Simple truths of the heart

What must you do to be saved? How can we make sure that the cross of illness and sorrow that everyone inevitably bears is not for destruction, but for salvation? How to learn prayer? How to cleanse your heart of passions? Our salvation depends on how we answer these difficult questions in our lives. Saint Theophan the Recluse constantly shares with us his thoughts about this in his works. So in the collection of works of St. Theophan the Recluse, “Simple Truths of the Heart,” he also gives answers to these and many other questions. Moreover, the answers are not in general words or high theological concepts, but very simple, specific and accessible. Saint Theophan, being filled with the grace of God and being in the fullness of truth, could very simply speak about the deep truths of Christianity. Everything is simple, everything has already been done by the Lord for salvation - the matter is up to you. “The Lord puts the work of salvation into your hands,” says Saint Theophan. The saint's works are a practical encyclopedia of spiritual life, a detailed guide on the path to salvation. The collection “Simple Truths of the Heart” includes small works by St. Theophan the Recluse, dealing primarily with inner life: “Three words about bearing the cross”, “Four words about prayer”, “On perfect conversion to God from the delights of the world and sin”, “Five teachings on the path to salvation”, “Inner life”, “A reminder to all-honorable nuns of what monasticism requires of them” and “Interpretation of the book “Shepherd” of Saint Hermas.” For the most part, these are the words and sermons of the saint to the Tambov and Vladimir flocks. What unites the works is the saint’s desire to arouse in his listeners a desire for non-slothful spiritual work and to direct this work in the right direction, so that when embarking on the path of salvation or already walking along it, they would not strive in vain. You might be interested in: