Instructions of St. our father Anthony the Great about life in Christ

Instructions about life in Christ, extracted from his words in the life of St. Athanasius, from his 20 messages and 20 words 1. Let everyone have such a predominant concern, so that, having begun, we do not weaken or become discouraged in our labors, and do not say: “We have been in labor for a long time; but it is better, as if starting every day, let us increase our zeal. The whole human life is very short in comparison with future centuries, and all of ours is nothing compared to eternal life, so that, while in the world every thing is sold at its value, and everyone exchanges equal for equal, the promise of eternal life is bought for a certain little thing. For it is written: “The days of our years are seventy years, and even if we have strength eighty years, and we multiply their labor and sickness” (Ps. 89:10). So, if we remain in the feat for all eighty, or even a hundred years, then we will not reign for a period equal to a hundred years, but instead of a hundred years, we will reign forever and ever; Moreover, having labored on earth, we have a promise to receive an inheritance not on earth, but in heaven; and again, having laid down the body as perishable, we will perceive it as incorruptible. Let us not lose heart, and let us not think that we have been long (in the feat) or have done something great; “For the passions of this present time are not worthy for the glory that would be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). 2. Also, looking at the world, let us not think that we have renounced something great, for this whole earth is very small compared to the whole heaven. Therefore, if we were lords over the whole earth and renounced the whole earth, then again there would be nothing equivalent to the kingdom of heaven. For just as the one who throws away one drachma of copper in order to acquire a hundred drachmas of gold, so the one who, being the lord of the whole earth, renounces it, leaves not much, but receives a hundred times more. If the whole earth is not equal to heaven, then he who leaves a few tithes seems to leave nothing. At least he left a house and a lot of gold, and then he should not boast or be cowardly. On the other hand, we must think that if we had not left (what we have) for the sake of virtue, in every possible way later, when we die, we would have left it, as we often leave even to those whom we would not want, as Ecclesiastes mentioned this (Eccl. 4:8). Why don’t we leave this for the sake of virtue, in order to inherit the kingdom (heavenly) for that? 3. For the same reason, none of us should harbor the desire to acquire. For what is the benefit of acquiring something that we do not take with us? Why is it better for us to acquire what we can take with us, such as: prudence, justice, chastity, courage, prudence, love, love of poverty, faith in Christ, lack of anger, love of strangers? Having acquired these (virtues), we will find them ahead of us there, preparing a haven for us in the land of the meek. 4. With these thoughts, let everyone convince himself not to be faint-hearted, especially if he considers that he is a servant of the Lord, and is obliged to work for his Master. Just as a slave does not dare to say: since I worked yesterday, I will not work now - and, calculating the elapsed time (of work), he does not stop (he works) in the following days, but every day, as it is written in the Gospel, he shows the same zeal in order to please his master and not get into trouble: so we too will patiently persevere in feat every day, knowing that if we spend one day in negligence, (the Lord) will not forgive us for for the sake of (work) in the past, but he is angry with us for this negligence. So we heard in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 18:26): “When the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits sin and dies, in the crime that he commits, he will die.” So Judas, in one night, destroyed the work of all the time that had passed. 5. So, let us take up our deeds and not lose heart. For in this we have the Lord as a partner, as it is written: “For everyone who chooses what is good, God works it together for good” (Rom. 8:28). For the same purpose, i.e. So that we do not become faint-hearted, it is good to keep in mind the following saying of the Apostle: “I die all the days” (1 Cor. 15:31). For if we begin to live like those who die every day, we will not sin. This saying means this: so that we, waking up every day, think that we will not live until the evening, and again, intending to go to bed, think that we will not wake up; because by nature the limit of our life is unknown, and it is also unknown what measure Providence assigns to it every day. Having settled down in this way, and living like this every day, we will neither sin, nor have lust for anything, nor become inflamed with anger at anyone, nor lay up treasures for ourselves on earth; but, as those who expect death every day, we will be non-covetous and forgive everyone everything; We will not keep the lust of a wife, or any other unclean pleasure, within ourselves for a single moment, but we will immediately turn away from it, as from something passing, always remaining in a (near-death) struggle, as it were, and seeing the day of judgment. For strong fear and apprehension of torment destroys the pleasantness of pleasure and restores a soul inclined to fall. 6. So, having begun (the work of salvation) and having already entered the path of virtue, let us stretch forward as far as possible, so as to achieve (Phil. 3:14), And let no one turn back, like Lot’s wife, especially because the Lord said: “No one lays his hand on his forehead, and in vain turns back, he is led into the kingdom of heaven” (Luke 9:62). To turn back means nothing more than to repent (for leaving the world) and begin again to philosophize in the world. 7. Do not be afraid when you hear about virtue and do not wonder about this name. For this thing is not far from us, and not outside of us, but within us; and it is convenient if we want it. Greeks go to foreign lands and cross the sea to study science; but we do not need to go to foreign lands, the kingdom for the sake of the heavenly, or cross the seas for the sake of virtue: for the Lord prevented this, saying: “the kingdom of heaven is within you” (Luke 17:21). Therefore, for virtue, all that is necessary is that we want it, since it is in us and is formed from us. For since the rational soul is in its natural order, then at the same time there is virtue in us. (The soul) is in its natural order when it remains as it was created: it was created very good and right. Why did Joshua, giving the commandments, say to the people: “correct your hearts towards the Lord God of Israel” (Joshua 24:23); and John: “make righteous paths” (Matthew 3:3). The soul is right when its rationality is in its natural state. When she deviates from inudah and subverts the order required by nature, then this is called evil in the soul. So, this matter (of virtue) is not difficult; for if we remain as we were created, then we are in a virtuous state; and if we plan evil, then we are rightly called evil. If this matter (virtue) had to be borrowed from outside, then of course it would be difficult; but if it is in us, then we will only keep ourselves from evil thoughts, and keep our soul to the Lord, as a pledge received from Him, so that He recognizes it as His creation, seeing that it is the way He created it. 8. Let us fight (with ourselves) so that anger does not tyrannize over us and lust does not rule; for it is written: “The wrath of a man does not bring about the righteousness of God.” And: “lust, when conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it has been committed, gives birth to death” (James 1:20,15). But leading such a life, let us be firmly sober, and, as it is written: “Keep your heart with all care” (Proverbs 4:23). – For we have terrible and all-evil enemies, evil demons. 9. And we are at war with them, as St. said. Apostle: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). There is a great crowd of them in the air around us, and they are not far from us. There is also a great difference between them. But a talk about their nature and differences would be very lengthy, and besides, it is more fitting to talk about this to those who are higher than us than to us. We now have an urgent need to find out their intrigues against us. 10. So, firstly, we know that demons are not created in such a state because of which they are called demons. For God did not create anything evil. They too were created good; but having fallen from heavenly wisdom, and already revolving around the earth, the Greeks were seduced by ghosts, while envying us Christians, they set everything in motion, in the desire to prevent our ascent to heaven, so that we would not ascend to where they fell. Therefore, it is necessary to pray a lot and strive so that, having received from the Spirit the gift of “spiritual discernment” (1 Cor. 12:10), one can find out about them which of them are less evil and which are more, what matter each of them cares about and how each of them can be overthrown and expelled. For they have many wiles and many twists in their malice. - The blessed Apostle and his followers knew this, saying: “For we are not ignorant of his plans” (2 Cor. 2:11). “We must mutually warn each other about what we were tempted by them.” - So I, having partly experienced (their intrigues), am telling you about it as children. 11. As soon as they see every Christian, and even more so a monk, working and being successful, then first of all they attempt and try to put temptations in the way: - their temptations are evil thoughts. – But we should not be afraid of these suggestions; because through prayers, fasting and faith in the Lord, enemies are immediately overthrown. However, even being deposed, they do not calm down, but immediately begin again with cunning and cunning. When they cannot seduce the heart with obviously unclean wishes, they attack again in another way, namely: they arrange various ghosts to frighten; for which they transform into different forms and take on the images of women, animals, reptiles, giants and many warriors. But one should not be afraid of such ghosts; because they are nothing - and they immediately disappear as soon as someone protects himself with faith and the sign of the cross. “However, they are impudent and extremely shameless.” - Why, if they are defeated in this, they attack in another way: - they take on the appearance of soothsayers and predict what will happen a few days later; They also show themselves to be high, so that no one can be deceived by thoughts, even caught by such ghosts. But let us not listen to demons, as they are alien to us; We will not listen to them, even if they encourage us to pray, even if they talk about fasting; Let us look more carefully at the goal of our asceticism, and we will not be deceived by them, who do everything with guile. “We shouldn’t be afraid of them, even if they seemed to be attacking us, even if they threatened us with death; because they are weak and can do nothing more than threaten. 12. All care must be taken more for the soul, and not for the body, and the body should be given a little time when necessary, but the rest should be devoted especially to the soul and seek its benefit, so that it does not get carried away by bodily pleasures, but rather enslaves the body to itself. This means what the Savior said: “Do not worry about your soul, what you eat, nor about your body, what you put on” (Matthew 6:25). - “And you do not seek what you eat or what you drink, and do not be exalted. The pagans of this world are looking for all these: but your Father knows that you demand these. But seek first and foremost “His kingdom, and all these things will be added to you” (Luke 12:29–31). 13. Believe in the Lord and love Him; keep yourself from unclean thoughts and carnal pleasures, and as it is written in parables - “do not be deceived by the filling of your belly” ( Proverbs 24:15 ); avoid vanity, pray unceasingly, sing psalms before sleep and after sleep; Study the commandments given to you in Scripture, keep in your memory the deeds of the saints, so that your soul, remembering the commandments, has the zeal of the saints as a model. Try especially to fulfill the Apostolic instruction: “Let not the sun go down on your anger” (Eph. 4:26), and think that this is said in general in relation to every commandment, so that the sun does not go down not only on anger, but also on our other sins. For it is good and necessary that we should not be condemned, neither by the sun for a daytime transgression, nor by the moon for a nighttime sin, or even for an evil thought. 14. In order to keep yourself from this, it is good to listen and preserve the Apostolic word: “tempt yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5). Therefore, let everyone give themselves an account of their daily and nightly actions. And if he has sinned, let him stop sinning; if he has not sinned, let him not boast about it, but let him remain in goodness and not indulge in negligence, neither condemning his neighbor nor considering himself righteous, “until the Lord comes” (1 Cor. 4:5), testing the secret. – It is often hidden from ourselves what we do. But although we do not know this; but the Lord sees everything. – Therefore, having left the judgment to the Lord, we will be compassionate towards each other, we will begin to “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2), and torment ourselves, and in what we are deficient, we will try to make up for it. 15. To protect ourselves from sin, let us observe the following. Let each of you notice and write down your actions and mental movements, as if with the intention of communicating this to each other; and be sure that, being ashamed of fame, we will certainly stop sinning and even containing anything bad in our thoughts. For who, when he sins, wants to be seen? Or who, having sinned, would not rather lie, just to hide the sin? Just as by watching each other we will not commit fornication, so if we write down our thoughts with the intention of communicating them to each other, we will more easily keep ourselves from unclean thoughts, being ashamed of fame. “So let writing replace the eyes of our companions for us, so that, when we write down, we feel the same shame that we feel when they look at us, and we do not hold anything bad in our thoughts. If we educate ourselves in this way, we will come to the state of enslaving our body, pleasing the Lord and trampling on the machinations of the enemy. 16. I think that the grace of the Spirit of God is more likely to fulfill those who enter into exploits with all their hearts, and from the very beginning determine for themselves to stand and never give way to the enemy, in any battle, until they defeat him. However, the Holy Spirit, who called them, first makes everything convenient for them, in order to thus sweeten their entry into the feat of repentance, and then shows them its path in all truth (difficulty). – Helping them in everything, He imprints on them what kind of labors of repentance there are, and sets limits and an image for them, both in relation to the body and in relation to the soul, until He leads them to the most perfect conversion to God, their Creator. - For this, He constantly excites them to exert themselves both their body and soul, so that both, having been equally sanctified, become equally worthy of the inheritance of eternal life: (to exercise) the body - with constant fasting, labor and frequent vigils, and the soul - with spiritual exercises and diligence in all ministries (and obediences) performed through the body. We must strive for this (not to do anything carelessly, but to do everything with care and fear of God) with every bodily task performed, if we want it to be fruitful. 17. Leading the repentant to the feat, the Spirit of God, who called him to repentance, gives him His consolations and teaches him not to turn back and not to cleave to any of the things of this world. – For this, He opens the eyes of the soul and allows it to see the beauty of purity achieved through the labors of repentance, and through this kindles in it a zeal for the complete purification of itself along with the body, so that both become one in purity. “For this is the purpose of the teaching guidance of the Holy Spirit, to cleanse them completely and raise them to that primitive state in which they were before the fall, destroying in them everything mixed with the envy of the devil, so that nothing of the enemy remains in them. – Then the body will begin to obey in everything the dictates of the mind, which will powerfully determine it in food and drink, and sleep and in every other action, constantly learning from the Holy Spirit, following the example of the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul, “to mortify your body and make it into slavery” (1 Cor. 9:27). 18. It is not unknown that there are three types of carnal movements in the body. - The first is a natural movement, innate to him, which, however, does not produce anything (sinful, burdensome to the conscience) - without the consent of the soul, but only makes it possible to feel that it is in the body. – Another movement in the body occurs from too much nourishment of the body with food and drink, when the heat of the blood born from this raises a war in the body against the soul and inclines it to unclean lusts. - That’s why the Apostle says: “Do not get drunk with wine, there is fornication in it.” Likewise, the Lord commands His disciples in the Gospel: “Take heed, lest your hearts be burdened with gluttony and drunkenness” (Luke 21:34). Those who are jealous of achieving the full measure of holiness and purity, in the monastic rite, especially should always behave in such a way that they can say to the Apostle: “I mortify my body and enslave it” (1 Cor. 9:27). The third movement comes from evil spirits who, out of envy, tempt through this and attempt to weaken those who have sought purity (monks already), or to divert from the path those who want to enter the door of purity (i.e. just to enter monasticism). 19. However, if a person is armed with patience and unswerving fidelity to the commandments that are from God, then the Holy Spirit will teach his mind how to cleanse his soul and body from such movements. If he relaxes with his feelings and allows himself to neglect the commandments and commandments he has heard, then evil spirits will begin to overcome him, sit on the entire composition of the body and begin to defile it with that movement to the point that the tormented soul will not know where to go, not seeing in despair where any help would come from; and only after she, having sobered up, again takes the side of the commandments, and, having accepted their yoke (or realizing the power of the obligation), surrenders herself to the Spirit of God, is she again filled with a saving mood. Then she understands that she must seek peace only in God, and that only in this way can peace be possible for her. 20. It is necessary to carry out the labors of repentance in agreement and equally with both soul and body, striving for perfect purity. And when the mind is worthy of such grace as to enter into the struggle with passions without self-pity and indulgence, then it is inherent in the suggestions, instructions and reinforcements of the Spirit, with the help of which it successfully begins to repel from the soul all unclean attacks emanating from the lusts of the heart. This spirit, combined with the mind (or spirit of a person), for the sake of determination to strictly fulfill the learned commandments, directs it to drive away from the soul all passions, both those mixed with it from the body, as well as its own, which are in it regardless of the body. He teaches him to keep his body in order - everything, from head to toe: his eyes, so that they look with purity; ears, so that they listen in peace (or peaceful) and do not delight in slander, gossip and reproach; - a tongue that speaks only good things, weighing every word, and not allowing anything impure or passionate to interfere with speech; hands, so that they are first set in motion only for lifting in prayers and for deeds of mercy and generosity; the belly, so that it stays within proper limits in the consumption of food and drink, as much as is necessary only to maintain the body, without allowing lust and voluptuousness to carry itself beyond this measure; feet, so that they step right and walk according to the will of God, heading towards serving good deeds. In this way, the body becomes accustomed to every good thing and changes, submitting to the power of the Holy Spirit, so that it finally becomes, to some extent, a participant in those properties of the spiritual body that it has to receive at the resurrection of the righteous. 21. The soul has, as indicated, its own passions, which are: pride, hatred, envy, anger, despondency and others like that. When a soul surrenders itself to God with all its strength, then the All-Bountiful God gives it the spirit of true repentance, and cleanses it from all these passions, teaching it not to follow them, and giving it the strength to overcome them and defeat enemies who do not cease to put obstacles in its way, trying through temptations to kidnap it again for themselves. And if she remains steadfast in her conversion and in good obedience to the Holy Spirit, who teaches her repentance, then the merciful Creator will take pity on her, laboring for her sake, with all the oppression and need raised - in long fasts, frequent vigils, in teachings in the Word of God, in unceasing prayer, in renunciation of all worldly pleasures, in serving everyone from a pure heart, in humility and poverty of spirit - if she remains firm in all this, the All-Bountiful One, looking at her with a merciful eye, will deliver her from all temptations and snatch her from the hands of her enemies with His mercy. 22. God the Father, in His goodness, “did not spare” (Rom.8:32) His only begotten Son, but gave Him up to deliver us from our sins and iniquities. And the Son of God, having humbled Himself for our sake, healed us from our spiritual illnesses and arranged for us salvation from our sins. I ask you, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to know and always keep in your thoughts this great dispensation of God, i.e. that God the Word, for our sake, became like us in everything except sin. It is fitting for those who are gifted with reason to know this rationally, being zealous to become free (from sins) by the very act of doing so, by the power of the Lord’s coming to us. Those who have taken advantage of this dispensation as they should are His servants. But this title does not yet mean perfection. Perfection leads into sonship - and there is sanctification that comes in due time. So, when our Lord Jesus Christ, seeing that His disciples had already approached sonship and knew Him Himself, having been taught by the Holy Spirit, said to them: “I no longer call you servants, but friends and brothers, because I have told you everything that I heard from the Father” (John 15:15). And those who knew what they had become in Christ Jesus raised their voices, saying: “We did not receive the spirit of work through fear, but the Spirit of sonship for whom we cry: Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15). Whoever does not show complete and diligent readiness to rebel (from sin), let him know that the coming of the Lord the Savior will be his condemnation. Why did Simeon sing at the beginning: “This is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign it is reproached” (Luke 2:34). And then the Apostles proclaimed: “We smell the stench of death into death, and we smell the stench of animals into the belly” (2 Cor. 2:16). 23. It is not unknown to you that the enemies of truth are constantly striving to destroy the truth. God visited His creation at all times, from the very beginning of the creation of the world, and He taught those who approached their Creator with all their hearts how to honor Him. But when, due to the passion of the flesh and the malice of the enemies who fight us, the good aspirations of the soul lost their strength, and people could not even comprehend what was characteristic of them by their nature and purpose, and not only to rid themselves of sins in order to elevate themselves to a primitive state: then God showed mercy to them and taught them true reverence for God through the written law. When this did not help, then God, seeing that the wound was expanding and required decisive healing, determined to send His Only Begotten Son, Who is our only Physician. 24. Overcome by love for Jesus Christ, looking at our time, I experience now joy, now lamentation and weeping. Very many in our family have put on the clothing of piety (monastic). But some of them only did it with all their hearts and were considered worthy to receive the deliverance brought by the coming of the Lord Jesus. And these are the essence in which I rejoice. Others, having despised the power (of their vow), act according to the will of the flesh and the inclinations of their hearts, through which the coming of the Lord became a conviction to them. And these are the essence of which I complain. Others, finally, thinking about the long time of the feat, lost heart; why they threw off the clothes of piety and became, as it were, speechless. And these are the ones for whom I weep, since the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ became their condemnation. 25. I pray with all my might to God for you, that He may cast into your hearts the fire that our Lord Jesus Christ came to bring to earth (Luke 12:49), so that you may have the right to rule over your intentions and feelings and distinguish good from evil. 26. At a time when the wind blows smoothly, every sailor can think highly of himself and boast of himself; but only with a sudden change of winds does the art of experienced pilots reveal themselves. 27. He who fears the Lord and keeps His commandments is a servant of God. But this slavery, in which we also find ourselves, is not slavery, but righteousness leading to sonship. Our Lord chose the Apostles and entrusted them with the gospel of the Gospel. The commandments they gave established a beautiful slavery for us, so that we would dominate all passions and perform the beautiful service of virtue. But when we come closer to grace, our Lord Jesus Christ will say to us, as He said to His Apostles: “I no longer call you servants, but My friends and brothers: for everything that I heard from My Father, I told you” (John 15:15). Those who have begun to embrace grace experience the movements of the Holy Spirit and understand their own spiritual dispensation; having understood and known this, they cry out, saying: “We are afraid of the spirit of work, but of the Spirit of procreation, for whom we cry: Abba, Father!” (Rom.8:15). 28. God guides everyone through the actions of His grace. Why, do not be lazy and do not lose heart, calling on God day and night to beg the goodness of God the Father to send you help from above to know how to act. Do not let “your eyes sleep and your eyelids slumber” (Ps. 132:4), being zealous to offer yourself as a pure sacrifice to God in order to see Him: for without purity no one can see God (Heb. 12:14), as the Apostle says. 29. All saints, when they see that we are lazy and negligent, grieve, cry and lament; when they see that we are becoming serviceable and growing in perfection, they rejoice, and in joy and joy many continually pour out prayers for us to the Creator. And the Lord is then comforted by our good deeds, as well as by the testimonies and prayers of the saints, and rewards us with all sorts of gifts. 30. Whoever does not have hatred from the bottom of his heart for that which is characteristic of material and earthly flesh, and for all its movements and actions, and does not lift up his mind to the Father of all, cannot receive salvation. Whoever does this, our Lord will have mercy on his labors and will grant him an invisible and immaterial fire, which will burn away all the passions in him and completely cleanse his mind. Then the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ will abound in him and will abide with him, teaching him to worship the worthy Father. But as long as we enjoy our material flesh, we will still be enemies of God and His Angels and all the saints. I beg you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, do not be careless about your life and your salvation, and do not allow this instant time to rob you of eternity, which has no end, and this fleshly body to deprive you of the kingdom of lights, limitless and ineffable. My soul is truly troubled and my spirit is numb because when we have been given freedom to choose and do the works of the saints, we, intoxicated with passions, like those drunk on wine, do not want to raise our minds to grief and seek the highest glory, we do not want to imitate the deeds of the saints, or follow their footsteps, so that, having become heirs of their deeds, we will receive with them an eternal inheritance. 31. You have been worthy of great blessings, having received the grace that is in you. You must, however, strive earnestly for the name of Him who is the “East from on high” who has “visited” you (Luke 1:78), so that you may become a holy and blameless sacrifice to Him. We know how our nature fell from its height into the depths of humiliation and poverty, and how the merciful God visited it with His laws through the hands of Moses and other prophets; in the last time he did this through his only begotten Son, who is the supreme leader of our high priests, and our true Physician, the only one powerful to heal our illnesses, and who took on our body and gave himself for us and for our sins; By His death we are saved. Delve into and diligently consider the orders of our Creator and His visit to us, according to the outer and inner man, after we, being reasonable, became unreasonable for our inclination to the will of the enemy, the villain, the father of lies. 32. How many myriads of evil demons, and how countless are the types of their wiles! Even after they saw that we, having come to the knowledge of our passions and our shame, are already trying to avoid the evil deeds to which they lead us, and are not inclined to incline our ears to the evil advice that they inspire in us, they did not lag behind, but set to work with desperate effort, knowing that their fate had already been finally decided and that their inheritance is hell, for their extreme malice and aversion (from God). May the Lord open the eyes of your hearts so that you can see how numerous the machinations of demons are and how much evil they cause us every day - and may He grant you a cheerful heart and a spirit of reasoning, so that you can offer yourself to God as a living and immaculate sacrifice, beingware of the envy of demons at all times and their evil advice, their secret machinations and hidden malice, their deceptive lies and blasphemous thoughts, their subtle the suggestions that they put into our hearts every day, the anger and slander that they incite us into, so that we slander each other, only justifying ourselves, while condemning others, so that we slander each other, or in sweet language, hide bitterness in our hearts, so that we condemn the appearance of our neighbor, having a predator within ourselves, so that we argue among ourselves, and go against each other, in the desire to stand on our own and seem honest. Every person who delights in sinful thoughts falls voluntarily when he is glad (sympathizes) with what is put into him from his enemies and when he thinks to justify himself only by visibly committed deeds, being inside the dwelling of an evil spirit that teaches him all kinds of evil. The body of such a person will be filled with shameful shame - for whoever is like that is overcome by demonic passions, which he does not drive away from himself. Demons are not visible bodies; but we become bodies for them when our souls receive dark thoughts from them; for, having accepted these thoughts, we accept the demons themselves, and make them visible in the body. 33. Intelligent and immortal nature is hidden in our corruptible body in order to reveal its actions in it and through it. So, having made this body an altar of incense, bring to it all your thoughts and bad advice, and placing them before the face of the Lord, ascend to him with your heart and mind, begging him that He will send down to you from above His immaterial fire, which would burn everything that is on this altar and cleanse it. And your enemies, the priests of Baal, will fear and perish at your hands, as at the hands of Elijah the prophet (1 Kings 18:25 etc.). Then you will see a man coming from the Divine waters, who will cause spiritual rain to fall on you, that is, the irrigation of the Comforter Spirit. 34. The devil, having fallen from his heavenly rank for pride, continually strives to draw into fall all those who with all their hearts desire to approach the Lord - in the same way in which he himself fell, that is, through pride and love for vain glory. This is how the demons fight us, this and other similar things they think will alienate us from God. Moreover, knowing that he who loves his brother loves God, they put hatred towards each other in our hearts - to the point that one cannot see his brother or say a word to him. Many truly great people have labored in virtue, but through their foolishness they have ruined themselves. It is not surprising for this to happen among you, if, for example, having cooled down to doing, you think that you have virtues in yourself. For now you have fallen into this devilish disease (conceit), thinking that you are close to God and are in the light, while in fact you are in darkness. What prompted our Lord Jesus Christ to lay down His garments, to gird His loins with ribbon, and, pouring water into the laver (John 13:4, etc.), to wash the feet of those who were lower than Him, if not to teach us humility? Yes, He portrayed him to us as an example of what he did then. And precisely, everyone who wants to be accepted into the first rank can achieve this only through humility; for in the beginning what was cast down from heaven was a movement of pride. So, if a person does not have extreme humility, humility with all his heart, all his mind, all his spirit, all his soul and body, then he will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 35. If we wish to sincerely approach our Creator, then we need to strive to free our souls from passions, according to the spiritual law. For from our evil deeds, from the pleasure of passions, from many devilish temptations, our mental strength has weakened, and the good movements of our souls have frozen; we can no longer recognize the beauty (and demands) of our spiritual nature, due to the passions into which we fall; and we have no salvation from anyone except our Lord Jesus Christ, as it is written by the Apostle Paul that “as in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall live” (1 Cor. 15:22). Our Lord Jesus Christ is the life of all rational creatures created in the likeness of His image. 36. We are called by the names of saints and clothed in their clothing, in which we boast before the unbelievers; - We have no zeal to imitate their deeds. I am afraid that what the Apostle said will not come to us: “having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (2 Tim. 3:5). May the Lord give you to understand what the life you have received is, so that by acting in its spirit you become worthy to receive the invisible inheritance; to do, as much as we have the strength, our affairs in accordance with the will of the Lord - that’s what we must! Because this is characteristic of our nature, and besides this, nothing more should be required from our virtue. – He who serves God and seeks Him with all his heart acts in accordance with his nature; and whoever commits any sin is worthy of reproach and punishment, because it is alien to his nature. 37. Ever since my Lord, by His grace, awakened my mind from the sleep of death, I have had excessive crying and inconsolable sighing. I think to myself, what will we give to the Lord for everything that He has done for us? He made His angels serve us, the prophets to prophesy, the Apostles to proclaim the Gospel. But what is greater than all this, He sent His only begotten Son for our salvation. Stir up your hearts to the fear of God. Know that John the Baptist and Forerunner baptized with water in repentance in preparation for the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire, which is the fire of zeal for good deeds. Let us show diligent readiness to purify ourselves in body and spirit and, having accepted the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will be zealous for good deeds in order to offer ourselves as an acceptable sacrifice to Him. The Comforter Spirit, accepted in baptism, gives us power to act holy, to raise us again to the first glorious state and qualify us to receive an everlasting inheritance. Know that those who are baptized into Christ put on Christ, as the Apostle says (Gal. 3:27,28), receiving the grace of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, both in the slave and in the free, in both man and woman, as soon as they receive this grace, these bodily differences immediately cease to have power. And the Holy Spirit, at the same time as it becomes for them the guarantee of the inheritance of the eternal kingdom of heaven, teaches them how to worship the Father in spirit and truth (John 4:23). 38. I prayed for you, that you too might be worthy to receive that great fiery Spirit that I received. If you want to receive Him so that He may abide in you, first bring physical labor and humility of heart, and lifting up your thoughts to heaven, day and night, seek with the rightness of your heart this fiery Spirit - and He will be given to you, in this way Elijah the Tishbite and Elisha with the other prophets received Him. Whoever cultivates himself with this cultivation (demonstrated deeds), will be given this Spirit forever and ever. Continue in prayer with painful searching from all your hearts, and it will be given to you. For that Spirit dwells in right hearts. And he, when accepted, will reveal to you the highest secrets; will drive away the fear of people and animals from you, and you will have heavenly joy day and night; and you will be in this body like those who are already in the kingdom (of heaven). 39. If a person wants to acquire the love of God, then he must have the fear of God; fear gives birth to crying, and crying gives birth to courage. When all this ripens in the soul, it will begin to bear fruit in everything. And God, seeing these beautiful fruits in the soul, attracts it to Himself, like the stench of the chosen incense; rejoices over her with the Angels at all times, filling her with joy, and guards her on all her paths, so that she may safely reach her resting place. Then the devil does not attack her, seeing the Supreme Guardian surrounding her; He is even afraid to even begin to approach it, because of this great power. Acquire this power for yourself, may the demons fear you, may the labors you undertake be made easier, and may the Divine be pleased (sweet) for you. This sweetness of Divine love is far sweeter than the honeycomb. Many of the monks and virgins living in brotherhoods, having not at all tasted this sweetness of Divine love, and having not received Divine power, thought that they already had it; but since they did not make any effort to acquire it, God did not give it to them. Whoever tries to acquire it will surely achieve this by the grace of God; for God has no sight of persons. When a person, desiring to have the light of God and His power within himself, despises the reproaches of this world, as well as its honors, hates everything worldly and the rest of the body, and cleanses his heart from all bad thoughts, constantly brings to God fasting and day-night tears, as well as pure prayers, then God rewards him with that power. Be jealous of such and such a power to acquire, and you will do all your deeds calmly and easily, you will receive great boldness towards God, and He will fulfill all your requests. 40. God listens to those who love Him and seek Him with all their hearts, and condescends to them in all their requests. The petitions of those who do not approach Him with all their hearts, but are divided in heart, and whatever they do, put it on display to receive glory and human praise, does not listen, but is angry with them; because their deeds are for show. And the word of the Psalm is fulfilled over them, which says: “God scatters the bones of men-pleasers” (Ps. 52:6). For this reason, the power of God does not work in them, since they are not strong in heart in all the works they undertake. And they do not know Divine sweetness, its quietness and joy. There are many in our race who have not received that power that brings sweetness to the soul, and fills it day by day with greater and greater joy and joy, and ignites Divine warmth in it. They are deceived by an evil spirit because they perform their deeds for show before people. But you, having brought the fruits of your labors before the face of the Lord, try to move away from the spirit of vanity, and constantly wage war against it, so that the Lord will accept your fruits that you bring before Him and send down to you the power that is given to His chosen ones. Do not cease to resist this evil spirit; for when a person begins good deeds and a wonderful feat, this spirit also runs up to enter into a part with him, or to completely turn him away from such undertakings. He does not tolerate anyone acting righteously, and opposes everyone who wants to be faithful to the Lord. He does not allow many to practice virtue at all, while for others he interferes between their deeds and destroys their fruits, teaching them to perform virtues and perform deeds of mercy, mixing vanity into them. People think about such people that they are enriched with fruits, while they have none at all - but look like a fig tree, which they thought had a lot of sweet fruits on it when they looked at it from afar; When they came closer, they found nothing on it. God withers them because He does not find any good fruit on them, and not only deprives them of the incomparable sweetness of His Divinity. But, having embarked on a feat, try to resist the spirit of vanity - resist it and overcome it. The power of God will come, bring you help and stay with you, and at all times will give you zeal and warmth, which is nothing dearer. If any of you sees that he is not gifted with this warmth, let him try to seek it, and it will come to those who seek it. It is like a fire, which people, when they want to boil a little oil on it, fan it until it flares up, and which, having flared up, takes its natural strength and boils, rising up and burning. In the same way, when you see that your souls are cooling, due to negligence and laziness, hasten to arouse them by shedding tears over them. Without a doubt, that fire will come and unite with your souls, and those who acquire it will be inflamed with good deeds. So David, when he noticed that his soul was heavy and cold, said this: “I remembered the days of old, I learned from all Your works, I learned from Your creation in Your hand. My hands and my soul have lifted up to You, like a dry land to You” (Ps. 142:5,6). You see, David, when his heart became heavy, was extremely concerned about this, until the fire in his heart was kindled again, to the point that he cried out: “ready heart, O God, ready is my heart” (Ps. 107:2). And he was restored again to his rank, through this overnight care and concern. Do the same, so that you may be unanimous in preparing your heart, with the help of Divine light and fire. 41. Pray - may God grant you the grace to see and understand everything clearly, so that you can correctly discern what is good and what is evil. It is written by the Apostle Paul that “those who are perfect eat solid food” (Heb. 5:14). These are those who, through a long and careful feat, have trained their feelings and intentions regarding good and evil, become sons of the kingdom and are assigned to Divine adoption. And God gave them wisdom and judgment in all their affairs, so that neither man nor the devil would deceive them. You should know that the enemy tempts the faithful with the sight of good, and manages to deceive many because they lack judgment and wisdom. Therefore, blessed Paul, when he recognized these riches of understanding, which are determined by the faithful and whose greatness has no limit, wrote to the Ephesians: “May God give you the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the enlightened aim of your heart, so that you may know what is the hope of your calling and some riches of the glory of your inheritance and some riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:17,18). He did this out of his excessive love for them, knowing that if they achieve this, then they will not have any difficulty in anything, and they will not be afraid of any fear, but the joy of the Lord will comfort them day and night and their labors will be sweet to them at all times. Many of the monks and virgins living in the cinemas do not reach this measure. And you, if you want to achieve this measure, which is the height of perfection, retreat from everyone who bears such names, that is, monasticism and virginity, but do not have this clear vision and reasoning; for if you enter into society with them, then they will not allow you to prosper, and will also extinguish your heat, because there is no heat in them, but there is coldness, due to the fact that they walk according to their desires. So, if they come to you and engage in worldly talk with you, according to their desires, do not agree to it. For it is written by the Apostle Paul: “Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophecy” (1 Thess. 5:19,20). Know that the Spirit is not extinguished by anything more than by vain conversations. 42. In every rational creature, whether male or female, there is an organ of love with which they are able to embrace both the Divine and the human. Those of God (spiritual) love the Divine; carnal - love carnal things. Those who love the Divine cleanse their hearts from all impurities and the deeds of this transitory world, hate the world and their own souls, and, bearing the cross, follow the Lord, acting in everything according to His will. Why does God dwell in them and give them sweetness and joy that nourishes their souls, saturates them and grows them. Just as trees cannot grow unless they are watered with natural water, so the soul cannot grow unless it receives heavenly sweetness. Only souls who have received the Spirit and are filled with heavenly sweetness grow. 43. Say that you are sinners, and mourn everything you have done in a state of negligence. For this reason, the good will of the Lord will be with you, and will work in you: for He is good, and forgives the sins of all who turn to Him, no matter who they are, so that He will not remember them anymore. However, He wants those (those who have been pardoned) to remember the forgiveness of their sins that they have committed so far, so that, having forgotten about this, they would not allow something in their behavior that would force them to give an account of those sins that had already been forgiven them - as happened with that slave to whom the master forgave all the debt that he owed to him. For - when, forgetting about this mercy, he acted unjustly with his fellow servant, his master demanded from him the entire debt that was owed to him, which had already been released to him - because he did not take pity on his fellow servant and did not release him a hundred denarii - an insignificant amount compared to the one that was released to him (Matthew 18:23, etc.). Let's look at David the prophet. When, after he sinned with Uriah’s wife, the prophet Nathan rebuked him for this and for what he had done with her husband, he, having heard the reproof, immediately repented and humbled himself. Why did the prophet Nathan say to him: And the Lord has taken away your sin (2 Samuel 12:13). But David, having received remission of his sins, did not forget about them, and betrayed the memory of them to posterity. This was done in memory of all generations, from generation to generation. “I will teach the wicked your way” (Ps. 50:15), he says, so that all sinners will learn from his example, like him, to repent of their sins, and when they are forgiven, not to forget about them, but to always remember. God Himself said something similar through the prophet Isaiah: “I am the one who blots out your sins, and I will not remember them. Remember” (Is. 43:25,26). He also said through the prophet Jeremiah, “The house of Israel must turn to Me,... and I will not set My face against you, for I am merciful, and I will not be angry with you forever. Moreover, consider your iniquity, for you have transgressed against the Lord your God and have made your ways wasteful” (Jer. 3:12,13). Thus, when the Lord forgives us our sins, we must not forgive them to ourselves, but always remember them through renewed repentance for them. 44. Spiritual asceticism is glorious, but it has many opponents. Whoever wants to be perfect in it must not work for anything bad. He who is enslaved to something bad is far from the limit of perfection. 45. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in His incomprehensible humility, covered His Divinity with humanity, so that everyone looked at Him as a man, while He was not only a man, but God made man, as it is written: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt in us” (John 1:14). However, the Lord did not stand outside His Divinity through His incarnation, which He needed to arrange our salvation. 46. ​​Many, out of their stupidity, say: we also saw the Lord Jesus Christ, like the Apostles; while they are in self-delusion and delusion, and do not have eyes to see the Lord, as the Apostles saw Him, the Apostle Paul saw the Lord, as the Apostles saw Him, who were with Him and who believed in Him at the time when He walked the earth, being surrounded by crowds who looked at Him as at a man. When the bleeding woman, seeing Him with the eyes of her heart, believed that He was God, and with faith touched the hem of His robe, she immediately got rid of the disease, He asked: who touched Me, not because he did not know, but because he wanted to reveal her faith. Although the Apostle Peter said: the people oppress You, and You say, who touched Me? But she herself opened up and confessed how she was healed. Then the Lord said to her: “Daughters, your faith is safe: go in peace” (Luke 8:45–48). Pilate, Anna, and Caiaphas saw the Lord, but like the rest of the crowd, who looked at Him without faith, and not as the Apostles looked at Him: why did they not receive any benefit from seeing Him. But the Apostle Paul saw Him with the eyes of his heart and with his strongest faith, just as the bleeding woman saw Him, touched Him with faith and was healed. 47. When the kingdom of sin ceases in a person, then God appears to the soul and cleanses it along with the body. If the kingdom of sin lives in the body, then a person cannot see God, for his soul is in the body and the light, which is the vision of God, has no place in it. David says: “In Your light we will see light” (Ps. 35:10). What kind of light is this in which man sees light? This is the light that our Lord Jesus Christ mentions in the Gospel - that is, so that the whole person would be light, and there would not be a single dark part in him (Luke 11:36). The Lord also said: “no one knows the Father but the Son, and he will be revealed to him if the Son wills” (Matthew 11:27). The Son does not reveal His Father to the sons of darkness, but to those who are in the light and are the sons of light, whose eyes of heart He has enlightened with the knowledge of the commandments. 48. It is written in the Psalm: “I will go to the place of the wondrous settlement, even to the house of God” (Ps. 42:5). This passage means further passage and proves to us the perfect age of the soul; for here she had already approached God, whereas before her path was still very far from God. Let us not be surprised that our path is very distant, because we are still in spiritual childhood. We see that the great prophet Elijah was also told: get up, eat, drink and be strong; for your way is still long (1 Kings 19:7), (and he walked towards the vision of God). David also said about this same longitude: whoever “gives me wings like the depth, I will fly and rest” (Ps. 54:7). Why should this path be taken not with carelessness, relaxation, and laziness, but with attention and zeal? The teacher of the universe, Paul, advises us, “Be careful that you may comprehend,” and moreover he says, “I kill my body and make it my slave” (1 Cor. 9:27). Let us flow while we have time in this body, so that we may achieve perfection, as the saint himself achieved it. Paul, who says: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished my life, I have kept the faith; otherwise I have been kept a crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 4:7,8). 49. Like a body, while the soul is in it, three ages pass through, namely: youth, courage and old age; Likewise, the soul hidden in the body passes through three ages, namely: the beginning of faith, success in it and perfection. In the first, when the soul begins to believe, it is born in Christ, as the Gospel says, St. John the Apostle gave us signs of this new birth, as well as an average state and perfection, when he said: I wrote to you, young men; wrote to you, children; wrote to you, fathers (1 John 2:12–14). Thus he wrote not to his carnal friends, but to believers, depicting three states that those striving for the spiritual realm go through in order to achieve perfection and be rewarded with complete grace. 50. He who loves spiritual life must imitate the purity and self-control of Joseph; must begin to organize himself through contemplation and arm himself against all evil lusts, strong with the support of a cunning enemy, speaking about him in the words of Job: “Behold, his strength is in his loins, and his strength is in the navel of the belly” (Job 40:11). Why does everyone who strives and arms himself against these carnal lusts, which are usually aroused by excess food and drink, must gird his loins with strict abstinence in order to remain pure. It is written that the angel who fought with Jacob squeezed tightly the vein of his lash, causing his flesh to wither and weaken, and he was called Israel, i.e. seeing God (Gen.32:25,32). In the same way, we also need to make our body wither in order to kill and extinguish lust. For the decay of the flesh gives us the opportunity to reach perfection in the virtue of purity. The soul is strong when the body is exhausted. So, let us refine our bodies in order to have the strength to keep ourselves in order; for if we enslave the body and give it into slavery of the soul, then carnal thoughts, the love of which is enmity to God, will be mortified through mortification of the flesh. Then the soul will be enlightened and become a church to God. He who tries to be pure in all his members is a truly spiritual ascetic. And he is the one who has trained all his senses, and does not allow them to rule over him, but restrains them and bends them under the yoke of the Lord with great purity. He does not allow his eyes to see anything bad, or to look lustfully at their wives; does not allow his ears to listen to gossip, or the devil’s advice and thoughts put in by the devil; He puts a seal on his lips and does not allow his tongue to speak empty words; he stretches out his hands to do wonderful deeds of mercy and assistance; his feet are quick to fulfill the words of the Lord: “if anyone understands you in strength in one race, go with him two” (Matthew 5:41); He holds his belly and breasts so that because of them he does not fall and begin to crawl on the ground, like a serpent crawling on his belly and breasts. This, brothers, is the way of life of an ascetic. 51. Anyone who wants to be a truly spiritual ascetic must try to keep himself away from the noisy crowd and not get close to it, in order to be both body, heart, and mind outside the confusion and whirlwind of people; for where there are people, there is confusion. Our Lord showed us an example of distance from people and solitude, when one especially went up the mountain to pray. In the desert He also defeated the devil, who dared to fight with Him. Of course, He was not powerless to defeat him even among the crowds; but He did so to teach us that in solitude and silence we can more easily defeat the enemy and achieve perfection. Also, the Lord did not show His glory to His disciples among people, but He led them to a mountain, and there He showed them His glory. John the Baptist was also in the desert until the day of his appearance to Israel. In peace, it is more convenient for the enemy to push us back with his weapons, both external and internal; there, attracting some people to himself as accomplices and henchmen, obedient to him, through them he wages war against the faithful: some shameless woman becomes a very powerful weapon for him, widely spreading his seductive nets. Ezekiel, when he saw four living creatures that had four faces, and all showed the glory of God, was not in a city or village, but outside - in the field: for God said to him: “Come out into the field and you will see My glory” (Ezekiel 3:22). And in general, such visions and revelations were shown to saints in no other way than in the mountains and deserts. The prophet Jeremiah also, knowing how God pleases solitude, said: “It is good for a man who, in his youth, takes the yoke and sits alone and is silent” (Lam. 3:27,28). Again, he, knowing well how much harm human rumors bring to those who want to please God, could not resist saying: “Who will give me the last place to live in the desert, and I will leave my people and go away from them?” (Jer.9:2). Also, Elijah the prophet was honored to receive food from the Angels; and this was not among a crowd of people, not in a city or village, but in the desert. All this and the like, which happened to the saints, was written to persuade us to imitate those who loved solitude, because it can lead us to the Lord. Why try to establish yourself in it as you should, so that it leads you to the vision of God, which is the most spiritual contemplation. 52. I also want to tell you what the soul is like when the fire of God has moved into it. Like a two-winged bird, a mountain soaring through the heavenly air. Of all creatures, only birds have wings as their peculiarity; the wings of the soul, which obeys God, are the aspiration of the fire of God, with which it can soar the mountain to heaven. If she loses these wings, then the mountain will not be able to rise, as it is not involved in that fire that lifts up the mountain, and will become like a bird, deprived of its wings, which therefore can fly. Moreover, the human soul is similar to a bird, also in the sense that warmth is the reason for the birth of a bird: for if the bird does not heat (incubate) the eggs, then living chicks will not hatch from them, because they cannot be awakened to life otherwise than through warmth. So God, embracing and warming the souls submissive to Him, awakens them to spiritual life. Having thus understood that the soul, clinging to God and submissive to Him, is like a bird whose source of existence is warmth, do not allow yourself to be deprived of the power of this fire. Know that for this fire, given to you by God, many battles are prepared for you from the devil in order to deprive you of it: for he knows well that as long as this fire is in you, he cannot overcome you in any way. 53. Resist the devil and try to recognize his wiles. He usually hides his bitterness under the guise of sweetness, so as not to be revealed, and arranges various illusory things, red in appearance - which, however, in reality are not at all what they are - in order to deceive your hearts with a cunning imitation of the truth, which is worthily attractive: all his art is directed towards this, in order to resist with all his might every soul that works well for God. He puts many and different passions into the soul in order to extinguish the Divine fire in it, in which lies all the power; especially by the peace of the body and what is connected with it. When he finally sees that they are wary of all this and do not accept anything from him, and do not give any hope that they will ever listen to him, he retreats from them with shame. Then the Spirit of God dwells in them. When the Spirit of God dwells in them, He gives them peace, or enjoys peace in all their deeds, and makes it sweet for them to bear the yoke of God, as it is written in the Gospel: “You will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29), although they have taken and bear His yoke on themselves. Then they become tireless, both in the experiments of virtue, and in the performance of obedience and in night vigils; They are not angry at human misdeeds, and are not afraid of anyone, neither man, nor beast, nor spirit: because the joy of the Lord abides with them day and night, enlivens their minds and nourishes them. With this joy the soul grows and becomes fit for anything, or perfect, and with it it ascends to heaven. 54. We see that the child grows, first taking mother’s milk, then some other food, and finally any food that all people usually eat. This is how it becomes strong, matures, and its heart boldly meets enemies if they want to attack it. But if some illness seizes him in childhood, then his nutrition and strengthening will not be successful; it comes out weak and every enemy overcomes it and defeats it. In order for him to become healthy and gain the strength to overcome his enemies, he needs to take advantage of the benefits and care of an experienced doctor. Likewise, the human soul, if there is no God’s joy in it, is weak and suffers many wounds. If she tries to find herself some person, a servant of God, skilled in spiritual healing, and cleaves to him, then he will first heal her of passions, then resurrect her and teach her how, with the help of God, to receive that joy that is her food. Then she will resist her enemies, who are evil spirits, and will overcome them, and trample on their advice, and will still rejoice in the most perfect joy. 55. Beware of the advice of the evil devil, when he comes in the form of a truthful man to deceive you and lead you into deception. Even if he came to you in the form of a bright Angel, do not believe him and do not obey him: for those who are faithful, he usually charms with an attractive appearance of truth. The imperfect do not know these tricks of the devil, and what he constantly imparts to them; those who are perfect know, as the apostle says: “those who are perfect have solid food, those who have senses are trained by long training in the discernment of good and evil” (Heb. 5:14). The enemy cannot deceive these; but he conveniently seduces the faithful, who pay little attention to themselves, with his sweet-looking bait, and he catches them, just as a fisherman catches a fish by covering the tip of his fishing rod with the bait. The fish does not know that the fishing rod is covered with this bait: therefore it swims up, swallows the bait and is immediately captured. If the fish knew that it would be caught by this bait, without any doubt, it would not approach it and would run away from it. In the same way, imperfect believers, as we said, are captured by the enemy, and for reasons that are completely similar, as Solomon says: “The very ways of those who pretend to be the rulers of a man, otherwise they will end up in the depths of hell” (Proverbs 16:25); The prophet Amos also wrote: “What do you see, Amos?” He answered: “vessel” (net, net) “bird catcher” (Proverbs 8:2). The bird, for fear of being caught on the ground, flies through the air and builds itself a nest, for rest and sleep, in the highest places: there it sleeps carefree, knowing that no one can reach or catch it. But it is known how the bird-catcher manages to deceive her: he comes to that place, spreads a net, and sprinkles seeds in sight; With this food he lures the bird from that height, it flies off and is caught. The devil does the same thing, catching imperfect Christians with his tricks and throwing them down from his heights. This is how he acted when he covered himself with the serpent and said to Eve: “You will not die by death... in the same day, your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods” (Gen. 3:4,5). Hearing these words, Eve bowed her heart to him and thought that this was the truth, because she did not judge it properly. But when she tasted it herself and gave it to Adam to taste, then that great misfortune happened to them: they both fell from their height. The devil acts in the same way with imperfect Christians when, not knowing how to distinguish good from bad, they follow their inclinations, being content with their judgment and opinion; when they do not ask their perfect fathers, who know how to correctly distinguish between good and evil, but follow the desires of their hearts, thinking that they themselves have already achieved perfection and have received the blessing of their fathers. Such are like those birds that built their nests high, but flew to the ground, were caught in the net of a bird-catcher and were caught. This kind of thing happens to them because in self-confidence they always act according to the inclination of their hearts and fulfill their desires without listening to their fathers or consulting with them. Therefore, the devil gives them visions and ghosts and fills their hearts with pride; sometimes he gives them dreams at night, which he performs for them during the day, in order to immerse them in greater charm. This is not enough: he sometimes shows them a light at night, so that the place where they are becomes bright; and he does many things of this kind, even like signs. He does all this so that they remain calm regarding him, thinking that he is an Angel, and accept him. As soon as they accept him in this sense, he casts them down from their height, due to the spirit of pride that takes possession of them. He tries to keep them in the conviction that they have become great and glorious in spirit more than many, and have no need to turn to their fathers and listen to them. And they, according to Scripture, are indeed brilliant grapes, but unripe and tart. The instructions of their fathers are difficult for them; because they are sure that they already know everything. 56. Know firmly that you will neither succeed, nor grow and become perfect, nor will you be able to correctly distinguish between good and evil, if you do not obey your fathers. Our fathers themselves did this: they obeyed their fathers and listened to their instructions; from this they succeeded, grew and became teachers themselves, as it is written in the Wisdom of the son of Sirach: “do not deviate from the story of the elders, for they have learned from their fathers: because from them they have learned no understanding, and in time it is necessary to give an answer” (Sir. 8: 11-12). So, you must imitate those who were submissive to their fathers, and obeyed them in everything, and whom the fathers, with the help of God, taught everything that they themselves learned from their fathers, and which they handed over to their obedient sons. So Isaac obeyed Abraham; Jacob - Isaac; Joseph - Jacob; Elisha - Elijah; Paul to Ananias; Timofey - Paul. All these and those like them obeyed their fathers, did their will, and followed their advice; therefore, they came to know the truth, learned the truth, and finally became worthy of the Holy Spirit, and thus became heralds of the truth in everything, as it is written in Ezekiel the prophet: “I have given you a watchman to the house of Israel, so that you may hear the word from My mouth and rebuke them from Me” (Ezek. 3:17). So, if you want to succeed and grow more fully, become unperturbed in your heart and not be ridiculed by the devil in anything, obey your fathers and obey them in everything, and you will not fall forever. 57. I will show you the thing that alone makes a person firm in goodness and keeps him so from beginning to end, namely: love God with all your soul, with all your heart and with all your mind, and work for Him alone. Then God will give you great strength and joy, and all the works of God will become sweet to you, like honey, all bodily labors, mental pursuits and vigils, and in general the yoke of God will be easy and sweet for you. However, out of His love for people, the Lord sometimes sends opposition to them, so that they do not become proud, but remain in asceticism; and instead of courage they experience heaviness and relaxation; instead of joy - sadness; instead of peace and silence - excitement; instead of sweetness - bitterness; many other similar things happen to those who love the Lord. But by fighting this and winning, they become stronger and stronger. When, finally, they completely overcome all this, then the Holy Spirit will begin to be with them in everything, then they will no longer fear anything bad. 58. The Holy Spirit constantly blows a fragrance most pleasant, sweet and indescribable to the human tongue. But who knows this pleasantness of the Spirit and His sweetness, except those who are worthy of having Him dwell in them? The Holy Spirit does not dwell in the souls of those who repent except after much labor. We see a lot of similar things in this world: precious stones, for example, cannot be obtained except with great difficulty. Having sought this Spirit, the saints found Him; and He is the true valuable bead, which is mentioned in the Holy Gospel (Matthew 13:45,46), in the parable of the merchant who was looking for good beads, who, having found one valuable bead, went, sold everything he owned and bought it. He, of course, is also in another parable about a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid and out of joy went and sold everything he had and bought that village (Matthew 13:44). Temptations rise against no one as much as on those who have received the Holy Spirit. And our Lord, when after baptism the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove, He was led by the Spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil, who tested Him with all his temptations, but did not succeed in anything against Him, as it is written about this in the Gospel of Luke: “And having finished all the temptation, the devil departed from Him for a time” (Luke 4:13). The Lord Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. Likewise, everyone who receives the Spirit, who fights and overcomes, is strengthened by the Holy Spirit and gives them the strength to overcome every temptation. 59. Seraphim, whom the prophet Ezekiel saw (Ezekiel 1:4,9), is the image of faithful souls who strive to achieve perfection. He had six wings filled with eyes; He also had four faces, looking in four directions: one face was like the face of a man, the other was like the face of a calf, the third was like the face of a lion, and the fourth was like the face of an eagle. The first face of Seraphim, which is the face of a man, means the faithful, who, living in the world, fulfill the commandments placed on them. If one of them becomes a monk, then he becomes like the face of a calf, because he bears heavy labor in fulfilling the monastic rules and performs more physical feats. Whoever, having perfected the order of community life, goes into solitude and enters into battle with invisible demons, is likened to the face of a lion, the king of wild animals. When he defeats invisible enemies and dominates passions and subjugates them to himself, then he will be delighted with the Holy Spirit and see Divine visions; here he will be like the face of an eagle: his mind will then see everything that can happen to him from six sides, like those 6 wings full of eyes. Thus he will become a complete spiritual Seraphim and inherit eternal bliss. 60. Purity, unceasing and unchanging peace, complete mercy and other wonderful virtues that are crowned with blessing are the essence of God’s commandments. Try to fulfill these commands of the Spirit, by which your souls will be quickened and through which you will receive the Lord into yourself: they are a safe path. Without purity of body and heart, no one can be perfect before God, which is why it is said in St. Gospel: “Blessed are those who are pure in heart, that they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). Perfection is born from purity of heart. In the heart there is natural good and unnatural evil. From evil, spiritual passions are born, such as: condemnation, hatred, conceit and others like that. Good (natural heart) gives rise to the knowledge of God (fear of God) and holiness or purity of the soul from all passions (conscience). If a person decides to correct himself and begins to avoid all evil, arming himself against it with exploits - crying, contrition, sighs, fasting, vigils, poverty and many prayers to God, then the Lord, by His grace, will help him and deliver him from all spiritual passions. Many, having remained in monasticism and virginity for a long time, did not learn this science of purity, because, having despised the instructions of their fathers, they followed the desires of their hearts; for what reason did the evil spirits, the murderers, take over him, striking them with secret arrows night and day and not giving them rest in any place, so that their hearts are occupied either with pride, or vanity, or with wicked envy, or condemnation, or with anger and rage, or with quarrels and many other passions. - Some of these will be with the five foolish virgins because they spend all their time unreasonably - they do not bridle their tongues, do not keep their eyes pure and their bodies from lusts, and their hearts from impurities, and other things worthy of crying, because they are unclean - being content with only linen clothing, which is only an image of virginity: why are they deprived of the heavenly oil for burning their lamps; and the Bridegroom will never open the doors of His palace to them, but will tell them as He told the foolish virgins in the parable; “Amen I say to you: we do not know you” (Matthew 25:12). I am writing this out of desire for your salvation, so that you may become free and faithful - and a pure bride to Christ, Who is the Bridegroom of all souls, as the Apostle Paul says: “I have betrothed you to one husband, a pure virgin, to present to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2). 61. Gold is repeatedly purified by fire, so that through the strongest purification it becomes better. In the same way, our Lord, in His goodness, purifies a person through many temptations, tests him and makes him experienced in fighting the battles of the heart, so that he no longer returns in thoughts or memory to the untruths and humiliations to which people subjected him; but he humbles himself before God and places all his trust in Him, being always ready for every good deed before God, as David the prophet said: “My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I ​​will sing and sing in my glory” (Ps. 107:2). Keep in mind that you will be tested by some brothers through reproach and untruths, or you will be humiliated by your fellow workers. Why, when something like this happens to you, stand firm, do not be afraid, do not be discouraged; but give thanks to the Lord for all this, because without Him nothing like this happens, and He allows it for the reason that it is necessary for the servants of God to experience warfare: for whoever is not tested by the goodness of God through temptations, labors, sorrows and disasters, until he learns to persevere with patience in goodness in all cases, he will not receive honor from Him. 62. Bear patiently the troubles and sorrows that happen to you; and give thanks for them to the Lord with great humility, and taste the joy from your labors, like blessed Susanna, courageous in battle, who overcame the lust of those two lawless elders and suffered many troubles and sorrows from their false slander, but whom God, for her patience and steadfastness, exalted at the end of her feat, and humbled her enemies, like Thekla, even more courageous in spirit, who she was afraid of the wounds inflicted on her by her parents, neither fire, nor the tearing of flesh, nor animals, and to whom God finally gave the joy of her heart and the reward of her labors, when her courageous faith extinguished the flaming fire, stopped the mouths of bloodthirsty lions and put all her enemies to shame; and like Joseph, humble before God and People, who, when his brothers, who persecuted him out of envy and hatred for the preference shown to him by his father, wanted to shed his blood, was preserved from death by Divine help. Overcome by envy, they sold him into slavery, where the wife of his master, whom he served, caused him a lot of trouble and brought him to the point that he was thrown into prison; but God did not leave him. For he was self-controlled, meek, pure and blameless in soul and body, and, by God’s good will toward him, he did not fall under the weight of all those misfortunes, but endured them patiently, placing his trust in the Lord. And God exalted him at last, making him the head of Egypt and all its regions; and his brothers, who hated him, subjected them all under his feet. These mentioned persons and others like them did not receive honor from God at the beginning of their feat and struggle, but after He tested them, cleansed them with disasters and sorrows, and taught them how to persevere during battle. And then, as I saw that they courageously endured troubles and sorrows and placed all their trust in the Lord, He gave them honor with His Divine help, and put their haters to shame and subjugated them. 63. Be patient and do not let your hearts relax during your troubles, but give thanks for them in order to receive reward from the Lord. May you all have peace, truth, love of God and mutual goodwill, and may you have no strife, no slander, no contradictions, no evil envy and no disobedience, no pride, no offense to any of the people, no ridicule, no vanity, no hatred, no mutual unfriendliness. In whatever monastery such actions occur, the wrath of God takes root there. Moreover, know that our life in this world is very short; Therefore, value it and do not wait for it in negligence, so that the hour of migration from this life does not find you, when you are angry with each other, and therefore should be numbered among the murderers, according to the Scripture: “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15). Have mercy on each other, may the Lord have mercy on you. For He Himself inspires this when He says: “Let go, and they will let you go” (Luke 6:37). If any of you suffers slander, let him accept it with joy, and surrender all that is his to the Lord, Who is the righteous Judge and Giver of Retribution... And whoever brings slander against his neighbor, let him hasten to humble himself before the Lord and ask forgiveness from his neighbor, may the Lord have mercy on him. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, as Scripture teaches us (Eph.4:26); but root out from your hearts the evil thoughts that torment you that you have against each other, so that in this way you can suppress every germ of unfriendliness, the root of which is hatred and envy. These two passions are the most evil, hateful to both God and people; and it is incongruous with anything for them to be in any of the believers, or servants of God. Why should none of us boast, out of extreme stupidity, and say: I have gotten the better of my brother, and there will be no mercy for him. Let the one who speaks and thinks this know that he has given up his soul into the hands of death and his legacy will be a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, a never-ending worm and an unquenchable fire. 64. Let us awaken from sleep while we are still in this body, let us sigh for ourselves, and let us mourn ourselves with all our hearts day and night, in order to get rid of that terrible torment, groaning, crying and torment that will have no end; Let us beware of going through the wide gate and the wide path that leads to destruction, although very many follow it, but let us go through the narrow gate and the narrow path that leads to the belly, although very few follow it. Those who go last are true workers who will receive the reward of their labors with joy and inherit the kingdom. Whoever is not yet quite ready to appear there, I beg him not to be ignorant until time has passed, so that at the right time he does not find himself without oil, and in such a way that there will be no one who would want to sell it. For this is what happened to those five foolish virgins who could not find anyone to buy from. Then they cried out crying, saying: “Lord, Lord, open to us. And he answered and said to them: Amen, amen, I say unto you, I know you not” (Matthew 25:11,12). And this happened to them for no other reason than laziness. Then they at least woke up and began to fuss, but it was of no use, because the Master of the house stood up and shut the doors, as it was written. I will give you another example similar to this. When Noah entered the ark, himself with his sons and their wives, and with everything else that was with him, and closed the door of the ark, because of the flood waters sent down on those who did evil, he no longer opened the door of the ark, and did not allow his sons to see this terrible sight, which was a punishment for the wicked; Moreover, these evil ones, after closing the door, could not enter there to be together with the righteous, but they all perished by destruction from the flood waters, for their laziness and disobedience. For Noah, during those hundred years in which he built the ark, constantly called them to a better life, but they did not listen to him and did not obey him, and that is why they died. 65. Keep the brotherhood in one place and organize it in peace, unanimity, humility, fear of God and prayers. Then the good of the house of God will appear in you perfectly, and you will possess it with joy and gladness. May faith, hope, love, humility, fear, reasoning, reverence, peace, and love for brothers adorn you. For whoever receives all these things is the one who has been clothed with the wedding garment and walks in the commandments of the Spirit. Continue in all humility and patience, so that passions may pass from you. 66. Whoever walks according to the will of God, which is sweeter than honey and filled with all joys, will itself help and strengthen him, and will enable his soul to perform wondrous deeds and will prepare before him all the paths dear to the Lord; and then no enemy will be able to resist him, because he walks according to the will of God. But whoever walks in his own will, God will not give him help in anything, but will leave him to the demons, who will hover in his heart day and night, and will not allow him to have any peace in anything, and will make him powerless and weak in all matters, both external and internal, and they will bring upon him many other destructive and harmful things. The devil sometimes instills joy and cheerfulness in them; but there can be no joy in this, but only sadness and sadness. If there is anything similar to joy, then there is no truth in it, but only a ghost, for it is not from God. True joy comes from God and is given only to those who constantly force themselves to reject their own will and fulfill God’s will in everything. The will that acts in the human heart is threefold: the first is from the devil; the second is from a person; the third is from God; God does not favor the first two, but (favors) only the one who is from Him. Consider yourself, and rejecting everything external, love God’s will alone. For it is important for a person to constantly understand the will of God in everything. I assure you that if a person does not abandon all the will of his heart, and does not deny himself in everything, and does not throw away all his wealth and possessions, and does not submit to the Lord through obedience to his spiritual fathers, then he will neither be able to know the will of God nor fulfill it, and will be deprived of the last blessing. 67. The Lord did not tell us that there would be reward here; but that here there will be temptations, hardships, needs and sorrows, and there will be reward. This life is a path of exploits and temptations. 68. If you are patient, obedient and submissive to your fathers, then the Lord will give you a wonderful reward; and this is the work that will be remembered before the face of the Lord. Whoever obeys his fathers obeys the Lord, and whoever obeys the Lord obeys his fathers. 69. First of all, let us believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, let us worship and submit to Him, and do His will at every time and moment. 70. Let us walk in the fear of the Lord, as we are commanded to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). The fear of the Lord eradicates all evil and sins from the soul. He who does not fear God falls into many evils. The fear of the Lord protects a person and protects him until he throws off this body, as it is written: “For the sake of your fear, the spirit of salvation was in your womb, and you were sick and gave birth” (Is. 26:18). 71. He who is not evil is perfect and godlike. It is full of joy and is the resting place of the Spirit of God. Like fire burns large forests when you neglect it; so anger, if you allow it in your heart, will destroy your soul, and defile your body, and bring you many wrong thoughts; will arouse fights, strife, rumors, envy, hatred and similar evil passions that aggravate the body itself and cause it illness. Hurry to acquire the kindness and simple-heartedness of the saints, so that our Lord Jesus Christ will accept you to Himself, and each of you can joyfully say: “But you accepted me for my kindness, and established me before You forever” (Ps. 40:13). 72. God says through the prophet: “On whom will I look, but to him who is meek and silent and trembles at My words” (Is. 66:2). Our Lord says this in the Gospel: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). So, acquire humility for yourself and do not walk with the pride of your heart, which is characteristic of devils. He who walks with pride of heart is a partaker of the devils. An arrogant person is hated by everyone because his deeds are boastful: which is why he falls into many sins. All sins are vile before God, but the most vile of all is the pride of the heart. He who admonishes or gives advice to the proud is like one who pours water into a leaky vessel, or like one who extends speech to a flying bird. Proud-hearted people are despised before God; But God will not despise humble and contrite hearts. The very love of God, having descended to us from the highest, became humble to the last degree. Let us love humility, so that we can cry: “See my humility and my labor, and forgive all my sins” (Ps. 24:18). 73. Do not follow your own desires and do not relax your heart. For evil lust corrupts the heart and darkens the mind. Then move away from her, so that the Spirit of God who lives in you does not become angry with you. Let us strive for purity even to the point of death and guard ourselves in every possible way from evil lusts: for this purpose let us beware of looking at the beauty of women. Let us not be slaves to unclean passions and shameful lusts, which God hates. Write the name of God before the eyes of your hearts, so that within you it will continually cry out: “you are the church of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16) and “a resting place for the Holy Spirit.” Those who are carried away by unclean lusts are like cattle before God, devoid of all meaning, according to the word of the Psalmist, St. David the prophet (Ps.48:3). So, let us hate this obscene eye with hatred and seek purity, since it is the glory of the Angels of God. But if, at the suggestion of the devil, we fall, we will rise through repentance and approach the One who came to seek the sheep that wandered in sin (Luke 15:4). 74. He who cannot guard his mouth and tongue, let him at least take care not to be too much in the words of others (Job 11:3). Be careful, man, take power over your tongue, and do not multiply words, so as not to multiply sins. Put a finger on your mouth and a bridle on your tongue, because a long-winded person leaves no room for the Holy Spirit. If someone, still a beginner, talking with you, asks you about something that will save his soul, answer him; if it is about something that does not benefit him, be like a deaf person who does not hear, and like a dumb person who does not speak. 75. Let us force ourselves to put a strong guard on our lips so as not to say anything bad about anyone, because bad speech is worse than any poison. All wounds are healed, but a wound from the tongue has no healing. The tongue of a careless evildoer, driven by the devil, is more poisonous than the tongue of a serpent, because it stirs up quarrels and bitter hostilities among brothers, sows rebellion and atrocities among peaceful people, and scatters populous societies. So, avoid judging others, and stick to silence. He who loves silence abides near God and His Angels, and his place is on high. The Lord says that He will then guard your ways - when you yourself guard your mouth (Proverbs 13:3). 76. Holy Scripture certifies that shame is of two kinds: one from which sin is born; and the other, from whom comes glory and grace (Sir.4:23–25). The shame of committing a sin is true and saving shame; shame, from which sin is born, is shame that prevents the fulfillment of God’s commandments. Do not be ashamed to do anything that is in accordance with the will of God, and do not hide in the matter of truth; Do not be afraid to proclaim the teaching of the Lord, or the words of wisdom, and do not be ashamed to reveal your sins to your spiritual father. 77. Our Lord, moved by compassion for our souls, speaks in St. Gospel: woe to you, when they speak good words about you and glorify you, and you do not seek the glory of God (Luke 6:26; John 5:44). So, let us strive even to the point of death, resisting vanity and cutting off its worst branches, so as not to be brought to destruction. Flee from vanity; for many perished by it. It motivates a person to do many works - fasting, prayers, repeated nightly vigils, alms distributed in front of people, and much more; but with all this he will achieve nothing other than shame and reproach. Let us not try to show anything, especially great, in ourselves, so as not to perish because of this, and not to get entangled in numerous branches of vanity, because there are extremely many demons of vanity. Let us strive more zealously to acquire the glory of the saints, as well as their poverty, in order to receive that sweet praise of God): “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for of them is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). 78. Our Lord Jesus Christ said in His Gospel: “In your patience you will gain your souls” (Luke 21:19). Also: “he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22; 24:13). With what zeal therefore should we truly labor and endure in order to achieve what is prepared for us in heaven? Before, however, we reach the outpouring of blood, let us not boast; because no artist boasts of his work before finishing it. He should be called blessed who has gained victory through patience. In due time he will be glorified in the highest, like Lazarus. 79. The psalmist David said: “Your words are sweeter to my throat than honey to my mouth” (Ps. 119:103). Also: “The Lord’s destinies are more desirable than many stones” (Ps. 18:10,11). Truly blessed is he who watches and fulfills the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ until he achieves true knowledge of Him, so that he can say: “Your mind is amazed at Me” (Ps. 139:6). Be afraid of being unfaithful, lest He who created us be angry with you. Whoever preaches the truth to an unbeliever, reproaches or teaches him, is like a man throwing the most precious pearls into the depths of the sea. On the contrary, just as water flows down the sloping ground and runs there quickly, so the word of the Lord flows into the soul of the believer. 80. Let us stay awake and constantly kindle good zeal in the house of our mind, so that we are not called careless and lazy. Passions will never prevail over the zealous and vigorous. If he falls, through the wiles of the tempter, jealousy and vigor immediately restores him. But a careless and careless person, who has no zeal for pleasing God, if he falls from the temptations of the devil, does not even notice the sin he has committed, because his heart is hard as a stone, and he is like a tamed and bridle mule, on which everyone sits, without resistance on his part. In this kind of people the devil commits all his lusts and his complete corruption and drags each of them wherever he wants until his iniquities are fulfilled and he dies with groaning and weeping. A careless person is like a house that has fallen apart and abandoned by its residents, which has no value to anyone, but is disgusting to everyone, as if cursed, like the dwelling of vipers, scorpions and animals; no one cares about it, as if it were collapsed and desolate. Such is the state of the careless! Take care to maintain jealousy and never put it off, so as not to fall under the power of the enemy. When there is this wonderful zeal and care in a person, then it restores and warns him from all falls and damage, so that such a person becomes a place of rest for the Holy Spirit and, having happily completed his path, is worthy to enter into the peace of the saints in the world. 81. We heard that blessed Paul, when he came to a discussion about virginity, said about him: “I am not of the Lord’s commandments” (1 Cor. 7:25). He did not have a command because not everyone can bear this heavy yoke: that is why it was left to the arbitrary choice of those who are able to bear it. None of the virgins should boast of virginity, since it is the grace of God Himself. Virginity alienates women's feelings, carnal thoughts, pride of the heart and love for everything that is of the devil; It also drives away impatient grumbling, hatred of people and worldly glory; diligent in worship, restraining the tongue and punishing the stomach with fasting. When it is adorned with all this, it becomes a sacrifice without blemish or defilement. If you, a virgin soul, take care of many dishes, and go to yourself in wonder (preoccupied with yourself), then you will be ashamed in all your deeds. If you do not guard your tongue, you will be empty throughout your life, and you have undertaken great labors in vain. 82. Let us walk righteously in the way that the saints walked, about whom it is written: “Blessed are the blameless ones who walk in the law of the Lord” (Ps. 119:1). That is, in the purity of the body, in the purity of the tongue, in the purity of the eyes, in the purity of the hands, in the purity of the ears, in the purity of the feet, in a right mind before God and in a pure heart in relation to each other, as we say in prayers: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb” (Ps. 50:12).