Святий Касіян Римлянин про вісім пристрасних помислів

Saint Cassian the Roman about eight passionate thoughts, among these I composed a Word about common life, and in this Word, relying on your prayers, I dared to write about eight sinful thoughts, that is, about gluttony and fornication, about love of money, anger, sadness, boredom, vanity and pride. About abstinence of the stomach First of all, we will talk about abstinence of the abdomen, which is opposite to obesity, about the method of fasting, the quality and quantity of meals. Let’s say it not from ourselves, but as it was received from the holy fathers. And they gave us not a single rule of fasting, and not a single method of food consumption, and not a single measure for everyone, because not everyone has the same strength either because of age, or infirmity, or because of the habits of the body. But they conveyed one intention of fasting for everyone: not to eat a lot and avoid a variety of dishes. They proved by experience that it is more useful to eat in moderation every day, and thus it is easier to keep clean, than to fast for three or four days, or even a whole week. It is said that those who undertake an excessive fast often eat excessively afterwards. Sometimes the body gets tired from excessive fasting and becomes lazy for spiritual service, sometimes, burdened with many dishes, it causes boredom and relaxation in the soul. And we also know from experience that not everyone can use potions and vegetables and not everyone can eat dry bread. One ate two liters of bread and still wanted to eat, and the other ate a liter and six ounces and was full. So, for everyone, as we have already said, one limit of restraint was established – not to satiate one’s stomach and not to be reduced by the sweetness of one’s mouth. Not only the variety of dishes, but also their quantity ignites the burning arrows of fornication. No matter what food you fill your stomach with, it will give birth to the seed of fornication. And also: not only the excess of wine intoxicates the mind, but also the excess of water and food weighs it down and leads to drowsiness. For the Sodomites, the cause of the fall was not food and drink, but satiety from bread, according to the prophet (Ezekiel 16:49). The sword of the flesh does not contradict the purity of the heart, when we give the flesh what it needs for weakness, and not for pleasure. We eat food so that it serves us for life, not for the impulses of the body. Mindful moderation of food keeps the body healthy, not destroys the sanctuary. As you know, the limit of abstinence and the rule handed down from the fathers are as follows: whoever eats some food and wants more, let him refrain from it and not eat until he is full. And the apostle, saying, “do not take care of the body for lust” (Rom. 13, 14), forbade eating more than is necessary for the body and taking care of pleasures. And abstinence from food alone will not help the soul reach complete purity, if other virtues are not added. Therefore, humility with obedience and mortification of the flesh will help us a lot. Restraint from the love of silver is not only not to have silver, but also not to desire it – it leads to the purity of the soul. Distance from anger, sadness, vanity, pride – all this leads to the main purity of the soul. And chastity, that is, abstinence, and fasting lead to partial purity. It is impossible with a full stomach to fight in thoughts against the spirit of fornication.Therefore, let the first feat for us be the mastery over the belly and the subjugation of the body not only by fasting, but also by vigilance, and labor, and reading, and focusing the heart on the fear of Gehenna and on the Kingdom of Heaven. About fornication and carnal lust Our second feat is against the passion of fornication and carnal lust. This lust from an early age begins to bother a person. This is a great and difficult feat and requires a double struggle, because other vices fight only in the soul, and this one is twofold – in the soul and in the body, that is why it is necessary to conduct a double struggle. Because it is not enough just to fast for the body in order to gain complete wholeness and true purity, if there is not a broken heart, and incessant prayer to God, and frequent instruction in the Scriptures, and labor, and handiwork, who restrained the restless urges of the soul and turned it away from bad dreams. And before seven, humility of soul will help us; neither fornication nor anything else will defeat him. And until we gain humility, we like to guard the heart of impure thoughts as closely as possible; “for from the heart proceed, according to the word of the Lord, evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication” (Mt. 15, 19). After all, fasting is intended for me not only to suppress the body, but also for the sobriety of the mind, so that it is not darkened by the abundance of dishes and does not fail to distinguish thoughts. Because he likes not only to fast diligently, but also to be attentive to thoughts and spiritual instruction, and without this it is impossible to reach the height of true wholeness and purity. According to the word of the Lord, we need to clean “first the inside of the cup and the bowl, so that the outside is also clean” (Mt. 23, 26). Therefore, if there is jealousy in us, according to the words of the apostle, to perform a heroic feat and be crowned by those who defeated the impure prodigal devil, then let us remember that we dare not by our strength and feat, but with the help of the Lord our God. This spirit will not stop conquering a person, until he believes in the truth that not by his vigilance and not by his work, but by God’s protective help, he is freed from this illness and reaches the height of purity. This is a natural thing, and he who has trampled on the kindling of the flesh and its sweetness finds himself as if outside the body. Therefore, I will say this: it is impossible for a person to fly with his wings to this high and heavenly sanctuary and become the successor of the angels, if the grace of God does not raise him from the earth and the swamp. Humans, clothed in the flesh, do not resemble angels in any other virtue as much as the whole body. Thanks to her, while still living and being on earth, they receive, according to the apostle, “citizenship in heaven” (Philippians 3:2). A sign that we have perfectly acquired this virtue is that the soul does not accept a single image of bad dreaming in dreams. Although such a movement is not considered a sin, it means that the soul is sick and has not yet freed itself from passion. Therefore, let’s believe that bad dreams that occur in dreams indicate previous boredom and weakness that we have. They represent an ailment hidden in the recesses of the soul, when an unclean temptation occurs in dreams.Therefore, the Physician of our souls, knowing where the cause of the disease comes from, put the treatment in the secret places of the soul, saying: “Everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt. 5, 28), thereby correcting not only a curious and promiscuous look, but also the soul itself, which so badly uses the eyes given to it by God for good. That is why the wise proverbs do not say to protect your eyes, but it says: “Watch your heart more than anything else” (Prov. 4, 23). It is best to protect your heart, then you will use your eyes correctly. And it must be protected in this way: when the devil’s cunning brings up in our thoughts a memory of a certain woman: whether it is a mother, a sister, or some other reverent women, then let’s quickly expel this memory from our hearts. If it remains in our memory for a long time, the evil tempter will lead the mind from the memory of persons to foul and harmful thoughts. And the commandment, which God gave to the first-born Adam, commands to crush the head of the snake (Gen. 3, 15), that is, the beginnings of harmful thoughts, with which the snake tries to crawl into our soul, because we, having let in the head, that is, the attachment of the thought, will also let in the connection with the body, that is, the whole body of the snake. And from here he will lead the thought to an illegal act. But we need to beat “every morning all the sinners of the earth” (Ps. 100, 8), as it is written, that is, with the light of knowledge, to judge and destroy the sinful thoughts of the earth, that is, our heart. And while the children of Babylon still live, that is, evil thoughts, we must take them and break them against a stone (Ps. 136, 9), and the stone is Christ. If they unite with us and strengthen themselves, then they will be defeated without much effort and sighing. It is good to add the words of the holy fathers to the words of the Divine Scriptures. Saint Basil, the bishop of Caesarea Cappadocia, said: “I do not know women, and I am not a virgin.” From these words it is clear that the gift of virginity consists not so much in physical abstinence, but in the holy purity of the soul, which is acquired by the fear of God. The fathers also say about this that it is impossible for us to perfectly acquire the virtue of purity, if we do not first acquire true humility and wisdom in our hearts, and do not acquire true knowledge, while in the depths of the soul there is a prodigal passion. Let’s say in the words of the apostle that this is universal, recalling one of his sayings: “With everyone, take care of peace and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12, 14). And to this he adds: “So that there was no adulterer or wicked person like Esau” (Heb. 12, 16). The greater the angelic and heavenly holiness, the more severe the enemy’s attacks. Therefore, we must try to learn not only bodily restraint, but also contrition of the heart and frequent prayers with sighs, so that the furnace of our body, which the Babylonian king kindles every day with the desires of lust, is extinguished with the dew of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Before that, we still have a powerful weapon for battle – vigilance for God’s sake. For as a day spent in zeal preserves the sanctity of the night, so vigil at night preserves the purity of the soul during the day. About silver love Our third feat is against the spirit of silver love.This struggle is foreign to our soul and begins sometimes because of infidelity. Because the causes of other passions, i.e. rage and desire, are the burning of the body, and they seem to be innate, because they accompany a person from birth, that is why it takes a lot of time to overcome them. And love of silver is an illness that comes from outside, it is easier to get rid of it if you are diligent and attentive. If you do not pay attention to it, it will become the most destructive of all passions, and it is not easy to get rid of it. “For the root of all evil is the love of money” (1 Tim. 6:5), says the apostle. And let’s remember this. Natural movements of the body are manifested not only in children, who do not yet distinguish between good and evil, but also in the smallest and in infants, who, not having a trace of sweetness in themselves, make natural movements according to the flesh. In babies, the sharpness of rage is also visible, when we see how they rage against those who have wronged them. I say this without reproaching nature as the cause of sin – let no one think so. But I will show how rage and desire, although given by the Creator for the benefit of man, due to negligence, from natural things become unnatural. The physical urge to give birth to children and procreation was not given by the Creator for fornication; and the movement of anger is given to us, so that we are angry at sin, and not at our neighbor. So let us not blame nature or the Creator when we abuse this movement, just as we cannot blame him who gave a knife for use and need, and he who took the knife committed murder with it. We have said this to show that the passion of money-loving does not come from nature, but only from a wicked and corrupt consent. When this ailment finds a cold and unfaithful soul at the beginning of another life, it will suggest some valid and justified reasons to retain what it acquires. She paints in the monk’s mind the long old age and weakness of the body, suggests that what the monastery provides for the needs of the body is not enough even for the healthy, not only for the sick, that in the monastery they do not worry about the sick, that they are completely neglected, and if one of the monks does not have gold saved, then he dies a heavy death. Then he suggests that the monk cannot stay in the monastery because of the hard work and strictness of the fathers. And when such thoughts tempt him to keep at least a little money, he persuades the monk to secretly learn needlework from Abba so that he can increase the desired silver. Next, he tempts the wretched man with uncertain hopes, telling him about the profit from needlework, and thanks to the profit – about an easier life and carefreeness. Then the monk begins to think only about the profit and not the visionary evil around him: neither fierce anger when he suffers losses, nor darkened with sadness when he loses the hope of receiving a profit. As for others the belly becomes a god, so for him it is gold. Therefore, the blessed apostle, knowing about this, calls love of money not only the root of all evils (1 Tim. 6, 10), but also idolatry. So we see to what great sin this disease pushes a person, it can even lead to idolatry (Col. 3, 5), because a silver lover turns his mind away from the love of God and loves human idols made of gold.Darkened by such thoughts, the monk gravitates towards the worst and can no longer have any obedience. He is indignant, embarrassed and complains against everything, contradicts, and there is no longer any reverence in him. He gallops along the ravines like a furious horse, is not satisfied with the daily food and, without being ashamed, says that he cannot bear it, says that God is not only here and he can be saved not only in this place, and says that if he does not leave this monastery, he will perish. He becomes an accomplice of this corrupt thought, and with them, as if with light wings, he intends to leave the monastery, so he proudly and resolutely objects to all instructions, behaves like a stranger, as if he came from somewhere, and as soon as he sees something in the monastery that needs to be corrected, he immediately despises, and hums, and ridicules everything that is in the monastery. He also gives a reason to be angry or offended at him, so that he himself does not seem frivolous when he leaves the monastery without a reason. If he can lead someone else out of the monastery with whispers and empty words, he will not hesitate to do so in order to have an accomplice in his weakness. A silver lover is burned by the fire of his money, so he will never be able to remain silent in the monastery or live according to the rule. When the devil, like a wolf, steals him from the fold and separates him from the flock, as one destined for a feast, then he teaches him to do in his cell all the things that he carelessly did in the appointed hours in the monastery. He does not allow him to observe the usual prayers, fasting, or rules of vigil, but he binds him with an insane love of silver and teaches him to take up needlework as diligently as possible. There are three types of this disease, which are equally rejected by the Holy Scriptures and the teachings of the fathers. One teaches wretched monks to acquire and collect what they did not have in the world. The second causes pity for those who have renounced their possessions, and urges them to seek what they have given to God. And the third binds the eunuch from the very beginning with infidelity and coldness, preventing him from completely renouncing worldly things, teaching him to fear poverty and not to trust God’s thoughts, making him a violator of the vows he made when he renounced the world. We have already said that in the Divine Scriptures we find examples of condemnation of these three types. We see how Gehazi (2 Kings 5, 22) wanted to acquire property that he did not have before, and lost the prophetic grace that the teacher wanted to give him, and instead of a blessing, a prophetic oath and eternal leprosy fell on him. And Judas wanted to take away the property that he left behind when he followed Christ, and not only betrayed the Lord (Mt. 26, 15) and fell from the apostolic face, but ended his life in the body by suicide. Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1) withheld some of the profits, and the apostles punished them with death. And the great Moses in Deuteronomy mysteriously commands those who promise to renounce the world and still cling to earthly things out of fear of infidelity, saying: “He who is a coward and has a broken heart, let him go, let him return home, so that the heart of his brothers does not grow cold like his” (Deuteronomy 20, 8). Is there anything more certain and clear than this testimony?Is it not from this that we, who renounce the world, learn to completely renounce and go into battle in such a way that we do not start weak and corrupt and thereby turn others away from evangelical perfection, causing them to fear? And some misinterpret the words of the Divine Scripture “It is more blessed to give than to receive”, applying them to their delusion and desire for the silver of love, twisting the meaning of what was said and distorting the Lord’s teaching, which says: “If you want to be perfect…go, sell what you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me” (Mt. 19, 21), and they think that instead of poverty, it is better to have wealth and to give soap from the surplus. Let such people know that they have not yet renounced the world and have not reached other perfection, because they are ashamed to become poor in Christ with the apostle and to serve themselves and the needy with the labor of their hands, to fulfill another vow and to be glorified with the apostle, who gave away all his wealth and was often “in hunger and thirst… in the cold and nakedness!” (2 Chron. 11, 27). Let such people strive in good deeds with the apostle Paul. If wealth were necessary for perfection, then the apostle himself would have understood this and would not have neglected his position, because he was a Roman citizen. And those who in Jerusalem sold their houses and estates and laid the price of what was sold at the feet of the apostles, would not have done this if the apostles had taught them that it is better to feed on their own property, and not on their own labor and what people give them. The apostle speaks even more clearly about this in the Epistle to the Romans, saying: “Now I am going to Jerusalem to serve the saints, because Macedonia and Achaia have decided to make some kind of collection for the needs of the poor saints in Jerusalem. They have decided, and owe them” (Rom. 15, 26-27). And he himself was often chained, and sat in prisons, and suffered the hardships of the journey, but he earned his living by the labor of his own hands. Narrating that he received alms from the brothers who came to him from Macedonia, he says: “I was helped in my need by the brothers who came from Macedonia” (2 Cor. 11, 9). And he writes to the Philippians, saying: “And you, Philippians, know that at the beginning of the gospel sermon, when I left Macedonia, no Church took part in giving and acceptance, because you sent me to Thessalonica once and twice for my needs” (Phil. 4, 15-16). According to the silver lovers, the Philippians are better than the apostle, because they gave him alms from their possessions. But there are still no such completely insane people who would dare to say so. When we want to follow the Gospel commandment and the whole Church, which was built from the beginning on the apostles, let us not listen to our opinion and do not twist good words, but, rejecting a cold and false opinion, let us accept the truth of the Gospel. So we will be able to follow our fathers, and we will not violate the rules of common life, and we will truly renounce this world. It will be good to remember the words of the saint here. It is said that St. Basil, the bishop of Caesarea Cappadocia, said to one senator who renounced the world, but kept some of his property: “And you lost your senatorship, and you did not become a monk.”He likes to cut off from our soul the root of all evils, which is the love of silver, with all vigilance. It is well known that when there is a root, then the branches also grow easily. And the virtue of non-acquisition is not easy to fulfill for those who do not live in kenovia; in Kenovia, you don’t have to worry about even the most necessary things. Remembering the fate of Ananias and Sapphira, let us be afraid to keep something of our property. Let us be afraid of the punishment that Gehazi suffered for his love of silver, who was struck by leprosy, and let us not dare to collect for ourselves such estates as we did not have in the world. Remember us and Judas, who hanged himself, and let us be afraid to collect possessions, if we ourselves have renounced them. And most of all, let us always remember death, because we do not know how and at what hour our Lord will come and find our conscience, defiled by the love of money, and tell us, as in the Gospel he said to the rich man: “You fool! This very night your soul will be taken from you, and what you have gathered, to whom will it be?” (Lk. 12, 20). About anger Our fourth feat is against the spirit of anger. We must, with God’s help, remove his deadly poison from our souls. When it settles in our heart and blinds the eyes of the heart with dark confusion, then we cannot acquire prudence in useful things, nor spiritual knowledge, nor keep the perfect good counsel, nor become partakers of the true life, and our mind will not be able to contemplate the divine and true light, because it is said: “My eye is disturbed by anger” (Ps. 6, 8), and we will not be partakers of the divine wisdom, although, according to everyone, we would be very wise, because it is written: “Anger dwells in the hearts of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7, 10); we will not be able to accept salutary thoughts and advice, even though people will think that we are wise, because it is written that anger also destroys the wise; we will not be able to stay on the path of truth with a sober heart, because it is said: “The wrath of man does not work the justice of God” (James 1, 20); will not even be able to acquire the meekness and good-naturedness that everyone praises them so much, because it is said: “An angry man (Prov. 29, 22) is not good-looking.” Whoever wants to become perfect and wants to legitimately undertake a spiritual feat, let him turn away from all vice, anger and rage. And let him hear what the chosen vessel – the apostle Paul – commands him: “All annoyance, anger, rage, shouting and blasphemy must be rooted out from among you together with all malice” (Eph. 4, 31). Saying “everything”, he does not leave us any reason for anger, as if it is important and we need it. Whoever wants to correct his brother when he sins, or to forbid him, let him himself remain undisturbed, so that, wanting to heal another, he does not bring an illness upon himself and the gospel word is not spoken to him: “If you punish, heal yourself” (Lk. 4, 23). And again: “Why are you looking at the speck in your brother’s eye? Do you not see the log in your own eye?” (Mt. 7, 3). The movements of anger, kindled for any reason, blind the soul’s eyes and do not allow the Sun of truth to be seen, like one who has placed gold or olive plates on his eyes and does not allow the eyes to see, and does not distinguish the eyes that are in front of them a precious metal.Thus, for some good or bad reason, anger is kindled and darkens the soul. Only then, according to nature, do we use rage, when we raise it against passionate and voluptuous thoughts. This is how the prophet teaches us, saying: “Being angry, do not sin” (Ps. 4, 5), that is, raise your anger against your passions and evil thoughts and sin by not listening to what they throw at you. And the prophet adds to this the following thought: “Repent of what you say in your hearts on your beds”, that is, when evil thoughts come into your heart, drive them out with anger against them, and when you drive them out and find yourself on the bed of speechlessness, then repent. The apostle Paul also agrees with this, confirms it and adds: “Let the sun not set on your anger, and do not give place to the devil” (Eph. 4, 26-27). That is, do not act so that the Sun of truth – Christ – due to anger and connection with evil thoughts will set in your heart, because when Christ leaves, then the devil will find a place in you. About this Sun, God himself says through the prophet: “On those who fear my name, the sun of truth will shine, and healing will be in their wings.” If we understand what is said in the Scriptures, we will learn that we cannot hold our anger even until the sun goes down. What can we say about those who, with the fury and frenzy of a passionate disposition, not only keep their anger until sunset, but also spread it for long days, not speaking to each other and not listening to each other, multiplying the poison of malice to their own destruction, not knowing that it is good to refrain not only from the anger that bursts out, but also from the anger that is in the thoughts, so that the mind does not darkened by the darkness of malice, did not fall from the light of good judgment and did not lose the presence of the Holy Spirit in him. That is why the Lord commands in the Gospel to leave your gift in front of the altar and go to reconcile with your brother (Mt. 5, 24), because our sacrifice will not be pleasing to God when we keep within ourselves rage and malice. And the apostle, commanding to pray without interruption (1 Thess. 5, 17) and to raise reverential hands in every place without anger, teaches us to think about this. It remains for us to either never pray and thereby violate the commandment of the apostle, or, trying to fulfill his command, pray without anger and malice (1 Tim. 2, 8). And since we often neglect offended or resentful brothers, saying: “They are not grieved because of us”, the Physician of souls, wanting to uproot such deception from our hearts, orders us to leave a gift and make peace with our brother not only when we are offended by our brother, but also when he is offended against us rightly or wrongly, to treat him with reconciliation, and then to bring a gift. But why dwell so long on the Gospel and apostolic commandments? You can learn the same thing from the Old Testament, which is supposedly more lenient towards us, but says: “You shall not hate your brother in your heart” (Lev. 19, 17). And also: “The road of malice leads to death”, and here it is forbidden not only to show anger, but to keep it in thoughts.Therefore it behooves those who follow the Divine law to struggle with all their might against the spirit of anger and against the infirmity that lies within us, and not to be filled with rage against people and go into the desert and the mouth of darkness, because there is nothing that prompts them to anger, and in seclusion it is good to acquire the virtue of endurance. It is because of pride and because we do not want to blame ourselves and attribute the cause of embarrassment to our negligence, we want to withdraw from the brothers. And as long as we attribute the causes of our weakness to others, it is impossible for us to achieve complete endurance. And the beginning of our correction and peace begins not with the fact that our neighbor tolerates us, but with our non-maleficence towards our neighbor. When, moving away from the feat of endurance, we go into the desert and seclusion, we will take our passions there with us, not cured, but hidden. Because desert and solitude in those who have not gotten rid of passions, not only protects passions, but also hides them and does not let you feel in yourself which passion wins. The desert, on the contrary, throws up such dreams of virtue and assures them that they have already attained enduring grace and humility, as long as there is nothing that annoys and tempts them. When some reason happens that incites and excites them, then the passions hidden inside, which were hidden before and fed on silence and idleness, like unbridled horses, break out of their stables and carry their rider stronger and more furiously to destruction. More often the passions that we learn from people rage in us, and the very shadow of patience and endurance that we must have, we lose when we find ourselves among brothers, because we are careless in labor and seclusion. As poisonous beasts lying in their lairs in the desert, when they sense the approach of someone, then show their unselfishness, so passionate people are silent, not from the love of virtue, but because they are compelled by the desert, and then throw out poison from their souls when someone approaches and irritates them. Therefore, whoever wishes to attain perfect meekness, let him try in every way not to be angry not only with people, but also with animals and soulless things. I remember how, when I was in the desert, I was angry with the cane for writing that it was too coarse or too thin, and I was angry with the tree when I could not cut it quickly. Thus, when anger spreads, it attacks even soulless things. But when we want to receive the Lord’s bliss, we not only need to restrain manifestations of anger, but also not to be angry in our thoughts. It is not so much useful for us to restrain our mouths in times of rage and not to speak fierce words, as to cleanse our hearts of malice and not to turn evil thoughts against our brother in our thoughts. Evangelicalism teaches to cut off the roots of sins more than the fruits. When you cut off the root of anger from your heart, no deeds of envy or hatred will be done. “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15), because he kills his brother without seeing him in his imagination. People do not see his blood shed by the sword, but God sees the slain in thought and mood.Because he rewards everyone not only for actions, but also for thoughts, either with crowns or with torments, as he himself says through the prophet: “I am going to collect their deeds and thoughts.” And the apostle also says: “…in their hearts, as their conscience and thoughts testify to them, sometimes condemning them, then justifying them, on the day when God… will judge the secret deeds of people” (Rom. 2, 15-16). The Lord Himself, teaching us how it pleases us to reject all anger, says in the Gospels: “Everyone who is angry with his brother will be judged” (Mt. 5, 22). Thus it is firmly stated in the scriptures. The Lord’s intention is to cut off the root and spark of anger by all means and not to keep a single cause of anger within himself. Because anger can start with a seemingly valid reason, and then lead to frenzy and wordless rage. The best medicine for this disease is to believe that we do not need to raise our anger, whether rightly or wrongly. When the spirit of anger darkens the thought, then neither the light of prudence, nor the confirmation of the right counsel, nor the administration of the truth will be found in us, and our soul will not be able to be the temple of the Holy Spirit, because the spirit of anger has darkened our thought and ruled over us. And finally, we like to remember our death every day, that we do not know when it will come, and to know that it will not benefit us either from fasting, or from renunciation, or from fasting and vigils – if we are possessed by anger and hatred, then we will be judged. About sadness Our fifth feat is against the spirit of sadness, which darkens all spiritual vision in the soul and prevents it from doing good deeds. When this evil spirit takes hold of the soul and darkens it all, it will not allow it to pray zealously, nor to read the Holy Scriptures with benefit, nor to be meek and affectionate to the brothers, and it invests hatred in all works and even life according to vows. Sorrow confuses the soul so that it does not hear all the simple salutary advice, weakens its strength and patience, makes it as if insane and insensitive, bound by the thought of despair. Therefore, if we intend to perform a spiritual feat and defeat evil spirits with God’s help, let us protect our hearts from the spirit of sadness as much as we can. As a moth wears clothes, and a worm eats wood, so sadness eats away at a person’s soul, teaching him to avoid all kind conversation and not to accept advice from sincere friends, not allowing him to answer them well and peacefully, but, having covered the whole soul, fills it with bitterness and boredom. And in the end, he suggests that he run away from people, as if they are the cause of his confusion. Sorrow does not allow the soul to know that its ailment does not come from outside, but is hidden in itself and is revealed when temptations come and wake it up with their movements. A person will never be harmed by anything if there is no reason for passions in him. And that is why God, the Creator of everything and the Physician of our souls, who alone sees the wounds of the soul, commands us not to depart from people, but to cut off the causes of vices contained in us. And to know that the health of the soul is obtained not in distance from people, but in being with the virtuous and in a feat.When we leave our brothers for some seemingly good reasons, we do not remove the causes of sadness, but only change them, and our illness continues to hide inside and is revealed by something else. That is why we all do a feat against our inner passions. When, by grace and God’s help, they will be thrown out of the heart, then it will be easy for us to live not only with people, but also with wild animals, according to the words of the blessed Job: “And the wild animal will be with you in peace” (Job 5, 23). First of all, we like to struggle against the spirit of sadness, which throws the soul into the water, to drive it away from our hearts. This spirit prevented Cain from repenting of fratricide, and Judas from betraying the Lord. Let us dwell only in that sorrow that happens in repentance for sins, and next to it comes a good hope; the apostle says about her: “Sorrow for the sake of God produces saving repentance” (2 Cor. 7, 10). Sorrow for God nourishes the soul with the hope of repentance and is combined with joy. Therefore, it makes a person alert and ready for any good deed, approachable, humble, gentle, not spiteful, patient in all good works and patience. This is sorrow for the sake of God, and through it the fruits of the Holy Spirit are recognized in a person, that is, joy, love, peace, long-suffering, kindness, faith, self-control. And in the opposite sadness, we recognize the fruits of the evil spirit, that is, boredom, impatience, rage, hatred, arguing, despair, laziness in prayer. We must avoid this sadness just as we avoid fornication, and love of money, and rage, and other passions. And they treat it with prayer, and hope in God, and the teaching of divine words, and reverent stay with people. About boredom Our sixth feat is against the spirit of boredom, which combines and cooperates with the spirit of sadness. This is a fierce and strong demon that is always at war with the monks. He attacks a monk at six o’clock, instills terror in him and causes hatred for the place itself, and for his fellow brothers, for all work, and for reading the Divine Scriptures, and gives him thoughts of moving to another place, and if he does not move, then all his labors and all his life will be in vain. In addition to all this, hunger at six o’clock also suggests to him, which would not come upon him even after a three-day fast, or the longest journey, or the hardest work. He also thinks that he will not be able to get rid of this disease and this burden in any other way, except by frequent walks and visits to the brothers, allegedly for the sake of benefit or visits to the sick. If this spirit cannot seduce the monk with such thoughts, then it induces a deep sleep on him and attacks him with greater force and fortitude, and is not relieved by anything else, except by prayer, distancing from idle talk, teaching divine words and enduring temptations. When the devil finds a monk who is not fortified with this weapon, then, having aimed at him with his arrows, he makes him a wanderer, both lazy and idle, prompting him to go around numerous monasteries and not bother about anything, except to see where dinners and banquets are held. He who fell into boredom thinks only about such unnecessary things.Then the devil slowly drags the monk into worldly things, leads him little by little with such harmful actions, until he completely pulls him away from other vows, although the apostle, like a wise physician, shows how to tear it out of our souls by the root, and points out the reasons that give rise to it, saying: “And we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to avoid every brother who lives in idleness, and not for for you yourselves know how to imitate us. We did not cause disorder among you, nor did we work hard day and night, so as not to make it difficult for anyone, but to give ourselves as an example for you to follow us to work, let him not eat. However, we hear that some of you live in laziness and do nothing, only idleness. We command such people through our Lord Jesus Christ to work calmly and eat the bread they have earned” (2 Chron. 3, 6-12). We hear how clearly the apostle shows us the reasons for boredom. He calls those who do nothing lazy, and with this one word he rebukes them for sin. He who does nothing is lazy, and irreverent, and bold in his words, quick to reproach, therefore incapable of speechlessness and unbelief. The apostle orders to stay away from such people, that is, to stay away, as from a deadly disease. Because they live “not according to the tradition” that the faithful received from the apostles. With these words, the apostle says that they are proud, and scoffers, and destroyers of the apostolic traditions. And he also says: “They did not eat anyone’s bread for nothing, but day and night they worked hard and bitterly so as not to make it difficult for anyone among you” (2 Chronicles 3, 8). The teacher of the nations, the preacher of the Gospel, who was taken to the third heaven, teaching that the Lord commanded the preachers of the Gospel to live by preaching, himself works day and night so as not to become a burden to anyone. What will we do when we are too lazy to work and are chasing rest for the body? We are not entrusted with overseeing the Churches or preaching the Gospel, we only need to oversee our own souls. Even more clearly, the apostle points out the harm from laziness when he says: “They do nothing, only idleness”, – from idleness comes idleness, that is, curiosity, from such curiosity – lawlessness, from lawlessness – every sin. Indicating what should be treated from him, the apostle adds: “We command and command such… to work calmly and eat the bread that you have earned yourself.” And to this he also adds a prohibition: “If someone does not want to work, let him not eat” (2 Chronicles 3, 12.10). The holy fathers in Egypt, having learned from these words of the apostle, do not allow the monks to be idle for a single moment, especially the young monks, knowing that through hard work and boredom they drive away, and earn their own bread, and help the poor. They work not only for their own needs, but also give from their labor to strangers, the poor, and prisoners, believing that such charity, such a holy sacrifice is pleasing to God.And the fathers also say that whoever works, he fights with one devil and is oppressed by him, and the idle person is attacked by numerous spirits. It will also be good to remember the words of Abba Moses, the most experienced of the fathers, which he told me. When I was in the desert for a while, I was tormented by boredom, I came to Abba and said that yesterday I was tormented by boredom and I was very tired, and I did not get rid of it until I went to Abba Paul. Abba Moses answered me, saying: “No. You have not freed yourself from it, but, on the contrary, you have succumbed to it even more. Know that it will attack you even more when you leave your rank, until you finally overcome it with patience, prayer and needlework.” About vanity Our seventh feat against the spirit of vanity. This is a variety and the most subtle passion, and the one on whom it attacks will not quickly notice it. Because the attachments of other passions are more noticeable, and it is easier for the soul to fight with them, when it knows who its enemy is, and opposes him, and fights him with prayer. The sin of vanity, since it is of various kinds, is not easy to overcome. He comes in every beginning, in a look, in a word, in silence, and in deed, and in vigils, and in fasting, and in prayer, and in readings, and in silence, and in long-suffering. Vanity is added to all this and tries to injure Christ’s soldier. He who cannot be tempted to vanity by luxurious clothes, is tempted by old clothes. Whom he cannot exalt with honors, he exalts with the so-called patience of dishonor. He who cannot be forced to flaunt his eloquence, is flattered for his silence, like the mute. Those who cannot be relaxed with exquisite dishes, fast relaxes to praise. Thus, in every deed and in every undertaking, he gives the evil devil a reason to attack. And besides that, it also teaches to dream about dignity. I remember one old man: when he lived in a hermitage, he went to a brother’s cell to visit him, and when he approached the door, he heard the brother talking in the cell. The old man thought that the brother was reading the Scriptures, and he began to listen, and heard that the brother, struck by vanity, was himself being ordained a deacon and giving leave to those who had been announced. Hearing this, the old man knocked on the door and entered. The brother, having met him, bowed according to custom, and tried to find out how long the old man had been standing under the door. And the old man meekly answered him, saying, “I came when you were giving leave to those who were announced.” Hearing this, the brother fell at the old man’s feet and begged to pray for him, so that he would get rid of this delusion. I mentioned this in order to show to what insensitivity this demon drives a person. Whoever wants to perform a feat perfectly and be crowned with the crown of truth, let him try by all means to defeat this multifaceted beast, always remembering David’s words: “God has scattered the bones of men who please men” (Ps. 52, 6). Let him do nothing for the sake of human praise and hope for a reward only from the Lord. Always rejecting the thoughts that come to his heart and praise him, let him humble himself before God. So he will be able to free himself from the spirit of vanity. About pride Our eighth feat is against the spirit of pride. He is the fiercest and most evil of all.He most attacks the perfect, and tries to turn back those who have risen almost to the top of virtue. Just as a deadly disease destroys one part of the body and destroys all, so pride destroys not a part of the soul, but the whole of it. Of the other passions, each one, although it disturbs the soul, fights only against one virtue and, trying to defeat it, partially darkens the soul and confuses it. And the passion of pride darkens the whole soul and leads to the greatest fall. In order to better understand what has been said, let’s look at it this way: gluttony tries to destroy temperance, fornication – promiscuity, love of money – poverty, rage – meekness and other sins try to destroy the opposite virtues. When the sin of pride takes possession of a wretched soul, it destroys it like some fierce tormentor who has captured a great city. The witness of this is that angel who fell from heaven because of pride, who was created by God and adorned with all virtue and wisdom, but wanted to attribute it to his nature, and not to God’s grace. That is why he imagined himself equal to God. Exposing this thought of his, the prophet says: “You said in your heart: – I will ascend to heaven, I will set my throne above God’s stars and I will sit on the mountain of assembly… I will ascend to the top of the clouds, I will become like the Most High” (Is. 14, 13-14). And you are a man, not God. And yet another prophet says: “Why do you, strong in malice and iniquity, boast?” (Ps. 51, 3). Knowing this, let us be afraid and with all vigilance protect our souls from the deadly spirit of pride whenever we manage to acquire some virtue, repeating the words of the apostle: “Not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor. 15, 10). And those words that the Lord said: “Without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). And the words of the prophet: “If the Lord does not build the house, let the poor builders work” (Ps. 126, 1). And it is also said: “This is not the business of the one who wants, nor of the one who runs, but of God, who has mercy” (Rom. 9, 16). Even if someone is inflamed with the greatest zeal and burns with desire, limited by flesh and blood, he will not be able to reach perfection otherwise than by the mercy of Christ and His grace. Because the apostle James also says: “Every good gift… comes down from above” (James 1, 17). And the apostle Paul: “What do you have that you did not receive? But when you received, why do you boast, as if you did not receive?” (1 Kr. 4, 7), – and as if it is yours? And that our salvation is by God’s grace and mercy is evidenced by the robber who did not receive the Kingdom of Heaven as a reward for his virtues, but by God’s grace and mercy. Knowing about this, our fathers all unanimously told us that there is no other way to achieve the perfection of virtue than through humility, which is through faith, and fear of God, and meekness, and complete selflessness. Through him, we will gain perfect love through the grace and manly love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.