Письмо XLIII. Кубикуларию Иоанну 231

The precious letter of my God-protected master came in peace and showed him all in his good character. For in a certain sublimity of speech it is common for the disposition of the soul to manifest itself with a kindness of disposition. And I rejoiced, as if my master had come to me with my own eyes, and kissed him in spirit, and, hugging him, enclosed everything in the receptacle of my heart, and glorified Christ, our God, who instilled light in the souls of people - the law of love, according to which people, as they should care for the seeds of love, can never be separated from each other, even if they are physically separated from each other in space at a great distance. But after the letter, having delivered the good news of peace in the world, has changed sorrow into joy, we must, in justice for it, in every possible way become pleasing to God, who graciously sent it, so as not to turn out to be ungrateful, who poorly repay the benefactor. Let us certainly be pleasing and make proper use of the time of peace, rejecting attachment to the world and the ruler of the world, which has insidiously taken possession of us, and let us stop, albeit late, the war that we are waging against God with our passions, and we will conclude a peace treaty with Him, and, having sacrificed our body (Rom. 6:6), we will cease to be at enmity with Him. It is impossible for us to become friends with God, rebelling against Him in passions and out of depravity agreeing to be tributaries to the nasty tyrant and destroyer of souls, the devil, if we first do not become enemies of the evil one in everything. After all, as long as we are enemies and opponents of God, although hiding behind the name of the faithful, we still desire to be slaves of shameful passions (Rom. 1:26) and voluntarily agree to bring a terrible tribute to the devil through shameful deeds, and there will be no benefit to us from peace on earth if the disposition of our soul is bad, rebelling against its own Creator, and not wanting to submit to His dominion, having sold itself to the multitude of fierce rulers who they force her to evil [374] and deceive her into choosing the one that leads to death over the path of salvation. When we sober up from the intoxication of passions, and rise up against the nasty and tyrannical rule of the devil, and throw off his painful yoke, and clearly see how our friendship with him has corrupted us - then we will accept the peaceful and meek King Christ who has come to us invisibly and humbly bear His yoke, and He will build us and guide us with the laws of truth, we, voluntarily Having bound ourselves in friendship with Him, voluntarily bring Him taxes and tributes - the fruits of righteousness that have ripened in us from the commanded virtues. In whom, for the sake of our salvation, He who alone lacks nothing will rejoice (Ps. 15:2), and will grant us everything that he has falsely promised. And this is this: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). For this reason He created us, so that we might become partakers of the Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4) and partakers of His eternity and be like Him by grace-filled deification, by which all things are contained and abides, and all things arise and are born. Let us be worthy of peace and tranquility, my blessed lord, by courageously rejecting the passions that rebel in us against God. We exhaust, as much as we have strength, the body, the prosperity of which opens the entrance to the soul for the devil. By reading the Divine we will stop the wandering mind and lead it back to God. Through efforts of self-control and vigilance, we will prudently pacify lust, which rushes with disordered greed towards many things. With prayers, and entreaties, and almsgiving, we will wisely lull the boiling and agitating anger. With the fear of God and thoughts of a threatening future, we will stop the uncontrolled movement and action of feelings. In everything, and above all, let us remember death, and the terrible departure of the soul from the body, and how through the air the principles, powers, and forces of darkness rush towards it, each pulling it towards itself [375] and tearing it apart in proportion to the nasty affinity that arose through passion. Let us remember the caustic pain caused to the soul by conscience in hell when remembering the evil deeds it committed with the help of the body. Let us remember the final completion of the whole world, in which everything earthly will be burned by immense fire with a terrible shock of the elements from the decomposing heat, and the sky will spin in fear, hastening to escape from the face of the fire that purifies creation for the coming of the Pure One; the sea will disappear, the earth will shake from its foundations and reveal countless multitudes of human bodies, in no way diminished; let us remember the terrible hour of the answer that will have to be held before the terrible and terrible judgment of Christ, when all the powers of heaven and all people created from the beginning of the century will see that it is characteristic of everyone, right down to the flashing thought, when some, for the sake of the radiance of their deeds, will receive the inexpressible light and luminosity of the holy and blessed Trinity, pouring out even more clearly on those who, by the purity of their souls, are able to see and accept it, while for others the absurdity of their deeds will be accepted by outer darkness (Matthew 8:12), and the ever-growing worm, and the unquenchable fire of Gehenna (Mark 9:43), and, what is most difficult of all, boundless and conscious shame. Let us remember all this in order to become worthy of it, and not be condemned to the test, and we will belong to ourselves and to God, and better yet only to all of God, and entirely, without carrying anything earthly in ourselves, in order to draw closer to God and become gods, having accepted the existence of gods from God. So, the gifts of God are revered, and the coming of God’s peace is welcomed. And enough about that. May the God of peace (Rom. 15:33), who reconciled us to Himself with the cross (2 Cor. 5:19) and redeemed us with His own blood from the power of darkness (Col. 1:13), Himself grant to my blessed master His peace, which surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7), and worthy of His Heavenly Kingdom, where the dwelling of all those who rejoice (Ps. 86:7) and the host of those celebrating (Ps. 41:5). [376] J.-C. Larcher in his preface to the publication of letters from St. Maxima writes that the Letters of the XLIII and XXIV collections of F. Combefis are identical and in fact represent one letter (see the note in his introductory article). However, although the text of these letters is largely the same, there are some (minor) differences between them. Therefore, we present in this edition the translation of both letters from St. Maxima. – Approx. resp. ed. You might be interested in: