant sorrows and everything like that he calls easy, and imitate this adamant, as if completely unclothed with a body. Are you in poverty? But not like Paul, who was tempted by hunger and thirst and nakedness; and he did not endure it just for one day, but endured it constantly. How is this known? Listen to how he himself says: “Even to this day we suffer hunger and thirst and nakedness” (1 Cor. 4:11). Oh, how much (this man) endured, already famous for his preaching, having already labored for twenty years by the time he wrote this. “I know,” he says, “the man in Christ, who fourteen years ago (whether in the body - I don’t know, or outside the body - I don’t know: God knows) was caught up to the third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2); and in another place: “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem” (Gal. 1:18). And also, listen to how he says: “For it is better for me to die than for anyone to destroy my praise” (1 Cor. 9:15). And not only that, but also, listen to what he says: “we are like the rubbish of the world” (1 Cor. 4:13). What is worse than hunger, cold, intrigues from the brothers, whom, however, he calls false brothers? Was he not called the destroyer of the universe, the seducer, and the deceiver? Didn't they beat him with whips? Let us keep this in mind, beloved, let us think about it, let us remember this, and we will never lose heart, even if we are offended, even if we are robbed, even if we are caused a thousand other disasters. May God grant us prosperity in heaven, and that everything here is tolerable; May God grant us to achieve bliss there, and everything here is not at all important. This is a shadow and a dream; whatever it may be, in comparison with the future and what is expected, there is nothing heavy in it either in quality or in time. What can we compare with the torment there, with the unquenchable fire, with the undying worm? What can be compared here with gnashing of teeth, imprisonment in pitch darkness, rage, sadness, sighing? And in relation to time, what do even tens of thousands of years mean in comparison with boundless and endless centuries? Isn't this a small drop before the boundless abyss? What about the benefits there? They are incomparably superior to those here: “Eye has not seen,” says (the apostle), “Ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man” (1 Cor. 2:9). And they will also continue for endless ages. Therefore, is it really not worth it for them to suffer a thousand times, to be killed, to be burned, to endure thousands of deaths, to endure everything that is terrible both in words and in deeds? After all, if (it may happen that) we live burning in fire, then shouldn’t we endure everything in order to be rewarded with those promised benefits? But why am I telling this in vain to people who do not even want to give up their attachment to money, who consider it to be immortal, and if they give only a little of a lot, then they think that they have already fulfilled everything? Нет, это – не мило­стыня; alms - (alms) to the widow who donated “what she had, all her food” (Mark 12:44). If you don’t want to give as much as this widow, then at least give everything you have in excess; May you have enough of everything, but without excess. But no one gives even too much; but while you have many servants and silk clothes, then all this is unnecessary. There is no need or benefit in that which we can live without; it is superfluous and coming from outside. Let's see, if you like, what we cannot live without. If we have only two servants, we can live. After all, if some live without servants at all, then what excuse can we have for not being content with two? We can have a brick house with three rooms, and that will be enough for us; Tell me, aren’t there people who, with their children and wife, occupy only one room? If you wish, let you have two servants. But isn’t it a shame, they say, for a free woman to walk around with only two servants? No, it’s not a shame to walk free with two servants, but a shame to walk with many. Maybe you laugh listening to this. Believe me, it’s a shame to go with many people. Exactly what kind of sheep sellers, or slave traders, do you consider it something important to walk around accompanied by many servants. This is pride and vanity; and then – prudence and modesty. A free woman needs to be distinguished by not having many people following her: what kind of virtue is it to have many slaves? This is unusual for our soul; and what is unusual for the soul does not make it free. When she is content with little, then she is truly free; and when she needs a lot, then she is a slave and worse than slaves. 5. Tell me: don’t angels flow around the universe alone and do they need someone to follow them? Is that why they, who do not need it, are worse than us, who need it? If it is characteristic of angels not to need accompanying persons, then who is closer to the angelic life - one that needs many servants, or one that needs a few? And is that a shame? It's a shame to do something vicious. Who, tell me, attracts the attention of those in the square more - the one who is accompanied by many, or who is accompanied by a few? And even more so than this one, accompanied by a few - isn’t she the one who goes out alone, without any pomp? Do you see how the first is shameful? Who attracts the attention of those in the square more - the one who wears beautiful clothes, or the one who dresses simply and unrefinedly? Who attracts the attention of those in the square more - the one who rides on mules, with gilded covers, or the one who comes out simply and as it happens, but with decency? Isn’t it true that we don’t pay much attention to the latter, although we see it, but not only many people try to see the former, but they also ask: who is she and where is she from? Не стану говорить, сколько отсюда рождается зависти. Что же, скажи: мне, стыднее – быть, или не быть предметом наблюдения? When is it more embarrassing - when everyone looks at her, or when no one looks, - when they try to find out about her, or when they don’t care at all? Видишь ли, что не из стыда, а из тщеславия мы делаем все это. However, it is impossible to wean you from this, and therefore it will be enough for me to inspire you that simplicity is not shameful. One sin is shameful, which no one considers shameful, but rather considers everything else, except sin, to be so. We should have clothing that suits our needs, and not superfluous; however, so as not to sadden you too much, I only suggest that we should not have gilded clothes or thin coverings. It is not I who say this, these are not my words, but Blessed Paul, who, listen, how he exhorts wives to adorn themselves: “not with braided hair, not with gold, not with pearls, not with costly clothing” (1 Tim. 2:9). Чем же, Павел, научи нас? Perhaps they will say that only gold clothes are precious, but silk ones are not precious; научи же нас, чем именно? “Having,” he says, “we will be content with food and clothing” (1 Tim. 6:8). Clothing should be such that it only covers; для того Бог и дал нам её, чтобы мы прикрывали наготу, а это может делать и всякая недорогая одежда. Maybe now you laugh, wearing silk clothes. Truly, this is worthy of laughter. What did Paul command and what are we doing? I address my words not only to wives, but also to husbands. Everything we have other than this is superfluous. Одни только нищие не имеют лишнего, но и то, может быть, по необходимости, так что, если бы можно было, то и они не отказались бы. Впрочем по наружности ли только, или в действительности, по крайней мере они не имеют лишнего. So we too will wear clothes that satisfy our needs. In fact, what does the abundance of gold serve? It's decent acting on stage; это – одежда их, тех распутных женщин, которые делают всё для того, чтобы выставиться. Let the actress or dancer dress up; she wants to attract everyone to her. But one who has devoted herself to piety should not adorn herself in this way; she has another decoration, much better. And you have your own show; decorate yourself appropriately for this spectacle; put on this outfit. What is your show? Heaven, the face of angels. I’m not talking about only those who dedicated themselves to virginity, but also about the worldly; This spectacle is open to all who believe in Christ. Let us say what can please these spectators, and dress in such a way that they rejoice. Tell me, in fact, if a harlot, leaving gold jewelry and clothes, laughter, humorous and obscene expressions, dressed in simple clothes and adorned herself unrefinedly, if she went out and began to speak pious speeches, talk about chastity and not utter anything indecent, then wouldn’t everyone stand up, wouldn’t the spectacle be disrupted, wouldn’t they throw her out as not knowing how to apply herself to the people and speaking about what is alien to this satanic spectacle? So, if you, dressed in the clothes characteristic of her, enter the heavenly spectacle, the spectators will drive you out. It is not these golden clothes that are needed there, but others. Which ones? Those about whom the prophet speaks: “her clothes are sewn with gold” (Ps. 44:14). It is not the body that needs to be made white and shiny, but the soul that needs to be decorated, because it struggles and struggles. “All the glory of the King’s daughter is within,” says (the prophet). So decorate yourself. Then you will get rid of many other evils, free your husband from worries and yourself from worries; then you will be respected in the eyes of your husband - if you do not need much. 6. Every person is usually proud of those who need him; and when he sees those who have no need for him, then he moderates his pride and speaks to them as to equals. Likewise, if your husband sees that you do not demand anything from him, that you do not value his gifts, then, even if he was extremely arrogant, he will respect you much more than seeing you dressed in gold clothes, and you will no longer be his slave. To whom we need, we submit according to necessity; if we restrain ourselves, then we will not be subject to him, and he will understand that out of the fear of God we show him some obedience, and not for his (gifts). Meanwhile, now he acts as if he has shown us great benefits and, no matter what honor he receives from us, he thinks that not all the honor has been given to him; and then, if he is awarded even a small honor, he will be grateful, will not reproach and will not be forced to indulge in covetousness for you. Что может быть безразсуднее, как собирать золотые украшения для того, чтобы показывать их в банях и на торжищах? Но, впрочем, еще может быть нисколько неудиви­тельно, что (это делается) в банях и на торжищах; and it’s very funny to enter church dressed like that. К чему входит сюда в золотых украшениях та, которая должна здесь выслушать, что нужно украшаться «не золотом, не жемчугом, не многоценною одеждою» ( 1Тим.2:9 )? Why are you, wife, coming here? Не спорить ли с Павлом и доказать, что, хотя бы он тысячу раз говорил это, ты не исправишься? Shouldn't we expose us - teachers and show that we are talking about this in vain? Скажи мне: если какой-нибудь язычник и неверный, услышав приведённое место, где блаженный Павел убеждает жен не украшаться «не золотом, не жемчугом, не многоценною одеждою» , и имея жену верную, увидит, что она много забо­тится об украшении себя и наряжается в золотые одежды, чтобы идти в церковь , то не скажет ли он самому себе, когда она одевается и убирается в своей спальне: Why does my wife stay in the bedroom? Why is he delaying? Why does he wear gold (jewelry)? Where does he want to go? to church? For what? In order to hear: do not adorn yourself with “costly clothing”? Will he laugh after this? Won't he be mocked? Will not our (teaching) be considered a joke and deception? Therefore, I exhort you, let us provide gold (ornaments for worldly) celebrations, spectacles and fashionable shops; образ же Божий должен украшаться не этим; свободная должна украшаться свободою; а свобода чужда гордости и тщеславия. Thus, you will gain fame from people too, if you want to gain it. We are not so surprised at the wife of a rich husband when she is dressed in gold and silk clothes - this is common for everyone - as when she is dressed in simple and unrefined clothes, made of only wool; Everyone will be surprised at this, they will applaud this. In decorating herself with gold and precious clothes, she has many accomplices (who do the same); if she surpasses one, she will be surpassed by the other; if he surpasses everyone, then he will not compare with the queen herself. And then she will surpass everyone, and even the king’s wife herself, because she alone, with great wealth, will choose what is characteristic of the poor. Так, если даже мы домогаемся славы, то здесь больше славы. I say this not only to widows and the rich - here, it seems, widowhood itself forces them to do this - but also to married people. But otherwise, you say, my husband won’t like me? It is not your husband who wants to please you, but many of the poorest wives, or better yet, not to please, but to humiliate and insult them and thereby increase their poverty. And what blasphemies are uttered because of you! Poverty, they say, should not exist; God hates the needy, God does not love the poor. And that you don’t want to please your husband and don’t dress up for him is obvious to everyone from your own actions. As soon as you cross the threshold of the bedroom, you immediately take off everything, clothes, gold (jewelry), and precious stones, and, of course, you don’t wear them at home. If you really want to please your husband, then you can please him with modesty, meekness, and honesty; and believe me, wife, no matter how low and intemperate your husband may be, your modesty, honesty, simplicity, frugality, moderation will hold him much more. You cannot restrain a depraved (husband), even if you come up with thousands of similar (decorations); Those who have had such husbands know this; and no matter how you dress up, this libertine will go to another; but you will not please the chaste and modest with this, but with the completely opposite; This will only offend him, instilling suspicion in him with your attachment to outfits. If your husband, out of modesty and prudently, does not say this, he will nevertheless condemn you secretly, and cannot restrain himself from grief and annoyance. In this way, are you not depriving yourself of all pleasure by inciting hatred against yourself? 7. Perhaps you listen with indignation to what was said, get upset and say: he irritates husbands against their wives even more. No, I say this not in order to irritate your husbands, but wanting you to do this voluntarily for yourself, and not for them - not in order to save them from annoyance, but in order to turn you away from worldly whims. Do you want to appear beautiful? And I desire this, but only with the beauty that God requires, the beauty that the (heavenly) King wants. Who do you want to have as your lover - God or people? If you are beautiful with this beauty, then God “the King will desire your beauty” (Ps. 44:12); and if - without this, then he will turn away from you, and your lovers will be depraved people, because he who loves a married woman is not a kind person. Think the same way about external decorations. That decoration, the decoration of the soul, attracts God; and this (corporal adornment) is for depraved people. Do you see that I am worried about you, I care about you, that you be beautiful, truly beautiful and truly glorious, so that instead of depraved people you have the Lord of all God as your lover? And who is she like who has Him as her lover? She's in the angel choir. If the king’s beloved is considered more blessed than everyone else, then what is awarded to the one whom God loves with great love? If you contrast the whole universe with it, then nothing can compare with its beauty. Let us take care of this beauty, let us adorn ourselves with this adornment, so that we can enter heaven, the spiritual abodes, the imperishable bridal chamber. Physical beauty is damaged by everything, and even if it is well preserved, if neither illness nor worries distort it - which, however, is impossible - and then it does not last even twenty years; and this (spiritual beauty) always blooms, never fades; she is not afraid of any change, neither the onset of old age does not bring wrinkles on her, nor an illness that occurs does not make her fade, nor restless care does not harm, but she is above all this. On the contrary, that (physical beauty) does not have time to appear before it already disappears, and, having appeared, it does not excite surprise in many. Well-behaved people are not surprised at her, but only intemperate people are surprised. Let us take care of this beauty, and not that one; Let us acquire it, so that we may enter into the bridal chamber with burning lamps. This is not only commanded to virgins, but to virgin souls; if this had been commanded simply to virgins, then the other five would not have been rejected. Consequently, this applies to everyone who is virgin in soul, who is alien to the cares of life, and these cares corrupt the souls. Therefore, if we remain pure, we will enter there and be accepted. “For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God; because I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you to Christ as a pure virgin” (2 Cor. 11:2). He did not say this to the virgins, but to the whole community of the Church. An uncorrupted soul is a virgin, even if she has a husband; she is virgin with true, wonderful virginity; bodily virginity itself is a consequence and shadow of this virginity, and it is true virginity. Let us acquire it, and then we will be able to look at the groom with a bright face, enter with burning lamps, if this oil does not become scarce, if we melt the gold (decorations) and extract from them the oil that makes the lamps burning; and this oil is love for mankind. If we give to others from our property, if we make oil from it, then it will help us, and we will not say at that time: “Give us your oil, because our lamps are going out,” we will not need others, we will not be excluded by going to those who sell, and we will not hear, knocking on the door, those terrible and terrible words: “I don’t know you”; but we will be recognized, we will enter together with the bridegroom and, having entered the spiritual bridal chamber, we will enjoy countless blessings (Matthew 25:8, 12). If here the bridegroom’s palace is so brilliant and the wedding chambers so beautiful that none of the spectators can get enough of it, then isn’t it even more so there? Небо есть брач­ный покой, а чертог Жениха лучше неба; that's where we'll go. Если же так прекрасен чертог Жениха, то каков сам Жених? Но что я говорю: сняв золотые (украшения), отдадим их нуждающимся? If it were even necessary to sell ourselves, from being free to become slaves, in order to have the opportunity to be with this Bridegroom, to enjoy His beauty, or just to look at His face, then shouldn’t we have to do all this willingly? In order to see only the earthly king, we often throw away everything we have at hand, and even the most necessary things, for a glance at him; for the King and at the same time the heavenly Bridegroom, in order to not only be worthy to see Him, but also to precede Him with lamps, to be near Him and to remain with Him forever, what should not be done, what should be accomplished, what should be endured? Therefore, I exhort you, let us strive at least somewhat for these blessings, let us love this Bridegroom, let us be virgins of true virginity; а Владыка желает от нас девственности ду­шевной. With her we will enter heaven, not having “spot, or wrinkle, or anything like that” (Eph. 5:27), and we will receive the blessings promised to us, of which may we all be worthy by grace and love for mankind (Our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen). The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: