Word
1 * Word 2

Word 1

The truly blessed thing is not to sin: and for those who sin, not to despair, but to cry about what they have sinned in, so that through tears they can again achieve bliss. Therefore, it is wonderful to “pray always and not be cold,” as the Lord says (Luke 18:1). And the Apostle also says: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17), that is, night and day, and every hour. Not only when entering church, but also at other times, do not abandon your concern for this; on the contrary, whether you are working, sleeping, or on the road, or eating, or drinking, or lying down, do not interrupt your prayer, for you do not know when the one who demands your soul will come. Do not wait for Sunday or a holiday, do not distinguish between places, but, as the prophet David said, pray “in every place of dominion” (Ps. 102:22). Therefore, whether you are in church, or at home, or in the field, whether you are tending sheep, whether you are engaged in construction, whether you are at a feast – do not abandon prayer; and when possible, kneel, and when impossible, pray with your mind; and in the evening, and in the morning, and at noon. If prayer precedes the work, and, having risen from bed, you devote your first movements to prayer, then sin will not find access to the soul. Prayer is a protective means for chastity, training the heart, taming arrogance, cleansing from memory of malice, exterminating hatred, correcting wickedness. Prayer is strength to the body, prosperity to the home, improvement to the city, power to the kingdom, a sign of victory during battle, strength to the world. Prayer is the seal of virginity, the fidelity of marriage, the weapon of travelers, the guardian of those who sleep, the trustworthiness of those who are awake, the fruitfulness of farmers, the salvation of those who swim. Prayer is the intercessor of those on trial, consolation for prisoners, consolation for those who mourn, joy for those who rejoice, encouragement for those who cry, a holiday on birthdays, a crown for spouses, burial for the dead. Prayer is a conversation with God, equality with the Angels, success in good, aversion from evil, correction for those who sin. Prayer made Jonah and the whale a home, and returned Hezekiah from the gates of death to life, and turned the flame into the “spirit of dew” for the youths in Babylon (Dan. 3:50). With prayer Elijah bound the heavens, “and there shall not be rain upon the earth for three years and six months” (James 5:17). You see, brothers, how powerful prayer is. In a person’s entire life there is no other asset more precious than prayer. Never move away from her, never leave her, but, as our Lord said, let us pray that our labor will not be in vain (Matthew 6:6). “And whenever you stand praying, forgive whatever you have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven… may forgive your sins” (Mark 11:25). See to it, beloved, that we do not labor in vain in prayer if we have enmity against anyone. The Lord also says: “If you bring your gift to the altar and remember her, because your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go first and humble yourself with your brother, and then come and bring your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). So, it is clear now that if you do not do this first, then whatever you bring will not be accepted. If you fulfill the command of the Master, then boldly pray to the Lord, saying: “Forgive me, Master, my debts, just as I forgive my brother, having fulfilled Your commandment. Although I am weak, I nevertheless left.” And the Lover of Mankind will say in response: “If you have left, I will also leave; if you have forgiven, I also forgive your debts; because I have the power to forgive sins on earth.” Let go and it will be released to you. You see God’s incomparable love for mankind. See God’s immeasurable grace. Have you heard a short way to the salvation of your souls?

Word 2

Prayer is a great weapon, an unfailing treasure, never-failing wealth, a serene haven, the foundation of silence; the root, source and mother of thousands of blessings is prayer. She is stronger than the kingdom itself. Therefore, it often happened that the one wearing the diadem suffered from a fever, lay scorched by fire on his bed, before him stood doctors, bodyguards, servants, military leaders: and neither the skill of doctors, nor the presence of friends, nor the services of household members, nor the abundance of medicines, nor the value of utensils, nor wealth, nor any other human benefit could alleviate his illness; but if someone who has boldness comes to God and touches only the body and performs a pure prayer over it, then all bodily ailments are driven away. And what wealth, a multitude of servants, knowledge of experience and the greatness of the kingdom were unable to do, the prayer of one poor and beggar is often able to do.

I mean not this cold and full of negligence prayer, but performed at length, with an aching soul, with a tense mind. For such prayer ascends to heaven. Just as water, while it flows over a level place and enjoys a large expanse, does not rise in height, but when the hands of plumbers, blocking its flow below, bend it, then, constrained, it rushes upward faster than any arrow; So the human mind spills over and becomes distracted while it enjoys great freedom; when circumstances oppress him, then in this beautiful oppression he sends up pure and powerful prayers to the heights. And in order to understand why these prayers, performed with sorrow, can especially be heard, listen to what the prophet says to the Lord: “When I was in sorrow, I cried out and heard me” (Ps. 119:1). So, let us warm the conscience, arouse sorrow in the soul with the memory of sins, arouse sorrow not in order to oppress the soul, but so that it becomes worthy of hearing, is sober, awake and touches the heavens themselves. Nothing drives laziness and carelessness away from us so much as painful feelings and sorrow, which gather the mind together and return it to itself. Whoever grieves and prays like this will, after prayer, be able to bring great joy into his soul. Just as a confluence of clouds at first makes the air gloomy, and when it rains from them, and the clouds lose the snowflakes accumulated in them one by one, then they make the whole air quiet and clear again. So is spiritual sorrow: while it is contained inside, it darkens our thoughts, and when it exhausts itself in prayerful words with tears and comes out, then it produces great clarity in the soul, bringing down into the mind of the praying person, like a kind of ray, the thought of God’s help. But what cold reasoning do many have? They say: “I have no boldness, I am covered with shame and cannot open my lips.” Satanic is fear, cover is laziness; the devil wants to block the door by which we can enter to God. Don’t you have the courage? But it is already great boldness, and this very thing, to consider oneself not to have boldness, since it is extreme shame and condemnation to consider oneself to have boldness. For even if you have many merits and do not recognize anything bad in yourself, but consider yourself to have boldness, then you have lost all the fruits of prayer. And if you carry on your conscience numerous (countless) burdens of sins, you convince yourself only that you are the last of all, then you will have great boldness before God. There is no humility in this for a sinner to consider himself a sinner, for humility consists in recognizing that there are many and great things in oneself, and not imagining anything great about oneself; a humble man who is like Paul and can say (1 Cor. 4:4): “I am worth nothing in myself” (I know), and also says: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first” (1 Tim. 1:15). This is humility – to be high according to your merits and to humiliate yourself in your mind. However, God, out of His ineffable compassion, allows to Himself and accepts not only those who humble themselves, but also those who graciously express their sins; and to such he is merciful and favors.

And in order to know what a blessing it is not to imagine anything great about yourself, draw in a word two chariots. Harness righteousness and arrogance, and also sin with humility – and you will see that the chariot of sin will precede righteousness not by the own strength of sin, but by the strength of the humility of mind associated with it, and also the first chariot will remain behind, not because of the weakness of righteousness, but because of the heaviness and weakness of arrogance. For just as humility, due to its excellent height, overcomes the severity of sin and precedes the ascent to God, so arrogance, due to its great heaviness and plumpness, is able to prevail over unencumbered righteousness and easily drag it down. And as proof that one chariot is faster than another, remember the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee harnessed righteousness and arrogance, saying this: “I give you praise, because I am not like other men, predators,” covetous people, “like this publican” (Luke 18:11). His arrogance did not satiate the entire human race, but in great madness he attacked the publican who was standing nearby. What about the publican? He did not reflect the reproach, did not limit himself to accusation, but gratefully accepted what was said, and the arrow of the enemy turned for him into healing and healing, the reproach into praise, and the accusation into a crown. So beautiful is humility! There are so many benefits – not being hurt by the slander of others, not being enraged by the insults of your neighbor! For from them too a great and excellent benefit can be reaped, just as it was with the publican. Having accepted the reproach, he put aside his sins and said, “be merciful to me a sinner… below… justified… more than he” (Luke 18:13-14). Words became higher than deeds, words took precedence over action. One flaunted righteousness, fasting and tithes, and the other uttered one word – and put aside all sins, because God not only heard the words, but saw the thought with which they were spoken, and, finding humility and a contrite heart, had mercy and showed love for mankind.

I say this not so that we sin, but so that we will be grateful. For the publican – a man standing at the extreme level of damage, not through humility, but only through gratitude, by expressing his sins, confessing what he is – attracted such great favor from God to himself; and such help is obtained from God by those who, although they have succeeded in great good deeds, nevertheless do not think highly of themselves. Therefore, I exhort, ask and beg you to confess more often before God. I do not bring you out into disgrace before slaves like you, nor do I force you to reveal your sins to men. Open your conscience before God, show Him your wounds, ask Him for healing, show yourself not to the one who reproaches, but to the One who heals. For even if you remain silent, He will know everything. So, speak in order to remain with the acquisition, speak in order to lay down your sins here, go there clean and be freed from the future intolerable reproof.

The three youths were in the cave, betraying their souls for the confession of the Master, but despite so many great merits, they said: “We cannot open our mouths: shame and reproach came upon Thy servant” (Dan. 3:33). So, what does the mouth open to? In order, they say, to utter this very thing to us: “we cannot open our lips,” and thereby attract the Lord to us.

The power of prayer quenched the power of fire, curbed the rage of lions, decided wars, stopped battles, tamed storms, cast out demons, opened the gates of heaven, dissolved the bonds of death, drove away illnesses, repelled misfortunes, restored shaken cities, stopped both blows from above and human slander; in a word – all sorts of disasters. Again, I mean prayer, not just lying on the lips, but rising from the depths of the mind. Just as trees that have taken root deep into the earth, if they take upon themselves the thousandfold attacks of the winds, do not break and cannot be torn out, because the roots are firmly attached to the depths of the earth, so prayers sent from the very depths of the mind, as firmly rooted, extend into the heights, and no attack of thought can seduce them. That is why the prophet says: “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord” (Ps. 129:1). Glory to him forever! Amen.