ДОБРОДЕТЕЛЬ

A person is capable of changing every day and even minute. Yes, a person can change, if he wants, for good or bad, he can acquire the wealth of faith, repentance, tears (like Mary of Egypt or David and others), he can become poor and stripped of all virtue and put on all malice and various passions (Judas and all unrepentant sinners). Blessed Augustine says that everyone can become either a holy seed or the opposite (3). Everyone change, be transformed internally; proud, humble yourself and consider yourself the lowest of people, never be proud of anything and do not boast. For what good thing do you have that is not from God? All good things come from Him. Change envy to benevolence; if you are living fornication, immediately leave your uncleanness and be zealous for the purity of your thoughts and desires; if your will is wicked, correct it and be blameless in your insides; if you are a lover of money, leave your partiality and hardness of heart towards the poor and be merciful; if you are grumpy and quarrelsome, be modest and live in peace with everyone; if you are lazy towards prayer and virtue, be careful in future; if you are a drunkard, henceforth live soberly; if he steals, give it to him himself; if you are crafty, be simple and unhypocritical. Rise yourselves, all of you, to the height of virtues, as to a mountain, and shake off your sins as mud, as uncleanness, as corruption and a source of corruption (4). As sins are repeated, a habit of them is formed; as sins are repeated, the will to good weakens more and more, and to evil becomes stronger so that it becomes difficult to resist sin. One must become accustomed to any virtue so that it becomes, as it were, a natural property in a person (4). Every Christian soul must achieve such a state of mind that it always feels complete disgust for any sin, no matter in what form it may appear, and at the same time achieve a perfect disposition of heart towards all virtue (4). It's good, it's very good to be virtuous. A good person is calm, pleasing to God, and kind to people. A virtuous person involuntarily attracts the attention of everyone. Why? Because the fragrance involuntarily forces you to pay attention to yourself and breathe it in. Look at the very appearance of the virtuous man, at his face. What kind of face is this? This is an angelic face. Meekness and humility flow through him and involuntarily captivate everyone with their beauty. Pay attention to his speech, it gives even more fragrance: here you seem to be face to face with his soul - and you melt from his sweet conversation (6). Oh, how fickle, fragile, and unfaithful everything earthly is! How constant and eternal is virtue and its reward! (9). We must perform not one, not two or only three virtues, but everything possible, so that we may be perfect and not lack any virtue, “so that you may be perfect in all completeness, without any deficiency,” says the holy Apostle James (James 1:4). “Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect,” says the Lord in the Gospel (Matthew 5:48) (9). From the properties of sin, from its cruel, tyrant dominion, find out what it is like; equally, from the property of virtue (every good thought, good feeling, good deed), from its meek, joyful dominion over the soul, find out what it is like; and having learned, choose what, from experience itself, is obvious, has complete superiority or, better, does not even compare due to its complete opposite (10). Virtue then especially has its price when it is performed under the fire of temptations, for example, the temptation of illness or some other misfortune, just as a soldier is not brave when peace and tranquility reign within the borders of his fatherland, but when enemies attack the kingdom, when he fights under fire and sword. Then his generosity and courage, his love for the Tsar and the Fatherland will be recognized. Without war, even if someone was brave, they would not easily believe him. Likewise, there are reasons not to trust very much a person who does good under favorable circumstances and has not yet experienced grief: he may lose his presence of mind in misfortune and change his rule of doing good, and even reveal his bad sides: cowardice, impatience, murmuring and blasphemy against God. Only a Christian purified in the crucible of troubles is strong and reliable, and only one who is not in trouble is doubtful (10). You might be interested in: