Venerable Macarius of Egypt

Spiritual conversations (1 10)

An allegorical explanation of the vision described by the Prophet Ezekiel.

About the kingdom of darkness, that is, sin, and that God alone can take away sin from us and deliver us from slavery to the evil prince.

That brethren should live among themselves sincerely, in simplicity, in love, in peace, but wage struggle and warfare with inner thoughts.

Christians, in order to be worthy of heavenly praise from God and from the angels, must carefully and carefully carry out their course in the field of this world.

There is a great difference between Christians and the people of this world. Some, having the spirit of the world within them, are bound by earthly ties in their hearts and minds; while others desire the love of the heavenly Father, having Him alone as the object of all their desires.

Those who intend to please God must pray in peace, in silence, in meekness and wisdom, so that, by praying with cries, they do not become a temptation for everyone. In this conversation there are two questions: are thrones and crowns material creations? and what are the twelve thrones of Israel?

About Christ's condescension to man. This conversation also includes several questions and answers.

About what happens to Christians during prayers, and about the measures of perfection, that is, whether Christians can achieve a perfect measure.

That God's promises and prophecies are fulfilled under various trials and temptations, and that those who adhere to the one God are delivered from the temptations of the evil one.

About the gifts God's grace are preserved and increased by humility and zeal, but are lost by arrogance and negligence.

Conversation 1. An allegorical explanation of the vision described by the Prophet Ezekiel.

1. The prophet Ezekiel related the Divine and glorious phenomenon and vision that he saw, and described it as a phenomenon filled with unspeakable mysteries. He saw on the field a cherubic chariot and four spiritual animals. Each animal had four faces: one was the face of a lion, the other was the face of an eagle, another was the face of a calf, and the face of a man. And each face had wings, so that none of them could be distinguished between the front and the back. Their cloaks are full were tow, and the breasts are also full of eyes, and there was no place not full of eyes. With each face there were three wheels, like a wheel within a wheel, and in the wheels there was a spirit. And the Prophet saw, as it were, the likeness of a man, and his foot was as if made of sapphire. This chariot (that is, Cherubim and animals) carried the enthroned Lord. Wherever He pleased to go, the animals everywhere had their faces turned. And the Prophet saw under the Cherubim as if a man's hand, who supported and carried them (Ezek. 1:5-28).

2. True and certain was what the Prophet saw in admiration; but it pointed to something else, prefigured something mysterious and divine, a mystery truly hidden from birth; revealed in last times, at the coming of Christ. The prophet contemplated the mystery of the soul, which has to receive its Lord and become the throne of His glory. For the soul, which the Spirit, having prepared it for His seat and abode, deigned to partake of His light, and shone with the beauty of His ineffable glory, becomes all light, all face, all eye; there is not a single part of it that is not filled with the spiritual eyes of light, that is, there is nothing darkened in it; but it is entirely made of light and spirit, it is all filled with eyes, and has no last or back side, but from everywhere it appears as a face, because the ineffable beauty of the glory of the Light of Christ has descended on it and sits on it. And like the sun everywhere it is similar to itself: it does not have a single last or insufficient part, but, consisting of identical parts, it all completely shines with light, and everything is light, or, like fire, that is, the very light of fire, all of itself similar, and has in itself neither first nor last, neither greater nor less: so the soul, completely illuminated by the indescribable beauty of the glory of light from the face of Christ and completely entered into communion with the Holy Spirit, and vouchsafed to become the dwelling place and throne of God, becomes the entire eye , all with light, all with face, all with glory, all with spirit, as Christ, who bears, leads, supports, and lifts her up, has prepared, arranged and adorned her with spiritual beauty. For it is said that human hand was under the Cherubim (Ezek. 1:7). Christ Himself carries the soul and leads it.

3. The four animals carrying the chariot represented the image of the sovereign powers of the rational soul. Just as the eagle reigns over birds, the lion over wild animals, the ox over meek animals, and man over all creatures: so in the rational soul there are more royal powers, that is, will, conscience, mind and the power of love. The chariot of the soul is driven by them, God rests in them. But according to another way of explanation, of course this is about the heavenly Church of Saints. And how the Prophet says about the animals that their height was excessive, that they were full of eyes, and that it was impossible for anyone to comprehend the number of eyes, or height, because no knowledge of this was given; just as the stars in the sky are given to every person to see and marvel at them, but it is impossible for anyone to know their number: in the same way, it is given to everyone who wants to strive to enter and enjoy the heavenly Church of Saints, but to know and embrace the number of Saints, this belongs to the one God. He who sits on the chariot and on the throne of all-holy animals, that is, in every soul that has become His throne and seat, which has become His eye and light, walks and rushes, sitting on it, and ruling the reins of the spirit, and directing it, as He Himself knows. Just as spiritual animals walked, not where they themselves wanted to go, but where He who sat on them and Guided them knew and wanted, so He Himself rules over souls and leads them, showing the way by His Spirit. Thus, souls ascend to heaven not of their own free will, when they want; but God directs the soul, having overthrown the body, to strive in thought to heaven, and again, when it pleases Him, it walks in the flesh and in thoughts, then by His will it moves to the limits of the earth, and He shows it revelations of the mysteries. O truly excellent, good, one and true Bridle Holder! Thus, if the soul is now glorified and has entered into unity with the Spirit, then the bodies will also be honored with a part in the resurrection.

4. And that the souls of the righteous are made into heavenly light, about this the Lord himself said to the Apostles: you are the light of the world(Matt. 5:14). He himself, having made them light, commanded that the world be enlightened through them, and says: Below they burn a lamp and place it in a hidden place, but on a candlestick, and it gives light to everyone in the temple. Thus let your light shine before men(15, 16). And this means: do not hide the gift that you received from Me, but tell everyone who wants it. And further: The lamp of the body is the eye: if thy eye be light, your whole body will be enlightened: If your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. Even if there is light in you, there is darkness, then there is darkness(Matt. 6, 22. 23)? Just as the eyes are light for the body; and when the eyes are healthy, the whole body is illuminated; and when something gets into the eyes and they are darkened, then the whole body is in darkness: thus the Apostles were appointed as eyes and light for the whole world. Therefore, the Lord, commanding them, said: “If you, being the light of the world, stand and do not go astray, then the whole body of the world will be enlightened. And if you, the light of the world, are darkened; then darkness, that is, the world How long?" So, the Apostles, having become light, served as a light for the believers, enlightening their hearts with that heavenly light of the Spirit with which they themselves were enlightened.

5. And just as they were salty, they dissolved and salted every believing soul with the salt of the Holy Spirit. For the Lord said to them: you are the salt of the earth(Matthew 5:13), calling it earth human souls; because they served the souls of men with the heavenly salt of the Spirit, dissolving them and making them unrotten and uninfected by the great stench. Just as meat without salt rots and becomes filled with a great stench, and because of the unbearable stench everyone turns away from it; and worms crawl in rotten meat, find food there, eat it and nest in it; but as soon as salt is sprinkled, the worms that fed on the meat are destroyed and die, the foul smell stops; because salt, by its nature, destroys worms and destroys the stench: in the same way, every soul, unsalted by the Holy Spirit, not participating in the heavenly salt, that is, God's power, rots and is filled with the great stench of evil thoughts; why does the face of God turn away from the terrible stench of vain thoughts of darkness and passions living in such a soul; evil and terrible worms creep into it, that is, crafty spirits and dark forces, feed, nest, creep there, eat and corrupt it. For it is said: my wounds have grown stale and rotten(Psalm 37:6). But as soon as the soul resorts to God, believes and asks for the salt of life, the good and humane Spirit, the descending heavenly salt destroys the terrible worms in it, destroys the harmful stench, and cleanses the soul with the action of its power. And thus, when true salt makes her healthy and unharmed, she is again introduced into use and service to the heavenly Lord. Therefore, in the Law, to signify this, God commanded that every sacrifice be salted with salt (Lev. 2:13).

6. So, it is necessary that first the priest kill her, and she die, and then, cut into pieces, she should be salted, and finally, she should be laid on the fire. For if the priest does not first hand over the sheep to slaughter and death, then it is not salted and is not offered to the Lord for full fruitfulness. So our soul, approaching the true Bishop, Christ, must be slain from Him and die for its wisdom and for the bad life that it lived, that is, for sin; and just as life leaves the victim, the cunning of passions must leave it. Just as a body, when the soul leaves it, dies and no longer lives the life that it lived, does not hear, does not walk: so, when the heavenly Bishop Christ, by the grace of His power, gives over to the slaughter and puts to death the life in the soul for the world, it dies for that evil one. the life that she lived, and no longer hears, no longer speaks, no longer lives in sinful darkness; because the wickedness of the passions, like her soul, comes out of her by grace. And the Apostle cries out, saying: The world is crucified to me, and to the world(Gal. 6:14). For the soul, while it lives in the world and in sinful darkness, and is not mortified by Christ, but still has in itself the soul of vice, that is, the action of the darkness of sinful passions, and is nourished by this, does not belong to the body of Christ, does not belong to the body of light, but is a body darkness, and to this day is still on the side of darkness; just as, on the contrary, those who have within themselves the soul of light, that is, the power of the Holy Spirit, are on the side of light.

7. But someone will say: why do you call the soul the body of darkness, when it is not a product of darkness? Pay attention to this and understand correctly. Just like the everyday clothes you wear were prepared by someone else, and you dress in them; likewise, another man built and constructed a house, and you live in it: in the same way Adam, having transgressed God's commandment and having listened to the evil serpent, he sold and gave himself over to the devil, and the soul, this beautiful creation, which God prepared in His image, the evil one put on, as the Apostle says: attracted the beginning and the authorities, defeated them on the cross (Col. 2:15). For this was the purpose of the coming of the Lord, to drive them out and return to Himself His own house and temple of man. Therefore, the soul is called the body of evil darkness while sinful darkness remains in it; because she lives and is kept there during the evil age of darkness, just as the Apostle, mentioning the body of sin and the body of death, says: may the body of sin be abolished(Rom. 6:6); and further: who will deliver me from the body of this death(Rom. 7:24)? Likewise, and vice versa, the soul that believed in God, got rid of sin, died to a dark life and received the light of the Holy Spirit into itself as life, and came to life in it, already spends its life there; because it is held there by the light of the Divine. For the soul is not from God’s nature and not from the nature of evil darkness, but is an intelligent creature, full of beauty, great and wonderful, a beautiful likeness and image of God, and the wickedness of dark passions entered into it as a result of crime.

8. Finally, the soul belongs to the one with whom it is in communion and unity with its desires. Therefore, either, having God’s light within her and living in it and adorned with all sorts of virtues, she participates in the light of repose; or, having sinful darkness within himself, is subject to condemnation. For a soul that wants to live with God in eternal peace and light, according to what was said before, must come to the true Bishop Christ, undergo slaughter and die for the world and for the former life of evil darkness, and repose into another life for divine education. If someone dies in a city, he hears neither the voices, nor the speeches, nor the noise of those living there, but as soon as he dies, he is transported to another place, where there are neither voices nor cries of that city: so the soul, as soon as it is given up to slaughter and dies in that city of harmful passions in which she lived and spent time, no longer hears the voice of conversations of darkness within herself, the talk and cry of vain conversation and rebellion of the spirits of darkness are no longer heard in her, but she settles in a city filled with goodness and peace, to hail Divine light; and there he lives and hears, there he takes citizenship, he rants and converses, there he performs spiritual deeds worthy of God.

9. Therefore, we will pray that by His power we may receive the slaughter and die for the evil age of darkness, so that the spirit of sin may be destroyed in us, so that the soul will receive the heavenly Spirit, put on Him, move from sinful darkness into the light of Christ, and rested in life for centuries. Just as chariots rush through a race, and the one ahead of them delays the other, hinders and prevents her from going forward and anticipating victory: so spiritual and sinful thoughts rush through a person, and if a sinful thought happens to forestall, it delays the soul, hinders and prevents it from approaching God and winning victory over sin. And where the Lord himself sits and rules the soul, there He always wins, skillfully and constantly ruling the reins and guiding the chariot of the soul to the heavenly and divine way of thinking. He does not wage war against sin, but, as plenipotentiary and sovereign, He always decides victory Himself. That is why the Cherubim rush, not where they themselves want to go, but where He who sits on them and Rules them guides; Wherever He pleases, there they go, and He Himself carries them; for it is said: human hand was under them. Holy souls are carried and guided by the Spirit of Christ, Who rules wherever He pleases. And whenever He pleases, they rush about in heavenly thoughts; and whenever you want, in the body. Wherever He pleases, there they serve Him. Just as a bird's legs are served by its wings; Thus, the heavenly light of the Spirit receives the wings of thoughts worthy of the soul, guiding and ruling where He knows.

10. Therefore, as soon as you hear this, pay attention to yourself, has this really and truly been acquired by your soul? For these are not words merely spoken, but deeds truly accomplished in the soul. And if you have not acquired such spiritual blessings, but are still poor; then you must grieve, cry and be sick incessantly. As one still dead to the kingdom, and as one wounded, always cry out to the Lord and ask with faith, so that you too may be worthy of this true life. God, having created this body, gave it that it does not borrow life, food, drink, clothing, shoes from its own nature, not from the body; but on the contrary, having created the body in itself naked, he arranged for it to borrow everything necessary for life from outside, and it is impossible for the body to live without what exists outside of it, that is, without food, without drink, without clothing. If it limits itself to what is in its nature, without borrowing anything from outside; then it collapses and dies. In the same way, the soul, which does not have God’s light in itself, but was created in God’s image (for God so designed and pleased that it should have eternal life), not from its own nature, but from His Divinity, from His own Spirit, from His own light receives spiritual food, and spiritual drink, and heavenly garments, which constitutes the true life of the soul.

11. As in the body, according to what was said before, life is not from itself, but from what is outside it, that is, from the earth; and without that which exists outside of him it is impossible for him to live: so the soul, if it is not now reborn into that land of the living and there spiritually nourishes and grows spiritually, excelling before the Lord, and does not clothe its Divinity in the indescribable garments of heavenly beauty, then without it It is impossible for food to live on its own in pleasure and peace. For the nature of God also has the bread of life, the One who said: I am the bread of the animal(John 6:35), and I live on water(John 4:10), and wine that gladdens the heart of man(Psalm 103:15), and oil of joy(Psalm 44:8), and the varied food of the heavenly Spirit, and the luminous heavenly garments given by God. This is the heavenly life of the soul. Woe to the body when it stops in its nature because it collapses and dies. Woe to the soul if it stops at its own nature and trusts only in its own works, without having communication with the Divine Spirit; because he dies without being worthy of eternal Divine life. Just as they despair of the sick when their body can no longer take food, and all their relatives, friends, relatives and loved ones cry for them: so God and the holy Angels recognize those souls worthy of tears who do not partake of the heavenly food of the Spirit and do not live in incorruption . And this, I repeat, is not just spoken words, but the very work of spiritual life, the work of truth, accomplished in a worthy and faithful soul.

12. So, if you have become the throne of God, and the heavenly Bridle Holder has sat in you, and your soul has become all the spiritual eye, and all the light; if you are fed with this heavenly food of the Spirit, and drunk with living water; if you put on clothes of ineffable light; If inner man yours has experienced all this experimentally and undoubtedly: then you live truly eternal life, and your soul even now rests with the Lord; You really have acquired and received this from the Lord, so that you can live the true life. If you don’t recognize anything like that in yourself: then cry, grieve and lament; because until now you have not yet acquired eternal and spiritual wealth, until now you have not yet accepted true life. Therefore, lament your poverty, beseeching the Lord day and night; because you are in terrible sinful impoverishment. And oh, if only someone could acquire this sorrow for his poverty! Oh, if only we didn’t spend our time carefree, like the satiated! Whoever grieves, and seeks, and persistently asks the Lord, will sooner receive deliverance and heavenly riches, as the Lord said, concluding a word about the unrighteous judge and the widow: how much more will God do? vengeance of those who cry out to Him day and night? To her, I say: he will take their vengeance soon(Luke 16:7-8). To him be glory and power forever! Amen.

Conversation 2. About the kingdom of darkness, that is, sin, and that God alone can take away sin from us and deliver us from slavery to the evil prince.

1. The evil prince of the kingdom of darkness, having first captivated a person, invested and clothed the soul with the power of darkness, just as a person is clothed in order to make him a king and give him all the royal robes, and so that from head to nails he wears everything royal. So the evil prince clothed the soul with sin, its entire being, and desecrated it all, captivated everything into his kingdom, did not leave a single member of it free from his power, nor thoughts, nor mind, nor body, but clothed it in the purple of darkness. Just as in the body not one part of it suffers, or not just one of its members, but the whole thing is completely subject to suffering: so the entire soul suffered from the infirmities of vice and sin. The evil one has clothed the entire soul, this necessary part of man, this necessary member of him, in his malice, that is, in sin; and thus the body became suffering and corruptible.

2. When the Apostle says: take off your clothes old man(Col. 3:9), then he means a perfect person, whose eyes correspond to his eyes, his head to his head, his ears to his ears, his hands to his hands, and his feet to his feet. For the evil one has defiled and drawn to himself the whole man, soul and body, and has clothed man in the old man, defiled, unclean, God-fighting, disobedient to God’s law, into sin itself, so that he would no longer look as it would be desirable for man, but would see evilly, and he heard evilly, and his feet hastened to do evil, and his hands worked iniquity, and his heart plotted evil. Therefore, let us also pray to God to strip off the old man; because God alone can take away sin from us. Stronger than us are those who captured us and kept us in their kingdom; but God made a promise to deliver us from this slavery. When the sun is shining and some wind is blowing; and the sun has its own body and its own nature, and the wind has its own nature and its own body, and no one can separate the wind from the sun unless the one God stops the wind so that it no longer blows. So sin was mixed into the soul; but both sin and the soul have their own special nature.

3. Therefore, it is impossible to separate the soul from sin unless God stops and stops this evil wind that dwells in the soul and body. And also, just as someone sees a flying bird and wants to fly himself; but, without wings, he cannot fly: similarly, a person has a desire to be pure, blameless, undefiled, to have no vice in himself, and to always be with God; but he doesn’t have the strength to do it. He wants to fly into the divine air, into the freedom of the Holy Spirit; but he cannot until he receives wings. Therefore, let us pray to God to give us krill pigeon Let us fly to Him and rest in peace (Psalm 54:7), and may He separate us from soul and body, and may the evil wind, the very sin that lives in the members of the soul and body, cease in us. For He alone can do this. Said: Behold, Lamb of God, take away the sins of the world(John 1:29). He alone has created this mercy for people who believe in Him, which saves them from sin; He brings this inscrutable salvation to those who always expect and hope, and continually seek this.

4. Just as in a dark and deep night some cruel wind blows and causes all the plants and seeds to move, confuse and shake: so man, having fallen under the power of the dark night of the devil, and being in the night and darkness, is terribly blown by the wind sin is brought into vibration, shaking and movement; his whole nature, soul, thoughts and mind are in confusion, all his bodily members are in shock. Not a single member of soul or body is free and cannot help but suffer from the sin that lives in us. Likewise, there is a day of light and the divine wind of the Holy Spirit, which blows and revives souls who are in the days of Divine light, and penetrates the entire being of the soul, and thoughts, and the entire essence, and all bodily members, cools and reposes with Divine and unspeakable peace. The Apostle expressed this: not true children nights below darkness: for you are sons of light and sons of the day(1 Sol. 5:5). And how, in deception, the old man put off the perfect man from himself and wears the clothes of the kingdom of darkness, the clothes of blasphemy, unbelief, lack of fear, vanity, pride, love of money, lust, and in a similar way, other clothes of the kingdom of darkness, unclean and vile rags: so here again, those who have put off the old and earthly man, and from whom Jesus has stripped off the garments of the kingdom of darkness, have put on the new and heavenly man Jesus Christ, and also again, they have their eyes according to their eyes, and their ears according to theirs. his ears, and, accordingly, his head, so that the whole person is pure and bears the heavenly image.

5. And the Lord clothed them in the robes of the kingdom of ineffable light, in the robes of faith, hope, love, joy, peace, mercy, goodness, and likewise in all other divine, life-giving robes of light, life, unspeakable peace, so that, like God there is love, joy, peace, goodness, mercy, and so new person made this by grace. And just as the kingdom of darkness and sin are hidden in the soul until the day of resurrection, when the darkness now hidden in the soul covers the very body of sinners: so the kingdom of light and the heavenly image of Jesus Christ mysteriously now illuminates the soul and reigns in the soul of the saints; but, remaining hidden from human eyes, with the sole eyes of our soul we truly see Christ until the day of resurrection, when the body itself will be covered and glorified by that light of the Lord, which is still now in the human soul, so that then the body itself will reign together with the soul, even now accepting the kingdom of Christ into herself, resting and illuminated by eternal light. Glory to His bounty and compassion! He has mercy on His servants, and enlightens and delivers them from the kingdom of darkness, and gives them His light and His kingdom. To him be glory and power forever! Amen.

Conversation 3. That brethren should live among themselves sincerely, in simplicity, in love, in peace, but wage struggle and warfare with inner thoughts.

1. Brothers should be in great love with each other. Whether they pray, or read the Scriptures, or engage in any kind of work, let them lay love for each other as the foundation; in this case, their will may be worthy of God's favor. And whoever prays, and whoever reads, and whoever works, can do everything with benefit if they live among themselves in righteousness and simplicity. For what is written? Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth(Matthew 6:10) so that, just as the Angels in heaven abide among themselves in great unanimity, living in peace and love, and there is no exaltation or envy, but mutual love and sincerity, so the brethren abide among themselves. If some thirty people happen to be doing one thing, they cannot continue this all day and all night; on the contrary, some of them will spend six hours in prayer and want to read, while others diligently serve, while others are engaged in some kind of work.

2 Therefore, brethren, if they do anything, they must be careful mutual love and in joy. Let the one who works say this about the one praying: “The treasure that my brother owns is common; therefore, I also own it.” And whoever prays, let him say about the reader like this: “what he uses in reading will serve me well.” And whoever works, let him say the following again: “there is a general benefit in the service I provide.” Just as there are many bodily members, and they form one body, and mutually help each other, and each member performs its own work; Moreover, the eye looks at the whole body, and the hands work for all the members, and the legs walk, carrying all the parts of the body, and one member has compassion for others: so let the brethren be among themselves. And whoever prays, let him not condemn the one who works because he does not pray. And whoever works, let him not judge the one praying, saying: “He continues his prayer, but I work.” And whoever serves, let him not judge another. On the contrary, whatever he does, let him do it for the glory of God. Let the one who reads with love and joy look at the one praying, reasoning like this: “He is praying for me too.” And the one who prays thinks about the one who works in this way: “What he does, he does for the common good.”

3. And thus, great unanimity, peace and unanimity can contain everyone among themselves in a union of peace, and it will be possible to live with each other in righteousness and simplicity, attracting God's favor to oneself. The most important thing of all, as is obvious, is staying in prayer at the right time. Moreover, let the object of search be to have treasure and life in the soul, that is, to have the Lord in mind. Whether anyone works, or prays, or reads, let him have this enduring acquisition, that is, the Holy Spirit. Some say that the Lord demands from people only obvious fruits, but God himself performs the secret ones. But this is not how it happens in reality; on the contrary, no matter how much someone protects himself according to the external person, he must fight and wage war with his thoughts just as much; because the Lord requires you to be angry with yourself, to fight with your mind, not to agree to evil thoughts, and not to delight in them.

4. But in order to eradicate sin and the evil that lives in us, this can only be done by God’s power. For it is not given and impossible for man to eradicate sin by his own strength. It is within your power to fight it, resist it, inflict and receive ulcers; but to eradicate is God’s work. And if you yourself were able to do this, then what would be the need for the Lord’s coming? Just as it is impossible for the eye to see without light, or to speak without a tongue, or to hear without ears, or to walk without legs, or to work without hands: so without Jesus it is impossible to be saved, or to enter the kingdom of heaven. If you say: “apparently I am not a fornicator, not an adulterer, not a lover of money; therefore, I am righteous”; then you are deluded by this, thinking that you have already accomplished everything. There are not only three parts of sin from which a person must protect himself, but thousands of them. Where does arrogance, lack of fear, disbelief, hatred, envy, deceit, hypocrisy come from? Shouldn't you wage war and struggle with them in secret and in your thoughts? If there is a robber in your house; then this already crushes you, and does not allow you to be carefree, even you yourself begin to attack him, inflict wounds on him and accept them: so the soul must resist, confront and reflect.

5. Your will, opposing, remaining in labor and sorrow, finally begins to gain the upper hand; it both falls and rises; sin brings him down again; in ten and twenty struggles he conquers and overthrows the soul; but over time, the soul also overcomes sin in one way or another. And again, if the soul stands firm and does not weaken in any way, then it begins to take advantage, solve the matter and gain victories over sin. But if you look carefully at this, then sin still overcomes a person until will not reach He perfect for her husband, according to her age(Eph. 4:13), and death will not completely conquer. For it is written: the last enemy will be eliminated by death(1 Cor. 15:26). This is how people overcome sin and become its winners. And if, as we said above, someone says: “I am not a fornicator, not an adulterer, not a lover of money, this is enough for me”; then in this case he fought with three parts, but with the other twenty, with which sin also fights with the soul, he did not fight, on the contrary, he was defeated by them. Therefore, one must fight and strive in everything; because the mind, as we have repeatedly said, is a fighter, and has equal power to argue with sin and resist thoughts.

6. If you say that the opposing force is stronger, and vice completely reigns over a person; then you blame God for injustice, who condemns humanity for listening to Satan. When Satan is strong and conquers himself with some kind of compelling force; then, in your opinion, he is higher and stronger than the soul. Finally, listen to me. If a young man fights with a youth, and the youth is defeated, and the youth is condemned for being defeated, then there is great injustice in this. Therefore, we affirm that the mind is a fighter, and an equal fighter. And the struggling soul, having sought help and protection, receives it and is granted deliverance; because struggle and achievement are possible with equal strength. Let us glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.

Conversation 4. Christians, in order to be worthy of heavenly praise from God and from the angels, must carefully and carefully carry out their course in the field of this world.

1. Whoever wants to lead a Christian life with great accuracy and perfection, is obliged with all his might to take care, first of all, of the meaning and understanding of the soul, so that, having acquired the ability to accurately distinguish between good and bad, and in any case recognizing what has come into pure nature unusual for it, for us to live correctly and without stumbling, and so that, using reason as an eye, we will be able to not become friends and not come into agreement with the suggestions of vice, and through this, having been granted the Divine gift, become worthy of the Lord. Let us take an example from the visible; because there is a similarity between body and soul, between the physical and the spiritual, the visible and the hidden.

2. The body has the eye as its guide, and it sees, and the whole body leads in the proper way. Imagine that someone is walking in wooded places, overgrown with thorns and shady, where fire blocks the path and swords are stuck; there are rapids and a lot of waters there. If the traveler is resourceful, careful and undaunted, then, having his eye as a guide, he passes through these difficult places with great care, and with his hands and feet restrains his tunic in every possible way so as not to be torn between the trees and among the thorns, not to be soiled with mud, not to be cut with swords; and the eye, serving as light for the whole body, shows it the way, so that it does not crush on the rapids, or drown in the waters, or suffer harm in some difficult place. Thus, a resourceful and intelligent traveler, carefully picking up his tunic, walking directly according to the direction of his eye, preserves himself unharmed, and keeps the tunic he puts on unburnt and untorn. If a careless, lazy, careless, clumsy, inactive person passes through such places; then his tunic, fluttering here and there, because the traveler lacks the strength to pick up his clothes in every possible way, is torn on twigs and thorns, or catches fire from the fire, or is cut by stabbed swords, or becomes dirty in the mud; in a word, his beautiful and new tunic will soon spoil due to his inattention, inactivity and laziness. And if the traveler does not pay full and proper attention to the indication of the eye; then he himself will fall into the ditch, or drown in the waters.

3. In a similar way, the soul, wearing on itself, like a beautiful tunic, the clothing of the body, and having within itself an intellect that gives direction to the whole soul and body when it passes through the wooded and thorny paths of life, among mud, fire, and rapids , that is, lusts and pleasures and other incongruities of this age, one must restrain and protect oneself everywhere with sobriety, courage, diligence and attentiveness. And so that the bodily tunic in the wooded and thorny places of this world does not become torn somewhere from worries, leisure and earthly entertainment, and does not burn from the fire of lust; then the soul clothed in it turns away the eye so as not to see evil, and also turns away the ear so as not to hear gossip, keeps the tongue from vain conversations, hands and feet from evil activities; because the soul is given the will to turn away the bodily members and not allow them to see bad sights, to hear anything evil and shameful, to obscene words, to engage in worldly and evil activities.

4. The soul itself turns away from evil whirling, protecting the heart so that its thoughts do not wander in this world. And thus laboring, using all diligence and with great attention in every case keeping the bodily members from being bad, the beautiful tunic of the body is kept untorn, unscorched, unblackened. And she herself, by the curiosity, intelligence and prudence of her will, will be protected most of all by the power of the Lord, since, to the best of her strength, she restrains herself and turns away from every worldly desire, and for this she receives help from the Lord for her actual protection from those who have been counted. higher than evil For the Lord, as soon as he sees that someone is courageously turning away from worldly pleasures, from material entertainment and worries, from earthly bonds and from the whirling of vain thoughts, gives him His gracious help, and keeps this soul, which perfectly completes its course, unstumbling. its own in the present evil age. And thus, the soul is awarded heavenly praise from God and the Angels for the fact that it perfectly protected both itself and the tunic of its body, as much as it was possible for it, turning away from all worldly lust, and, helped by God, it perfectly completed its course in the field of this world.

5. If someone, through inactivity and carelessness, walks carelessly in this life, and of his own free will does not turn away from all worldly lust, and does not seek with all his desire the one Lord; then the tunic of his body is torn from the thorns and trees of this world, scorched by the fire of lust, desecrated by the dirt of pleasures; and therefore, on the day of judgment, the soul turns out to lack boldness, because it was not able to keep its clothing undefiled, but corrupted it among the deceptions of this age. For this reason she is ejected from the kingdom. For what will God do with one who, of his own free will, gives himself over to the world, is seduced by its pleasures, or wanders, circling in material things? He gives His help to those who turn away from material pleasures and from previous skills, always forcefully direct their thoughts towards the Lord, renounce themselves, and seek the only Lord. God watches over him who, in the wilds of this world, at all times beware of snares and snares, who works out his salvation with fear and trembling(Phil. 2:11), with all care avoids the snares, snares and lusts of this age, seeks the Lord's help and, by the mercy of the Lord, hopes to be saved by grace.

6. Behold, the wise five virgins, sober, hastening to something unusual for their nature, taking oil into the vessels of their hearts, that is, the grace of the Spirit given from above, were able to enter with the Bridegroom into the heavenly palace. Other foolish virgins, remaining in their own nature, were not sober, and did not try, while they were still in the flesh, to take into their vessels oil of joy(Psalm 44:8), but out of negligence, inactivity, carelessness, ignorance, or out of conceit about their righteousness, they gave themselves over to sleep; and for this they were not allowed into the palace of the kingdom, as they could not please the heavenly Bridegroom. Being held back by worldly ties and some earthly love, they did not devote all their love and commitment to the heavenly Bridegroom, and did not bring oil with them. And the souls who have sought something unusual for nature, the holiness of the Spirit, are attached with all their love to the Lord, walk with Him, turning away from everything, directing prayers and thoughts to Him; for which they were honored to receive the oil of heavenly grace; and after this they can continue their course without stumbling, completely pleasing the spiritual Bridegroom in everything. The souls that remain in their nature creep on the earth with their thoughts, think about the earth, and their mind has its dwelling on earth. They think of themselves that they belong to the Bridegroom, and are adorned with carnal excuses; but without receiving the oil of joy, they were not reborn by the Spirit from above.

7. The five mental and spiritual senses, if they receive grace from above and the holiness of the Spirit, truly become wise virgins who have received grace-filled wisdom from above. And if they remain with their nature alone, then they become holy fools and turn out to be children of the world; because they have not been led astray by the spirit of the world, although, according to some probabilities and outward appearances, they think about themselves that they are the Bridegroom’s brides. As souls who are completely attached to the Lord, they remain in Him with their thoughts, they offer prayers to Him, they walk with Him, and they long for the love of the Lord; so on the contrary, souls who have given themselves over to the love of the world and who desire to have their residence on earth walk there, dwell there in thought, and there their mind lives. And therefore, they are averse to the good wisdom of the spirit, as something extraordinary for our nature, but by this I mean heavenly grace, which must enter into composition and unity with our nature, so that we can enter with the Lord into the heavenly palace of the kingdom and obtain eternal salvation.

8. As a result of the disobedience of the first man, we accepted into ourselves strange passions for our nature, and through habit and long-term assimilation we turned them into nature for ourselves; and again, by the extraordinary for our nature, the heavenly gift of the Spirit, it is necessary to expel this strange thing from us and restore us to our original purity. And if now, with much prayer, supplication, faith, prayer, and aversion from the world, we do not accept into ourselves this heavenly love of the Spirit, and our nature, defiled by vice, does not cleave to love, that is, to the Lord, and will not be sanctified by this love Spirit, and we will not remain unstumbling to the end, living exactly according to the commandments of the Lord; then we will not be able to gain the kingdom of heaven.

9. I intend, to the best of my ability, to utter some subtle and thoughtful word. Therefore, listen intelligently. The boundless, unapproachable and uncreated God, by His boundless and unthinkable goodness, embodied Himself, and so to speak, as if diminished in unapproachable glory, so that He could enter into unity with His visible creatures, I mean the souls of Saints and Angels, and they could to be involved in the life of the Divine. And every creature, angel, soul, and demon, by its own nature, is a body; because, although they are refined, yet in their essence, in their distinctive features and in their image, according to the refinement of their nature, they are subtle bodies, whereas this body of ours is plump in its essence. So the soul, being refined, is clothed with an eye with which it sees, and an ear with which it hears, and likewise with a tongue with which it speaks, and with a hand; and in a word, having clothed itself with the whole body and its members, the soul dissolves with the body, as a result of which all vital functions take place.

10. In the same way, the limitless and inconceivable God, in His goodness, humbled Himself, clothed Himself with the members of this body and hid Himself from unapproachable glory. By condescension and love for mankind, being transformed, He embodies Himself, enters into unity, receives holy, well-pleasing and faithful souls, and, according to Paul’s saying, becomes with them one Spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), the soul, so to speak, in soul, and hypostasis into hypostasis, so that the soul, worthy of God and pleasing to Him, can live in renewal and feel immortal life, and become a partaker of imperishable glory. For this too visible creature He brought from non-existence into being in some great variety and with many differences, and it did not exist until it was brought into being. He wanted, and without difficulty created from nothing coarse and hard creatures, for example: mountains, trees (see how hard their nature is!), then medium waters and from the waters he commanded birds to be born, and even the finest: fire and winds, and even those that are subtle and invisible to the physical eye.

11. And how the boundless and inscrutable art of God’s manifold wisdom created from nothing bodies rough, and subtle, and soft, carried out by God’s will; so all the more does He Himself, and as He wants, and with whatever He wants, out of unspeakable goodness and unthinkable kindness, transforms, belittles, likens Himself to the saints and worthy faithful souls, fleshing Himself out, according to their acceptability, so that the Invisible is visible to them, and The intangible, in proportion to the property of spiritual subtlety, was tangible, and so that souls could feel His goodness and sweetness, and through experience themselves would enjoy the light of ineffable pleasure. When He wants, He is a fire, consuming every unworthy and spiritual weakness that has arisen in us. For it is said: Our God is a consuming fire(Heb. 12:29). And when he wants, there is ineffable and ineffable peace, so that the soul rests in the peace of the Divine. When it wants, it brings joy and peace, warms and protects the soul.

12. If, for the joy and joy of spiritual creatures, he wants to liken Himself to one of the creatures, for example: the city of light Jerusalem, or the heavenly mountain Zion; then everything can happen as He pleases, according to what was said: you approach Mount Zion, and the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem(Heb. 12:22). Everything is easy and convenient for Him, whatever He wants, being transformed for the souls of His worthy and faithful ones. May only man strive to become pleasing and pleasing to Him, and through experience will tangibly see heavenly blessings, inexpressible pleasure, the boundless riches of the Divine, in the true sense, whom eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and the heart of man has not sighed(1 Cor. 2:9), he will see the Spirit of the Lord, who has become rest, joy, pleasure and eternal life for worthy souls. For the Lord embodies Himself both in food and drink, as it is written in the Gospel: Whoever eats of this bread will live forever(John 6:51) to unspeakably rest the soul and fill it with spiritual joy. For he says: I am the bread of the animal(John 6:35). And in a similar way He embodies Himself in drinking the heavenly stream, as He says: Whoever drinks of the water, I will give to him; there will be in him a fountain of water flowing into an everlasting belly.(John 4:14). AND all, it is said also writing beer(1 Cor. 10:4).

13. Thus, as He Himself favored, and as it was useful, He appeared to each of the holy Fathers, otherwise to Abraham, otherwise to Isaac, otherwise to Jacob, otherwise to Noah, Daniel, David, Solomon, Isaiah and each of the holy Prophets, otherwiseElijah, otherwiseMoses. And I think that Moses, throughout the forty-day fast on the mountain, began this spiritual meal, was comforted and enjoyed it. Therefore, as He Himself pleased, He appeared to each of the saints to give rest, to save and to bring to the knowledge of God. For whatever He wants is convenient for Him, and belittling Himself as He pleases, He embodies and transforms Himself, becoming visible to those who love Him, out of great and inexpressible love, in the unapproachable glory of light, appearing worthy, in proportion to the strength of each. And the soul, which has been honored with great lust and aspiration, with faith and love, to accept into itself this power from above, the heavenly love of the Spirit, and already has within itself the heavenly fire of immortal life, truly renounces all worldly love, frees itself from all bonds of vice.

14. Just as iron, or lead, or gold, or silver, put into fire, lose their property of hardness, changing into soft substances, and while they are in the fire, by the power of fiery heat, they melt and change their natural hardness: in the same way the soul, having renounced the world and loved the one Lord, with great heartfelt searching, in work, in feat, constantly waiting for Him with hope and faith, and having accepted into himself that heavenly fire of Divinity and the love of the Spirit, he really then renounces all worldly love, frees himself from all harm of passions, sweeps away everything from herself, changes her natural quality and her sinful rigidity, considers everything unnecessary, in the one heavenly Bridegroom, whom she accepted to herself, resting in ardent and unspeakable love for Him.

15. I tell you that even the most beloved brothers whom one has before one’s eyes, if they are stopped in that love, the soul, so to speak, turns away; because life and peace are mysterious and ineffable communication with the heavenly King. For the love of carnal intercourse separates one from father, mother, and brothers; and everything that concerns them is done in the mind as an outsider. And if a person loves them, then he loves them as a stranger; nevertheless he has his affection for his partner. For it is said: For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh(Eph. 5:31). And therefore, if carnal love so renounces all love, then how much more so will those who are truly worthy to enter into communion with that heavenly and longed-for Holy Spirit renounce all love for the world, and everything will seem unnecessary to them; because they are overcome by heavenly desire, and in close dependence on it; there are desires, there are their thoughts, there they live, there their thoughts walk, there the mind always has its abode, overcome by divine and heavenly love and spiritual desire.

16. After this, beloved brethren, when so many good things are laid before us, and so many promises are proclaimed by the Lord; Let us remove all difficulties from ourselves, let us turn away from all love in the world, and devote ourselves to the search and desire for that only good, so that we may come to the state of acquiring that ineffable love of the Spirit, to which Blessed Paul advised us to hasten, saying: stick to love(1 Cor. 3:1), and so that we, after our cruelty, may be worthy of change from the right hand of the Most High, and having been wounded by the love of the Divine Spirit, come to meekness and spiritual peace; because the Lord, with great compassion, has mercy on us, as soon as we turn completely to Him, cutting ourselves off from everything that is opposed. Even if, due to great ignorance, due to infancy and because of the rooting of vices in us, we turn away from life, and put many obstacles for ourselves, without really wanting to repent; then He, who is long-suffering towards us, shows great mercy, as soon as we turn, we come to Him and enlighten our inner man, so that our faces will not be ashamed on the day of judgment.

17. If this seems difficult to us, due to the severity of the feats of virtue, it is better to say, due to the suggestion and advice of the opponent; then the Lord is still merciful and long-suffering, waiting for our conversion, and if we sin, he endures it in the hope of our repentance, and if we fall, he is not ashamed to accept us again, as the Prophet said: Padayai food does not rise? Or turn away will not turn(Jeremiah 8:4)? We will only become sober by acquiring a good thought; Let us quickly and rightly turn to Him, seeking His help; and He is ready to save us; because he expects the ardent, to the best of our strength, aspiration of our good will towards Him from the will of faith and zeal, and He Himself produces all success in us. Therefore, beloved, having stripped ourselves of all prejudice, negligence and laziness, as children of God, let us try to become courageous and ready to follow His footsteps; let us not put it off day after day, carried away by vice; for we do not know when our departure from the flesh will take place. Great and ineffable are the promises to Christians, and so great that with the faith and wealth of one soul, all the glory and beauty of heaven and earth, and their other decoration and diversity, and wealth, and beauty, and the pleasure of the visible cannot even be compared.

18. So, with so many promptings and promises of the Lord, how can we not wish for us to approach the Lord completely and dedicate ourselves to Him, above all else, according to the Gospel, renouncing our souls, to love Him alone, without loving anything else? All this has been given to us, and what glory! How many views of the Lord about us since the time of the Fathers and Prophets! How many promises have been proclaimed! So many incentives! What kindness the Lord showed us from the beginning! Finally, at His coming, He proved His ineffable goodness towards us by the crucifixion, so that He might bring us who had converted into life. But we have not yet parted with our desires, with our love for the world, with bad prejudices and habits, and through this we turn out to be of little faith, or even unfaithful! However, despite all this, the Lord remains merciful to us, invisibly protecting and resting us, not betraying us to the end, according to our sins, vice and deceptions of the world, through great goodness and long-suffering, not allowing us to perish, having still in I believe that we will turn to Him someday.

19. But I am afraid that for us, who live, neglecting everything, and are led by prejudices, the Apostolic saying will not be fulfilled over time, namely: or about the riches of His goodness and meekness and long-suffering, careless, ignorant, how the goodness of God leads you to repentance(Rom. 2:4)? If, with His long-suffering, kindness and meekness, we increase the number of sins, and through our negligence and neglect we prepare for ourselves the gravest condemnation: then the Apostolic word will be fulfilled on us: because of your cruelty and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of God’s righteous judgment(5). For the goodness of God is great and inscrutable, God’s long-suffering towards the human race is inexpressible, if only we wish to become sober and try to turn completely to God, so that we may be able to achieve salvation.

20. And if you want to know God’s long-suffering and the great goodness of God; then we can learn this from the inspired Scriptures. Look at the Israelis, from whom fathers, by which the promises were determined, from whom is Christ according to the flesh, and from whom is the ministry and covenant(Rom. 9, 4. 5). How much did they sin? How many times have you been seduced? And God did not abandon them at the end; but for a short time, for their own benefit, he subjected them to punishment, wishing with sorrow to soften their hardness of heart, converted, encouraged them, sent prophets to them, and how long was he patient with them when they sinned and insulted Him? He received those who applied with joy; and when they turned aside again, he did not leave, but through the Prophets he called for conversion, and although they repeatedly turned away from Him and turned to Him, each time he took off ( metEd.) benevolently, accepted humanely, until they finally fell into great sin, laying hands on their own Master, Whom, according to the tradition of the Fathers and holy Prophets, they expected to be their Redeemer, Savior, King and Prophet. For when He came, they did not accept Him, but even after subjecting Him to great humiliation, they finally handed Him over to death on the cross. And by this great insult and excessive crime, their sins multiplied to the fullest; therefore, in the end they were already abandoned, after the Holy Spirit was removed from them, when the church veil was torn. That is why their temple, given over to the pagans, was destroyed and left desolate, according to the Lord’s determination, that not to leave one stone upon another here, lest he go bankrupt(Matt. 24:2). And thus they were decisively betrayed to the pagans and scattered throughout the whole earth by the kings who then captured them, and they were commanded not to return to their country.

21. So now God, merciful and kind to each of us, shows His long-suffering. Although he sees repeated insults from everyone, he remains silent, waiting to see if the person will sober up over time and change so as not to offend Him anymore; and with great love and joy he receives those who turn from sin. For this is what he says: there is joy in the one sinner who repents(Luke 15:10); and further: to bear the will of My Father, that one may perish from these little ones(Luke 18:14) the least. But if someone, with God’s great mercy and long-suffering towards him, when God does not subject him to punishment for every sinful stumbling block, secret or open, but seeing it, remains silent, as if expecting repentance, he himself, having reached the point of great neglect, begins to apply sins upon sins, adding carelessness to carelessness, building on one sin for another, and fulfills the measure of sins; then he finally falls into such sin from which he cannot emerge, but he is contrite, and, having given himself over to the evil one, he perishes in the end.

22. So it was with the Sodomites. Having sinned a lot and finally not turning to evil intent against the Angels, desiring to commit sodomy with them, they fell into such sin that there was no longer any room for repentance, but they were rejected in the end; because they fulfilled and even exceeded the measure of sins. And therefore, according to God’s judgment, they were burned by fire. So it was under Noah; Having repeatedly irritated God and without repenting for it, they prostrated themselves to such sins that they finally corrupted the whole earth. So to the Egyptians, who offended God a lot and sinned against His people, God was still merciful, did not inflict such punishments on them in order to ultimately destroy them, but only as a teaching, in order to encourage conversion and repentance, inflicted light blows on them, showing His long-suffering and waiting for their repentance. But they, having sinned in many ways before God’s people, then turning back, then repenting again, and having established themselves in the ancient unbelief of evil will, burdening God’s people with work, finally, when God through Moses with many miracles brought the people out of Egypt, they committed a great sin, chasing after the people of God. Why, the Divine judgment finally destroyed, destroyed, and drowned them in the waters, deeming them unworthy of visible life.

23. Likewise, the Israelites, as stated above, were repeatedly stumbled and sinned, killing the Prophets of God and committing many other evil deeds, while God was silently patient, waiting for their repentance; Finally, they stumbled so that they were crushed and did not rebel anymore; because they laid their hands on the Lord's majesty. And therefore, abandoned by God in the end, they are rejected; prophecy, and the priesthood, and worship were taken away from them; yet this was given to the Gentiles who believed, as the Lord says: The kingdom will be taken away from you, and the tongue that produces its fruit will be given(Matt. 21:43). Until this time, God endured them, did not cease His long-suffering, did not cease to be merciful towards them. But because they fulfilled, and even overflowed, the measure of sins, laying their hands on the Master’s majesty; then in the end they are abandoned by God.

24. We have expanded on this, beloved, with thoughts drawn from the Scriptures, confirming that, as soon as possible, we should turn and hasten to the Lord, Who is merciful to us, and expects us to completely remove ourselves from all guile and evil prejudice that turn to us. but he accepts it with great joy, and I am speaking about this more, so that our neglect does not increase from day to day, and our sins do not multiply in us, and through this we do not bring upon ourselves God’s wrath. Therefore, let us try, having turned with a sincere heart, to approach God, and since despair is the inspiration of malice and deceit, not to despair of salvation when remembering previous sins, which for this reason lead a person to despair, inactivity, negligence and carelessness, so that, having turned and having come to the Lord, due to the Lord's great mercy to the human race, he did not receive salvation.

25. If it seems to us inconvenient and impossible to turn from the multitude of sins that have prevailed over us (and such a thought, as we have already said, is an instillation of malice and serves as an obstacle to our salvation); then let us remember and not ignore how the Lord, having come to us in His goodness, gave sight to the blind, healed the paralytic, healed every disease, raised the dead who had already been touched by corruption and destruction, opened the ears of the deaf, expelled from one person a legion of demons and returned his sanity to those who had reached such a state of madness. Moreover, the soul that turns to Him, seeks His mercy, requires His help, and He will convert and lead to chastity and dispassion, to the improvement of every virtue, to the renewal of the mind, He will grant it health, insight of understanding, peace of thoughts, from blindness , deafness and deadness of unbelief, ignorance and lack of fear will lead to chastity of virtue and purity of heart. For He who created the body also created the soul. And how, being on earth, in His goodness, to all who came to Him and sought His help and healing, as the good and only doctor, whatever anyone needed, he gave it generously; He is so generous in spiritual things.

26. If He was so merciful to the bodies that were again about to collapse and die, and to everyone who asked, He did it with readiness and goodness; then how much more so for an immortal, indestructible and incorruptible soul, which has fallen into the disease of ignorance, vice, unbelief, lack of fear and other sinful passions, nevertheless comes to the Lord, seeks help from Him, mercy looks to Him, desires to receive the grace of the Spirit from Him deliverance and liberation from every vice and from every passion, with all haste and readiness He grants healing deliverance, according to this word: how much more will the heavenly Father create vengeance of those who cry out to Him day and night. The Lord adds to this: I tell you that their vengeance will come soon(Luke 18:7-8). And in another place he advises us: ask, and it will be given to you: everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and it will be opened to the one who asks.(Matt. 7:7-8). And then he adds: how much more Father your heavenly He will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him(Luke 11:13). Amen I say to you, even if he does not give it to him, he is his friend; but because of his recklessness, he rises up and gives it to him, as much as he demands.(8).

27. And with all this He convinced us to relentlessly, incessantly, tirelessly ask Him for gracious intercession; because He came for the sake of sinners, so that they would turn to Him, and to heal those who believe in Him. We will only give up evil prejudices, to the best of our ability, we will hate our evil pursuits and worldly seductions, we will turn away from evil and vain thoughts, and we will always, to the best of our strength, cleave to Him: and He is ready to provide us with His help; because He is very merciful, life-giving, heals incurable passions, creates deliverance for those who call on Him, they turn to Him of their own free will and naturally move away, to the best of their ability, from all worldly love, distract the mind from the earth, and are directed towards Him with their desire and seeking. The soul that becomes worthy of His help is the one that considers everything superfluous, does not rest on anything in the world, and waits for one thing for its repose, namely, that it will be reassured and delighted by His goodness; and therefore, for such faith, having received a heavenly gift, by grace, having undoubtedly put his lust to rest, having already served the Holy Spirit in a decent and appropriate manner, every day advancing in goodness, not deviating from the path of righteousness, remaining adamant to vice to the end, not making friends with him, and without offending grace in any way, she is honored with eternal salvation with all the Saints, whom she imitated while living in the world, as their accomplice and companion. Amen.

Conversation 5. There is a great difference between Christians and the people of this world. Some, having the spirit of the world within them, are bound by earthly ties in their hearts and minds; while others desire the love of the heavenly Father, having Him alone as the object of all their desires.

1. Christians have their own world, their own way of life, and their own mind, and their word, and their own activities; the way of life, the mind, the word, and the activity of the people of this world are different. Some are Christians, others are lovers of peace; there is a great distance between both. For the inhabitants of the earth, the children of this age, are likened to wheat poured into the sieve of this earth, and are sifted among the fickle thoughts of this world, with the constant agitation of earthly affairs, desires and multi-woven material concepts. Satan shakes souls and sifts through the entire sinful human race with a sieve, that is, earthly affairs. Since the fall, when Adam transgressed the commandment and submitted to the evil prince who took power over him, with his incessant seductive and restless thoughts he sifts all the sons of this age, and he brings them into conflict in the earthly sieve.

2. As wheat in a sifter’s sieve beats, and what is thrown into it constantly turns over: so the prince of wickedness occupies all people with earthly affairs, shakes them, leads them into confusion and anxiety, forces them to embrace vain thoughts, vile desires, earthly and worldly connections, constantly captivating , confusing, catching the entire sinful race of Adam. And the Lord predicted to the Apostles the future uprising of the evil one against them: Satan asks you to sow like wheat: I prayed To my Father, may faith not fail yours (Luke 22:31-32). For this word and definition was clearly spoken by the Creator to Cain: groaning and shaking, anxious you will be on earth(Gen. 4:12), secretly serves as an image and likeness for all sinners; because the race of Adam, having transgressed the commandment and become sinners, secretly took on this likeness. People are shaken by fickle thoughts of fear, fear, all kinds of embarrassment, desires, various kinds of pleasures. The prince of this world excites every soul not born of God, and like wheat constantly rotating in a sieve, he disturbs human thoughts in various ways, causing everyone to hesitate, and entrapping them in worldly seductions, carnal pleasures, insurances, and embarrassments.

3. And the Lord, showing that those who follow the deceptions and desires of the evil one, bear the likeness of Cain’s wickedness, and denouncing them, said: you want to do the lusts of your father, he was a murderer from time immemorial, and in truth he is not worth(John 8:44). Therefore, the entire sinful race of Adam secretly bears this condemnation: groaning and shaking, you will be troubled in the sieve of the earth by Satan, who sows you. How from one Adam the entire human race spread across the earth; So one kind of passionate corruption has penetrated the entire sinful human race, and the prince of evil alone is able to sow everyone with fickle, material, vain, rebellious thoughts. And how one wind can cause all plants and seeds to sway and whirl; and just as one darkness of the night spreads over the whole universe: so the prince of wickedness, being some kind of mental darkness of sin and death, some hidden and cruel wind, overwhelms and swirls the entire human race on earth, ensnaring human hearts with fickle thoughts and worldly desires, in the darkness of ignorance , blindness and oblivion fills every soul that is not born again, and that has not settled in thought and mind into another age, according to what has been said: is our or there is life in heaven(Phil. 3:20).

4. In this way, true Christians differ from the entire human race; and as we said above, the distance between Christians and other people is great. Since the mind and understanding of Christians are always occupied with philosophizing about heavenly things, through the communication and communion of the Holy Spirit they contemplate eternal blessings; because they are born again of God; in reality and power they were deemed worthy to become children of God; through many long-term exploits and labors they have achieved constancy, firmness, serenity and peace, they are no longer distracted and disturbed by fickle and vain thoughts: then they are thus higher and better than the world; because their mind and spiritual wisdom abide in the peace of Christ and in the love of the Spirit, just as the Lord, speaking about such, said that they had passed away from death to stomach(John 5:24). Therefore, the difference between Christians does not consist in their appearance and not in external images, as many people think that this is the whole difference, and that Christians themselves differ from each other appearance and manner. And so they become like the world in mind and understanding: they, like all other people, have the same hesitation and disorder of thoughts, the same unbelief, confusion, embarrassment, fear. Although they differ from the world in outward appearance and opinions, as well as in some external merits, however, in their hearts and minds they are bound by earthly ties, and have not acquired peace for their hearts from God and heavenly things. spiritual world; because they did not seek and did not believe that they would be worthy of this from God.

5. The new Christian creation differs from all people in the world by renewal of the mind, pacification of thoughts, love and heavenly commitment to the Lord. This is why the coming of the Lord took place, so that those who truly believed in the Lord would be worthy of these spiritual blessings. Christians belong to glory, beauty, and heavenly unspeakable wealth, acquired by labor, sweat, trials, and many deeds, but not otherwise than through God’s grace. And the sight of the earthly king is desired by every person. Whoever comes to the royal city, everyone would like to at least look at its beauty, or at the decoration of its clothes, or at the splendor of its purple, at the beauty of various types of pearls, at the splendor of its diadem, at the preciousness of its royal distinctions. Unless those who live spiritually value this highly, because they have experienced a different heavenly and non-carnal glory, are wounded by a different ineffable beauty, have a share in a different wealth, live according to the inner man, are partakers of a different Spirit. And the people of this world, who have the spirit of the world within them, are very eager to see the earthly king, especially in all his splendor and in all his glory. For to what extent the king's lot in visible greatness greatly exceeds the lot of any other person; in the same way it is glorious and desirable for everyone to even just see him. And everyone says to himself: “Oh, if only someone had given me this glory, this splendor, this decoration!” Thus he pleases a person similar to himself, earthly, servile, mortal, but arousing his desire with temporary splendor and temporary glory.

6. But if carnal people desire so much the glory of the king of the earth; then people on whom this dew of the Spirit of Divine life has fallen and stung the heart with divine love for the heavenly King-Christ, are all the more attached to this beauty, to the unspeakable glory, to the imperishable splendor, to the unimaginable wealth of the true and eternal King-Christ. They surrender themselves into captivity to lust and love, completely rushing to Christ, and they desire to seize those unspeakable blessings that they contemplate in the spirit, and for this reason they value all the beauty on earth, and glory, and splendor, and honor, and the wealth of kings and princes as nothing. ; because they were stung by divine beauty, and the life of heavenly immortality sank into their souls. Therefore, they desire the one love of the heavenly King, with great lust for Him alone, having before their eyes, for His sake they renounce all worldly love and move away from all earthly bonds, so that it is possible for them to always have this one desire in their hearts, and not mix anything else with it .

7. But there are very few who have connected a good end with a good beginning, have reached the goal without stumbling, have one love for one God and have renounced everything. Many come to tenderness, many become partakers of heavenly grace, are wounded by heavenly love; but, unable to withstand the various struggles, exploits, labors and temptations encountered along the way from the evil one, since everyone has a desire to love something in this world and not completely renounce their love, returning to various and varied worldly desires, due to weakness and inactivity , either out of timidity of their own will, or out of love for something earthly, they remained in the world and were mired in its depths. And those who really intend to live a good life to the end must, with this heavenly love, not voluntarily accept into themselves and not mix in any other love and commitment, so as not to put an obstacle to the spiritual, not to go back, and finally, not to lose their life . Like promises God's Greatness, unspeakable and inscrutable; so we need faith, and hope, and labors, and great deeds, and long-term testing. The benefits that a person who desires the kingdom of heaven hopes to receive are not unimportant. He wants to reign with Christ for endless centuries; Will he really not decide with zeal, during the short time of this life until death, to endure struggles, labors and temptations? The Lord calls: If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take your cross, rejoicing every day, and it is coming for Me(Matt. 16:24). And further: Unless someone hates his father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters, and also his own soul, he cannot be My disciple.(Luke 14:26). But very many of the people, although they intend to receive the kingdom and want to inherit eternal life, nevertheless, do not refuse to live according to their own desires and follow these desires, or better yet, to follow the one who sows vain things in them; and without denying themselves, they want to inherit eternal life, which is impossible.

8. The word of the Lord is true. Those who, according to the Lord’s commandment, have completely denied themselves, abhorred all worldly desires, connections, entertainment, pleasures and activities, walk without stumbling, have only one Lord before their eyes, and desire to do His commandments. Therefore, everyone is seduced by his own will, if he really did not want to receive the kingdom and renounce himself, and with this love he loves something else, enjoys some pleasures or desires of this age, and does not have complete love for the Lord, as much as possible this is for will and desire. You will understand all this from this one example. Every person sometimes comes to his senses and knows that the thing he wants to do is incongruous with anything, however, since he has love for it and does not renounce love, he yields victory over himself. At first, within his heart there is war, struggle, and balance, and inclination, and a preponderance of either love for God or love for the world. And then the person begins to debate whether he should enter into a quarrel and argument with his brother; he says to himself: “I’ll tell him; no, I won’t. I’ll start a conversation with him; no, I won’t.” He remembers God, but also preserves his glory, and does not renounce himself. And if love and an inclination towards peace overwhelms the heart somewhat on the scales; immediately an evil thought is ready to move the lips. Then the mind, as if with a stretched arrow, shoots its neighbor from within with its tongue, and in order to preserve its glory, without any compulsion to the will, it throws arrows of obscene words. Then he continues to insult his neighbor with obscene words until sin spills over his limbs; and sometimes these members, quarreling with each other with their lips, are led to blows and wounds by evil lust, and sometimes, extending to murder, they prepare death. Look how the matter began, and what end the love of worldly glory received, having outweighed the hearts on the scales by man’s own will. Since a person has not renounced himself, and loves something in the world; then all these incongruities arise from this.

9. Also imagine every sin and bad undertaking; vice flatters and bends the will of the mind with worldly desires, seduction and carnal pleasure. This is how every evil deed is prepared, adultery and theft, covetousness and drunkenness, love of money and vanity, jealousy and covetousness, and any kind of evil intention. Sometimes apparently good undertakings are carried out for the sake of fame and human praise; and this before God is equal to untruth, theft, and other sins. For it is said: God of scattering bones of people-pleasers(Psalm 52:7). And in apparently good deeds the evil one sees himself as a service; it is very varied and deceptive in worldly desires. For some earthly and carnal love, with which a person binds himself of his own free will, catches his sin, becomes for a person shackles, bonds, a heavy burden, which drowns and suppresses him in the evil age, not allowing him to gather his strength and return to God . What a person loves in the world burdens his mind, takes possession of it and does not allow him to gather his strength. Balance, decline, and predominance of vice depend on this; in this way the entire human race is tested, all Christians living in cities, or in mountains, or in monasteries, or in fields, or in desert places are tested; because a person, caught by his own will, begins to love something; his love is bound by something and is no longer entirely directed towards God. For example, some loved property, and another loved gold and silver, and another loved much-taught worldly wisdom for human glory; some loved authority, others glory and human honors, others anger and vexation; he loves it for the very reason that he quickly gives in to passion; some love timeless gatherings, and others love jealousy; others spend the whole day in distraction and pleasure; others are deceived by idle thoughts; others, for the sake of human glory, love to be, as it were, a teacher of the law; others enjoy inactivity and negligence; the other is tied to clothes and rags; another is given over to earthly cares; others love sleep, or jokes, or foul language. What binds someone to the world, whether small or great, is what holds him back and does not allow him to gather his strength. Whatever passion a person does not fight courageously, he loves it, and it possesses him, and burdens him, and becomes a fetter for him and an obstacle to his mind to turn to God, to please Him, and, having served Him alone, to become useful for the kingdom and gain eternal life.

10. But the soul, truly striving for the Lord, fully and completely extends its love to Him, and as much as it has strength, clings to Him alone by its will, and in this it acquires the help of grace, denies itself, and does not follow the desires of its mind; because because of the evil that is ever present with us and deceives us, he walks deceitfully. On the contrary, she completely surrenders herself to the Lord’s word, renounces all visible bonds, as far as this is possible for the will, and completely surrenders to the Lord. And in this case, she will be able to endure the struggle, labor and sorrow. For whatever the soul loves, it finds both benefit and burden for itself. If he loves anything in the world, then this very thing becomes a burden and bonds for a person, dragging him down and preventing the mountain from ascending to God. And if he loves the Lord and His commandments; then in this he finds both help and relief for himself: from the very fact that he completely observes his love for the Lord, all the commandments of the Lord become easy for him. This immerses a person in goodness, or better yet, it makes it easier for him and makes all struggle and all sorrow easy for him; By God's power he overthrows the world and the forces of vice that have haunted the soul in the world, and in the abyss of the world entangle it in the midst of all kinds of desires. Thus, as soon as the soul has loved the Lord, it is snatched from these nets by its own faith and great diligence, and together with help from above it is made worthy of the eternal kingdom, and having truly loved it, of its own will and with the help of the Lord, it is no longer deprived eternal life.

11. But to prove to us more clearly by deeds how many die of their own free will, drown in the sea, are kidnapped, imagine that some house is on fire; one, intending to save himself, as soon as he learned about the fire, runs away, and leaving everything, deciding to take care only of his soul, he is saved; another, intending to take with him some household utensils or something else, entered the house to take it away, and while he was taking it away, fire took over the house, captured him in the house and burned him. Do you see that this man died in the fire of his own free will out of love, and precisely by loving for a time something other than himself? Likewise, others swim by the sea and are caught by strong waves; one, having stripped naked, throws himself into the water with the intention of saving only himself: and so, he, driven by the waves and bound by nothing except concern for his soul, floating on top of the waves, found the opportunity to get out of the bitter sea; and the other, intending to save something from his clothes, thought that with them, if he took them with him, he could swim and get out of the sea; but the clothes he took burdened him and drowned him in the depths of the sea, and so, for the sake of small self-interest, without taking care of his soul, he died. Do you notice that of his own free will he became a victim of death? Imagine also that there was a rumor about foreigners; one, as soon as he heard this, immediately indulges in flight, does not hesitate at all and sets off on the journey with nothing; the other, not trusting that enemies were coming, or wanting to take some of his things with him, and having decided on this, slowed down in his flight; and behold, the enemies came, took him, took him captive to a foreign land, and forced him to live there in slavery. Do you see that this one, of his own free will, due to his inactivity, due to a lack of courage and love for certain things, was taken into captivity?

12. Likewise, those who do not follow the commandments of the Lord, did not deny themselves, and did not love the only Lord, but voluntarily bound themselves with earthly bonds when the eternal fire comes, as they found themselves captives, or rather, prisoners in relation to good deeds, they wallow in love for the world, and drown in the bitter sea of ​​wickedness, and perish in foreign captivity, that is, captivated by evil spirits. And if you want to learn the truth of perfect love for the Lord from the holy inspired Scriptures; then look how Job stripped off, so to speak, everything that he had - children, property, livestock, slaves and other property, and how he, having stripped off everything, ran and saved himself, even leaving his very tunic and throwing it to Satan, not a word He did not utter blasphemy, nor did he grumble before the Lord with his heart or lips, but on the contrary, he blessed the Lord, saying: The Lord gave: The Lord was taken away: as the Lord willed, so it was: blessed be the name of the Lord(Job 1:21). He was considered to have acquired many things, but after being tested by the Lord, it turned out that Job had acquired nothing except God alone. Likewise Abraham, when the Lord commanded him come out from the land, and from the family, and from his father's house(Gen. 12:1), he immediately stripped himself, so to speak, of everything; fatherland, land, relatives, parents, and followed the word of the Lord. Then, among the many trials and temptations that he faced: either when his wife was taken from him, or when he lived and suffered insults on someone else’s side, in all these cases he proved that he loves one God above all else. Finally, when, according to the promise, after many years, he already had his only begotten son, so much desired, and God demanded from him that he willingly sacrifice this son himself, Abraham became distracted and truly denied himself. For by this offering of his only begotten he proved that he loved nothing other than God. If he gave away his son with such readiness; then all the more so when he was commanded to leave his other property, or to divide it at once to the poor, and he would do this with all readiness and with all zeal. Do you now see the rightness of perfect and voluntary love for the Lord?

13. Likewise, those who want to be joint heirs with these righteous people should not love anything other than God, so that when they are put to the test, they will be found useful and well-skilled, perfectly preserving their love for the Lord. Those only will be able to complete the feat to the end who have always, of their own free will, loved the one God and renounced all worldly love. But there are very few people who would accept such love, turn away from all worldly pleasures and desires, and generously endure the rebellions and temptations of the evil one. Is it because many people are carried away by the waters when crossing rivers, and these muddy rivers of worldly desires and various temptations from evil spirits are not successfully passed? Is it because many ships, hiding in the sea, are drowned by the waves; there are none that swim across this abyss, or walk on the waves, and reach a peaceful harbour? For this reason we are always in need great faith, generosity, struggle, patience, labor, hunger and thirst for everything good, speed, persistence, prudence, prudence. Very many people want to be honored with the kingdom without labor, without deeds, without shedding sweat; but this is impossible.

14. Just as in the world others come to some rich man to work for him during the harvest or during some other business in order to receive what they themselves need for their food; and some of them are lazy and idle people, they do not work like others, they do not work as they should, but without toiling and without exhausting themselves in the rich man’s house, they want, as those who have already done all the work, to receive wages on an equal basis with those who work patiently , and quickly, and with all our strength: in the same way we, when we read the Scriptures, or about which righteous man, how he pleased God, how he became a friend and interlocutor of God, or about all the Fathers, how they became friends and heirs of God how many sorrows they endured, how much they suffered for the sake of God, how many valiant deeds and exploits they accomplished; then we please them, and we want to be honored with gifts and virtues equal to them, we willingly want to receive these glorious gifts, putting aside only their labors, exploits, sorrows and sufferings; and we earnestly desire to acquire those honors and virtues that they received from God, but we do not accept their exhaustion, labors and exploits. But I tell you that every person desires and desires all this; and fornicators, and tax collectors, and unrighteous people would like to receive the kingdom so easily, without labor and deeds. This is why temptations, many trials, sorrows, struggles and shedding of sweat are laid out on the path, so that those who truly loved the one Lord with all their will and with all their might, even to death, and with such love for Him, no longer had anything something else you desire for yourself. Therefore, in truth, they enter the heavenly kingdom, having renounced themselves, according to the Lord’s word, and having loved the only Lord more than their own breath; why, for their high love they will be rewarded with high heavenly gifts.

15. In tribulations, in suffering, in patience, in faith, the promises, and glory, and arrangement of heavenly blessings are hidden, just as fruit is hidden in a grain of wheat thrown into the ground, or in a tree grafted through some damage and humiliation. Then they are found to have splendid clothing, and glory, and fruit many times over, just as the Apostle says: Through many sorrows it behooves us to enter the kingdom of heaven (Acts 14:22); and the Lord says: (Luke 21:19); and further:(John 16:33). For we need work, diligence, sobriety, great attentiveness, speed and persistence in petitions to the Lord in order for us to get rid of the desire for anything earthly, to avoid the snares and depths of pleasures, the troubles of the world, the rebellion of evil spirits, and to know exactly with what sobriety and with what swiftness of faith and love the saints here still acquired heavenly treasure, that is spiritual strength, which in their souls was the guarantee of the kingdom. For the blessed Apostle Paul, speaking about this heavenly treasure, that is, about the grace of the Spirit, and describing the excessiveness of sorrows, and at the same time showing what everyone should look for here and what he is obliged to acquire, says: We know that even if our earthly temple is ruined, the creation of God is imams, the temple is not made by hands, eternal, in heaven(2 Cor. 5:1).

16. Therefore, everyone must strive and try, by excelling in all virtues, to acquire this temple, and believe that it is acquired here. For if our bodily temple is destroyed, we have no other temple in which to dwell our soul; I mean, as said, and having clothed ourselves, we shall not be clothed with Nazism(3), that is, we will not be deprived of communion and unity with the Holy Spirit, in Whom alone a faithful soul can rest. Therefore, those who are Christians in all reality and strength firmly hope and rejoice, based on this flesh, that they have it the temple is not made by hands; this temple is the power of the Spirit dwelling in them. And if the bodily temple is destroyed, they are not afraid of it; because they have a heavenly spiritual temple, and that incorruptible glory, which on the day of resurrection will build and glorify the temple of the body, as the Apostle says: raising Christ from the dead will give life to our dead body through His living Spirit in us(Rom. 8, 11); and further: and the life of Jesus will appear in our dead flesh(2 Cor. 4:11); And: yes it will be sacrificed as said, deathly stomach(5, 4).

17. Therefore, let us try, through faith and a virtuous life, to acquire this robe for ourselves here, so that we, clothed in the body, do not find ourselves naked; and then on that day nothing will glorify our flesh. For to the extent that each person, for his faith and diligence, is worthy to become a partaker of the Holy Spirit, to the same extent will his body be glorified on that day. What the soul has now collected into its inner treasury will then be revealed and appear outside the body; just like trees, when, after winter, the invisible power of the sun and winds warms them, like a robe, they produce and throw out leaves, flowers and fruits, and at this time wild flowers emerge from the inner bowels of the earth and are covered with them and the earth and grass are clothed like the krinas, about which the Lord said: nor was Solomon clothed with all his glory, for he was one of these(Matt. 5:29). For all this serves as an example, image and likeness of a Christian on the day of resurrection.

18. So for all God-loving souls, that is, for true Christians, there is the first month of Xanthik, also called April; and this is the day of resurrection. At that time, by the power of the Sun of Truth, the glory of the Holy Spirit will be brought forth from within, covering and enveloping the bodies of the saints, the same glory that they had hidden in their souls. For what the soul now has in itself will then be revealed in the body. This month, I say, is first in the months of summer(Ex. 12:2); he brings joy to all creation; he, opening the earth, clothes the naked trees; it brings joy to all animals; he spreads joy among everyone; for Christians it is the first month of Xanthik, that is, the time of resurrection, in which their bodies will be glorified by the ineffable light, still hidden in them, that is, by the power of the Spirit, which will then be their clothing, food, drink, joy, joy, peace, clothing , immortal life. For then the Spirit of the Divine, which they have now been vouchsafed to receive into themselves, will become for them all the glory of the lightness and beauty of heaven.

19. Therefore, to what extent should each of us believe, strive, strive to live a virtuous life in all respects, and wait with hope and great patience that now he will still be worthy to receive within his soul the power from heaven and the glory of the Holy Spirit, so that then , after the destruction of bodies, should we have something that would clothe and revive us? More precisely let us put on, as it is said, Let us not find ourselves, And: He will give life to our dead body through His living Spirit in us. Blessed Moses, in that glory of the Spirit that covered his face, so that not a single person could look at it, showed us an image of how, at the resurrection of the righteous, the bodies of the saints will be glorified with that glory, which the souls of the saints and faithful here are still privileged to have within themselves. in the inner man. For it is said: we all have a frank face, that is, the inner man, beholding the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the same image from glory to glory(2 Cor. 3:18). The same Moses, as it is written, forty days and forty nights eat no bread and drink no water(Ex. 34, 28); but it would have been impossible for the physical nature to live so long without bread if it had not partaken of other spiritual food; and the souls of the saints still invisibly partake of this food from the Spirit.

20. Therefore, blessed Moses in two images showed us what glory of light and what mental delight of the Spirit true Christians will have in the resurrection, even now being honored with these mysteries; why, then they will be revealed on their bodies. For, as has already been said before, what glory the saints now still have in their souls, with such their naked bodies will be covered and clothed, and will be caught up into heaven; and then, body and soul, we will rest with the Lord forever in the kingdom. God, having created Adam, did not give him bodily wings, like birds, but prepared for him the wings of the Holy Spirit, that is, the wings that he would give in the resurrection, so that they would lift him up and take him wherever the Spirit wanted. The souls of saints are still granted these wings, soaring with their minds to heavenly wisdom. For Christians have a different world, a different meal, different attire, different pleasure, different communication, a different way of thinking; why are they better than all people. They are still now worthy to receive the power of all this into the interior of their souls through the Holy Spirit; why, in the resurrection, their bodies will be worthy of eternal spiritual blessings, and will participate in the glory that their souls have already experienced.

21. Therefore, each of us must strive and work, carefully practice all the virtues, believe and ask the Lord, so that the inner man may even now become a partaker of this glory, and the soul may have fellowship in this holiness of the Spirit, and so that, having been cleansed from the filth of vice, , and in the resurrection we have something to clothe our resurrected naked bodies with, with which to cover their shame, with which to revive and rest them forever in heavenly kingdom; because, according to the Holy Scriptures, Christ will come from heaven and resurrect all the tribes of Adam, all who have died from eternity, and will divide them into two parts, and those who have His own sign, that is, the seal of the Spirit, will place them at the right hand, declaring them to be His own. Myself. For he says: My sheep listen to My voice(John 10:27); and I know My, and they know My Me(14). Then their bodies will be clothed with divine glory for their good deeds, and they themselves will be filled with that spiritual glory that they still had in their souls. And thus, glorified by the divine light and caught up into heaven in meeting of the Lord in the air, as written, we will always be with the Lord(1 Sol. 4:17), reigning with Him for endless centuries. Amen.

Conversation 6. Those who intend to please God must pray in peace, in silence, in meekness and wisdom, so that, by praying with cries, they do not become a temptation for everyone. In this conversation there are two questions: are thrones and crowns material creations? and what are the twelve thrones of Israel?

1. Those who approach the Lord must pray in silence and peace and in great complacency, and listen to the Lord not with obscene and mixed cries, but with longing of the heart and sober thoughts. Someone suffering from illness, when they subject him to cauterization and other surgical treatments, very courageously and patiently endures the pain inflicted on him, controlling himself without confusion or embarrassment. And others, enduring the same pain, during cauterizations and surgical treatments, emit obscene screams. The pain is the same for both, both who screams and who does not scream, and who comes and who does not become confused. Thus, others have sorrow and a painful sensation, and they endure it complacently without embarrassment, mastering the thoughts of their mind; and others, having the same grief, endure it impatiently, pray with confusion and embarrassment, which tempts those who listen; others, not feeling anything painful, but for show, or out of willfulness, utter disorderly cries, as if they could please God.

2. The servant of God should not abide in such disorder, but in all meekness and wisdom, as the Prophet said: Who will I look at? only against the meek and silent, and trembling at My words(Isaiah 66, 2). We also find that under Moses and Elijah, when God appeared to them, trumpets and forces served in abundance before the greatness of the Master, but the coming of the Lord was distinguished and revealed by what was calculated above, that is, peace, silence and rest. For it is said: behold the voice of the cold is thin, there is the Lord(3 Kings, 19, 12). And this shows that the rest of the Lord consists in peace and complacency. But whatever foundation a person lays and whatever beginning a person makes, that is what he continues to the end. If he begins to pray loudly and with confusion, he will retain this skill to the end. Because the Lord loves mankind; then in other cases He also provides help to this person. Why, such people, encouraged by the action of grace, remain with their skill to the end. But we see that this is the work of the ignorant, because they seduce others, and they themselves perform the prayer in confusion.

3. The true basis of prayer is to be attentive to thoughts, and to perform prayer in great silence and peace, so that strangers are not tempted. Such a person, if he accepts God’s grace and perfection, will pray in silence to the end, and will even more serve for the edification of many. There is no disorder from God, but peace(1 Cor. 14:33). Those who pray with cries are like rowers steering; they cannot pray everywhere, neither in churches nor in villages, unless they only pray in the deserts, where they have complete freedom. Those who pray in silence will, without a doubt, edify others in every place. A person needs to direct all his effort to thoughts, and what serves as food for evil thoughts, then cut off, and direct his thoughts to God, and not fulfill the desires of thoughts, but collect whirling thoughts from everywhere into one, distinguishing natural thoughts from evil ones. The soul under sin is likened to a large forest on a mountain, or reeds in a river, or some kind of thicket of thorns and trees; therefore, those intending to pass through this place must stretch their arms forward and, with effort and difficulty, push the branches in front of them. Likewise, the soul is surrounded by a whole forest of thoughts inspired by a resistive force; why, great diligence and attentiveness of the mind are required in order for a person to distinguish alien thoughts inspired by a resistive force.

4. Others rely on their own strength, thinking by themselves to cut through the mountains standing in front of them; and the other calmly and with prudence controls his mind, and without fatigue accomplishes his work more successfully than the first. So in prayers, some resort to obscene cries, as if trusting bodily strength, not noticing the theft of thoughts, but thinking with their own strength to complete the task to perfection; while others are attentive to their thoughts and accomplish the entire feat internally. Such, with their understanding and prudence, can prosper, repel rebellious thoughts and walk in the will of the Lord. We find in the Apostle that he calls the one who edifies another great. Speak in tongues he says, he builds himself: but he who prophesies, builds the church. Prophesy rather than speak in tongues(1 Cor. 14, 4. 5). Therefore, let everyone prefer the edification of others, and he will be considered worthy of the kingdom of heaven.

5. Question. Because some say that thrones and crowns are material creations, and not spiritual beings; then how to understand this?

Answer. The Throne of the Divine is our mind, and vice versa, the throne of the mindDivinity and Spirit. And likewise, Satan, the powers and princes of darkness, from the time of the transgression of the commandment, sat in the heart, in the mind, and in the body of Adam, as on his own throne. Why, the Lord finally came and took upon Himself the body from the Virgin; because if it had pleased Him to come unveiled by the Divinity, who could have endured this? On the contrary, through this instrument “body” He spoke to people. And finally, the Lord cast down the evil spirits sitting in the body from the thrones, that is, the concepts and thoughts over which they ruled, and cleansed the conscience, and made the mind, thoughts, and body a throne for Himself.

6. Question. What does what the Lord said mean? will you sit on the double throne, judging the deceitful tribe of Israel (Matthew 19:28)?

Answer. We find that this was fulfilled on earth after the Lord ascended to heaven; because He sent down the Comforter Spirit and holy power on the twelve Apostles, and it descended and overshadowed them and sat on the thrones of their minds. When those present began to say: like these wine fulfills the essence(Acts 2:13); then Peter began already judge them, speaking about Jesus: “You crucified a man mighty with words and signs, hanging him on a tree. And behold, he works miracles here, tearing apart the stones of tombs, and raising the dead. For it is written: In the last days I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy.”(Acts 2:17). And thus many were announced by Peter and began to repent; why did it come new world, chosen by God.

7. You see how the beginning of the judgment has opened. A new world opened up there; for here power has been given to them to sit and judge in this world. It is true that they will sit and execute judgment at the coming of the Lord, at the resurrection of the dead: but this is also happening here; because the Holy Spirit sits on the thrones of their minds. And the crowns that Christians accept in this century are not material creations. Whoever claims the latter speaks poorly. On the contrary, in this the transforming Spirit reveals itself. What does the Apostle Paul say about the heavenly Jerusalem, that it mother to us all(Gal. 4:26), then we also confess. In considering the garments that Christians wear, it is clear that the Spirit himself clothes them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.

Conversation 7. About Christ's condescension to man. This conversation also includes several questions and answers.

1. Imagine that someone enters the royal palace, sees the stories and decorations depicted there, treasures laid out in one place, and something else in another, and sits with the king at a meal, and the sweetest foods and drinks are offered to him, and he fully enjoys both sight and decoration; and after that they drag him out from there, and he is taken to fetid places; or imagine that some maiden, surpassing everyone in beauty, wisdom and wealth, chooses as her husband a poor, humble, ugly man, dressed in rags, and takes off his unclean clothes, and dresses him in a royal robe, and puts it on him crown, and becomes his wife; Finally, the beggar begins to be amazed and says: “Has such a wife been given to me, poor, beggarly, humble and humiliated?” This is what God did with the poor and humiliated man. He gave him a taste of another age, another sweet food. Showed him the glory and the royal indescribable heavenly beauties. And a person, having already compared these spiritual blessings with the blessings of this age, if he then sees a king, rulers, wise men, then he rejects everything, meaning the heavenly treasure; because God is love, and he has received the heavenly Divine fire of Christ into himself, and enjoys, and rejoices, and is attached to it.

2. Question. Does Satan, either in the air or in people, exist with God?

Answer. If this sun, being a creature, illuminates dirty places, and therefore does not suffer harm; then, all the more, the Divinity, being even where Satan is, is not denigrated or defiled. It allowed evil to be for the exercise of people. But evil is darkened and blinded, and cannot see the purity and subtlety of the Divine. If someone says that Satan has his place, and God has his place, then he leads to the idea that God is described by the place in which the evil one lives. How then do we say that good is indescribable and incomprehensible, that everything abides in it, and that good is not defiled by evil? In the sense that, since the sky and the sun and the mountains exist in God himself and are created by Him, then they themselves became God? Creatures are placed in their own rank; and the Creator who dwells with creatures is God.

3. Question. Because sin is transformed into bright angel and is almost likened to grace; then how can a person understand the wiles of the devil, and how to distinguish and accept what is from grace?

Answer. What is of grace is joy, there is peace, there is love, there is truth. Truth itself prompts man to seek truth. Every kind of sin is full of confusion; there is no love and joy in him before God. So, chicory is like lettuce; but one is bitter and the other is sweet. And in grace itself there is something similar to truth, and there is the very essence of truth; just as, for example, there is a ray of the sun and the circle of the sun itself, and the ray appears differently, and the light contained in the circle itself is different. A lamp burns in a house, and sometimes there is a ray shining from it everywhere, and another is more brilliant and clear light in the lamp itself. Thus, something of grace happens when a person sees, as it were, some visions far from himself, and rejoices at these visions. It’s a different matter when the power of God enters a person and embraces his limbs and heart, and captivates the mind into the love of God. When Peter was taken and thrown into prison; Then an angel came to him prisoner, broke his bonds and brought him out of prison, and Peter, as if in a frenzy, I think I'm seeing a vision(Acts 12:9).

4. Question. How do those in whom God’s grace has acted also fall?

Answer, The purest thoughts by nature tend to advance and fall. A person begins to become arrogant, condemn others and say: “you are a sinner,” but recognize himself as righteous. Don't you know what Paul says? Let me be a dirty trickster of the flesh, an angel of Satan, let me play dirty tricks on me, let me not be arrogant(2 Cor. 12:7), And in pure nature there is the possibility of exaltation.

5. Question. Can anyone see his soul with the help of light, since others reject revelation and say that vision occurs as a result of knowledge and sensation?

Answer. There is a feeling, there is a vision, and there is an insight. And he who has insight is superior to him who has sensation. His mind is illuminated; and this means that he received some advantage over those who have sensation; for he recognized in himself a certain certainty of visions. But there is something else about revelation, when great deeds and God’s mysteries are revealed to the soul.

6. Question. Does anyone see the soul with the help of revelation and God's light?

Answer. Just as bodily eyes see the sun, so those illuminated by God’s light see the image of the soul; but few Christians achieve this vision.

7. Question. Does the soul have a vision?

Answer. Has an image and appearance that resembles an Angel. For just as angels have an image and a vision, and just as the outer man has an image, so the inner man has an image like an Angel, and a vision like the outer man.

8. Question. Is there another thing, the mind, and something else, the soul?

Answer. Just as there are many bodily members, and all are called one man; Likewise, the soul has many members: mind, conscience, will, thoughts that condemn and justify; but all this is connected in one thought, all these are members of only the soul, and the soul is one; and this is the inner man. But as external eyes see from afar thorns, and rapids, and abysses; Thus, the mind, by the speed of its vision, anticipates the intrigues and slander of the resisting force, and being, as it were, the spiritual eye, it protects the soul. Why, let us give glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

Conversation 8. About what happens to Christians during prayers, and about the measures of perfection, that is, whether Christians can achieve a perfect measure.

1. Another comes to bend the knee, and his heart is filled with Divine effectiveness, his soul rejoices with the Lord, like a bride with a groom, according to the word of the Prophet Isaiah, who says Just as the groom rejoices over the bride, so will the Lord rejoice over you(Isaiah 62:5). And sometimes the whole day, busy with something, he devotes himself to prayer for one hour, and his inner man with great delight is delighted in a state of prayer, in the infinite depth of this age, so that the soaring and admiring mind is completely directed there. During this time, oblivion of earthly wisdom occurs in thoughts; because thoughts are saturated and captivated by the Divine, heavenly, boundless, incomprehensible, and something wonderful, which is impossible for human lips to utter. At this hour a person prays and says: “Oh, if only my soul would depart with prayer!”

2. Question. Does a person always enter this state?

Answer. It is true that grace incessantly abides, takes root and acts as leaven in a person from a young age, and this abiding in a person becomes something as if natural and inseparable, as if one essence with him; however, as she pleases, she variously modifies her actions in a person for his benefit. Sometimes this fire kindles and ignites stronger, and sometimes it seems weaker and quieter, at other times this light kindles and shines more, sometimes it diminishes and fades; and this lamp, always burning and shining, sometimes becomes clearer, ignites more from the intoxication of God’s love, and at other times it emits its radiance sparingly, and the light inherent in man becomes weaker.

3. Moreover, the sign of the cross appeared to others in the world and was nailed into the inner man. Sometimes, during prayer, a person seemed to go into a frenzy; It seemed as if he was standing in church before the altar, and three loaves of bread were offered to him, as if leavened with oil, and to the extent that he ate them, the loaves grew and rose. Sometimes there also appeared, as it were, some kind of luminous garment, which does not exist on earth in this age, and which human hands cannot prepare. For just as the Lord, having ascended the mountain with John and Peter, transformed His vestments and made them lightning-shaped, so it happened with this robe, and the person dressed in it was surprised and amazed. At another time, this light, appearing in the heart, opened the inner, deepest and most intimate light; why, a person, completely absorbed in this sweetness and this contemplation, no longer controlled himself, but was, for this world, as if violent and barbaric, because of the overwhelming love and sweetness and because of the hidden secrets; so that a person, having received freedom at this time, reaches perfect measure, becomes pure and free from sin. But after this, grace diminished, and a veil of opposing power descended; grace was visible, as it were, in part, and at some lower degree of perfection,

4. A person needs, so to speak, to go through twelve steps, and then achieve perfection. Then grace again begins to act weaker, and the person descends one step, and already stands on the eleventh. But another, rich in grace, always stands day and night at the highest level, being free and pure, always captive and proud. And now the person to whom these miracles were shown, and who experienced them experimentally, if this had always been the case with him, could no longer take upon himself the economy of the word or any other burden, would not agree to either hear or take care, as usual, about to himself and about the morning, but would only sit in one corner, in admiration and, as it were, in rapture. Therefore, the perfect measure was not given to him so that he could take care of the brethren and serve the word, unless the mediastinum of the fence has already been destroyed and death has been conquered.

5. In reality, it happens like this: like condensed air, some kind of gloomy force lies on a person and slightly covers him. The lamp continually burns and shines; however, it is as if a veil is lying on the light; and therefore, a person admits that he is still imperfect and not completely free from sin; why, we can say that the mediastinum of the fence has already been devastated and crushed, and again in some other way it is not devastated at all and not forever. For there comes a time when grace ignites, comforts and reposes a person more powerfully; and there comes a time when it diminishes and fades, just as it itself builds this economy for the benefit of man. Who, at least for a time, came to perfect measure, tasted and experienced this age? To this day I do not know a single Christian who is perfect or free. On the contrary, even if someone rests in grace, he comes to mysteries and revelations, to a feeling of great grace-filled sweetness; then sin also remains within him. Such people, due to the abundance of grace and light in them, consider themselves free and perfect; but they err in this, because of their inexperience they are led into deception by the very fact that grace operates in them. And until now I have not seen one free man, and since at other times I myself partially reached this measure, I have learned and know why there is no perfect person.

6. Question. Tell us: what degree are you on?

Answer. Now after sign of the cross grace acts in such a way and pacifies all the members and the heart that the soul, with great joy, is likened to a gentle baby, and a person no longer condemns either a Greek, or a Jew, or a sinner, or a layman, but the inner man looks at everyone with a pure eye, and rejoices in the whole world , and in every possible way wants to honor and love the Greeks and Jews. At other times, he, the son of kings, trusts so firmly in the Son of God as in a father. Doors open before him, and he enters many abodes; and as he enters, doors again open before him in proportionate numbers, for example, from a hundred monasteries to other hundred monasteries, and he is enriched; and to the extent that he is enriched, new miracles are shown to him. He, as a son and heir, is entrusted with that which cannot be expressed by human nature, or spoken with lips and tongue. Glory to God! Amen.

Conversation 9. That God's promises and prophecies are fulfilled under various trials and temptations, and that those who adhere to the one God are delivered from the temptations of the evil one.

1. The spiritual action of God's grace in the soul is accomplished by great long-suffering, wisdom and mysterious insight of the mind, when a person struggles with great patience over time and whole years. And the work of grace then turns out to be complete in him, when his free will, after repeated testing, turns out to be pleasing to the Spirit, and over time shows experience and patience. We will present clear examples of this order from the inspired Scriptures.

2. What I am saying is similar to what happened to Joseph. After so much time and after how many years, God’s will for him was determined, and the visions were fulfilled! And before that, in how many labors, sorrows and tribulations Joseph was tested! And when he endured everything courageously, he turned out to be skillful in everything and faithful to God slave; Then he already became the king of Egypt and nourished his family, and the prophecy about the invisible and that will of God, which had been predicted long ago by great vision, were fulfilled.

3. Similar things happened with David. God, through the Prophet Samuel, anointed him king. And when he was anointed, then he who was persecuted by Saul had to flee from death. And where is God's anointing? Where is the speedy fulfillment of the promise? For as soon as he was anointed, he began to endure severe sorrows, withdrawing into the desert, not even having daily bread and fleeing among the pagans from Saul’s plots against him. And in such sorrows was the one whom God anointed as king! Then, when for many years he was tested and tempted, endured sorrows and endured them generously, he resolutely trusted God and assured himself: “what God did with me by prophetic anointing, and what he said would happen to me, must undoubtedly be fulfilled.” : then, after much long-suffering, the will of God was finally accomplished; and after many trials David reigned; and then God’s word became clear, and the anointing performed by the Prophet turned out to be solid and true.

4. Similar things happened with Moses. God, foreknowledge and predestined him to be a leader and deliverer of the people, made him the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, raised in royal wealth, in glory and in luxury, taught all Egyptian wisdom. And when Moses matured and became great in faith, he renounced all this, the suffering and reproach of Christ, deigning even more, according to the Apostolic word, rather than have the temporary sweetness of sin(Heb. 11:25). And having fled from Egypt, this royal son, brought up in such pleasures and royal luxury, how much time did he spend in pastoral pursuits? And after this, finally, for his great patience, found to be skillful and faithful to God, as having endured many temptations, he became the deliverer, leader and king of Israel, and from God himself was called the god of Pharaoh (Ex. 7: 1). For through him God smote Egypt with plagues; through him he showed Pharaoh great and wonderful deeds, and finally drowned the Egyptians in the sea. Do you see how after how many years God’s will and intentions were revealed and after how many trials and tribulations came to fulfillment?

5. Similar things happened with Abraham. How long before God made the promise to give him a son, and did not immediately grant him, but how many years before that trials and temptations continued with Abraham! And he, having generously endured everything that happened to him and having confirmed himself by faith in the thought that He who gave the promise is false and will fulfill His word, and thus proving to be faithful, received the promise.

6. And also Noah, when in the five hundredth year of his life God commanded to build the ark, announcing that he would bring a flood to the world, which he brought in the six hundredth year, he spent a hundred years in great patience, without hesitating in thought, he would create, or God will not do what He said, but resolutely confirmed by faith that if God spoke about this, then it will undoubtedly be fulfilled; and thus, when his will was found to be good in faith, patience and generosity, having kept the commandment in all purity, he alone was saved with his house.

7. We cited these examples from the Scriptures as proof that the action of God’s grace is revealed in man, and he receives the gift of the Holy Spirit, which a faithful soul is vouchsafed with, only after a long struggle, after experiences of great patience and generosity, after temptations and trials, when free will will be tested by all sorts of sorrows. When it does not offend the Spirit in anything, but by grace is in everything in accordance with the commandments, then it is vouchsafed to achieve freedom from passions, to receive the fullness of spiritual sonship spoken in the sacrament, as well as spiritual wealth and such an understanding that is not of the world this, and of which only true Christians become partakers. Why, such people are different in everything from all prudent, knowledgeable and wise people who have the spirit of the world within them.

8. Such, according to what is written (1 Cor. 2:14), venerates every person. He knows about everyone, from what source he takes the word, where he stopped, and at what degree he is; about him, none of the people who have the spirit of the world within themselves can know or judge. Whoever has within himself a similar heavenly Spirit of God knows one like him, as the Apostle says: spiritual spiritually judging. A spiritual person does not accept even the Spirit of God, for he has foolishness: but a spiritual person strives for everything, but he himself does not compete with even one(1 Cor. 2, 14. 15). Such a person considers all the glorious things in the world, wealth, luxury and every pleasure, even knowledge itself, and everything that is in this age, to be vile and hateful.

9. Like a person who is in the heat and possessed by fireweed, if you give him the sweetest food or sweet drink, he abhors it and rejects it; because the disease burns him and the disease strongly acts in him: so, like this, inflamed by heavenly, sacred and honest spiritual desire, wounded in the soul by the zeal of God's love, when that Divine and heavenly fire that the Lord came throw it on the ground, and wants him to quickly caught fire(Luke 12:49), will begin to act strongly in them, kindle them with a heavenly commitment to Christ, according to what was said above, everything that is glorious and highly valued in this age is recognized as worthy of contempt and hateful, because the fire of Christ’s love embraces, kindles and inflames their devotion to God and the heavenly blessings of love, and nothing heavenly, earthly or underworld can separate them from this love, as the Apostle Paul testified: who will separate us from love Christ's, and so on (Rom. 8:35)?

10. But the acquisition of his soul and heavenly spiritual love is impossible for a person unless he becomes alien to everything that is in this age, and does not devote himself to seeking the love of Christ, and if his mind does not place itself outside of all material and earthly entertainment, so that he can was to be fully engaged in achieving a single goal, striving for it according to all the commandments; so that all the care, search, entertainment and exercise of the soul consists in the study of the spiritual essence, how it should be decorated with the virtues prescribed in the commandments, the heavenly beauty of the Spirit, communication in the purity and holiness of Christ; so that a person, having renounced everything, cut off from himself every material and earthly obstacle, renounced carnal love, or addiction to parents and relatives, does not allow his mind to be occupied or amused by anything else, such as: superiority, glory, honors, carnal friendship in the world, or some other earthly concerns; but so that the whole mind fully takes upon itself the care and sorrow of seeking the spiritual essence of the soul, and remains entirely and patiently in hope and expectation of the influx of the Spirit, as the Lord says: in your patience you will gain your souls(Luke 21:19); and further: seek the kingdom of God, and all this will be added to you(Matt. 6:33).

11. Let this be so that a person, by struggling in this way and constantly being attentive to himself, whether in prayer, or in obedience, or in any work done according to God, will be able to avoid the darkness of evil demons. For the mind, which constantly delves into itself and seeks the Lord, can gain its soul, even if it were in the destruction of passions, if only it always gives itself captive to the impulse and jealousy to strive for the Lord, and cleaves to Him alone, according to what has been said: captivating every mind into the obedience of Christ(2 Cor. 10:5) so that, as a result of such feat, desire and quest, the mind is worthy to be with the Lord in the one spirit of the gift and grace of Christ, resting in the vessel of the soul, which has prepared itself for every good work and does not offend the Spirit of the Lord with its own by one’s own desires and the absent-mindedness of this age, or by worries about glory, about one’s superiors, or self-inflicted opinions, or carnal pleasures and friendship and communication with wicked people.

12. It is worthy if the soul, having completely dedicated itself to the Lord, clinging to Him alone, remaining in His commandments without forgetting and worthily honoring the Spirit of Christ who found and overshadowed it, is vouchsafed to be in one spirit with Christ and in one dissolution, as He says Apostle: cleave unto the Lord, there is one spirit with the Lord(1 Cor. 6:17). If someone is devoted to cares, or glory, or lust for authority, or cares about human honors and strives for them, and his soul is indignant and darkened by earthly thoughts, indulges in something in this age and takes possession of it; then such a soul, even if it wanted to overcome the darkness of passions, in which the evil forces hold it, or to flee from it and drive it away from itself, cannot do this, because it loves and does the will of darkness, and has imperfectly hated vicious undertakings.

13. Therefore, let us prepare with all our will and with all our will to go to the Lord and become followers of Christ, to fulfill the will of Christ and to remember and keep all Christ’s commandments; having completely withdrawn from love for the world, let us surrender our souls to the one Christ; then we will have it in our minds to be occupied with Him alone, to take care of Him alone, to seek Him alone. If, because of the body, we do not use the proper zeal for fulfilling the commandments and obedience to God; then, at least, let our mind not withdraw from love for the Lord, from seeking Him and striving for Him. And by striving with such a mind, with a right way of thinking, walking the path of righteousness and always remaining attentive to ourselves, may we receive the promise of His Spirit, and by grace may we be delivered from destruction in the darkness of passions with which the soul is possessed, and through this we will become worthy of the eternal kingdom, and let us be worthy to be blessed with Christ for whole centuries, glorifying the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.

Conversation 10. That the gifts of God's grace are preserved and multiplied by humility and zeal, but are lost by arrogance and negligence.

1. Truth-loving and God-loving souls, with great hope and faith desiring to be completely clothed in Christ, do not so much need to remind others, and do not even tolerate any diminishment in their heavenly desire and love for the Lord; but, completely nailed to the cross of Christ, they daily recognize within themselves a feeling of spiritual progress in attachment to the spiritual Bridegroom; wounded by heavenly desire and thirsting for the truth of virtues, they strongly and insatiably desire spiritual illumination. And if for their faith they are worthy to receive the knowledge of the Divine mysteries, or become partakers of the joy of heavenly grace, then they do not rely on themselves, considering themselves to be something; but to what extent are they worthy spiritual gifts, in the same way, due to the insatiability of heavenly desire, they seek them with even greater tension; the more they feel spiritual progress, the more they hunger and thirst for communion and increase in grace; The more they are enriched spiritually, the more they seem to become poor in their own opinion of themselves, due to the insatiability of the spiritual desire to strive for the heavenly Bridegroom, as Scripture says: those who eat Me will still hunger, and those who drink Me will still thirst(Sirach. 24, 23).

2. Such souls, having within themselves a fiery and insatiable love for the Lord, are worthy of eternal life; and therefore, they are worthy of deliverance from passions and, in the fullness of grace, completely accept the illumination and communion of the Holy Spirit, ineffable and mysterious communication. Unmanly and weakened souls, who, by the very fact that they are still in the flesh, do not try here through patience and generosity to receive into themselves, not in part, but the complete sanctification of the heart, do not hope in perfection, with full sensation and with certainty, to be in communion with the Comforter Spirit, therefore, they themselves did not receive deliverance from harmful passions from the Spirit, or, on the contrary, they were honored with God’s grace, but, carried away by vice, indulged in some kind of carelessness and inactivity.

3. Because, having received the grace of the Spirit and finding grace-filled consolation for themselves in peace, desire and spiritual sweetness, and relying on this, they exalt themselves and indulge in carelessness, without contrite hearts, without humbleness in thoughts and without achieving a perfect measure of dispassion, without receiving In order to be completely filled with grace with all diligence and faith, they were satisfied with this, and calmed down, and stopped with a little grace-filled consolation; then such souls, having succeeded more in exaltation than in humility, even if they were awarded any talent, are deprived of it for careless negligence and for the vain arrogance of their conceit.

4. A truly God-loving and Christ-loving soul, even though it has accomplished thousands of righteous deeds, out of its insatiable desire for the Lord, thinks of itself as if it had not done anything yet; even if she exhausted her body with fasts and vigils, she still feels as if she had not yet begun to work for virtues; even if she has been honored to achieve various spiritual gifts, or revelations and heavenly mysteries, out of immeasurable and insatiable love for the Lord, she finds it in herself as if she had not yet acquired anything; but on the contrary, daily hungering and thirsting, remaining in prayer with faith and love, he cannot be satisfied with the mysteries of grace and the well-being of himself in every virtue. She is wounded by the love of the heavenly Spirit, with the help of grace she constantly arouses in herself a fiery desire for the heavenly Bridegroom, she desires to be completely worthy of the mysterious and ineffable communion with Him in the shrine of the Spirit, with the frank face of the soul, she looks at the heavenly Bridegroom face to face, in a spiritual and ineffable light , with all certainty enters into unity with Him, is conformed

5. But it is not possible for the soul to come to such a measure suddenly and not without trials. On the contrary, through many labors and exploits, with the passage of time, with diligence, after trials and various temptations, she accepts spiritual growth and progress even to the perfect measure of dispassion; and then, having willingly and courageously withstood every temptation from sin, she will be worthy of great honors, spiritual gifts, heavenly wealth, and thus will become an heir to the heavenly kingdom in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory and power forever! Amen.

P Rev. Macarius of Egypt. “Spiritual Conversations”. Translation from Greek. Reprint edition. 1904 Ed. Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra 1994

1. The prophet Ezekiel related the Divine and glorious phenomenon and vision that he saw, and described it as a phenomenon filled with unspeakable mysteries. He saw on the field a cherubic chariot and four spiritual animals. Each animal had four faces: one was the face of a lion, the other was the face of an eagle, another was the face of a calf, and the face of a man. And each face had wings, so that none of them could be distinguished between the front and the back. Their cloaks are full were tow, and the breasts are also full of eyes, and there was no place not full of eyes. With each face there were three wheels, as if a wheel were within a wheel, and in the wheels there was a spirit. And the Prophet saw, as it were, the likeness of a man, and his foot was as if made of sapphire. This chariot (that is, Cherubim and animals) carried the enthroned Lord. Wherever He pleased to walk, the animals were everywhere with their faces turned. And the Prophet saw under the Cherubim as if a man's hand, who supported and carried them (Ezek. 1:5-28).

2. True and certain was what the Prophet saw in admiration; but it pointed to something else, prefigured something mysterious and divine, a mystery truly hidden from birth; revealed in recent times, at the coming of Christ. The prophet contemplated the mystery of the soul, which has to receive its Lord and become the throne of His glory. For the soul, which the Spirit, having prepared it for His seat and abode, deigned to partake of His light, and shone with the beauty of His ineffable glory, becomes all light, all face, all eye; there is not a single part of it that is not filled with the spiritual eyes of light, that is, there is nothing darkened in it; but it is entirely made of light and spirit, it is all filled with eyes, and has no last or back side, but from everywhere it appears as a face, because the ineffable beauty of the glory of the Light of Christ has descended on it and sits on it. And like the sun everywhere it is similar to itself: - it does not have a single last or insufficient part, but, consisting of identical parts, it all completely shines with light, and everything is light, or, like fire, that is, the very light of fire, all of itself similar, and has in itself neither first nor last, neither greater nor less: so the soul, completely illuminated by the indescribable beauty of the glory of light from the face of Christ and completely entered into communion with the Holy Spirit, and vouchsafed to become the dwelling place and throne of God, becomes the entire eye , all with light, all with face, all with glory, all with spirit, as Christ, who bears, leads, supports, and lifts her up, has prepared, arranged and adorned her with spiritual beauty. For it is said that human hand was under the Cherubim (Ezek. 1:7). Christ Himself carries the soul and leads it.

3. The four animals carrying the chariot represented the image of the sovereign powers of the rational soul. Just as the eagle reigns over birds, the lion over wild animals, the ox over gentle animals, and man over all creatures: so in the rational soul there are more royal powers, that is, will, conscience, mind and the power of love. The chariot of the soul is driven by them, God rests in them. But according to another way of explanation, of course this is about the heavenly Church of Saints. And how the Prophet says about the animals that their height was excessive, that they were full of eyes, and that it was impossible for anyone to comprehend the number of eyes, or height, because no knowledge of this was given; just as the stars in the sky are given to every person to see and marvel at them, but it is impossible for anyone to know their number: in the same way, it is given to everyone who wants to strive to enter and enjoy the heavenly Church of Saints, but to know and embrace the number of Saints - this belongs to the one God. He who sits on the chariot and on the throne of all-holy animals, that is, in every soul that has become His throne and seat, which has become His eye and light, walks and rushes, sitting on it, and ruling the reins of the spirit, and directing it, as He Himself knows. Just as spiritual animals walked, not where they themselves wanted to go, but where He who sat on them and Guided them knew and wanted, so He Himself rules over souls and leads them, showing the way by His Spirit. Thus, souls ascend to heaven not of their own free will, when they want; but God directs the soul, having overthrown the body, to strive in thought to heaven, and again, when it pleases Him, it walks in the flesh and in thoughts, then by His will it moves to the limits of the earth, and He shows it revelations of the mysteries. O truly excellent, good, one and true Bridle Holder! Thus, if the soul is now glorified and has entered into unity with the Spirit, then the bodies will also be honored with a part in the resurrection.

4. And that the souls of the righteous are made into heavenly light - about this the Lord himself said to the Apostles: you are the light of the world(Matt. 5:14). He himself, having made them light, commanded that the world be enlightened through them, and says: Below they burn a lamp and place it in a hidden place, but on a candlestick, and it gives light to everyone in the temple. Thus let your light shine before men(15, 16). And this means: do not hide the gift that you received from Me, but tell everyone who wants it. And further: The lamp of the body is the eye: if thy eye be light, your whole body will be enlightened: If your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. Even if there is light in you, there is darkness, then there is darkness(Matthew 6:22–23)? Just as the eyes are light for the body; and when the eyes are healthy, the whole body is illuminated; and when something gets into the eyes and they are darkened, then the whole body is in darkness: thus the Apostles were appointed as eyes and light for the whole world. Therefore, the Lord, commanding them, said: “If you, being the light of the world, stand and do not go astray, then the whole body of the world will be enlightened. And if you are the light of the world, you will be darkened; then tma, that is, the world, how many?“So, the Apostles, having become light, served as a light for the believers, enlightening their hearts with that heavenly light of the Spirit with which they themselves were enlightened.

5. And just as they were salty, they dissolved and salted every believing soul with the salt of the Holy Spirit. For the Lord said to them: you are the salt of the earth(Matthew 5:13), calling human souls earth; because they served the souls of men with the heavenly salt of the Spirit, dissolving them and making them unrotten and uninfected by the great stench. Just as meat without salt rots and becomes filled with a great stench, and because of the unbearable stench everyone turns away from it; and worms crawl in rotten meat, find food there, eat it and nest in it; but as soon as salt is sprinkled, the worms that fed on the meat are destroyed and die, the foul smell stops; because salt, by its nature, destroys worms and destroys the stench: in the same way, every soul, unsalted by the Holy Spirit, not participating in the heavenly salt, that is, God's power, rots and is filled with the great stench of evil thoughts; why does the face of God turn away from the terrible stench of vain thoughts of darkness and passions living in such a soul; Evil and terrible worms creep into it, that is, crafty spirits and dark forces, feed, nest, creep there, eat and corrupt it. For it is said: my wounds have grown stale and rotten(Ps. 37:6). But as soon as the soul resorts to God, believes and asks for the salt of life, the good and humane Spirit, the descending heavenly salt destroys the terrible worms in it, destroys the harmful stench, and cleanses the soul with the action of its power. And thus, when true salt makes her healthy and unharmed, she is again introduced into use and service to the heavenly Lord. Therefore, in the Law, to signify this, God commanded that every sacrifice be salted with salt (Lev. 2:13).

6. So, it is necessary that first the priest kill her, and she die, and then, cut into pieces, she should be salted, and finally, she should be laid on the fire. For if the priest does not first hand over the sheep to slaughter and death, then it is not salted and is not offered to the Lord for full fruitfulness. So our soul, approaching the true Bishop - Christ, must be slain from Him and die for its wisdom and for the bad life that it lived, that is, for sin; and just as life leaves the victim, the cunning of passions must leave it. Just as a body, when the soul leaves it, dies and no longer lives the life that it lived, does not hear, does not walk: so, when the heavenly Bishop Christ, by the grace of His power, gives over to the slaughter and puts to death the life in the soul for the world, it dies for that evil one. the life that she lived, and no longer hears, no longer speaks, no longer lives in sinful darkness; because the wickedness of the passions, like her soul, comes out of her by grace. And the Apostle cries out, saying: The world is crucified to me, and to the world(Gal. 6:14). For the soul, while it lives in the world and in sinful darkness, and is not mortified by Christ, but still has in itself the soul of vice, that is, the action of the darkness of sinful passions, and is nourished by this, does not belong to the body of Christ, does not belong to the body of light, but is a body darkness, and to this day is still on the side of darkness; just as, on the contrary, those who have within themselves the soul of light, that is, the power of the Holy Spirit, are on the side of light.

Alexander Moncrieff, Duke of Fauconbridge has a tough temper. He is ready to mercilessly take revenge on anyone who insults him. So when young Ian Eversey gets in his way, the Duke decides to seduce his young sister Genevieve as punishment.

How can an innocent girl resist an experienced seducer?

Of course not.

However, Alexander did not take one thing into account: he is just a man capable of giving himself over to insane passion.

Julia Ann Long
Trap of passion

Chapter 1

Hidden awkwardly between a birdbath and shrubbery in the garden of a Sussex manor house, Ian Eversey watched the mysterious silhouette of a woman appear three times, thank God, in an upstairs window.

The light turned off. It looks like the lamp has been extinguished.

Ian rose to his feet. His knees crunched loudly. He froze in place. Yes, he was completely alone, there was only the starry sky above his head, and not a single soul would see him stealthily making his way to the tree.

The trips to the tree and the last three sensual, but not devoid of feigned modesty, nights of love play in her bedroom - all this began a week ago in this very house during a conversation at the ball in honor of the engagement of Lady Abigail and the Duke of Fauconbridge.

They were introduced to each other, a spark instantly ran between them, the conversation was very short: every word was like a secret indiscreet hint. From the very beginning, Ian was delighted: her lush, sleek beauty, feigned innocence hiding a delicious debauchery, and a pleasantly chilling sense of danger, because she was the bride of Alexander Moncrieff, Duke of Fauconbridge, who was rumored to have poisoned his first wife ten years ago ( Of course, nothing was proven, no official charges were brought forward, but the world could not allow such juicy gossip to fade away). The Duke took part in many duels. At least that's what they said. He was a cool, elegant, extraordinarily wealthy man. He played cards, invested money in various businesses and never lost. Only a madman could cross his path.

That's what the gossips said.

Before leaving the ballroom, Lady Abigail lightly struck Ian on the arm with her fan and pointedly noted that there was an oak tree right in front of her bedroom window.

Ian noticed this oak when the brothers arrived at the ball. He immediately managed to appreciate it with the enterprise characteristic of the entire male half of the Eversi family: a powerful trunk leaned conspiratorially against the red brick wall of the house, and strong branches growing low above the ground allowed an adult man to easily climb up without damaging his life. important parts bodies. But the most beautiful thing was the branch stretched towards the desired window, as if on purpose, Ian would say “persistently”.

Then he also wondered who this bedroom belonged to.

It is not surprising that Lady Abigail and Ian understood each other perfectly.

"I'll probably see you after midnight tomorrow," she said.

It was not at all necessary to add the word "maybe".

For three nights in a row, Ian made the journey from his refuge by the fountain to her bed. During these three nights, which began with a kiss, he almost managed to undress Abigail. Today she promised to wait for him in the bedroom completely naked and wanted him to immediately follow her example.

Ian's heart was beating wildly as he jumped and grabbed the lowest branch, climbed up the trunk to the one that led straight to the window, and hung. Abigail opened the window a couple of inches. Ian put his fingers under it and carefully lifted the old frame, because the day before, he had grabbed it too quickly and gotten himself a splinter. Then he swung his legs over the window sill and slid down.

Ian tore off his clothes as quickly as if he were being attacked by ants.

Leaning his hand on the table by the window, he kicked off his shoes and then carefully placed them on the carpet. His fingers flew over the buttons, getting rid of his coat, shirt, and trousers. Ian folded the clothes and placed them next to the bed.

Good God! How wonderfully everything went, starting from the painful wait on his haunches in an ambush and ending with the tree and the splinter. Every sound, every sensation inflamed his desire. It all became so familiar and sensual now, turned into part of the game: the rustling of the sheets when he slid under the covers to Abigail, the sweet touch of her silky and cool skin, the faint scent of lavender that she exuded, the first light touch of his fingertips to the warm, waiting him in the bed of a woman who now looks like a shadow, but into whose fragrant and soft flesh he will plunge very soon, as she promised him, her exclamation of approval... and the easily recognizable ominous click of a cocked gun...

Can't be!

Ian and Abigail quickly moved away from each other and now sat upright. Ian’s heart was jumping out of his chest, and he tried to find his revolver, but in vain, because he was undressed and put the weapon in his shoe. He carefully placed his bare foot on the floor, preparing to throw himself out the window or at the owner of the revolver. His eyes tried to see something in the darkness.

Holy Virgin! It was as if the night itself spoke to him.

Ian was no coward, but the tiny hairs on the back of his neck and on his arms stood on end as a previously invisible shadow rose from a chair in the corner, growing taller and taller, and came straight towards them.

Of course, it was not a ghost, but a man who had specially dressed himself in dark clothes. This way it’s more convenient to hide, attack, lure into a trap.

Frightened, Abigail breathed noisily.

The man approached the bed with the light gait of a stalking leopard. Reflections moonlight from the window fell onto the barrel of his revolver and onto something metal in his other hand - onto a lamp...

He carefully placed it on the small window table, and then lit it for an unbearably long time, although perhaps the time passed slowly from fear. The flame flickered intermittently and burned steadily. Finally, among the play of light and shadows, a man’s face appeared. They looked as if they were Lucifer sitting by the fire.