Selected passages from the “Ladder” of our Venerable Father John, Abbot of Mount Sinai

The famous work of St. John Climacus “The Ladder” was written at the end of the 6th century. at the request of Rev. John of Raifa, abbot of the Raifa monastery. The image of the “Ladder” is borrowed from the Bible, which describes the vision of Jacob’s Ladder, along which angels ascend and descend (Gen. 28:12). The work belongs to the category of spiritual ascetic literature and consists of 30 chapters, representing the “steps” of virtues along which a Christian must ascend on the path to spiritual perfection. The number of steps has a symbolic meaning, which is revealed in the preface: 30 years is the age at which Jesus Christ began his public ministry. The 30 steps are believed to symbolize spiritual growth and maturity in faith, just as Christ achieved His calling at the age of 30. The image of a ladder in relation to spiritual life indicates, on the one hand, the need for spiritual improvement and elevation to God, on the other hand, gradualness in this elevation: - steps 1-4: struggle with worldly vanity (renunciation of worldly life, impartiality, wandering, obedience); - steps 5-7: sorrow on the path to true bliss (repentance, mortal memory, crying); - steps 8-26: fight against vices (silence, chastity, bodily vigil, etc.); - steps 27-29: spiritual peace (silence of soul and body, prayer, dispassion); - step 30: the top of the path is the union of the three main virtues (faith, hope and love). The ideal of a Christian is a monk (ascetic), whose life is based on kindness, fasting and chastity. Enslavement of man to the passions of St. John Climacus calls slavery and illness, as they are overcome, the corresponding virtues are acquired. He describes the process of the emergence of passion, consisting of 6 stages: preposition, combination, consent, captivity, struggle and passion. The teaching of St. Joanna reaches the top of Mount Sinai: silence and vision of God. This publication presents an abridged version (selected passages) of “The Ladder,” compiled by Grand Duchess Militsa Nikolaevna. Collected by Grand Duchess Militsa Nikolaevna Brief life of John. Through the prayer of the monk, his disciple Moses was saved from the danger that threatened his life. Page VII One of the monastics, named Moses, being jealous of the life of John, convincingly asked him to accept him as a disciple and instruct him in true wisdom; Moving the elders to intercession, Moses, through their requests, convinced the great man to accept himself. Once Abba commanded this Moses to transfer from one place to another the earth that needed to be fertilized in the beds for potions; Having reached the indicated place, Moses fulfilled the command without laziness; but when extreme heat came at noon (and then it was the last month of summer), he dodged under a large stone, lay down and fell asleep. The Lord, Who does not want to sadden His servants in any way, according to His custom, prevents the disaster that threatens Him. For the great elder, sitting in his cell and thinking about himself and about God, fell into the subtlest sleep and saw a sacred man who excited him and, laughing at his dream, said: “John, how do you sleep carelessly when Moses is in danger?” Jumping up immediately, John armed himself with prayer for his disciple; and when he returned in the evening, he asked him if any misfortune or accident had happened to him? The student answered: “A huge stone almost crushed me when I was sleeping under it at noon; but it seemed to me as if you were calling me, and I suddenly jumped out of that place.” The father, truly humble in wisdom, did not reveal anything from the vision to the disciple, but praised the good God with secret cries and sighs of love. Word 1st. About renunciation of worldly life. Page 6 Let us not despise or condemn such renunciations that occur due to circumstances; for I saw those who were on the run, who, having accidentally met the king, against their will, followed him and, having entered the palace with him, sat down with him to eat. I saw that the seed that accidentally fell to the ground bore abundant and beautiful fruit; just as the opposite happens. Again I saw a man who came to the hospital not to be treated, but for some other need, but, attracted and held by the doctor’s affectionate reception, he freed himself from the darkness that lay before his eyes. Thus, the involuntary in some was firmer and more reliable than the voluntary in others. Word 1st. About renunciation of worldly life. Page 8 Some people, carelessly living in the world, asked me, saying: “How can we, living with our wives and entwined with worldly cares, imitate the life of a monk?” I answered them: "Do all the good that you can do; do not reproach anyone, do not steal, do not lie to anyone, do not be proud of anyone, do not have hatred for anyone, do not leave church meetings, be merciful to those in need, do not seduce anyone, do not touch someone else's part 1), be content with the dues of your wives. If you do this, you will not be far from the Kingdom of Heaven." Word 4th. About blessed and ever-memorable obedience. Page 21 Obedience is action without testing, voluntary death, life devoid of curiosity, carelessness in troubles, justification not prepared before God, fearlessness of death, comfortable sailing, the journey of those sleeping. Obedience is the grave of one’s own will and the resurrection of humility... He who is obedient, like a dead man, does not contradict or reason, neither in good nor in supposedly bad things: for the one who piously killed his soul must answer for everything 2). Obedience is the suspension of reasoning even with the richness of reasoning. The beginning of the mortification of both the spiritual will and the members of the body is regrettable; the middle sometimes happens with sorrow, sometimes without sorrow, and the end is already without any sensation or arousal of sorrow. Then this blessed and living dead man is in sorrow and heart disease when he sees that he is fulfilling his will; for he is afraid of the burden of his own condemnation. O you who have decided to enter the field of this mental confession; you who want to take the yoke of Christ upon your neck; you, who henceforth wish to lay your burden on the neck of another, who strive to voluntarily sell yourself into slavery in order to receive true freedom in its place: you who swim through this great abyss, being supported by the hands of others: know that you have attempted to follow the short path, although cruel, on which there is only one misleading path: it is called self-indulgence. Whoever has completely rejected self-indulgence in what he considers good, spiritual and pleasing to God, has already achieved his goal before he entered into the feat, because obedience is disbelief in oneself in everything good, even until the end of one’s life. Word 4th. About blessed and ever-memorable obedience. Page 22 Those who wish to always maintain undoubted faith in their mentors must unforgettably and indelibly keep their virtues in their hearts in order to stop the mouths of demons with the memory of them when they begin to instill unbelief in us: for as much as faith blooms in the heart, so much does the body succeed in serving, and whoever stumbles on the stone of unbelief has already fallen; for in every way that is not of faith, there is sin (Rom. 14:23). When a thought inclines you to test or condemn your mentor, jump away from him as if from fornication; do not give this serpent any relief, no place, no entrance, no attack, but say to him: “Oh, charming one! It was not I who received judgment over my mentor, but he who received judgment over me; it was not I who judged him, but he who judged me.” Word 4th. About Lawrence. Page 29–30 When I once sat at a meal with this great abbot, Abba Isidore, he bowed his holy lips to my ear and said: “Do you want me to show you Divine wisdom in the deepest gray hairs?” I asked him about this, and the reverend father called from the second meal a monk named Lawrence, who lived in that monastery for about forty-eight years and was the second cathedral presbyter. He came and, bowing to the ground to the abbot, received a blessing from him. But when he got up, the abbot did not say anything to him, but left him standing before the meal without eating; lunch was just beginning. He stood there like that for an hour or two, and I was already ashamed to look at the face of this doer; for he was completely gray-haired, already eighty years old. He stood thus, without greeting or answer, until dinner was over; and when they got up, the monk sent him to the aforementioned great Isidore to tell him the beginning of the thirty-ninth psalm: I have endured the Lord, and listened to me and heard my prayer (Ps. 39:1). I, being the craftiest one, did not miss the opportunity to test this old man and asked him what he was thinking about while standing before the meal. He answered: “Imagining the shepherd in the image of Christ, I never thought that I was receiving commands from him, but from God; therefore, Father John, I stood, not as before the human table, but as before the altar of God, and prayed to God: and by faith and my love for the shepherd, I did not have any evil thoughts against him. For someone said: love... does not think evil ( 1 Cor. 13:4-5 However, know this, Father, that if someone has given himself up to simplicity and voluntary gentleness, the evil one no longer finds a place for himself even for a moment. Word 4th. About Avvakir. Page 32 Let us listen and marvel at the wisdom of God found in meager vessels. While in the same monastery, I was amazed at the faith and patience of some of the novices, and how with tireless firmness they endured reprimands and reproaches from the abbot, and sometimes even expulsion, and endured this not only from the abbot, but also from other minors. For spiritual edification, I asked one of the brothers, who had already lived in that monastery for fifteen years, named Avvakira, whom, as I saw, was offended by almost everyone, and the servants kicked him out of the meal almost every day, because this brother by nature was somewhat intemperate with his tongue. “Brother Avvakir,” I said to him, “why are you kicked out of the meal every day, and I often see you going to bed without dinner?” He answered: “Believe me, father, these my fathers are tempting me, am I really a monk? And since they do this not in truth, I too, knowing the intention of them and the great father, endure everything without burden: and now I have been living for fifteen years, having this thought; just as they themselves, when I entered the monastery, said that until the age of thirty they tempt those who deny the world. And rightly so, Father John, for untempered gold is not pure.” This valiant Avvakir, having stayed in that monastery, after my arrival there, for two years, went to the Lord and, when he was dying, said to the fathers: “I thank, I thank the Lord and you: for because you tempted me to save me, I was free from the temptations of demons for seventeen years.” The just shepherd ordered him to be placed as a confessor, in justice, with the saints resting in that place. Word 4th. About obedience. Page 39 To be amazed at the works of the saints is a commendable thing; it is saving them to be jealous; and even suddenly becoming an imitator of their life is a reckless and impossible thing. Blessed is the one who, being daily reproached and humiliated for God's sake, forces himself to patience; he will rejoice with the martyrs, boldly converse with the Angels. Blessed is the monk who every hour considers himself worthy of all dishonor and humiliation. Blessed is the one who has completely mortified his will and transferred all care for himself to his teacher in the Lord: he will stand at the right hand of Jesus Crucified. Word 4th. About obedience. Page 40 Then each of us will know that there is brotherly love and true love for one’s neighbor in him, when he sees that he weeps over his brother’s sins and rejoices over his success and gifts. Whoever, in obedience to his father, has acquired a completely clear conscience, no longer fears death, but expects it every day as a dream, or, better said, as life, knowing for certain that during the exodus of the soul, an answer will be required not from him, but from the mentor. Once I asked one of the most skillful elders to teach me how obedience has humility? He answered: “A prudent novice, even if he raises the dead, and receives the gift of tears, and achieves deliverance from battles, thinks in every possible way that this is accomplished by the prayer of his spiritual father, and remains alien and far from vain offerings; and can he be proud of what, as he himself realizes, he did with the help of another, and not with his own efforts? Word 4th. About the first seduction. Page 42 The devil does not allow us to understand that often the providential taking away of our imaginary spiritual benefits is for us the cause of the deepest humility. Word 4th. About the second seduction. Page 48 Constantly fight against the soaring of your thoughts, and when your mind is scattered, gather it to yourself, for God does not seek prayer from new novices without soaring. Therefore, do not grieve when you are plundered by thoughts, but be complacent and constantly call your mind to attention; for it is characteristic of one Angel to never be plundered by thoughts. Word 4th. About John Savvait. Page 57 When, being constantly rebuked by your mentor, you feel that your faith and love for him are increasing: then know that the Holy Spirit has invisibly settled into your soul, and the power of the Most High has overshadowed you. Do not rejoice and do not boast when you courageously endure vexation and dishonor: on the contrary, cry because you did something worthy of reprimand and outraged the soul of your mentor against yourself. Do not be horrified and do not be surprised when I tell you (for Moses is my witness of this) that it is better to sin before God than before your father; because if we have angered God, then our mentor can reconcile Him with us; and when we have confused the mentor, then we no longer have anyone to intercede for us. However, I think that both of these sins have the same meaning. Word 5th. About repentance. Page 58 Repentance is the renewal of baptism. Repentance is a covenant with God to correct life. Repentance is the purchase of humility. We must pay attention to whether our conscience has ceased to denounce us, not for the sake of our purity, but as if tired. A sign of remission of sins is that a person always considers himself a debtor to God. Word 88th. About freedom from anger. Page 88 The beginning of freedom from anger is the silence of the lips when the heart is confused; the middle is silence of thoughts with subtle confusion of the soul; and the end is unshakable silence with the breath of unclean winds. Whoever wears (the crown of freedom from anger) by nature, perhaps, does not wear anything else: and whoever acquired it through labor has, without a doubt, conquered the eight passions. Word 15th. About chastity. Page 113 Let no one who has learned to maintain cleanliness impute to himself the acquisition of it; for it is impossible for anyone to overcome his nature; and where nature is conquered, there the coming of the One who is above nature is recognized: for, without any contradiction, the lesser is abolished by the greater. He is not pure who has kept this mortal body uncorrupted, but he who has completely subdued its members to the soul. Word 15th. About chastity. Page 115 With beginners, physical falls usually occur from enjoying food; with average ones they happen from arrogance and from the same reason as with beginners; but with those approaching perfection, they happen only from the condemnation of their neighbors. There is nothing wonderful if the immaterial fights with the immaterial; but it is truly a great miracle that the spirit, clothed in a substance hostile to it and fighting against it, defeats immaterial enemies. Word 16th. About the love of money. Page 181 Do not say that you collect money for the sake of the poor; for even the widow’s two mites bought the kingdom of heaven. Word 23rd. About blasphemous thoughts. Page 157 One careful monk, suffering attacks from this demon, exhausted his body with fasting and vigil for twenty years; but since he did not receive any benefit from this, then, having described his temptation on paper, he went to a certain holy man and, handing it to him, threw himself face down on the ground, not daring to look at him. The elder, having read the scripture, smiled and, raising his brother, said to him: “Put your hand on my neck, child.” When this brother did this, the great man said to him: “On my neck, brother, let this sin be, no matter how many years it has continued and will continue in you; only you count it for nothing.” Afterwards, this monk assured that he had not yet left the elder’s cell when this passion disappeared. He himself, who was in temptation, told me this, bringing thanksgiving to God. Word 25th. About humility. Page 163 Humility is a storehouse of treasures that is inaccessible to predators. He who has humbled himself internally cannot be justified through the mouth; For what is not in the storehouse, this door will not wear out. Holy humility says: whoever has love for me, but has not yet completely copulated with me, will not condemn anyone, will not want to rule; will not express his wisdom. After copulation with me, there is no longer a law for him (1 Tim. 1:9). Word 25th. About humility. Page 168 Humility is the door of the Kingdom of Heaven, and it leads there those who approach it. I think that the Savior Himself speaks of those who enter through this door in these words: He will enter and depart from this life without fear, and will find pasture and grain in the villages of paradise (John 10:9). All those who came to monasticism through another door are the essence of their life and robbers (John 10:8). If we want to achieve the virtue of humility, let us not stop testing and torturing ourselves; and if in the true feeling of our soul we think that each of our neighbors is superior to us, then God’s mercy is not far from us. Some, although they have already received forgiveness of sins, but for the everlasting encouragement to humility, retain the memory of past sins until the end of their lives, suppressing vain exaltation with it. Others, reflecting on the suffering of Christ the Savior, always consider themselves unpaid debtors to Him. Others blame themselves for daily malfunctions. Others, through the temptations, weaknesses and sins they fall into, overthrow pride. Others, by praying for gifts to be taken from them, have acquired the mother of gifts - humility. There are also those (but whether they exist now, I cannot say) who humble themselves all the more before God the more they are enriched by God’s gifts, considering themselves unworthy of such wealth, and they have such a deposit in their souls that they seem to be adding to their debt every day. Here is humility, here is bliss, here is the perfect honor of victory! If we see or hear that someone, in the course of a few years, has acquired the highest dispassion: believe that such a person walked no other way, but this blessed and short one. Word 25th. About humility. Page 170 Not to us, Lord, not to us, - someone said in the feeling of his soul, - but give glory to Your name (Ps. 113:9); for he knew that human nature cannot accept praise harmlessly. My praise is with You, in the great Church (Ps. 21:26) in the next century: but before that I cannot accept it safely. If the limit, property and image of extreme pride is that a person, for the sake of glory, hypocritically shows virtues that are not in him: then it is a sign of the deepest humility when a person, for the sake of humiliation, in some cases, takes upon himself such guilts as are not in him. This is what the reverend father did who took the bread and cheese in his hands; So did that worker of cleanliness, who took off his clothes and walked through the city dispassionately 4 . Such people no longer care or fear lest people be tempted, because through prayer they have received the power to invisibly use everyone. And whoever of them still cares about the first, that is, temptations, expresses the poverty of the second talent; for where God is ready to fulfill the request, there we can do everything. Word 25th. About humility. Page 171 Many received salvation without reproach or shining, without signs of miracles; but without humility no one will enter the heavenly palace. For the guardian of the first (gifts) is the second (humility); but often, in frivolous people, the second is destroyed through the first. In order to encourage us and those who do not want to humble ourselves to this virtue, the Lord, by His providence, arranged that no one sees his wounds as well as his neighbor sees them; and therefore we are obliged not to attribute our healing to ourselves, but to our neighbor and to God to give thanks for our health. He who asks from God less than what he deserves will, of course, receive more than what he is worth. The truth of this is evidenced by the publican, who asked for remission of sins and received justification. The robber also only asked that the Lord remember him in His Kingdom, but he was the first to receive all of paradise as an inheritance. I find that Manasseh sinned more than all men, desecrating the church of God and all worship by worshiping idols; so that even if the whole world fasted for him, it would not be able to satisfy him in the least for his iniquities. But humility alone was able to heal his incurable sores. As if you had desired sacrifices, David says to God, you would have given them: burnt offerings, that is, bodies that are wasted by fasting, do not please: the sacrifice to God is a broken spirit (Ps. 50:18-19); everything else that follows is known to everyone. Word 25th. About humility. Page 173 Those who have sinned against the Lord,” this blessed humility once cried out to God after committing adultery and murder, and immediately heard: The Lord has taken away your sin (2 Samuel 12:13). Word 26th. About the reasoning of thoughts and passions and virtues. Page 175 Reasoning in beginners is true knowledge of one’s spiritual structure; in the average, it is an intelligent feeling that infallibly distinguishes what is truly good from what is natural and from what is contrary to good; in the perfect, reasoning is the spiritual mind found in them, bestowed by Divine enlightenment, which with its lamp can enlighten what is dark in the souls of others. Or, reasoning in the general sense consists and is known in order to accurately and truly comprehend the divine will at every time, in every place and in every thing. It is found only in those who are pure in heart, body and lips. Word 26th. About the reasoning of thoughts and passions and virtues. Page 177 May the passionate and humble be in good spirits. For if they fell into all the pits, and were bogged down in all the nets, and were afflicted with every disease; but upon recovery they become luminaries and doctors, guides and mentors for everyone, announcing the properties and types of each ailment and with their experience saving those close to the fall. A mind that has achieved spiritual intelligence is certainly clothed in spiritual feeling 5 . Whether it is in us or not in us, we must constantly take care of it and look for it in ourselves; for when it appears, then external feelings in every way will cease to have a seductive effect on the soul; and, knowing this, one of the wise said: “And you will find a divine feeling” (Proverbs 2:5). Word 26th. About the reasoning of thoughts and passions and virtues. Page 180 What is sometimes medicine for one is poison for another; and sometimes the same thing can be a cure for the same thing when taught at the right time, but at the wrong time it becomes poison. God reveals himself not through labor, but through simplicity and humility. Although the power of the Lord is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9), however, the Lord will reject the unhumble worker. Often God, in His special providence, leaves in spiritual people some of the lightest passions so that, for the sake of these light and almost sinless infirmities, they reproach themselves a lot and thereby acquire the inestimable wealth of humility. It is by nature impossible for the incorporeal to be limited to the body; but for God the Creator all things are possible. Some are most pleased by miracles and other visible spiritual gifts, not knowing that there are many most excellent gifts that are hidden and therefore safe from falling. Word 28th. About prudent reasoning. Page 195 All who want to know the will of the Lord must first mortify their own will; and, having prayed to God, with faith and sincere simplicity, question the fathers and brothers, in humility of heart and without any doubt in thought, and accept their advice as from the mouth of God, even if it were contrary to their own reason and even if those asked were not very spiritual. For God is not unrighteous and will not allow those souls to be deceived who, with faith and kindness, humbly submitted themselves to the advice and judgment of their neighbor; therefore, even if those asked do not have spiritual understanding, there is an Immaterial and Invisible One who speaks through them. Those who are undoubtedly guided by this rule are filled with much humility; for if someone in the psalter revealed his oracle (Ps. 48:5) (i.e., the mysterious meaning of the parables): then how much, do you think, the enlightenment of the verbal mind and rational soul is superior to the enlightenment of soulless sounds. Word 28th. About prudent reasoning. Page 197 I saw those who were weak in soul and body, who, for the sake of their many sins, attempted feats that exceeded their strength, but could not endure them. I told them that God judges repentance not by the amount of work, but by the amount of humility. Sometimes education is the cause of extreme evils, and sometimes bad society; but often the soul’s own corruption is enough to cause its destruction. He who got rid of the first two evils got rid, perhaps, of the third; and in whom the third dominates, he is indecent in every place. For there is no place so safe as heaven; however, the devil could not resist there either. It is disastrous to be curious about the depth of God’s destinies, for those who are curious sail in the ship of pride. However, for the sake of the weakness of many, something needs to be said. Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), and no one can contradict this; however, I also saw the blessed enemy-makers. An unslothful soul raises up demons to fight against itself; As the battles multiply, the crowns also multiply. He who is not harmed by adversaries will not receive any crown: and whoever does not lose heart from the occasional falls will be praised by the Angels as a brave warrior. Let us not be horrified when we see that at the beginning of our monastic endeavor we are more overwhelmed by passions than when we lived in the world; because first it is necessary for all the causes of illness to arise, and then health to follow. Maybe these animals were hiding somewhere in us before, but we didn’t notice them in ourselves. Brief content of words. Page 211 Impartiality towards sensory things leads to vision of mental ones. From what we see in nature, we can take clear instructions for spiritual life. Anyone who does some good deeds without true faith is like someone who draws water and pours it into a bad vessel. Just as someone who does not have a guide conveniently goes astray on his path, even if he is very smart, so someone who goes arbitrarily along the path of monasticism easily perishes, even if he knew all the wisdom of this world. Keeping the commandments is a sign of love; and the beginning of love is a lot of humility. Much humility is the mother of dispassion; and the acquisition of dispassion is perfect love, that is, the perfect indwelling of God in those who, through dispassion, have become pure in heart, so that they will see God (Matthew 5:8). Word 27th. About silence. Page 231 Before receiving spiritual power, do not read books alien to orthodoxy, because they are full of darkness and darken the minds of the weak. Offer those who come what they need for their soul and body. If they surpass us in wisdom, then let us show our wisdom by silence; if, in spiritual age, they are brothers equal to us, then we can moderately open the door of our word. However, it is better to think that everyone is superior to us. The Divine Apostle says: who understands the mind of the Lord (Rom. 11:34)? I say: who has known the mind of a person who is silent in body and spirit? Word 38th. About prayer. Page 234 If you feel particularly sweet or tender in any word of the prayer, then dwell on it; for then our Guardian Angel prays with us. If someone asks you to pray for him, then although you have not yet acquired the gift of prayer, do not deny it. For often the faith of the one asking for prayer saves the one who prays for him with contrition of heart. Word 38th. About prayer. Page 238 Do not be proud when you have prayed for others and been heard; for it was their faith that worked and accomplished them. In our All-Good King one can see actions similar to the actions of an earthly king, who sometimes himself distributes gifts to his soldiers, sometimes through a friend, sometimes through a slave, and sometimes in an unknown way. All this happens, depending on the clothing of our humility. Ask with tears, seek with obedience, answer with long-suffering. Thus the one who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and the one who asks will be opened (Matthew 7:8). A word to the shepherd. Page 256 When speaking with the brethren, assimilate to yourself those sins that you need to expose in one or another of them: in this way you will always be free from unnecessary modesty. The guide should not say to everyone who comes to obedience: this path is narrow and straitened (Matthew 7:14), and not to everyone: this yoke is good and burden... easy (Matthew 11:29-30); but must consider and choose decent medicines. For those burdened with severe sins and prone to despair, the second remedy is appropriate, and for those prone to arrogance and conceit, the first remedy is appropriate. A word to the shepherd. Page 261 You and every shepherd should also consider the fact that if the grace of God acts through us on those who come to us, is it not because of their faith, and not because of our purity? For many and passionate people worked miracles in this way; and if many, as the Savior says, will say to Him on the day of judgment: Lord, Lord, is not Thy name prophesied (Matthew 7:22) and so on, then what I have said should not seem incredible. He who has truly found mercy from God can quietly do good to the sick, thereby having two benefits: preserving himself unharmed from the rust of glory, and disposing those who have been pardoned to give thanks to the One God. The whole world is not worth one soul, because the world passes away, but the soul is imperishable and abides forever. Note to word 6, chapter 8. On the memory of death. Page 12 Christ fears death, but does not tremble. St. Augustine gives an excellent interpretation of this. He says that the Lord Jesus Christ, seeing His death approaching, grieved and grieved not out of weakness, but out of power, so that we would not despair of our salvation when we become embarrassed not because of power, but because of weakness. Thus, He wanted to comfort all the weak, taking on a free likeness of their weakness, so that we would reason about what good we should expect and hope from communion of His Divinity, when His very sorrow makes us calm, and when His weakness strengthens us. Note on word 26, chapter 115. On prudent reasoning. Page 22 He who has acquired God and His enlightenment in his heart usually knows the will of God in the work he wants to do, whether it is difficult and is done slowly, or easy and is done quickly; because he does not look at the difficulties and the length of time that hinder him and slow down the work, and for this reason he does not abandon it, but looks at the help and assistance that, as he sees, God gives him, and at his zeal to complete the task. For the Holy Apostles, with many difficulties and great temptations, taught people the Holy Gospel and led them to the true faith: but they looked not at obstacles and length of time, but at Divine power and the great help sent down to them, with which they defeated all the obstacles that opposed them; so their cause succeeded for the better and became more established. And from this the will of God was clearly known; for if there were only temptations and obstacles, and there was no God’s assistance, then it would seem that there was no God’s will for this. Therefore, the one who has God within himself does not look at obstacles and delays, but at God’s help, strengthening him to strive with great zeal and complete the work, and because of the length of time and difficulties, he does not doubt and is not burdened, and does not leave the work undone. In the old translation: do not touch someone else's bed. Those. father, who through obedience killed the passionate will in him. Ava Simon. Memorable tales about the asceticism of the holy fathers. Published. 1855, p. 313. Ave. Serapion Sindonite. "Lavsaik", ch. 72nd. See also in the Cheti-Minea, July 21, the life of St. Simeon Christ for the sake of the holy fool. In the translation of Elder Paisius: clothes and an intelligent feeling.