Слово 36. Послание к некоторым инокиням

Many-sinful monk Maxim the Greek, I bow to the ground to the honest nuns. From your love, which you showed me in the Lord according to your good will, I did not ask and it never occurred to me to receive such a gift as I received from you beyond my expectations. Therefore, I consider it fair to thank your great love for me with a notebook that reminds me of monastic life. You are filled with wisdom and divine intelligence, as those who please the very Giver of all wisdom and intelligence - Jesus Christ, the spiritual bridegroom of your souls, from Whom you are constantly enlightened by the light of all wisdom and the highest intelligence. Accept this small reminder with your usual spiritual love and meekness, even if in some places there is some speech that is not particularly easy. Do not be surprised at this and do not be embarrassed, for I fear the One who through his prophet Isaiah says: Woe to those who speak light to darkness, and light to darkness, who put bitter sweet, and sweet bitter (Is. 5:20); also: It is a terrible thing to fall into the hand of the living God (Heb. 10:31). Although I am more sinful than all sinners, I am obliged to preach the truth of the Gospel law to everyone with all my soul, all my heart and lips. If anyone is indignant because of the straightforwardness of this notebook, he will see for himself, for each one will bear his own burden, as it is said in the Divine Scripture, and also, whatever he sows, he will also reap. Hello always about the Lord and do not forget us in your holy prayers! To them. About how monastic life should be conducted, and that fulfilling the Gospel commandments is the true fear of God From me, poor and poor in virtues and bookish intelligence, the honest and wise daughters of the Heavenly King ask for reminders of a godly life, as if lacking in wisdom and divine reason, while they, in fact, are the most diligent disciples of the Hypostatic Wisdom itself, the Creator and Ruler of all, God and the Father. Where will I, poor in this regard, get what I need to offer them a soulful meal and inexhaustible food? It is necessary for the one who undertakes to teach others how to please God, first of all by doing this himself, so that his life is in everything consistent with his teaching about God, so that those taught by him treat him with confidence and he himself receives reward from God, as one who cooperates with Him in the salvation of believers. So the mysterious word of God teaches us, saying: O hypocrite, first remove the plank from your hair, and then see clearly to take away the speck from your brother’s hair (Matthew 7:5). Also: Whoever does and teaches, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:19). But I, having in my mind’s eye not just one log, but countless numbers of them, how can I remove the bough from the eyes of others, even though I myself need such a doctor? But as the word of God promises, saying: Open your mouth, and I will do it (Ps. 80:11); also: The Lord will give the word to those who bring good news with much power (Ps. 67:12); then I, obeying this and hoping for it, dare to begin this, although this exceeds my strength and dignity; For it is not you, he says, who will speak, but the Spirit of My Heavenly Father (Matthew 10:20). Having called upon this Divine Helper for help, I will begin the teaching as follows. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but understanding is good to all who do it (Ps. 110:10). By wisdom here we do not mean general intelligence or knowledge of all scriptures - divine and external, but the fulfillment by deed of the divine commandments and commands, as the Lord Himself teaches, saying: Not everyone who says to Me: Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21), that is, who diligently fulfills His saving commandments in word and deed. For whoever brings Him only long prayers, but does not care about bringing Him the fruit of God’s commandments, which is love, truth and mercy, will hear from Him: That you say to Me, O Lord, Lord, but do not do what I command you. He teaches us the same thing through the divine prophet, who says: To the sinner, that is, to those who do not live according to His commandments, God says: Of what kind have you spoken My justifications, and have you received My covenant with your lips? (Ps.49:16). With these words He clearly humiliates and rejects the one who adorns himself only with great knowledge of the Divine Scripture and thereby thinks to please God by doing the opposite of this. For after the above words, it follows: You hated punishment, and you rejected My words back (Ps. 49:17), that is, you transgress and despise My saving commandments and steal with those who steal, while I command you not to steal, you offend with those who offend, you covet with those who covet, and condemn the innocent, accepting gifts from offender, while I hate all this with all my heart and lead you away from this with My divine commandments, commanding you this way: Do not trust in unrighteousness, and do not desire admiration; if wealth flows, do not apply your heart (Ps. 61:11), that is, do not devote yourself entirely to amassing for yourself, through all unrighteousness, great treasures on earth, where worms and aphids corrupt, and where They break into and steal (Matthew 6:19). Therefore, the word of God says well and rightly that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, that is, the beginning of the salvation of the soul is keeping and fulfilling the commandments of God. This is what it calls the fear of the Lord, just as it secretly teaches through the Prophet, saying: Come, children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is a person who loves life and sees good things? (Ps. 33:12-13 et seq.), as if to say: if there is anyone who has such a desire, let him, he says, keep his tongue from evil, that is, from slander, from lies, from blasphemy, slander, foul language, bullshit and idle talk, and let his lips not speak flattery, but let them speak only truth and righteousness, let him turn away from evil and do good, that is, let him hate all uncleanness of the flesh and spirit, let him abhor it, and do good, that is, let him love all purity and holiness of soul and body. Let him turn away from unrighteousness and love righteousness; let him retreat from cruelty and unmercifulness, and let him be merciful, generous, poor-loving, merciful to everyone, in general, who is in poverty and in various troubles; if anyone is hungry, feed him to his full; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; if he is hungry, let him clothe his pitiful bones, and let him not despise him who is freezing from the cold, and let him not pass over those who are in such distress. For the whole law and the prophets, that is, all the ten commandments of God, and all that the prophets bequeath to you with many and various sayings - all this is contained in these two commandments, that is: You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31). Whoever fulfills these two commandments by deed has fulfilled the whole law and all the prophecies, but whoever neglects them and boasts in vain, saying: I love God, has been completely deceived in his mind, for the false lips of Christ say: He who has My commandments and keeps them, that is, he who fulfills them by deed, he who loves Me, does not keep My words (John 14:21). Also, Blessed John the Theologian in his first conciliar epistle says: Say that I love God, but do not keep His commandments; there is a lie, and in this there is no truth (1 John 2:4), therefore, Christ is not in him, for the truth itself is Christ. And if Christ is not in us, then woe to us, for we will find ourselves working in vain, hoping to be saved only by abstaining from food, prolonged prayers and vigil. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but truth and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, according to the holy Apostle Paul (Rom. 14:17). Here he calls the kingdom of God the new gospel law, which is nothing other than all truth, perfect love and holiness, as well as mercy and generosity towards everyone in troubles and poverty. For those who serve Christ, says the Apostle Paul, are well-pleasing to God and skillful to man (Rom. 14:18). By all this we reliably learn that the beginning of wisdom, that is, the salvation of the soul, is the fear of God, which lies in keeping His holy commandments, just as the divine hymnist says: Blessed is the man, fear the Lord; he delights greatly in His commandments (Ps. 111:1), that is, he loves to live according to it with all his soul and tries to please God by always fulfilling them. And whoever is inclined to the soul-destroying thought that today people are weak by nature and it is necessary to tolerate human weakness, then I will tell him the same; You can only be condescending in that in which condescension is not contrary to the commandments of God and does not violate the monastic rules of the fathers, which consist in non-covetousness, in silence, in a carefree life, in the love of money, in non-covetousness, in humility and meekness, in unfeigned love, in mercy and pity for all those in trouble. Any leniency combined with the violation of these commandments and regulations is complete destruction of the soul, and not salvation. What salvation lies in the fact that, contrary to the vows we have given, we again acquire property and acquisitions and abundant treasures on earth, in violation of the commandment of the Gospel, through untruth and covetousness, from which comes an innumerable amount of disorder and disorder in thoughts and worldly affairs, quarrels, warfare, due to which we are distinguished from the laity only by tonsure and black clothing. But enough has been said about this for those who sincerely love to walk the narrow and regrettable gospel path, without self-justification, and for those who do not submit to the truth of the gospel and praise the long path, I have said enough in another word; let them get correction from there if they want. We will return to the rest of the soul-helping testaments of the Holy Spirit. Wanting to encourage us to practice the fear of God, that is, the commandments of the Lord, the Word of God lists for us the fruits of spiritual gifts that come from here, which the blessed ones who did them were vouchsafed. Such are the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs and God-bearing fathers who have pleased God from time immemorial, the founders and teachers of monastic life. What are the gifts that such will be worthy of, listen: Strongly, he says, his seed will be on the earth (Ps. 112:2); strongly - not in gold, not in silver, or in the abundance of worldly acquisitions, as some wrongly think, but strongly in faith and truth and love for God and neighbor, such as was the one who says: Who will separate us from the love of God? Is it tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or trouble, or a sword? We have learned that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:35, 38-39). And in another place: We walk in the flesh, but do not fight according to the flesh. For the weapon of our army is not carnal, but is powerful in God to destroy the firmament: it destroys thoughts and every arrogance that is charged to the mind of God (2 Cor. 10:3-5). Their seed, in fairness, we call the gospel preaching, which, being sown throughout the entire universe by countless numbers of the faithful, strong in all holiness and truth and reverence, bears fruit to the Heavenly Maker of martyrs, reverend monks and all righteous people, who, with the firmness of faith and the warmth of love for the Savior Christ, drove away from everywhere the darkness of the charms of godless idols and introduced the light of unfalse piety given from God. They were strong in battle, both spiritual and physical, taking up arms with faith in Christ God and love for Him not only against the principles and powers of the darkness of this charming age and against evil spirits, but also against the most wicked persecutors - the Greeks, Romans and Jews, and their fury against Christ and their immeasurable pride were humbled and cast down to the ground, and like dust that is on the way, saying psalmically, smoothed out (Ps. 17:43). So, the divine David said well that the seed of the righteous will be strong on the earth, after which he adds: Glory and wealth are in his house, that is, in the house of one who fears the Lord and fulfills His commandments. Wealth and glory should not be understood as temporary and earthly, which quickly disappear, but the glory sent from above to the reverend saints of God, and the wealth of spiritual gifts with which the God-bearing apostles, reverend and righteous, were enriched, even in this life, as well as the enjoyment of eternal blessings, which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard, as it is written (1 Cor. 2:9). The hymnist speaks nowhere about this enrichment to the Creator and Lord of all: You visited the earth, that is, human nature, and you intoxicated it, that is, you filled it with spiritual joy and joy, you multiplied it to enrich it (Ps. 64:10), that is, you were pleased to abundantly protect and decorate human nature with powers and signs and all kinds of spiritual gifts. It was in extreme poverty, having no knowledge of God, its Creator, Nourisher and Provider, but it became rich in all kinds of demonic charm and wickedness, all kinds of madness and all kinds of malice. Having rejected true reason and the fear of God and completely enslaved to the evil demons, it was controlled by them, like some dumb animal, and was drawn into every abyss of godlessness and bestial fornication. But the all-good God did not completely despise human nature, but, having compassion, visited it, which was suffering from all kinds of atheism, and not only visited, but calmed and enriched, adorning and transforming it with all sorts of gifts of the Holy Spirit, as I said above. Therefore, his truth endures forever, that is, his pious deeds and enterprises do not perish with the end of this temporary life, like the deeds of wicked and sinful people, but will follow the pious after their departure from this life and remain with them forever. With such gifts, every truly Godly person, that is, everyone who fears the Lord, will be adorned by God. The rise in darkness is a light to the right. Just as the shining light of the sun dispels the darkness of the night, so the righteous man, with the rays of his good and godly deeds, enlightens those who sit wisely in the darkness of ignorance of God, if they are among the righteous and worthy to receive such grace, as the Supreme Apostle Peter said: Truly I understand that God does not pay attention to personalities: but in every nation, fear Him and do righteousness, He is acceptable ( Acts 10:34–35), that is, He is awarded the grace of the Gospel and preaching, the mind about Christ and faith in Him. And so it is. But let us hear about the further corrections of the one who fears the Lord: “Merciful,” he says, “and generous and righteous.” It is good for the husband to be generous and lend. Such a disposition bestows the fear of God on those who fulfill the commandments of God by deed and accept with undoubted faith what is said by the Lord: Blessed be merciful, for you will receive mercy; and again: Be ye perfect and generous, as your Father in heaven is perfect and generous (Matthew 5:48). Truly, there is not a single other good deed that we perform that would so strongly incline the Creator of all to the mercy of us, as philanthropy, mercy and compassion for the poor and for those in troubles and sorrows. This is clear from many places of Scripture, especially from the fact that the Righteous Judge Himself will not praise for any other deed then, at the judgment, those standing at His right hand and will grant them the kingdom of heaven, as soon as they fed Him the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, brought in the strange, that is, graciously accepted Him into their homes, and gave them rest in every possible way; when he was in prison, they came to Him and consoled Him in every way, and visited the sick man. For the sake of all these good deeds shown to those living in troubles, you will then crown the righteous - Righteous, and the merciful - Merciful and Humane, keeping silent about their other corrections and spiritual deeds, such as: about great fasting, prayer, all-night standing and departures into distant and uninhabited deserts. By this, He, the all-merciful One, wanted to show that without mercy and philanthropy shown to those in trouble, all those exploits do not bring any benefit and are considered unworthy of mention before Him; for He Himself says: I want mercy, and not sacrifice, and the taking away of God, and not burnt offerings (Hos. 6:6). With this, the Savior seems to be saying: “If you go to church to pray to Me and make some kind of sacrifice, and on the way you meet a poor beggar who needs help or asks you for alms, give to the beggar who asks you what you wanted to give to My priest for a prayer service or for performing a holy service, and do not despise the need and poverty of the beggar, preferring to him the prayer and holy service brought to Me. For the mercy shown to him is from you an acceptable sacrifice and an acceptable prayer to Me, if you obey Me without a doubt, just as I obeyed without a doubt My Heavenly Father and offered Myself as a sacrifice and offering for the fallen Adam and for the entire human race that came from him.” The incorruptible Judge taught us this even more clearly with the parable of the five wild virgins who were left outside the divine palace because they did not take enough oil with them into the vessels. These virgins, as the divine Fathers teach, are the souls of pious husbands and wives, always laboring in all-night prayers and practicing a lot in fasting to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit; oil, which signifies mercy and compassion for the poor and those living in troubles, not only did they not care to acquire, but, on the contrary, oppressed them with annual demands of inhuman growth. Therefore, it is right that such souls of the pious are called the Terrible Judge - buii; for, having overcome passions that are higher than human nature and strength, and having quenched the bestial carnal desire in themselves, they were defeated by the passion of Jewish love of money and enslaved to insatiable covetousness, not caring about the mercy, love for mankind and kindness bestowed upon them by nature, but turned their nature into a brutal one, acquiring various possessions for themselves in every unrighteous way. Those who can worthily mourn, who not only do not show mercy to the poor according to the divine commandment of the Savior, but also plunder the rest of the property of the poor and wretched with annual demands on them of the most burdensome increases. And there are those who are so overcome by the passion of Jewish love of money and insatiable covetousness that they maliciously come up with various slander against some rich people who have not offended anyone in any way. Who can describe the damnation of such? No art of rhetoric is able to depict this incomparable evil. But let us leave their correction and healing to the Savior and the common Physician of all, our Lord Jesus Christ; we will return to what is present. For eternal memory, it is said, he will be righteous and will not fear the hearing of evil (Ps. 111:6-7). With this, the singer, or more correctly, the divine fire of the Holy Spirit (Paraclitus), who inspired him, showed us what rewards the righteous for doing His commandments with the fear of God. What is this? - but that they will never fall into oblivion, but will be honored to be remembered for endless centuries, that is, praise to God and the Savior Christ will always be accomplished through them. For just as the memory of the wicked and sinners perishes with a noise, as the Scripture says, so the memory of the righteous endures forever with praise before God, and they insatiably enjoy divine glory, visions and conversations, with great boldness. He will not be afraid from hearing evil, says the same man. For a terrible and bitter voice (evil hearing) will be uttered to those standing at the feet of the Judge: Depart from me, cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angel (Matthew 25:41). What could be more terrible and painful than this final eternal condemnation? This, he says, then the righteous will not fear the hearing of evil; for he will hear the endless and unfailing blessing that will be said to all who stand at His right hand: Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34). This mercy will be shown to them by the righteous Judge and the rich Rewarder for their philanthropy and mercy and compassion, which they showed to every beggar and everyone in trouble, as the divine hymnist says: Spend, give to the poor, their righteousness endures forever (Ps. 112:9). With this short saying, the Holy Spirit clearly taught how he who fears the Lord, and fulfills His commandments by deed, is honored with eternal memory from God, and will not fear that evil hearing: therefore, he says, for eternal memory he will be righteous and will not fear the hearing of evil, because he fulfilled the commandment of the Savior, which says: If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and have imash treasure in heaven (Matthew 19:21). Whoever loves the Lord and His ineffable blessings with all his soul and with all his thoughts, with all his heart and with all his strength, will not only give away all his property and acquisitions, but will also completely hate all his carnal passions, and will cut off all his desires, and every day will succeed in godly virtues, completely rejecting everything worldly that prevents him from ascending to God. For no one, he says, can work for two masters - God and Mammon (Matthew 6:24), that is, no one who works for unrighteous wealth can please God. And whoever again entangles himself in worldly cares after he has once and for all renounced this before God himself and His chosen angels, let him hear the Lawgiver, Who clearly says: No one has laid his hand on his head, and having returned back, he is ruled in the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). And again: Everyone who hears these words of mine and does this, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his church on the stone, which neither the strongest winds, nor torrential rains, nor many other attacks of rivers could shake. But whoever hears and does not create, that is, does not carry out My commandments and commandments, he is likened to an ugly man, who built his church on an arctic fox, on which when the rain fell, and the rivers came, and the winds blew, they immediately brought it down, and its greatness fell (Matthew 7:24-27). Church, I think, is what the Legislator calls the good thought, reasoning and will that appeared in me, when I decided to myself to leave the worldly disorderly life and all the vanity and false frenzy, and to accept a monastic silent life that delivers countless spiritual benefits. And if I fulfill this good decision and will and fulfill it according to the commandments of the Lord, and do not always cease to cleave to Him with all righteousness, silence and care, renouncing the pleasures and pleasures of the flesh, and I love to the end complete non-covetousness and monastic cruel existence: then truly I have created my church, that is, monasticism, on the stone, which is Christ the Savior Himself, Which is called the spiritual stone and constitutes firmness and confirmation for all those who love Him, which keeps them unharmed from the attack of all demonic wiles, which are allegorically called wind and rain and strong rivers. If, due to the weakness of my thoughts, after I have united myself with Christ and renounced worldly rebellion and vanity, I again entangle myself with them, and again begin to acquire all sorts of acquisitions and treasures on earth - gold and silver, and give myself up to unnecessary and vain worries and worries, to which disputes and litigation are intertwined, and from these are born envy and zeal, remembrance and enmity and clouds of countless evil and soul-harming thoughts, then I will truly be likened to a righteous Judge by a deformed (insane) husband who created his church on the fox, that is, on the crime and disobedience of the saving Gospel commandments, and I am conveniently captured by my opponent, and with any attack on me by unclean thoughts I find myself powerless to fight against them and completely inexperienced. Having come to such a state because of my great madness and insensibility, I do not find anyone more damned than myself. Those who walk, he says, walk and weep, throwing their seeds, but those who come will come with joy, taking hold of their hands (Ps. 126:6). This sacred saying was pronounced by the Holy Spirit not only regarding the martyrs and sufferers, but also about the reverend monks who voluntarily dispose themselves to endure all sorrow and distress and unlaxly walk the path leading to God, who, with many tears and labors of fasting, sow their spiritual seeds, that is, good deeds. Therefore, during the General Sunday, those who are coming will come with joy, grasping their hands, that is, they will receive from the immortal right hand of the Lord the eternal rewards prepared for them: the enjoyment of the eternal blessings prepared for the righteous, which are immortality, the endless kingdom of God, the saturation of the mind with the wisdom of God and unspeakable joy, which may we also be worthy to receive by grace and the generosity and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is due all glory, honor and worship, with His beginningless Father and the All-Holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto endless ages. Amen. You might be interested in: