Глава 6. 1779–1781

The desert belly is blessed to eat. Divine zeal resurrected 271. After almost two years of stay in Kareya and Kapsala, the saint returned to the place of his repentance, 272 again taking up his usual duties. Those who are familiar with the monastic rules have the right to be surprised at his long absence, and even due to what seemed to be personal necessity. But the work he was busy with was of general benefit, and therefore the monk found himself far from his monastery. There must have been monks in the monastery from among the Proestos who, having respect for the works of the monk Nicodemus, willingly agreed to his long stay outside the walls of Dionysiatus. It is also possible that from the very beginning of his cinematic life the saint asked his fathers for relative freedom to write. After some time, the Monk Nicodemus was inflamed with great zeal for the highest spiritual life. He was already like a light-winged eagle circling over the tops of spiritual mountains and living in sacred contemplation. The work on the books increasingly aroused in his heart a longing for his dearly beloved Jesus. And the rare memory, which preserved the holy thoughts and sayings of the Fathers, coupled with prayers, day by day moved Nicodemus more and more to seek a suitable place where he could rest his heart, wounded by divine love. Great natures and holy souls find it difficult to endure being with those who are not like-minded with them. Here is what St. Gregory Palamas says: “Those who strive for monastic life find it difficult to communicate not only with many, but also with their own kind. ...For it often cuts off the most precious communication with God...” 273. Embraced by an ardent desire for silence, they long for the desert, so that there they can remain in silence with the longed-for God. That is why Dionysiat, being a monastery of cinnamon, became too small for the great soul of the Monk Nicodemus. He loved his brother monks, but communication with them took him away from his frequent conversation with God. Such examples are not uncommon in the lives of the Holy Fathers. When they showed themselves skillful in serving the monastery and the brethren, showing dispassion and desire for further spiritual achievements, they received permission from the abbot to leave the monastery for the sake of a solitary life. After all, ascetic writers define cinnamonium as a “fullment shop” in which wool is whitened, by which the soul is meant here, and silence in the desert is called a “dyeer”, where, after the deposition of impurity, color is acquired, that is, the shining robe of holiness. While asceticizing in the monastery, submitting to everyone and being loved by everyone, writes Euthymius, Nicodemus “heard about the good glory of the cinematographer Paisius the Russian, who lived at that time in Bogdanin 274 and cared for more than a thousand brothers, whom he taught mental prayer. And since he himself loved this divine work, he asked for permission and left the monastery. He boarded a ship to go in search of his favorite divine prayer." 275 It is puzzling why the saint decided to expose himself to the danger of such a long journey, and even to a foreign land. Was it really then that there were no mentors on the Holy Mountain known for their virtue and skilled in mental prayer? But perhaps the reverend also had another goal? For example, to ensure the publication of his works in the Greek printing house, which was then located in Iasi, or to see his friend Basil 276, the elder of the mentioned Paisius, with whom Nicodemus maintained correspondence? Even more surprising is the assumption that such a mentor goes to a distant land to learn there the high contemplations of hesychasm - and this is a person who studied the Philokalia, edited it and, thanks to his special spiritual sensitivity and experience, comprehended with all clarity the issues of the contemplative life! Who knows if he wanted to meet a living image of holiness, and specifically hesychast spirituality? But how could he have left the Holy Mountain, which he loved so much and which was so convenient for his writing while he was near the book depositories of the Athos monasteries? Here we come to questions that seem paradoxical to those who have not tasted divine love. However, it is true that such holy souls forget everything and do not want to know anything other than love for their Beloved. For such holy souls, Christ is the center, and the centripetal forces revolve around Him, dominating the will, heart and mind. But let's be fair judges. If we make this statement a rule, we thereby belittle the lives of those Fathers who “madly loved Christ,” but at the same time labored in society, among the world, for the benefit of their neighbors. How can we explain this tendency to withdraw from society and to live in the desert and silence, a tendency that we observe in many Fathers? How painful is it? How imperfect? How about a lack of love for brothers of the same faith? It seems to us that these definitions are too harsh and unacceptable, especially in relation to great and holy men. We believe that the proper explanation lies in the following two assumptions. So, we are talking either about the individual inclinations of those who love God and strive by renouncing the world to achieve an undistracted enjoyment of Him, while losing all interest in the rest of the world, and in this state no imperfection is hidden at all. Or holy souls experience this only from time to time. The Apostle Paul was so aware of his calling to the apostleship that he said: “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel” 277 and “for this I am called as an Apostle, to preach the faith in Christ,” but at the same time, as if confessing his innermost thoughts to the Philippians, he writes: “... I have a desire to be separated and to be with Christ” 278. But even with such a definite calling as a preacher, the Apostle was sometimes overcome by the desire to leave the world. We see the same thing in the Supreme Peter, who, although he had already received from the Lord a proclamation about his mission as a preacher of the Faith, just a few days before the Passion of Christ, on the top of Mount Tabor, when he was enveloped in the uncreated light of the Divine, having changed under the influence of divine love, he exclaimed: “Lord! It’s good for us to be here” 279. And how unhappy people would be, O divine Peter! if only you were left alone on the mountain with the Lord, who became man for their sake? How could you leave them at the mercy of Satan while fulfilling your own desire? But Peter did not know what he was saying, 280 intoxicated by the holy light of the Divine. Abba Isaac 281 left his episcopal throne and the flock entrusted to him by the Lord just a day after his election as Bishop of Nineveh - and retired into the desert. And yet God did not count this as a sin to him, but, on the contrary, honored him with holiness. So did Gregory the Theologian and Gregory of Neocaesarea: did they not prefer an unknown and solitary life in the desert to their magnificent episcopal thrones? The Holy Psalter and the holy books of the Holy Fathers are full of lines burning with love for God and expressing the desire for silence. The incomplete chain is made up of the Holy Fathers, who lived unknown and inaccessible to the world in order to anticipate the sweetness of the love of Christ. What else does this testify to, if not that the saints may have different aspirations: some towards the desert, others towards Christian achievement in the world, and still others unite both of these paths, although their differences sometimes make themselves felt, just as it was with the Apostle Paul and other Fathers, who hid from people the painful discord that permeated their holy souls? Consequently, the most acceptable opinion seems to be that the Monk Nicodemus, having heard so many praiseworthy words about the cinematographer Paisius, that is, about Paisius Velichkovsky, who translated the Philokalia directly from Greek into Slavic, and hoping to receive spiritual benefit, chose labor and disaster and decided to leave the monastery. The fact that he knew Saint Paisios well is also clear from one unpublished letter from Nicodemus to Metropolitan Moldo-Vlahia, which we publish elsewhere: there the monk speaks with praise of Elder Paisios 282 . How will I go from Your Spirit, and when will I flee from Your Face? 283 So, the Monk Nicodemus, not suspecting that his desire to move to Moldo-Vlachia did not agree with the will of the Lord, Who judged otherwise, boarded a certain sailing ship. “But while sailing, far from Athos,” as Euthymius narrates, “they were attacked by a strong storm, so that everyone was in danger until they reached the pier of the Most Holy Theotokos on the island of Thassos” 284. Just as the prophet Jonah, sent by the Lord to preach repentance, did not listen to Him, but, thrown into the sea, was forced to change his path and fulfill the will of God, so Saint Nicodemus, “stopped by divine power, having landed on the island, changed his intention,” says Onuphrius, “in order to bring great good to the Church of Christ.” We are talking about the special actions of God, through which He, without in any way limiting the freedom of human will, helps it by the power of some kind of justice unknown to us. We should not show little faith regarding the presence of Divine Providence in human life, and especially in its main events. “The dogma of the creation of the world is followed by the dogma of Providence; and he who acknowledges fate and chance truly does not believe in God.” After all, if the divine will had not caused this small disturbance that nailed the sailing ship to the island, who would have carried out in the Church that great work that Saint Nicodemus was destined to accomplish? Of course, God is able to produce thousands of Nicodemus from stones, but since one had already been created and designated for such an important role in the life of the people and the Church, and, moreover, did not abandon his destiny, but out of ignorance went to look for God in the Danube countries, although He was near him, no reason could prevent Nicodemus from returning to the implementation of his plans. Who would give so many books, precisely at this time, necessary for the pious, but uneducated people, who were in the darkness of slavery and were waiting for a ray of hope for the longed-for liberation, which our race had been deprived of for four centuries? Contrite that his hopes were in vain, but not losing his calm, for he saw God’s will in what had happened, Nicodemus returned from Thassos to the Holy Mountain. However, although he was unable to meet with the cinematographer Paisius, the flame that burned in his heart grew. The soul of St. Nicodemus, pure from worldly filth and worries about material things that destroy inner unity, was an example of an insatiable thirst for the divine, a thirst for the joyful contemplation of Christ and His ineffable visitation. Therefore, having returned from a dangerous trip, he did not come back to the monastery, but preferred to settle with three ascetic elders in the most silent part of the Holy Mountain, on Kapsala, where he would spend almost his entire ascetic life. Later, wanting to remain completely alone, praying and talking with the One God, he occupied a deserted kaliva 285, in which he devoted himself to silence, prayer and copying books (the latter provided the saint with his modest needs). Kalyva was consecrated in the name of St. Athanasius of Alexandria - and Nicodemus composed a service to this saint there. He remained under the patronage of his future comrade-in-arms, Hieromonk Euthymius, and his elder Damascene Stavrud. Kaliva "St. Athanasius" is located at the Kapsal stream and belongs, as a dependent property, to the monastery of St. Gregory. Now 286 it is dilapidated. A monk from Crete, Athanasius, lives in it. Living in this kaliva in complete silence, Nicodemus practiced in comprehending God through His creations, achieving His contemplation through mental ascent from the created, “as from certain diverse and abundant symbols,” which Dionysius the Areopagite calls “right contemplation” 287. In his “Admonitory Manual,” which could be called a manual elevating the mind and heart to the contemplative life, the saint later describes the rules that he used during the time of his silent vigils - spiritual rules intended mainly for the training of “beginners” and inexperienced ones. The Monk Nicodemus always wanted to teach the Orthodox people the ascent to God and contemplation, and therefore he learned from each of the contemplative Fathers of the Church what concerned the above-mentioned rules. With their help, a person, freed from his addiction to earthly things, can taste the spiritual pleasure of the mind and heart, saturating his soul with love for God and receiving a guarantee of eternal life. This is what the saint writes: “The method of ascending to the cause through the effects is as follows. For example, when someone is passionately in love and wants to attract the one he loves to his love and unite with her, he sends her some matchmaking gifts (they are also called marriage gifts), so that she, attracted by this, will love him in return and wish to unite with him. Likewise, the Creator of everything, since He is by nature and in the full sense of the word the Logos, He created everything that exists, sensory and mental, with the help of spiritual logoi. Everything came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came into being that came into being 288. And finally, he created the mind rational, that is, he gave it a natural ability that allows it to study and comprehend these spiritual logoi, which the Creator Logos put into everything that exists, so that through them, as if by some gifts, the mind would be attracted to the dispassionate love of the Creator and, attracted, would unite with Him directly and find bliss. So, the Creator, the eternal Logos, on the one hand, and the rational mind, on the other, are two opposite edges, and the spiritual logoi of existence are in the middle of them, and serve their unity. And while the rational mind is weak and imperfect, it needs the spiritual logos inherent in creation, so that, strengthened with their help and gaining perfection, it can ascend to a unity with the Creator-Logos that exceeds any logos. And when he is united with Him by a unity that exceeds the mind, as the great Dionysius calls it, or, what is the same, when two opposites, two edges are united, then the mediators are already inactive, and the natural logoi of existence, at least in this case, turn out to be unnecessary... And since the rational mind cannot constantly remain in unity with the Creator-Logos, due to the tension and monotony of its aspiration (for it works and gets tired, both because it is a creature and because of its union with the material body), then it reluctantly descends from this height; and, descending, he again finds the logoi of existence as a means of ascension, and spreading through them, for there are many of them and they are extensive, he is consoled and calmed down... When the mind ascends through creation to the Creator, looking at the logoi of creation, endowed with the likeness of the Creator, it uses affirmative and positive theology, calling God affirmatively and positively - Wise, Good, Artist, Light, Sun, Air, Fire and all things, for He is the cause of all this. When the mind in the Spirit and supernaturally ascends to the Creator and sees that He is not like any of the creations and is incomparably superior to them, then it resorts to negative and excellent theology, calling God negatively and excellently: the All-Wise, the Most Good, and no longer calls the Sun, Light, Fire, Air, and anything else from existence, since God is Superexistent and Incomprehensible" 289 . ...They wandered through deserts and mountains, through caves and gorges of the earth... 290 The deserted location of the Holy Mountain is very conducive to asceticism, silence and the prosperity of the mystical life in Christ. In addition to its glory, revealed in history thanks to the holy monks who shone in their deeds, the Holy Mountain was rewarded with a great gift: in one desert cell, belonging to the Kalyvas of Kapsala, the world for the first time heard the song sung by the Archangel Gabriel to the Most Holy Theotokos: “It is worthy to eat” 291 . Since then, proclaimed by the Holy Kinot of the Holy Mountain and the Ecumenical Patriarchate to all Orthodox Churches, it has been sung in churches at every Divine Liturgy. This supernatural event occurred in the mid-10th century. The stream flowing from that place is called the “stream of Singing” in memory of the miracle. Therefore, the ascetics of the Holy Mountain, who sought desert life, from ancient times inhabited this desert as a sanctified place. Kapsala is located northeast of the town of Kareya, at least an hour's walk away. From the heights of Karei, Kapsala appears as a kind of vision filled with peace. The hills, dotted with humble kaliva trees, resembling waves, have become the sacred field where the sweat and tears of ascetics are shed, and where holy souls rush, awaiting the “flowering of virtue from the desert rocks.” Day and night there, hymns and spiritual songs of people striving for holiness and perfection in the Lord rise to heaven. The abundant vegetation, striking in its freshness and shining with all shades of green, is resounded by the melodic singing of nightingales and other birds, and nearby the “stream of Singing” carries its waters, delivering inexplicable joy to the aesthetic sense, and at the same time everything breathes some kind of transparent and heavenly tenderness. Sacred awe covers the traveler at the sight of the consecrated paths leading to some kaliva of the ascetic, for the thought comes to mind: these deserted paths were once laid by the beautiful feet of the saints, preaching peace 292 and the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven. These immaculate places are “full of miracles,” and a pure-hearted person, honored with the rare gift of traveling here, in surprise and amazement smells the fragrance of the world from the holy relics of the bloodless martyrs of our holy faith, who labored well in this desert. Of course, these days Kapsala is not thriving as it once was. There is no longer Theophilus, Theona 293, or Nicodemus here. But nevertheless, it has the wealth of history, the holiness of the place itself, the sanctified humble kalivas and beggar hermits, whose names are unknown and who doomed themselves to voluntary infamy. Oh, holy Desert! How your silence, your poverty, your divine history, your saints and your supreme peace exuding holiness touch our soul! You have more children than she who has a husband 294, you have grown the most fragrant flowers of the Church of Christ! Here, Basil the Great would say, is “the Mount of Olives on which Christ prayed; here Christ Himself is a friend of the desert; here is a narrow and sorrowful path leading to life...” 295. And later, stung by the arrow of silence, the Monk Nicodemus will say: “...so all the monks living in the desert, driven by the incessant desire for God, despised the world and what is in the world like rubbish and dust, and inhabited the mountains, gorges, caves and deserts of the earth, like royal palaces. Their food became bread, water and fruits of trees; clothing - camel hair and animal skins. This is why Paul said about them that they “wandered in deserts and mountains, in caves and caves of the earth” 296. And there he says that they “wandered in sheepskins and goatskins, enduring disadvantages, sorrows, and bitterness” 297 298. And Saint Nicodemus, seized by an unbearable and piercing love for God, concludes his reasoning with these astonishing words: “For as much as a person can accommodate the desire and love for God, he feels that he has not in the slightest degree contained it; and no matter what height of divine love he ascends, he still considers himself lower than everyone else in love, since the much-desired and infinite beauty of God is inconceivable by the mind, for a limited mind cannot contain the limitless. Therefore, gradually appearing to the mind, it exercises it in the desire of God and inflames it to enjoy the Desired” 299. The Monk Nicodemus, who had nobility and a pure soul from a young age, was overwhelmed both with love and gratitude to God, and with amazement at the beauty of nature created by the Creator, Who spoke, and was... commanded, and was created 300. A year later, while staying on the waterless island of Skiropoula, he shares his impressions of Kapsala with his cousin, Bishop Euripus: “Look up at the airy, sapphire and pretty face of the vast sky, which is the throne and visible mirror of the invisible Divinity. Look at the bright and gold-like sun, the center of the planets 301, the king of the stars and the never-sleeping eye and unquenchable lamp of the world. Look at the crescent-shaped, or horn-like, or shining with its full light, all-bright and silver-shaped moon. Look at the harmonious choirs of night lamps and twinkling stars. Look here too, down at the flowering motley plains, at the pastures teeming with grass, at the dewy meadows and gardens dotted with flowers; at the variety of plants and at the gentle and calm transparency of the sea, reflecting the sun's rays. All these spectacles and mirrors not only console and refresh the eye, but also nourish it and, one might say, abundantly treat it. For all this, with its natural beauty, produces love and wonder...” 302. St. Nicodemus, in his “Spiritual Exercises,” in the chapter on the joy of the Resurrection and in the one preceding it, where he describes the suffering of the Most Holy Theotokos, looking at Her crucified Son, surpasses himself, forgets himself at the Cross, compassionate with Christ, and is literally beside himself, fixing his gaze on the joy of the Most Holy Mother of God, standing before Her shining light of the Resurrection of the Son. And the magnificent description of the spring brightness of nature, which also rejoices at the Resurrection of the Lord and, as it were, rejoices with our Lady Theotokos, shows that Nicodemus the Holy Mountain was an outstanding Christian poet, and this passage is reminiscent of the classic Homeric description of the shield of Achilles. Those who are familiar with the deserted Kapsala first-hand, reading the lines below, will recall the fertile nature of the most beautiful of the areas of the Holy Mountain. “...And don’t you see with your own eyes how unusually transparent the sky is today? Is the circle of the moon brighter and more silvery, and the whole face of the stars visible more clearly? Don’t you see how today the earth is crowned with a variety of herbs, various blossoming trees and multi-colored and most fragrant flowers and roses, some of which have completely unfolded from their buds and show their rose-fragrant grace to those looking at them, others have barely appeared, others are still in their buds, as if in a wedding chamber? Can't you hear with your ears the consonant and harmonious music that nightingales, swallows, doves, blackbirds, cuckoos, partridges, jays, pigeons, finches and all other songbirds and birds make in the sweetest voices on golden-green and densely leafed trees today, and how they compete to defeat each other with polyphony and with the quickly sweet interweaving of your trills? And how do they prepare their nests so skillfully, and the females lay and warm the eggs in them, while the males fly around and sing tenderly? Don't you see how clear the running streams are today? How do rivers, freed from winter ice, flow in full water and water the face of the earth wherever they can? How do the gardens smell? How is grass cut? How do small and tender lambs jump and dance in the green meadows and fields? Do you not see how the industrious bees, flying out of their hives today, buzz sweetly and hover around in the lawns and gardens, and steal flowers and build their honeycombs, laying straight lines against the corners for greater strength, but at the same time for the beauty of their creation, and prepare the sweetest honey? Don't you see how calm the winds are today? How sweet does marshmallow smell? How is the sea serene and peaceful? How do sailors travel without fear and how do dolphins swim along with ships, pleasantly emerge, splash, and cheerfully see off the sailors? Don’t you see how today farmers, harnessed to oxen, cut the ground with a plow, and in the good hope of a harvest everyone is filled with joy? How do shepherds and drivers, having made traps and pipes from wood, welcome spring, and how do fishermen and fishermen, having thrown seines and nets into the sea, retrieve them today full of fish? Don’t you see how today all visible creations, wherever you look, are pleasant, fragrant, fresh, how sweet and all-joyful they are, how they delight the five bodily senses? And how does it seem that they too seemed to be resurrected together with Christ and come to life, while before they were as if deadened and killed by the preceding cold and severity of winter?..” 303. So, in this desert of Kapsala, glorified by the ascetic deeds of the holy monks, our father Nicodemus settled - and the silent steeps of Kapsala for centuries preserved in his memory his struggles that exceeded human measure, his inspired labors filled with great benefit, and his God-loving lament. ...In my members I see another law, opposing the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin... 304. The Monk Nicodemus, in his early solitary silence, labored peacefully as a good warrior of Christ, praying, practicing asceticism and copying books. He was likened to a special bird here 305, and his constant companion was the joyful, sad, blissful lament for the Bridegroom Christ that filled his heart: the hermit spent the whole day weeping and lamenting 306. He had one thought, one concern, one desire: not to fall away from the divine love of Christ. Peaceful by nature, meek in heart, a deep seer of secrets, a contemplator of the imperishable glory of God, Nicodemus immersed himself in the contemplation of creation, in the logoi of existence, and enjoyed the study of the hidden secrets and gifts prepared for the righteous. No one saw his deeds performed in secret, his fasts, vigils, prayers, holy crying, feeding virtues - no one except God, who looks down on His true servants and protects them from demonic deceptions and wickedness. The monk was then about 29 years old. He was a perfect ascetic who chose voluntary poverty, of average height, with noble manners. On his face, which had lost its color in ascetic suffering, large, clear eyes shone. A man in appearance and an angel in the purity of his soul, his appearance resembled a night corvid on the diving board 307, dry thorns, similar to those that dotted the surroundings of his abode in abundance. This great teacher of the Church, unknown among the unknown, a wanderer in this tearful and deplorable vale - he felt more dead than living in the world! He had nothing of his own. “He took bread from us,” Euthymius tells us in simplicity 308. But this simple phrase of the reverent hieromonk hides that majestic fact, the understanding of which shocks the human heart. When a beggar is hungry, it is not surprising. But when someone great, having all the means to easily provide himself with everything necessary, abandons worldly peace and all bodily well-being for the love of God and melts away from hunger in a miserable kaliva, which the holiness of life transforms into a heavenly palace, this takes on an amazing meaning. The saint appears as a kind of spark from that sacred flame that prompted God to become human: his feat recalls the supernatural voluntary exhaustion of God the Word, and to some extent is likened to the greatness of the poverty He perceived. In the life of our venerable father Nicodemus in the Kapsala desert, we see two different fields, ascetic and mystical, in which the saint continued his quest for Orthodox monasticism, seeking the sanctification of the soul. Undoubtedly, we must not confuse ends and means. Meanwhile, in Christianity, asceticism does not represent something separate from the very essence of holiness. Asceticism in itself is not holiness, but a means, the necessity of which is determined by the existence of the contradiction that entered human nature after the Fall in Eden: by this means one achieves holiness. The Orthodox Eastern Church finds the origins of its holiness in the action of the grace of Christ and in the ascetic work of the Holy Fathers. The connection between holiness and asceticism is the same as air and lungs. It is impossible to conceive of holiness without asceticism, which has a dual purpose. Firstly, it directs the struggle of human nature to God, who gives grace, without which nothing is possible. Secondly, through tears of weeping for Christ and “annoyance to the flesh,” she creates the fear of God, which purifies the soul and precedes love and all virtue. In addition, asceticism develops the will to do good. We must clarify here that the asceticism in question has nothing to do with Montanism and Donatism, which are hostile to life and flesh. Our asceticism is designed to kill passions, not people 309. The very nature of the Orthodox Apostolic Church is openly ascetic. The purpose of its existence is the salvation of believers. And salvation is achieved (in a sense) precisely through asceticism. Asceticism means an effort aimed at eliminating internal discord and subsequent restoration of unity in the world of Christ. Man was not created as an ascetic. He was created free, simple, completely directed towards God, who would fill him with spiritual joy and divine light. The soul before its fall was united, unswervingly striving for good, and had no need for asceticism (except for self-care, in order to cultivate and preserve 310). However, after the fall of the primordial ones in Eden, internal unity was disrupted, which led to the emergence of a dramatic contradiction in the same person. “The mind of man is divided in two.” Hence the silent confrontation between good and evil, the weakening of the ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood, the internal conflict of will when choosing what is morally correct. In Holy Baptism, the Church “by force” dulls only the sharpness of the “opposing law”, but does not remove from the soul the sinful inclination that is opposite to the moral and evangelical law, which is a consequence of damage to human nature, inherited from generation to generation by humanity. Therefore, the desire for an ascetic life, the distinctive element of which is self-compulsion, arises in us as an experienced recognition of the truth of the word of the Lord that those who use force delight the Kingdom of Heaven 311. The history of the holiness of our Church flows through painful trials and suffering, through sorrow and bloodless martyrdom, which is also characteristic of asceticism - either voluntary or involuntary. For in God’s economy, sorrow is not only an offering of love and “communion” of the Passion of the Lord, but also a necessary (under pain of death!) condition of the life and holiness of the Church. The coveted and so rare flower of holiness blooms only on lands free from thorns, in hearts purified by asceticism. And we all know that holiness is an exclusively ecclesiastical reality, since the Church is the only basis for the emergence, existence and exploits of holiness. The Church fears nothing so much as “prosperity,” a long journey, inactivity, and peace. For the atmosphere of holiness in which she lives and moves is filled with the sorrows of Christ, the assimilation of which preserves the very essence of the Church and her fundamental principles. The Holy Fathers, who were bearers of the church spirit, were distinguished by their severe asceticism, and, interpreting the Word of God, they especially insisted on the need for asceticism, without which it is impossible to fulfill the commandments of Christ. On the contrary, a Christian soul without asceticism turns out to be lukewarm, filled with doubts, unable to ascend to the awareness and perception of “life in Christ.” Ascesis is an art with the help of which the human soul tests itself in all its movements. But the application of this art presupposes that all three “parts” of the soul are already prepared for the exercise of piety. Let us turn to the lives of the saints to understand the nature and forms of asceticism, and look at the great Paul himself, who tamed his flesh, and marvel how he in whom Christ dwelt felt the necessity of enslaving 312 his inferior man through unceasing prayer, vigils, and long fasts, in order to accomplish his singular mission. Gaining the ability to subjugate thoughts and feelings is the first and main goal of asceticism. But to surrender one’s heart pure and immaculate to God is the result to which ascetic education, joyful crying and divine love, resulting from a person’s awareness of his own insignificance and from the contemplation of God as an inexhaustible source of Light and Love, lead. The ideal state of spirituality sought by Christianity is the subtlety of the mind, freed from material attachments, and its ability to contemplate in the space of the spiritual world located above sensory perception, where the wealth of Theology resides. Without this liberation of the mind, and therefore of the will and feelings, neither theology nor understanding of the high theology of our Church is possible. Church tradition especially insists on this statement, and none of the Fathers dared to enter the “darkness” of 313 spiritual sacraments without prior moral and spiritual purification. “Life in Christ” and its essential character finds its expression not only in the so-called mystical Fathers, but also in all those who, through many labors and tears, with the assistance of Divine grace, entered the land of holiness. The soul grows to the limits of holiness and knowledge of Christ only through love. All the powers of the mind, according to Orthodox spirituality, serve the sanctified heart, as long as the heart and mind are united in the Holy Spirit and form an indissoluble and harmonious bond in Christ, in which knowledge is not a risky and dry intellectual activity, but enlightenment, spirituality and revelation. “A person outside the mystery of the fall is even more incomprehensible, despite the fact that this mystery is incomprehensible to him.” Therefore, we can say that the fall and restoration are the two poles of the moral world, in which asceticism finds righteousness, for asceticism is a means of sanctification, a means of destroying internal discord. The description of the feat, based on the symbolism of the “Ladder”, which we talked about above, is connected, of course, with the peculiar spiritual feat of the monk, since the thirty steps correspond to thirty types of asceticism and monastic virtues, the opposite of which are certain evil deeds. However, the feat itself, without risking losing its essence, can be transferred to the environment of “public” Christianity, because the feat of a monk differs from the feat of a layman only in form, and all its main features apply equally to every Christian for whom Christ “died” - regardless of the way of life intended for each of the people by Divine Providence. “The serpent who deceived Eve before, saying: “You will be like gods,” is the same one that has been whispering his lies into the ears of mankind for centuries,” says one Christian apologist. “We are born at the bottom of the abyss, and thousands of hands stretched out to us can only lift us a little, but there is always the danger that we will again make a fatal move - and plunge into the same abyss.” So we are characterized by fall, corruption of nature, redemption and “the opposing law in our members”, which is the cause of our internal tragedy, and “the word virtue, meaning self-compulsion,” implies constant resistance to the uncontrollable impulse that drags us down. The bodies of the monks stretched out in struggle in “The Ladder” symbolize the effort aimed at correcting sinful tendencies. Those who make effort delight the Kingdom of Heaven 314. This gospel command expresses the need for ascetic effort, without which salvation is impossible. From this perspective, The Ladder represents an inevitable path. The famous sculptor Auguste Rodin, trying to reflect in stone the division between soul and body, depicted a centaur whose human and animal parts are in alarming tension with each other. This sculpture could become a symbol of the ascetic path for every Christian, but if this is the nature of the feat, the resistance is still in accordance with the effort used by each. That is why we see baptized people living in evil and, despite this, maintaining a suspicious peace with themselves. To some extent, this happens to all those who strive. “The more we move along the path of moral improvement,” someone says, “the more we discover hereditary corruption in ourselves, until we come to the conviction that there is no sin whose seed we do not carry within ourselves.” In this way we gradually achieve self-knowledge, which, despite the fact that it is the fruit of the “all-abundant logos” 315, is nevertheless so necessary for the children of grace. Everyone is obliged to recognize his own insignificance, conditioned by the corruption of our nature, and to humble himself, realizing that the pride that hurts “the universal Adam” 316 is a derivative of two ignorances: ignorance of our insignificance and ignorance of the greatness of God. But in order to achieve humility, one must love, having first been purified by the fear of God, which is preceded by the purification of the heart, and this latter, in turn, is preceded by the ascetic exercise of the flesh and spirit. The sob-worthy monks on the left side of the mural depicting the “Ladder” were not painted by reverend monastic icon painters to intimidate. This is just a clear example of the moral teachings of Christianity in one rich image. Here it is necessary to remember the words of the Apostle: “Everyone runs, but one receives the reward” 317. We must, in view of the threat of eternal condemnation, call on the experience and wisdom of our Holy Fathers for help in life’s feat: they will explain to us this truly tragic side of our life. Only they, by the Holy Spirit, discern the diverse perversions of spiritual achievement, the traps and ambushes of Satan, who enslaves our souls with the help of our ignorance, and the mysterious movements of the inner world of man, while we experience painful attacks of dizziness on the highest steps of the “Ladder.” However, besides the Fathers, we have another teacher and helper. If we turn our gaze to the right side of the “Ladder”, which we are ascending, then we will see the holy hands of the Guardian Angel stretched out to us, leading us upward, and the Angel himself, instructing, comforting and strengthening us: if only we do not move away from him with the filth of our sins. But even when we do not see the beautiful Angel, our Master is generous! – we have the main and last option left: crying... That is to the monastery of St. Dionysius, where he took his monastic vows. St. Gregory Palamas. Message to the all-honorable nun Ksenia: Φιλοκαλία. T. 4. Ἀϑῆναι, 1991. Σ. 91. In the sources of that time, the rulers of Moldavia and Wallachia are often called “Bogdans”, and the entire Moldo-Vlahia, respectively, is called Bogdania. Euph.9. The quote is inaccurate; Evfimy does not have the words in italics. Probably the author (monk Theoclitus of Dionysiatus) inserted them, fearing that otherwise the act of St. Nicodemus can be confusing. However, subsequent events indicate that the relationship between St. Nicodemus and Dionysiatus were not easy, because... Having returned to the Holy Mountain, the monk did not go to Dionysiatus, but settled in a secluded cell. – Note. ed. We are talking about Elder Basil of Polyanomerul (c. 1692 – 04/25/1767; canonized by the Romanian Church in 2003), friend and mentor of St. Paisiy Velichkovsky. St. Before moving to Moldo-Vlachia, Vasily probably lived in Russia, and then in Little Russia. He was an experienced spiritual mentor (he cared for 11 hermitages and deserts), a hesychast and theologian (some of his works were published in the book: Life and Writings of the Moldavian Elder Paisius Velichkovsky. Holy Vvedenskaya Optina Hermitage, 2001, pp. 72–164). St. Nicodemus could not in any way strive to meet him, just as he could not be his friend, because St. Vasily died in 1767. Matthew 17:4; Mark 9:5; Luke 9:33. St. Isaac the Syrian, or Nineveh (7th century), preacher of the silent life. Seeing that his flock does not accept the Gospel commandments, and he is unable to heal their morals, St. Isaac retreated into the desert, to his beloved silence. Kaliva (Greek καλύβη - “hut”) is a separate cell where a small monastic community (usually up to seven people) lives with its elder. Usually consists of several rooms and a church. In this case we are talking about an abandoned kaliva. Those. in the late 1950s, when the book of the monk Theoclitus was written. Compare: Dionysius the Areopagite. About Divine names. 4.9. Συμβουλευτικὸν Ἐγχειϱίδιον. Σ. 242–244. Σημ. 85. We are talking about the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to an unknown Athonite monk, who sang the song “It is worthy to eat” and inscribed its words with his finger on a stone. Compare: Nahum 2.1; Isa.52:7; Rom.10:15. This means St. Theophilus the Myrrh-Streaming and St. Feona of Thessalonica, who labored in those places. St. Basil the Great. Letter 42. 5. Greek. For the text of this letter see: Saint Basile. Letters/Ed. Y. Courtonne. Vol. 1–3. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1957. Vol. 1). Wed. Russian translation: Works like the saints of our father Basil the Great. Letters. pp. 78–79. From this it is clear that St. Nicodemus Svyatogorets, having an excellent education, adhered to the heliocentric theory of N. Copernicus. Συμβουλευτικὸν Ἐγχειϱίδιον. Σ. 74. Γυμνάσματα πνευματικά. Σ. 279–280. In the original “Spiritual Exercises” St. Nicodemus provides a note here: “Look at these and other beauties of spring in more detail in the festive word for the new week of Gregory the Theologian.” This means: Homily 44, for the new week, for spring and in memory of the martyr Mamant // Gregory the Theologian, St. Collection of creations. T. 1. pp. 655–661. The above description of spring is a free paraphrase in modern Greek of the words of St. Gregory the Theologian (see pp. 660–661 of the indicated edition). Compare: Ps.101:8 (in the synodal translation: he was like a lonely bird on the roof). Ps.101:7. (in the synodal translation: an owl in the night on the ruins). Compare: Euph.10. The text of Euthymius is given in the retelling of M. Theoclitus. – Note. ed. Wed. saying of St. Abba Pimen: “We learned to mortify not the body, but the passions” (see: Spiritual Meadow. Memorable tales about the asceticism of the saints and blessed fathers. M., 2004. P. 671). Here the author (monk Theoclitus) uses one of the basic concepts of patristic mystical theology: “darkness” (sometimes also “blessed darkness”) as a symbol of communion with God and vision of God, surpassing all light and all human feeling. St. also speaks about the “darkness” of God’s vision. Gregory of Nyssa, and Dionysius the Areopagite, and St. Gregory Palamas. The concept, which comes from ancient philosophy, in this case means an innate ability. An expression used by many Church Fathers (for example, St. Macarius the Great) and hymn writers (St. Cosmas of Maium, etc.) and meaning the entire human race, united by a commonality of nature.