Об истинном отречении от мира, и о том, как душе обрести Бога, и для чего приходил Господь

He who has imposed upon himself silence and strives for solitude has chosen a good beginning. But as far as he is from the worries of visible confusion, let him look into his soul to see if he has gotten rid of internal rebellions and freed himself from the multitude of demons attacking him; because in the soul there are disturbances and rebellions of evil thoughts, due to the great malice of opposing forces, about which the Apostle speaks: “... our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers and authorities and against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual malice...”. (Eph.6:12); and again: “Our weapons are not carnal”, but are strong in the Lord, “we are firm in destruction; we lay down the thoughts that destroy, and every tribute that is raised against the mind of God” (2 Cor. 10:4-5). Therefore, our entire feat is to remain silent internally and renounce true rebellions, agitation of thoughts, and resistive forces. Otherwise, renunciation and apparent removal from the place will be in vain. For this is true renunciation - to remain inwardly in peace and silence. Therefore, when you stand before God in prayer, be careful that the beautiful instruments with which you sing to God, that is, your thoughts, are not plundered by your enemies. How, or with what, will you serve God when your weapon is taken away from you, that is, your thoughts are captured? God does not need lips or tongue to pray. Serving God requires that thoughts, all the strength and strength of the soul, all the mind, be undistractedly tense towards God. Do not mix copper or lead with your gold, that is, there are many impure thoughts in your soul. Just as a virgin betrothed to her husband, if she is seduced by others, becomes vile in the eyes of her husband, so the soul, carried away by unclean thoughts and giving consent to them, is abominable to its Heavenly Bridegroom, Christ. On the contrary, she should, as far as possible, avoid connection with these thoughts and not delight in agreeing to them, so that the Lord, seeing her love for Him, would have mercy on her and, having come, destroy her enemies, who instill in her and convince her to have enmity towards her Bridegroom and think to turn her thoughts away from Christ. For as soon as the Lord sees that the soul, to the best of its strength, is gathered into itself, constantly seeking the Lord, waiting for Him at night and crying out to Him during the day (for this is what He commanded - to pray unceasingly), He will not hesitate to take vengeance for it and, having cleansed it from the vice that still exists in it, present it to Himself as a bride without filth. Therefore, if you believe in the Lord that this is true, as it is truly true, then be attentive to yourself, whether your soul has found for itself a guiding light and true food and drink, which is Christ Himself. But if not, then strive day and night to receive this, because you are blind. This is how the Lord promised, this is how the soul finds the true God. Therefore, when you see the sun, seek the true Sun and look into your soul to see if you have found the true light, because everything visible is a shadow of the invisible and true objects of the soul. For besides the visible there is another - the inner man, other eyes which Satan blinded, other ears which he made deaf, but Jesus came to save these and make man sound. “For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Glory to him forever and ever! Amen. You might be interested in: