Никита Стифат

Rev. Nikita Stifat The Monk Nikita, presbyter of the Studite monastery, called Stifat, lived around 1030 from the Nativity of Christ; he was the truest (γνήσιος) disciple of St. Simeon the New Theologian. From him he was taught many mysterious teachings (μαθήματα) of spiritual philosophy, and imitated his virtues to such an extent that it seems, truly, to be another sun next to his teacher, reflecting in his soul all the radiant refractions of his grace-filled gifts and teachings. - Then [and on his own], with tireless labor, delving into the Divine Scriptures, he collected numerous and exquisite meanings from them, having experienced and experienced some in practice, he collected a multitude of the most beautiful views on the order of spiritual life, and, through all this, making his mind as if fraught with divine and supernatural contemplations, he gave birth to lofty and wise sayings, as those who wish can verify from the proposed three hundred of them; which, if anyone calls the exact rule of active life, a guide to infallible knowledge, a mirror of the perfection of a godlike life, in a word, the richest treasury of moral lessons and speculative ideas, he will say the real truth about them. They are so lofty in thought, so magnificent in the beauty of expression, so that you wonder whether the thought contained in them, or the beauty of the presentation, pours such delight into the soul of those who read. Nikita the Venerable Monk and Presbyter of the Most Holy Monastery of Studite, Active Chapters of the First Centurion Four, I believe, there are reasons that motivate you to write about soul-saving things. The first is freedom, the very dispassion of the soul, which through difficult work has reached the natural contemplation of creation and from there entered the darkness of theology. The second, produced through tears and prayer, is purity of mind, from which the word of grace is born, and streams of saving understanding flow out. The third is the indwelling of the Holy Trinity in us, from which comes the illumination of the Spirit for the benefit of each of those being purified, for the manifestation of the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven and the revelation of the treasures of God hidden in the soul. The fourth is the duty that lies on everyone who has received the talent of the word of knowledge (1 Cor. 12:8), according to the meaning of God’s threat, which reads: you wicked and lazy servant... you should have given my silver to the merchants, and I, having come, would have received mine with profit (Matthew 25:26, 27); for which reason, of course, David said: behold, I will not restrain my mouth. You, Lord, know. I did not hide Your righteousness in my heart, I proclaimed Your truth and Your salvation, I did not hide Your mercy and Your truth from the great assembly (Ps. 39:10, 11). 2. The beginning of life according to God is a complete withdrawal from the world. This removal is the rejection of the desires of the soul and the abolition of earthly wisdom: as a result of which, flowing to Divine wisdom, we become spiritual from the carnal, being mortified to the flesh and the world, but quickened in the soul, in Christ and the Spirit. 3. Knowledge of God that is not false, deeply rooted faith, with contempt for everything visible, and virtuous action, alien to self-love - this is a tangled rope, which, according to Solomon, will not soon break (Eccl. 4:12) from the spirits of wickedness. 4. Through faith, receive rewards for your labors; therefore we easily endure the labors of doing good. Having been confirmed in this by the Holy Spirit, we soar to God with love. 5. It is not when we endure the attacks of unclean thoughts that we already belong to the part of those who do indecent things. But then, as the efforts of zeal for good have weakened in the soul, the mind, as a result of careless and disorderly behavior, will begin to revolve in confusing and darkening imaginations, and labors of virtue, with laziness towards the thought of God and prayer, will cease. Then, without doing anything indecent, we are counted on the side of the unclean sweets randomly lying around in the cronyism. 6. When the reins of the most powerful (higher) feelings weaken, then an uprising of passions immediately arises and the action of the most servile (lower) feelings begins to move. For usually these unreasonable (feelings), having been released from the bonds of abstinence (or restraint and curbing), rush at objects of passion and graze on them, as on deadly pastures, and this is the more insatiable, the longer the pleasure with them continues; because they cannot, when free from bonds, refrain from tasting what they naturally desire. 7. Of the senses, some, namely sight and hearing, are verbal and, more than others, the most wise and sovereign; and others, namely taste, smell and touch, are dumb and animals, appointed to serve the verbal. For first we see and hear, and then, moved by thought, we touch the present object and taste it by smell. Thus, the last three feelings are more bestial and unquestioningly servile than the first two; and those working primarily to satisfy them are those of the cattle and beasts that are more gluttonous and more lustful, day and night, either insatiably filling themselves with food or uncontrollably seeking intercourse. 8. Whoever changes the actions of external senses to internal feelings: vision - by the aspiration of the mind to see the light of the animal (i.e., the mind seeing the light of life), hearing - by spiritual attention, taste - by rational reasoning, smell - by mental comprehension (sensation, feeling), touch - by vigorous sobriety of the heart, he leads an angelic life on earth; for people he is and is seen by a man, but for Angels he is and is understood by an Angel. 9 . With a mind that sees the light of divine life, knowledge of the hidden secrets of God; With spiritual attention, we arrange the ascent (emergence) in the heart of thoughts with reason (or manage them, distinguishing good from bad); by rational reasoning, like taste, we recognize the types of understandings, and those that grow from a bitter root, we either transform into food sweet for the soul, or completely discard, and those that are protected from the former good and evil things, we accept, taking captive every thought into obedience (for submission) to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5); With mental comprehension we smell the mental world of the grace of the Spirit, filling ourselves with joy and joy in our hearts; With the cheerful sobriety of our hearts, we prudently feel how the Spirit from above waters the flame of our good desires or warms our spiritual (ψυχικές) forces, frozen from the cold of passions. 10. Just as the body has five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, similarly the soul has five senses: mind (νου), reason (λογικό), rational sense, knowledge (γνώση) and science (επιστήμη). The five senses are united into three actions of the soul: mind (νου), reason (λογικό) and rational feeling (νοερή αίσθηση). With the help of the mind we reflect (διανοήματα), with the help of reason we interpret (ερμηνείες), and with the help of rational feeling we accept the fantasies (φαντασίες) of divine science and knowledge (γνώσεως). 11. He who has a mind can think prudently, and being pure [mind] accept divine meanings (νοήματα); reason (λογικό) can interpret the natural movements of the entire visible creation, that is, it can clearly explain the reasons for the existence of things; the rational sense can perceive the science (επιστήμη) of heavenly wisdom and knowledge (γνώσεως), illuminated by the rays of the Sun of Truth. Every superior [external] sense reaches what lies beyond itself, enjoying the sweetness of invisible things. 12. There are four main (native, fundamental) powers of the mind: intelligence (σύνεση), insight {vigilance} (οξύνοια), receptivity (αντίληψη) and firmness of mind {skill, dexterity} (επιδεξιότητα). If we add to them the four cardinal virtues of the soul, connecting chastity with the understanding of the mind, prudence with its insight, justice with its receptivity and courage with its firmness of mind {mastery}; then you can build a fiery and sky-flowing (ουρανοπόρο) double chariot to fight the three main principles and forces (δυνάμεων) of the insurgent passions: love of money, love of voluptuousness and love of glory. 13. The one who defeated the love of money by the receptivity of the law of truth (έννομη δικαιοσύνη,), which is alms and compassion for one’s neighbor; conquered voluptuousness through prudent chastity, which is careful abstinence; and overcame the love of glory with insight (insight) and wisdom (φρόνηση), which is nothing more than the distinction between human and Divine things, trampling the love of glory underfoot as meaningless and useless, overcoming the earthly wisdom of the flesh. [He] after the law of the Spirit of life has prevailed over the external law of the flesh, making [him] free, he can say: I thank (Ευχαριστώ) God that the law of the Spirit of life has freed me from the law of slavery (δουλεία) and death (Rom. 8:2; Rom. 7:25). 14. Whoever seeks human glory, which is nothing, as if it were worth anything, kisses voluptuousness with spiritual insatiability and lovingly indulges in the love of money, he either turns into a demon through arrogance and pride, or becomes like a beast through enslavement to the lusts of the belly and hypogastric parts, or becomes a beast for his neighbors through insatiable and inhumane acts. love of money. For such, according to the word of the Lord, falls away from faith in God, because he accepts glory from men (John 5:44), turns away from chastity and purity, because he insatiably enjoys the burning of the hypogastric parts and submits to their shameful attractions, turns away from love, because he cares only about himself, and does not give anything from his possessions to his neighbors in need: through which everything is a certain monster, from many opposites that have developed, and hostile to God, and people, and beasts. 15. Anger, lust and rational strength of mind, when they stand and act in their natural order; then they make the whole person divine, in a certain way, and God-like, always acting sensibly and in no way deviating from the step that is natural to him. When, contrary to nature, they deviate from the proper course of action and adopt movements (or directions) that are unusual for their nature, then they reveal it, as has been said, as a kind of monster, one of the many opposites that have developed. 16. Anger stands between lust and the rational force of the soul, serving as a weapon for each of these forces, whether they act naturally or unnaturally. When the concupiscible and rational power of the soul acts by nature, directed towards divine things, then anger for each of them serves as a weapon of truth against the evil serpent, whispering to them and inviting them to taste the sweets of the flesh and be consoled by the glory of man. When they deviate from their natural movement and turn to the unnatural, and transfer their work and pursuits from divine things to human ones, then it serves for them as a weapon of unrighteousness, with which they fight and make war with everyone who puts an obstacle in their lusts and aspirations, so that a person in the midst of the church of the faithful is either active, contemplative and theological, when he acts according to nature, or bestial, bestial and demon-like, when he deviates towards that which is natural. which is unnatural. 17. If someone, through painful repentance and intensified deeds, does not transform and make his spiritual strengths such as God gave them to us in the beginning, when, having created Adam, he breathed into him the breath of life, then he can never know himself, nor can he acquire a thought that has dominion over the passions, not arrogant, not inquisitive, not crafty, simple, humble, free from envy and slander - through the captivity of every thought into the obedience of Christ. But he will never have his soul with a burning and flaming love for God, not transgressing the limits of abstinence, content with what is offered and desiring the repose of the saints. If she does not acquire this, then she will never be able to have her heart meek, humble, without anger, good, not provocative, full of mercy and cordiality, because then she so slanders herself and so upsets her strength that she is unable to contain the rays of the grace of the Holy Spirit. 18. Who in this way does not again perceive in himself the original splendor and does not imagine the distinctive features of the image of the One who in the beginning created him in His image, how is it possible to ever unite with the One from Whom he has distanced himself by the dissimilarity of the distinctive features, and to Whom, the Existing Light, having extinguished his light, attracted to himself the opposite (darkness)? But he who is not united with Him from Whom he received the beginning of being, and from non-existent became existent 3 , and received power over existing ones, where will he be cast, if not like the One who created him, after being cut off from Him? Those who clearly see this, although I will remain silent. 19. As long as we have within ourselves the substances of passions and the causes of them we self-willingly cherish, without deigning to shake them off, until then their power prevails over us, receiving the power to do so from ourselves. When we reject them from ourselves and cleanse our hearts with tears of repentance, having hated the deception of visible things, then we become partakers of the visits of the Spirit of the Comforter, God in vain and being visible from Him. 20. Those who have renounced the bonds of attachment to the world remain in freedom from all enslavement to the senses, living in the One Spirit and conversing with Him, as if moved from Him, through Whom they are usually combined with the Father and the Word, consubstantial with Him - one spirit, according to St. Paul, being with Them. Such people are not only imperceptible to demons, but also terrible, as participants in the Divine fire and having themselves become fire. 21. Touch is not a particular sense in which its action is manifested in one part of the body, but a general feeling, widespread throughout the body. Why, when it touches something unnecessarily, still harboring a passion for tender things, then it shakes the mind with passionate thoughts. When it touches something according to a necessary natural need, having already renounced all tenderness and overcome sensuality, then it does not confuse the senses of the soul. 22. When the mind moves to supersensible things, then the feelings, being in their order, dispassionately come into contact with the objects of the passions, examining only their causes and nature and correctly determining their actions and properties, without partiality to them and without inclining desires against them against nature. 23. Spiritual exploits and labors give rise to spiritual joy, which is preceded by the pacification of passions. As a result of this, what is hard and unpleasant for people enslaved to sensuality, for the soul, which dwells in spiritual labors and through sacred sweats, has acquired love for God and is wounded by the lust for Divine knowledge, it is easy and very sweet. For those who are devoted to the rest of the body and the enjoyment of sensual pleasures, the labors and deeds of virtue are unpleasant and cruel, since they did not attempt to wash away the sweetness of these pleasures with streams of tears; but for this one (for the soul working for God) they are desirable and sweet. Since she is disgusted by pleasures that cause her harm, and has shaken off every addiction to them, and every selfish pleasure to the body, then one thing is regrettable for her - rest from work and suppression of exploits. Thus, what for those serves as carnal joy, then for the soul, wholly disposed towards the Divine, causes sorrow, and what gives it spiritual joy, is for them the cause of sighing and torment. 24. The labors seem painful at the beginning for everyone who is led into sweat and spiritual exploits. When they begin to willingly practice them in order to restore good dispositions in themselves, and achieve success in this, then these labors become for them a source of some wondrous joy and consolation. And when, finally, this deathly wisdom of the flesh is devoured by the immortal life given by the visitation of the Holy Spirit, in those who, being in tireless labor, stretch to the final limits of virtue; then such faces are filled with inexpressible joy and joy, because through this a pure source of tears and sweet streams of consolation pouring down from above are revealed in them. 25. If you want to reach the final limits of virtue and infallibly find the path leading to God, do not give sleep to your eyes, and slumber to your eyelids, or rest to your churches (Ps. 131:4), until through many labors and tears you find a place of dispassion for your exhausted soul and you enter into the sanctuary of the knowledge of God and through His hypostatic Wisdom you see intelligently into the final ends of men. affairs, and, having despised the earthly, thirstily like the tree you will not ascend to the highest mountains of contemplation. 26. The short path to acquiring virtue for beginners is the silence of the lips, the closeness of the eyes and ears until they become deaf. For the mind, as a result of this, taking advantage of the inaction of these feelings and having closed the entrances to itself from the outside, begins to peer into itself and into its movements, and immediately examines what memories float on the mental sea of \u200b\u200bthoughts, and what thoughts are thrown into the crucible of its reasoning, to find out whether they are pure and not mixed with bitter seeds, as if given from the Angel of Light, or are indecent tares, planted in the light nasty, dark forces. Thus, he, as if some kind of autocratic ruler, standing in the midst of his thoughts, discusses them and separates the best thoughts from the worst, and puts some of them into his mental granary, like some bread, mixed with Divine water and baked by the fire of the Spirit, with which, feeding, he is empowered and filled with light, and sends others into the depths of oblivion, shaking off their bitterness. This, however, happens to be the work of one who has spiritually entered the path that unerringly leads to heaven and to God, having stripped himself of the deplorable rags of dark passions. 27. The soul, which has decisively rejected the guile and obscene wisdom of the most unreasonable arrogance, and instead has been enriched by a simple and gentle heart under the influence of the presence of the Comforter, is always entirely in itself and in God, and everything that it sees and hears [in the realm of faith] is considered true and true without a doubt, as having stepped over the destructive abysses of unbelief and rushing above hellish envy. 28. At the head of all virtues is sincere faith, in which the soul is not waveringly guided by thought, but completely rejects pride. For for someone who has just set out for heroic deeds, nothing hinders him from fulfilling the commandments in deeds more than the most evil self-love (pity for the flesh). It serves as an obstacle to success even for the zealous. It puts into them the thought of incurable illnesses and suffering of the body (if they begin to live strictly) and thereby cools the heat of spiritual jealousy and inclines it to abandon suffering (arbitrary deprivation) for the sake of virtue, as a slander against a self-indulgent life. There is self-love, an unreasonable love for the body, or self-pity, which makes a monk self-loving, soul-loving and body-loving, and alienates him from God and His Kingdom, according to the following venerable word: he who loves his soul will destroy it (John 12:25). 29. Whoever has diligently begun to fulfill the commandments of God and with warm zeal has taken upon his shoulders the light yoke of asceticism, he does not spare the health of the body, is not horrified by the weight of the deeds of virtue, does not retreat in painful fear of labor and does not look at someone else who is careless and careless about deeds, but with ardent desire walks the path of virtues, in all suffering (in all deprivations), looking on himself alone and on the commandments of God, and every day he throws his seeds in tears into the field of the living, until the grass of dispassion is born in him, grows into the stem of the knowledge of the divine and gives a seed that bears the grain of the word and the generation of truth. 30. From nothing, I think, does the prosperity of the soul come so quickly and hastily as from a single faith, but not only the faith with which one believes in one God and His Only Begotten Son, but especially that inner faith with which we believe that just as all the promises of Christ, which He promised and prepared for those who love Him, so the threat and torments of hell, which are prepared for the devil and his servants, are undoubtedly true. Such faith convinces the soul, undergoing heroic deeds, to hope that it will achieve the dispensation of the saints and their blessed dispassion, ascend to the height of their holiness and become a joint heir with them of the Kingdom of God. Being thus certified, she strives more zealously to do the commandments, and, without hesitating at all, tries to imitate their labors, in the hope of achieving their perfection through feats similar to theirs. 31. Usually (i.e., in the order of things) the appearance of a face changes according to the inner mood of the soul. For whatever action its mental movement has, such a disposition is manifested in itself for those standing and the image (look, appearance) of the face. Coordinating and co-changing in accordance with what sets the thought in motion, sometimes it appears bright when the heart rejoices due to the ascent of good thoughts and reflections (τη μελέτη) about God; and sometimes he becomes sullen and gloomy when inappropriate thoughts upset him. Why is it impossible to hide the movements and feelings that occur within from those (people) whose senses are trained. Usually this comes either from the right hand of the Most High, as a result of which they are reborn in spirit, becoming the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13, 14); or this comes from the rebellion of evil forces and confusion (embarrassment) of thoughts, and this is also obvious to them, since they reject (resist this), the mark (imprint) of the image of the Son of God, who bear the light in Divine gifts. 32. Inner work or crowns deserves the soul, or execution and torment. For if it is concerned with Divine things and lovingly fertilizes the field of humility, then, having tears from above, it cultivates love and faith for God, and compassion for one’s neighbor, through which the soul, reflecting in itself the beauty of the image of Christ, becomes a light for people, drawing their eyes to itself with the rays of virtues and rousing everyone to the praise of God. If it deals with earthly and human things, and digs underground and explodes the mines of sin, then, being doused with stench and darkness from below, it cultivates hatred and aversion to good, through which the soul, reflecting in itself the earthy and ugly image of the old man, becomes entirely darkness for those who approach, corrupting gentle and unsteady souls with obscene deeds and conversations and inciting blasphemy against God. At the end of everything, in what state the soul is caught by death, it will receive a reward in accordance with this. 33. The cultivator of evil thoughts makes the appearance of his face gloomy and sad, his tongue incapable of singing divine songs, and himself an unpleasant and unwanted encounter and interlocutor for everyone. The cultivator of good and immortal growths in the heart has a rejoicing and smiling face, and a sweet-sounding tongue in prayers, and is always a pleasant interlocutor for everyone. So from here, for all who see good, it is clearly and happens that one of these is still in slavery to unclean passions, and is under the involuntary law of earthly wisdom, and who is freed from such slavery by the law of the Spirit, according to the wise Solomon: when the heart is joyful, the face becomes blooming, but in sadness it becomes sad (Proverbs 15:13) 34. Passions that take root through deeds are cured by deeds that are contrary to them. For just as intemperance, voluptuousness and gluttony, a pampered and distracted life form a passionate mood in the soul and lead it to inappropriate deeds; Thus, oppression of oneself in everything and abstinence, labors and spiritual deeds provide her with dispassion and transfer her from a passionate state to a dispassionate state. 35. When someone, through difficult and intense asceticism with humility, is rewarded by God with great gifts, and then, having given up from there, is given over to the passions and punishing demons, let him know that he has become arrogant and has dreamed great things about himself, looking at others with contempt. The beginning of sin is pride (Sir.10:15). And he cannot find healing and deliverance from the passions and demons that have taken over his life in anything else, as in restoring himself to his former good mood through repentance, choosing good mediators for himself - humility and consciousness of his own measures, under the influence of which everyone who stands good on the basis of virtues considers himself the lowest of every creature. 36. There is equal evil both before God and before people who live in Christ, both when someone is passionate in deeds, and when someone is arrogant in virtues with a spirit of conceit. For just as it is shameful to speak about the deeds of the first and what happens to him in secret (Eph. 5:12), so the arrogance of the second is an abomination to God (Prov. 16:5); and just as he is disgusting to God, so that He cannot have peace in him, because he is flesh, according to the word of God (Gen. 6:3), so this one is unclean before the Lord, because he is proud. 37. It’s not that if it’s passion, then it’s a sinful thing; but one thing is this, and another is that: passion moves in the soul, and a sinful act is visibly committed by the body. Thus, lust, love of money and love of glory are destructive passions of the soul, and fornication, covetousness and untruth are sinful acts; lust, anger and pride are spiritual passions, the consequences of the unnatural movement of its forces, and fornication, murder, theft, drunkenness and other things committed illegally by the body are sinful and harmful acts of the flesh. 38. There are three main leaders of all passions and three militias against them, and three ranks of persons who fight against them and overthrow the three-headed dragon of voluptuousness, love of money and love of glory: beginner, middle and perfect. 39. At different stages [of the spiritual path], not the same feat is necessary against the three forces and principles of the evil (πονηρού) spirit, there is a difference in the struggle against one and the other. In a battle against each of the three principles, the natural (φυσικό) weapon is righteous anger. 40. Whoever has now just exposed himself for the exploits of piety and is led into the militia against the passions, directs all his warfare against the spirit of voluptuousness, and strongly strikes it through all kinds of evil suffering - exhausting the flesh by ineating, sleeping on the bare ground, vigils and all-night prayers, and crushing the soul with the thought of hellish torment and the memory of death, and the heart from desecration by the combination and with compassion, washing with tears of repentance. 41. Whoever stretched out his steps from the beginning to Wednesday, and wiped away the sweat from the struggle with the spirit of voluptuousness with the sponge of dispassion (drove away this spirit), and began to look at natural things with open eyes, now raises the weapon of faith against the spirit of love of money, which has no faith, elevating the mind to the thought of Divine things, directing the mind to understand the meaning of creatures and to explain their properties, and raising the soul by faith from the visible to the height of the invisible, nourishing the conviction that God, who brought everything from non-existence into existence, He is also the Provider of His works, and inspired by hope to achieve the Divine life. 42. Whoever, with the help of contemplation and dispassion, has passed through the middle and, bypassing the delights of worldly feelings, has entered, with the help of the word of reason and the hypostatic Wisdom of God, into the darkness of theology, with the power of humility he now raises weapons against the spirit of love of glory, crushing the soul with sacred revelations and forcing it to painlessly shed tears, while deposing his wisdom with the remembrance of human weakness and elevating it with understandings Divine mind. 43. By fasting, vigils and prayers, sleeping on the bare ground, physical labor and cutting off our will in spiritual humility, we make the spirit of voluptuousness unsuccessful; We enslave him to ourselves with tears of repentance, and by bringing him into the prison of abstinence, we make him motionless and inactive - of course, while we ourselves are in the militia of zealous ascetics. 44. With the weapons of faith and the sword of the spiritual, which is the word of God (Eph. 6:17), having defeated the spirit of love of money, we quench it, and at the same time, with the help of the word of wisdom we ascend to the contemplation of what exists, with the word of reason we become above the insignificance of visible goods, and in the royal courts of love we rest under the influence of the rich treasures of hope. 45. On the wings of dispassion and humility, floating in the air of mysterious theology and entering the mountainous depths of knowledge of the mysteries of God by the action of the Divine Spirit, with the lightning of Divine dogmas and understandings we scorch the spirit of love of glory; Looking at the end of human affairs, with the rain of tears and streams of contrition we drown the demons of his tristats, who fight against us with conceit, vanity and pride. 46. Whoever has the lust of the flesh, the lust of selfishness and the pride of life - these worldly untruths, because of the love of which we are enemies of God - spiritually hated and renounced them, he crucified the world to himself and himself was crucified to the world, destroying in his flesh the enmity between God and the soul, and creating peace in both. For the one who died by this, in the absence of carnal wisdom, reconciled himself with God, killing the enmity of the world in the mortification of pleasures through the life crucified to the world, and kissed the love of Jesus. Why is such a person no longer an enemy of God, as a friend of the world, but a friend of God, as one crucified to the world and able to say: The world was crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal. 6:14). 47. Any abandonment of those who struggle by grace usually occurs for the following faults: vanity, condemnation of one’s neighbor, and arrogance in virtues. Why, as soon as any of this appears to have entered the souls of those who strive, it causes them to be abandoned by God; and they cannot escape righteous condemnation for this when they fall, until, having rejected what was previously the reason for abandonment, they flee to the heights of humility. 48. Not only is there impurity and defilement of the soul when someone is unclean from nasty passionate thoughts, but also when someone exalts himself with the constant correctness of behavior and is puffed up with virtues; also when he thinks a lot about his wisdom and his knowledge of God and condemns the seemingly careless and careless brethren. This is clear from the parable of the publican and the Pharisee. 49. Do not think of being weakened by passions and avoiding defilement by passionate thoughts arising from them, while still carrying within you a proud and haughty wisdom about virtues. You will not see the courtyard of the world in the goodness of your thoughts and you will not enter the church of love with joy in all mercy and quietness of heart while you trust in yourself and your deeds. 50. If your soul passionately clings to beautiful bodies and is then subjected to the tyranny of passionate thoughts that are born from this, do not assume that they are the cause of the storm of thoughts and passionate movement occurring in you, but know that the reason for this is hidden inside your soul, which, like a stone or a magnet, iron attracts harm to itself from persons due to a predisposition to this and an evil passionate habit. God’s creations are all very good, according to the word of God Himself, and have nothing that would give grounds for blasphemy of God’s creation. 51. Just as those sailing on the sea and suffering from seasickness suffer from this not because of the natural property of the sea, but because of some internal predisposition to it in themselves, so the soul, not because of beautiful faces, but because of the underlying disposition towards this evil within itself, is subjected to an extremely strong attraction and anxiety of passion. 52. According to the inner mood of the soul, the nature of things appears to it like this and to others. When the intelligent feelings stand in it in their natural order, and the mind unerringly walks in the understanding of creatures, rationally explaining their being and movements, then in the natural order things, and persons, and all the nature of material bodies are seen by her as not having any hidden cause of infection or harm. When her powers do not act according to their nature, rebelling one against the other, then all this is seen by her, not as it is according to its nature: it, by its natural beauty, no longer raises her to the knowledge of the Creator, but, due to her passionate state, reduces her to the depths of destruction. 53. If, having been abandoned by grace, you fell through the fall of the flesh or the tongue or the mind, let this not seem surprising or strange to you: this fall is yours and it is your fault. For if you had not first thought about yourself something special and important, as you should not have, or had not risen above someone in arrogant thoughts about yourself, or had not condemned someone else in some natural human weakness, then, according to the righteous judgment of God, you would not have been abandoned by grace, and you yourself would not have experienced your own weakness. Now you have experienced it, so that you may learn from this not to condemn, not to think about yourself more than you should think (Rom. 12:3) and not to be proud of anyone. 54. Having fallen into the depths of evil, do not at all despair of the possibility of an appeal from there, even if you have fallen to the last stage of hellish malice. For if you have the foundation of piety, diligently laid before by active virtues, then, even if the church you built on it from various stones of virtue was shaken, fell and was destroyed from top to bottom, right down to the very face of the most passionate land of evil, and then God will not forget your previous labors and sweats, as long as you bear a heart broken over your falls, which, Remembering the previous days, he calls out to Him with sighs about his failures. Looking (looking), He will soon look at you, trembling before His words (Is. 66:2), invisibly touch the edge of your aching heart, and taking the foundation of virtue laid by you before with your labors under His cover, He will give you strength, greater and more perfect than the previous strength in the fiery zeal of a burning spirit, so that you again hardworkingly acquire the deeds of virtue that were destroyed by the envy of the evil one, and in a spirit of humility he erected her house, brighter than before, for her eternal rest, as it is written (Ps. 131:14). 55. Everything that happens to us to our dishonor from people or from demons, by the righteous judgment of God according to His economy, happens to the humility of the vain arrogance of our souls. The goal of God, the Ruler of our life, is that we should always be humble and not think about ourselves more than we should think; but they thought modestly (Rom. 12:3) and did not think much about themselves, but they looked at Him and imitated His blessed humility as much as possible, for He was meek and humble in heart (Matthew 11:29), which He also desires for us to be, having endured an unrighteous and dishonorable death for us. Why is nothing else so kind to Him and attractive to all truly virtue, and nothing will so strongly lift us from the rot of passions as meekness, humility and love for our neighbor; so that when we create virtues without their co-presence, then all our work is vain, and all labor of asceticism is useless and unpleasant to God. 56. Those who are led into a virtuous life to fulfill the commandments and avoid sins are encouraged by the fear of eternal torment. Those who, through virtue, have reached the contemplation of the glory of God, are also accompanied by another kind of fear, which is extremely terrible for them out of love for God, pure fear, which helps them to steadily remain in the love of God, since they are afraid of the terrible slippage from it. The first, when they fall, deviating from their goal, and then, repenting, immediately get up, is accompanied by the first fear with good hopes; and for the second, through the envy of the devil, who sinned by falling from the heights of contemplation of the glory of God, the second fear will not immediately follow, but they will be accepted by a certain darkness and tangible darkness, full of cowardice, sorrow and grief with the first fear of torment. And if the Lord of hosts had not shortened these days of such unbearable sorrow, then none of those falling in this way would have been saved. 57. When the soul calms down from the constant torment of passionate thoughts and the painful burning of the flesh fades, then know that the influx of the Holy Spirit has taken place within us, announcing the remission of previous sins and the granting of dispassion to us. While she feels the stench of these thoughts through their frequent pestering, and while the underbelly of her flesh is kindled, know that the fragrance of the Spirit is far from her, and that she is entirely held in insoluble bonds of passions and feelings. 58. I saw under the sun (στη γη - on earth), says the wise man, a man wise in his own eyes (Prov. 26:12), and I saw such a man among people, trusting only in his own works, highly wise (μεγάλη ιδέα) in human wisdom (σοφία), earthly and spiritual. Because of this, he not only looked down on ordinary people, but even on teachers of the Christian faith who had achieved the divine peace of their lives (ζωή); at the same time, he scolded and laughed at them for their unusual (ασυνήθιστο) form of speech and for the fact that [they] did not want to imitate selective (εκλεκτικό) and refined (τορνευτό) vocabulary (λεξιλόγιο) of the external mind, and did not try to monitor the correct writing of [their] written teachings. For him, who does not know that God does not prefer and does not love (αγαπά) polished (τορνευτές) words and beautiful phrases, but the good meaning (σημασία) of the meaning (νοημάτων) I will say the following saying (παροιμία): a living dog better than a dead lion (Eccl.9:4), and: better is a poor but smart young man than an old but foolish king who has not learned to take advice (Eccl.4:13). 59. The passion of blasphemy, which has its source in the proud opinion of Satan, is fierce and inconvenient to overcome. It attacks everyone who lives virtuously according to God, but especially those who have succeeded in prayer and contemplation of Divine things. For this reason, it is necessary in every way to preserve feelings and reverence for all the terrible secrets of God and to carefully observe the attacks of this spirit. He sits down with us when we pray and sing psalms, and sometimes, due to our inattention, belches out with our lips oaths against us and strange blasphemies against the Most High God, introducing them into the verses of the psalms and into the words of prayer. But against him, when he utters something like that with our lips, or puts it into our thoughts, we must turn the word of Christ, saying to him: follow me Satan (Matthew 16:23), filled with every stench and condemned to eternal fire; let your blasphemy fall on your head. Having said this, we will immediately forcefully, like a prisoner, turn our minds to some other object, divine or human, that comes to mind, or with tears we will lift it up to heaven and to God. So, with God’s help, we will get rid of the burden of blasphemy. 60. Sadness is a passion that is pernicious for the soul and body, and touches the very brain. But such is the sadness of this world that attacks people due to temporary losses and troubles, which is often the cause of even death for them. Sorrow for God is very useful and soul-saving: it gives patience in labors and temptations, opens a source of tenderness for the one who struggles and thirsts for the truth of God, and satisfies his heart with tears, like bread, so that David’s word is fulfilled on it: you will feed us with the bread of tears and water us with tears in measure (Ps. 79:6) - the wine of tenderness. 61. Parts of the soul, upset by doing bad things, successfully recreate sadness for God and again puts them in their natural state: it (sadness for God) with tears so thins the winter of passions and the cloud of sin, and expels them from the mental air of the soul, that a bucket is immediately created in the thoughts of our mind (cloudlessness, clarity), there is silence in the sea of ​​thoughts, there is joy in our hearts, and in the outward appearance of our face there is a change to which looking, those who have eyes to see can cry out with David: this is a change in the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 76:11). 62. Do not accept thoughts that are implanted in you against your neighbor out of suspicion, because they are deceitful, destructive and always deceiving. Know that through this the demons attempt to plunge into the pit of destruction those who are already making progress in virtues: for otherwise they cannot send any of the ascetics into the pit of condemnation and active sin, but by inspiring him in advance to accept evil suspicions about his neighbor, according to his external behavior and custom, because, thus bringing him to trial (for condemnation) and leading him to fall into sin, they they weave it into condemnation along with the world, according to the following holy saying: if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged; judging others, we are punished by the Lord, so as not to be condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:31, 32). 63. When, through negligence, we give demons room to put suspicions against our brethren in our ears, because we do not watch the movements of our eyes, then we are sometimes driven by them to condemnation even of those who are perfect in virtue. One person, looking with a smiling face and available for conversation with everyone, may seem voluptuous and passionate, while another, looking sternly and gloomily, may seem angry and proud. But one should not make judgments about people based on such external features, because in this case they are almost always erroneous. For in people there are great differences in natural properties, skills and physiques, which can only be looked at correctly and judged correctly by those who have cleared their mental eye through much contrition and have within themselves the immeasurable light of Divine life - to whom it has been given to see the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. 64. Having become do-it-yourselfers of shameful carnal deeds, contrary to nature, we serve lust and anger, desecrating the flesh with shameful currents, and darkening the soul with the bitterness of anger, and for this we are alienated from the Son of God. Why must we cleanse the defilement of unclean currents from the body with streams of tears? So if pleasure defiles the body (σώμα) with a natural flow (ρεύση, emission), then through the suffering of sadness it is again cleansed through the natural flow of tears. And the darkening of the soul with angry bitterness [must] be driven away by the light of contrition and sweet love for God, and thus again unite with Him from whom they were previously alienated. 65. Just as the defilement of the flesh by pleasure (ηδονή) has as its antecedent cause an evil desire (έρωτα) in order to fulfill (ολοκληρώσει) malice (κακία); Likewise, painful sadness has as its preceding cause the warmth of the heart (καρδιάς), in order to fulfill sadness and tears. And this is a look (οικονομία) of God's goodness towards us, in order to eliminate and purify the labor (κόπο) of pleasure (ηδονής) - painful labor (κόπους), and the shameful stream of the flesh - a stream of tears. And exclude from our mind the types (τύπους - types) of villainy (αχρειοτήτων) and ugly (τις άσχημες) images (εικόνες) from our soul, in order to reveal (αναδείξομε) shine (λαμπρότερη) of [our] natural (φυσικό) beauty (κάλλος). 66. Like one who, through the actions of an evil spirit, commits fornication, receiving as a reward the pleasure of the flesh, and in the end, from evil actions, defilement. So the one who, from the actions of the Holy Spirit from above, receiving as a reward the joy of the soul, ultimately from good deeds [receives] cleansing through tears, rebirth, union and unity with God. 67. There are in us two natural (φυσικές) flows from our being (ουσία): seed (γονής) and tears. Through the first we defile the tunic (χιτώνας) of our soul, and with the second we cleanse it. So the defilement that comes from our being (ουσία) must be cleansed with tears that also come from it. Because there is no other way to cleanse the desecration of our nature (φύσεως - nature). 68. Every dispensation (διάθεση) of a sinning soul, driven by a vicious (φαύλη) manner (φαύλο τρόπο), with fleeting pleasure ruins all work (προσπάθεια, diligence); but every soul, cleansed from a vicious (φαύλη) habit (συνήθεια) and dispensation, through its long (απλώνει) labor achieves lasting pleasure, continuously (όλο) having fun (ευφροσύνη). And this miracle, like the [second] pleasure, restraining the [first] pleasure, completely (τελείως) sweetens (γλυκαίνει) the pain generated by pleasure. 69. Sometimes grief and pain are caused to the heart by an outpouring of tears, and sometimes joy and joy [they shed tears]. When we are cleansed by repentance from the poison and filth of sin [by the warmth of the fire], pleased with this, having tears [kindled by the Divine fire], then, like heavy hammers, being struck by the memories of what we have done, we let out deep groans from our hearts, from the fullness of the feeling of grief and pain about it. When, having been sufficiently purified by tears, we feel freedom from passions, then, being rejoiced by the Divine spirit, like those who have acquired a quiet and pure heart, we are filled with indescribably sweet consolation from joyful tears of tenderness. 70. Some tears are shed from repentant contrition and others are shed from Divine tenderness. Those, like a river, flood and destroy all the strongholds of sin, but these are the same for the soul as rain is for the fields and dew for the grains, feeding the class of knowledge and making it multi-hearted and prolific. 71. Tears are not the same as tenderness, but there is a large distance between tears and tenderness; they come from repentance for the previous way of life and previous falls of the soul to cleanse the heart, as if by fire and boiling water; and this from above finds from the Divine dew of the Spirit as a consolation and cooling of the soul, which has now warmly entered into the depths of humility and has partaken of the unapproachable light of contemplation, and so to God, like David, crying out in joy: we have passed through fire and water, and You have brought us to rest (Ps. 65:12). 72. They say, I heard, that it is impossible to acquire the habit of virtue without going into the distance and escaping into the desert, and I was surprised how they decided to define the indefinable by a place. For, if skill in virtue is the restoration of the powers of the soul to primitive nobility and the combination together of the most important virtues for the action inherent in it by nature; and this does not come into us from the outside, as something introduced (επείσακτα, extraneous), but is provided (innate) to us from creation (creation) by a divine and intelligent feeling; from them and together with them we move by nature, and through this we enter the Kingdom of Heaven, which is within us, according to the word of the Lord: then the desert is unnecessary when we enter the Kingdom without it through repentance and all keeping of the commandments, which is possible in every place of God’s dominion, as the Divine David sings: bless the Lord, my soul, in every place of His dominion (Ps. 102:22). 73. Who in the mass of the royal militia under the governors and commanders, along with other warriors, ready to help him and protect him, going into battle, could not show military valor and courage against the adversaries and defeat at least one of them, how alone will he begin to fight and fight a crowd of many enemy themes, or how can the governor show what business, being inexperienced in war? If this is impossible in human affairs, how much more so in divine ones? Who, having fled into the desert, can recognize the attacks of demons and the approaches of passions, obvious and hidden, or make an attack on them, without having first learned to cut off their will among the company of the brethren under the guidance of an experienced leader in the matter of such invisible and mental warfare? If this is impossible, then it is even more impossible for such a person to successfully fight for others and teach others to win victories over their enemies. 74. Cut off reproachful negligence and reproachable neglect of the commandments of God; cast aside self-indulgence and arm yourself mercilessly against the flesh; despise glory and honor; hate the sweet lusts of the body; run away from satiety, which ignites a fire in the underbelly; kiss poverty and all kinds of hardships; resist passions; turn your feelings inside your soul; direct your inner to doing better; don’t be bothered by human affairs; Depend all your strength on doing the commandments; cry, sleep on the ground, love deprivation and solitude; finally know not what is around you, but what you yourself are; be above the insignificance of visible things; direct your mental eye to the contemplation of God; see the beauties of heaven, and, having descended from there, proclaim to the brethren about the blessings of eternal life and the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. This is what it means to run away from people through extreme asceticism and the purpose of staying in the desert. 75. If you want to see the blessings that God has prepared for those who love Him, enter the desert of renunciation of your will and flee the world. What kind of world is this? Lust of hair and flesh, pride of thoughts and the charm of visible things. If you flee from such a world, then light will dawn on you early through the vision of Divine life and the healing of your soul, that is, tears will soon shine (Is. 58:8), and you will be changed by the change of the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 76:11), and the wound {ulcer} of passions after this will not come close to your body (Ps. 90:10). Thus, while you are among the world and people, you will be like someone living in the desert and not seeing people. If in this way you do not escape from this world, then escaping from the visible world will in no way help you to excel in virtues and unite with God. 76. To be a monk does not mean to be outside of people and the world, but to, having renounced oneself, be outside the desires of the flesh and go into the desert of passions (into dispassion). If the great one (Abba Arseny) was told: run away from people and you will be saved, then it was said in this exact sense. For we see that even after he fled from the world, he settled among people, walked through populated areas and lived with his disciples. But at the same time, diligently observing internal escape during sensory communication, he was not exposed to any harm from being with people. It was also another one of the great ones who cried out as he left the meeting: flee, brethren, and pointed to his lips when they asked him what to flee from. 77. Life gathered in one place is safer than solitude. The need for such living together is evidenced by the Sacred Word of the Lord Jesus, who says: for where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20). Solomon speaks about the danger of a solitary life: woe to him alone, because when he falls, there will be no other to lift him up (Eccl. 4:10). And David pleases those who sing praises to God in love and like-mindedness, saying: blessed is the people who know the shouting (Ps. 89:16). He also praises cohabitation when he says: what is good and what is pleasant is for brothers to live together! (Ps. 133:1). And it is said about the disciples of the Lord in Acts that they had one soul and one heart (Acts 4:32). Finally, God’s descent to us was not in the desert, but in populated areas, among sinful people. So, a common, like-minded life is necessary, but solitude is slippery and dangerous. 78. Temptations must come, says the Lord, but woe to the person through whom temptation comes (Matthew 18:7). This grief is brought upon himself by the one who, having lost reverence and carelessly, without the fear of God, leading himself in the midst of the council of the brethren, gives temptations to many of the simplest. Either through his actions, the way he holds his body and bad habits, or through his words and corrupt conversation, he corrupts good and good souls and morals. 79. He who keeps the commandments is not a stone of offense for people, because there is no offense in him (1 John 2:10). There is great peace for those who love Your law, and there is no temptation for them (Ps. 119:165), but light, and salt, and life according to the word of the Lord: you are the light of the world; you are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13, 14). Light is such as virtuous in life, enlightening in word, wise in advice; salt, as rich in Divine knowledge and strong in the wisdom of God; life, as through the words of his conversation, reviving those killed by passions and leading them out of the hell of despair: and with this light of his righteous deeds, shining in the face of people and illuminating them; by the pleasantness and bitterness of your words, restoring them from corruption and delivering them from the corruption of passions; and with the vitality of his speeches, giving revival to souls killed by sin. 80. The passion of vanity is a three-axial top, fueled and forged by vanity, conceit and pride from demons; but by those who are installed in the shelter of the Heavenly God, he is easily caught at the scene of the crime (at the very beginning of its origin); and its skeletons are crushed, and they soar on the wings of humility and rest in the shadow of the tree of life. 81. When this unclean and multi-wily demon comes to you, and, if you are making progress in virtue, begins to prophesy for you the height of thrones, bringing to mind your activities in thoughts and extolling them as superior to others, and presenting to you that you are strong enough even to lead others; then, having grabbed it mentally, do not let it run away from you, if you have received the power from above to do so, and, having taken it, go with it in your imagination to some bad deed you have previously done, and, exposing it to him, tell him: are those who do such deeds worthy of ascending to this height of leadership, and do they seem to you quite suitable for leading souls and bringing them saved to Christ? You may say this, but I will remain silent. And he, not having anything to answer you, will disappear like smoke from shame and will not bother you any more. If you have nothing bad that you have done or said, because your life is most peaceful, then put yourself before the commandments and sufferings of the Lord, and you will immediately see that you are as small in comparison to the full measure of perfection as a font of water is smaller than the sea. For human truth is as different from the truth of God as the size of the earth is from the sky, and a gnat is from a lion. 82. He who is deeply wounded by the love of God does not have sufficient body strength to satisfy this disposition: for in the labors and sweats of asceticism there is no saturation for this disposition. Being in a state similar to that in which he is tormented by extreme thirst, he cannot satisfy his inner burning thirst until saturation; He is ready to work day and night, but the strength of his body leaves him. I believe that, having been captured by the same supernatural heat of love, the martyrs of Christ did not feel torment and did not have satiation, indulging in it; but they conquered themselves with their inflamed zeal for God and always found that their suffering fell far short of the measure of their ardent desire to suffer for the Lord. 83. He who measures himself in any relation with any of his companions or brothers living with him deceives himself into ignorance and does not follow God’s path. Such a one either does not know himself, or has deviated from the path leading to heaven, along which zealots flow in self-abasement of wisdom, with which, having flown through the enemy’s nets, they soar into the mental air on the wings of dispassion and in bright places of spring, adorned with humility. 84. He who is pompous and deceived by his mind in conceit will never, in the light of humility, receive the grace of tenderness, for the sake of which the light of the wisdom of God is given to those who are contrite in heart, as it is written: in Your light we will see light (Ps. 35:10). It is covered by the night of passions, in which all the wild beasts of human nature and the lions of self-conceit walk—the demons, I say, of vanity and fornication, roaring, looking for someone to devour and drag into the womb of despair. 85. For someone who lives like a human being and carried away by the spirit of self-conceit, real life is a sea of ​​evils, plunging the intelligent part of his soul into a sea of ​​sweet joys and pleasures, and furiously striking his three parts with ferocious waves of passions under the influence of the spirits of malice. He is threatened by the terrible danger of extreme despair, while his boat and the helm of his soul are crushed by carnal pleasures and the helmsman, the mind, remains in the depths of sin and in spiritual death; if the sea of ​​evils does not finally hide its waves in the depths of humility, the sea of ​​sweets will not turn its currents into abundant rains of tears and will not transform into the sweetness of luminous tenderness. 86. He who has labored in pleasures and bodily deeds to the fullest, let him also to the fullest use of ascetic labors, in the sweats of suffering; in order to beat off satiety with satiety, sweetness with bitterness, peace with bodily labors, and find satiety of joy and joy in peace. In this way you will enjoy the fragrance of chastity and purity, and taste the indescribable sweetness of immortal spiritual fruits. Likewise, we usually put cleansing potions in our clothes to cleanse them of stench, when they are saturated with it to the point of impossibility of using them. 87. Diseases are useful for those who are just being introduced to a virtuous life, in that they contribute to exhaustion and pacification of the hot flesh. They make the strength of the flesh weaker, the coarse earthly wisdom of the soul becomes thinner, and its own strength is made stronger and more powerful, according to the divine Paul, who says: when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:10). But as much as these diseases are useful for beginners, they are so harmful for those who have advanced in the works of virtues and have just surpassed feeling and reached heavenly contemplations. For they prevent them from engaging in divine things and dull the rational part of their soul with pain and difficult circumstances, and cloud it with a cloud of cowardice, and dry up tenderness with the dryness of their labors. Also [and the Apostle] Paul, who knows well about himself, reasoning, says: I pacify my body with exploits of labor, I enslave it to obedience, so that, while preaching to others, I myself may not remain unworthy (1 Cor. 9:27) 88. From a disorderly and uneven diet, illnesses often arise in many; when someone, with increased zeal for the labors of the virtuous, immeasurably and without reasoning leans on extreme ineating, then when it weakens, he indulges the body, naturally our enemy, with overeating and satiety. Measured abstinence is necessary both for those who embark on the path of virtue, and for those who have gone beyond the middle of exploits and are reaching out to the region of higher contemplation. It is the mother of health, the friend of chastity and the companion of humility. 89. Know that dispassion occurs in two ways and in two ways especially in the zealous. And, firstly, upon reaching the end of active philosophy (life), the first thing that happens to the zealous is dispassion, when, after success in the varied labors of asceticism, passions die in them, the aspirations of the flesh stop in inaction, and the powers of the soul begin to act according to their nature, and the mind is elevated to the first state - to learn about Divine things rationally. Then, with the beginnings of natural contemplation, the second, most perfect, dispassion clearly arrives to them, in which their mind, after silencing thoughts, is elevated to a peaceful dispensation and becomes more visual and insightful: most visual in Divine things - in the vision of the best, and in the revelation of the mysteries of God; the most insightful in human things - which are still coming from afar and are about to happen. In both of these types of dispassion, the same spirit operates, which in the first powerfully holds and binds, and in the second it allows (i.e. frees) into the freedom of eternal life, as St. Paul says (Rom. 6:22). 90. Having approached the limits of dispassion, the right one about God and the nature of things creates speculations, and from the beauty of creatures, in proportion to his purity, flowing towards the Creator, he receives the luminosity of the Spirit. He has good opinions about everyone, he always thinks well of everyone, he sees everyone as holy and blameless, and he makes right judgments about things Divine and human. He does not love anything from the things of this world, about which people are so zealous, but having abstracted his mind from all worldly feelings, he flows to heaven and to God, pure from all earthly mud and free from all slavery; everyone surrenders to the mental blessings of God in one spirit, and, in vain of Divine beauty, loves to dwell magnificently mentally in the Divine places of the blessed glory of God, in ineffable silence and joy, and having changed with all feelings, like an Angel in a material body immaterially communicates with people. 91. Reason also finds the ascetic five senses: vigil, contemplation of God, prayer, abstinence and solitude. Whoever combines his senses with these senses, namely, sight with vigilance, hearing with contemplation of God, smell with prayer, taste with abstinence, touch with solitude, will most likely purify his mind and, having refined it with them, will make it dispassionate and visual. 92. A mind that has curbed its passions and risen above sorrow and joy is dispassionate. He is not overwhelmed by sorrow in sad events, nor is he overflowing with joy in favorable events, but in sorrows he keeps his soul rejoicing, and in favorable events he is restrained in joy and does not go beyond measure in it. 93. Great is the rage of demons against those who remain in contemplation. They come to them day and night with slander, and then through those who live with them, they arouse fierce temptations on them, then they themselves make noise and trampling to intimidate them, sometimes they attack them while they are sleeping, jealous of their peaceful rest, and disturb them in every possible way, although they cannot harm those who have dedicated themselves to God. And if the Angel of the Lord Almighty had not been with them, protecting them, they would not have escaped their slander and the snares of mortals. 94. While you are engaged in a feat of active wisdom and virtue, watch more carefully for the slander of destructive demons. For how many times will you ascend to success in the highest virtues, how much will the Divine light increase in your prayers, and by the grace of the Holy Spirit you will enter into revelations and visions that cannot be expressed; so much they, seeing you ascending to heaven, gnash their teeth and diligently spread their multi-braided nets through the mental air. Not only the carnal and bestial demons of lust and anger will breathe (breathe) against you, but also blasphemous spirits will rise up against you in bitter envy. Moreover, these airy principles and powers, manifestly (outwardly) and implicitly in one imagination, will begin to take on various strange and terrible images in order to confuse you or cause you harm. But, practicing mental prayer with a cheerful eye of mind, you have nothing to fear from such an arrow flying during the day, because they will not even be able to approach your abode (Ps. 91:5, 10), being, like darkness, driven by the light that is in you and scorched by the Divine fire. 95. The spirits of evil are extremely afraid of the grace of the Divine Spirit, especially when it comes richly, or when we shine with purity under the influence of Divine teaching and pure prayer. Not daring for this reason to approach the abode of those illuminated in this way, they, with only dreams and ghosts, terrible stomping and ugly screams, attempt to frighten and confuse them in order to distract them from vigil and prayer. Even when they lie down to sleep on the ground for a while, they do not spare them; but, envious of this short rest from their labors, they attack them, and with some tremors they take away sleep from their leaders, plotting in this way to make their life more difficult and full of sorrows. 96. The spirits of darkness seem to be clothed in subtle bodies, as experience gives reason to think, whether they represent this ghostly, deceiving the senses, or are condemned to this for the ancient fall. Be that as it may, they rush to grapple with the ascetic soul when its slave, the body, is inclined to sleep; which, it seems to me, also serves to test the soul, now standing above the infirmities of a humble body, what is its energy and courage against them, threatening it with something terrible with great rage and fury. The soul, wounded by love for God and filled with the most important (γενικές - dearest, primary, conciliar) virtues, not only resists them in righteous anger, but also beats them mercilessly, if there is any feeling in them, as it seems, earthed as a result of falling away from the first divine Light. 97. Before battles and victories, demons often disturb the spiritual feeling and take away sleep from its leaders. But the soul, filled with boldness and courage from the Holy Spirit, putting such a detour and bitter fury into nothing, with one life-giving image [of the cross] and the invocation of Jesus and God, destroys their ghosts and puts them to flight. 98. If, out of active wisdom, you went out to plunder the spoils of hostile spirits, look and listen, arming yourself with spiritual weapons from everywhere. For do you know whose vessels you intend to steal? - adversaries, of course, but mental and disembodied, while you, still existing in the body, are at war with the King of spirits and God. Know that now they will attack you stronger than before, and many will begin to plot against you; until they either secretly conquer their prey and take you captive along with it, and fill your soul with much sorrow, or plunge you into evil and painful temptations through the wounding and embitterment of your flesh. 99. A good spring cannot emit streams that are unclean and stinking, reeking of the smell of the world, nor can a heart, existing outside the Kingdom of Heaven, ever exude streams of Divine life that emit the fragrance of the mental world. Does St. James say that both sweet and bitter water flow from the same opening of the spring? (James 3:11). Can blackthorn produce olives and olive acorns? Thus, not a single source of the heart can give rise to evil and good thoughts at the same time. But, according to the word of the Lord, a good man brings forth good things from the good treasure of his heart, and an evil man brings forth evil things from the evil treasure of his heart (Luke 6:45). 100. Just as it is impossible for a lamp to burn and give light to those in the church without oil and fire, so it is impossible for a soul without the Divine Spirit and fire to clearly proclaim Divine things and enlighten people thereby: for every perfect gift comes down from above, given from the Father of lights to a loving soul, with whom there is no change or shadow of turning (James 1:17). The second hundred natural psychological chapters are about purifying the mind The beginning of love for God is contempt for visible and human things; the middle is the purification of the heart and mind, from which the mental eyes open and recognize the Heavenly Kingdom hidden within us, and the end is the uncontrollable desire for the supernatural gifts of God and the natural desire for communication with God and rest in Him. 2. Where there is the love of God, the doing of mental deeds and the communion of the unapproachable light, there is peace of spiritual strength, purification of the mind and the infusion of the Holy Trinity. Thus says the Lord: whoever loves Me will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). 3. The mind recognized three states of life: carnal, mental and spiritual. Each of them has its own way of life, distinct in itself and unlike others. 4. The carnal structure of life is when one completely indulges in the pleasures and pleasures of this life, having nothing from the mental or spiritual structure, and not even wanting to acquire it. The soul stands in the middle between sin and virtue, when they care about the contentment and health of the body and care about human glory, and equally they do not reject the works of virtue, and avoid carnal deeds, are not attached to either virtue or sin: to virtue because of its unsweetness and difficulty for them, and to sin because of the fear of being deprived of human praise. The spiritual dispensation is that when they do not deign to have any of the first two and do not allow the evil that distinguishes each of them, but, being free from both, on the silvered wings of love and dispassion they fly through both of them, not allowing themselves to do anything that is forbidden. 5. Those who live carnally and have carnal wisdom always within themselves, being completely carnal, cannot please God, as they are darkened by meaning and do not allow any rays of Divine light to reach themselves. For the clouds of passions that lie on them like high walls fence them off from the spiritual lights, and they remain without light. Being upset and damaged in the inner feelings of their souls, they cannot look at the mental beauties of God, see the light of truly true life and rise above insignificant visible things. But, as if they had become hardened and filled with worldly feelings, they tie their minds to the visible, and direct all their care and labor to transitory goods, they fight with each other because of them, and it happens that they lay down their souls for them, clinging to wealth, fame and carnal pleasures, and considering the lack of them to be a great deprivation. The prophetic word was spoken to them righteously, as from the person of God: My Spirit will not dwell in these people, for they are flesh (Gen. 6:3). 6. Those who live mentally and therefore are called spiritual are somehow crazy and, as it were, broken by paralysis. They never have any diligence to work in deeds of virtue and fulfillment of God’s commandments, and only for the sake of human glory they avoid obvious reproachful deeds. Possessed by self-love, the breeder of destructive passions, they direct all their care to preserving health and pleasing the flesh, but they refuse all sorrow, all labor and all suffering because of virtue, rather than properly nourishing and warming the body that is hostile to us. By adhering to such a way of life and behavior, they earthen the mind, weaned from passions, and become incapable of accepting mental and Divine things, by which the soul is torn away from the earth, and everything rushes to the mental heavens. They suffer because they still possess a material spirit, which is why they love their souls and prefer the fulfillment of their desires to everything else. Being alien to the Holy Spirit, they are not partakers of his gifts; why don’t you see the fruits of the Divine in them, not only love for God and neighbor, joy in poverty and sorrow, spiritual peace, sincere faith and all-round abstinence, but also contrition, tears, humility and compassion: everything in them is full of arrogance and pride. They do not have the strength to enter into the depths of the Spirit: for there is no light in them that would guide them to this and open their minds to the understanding of the scriptures, and they are reluctant to listen to others when they speak about this. This is why the holy apostle spoke about them righteously: the spiritual man does not accept what is from the Spirit of God, because it seems madness to him; and cannot understand, because this must be judged spiritually (1 Cor. 2:14). 7. Those who walk in the Spirit and wholly embrace spiritual life are pleasing to God, just as He, like the Nazarenes, dedicated themselves and always cared about one thing, to purify their souls through ascetic labors and keep the commandments of the Lord. Ready to shed their blood for the love of the Lord, they exhaust their flesh with fasts and vigils, they refine the fatness of their hearts with tears, they kill the souls even on earth with suffering (arbitrary deprivations), with prayer and God-thinking they fill the mind with light and make it bright, by rejecting their desires they free their souls from addiction to the body and become completely spiritual; why they are not only recognized as spiritual, but also called righteous by everyone. They, moving towards dispassion and love, are inspired to contemplate creation and from there they accept the knowledge of existence through the wisdom hidden in God, given only to those who have become higher than the body of the humiliated. Having thus passed over every worldly feeling, and having become enlightened thoughts above feelings, they become bright in mind, and in the midst of the church and the large gathering of the faithful, they utter good words from a pure heart, and they become salt and light for people, just as the Lord said about them: you are the light of the world; you are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13, 14). 8. Be still {calm down} and understand that I am God (Ps. 45:11). This is the voice of the Divine Word and is actively known by those who want it. Why is it useful for someone who has once abandoned the turmoil of life and its destructive vanity to carefully examine his inner being with much attention and silence until he realizes that he finds God within himself, since the Kingdom of God is within us. For even in this way, hardly anyone will be able, over the course of many years, to erase bad images (imaginations) from the soul and completely restore the ancient beauty for the One who bestowed it. 9 . since the poison of evil that was previously embedded in us is abundant, it requires a lot of fire to cleanse itself, that is, tears of repentance and voluntary ascetic labors, for we are cleansed from the defilements of sin either by voluntary labors or involuntary sorrows. When that which is from the will warns one to do what is required, then there is no need for that which is not from the will. When the first does not properly cleanse the inside of the cup or dish (Matthew 23:26), then the second is sent to the greatest extent to restore the ancient dispensation in us. This happens according to the economy of our Creator (Τεχνίτης) and God. 10. Those who mock their piety and are mocked by their actions are those who did not make their renunciation properly, and from the very beginning did not want to use a teacher and guide, following their own reason and appearing reasonable to themselves (Is. 5:21). 11. Just as in bodily illnesses no one can accurately determine their causes and cures without great experience in the art of medicine, so in mental illnesses - without long asceticism. For just as the recognition of physical illnesses, in which the art of doctors is practiced, seems to be sinful and in fact very few people are able to recognize them, so the recognition of mental illnesses is even more sinful and more difficult than it. For the more superior the soul is to the body, the more difficult it is for illness to be recognized than for this body, which is sensually visible to all. 12. The main (γενικές dearest, primary, conciliar) and superior virtues over others, together with creation, are infused into human nature, from which, as from four sources, the rivers of all other virtues are filled with water and water the city of God, which is the heart, cleansed and consoled by tears. He who kept them inviolable, or, after the fall, who restored them through many labors of repentance, built in himself a royal house and chamber, in which the King of all makes his abode, and to those who have arranged themselves in this way, he distributes and gives his rich gifts. 13. Short is [this] life (βίος), long (απέραντοι - immense) is the future age, and short is the period of present life (ζωής). Man is a great and small animal, who has a short time [of real life], and is weak (αδύνατος). The time is very short, the person is weak, but the upcoming feat as a reward for one’s labors is great, [although] it has many temptations (πειρασμούς) and dangers in [our] short life. 14. God does not want the work of zealous ascetics to remain unskilled, but to be subjected to great tests. Why does he let the fire of temptation fall on them and temporarily hide the grace given to them from above, and sometimes allows the spirits of malice to disturb the silence of their thoughts in order to see the inclination of the soul, whom it wants to please more: the Creator and its benefactor, or the worldly feeling and the sweetness of sensual pleasure. And then, either grace aggravates them if they succeed in His love, or scourges them with temptations and sorrows if they are partial to earthly things, until they perceive hatred for visible goods, due to their changeable inconstancy, and the sorrow of pleasure from them is drowned in tears. 15. As soon as the world of thoughts is disturbed by the spirits of malice, immediately kindled arrows of lust often begin to be launched by other hunters, flesh-loving demons, at the mind that quickly ascends to heights. When the movement of the mind is stopped, then it falls into absurd and mixed movements; and thus the flesh begins to riotously rebel against the spirit, with tickling and kindling, drawing the mind down and wanting to bury it in a ditch of sweetness. And if the Lord of hosts had not shortened such days, and had not given His servants the strength of patience, then no flesh would have been saved (Matthew 24:22). 16. The multi-skilled and multi-wily demon of fornication for some is the reason for falling into a ditch of mud, for others it serves as a scourge and a rod of righteousness, for others it is a test and a Lydian stone. Of these, the first is seen in beginners when they lazily and carelessly drag on the yoke of asceticism; second, those who have reached the middle of success in virtue, when they are more inert towards it; the third - in those who have already stretched out the wing of the mind to contemplation, when they have just made a strong impulse towards complete dispassion. This is beneficial to everyone from above in a house-building manner. 17. The reason for falling into the mud is the demon of fornication for those who spend their monastic life in complete negligence. He kindles their members with the fire of fornication and lust, and gives them ways to do the will of the flesh without communion with other flesh: which is shameful to both speak and think about. Such people defile the flesh, as it is said (Jude 1:8), and devour the fruits of celestial sweetness; they are filled with darkness in the dark and are righteously deprived of the best (spiritual mood). The healing for those of them who wish is warm repentance and the tearful contrition born from this, which disposes them to flee this evil, and cleanses the soul from its defilements, and makes it an heir of God’s mercy. Wondering about him, the wise Solomon righteously said: healing will satisfy great sins (Eccl. 10:4). 18. This demon rightly becomes a scourge and a rod for those who, in the first dispassion, are perfected through active wisdom and make progress in reaching towards greater perfection. For when, out of laziness, they weaken the strength of the asceticism they hold, and deviate a little to the unguarded gaze of worldly feelings and enter into the lust of human things; then, due to the great goodness of God towards them, this demon is unleashed on them, like a scourge, and begins to beat them, when they think such a thing, with thoughts of carnal lust, so that, not tolerating this, they hasten to ascend into their tower of intense work and careful attention, and take up their saving deeds even more diligently, adopting a more difficult way of life. For God, having loved beings with kindness, does not want the soul, which has reached this point, to completely return to worldly feelings, but to continue to reach out to the front and diligently take on the most perfect deeds, so that the scourge of malice does not come close to its abode. 19. According to the economy, this spirit is a test and a stone of Lida for those whom the first dispassion has brought to the second; so that, being bothered by them, they remember about their natural weakness, and with the increase in revelations that come from contemplation, they do not become arrogant, according to the word of the Apostle (2 Cor. 12:7), but seeing who this one is who is at war with the law of their mind, they shake off even the most subtle memory of sin, fearing that they might not receive sympathy for this shameful uncleanness generated by such memories, and from the height of contemplation do not bring down to the eye of your mind. 20. Those alone were able to preserve their minds not offended even by subtle memories of sin, who were vouchsafed from above through the Spirit to receive the life-giving deadness of the Lord both in their members and in their thoughts; and they bear dead flesh to sin, but they have enriched the spirit with life through the righteousness that is about Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:10). To those who were given the mind of Christ in the word of wisdom, there was found in them an unoffended life-giving deadness in the knowledge of God. 21. The spirit of lust and anger usually enters in some way into souls that are still being cleansed. For what? In order to shake off the fruits of the Holy Spirit hanging on them. since the joy of freedom to some extent spreads in these souls, then the wisdom of the economy, always wanting to attract their thoughts to itself with its gifts and keep them in unshakable humility, so that they do not exalt themselves over others with their much freedom and wealth of gifts, and do not imagine that with their strength and their mind they have acquired this great chamber of the world, allows these spirits to attack them, meanwhile, she herself hides her action, so that, struck by the fear of falling, they would stand firmly in the preservation of blessed humility, and, making sure that they are still bound by flesh and blood, they would seek a safe fortress for themselves, in which they could be preserved by the power of the Spirit. 22. The sending of temptations occurs in accordance with the illness of passions that overwhelms us, and the depths of sin that lie within us, and judging by them, the bitter cup of God’s destinies dissolves for us either more fiercely or more mercifully. When the sinful matter that lies within us, originating from voluptuous or life-loving thoughts, is easily curable and easily amenable to healing, then the Physician of our souls serves the cup of temptations, dissolved by mercy, because, in this case, we are tormented for human infirmities, as those who suffer something human. When, as if it came from thoughts of arrogance and extreme pride, it is incurable, lies deep inside and produces a deadly disorder, then this cup is served undissolved, in the ferocity of anger: so that the disease, being weakened and thinned by the fire of successive temptations, will finally depart from our souls, under the influence of the humility generated by them, after we have bitter thoughts of pride let us drown ourselves in tears, and let us appear pure to the Physician of our souls in the light of humility. 23. It is impossible for those who strive to avoid the temptations that follow one after another if they do not recognize their weakness and consider themselves alien to all truth and unworthy of any consolation, any honor, any peace. God, the Physician of our souls, has the goal that we should always be humble, contrite, withdraw from every person and imitate His suffering. Being Himself meek and humble in heart, He wants us, in meekness and humility of heart, to follow the path of His commandments. 24. Humility does not consist in bowing the neck, or in letting down one’s hair, or in wearing unkempt, coarse and poor clothing, in which many put the whole essence of this virtue, but in contrition of the heart and humility of the spirit, as David said: A contrite spirit, God will not despise a contrite and humble heart (Ps. 50:19). 25. A different humility, a different humility and a different humility. Humility and humility are manifested by those who strive in any kind of suffering (in arbitrary deprivation) and in external labors of virtue - since they are all turned to physical works and activities, which is why with them the soul, not always in a strong good mood, is confused when encountering temptation. But humility, a divine and great thing, occurs only in those who, through the inspiration of the Comforter, have already crossed the middle, that is, have gone far ahead along the shortest path of virtue, through all humility. 26. Humility, penetrating into the depths of the soul and settling on it like a heavy stone, oppresses and squeezes it so strongly that all its strength is exhausted in the uncontrollable outpouring of tears, from which the mind is cleansed of all filth of thoughts, it occurs in a vision of God and under the influence of it is forced to cry out, like Isaiah: oh, I am wretched, I am grieved, because I am a man with unclean people. lips and live among the people also with unclean lips, and with my eyes I have seen the King, the Lord of hosts (Isa. 6:5). 27. When deep humility comes to you, then arrogance will leave you. When humility takes root in the depths of your heart, then all humility will fall away from you. When you are enriched from above with humility of mind, then external humility and lowly speaking of the tongue will be abolished in you, according to the word of the Apostle Paul: and when that which is perfect comes, then that which is in part will cease (1 Cor. 13:10). 28. As far as the east is from the west, so far is true humility from true humility. How much greater is heaven than the earth and the soul of the body, to that extent is the humility given to the perfect by the Holy Spirit more perfect and greater than true humility. 29. Do not immediately assume that someone who speaks humbly while wearing a humble appearance and attire is humble in heart, nor do you suddenly consider someone who speaks loftily and pompously to be full of arrogance and pride, having not experienced them in advance; but by their works know them. 30. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control (Gal. 5:22). The fruit of the opposite spirit is hatred, worldly cowardice, mental disorder, anxiety of the heart, guile, curious wisdom, carelessness, anger, unbelief, envy, gluttony, drunkenness, abusiveness, condemnation, lust, arrogance and pride. Know the tree from such fruits, and in this way you will truly know what kind of spirit the one who speaks to you is of. You have their signs and the word of the Lord indicated even more clearly. A good man, He says, brings forth good things from the good treasure of his heart; an evil man brings out evil things from the evil treasure of his heart (Matthew 12:35). For according to the tree is its fruit. 31. In whom the fruits of the Holy Spirit are and are seen; in them God dwells. From them is the clear source of words with wisdom and understanding, whether you hear them speaking humbly or speaking high. In those in whom the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit are not seen, but the fruits of an opposing spirit are seen, in those there is the darkness of ignorance of God, a crowd of passions and the dwelling of enemy spirits; Do you see them as humbly speaking and humble-minded, or talking about lofty things, in foreign clothes and with a representative appearance? 32. Truth is not characterized by faces, appearance, or words, and God does not rest in them, but in contrite hearts, in humble souls, and in souls enlightened by the knowledge of God. It happens that someone, as we see, outwardly, in words, puts himself lower than others, and in front of everyone uses humble statements about himself in order to catch human praise, while inside he is full of conceit, guile, envy and rancor against his neighbor. It happens, on the contrary, that someone, as we see, outwardly with highly wise words stands up for the truth, and rebels against lies, or the crime of divine laws, looking at the truth alone, and inwardly he is full of modesty, humility and love for his neighbor, although sometimes he boasts in the Lord, imitating Paul, who, boasting in the Lord, said: I will boast in my infirmities (2 Cor. 12:9). 33. God does not look at the outward appearance of what we say or do, but at the spiritual disposition and purpose with which we either do some of the visible deeds, or talk about some of the mental things: just like among people, those who are superior to others in understanding look more at the power of words and the purpose of deeds, and based on them they make infallible judgments about persons. What usually happens is that a person looks at his face, but God looks at his heart (1 Samuel 16:7). 34. God has destined that from generation to generation the preparation by the Holy Spirit of His prophets and friends for the well-being of His Church should not cease. For if the ancient serpent does not cease to spew out the poison of sin into the ears of people for the destruction of souls; then He who specially created our hearts (Ps. 32:15) will not raise the poor from the earth of humility, and from the rotting pit of passions will not exalt the needy (Ps. 112:7), sending to help His inheritance the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph. 6:17)? Reverend are those who deny themselves, beginning with humility, ascend to the height of knowledge, and the word of wisdom is given to them from above by the power of God, as if they preach the good news of the salvation of His Church (Ps. 67:12). 35. Know yourself, and this is truly true humility, teaching you to be humble and contrite the heart, and forcing you to do and keep this very thing. If you have not yet come to know yourself, then you do not know what humility is, both doing and keeping it has not yet been touched upon: for knowledge is the end of doing the commandments. 36. He who, by the degree of purity, has achieved the knowledge of beings (όντων), has come to know himself, in accordance with what has been said: “know yourself.” Whoever has not yet cognized the logoi (λόγων - words) of creation (κτίσεως), and divine and human things, perhaps knows what is around him and outside him, but does not know (γνώρισε) himself at all. 37. I am not what is on me (connected with me). And it’s not what I mean, what’s about me (around me). Nor is it I who is outside of me. Because I am the image of God, visible in the intelligent soul (νοερή), immortal and rational (λογική), as an inseparable and consubstantial mind, which is the father of reason (λόγου). What is on me is the natural (έμφυτες - innate) properties (ιδιότητες) of a person to reign (βασιλεύει) and dominate (άρχει) over creation (κτίση), it is reasonable (λογικός) and autocratic (αυτεξούσιος). And what about me is free will (προαίρεση) to choose who to be: a farmer, merchant, teacher or philosopher. What is outside of me refers to social (κοινωνικές) values (τιμές) and worldly goods (ευγένεια), such as: wealth, fame, honor, prosperity (ευημερία) and height of rank, or vice versa: poverty, disgrace (αδοξία), dishonor and misfortune (δυστυχία). 38. Everyone who has come to know himself has rested from all works according to God and entered the sanctuary of God, into the mental worship of the Spirit, and into the divine refuge of dispassion and humility. He who has not come to know himself through humility, while still at work, delights in the path of this life. About this, David said fortune-telling: it was difficult for me until I entered the sanctuary of God (Ps. 72:16, 17). 39. When someone knows himself; and this requires a lot of outside guarding, abolition from worldly affairs and a strict examination of conscience - then immediately and suddenly a divine kind of humility comes into the soul, bringing contrition and tears of warm tenderness to the heart: so that then the one experiencing its effect within himself considers himself earth and ashes, a worm, and not a person, unworthy even of this animal life, for the superiority of this gift of God in which to abide he who has been honored is filled with an indescribable intoxication of tenderness, enters into the depths of humility, and, leaving himself, counts everything external - food, drink, clothing of the body - as nothing, as one who has been changed by the kind change of the right hand of the Almighty (Ps. 76:11). 40. Humility is something greatest in the virtues: for in whom it takes root through sincere repentance and takes prayer with abstinence as a companion, it immediately makes them free from passions, peace gives them strength, cleanses the heart with tears and fills it with silence in the invasion of the Spirit. When they are so attuned, then through that word the knowledge of God becomes clear to them, and they enter into the contemplation of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God and the knowledge of creatures. But, insofar as they delve into the depths of the Spirit, they also plunge into the depths of humility; and from this their knowledge of their own measures and the weakness of human nature increases, and their love for God and their neighbors increases, so that they are convinced that they receive sanctification from the mere greeting and closeness of those who treat them. 41. Nothing inspires souls to desire God and love Him more than humility, tenderness and pure prayer. Humility crushes the spirit, sheds streams of tears and, presenting before the eyes of consciousness the smallness of our human measures, teaches us to see our weakness; tenderness cleanses the mind of everything material, enlightens the eye of the heart and makes the entire soul radiant; pure prayer unites the whole person with God, makes him a table companion with the Angels, gives him a taste of the sweetness of God’s eternal blessings, supplies him with treasures of great mysteries, and, inflamed with love, disposes him to dare to stand with his soul for his friends, as having already risen above the limits of human insignificance. 42. Preserve for me a good pledge of enriching humility, in which the hidden treasures of love are put together for preservation, in which the margaritas of tenderness are stored - and the King, Christ God rests as if on a throne, bound in gold, sharing the gifts of the Holy Spirit with His pupils and the great ones, making them worthy of their honors: words of His knowledge, His ineffable wisdom, vision of divine things, foreknowledge of human things, life-giving dying in dispassion and uniting with Him very closely, for reigning with Him in the kingdom of the Father and God, as He Himself prays to Him, saying about us: Omche! whom You gave Me, I want them to be with Me where I am (John 17:24). 43. When someone, actively working to fulfill the commandments, is suddenly filled with unspeakable and inexpressible joy, so that he himself changes in some wondrous and inexpressible change, and, as if having been stripped of the burden of the body, forgets about food, sleep and other needs of nature: then let him know that this is God’s visitation to him, producing life-giving mortification in those who strive and introducing then into a state of disembodied. The cause of such a blessed life is humility; nourisher and mother - holy tenderness; friend and sister - contemplation of divine light; throne - dispassion; the end is the Holy Trinity-God. 44. Having reached this acropolis (Kremlin), he cannot be held by the bonds of feeling to anything from all created things, does not turn his gaze to any of the joys of life, does not distinguish between the unlike and the holy, but just as God rains equally and the sun shines on the righteous and the unjust, on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45), so he shines and extends the rays of his love to everyone, not placing himself closely in their hearts (2 Cor. 6:12), but fraught with love for everyone, and if he feels tightness and burden, then only then, as he cannot do as much good as he wants. From here, as once upon a time from Eden, another spring comes out, dividing into four rivers (Gen. 2:10) - humility, purity, dispassion and undisturbed (silent) prayer, and waters the face of the entire mental creation of God. 45. Those who have not tasted the sweetness of tears of tenderness and do not know what their grace is and what their effect is, think that they are no different from those that are shed for the dead, inventing many types of assumptions, empty and bewildered conclusions. “But they are naturally innate to us; and when the pride of the mind inclines to humility, and the soul closes its eyes from the charm of visible blessings and directs them to one vision of the first immaterial light, every feeling towards the world is shaken, and the consolation of the Spirit is vouchsafed from above: then tears, like the waters of a spring, flow out of it, confirm its feelings, and fill its thoughts with all joy and light of the divine; and not only this, but they also crush the heart and make the mind humble in the vision of the best. It is impossible for all this to happen in those who cry and weep for other reasons. 46. It is impossible to open the source of tears without the deepest humility, nor to be humble again without tenderness produced by the influx of the Spirit: for tenderness from humility, and humility from tenderness of the Holy Spirit, are generated by the Spirit. They, like links in a chain, holding on to each other and bound by one grace, form an inextricable spiritual union. 47. The light that descends from the Holy Spirit into the soul usually departs due to despondency, negligence and indifference regarding words and food: for just as indifference in food and a well-fed meal in general, so also failure to hold the tongue and not guard one’s face drives it out of it and makes us darkened. When will we be filled with darkness; then all the beasts of the field of our hearts and the lions of passionate thoughts disperse through the soul with a roar, seeking food for themselves in passions, and attempting to steal the treasure placed within us by the Spirit (Ps. 103:21). But our true friend is abstinence, and Angelic prayer not only does not allow anything like this to happen in the soul, but also preserves the unquenchable light of the Spirit in the mind, makes the heart quiet and pure, exudes divine tenderness, expands the soul with love for God, and completely unites it, in joy and virginity, with Christ. 48. Nothing is more characteristic of rationality than purity and chastity of the soul, of which the mother and friend is all-round abstinence, and the father is the fear of God. The fear of God, transformed into the lust of God and combined with a heartfelt disposition towards divine things, makes the soul a parent free from fear, full of love and divine understanding. 49. Fear, having previously combined with the soul, through repentance makes it fraught with thoughts of judgment. Then the diseases of hellish torment surround her (Ps. 114:3); sighs and sorrowful longings with a compression of the heart torment her at the thought of future retribution for evil deeds. Then, through many tears and labors in the womb of the thought conceived (the intention to achieve salvation), having grown, she gives birth on earth to the spirit of her heart of salvation (determination), and having been freed from torment at the thought of hell, and having been delivered from groaning under the influence of the idea of ​​judgment, she perceives within herself the lust and joy of future blessings, and meets a friend - purity with chastity, which with sincere love combines her with God. - Having united with God, the soul feels an indescribable sweetness, and from this, with pleasure and pleasure, she sheds tears of tenderness, it becomes alien to sympathy for everything that is in the world, and, as if in a frenzy, it flows in the wake of the Bridegroom, thus calling out to Him in a silent voice: “I flow after You, into the fragrance of Your world.” Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where do you graze? where do you rest at noon of pure contemplation? so that I will not be forced to wander through the flocks of Your friends - the righteous (Song. 1: 3, 6): for the radiance of the great mysteries is with You.” “The groom, having introduced her into the treasure-keeper of his innermost secrets, makes her a contemplator of the essence of creation with wisdom. 50. Do not say in your heart: it is impossible for me to otherwise acquire the purity of virginity, after so many times I have corrupted myself and succumbed to the frenzy of the body. For where illnesses and labors of repentance are applied with compassion and warmth of soul, and rivers of tears of tenderness flow, there all the strongholds [of sin] are destroyed, every fire of passions is extinguished, and a new birth from above takes place through the influx of the Comforter Spirit; and the soul again becomes a chamber of purity and virginity, into which the prenatural God, descending in light and inexpressible joy, and as if seated on a throne of glory at the height of its mind, gives peace to the forces existing in it, thus saying: “Peace to you from the passions that fight you, my peace I give you for action that is natural to you, my peace I leave you for the achievement of prenatural perfection.” Having thus healed the trinity of the soul by the trinity of the gift of the world and having raised it to trinitarian perfection and united it with Himself, God now makes it all virgin, all good, all beautiful, anointing it with the fragrance of the world of purity, and says to it: “Arise, come, my neighbor, my good, my dove, in active wisdom. For now the winter of passions has passed, the rain of voluptuous thoughts has passed and swept away, the flowers of virtues with the fragrance of thoughts have appeared on the earth of your heart. Arise, come to Me in the rational knowledge of nature, come, my little dove about yourself, into the cover and darkness of mysterious theology and faith, this rock solid in Me God” (Song. 2:10-14). 51. Blessed to me is the one who, with active wisdom, surpassed the wall of passionate habits, and from there, on the silvered wings of dispassion in knowledge, ascended into the mental air of contemplation of all things, and from here, entering the darkness of Theology, finally rested from all these deeds in God with a blessed life, for he, having become perfectly an earthly Angel and a heavenly man, glorified God in himself, for which reason God glorified him. 52. There is great peace for those who love Your law, and there is no stumbling block for them (Ps. 119:165). Because God does not like what people like - it may seem to everyone that it is not good, but by its nature [it] is very good (πολύ καλά) for those who know the logos (λόγους) of beings (όντων) and creation (δημιουργημάτων). 53. Good (άριστο) is to die for the world and live in Christ, otherwise no one is able to be born again, according to the word of the Lord: unless someone is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). Such birth [usually] occurs from obedience to spiritual fathers. Because if we do not first (πρωτύτερα) become pregnant with the seed of the word (λόγου) through the teaching (διδασκαλία) of the fathers, and through them we do not become the sons of God, then we cannot be born again. For in this way the twelve apostles were born from one Christ, and the seventy apostles from the twelve, becoming sons of God the Father (Πατέρα), as the Lord said: you are the sons of My Father in heaven (Matthew 5:45). That is why the Apostle Paul tells us: and what if you have many mentors in Christ, but not many fathers; I have begotten you [in Christ], imitate me [as I am Christ] (1 Cor. 4:15, 16). 54. If you do not obey your spiritual father in imitation of Christ (Χριστού), who was obedient to the [Heavenly] Father even to death on the cross (Phil. 2:8), then it is impossible to be born again. Thus, whoever has not become the beloved son of a good father (πατέρα), how will he himself, not being born of the Word (Λόγο) and the Spirit (Πνεύμα), become the good father of his [spiritual] children, who are conformed to the goodness of their father? Otherwise (Διαφορετικά), the tree will certainly (οπωσδήποτε) also produce its fruit (Matthew 12:33). 55. Unbelief, evil love of money and envy are the most evil generation. If it is bad, isn’t that which gives rise to it even more bad? for this last (love of money) love for gold makes in the sons of men preferable to love for Christ, considers the Creator of matter less than this substance, and teaches him to serve him more than God, who more willingly agree to serve the creature to a greater extent than the Creator (Κτίστη) and put a lie in the place of the truth (αλήθειας) of God (Rom. 1:25 ). If the disease of love of money (φιλαργυρίας) is so bad that it can be called the second idolatry, then to what degree of badness does not the soul that is voluntarily afflicted with it exceed? 56. If you love to be a friend of Christ, hate gold and insatiable love for it, since it turns the thoughts of the one who loves it towards itself and tears it away from the sweetest love for the Lord Jesus, which appears not in the form of words, but in the form of action according to His commandments. If you lust after gold, then, alas! Of course, you will gain it if you consider love for him to be a gain, and not an extreme loss, preferably before love for Christ. But know that in this you will lose Christ in every possible way, and with Him you will lose God, without Whom there is no salvation for men. 57. If you love gold, then you do not love Christ. If you don’t love Christ, but love gold, then look, who is this tyrant trying to liken you to? To him, although a disciple, but not a faithful one, although a friend, he turned out to be a slanderer, who rebelled against the common Master, who miserably fell away from faith and love for Him and threw himself into the depths of despair. - Fear this example, you too, and run away from gold and love for it, so that you may acquire Christ, while at the same time showing true love for yourself: for do you see what is the fate of those who fall into this sin? 58. Without a calling from above, never seek to obtain chairmanship, with the help of gold, or with the assistance and intercession of people, even if you see that you have the power to use souls; for the following three misfortunes can meet you, and one of them will come true: either God’s indignation and anger will come upon you in various misfortunes and sorrowful circumstances, when not only people, but almost all creation will rise up against you and your life will be much rewarding; or you will be thrown out of there with great dishonor when others overcome you; or you will die at the wrong time, being cut off from real life. 59. You cannot attribute glory and dishonor to anything and be above troubles and pleasures unless someone is granted the right to look at how it all ends. When he sees how all glory, all pleasure and joy, all wealth and prosperity end in nothing, because death takes it all away and corrupts, then, having recognized the obvious vanity of human things, he turns his feelings to divine things, and to these, which remain and can never be corrupted, he cleaves, and turns away from them - as a result of which he becomes above the sorrows and consolations of earthly: sorrows, like having conquered voluptuousness, love of fame and adoration in the soul - consolations, as having torn away worldly feelings from the soul (all sympathy for worldly things). Regardless of whether he is revered or dishonored, whether sorrows or consolations surround him, he is always the same, and thanks God for everything, without lowering his thoughts. 60. A careful person can guess from dreams the movements and dispositions of the soul, and accordingly direct care for the organization of his spiritual state. For according to the mood of the inner man and his concerns, there are both bodily movements and mental dreams. Whoever has a material-loving and voluptuous soul dreams of acquiring things and monetary gains, also of women’s faces and passionate embraces, from which the desecration of his flesh and clothing occurs. Whoever has a covetous and money-loving soul always sees gold in his dreams: he either demands payment, then multiplies the interest, then hides what he has earned in the storeroom, or as if he is condemned as unmerciful. Anyone who is angry and envious imagines that animals or poisonous reptiles are chasing him, and he experiences great horrors and fears. Whose soul is saturated with vanity; he dreams of good rumors about him, noisy people's meetings for him, an offer to him or his receipt of some rank or authority. Whose soul is proud and filled with conceit; he sees himself riding around in shiny chariots or flying on wings through the air, and everyone else trembling before the greatness of his power. In the same way, a God-loving person, as zealous for the deeds of virtue and tireless in the deeds of piety, having a soul pure from addiction to material things, sees in a dream either the fulfillment of future things, or the revelation of terrible visions, and waking up, he always finds himself praying in tenderness and a peaceful dispensation of soul and body, with tears on his cheeks and with a conversation with God in his mouth. 61. Of what appears during sleep, another is a dream, another vision, another revelation. – Dreams are dreams that do not stand unchanged in the imagination of the mind, but in which objects are mixed up, some displace others, or change into others; there is no benefit from them, and their very dreams disappear with awakening; their hardworking zealots should despise. – Visions are dreams that remain unchanged all the time, are not transformed from one to another and are so imprinted on the mind that they remain unforgettable for many years: they show the fulfillment of future things, bring benefit to the soul, bringing it into tenderness with the presentation of terrible views, and the one who sees them is made self-absorbed and trembling from the constant contemplation of the terrible things that appear; industrious zealots should consider such visions precious. – Revelations are those that exist above any sense of contemplation of the purest and enlightened soul, representing some wondrous divine deeds and understandings, the secret knowledge of God’s hidden secrets, the fulfillment of the most important things for us, and the general change in worldly and human affairs. 62. Of the above types of dreams, the first are characteristic of sensual and carnal people, for whom God is the belly and reproachful saturation, whose mind is enveloped in darkness due to a careless life worn out by passions, and at whom demons mock through dreams; the second - to careful zealots, purifying spiritual feelings, and through the visible, beneficially leading to the comprehension of divine things and increasing prosperity; still others are perfect, effectively inspired by the Divine spirit and united with God by a God-speaking soul. 63. Not all people have true dreams, and not all of them are imprinted in the dominant part of the mind, but only those whose minds are purified and their spiritual feelings are enlightened, who have flown to natural contemplation, who have no concern for worldly things, no worries about real life, whose long fasts have been established in general abstinence, and whose sweats and labors for God have found peace in the sanctuary of God. in the knowledge of things and in the highest wisdom, whose angelic life is now hidden in God, and whose success in sacred silence has raised them to the level of prophets of the Church of God, about whom in the book of Moses God said: if you have a prophet, then I will appear to him in a dream, and in a vision I will speak to him (Num. 12:6), and in the book of Joel: and it will happen after this: and I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your old men will see dreams, and your young men will see visions (Joel 2:28). 64. Silence is a state of mind that is not chilled [by thoughts], the silence of freedom [from passions] and spiritual joy, the standing of the heart in God, undisturbed and unattracted (unattracted), bright contemplation, knowledge of God's mysteries, the word of wisdom from a pure mind, the abyss of God's understanding, delight of the mind, God's conversation, a vigilant eye, mental prayer, effortless in the great peace in labor, and finally unity and union with God. 65. While the soul is upset within itself, due to the disordered action of its forces and therefore is unable to contain the divine rays, until it has been granted freedom from slavery to the wisdom of the flesh and has not yet tasted peace, due to the recent cessation of the battle of uncontrollable passions in it; Until then, she needed a lot of silence of her lips, so that she could speak with David: but I, like a deaf man, did not hear, and like a dumb man, I did not open my lips (Ps. 37:14). She must always be sad and walk in contrition along the path of Christ’s commandments, while her enemy still insults her, and she awaits the coming of the Comforter, by Whom, when she remains in contrition and washes herself with tears, she is granted freedom. 66. When in silence the one who prepares the honey of virtues becomes higher than the humble flesh, as a result of the exploits of wisdom (asceticism) and his spiritual powers come to a natural state, due to the overthrow of wisdom (conceit, pride), when, having cleansed his heart with tears, he becomes able to accommodate the rays of the Spirit, puts on the incorruptible life-giving death of Christ and, sitting in the upper room of silence, receives Comforter with a fiery tongue; then he must boldly speak of the greatness of God, and proclaim His righteousness in the great assembly (Ps. 144:5, 11, 12, 21; Ps. 39:10), for he who has received the law of the Spirit within the womb, lest, like that evil servant, who hid the talent of his master, he be cast into eternal fire. So David, after he washed away his sin with repentance, and again accepted the prophetic gift, unable to hide God’s good deeds, addressed this word to God: behold, I will not forbid my lips. You, Lord, know. I did not hide Your righteousness in my heart, I proclaimed Your truth and Your salvation, I did not hide Your mercy and Your truth from the great assembly (Ps. 39:10, 11). 67. The mind, cleansed from all impurity, according to brilliant and bright understandings, becomes a starry sky for the soul, having within itself the shining Sun of truth, and emitting the bright rays of theology in the world; and the word of this mind, after it has been purified by the abyss of wisdom, brings to itself from there simple and pure (αμιγείς) views (όψεις) of things and clear revelations of hidden things, in order to comprehend what the depth, height and breadth of the knowledge of God is (Eph. 3:18). Having received these rays into His depths, He then explains in words the depths of the Spirit to all who have the Divine Spirit within themselves, reveals the cunning of the spirits, and tells about the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven. 68. Bodily lusts and leaps of the flesh stop abstinence, fasting and spiritual struggle; The reading of the Divine Scriptures cools the kindling of the soul and the excitement of the heart, unceasing prayer humbles, and tenderness, like oil, calms. 69. Nothing else, like pure and alien to all material prayer, makes a person a worthy interlocutor of God and unites with Him the one who prays to Him in words undistractedly, in the spirit, when, at the same time, his soul is washed with tears, delights in the sweetness of tenderness and is enlightened by the light of the Spirit. 70. The quantity in prayer psalmody is also wonderful when it is guided by patience and attention; but the quality itself enlivens the soul and is the cause of fruit [from prayer]. The quality of psalmody and prayer [good] is to pray in the spirit with the mind; and someone prays with his mind when, singing and praying, he surveys with his mind what is contained in the Divine Scripture and accepts the ascent of understanding in his heart from godly thoughts, with which the soul, mentally enraptured in the air of light, is brightly illuminated, even more purified, all raptured to heaven and contemplates the beauty of the blessings prepared for the saints, with the desire of which, inflamed, immediately reveals the fruit of prayer flowing from the eyes a source of tears from the action of the light-giving Spirit, delivering to the soul such a sweet taste that the one worthy of it often completely forgets about bodily food. This is the fruit of prayer, generated from the quality of psalmody in souls who pray well. 71. Where the fruit of the Spirit is seen, there is the quality of prayer; and where this quality is present, the quantity of psalmody is also excellent. Where the fruit does not appear, the quality is dry; if it is dry, much more so is the quantity, which, although it gives labor to the body, is in every possible way useless for many. 72. Observe the seduction (δολιότητα) of demons when you pray or sing psalms to the Lord. Demons deceive us, stealing the feelings of the soul and make us say one thing instead of another, changing the verses of the psalms into blasphemy (βλασφημίες), as what we have said, which is not permissible. They manage in every possible way to distract thought and feeling from what is being sung and erase everything from memory. Or they return us to the same place in the verse, causing oblivion, not allowing us to remember the continuation (συνέχεια). Or while we are in the middle of the psalm, all memory from the previous (προηγουμένων) verses suddenly disappears (σβήνουν) from the mind, so that we don’t even remember what we sang about, unable to find it and repeat it. They do this in order to plunge us into cowardice and despondency, and deprive us of the fruits of prayer, putting into our minds (νου) that time has passed (πέρασε). But persevere courageously and listen even more diligently to the psalms, slowly reading them; may you reap the fruit of prayer when contemplating what the verses of the psalms represent, and may you be enriched by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, shining in the souls of those who pray. 73. When something like this happens to you, when you try to sing intelligently, be careful not to become lazy, becoming cowardly, and do not prefer the peace of the body to the benefit of the soul, thinking that it is already late. But as soon as you notice the captivity of the mind, stop, and, even if you were already at the end of the psalm, go back diligently to the beginning of it, and starting again, read the same psalm in order, and do this, even if captivity happens to you many times in an hour. If you do this, then the demons, unable to tolerate your patience, constancy, and strength of zeal, will run away from you, covered in shame. 74. Firmly know that unceasing prayer is that which does not leave the soul, day or night, and which does not consist in raising hands, not in a position of the body in prayer, and not in pronouncing prayers with the tongue so that it can be seen with bodily eyes, but consists in mental doing with the remembrance of God with constant tenderness, and is understood only by those who know how to understand this. 75. You can always remain in prayer if you keep your thoughts gathered under the dominion of the mind in complete peace and reverence, penetrating into the depths of God and seeking to taste the sweetest stream of contemplation flowing from there: which is impossible in the absence of peace [thoughts]. Only those whose spiritual powers are pacified by knowledge can experience unceasing prayer. 76. If, while you are singing a song of prayer to God, a brother comes and knocks on the door of your cell, not preferring the work of prayer to the work of love, looking at the brother who is knocking on you: for this is not kind to God. He desires from you at this time the oil of love, and not the sacrifice of prayer. Why, leaving the gift of prayer, give your brother a conversation of love, and satisfy his desire. Then, returning, bring your gift to the Father of spirits with tears and a contrite heart, and the right spirit will be renewed in your womb. 77. The sacrament of prayer is not performed at a certain time or in a certain place. For if you define the matter of prayer by hours, times and places; then besides this, perhaps, as if by right, you will begin to spend your time in vain pursuits. The limit of prayer is the immovable abiding of the mind in God; business is the rotation of the soul in divine things; the end is clinging to God with the heart, so as to be one spirit with Him, according to the definition and word of the Apostle (1 Cor. 6:17). 78. Although you have already been put to death in the members of the flesh, and have been spiritually revived by the Spirit and have been granted supernatural gifts from God, still do not leave the mental power of your soul to wander hither and thither, but accustom it to always revolve in the remembrance of your previous sins and the torments existing in hell, and look at yourself as a condemned person. By turning your mind in such thoughts and looking at yourself in this way, you will maintain a contrite spirit, and you will have within yourself a living source of tenderness, emanating streams of divine grace, and you will see God looking at you and giving you the Spirit to strengthen your heart. 79. Prudent fasting, which has taken as its companion vigil with thought of God and prayer, soon leads its practitioner to the limits of dispassion, when his soul, in an abundance of humility, will be drenched in tears and inflamed with love for God. When he reaches this, then it introduces him to the spiritual world, which surpasses any free mind, and unites him with God through love. 80. This is not how a king speaks arrogantly about glory and kingdom and, admiring the sovereign power, rejoices like a monk about dispassion and tears of tenderness. But his arrogance fades along with his kingdom; and this blissful dispassion goes with him there and there remains in joy for endless centuries. Like a wheel, it rotates in real life between people, little touching the earth and what is on earth according to the necessary needs of nature; all of it spherically rushes into the mental air, combining the beginning with the end in itself, and carrying types of gifts of grace embedded in the crown of humility. For him, contemplation of Being is a rich meal, the cup of wisdom is a drink, and God is rest. 81. Those who willingly devote themselves to virtuous labors and complete the ascetic path with warm zeal are granted great gifts from God. Advancing toward the middle, he reaches divine revelations and visions, and the more intense his ascetic labor becomes, he becomes more luminous and wise. But the higher he ascends to the height of contemplation, the more he arouses the envy of destructive demons against himself: for they cannot indifferently see how a person is transformed into the Angelic nature; Why aren’t they too lazy to secretly shoot an arrow of self-conceit at him? If he, having understood the machinations of the enemy, hides in the fortress of humility, condemning himself (or in a feeling of contempt for himself), then he avoids the misery of pride and is led into the harbor of salvation. If not; then, having been abandoned by help from above, he is given over to the hands of the spirits of evil, who demand him, as one of their own in spirit, for involuntary punitive training, for the fact that he did not voluntarily show himself to be trained and skilled. These teaching punitive spirits are the spirits of voluptuousness and carnality, malice and anger, which humble him with fierce attacks until he recognizes his weakness, and, having mourned his fall, prompts him to cancel the teaching punishment. Then he too can cry out with David: It is good for me that You have humbled me, so that I may learn Your statutes (Ps. 119:71). 82. God does not want us to always be humbled by passions (we appear weak before them) and, when we are persecuted by them, to become like hares, taking Him alone as a stone for refuge: for otherwise He would not have said: Az rekh: gods ecme, and sons of the Most High (Ps. 82:6). But He wants us, like deer, to flow to the high mountains of His commandments, and to be thirsty for the life-giving waters of the Spirit; so that, as they, by nature, devouring snakes in the heat of a long run, wonderfully transform, as they say, the poisonous nature of snakes into little bodies (είς μόσχον) {harmless food}; So we, too, transformed every passionate thought, acceptable into the mental belly, by the action of fiery running through the commandments of God and the power of the Spirit into a good and saving act of virtue, so that through the act we might show all understanding as captives into the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). For the world above must be filled not with earthy and imperfect men, but with spiritual and perfect men, raised up into perfect men according to the age of the fulfillment of Christ (Eph. 4:13). 83. He who always revolves in the same place, and does not want to stretch himself into the front, is like a mule that turns a mill wheel, without moving forward at all. For he who always struggles with the flesh and exercises himself in bodily activities alone, despite all his suffering, causes himself great damage in higher things, without noticing how he has not comprehended the goal of the divine will. For, according to St. Paul, bodily training {exercise} is of little use (1 Tim. 4:8), until the earthly wisdom of the flesh is swallowed up by streams of repentance (tears of repentance), and life-giving spiritual deadness enters the body, and the law of the spirit reigns in our dead flesh. Spiritual piety, which under the influence of divine thoughts is contemplated as the tree of life in the mental activity of the mind, is useful everywhere and in everything, as it creates purity of the heart, as it establishes peace between the powers of the soul, as it introduces all spiritual goodness: enlightenment of the mind, purity of the body, chastity, all-round abstinence, humility, tenderness, love, sanctification, heavenly knowledge, wisdom. words, and the sight of God. Whoever, through many deeds, has ascended to such perfection of piety, has, through the red sea of ​​past passions, entered the land of promise, from which flows the milk and honey of the knowledge of God - this inexhaustible delight of the saints. 84. He who does not want (προαίρεση) to rise from the individual (επιμέρους) and little useful and to ascend to the absolutely (καθολικά) useful, still eats bran bread by the sweat of his brow, in accordance with the original (παλαιά) decision (απόφαση) God (Gen.3:19). That is why he has an undesirable (ανόρεχτη) soul in relation to the spiritual (νοητό) manna and the very honey that flowed for the sake of the people of Israel from the parted rock (Deut. 32:13; Ps. 80:17). But the one who heard the call (προτροπή): arise, let us go from here (John 14:31), and at this voice of the Teacher rose from painful labor, and stopped eating this bread of sorrow (οδύνης), throwing off the burden (ζυγό) of feelings and drinking from the cup of wisdom (σοφίας) of God, he knew (γνώρισε) that the Lord is good (Ps. 33:9), as having thus fulfilled the law of the commandments by serving the word, ascending to the upper room (υπερώο) and awaiting the coming of the Comforter (Holy Spirit). 85. In accordance with the rank and degree of spiritual (πνευματικής) life, we must in every way stretch into the front and ascend to the highest, as if we were ever moving in those who are towards God, and never knowing fatigue in doing good. From this active asceticism one must ascend to the natural contemplation of creation; and from this - to the mysterious Theology and to rest in it from all the labors of bodily work, having already become above everything bodily and temporal and having received prudent knowledge of the true distinction of things. If we have not yet received the knowledge of such a distinction, have not learned to move forward in this way and do not know how to strive for the perfect (τελειότερο), then we turn out to be even worse than worldly [people], who do not know the limit of prosperity (βελτιώσεως) of their social (κοινωνικής) positions (θέσεως) and standing (στάση) ascension, until they rise to the top of positions (αξιώματα) and calm the desires for that. 86. The soul, intensely purified with warm zeal through ascetic labors, is illuminated by divine light and little by little begins to see the beauty naturally given to it in the beginning by God, and expands in the love of the Creator. Since, as she is purified, the rays of the Sun of Truth become clear to her, and her natural beauty is revealed to her and is recognized by her; insofar as she also multiplies her ascetic labors for greater purification of herself, in order to purely comprehend the glory of the gift, which she was vouchsafed to receive the ancient nobility, and to preserve for her Creator His image pure and unmixed with anything material. And she never indulges herself and never ceases to put in labor after labor until she cleanses herself of all impurity and defilement and becomes worthy to see God and converse with Him. 87. Open my eyes and I will understand the wonders of Your law (Ps. 119:18), still covered in the darkness of earthly wisdom, he cries out to God. For the ignorance of the earthly mind, like darkness and deep darkness, covering the eyes of the soul, makes it darkened and darkened in understanding divine and human things, unable to direct its gaze to the illumination of the divine light, or to taste the blessings thereof, which the eye has not seen, about which the ear has not heard, which have not even entered the heart of man (1 Cor. 2:9). But opening her eyes through repentance, she sees all this clearly, hears clearly and understands rationally. And not only this, but also the ascension of understanding about this he believes in his heart. Having then tasted this sweetness, her mind is enlightened and with a word of wisdom she will tell everyone about the wondrous blessings that God has prepared for those who love Him and convinces everyone to seek their communion through many deeds and tears. 88. There are seven gifts of the Spirit. The Word of God, enumerating them, begins at the top, from wisdom, and descends to the end, to the spirit of the fear of God, saying: the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of strength, the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of piety, the spirit of the fear of God (Is. 11: 2, 3). We must begin with cleansing fear, that is, with the fear of torment, so that, through it, having first rejected ourselves from evil and through repentance cleansed from the defilements of sin, we can also achieve this pure fear, the gift of the Spirit, by those who are now coming to him, and resting in it in every act of virtue. 89. He who begins with the fear of judgment and succeeds in cleansing the heart with tears of repentance is filled, firstly, with wisdom, since fear is the beginning of it, as it is said (Prov. 1:7); then with reason and with advice, with the help of which he chooses soul-saving intentions. Having achieved this through fulfilling the commandments, he ascends to the knowledge of existence and receives the most accurate knowledge of divine and human things, and from this, having become the entire dwelling of piety, he ascends to the highest city of love and is perfect; and immediately pure fear, the gift of the Spirit, accepts him in order to preserve the treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven placed within him. This fear, being extremely saving, makes the one who has reached the height of love trembling and ready for any feat out of fear, lest he fall from such a height of love and be again plunged into the horror of torment. 90. The reading of the Scriptures is different for those who are just being introduced to the life of piety, it is different for those who have gone through to the middle of prosperity, and it is different for those who are ascending to perfection. For some, it is the bread of God's table, strengthening their hearts for sacred deeds of virtue, which gives them strong strength to fight against spirits acting in passions, and makes them courageous fighters against demons, so that they say: You have prepared a table for me against my oppressors (Ps. 22:5). For others, it is the wine of the Divine cup, gladdening their hearts, driving them into a frenzy with the power of thoughts, drawing their minds from the letter of the one who kills and testing them into the depths of the Spirit, and making them all the parent and finder of understanding, so that they too tend to say: And Your cup, which gives me drink, how strong it is! (Ps. 22:5). And for the third - with the oil of the Divine Spirit, anointing their soul, taming and humbling it with an abundance of Divine insights and delighting it all above the body, so that she, boasting, cries out: I anointed my head with oil... and Your mercy will follow me all the days of my life (Ps. 22:5, 6). 91. As long as we laboriously, with active wisdom, in the sweat of our brow, direct ourselves to God, diminishing the passions of the flesh, until then with our daily bread, which is prepared by the cultivation of virtues and strengthens human hearts, the Lord feeds with us at the table of His gifts. When, through dispassion, His name is sanctified among us, and He reigns over all our spiritual powers, having subdued and pacified what is distant, the worse, I say, to the best, and His will will be in us, as in heaven; then the new and ineffable beer of the wisdom of the Word, dissolved by tenderness and knowledge of the great mysteries, He drinks with us in His Kingdom, who has come to us. When we become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and are changed by a good change, in the renewal of our minds, then the existing God, as with gods, will be with us, having deified the perceived [humanity]. 92. When the uncontrollable water of passionate thoughts of the mind is restrained by the influx of the Holy Spirit, and the glorious abyss of inappropriate thoughts and memories is curbed by abstinence and the thought of death, then the divine Spirit of repentance blows, and waves of tenderness descend, which our God and Master, pouring into the laver of repentance, washes our mental feet and makes them worthy to walk in the courtyard of His Kingdom. 93. God the Word, having become flesh and becoming perfect man except for sin, took on our nature in His hypostasis, and, like a perfect God, recreated it and deified it. The Word is the essence of the first mind and God, united with the verbal part of it and revealed its grief - to philosophize and think about the divine. - But fire, being an essential and divine fire, made its irritating power capable of quickly resisting destructive passions and demons hostile to us. And the essence is desire (desired object) of every verbal nature and peace (complete satisfaction of lust, the desired part of it was kindled by inner love for the participation of these blessings of eternal life). Thus, having renewed everything in man, He made him new from the old. 94. God the Word, having sacredly accomplished our restoration in Himself, then sacrificed Himself for us through the cross and death, and always allows His most pure Body to be sacrificed, and every day offers it to us in a soul-nourishing, abundant meal, so that by eating it and drinking His most pure blood, in the feeling of the soul, through this communion we become better than what we are, merging with them, transforming from the worst into the best, and becoming one with the pure Word purely - both body and rational soul, as with the incarnate God, and consubstantial with us in the flesh: so that we are not our own, but the One who created us with Himself through the immortal table, and made us so according to the position (θέσει), that He Himself is by nature. 95. If, having been tested in the labors of virtues and purified by tears, we begin to eat of this bread and drink of this cup, then the pure Word, dissolving with our two natures in our meekness, completely transforms us into Himself, as if incarnate, and we, according to humanity, are consubstantial, and idolizes everyone to Himself, as being in conformity with Him and brethren, understands that God is one in essence with the Father. If we approach, being dissolved with the substance of passions and defiled by the filth of sin, then It, approaching us, with its natural sin-destroying fire burns and scorches us all, and cuts off our vitality, not by the benevolence of its goodness, but by disgust for our insensibility, being forced to do so. 96. To all who, out of active wisdom, have begun to walk the path of the commandments, the Lord, invisibly approaching, descends upon them; since they still have imperfect wisdom, their soul is still much perplexed in the matter of virtue, and their spiritual eyes are righteously held back at this time, so that they do not recognize their success when the Lord descends upon them, helps them get rid of passions and extends a helping hand to the practice of every virtue. When they continue to make progress in the deeds of piety and move toward dispassion through humility, then the Lord does not want them to remain weary of the labors of virtues, but to stretch further and ascend to contemplation. Why, having nourished them in abundance with the bread of tears, he blesses them with the light of tenderness, and their mind opens to the knowledge of the depth of the Divine Scriptures, and from this they see the natures and logos (λόγους) of beings; and [He] immediately hides from them in order to [encourage] them to stand up and seek with great diligence what (ποιά) knowledge of things is, and what exaltation (ανύψωση) comes from it. And those who have diligently found it rise to the highest ministry of the word (λόγου) and preach to everyone the resurrection of the Word (Λόγου), as those who know practice (πράξη) and theory. 97. The Lord rightly reproaches for inertia those who linger for a long time in the labors of an active life and do not want to part with them and ascend to the highest degree of contemplation, saying to them: O foolish ones and slow of heart in believing (Luke 24:25) to Him who can reveal the depths of the Spirit to those who walk in the Spirit! For the reluctance to move from beginner deeds to the most perfect ones, and from the letter of Divine Scripture to its highest understanding and meaning, is a sign of a lazy soul, not seeking to taste the sweetness of spiritual blessings and turning away from its own prosperity to its own detriment. For this, as one carrying her lamp that has gone out, it will not only be said to her: go, buy from those who sell, but after the bridal chamber is closed before her, it will be said to her: go away; I don’t know where you are from (Matthew 25:9, 12). 98. When the Lord Jesus Christ, as He once did to the city of Bethany, approaches a fallen soul with the goal of resurrecting its mind, dead from sin and buried under the corruption of passions, then wisdom and truth, immersed in sadness over the death of the mind, meet Him in tears and say: if You were here with us, watched and kept, then our brother - the mind - would not have died from sin (John 11:21). After this, truth hastens to nourish the Lord Jesus with concern for many things and the practice of virtues and to honor Him by offering a meal of suffering (arbitrary deprivation) complete and varied; and wisdom, abandoning all other concerns and difficult suffering, prefers to participate in mental activity, the mental movements of the Lord and listening to His contemplative understandings. The Lord graciously accepts the first one because she struggles well and strives to nourish Him with a meal of varied active wisdom, and because she cares about many things and does a lot of things that are not very useful, he reproaches her: for there is only one thing for the needs and to please the Lord - to subordinate the best thought to the worst, to translate the earthly wisdom of the soul into the spiritual in the sweat of virtuous labors; and he praises the second and attracts to Himself, as having chosen the good part of spiritual knowledge, in which, soaring above human things, she enters the wondrous depths of God, from there she buys valuable beads for herself and sees the hidden treasures of the Spirit, and she experiences indescribable joy, which will not be taken away from her. 99. The mind, mortified by passions and revived by the presence of the Lord Jesus, having thrown away the stone of insensibility, is freed from the captivity of sin and corrupting thoughts by the spiritual servants of the Lord, that is, by the fear of torment and the labors of good deeds; Having then tasted the light of the future life, he is released to go to dispassion, having achieved which, he sits on the throne of the senses, and having purely sacredly performed the sacrament of vision, he becomes a table holder of the Lord Jesus, and together with Him, ascending from earth to heaven, he co-reigns with Him in the Kingdom of God and the Father, having rested from all his quests. 100. The dispensation there, which has to be by permission from the body, for every zealot who labors lawfully, who has passed to the middle and who has been perfected to the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ, is clearly visible through the effective certification of the Spirit. There, eternal joy in the ever-present light constitutes the bliss of that inheritance; unceasing joy embraces the hearts of those who labor here legally, and the joy of the Holy Spirit kisses them, which, according to the word of the Lord, will not be taken away from them. He who has been worthy of the coming of the Comforter here and has enjoyed His fruits in the cultivation of virtues, and has been enriched by His gifts, is filled with the joy of existence and all love, since every fear runs away from him, in joy is released from the bonds of the body, and with joy he takes off from everything visible, to which, while still living, he forgot all feeling in advance, and rests in the indescribable joy of light where there are all those who rejoice. home; although the body of some suffers during the resolution and suppression of union with the soul, like wives during difficult childbirth. The third speculative chapter of the centurion is about love and the perfection of life God is the dispassionate mind, more than any mind and any dispassion, - the light and source of good light, - wisdom, word and knowledge, and the giver of wisdom, word and knowledge. To whom these gifts of purity are given for the sake of, and in whom they are seen, in those the hedgehog remains preserved in the image; so that through this they become sons of God, led by the Spirit, as it is written: as many as are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Rom. 8:14). 2. Those who through ascetic labors made themselves clean from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, became friends of the immortal nature through the gifts of the Spirit. Until now, those who have reached the essence of the good light, from which they are filled, being in the heart with a quiet peace, utter good words and the wisdom of God flows from their lips in the knowledge of divine and human things, and their pure word speaks about the depths of the Spirit. There is no law against such (Gal. 5:23), since they were once united with God forever and were changed by a good change. 3. With zealous diligence, he who with difficulty reaches out to the Divine becomes a reflection of the image of God through spiritual and physical virtues; since then he is in God and God rests in him after dissolution, so that from this he is and is seen as the image of Divine bliss in the richness of the gifts of the Spirit, and in his position (θέσει) as God, and God is the perfecter of his perfection. 4. Man was created in the image of God, and not according to the organic structure of the body, as someone would say out of ignorance, but according to the intelligent (νοερή) nature of the mind, which is not described by the body, which gravitates downwards. For as the Divine nature, beyond all creation and rudeness (παχύτητα), exists, is not described, is not limited [by anything], but is indefinable (αόριστη) and incorporeal, above every creature and word (αιτία), low-quality (having no properties), intangible, inquantitative, invisible, immortal, incomprehensible and in no way understandable by us: so the mental nature given to us from Him, as indescribable, is not corporeal, invisible, intangible, incomprehensible, and is the image of His immortal and ever-present glory. 5. The First Mind, God, is of one essence in Himself, has the Word with the Spirit co-essential, never being without the Word and the Spirit, due to the inseparability of nature, not merging with them, due to the non-fusion of the hypostases existing in Him. Why, naturally giving birth to the Word from his being, He Himself is not separated from It, being indivisible in Himself. The Word, which is co-essential, has a co-natural Spirit with Himself, which proceeds eternally from the Father and is not cut off from its parent. For they have one and indivisible nature, although according to the difference of hypostases it is divided into persons, and the trinity is sung - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These persons, as one nature and one God, are never separated from the co-existent being and nature. See the image of this trinitarian and individual nature in the man He created, but in the mental part of it, and not in the visible, in the immortal part, and not in the mortal and decaying part. 6. God, incomparably higher than the essence of all the creatures He created, giving birth to the Word without separation from Him, and emitting the Holy Spirit to preserve the existence and power of creatures, is outside everything and inside everything. In the same way, man is a participant in His Divine nature, being His image, in a mental, not bodily and not mortal soul, and having a mind that naturally gives birth to the word from its being, outside and inside there are substances and these visible members of the body. And just as the one who created him is not divided from his hypostases, the Word and the Spirit, so he, in his soul, is indivisible, and not divided from the mind and the word, a single nature and being, indescribable by the body. 7. The Deity is trihypostatic, worshiped in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The three-parties also see the image He created - a man - with soul, mind and word worshiping God himself, who created everything from non-existent things. What is co-eternal and consubstantial with God by nature is co-natural and consubstantial with His image. By these features we can see what is in us according to the image, and by them I am the image of God, although dissolved in clay and dust. 8. Another is the image of God, and another is what is seen in the image. The image of God is the mental soul, mind and word, a single and indivisible nature; and what is seen in this image is authority (independence), dominion (independence) and autocracy (freedom). Also - the glory of the mind is different, its dignity is different - that which is in the image is different, and that which is in the likeness is different. The glory of the mind is exaltation to the mountain, constant, continuous movement towards the highest, keen-sightedness, purity, rationality, wisdom, immortality. The dignity of the mind is literature, independence, sovereignty, autocracy. What is in the image is to have a soul with mind and word, personal, consubstantial and indivisible. The mind and the word belong to the soul, incorporeal, immortal, divine, mental - and they are all consubstantial, co-eternal, inseparable from each other and cannot be separated. That which is in likeness is righteousness, truthfulness, goodness, compassion and philanthropy. In those who have these qualities in action and constantly remain, in those it is clearly seen that they are in the image and in the likeness. 9 . The tripartite rational soul is again seen in two types of action, of which one is rational, and the other is passionate. The rational, in the image of the Creator of its essence, is uncontrollable and indefinable by feelings, as if it exists outside and inside them. By this action, she, joining the intelligent divine powers, by nature flows to God, as if to her prototype, and is delighted by His divine nature. Her passionate action by feelings is fragmented into many parts, subject to suffering and joy. By this action, she, joining the sensitive, nutritious and plant nature, is subject to the influences of air, cold and heat, and has a need for food to maintain life, for growth and health. Changing under the influence of all this, she sometimes lusts, and dumbly accepts lusts, evading the movement of nature, sometimes she becomes upset and is agitated by unreasonable anger, and sometimes she experiences hunger, thirst, sorrow, illness, and again calms down: so here she either enjoys joys, or suffers sorrows; why this side of it is rightly called passive or passionate, as it manifests itself in passions and suffering. When this deathly thing is swallowed up, it becomes intelligent life (2 Cor. 5:4), due to the victory of the better over the worse; then the life of Jesus is revealed in our mortal flesh (2 Cor. 4:11), producing in us the life-giving deadness of dispassion and imparting incorruptible immortality through the influx of the Holy Spirit. 10. As the Creator of everything, before the creation of all things from nothing, had in Himself knowledge of their nature and essence, as the King of the ages and the forerunner of everything; so He gave to man, whom He created in His image as the king of creation, to have within himself not only the power to know everything, but also that from which everything created is composed. So it has dry and cold in the dust from which it was created, the warmth of blood from air and fire, moist phlegm from water, growth from plants, nourishment from animal-plants, passion from irrational animals, intelligence and intelligence from Angels, insubstantial inhalation from God, incorporeal and immortal soul, visible in mind and word, and in the power of the Holy Spirit - to be and to live. 11. To God, who created us in His image and likeness, we are like in virtue and understanding. The virtue of God is righteousness, honor and truth, as David says: You are righteous, O Lord, and Your truth surrounds You (Ps. 119:137; Ps. 88:9), and also: righteous and holy is the Lord (Ps. 145:17). We are also like him in righteousness and goodness, for the Lord is good and just (Ps. 24:8); the word of wisdom, and the word of understanding, for these are in Him, and He is called wisdom and understanding (Col. 2:3); holiness and perfection, as He Himself says: be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48), and: be holy, because I am holy (1 Pet. 1:16); humility and meekness, for he says: learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29). 12. Our mind, being the image of God, has what is peculiar to it in itself when it remains in activities akin to it and does not allow movements in itself that are far from its dignity and nature. Why does he willingly love to revolve in that which relates to God and seeks to unite with that, from Whom he received his beginning, by Whom he moves and towards Whom he strives according to his natural properties, and wants to imitate Him with his love of mankind and simplicity. For this reason, giving birth to the word, the mind, like other heavens, restores the souls of people of the same tribe, and makes them strong through the patience of active virtues, and gives life to them with the spirit of its lips, giving them strength against destructive passions. Thus, he too is the organizer of the mental creation, imitating the Creator of the great world, God, and clearly hears this word to himself from above: if you bring out the precious {honest} from the insignificant, then you will be like My mouth (Jer. 15:19). 13. He who remains in activity natural to the mind and in worthy use of the word is kept pure from substance and adorned with meekness, humility, love and mercy, and is enlightened by the effulgence of the Holy Spirit. Directing the eyes of the mind to higher contemplations, he achieves knowledge of the hidden mysteries of God, and kindly communicates them with the word of wisdom to those who can listen to this, not only multiplying his talent for himself, but also allowing his neighbors to enjoy its fruits. 14. Whoever has elevated the best of our two natures over the worst and made it free from the influence of this latter, has acquired an immaterial residence among immaterial spirits, becoming himself a mental spirit, although he is seen physically rotating among other people. 15. He who overcame the division of the union (ένωση) of flesh and spirit by nature and dignity [of the spirit], he subordinated all creation to God, uniting into one what had been broken (χωρισμένα) and reconciled (ειρηνοποιώντας) everything. 16. As long as our natural powers keep themselves disorderly among themselves and fall apart into many clumps, until then we cannot be partakers of the supernatural gifts of God. Remaining uninvolved in them, we stand nowhere far from the mysterious sacred rite performed by the mental activity of the mind on the heavenly altar. When we, zealously undergoing sacred deeds, are cleansed from sensual attractions and by the power of the Spirit we gather them into a single group formed in us, then we also participate in the ineffable blessings of God, and we worthily offer up the divine sacraments of the mysterious sacred rites of the mind to God - the Word on the heavenly mental altar of God, as spectators and priests of His immortal mysteries. 17. The flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit is contrary to the flesh (Gal. 5:17), and some kind of secret warfare stands between both of them, so that one of these enemies may gain victory over the other and pull the government to its side. This is what we call sedition, crowds, rebellion, rebellion, internecine strife, which tears the soul apart. 18. As long as unsound (άστατοι, unstable, changeable) thoughts (λογισμοί) divide us and the law of the flesh has force (ισχύει) and is observed (τηρείται) in us, we are scattered into many parts (διασκορπιζόμαστε) and we fall away from the Divine Unit, as not being enriched by this unity. When will this deadness be sacrificed to the unifying (ενοποιό) power of the Unit and acquire supernatural (υπερφυσική) carelessness (αμεριμνία), and the mind will be its own master (κύριος - master), illuminated by the wisdom of those who create (σοφοποιές) meanings (νοήματα) and illuminations; then the soul, in sacred union with the One, freed from discord, in imitation (μίμηση) of Him, in simplicity (απλότητα) will unite (ενώνεται). Such is the restoration (αποκατάσταση) of the soul to its original (αρχική) state and such is our renewal (ανακαίνιση) for the better. 19. Ignorance is terrible (φοβερό) evil (κακό), more terrible than tangible (ψηλαφητό) darkness (σκοτάδι). Souls covered (ρίχνει) with darkness (ζόφο) are divided by thoughts into many parts and separated from union with God. The result of this is unreason (αλογία), leading a person to madness (άλογο) and insensibility to everything. And so ignorance, when it becomes enormous, casts the soul into the hellish abyss, in which [it finds] punishment, suffering, sadness and sighing. Conversely, Divine knowledge (γνώση), being brilliant and full of infinite light, makes the souls in which it appeared due to their purity, luminous (φωτοειδείς) and divine (worthy of God). Filling them with peace, silence, joy, unspeakable wisdom and perfect love. 20. The coming of the divine light, since it is simple and solitary (ενιαία), gathers the communion souls to itself and turns to itself, and unites them with its unity, and perfects them with its perfection, introduces their intelligent eye into the depths of God, and makes them spectators, mysteries (μύστιδες) and secret guides (μυσταγωγούς) great secrets. If you only desire to achieve extreme purity through spiritual labors, you will actually see in yourself the action of what has been said that is kind to God. 21. Illuminations (ελλάμψεις) of the First Light, coming with knowledge (γνώση) to purified souls, not only create them good and light-like, but also, through natural (φυσική) contemplation (θεωρία), elevate them to mental (νοητούς) heaven. And [there], as here, the [influence] of the Divine action (ενέργεια) on them does not cease; they take place there until the souls, through wisdom and knowledge of indescribable mysteries, are united with the One, and from a state of plurality come to a state of unity in Him. 22. First of all, we need to become pure (καθαροί) and unclouded (αθόλωτοι) from the welcoming malice (κακία) of mental [spirits] - this is the stage (τάξη) of purification. Then, it is necessary to make our intelligent eyes enlightened (φωτισμένα) and always shining - this is the stage of [enlightenment] (φωτιστική), which is accomplished mysteriously (μυστική) in the hidden (κρυμμένη) wisdom (σοφία) of God. And so, after we rise to the science (επιστήμη) of sacred knowledge, as (οποία) service (διακονεί) with the new and old word to those who have ears, we will begin to teach the hidden (απόκρυφα) and mysterious (μυστικά) meanings (νοήματα), revealing them to the undefiled, as those who turn rumors (ακοές), and hiding them from the imperfect, so as not to give holy things to dogs and not to throw the pearls of words before swine souls, making them unsuitable (obscene) (Matthew 7:6). 23. When a person, out of faith, which has a deposit, and the love of God, sees the burning (φλόγα) of his soul expanding around (πλατύνεται), then let him know that he carries within himself Christ, who by action (ενεργεί) raises souls from the earth and visible (ορατά) [things] and prepares an abode for them in heaven. When he sees that his heart is filled with joy and desire for inexpressible divine blessings (αγαθά) with tenderness (κατάνυξη), then let him know that the divine Spirit (Πνεύμα) is working inside (μέσα) of him. When he feels that his mind is filled with the inexpressible light and meaning (νοήματα) of heavenly (ουράνιας) wisdom, then let him know that this is happening (ενεργείται) the descent (επιφοίτηση) of the Comforter to his soul, to reveal the treasures of the Kingdom of Heaven that are hidden within Him. And then [man], as the palace (παλάτι) of God and the abode of the Spirit, let him guard (φυλάει) himself with zeal. 24. Keeping the hidden treasures of the Spirit is abstinence from human things, which is rightly (κυρίως) called silence (ησυχία). From this purity of heart and the sweetness of tenderness, the desire (πόθο) of love (αγάπης) for God burns (ανάβει) for God, and resolves (frees) the soul from the bonds of feelings, and convinces (πείθει) to follow a free way of life (ζωής). And when he switches (μεταστρέψει) her powers, he raises them to a natural state and returns them to the primitive structure, so that there is no blame on the Creator (Δημιουργού) of the good (καλών), which changes the image (εικόνας) He moves his own (κίνηση) for the worse. 25. This sacred and divine perfection is elevated by the splendor (λαμπρότητα) of reason (λογική) and skillful (επιστημονική - scientific) silence, when, of course, it is practiced and carried out in accordance with the rules. If someone, having not reached such a height and perfection, thinks that he is silent, while he has not yet achieved such intelligent and perfect silence, [he will not even] calm down (ησυχάσει) from the inner storm of passions until he rises to this height. But let only the body be closed (κλεισμένο) in walls or abysses and caves, exhausted by a disobedient (άτακτο) and wandering mind. 26. Souls that have reached extreme purity and ascended [to] the great height of wisdom and knowledge (γνώσεως) are like Cherubim, after they approach with their science (επιστήμη) the Source of good (καλών). And from there the revelations (αποκάλυψη) of true vision are received purely inwards, with which only the Cherubic powers, as someone said, are directly illuminated from the very Divine Beginning (Θεαρχία) of divine contemplations, according to their highest prostration (ανάταση). 27. Like the first angelic powers, some are the most ardent (θερμότατες) and the fastest (ταχύτατες) around the divine (θεία), having the ability to move forever around them, and others have the ability to see God (θεοπτικότατες), [abundant] knowledge (γνωστικές) and [the outpouring of] wisdom (σοφότατες), and this is their divine skill (έξη), so that they will forever move around them (divine). So these souls are the most ardent around the divine (θεία) and the fastest, wise, knowing and stretched out (ανυψώνονται - raised) by mysterious contemplations. It is their nature, by virtue of their strength and divine skill, to move eternally around God, to rise steadily and abide in Him. And along with this, there is a skill in the receptivity of illumination (ελλάμψεων), with which [they] become partakers of God and transmit to others abundantly the word of His illumination and grace (χάριτες). 28. God is the Mind and the cause of the eternal movement of everything. And all minds, in that First Mind itself, have both constant (μόνιμη) standing (στάση) and incessant movement. This happens to those who do not have (έχουν) substance-loving (φιλόυλη) and passionate (εμπαθή) movement, but through sacred deeds acquired pure and unpolluted movement (αθόλωτη). And this happens because, having divine love (έρωτα), they transmit to each other and to themselves the beneficial illumination (ελλάμψεις) emitted from the Godhead (Θεαρχία); and the wisdom of the mysteries of God hidden in them is passed on with love to others, so that [they] constantly glorify the love of God. 29. Standing and moving around God are the souls of those who have easily cast aside thoughts from matter and through double (δυάδα) warfare with themselves (flesh-spirit, σάρκα-πνεύμα) have created a well-controlled (πειθήνιο - obedient) chariot flowing to heaven. And [they] constantly move around God, as a certain center, which is the cause of the movement of the entire cycle (κύκλου). They stand constantly and unshakably, as if in a circle, unable to dissipate their unity (συνοχή) {in their place of residence} and turn to the feeling and earthly charm of human things. And this is the perfect (ολοκληρωμένο) end of silence, leading the truly silent to stand while they move, and while they stand firmly to move around the divine (περί τα θεία). And until this is accomplished, through imaginary silence, as we think, it is impossible to find our mind free from matter and delusion (περιπλάνηση wanderings). 30. When with all zeal and diligence (σπουδή) we come to the ancient (αρχαίο) goodness (beauty) of the word and receive the good part from the outpourings (επιφοίτηση, insights) of the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge given to us from above; then we make sure (διαπιστώνομε) that the first Source and Cause of the production (παραγωγής) of all (πάντων) wise and good [is] in us, that we can more (μπορούμε) mature (βλέπομε) according to [one’s] nature (κατά φύση). And there is no longer anything condemnatory in us to be accused of that malice (κακία) stuck (κόλλησε) in our creation (κόλλησε) when deviating for the worse. When they were torn away from one and fell, and were torn away from the original kindness, they lost the image of deification, and instead found the other, and thus, anger burst (εφόρμησε) inside [us] and gave it (the image) an unreasonable (άλογη) appearance (μορφή). 31. The first stage (βάση foundation) for those striving to succeed [in deification] is the knowledge of beings, which is carried out by remaining in active wisdom. The second is awareness (επίγνωση) of the hidden secrets of God, which are secretly learned (μυσταγωγούνται) through natural contemplation. And the third is connection and dissolution (ανάκραση) with the First Light, in which all activity (πρακτική) of prosperity and all contemplation ends and rests (αναπαύεται). 32. All minds, in themselves, in three stages uniformly rotate, gather, and are directed towards themselves and towards the truly Existent. And, enlightening their neighbors, like purified spirits (πνεύματα), secretly teach (μυσταγωγούν) them divine (θεία) and perfect (τους τελειοποιούν) heavenly wisdom, uniting those with themselves and with the Unit. 33. Deification in [real] life is truly a spiritual and divine sacrament (ιερουργία), in which the word is sacred (ιερουργείται) with inexpressible wisdom and is given, as far as possible, to those who have prepared themselves. This God has gracefully bestowed upon our rational nature for the sake of the unity of faith. Those, namely, who are pure, partake of this high position through the knowledge of the divine (θείων), and become like God in accordance with the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29) together with high and spiritual movements (κινήσεις) around the divine (θεία). And so the position (θέσει) of gods will become among other people on earth. And others, through their purification by the [divine] word (λόγου) and through sacred (ιερής) interaction with the first, will improve (τελειοποιούνται) in virtue; and, as they succeed [in that] and purify themselves, join in the deification (θέωση) of the first, becoming partakers of their union (ενώσεως) in God. And all of them, thus united together and embraced by the union of love, will unceasingly unite with God; and God, the source of all good deeds, will dwell among the gods (Ps. 82:1). God by nature (φύσει) among the gods by position, free from all blame, as the creator of everything. 34. It is impossible for a zealot to gain similarity to God, as much as it is available to us, if he does not first wash away with warm tears the mud of sin that has invaded him and does not cleave to the fulfillment of the holy commandments of Christ. Otherwise, it is impossible for him to become a partaker of God’s ineffable blessings. For he who wants to intelligently taste divine sweetness completely lags behind every worldly feeling, and occupies his entire soul with the contemplation of the blessings set aside by the Holy One. 35. Preserving unchanged Godlikeness, acquired by extreme purity and complete love for God, is possible only with the constant stretching of the eye of the mind to God, in which the soul is usually established through constant activity in good deeds, through unceasing, pure and unwavering prayer, through all-round abstinence and diligent reading of the Scriptures. 36. We must not only strive to come to the peace of the forces located (existing) in us, but also strive to achieve mental peace (αναπαύσεως) of thoughts (λογισμών), which, as is known (ξέρει), every desire (έφεση, conversion) for the good (αγαθό) gives rest with silence (γαλήνη) of thoughts and divine dew descending from heaven, it refreshes the wounded heart and heals it with fire sent from above and kindled by the Spirit. 37. The soul, deeply wounded by love for God, after tasting the sweetness of His mental gifts, cannot remain in itself at all or remain in the same state (κατάσταση), but strives to extend into greater ascents to heaven. For as much as she goes through her ascents by the Spirit and penetrates into the depths of God, she becomes even more inflamed with the fire of desire and experiences the greatness of His deepest mysteries, and hastens to approach the blissful light in which every frenzied (άπλωμα) mind stops in order to complete its journey there (πορεία) and rest in the joy of the heart. 38. When someone becomes a partaker of the Holy Spirit and recognizes His influx from some indescribable action and fragrance within himself, which is noticeably revealed even in the body: then he can no longer remain within the limits of nature, but, having changed with the good change of the right hand of the Most High, he forgets about food and sleep, despises everything corporeal, neglects the rest of the flesh, and all day long he remains in labor and sweat. ascetics, does not feel any fatigue, or any natural need, neither hunger or thirst, nor sleep, or other needs of nature. For the love of God, with inexpressible joy, was poured out into his heart (Rom. 5:5), and he, spending the whole night in vigil, doing mental work in bodily exercise, enjoyed an immortal meal from the immortal growths of the mental paradise, into which Paul, being raptured, heard ineffable verbs that cannot be heard by a person who has an addiction to the sensual. 39. The body, once inflamed by the fire of asceticism and watered with the water of tears, is no longer oppressed from its labors, having left many sweats (αγώνες), since it has become above active exercise (άσκηση), but having accepted inside the silence and silence of the world, it is filled with a different strength, a different blessing (ευτονία), a different strength of the Spirit (Πνεύματος). The soul, enriched by such a cooperating body and having received a dispensation that exceeds bodily training, changes natural (φυσικές) movements [and turns] into mental exploits (αγώνες), and working with effort (δύναμη) in mental work, preserves for itself the fruits of immortal gardens in the mental (νοητό) heaven (Παράδεισο). Where, like a river, flows the source of divine (θεοπρεπών) meanings (νοημάτων), and in which stands the tree (δένδρο) of the knowledge of God (Θεού), bearing fruits of wisdom, joy, peace, goodness, mercy, long-suffering and unspeakable love (Gal.5:22). He who does this carefully, and so protects (φυλάει), moves away (απομακρύνεται) from the body and penetrates (εισδύει) into the darkness of theology. In a frenzy (έκσταση), he leaves everything, as if not restrained by anything visible, and, uniting with God, ceases (σταματά) works (αγωνίζεται - struggle) and desires (ποθεί). 40. Which of the existing things in us is higher - for us stewards - visible or mental? If it is visible, then nothing will be more preferable and desirable for us than perishable things. And if mental: then God is spirit: and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Thus, bodily exercise is unnecessary when mental activity is strong, from which what weighs down below becomes easy and everything turns into spiritual, in its unity with the best. 41. There are three degrees in those who succeed in the ascent to perfection: purifying, enlightening and mysterious or perfective. The first is characteristic of beginners, the second - of average and the third - of perfection. Ascending in order through these three degrees, the diligent ascetic grows to the stature of Christ, and becomes a perfect man, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (Eph. 4:13). 42. Those who are introduced to sacred feats are at the purifying stage. Characteristic of it are the putting aside of the image of the dusty man, liberation from all sensual passion, and the putting on of a new man, renewed by the Holy Spirit. Her deeds are hatred of the sensual, exhaustion of the flesh, removal from everything that can arouse passionate thoughts, repentance for what she has done; with this - washing with tears the sweetness (saltness) of sin, improving the character with the grace of the Spirit, with touched contrition, cleansing the inner cup, that is, the mind, from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and pouring into it the wine of the word, gladdening the heart of the person being cleansed and bringing it to the king of spirits for consumption. The end is the effective kindling of oneself with the fire of asceticism, the ejection of all sinful poison from oneself through ascetic labors, the hardening of oneself through immersion in the water of contrition and making oneself a sword that powerfully cuts passions and demons. He who achieved this extinguished the power of natural fire, stopped the mouths of lions - fierce passions, became strong in spirit, from weak became strong and, like another Ausitidian (Job), erected for himself the trophy of patience, defeating the tempter. 43. Those who have succeeded in the first dispassion through the action of sacred feats stand at the enlightened degree. Characteristic of it are the installation in the mind of the image of sound words, or sound views on all things, and the communion of the Holy Spirit. Her work is the purification of the mind by the action of divine fire, the mental opening of the heart's eyes, and the birth of words with high thoughts of the mind. And the end is the Word of wisdom, which explains everything that exists and happens, the knowledge of divine and human things, and the revelation of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven. He who has achieved this through mental activity of the mind on a fiery chariot carries the fourfold virtues, and, like another Thesbite (Elijah), while still alive, he soars into the mental air and goes around the heavenly regions, becoming above all earthly things. 44. Those who have already reached the measure of the age of Christ stand at the mysterious or perfect degree. It is characteristic of them to cut through the air, to ascend above everything, to revolve in the circle of the highest ranks of heaven, to approach the first Light, and to explore the depths of God in spirit. The task of this degree is to fulfill the viewer of such objects: the mind with knowledge of the ways of Providence, the laws of justice and truth, and the resolution of fortune-telling, parables and dark words of the Divine Scripture. The end is to secretly guide one who is so perfect into the hidden mysteries of God, to fill him with ineffable wisdom through the combination of the Spirit with him, and in the great Church of God to reveal him as a wise theologian, enlightening people with theological teachings. He who has reached this measure, through the action of the deepest humility and contrition, is admired to the third heaven of theology, like another certain Paul, and hears ineffable verbs that cannot be heard, and a person under the influence of feelings, tastes ineffable blessings, which the eye has not seen, and of which the ear has not heard, and becomes a minister of the mysteries of God, becoming His mouth, and performs them for people In a word, resting in this blessed peace in God, perfect in the perfect, and with theologians in communion with the highest powers of the Cherubim and Seraphim, to whom belongs the word of wisdom and together the word of reason. 45. The life (βίος) of a person is divided into two paths (τρόπους), and his goals (στόχοι) have three classes (τάξεις). One of the paths is worldly and social, and the other is solitary and worldly. Social life is thus divided into chastity and greed (απληστία). The solitary life is divided into wisdom in natural knowledge (γνώση) and supernatural action (ενέργεια). The first of them either lies in truth, coming to its natural state, or in untruth, therefore it comes to untruth, having lost (χάνοντας) the movement inherent in nature. Another, if he goes to the intended goal, following the rule, comes to the infinite (άπειρη) Nature (Φύση), to supernatural perfection. But if, out of an ambitious (φιλοδοξία) intention, he begins to exercise (άσκηση), he will sin (fail), coming into an unacceptable (αδόκιμο) mind (Rom. 1:28), and, as imperfect, he will be justifiably rejected from the rank (τάξη) perfection. 46. The Holy Spirit (Άγιο Πνεύμα) is light, life and peace. He who is enlightened by the divine Spirit leads his life peacefully and quietly. From this comes his knowledge of things and wisdom of speech, and he acquires the mind of Christ (νου του Χριστού) (1 Cop. 2:16). He knows the secrets of the Kingdom and penetrates (εισχωρεί) into the depths of God, and day after day, from a serene (ακύμαντη) and enlightened heart, he speaks words of life [for the benefit] of people, because good is he who has within himself the Good One (Αγαθό), speaking new and old (Matthew 13:52 ). 47. God is wisdom, and He idolizes those who walk in word and wisdom with the knowledge of the heavenly (όντων), unites them with Him with light, and makes them gods by position (by grace). And just as God, after he through wisdom created everything out of nothing (μηδέν), through wisdom everything that exists in the world directs, controls, and also always accomplishes the salvation of all who turn to Him with repentance (μετάνοια). And also those who, due to purity, have been honored to become partakers of the highest wisdom, and he always, as the image of God, with the same wisdom creates and does what is according to the will of God. He collects himself from the external (εξωτερικά) and diverse (πολυσχιδή), and every day he extends his verbal (λογιστικό, thought) with the knowledge (γνώση) of the ineffable (απορρήτων) to the truly angelic image (τρόπους) of life. And fulfilling, as far as possible, a single (ενοειδή) life, he unites with the highest powers that revolve around the one God, and with those, as good leaders, he rises to the first Beginning (Αρχή) and Cause (Αιτία). 48. United by wisdom with the highest powers, and for that reason united with God, for it is in the likeness of God, wisely (εμφιλόσοφο) talking with everyone, in word and combination (συναναστροφή), and by divine power unties (αποδεσμεύει) of those who want, from the external and varied, leading them, as ourselves, to the spiritual (πνευματικά) and uniform (ενοειδή) life, as an imitator of God. And, [gathering in spirit,] raises them with reason, wisdom and hidden illumination (έλλαμψη) to the contemplation of the glory of the one and first Light, and so united with the angelic (αγγελικές) beings and ranks around God, leads to unity with God, after they have become all-radiant with illumination (φωτισμό) Spirit. 49. The four general (γενικών) virtues are followed by eight natural [and most important] virtues, to each of which two virtues are added on one side and the other, thus each forming a trinity. After all, wisdom is accompanied by knowledge (γνώση) and contemplation (θεωρία) of wisdom. Justice is reasoning and compassionate advice (σπλαχνική διάθεση). Courage is patience and firmness (σταθερότητα). Chastity is purity and virginity. God, as a certain Builder and Master (Μυσταγωγός), of this threefold dozen (δωδεκάδας) virtues, with supreme (i.e. God) wisdom, sits on the throne of the mind, sending the Word (Λόγο) to create this world of virtues. The Word, taking from each of the initial (αρχικές) virtues, creates in the soul an intelligible world of piety. And, like the sky, He extends in it prudence (φρόνηση), full of stars, for an all-illuminating (καταλάμπει) life, in which, like two great luminaries, He establishes divine knowledge and natural contemplation (φυσική), shining and enlightening; like the earth, He establishes justice in it for an endless (αδάπανη) holiday; and how air establishes chastity, for the cooling and refreshment (εκούρασμα) of the purest life; how the sea determines courage against (γύρω) diseases (ασθένεια) of nature, for the destruction of the strongholds and exaltations of Satan (σατανά) (2 Cop. 10:4). This is exactly how the [Divine] Word created this world, God puts inside it (βάζει μέσα) the power of the Spirit for mental and unceasing movement and, at the same time, continuous unity, inseparable (αδιάσπαστη) and constant, according to what David said: By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established and by the Spirit of the mouth His is all their strength (Ps. 32:6). 50. The spiritual growth of those who are zealous for salvation corresponds to the growth of our Lord Jesus Christ as humanity. When they are infancy in the new beginning, then, like the Lord Jesus, who fed on milk, they feed on the milk of bodily virtues, or bodily training, which is of little (short) benefit to those who grow in virtue and little by little put off infancy (1 Tim. 4:8). When they grow to the age of young men and begin to eat firmly the food of the vision of the truth of God, as having the senses of their souls already trained (Heb. 5:14), then they become like the Lord, advanced in age and grace, sitting among the elders and revealing to them deep mysteries (Luke 2:46). When they come to the measure of the full stature of Christ (Eph. 4:13), then they are like the Lord, who proclaimed the word of repentance to everyone, who taught the people the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, and, meanwhile, hastily approached their suffering. This is the end of everyone who has perfected himself in virtues, so that, having passed through all the ages of Christ, he may enter into sorrowful temptations in accordance with His cross. 51. While we are under the elements of bodily training, we are still under guardians and rulers, like babies, guarded so that we do not touch unnecessary brushes, do not give free rein to the sense of touch, do not gaze at beauty, do not listen to sweet songs, do not delight our senses with aromas, although we are the heirs and masters of all our father’s property. When this time of training ends and ends with dispassion, then, freed from the law of carnal wisdom, we remain under the law of the Spirit and accept adoption. When this is accomplished, then the Spirit cries in our hearts: Abba Father! (Gal.4:6) showing and letting us understand our sonship and our boldness towards the Father and God, and he dwells and converses with us as with sons and heirs, no longer held under the yoke of slavery to the senses (Gal.4:3, 7). 52. Before those who, like Peter, succeeded in faith, like Jacob, rose to hope and, like John, were perfected in love, the Lord, having led them to the high mountain of Theology, is transformed: the image of His face in pure word is illuminated like the sun; His garments in the understanding of ineffable wisdom are as bright as light, and He - God the Word - is seen by them standing in the midst of the law and the prophets, now as a lawgiver and teacher, now as a revealer of the deep and hidden treasures of wisdom, now as a seer and predictor of the future. Then, like a bright cloud, the Spirit overshadows them, and the voice of the mysterious Theology comes to them from there, teaching them the mystery of the Trinitarian Divinity, and thus telling them: behold, my beloved is the limit of perfection, about whom I have been pleased - that you may be sons to me, perfect in the perfect Spirit. 53. The soul, having despised everything for a long time, and being completely wounded by love for God, experiences a strange and divine frenzy. After she clearly sees the natures and logoi of beings, and comprehends the ends (results) of human things (πραγμάτων), she does not tolerate being inside the world (σύμπαν) and being limited by the body (σώμα) that contains her. But, having gone beyond its limits and dissolved the painful bonds of feelings, having overcome the nature of all things (όντων), with ineffable (ανέκφραστη) silence he enters the darkness of theology and beholds the beauty of Existence (Όντος) in the light of the meanings (νοημάτων) (ανείπωτης) wisdom, as far as it is given to it (the soul) by grace. Thus, the soul divinely deepens (εμβαθύνει) with meanings into His contemplation and blissfully (εντρυφά) with fear (φόβο) of love (αγάπης) with the fruits of immortal plants (φυτών), I mean, meanings (νοήματα) of divine concepts (εννοιών), whose splendor (εννοιών) and glory cannot be fully expressed [when she returns from the frenzy (έκσταση) into herself]. But, strange as it may seem, acted (ενέργεια) by the Spirit, experiences a praiseworthy (επαινετό) passion in inexpressible joy and silence, but the image of this divine (θείας) action, or who is the one who controls, looks and speaks secretly (μυστικώς) inexpressible, cannot explain. 54. He who sows tears of tenderness in [the name of] virtue (αρετή) will reap the fruit of life as inexpressible joy. Whoever diligently (ζήλο) and patiently waits for the Lord until the fruits of his virtue (αρετής) sprout, he will reap the juicy (μεστωμένα) ears of God's knowledge and will be enlightened by the light of His wisdom, and will be an everlasting lamp of light to illuminate (φωτίζει) of all people (ανθρώπους). And he will not envy himself and his neighbors, not hiding under the vessel of envy the light of wisdom given to him (Matt. 5:15), but in the Church of believers he will speak good words for the benefit of many, and reveal the original fortune-telling (Ps. 77:2), in accordance with what (όσα) he heard from heaven from the announcement (υπαγορεύει) of the divine Spirit, and what he learned in the training of contemplation of beings (όντων), and what the fathers told him (Ps. 77:3). 55. This will happen to every [zealous] ascetic (αγωνιστή) on the day of his perfection in virtue, the mountains of fulfillment of the divine commandments will pour out (σταλάξουν) to him with the sweetness of joy, and he will reign in Zion in a pure mind, and the hills of words, that is (δηλαδή) of virtue, will flow milk, offering him food while he rests on the bed of dispassion; and all the fountains of Judah, I say, of faith and knowledge, will flow forth water, that is, doctrines (δόγματα), parables and riddles of divine things; and from the heart, as from the house of the Lord, an inexpressible source of wisdom will flow and water the valley (χείμαρρο) of the reeds (σχοίνων) {winter stream} (Joel.3:18), that is, people dried up by drought and the heat of passions. And then he will understand (διαπιστώσει, discover) in himself the fulfillment of the words of the Lord: whoever believes in Me, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). 56. The Sun of righteousness will rise, says God, for you who fear Me, and their actions (πράξεις) will lead to healing. They will emerge from the prison of passions and leap like calves freed from the [slavery of] sin. And they will trample upon the wicked (άνομους) and demons, for they will be dust under your feet in that day of dispensation (αποκαταστάσεως) of them, on which I will do, says the Lord Almighty (Mal. 4:2, 3). This, of course, will be when they are clearly exalted (ανυψωθούν) with all virtues and so that they are perfect in wisdom (σοφία) and knowledge (γνώση) through communion (μέθεξη, communion) with the Spirit. 57. When on the mountain of the plain (πεδινό) of this world and (και) of the Church of Christ, you raise the flag of new knowledge and lift up (υψώσεις, lift up), according to the Prophet, the voice of wisdom (Is. 13:2), given to you by God, supporting (στηρίζοντας) with word and teaching your brethren, revealing to them the meaning (νόημα) of the divine Scripture for the knowledge of the wondrous gifts of God, and in order to lead them to the fulfillment of the commandments; then do not be afraid of those who envy the power of your words and distort every {all} (κάθε) divine Scripture, because they are empty, worthless and ready to be the dwelling place of the devil (Matthew 12:44). For God writes your words in the book of the living, and there will be no harm to you from them, just as there was no harm to Peter from Simon the magician (μάγο). You will probably say (μάλλον), and you will say on that day with the Prophet on which you see these people building traps against you (παγίδες) on the way: “Behold my God and the Lord is my Savior; I will trust in Him and I will be saved by Him, and I will not fear, for my glory and my praise is the Lord; and He was my salvation, and I will not cease from proclaiming His glorious (ένδοξα) deeds (έργα) throughout all the earth” (Is. 12:2, 4). 58. If you understand that the attraction (ορμή, impulse) of passions in you is inactive (άπρακτη), and that tenderness and humility (και η ταπεινοφροσύνη) flows from your eyes, then know what has come to you The Kingdom of God and you became filled (εγκυμονείς, became pregnant) with the Holy Spirit. Moreover, if you feel that the Spirit acts, moves and speaks in your womb, and prompts you to speak [at a large (μεγάλη) meeting (συνάθροιση)] in the Church the saving truths of God, do not forbid your lips, fearing the envy of the Jewish wise (ιουδαιοφρόνων), but sit down and write on the board, as Isaiah says (Is. 30:8), what the Spirit tells you (υπαγορεύει, dictates), because they will remain for a long time, and even forever. According to him who said this: Those who are painfully jealous are a rebellious people (απειθής), illegitimate (νόθα) children of lies, who do not have faith and do not want to hear that the Gospel is at work today (σήμερα), creating friends of God and Prophets (Is. 30:9). But they say to the prophets and teachers of the Church: “Do not proclaim (αναγγέλλετε) to us the wisdom of God and those who see visions of natural (φυσικής) contemplation, saying: Do not say the things that you say to us and proclaim to others, but speak and proclaim to us another deception, which the world loves, and take away judgment from us. Israel (Isa. 30:10, 11). So do not listen to their envy and words, because what is announced to you from above is said for the benefit of many: those who are completely deaf, and those who are in the darkness of this life, and those whose eyes are blinded in the darkness of sin - will see the light of your words (Is. 35:5), and the poor in spirit will rejoice over them, and despairing people will be filled with joy (Is. 29:18, 19), and those who wander in spirit will know wisdom is in your words, and those who murmur against you will learn to obey the words of the Spirit, and tongues that stammer (τραυλίζουν) will learn to say “peace” (Is. 29:24). 59. Blessed is he who has in Zion, that is, in the Church of God, the seed (τέκνα) of teaching his words, says Isaiah, and his own (δικούς) spiritual (πνευματικούς) sons (υιούς) in the highest (άνω) Jerusalem from the firstborn ( Isa.31:9). For a person, he says, who hides his words for a time, will hide himself as from rushing water; and, finally, he will appear in Zion, in the Church of believers, like a flowing, glorious river in a thirsty land (Is. 32:2) with streams of his wisdom. And those attracted (παρασύρονται) by envious people cease to be convinced of them, but will listen attentively to the words of that person (Is.32:3), and the heart of the weak (ασθενούν) soul will listen with attention (Is.32:4). And now the servants of envy will not say “be silent,” for, being pious (ευσεβής), he thinks prudently (σκέφθηκε), and not like the foolish (μωροί) wise men of this world, saying foolish things (Is. 32:8, 6). Neither does his heart think of empty things, to commit lawlessness (άνομα), and to speak about God in words of error, in order to scatter hungry (πεινούν) souls and leave thirsty souls (διψούν) unsatisfied (Is. 32:6). Therefore, his words will remain (παραμείνουν) for the benefit of many, and let the envious not like it. 60. Anyone who dwells in a high cave, in a solid rock, will be given bread of understanding to satisfy him, and a cup of wisdom to drink, and so his water will not run dry (Is. 32:16). And he will see the King (Βασιλιά) in glory, and his eyes will see the earth from afar (Is. 33:17). His soul will learn wisdom and will proclaim to everyone the eternal place (Is. 33:18, 14), outside of which there is nothing. 61. If the teaching of the Lord opens the ears of everyone who fears Him (Is. 50:5), and guides the ear to hear, and gives a tongue of teaching (παιδαγωγημένη) to know when to speak (Is. 50:4); Who is another who brings back the rational (φρόνιμους) and wise men of this world, and makes their advice foolish, and confirms (βεβαιώνει) only the words of His servants (Is. 44:25, 26), unless He Himself does something new and glorious for His glory (Του)? creating in a desolate (έρημο) and parched heart the path of humility and meekness, and in a dry and waterless mind - indescribable rivers of wisdom, to water His chosen people, the people He has preserved, to proclaim His virtues (Is. 43:19-21). He goes ahead of those who love and fear Ero, and levels the mountains of passions, and breaks down the copper gates of ignorance, and opens the doors of His knowledge, and reveals to them the treasures [of the mind] hidden in darkness, secret and invisible. In order to know that He is the Lord God, who calls them (τους) by the name Israel (Is. 45: 2, 3). 62. Who is he who disturbs the sea of ​​passions and stops its waves, and delivers those who love Him from the danger (κίνδυνο) of sin, and calms the storm of thoughts (λογισμών)? It is the Lord of hosts who puts His words in their mouth and covers them under the shadow of His hand, with which He established the heavens and founded the earth (Isa. 51:15, 16). He gives to those who fear Him a tongue of teaching and an ear of prudence (συνετή), to hear His voice from above and to proclaim (απαγγέλλουν) the commandments (προστάγματα) in the house of Jacob, that is, in the Church of believers. And those who do not have [inner] eyes to see the rays of the Sun of truth, and ears (hearing) to hear the glorious (ένδοξα) of God, their lot is the darkness of ignorance, and their hope is vain, like their words. None of them speaks the truth, no one can judge the truth, they hope in vain, they speak in vain, for they conceive envy and give birth to slander (Is. 59:4) Because their ears are uncircumcised and they cannot listen; and therefore the word of knowledge (γνώσεως) of God is mocked among them, and they will not want to hear it (Jer. 6:10). 63. What wisdom do they, who are sick with envy of their neighbor, have? (Jer.8:9) How will the envious say, says Jeremiah, that “we are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us?” (Jer.8:9), when they melt (λιώνουν) from jealousy (ζήλεια) towards those who have received the grace of the Spirit through the knowledge and wisdom of God. But this false knowledge is in vain for the scientists (γραμματείς) and sages of the world [of this], as those who have missed (αστόχησαν) true knowledge. After this, the disgraced wise men, having become unworthy of the wisdom of the Comforter, seeing it multiplied in the sons of fishermen (ψαράδες), and fearing the power (δύναμη) of their words, were caught in the net of their meanings (νοημάτων), because they rejected the true wisdom and knowledge of the Lord. 64. Why did envious people abandon the source of God's wisdom, melting away out of jealousy towards those who were enriched by the grace of the Spirit and accepted the tongue of flame, like the reed of a scribe? (Ps.44:2). If they walked in the way of God, they would live in a world of dispassion forever (Bar.3:12, 13), they would know where wisdom is, where strength is, where reason and knowledge (γνώση) of beings are, where long life and life are, where light of the eyes is and wisdom with peace (Bar.3:14). And they would see that God commands words through the Prophet to his secret places (μύστες), saying: The Prophet who has seen the dream of revelation, let him tell the vision of his dream; but he who has received My word for himself, let him proclaim My word faithfully (Jer. 23:28). And one more thing: write all the words that I spoke to you in a book (Jer.36:2); and therefore [if they follow the path of God, then] they will never melt with envy of these people. 65. If an Ethiopian changes his skin and his lynx spots, will the envious be able to think (σκεφτούν) and speak good, having learned evil? (Jer.13:23). For they cause stumbling blocks to their neighbors, being hypocritical (υποκριτικοί) and treacherous (δόλιοι), and quarreling with their friends, and not speaking the truth, because they have trained their tongue to speak vain and false things (Jer. 9:4, 5). Therefore, understand those who, because of [your] knowledge of God and the word, laugh and envy you, and pray properly, like Jeremiah, saying: Lord, remember me, and visit me, and protect me from the envious men who persecute me; according to your long-suffering, do not destroy me, wanting to tempt me in many ways; know that for Your sake I have suffered reproach from those who reject Your knowledge (γνώση) (Jer. 15:5). Put an end to their zeal, and the word of Your knowledge will be the joy and gladness of my heart (Jer. 15:16); I did not sit in the cheerful assembly of those who ridicule (χλευάζουν) Your knowledge, but I feared Your hand, and when I sat in solitude, I was filled with sorrow from their envy (Jer. 15:17). And you will hear: I know them well; but if you return someone who has gone astray from his path [to the true path], I will place you among My friends, and you will stand before Me; and if you bring out the precious from the worthless, then you will be like My mouth, and I will deliver you from the hands of the envious destroyers, says the Lord, the God of Israel (Jer. 15:19, 21). 66. Towards the end of the word, let the envious sages hear: The Nazarenes, purified by God's works, were purer than snow, and enlightened with their life whiter than milk, the appearance of their wisdom surpassed sapphire (Lam. 4:7), and the mark of their words surpassed pure pearls. And vice versa (Αντίθετα), who ate the sweet worldly knowledge, perish from hunger before the sources of the Spirit (Πνεύματος), and those brought up (ανατρέφονταν) on the purple (πορφύρα) wisdom of the Greeks, - covered with the dung (κόπρο) of ignorance (άγνοιας) (Lam. 4:5), and they laid fetters on me and bound me with them. Because their tongue was stuck in their throats, and they lost their hearing after they condemned true wisdom, and rejected the knowledge of the divine Spirit, and did not want to receive Him from their labors. 67. God, who humbles (ταπεινώνει) the high tree, and exalts the humble tree (ταπεινό), and withers the green tree, and makes the dry tree grow (Ezek. 17:24) He is the One who opens the mouth of His servants in the midst of the congregation of many servants (Ezek. 29:21), and gives the word to those who bring good news His (Του) truth (αλήθεια) with great power (Ps. 68:12), for with Him is wisdom, knowledge and power (Dan. 2:20). He changes both the times (χρόνους) and summer (καιρούς), and the souls that seek and desire him; and makes them reign over the passions, and raises them from life to life. He gives spiritual wisdom (πνεύματικά) to the wise, and understanding to those with understanding (Dan. 2:21). He reveals the deep and hidden things to those who seek the depths of God, and gives knowledge (γνώση) to those who divine in darkness, because the light of wisdom and knowledge abides with Him, and [He] gives it (light) where He wants (Dan. 2:22). 68. To everyone who patiently keeps the commandments (Rom. 2:7) according to the outer and inner man, striving only for the glory of God, is given the honor (τιμή) of heavenly knowledge, peace of soul and incorruptibility, as not just a listener, but a doer of the law of grace (Rom. 2:13). This knowledge is confirmed by work and knowledge, so as not to despise God, but to glorify him along with the words of knowledge from those who have shone with divine wisdom in the Church of believers, for there is no partiality with God (Rom. 2:11). And the one who, out of selfishness (εγωισμό), struggles with all his might and resists the words of those who are guided by the Spirit (Πνεύμα), is convinced (πείθεται) by his own reason and the false words of those who have only the external form (σχήμα) of piety (ευσέβειας, piety) and act out of ambition (φιλοδοξία) and lust (φιληδονία), they are given sorrow (θλίψη) and oppression (στενοχώρια, trouble ), envy, rage and anger (Rom. 2:8, 9) Now they (envy, rage and anger) become the payment for his errors (πλάνης), while in the future (μέλλον) he will be accused of thoughts condemning or justifying one another ( Rom. 2:15), on the day in which God [through Jesus Christ] will judge the secret affairs of men ( Rom.2:16), and will reward everyone according to his deeds (Rom.2:6). 69. Just as he is not a Jew who is like that outwardly, nor is he the circumcision that is outwardly in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and that circumcision is in the heart in the spirit and not in the letter (Rom. 2:28, 29): so also a man perfect in knowledge and wisdom is not one who is great only in open eloquence. And a true zealot of piety is not the one who is diligent in obvious bodily ascetic labors, but who is diligent in hidden mental work. And he is perfect in knowledge and wisdom whose words come not from a book, [but] from a pure, good (αγαθή) heart, illuminated (φωτισμό) by the Spirit (Πνεύματος) of God. He has praise not from men, but from God (Rom. 2:29), as unknown (αγνοούν, rejected) or envied by men, and only God and those who move in the same Spirit love and know him. 70. If by the works of the law no flesh is justified before God (Rom. 3:20), then who will appear perfect before God by ascetic labors and sweats alone? For by action (active life) we come only to the habit of virtue and suppress the action of passions, but by this alone we do not become perfect to the extent of fulfilling Christ. What brings us to complete perfection? Sincere faith, which is (Heb. 11:1), by which Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain and received a testimony that he was righteous (Heb. 11:4), and Abraham obeyed the calling to go out and move into the land of promise (Heb. 11:8, 9). It raises true zealots to the strong hope of receiving the great gifts of God, and gives them inexhaustible spiritual treasures in their hearts, in order to wear out the old and new mysteries of God and give them to those who need them. He who is worthy to be a partaker of it ascends into love for God and through it becomes perfect in the knowledge of God, and enters into His rest, having rested from all his works, just as God did from His (Heb. 4:10). 71. In ancient times, God swore to those who resisted in unbelief that they would not enter His rest; why they could not enter because of unbelief (1 Peter 3:20; Heb. 3:11; 4:6). How is it that now some, without faith, seek to enter the peace of dispassion through mere bodily action, when we see that many were not able to enter in this way and rest from all their labors? Therefore, everyone should look to see if his heart is wicked, filled with unbelief, so as not to lose his peace and perfection, despite being in many labors, for for this reason the labors of an active life rise, so that, since the Sabbath is still left for him, he can enter into the peace of dispassion, and not fall into the ancient parable (παράδειγμα) disobedience (Heb. 4:11) and not suffer for what those who opposed then suffered through unbelief. 72. Being sensual, rational (verbal) and mental (νόηση), we must bring a certain tithe to God on our own: as sensual, we must kindly perceive with our senses the impressions of sensory things, and through their beauty flow to the contemplation of their Creator; as verbal people, they should speak kindly about divine and human things; how we must have mental, infallible understanding about God, about eternal life, about the Kingdom of Heaven and the mysteries of the Spirit hidden in it (Πνεύματος), so that, after strict examination, we may be able to feel, speak, and think sensibly and impeccably, according to God, which is the true measure of our perfection and the Sacred offering to God (i.e. tithe). 73. Our true tithe to God is a spiritual Passover, that is, the overcoming of every passionate habit (temper) and every unreasonable feeling, in which the Word is sacrificed by the contemplation of things, and It is devoured in the bread of knowledge, and His honest blood is drunk in the cup of unspeakable wisdom. This one, who has tasted the Passover, partakes of the blameless Lamb, who has taken away the sin of the world, and no one will die, but, according to the word of the Lord, he will live forever (John 6:50, 51). 74. He who has been awakened from dead works with Christ has risen. If he has risen with Christ in knowledge, Christ no longer dies (Rom. 6:9), then the death of ignorance will no longer possess him. For whoever died of old in sin, having moved from the natural movement, died once; and whoever now lives, lives to God by the freedom of the Holy Spirit, who has awakened him from the dead works of sin: so that he no longer lives in the flesh and the world, having died to the members of the body and to the works of this life, but Christ lives in him, as being under the grace of the Holy Spirit, and not being under the law of sin, since he presents his members as instruments of righteousness to God and the Father. 75. Having freed his members from slavery to the passions and given them over to slavery to the truth, he approached the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, becoming above the law of the flesh; and sin will no longer possess him, abiding in freedom and under the law of the Spirit. For the end of slavery to passions is not the same as the end of working for righteousness: that one usually ends in the mental destruction of the soul, but this one leads into eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:12-23). 76. The law of the flesh possesses a man as long as he lives carnally; when he dies and is put to death to the world, then he is released from its law. It is impossible for the world to be put to death otherwise than by being put to death to the members of the flesh; and for them we are put to death when we become partakers of the Holy Spirit. We are recognized as partakers of the Holy Spirit when we bring to God the worthy fruits of the Spirit: love for God with all our souls, and for our neighbor with all our hearts, heartfelt joy from a clear conscience, peace of mind from dispassion and humility, goodness of thoughts of the mind, long-suffering in sorrows and temptations, goodness in the good character, inner faith in God, which does not waver in anything, meekness from humility and tenderness and all abstinence of feelings. When we begin to bring such fruits to God, then we will be outside the law of the flesh. And the law will no longer be a punishment for us for the fruits that, while living for the flesh, we brought to death. For we have become free from its law, as those raised with Christ from dead works through the freedom of the Spirit. 77. Those who received the firstfruits of the Spirit in the bath of rebirth and kept it unquenchable, being burdened with the burden of the flesh, groan within themselves, expecting sonship from the fulfillment of the Comforter, in order to see the deliverance of their body from the work of corruption (Rom. 8:23). For the Spirit helps them in their natural weaknesses and intercedes for them with groanings that cannot be expressed (Rom. 8:26); since their wisdom is according to God and their hope is to see the revelation of the sons of God in their dead flesh, which is the life-giving death of Jesus, so that they too may become sons of God, led by the Holy Spirit, and, freed from the bondage of the flesh, enter into the freedom of the glory of the children of God, for whom, as those who love God, all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28). 78. Divine Scripture is comprehended spiritually, and the treasures hidden in it are revealed only to the spiritual by the Holy Spirit. A spiritual person cannot accept their revelations (1 Cor. 2:13, 14), since he, apart from alternating his thoughts, is unable to think about something else, or listen to what another says. Moreover, he does not have in himself the Spirit of God, who comprehends the depths of God and is the only one who knows God (1 Cor. 2:10, 11), but he has a spirit of the sensual world, full of jealousy and envy, filled with contention and discord, because of which it is foolish for him to delve into the meaning of Scripture and explore its thoughts. Not having the power to understand it, since everything contained in Divine Scripture must be judged spiritually (1 Cor. 2:14), whether it concerns divine or human affairs, he mocks those who understand spiritually (1 Cor. 2:13), and calls them not spiritual and not led by the Spirit of God, but constructive (analogues, by arbitrary guidance revealing spiritual meaning in Scripture), and distorts and reinterprets their words and spiritual understandings according to his own thinking. But the spiritual is not like that, but judges everything under the influence of the Divine Spirit, and no one can judge him, since he has the mind of Christ, which no one can explain (1 Cor. 2:15, 16). 79. The last day will be revealed by fire, and everyone’s deeds will be tested by fire (1 Cor. 3:13), says St. Paul, adding that those whose deeds are essentially incorruptible, which he put aside within himself for his creation, will remain incorruptible in the midst of the fire, and not only will not be burned, but will also become brilliant, completely cleansed of any small stains. And whose deeds are perishable in substance, which he has placed upon himself as a burden, they will burn when they burn and leave him in the fire with nothing. Incorruptible and abiding deeds are tears of repentance, alms, compassion, prayer, humility, faith, hope and every deed done in the form of true piety, which, when a person lives, are created in him as a holy church to God, and when he dies, they go with him and remain with him incorruptible forever. And the deeds that perish in the fire, as is obvious to everyone, are voluptuousness, love of glory, love of money, hatred, envy, theft, drunkenness, vexation, condemnation, and every deed done by the body out of lust or anger. All such deeds, even when a person lives, inflamed by lust, smolder along with him, and when he is torn away from the body, they depart with him, but do not remain with him, and having been destroyed by fire, their worker is left in the fire for endless torment forever and ever. 80. Knowing God means that, created in him through humility and prayer, he is known by God and enriched by God with a true knowledge of His supernatural mysteries. And in whom arrogance is seen, he was not created in him (in the knowledge of God) through them (not through humility and prayer), but is led by the spirit of this sensory world. Why is it that, although he seems to know something, he does not know anything of divine things, as he should. He who loves God and does not consider anything worthy of preferring the love of God and neighbor, has come to know both the depths of God and the mysteries of His Kingdom, as one who is moved by the Spirit of God should know, and is known by God to be the true worker of the paradise of His Church, who with love will accomplish the will of God, converting souls and making the unworthy worthy by the word given to him from the Holy Spirit, and will keep his work through humility and contrition. inconspicuous. 81. We are all baptized with water and the Holy Spirit, and we taste the same spiritual food, and we drink the same spiritual drink: what food and drink Christ is. But not many of us are favored by God (1 Cor. 10:2–5). For many of the faithful and zealous Christians have exhausted and refined their bodies with many ascetic labors and bodily activities; but, since they do not have tenderness from a contrite and loving heart, and mercy from love for their neighbors and for themselves, they are left empty, deprived of the filling of the Holy Spirit and removed from the true knowledge of God, having their mental lies barren and the word saltless and lightless. 82. What the Nazarenes seek from the Lord is not only to ascend Mount Sinai by deed, or only to cleanse themselves before going there, to whiten their garments and not have intercourse with a wife, but also to see not the rear of God (Ex. 33:23), but God Himself, showing them His favor, giving them the tablets of knowledge, and sending them to build up His people. 83. The Lord does not bring all His servants and disciples with Him into the revelation of His innermost and highest secrets, but only such a few as have been given an ear to hear, whose eye is open to see and whose new tongue is clear. Taking such people and separating them from the others, who are also His disciples, he ascends to the Mount Tabor of contemplation and is transformed before them; not secretly revealing to them what they need about the Kingdom of Heaven, but clearly showing the glory and lightness of the Divine. And from Himself He gives radiance (λάμπουν) to their way of life and word, like the sun in the midst of the Church of believers; and transforms their meanings (νοήματα, understandings) into whiteness (λευκότητα) and the purity of the most luminous (υπέρλαμπρου) light. And He puts His mind into them, and brings through their lips new and old (Matthew 13:52) to the creation (οικοδομή) of His Church. 84. Many cultivated their fields with full diligence and sowed clean seed on them, cutting off thorns and thistles first and burning them with the fire of repentance. But since God did not rain on them the rain of the Holy Spirit out of contrition, they did not reap anything from them; for they dried up from lack of rain and did not bear in themselves the abundant ear of knowledge of God. Why did such people, if not with the hunger for the word of God, but with the poverty of God’s knowledge and with empty hands, leave the body, stocking up on a certain amount of reward for their travel expenses? 85. Everyone who brings out of his mouth words useful for the building of his neighbor, from the good treasure of his heart, wears them out, according to the word of the Lord (Matthew 12:35). But no one can enter into Theology and say what is appropriate about God except by the Holy Spirit; and no one speaking by the Spirit of God says anything that is contrary to faith in Christ, but only that which edifies, that which leads to God and introduces Him into His Kingdom, restores ancient nobility and unites it with God. If now the manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for the benefit (1 Cor. 12:7), then he who has been enriched by the word of the wisdom of God and has received the good part of the word of understanding is under the action of the Divine Spirit and the church is the inexhaustible treasures of God. 86. No one who believes in Christ and is baptized is left untouched by the grace of the Spirit, unless he has completely given himself up into captivity to every action of the enemy spirit and has not defiled his faith by deeds, or lives with negligence and despondency. Why is it that for one who has kept unquenched the firstfruits of the Spirit, which he received in baptism, or has been quenched again by deeds of righteousness, it is impossible for him not to accept His fulfillment. After having labored well, he will be strengthened by the fullness of the Spirit in order to either receive the word of the wisdom of God and teach in the Church; or the word of knowledge of the mysteries of God by the same Spirit (1 Cor. 12:8), to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven; or [the gift of] testamentary faith, to believe all the promises (επαγγελίες) of God, according to Abraham; or the gift of healings in the same Spirit, to heal diseases; or the gift of action (ενέργειας) of powers (δυνάμεων) to cast out demons and perform miracles; or the gift of prophecy, to foresee and predict the future; or the gift of discerning of spirits, to discern who speaks by the Spirit of God and who does not; or the gift of interpretation of various tongues (1 Cor. 12:9, 10); or the gift of intercession for the raped (καταπονούνται); or the gift of ruling over God's flocks [sheep] and people (1 Cor. 12:28); or love for everyone and its gifts: long-suffering, kindness and all the rest (1 Cor. 13:4). But if there is someone who is not involved in all this, then I don’t know how to call him faithful, or from among those endued with divine Baptism into Christ (Gal. 3:27). 87. He who has love does not know how to envy out of zeal, does not exalt himself as if he were arrogant and impudent, does not become arrogant in front of anyone, does not act outrageously, doing inappropriate things in relation to his neighbor, seeks not only what is useful for himself, but also to benefit his neighbor, does not get irritated by those who sadden him, does not impute anything if sometimes he has to suffer something evil, does not rejoice over the injustice of his friends, but rejoices over their true truth, covers up everything that saddens him, believes everything in simplicity and kindness, hopes to receive everything promised to us by God, endures all kinds of temptations, not returning evil for evil; and the worker of love never fails to love his neighbor (1 Cor. 13:4-8). 88. Of those who have received the divine grace of the Holy Spirit through various gifts, some are still infants and imperfect in divine gifts, while others are men and full of gifts (1 Cor. 13:11). And the first of them spread (επεκτείνονται) to the doing of the divine commandments and grow in them, and are filled with greater gifts of the Spirit, canceling the previous gifts of infancy; the latter, having reached the peak (κορυφή) of love and knowledge of God, now leave private (επιμέρους) gifts: either prophecy, as the word says, or discerning of spirits, or help, or government, etc. (1 Cor. 12:28). Therefore, he who has entered the palace (ανάκτορα) of love does not partly know God, Who is love, but speaks with Him face to face, knows Him fully (πληρότητα), just as He also knew him (1 Cor. 13:12). 89. He who, out of zeal for spiritual gifts, sought his love and acquired it, does not tolerate speaking in prayer and reading for the spiritual (πνευματικό) edification of himself alone. For he who speaks only to God, from the tongue during prayer and singing, edifies only himself (1 Cor. 14:4), as Paul says. But he also tries to prophesy for the edification of the Church of God (1 Cor. 14:12), that is, he teaches his neighbor to do the divine commandments, and as he should (πρέπει) hastens (σπεύδουν) to please (to please) God. For what benefit can some superiors (ηγούμενος), always speaking in prayer and singing only to themselves and to God, if they do not speak to the brethren entrusted to them (υποτακτικούς) either by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, or by knowledge of the mysteries of God, or by foreknowledge (προορατικό) by the gift of prophecy, or by the teaching (1 Cor. 14:6) of the word of the wisdom of God? For if you do not make it easy for them to understand (ευκολονόητο) the words of the teaching in written or oral form, then which of the novices (υποτακτικούς) will be prepared for warfare (1 Cor. 14:8) against passions and demons? In fact, if a shepherd, for the edification of his flock, does not seek to have an abundant (πλούσια) word of teaching and knowledge (γνώση) of the Spirit, then he is not a zealot for God’s gifts (1 Cor. 14:12). Because to pray only and sing a lot with the tongue, to pray with your spirit (πνεύμα του), that is, with your soul, [means] to create (οικοδομεί) yourself; his mind remains unfruitful (1 Cop. 14:13, 14), since (αφού) does not prophesy with the word of teaching and does not build up the Church of God. If Paul, who more than all people united with God through prayer, wanted better to speak five words in the Church with his fertile (έγκαρπου) mind, in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words of singing with the tongue (1 Cor. 14:19); Thus those who ruled over others fell away from the path (δρόμο) of spiritual love (πνευματικοί), and betrayed pastoral dignity by singing and reading alone. 90. He who gave us existence from matter and mental essence (ουσία), and the opposite by nature (φύση) incomprehensibly (παράδοξο) united into one hypostasis (υπόσταση) and thus gave [the opportunity] to be good by the word of His wisdom and the word of knowledge. And He did this so that, on the one hand, through spiritual (πνευματική) knowledge (γνώση) they could see (δούμε) the hidden treasures of the Kingdom of Heaven; and on the other hand, they informed (γνωστοποιήσομε) their neighbors with the word of wisdom and the riches of His goodness (Rom. 2:4) and the blessings of eternal life, which God has prepared for the enjoyment of those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9). 91. He who has risen above the threats and promises of the three laws has entered into life beyond the law; being the law of the Church, but not subject to the law. And if a free life is not under the law, then [it] is above any natural (φυσική) need (ανάγκη) and change (παραστράτισμα), and whoever has achieved this life is free, as one who has overcome the flesh and become fire through communion with the Spirit (Πνεύματος), and was completely united with Christ, who surpasses all nature and brings to an end that which is in part (1 Cor. 13:10). 92. He who has accepted the knowledge of the first Mind, which is the beginning and the end of everything, and is boundless in itself, and is inside everything and outside, knows and can both be alone in solitude, and among the lonely (hermits) maintain solitude. And just as in solitary solitude there is no harm to perfection, so in solitude among many. But sometimes he is the same among everyone and everywhere, because for others this is the beginning and movement towards a solitary life, and the end is the perfection of virtue before them. 93. The unfused connection and unification of soul and body, consistent with itself, accomplishes one thing: either substance (matter), or nature (nature). But when it does not agree, then everyone’s desire to win leads to civil strife. However, the word that came and assumed power immediately resolves their enmity (φιλονεικία), leading to agreement (ομόνοια), and entrusts all matters to nature (φύση) and spirit (πνεύμα). 94. Of the three main (βασικά) parts of our soul: one (reasonable) controls without being controlled; the other (desirable) controls while being controlled, and the third (furious) controls and does not control. When the governing principle falls under the domination of the [previously] controlled and begins to be controlled [by him], then the free by nature [beginning] becomes a slave of the one who is a slave by nature, and retreats from its superiority (i.e., loses its superiority) and nature; and a great discord occurs between them (the forces of the soul). And as long as there is such discord between them, we will not yet see that everything will be subdued to the Word (Heb. 2:8). But when the leader governs the rest, and leads under his command and authority, then he will unite those who are divided and bring them to harmony; those who [go] to God have peace. And to all who submit to the Word (Λόγο) he will transfer the Kingdom of God and the Father (1 Cor. 15:24). 95. When the five senses are subordinated to the four most important virtues and maintain their ever-present obedience, then the nature of the body, composed of four elements, does not prevent the wheel of life from moving serenely. When it moves in this way, then our forces do not rebel one against the other, but the passionate part of lust and anger agrees with the mental one, and the mind, having accepted its natural sovereign power, builds for itself a chariot from the four main virtues, and a throne from the service five, and, having defeated the tyrannical flesh, rushes four-horse into heaven and, presenting itself to the King of the ages, is crowned with a crown of victory, and in Him rests from its current. 96. To those who have become perfect during contemplation and are established on the pillars of the Spirit, a cup is prepared (ετοιμάζεται) and bread from the royal feast is offered (πανδαισία), a throne is given for rest, and money for enrichment, and treasures of pearls and precious stones prepared for them at the entrance, and this uncountable wealth is given to them in your hands. Business (έργα), with its work (πράξη), soon makes these insightful (διορατικούς) men ready to appear before the King, and not before lazy people (ανθρώπους). 97. Is the Kingdom of Heaven given to all who strive here or after death? If given here, then our victory is irresistible (ακαταμάχητη), joy is inexpressible, and our ascent to heaven is free. For paradise is located directly in the divine east (Gen. 2:8). And if it is given after death [and permission from the body], then it is necessary to check whether there is a way out of life without fear, and that there is the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God, and Paradise (Παράδεισος). And how do they differ from each other, and what is the time (καιρός) of each of them, and if we get all three, then how, when and after how long. Because the one who has achieved the first while still living in the flesh will not lose the others. 98. The upper (άνω) world has not yet been completed (ελλιπής) and is awaiting its completion (ολοκλήρωση) in order to restore the fullness (πληρότητα) of the firstborn of the new (νέου) Israel, seeing (βλέπουν) God. Because the upper world ends when it is fulfilled by those who ascend (ανατρέχουν) into the knowledge (γνώση) of God. And after its completion, the lower world, determining the death (τέλη) of believers and non-believers, forms within itself a single assembly, determines each its own degree, and, separating one from the other, makes them not closer to each other. The upper world leads to itself the beginning and end of the lower one, and defines it as an unlimited limit, but itself is not controlled (οδηγείται) from another (άλλη) beginning (αρχή) and is not defined as limited (περιορίζεται); because it is characterized by eternal {constant} movement, so that it does not hide in itself, does not extend beyond its limits, but is for those (τους) others (άλλους) Saturday (σαββατισμός, rest) and rest (κατάπαυση, cessation) of every beginning (αρχής) and movements. 99. The nine higher powers, as the singer and chief of songs (hymns), composed in the assembly in a triune manner (τρόπο) and the three of them present to the Holy (Αγία) Trinity, serving with fear, bring (προσφέρουν) a song. Of these, the first extend down from the Beginning (αρχή) and the Cause (Αιτία) of all things, from Whom they are ruled, since they are closer to Him and the One who rules over songs (hymns). Their names: Thrones, Cherubim and Seraphim, who are characterized by fiery wisdom and knowledge of the heavenly, and, finally, their main (κύριο) work (έργο) is the divine (θεοπρεπής) song “Gel”, in Hebrew. Others are intermediate between the first and last ranks, standing around God: Authority, Dominion and Strength. They are characterized by the management of great things (πραγμάτων), the action (διενέργειες, carrying out) miracles and the manifestation (επιτελέσεις) of miracles, and their main business is the Trisagion hymn: “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Is. 6:3). The latter reach people, being above us, [but] are below all higher [forces], stand around God [and are called]: Principalities, Archangels and Angels. They are characterized by the performance of worship (θείες υπηρεσίες), and their main task is the sacred song: “Hallelujah.” Therefore, when the rational nature of people is perfected in every virtue and raised by all knowledge (γνώση) and the wisdom of the Spirit (Πνεύματος) and divine fire, then through the communion of divine gifts it becomes familiar with these Powers (Δυνάμεις), and attracts to itself the properties (ιδίωμα) each because of purity. Therefore, in this way, [they partake] of the last service (διακονία) and the fulfillment (εργασία) of the commandments of God; the second [participate in] compassion and protection of neighbors (συνανθρώπων), as well as the dispensation (οικονομία) of great and divine things and the actions (ενέργειες) of the Spirit; communion with the first [Powers] through the fiery wisdom of the word (λόγου) and knowledge of divine and human things. This is how human (ανθρώπινη) nature (φύση) is completed and consistently (διαδοχικά) receives (δέχεται) gifts (δωρεές), [and] with them it partakes of the tithe-God 4, as having brought the beginning of the tithe from itself. 100. God is One and Trinity, [He] begins from one, like ten around, ending in Himself. God within himself has the beginnings and ends of all things (πάντων). But [at the same time] beyond everything, as exceeding everything (the top of everything). He who found himself in Him placed (χώρεσε) within [himself] the logoi and knowledge (knowledge) of beings (όντων); and standing [at the same time] outside everything, remains inside everything, knowing their beginnings and ends, because through the Word (Λόγου) he was spiritually united with the Father, becoming a perfect spirit (πνεύμα), in the most all-perfect, indivisible and consubstantial Trinity, worshiped in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and glorified in one nature (φύση) and the Kingdom and Power of the Divine, to which belongs the power forever. Amen. The text is provided only in Russian, see the source for the original. – Editorial of the ABC of Faith Was brought into being (was brought into being) The number ten has been considered a symbol of God since ancient times. The Pythagoreans called it “Tetractys” (Quad), because it is equal to the sum of the first four numbers, and He was considered the limit (μέγιστο) and perfection (τέλειο), the root and source of all creation. This symbolism is also used by Christian writers (Clement of Alexandria, Origen, etc.).