Іноків Каліста та Ігнатія Ксантопулів: Майстерність і правило, звершене з Божою допомогою про тих, що хочуть безмовно в іночестві пожити

Monks Callista and Ignatius Xanthopoulos Mastery and rule, accomplished with God’s help, which the saints testify about: about those who want to live silently in monasticism, about their trial and residence, and their food, and about the reason for which and how many benefits silence is for those who go through it with understanding. This Word is divided into 100 chapters. Chapter 1. Preface to this word, labeled as chapter 1, tells of the divine and supernatural gift and grace that their faithful have from the Holy Spirit. it pleases us – whom God taught, speaking according to divine words, that we carry in our hearts a new law, clearer than a flame, which is guided by a good and righteous Spirit, as children and heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ – to live, imitating the angels, and not need someone to teach us this and tell us: “Know the Lord” (Jer. 31, 34). Nowadays, because of our young age, we have departed from good and resorted to evil, and the lure of the fierce Beliyar and his implacable torture have caused us to stray far from the saving and godly commandments and wander on soul-destroying precipices, and what is worst, he encourages us to be wise and to act against ourselves. That is why the divine words come true: “Is there anyone who understands or seeks God. All have turned aside, together they have become unworthy” (Ps. 13, 2). And that is why we have become completely carnal, and we lose light-bearing and divine grace, and we need each other’s assistance and help in good deeds. Chapter 2. This Word was spoken in answer to the question of a brother, and also in order to preserve the commandment of the fathers. Since you, desiring, according to the word of the Lord, to test the divine and life-giving Scriptures and to learn the mysteries infallibly, many times you asked us, the unworthy, for words and a written rule for your benefit, and perhaps also for the benefit of others, as you yourself said, then we, although not before, but even now have decided, as it pleases, with God’s help, to fulfill your praiseworthy request, forgetting our own despair, for the sake of your love and benefits, praising you, spiritual child, very beloved, for zeal for good works, for long-lasting love for labor, hiding above all God’s condemnation, which terribly threatens the one who hides his talent, and besides, fulfilling the commandment of the fathers. Because our fathers and spiritual teachers bequeathed to us that we should also teach other lovers of God as our fathers taught us. God – the Father of love and the generous Giver of all common goods – may he give us, slow and weak-voiced, a timely word so that we open our mouths, God, who often breathed words into speechless animals for the benefit of listeners (Numbers 22). And you and all who honor the word, let them apply their ears to hear wisely and intelligently (2 Pt. 2) – and steadfastly lead life as it pleases Him. Because without Him, as it is written, “we cannot do anything” (John 15:5) that is useful and salutary, and “if the Lord does not build the house, virgins will labor in vain” (Ps. 126:1). And so it is, as said. Chapter 3. About the fact that every business is preceded by an intention. The purpose of this Word is to teach what the foundation of the spiritual building that is in Christ should be.Since the intention precedes every deed, the intention of both of us is this: mine is to express what is in our power, so that it serves for your spiritual conversion, and yours is to sincerely live according to what was said. First of all, it is important to know what we are building for. Then, looking to Christ, let’s lay a useful beginning of the foundation, then, when the time comes, having received generous help from on high, we will lay the roof under the guidance of the Spirit. Chapter 4. About the fact that the beginning of every act according to God is living according to the commandments of the Savior, and the end is a return to the grace of the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, first given to us in divine baptism. The beginning of every act according to God, in short, consists in trying in every way and with all our strength to live according to the laws of all the God-fearing commandments of the Savior, and the end is in keeping the commandments and returning to what was given to us for nothing from on high, from the very beginning, from the holy font, to the complete restoration of the image and the return of grace. Or, in other words, to return this gift and, rejecting the old Adam with deeds and lusts, put on the new and spiritual one, which is Jesus Christ. As the divine apostle Paul says: “O my children, whom I give birth to again in torment, until Christ is imagined in you” (Ch. 4, 19). And also: “For all of you, who were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ” (Ch. 3, 27). Chapter 5. About what grace is and how we could receive it, and about what causes it to be lost and what restores it. What this grace is and how we can receive it, and why we lose it, Saint John Chrysostom, who is clearer in soul and body than all gold, will tell you about it, saying: “What do the words mean: “We all, like a mirror, with an open face reflect the glory of the Lord and are transformed into His image” (2 Kr. 3, 18)? This was better seen when the signs were working. gifts, but even now it is not so difficult for one who has pious eyes to see it. When we receive baptism, then the soul shines more from the sun, and we not only see the glory of God from it, but also receive a kind of radiance from it. As pure silver, which lies against the sun, itself emits light not only through its nature, but also through the light of the sun, so the soul, when it is purified, becomes brighter than all silver, receiving from it the glory of the Spirit to the glory that is in her, and such as she likes to be from the Lord of the Spirit.” A little later, he continues: “Do you want me to show you this more clearly on the apostles? Remember Paul, that his clothes healed; remember Peter, that even his shadow had power. Therefore, if they did not carry the royal image in themselves, then their light would not be impregnable, their clothes and shadow would not have such power. Royal robes are terrible even for robbers. Do you want to see how this image shines in the body? “And when all who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him [Stephan], they saw his face like the face of an angel” (Acts 6, 15). But this is nothing against the glory that shines within. The apostles carried that glory in their souls, and even more: Moses’ radiance was tangible, and this is incorporeal.Just as the fire-star rays from luminous bodies radiate to bodies closer to them and impart to them from their light, so it is with the faithful. Therefore, those who feel it are freed from the earth and feel as if they are in heaven. Alas! It is appropriate to sigh bitterly here, because we, although we can enjoy such and such nobility, we do not even fully understand what it is, but we destroy it and marvel at sensual things. This unspeakable and terrible glory remains in us for one or two days, and then we put it out, causing a storm of worldly things and reflecting the rays with thick clouds.” And in another place he says the following: “The bodies of those who have pleased God will be clothed in such glory that it is impossible to see with these eyes. And some signs and inexpressible signs God allowed us to give both in the Old and in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the face of Moses shone with such glory that it was unbearable for the eyes of the Israelites, and in the New, the face of Christ shone much more clearly. this supernatural grace, i.e. to reveal and darken it? But the following things can darken it: the whirlwind of worldly things and the darkness that is born from the passions, which, like a storm or a raging stream, rush over us and, flooding the soul, do not allow it to rest or look at the true and blessed good for which it was created passions, they darken it, embittered. And what is contrary to passions, that is, what is born from the Lord’s commandments, happens to those who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. It is said: “Walk in the Spirit, and do not lust after the flesh” (Ch. 5, 16). leads to the very top, to the highest level of love, which is God. Chapter 6. That in the holy we accepted divine grace and, hiding it under the commandments, then in the divine bosom, that is, in the holy font, we accepted divine grace as a result of the abuse of temporal things and worldly requests things and passions – oh, let it not be so – it is possible for us through repentance and the fulfillment of God’s commandments to receive such a supernatural light to see it clearly. However, its appearance happens according to the extent of everyone’s efforts in faith, and most of all with the help and favor of the Lord Jesus Christ: “Christ – the perfect God – gave the baptized the perfect grace of the Holy Spirit, which does not does not require any addition from us, but is opened according to the fulfillment of the commandments and gives us the increase of faith, “until we all come to unity in faith and… to the measure of the full growth of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4, 13).When we can add something from what is regenerated again in Him, it is already from Him, and therefore it becomes hidden in us.” Chapter 7. About how the one who lives according to God likes to fulfill all the commandments and devote most of his actions to the observance of the first commandments, which, as it were, give birth to the second. We said that the beginning and root of such an action is to live by saved commandments, and the end and fruit – in order to return to the perfect grace of the Spirit, which is present in us. God does not take away his gifts from us, but the fulfillment of the commandments finds them. It pleases us to fulfill these commandments, as soon as possible, in order to see them more clearly. “Your law is a lamp for my feet lo for my paths” (Ps. 118, 105). And: “The commandment of the Lord is light, it enlightens the eyes” (Ps. 18, 9). And: “Therefore I have followed all Your commandments” (Ps. 118, 128). And the apostle John, who leaned on Christ’s chest, says: “Whoever keeps His commandments, he abides in Him, and He in him.” (1 Jn. 3:24). And he also says: “His commandments are not hard” (1 Jn. 5:3). And the Savior says: “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he loves me. Whoever loves me, my Father will love him, and I will love him and reveal myself to him… When someone loves me, that word of mine will be preserved and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make a home in him. And he who does not love me does not keep my words” (John 14,

21.23-24). However, the first and most important of these commandments, as the mother of all the others, should be devoted to the greater part of the action. Thus, with God, we will achieve, without sinning, both the previous intention – that is, a good beginning, and we will achieve the end of the desire – that is, the manifestation of the Spirit. Chapter 8. About the fact that the beginning of every godly act is the invocation with faith of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also about the peace and love that grow from this. The beginning of all God-loving action is the invocation with faith of the saving name of our Lord Jesus Christ, as He himself said: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15, 5). With this appeal, peace flourishes – because, says the apostle, it is good to pray “without anger and strife” (1 Tim. 2, 8) – and love. “God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God and God abides in him” (1 John 4:16). And this peace and love together not only make prayer auspicious, but are also born from prayer itself and become clear, like divine inseparable rays, and grow and become perfect. Chapter 9. About the fact that through each of these three in particular and through all of them together, all kinds of benefits are abundantly presented to us. Through these three, and through each in particular, and through all of them together, all kinds of good things are given to us and poured out abundantly. By invoking with faith the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we hope that we will receive the mercy and true life hidden in it, purely calling in the heart the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, which pours them [mercy and true life], as a divine source that is always full. With peace that surpasses all understanding and has no limit, we become reconciled to God and to each other. And with love, whose glory is incomparable, because it is the end and foundation of the law and the prophets, and because God is called love, we connect with God, and the truth of God cancels our sin and gloriously works in us for the sake of love through the sonship of grace. “Love,” says the apostle, “covers the power of sins” (1 Pet. 4, 8). Love “endures all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13, 7). Chapter 10. Our Lord Jesus Christ during the saving passions left a calling with faith, peace and love to his disciples as the last commandments and a divine inheritance, as well as after the resurrection. That is why our most kind and sweetest Lord Jesus Christ himself, both when he was walking his voluntary passion for us, and when after the resurrection he appeared before the tables, and also when he was supposed to ascend to his Father by nature, and ours – by grace, how the sincere and child-loving Father left them to all his as his last commandments and kind consolation and sweet, and certain, so to speak, pledge, and given By God, an inalienable legacy. When His saving passions came, He revealed it with the following words spoken to His disciples: “I will do whatever you ask in My name” (John 14:14). And again: “Truly, truly, I say to you: Whatever you ask the Father, He will give you in my name. You have not asked for anything in my name until now. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joys will be abundant” (John 16:23-24).And after the resurrection, the Lord says again: “And here are the miracles that will happen to those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new languages…” (Mr. 16, 17). Following this, the apostle who leaned on the chest of the Savior says: “Many other miracles, which are not written down in this book, were performed by Jesus in the presence of his disciples. And these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing, that you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20, 30-31). And the divine Paul says: “That before the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven, on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2, 10). And in the Acts of the Apostles it is written as follows: “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke: …let it be known to all and all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, and whom God raised from the dead – this one stands before you healthy. – And he continues – …And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given to people like us be saved” (Acts 4, 8.10.12). And the Savior also said this: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mt. 28, 18). This can be seen from the words that the God-man spoke to the apostles before the crucifixion: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you” (John 14:27). And a little later he said: “I have told you this so that you may have peace in me” (John 16:33). And also: “This is my commandment, that you love one another” (John 15:12). And also: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you have mutual love” (John 13, 35). And also: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” (John 15:9). “And you will remain in my love when you keep my commandments, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in His love” (John 15, 10). And even after the resurrection, he gave peace, appearing at different times to his disciples and saying: “Peace be with you” (John 20, 21). And to Peter, who also gave him primacy over his disciples, showing that caring for his flock is a reward for his ardent love for the Lord Jesus Christ himself, he says this three times: “If you love me, Peter, more than others, feed my sheep” (John 21, 17). According to the intention, it can also be said that through these three shown wonderful actions, some three special things are generated for us, that is, purification of the soul, enlightenment and perfection. Chapter 11. How the virtues are interwoven from these three. When someone wants to examine this well, he will see that on this triple-braided and inseparable cord hangs a woven crimson net of virtues, which God has woven and embellished. Because life according to God is like some kind of honest bond and chain, sprinkled with gold, in which one virtue is closely dependent on another – and they all form one whole. Because they all do one thing so that the person who lives with them is truly adored. They enrich it with connecting rings, that is, with a salvation call with faith, and if you want, with action and humility in the most beloved name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and also with peace and love.And they constitute a truly divinely planted three-trunked and life-giving tree – whoever touches it in time and receives communion as it should be, he will not receive death, like the first man, but incorruptible and eternal life. Chapter 12. The gift and coming of the Holy Spirit from God the Father is given to the faithful for the sake of Christ Jesus and his holy name. The gift and coming of the Holy Spirit is given to the faithful from the Father for the sake of Christ Jesus and His holy name, as the pre-divine and soul-loving Lord Jesus Christ himself said to the apostles: “It is better for you that I go away. For if I do not come to you, the Comforter will not come to you. But if I go away, I will send Him to you” (John 16, 7). “When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father” (John 15, 26). And also: “The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name” (John 14, 26). Chapter 13. Our holy fathers righteously established that we should pray with the Holy Spirit who lives in us, in our Lord Jesus Christ, and ask for mercy from Him. That is why our glorious mentors and teachers with the all-holy Spirit living in them teach everyone first of all good deeds and teachings. And those who want to stand on the ground of god-worshipping silence and dedicate themselves to God and detach themselves from the world and become silent with the mind – to pray to the Lord and from Him, without doubting, ask for mercy, and to have His sweetest name ceaselessly in deed and teaching in the heart and in the mind, and always keep it in the mouth, and in it and with it and breathe, and live, and sleep, and get up, and to move, eat and drink – in short, encourage yourself to do everything with him. For when there is no such thing, then all evil gathers together, so that nothing useful remains in us, and when it is present in us, then everything contrary is driven away, and nothing good is exhausted in us, and there is nothing that cannot be corrected. So our Lord himself says: “He who abides in me, and I in him, bears fruit abundantly. Without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Therefore, this deed and name is more honorable for all creation and surpasses all deed and name, and we, unworthy, having called with faith and spread the sails of this Word on it in all ways, we begin to move forward. Chapter 14. To walk sinlessly is to the one who wants to spend his life silently in the Lord, and above all to choose complete renunciation and complete obedience. For the sake of the name of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who said: “I am the light, the truth and the life, the way and the door to the Father” (see John 8, 12; 14, 6; 10, 9). And also: “Whoever enters through me will be saved. He will enter, he will go out and find pasture” (John 10:9). Listen to what we say and sincerely advise you. First of all, choose for yourself with perfect renunciation unfeigned and perfect obedience. Therefore, hurry to find a mentor and a teacher who is unattractive, and let his unattractiveness be in giving evidence of what he speaks about, so that his life is consistent with the Holy Scriptures and the words of spiritual men, let him be high in mind and humble in wisdom, and good-natured, and such as a teacher in Christ should be according to God’s words.And when you know him, stick to him as a loving son to his own father, and from that time be with him whole body and spirit, following his commandments, looking at him as Christ himself, and not as a man, rejecting from yourself all mistrust and doubts, as well as reasoning, and will with desires. So be simple and uninteresting, following the teacher, and let your conscience be like a mirror – as a testimony of your undoubted and perfect obedience to your teacher. And when the devil – the enemy of all good – sows something contrary in your thoughts, flee into yourself, as from fornication and fire, and wisely object to the tempter who throws such things at you: “It is not the student of the teacher who teaches, but the teacher of the student, and I do not value the elder, but he me, and I am not his judge, but he is me”, – in the words of Listvichnik (4th degree). There is nothing better than such a life of obedience for one who wants to tear up the manuscript of his sins and be written in the divine book of those who are saved. Because according to the words of the blessed Paul, the Son of God and our God, the Lord Jesus became for us as we are, and, very wisely arranging the favor of the Father, he walked the way that we know, and through it he deserved to be glorified by the Father for pleasing Him according to his human nature: “He humbled himself, becoming obedient even to death, the death of the cross. Therefore, God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2, 8-9). Who dares, not to say insanely, has the hope of gaining the glory of the Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ and praise from the Father, who has not chosen the same path – to walk with our Mentor and Teacher Jesus Christ? Because it pleases the student, when he aspires to become like his teacher, with all the strength of his soul to steadfastly look, as if to the best example and prototype, the life of his teacher and learn from him, and try to imitate him every day. But even about the Lord Jesus Christ himself it is written: “And He was obedient to them [His Father and His Mother]” (Lk. 2, 51). And the Savior himself said: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mt. 20, 28). And if he wants to live differently, that is, pleasing himself and according to his will, without having a mentor, can we think of him as living a divine life, according to the word of God? Not at all, as if he does not walk, but jumps on the dug ground. And Listvychnyk says that just as one who does not have a mentor easily goes astray, so one who arbitrarily lives in a hermitage easily perishes, even though he knows all the wisdom of this world. Therefore, there are many, not to mention all, who do not submit to obedience and live without asking for advice, with toil and sweat in their dreams they sow a lot, but in reality they reap a very small harvest. And some… Oh woe! Instead of wheat, they collect chaff. These are those who live independently and think for their own pleasure.There is nothing worse than this, and Listvychnik testifies to this, writing as follows: “All those who have gathered in the field of conditional confession; all those who want to take the yoke of Christ on their necks; all those who hasten to give themselves into slavery in order to receive freedom instead; all those whom you lift up by the hands of others, and who, swimming, swim across this great abyss – know that you have undertaken to walk a short and difficult road, on which there can be only one thing that leads to temptation, is suicide” (From the 4th degree). He who has renounced self-restraint in everything has already achieved all that is good, both spiritual and desirable, even though he has not yet begun the feat. Obedience consists in not trusting oneself in all good things until the end of one’s life. So also you, knowing this, and understanding, and desiring to learn the good and inseparable part of silence, which leads to heaven, well fulfill the established laws, as shown to you, and first with joy love obedience, and then silence. Because just as action is the ascent to vision, so obedience is to speechlessness. “Do not transgress the ancient boundaries that your fathers established” (Prov. 22, 28), says the Scriptures. And also: “Woe to one” (Eccl. 4, 10). Thus, having begun to lay a good foundation, in time you will also build a virtuous roof on the building that the Spirit is building in you. If its foundations fail, as someone said, then the whole building is useless, and vice versa: if the beginning is good, then everything is finished beautifully and in its own way, although the opposite also happens. However, this also happens depending on our intention and consent. Chapter 15. What are the signs of true obedience, so that a true disciple, knowing them, can listen without sinning. But since much has been said about this life and it is not easy to repeat it, therefore those who undergo obedience undergo it in different ways. He likes to point out to you some signs of obedience, keeping which, as a rule, and the measuring cord that carpenters use, you will live blamelessly. So let’s say this: it is appropriate for a true novice, in our opinion, to preserve the following five virtues: the first is faith, that is, it is appropriate for him to have a pure and unshakable faith in his superior, so much so that he sees Christ himself in him and obeys, according to the words of the Lord Jesus: “Whoever listens to you, listens to me; and whoever is proud of you, is proud of me; and whoever is proud of me, is proud of the one who sent me” (Lk. 10, 16). And the table also says: “For everything that is not of faith is sin” (Rom. 14, 23); the second – truth, that is, that he should be truthful in deed, word, and complete confession of thoughts. “The beginning of your words is truth,” says the psalmist, “for the Lord seeks truth” (Ps. 118, 160; 30, 24). And Christ says: “I am the truth” (John 14:6), that is why it is called His Self-Truth; the third – not to do one’s will. Because it is futile for the disciple to do his will, he always likes to cut it off voluntarily, that is, so that his father does not force him to do it; the fourth – not to contradict and not to argue, because arguing and arguing is the work of the wicked. The most holy Paul wrote: “When someone wants to argue, we do not have such a custom, nor do the Church of God” (1 Cor. 11, 16).If this is expressly forbidden to all Christians in general, how much more so to monks, and even to those who promise to obey completely for the sake of the Lord. Contradictions and arguments are due to the arrogance of those who live with unbelief and high wisdom, as it is said: “A high-wise monk contradicts a lot.” Conversely, when someone does not contradict or dispute, it comes from faith and humble wisdom; the fifth – to have a perfect and pure confession before the superior, about which, standing before the terrible throne of Christ, before God and the holy angels, we made a vow that the beginning and end of all our vows and consent to the Lord will be the confession of the secret thoughts of the heart. Blessed David also said: “I said: I will reveal my iniquity against myself to the Lord, and You have forgiven the wickedness of my heart.” And Listvychnik says: “Whoever reveals his wounds, they will not flare up any more, but will be healed” (From the 4th degree). Whoever preserves these five listed virtues wisely and intelligently, let him know without a doubt that through them, as through a pledge, he will receive the bliss of the righteous. These are the signs, and the root, and the foundations of eternal obedience, listen again, what is its branch and fruit, and what is the protection against them. “Through obedience,” says Listvychnik again, “humility appears, through humility – prudence, through prudence – foresight, and through foresight – insight, which is the work of God alone and a special supernatural gift that God bestows on those whom he blissfully adores” (From the same degree). In addition to what has been said, you must also know that according to your tested obedience, humility is also cultivated in you, and immediately after humility, prudence, and then everything that follows. And try, as much as possible, to walk the path of obedience infallibly, and you will advance without transgressions. If you limp a little at the beginning of obedience, then know that you will not finish well what you started, that is, life in Christ, and you will not be crowned with the crown given to the winner. Therefore, let obedience, the signs of which we indicated to you earlier, be like a mentor to you. Sailors, in order not to get lost, look at the compass, and you, steadfastly obeying, will be able to swim across the great ocean of virtues and reach the quiet abode of dispassion. Even if it happens that a storm will find you and high waves will rise, when you obey, the true novice, according to the Fathers, cannot even be harmed by the devil himself. Before we show you the honest height of wonderful obedience, let’s remember one more saying of the holy father. The brightest lamp of life in Christ and the new Beseleil of the heavenly ladder also says the following: “The psalmist is considered by the fathers as a weapon, and prayer as a wall, innocent tears as a wash, and blessed obedience is valued as a confession, without which none of the passionate will see the Lord” (Is 4th degree). It seems to us that what has been said is enough to clearly explain and praise the unique form of thrice-blessed obedience. We can also understand and know through experience when we look at our previous life and reflect on it.What was the cause of destruction and death, even though we were not created like that in the beginning? And what, on the contrary, caused renewal and immortality? We find that the cause of the first, that is, corruption, was the arbitrariness of the first Adam, and self-righteousness and disobedience – because of them, the divine commandment was rejected and violated. The reason for the second, i.e. incorruption, was unanimity with the Father and obedience to the Father of the second Adam – God and our Savior Jesus Christ, and through unanimity and obedience – preservation of the Father’s commandments. “For I did not speak of myself,” says the Savior, “the Father, who sent me, gave me a commandment, what to say and what to say. And I know that His commandment is eternal life. Therefore, what I say, I say as the Father told me” (John 12, 49-50). So just as pride was the mother and root of all sorrows in the forefather [Adam] and those who came after him, so in the new God-man Jesus Christ and those who want to live like Him, humility is the beginning, source and foundation of all good things. We see that this order and order is preserved by both the heavenly sacred order of all God-like angels and our earthly Church. And whoever avoids such an act stubbornly, not to say – defiantly, wants to live, he turns away from God and the heavenly light inheritance, breaks away and separates himself from the cathedral apostolic Church and is sent to the darkness and fire of Gehenna – this is what we learn and believe. We say that the supporters of the evil Dennitsa and the slanderers of all times, infamous heretics, as it is said in the divinely written words, will suffer in this way, who for self-indulgence and pride were deprived, disgraced, of divine glory and pleasure and excluded from the sacred assembly. Some of the scholars say that the opposite is cured by the opposite. Since the cause of all sorrow is disobedience and pride, and all joy is obedience and sorrow, it truly pleases him to live without sins, who wishes to be obedient to an experienced and unattractive father, who through long exploits has gained a vision of divine deeds, and to accept his commands for advice as the voice of God and God’s advice. “Salvation happens when there are many counselors” (Prov. 11, 14 – quoted by Ohienko). A husband who does not take advice is his own enemy. If one of the glorious fathers acquired godly silence and perfection in God without learning obedience, then this could happen only by God’s revelation and very rarely. And it is written that what happens rarely is not a law for the Church, because one swallow still does spring. And you, when you believe that true obedience is the preliminary training of all good silence, leave what happens only through trade, and follow only the generally accepted traditions of the divine fathers – so you will be honored as for those who live according to the law. Well, will anyone want to walk an unknown road without an unattractive mentor? And no one will set sail without an experienced helmsman and will not take up any craft or art without a skilled teacher.So, will anyone dare to learn a craft above all crafts and arts above all arts, to follow the path that leads to God, and to grasp the immeasurable mental sea, that is, a monastic life, which is similar to the life of an angel, and does he believe that he will successfully complete it without a mentor and a helmsman and a skilled and experienced teacher? Such a truth, whatever it may be, builds itself up with the mind and allows itself to be built up before it begins, because it does not learn according to the law. And vice versa, whoever obeys the decrees of the fathers, although he has not yet begun anything, he will already finish it. How can we know whether we like to fight against the flesh or arm ourselves against passions and demons? As it is written, sins are added to virtues and become, as it were, their neighbors. How can we learn to restrain bodily feelings and coordinate mental forces, like strings on a harp? And how will we be able to distinguish divine voices and revelations, and divine comforts and visions, as well as tricks and ambushes and diabolical delusions? In a word, how can we achieve communion with God and divine sacred actions and mysteries without learning from a teacher of true and enlightened mysteries? This is impossible, truly impossible. Even when we look at the chosen vessel – the most blessed Paul, the secret of the ineffable, the mouth of Christ, the light of the world, the common sun, the teacher of the whole universe, we will see that he walks with the apostles and considers the gospel together with them. And why? To be able to say about yourself: “I have not labored in vain, or I have labored” (Ch. 2, 2). Let us also look at the very Wisdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, who says about himself: “I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (John 6, 38). And it is said about the most holy and life-giving Spirit: “He will not speak on his own, but he will tell what he teaches” (John 16, 13). Seeing the benefit of this act, which supports both the earthly and the heavenly, we are seized with awe, and horror, and fear for our weakness and despair and for those who, due to madness and pride, choose a self-directed and disobedient life. Indeed, such a feat is terrible, and innumerable thieves, and innumerable ambushes of sea robbers, and ships are wrecked without measure, so only a few are saved from many. But let them walk as they wish, because it is written that “the fire tests everyone’s work” (1 Cor. 3, 13). And also: “You will repay everyone according to his deeds” (Ps. 61, 13). May the Lord give understanding to everyone to live not as simply as they want, but as they like. And you and everyone who wants to live according to God, according to those words, having understood all the golden and spiritual meaning of the blessed by hearing, hurry, as already said, to find an unattractive and perfect teacher. In the words of the Christ-bearing Paul: “Solid food is for adults, whose senses are trained to distinguish good from evil because of habit” (Hebrews 5, 14). And in this way, searching diligently and with faith, you will not make a mistake and achieve what you desire. “For everyone who asks,” says the divine Scripture, “receives; he who seeks finds; to him who knocks it is opened” (Mt. 7, 8).Such a teacher will teach you according to the order and manner of everything that pleases you to know and that is pleasing to God. And he will also direct you to God-pleasing and highly spiritual affairs, inaccessible to many, seeing that you sincerely rejoice in moderation, simplicity and hospitality in food and drink, coverings and clothing and are satisfied with necessary, modest and necessary things, and not with excessive and more profitable things, which with decorations and glitter are proud of those who live madly and themselves raise the sword on themselves and their own salvation As the great apostle Paul says: “Having food and clothing, we will be satisfied with this” (Mt. 7, 8). But you seek and desire to learn and hear from us what belongs to the beginning, middle and end of life in Christ. Although this question is laudable, it is not easy to give an answer immediately. However, when Christ gives his right hand to find you, we will hasten to give you a message, building on honorable and perfect obedience, as on an established and unshakable foundation, the famous house of the spiritual building – godlike silence. And let’s say this, establishing ourselves on the words of the Father and spoken by the Spirit, as on an unshakable support. Chapter 16. How in the Orthodox faith one who wants to be full of good works and be silent for God likes to work, and about the fact that faith is twofold and how with it it likes a silent person to be peaceful, carefree, not sad, that is, calm, silent, speechless, grateful for everything, to know his weaknesses and valiantly endure temptations, to have hope in God and wait on Him help

1 Говорить Спаситель: “Не кожний, хто промовляє до мене: Господи, Го споди! – ввійде в Царство Небесне, лише той, хто чинить волю Отця мого, що на небі” (Мт. 7, 21). Отож ти, возлюблений, якщо не тільки на словах клопочешся про боготворну безмовність, завдяки котрій вже тут приймають у собі світлі явлення Божого Царства Небесного ті, що істинно це проходять, а в будучому приймають досконало, то подбай, щоб, окрім православної віри, ти був повен і добрих діл. Та й будь з усіма в мирі, наскільки тобі вдасться, безклопітний, мовчазний, безмовний, у всьому благодатний і свідомий своєїнемочі, і досконало пильнуй своє око пильно й тверезо проти всіляких спо кус, що трапляються тобі кожного дня, борючися витривало проти всякого хвилювання та скорботи, що находить на тебе. Адже про перше і про друге, себто про те, що з православною вірою годиться тобі прикраситися і добрими ділами, таке каже відомий тобі учитель, славний брат Божий: “Віра без діл мертва, – як і діла без віри, – покажи мені твою віру без діл” (Як. 2, 26.18). А ще раніше Наставник всіх і Учитель, Господь наш Ісус Христос, промовив до учнів: “Ідіть, отже, і зробіть учнями всі народи, хрестячи їх в ім’я Отця і Сина і Святого Духа; навчаючи їх берегти все, що я вам заповідав” (Мт. 28, 19-20). І Богослов каже, що від кожного охрещеного Бог хоче таких трьох речей: правої віри від душі, чистоти від тіла та істини від язика. Про подвійність віри

2 It is necessary to know that faith, according to the words of God, is twofold: one is the cathedral of all Orthodox Christians, in which we were first baptized and with which, God, grant us to leave; the second faith is not given to many, but to those who, fulfilling all the godly commandments, have come to the image and likeness [of God] and, thus enriched by the divine light of grace, have confirmed all their hope in the Lord, and so worthily that, according to the word of the Lord, they do not hesitate in their hearts in the least about requests when they pray to God, but they ask with faith and thus receive useful things. Therefore, these blessed ones acquired firm faith through true works, rejecting all reasoning and reflection, doubts and petitions, and all were completely filled with divine admiration, faith in God, and hope, and love, and were also changed by a better and blessed change of the right hand of the Most High, as the divine David says. But there is no time to talk for a long time about the first faith, because it is time to talk about the second, which, like some divine fruit, flourishes from the first and is reborn from it. Because this faith is like the root and head of the glorious God-worshipping speechlessness. “How will you remain silent,” says Listvychnik, “without faith?” (From the 27th degree). And the divine David says: “I believed, therefore I said” (Ps. 115, 1). And the great apostle Paul: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for – the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11, 1). And also: “But my righteous one will live by faith” (Heb. 10, 38). And the Savior spoke to the disciples when they asked Him to give them faith: “If you had faith like a grain of wheat, you would say to this mulberry tree: Be uprooted and sit in the sea, and it would listen to you” (Lk. 17, 6). And again: “When you have faith and do not hesitate, you will not only do this with the fig tree, but also when you say to this mountain: Be moved and throw yourself into the sea! – it will happen. And everything that you ask in prayer with faith, you will receive” (Mt. 21, 21-22). Saint Isaac also writes: “Faith is more subtle than knowledge, just as knowledge is more subtle than sensual things” (Word 28). All the saints who have been deigned to gain this life – reverence for God – enjoy this superlative life by the power of faith. We are not talking about the faith with which people believe in the difference between the divine Hypostases and in the unique nature that belongs only to the Deity, and in the strange craft of the Incarnation through the acceptance of our nature – although this faith is very high – but about the faith that is kindled in the soul by the light of grace, that by the testimony of the mind confirms the heart not to doubt the affirmation of hope, far from all arrogance, and reveals itself not in the leaning of the ears, and in the contemplation with spiritual eyes of the mysteries hidden in the soul and the secret and divine wealth, hidden from the eyes of the sons of the flesh, which is revealed by the Spirit, who feeds at the table of Christ by constantly teaching His laws, as it is said: “If… you will keep my commandments,… He [the Father] will give you another Comforter, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot perceive… he will teach you everything” (John 14, 15-17.26). Until he comes who is the consummation of the mysteries, we will not be pleased with the clear revelation of them.Through this faith, God performs indescribable mysteries with the saints, which we will enjoy here by the grace of Christ himself, as a betrothal, and there – in the Truth itself, in the Kingdom of Heaven, with those who love God. About the fact that you need to be peaceful

3 Про третє, себто про те, що тобі треба бути мирним, є відома порада – слова блаженного Давида і христоносного Павла, що покликають голосніше за сурму. Порада першого: “Мир великий для тих, що люблять закон Твій, і нема для них спокуси” (Пс. 118, 165). І ще: “З тими, що ненавидять мир, був я сумирний” (Пс. 119, 6). “Шукай спокою і прямуй до нього” (Пс. 33, 15). А порада другого: “З усіма дбайте про мир і про святість, без якої ніхто Господа не побачить” (Євр. 12, 14). І ще: “Коли можливо, оскільки це від вас залежить, будьте з усіма людьми в мирі” (Рм. 12, 18). Про те, що треба тобі бути безклопітним

4 Про четверте, себто про те, що годиться тобі бути безклопітним, скаже тобі преподобний Ісаак, так промовляючи: “Коли бажання – це породження почуттів, то нехай мовчать ті, що хочуть клопотатися і зберігати мир ума; а ти не май діла з клопітливими”. Про те, що тобі треба бути непечальним і нетурботливим

5 Про п’яте, себто про те, щоб непечальним і нетурботливим бути від добрих і недобрих речей, повчать тебе слова, що їх у Євангелії говорить Го сподь: “Ось чому кажу вам: Не турбуйтеся вашим життям, що вам їсти та що пити; ні тілом вашим, у що одягнутись. Хіба життя не більш їжі, тіло – не більш одежі?” (Мт. 6, 25-26). “Гляньте на птиць небесних: не сіють і не жнуть, ані не збирають у засіки, а Отець ваш небесний їх годує! Хіба ви від них не вартісніші?” (Мт. 6, 27). “Хто з вас, журячись, спроможен добавити досвого віку хоч один лікоть?” (Мт. 6, 27). “І про одежу чого ж вам клопотатися?” (Мт. 6, 28). І трохи пізніше: “Отож не турбуйтеся, промовлявши: Що бу демо їсти, що пити й у що зодягнемося?” (Мт. 6, 31). “Про все те побиваються погани. Отець же ваш небесний знає, що вам усе це потрібне” (Мт. 6, 32).“Шукайте перше Царство Боже та його справедливости, а все те вам докла деться” (Мт. 6, 33). “Не журіться, отже, завтрашнім днем; завтрашній деньтурбуватиметься сам про себе. Доволі дневі його лиха” (Мт. 6, 34). Промов ляє і святий Ісаак: “Якщо в тебе є турботи, не знайдеш світла в душі своїй,ані тиші й безмовности в ослабленні твоїх почуттів” (Із 69 слова). І Ліствич ник: “Одна волосинка подразнює око, а малий клопіт нищить безмовність. Безмовність – це відкладення помислів і відречення від потрібних клопотів” (Із 27 ступеня). Хто воістину досягнув безмовности, той не клопочеться про своє тіло, бо правдомовний той, хто обіцяв клопотатися про нього. Про те, що треба тобі бути мовчазним

6 Ще й про шосте, що слід мовчати, змушує нас сказати це слово. Говорить про це і святий Ісаак: “Хто забороняє устам своїм обмову, той береже своє серце від пристрастей і повсякчас зрить Господа” (З початку 8 Слова). І ще каже той самий святий: “Коли всі діла цього життя покладеш на одну шальку, а мовчання – на другу, побачиш, що мовчання переважить діла” (Із 41 Слова). І ще: “Понад усе возлюби мовчання, бо воно наближає тебе до плоду, а язик не може цього висловити. Спочатку змусиш себе мовчати, а тоді від мовчання народжується в нас щось, що веде нас до самого мовчання. Нехай подасть тобі Бог відчути, що породжує мовчання. Коли ж почнеш жити за цим, то не зумію описати, яке світло засвітить тобі”. І ще: “Мовчання – це таїнствобудучого віку, а слова суть знаряддя цього світу” (Із 42 Слова). І святому Арсенієві божественний голос повелів це такими словами: “Арсенію, утікай, мо вчи, безмовствуй – і спасешся”2. Про те, що треба тобі бути безмовному

7 Також і про сьоме, себто про те, що слід тобі жити безмовно, достовірно вкажуть тобі Василій Великий і святий Ісаак. Перший сказав: “Безмов ність – це початок очищення душі”. А другий: “Межа безмовности – цецілковите мовчання” (Із 14 Слова). Василій кількома словами вказав початок мовчання, а Ісаак – його кінець. І в Старому Завіті сказано так: “Согрі шив єси? (Сир. 21, 1) Замовкни”. І ще: “Заспокойтесь і пізнайте, що я – Бог” (Пс. 45, 11). Каже і Ліствичник: “Перед безмовністю йде безклопітність про всі речі, чи добрі, чи не добрі” (Із 27 ступеня). Бо хто відчиняє вхід добрим речам, неодмінно зійде до недобрих. Друге діло, що передує безмовності, – це молитва, і третє – неокрадне діяння серця. Як неможливо тому, хто не знає грамоти, читати книги, так неможливо тому, хто не здобув першого діла, із розумінням проходити два наступні. І знову каже святий Ісаак: “Прагненням безмовности є безнастанне очікування смерти” (Із 41 Слова). Хто, не знаючи цього, вступає в безмовність, той не може збагнути, як ми маємо все терпіти і зносити. Як подобає за все благодарити

8 Так і про восьме, себто про те, щоб за все тобі благодарити, добрим учи телем для тебе буде божественний апостол Павло, що каже: “За все дякуйте” (1 Сл. 5, 18). І преподобний Ісаак: “Благодарення того, хто приймає, спонукає давця дати дари, більші за перші” (Від початку 2 Слова). Хто не благодаритьза мале, той і у великому брехун і неправдивий. Серце, що спонукає до безна станного благодарення, провадить дари Божі до людини, а помисел нарікання, що завжди ворушиться в серці, провадить до душі спокусу. Уста, що завжди благодарять, Бог благословляє, а серце, що возносить благодарення, приймає благодать.

2 У Четьї-Мінеї за 8 травня, арк. 358 на звороті. Як подобає знати свою неміч

9 Про те, яку велику користь здобуває той, хто осягнув пізнання своєї немочі, сказано на дев’ятому місці. Зрозумієш це, послухавши шостий псалом бо жественного Давида, в якому сказано: “Помилуй мене, Господи, бо немічний я” (Пс. 6, 3). І на іншому місці: “Я ж хробак, а не чоловік, посміховище людей і погорда народу” (Пс. 21, 7). І святий Ісаак: “Блаженний чоловік, що пізнає свою неміч, бо це пізнання стає для нього основою, і коренем, і початком усякої благостині. Коли людина збагне і по-справжньому відчує свою неміч, тоді це підводить душу зі слабкости, яка потьмарює це пізнання, і людина здобуває собі охорону, як скарб”. І ще: “Людина, що досягнула пізнання міри своєї немочі, досягнула цілковитого смирення”. Про те, що подобає стійко переносити спокуси

10 The last chapter of this Word, which completes the number 10, which we concluded, is about enduring valiantly and patiently and courageously resisting temptations of various kinds that may befall you. Listen to what is written about this in the Holy Scriptures. Says the cross-bearing Paul: “For we must fight not against flesh and blood, but against principles, against the authorities, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of malice in the heavenly spaces” (Eph. 6, 12). And also: “If you were brought up without chastisement – which everyone experiences – then you are illegitimately born, and not sons” (Heb. 12, 8). And also: “Whom the Lord loves, he punishes, and he beats every son whom he accepts” (Heb. 12, 6). And the Lord’s brother says: “A man who has not been tempted is an inexperienced man” (James 1). And St. Ilya Ekdyk: “It behooves every Christian who truly believes in God not to be without sorrow, but always to wait and hope for temptation, so that when it comes, he is not terrified and not embarrassed, but graciously endures the work of sorrow and understands the words that he sings with the prophet: “Test me, O Lord, and test me” (Ps. 25, 8). And he does not say that the Lord’s teaching saddened him, and corrected him to the end.” And do not look for the reasons for the temptation, where it comes from, but only pray to God to gracefully endure it. As St. Mark says: “When temptation comes, don’t look for why or through whom it came, but bear it graciously and unforgettably.” And also: “If it is not easy to find someone who pleases without temptation, for each case one should thank God.” Also: “All sorrow reveals the inclination of the will, whether it inclines to the right or to the left. Therefore, every sorrow that occurs is called a temptation, because it gives to its partaker the taste of hidden desires.” And St. Isaac, in addition to many other words, also says the following: “Temptation benefits every person. If it went to benefit the apostle Paul, then let every mouth be silent and the whole world submit to God” (Is 37 of the Word). Ascetics are tempted to increase their wealth. The weak – to be saved from what harms them, and the sleep not – to prepare for awakening, and those who are far – to get closer to God. Let your friends have fun. Every uneducated son does not take the wealth of his father’s house to use it. Therefore, God first tests and torments, and then shows the gift. Glory to the Lord, who brings us sweet health with bitter medicine. There is no one who does not experience sorrow while learning, and there is no one who does not find this time bitter when he has to drink the poison of temptation. It is impossible to hold on without temptations, but whether you endure them is not our business. How can a clay vessel withstand the flow of water, when it is not strengthened by God’s fire? When we submit, asking humbly with unceasing desire in patience, we will receive everything in Christ Jesus, our Lord. It is said in the book of Jesus Sirach: “My son, as you begin to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for temptations. Be righteous and steadfast in heart, and do not be embarrassed in misfortune” (Sir. 1, 1-2).It is good to have hope in God and expect benefits from Him. Whoever establishes the anchor of hope in God, who can save, let him also hope for relief in temptations. Because it is said: “You have not yet been overtaken by a temptation beyond human strength. God… together with the temptation will enable you to overcome it” (1 Cor. 10, 13). And also: “Tribulation produces patience, patience – experience, and experience – hope. Hope does not put you to shame” (Rom. 5, 3-5). And also: “He who endures to the end will be saved” (Mt. 24, 13). And: “By your suffering you will save your souls” (Lk. 21, 19). And the Lord’s brother says this: “Consider it the highest joy, my brothers, when you are subject to various temptations. You know that the test of your faith produces endurance, and after endurance let a perfect act follow, so that you may be perfect and blameless and that you lack nothing… Blessed is the man who endures the trial, for he, as you are tried, will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him” (James 1, 2-4.12). “The sufferings of the present time are not worthy of the future glory that should appear to us” (Rom. 8, 18). And it is also said: “I patiently hoped in the Lord, and He looked at me and heard my prayer. And brought me out of the pit of suffering and out of the mire of mud; and set my feet on a rock, and directed my feet. And put in my mouth a new song, a song of praise to our God” (Ps. 39, 1-4). And the blessed Simeon Metaphrastus writes: “The soul, bound by bonds of love to God, does not pay attention to pain, but enjoys patience and flourishes in enduring suffering. And when it does not endure anything sad for the sake of the one it loves, then it thinks that it is enduring and avoids consolation, like torment.” Chapter 17. About the fact that there is a double fear of God: one is for beginners, and the other is for the perfect. It is not good to be lazy and not to mention the double fear of God, because we, out of necessity, at the end of ten chapters, having mentioned perfect fear, stopped talking about the act of first fear. And the holy fathers put this fear immediately after faith. About the first fear, or about the fear of beginners Know, most beloved, that the fear of God is twofold: one is for beginners, and the other is for the perfect. About the first it is written as follows: “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord” (Ps. 110, 10). And also: “Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Ps. 33, 12). With the fear of the Lord, everyone shuns evil, and where there is fear, there is keeping the commandments. Saint Isaac also says: “The fear of God is the beginning of virtue” (Isa. 1 of the Word). It is said that faith is born and sown in the heart, when the mind is detached from the cares of this world, in order to collect its wandering thoughts in the constant teaching of the future restoration. The beginning of a person’s true life is the fear of God, and it does not linger in the soul when thoughts wander. So make sure that the fear of God becomes the basis of your journey, and soon you will stand at the gates of the Kingdom, without walking a long way. About the second and perfect fear of God About the second, that is, the perfect fear of God, it is said: “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, he will love His commandments very much” (Ps. 111, 1).And also: “Blessed are all who fear the Lord and walk in His ways” (Ps. 127, 1). “Fear the Lord and all His saints, for there is no lack in those who fear Him” ​​(Ps. 33, 10). “This is how the man who fears the Lord will be blessed” (Ps. 127, 5). “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever and ever” (Ps. 18, 1). And St. Peter Damaskin writes: “The sign of the first fear is to hate sin and be angry with it, as one who is bitten by a beast is angry with him. The sign of perfect fear is to love virtue and fear changeability” (From Book 2, Words 3). And he also says: “There are no unchanging people, and in every thing of this life we ​​should be afraid of falling.” Therefore, you, having listened to this with understanding, hasten along with all the mentioned virtues to have the first fear in you without ceasing. For it is like treasures kept in a treasury, more certain than any good deed. When you get it, then your feet will be directed to the fulfillment of all the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ. Having passed this road, you will find a perfect and pure fear of the desires of the virtues and the mercy of our good God. Chapter 18. According to the commandments and for faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, when such a time comes, it is good for us not to spare our lives. In addition to what has been said, you also need to know this: for the life-giving commandments and for faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, when such a time comes, it pleases us to lose our soul with joy, that is, not even to spare our life, as the Lord Jesus Christ himself says about this: “Whoever loses his soul for my sake and the Gospel, he will save it” (Mr. 8, 35), believing without doubt and without thinking, because the resurrection, and life, and other things of salvation are all the same God-man Jesus the Savior, as he himself said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, even if he dies, he will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11, 25-26). And also: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3, 16). “I have come that they may have life – that they may have abundance” (John 10:10). Therefore, behaving in this way, always “forgetting what is behind and, as it is said, striving for what is ahead” (see Phil. 3, 13), walk with Jesus Christ, our Lord, and do not shy away from this path. It seems to us that it is good and very appropriate to explain first what the most blessed and excellent Nicephorus says about entering the heart through the breathing of the nostrils. This is such an art that helps to gather thoughts, so that with God’s help, our salvation will take place in good order. This divine man, having the confirmation of many others from the written testimonies of the holy fathers, says this. Chapter 19. About the natural art of passing into the heart through the breathing of the nostrils and about prayer, which at the same time works in us, that is: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. This art helps somehow gather thoughts. Do you know, brother, that we breathe air and inhale it for no other reason than for our heart? The heart is the cause of life and warmth of the body. The heart attracts the spirit so that, exhaling, it releases its warmth, and itself remains in good condition.The cause, or rather minister, of such an order is the lungs, which God created loose; they, like a bellows, introduce and extract the necessary air. That’s why the heart, drawing in cold air and letting it out – for which it is arranged to support life – keeps the established order intact. So sit silently in the cell and, concentrating your mind, introduce it into the nostrils through which the air enters the heart, and make it enter the heart along with the air. When he enters there, you will not only be happy and joyful, but you will be like a husband who has left his home, and when he returns, he will not be able to contain his joy that he has come to his wife and children. Such a mind, when united with the soul, is filled with indescribable sweetness and joy. Therefore, brother, train your mind to leave there slowly, even though it is very languishing at the beginning, feeling limited and oppressed within. And when he gets used to it, he is no longer drawn to wander outside. The kingdom of God is within us. Whoever looks at it inside and searches for it with pure prayer, therefore everything from the outside appears vile and hateful. And later he says: “It is good for you to understand that when your mind is there, it is not good for it to be silent and inactive, but give it the words: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me! Let it have this work and teaching without ceasing and never leave it. It will keep the mind not scattered, thanks to it the mind is not covered and mastered by hostile attachments, and every day it builds to the divine desire of love”. Thus, this blessed father intends to teach the mind this natural art, so that it will return from its usual wanderings, circling and captivity to attentiveness, and with attentiveness it will return to itself and thus connect with prayer, and from then on it would descend into the heart with the same prayer and stay in it. And another one of the wise, as if adding an explanation to what was said, and himself, having experience of such a sacred act, says the following. Chapter 20. On the natural art of invoking the Lord Jesus Christ together with the breath. This is what one who loves teaching likes to do: when we teach our mind to enter together with our breath, then we will fully understand that the mind will not begin to invoke the Lord Jesus until it rejects every thought and remains both alone and naked, keeping nothing else in mind, except the invocation of our Lord Jesus Christ. And vice versa, when he leaves there and takes on external things, he grabs hold of numerous memories, even though he doesn’t want to. Chapter 21. And the divine Golden Mouth, like other ancient fathers, says that one should pray in the heart to our Lord Jesus Christ and say this prayer: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me! The great Golden Mouth also says: “I beg you, brothers, never stop and do not neglect to make the rule of this prayer.”And a little later he says: “Let the monk, whether he is eating, drinking, sitting, working, traveling, or doing something else, call without ceasing: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me!” And even later: “May the name of the Lord Jesus, descending into the depths of the heart, humble the snake that seized the pastures there, and save and revive the soul. Therefore, dwell endlessly in the name of the Lord Jesus, so that the heart absorbs the Lord, and the heart swallows Him – and these two will become one.” And again: “Do not separate your heart from God, but endure and keep it always with the memory of our Lord Jesus Christ, until the Lord’s name is established inside in the heart, and do not think about anything else, only that Christ will be magnified in you.” Chapter 22. More about the memory of Jesus with attentiveness in the heart and breathing. And the Book of Letters writes: “Let the memory of Jesus connect with your breath, and then you will learn about the benefits of silence” (Is 27 degree). And St. Hesychius: “When you really want to clothe your thoughts with shame and indulge in silence and sober your heart easily, let the prayer of Jesus connect with your breath – and in a few days you will see how it will happen” (Chapter 182). Chapter 23. Those who want to sober up their mind, especially beginners, like to sit during prayer in a silent and unlit room, because it is so natural for the condition and thought to gather together. To what has already been said, as something that comes from on high and that was legalized by the holy fathers, according to the testimonies that we have given, about combining the breath with the heart and within the heart to pray to our Lord Jesus Christ in His holy and saving name and to learn, and to sober up, and to seek mercy from Him, the following is added: that in silence and always, and most of all at the appointed time for prayer, sit in an unlit a corner for those who try to conditionally sober up in the heart, in particular the beginner, as taught and bequeathed by the divine fathers and teachers who are experienced in this all-blessed act. For when the eyes look at visible things and consider them, the mind is naturally distracted and dispersed, becomes depressed and dispersed. And when the ascetic shuts himself in a silent and dark room, then the thought ceases to soar, because there is nothing for it to look at. Likewise, the mind, voluntarily or involuntarily, partially calms down and begins to focus on itself, as Basil the Great says: “When the mind is not scattered on external things and does not pour out into the world through feelings, then it concentrates on itself.” Chapter 24. Our Lord Jesus Christ grants salvation, if the mind with faith calls upon the holy name of the Lord in the heart; natural art in the heart through breathing and sitting silently in an unlit place and the like helps in this. Before all this, or, it is better to say, before all feats in general, the mind performs such a feat with the help of divine grace from a heartfelt, pure and unwavering invocation with the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not only by the simple, previously explained, natural art through breathing or sitting in a silent and dark place. Don’t let that happen.This method was invented by the divine fathers for no other reason than to help collect the thought and return it from the usual wandering to itself and to attentiveness, as we have already said. From the return of thought to oneself and attentiveness, a constant pure and unwavering prayer of the mind is born, as St. Nile says: “He who seeks attentiveness in prayer finds prayer; we should care more about prayer than about anything else.” And we have talked about this until now. And you, child, who love life and want to see good days, and live in the body as a bodiless one, live according to this rule and statute. Chapter 25. How a silent person should live from evening to morning and the beginning of a broader science When the sun sets, call on the all-good and all-powerful Lord Jesus Christ for help, sit on a chair in a silent and unlit cell and, gathering your mind from the usual external affairs and wanderings and introducing it into your heart through breathing, say a prayer, that is: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me! Together combine the words of prayer with your breath, as St. Hesychius says: “With your breath, combine sobriety and the name of Jesus and the unforgettable teaching about death and humility; both the first and the second bring benefit” (Chapter 159). With prayer and all the other things about which we have told you, remember both the judgment and the payment for good and evil deeds, and with all your soul consider yourself more sinful than all people and dirtier than the devils themselves; think about the fact that you will be tormented forever. And when any of these thoughts come to you with compassion, weep and tears, and try in them until they pass by themselves. If you have not yet received the gift of tears, move and pray with humble wisdom to obtain them. With them, we are cleansed from passions and impurities and become partakers of good and salutary deeds, as Listvychnik says: “As fire devours a reed, so a pure tear washes away all impurities, visible and invisible” (From the 7th degree). And another father says: “Whoever wants to destroy sins, destroys them by crying, and whoever wants to acquire virtues, acquires them by crying. And when you do not have compassion, know that there is vanity, which does not allow the soul to be compassionate.” Whenever tears come, sit, listen to these thoughts, with prayer for one hour. Then, standing up, sing a careful evening meal. And having sat down again, keep the prayer as much as you have the strength, pure, without wandering, that is, without any trouble and any thought, and no daydreaming whatsoever – sit like this for half an hour with great sobriety without unnecessary sighs and food, be in prayer without any thoughts, when you want to be only with the mind. Then, overshadowing yourself and your bed with the sign of the honest and life-giving cross, sitting on it, think through the future pleasures and torments, the transience and temptation of present affairs, also remember about our sudden common fate, that is, death, and about the terrible pre-death and post-death examination of words and all that you have sinned. After briefly recalling everything you can, and fervently asking for forgiveness for this, review exactly how the day passed, and, lying down, keep the prayer with the words: “May the memory of Jesus sleep with you.”Sleep for five to six hours, and in general, adjust the duration of sleep to the duration of the night. Chapter 26. How to live from morning until morning. Waking up from sleep, glorify God and, calling upon Him as your Intercessor, begin the first work, that is, heartfelt prayer, pure and without soliloquy, about the hour: at this time the mind is the quietest and least troublesome. That is why we are commanded to sacrifice to God what is first and best, i.e., our first thoughts, as much as possible, to raise steadfastly with heartfelt pure prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ. As St. Nile says: “Prayer is performed by the one who always completely brings his first thoughts to God” (Chapter 126). After that, sing the midnight chant, if you are not yet established in a completely coiled silence and therefore cannot, as we have already said, begin it, or, perhaps, also for some other reason, which can often happen to beginners in such an act and less often to those who have already achieved some success, but have not yet reached perfection. They are perfect because they can do everything in Christ, who strengthens them. However, you, having risen from sleep, as far as you have the strength, with sobriety, first sing the midnight chant with all attention and understanding. Also, sitting down, pray in your heart purely and without hesitation, as we have already said, for one hour, or better, as much as the Giver of good will give you. The Leaf-bearer says: “Devote yourself more to prayer at night, and less to psalm-singing. And in the daytime, according to your strength, do your work” (Is 27 degree). When, having moved thus, you still remain awake and doze, or your mind is disturbed by some incident, then, getting up, encourage yourself, as you know, to keep to prayer. Then sit down and hasten to pray as it is written, always remembering that with a pure prayer you are talking to a pure God. Then, standing up, sing with understanding the six psalms, the 50th psalm, and the canon you want. Then, sitting down and watching, pray for half an hour with a pure prayer and, standing up again, sing praises, the usual hymn, the first time, and after that, let go. What you say with your mouth, say it so loudly that only your ears can hear, because we are commanded to bring the fruits of our lips to God with all our soul and with all our thoughts, thanking the manly and wise Sustainer, our God, who out of his infinite mercy made it easy for us to pass through the abyss of last night to see the bright spaces of this day. And fervently pray so that he would grant us to pass undisturbed through the gloomy and fierce storm of devils and passions and have mercy on us. Chapter 27. How it is proper to live from morning to noon. Even from morning to noon, as much as you can, giving all of yourself in everything to God and praying to Him with a humble and broken heart for help, the weak, lazy and weak-willed, move to a pure heartfelt prayer without exaggeration and to reading. Standing, read what is assigned to you to read from the Psalter, the Apostle and the Gospel, do the same in prayers to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the Most Holy Theotokos. You can sit on all other readings.After that, sing with understanding the ordinary times, which were very wisely established by the teachers of the Church, rejecting with all the strength of the soul idleness, as the teacher of all sin, with passions and the causes of passions, even though they seem insignificant and harmless. Chapter 28. About protection from idleness and that even the silent should be protected by church tradition. Saint Isaac says: “Beware, beloved, of idleness, for in it is hidden certain death. If it were not for idleness, the monks would not have fallen into the hands of those who are trying to capture him” (Isa. 71 of the Word). God will not judge us on that day because we stopped singing psalms and prayer, but because because of their cessation an entrance was opened for demons. They, when they find a place and enter, and close the door of our eyes, then they will fill us, their followers, with furious reports to us. And we become subject to them due to the fact that we have left these small matters, for which we receive patronage for Christ’s sake, as the wise once wrote: “Whoever does not submit his will to God, submits it to the enemy.” Therefore, what seems to you to be small, turns out to be a wall against those who want to enslave us. Performing psalms and prayer in the cell was wisely established by those who hold the rank of the Church, as it was revealed to them in the Spirit, for the preservation of our lives. Leaving them is considered a trifle by the unwise, and they do not consider the desolation that comes from leaving them. But for the unwise, both the beginning of the road and the middle are unlimited freedom, which is the mother of passions. It is better to perform a feat without leaving these little ones than to make room for sin by removing them. Because this untimely freedom ends in fierce slavery. And also: “Oh, what sweet causes of passions. You can still have the works of passion and, when they are gone, calm down and rejoice that they are gone, but no one can get rid of the causes of passion. Therefore, although we don’t want to, we are tempted. And we grieve because of passionate works, but we love that we still have the causes of passions. We do not desire sins, but we gladly accept them The latter are the causes of the first. He who loves the passions, even though he does not want to, will stop sinning and, having confessed his sins, will not be weaned from sin, and he will not be forgiven until he confesses his sins. This is the cause of true humility emotion, which is not experienced by a ashamed heart. And also: there is no unforgiven sin, there is an unrepentant sin” (Is 2 Words). Already about that. You, having sung the times, which we have already mentioned, eat, holding a prayer while you eat, so that, doing so, you will get used to the power of grace and pray without ceasing according to the commandment. Let the word about food, which sustains the body according to the ineffable wisdom of the Creator, wait a little. And the Word about food that fills and nourishes the soul, that is, sacred and god-worshipping prayer, according to the fathers, let it begin. And it is very appropriate: because the soul is more honest than the body. Chapter 29. More about prayer and how to pray continuously.”Just as our body, when the soul leaves it, becomes dead and stinking, so the soul that does not undertake the feat of prayer becomes dead, and wretched, and stinking. The worst of all death should be considered when a person is deprived of prayer – the great prophet Daniel teaches us that he himself wished to die rather than to be deprived of prayer for a short time” (Chapter 9). The divine Golden Mouth also teaches us: “Everyone who prays is conversing with God. Everyone knows what a great work it is for a person to converse with God, and what an honor it is, you can’t even imagine, this honor even surpasses the beauty of angels.” He also says the following: “Prayer is a joint work of both angels and people. In prayer there is nothing intermediate between one and the other nature. It separates you from the speechless, and it unites you with the angel we. The one who tries to practice prayer and service to God all his life, quickly becomes like the angels in life, honor, nobility and wisdom.” And again: “When the devil sees a soul protected by virtues, he does not dare to approach it, fearing the strength and fortress offered by prayers, which nourish the soul more than food nourishes the body.” And also: “Prayers are the veins of the soul. As the body is held together by the veins and thanks to them it moves, and stands, and lives, and holds firm, and when the veins are cut, it collapses, so souls are strengthened and stand by holy prayers and move easily by the feat of piety. When you deprive yourself of prayer, it is as if you take a fish out of water. Just as water is life for a fish, so prayer is for you. You can fly through prayer through air, as through water, and ascend to heaven, and be close to God.” And also: “Prayer and prayer build the temples of God – people. Just as gold, precious stones and marble build royal palaces, so prayer – people – the temples of Christ. What greater praise can there be for prayer, if not that it builds the temples of God, and He whom the heavens cannot contain enters the soul that lives by prayer.” And also: “From this you can see the power of holy prayers, that the apostle Paul passed through the whole earth, as if he flew on wings, and was in prison, and suffered beatings, and wore chains, and lived in a tent in poverty, and cast out demons, and raised the dead, and healed ailments, but he did not hope for any of this in terms of salvation, but he protected his soul with prayers. And after the signs and resurrection of the dead went to prayer, as an ascetic to the struggle for a crown. Because this prayer was the giver and resurrection of the dead, and everything else. What power is given to trees, such is the power given to saints.” Also: “Prayer is the cause of salvation, the cause of immortality, a firm support of the Church, an unbreakable fortress, terrible for demons and safe for us, the pious.” Also: “As a queen entering a city is followed by her riches, so following a prayer that has entered the soul, all honor enters.” And also: “What the foundation is for the house, so prayer is for the soul, it must first be established in the soul, like a root, and carefully nurture it, and with it the message of virtues, and care for the poor, and all the laws of Christ.” And also: “The light of the mind and soul is fervent prayer, the light is unquenchable and eternal.Therefore, the evil one throws innumerable thoughts into our soul, even what we have never thought about – he collects it during prayer and pours it on our soul.” And also: “Prayer is a great weapon, a great affirmation.” And Gregory the Theologian: “It is like to remember God more often than to breathe.” And Saint Isaac: “One cannot approach God without ceaseless prayer, because when, having prayed, put other worries on the condition, the thought will scatter.” And also: “Any prayer in which the body is not strained and the heart is not cramped is like a premature one; without a soul is such a prayer” (Is 28 Degree). And the Leaflet says: “Prayer is, according to its properties, the coexistence and union of the soul with God, and according to its action, it is the state of the world, reconciliation with God, the mother and at the same time the daughter of tears, the cleansing of sins, a bridge through temptations, a barrier for sorrows, the crushing of battles, the work of angels, the sustenance of all the incorporeal, future joy, endless action, source of virtue, cause of gifts, invisible success, nourishment of the soul, enlightenment of the mind, ax for despair, affirmation of hope, release from sorrow, wealth of monks, treasure of the silent, abatement of anger, beacon of success, appearance of moderation, indicator of state, revelation of his future, sign of glory. Prayer for one who truly prays is a court and a test, and the Lord’s judgment even before the coming judgment.” And also: “Prayer is nothing but alienation from the visible and invisible world.” And St. Nile: “When you want to pray, renounce everything in order to inherit everything.” And also: “Prayer is a conversation of the mind with God.” Also: “If bread is food for the body and virtue for the soul, so and spiritual prayer is food for the mind.” So, that’s how we presented it all. And now it’s time to say briefly about the statute of food consumption according to the measure, quantity and sign. Chapter 30. About the statute of food consumption, that is, about how the silent person should eat. It is written: “Son of man!.. You shall eat your food according to its weight… You shall also drink water sparingly” (Ezek. 4, 1.10.11). To those who do feat for God, is enough for life. If you do not give blood, as one of the fathers said, you will not receive the Spirit. Says the great apostle Paul: “I mortify my body and enslave myself, lest I myself become unfit” (1 Kr. 9, 27). And my knees are weak from fasting, and my body is changed without oil” (Ps. 108, 24) And the theologian: “You don’t honor God with anything like suffering, and He doesn’t reward you with your love like tears.” “Blessed is he who has separated himself from all sensuality, which separates him from the One who created him” (From the beginning 75 of the Word).And again: “Whoever was tempted by the right and the left for a long time, and tested himself many times in these two ways, and received numerous wounds from his opponents, and secretly received great patronage, he gained experience over many years, and through experience by the grace of God, understood that the basis of all benefits, the return of the soul from enemy captivity and the path that leads to light and life, is contained in two ways: to concentrate in in one place and in order to fast at all times, that is, to wisely and sensibly establish for oneself the rule of abstinence of the stomach, constantly staying in one place and practicing in the contemplation of God. From this comes the subjugation of the senses, from this – the sobriety of the mind, from this the fierce passions that move in the body are calmed down, from this the gentleness of thoughts, from this the movement of a bright thought, from this impulse. to the divine works of virtue, hence the high and subtle knowledge, hence the immeasurable tears, which are ever present, and the memory of death, hence this pure virtue, completely free from all dreaminess that tempts the thought, hence the keenness of vision and acute understanding of distant things, hence the deepest divine knowledge, which their thought grasps with the power of divine words, and the deepest movements that exist in the soul, and the ability to distinguish spirits from holy forces and true visions from vain delusions. Hence the fear on the paths and paths that cuts off despair and carelessness in the abyss of thought, hence the flame of zeal that burns all trouble and conquers all fear, hence the vigilance that despises all lust and erases it from In short, this is the freedom of the soul, and the resurrection and peace with Christ. When someone neglects these two ways, he not only deprives himself of all that we have mentioned, but also destroys the basis of all virtues. They are the beginning and the basis of divine action in the soul Christ, someone will keep them and suffer in them. But if he doesn’t, he will reach the opposite, that is, the wandering of the body, the lawless belly and other things.” In another place (Solovo 70), St. Isaac writes: “Those who are weak at the beginning of the feat, and not only these feats, but also the noise of the leaves on the trees are afraid and confused, the slightest need, or hunger, or a little weakness wins – they drop out of the feat and turn back. And the true and experienced ones do not get enough of field potions, nor do they eat anything until the time for food will not come, even when they feed on dry roots, but, exhausted in bodily labor, they lie down on the ground and barely see their eyes. Even when from such need they approach the time of leaving the body, they will not agree to be defeated and fall from their strong intention. to have a temporal life and all the rest that is in it.And when temptations come to them, they rejoice more, because through temptations we are made perfect.And they do not doubt God’s love because of their labors, which cause them suffering, and until they pass away from life, they try to steadfastly accept the burden and do not back down, because through the burden they become perfect.” Harmonizing their lives with these and similar teachings, and also listening to the one who commanded to walk in the royal way and not to turn aside to the right or to the left, we give you a statute and a moderate rule. Chapter Chapter 31. How an ascetic likes to eat on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Three days a week, that is, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, always make nine tytsya, that is, eat once a day, consuming six ongias of bread (three-eighths of a pound), not enough dry food and three or four cups of water when you want, following the 69 rule of the holy apostles, which decrees: when a bishop, or a presbyter, or a cantor does not fast on Holy Pentecost or on Wednesday and Friday, let him be excommunicated, unless he is a layman, let him be excommunicated (69 rules of the holy apostles). it is good to eat on Tuesday and Thursday. On the other two days, that is, on Tuesday, eat twice a day. At lunch, do not eat enough of cooked food, and when you need it, eat three or four cups of wine, and of dry food or vegetables – nothing, and wine with water, at most two. Thirst helps a lot with tears, as Listvychnik says: “Thirst and vigilance oppress the heart, and tears flow out of a depressed heart.” virtue, the root, and the basis of all good. And one of the external sages says: “Choose the best life, and then Basil the Great says: “There is no hindrance.” And another of the godly ones said: “A flower is the beginning of an active virtue.” Perhaps this is all that will be discussed next for many it is not easy, and even impossible. But whoever looks at the fruit that it brings, and what great glory it gives rise to, he will admit that it is easy, and with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, he will preach it both by word and deed, and with them it seems to seal the possibility of this. For Saint Isaac says: “The simple bread of the pure meal cleanses the soul of him, someone From the meal of those who fast, watch and labor in the Lord, accept the healing of your life and bring about the mortification of your soul. Because the Beloved will lie in their midst, sanctifying the dishes, and will turn the bitterness of their offense into his speechless joy, and His spiritual and heavenly servants will overshadow them” (Is 50 of the Word). And he also says: “Their dishes are holy, the sweet smell of the ascetic and the meeting with him rejoices the hearts of the prudent.”And also: “God loves the life of an abstinent.” Chapter 33. How it is appropriate to eat on the Sabbath, and about vigils, and how it is appropriate to eat during vigils. Every Saturday, except Great, it is good for you to eat twice, according to the statute of Tuesday and Thursday. You do so because the holy rules define it, and also because you must have a vigil on all Sundays of the year, except Syropusnaya. When the vigil falls on the great feasts of the Lord or on some great saint, having created it, leave the Sunday one. But even when there is such vigilance, eat twice on Saturday. It is always useful to motivate yourself to complete the night vigil. Therefore, even when the vigil falls in the middle of the week, it will be more useful for you to create a Sunday one, and then, as the Scripture says: “Your light will shine like a star, your wound will be healed immediately” (Is. 58, 8). Saint Isaac also says: “The beginning of every feat against sin and the flesh is the work of vigilance and fasting, especially for those who fight against the sin that is within us. This is a sign of the hatred of sin and its lusts of those who do the feat against the invisible army. Almost all attachments of the passions are reduced by fasting. That is why night vigil helps in the feat. He who combines fasting and vigilance throughout his life is a friend of all. Just as the peace of the stomach is the beginning of all evils, and the relaxation of sleep ignites the desire for fornication, so fasting, vigilance, and cheerfulness in the service of God is God’s holy path and the basis of all virtue.” And again: “When the soul is enlightened by the memory of God and by not sleeping during the day and night, then the Lord builds a cloud over it, which covers it during the day and shines with fiery light at night, and the light shines from the middle of its darkness.” Also: “Choose for yourself a sweet deed – constant vigil at night, with which all the fathers threw off the old man and merited the renewal of the mind. In these hours, the soul feels the breath of immortal life and, feeling it, it casts off the darkness of passions and is clothed in the Holy Spirit.” And also: “Honor the vigil, so that you may find comfort for your soul.” And again: “Do not think, oh man, that there is something more in all monastic exploits than the night vigil. Do not consider a monk, who watches with a prudence of mind, to be carnal, because vigil is an angelic rank.” And also: “The soul that labors in angelic vigilance will have eyes like those of cherubim, so that it can always see and contemplate heavenly visions.” Perform it, i.e. vigilance, in prayer, singing and reading with a pure mind without suffering and with tenderness – alone or with a loving brotherhood of like-minded people. After every vigil, ease yourself in eating and drinking at dinner, considering the labor of the vigil: eat three ounces of bread and a little dry food, as much as you need. Drink three cups of water. See that when the vigil falls on the day of the novena, you do not lighten it for the sake of the vigil. Because this should be done, and that should not be left. Let it be easier, about which it is said in this Word, after the vigil. Chapter 34. About how it is appropriate to eat on Sunday, and about other things, and also about work and humility. On all Sundays, eat twice a day, as well as on Saturdays. Let this rule always be observed, except in case of infirmity.Do the same on the days that the holy Fathers have established, or when custom allows, or for some divine or contrary reasons. On these days, we eat more than once, and we do not eat dry food, but we consume all kinds of useful and harmless food, but sparingly and in the prescribed amount. It is always better to refrain in everything. In bodily infirmities, as we have already said, it is appropriate, without being ashamed, to consume everything that is necessary and useful for the body, because the divine fathers taught us to be passion killers, and not body killers. It also pleases you to consume little by little everything that is allowed to be consumed by disciples, to the glory of God and with thanksgiving, and also in order not to fall into the trap of understanding. Turn away from excess. “Lack of things,” says Saint Isaac, “teaches a person restraint, even if he doesn’t want it.” And when we have an excess of them and we are comforted by them, then we cannot hold back. Don’t like body soothing. “For the soul that loves God, as Saint Isa ak says again, finds comfort only in God.” With labor and restraint, choose humility. “Work and humility,” says one of the saints, “acquire Jesus.” Chapter 35. How it is appropriate to eat during holy fasts and how to conduct them, and in particular about Great Lent. We think it is not necessary to talk separately and in detail about the rules of food and about holy fasts. As it is prescribed for you to do on the days of the novena, so it will be correct to do on holy fasts, except for Saturdays and Sundays. And when you can, keep stricter fasts and more sobriety, especially on the holy and great Pentecost – the tenth year, which honors the winners in Christ Jesus for their exploits on the divine and light-bearing day of Resurrection. Chapter 36. A little about prudence and the fact that a moderate action has no price, and about obedience. This feat and other feats please you to go through with vigilant prudence for the duality of your life and peaceful arrangement. “The house is built with wisdom and strengthened with the mind; the pantries are filled with knowledge: with every expensive and beautiful property” (Prov. 24, 3-4). And the divine Talasius writes: “Reasonable narrowness and poverty are the king’s way, therefore reckless exhaustion or unreasonable indulgence are useless, because they happen without reason.” Saint Isaac says: “After the weakening of the body comes frenzy and confusion of thoughts, after immeasurable action – despondency, and after despondency – frenzy. It is not frenzy that the first differs from the second, because the first is followed by the battle of fornication, and the second is the abandonment of speechlessness and the transition from place to place. Therefore, there is no priceless action in labor. Its decrease increases sweetness, and its excess – frenzy” (From 71 Words). And the great Maximus says: “Let not all your concern be about the body, determine for it occupations according to strength, and turn all your mind to the inner” (63rd chapter of the 4th century). “Physical exercise is only useful for something, but godliness is useful for everything” (1 Tim. 4, 8). When the yoke of the flesh drags and torments, and burdens the yoke of the soul, inclining it to idle and soul-destroying movements, as it is written: “The flesh will desire against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh” (Ch.5, 17), – then you, restraining her with the towers of abstinence, mortify her until, even if she does not want to, she submits to you and submits to the best, remembering the great apostle Paul, who says: “Though our outer man decays, but our inner man is renewed day by day” (2 Kr. 4, 16). And the words of St. Isaac: “Let yourself die in a feat, and not live in negligence. Martyrs are not only those who accepted death for their faith in Christ, but also those who die for keeping His commandments.” And also: “It is better for us to die in exploits than to live in sins.” And again: “Work hard, having consulted with your spiritual father in the Lord, so that with the grace of Christ both unbearable and impossible hardships become easy, and it will seem to you as if you are rushing along the valley.” But we like to go back to where we started. Chapter 37. How likes an ascetic to spend time after a meal until sunset and how likes to believe that according to our labors and their measure we will be given divine gifts. After dinner, as the ascetic likes, according to the command of the divine Paul: “Every fighter refrains from everything” (1 Kr. 9, 25), sit and read the writings of the Fathers for a long time, especially about sobriety. And then sleep for one hour, if the days are long, and when you get up, work a little while holding a prayer. After that pray, as it was indicated, read and learn, so that you will humble yourself and feel less than all people. Because “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk. 18, 14). And it is also said: “When someone thinks he is standing, let him be careful not to fall” (1 Cor. 10, 12). And also: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4, 6). And also: “The beginning of human pride is a retreat from the Lord” (Sir. 10, 12). And also: “The proud transgressed the law to the limit” (Ps. 118, 51). And also: “Do not be wise about high things, rather incline to the lowly” (Rom. 12, 16). And the divine Golden Mouth says: “The one who knows himself best is the one who considers himself to be nothing; there is nothing so dear to God as counting himself among the last.” Saint Isaac says: “Mysteries are hidden from the humble and wise.” And also: “From where humility flows, from there also flows the glory of God.” And also: “As humility comes before grace, so pride comes before punishment.” And St. Varsonofius says: “If you really want to be saved, show your obedience by deeds: take your feet off the ground and raise your mind to heaven, and there study day and night, and as much as you have the strength, consider yourself insignificant, trying to see yourself lower than every man. This is the true way, but there is no other way for him who wants to be saved in Christ, who strengthens him. Run so that I testify before the living God that he wants to give eternal life to everyone who wants to receive it. And the Leaflet says: “I did not fast, I did not hear, I did not lie on the ground, but I humbled myself – and the Lord will soon save me” (Is 25 degree).”First of all, consider yourself as nothing,” says Saint Varus Sonofius, “because whoever lives without worrying about all kinds of things has come close to the city; whoever considers himself nothing before people will settle in the city; and he who died for each person will inherit the city and its treasures. So, when you want to be saved, consider yourself as nothing and hurry forward.” “Considering yourself as nothing,” according to Saint John, a disciple of St. Varsonophis, “means not to compare yourself with anyone and not to speak of a good deed: I did it.” After that, pray a pure prayer, without glorifying, until the evening comes, sing the vespers, as usual, and make a release, believing from the bottom of your heart that according to our labors and pains, by which we acquire virtue, and according to the measure of our works, gifts and honors and consolation are given to us from God, as the divine psalmist says: “Lord, when the suffering in my heart increased, Your thoughts made me happy my soul” (Ps. 93, 19). And the Savior says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you light” (Mt. 11, 28). And the great Paul: “We suffer together with Him [Christ], that we may also be glorified together with Him. For I think that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy of the future glory that should appear to us” (Rom. 8, 17-18). Maximus, wise in divine matters, also says: “They say that the reason for the distribution of divine blessings is the measure of each person’s faith. The more we believe, the more alertness to action is given to us. He who works according to the measure of his action shows the measure of faith, receiving according to his faith the measure of grace. He who does not have action shows the measure of unbelief by the measure of his inaction, and for unbelief he is deprived of grace. That is why evil an envious person does when he envies those who are moving forward, it is in his power, and not in someone else’s, to choose to believe and act and to accept grace according to the measure of faith”. Ask with all your heart to spend the time of your life in repentance and a painless, without reproach and peaceful end of the Christian life, and before that – a good retribution when we stand at the terrible judgment of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. Chapter 38. About the fact that pure prayer is greater than any action. In addition to what has been said, know, brother, also about the fact that every skill and every rule, and in general, various actions are therefore determined and established, so that we cannot yet pray purely and without wavering in the heart. So, when this is accomplished in us by the grace and good will of our Lord Jesus Christ, then we will leave the many and different things that separate us, we will unite with the One, and the One, and the One, who is beyond all words, as the famous theologian said: “When God connects with the gods [godlike people] and they know Him, then the Holy Spirit truly illuminates the heart, and this illumination is generated from the mentioned pure, unwavering prayer.” This rarely happens, hardly one in a thousand will be found who was pleased by Christ’s grace to reach such a state.And in order to go through this, and be worthy of spiritual prayer, and to receive the revelation of the secrets of the future age – there are very few of them, they can hardly be found in generations, by the grace of grace, as Saint Isaac says: “Just as out of a thousand people there is one who has fulfilled the commandments and everything established by the law, and has achieved purity of soul, so there is one out of a thousand who with great care has been worthy to reach pure prayer, cross this border and to accept such a sacrament. Since pure prayer was favored by a few, you will hardly find those who, by the grace of Christ, reached the sacrament that comes after prayer, and even higher.” And later he says again: “And when few pray pure prayer, what shall we say about spiritual prayer?” According to him, all spiritual prayer is free from movements, and that prayer, which is in motion, is inferior to spiritual prayer. Therefore, you too, when you want to grasp the new mysteries in action, that is, to be worthy of them through experience in Christ Jesus, try to reach every time, and every hour, and in every work of yours, to pray to you purely in your heart, without hiding, so that you may grow from an infant into a perfect man, in the measure of the growth of the fullness of Christ and with a faithful and wise steward, receive bliss and praise, like one who he weighs “his words in judgment, that is, he lives according to reason, and therefore the eyelid does not waver” (Ps. 111, 5). Saint Philemon writes about it like this: “Brother, whether it is day or night, God will grace you purely and without distraction to pray with your mind, do not pay attention to your rule, but, as much as you have strength, try to cling to God – and He will enlighten your heart in spiritual action.” And one of the godly sages also said: “When you want to serve God while remaining in the body, as a bodiless one, gather incessant prayer in your heart – and your soul will become like an angel even before your death.” Saint Isaac agrees with them. When someone asked him what was the most important thing in the labors of this work, that is, silence, he answered: “When someone is worthy of unceasing prayer. When he achieves it, he will achieve the fulfillment of all virtues and become the abode of the Holy Spirit. If someone has not accepted the grace of the Comforter for sure, he cannot joyfully perform unceasing prayer. When the Holy Spirit dwells in a person, then prayer does not stop in him: because the Spirit himself always prays. This prayer does not cease in the soul either when it is sleeping or when it is doing something, even when it is fast asleep. Such a prayer does not depart from a person, but continues all the time: that is why some of the crusaders call the silence of the pure, because theirs thoughts are divine movements, and the movements and thoughts of a pure heart are gentle voices that secretly sing to the Secret. And many other God-bearers, having learned by experience thanks to grace, told a lot about such miracles that we will omit them due to the difficulty of words. Chapter 39. How many kneelings should be done in a day. We know about the number of kneelings that the holy fathers set them at three hundred.This is how we should create them night and day for five days of the week. Because every Saturday and Sunday, as well as on other days, according to custom, and sometimes even during the week for certain mysterious and unknown reasons, we are commanded to stop making bows. However, there are some who exceed this number, and some reduce it: each one does as much as he has strength and desire. So you do what you can. Therefore, truly blessed and many-blessed is he who always motivates himself to everything that is according to God. “The Kingdom of Heaven is acquired by force, and those who use force take it by force” (Mt. 11, 12). Chapter 40. About the fact that divine gifts are given not only, as has already been said, according to the feat and measure of our action, but also according to custom, and decency, and faith, and our natural order. And about this we must know that divine gifts are given to us not only according to the feat and measure of action, as we have already said, but also according to the custom of our life and decency, and also according to our faith in future things, and according to what we have agreed upon naturally young And Saint Maximus says: “Mind is an instrument of wisdom, verbality is knowledge. Both the first and the second are supported by faith, and the gift of healing is a natural gift of eternal love. Because every divine gift has its own instrument in us: as a force, or a habit, or an inclination. This should be understood in this way: who has cleansed the mind of all sensual dreams – receives wisdom; we who are above the inborn passions – rage and lust – put literature – accepts knowledge; he who has unshakable certainty about divine things – accepts the faith that can do everything; he who has completely killed self-love – accepts the gift of healing – and so it is. Pray earnestly for us, who are unworthy, who speak and do not do what is good, that we may deign to do first of all things pleasing to God and so speak and advise others. “Whoever fulfills them [commandments] and teaches [others], he will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt. 5, 19). And may the Omniscient and Omniscient Lord strengthen you and help you listen to all this with understanding and do so with all your desire. “For not the hearers of the law are righteous before God,” says the divine apostle Paul, “but the doers of the law” (Rom. 2, 13). And let him direct you to every good and salutary work and lead you by the Spirit to a conditional and sacred action according to the prayers of the saints. Amen. Since we have previously spoken very little about active prudence, it is now time to speak as briefly as possible about complete and perfect prudence. Because it is greater than all virtues, according to the testimony of our glorious fathers. Chapter 41. About the universal and most perfect prudence and about the one who lives according to the flesh and contrary to nature, who lives according to nature and spiritually, and who lives supernaturally and spiritually. Whoever lives according to the flesh and against nature has finally lost his prudence, and the one who distanced himself from evil and began to do good, as it is written: “Turn away from evil and do good” (Ps.33, 15), such as a beginner and one who puts his ear to learning, gradually approaches the sense of prudence that a beginner likes. And the one who lives according to nature and according to the soul, that is, according to thought and reason, is called average and sees and thinks about himself and those similar to him according to his own measure. He who lives supernaturally and according to the spirit has passed the passion and the limit of the beginner and the average and by the grace of Christ has reached perfection, that is, the true enlightenment of his nature and the most perfect prudence, because he clearly sees himself and thinks about himself, therefore he sees everyone and thinks clearly about them, and no one, although he sees, does not think about him and does not test him, because he is truly spiritual not according to the record ink on paper, but by grace, as the divine apostle says: “A spiritual [man] judges all things, but no one judges him” (1 Cor. 2, 15). Chapter 42. More about prudence in comparisons. The first of them is similar to someone who walks on a dark, moonless night. Wandering in impenetrable darkness and gloom, he does not see himself, and he does not think, nor does he know the road where to go, as the Savior says: “He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going” (John 12, 35). The second is like one who walks on a clear, starry night. The faint starlight barely illuminates him, and he walks slowly, often tripping over the stone of imprudence and falling. This one sees himself a little and ponders, as if in a shadow, as it is written: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Eph. 5, 14). The third is like one who walks in a quiet night, when the full moon shines. He walks in the moonlight without wandering and moves forward. He sees himself as in a mirror and ponders, and so do those who go with him, as it is written: “You do well, that is, when you pay attention to the law – like a lamp that shines in a dark place – until it begins to dawn, and the morning dawns in your hearts” (2 Pt. 1, 19). night rays Such a person sees himself well in the sunlight, and reflects, and, according to the words of the divine apostle, “judges everything” (1 Cor. 2, 15), no matter what it was, no matter what happened to him. He himself walks without wandering and leads those who follow him without hindrance to the true light, and life, and truth. About such it is written: “You are the light of the world” (Mt. 5, 14). The divine Paul also says: “God, who said: “Let light shine out of darkness”, He enlightened our hearts so that the knowledge of God’s glory, which is in the face of Jesus Christ, may shine in them” (2 Kr. 4, 6). And the blessed David says: “The light of Your face has fallen upon us, O Lord” (Ps. 4, 7). And also: “In Your light we will see light” (Ps. 35, 10). And the Lord says: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not wander in darkness, but will have the light of life” (2 Cor. 1, 9). Chapter 43. About transformations and changes that happen in every person, and about the highest glory of humility.We want you to know that even those who have achieved perfection through purification and enlightenment, as much as they had the strength, because perfection cannot be perfect in this imperfect age, it can only be incomplete, even they do not always remain unchanged: because of natural weakness, because of pride that creeps in, they undergo changes and are robbed of a test, and again receive great patronage. And what is opposite to this is what the fathers call the share of wolves. Inviolability and immutability will be preserved in the future age, and in this age there is a time of purity, peace and divine comfort, and then a time of changes, storms and frailty. This happens to everyone according to the measure of his life and exploits, as God himself knows, in order for us to notice our weakness. Someone said that blessed is the one who knows his weakness, so that we, as the Apostle Paul says, “…hope not in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead” (2 Cor. 1, 9), and always return to God with humility, repentance, and confession. As St. Isaac says: “Some people repeatedly, very often, commit a transgression and heal their souls with repentance – and grace receives them” (Isaiah 46 of the Word). Every verbal being undergoes unlimited changes, and every person undergoes change at all times. A prudent person will see many such changes and understand them. But the trials that happen to him every day can make him wise if he sobers up. Let him watch in his mind, and understand how much the thought inclines every day to gentleness and quietness, and how it suddenly passes from this peace to bewilderment, even if there is no definite reason for it, and how it finds itself in great and unspeakable trouble. And this is what the blessed Macarius wrote with care and concern for the memory of the brethren and for instruction, so as not to despair when the opposition changes, because even those who belong to the order of the pure fall, just as the air cools; and it is not because they are careless or lazy, or not only when but also when they live according to their own way, that falls happen to them contrary to their intentions. And then he writes: “Changes happen in every person, just like in the air. Understand that it is in every person, because the nature is the same in everyone.” So do not think that he speaks only of the smaller and weaker, but the perfect are free from change and steadfastly stand in their rank, not having passionate thoughts, as the Euchytes3 say. That is why Makariy emphasized that changes happen in every person. How is that so, O Macarius? You say that first there is frost, then heat, and then hail – and finally good weather. So it happens in our teaching: first war, and then the coming of grace; for a while the soul falls into a storm and they appear

3 Euchytes are sectarians who believed that salvation is possible only through constant, internal prayer, and denied all the institutions of the visible Church. furious waves on her; so grace comes again and fills the heart with joy and peace from God and virtuous and peaceful thoughts. Macarius here mentions the thoughts of purity, indicating that they were preceded by animal and impure thoughts, and advises, saying: “When after these virtuous and gentle thoughts, an invasion finds, let us not be sad and do not despair, but when peace and grace come, let us not boast, and when there is joy, let us expect sorrow.” And a little further on, he says: “Remember that all the saints have experienced this. As long as we live in this world, as much as we live in the midst of sorrows, a secret joy comes to us. Because for every day and time we are required to experience our love for God in the struggle and struggle with temptations. And our way is not to be sad and not to despair in the struggle. And whoever wants to turn away from this or avoid it, his share will be with wolves”. Oh, what a strange saint! How he explained in a short word how it happens, and showed that it is not devoid of sense, and banished all doubts from the reader’s mind. “He,” he says, “who does not want to go this way or avoids it, is the part of the wolves. Such a person has made up his mind to do this and wants to follow a separate path that was not paved by the Fathers.” A little later, this saint says: “Humility forgives many sins even without works. And works without humility, on the contrary, are not useful.” And further: “What salt is to food, so humility is to every virtue, it can erase the fortress of many sins. That is why we need to grieve over it endlessly. When its glory is demonstrated, it will make us sons of God and without good works we will present to God. And without it, all our works, and all virtues, and all actions are in vain. God wants a change of mind, and through a change of mind we become better. It is enough for ourselves humility to stand before God and intercede for us.” And he also told the following: “One of the saints said: “When a thought of pride finds you, saying to you: Remember your virtues, tell him: Look, old man, at your fornication.” Chapter 44. About repentance, purity and perfection. The perfection of our whole life is revealed in three things: repentance, purity and perfection. What is repentance? Leave the previous life and grieve for it. What is cleanliness? Heart, merciful to all creation. And what is perfection? The depth of humility, that is, abandoning everything visible, or sensual, and invisible, or mental, without worrying about them. Or a brush: “Repentance is a special voluntary mortification from everything. Our merciful heart is the burning of the heart for every creature, for people, and birds, and animals, and demons, and for all creation.” And again: “As long as we live in this world and remain in the body, even if we ascend to the firmament, we cannot be without works, and labors, and carelessness. This is perfection, forgive me.Higher than this is teaching, that is, prayer without thoughts.” Says Saint Maximus: “Curiosity by virtue produces dispassion of desire, not nature, and after it, that is, after dispassion of desire, comes the condition of the grace of divine sweetness.” And also: “He who has experienced sorrow and carnal sweetness can be called experienced, because through experience he has learned the pleasantness and unpleasantness of the works of the flesh. The one who has overcome the sweetness of the flesh and pain with the power of words can be called perfect. A complete person is one who has kept his skills in action and contemplation unchanged, firmly extending them to God. That is why prudence is called the highest of all virtues, because those to whom it comes by the favor of God, enlightened by the divine light, can reflect on divine and human things, test them or distinguish them, and distinguish mysterious and secret contemplations. “However, the time has come, as far as possible, to tell you in detail, as we promised earlier, about the beginning of god-worshiping silence. May God guide us in what we should say. Chapter Chapter 45. On the five works of the first, or introductory, silence of beginners, that is, about prayer, singing, reading, learning and needlework. Let the beginner spend the day in silence in the five works with which we serve God. That is, in prayer, in other words, in the memory of the Lord Jesus Christ, which he incessantly enters through the breath into the heart and brings out in the same way, closing his mouth, without any thought and dreaming, which he achieves by restraint of the stomach, sleep and other senses, sitting in a cell with true humility. Besides, he should spend time in singing, reading the holy Psalter, the apostolic epistles and the holy Gospels, the writings of the holy and godly Fathers, in particular the chapters on attentiveness, prayer and sobriety, and also other divine words of the Spirit, remembering with pain in his heart the sins and thinking about the judgment of God, or about the torments, or the enjoyment of eternal goods. Let him have some easy craft that would protect him from despair, and from the craft he returns to prayer. The craft is necessary until the mind gets used to easily rejecting its greetings to the Lord Jesus Christ, and constant remembrance, that is, to the inner abode the secret place of the heart, and with constant self-reproach. Saint Isaac writes: “Hurry up to enter the room inside you and see the heavenly abode. It is one and the same – both the first and the second; having entered one, you will also see the other.” And St. Maximus says: “The heart has power over all organs, and when grace covers all the valleys of the heart, it reigns over all thoughts and members. There is the mind and all the thoughts of the soul, so it is there that one should see whether grace has written the laws of the all-holy Spirit. Where exactly – there? On the organ that has power, on the throne of grace, where the mind and all thoughts are spiritual, that is, on the heart.” Chapter 46. Where do those who want to be silent with understanding like to start?What is the beginning of this, and growth, and success, and perfection? This is the first and introductory work of the novice monks who want to remain silent with understanding: they begin with the fear of God and the fulfillment of all the godly commandments to the best of their ability, without asking for necessary or unnecessary things, but above all from faith and complete distancing from the opposite and pure attachment to things, as has already been said. Those who grow with unshakable hope and enter as the fullness of Christ grows, which is in them from heartfelt, pure and unwavering prayer with all divine and fervent zeal. And so they become perfect by immovable and unshakable spiritual prayer, and rapture, which comes from perfect love to the one God, and also by rapture and union of extreme desire, and it is infallible, and directness and haste from action to contemplation. Godfather David also accepted him and, having been changed by divine change, called: “And I said to my soul: Every man is untruthful” (Ps. 115, 2). And another one of those who sifted through the New Testament says: “What the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard, what has not entered the mind of man, God has prepared for those who love Him – and adds: God has revealed to us by the Spirit, because the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” (1 Cor. 2, 9-10). Chapter 47. About the act of speechlessness of beginners. A beginner, as we have said, should not leave his cell often, avoid conversation and meetings with everyone, and speak only out of great need, carefully and restrained, and rarely, as the divine Isaac says: “Remember this about everything: better help from taking care of yourself than help from deeds.” And not only for beginners, but for those who have already achieved some success, conversations and meetings become the cause of destruction, as Saint Isaac himself says: “Peace (of the body) harms only the young, and licentiousness – both young and old.” And also: “Speechlessness deadens external feelings, but it raises internal movements. And external communication does the opposite, that is, it raises external feelings, but deadens internal ones. If you walk the path of silence well, then its action will manifest itself in the soul.” The Leaflet in the 27th Degree teaches the one who does good and walks in good paths as follows: “The silent one is the one who keeps the carnal without in the carnal house; this is a glorious deed.” A silent person is one who says: “I sleep, but my heart does not fall asleep” (P.p. 5, 2). He is the one who closes the door of the cell to the body, the door of the tongue to conversations, and the inner door of the soul to the cunning of spirits. Chapter 48. About heartfelt prayer and about doing it through attentiveness and sobriety. Prayer is performed with attentiveness and sobriety in the heart, without any other thought or any daydreaming. With the words “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God,” the mind imperceptibly and inexpressibly and perfectly reaches out to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. With the words “have mercy on me” he turns and moves towards himself, I can’t help but pray for myself. Whoever has achieved love through experience, reaches out with his mind only to the Lord Jesus Christ himself, clearly convinced of the second, that is, pardon. Chapter 49.How the divine Fathers taught us to say a prayer, why in different ways, and what this prayer is. The divine fathers did not always teach to say the whole prayer. One taught the whole, another – half, another – a part, and another – in a different way, depending on the strength and condition of the person praying. The Divine Golden Mouth teaches how to say it in its entirety and writes like this: “I beg you, brothers, never neglect or neglect this rule of prayer. I once heard how the Fathers said: What kind of monk is he who neglects or neglects prayer. Whether he eats, or drinks, or sits, or works, or travels, or does anything else, let him call without ceasing: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, may the memory of the Lord Jesus raise him up against the enemy. The soul that repents may find out whether it is good or bad. This memory can stir up the serpent, and this memory can destroy it memory can stir up all the enemy’s power in the heart, and this same memory can slowly defeat and eradicate it, because when the name of the Lord Jesus descends into the depths of the heart, it humbles the serpent that occupies the valleys of the heart, and saves and enlivens the soul. Therefore, dwell endlessly with the name of the Lord Jesus, so that the heart absorbs the Lord, and the Lord – the heart, then these two will become one in a day or two, and in years and for a long time. It takes a lot of time and deeds until you drive out the enemy – and Christ will settle in your heart.” And he also says: “It likes to establish and control the mind, and to nest it and every thought, and to trample every evil action with the call of our Lord Jesus Christ. And where the body stands, there let the mind be, so that between God and the heart there is nothing, no partition or barrier that overshadows the heart and separates the mind from God. But if something ever takes hold of the mind, it does not like to linger in thoughts, so that on the day of judgment, the connection with the thoughts will not be counted before the Lord, when the Lord will judge the secret deeds of every person. So always exercise and abide in the Lord our God, while he has mercy on you. And seek nothing but mercy from the Lord of glory, but seek mercy with a humble and tender heart and call for it from morning to evening, and if possible, all night: “Lord, Son of God, have mercy on me.” This work requires a great effort, because “narrow is the way that leads to life, and those who use power take it by force” (Mt. 7:14; 11:12). of your hearts from God, and stay with Him and guard your hearts with the memory of our Lord Jesus Christ always, until the name of the Lord is established in the heart, the heart will not think about anything else, except for the Lord to be magnified in you.”The Holy Apostle Paul wrote about this earlier than Chrysostom, saying: “For when you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, because with the heart one believes for justification, and with the mouth one confesses for salvation” (Rom. 10, 9-10). And also: “And no one can say: Lord Jesus, except under the influence of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12, 3), that is, when the heart receives the action of the Holy Spirit, in which one prays, it happens to those who have accumulated Christ in themselves. Following this, Saint Diadochus also says: “The mind torments us when we block all its exits with the memory of God, it needs something to do to stop its running. It likes, therefore, to give it the call of the Lord Jesus so that it is the only thing it turns to. It is said that “no one can say: ‘Lord Jesus’ – except under the influence of the Holy Spirit”. Let the mind itself always see this word in its depths. and does not deviate from any dreams. Those who incessantly remember this glorious name will be able to see the light of their minds, because it is said: “Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12, 29). a glorious and highly desirable name will remain in the memory of the mind in the warmth of the heart, we will get used to loving His kindness, and nothing will prevent us from this. It is a pearl of great value, for which they sell all their possessions, and having acquired it, they have the joy of speech” (chapter 59). And St. Hesychius writes this about Jesus Christ: “When the soul, after death, flies up into the air to the gates of heaven and has Jesus in it, who will intercede for it (chapter 149), then it will not be ashamed of the enemies there, but with courage, as now, as then, will speak to them at the gates. Only let it not be lazy until its death to call day and night to Christ Jesus – and He will soon take revenge for her, according to his infallible and divine promise, as he says about the unrighteous judge. Yes, I tell you, he will create her both in this life and after leaving the body.” The book of scriptures only says this about Jesus: “Strike your adversaries in the name of Jesus; for there is no stronger weapon in heaven or on earth” (Is 21 degree). And nothing else adds. And in another place he says: “Let the memory of Jesus connect with your breath – and then you will know the benefit of silence.” Chapter 50. About the fact that not only from the holy fathers, but also from the supreme apostles Peter, Paul and John, you can find words about sacred and god-creating prayer, given by the Holy Spirit. Not only from the mentioned god-wise fathers and those like them, you can find words of instruction about sacred and god-creating prayer, but also before them, from the most supreme apostles Peter, Paul and John. One of them says, as already mentioned: “And no one can say: Lord Jesus, except under the influence of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12, 3). Another says: “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1, 17). And also: “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God” (1 Jn.4, 2). And Christ’s disciple, chosen from among others, when the Savior and Teacher himself asked the apostles: “Who do people say the Son of Man is? – giving a blessed confession, he answered: You are Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16, 13.16). That is why those who came after them, and our glorious mentors, especially those who lived a celibate, desolate and speechless life, collected such sayings in whole and in part – announced by the three pillars of the holy Church, as by a divine voice, legitimized by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, and also often attested by three reliable witnesses, because it is said that three witnesses testify to every word – and, putting together with They called the Holy Spirit living in them a pillar of prayer and handed it over to their successors and taught them to hold and keep it. Here, both the order and the rule are very strange with the wisdom that is from on high. Therefore, one invokes the Lord Jesus, another – Jesus Christ, and still another – Christ, the Son of God, as if they follow one another and come close to each other in agreement and combination of these divine words. You can notice that the last word of the first invocation becomes, as it were, the beginning of the second, and the last word of the second – the beginning of the third. And the addition to these calls is a sign of the Spirit. After all, blessed Paul said this: “No one can say: Lord Jesus – only under the influence of the Holy Spirit.” Apostle John used these words at the end, at the beginning, saying: “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God” (1 John 4:2). And they presented this to everyone not by themselves, but prompted by the hand of the Holy Spirit. Because the confession of the divine Paul after the revelation was also caused by the Holy Spirit. The apostle says that “all this is done by the same Spirit, who distributes to everyone as he wants” (1 Cor. 12, 11). In this way, a triple and inextricable weave of prayer to God was formed, very wisely and intelligently woven and sewn, and passes on, equally protected. And the words “have mercy on me” are an addendum that later the divine fathers composed with the saving words of the prayer, that is, “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God”, for the sake of the youngest with virtues, that is, the beginners and the imperfect. Those who have achieved success and are perfect in Christ are content only with some divine words, namely: “Lord, Jesus; Jesus Christ; Christ, Son of God.” Or they are satisfied only with the word “Jesus”, and they hold this word and kiss it like a whole prayer, because through it they are filled with indescribable sweetness and joy that surpasses all mind, all vision and hearing. And thus being outside the flesh and the world, having connected their senses with the divine gift and grace that infused them, they are seized with a frenzy, and are blessedly purified, and enlightened, and perfected, already now contemplating the supernatural, beginningless, and uncreated grace of the supersubstantial deity, like a betrothal, implicitly, as in a mirror, and only by memory and instruction, as we have already they said, contenting themselves with some of the words by which the God-man is named. The Spirit unspeakably fills them with rapture, and union, and revelation, and union, and they are exalted by unspeakable revelations.Announcing this and assuring us, our most sweet and soul-loving Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that His sermons are His works, and His words are the spirit and life, said the following: “Without me you can do nothing” (John 17:5). And also: “And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. I will do whatever you ask. in my name” (Jn. 14, 13-14). Chapter 51. About the fact that even beginners can pray with all the words of the prayer, then only some, if only in the heart and all the time; and about not changing the words of the prayer often. Beginners can also pray with all the words of the prayer, then only some of us, if only in the heart and all the time. Saint Diadochus says: “He who always enters his heart departs from all worldly beauties, because he who walks in the Spirit does not commit the lusts of the flesh (Ch. 5, 16). Such a person walks surrounded by virtues, the virtues themselves stand as the gatekeepers of purity. That is why even the devil’s tricks do not reach him” (Chapter 57). Saint Isaac also writes: “He who visits his soul all the time, his heart rejoices in the revelation” (Is 50 of the Word). And also: “Whoever collects the contemplation of his mind, he sees within himself a spiritual dawn. He who has neglected all wandering, he sees his Lord within his heart.” It is not appropriate to change the words of the prayer often, so that the mind does not become accustomed to inconstancy and evasion through frequent changes and shifts of attention and does not remain unestablished and barren, like trees that are often transplanted. Chapter 52. About the fact that the fruit of heartfelt prayer requires a lot of time, effort, and motivation, and in general, every good is obtained with many efforts and a long time. And to pray in the heart, and that which is higher than this, is not an easy thing, and if it so happened that it was obtained in a short time and with little effort, although this happens rarely, it happens to some by indescribable providence. And so it takes a lot of time and work, and no small mental and physical feat, and long and great motivation. According to the highest measure of the gift and grace that we hope to partake of, it is pleasing to have feats equal in strength, and times to be determined by measure. This is, as the religious teachers say, the expulsion of the enemy from the valleys of the heart and the indwelling of Christ in it. Says Saint Isaac: “Whoever wants to see the Lord, let him diligently cleanse his heart with an unceasing memory of God, and then with the light of his mind he will see the Lord forever” (Isaiah 50 of the Word). And St. Varsonofius says the following: “If the inner action with God does not help a person, then it is in vain to work externally. Inner action with heartache brings purity, purity – true silence of the heart, silence – humility, humility makes a person God’s abode. When the Lord dwells in a person, then demons are driven out of him along with passions and a person becomes a temple of God, full of sanctification, full of enlightenment, purity and grace. Blessed is he who sees his Lord in the depths of his heart, as in a mirror, pouring out his prayer with tears before His goodness.”Reverend John, Bishop of Carpathia, also says: “A lot of time and effort is needed for prayer, until in an unshakable structure of the mind we find the heaven of the heart, where Christ lives, according to the words of the apostle: “Don’t you know by yourselves that Jesus Christ dwells in you? Aren’t you tested!” (2 Chron. 13, 5)”. And the great Golden-mouthed in the Word to the hegumen says: “Persevere in the name of the Lord Jesus, so that the heart absorbs the Lord, and the Lord – the heart, and the two become one. But this work is not one day or two days, but it takes many years and time, many feats and time, until the enemy is driven out and Christ dwells.” And for now, enough about that, let’s turn our word to what should be next. Chapter 53. About the prayer of an impure heart and how to move to a pure prayer without exasperation. When one is constantly in the above-mentioned mastery of heartfelt pure prayer without wandering, even if it is sometimes impure and with wandering due to harm and thoughts, the ascetic will get used to praying without prompting, without wandering in the mind, purely and truly. That is, the mind will be in the heart and it will not be necessary to enter it there with a suggestion through the breath, but it will immediately flee from there. On the contrary, he will always turn to himself, stay with love in his heart and pray endlessly. Saint Hesychius says: “He who does not have pure prayer has no weapons for battle. Prayers that would work ceaselessly in the soul and invoking Jesus Christ would strike and heat the enemy who attacks secretly” (Chapter 21). And again: “Truly, blessed is the one who clings to Jesus in his mind in prayer and endlessly invokes Him in his heart, as air clings to our body or a flame clings to a candle” (Chapter 196). And again: “The sun, floating over the earth, creates a day, and the holy and honest name of the Lord Jesus, which often shines, gives rise to countless thoughts that shine like the sun.” Chapter 54. About pure heartfelt prayer and the warmth it generates. A prayer from the heart that gives birth to warmth, according to the words of the psalmist: “My heart was kindled within me and a fire was kindled in my mind” (Ps. 38, 4). The fire that his Lord Jesus Christ will come to throw on the ground of our hearts. At first there was thorn-bearing grace, and now it is spirit-bearing grace, as our Lord Jesus Christ himself says: “I have come to cast fire on the earth – and how I long for it to be kindled already” (Lk. 12, 49). This same fire, having warmed and kindled Cleopas and his companions, prompted them to exclaim to one another in amazement: “Did not our hearts burn within our breasts, when He spoke to us on the way?” (Lk. 24, 32). And the strange John of Damascus writes in one troparion of his songs to the Mother of God: “The fire of the heart draws me to the singing of maiden love.” Saint Isaac also writes: “From the right action, immeasurable warmth is born, which is kindled in the heart by warm thoughts, which again enter the mind. These actions and care refine the mind in the warmth of their thoughts and provide it with contemplation” (Is 59 of the Word).And further: “And from this flesh that follows the grace of contemplation, frequent tears are generated.” And even further: “And from incessant tears in the soul comes peace of thoughts and rises to the purity of the mind, and through the purity of the mind a person reaches the contemplation of God’s mysteries.” And further: “After that, the mind comprehends such revelations as the prophet Ezekiel saw.” And from the 69th Word: “Tears and beating oneself on the head in prayer, zealously falling to the ground, give rise to a feeling of sweet warmth in the heart, and with praiseworthy rapture, the heart soars to God and cries: “My soul yearns for the living God. When will I come and appear before the face of God?” (Ps. 41, 3)”. And Listvychnik says: “When the divine fire comes into the heart, it resurrects the prayer, and when it is resurrected and ascends to heaven, the fire descends into the attic of the soul” (Is 28 Degree). And again: “Who is that faithful and wise monk who kept his warmth unquenchable, and until his very end, every day adds to the fire in pursuit, to desire – desire, to vigilance – vigilance?” And St. Ilya Ekdyk: “When the soul, turning away from the external, connects with prayer, then the prayer surrounds it like a flame and makes everything red-hot like an iron fire. And the soul remains the same, but nothing external can touch it, as you cannot touch red-hot iron” (Chapter 105). And also: “Blessed is the one who in this life has been deigned to see himself and his human likeness, perishable by nature, engulfed in the fire of grace.” Chapter 55. About the fact that this warmth comes from different origins, and the true warmth is that which comes from pure heartfelt prayer. Know that such warmth also has a very different origin and resides in us. This is evident from the words of the saints, but we cannot say the same from the action itself. The truest of them is that which comes from pure and heartfelt prayer and with it always comes and grows and abides in true enlightenment, that is, whether a person, according to the testimony of the Fathers, is truly enlightened. Chapter 56. About the effect of heart warmth. This warmth drives away everything that prevents the first pure prayer from being performed. Our God is a fire, a fire that consumes the malice of demons and our passions. Says St. Diadochus (Chapter 97): “When the heart with burning pain receives the devil’s arrows inside itself, so that the victim himself thinks that he feels the arrows, then the soul hates passion with pain, because this is the beginning of its purification. When a person does not feel great pain for the shamelessness of sin, he cannot rejoice with great joy for the goodness of justice. Whoever wants to purify his heart, let him remember Jesus Christ kindles it, having only this work and instruction. There is no one who needs to pray at one time, and not at another. He likes to practice his mind in prayer, even if he is far from the temple. When the goldsmith wants to purify the gold, even for a moment, the gold will harden again he remembers God, then he does not, he loses with his laziness everything he thinks he has gained through prayer.And it is characteristic of a virtuous man to destroy the earthiness of the heart with the memory of God, so that the fire of memory slowly destroys evil and the soul completely returns to its natural, and greater than natural, brightness.” The same saint says that when the mind is in the heart, then it prays cleanly and unattractively: “Prayer is true and unattractive when the heart, as it prays, protects the mind.” And the saint Hesychius writes: “He who is sober in his heart” (Chapter 159). Chapter 57. About attentiveness and prayer, desire and care, which are born from warmth. With the same warmth and attentive prayer, that is, pure prayer, the desire of the Lord Jesus Christ, who always remembers Him in prayer, and divine care and love, as it is written: “Daughters of you they love, they attract to themselves… I faint from love” (P.p. 1, 2; 2, 5). St. Maxim also says: “All virtues contribute to the condition for divine care, and the greatest of them is pure prayer. Whoever it raises to God, he finds himself beyond everything.” Chapter 58. About the tears of the heart and also about divine desires and cares. From such a heart flow many tears, which cleanse and enrich the one who is rich with them out of love, and not dry and exhaust. And this happens from a divine desire, and that from a divine zeal due to the great and unstoppable desire of the mentioned Lord Jesus Christ. Soul. enthusiastically calls out: “You have pleased me with desire, Christ, and transformed me with Your divine zeal. You, Savior, are all sweetness, all longing and desire, all insatiable, all incomprehensible goodness.” And he also calls out with Paul the Preacher of Christ: “Who will separate us from Christ’s love? Grief, or oppression, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword?… For I am certain that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present, nor future, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8, 35.38-39). Chapter 59. Advice not to seek what is beyond measure, but to always remember our Lord Jesus in the heart. Let the ascetic be pleased with what happens after that. For it is said: “Do not seek prematurely what is its time”. And Saint Mark says: “It is useless before you do it the first, to see the second. “Knowledge expands, but love builds” (1 Cor. 8, 1)”. It likes to hurry and always do a feat, as we have already said, and to keep the memory of the Lord Jesus Christ inside, no, in the depths of the heart, and not outside the heart or on top of it, as the same blessed Mark says about it: “If the innermost and secret and pure of our heart is revealed to us by the first conditional hope, it is impossible for us to know The one who lives inside cannot see whether our verbal sacrifices are accepted or not.” Chapter 60. About warm zeal and the divine appearance in us and about the true grace of enlightenment. In this way, as it is written: “Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the flesh of lust” (Ch.5, 16), – it is easy to evade not only from cunning deeds, but also from passionate thoughts and unusual dreams. And he will retreat from every thought and dream, who with his zeal, which burns in virtue, will burn out and destroy every evil deed that works in him sensually or mentally with the leaders of all evil – gloating devils, as Saint Isaac says: “Terrible to devils and dear to God and His angels is he who with warm zeal uproots the thorns that the enemy has sown in him.” (From 8 Words). He will achieve such success that he will receive the announcement of love for himself and a clear appearance, and the inspiration of the true, and the divine enlightenment of grace. We can say that he will very joyfully return to his previous nobility and spiritual sonship, which he received through grace and holy baptism. And again Saint Isaac says (in the same Word): “This Jerusalem and the Kingdom of God is hidden within us. This country is the shadow of God’s glory, into which only the pure in heart will enter to see the face of their Master.” Only let him not seek the appearance of God himself, so that he does not accept what is actually darkness, but pretends to be light. Chapter 61. About the action of God and God’s adversary. When the mind, without looking for the light, sees it, let it not accept it, because Saint Mark says: “There is the work of grace and there is the work of Satan, unknown to infants. It is a good thing not to look at this light, because it can be a temptation, nor to curse, because it can be the truth, but to give everything with hope to God: He knows what is the benefit of both of them. After all, you can ask someone who has grace and power from God to teach and to judge”. Chapter 62. About the enlightened and unattractive teacher. And if you find someone who can teach, not only because you learned about it from the Divine Scriptures, but also because you yourself experienced the divine illumination, then for that, glory be to God. If not, then it is better not to accept, but to turn humbly to God, sincerely considering ourselves and calling ourselves unworthy of such dignity and vision, as we learned by the grace of Christ from the infallible lips moved by the Holy Spirit, from God-inspired Scriptures and from experience. Chapter 63. About true and deceptive enlightenment, that is, about divine and deceitful light. In some of their writings, our glorious fathers explain the signs of unattractive and seductive enlightenment. So did Pavlo Latria. When the disciple asked him, he answered: “The world of the opposite force is like a natural fire with smoke. When a purified soul, in which passions have subsided, sees it, it does not like looking at it, and it turns away. But the divine light is pure and brings joy. When it comes, it enlightens and fills the soul with joy, light and cheerfulness and makes it meek and manly.” Others say so too. However, as you have heard the previous teachings, so you will hear about this in due time, and now is not the time. Chapter 64. On the unlike and good dreaming and what to think about it. Since we mentioned a little about dreaming before, and also about dreaming that is not similar, it will be useful, as we manage, to say a few words about it, and about all dreaming, as far as possible.Very much because it interferes with the pure prayer of the heart and the only simple action of the mind. That is why the divine Fathers speak a lot and often about him and against him. It can be as diverse as the fabulous Daedalus, and as many-headed as a hydra. Saints call dreaming a devil’s bridge. Wicked murderers walk on it and cross it, communicate with the soul through it and enter it, making it a hive full of drones and a dwelling without fruitful passionate thoughts. Such a dream should be rejected completely, even when you do not want it, for the sake of repentance and contrition, weeping and humble wisdom. To these add instruction and contemplation and good dreaming – and fight against the dissimilar dreaming, and overthrow it as dishonorable and shameless, and win victory over it. By doing so, not only will you not experience loss, but you will also have wealth, because you will judge your actions judiciously and infallibly, and you will defeat a bad dream with a good dream, and with the weapons of the opponents you will inflict mortal wounds on them, and even kill them, as the divine David once killed Goliath (1 Sam. 17, 49). Chapter 65. About the fact that the saints advised in pure prayer and in a simple and single action of the mind to reject both unseemly dreams and favorable thoughts. This is a feat of babies, that is, beginners. Whoever will achieve success in a certain time will completely reject both the dissimilar and the good dream and will not give him access to himself. Like wax that melts from the face of a fire, so it will fade and perish for the sake of pure prayer, for the sake of the unadorned renunciation of the mind and its liberation from everything for the sake of striving for God. And if you want, then the acceptance of a single and unimaginable connection. Saint Hesychius says: “Every thought is a dream in the mind about some sensual thing. For the Assyrian himself has a mind and tempts us only with sensual things that are familiar to us” (Chapter 180). And also: “Since every thought enters the heart through dreaming about something sensual, then the blessed light of the divinity shines in it, when the heart is completely freed from everything and will not have any ideas in itself, because light appears in a pure mind, when it leaves all thoughts” (Chapter 99). And Basil the Great says: “Just as the Lord does not live in man-made temples, so He does not live in some images and mental representations. They stand in front of a corrupted soul and surround it, because it cannot look clearly at the truth, clinging to images and thoughts.” And the divine Evagrius says: “God reveals himself there, where they want to know Him, that is why a pure mind is called God’s throne. The knowledge of God is not in thoughts that bring images to the mind, but in thoughts that do not bring images. That is why the prayer person likes to completely distance himself from thoughts that bring images to the mind. Then the mind will adjust itself differently, seeing itself, it will acquire a different order, seeing its word ness”. Therefore, spiritual knowledge separates the mind from thoughts that bring images, and, teaching it without images, brings it before God. And St. Maximus, explaining the great Dionysius, says: “Dreaming is one thing, and thought, or thought, is another. They come from different forces and move in different ways.A thought is an action and creation of the mind, and a dream is a passion and an idea about something sensual or something that seems to be sensual. Sensation perceives everything that exists through an unexpected representation, and the mind touches everything that exists, that is, it perceives it in a different way than sensation. In addition, in the body or in the spirit, where we said at the beginning, the senses present ideas and images to the soul and mind, and they reason and reflect on them… With this intelligent power, the soul likes to restrain the dreamer. Dreaming power is divided into three parts: the first is that which forms understanding, especially the understanding of the senses; the second is the idea of ​​something that does not encompass the understanding of the sensual, does not have images established on anything, which, in fact, is called dreamy power; the third – in her, sadness creates all sweetness and dreaming about imaginary good or evil. That’s why they say that you can’t imagine God in any way, because God is higher than all thought and generally higher than everything.” Basil the Great also says: “When the mind is not distracted by external things and the senses do not lead it around the world, it returns to itself, ascends to the knowledge of God by itself, and enlightened and enlightened by God’s beauty, forgets about nature” (From the 3rd book of the epistle 2). So, knowing this, encourage yourself to always be with God without of dreams and images, to pray with a pure mind and a pure heart, as Saint Maximus says. About a pure mind, a pure mind is one that has attained knowledge and is enlightened by divine light – this is that which has a memory of God without images and is ready to accept images only from God, with which He will appear in it. About a perfect mind A perfect mind is one that contemplates the Invisible and sees all His creations, and has received from God a comprehensive understanding of providence and judgment, as much as a person can contain The perfect heart, which has no natural movement towards anything or any image, writes down its laws on it, says Saint Diadochus St. Nile: “If a person wants to see how his mind is arranged, let him get rid of all thoughts, and then he will see that it is like a sapphire or not a demonic blue.” he will put on a new, blessed one, then he will see his purity, similar to the sky, which the elders of Israel called God’s place when God appeared to them on the mountain” (At the end of 16 Words).Because by doing as it was said, that is, by praying purely, without dreams and images, you will imitate the saints. If not, then you will not be silent, but a dreamer, and instead of grapes you will pick thorns. Oh, don’t let that happen to you. Chapter 67. How the prophets saw visions. If some consider the visions, images and revelations of the prophets to be dreams and a natural thing, then let them know that they are far from true knowledge and truth. Because the prophets and sacramentalists of the present time saw and dreamed not according to some natural order and manner, but divinely and supernaturally, in the mind by the indescribable power and grace of the Holy Spirit. Basil the Great says that some incomprehensible force gave a vision to their speechless and pure condition, the word of God seemed to speak in them. And also: “The prophets saw with their minds as the Spirit showed them” (Word for Pentecost, sheet 107 on the back). And Grigory the Theologian: “This one, that is, the Holy Spirit, acted at first in angelic and heavenly powers.” And further: “And also in the fathers and prophets. Some of them saw God or understood, and others predicted the future, when their mind received such images from the Spirit, through which the future became for them like the present.” Chapter 68. More about dreaming and numerous and different visions. When someone still doubts that it is possible to accept dreams and have numerous and different visions, and contradicts us and thinks that he is imitating the saints, let us say to him in the words of Gregory the Theologian: “Only the mind can describe God in an image, but it describes not what is in God, but what is around Him, when several ideas are gathered into one image” (Word for the Nativity of Christ). We can also say in the words of the divine Maximus: “The mind cannot become dispassionate from the action itself, if it does not accept numerous and different visions.” Other saints speak similarly. Whoever denies this, let him know that these blessed ones were not talking about the action that happens after acceptance, and not about the grace of knowledge and contemplation, which connects a person with God through experience itself, but about the vision that happens after contemplation, that is, about the vision gathered from the wisdom and equality of beings, and the agreement that is in the thought of God. It is vague, but for many, and, in the end, for everyone, it is worth accepting it and thinking about it. He who has studied the words of the saints with his understanding will understand the words of the Scriptures well: “For from the greatness and beauty of creatures through assimilation you can come to the knowledge of their Creator” (Wisdom 13, 5), and not through worldly nonsense and vain cunning teaching. Because it prides itself, like a dishonorable slave, on knowledge, sophistry and evidence, not taught by the Gospel faith and with humility and true unanimity drives away from sacred pretenses. And the Word addressed to us now is about the perfect and true radiance, which was received by the chosen apostles when they went with Jesus to Mount Tabor and were truly changed by a blessed change and were pleased to see the invisible Kingdom and Godhead with sensual eyes that underwent a divine change, that is, they became spiritual thanks to the right hand of the Holy Spirit.As far as the east is from the west and the soul exceeds the body, so the action after acceptance and grace exceed the vision that comes after contemplation. However, the vision that occurs after contemplation, as we have already said, when the ideas from the outside actively and coherently gather one after the other into some one true image and reach up to God by faith. This, that is, after acceptance, happens inside the heart directly from God himself, and sometimes from the outside, and clearly gives the body beyond all understanding from its radiance and divine enlightenment the heart that suffers supernaturally, not creating an uncreated deification, as Saint Maximus says. This is what this saint says: “Uncreated deification is the true radiance of the Godhead, which has no existence, but appears unthinkingly in the worthy.” Saint Dionysius also agrees with what was said: “It is good to know that our mind has one power to reason and see mental things with it, and the second, that it sees a connection that exceeds the nature of the mind – it connects with that which is higher than it.” And St. Isaac says: “The fathers say that we have two spiritual eyes that see differently. With one eye we see the hidden things in creation, that is, God’s power, His wisdom and His providence for us, which we understand by the greatness of His care for us. With the second eye we see the glory of His holy being, when God deigns to lead us into spiritual mysteries” (Is 92 of the Word). The divine Diadochus says: “Only the Holy Spirit gives divine gifts – wisdom and knowledge, as well as all-divine gifts, “each of which has its own effect” (Wisdom 9, 5) [this quote is not available in Khomenk’s translation – approx. trans.]”. “For one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit; to another, according to the same Spirit, the word of knowledge” (1 Cor. 12, 8), the apostle testifies. Knowledge through experience itself connects a person with God, without prompting the soul to understand things. Therefore, some of those who are interested in another life are enlightened by this knowledge in their senses, but do not come to understand the meaning of divine words. If with this knowledge wisdom is given to someone in fear, it rarely happens that the actions of knowledge appear in love. Because knowledge is used to shine through action, and wisdom – through words. Prayer gives knowledge and silence in complete carelessness, and wisdom is given through the careless teaching of the words of the Spirit, and first of all through the grace of God who gives. Saint Maximus also says about this in his explanation: “Jacob’s well is the Scriptures, and the water is the knowledge that is in the Scriptures; the depth is the indescribable contemplation of what the Scriptures speak about; the ladle is the written divine word, which the Lord did not have, because He is the Word and gives knowledge to the faithful, not through teaching and instruction, but through ever-flowing spiritual grace, it gives the worthy an ever-flowing wisdom that never dries up. A ladle is a learning that, having received the smallest part of knowledge, leaves it all, and does not hold back any word of it. Knowledge, which is by grace, has all the wisdom that a person who refines it according to needs can grasp.St. Diadochus also says: “Our mind endures a lot in prayer because of the great narrowness and concentration in the heart of the prayer virtue, therefore with joy it turns to theology, for the sake of space and freedom of divine contemplation” (Chapter 68, 8). Let’s not give him freedom with numerous conversations and let’s not let him be overjoyed, practicing in numerous prayers, and psalm-singing, and reading the Holy Scriptures. Let us not neglect the fact that eloquent men contemplated that their faith is known from their words. So that, doing this, we would not allow our words to mix with the words of grace, would not allow the condition to be carried away by great joy and be tempted by many words from vanity. And even when there is no dreaming during contemplation, let us take care of him and give him almost all thoughts with tears. Resting in the time of silence and savoring the sweetness of prayer, it happens not only for the reasons mentioned, but also it is often renewed in order to quickly and without much effort reach divine contemplations and at the same time reach prudent knowledge with great humility. However, it is necessary to know that prayer is higher than all space, it belongs only to those who are full of holy grace in every feeling and proclamation. did you hear It is said that prayer is higher than all space, that it belongs only to those who are in every feeling and revelation, that is, inside the heart inaudibly and supernaturally filled with divine enlightenment of grace. St. Isaac calls it unmarked memory, that is, it is without ideas, without images and simple. Chapter 69. About the five powers of the soul, and also about dreaming, which are characteristic of the soul and mind. And about the fact that one must completely avoid dreams, and similitudes, and images, and ideas in pure prayer and in a simple and single action of the mind. But, as we have already said, the soul dreams not only under the influence of demons, but also by itself, because it has five powers, that is, mind, thought, thought, dreaming and feeling. So the body has five senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. Among the mental forces there is one – dreaming, through which the soul dreams. The soul likes when it wants to organize and fine-tune its forces – and most of all those forces that connect it with God both in this age and in the future – to wing and try to raise to God. And take care of everything else as needed and use what is necessary and do it. It is necessary to study what the holy fathers say about this, and act accordingly. Saint Maximus says: “Since the soul by itself, that is, by its essence, is verbal, thinking and self-hypostatic, it must act for itself according to nature and itself and the body, thinking according to nature and considering and never deviating from natural thinking powers. It is present as an entity in something that exists, as long as it exists and exists, it is inseparable from it. The soul has always existed since it was created, and Being in hypostasis, because God created it as such, always thinks, considers and knows itself, and itself together with the body, and its nature.We know and learn from the saints that in the present and future age the mind and thought move and act around God, and other forces – only in the present age, as they are characteristic of it. It also pleases the soul, as a clever manager, which naturally has power over them and wants to act not only in the present, but also in the future age, to try everything to extend the mind and thought upwards to God and to move and combine them during pure prayer and conditioned, unified, simple action and to detach from daydreaming and other forces.” Says Saint Nile: “The arrangement of prayer is a dispassionate skill that captures with the greatest vigilance all-wise and spiritual mind at a mental height. For the soul, when it acts, will also preserve the honest dignity that pleases it” (Chapter 52, Article 8). Chapter 70. More about the mind. This is how the condition itself, as an indivisible, simple, self-perfect, pure and luminous entity, likes to protect itself and watch over itself, uninvolved and separated from everything, that is, from dreaming. It has the natural power for this in itself, so that, nowhere to linger, to turn, and to move. This is the attitude of the mind, which is in it from divine grace: “Only the Holy Spirit can hold the mind, and the soul moves it, and so it is called. And it is full of its own, simple and whole power. when by nature he is always inclined to the soul and its powers, then he himself is a force, and man is then called soulful. And also, when he accepts his natural and simple true dignity and lightness, undivided, whole, and sovereign, that is, he gets rid of their bodily and soulful properties and movements, and the fact that the mind is a force, so that by action he becomes worthy of being a mind, that is, he becomes a supernatural and spiritual person, – then he truly always returns to himself and, completely detached from everything, ascends to the knowledge of God – invisible, invisible, and simple. Basil the Great says: “When the mind is not distracted by external things and does not pour out into the world through the senses, then it concentrates in itself, ascends to the knowledge of God and, enlightened and enlightened by God’s beauty, forgets about nature.”4 that which is in the image and likeness of God, it, itself thought, connects with the divine mind, that is, it connects and connects with God. This action is a movement in a circle, that is, the return of the mind to itself,

4 3 книга, 2 послання. і звернення до Бога, і з’єднання з Ним, що єдине є без зваби і гріха, нестримне й безпосереднє, з’єднання понад усяке розуміння і споглядання понад усяке споглядання. Каже-бо великий Діонісій: “Рух душі – це рух по колу, в саму себе вона заходить від зовнішніх та умових її сил, єдине місце, куди вонаможе повернутися, бо ходить ніби по колу, тому не заблукає. Цей рух від вертає і відводить її від багатьох зовнішніх речей, з’єднуючи як єдиновидну зі з’єднаними силами, і так приводить до добра і блага, що понад усе суще, єдине й те саме, безначальне й безконечне”5. Душа рухається і назад, оскількиосвічує її властиве їй божественне розуміння, не мислено і стало, а словес но й минуче і ніби змішаними та минучими діями. Прямо рухаючись, коли не входить у саму себе і рухається тільки мисленістю, себто по колу, як я вже сказав, але дивиться й на те, що відбувається навколо неї, і на все зовнішнє, як на якісь знаки, прості та з’єднані між собою. Каже святий Максим: “Ум, прийнявши безпосереднє з’єднання з Богом, має за природою незайнятою ту силу, якою роздумує і розуміє. А коли розірве це з’єднання, помисливши щось не по Бозі, то розділиться, бо розітнув з’єднання, що понад усяке розуміння – поки був ним з’єднаний із Богом, що понад природу, то сам за причастям був богом – а природний закон ума стає для нього як гора непорушна”. І ще: “Ум чистий, що з’єднанням із причиною прийняв єдність понад усяке розумінняі ним утримав численне до того, що за причиною, – свій природний рух і єд ність, – недовідомо тримається єдиного, досягнувши невимовної пристані преблаженного мовчання, що його не опишеш ні словом, ні помислом. Алеєдиний за причастям досвід тих, що сподобилися, – насолода, вища всякої відомої насолоди, ознаки якої легко розпізнати, і вони всім явні, себто нечутли вість душі до цього віку і віддаленість від нього. Коли ум не співдіє з душею в тому, аби завжди рухатися до Бога, і сам від себе не вчиняє і не діє того, що властиве, себто, щоб повертатися самому до себе і нестримно восходитиу думку, що по Бозі, то не має він тоді ніяких плодів, а, з’єднуючись із мрій ливістю, інакшим стає і віддаляється від Бога”. Глава 71. Ще про чисту молитву. Святий Ніл говорив так: “Старайся, щоб твій ум під час молитви був глухий і німий, – тільки тоді зможеш молитися”6. І ще: “Скажу я те, що говориві молодшим: блаженний ум, що під час молитви не має зовсім ніяких об разів”7. І святий Філотей: “Рідко можна знайти таких, що безмовствують

5 Про божественні імена, глава 4, стаття 8.

6 Глава 11, стаття 8.

7 Глава 117, стаття 8. розумом. Це роблять тільки ті, кому вдається завдяки безмовності матив собі завжди божественну радість і втіху”8. І Василій Великий: “Блага мо литва та, що вчиняє в душі явним божественне знання. Вселення Бога – цепостійна пам’ять про Бога, яку не перебивають земні клопоти, а ум не тур бується несподіваними пристрастями, а, ухиляючись від усіх, повертається до Бога як Боголюбець”9. Глава 72. Про те, що безпристрасність ума – це одне, а чиста молитва – інше, більше від того. Подобає знати й те, що хоча, як каже святий Максим: “Ум не може стати безпристрасним від самого діяння, коли не прийматиме численних і різнихспоглядань”, – та говорить навпаки божественний Ніл: “Можна бути безпри страсним і не молитися істинно, і бути далеко від Бога”. Цей святий отець так говорить про таку людину: “Хоч ум буде і вищий від тілесних речей, він щене зможе бачити Божого місця, він може роздумувати над помислами і бра тися до різних речей”10. І ще: “Той, хто здобув безпристрасність, не завжди молиться істинно, він ще може мати прості помисли і роздумувати над ними – і бути далеко від Бога”11. І ще: “Якщо ум не затримується в простих помислах про речі, це ще не означає, що він уже досягнув місця молитви, він ще може думати про різні речі, хоч це й незначні справи, але вони вносять в ум різніуявлення і відводять його далеко від Бога”12. Говорить і Ліствичник: “Ті по движники, що навчилися істинно молитися, воістину говорять із Господом віч-на-віч, так, як царські урядовці говорять особисто із царем. Дивлячись на це, можеш зрозуміти відмінність між обома способами життя і непорівнянне порівняння того, що буває після прийняття з висоти, і того, що з власного розуміння. Діло першого – повчання і численні й різні видіння, діло другого –істинна молитва. До того ж безпристрасність ума – це одне, а молитва істин на – це інше”. Іще: “Той, хто має істинну молитву, за свідченням святих, за необхідністю має і безпристрасний ум. А хто має тільки безпристрасний ум, той ще може не мати істинної молитви.” Отак воно буває. Але продовжимо наше Слово. Оскільки не тільки те, про що вже було сказано, а й сама пам’ять про добре й супротивне несподівано приносить образи в ум і приводить до мріяння, подобає і про це трохи сказати.

8 Глава 3, стаття 8.

9 ГУ 3 книзі, послання 2, аркуш 55 на звороті.

10 Глава 57, стаття 8.

11 Глава 55, стаття 8.

12 Chapter 56, article 8. Chapter 73. More about dreams and images of the mind and about the signs of seduction and truth. What are the signs of seduction When you are silent and want to be alone with God, never accept if you see something sensual or mental inside yourself or outside, even if it is as if it is Christ, or an angel, or some saint, or an image of light appears in the mind. Do not believe him and be angry with him, even if it is something good, until you ask the experienced ones. Because it is more useful and dearer to God, and more pleasant. Therefore, always protect your mind without images, ideas, without appearance and form, without qualities without quantity, listening only to the words of prayer and learning, and reflecting inside in the movement of the heart, according to Listvychnik: “The beginning of prayer is to immediately drive away adverbs, the middle of prayer is when the mind connects with the words that we speak or think about; and the perfection of prayer is rapture to Lord” (From the 28th Degree). Saint Nile says the following: “There is the highest prayer of the perfect – rapture of the mind and a complete release from everything sensual, when the Spirit interposes itself before God, who sees the state of the heart, as in the palm of his hand, and reveals his will with indescribable signs” (From the Word to the deaconess of Ankyra, chapters 27 and 28). So the apostle Paul was taken to the third heaven, not knowing “whether it was in the body or without the body” (2 Cor. 12, 2). So the apostle Peter, when he went up to the roof to pray, saw in a vision a tablecloth with all kinds of abominations (Acts 10, 9). After the first, there is a second prayer, when the mind follows the words of the prayer with tenderness, knowing to whom this prayer is addressed. When prayer intersects and mixes with bodily concerns, it moves away from the person praying. So abide in this, and accept nothing else, until the passions have subsided, and you have consulted the experienced. This is how you can briefly say about the signs of seduction. Look now, what are the signs of the truth. The signs of the truth and the good and life-giving Spirit are as follows: “Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness, quietness, self-control,” says the divine apostle, naming the fruits of the divine Spirit. He also says: “Behave as children of light. The fruit of light is in everything that is good, that is just and true” (Eph. 5, 9). Everything that is contrary to this is a sign of temptation. And one of the wise men, when he was asked, said the following: “Regarding the non-prodigal road to salvation that you speak of, beloved, there are many paths that lead to life, and many paths that lead to death.” And then the same God-wise man said: “There is one path that leads to life – keeping the commandments of Christ. In these commandments you will find various virtues, and especially these three: humility, love and mercy; without them, no one will see the Lord.” And even further: “These three are an invincible weapon against the devil, given to us by the Holy Trinity, that is, humility, love and mercy, which the whole multitude of demons cannot even look at. Because there is not a trace of humility in them, because they are darkened by pride and eternal fire is prepared for them.Where is love or the shadow of mercy in them, when they are irreconcilably at enmity with the human race both by day and by night they do not stop fighting against it. So let’s arm ourselves with this weapon, because those who wear it do not negotiate.” And even later: “This triple-braided cord, which the holy Trinity wove and wove, we see them all three, and together: three of them by name, and, if you want, by hypostases, but they are one in power, and action, and approach to God, and vision, and appropriation.” About them The Lord says: “My yoke is light and my burden is light” (Mt. 11:30). And the beloved disciple says: “His commandments are not heavy” (1 Jn. 5:3). And a little later: “Therefore, the soul that has united with God through the purity of life and keeping the commandments, has put on God himself and in a certain way becomes a god, mercy and love. It passes through the sensuous duality and rises above the basis of the law, from love, connects with the pre-existent and life-giving Trinity, directly conversing with Her, receives the light with the light and rejoices in the imperishable and eternal grace”. But let’s talk about that. Now that we have already mentioned the signs and fruits of temptation and truth and what is behind the fruits, as the divine Paul says, from whom they breathe, we like to say in the words of the Fathers about the two comforts: the divine, which is from the true grace, and the pretended one, which is from the opposite. This is how the divine Diadochus speaks about it. Chapter 74. About the divine and pretended comfort “When our mind begins to feel the comfort of the Holy Spirit, then Satan comes with some sweet feeling in the silence of the night, when it is about to fall asleep. When her mind keeps the name of the Lord Jesus in warm memory and uses the most holy and most glorious name as a weapon against temptation, that flatterer departs and ignites a sensual battle against the soul. Therefore, when the mind is alert and recognizes the deceitful one, it gains experience in recognizing such things” (Diadoch, chapter 31). And also: “Blessed is the comfort of the body when it wakes or falls asleep with a warm memory of God, as if clinging to His love. And comfort from seduction comes to the ascetic when he falls into a shaky, thin sleep, and does not remember God very well” (Chapter 32). The first comfort, since it is from God, inclines the souls of ascetics of piety to God’s love with great spiritual joy, and the second, as if by the wind of seduction, blows the soul, through the sleep of the body it tries to steal the experience of feelings of a healthy mind, especially when it is in the warm memory of When the mind at this time remembers the Lord Jesus Christ with all its vigilance, it will dispel this seemingly sweet breath of the enemy and will gladly rise to the battle against him, having, in addition to grace, another weapon – its own experience. And also: “If the soul is inflamed with unquestionable and dreamless movement to the depths of that indescribable love, watching or falling asleep in this way, as we have already said, with the action of holy grace, without thinking about anything else, except for what it is directed towards – then you need to know that this is how the Holy Spirit works.The soul, enjoying that indescribable pleasure, cannot think about anything else, only rejoices with unceasing joy” (Chapter 33). When the mind receives a doubt or some impure thought, which operates even when the mind invokes the holy name of God to drive away evil, and not only from the love of God, one must know that such supposed joy comes from a flatterer. Such joy is not good and inactive, because the enemy wants to lead the soul to adultery. When the enemy sees that the mind has already acquired the experience of its feelings, then it attracts the soul to itself, captivated by that relaxed and moist malt. From this we know the spirit of truth and spirituality. However, it is impossible to know the divine grace in the mind, until you are convinced because grace has settled in the depths of the mind, and the devils are in the vicinity of the heart. And the devils do not want people to know about it, so that the mind, seeing this, does not arm itself with the memory of God. Now you know about it and be satisfied with it. The scriptures say: “Eat as much as you need, and be careful not to overeat.” return” (Prov. 25, 16). Chapter 75. About the divine sweetness that pours from the heart. The time has come to say appropriately: “Who can say whether honey is sweet until he has tasted it?” It is even more impossible to explain the divine sweetness and supernatural and life-giving joy that flows from a pure heartfelt and true prayer and flows always, as the God-man Jesus says: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst” (John 4, 14). And also: “When someone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures say, rivers of living water will flow from within him” (Jn. 7, 37-38). The same apostle who lay on the Lord’s chest says the same about the Holy Spirit, which those who believe in Him must receive. And the great Paul says: “God has sent the spirit of his Son into your hearts, who calls: Abba, Father” (Ch. 4, 6). Chapter 76. About that spiritual sweetness has many signs, but does not have a name. This spiritual supernatural and life-giving sweetness is at the same time a true radiance, and darkness beyond light, and ineffable beauty, and the highest desire, contemplation and vision of God, and a mysterious adoration that is unspeakable and, when you somehow appear, remains unknown, and when you somehow manage to understand it, it remains incomprehensible the great Dionysius: “We pray to come into this exceeding shadow of light and through not seeing and not understanding see and understand Him who is beyond vision and understanding. By the very thing that we do not see and do not understand, we truly see and understand and, rejecting everything, praise the Substantial One abundantly.” And also: “The Divine shadow is an unapproachable light in which God lives as Invisible because of the brightness that is beyond all brightness, and Inapproachable, because he pours out from himself the supersubstantial light. Everyone who tries to see and know God falls into this shadow.By the very thing that does not see and does not understand, it becomes higher than vision and understanding, and understands that which is higher than all sensuous conditions.” Says Basil the Great: “Indescribable are the infinite and ineffable radiance of Divine beauty. You can’t say them in words and you can’t contain them with your ears. Whether you speak of the brightness of the morning sun, or the brightness of the moon, or the light of the sun, they do not reflect the glory of God, and compared to the true light, they are even further from it than deep night and darkness are from the noonday light. This beauty is invisible to the eyes of the body, it can be grasped only by the soul and thought, and when it shines on one of the saints, it will leave them with an unbearable sting of love, so that they, complaining about this life, say: “Woe to me, that my journey has continued” (Ps. 119, 5). And also: “My soul longed for the living God” (Ps. 41, 3). “I would like to die to be with Christ, because it is so much better” (Phil. 1, 23). And also: “Now, Lord, you can let your servant go in peace according to your word” (Lk. 2, 2). The saints for the prison had the present life. They could not be satisfied with the vision of the Divine beauty, so they prayed that you would see the unceasing light of the Lord in their eternal life.” Grigory the Theologian also says: “Where there is fear, there is the keeping of the commandments, and where there is the keeping of the commandments, there is the purification of the flesh, and liberation from the cloud that envelops the soul and does not allow one to see the pure rays of the Lord. And where there is purification, there is illumination, and illumination is the fulfillment of the greatest desires, or the greatest desire, or that which surpasses the greatest desires.” The divine Gregory of Nyssa says: “When you cleanse the filth that has accumulated on your heart with a vigilant life, then godlike beauty will shine on you again – as it happens with iron. When the rust is cleaned from it on a sharpener, what was black begins to sparkle in the sun and shine. And so is our inner man, which the Lord calls the heart, when he cleans off the rust that has cunningly bloomed and rotted before our eyes, he will once again take on the likeness of the first image and be good, and in the good footsteps all good will follow to him.” And Saint Nile says: “Blessed is he who has grasped the incomprehensibility, inseparable from prayer.” And the Leaf: “Abyss leads to weeping comfort, purity of heart receives enlightenment, enlightenment is an ineffable action, visible and at the same time invisible, understandable and at the same time incomprehensible” (From the 27th degree). Therefore, thrice blessed are those who, like the ancient Mary, chose this good portion and a spiritual and inseparable life and are conformed to such a godlike portion that with great joy and rapture, as was the case with the divine Paul, they can be horrified and cry out you: “But when the kindness and love for the people of our Savior God appeared, He saved us not for the sake of the deeds of justice that we had done, but out of His mercy, the purchase of regeneration and restoration of the Holy Spirit, which He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that we, justified by His grace, may become heirs of eternal life according to hope” (Tit. 3, 4-7).And also: “The same one who establishes us with you in Christ, and who anointed us, is God, who put his seal on us and gave the deposit of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Cor. 1, 21). And also: “And we have this treasure in clay vessels, so that it can be seen that the greatness of power is from God, and not from us” (2 Kr. 4, 7). Grant, God, that we may even become a little like them through their prayers, which incline the Lord to us, through mercy and grace. Chapter 77. About the fact that the one who wants to remain silent likes to be gentle. You, child, like to understand this first of all and together with everyone. He who wants to learn to shoot well draws his bow with a goal in front of him, so also he who wants to learn to be silent, let him have as his goal to always have a meek heart. Saint Isidore says: “It is not enough to learn virtue, it is also necessary to be meek in learning. When, performing the feat of meekness, we interrupt it with some anxiety, then it will be nothing more than wishing for salvation and not doing anything for salvation.” And even earlier than this saint, the divine David said: “He will teach the humble in judgment, he will teach the quiet his ways” (Ps. 24, 9). And besides him, there is also Jesus Sirach: “He reveals his secrets to them modestly” (Syr. 3, 19). And the sweetest Jesus says: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and meek in heart, so you will find relief for your souls” (Mt. 11, 29). And again: “But this is who I look kindly on: the poor and broken in spirit, and the one who trembles at my word” (Is. 66, 2). And also: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Mt. 5:5 – quoted according to Ogienko), that is, the heart that bears the fruits of grace thirty, sixty, and a hundred times according to the manner of beginners, intermediate and perfect. Never being embarrassed by anything and not being embarrassed when it comes somewhere other than piety. Chapter 78. How can we learn to be meek and about the three forces of the soul: angry, lustful and verbal You would easily learn meekness if you rejected everything from yourself and encouraged the soul to love, keeping more silence and consuming food in moderation and always praying, as the Fathers said: “Bring in the angry force of the soul with love, dry the greedy force with restraint, and protect the verbal force prayer – then the light of the mind will never dim.” And also: “The bridle for fury is timely silence, for wordless lust – moderate food, unbridled thought – single-minded prayer.” And again: “There are three virtues that always shed light on the situation: not to look at the cunning of another person, to endure everything that happens without embarrassment, to do good to those who do evil. These three virtues give rise to other three, greater than them: when not to look at the cunning of another person, love is born; when to experience everything that happens without embarrassment – meekness; when to do good to those who do evil – one acquires peace”. And also: “There are three main moral states for monks: the first of them is not to sin in deed, the second is not to hold back passionate thoughts in the soul, and the third is to dispassionately look at the faces of women and those who have grieved you.” Chapter 79.About the fact that it is good to repent quickly in falls, and in the future to stand up wisely. If you had to be embarrassed by something or if you fell and sinned, you should immediately make peace with the one who grieved you or whom you grieved, and repent from the heart, and cry, and shed tears, and rebuke yourself, and in the future be careful to stand up. The Lord Jesus very wisely teaches: “When, therefore, you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something for you, leave your gift there in front of the altar; go, first reconcile with your brother and then you will come and bring your gift” (Mt. 5, 23-2). And the apostle: “All annoyance, anger, rage, shouting and blasphemy must be rooted out from among you together with all malice. Instead, be kind to one another and merciful, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4, 31-32). And also: “Be angry and do not sin! Do not let the sun set on your anger” (Eph. 4, 26). And also: “Beloved, do not make yourselves known, but give place to anger… Do not allow evil to overcome you, but overcome good with evil” (Rom. 12, 19.21). It is said about reconciling one with another. Chapter 80. About the fall and repentance. Saint Isaac says about the fall: “Let us not be sad when we fall, let us be sad when we remain fallen. Fall often happens even to the perfect” (Is

90 Words). When we stay in it, it is complete death for us. And the sorrow with which we grieve for our downfalls is counted to us as a grace instead of a pure deed. Whoever, hoping that he will repent, falls a second time, is deceiving God. Such a person is suddenly attacked by death, and he does not live to the time he hoped for to complete the works of virtue. And also: “We like to remember at all times that we need repentance during twenty-four hours, day and night” (Is 87 of the Word). The word “repentance”, as we have seen in action, means a zealous constant prayer, full of tenderness, approaching God with a request to forgive past sins, and concern for protection for the future. And also: “Repentance is a grace given to people after grace [baptism]” (Is 83 of the Word). Repentance is a second birth from God. By faith we have received the promise of the second birth, and by repentance we expect it to be granted to us. Repentance is a door of mercy opened to those who keep it; through this door we enter into divine mercy. Without entering them, we will not find mercy. “For all have sinned,” says the divine Scripture, “and are justified by the gift of His grace” (Rom. 3, 23-24). Repentance is the second grace and is born in the heart through faith and fear. Fear is a parental rod that guides us until we reach spiritual paradise. And when we reach it, it leaves us there and returns. Paradise is the love of God, in which there is the enjoyment of all” (In the same Word). And also: “Just as it is impossible to cross the wide sea without a boat and a ship, so it is impossible to move to love without fear. Between us and the mental paradise lies a stinking sea, across which we can sail in the ship of repentance, and we will have fear for the oarsmen. If the oarsmen, i.e. fear, do not direct the ship of repentance, with which we cross the sea of this world, to God, then we will drown in the stinking sea.” Chapter 81. More about repentance, love, weeping, tears and self-reproach. “Repentance is a ship, fear is its helmsman, love is divine at the position” (Isaac 83 Word). Fear puts us on the ship of repentance, transports us through the stinking worldly sea and leads to the divine abode, i.e. to love. And when we reach love – we reach God, our journey will end, and we will go to the island, which is far from the world, where the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are. The Savior himself speaks of weeping for God: “Blessed are those who weep, for they will be comforted” (Mt. 5, 4 – quoted by Ogienk). Isaac also writes about tears: “Tears that occur during prayer are a sign of God’s mercy, which the soul receives when it repents; this is a confirmation that the prayer was accepted and the soul with tears began to enter the field of purity” (Is 30 of the Word). If the ascetic does not reject thoughts about passing things and does not stop hoping for the world and does not despise it, and does not begin to prepare for himself the good path of his death, and thoughts about what will be there do not begin to move in the soul, then the eyes will not be able to shed tears.Tears multiply and increase from pure unceasing prayer without solace, from numerous and frequent thoughts, and from the memory of subtle things that occur in the mind and grieve the heart with their memory. And the Leaflet: “As fire devours straw, so a clean tear washes away all visible and known filth” (From the 7th degree). And again: “Let’s acquire clean and unblemished tears, remembering how our soul will leave the body – there is no theft or exaltation in them, but only purification and love for God, and washing away sins, and dispassion.” And also: “Don’t trust those fountains of tears until you are completely cleansed, the wine that has just been poured from the vat is not reliable.” And again: “Those tears that are from fear, by themselves, protect the soul, and those that are from love are sometimes stolen from some, if a great fire of remembrance is not kindled in the heart during the act. And it is surprising that what is humbler turns out to be firmer at the time.” And also: “Tears of death give rise to fear, when fear gives rise to courage, then joy comes, when immeasurable joy subsides, then the flower of reverend love flourishes” (From the same degree). About self-reproach. From the writings of Anthony the Great, the great Anthony says about self-reproach: “This is a great thing for a person, when he puts his sins above himself before God and waits for temptation until his last breath” (In the paternal hermitage, on humility). And another holy father, when he was asked: “What, father, is the greatest thing that you have gained on this path?” – answered: “To reproach oneself in everything.” The one who asked praised this answer, saying: “There is no other way but this one.” And Abba Pimen confirmed: “All virtues have entered this world. Take one virtue – and without it a person can barely hold on.” And they asked him: “What kind of honest is this?” And he answered: “So that a person always reproaches himself.” And he also said: “Whoever reproaches himself, no matter what happened to him: whether it was some loss, or dishonor, or some sorrow – he thinks in advance that he deserved it, and he is never embarrassed” (In the book of Abba Dorothea, page 52). Chapter 82. About attentiveness and about asserting yourself wisely. Similarly, the divine Paul writes about attention and affirmation: “Consider carefully how you should behave, not as unwise, but as wise, making use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5, 15-16). And St. Isaac: “O wisdom, how wise you are and how you foresee everything in advance. Whoever buys freedom from great passions for a small price, that is, for acquisition, he does well. This is also wisdom – to always be sober both in small and in the smallest things: then great peace of mind is obtained, and the ascetic does not sleep, so that something does not happen contrary to him, but he cuts off the reasons in advance and in small things he experiences small sorrow, overcoming the big one” (Isaiah 75 of the Word). And further: “That is why the wise man says: be cheerful and sober in your life, because the sleep of the mind is an image of true death” (ibid.). The priest Vasiliy also says: “Whoever is lazy in small matters, do not believe that he will achieve something great.” Chapter 83.About the fact that it is necessary to pay attention to everything that has been said, and above all, to be modest and silent and to try to silently call on the Lord Jesus Christ inside the heart. Therefore, pay attention to everything that has been said, and above all, to call on the Lord Jesus Christ in the depths of your heart silently, submissively, and with a clear conscience, as we have already said. When you do this, divine grace rests on your soul. And the Leaflet says: “Let no one, full of rage and exaltation, the face of arrogance and malice, dare to approach speechlessness, lest he fall into a frenzy” (Is 27 degree). When someone is clean from this, he will benefit more from speechlessness, but not the first. And then grace will not only rest on your soul, but also completely calm the soul from the demons and passions that initially oppressed it. Even if they still oppress her, they will not have power over her, because the soul no longer leans towards them and does not seek pleasure from them. Chapter 84. About good vigilance in rapture and divine beauty. All the desire of such a person, and heart vigilance in rapture, and his complete aspiration is directed to the most kind and blessed beauty, which the Fathers called the end of all desires. Says Basil the Great: “When the desire for piety enters the soul, it laughs at any struggle, and all the blows it receives, because of this desire, bring it pleasure and do not cause wounds.” And again: “Is there anything more beautiful than divine beauty? What thought is more joyful than the thought of God’s great beauty? What desire of the soul is so strong and uncontrollable, as it is from God in a soul cleansed of sin, which says with certainty: “I faint with love” (P.p. 2, 5).” Chapter 85. On battle, instructive tolerance, and abandonment after turning away. The ascetic also experiences struggle because of instructive tolerance, not because of abandonment after turning away. And why? So that his mind was not exalted because of the good he had gained, but, undergoing struggle and receiving instruction, always kept humility and with it not only defeated the warriors who fought against him, but also received greater gifts, moving forward as much as is possible for human nature, which, bound and oppressed by the inescapable chains and burdens of the flesh, advances to perfection in Christ and passionlessness. Saint Diadochus says: “The Lord himself says that “Satan fell like lightning from heaven” (Lk. 10, 18)” (Chapter 86), so that he, the evil one, would not see the abode of holy angels. How can he, having nothing in common with the good servants of God, have a common dwelling with God – the human mind? To say that it happens by accident? This does not mean anything, because the soul is not deprived of the divine light when it is admitted, only grace hides its arrival from the mind, as if in order to throw the soul into diabolical bitterness, so that it seeks help from God with all fear and great humility, slowly knowing the malice of its enemy. It is as if a mother takes a mischievous child away from her arms for a while, so that he, frightened by evil people around or some animals, returns to his mother’s arms again with fear and tears.The admission that happens after turning away gives the soul to demons as one that does not want to know God. We are not children of fear, may this not happen to us. We believe that we are infants of the true grace of God, who are nourished, like milk, by small indulgences and frequent joys, so that by His grace it may be appropriate for us to reach “the perfection of a man, to the measure of the full stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4, 13). And again: “The educational admission brings great sadness and humility and moderate despair to the soul, so that its glory-loving and fearless power miraculously turns to humility. It brings at once the fear of God, and tears of confession, and a great desire for complete silence. And when God turns away from the soul, it is filled with despair and at the same time with unbelief, and anger, and pride. We like to know what they are like, these two allow, and depending on this, we should give thanks to God, so that He may teach us intemperance, so that, like the good Father, He may teach us to distinguish virtue from sin it must be remembered that when the soul competes with Satan during the training session, grace does not manifest itself openly, but supports the soul with invisible help to show its enemies that the soul itself has won the victory.” Saint Isaac also says: “It is impossible for a person to gain experience in the spiritual battle and to know his Maker, and to understand his God, and to be firmly established in faith in Him, but only by the power of his experience, which he acquired” (Isa. 49 of the Word) without temptations that happen by chance. And when he sees grace, that in the thought of a person even a little bit of self-exaltation has begun and he has begun to think arrogantly about himself, he immediately allows temptations to rise up against him and become established in him, until he understands his weakness and flees, and humbly clings to God. This is how a person reaches the level of a perfect man who believes in the Son of God and trusts in Him and grows in love. God’s love for man is revealed in a strange way, because sometimes it is in things that limit man’s hopes, and there God shows his power for salvation, which is in Him. And sometimes a person finds the power of God in peace and space, and it happens that God shows his power sensually, only in the land of silence and in the desert, and in places where there are no meetings with people and bustle. Chapter 86. About dispassion and what human dispassion is. To all this, we must add a short word about dispassion and perfection and end our writing with this. Basil the Great says the following: “Whoever loves God and His dispassion and wants to retain at least a small part of it, and also wants to know the spiritual sanctuary, silence, and carelessness, and meekness, and gaiety, and the joy that they generate, he hastens to divert his thoughts from all passion that confuses the soul, and contemplates divine things with a pure and unshaded eye, satiating insatiably the light thereHaving taught the soul to be in such a mood and order, as much as possible, it becomes like God and is loved and desired by Him, because it endured a great and difficult feat and, remaining in its nature, was able to converse with God with a pure mind, divorced from bodily passions. This is what can be said about dispassion.” Saint Isaac writes about what human dispassion is: “Dispassion is not not feeling passions, but not accepting them. When an ascetic acquires numerous and various manifest and secret virtues, passions in him cannot and will not be able to rise up in his soul, and there is no need to watch over them with his mind. The thought can then be filled at all times with the best images from teachings and conversations that move in the mind” (from 48 Words). And when the passions begin to stir and worry and thoughts approach, it is suddenly captivated by some heavenly image that entered the mind, and the passions remain inactive. This is what Blessed Mark also says: “The mind by God’s grace fulfills the virtues and, when comes close to contemplation, he almost does not feel the sin and foolishness of the soul” (in the same Word). Because contemplation takes him to a height and alienates him from everything in the world. In the ascetics, because of their purity, and subtlety, and lightness, and the sharpness of their mind, and because of their labors, their mind is purified and becomes transparent, because their body has dried up from exercises in silence and a long stay in it. Therefore, it is easily and quickly added to everyone teaches them to contemplate what is in them and to be terrified by it, and because of this their thoughts are multiplied, and they are never without visions which bring them spiritual fruit. In their hearts, by long-term habit, the memories of the passions that disturb the soul are weakened think, but will have petitions about completely different things, the power of the claws of passion cannot possess her spiritual feelings. Blessed Diadochus says: “Passionlessness does not mean that we will not be attacked by demons (Chapter 88), because then we would have to “go out of this world” (1 Cor. 5, 10), according to the apostle; it means that they will not defeat us when they attack, because the armor warriors also get shot by the enemy, and hear the noise of the shots, and see the arrows shot at them, but do not suffer wounds, because the armor protects them. They, protected by iron, when they attack them, remain invincible, and we, armed with the light of the holy armor and wearing the helmet of salvation, armed with all good works, will tear apart the regiments of dark demons. Purity is not only the fact that we do not do evil, but also the fact that we reject evil with good vigilance.” Saint Maximus divides dispassion into four types: “The first dispassion is when the bodily urge to sin is not acted upon. The second dispassion is the complete rejection of passionate thoughts in the soul, due to which the movement of passions withers in the first dispassion, because there are no passionate thoughts to ignite them.The third dispassion is complete indifference to the passions of lust, which also consists of the second dispassion from purity of thoughts. And the fourth dispassion is the complete rejection in the mind of all sensual dreams, which gives rise to the third, which does not have sensual dreams that give rise to the images of passions.” And also: “Dispassion is a peaceful state of the soul in which it does not lean towards sin.” Chapter 87. More about dispassion and perfection. Saint Ephraim also says this about dispassion and perfection: “The dispassionate go irresistibly towards the ends of all desires, make imperfect perfection, because there is no end to eternal good. Perfection can be determined by the measure of human strength, and imperfection is something that can always be surpassed by daily feats and constant ascent to God.” Similarly, St. Nile speaks about perfection: “You need to know that there are two perfections: one is temporary and the other is eternal – what the Apostle Paul mentions about them: “When the perfect comes, the imperfect will disappear” (1 Cor. 13, 10). These words “when the perfect will come” mean that we cannot even contain divine perfection here.” And also: “The divine Paul knows two perfections and knows that one and the same person cannot be perfect and imperfect – it is perfect in relation to the present life and imperfect in relation to the life to come. That is why he says: “It is not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I am still fighting to see if I do not achieve it.” And a little later he says: “Those who are perfect, let’s think about it” (Phil. 3, 12.15)”. Chapter 88. About lust, lust, passion and dispassion. Saint Ilya Ekdyk also says: “Lust of the body, lust of the soul, and passion of the mind – these are all evil things. The first is revealed through touch, the others through other senses. And that which is opposite to them, that is, dispassion, is revealed through the opposite of touch and feelings.” And also: “The voluptuous is close to the lustful, and the passionate is close to the voluptuous, and the dispassionate is the most distant from them both” (Chapters 71 and 72). Chapter 89. What is the meaning of lustful, voluptuous, passionate and dispassionate and about the treatment of each of them “A passionate person is one who has a tendency to sin, even though he does not sin openly.” “Passion dies in the soul through fasting and prayer, lust – through vigilance and silence, passion – through silence and attentiveness, and dispassion comes from remembering God” (Chapter 74). Chapter 90. On faith, hope and love.But since faith, hope and love are the beginning, middle and end of all good, and we can say that they are the giver and manager, this triple-braided and God-woven cord, and most of all love, because God is called Love and He is it, it would be wrong not to add a story about them to what this scripture lacked. Saint Isaac also says: “Only then will a person receive the perfection of the many fruits of the Holy Spirit, when he is pleased with perfect love.” So, let’s remember about her. Says the holy Leaflet: “After the explanation of everything that has already been said, these three remain, which bind and hold all the others – faith, hope and love, and the greatest of them all is love, because God is also called Love. It seems to me that the first of them is like a ray, the second – like light, and the third – like the sun, all three form one radiance and one brightness. The first can to create and build everything, the second is surrounded by God’s mercy and does not allow it to falter, and the third never falls, does not pass, and whoever it strikes, therefore, will not let rest from the blessed affliction” (Is 30 degree). And again: “Angels know about love by the action of enlightenment. God is love, and whoever wants to determine what this love is, he is likened to a blind man who wants to count the sand in the depths of the sea. Love by its qualities is likened to God, as much as it is possible for a person to understand, and by its action it is the intoxication of the soul, by its properties it is a source of faith, an abyss of long-suffering, a sea of humility. Love is characterized by the rejection of everything of the opposite thought, for love does not intend evil. Love, and dispassion, and sonship differ only in name. As light, and fire, and flame are close in action, so understand these three.” Saint Diadochus says: “Every spiritual vision, brothers, should be preceded by faith, hope and love, and most of all love. The first two teach to despise visible good, and love unites the soul with God’s virtues, knowing the invisible God with conditioned senses” (Chapter 30). And again: “One is the natural love of the soul, and the other is that which comes to the soul from the Holy Spirit. The first is violated by our will, and therefore it is easily stolen by evil spirits when we do not control our desires. And the second so inflames the soul to God’s love that all the forces of the soul then adhere to the ineffable goodness of the divine desire in the immeasurable simplicity of the mood. Then the mind, as if filled with spiritual action, drains the source love and joy” (Chapter 34). And Saint Isaac: “Love for some things is like a small lamp that shines, fueled by oil, or like a stream that is filled with rainwater and flows as long as the rains fall. And love that comes from God is like a spring that flows from the earth and never dries up, because God himself is its source and nourishes it” (Chapter 30). And when they asked him what the end of the many fruits of the Spirit was, he answered: “When someone is worthy of God’s perfect love.” And when he was asked how a person can know whether he has achieved such love, he answered: “When the memory of God is stirred in his mind, then his heart will immediately be moved to God’s love, and his eyes will shed many tears.Such is the custom in love to cause tears at the mention of the one we love. Such a person never sheds tears, because he never loses what reminds him of God. That’s why she talks to God even in her dreams: love has a habit of causing such things. And this is perfection for a person in this life” (Isaiah 21 of the Word). And also: “The love of God is warm by its nature and when it is found immeasurably on someone, it leads the soul to rapture. Therefore, the heart of the person who feels it cannot contain it and wipe it away, and depending on the degree of love, it begins to change strangely. These are its visible signs: the face blushes and becomes joyful, and the body is inflamed, fear and shyness retreat from it, and the person becomes as if in a state of distress, the power to collect the mind flees from him, and he becomes as if surprised. She looks at a terrible death as a joy, and when her mind contemplates heavenly things, there are no obstacles for it. Being absent, she conducts a conversation as if she were present, although no one can see her. Knowledge and contemplation come naturally to her, and she does not sense her movements when she moves between things. When she does something, she does not feel it, because her mind is in high contemplation and her thoughts seem to be talking to someone else. Apostles and martyrs were once intoxicated with this spiritual intoxication. The first went through the whole world, toiling and suffering insults, and the second were cut down, shed their blood like water and, enduring the worst torments, did not despair, but valiantly endured and were wise, even though they were considered insane. And others wandered in deserts, and mountains, and nativity scenes, and earthly abysses, remaining pious in their wickedness. May the Lord grace us with such madness” (Isa. 73 of the Word). Chapter 91. About the Holy Communion and about the reasons for which good things are frequent Communion with a clear conscience. Truly, nothing helps us so much and does not contribute to the purification of the soul and the enlightenment of the mind, and the sanctification of the body, and to the divine change and immortality of both, and also to the expulsion of passions and demons, or, more correctly, to supernatural union with God, as often as possible, with a pure heart, the Communion of the holy, immortal and life-giving sacraments, the most honest Body and Blood of the Lord, and of God, and of our Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is necessary to speak about this as much as possible, and to work so hard to conclude and complete this Word. The fact that one should often partake of the Holy Sacraments is known not only from what the saints say, and even more from the words of Life itself and Truth itself, because he says: “I am the bread of life. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that whoever eats it may not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If someone eats this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give is my body for the life of the world… If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not have life in you… He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live by the Father, so he who consumes me will live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever” (Jn.6, 48-51.53.56-58). And Paul, the bearer of Christ, says the following: “Brothers, I pass on what I received from the Lord: the Lord Jesus on the night on which he was betrayed took bread and, giving thanks, broke it and said: “This is my body, it is given for you. Do this in memory of me.” So also the cup at supper, saying: “This cup is the New Testament in my blood. Do this every time you drink, in my memory every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you announce the death of the Lord until He comes. Therefore, let everyone test himself and then eat this bread and drink this cup, without discerning the Lord’s body This is why you have many sick and dying people. If we were to judge ourselves, then the Lord would correct us so that we would not be judged with the world” (1 Kr. 11, 23-32). Chapter 92. About what needs to be learned, what is the miracle of the Holy Mysteries, what are they, why are they given to us, and what is the benefit of them. Zolotousty also writes: “We need to know what the miracle of the Holy Mysteries is, what they are, why they are given to us and what is the benefit of them. We are all one body and members of the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ and His bones. Let the initiates listen carefully to these words. Let us be like this not only in love, but let us unite with this sacrament in the flesh. This sacrament becomes the food that the Lord gave us, showing his great love for Therefore, he mingled himself with us and his body with ours, so that we may be like a body united with the Head, so do those who love very much. Job also testifies to this, remembering the slaves who said to him out of great love: “Who will show him who has not had enough of his flesh?” (Job 31, 31). That is why Christ did so, bringing us into greater love and showing his love for us, allowing those who want not only to see themselves, but also to touch themselves, and consume, and connect, and fulfill every desire” (Conversations on the Gospel of John, conversation 46). And also: “Those who partake of the most holy Body and pure Blood stand with angels and archangels and heavenly powers, clothed in Christ’s royal robe, holding spiritual weapons. But I did not say this in a big way: they clothe themselves in the King himself” (the same 46th conversation). How great, and terrible, and strange this sacrament is, so much – if you come clean – you have come to salvation, and if with an evil conscience – then to torment and punishment, because it is said: “For he who eats and drinks, not distinguishing the Lord’s body, eats and drinks judgment” (1 Kr. 11, 29). If they punish those who defile the royal purple or tear it, then, undoubtedly, they punish those who accept this Body with impure thoughts. They will suffer the same torment as those who pierced this Body with nails. Listen to what a terrible torment the apostle Paul speaks about: “When someone rejected the law of Moses, he was mercilessly put to death in the presence of two or three witnesses.Because, think for yourself, the one who trampled on the Son of God and considered the blood of the covenant, by which he sanctified himself, will deserve a worse punishment” (Heb. 10, 28-29). All of us who partake of this Body, who consume this Blood, let us think about the fact that we are consuming the Body of the one who sits in heaven and whom the angels worship. Woe to me! How many roads are there in us to salvation. He created us with his Body, he gave us his Body, and we will not turn away from evil.” (Conversation 3 on the Epistle to the Ephesians, sheet 194). And also: “Some strange old man told me that he was pleased to see and hear that when someone before death with a clear conscience partakes of the Holy Mysteries, for the sake of the Holy Communion, angels will accompany him and take him out of here.” The divine John of Damascus also says: “Since we are twofold and composite, it is fitting that the birth should be double and the sustenance should be composite. We are born from water and the Spirit, and our sustenance is – the bread of life is our Lord Jesus Christ, who came down from heaven. As in baptism he combined the grace of the Holy Spirit with oil and water, because it is customary for people to be washed with water and anointed with oil, and he made it a purchase of new birth, so because it is usual for man to eat bread and drink water and wine, he combined his divinity with them and made them with his body and his blood, so that through ordinary and natural things we achieve supernatural things. The body that was born of the Holy Virgin, it does not come from heaven after the ascension, but the bread and wine are transformed into God’s Body and Blood. It is enough for you to hear that this happens with the Holy Spirit from the Holy Mother of God. We know nothing more, we only know that the Word of God true, effective, and omnipotent, and the way it works is unsearchable. For those who receive communion worthily, it is for the forgiveness of sins and for the healing of the soul and body, and for those who receive communion unworthily, for condemnation and torment. And this bread and wine are not a symbol of the Body of Christ, but the deified Body of Christ and His Blood. “My body is true food, and my blood is true drink.” The Body of Christ and His Blood give growth to our soul and body, and they are not exhausted, are not subject to corruption, are not thrown out, but unite with our nature and protect it from all impurities. For even when gold has impurities, it is purified by fire, so that we are not condemned together with the world. Having been cleansed, we become the Body of Christ. This bread is the bread of the future, because it is preserved for us in the coming age. The body of the Lord is the life-giving Spirit, and that which is born of the Spirit is also the Spirit Body, but I want to show His vitality and divinity.The Body and Blood of Christ are called the prototypes of the future, not because they are truly the Body and Blood of Christ, but because through them we now partake of the divinity of Christ, and in the age to come we will partake of His very contemplation.” Says the divine Mark: “Just as wine spreads throughout the body of the one who drinks, and the wine is in him, and he is in the wine, so is he who drinks the Blood of Christ, it is filled with the spirit of the Godhead, which dissolves in the perfect soul, and the soul in it, and, thus sanctified, becomes worthy of the Lord. For all of us have been made to drink by the same Spirit, and those who truly partake of the Eucharist of bread are deigned to become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and thus worthy souls can live forever. Just as the body does not live by itself, but its life comes from the outside, that is, from the earth, so with regard to the soul, God willed that it should have food, drink, and clothing, not from its own nature, but from the divinity and God’s Spirit and light, which are the true life of the soul. The divine nature also has the bread of life, which said: “I am the bread of life” (John 6:48), and living water, and wine that cheers, and the oil of joy.” Says Saint Isa Dor: “The communion of the Divine Mysteries is called union, because it gives us union with Christ and makes us partakers of His Kingdom.” Saint Nile says: “It is impossible for the faithful to be saved otherwise and receive forgiveness of sins and to win the Kingdom of Heaven, as when he does not partake of the most pure sacraments of the Body and Blood with fear, faith and love.” Saint Basil also writes in a similar way in his letter to the noble Caesarea: “To receive communion every day and to receive the holy Body and Blood of Christ is good and very useful, because the Savior himself clearly speaks about this: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives eternal” (John 6, 54). Who doubts that to often partake of Life means nothing else but to live in abundance? We receive communion four times a week: on Sunday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and on other days – if the memory of a saint falls” (from the third book of Epistle 90). I think that on these days this saint celebrated the Divine Liturgy. He could not celebrate every day, burdened with so many worries. Abba Apollo also said that what the monk likes, if possible, to partake of the Sacraments of Christ every day. For he who partakes of them often partakes of the Savior. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me” (Jn. 6:56). to always be worthy to receive the holy sacraments, because in this way we also receive the forgiveness of sins. The Leaflet also says: “When the body, touching the body, is changed by action, how can one not be changed who touches the Body of God with immaculate hands?” (From the 58th degree). Yes, it is written in Herondicus: “John of Vostru, a holy man who had power over unclean spirits, asked the demons who lived in demon-possessed girls and did evil in them: “Why are you afraid of Christians?” And they answered: “You have three really great things.The first is the one that wears it around the neck. The second is the one you wash with in church. And the third is the one that you consume at the gathering.” He also asked: “And of these three, which one are you most afraid of?” They answered: “If you kept well what you receive communion with, then none of us could offend a Christian.” Therefore, our enemies are most afraid of the cross, baptism and the Holy Communion.” Chapter 93. The end of all widely given reasons and separate advice to those who asked for them. Behold, most beloved child, with God’s help your request was fulfilled. Whether it was fulfilled according to your desire and hope, we do not know, but it was beyond our power, and God loves what happens beyond power. See that it does not stop you are on this in study and diligence, so that you will be alert and love to study. For the glorious brother of the Lord also speaks: “My beloved brothers! Be doers of the word, not just listeners, deceiving yourselves. Because he who only listens to the word, but does not act on it, is like a man who looks in a mirror at the face he has by nature: he barely looked at himself, went away and immediately forgot what he was. Whoever carefully examines the law of freedom and abides in it – not as a forgetful listener, but as a doer – is happy in his work” (James 1, 22-25). Chapter 94. How it pleases you to listen to and understand the spiritual words of the fathers. First of all, you like to understand and listen to the divine and spiritual instructions of the Fathers with due reverence. Saint Macarius says: “Spiritual things beyond the reach of the inexperienced. And in order for a holy and faithful soul to grasp them, the communion of the Holy Spirit comes to its aid. Then the heavenly treasures of the Spirit appear to those who receive them through experience, and those who have not gained experience are completely unable to receive and understand them. Therefore, listen to them reverently, until you yourself, believing, are pleased to receive them. Then, with experienced spiritual eyes, you will see what blessings and secrets Christian souls can partake of here.” When you are in this state, you will quickly reap the fruit and benefit from what you have written and heard. And when you learn, and what you learn, you will put into practice, then you will also teach others with your experience and instruct in mysterious things. May it be so for you, who are established on the almighty palm of the Lord and Jesus Amen. And since an excess of words is unpleasant for the body, it is best for us, who avoid excesses and welcome moderation, to dwell a little more on this scripture. Chapter 95. The most important thing is to pray and about the divine power To the father: “Whoever wants to sober up wisely, let him always, inhaling air through his nostrils and leading it to his heart, which lies under the left nipple, make an effort to pray cleanly and without hesitation, paying attention only to the words you pray, and learning, and meditating, that is, the words: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me – until the mind in the heart is enlightened.”As St. Diadochus says: “Those who endlessly study the glorious and much-desired name of Jesus Christ in the depths of their hearts may someday see the light of their minds” (Chapter 59). When with God’s help this happens, from then on we will walk the path of our life following God as in the light, because we will become sons of light, not wandering and not stumbling, as the Light-Giver Jesus says: “While you have light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light” (John 12:36). And He also says: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not wander in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). And David cries out to the Lord: “In Your light we will see light” (Ps. 35, 10). And the divine Paul: “God, who said: “Let light shine out of darkness”, He has enlightened our hearts” (2 Kr. 4, 6). God, like an unquenchable and all-luminous lamp, guides the faithful, and through Him they raise their eyes to the highest heights, and for them, because they have pure hearts, the heavenly doors of an equally angelic high life and order are opened to them. God shines on them like the sun, so that they can investigate, reason, see, foresee. Through God, the unknown phenomenon and the revelation of mysteries shine to them, through the Spirit they are filled with supernatural and divine power, and thanks to this supernatural power, their bodies are lightened or the burden of their flesh is refined and soared upward. With this enlightening power of the Holy Spirit, some holy Fathers, although they were still in the body, like insensible and mindless foresters, crossed, without getting their feet wet, impassable rivers and seas on which ships sail; they overcame long, many-day crossings in an instant and did other wonderful things in the sky, on earth, in the sun, in the sea, in deserts, in cities, in various parts and directions, with beasts and reptiles, with animals and gardens, with soulless stone and with all creation and all the elements – and they were all glorified. And when they stood in prayer, their honest bodies were lifted from the ground, as if they had gained wings, because the divine and supernaturally blessed fire burned away the hardness and burden of the body, and it seemed – oh miracle – that strength and grace settled in them after their nature was changed and as if reforged by God’s palm. After the death, the honest bodies of some of them remained incorruptible, clearly showing that in them, and in all who believe like them, lives supernatural grace and power. And after the general resurrection, the same enlightening power of the Holy Spirit will give them wings and take them up into the clouds, into the air, to meet the Lord, as the divine mystic Paul says: “So they will be with the Lord forever” (1 Chronicles 4, 17). The spiritual David also sings about this: “They will walk in the light of Your face, and they will rejoice in Your name all day long, and they will be exalted by Your righteousness. For You are the glory of their strength, and by Your favor our strength will rise” (Ps. 58, 16-18). And also: “For God’s rulers of the earth are greatly exalted” (Ps. 46, 10). And the great Isaiah says the following: “Those who trust in the Lord renew their strength like an eagle, raise their wings, run, do not know fatigue” (Is. 40, 31).And St. Macarius: “Every soul that, by faith and vigilance in virtues, has deigned to put on Christ in strength and assurance, and has united with the heavenly light of the incorruptible image, is deigned to always truly contemplate the heavenly mysteries. And on the day of resurrection, in the same heavenly way, the body will be glorified with the soul, and the Spirit will take it to heaven, into the air, to meet the Lord, and will be worthy to stand such as the body of His glory, and so forever the body will reign together with the soul.” Chapter 96. More about the most important thing. The beginning and mother of these new words, which is above all words, is silence with complete carelessness, attentiveness and prayer. For a solid foundation and invincible protection, they are served by the fulfillment of all god-worshipping commandments. From these four, that is, from carelessness, silence, attentiveness and prayer, there is movement and warmth in the heart, which burns passions and demons and purifies the heart, as if it were a crucible. From it comes the longing for our Lord Jesus Christ and ceaseless vigilance. From vigilance, sweet tears often flow from the heart, as from a spring, with which the soul and body are cleansed, as with hyssop, repentance, love, and thanksgiving, and confession, and soften. And from these – silence and peace of thoughts, which has no limits, because it exceeds all minds. And from them – enlightenment, light as snow, and the end – dispassion in a person and the resurrection of the soul, before the resurrection of the body, and, moreover, by actions and contemplation, faith, hope and love, the restoration of the image and likeness, the return and complete uplifting to God, direct union with Him, rapture and rest in Him, standing in the present age, as in a mirror, with hope and as a pledge, and in the future – face to face, and the full communion of God, and ever-present pleasure. Chapter 97. This is truly unattractive and true, handed down from the Fathers, life according to God, that is, silence after obedience, which the holy Fathers rightly called the secret life in Christ. This path and spiritual life according to God, and the sacred work of true Christians is an unattractive and true, and pure, and intimate life in Christ. The man of God walked and taught us to walk this path, the sweetest Jesus, the divine apostles also walked this path, and those who came after them – our glorious mentors and teachers, who from the first coming of Christ to the earth and to this day shine like lamps in the world with the enlightenment of the words of life and glorious deeds. They have transmitted to each other this good seed, sacred leaven, holy beginning, unstealing pledge and grace, power from on high, pearl of great value, divine portion of the Fathers, treasure buried in the field, betrothal of the Spirit, royal sign, living and flowing water, divine fire, honest salt, anointing, sealing and light. That all this would continue to be handed down, that it would mysteriously pass from generation to generation until the second coming of Christ. The truth was spoken by the one who promised: “Therefore, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt. 28, 20). Chapter 98. There are other paths of salvation, and this path is chosen and royal and leads to sonship.Although there are other paths and ways of life, and, if you want, good deeds also guided and gave peace to those who went through them, and there are still paths that lead to slavery or to hireling, and there are many houses in the house of the Heavenly Father, but this path is royal and chosen and higher than all other actions, as the soul is higher than the body. This path renews the person who passes through it as he pleases from earth and ashes to God’s sonship and makes him glorious in spirit as a god. Basil the Great also says: “The Holy Spirit came to the soul of a person and gave it life, gave it immortality, and raised it, lying down. That which the Holy Spirit always raised with an essential movement became alive and holy. And when the Holy Spirit dwelt in a person, it took on the dignity of an apostle, an angel and God – the one that was at first earth and ashes.” Chapter 99. Because of the height of the action, this life is called differently. That is why the divine Fathers call him by various and glorious names. This way, which we have spoken of, has been called praiseworthy action and right contemplation, prayer above all space, sobriety of mind, conditional action, work of the age to come, angelic life, heavenly life, divine trial, land of the living, mysterious contemplation, spiritual feast, God-given paradise, heaven, Heavenly Kingdom, God’s Kingdom, darkness higher than light, secret life in Christ, contemplation of God and adoration that is beyond all nature. Imitating these divine Fathers, we who live “on clay and brick” [Ex. 1, 14], in cunning and impure in thoughts, words and deeds, have tried, beloved, to fulfill your request. Truly, we were not lazy to do as you asked, and beyond our measure, for the sake of your love and the commandment of the Fathers, as we said at the beginning of this Word. The mentor of this equal angelic life is the new and indescribable craft of the Word and the Son of God and His personification by the benevolence of the beginningless Father and the co-operation of the Holy Spirit. Chapter 100. Instruction With God’s help and grace, it pleases us to try and strive as much as we can, so that we may be betrothed to these supernatural and majestic gifts from now on, so that it does not happen that we do not possess them because of a little hopelessness. When such benefits await us, beloved, not only in hopes and promises for the future age, then let us really work now, while we have time. Let us go and do the feat, so that we too may be worthy of them with a small and temporary effort and short labor, and most of all – with God’s gift and grace. “The sufferings of the present time are not worthy of the future glory that will appear to us” (Rom. 8, 18), according to the words of Paul, the divine preacher. Let us work hard from now on to, according to his own testimony, receive “the gift of the Spirit” (Rom. 8, 23;

2 Кр. 1, 22). Коли комусь вдасться поріднитися із царською родиною, вінчинить усе можливе, щоб підтримати цей зв’язок, і ділами, і словами, і по мислами, навіть життям своїм нехтуючи заради такої слави й чести минущої і тимчасової, часом досягаючи цілковитої погибелі, а не користи. Наскільки ж тоді нам подобає потрудитися й постаратися, коли нас кличе до спілкування,весілля та єднання з Ним Бог – Цар усіх царів і Сотворитель, єдиний і прис носущний, що своїм людям подає благу й тривалу славу і честь. Та й не тількице, а ще й дає їм дітьми Божими стати – каже-бо Писання: “Котрі ж прийня ли Його – тим дано право дітьми Божими стати, які в ім’я Його вірують” (Йо. 1, 12). Дає право, не примушує силою проти нашого бажання. Бо примус завжди викликає опір проти того, хто примушує, щоб злом відповісти на зло. Так шанує Він наше право вільного вибору, щоб, коли добре діло чинитьсяза Його благоволінням і благодаттю, додалися до нього наші старання і пильність. Отож Він, Бог і Владика, усе своє вчинив. Усіх нас однаковими сотво рив, за всіх і вмер, щоб однаково спасти всіх. А нам залишається приступити до Нього, увірувати в Нього, стати Йому рідними, зі страхом, і старанням, і любов’ю служити Йому, чоловіколюбному Владиці й Попечителю, що таквозлюбив нас, що ізбавив від мучительства диявола – нашого началозлобно го ворога, і примирив із Отцем і Богом, і вчинив нас спадкоємцями Божими і співспадкоємцями своїми, що найпреславніше і найблаженніше. Тож нехайне станеться так, що ми малою безнадією і недбальством і фальшивим задо воленням віддалимо себе від таких великих благ, і чести, й насолоди. Вчинімо все й потрудімося і, якби була потреба, не пожаліймо і свого життя за Нього,як і Він не пожалів свого життя задля нас, хоч Він і Бог, щоб так ми сподо билися і нинішніх, і майбутніх дарів і вінців. Нехай же дасться це всім нам благоволінням і благодаттю самого преблагого й милосердного Господа, Богаі Спаса нашого Ісуса Христа, що так смирив себе задля нас і таким смирен ням віднині щедро подає надприродну і благотворну свою благодать. Йому ж подобає всяка слава, честь і поклоніння з безначальним і пречистим Його Отцем і соприсносущним, і пресвятим, і благим, і животворящим Його Духом нині й повсякчас і на безконечні віки віків. Амінь.вагрій, премудрий і вчений муж, просіяв близько 318 року. Василій Великий поставив його на читця, а брат Василіїв, Григо рій Ниський, рукоположив на диякона. Священних слів навчив його Григорій Богослов, що при ньому він був архидияконом, коли Григорій правив Константинопольською Церквою, за свідченнямНикифора Каліста в книзі 11, главі 42. Наостанку, відрікшись від усьо го, що в світі, вступив у монаше життя. Тонко розуміючи духовні речі й добре вміючи висловити свої думки, він уклав численні писання, із яких вирішили ми подати в цій книзі Слово до безмовників і глави про розрізнення пристрастей і помислів, як вельми потрібні й корисні. ʹ