MY LIFE IN CHRIST #2

601–814 Chapter 3

601) People say that if you feel no inclination to pray, it is better not to pray; but this is crafty, carnal sophistry. If you only pray when you are inclined to, you will completely cease praying; this is what the flesh desires. «The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence.»^[537] You will not be able to work out your salvation without forcing yourself.

602) In educating, it is extremely dangerous to only develop the understanding and intellect, and not pay attention to the heart. We must, above all, pay attention to the heart, for the heart is life, but life corrupted by sin. It is necessary to purify this source of life, to kindle in it the pure flame of life, so that it should burn and not be extinguished; and should direct all the thoughts, desires, and tendencies of the man through all his life. Society is corrupted precisely through the want of Christian education. It is time that Christians should understand the Lord, should understand what He requires of us; namely, a pure heart. «Blessed are the pure in heart.»^[538] Listen to His sweetest voice in the Gospel. The true life of our heart is Christ («Christ lives in me»^[539] ). Let all of you learn the wisdom of the Apostle. This should be our common problem: to bring Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith.

603) These hands, that like to take gifts, shall be folded upon the breast and shall take no more; these feet, that like to walk for evil, and that do not like to stand in prayer, shall be stretched out for ever, and shall not go anywhere more; these eyes, that look enviously upon the prosperity of their neighbor, shall close, their fire shall be dimmed for ever, and nothing shall charm them again; the hearing, so often open to listen with pleasure to evil speaking and calumny, shall be deadened, and no thunders even will be audible to it. It shall only hear the trumpet raising the dead, when our incorruptible body shall rise, either «unto the resurrection of life or unto the resurrection of damnation.»^[540] What, then, will live in us, even after our death, and what should be the object of all our care during our present life? That which we now call the heart, that is, the inward man, our soul; it should be the object of our solicitude. Cleanse your heart during all your life, so that it, or your soul, may be capable of seeing God afterwards; only care for your body and its requirements as much as is necessary for maintaining its health, power, and decency. It will all die; the earth will bear it all away. Strive, therefore, to perfect within you that which loves and hates, that which is calm or disturbed, which rejoices or grieves–that is, your heart or your inward man, which thinks and reasons through your intellect.

604) Men throughout all their earthly life see everything but Christ, the life-giver; this is why they have no spiritual life, this is why they are given to every passion: unbelief, want of faith, covetousness, envy, hatred, ambition, the pleasures of eating and drinking. It is only at the close of their life that they seek Christ through the Holy Communion, and even this out of crying necessity and as a custom usual among others. O Christ, our God, our Life and Resurrection! How low have we fallen in our vanity, how blind have we become! But how would it have been with us had we always sought You, had we always had You in our hearts? The tongue cannot express the bliss experienced by those who have You in their hearts! Unto them You are strengthening food, inexhaustible drink, shining raiment, the sun, «the peace which passes all understanding,»^[541] unutterable joy, and everything. Possessing You, all earthly things become dust and corruption.

605) «It is the Spirit that quickens.»^[542] It is to the Spirit of the Lord in creatures that their animation belongs, since the time of their creation, and to the Son of God their creation, the bringing of them into existence from non-existence. This is also how the Body and the Blood of Christ are transubstantiated by the Holy Spirit from the bread and wine, in the same manner as a body was created by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Most-pure Virgin from Her blood. The Holy Spirit creates us in the womb of our mother; it is to the Spirit of God that we owe our spiritual blessings.

606) The kingdom of life and the kingdom of death go side by side. I say go, because they are spiritual. The Chief of the first–that is, of the kingdom of life–is Jesus Christ, and those who are with Christ are undoubtedly in the kingdom of life; the chief of the second–that is, of the kingdom of death–is the prince of the powers of the air -- the Devil, with the spirits of evil subject to him, of which there are so many that their number far exceeds the number of all men dwelling upon earth. These children of death, the subjects of the prince of the air, are in constant stubborn warfare with the children of life–that is, with faithful Christians–and strive by every crafty means to win them over to their side, through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, because sin and crime are their elements, and through sins, if we do not repent of them, we pass over to their side; while those to whom sins form as though an every-day requirement, who drink in iniquity like water, are not disturbed by the spirits of evil, because they already belong to them as long as they live carelessly in regard to their souls. But as soon as they turn to God, acknowledging their sins, both voluntary and involuntary, the war bursts forth, and the hordes of Satan rise up and carry on an unceasing fight. You see by this how necessary it is to seek Christ, as the Chief of the kingdom of life, and the Conqueror of hell and death.

607) Every affliction and oppression arises either from want of faith or from some passion concealing itself within the man, or from some other impurity visible to the Almighty, and shows that the Devil is in the heart, and that Christ is not in the heart. Christ is the peace, the freedom, and the ineffable light of the soul.

608) The air, the blowing of the wind, the breathing of creatures in the material world correspond to the spirits in the spiritual world, and to the uncreated, all life-giving Spirit of God itself. This is why the Spirit manifested itself as «a rushing mighty wind,»^[543] this is also why the Savior compares «the breathing of the Spirit in the souls of those who are born of the Spirit,»^[544] to the blowing of wind. In the material world there are many things that correspond to those of the spiritual world, because the material world is also the creation of the Spirit; and cannot the creating Spirit in part show His image and His affinity in the creatures created by Him? Man is only the highest possible image of God among creatures, partakers of matter and purely material. Kissing with the lips corresponds to kissing with the soul; and when we kiss holy things, we ought to kiss them with the soul and heart as well as the lips.

609) The Lord rules wonderfully and mightily over material worlds by means of His wisdom, by means of His word. As the particles of the body of an animal, of a tree, of grass, of stone are held together by cohesion, so all the worlds are held together by the powers and laws laid in them. As the soul carries the body and gives life to it, so also God carries the world, giving life to it through His Holy Spirit; it is not without reason that a man is called a little world. What an insignificant cobweb the world must be to God! What an insignificant cobweb is my body! And yet all is wisdom in every point of matter, and all stands only by wisdom, by the eternal laws of wisdom. O, wisdom, wisdom! We all owe our being to You, to Your merciful Author! My death, my decomposition or destruction, clearly proves what an insignificant cobweb You have in me.

610) Glory to You, life-giving Father, life-giving Son, and life-giving Holy Spirit, inseparable Being–God; ever saving us from the spiritual death caused to our soul by passions. Glory to You, Lord, in three persons, who enlighten the dark face of our soul and body, and bestow upon us Your peace, which exceeds every earthly and physical good, and surpasses all understanding.

611) Pray without ceasing, calling upon the name of the life-giving Trinity in order that your soul should not be suddenly overwhelmed by any passion, pride, or envy, or malice and hatred, or avarice, or covetousness, or gluttony, or anger and irritability, or harsh judgment or scorn, or falsehood and calumny, or any such passion; for we walk among snares every hour, every minute of our life. Let the eyes of your heart be on guard every hour, every minute. Let your heart be watchful, not only during the day, but also during the night, in accordance with the Scripture. « I sleep, but my heart wakes.»^[545]

612) We must love our neighbor still more when he sins against God, or against ourselves, because then he is sick, because then he is in spiritual misfortune, in danger; then, especially, we must have compassion upon him, pray for him, and apply to his heart a healing plaster–a word of kindness, instruction, reproval, consolation, forgiveness, love. «Forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake has forgiven you.»^[546] All sins and passions, quarrels and disputes, are truly spiritual diseases; that is how we must look upon them. Or, all passions are a fire of the soul, a great fire, raging inwardly; a fire proceeding from the abyss of hell. It must be extinguished by the water of love, which is strong enough to extinguish every infernal flame of malice and of other passions. But woe and misfortune to us, to our self-love, if we increase this flame by a fresh infernal flame, by our own malice and irritability, and thus make ourselves the assistants of the spirits of evil, ever endeavoring to inflame the souls of men by means of many and various passions. If we do so, we shall deserve the fire of Gehenna; and if we do not repent, and do not become in future wise unto good and simple unto evil, then we shall be condemned, along with the Devil and his angels, to torments in the lake of fire. Therefore, do not let us be overcome by evil, but let us overcome evil with good. How accursed are we men! How is it that we have not yet learned to consider every sin as a great misfortune for our soul, and not to pity, heartily, sincerely, lovingly, those who fall into such a misfortune. Why do we not flee from it as from poison, as from a serpent? Why do we linger in it? Why have we no pity upon ourselves, too, when we are subjected to any sin? Why do we not weep before the Lord, who created us?

613) The Lord allows us to be tossed by various passions in this life in order that we may hate these passions with all our heart, that we may look upon everything earthly as nothing, however precious and pleasant it may appear, and that we may long with all our hearts for God alone, the source of tranquility and life, may cling to Him alone, may value Him before everything, His holy will, His peace and joy.

614) You feel constrained upon earth from all sides. Everything betrays you; your relations, friends, acquaintances, riches, the pleasures of the senses, your own body; all the elements–earth, water, fire, air, light–play you false. Cling, therefore, to God alone, «with Whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning,»^[547] Who alone is Love.

615) It is remarkable that some irritable people, after the agony of violent and prolonged anger, and after having experienced all its torments, become, as they say, silky, meek, and peaceable. The same applies to the other passions. The Lord Himself has pointed out that their punishment lies in themselves–in their extreme agony. Pride, envy, hatred, avarice, covetousness–all are thus punished. Each passion is its own tormentor, and at the same time the executioner of each man possessed with it.

616) «Follow peace with all men, and holiness; without which no man shall see the Lord.»^[548] Do not break peace for the sake of anything perishable and transitory, for the sake of your sinful self-love. Love peace above everything--as the Lord Himself. Let nothing be dearer than peace and mutual love. Let us love peace--peace, peace!

617) The human soul is a free power, for it can become either a power for good or evil, according to the direction which you yourself give it. Lord, Almighty Power! Strengthen my infirm soul in every virtue! Establish my heart, weak for everything good, upon the immovable rock of Your commandments! Lord, I daily recognize , through experience, that without You, I am nothing; that without You, I can do no good; without You, evil in its various forms is alone within me: without You, I am the son of perdition. O unspeakably Good One, fill my heart with Your goodness! But above all, I pray to You, grant that I may love You with all my heart and my neighbor as myself. Grant that I may be neither malicious, proud, presumptuous, nor disobedient, but grant that I may be gentle, humble, tenderly respectful, and obedient. Amen.

618) O, how carefully do the Devil and the world sow their weeds in Christ's cornfield, which is the Church of God. Instead of the Word of God, the word of the world, the word of vanity, is sown. Instead of the temple of God, the world has invented its own temples--the temples of the world's vanities--theaters, circuses, assemblies. Instead of holy icons, which worldly people do not accept, in the world there are painted and photographic portraits, illustrations, and various other pictures. Instead of God and the Saints, the world honors unto adoration its own celebrities--writers, actors, singers, painters, who command general confidence and respect up to reverence. Poor Christians! they have completely fallen away from Christ! Instead of spiritual raiment, every attention is paid in the world to perishable clothing, to fashionable dresses, and various exquisite ornaments, both splendid and costly.

619) In sickness and, in general, during bodily infirmity, as well as in affliction, a man cannot in the beginning burn with faith and love for God, because in affliction and sickness the heart aches, while faith and love require a sound heart, a calm heart. This is why we must not very much grieve if during sickness and affliction we cannot believe in God, love Him, and pray to Him fervently as we ought to. Everything has its proper time. There may be an unfavorable time even for praying.

620) Behave to your neighbor with a perfect heart–that is, truthfully and with the same love as you would have for your own self, so that your neighbor, on his part, may love you in return; and even if he does not love you, he will at least respect in you your virtue, will honor it, and will himself emulate it.

621) Would a beggar, who is fed with crumbs from his master's table, be proud of being fed with his crumbs? What is there for him to be proud of? Of his poverty? The beggar is myself, the master is the Lord; the crumbs from His table are all beneficial and natural gifts.

622) What is the sign that a Christian man is near to Christ? The man who is near to Christ often turns with faith and love to Christ; often pronounces His sweetest name; often calls upon Him for help; often turns his eyes, thoughts, and heart towards Him. Christ the Lord naturally reveals Himself upon his lips and in his glance, because without Christ he is powerless, joyless. The man who is far from Christ seldom, very seldom, turns his thoughts toward Christ, and even then not with hearty faith and love, but only through some necessity, and as to a person who is little known to him, who does not rejoice him, does not delight his heart, and who has no attraction for him. This is why we see that those who are near to Christ do not let Christ out of their thoughts and heart; they live in Him; He is their breath, food, drink, dwelling–everything. Through the sweetness of His name and His beneficial touch they, so to say, cleave to Him with their whole being: «My soul hangs upon You.»^[549] And in this cleaving, they find unspeakable bliss, which the world does not know. Such are the signs by which it may be recognize d who has found Christ and who has not yet found Him. Those who have not found Christ live in this life without hearty faith; they think and care more about worldly things–how to enjoy themselves, how to eat and drink pleasurably, how to dress exquisitely, how to satisfy their carnal desires, how to kill time, with which they do not know what to do, though time seeks them and, not finding them, quickly flies away before their eyes. Day flies away after day, night after night, month after month, year after year, until, finally, the last terrible hour strikes, and they hear a voice: «Stop, the course is finished; your time has been lost; your sins and iniquities have preceded you; they will fall upon you with all their power, and will crush you with their weight eternally.»

623) What does to seek distraction mean? It means to wish to somehow fill the sickly emptiness of the soul, which was created for activity, and which cannot bear to be idle.

624) Let all knowledge relating to religion or faith be as though it is always new to you, that is, having the same importance, holiness, and interest.

625) The Lord is the perfect Owner and Master of all creatures; and we know that His commands and His will are obeyed by all creatures: by the angels and by men having understanding hearts; by heaven, earth, and all that is in them, even by hell and all that is therein. He commands the angels, and they hasten to fulfill His will; He commands them to be guardians of new-born men, and they guard them during all their life, not transgressing His commands in anything. He commands the heavens, and they either give forth rain and dew, or snow and hail, or keep them back; He commands the winds, the waters, and they obey Him; He commands the fire, and it obeys Him; He commands the sun, and it is obscured or shines upon everything under it, warming and lighting it; He commands the earth, and it germinates various kinds of plants; He commands it to cease growing, and the growth ceases; He commanded the waters to flow without restraint upon the earth, and they did so, as in the time of the universal deluge; He commands the winds, and they blow, they rage furiously, and sometimes become destructive, as a punishment for our sins; He commanded the sea-whale to devour the prophet Jonah, and it was ready to seize him; He commanded the fishes to fill His disciples' nets, and the fishes rushed into the nets, rushed to obey the Creator's commands; He commands the dead to rise, to live again, and death flees from the man and life again appears in him; He commands the disease to leave a sick man, and the disease departs, and the sick man rises up healthy and sound; He commands the demons, and they obey incontestably. Great is the name of the Lord, praised be the name of the Lord, most glorious is the name of the Lord! He can change at His pleasure the objects created by Him; for instance, water into blood, water into wine, a rod into a living serpent; or, again, a rod into a living tree, a man into a pillar, as in the case of Lot's wife; a serpent into gold, and, again, gold into a serpent, as the Lord did at the prayer of St. Spiridon of Trimiphunt.^[550] But the Lord's power and sovereignty are especially manifested when He converts a sinful man into a holy chosen vessel after he had terribly fallen; when He restores, raises, and renews the depraved; when He gives life to the man who was dead in soul and body, and leads into eternal life him who had fallen into eternal death This is indeed the miracle of miracles; this reveals the infinite mercy, wisdom, and omnipotence of the Lord in relation to His creatures; or, above all, that He Himself, the Lord of all creatures, the infinite, the uncontainable, was pleased and was able to become man for our salvation, and that «the Word, by whom all things were made, was made flesh, and dwelt among us,»^[551] living with men and being like unto man in everything, except sin. «The heavens were in awe, and the ends of the earth were astonished that God appeared as man in the flesh.»^[552] He conversed with men, loaded us with benefits, worked innumerable miracles, suffered (O, wonder!), died (O, awful wonder!), and rose again, raising with Himself us also, who were dead in Adam! I glorify Your most merciful, holy, almighty, and most wise power, Lord! Show me, also, Lord, Your wonderful power, and, by ways known unto You, save me, Your unworthy servant, disregarding my trespasses, voluntary and involuntary, committed in knowledge or ignorance, guiding me ever in Your way, and strengthening me upon this way by Your grace, and through me the others for whom You have placed me as a light, shepherd, teacher, and priest.

626) When you partake of the immortal food and drink, the Body and Blood of the Lord, raise your grateful heart to the Lord and say: I thank You, Lord, Bread of Life and source of immortality, for giving unto us Your Body and Blood for our food and drink, so that we, cleansed and sanctified here by them, may enter into Your eternal kingdom–may eternally delight in the contemplation of Your countenance and Your blessed life! Do not let me, Lord, to care only for bodily food and drink; do not let me, Lord, to become attached to them, but grant that I may cleave to You alone. When you partake of perishable sweet things, thank the Lord, saying: I thank You, sweetness eternal, incomparable, infinitely surpassing all earthly sweetness, which are carnal and gross. You are the sweetness imperishable, life-giving, holy, tranquil, light, most peaceful, most joyful, inexhaustible; I thank You also for granting me these perishable sweet things to partake of and enjoy, so that through them I may learn, although only in part, how sweet You are, You who are all sweetness, and how greatly You are to be desired. Enlightened by the material light, say: Glory to You, light that never sets, most sweet, and giving joy to everything, for this perishable but beautiful light, for lighting us by this image of Your inaccessible Divine light, so that from this material light our thoughts may unceasingly pass to You, the eternal Light that never sets, and may aspire to attain through purity of life to the most blessed contemplation of Yourself. When you breathe the air with your lungs, that vivifying and refreshing element, constantly necessary for the support of our perishable life, again raise yourself in thought to the life-giving Lord, the Holy Spirit, with the Father and the Son, by whom we live, move, and exist, thanking Him for uninterrupted breath, and know, that as the body cannot live without air, so your soul cannot for an instant lead the true life without the Holy Spirit, and by pure and temperate living strive constantly to be in communion with God Himself, for without Him the soul dies. Thus from every created thing or being raise yourself continually to the Creator; thank Him for everything, and do not cling to any creature, do not serve any creature more than the Creator Himself, for service or slavery to creatures and attachment to earthly things is idolatry.

627) Bring your heart in sacrifice to God, give it wholly to the Almighty, renounce yourself, and all sinful inclinations: malice, hatred, pride, disobedience, and self-will, envy, malevolence, malignancy, avarice, covetousness, gluttony, fornication, uncleanness, stealing, deceit, fullness, slothfulness, and others; and continually force yourself to be kind when others exasperate and offend you, to pray for your enemies, for meekness, humility, gentleness, truer benevolence, generosity, disinterestedness, abstinence, chastity, alms-giving, truth and righteousness, industry, obedience, and others. It is difficult to conquer the passions, which become as though our natural members («Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth»^[553] ), but by being continually watchful over yourself, by constant fervent prayer and abstinence, with the help of God you will be able to conquer and eradicate them.

628) «For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.»^[554] I revere even two or three praying together, for in accordance with the Lord's promise He Himself is in the midst of them. I revere still more, a numerous congregation. Collective prayer is speedily fulfilled, and bears much fruit when it is united, unanimous («gathered together in My name»). The assiduous prayer of the Church for the Apostle Peter immediately ascended before the throne of the Lord, and the Lord sent his angel to miraculously deliver Peter from the prison, who Herod wished to destroy. The unanimous prayer of the Apostles Paul and Silas brought down upon them wonderful heavenly help from the Holy Spirit.^[555]

629) What darkness, what madness, what infirmity, and what a terrible deadly power is sin! Gazing upon faces because they are beautiful, we inwardly commit adultery; or we hate a man because his character does not agree with ours, because he has different passions to ours, because he has not the same disposition of spirit as ours, which is often not sinless, but passionate and vicious. Is the beauty of a face a reason to commit adultery–to sin? Should it not rather be a reason for praising the Creator, Who has created man so beautifully? Is the fact of a man's character or temper not agreeing with ours, of his not showing much indulgence to our pride and in general to our passions, of his not having the same disposition of spirit as ours, a reason for us to hate him? Doesn’t everybody have his own freewill, his own character, temperament, habits, passions, and ways? Ought we not to be indulgent to everyone, to respect everyonés personal freedom, which even the Lord Himself does not violate?

630) It is unpleasant for a proud man when it is required of him to be humble to others; for an envious man when it is required of him to wish his enemies well; for a vindictive one when forgiveness and reconciliation are required of him; for one who loves money to be reminded of paying his debts; for a glutton when he is reminded of fasting and of the salvation of his soul. But they should conquer their feelings, their passions, and joyfully fulfill that which is required of them, or which is required by the Gospel: otherwise, by giving themselves up unrepentingly, irremediably to their passions, they will be eternally lost.

631) Glory to the power of Your grace, Lord! Nothing, no effort of sin, can resist it in those who call upon it with faith. Thus, when subjected to the violence of the enemy of everything good–the Devil–and tempted by passions, I made the sign of the cross upon myself, saying inwardly, « Nothing can resist the power of Your grace,» and the violence ceased, the trouble and oppression passed away, and were replaced by tranquility and peace. Glory to Your power, Lord!

632) «I am only the witness that I may bear witness before Him of all you tell me.»^[556] The priests will be witnesses before the Savior on the terrible day of judgment concerning sinners, whether they repented or did not repent of these or those sins, and they who were penitent will be forgiven. But why is it necessary for God to have witnesses when He Himself knows everything? As has been said: «He didn’t need that any should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.»^[557] For God they are not necessary, but they are necessary for us. It will be pleasant for us to see how the priests will bear witness concerning us, before the angels and men, that we repented of our sins, condemned ourselves, expressed our loathing for sin, took the firm resolution not to sin. Remember the Savior's words to the Apostles: «you shall be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them;»^[558] or, «His Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations.»^[559]

633) Grant me, Lord, grace to renounce myself, this devil that I have become by inheritance from Adam. Lord Jesus, the New Adam, change me; make a new man of me; let me be clothed in You.

634) «Every valley» and dale «shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight . . . and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.»^[560] The valley and dale are humble hearts. The mountain and hill shall be brought low–that is, proud men who think highly of themselves, and despise the lowly and humble. So it is: the Lord unceasingly acts through the spirit of righteousness and mercy in the hearts of men, humbling the proud by various worldly circumstances–by maladies, losses, humiliations from other people, and exalting the humble.

635) Flatterers are our greatest enemies. They blind our eyes, do not let us see our many defects, and thus hinder us upon the way to perfection, especially if we ourselves are self-loving and not far-seeing. This is why we must always stop those who flatter us, or avoid them. Woe unto him who is surrounded by flatterers! Happy is he who is surrounded by simple-hearted people who do not hide the truth, although it may be unpleasant! For instance, when they detect his weaknesses, faults, passions, and mistakes.

636) He that is joined to God unfailingly, and as if naturally, loves his neighbor, because his neighbor is the image of God. And if he is a Christian, then he is also a child of God, a member of Christ, the God-man, and his own member besides. «For we are members, one of another.»^[561] «We are members of His Body, of His Flesh, and of His Bones.»^[562] But he who loves God is indifferent to everything earthly–to food, drink, dainties, to earthly beauty, dress, fame. For he cannot serve two masters, for his heart is joined to the Lord; he is absorbed by Him, by his love for Him, and in the Lord everything earthly seems to vanish for him. Every worldly charm, even his own old sinful, passionate heart vanishes, and becomes united to God in one spirit. «He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit,»^[563] because he becomes enlightened in God, and sees the true value of all things earthly and heavenly, sees especially the vanity, the uselessness of everything earthly; the truth, the immeasurable superiority, and the eternity of spiritual blessings. He finds in God the cleansing from sins, and the holiness, peace, lightness, true freedom, and joy in the Holy Spirit which are natural to our spirit, but which we have lost. He also finds in God his natural spiritual food and drink, spiritual sweetness, spiritual raiment, shining, adorned, and white as snow, and unspeakable beauty, which will eternally enrapture him, inaccessible light which shall eternally light him, and an abode corresponding to his soul in like manner as he himself will be the abode of the Holy Trinity.

637) Lord! Let my heart cling to You alone, and do not let it cling to anything earthly; for in earthly attachments there is sorrow, oppression, and torment. Let nothing earthly be dear to my heart, but grant that I may value You, the one Lord, above all, as well as everything heavenly, and the soul created after Your image, immortal, reasonable, speaking, free, the breath of Your mouth. Let nothing earthly--money, food, dress, rank, signs of distinction, etc.--become the idol of my heart. We must accustom ourselves to the simplest, least dainty of food, in order that the heart should not be allured by it, and even that in moderation, only for imparting strength.

638) The Lord was crucified for us on the cross. This is the reason why it, as well as the sign of the cross, has such power. This is why it is life-giving. This is why even in the Old Testament its symbol had such great power. The pole upon which the serpent was set cured those who were bitten by serpents; the cross, traced by Moses's rod, separated the waters; Moses's hands uplifted in prayer, and forming the cross, conquered Amalek, and so on.

639) As quickly as the pleasure of eating and drinking passes away in those sitting at table dining, for instance, so quickly shall pass, and passes away the present life, with all its pleasures, joys, sorrows, and sickness. It is like morning dew, vanishing at the appearance of the sun. Therefore the Christian, who is called to a heavenly country, who is only a stranger and a sojourner upon earth, ought not attach his heart to anything earthly, but should cling to God alone, the Source of life, our resurrection, and the Life eternal.

640) We must not look with wonderment and malice upon the various sins, weaknesses and passions of humanity, because they form the old enticement, the infirmity of all mankind, and men themselves, by their own strength, cannot anyhow free themselves from them, and therefore a Savior of men was necessary, not an intercessor, not an angel, but the Lord Himself incarnate. May He save me wholly! This is why we should despise human passions, even when directed against us; for instance: envy, malice, pride, avarice, extortion--and must not be exasperated with those who are subjected to them, but must behave gently to them, and act upon them by words, persuasion, and secret prayer, as did the Lord and His Saints in relation to their enemies. This is what the worldly wisdom of a Christian consists in.

641) Strive by every means constantly to rejoice the Heavenly Father by your life; that is, by your meekness, humility, gentleness, obedience, abstinence, right judgment, love of peace, patience, mercy, sincere friendship with worthy people, kindness to everybody, cordial hospitality, universal benevolence, accuracy in business, simplicity of heart and character, and by the purity of all your thoughts. Teach and strengthen us, O God, to live in accordance with Your Will, for You are our Father, and we are Your children, in Jesus Christ our Lord.

642) Everyone must bear in mind that every man possesses, besides his animal nature, a spiritual nature also; that as the animal nature has its requirements, the spiritual one has its own requirements too. The requirements of the animal nature are: drink, food, sleep, breath, light, clothing, warmth; while those of the spiritual nature are meditation, feeling, speaking, communion with God through prayer, Divine service, the sacraments, instruction in the Word of God, and fellowship with our neighbor through mutual conversation, charitable help, mutual instruction and teaching. We must also bear in mind that our animal nature is temporal, transitory, perishable, while the spiritual one is eternal, not transitory and indestructible; that we must despise the flesh as perishable, and care for the soul, which is immortal, for its salvation, its enlightenment, its cleansing from sins, passions, and vices for its adornment with such virtues as meekness, humility, gentleness, courage, patience, submission, and obedience to God and men, purity and abstinence. Grant wisdom, O Lord, to every man that he may ever bear this in mind!

643) O Lord! Let not Your gifts, both spiritual and material, lie idle in us and for us; grant that they may be exercised beneficially and usefully. Fulfill this in all. May the number of Your talents be increased by the personal activity of each one of us.

644) Look upon a spiteful, proud, presumptuous man as you would upon the wind, and do not be offended at his malice, pride, and presumption, but be calm in yourself. The enemy purposely irritates you, kindling the fire of the human passions, or arousing in your heart various suspicions of an evil nature and imaginary fancies.

645) Do not pay attention to the words of an arrogant man, but rather to their power. It often happens that words that appear harsh at first sight, do not proceed from any harshness of the heart, but only from habit. How would it be if everyone paid strict critical attention to our words, without Christian love, indulgent, sheltering, kindly, and patient? We would have died long ago.

646) Ought a holy and chosen flock, that is, orthodox Christians, to live, as we live? Are we walking by faith, are we living soberly in expectation of the second coming of Christ and of the terrible day of judgment? Do we tremble at the thought of everlasting torments? Do we thirst for eternal bliss? Do we not cling to this transitory life. «But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation!»^[564] Keep a strict watch over yourselves. Much will be required of you. Is this how those should live, who hope for the resurrection and the future life? Is this how those should live, who have received warning and sure testimony--from the true and veritable Head of their faith--of the truth and certitude of future torments?

647) How insignificant is the earth and earthly life in comparison with heaven, with Christ's eternal kingdom! And yet we attach ourselves so much to the earthly things, and are so careless of the salvation of the soul, of eternal life!

648) Luxuries, money are worse than ordinary dust and dirt, because they sully the soul; ordinary dust only sullies the body, clothing, or room. O, how necessary it is to despise luxuries, money, and dress besides!

649) Our life is inseparable: because our life is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the most inseparable eternal Being, having no beginning. «God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.»^[565] Why, then, do we seek life in men, in enjoyments, in money, in honors, in dress, etc.? There is no life for the heart in these things, but only affliction, constraint, and spiritual death. Why do we forsake the Fountain of living waters--the Lord, and hew out «cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water»?^[566] Why do we toss about, and trouble about trifles ? Why are we so greedy after enjoyments, money, honors, dress, and various other things? All these are dead, perishable, transitory. The Devil, who has the power of death, is also inseparable, and catches us in his snares, wounding us unto death; this is why we must be on our guard, and not attach ourselves to anything, so that we may not be hurt by him.

650) Avoid such a mode of life as tends to living for carnal motives and desires only; that is, only to sleeping, eating, dressing, walking, then again, to eating, drinking, and walking. Such a mode of life at last completely kills a man's spiritual life, making him quite earthly, and a creature of the earth; while the Christian, even during his life on earth, ought to be heavenly. «For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.»^[567] «Our Father, who is in heaven!» We ought to read the Word of God more frequently, pray more often at home and in church, and in every place, of course more inwardly than outwardly; to meditate more often on God, the creation, the calling and predestination of man; on God's providence, the redemption, God's unspeakable love to mankind, the lives and glorious deeds of the Saints, who pleased God by their manifold virtues, and on other subjects; also to fast, to examine our conscience, to repent sincerely and deeply of our sins, and so on!

651) God's Wisdom, Mercy, and Omnipotence may be observed above all in the fact that the Lord places each one of us in such a position, that if we wish we can bring to God the fruits of good works, and save ourselves and others, and that out of the greatest sinners He makes righteous men, obeying His grace, which leads to salvation, and wonderfully saves us from all misfortunes, rescuing us even from destruction itself.

652) You wish others to speedily correct themselves of their faults, but do you speedily correct yourself; do you not tolerate the same, as others? Is it not through you, through your not correcting yourself, that others linger in their sins and passions?

653) Do everything in opposition to that which the enemy suggests to you: he suggests to you to hate those who offend you-- you must love them; bless those who curse you, and do not torment those who take away your property, but give it away willingly; when you want to laugh--weep when you feel despondent--endeavor to be glad ; when you feel envious--rejoice at the prosperity of others; when you are inclined to contradiction and disobedience--immediately submit and agree; when impure thoughts occur to you--be zealous of the purity of your heart, picture to yourself the high destiny of the Christian, made godly in Christ Jesus, and remember that our members are--the members of Christ; when you feel proud--humble yourself; when spiteful--be specially kind; when irritable--preserve calmness; when avaricious--be generous; when distracted-- immediately close your feelings to all outward things, and meditate on the «one thing needful» ; when you feel doubt, little faith, unbelief--then especially call firm faith to your help, remind yourself of the examples of faith, or of believers in the Old and New Testaments, as well as the miracles accomplished by faith, and so on. Do thus, and do not succumb to the enemy: for all passions, partialities, and fancies are of his imagination.

654) You will spend the festival well, to the glory of God and the salvation of your soul, if you refrain from such passions as: malice, pride, cupidity, envy, avarice, intemperance, slothfulness, inattention, carelessness in pleasing God, and neglect of your soul; and if you practise the virtues opposite to these sins, and other good works. You will be devoting the festival not to God, but to Satan, if you are allured on such a day by your passions and vices. You will spend Sunday well (the day of Resurrection), if with your soul you will rise from the dead to God, forsaking unrighteous acts, if you are regenerated and renewed by grace. But you will spend the day ill, fruitlessly, if you do not rid your heart of your malice, cupidity, or your attachment to earthly things, and if your soul is not inflamed by heavenly love, by the love of God, by the love of the heavenly country, and of the life that never grows old, which is prefigured by Sunday, the day of Resurrection--the day of the Sun of righteousness.

655) Beggars every day pursue you: this means that--God's mercy continually pursues you. « Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.»^[568] And who will flee from God's mercy?

656) God's Saints value more than any of us the great act of the redemption of mankind by God, the descent of the Son of God from heaven, His teaching, likewise His sufferings, death, burial, resurrection, and Ascension into heaven; for they spent all their lives in working out their own and others' salvation, sincerely, firmly, infallibly, with their whole hearts; for the sake of their own and others' salvation, they renounced themselves, fasted, prayed, watched, wrestled, labored in deed and word with their intellect and pen. But we do not understand how to value such great acts; we are cold, distracted, heedless, and are more occupied with the visible world and of its goods, which are but smoke.

657) I commit my whole life and everything, by which a man lives, my spiritual and bodily requirements, unto Christ my God, the Provider, the Ruler, and the Savior: for, everything is in His hands. As for me, I have only to zealously fulfill His commandments.

658) Do not let, Lord, that even for an instant I might do the will of Your and my enemy--the Devil, but grant that I may continually do Your Will, alone the Will of my God and my King: You alone, my true King by Whom all kings reign, grant that I may ever obey You, reverence You truly and firmly. «O come let us worship, and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker; serve the Lord in fear and rejoice unto Him with reverence.»^[569]

659) How must we look upon the gifts of intellect, feeling and freedom? With the intellect we must learn to know God in the works of His creation, revelation, providence, and in the destinies of men; with the heart we must feel God's love, His most heavenly peace, the sweetness of His love, we must love our neighbor, sympathise with him in joy and in sorrow, in health and in sickness, in poverty and in wealth, in distinction and in low estate (humiliation); we must use freedom, as a means, as an instrument for doing as much good as possible, and for perfecting ourselves in every virtue, so as to render unto God fruits a hundredfold.

660) All the Saints in heaven and all true Christians upon earth are «one body and one spirit,»^[570] this is why the prayer of believers is heard so easily and speedily and truly in heaven, and why there is so much hopefulness in calling upon the Saints; but in order that our prayers should be always easily and speedily heard by the Saints, we must have the same spirit as them, the spirit of faith and of love for God and our neighbor, the spirit of meekness, humility, abstinence, purity and chastity, brave, valiant, thirsting after righteousness, the spirit of compassion, heavenly and not earthly.

661) Consider yourself worse and more ill than all others in spiritual respects, and despise, hate yourself for your sins,–this is pious and right–and be indulgent to others, respect and love them in spite of their sins, for God's sake, Who commanded us to respect and love all men, and also because they are created after His image–although they bear the wounds of sin, and because they are members of Jesus Christ.

662) The Lord sometimes suddenly sends bountiful material gifts, such, for instance, as: money in payment for some very easy work, and thus rewards you for the expenditure you have incurred in affording help to your neighbor; in general He freely bestows upon us the bountiful gifts of His mercy, in order that we should not grudge His gifts to those whom He sends to us, or whom He allows to take our property, which He has given us in order that we should not be at enmity among ourselves, but should live in love and harmony; should our neighbor rob us of our property, even then we ought not to be disquieted, but should bear it meekly, trusting to God to punish for the offense. You know, that the Lord Himself meekly allowed even His garments to be taken from Him, and His body to be tortured upon the cross–for your sake, to teach you meekness and gentleness in all misfortunes and offenses.

663) God is good and all-goodness, and you, His image, must also be good. He is bountiful to all, and you too must be generous, and avoid avarice and grudging your neighbor anything material, perishable, as the greatest calamity and foolishness.

664) «Who or what are our idols?» They are–some people, and after these, our transitory life; our mortal body full of passions and the things relating to it: food and drink, dress, ornaments, distinctions, money, house furniture, etc. When the tempter attacks you through attachments to visible things by trust in visible things, bread, money and so on, then steadfastly lift up the eyes of your heart towards the invisible and eternal: first to the invisible and eternal God–the Source of our life; secondly towards the invisible life that has no ending, towards the eternal bliss of the righteous after this transitory life. When he inspires you to seek life in corruptible things, you must strive after life in the incorruptible; when he attracts your eyes to the human body, disregarding its immortal soul, you must turn your mental gaze still more steadfastly upon the soul of the man, created after God's image and likeness, redeemed by the suffering and death of the Son of God upon the cross, made to inherit eternal blessings, affiliated by God, the temple of the Holy-Spirit, and the Bride of the Holy-Spirit. Avoid duplicity, that is, do not let your heart be divided between attachment to God and attachment to earthly things, «you cannot serve God and mammon»;^[571] cling to God alone, put your trust in Him alone; for the Devil, by inciting us to duplicity, seeks himself to gain possession of our heart, which, is single and indivisible. And remember, that to attach yourself to God is always good, blessed, while to attach yourself to the world and its blessings is evil, painful, sorrowful, oppressive: for « attachment» to the world is a delusion of the Devil, and is his spirit.

665) The end of everything on earth–of my body, of enjoyments, of dress, of all treasures is–destruction, corruption and disappearance, but the spirit lives forever. May my soul remember this, and not grieve at the loss of anything temporal, perishable, but be zealous about eternal, imperishable matters: concerning God, concerning the fulfillment of His commandments, the unity of love, a peaceful condition, patience, temperance, chastity, self-denial, the heart's indifference to all earthly beauties and enjoyments, not greedy of gain (only striving to gain the Lord Himself), seeking the one thing needful; endeavoring not to imitate the crafty, and not to envy those that work iniquity. Let others take away your dross–do not mind this and do not be exasperated at it.

666) The Lord has made us His Own (O, highest honor and dignity!) while through our sins, we alienate ourselves from our Master, Who has given us birth by water and the Spirit. The Lord has most truly joined Himself to us by His Flesh and Blood,^[572] which are united with His soul and Divinity–while we, through our sins and vices, join ourselves in the closest manner to God's enemy and our own.

667) When praying with people, we sometimes have to pierce through with our prayer as if it were the hardest wall–human souls, hardened and petrified by earthly passions–to penetrate the Egyptian darkness, the darkness of passions and worldly attachments. This is why it is sometimes difficult to pray. The simpler the people one prays with the easier it is.

668) If God had not been incarnate upon earth, if He had not made us godly, if He had not taught us in His Own person how to live, what to hope for and expect, if He had not pointed out to us another perfect and eternal life, if He had not suffered and died and risen from the dead–then we should still have had some reason to live, as we all now live–that is to mostly lead a carnal, earthly life. But, now, we ought to meditate upon higher things, and count all earthly things but dung,^[573] for, everything earthly is nothing, in comparison with heavenly things. Meanwhile, the Devil, the father of lies, in spite of the Savior's teaching and His spirit, teaches us to attach ourselves to earthly goods, and forcibly nails our sensual heart to them. The heart naturally seeks happiness–and the Devil gives a false direction to this tendency, and allures it by earthly happiness, that is–by riches, honors, splendor of dress, furniture, silver, carriages (Editor’s note: any kind of private transportation could be substituted for our times), gardens and various amusements.

669) Give yourself up entirely to God's providence, to the Lord's Will, and do not grieve at losing anything material, nor in general at the loss of visible things; do not rejoice at gain, but let your only and constant joy be to win the Lord Himself. Trust entirely in Him: He knows how to lead you safely through this present life, and to bring you to Himself–into His eternal Kingdom. From want of trust in God's providence many and great afflictions proceed: despondency, murmurings, envy, avarice, love of money or the passion for amassing money and property in general, so that it may last for many years, in order to eat, drink, sleep and enjoy; from want of trust in God's providence proceed in particular afflictions such as arise, for instance: from some loss of income through our own oversight, from the loss of objects, specially valuable and necessary, as well as immoderate joy at recovering some objects, or at receiving some large income or gain, or some profitable place or employment. We, as Christians, as «fellow citizens with the Saints and of the household of God»,^[574] ought to commit all our life, together with all its sorrows, sicknesses, griefs, joys, scarcities and abundance unto Christ our God.

670) «He has shown strength with His arm: He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has shown strength with His arm» means that the Lord, through His incarnation, reigned over the enemies of our salvation, and, having conquered them by His power, and made His Mother Sovereign Queen of heaven and earth, «He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts,» that is, the Devil and the powers assisting him, the spirits of evil, He conquered them on the cross, scattering their hordes.» He has put down the mighty from their seats,» that is, the fallen angel, Satan, who reigned over mankind; and «exalted them of low degree,» that is, the Mother of God, and all humble Christians. «He has filled the hungry with good things,» for instance: that same Most-pure, gracious Lady and other Saints–and» the rich He has sent empty away,»^[575] that is: the demons who would have richly filled the abysses of hell with prisoners–the human souls, which were brought to the light of Christ's Kingdom by the Savior, when He descended into hell.

671) We only “call” the Lord, God, but in reality we have our own gods, because we do not do the Will of God, but the will and thoughts of our flesh, the will of our heart, of our passions; our gods are–our flesh, pleasures, money, dress, etc.

672) What vanities, what foolish fancies often occupy most of us, even in sight of the highest, the most important objects of faith, in sight of the greatest holiness. For instance, when a man stands before the icons of the Lord, of the Mother of God, of an Angel, of an Archangel, of one or a whole assembly of Saints, at home or in the temple, and, sometimes, instead of prayer, instead of laying aside, at this time, in this place, all worldly cares, he casts up his accounts and reckonings, goes over his expenses and receipts, rejoices at the gain, and grieves at the loss of profits, or the failure of some undertaking (without, of course, a single thought of spiritual profit or loss), or else he thinks evil of his neighbor, exaggerating his weakness, his passions, suspecting him, envying him, judging him, or if it is in church, he looks at the faces of those, standing near him, also how they are dressed, who is nice looking, and who not, or making plans what he shall do, in what pleasure or vanity he will spend the day, and so on. And this often happens at the time when the greatest, the most heavenly Sacrament of the Eucharist, that is, of the most-pure Body and Blood of our Lord, is being celebrated; when we ought to be wholly in God, wholly occupied in meditations on the mystery accomplished for our sakes, of the redemption from sin, from the eternal curse and death; and on the mystery of our being made godly in the Lord Jesus Christ. How low we have fallen, how earthly-minded we have become, and from what does it all proceed? From inattention, and the neglect of our salvation, from attachment to temporal things, from weakness of faith, or unbelief in eternity.

673) How is it that all nature, and everything in nature, is so wisely arranged, and moves in such wonderful order? It is because the Creator Himself directs and governs it. How is it that in the nature of man–the crown of creation–there is so much disorder? Why are there so many irregularities and deformities in his life? Because he took upon himself to direct and govern himself, against the Will and Wisdom of his Creator. Sinful man! Give yourself up wholly, all your life unto the Lord your God, and all your life will move in wise, beautiful, stately, and life-giving order, and will all become beautiful as the lives of God's Saints, who gave themselves up entirely to Christ their God, and whom the Church daily offers to us, as an example to imitate.

674) Value highly, and always preserve Christian meekness and kindness, mutual peace and love, crushing by every possible means the impulses of self-love, malice, irritability, and disturbance. Do not be disturbed and angered, when anybody tells you a lie to your face, or claims any unjust pretension, or speaks offensively, or boldly detects any of your weaknesses or passions, the wrongfulness of which, through your self-love, you did not suspect. Always first coolly reflect over what your opponent says to you, as well as over your own words and conduct, and, if, upon an entirely impartial consideration of your words and actions, you find them just, then let your conscience be at rest, and do not heed the words of your adversary, either remaining silent before him, or showing him his error quietly, gently, in all kindness of heart; but should you find yourself guilty of that, which your adversary detects in you, then, putting aside self-love and pride, ask pardon for your fault, and endeavor to correct yourself in future. We are often angry with straightforward, frank people for openly disclosing our iniquities. We ought to value such people, and forgive them, if by their bold speaking they break down our self-love. They are, in a moral sense, the surgeons who cut off, with a sharp word, the rottenness of the heart, and through arousing our self-love, they awaken, in the soul deadened by sin, a consciousness of sin and a vital reaction.

675) «The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.»^[576] If we strive daily to conquer the passions, which fight against us, and to gain the Kingdom of God in our heart, then the passions will tyrannically, forcibly take possession of us, will invade our soul like robbers; our attachments to earthly things will increase in proportion as our faith in heavenly blessings and love for them grows weaker and weaker; our love for God and our neighbor–will also grow weaker and weaker; we shall enjoy rest of conscience and peace of heart more and more seldom. We must struggle in the matter of the salvation of the soul, which is more precious than anything in the world; we must count everything earthly as dross, or as a phantom, a vision, and everything heavenly, above all, the Lord Himself–as truth itself, eternal, most-blessed, and unchangeable.

676) We all love life, are anxious, and strive for a happy life, and yet our life is corrupted by passions. Why? Because we do not seek life where we should.

677) To the young, and to all grown up people. Remember, that the moral law of God continually acts in the world, in accordance with which, every good is inwardly rewarded, while every evil is punished. Evil is accompanied by affliction and constraining the heart, and good–by peace, joy, and expansion of the heart. This law is unchangeable: for it is the law of the unchangeable, all-holy, righteous, most-wise, and eternal God. Those who do good, or who fulfill this moral or Gospel law (which is also a moral law, only the most perfect) shall be infallibly rewarded by eternal life, while its transgressors, and those who have not repented of its transgression shall be punished by eternal torment.

678) God is that Who Is (Existing). In Him, all the Saints, all reasonable and free beings are–one. «As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us.»^[577] I, myself, am–nothing: God is everything in me, God is in all, and God is everything to all–"Our Father, Who art in heaven!»

679) When you call in prayer upon the Lord God in Three Persons, remember that you are calling upon the unoriginate Father of all creatures, angels, and men; that all the heavenly Powers are in wonderment at you as you call upon Him, and look lovingly upon you that you are able to call with faith, love, and becoming reverence upon our and their common Father, the Almighty, Creator and Lord, Whom they love boundlessly, Whom they reverence deeply. O, what great happiness and blessedness, what an honor, how sublime a thing it is to be able to call upon the eternal Father! Value continually and without change this highest happiness, this blessedness which the infinite mercy of God has reserved to you, and do not forget it during the time of your prayer. God hears you, God's saints and angels hear you. (February 26th, 1864.) I shed tears while writing these lines.

680) «Christ is all and in all»^[578] (in the holy angels, in holy men, and in Christians living, or endeavoring to live in a holy way upon earth), «and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, which is His body.»^[579] Thus, the Church–God's saints, the Mother of God, the angels, the prelates, the martyrs, the holy fathers, the righteous, and all holy persons–are the Savior's body, and He Himself is – their Head. Our Lady, the Mother of God, is – the Sovereign of mental edification – that is, the Holy Theotokos and all the Saints are – one spirit with the Lord: so pure and holy are they, and they have the same relation to Him, or the same union with Him, as the members of a body to the head, and there is one spirit in them, the Spirit of God; as the soul is in one body, so is the one God and Father in them. And we – as the members of the earthly Church are also– one body.

681) The Holy Theotokos, the Mother of God, is the most beautifully adorned temple of the Holy Trinity. She is, after God, the treasury of all blessings, of purity, holiness, of all true wisdom, the source of spiritual power and constancy.

682) We are – one body of love. Food, drink, money, dress, houses, all earthly attributes are – nothing, while man is – everything; nothing is so precious as man. Man, by his soul, is immortal, while everything material is perishable and ephemeral; everything material is like dust. Everything is God's, nothing is ours. Man! Esteem the dignity of man, as the image of God and in the time of his need, do not grudge him any material help.

683) Everything, except true love, is an illusion. If a friend behaves coldly, rudely, spitefully, insolently to you, say – this is an illusion of the enemy, if a feeling of enmity, arising from your friend's coldness and insolence, disturbs you, say: – this is an illusion of mine; but the truth is, that I love my friend, in spite of everything, and I do not wish to see evil in him, which is an illusion of the demon, and which is in me also; I will be indulgent to his faults, for they are in me also; we have – the same sinful nature. You say that your friend has sins and great defects? So do you. – You say that you do not love him because of such and such sins and defects. Then do not love yourself either, because you have the same sins and defects as he has. But remember, that the Lamb of God took upon Himself the sins of the whole world. «Who are you that judges another man's servant» for his sins, defects, and vices? Everyone « to his own master stands or falls.»^[580] But, in accordance with Christian love, you must be indulgent in every possible way to the faults of your neighbor, you must cure him of his wickedness, of his spiritual infirmity (for every coldness, every passion is an infirmity) by love, kindness, meekness, humility, as you yourself would wish to receive from others, when you suffer from a similar infirmity. For who is not subject to infirmity? Who does the most evil enemy spare? Lord! Destroy all the snares of the enemy in us.

684) Remember what man is. He is the image of God, a child of God, a Christian, an inheritor of the Kingdom, a member of Christ. We must therefore esteem every man, although he may bear in his soul the wounds of sins. The wounds – are wounds; they are made by the Devil and sin, but still the image is the image of God. We must pity him for his wounds, grieve, pray for him as for ourselves: for we are all – one body. «And has made of one blood, all nations.»^[581] «We are all partakers of that one bread.»^[582] Do not pay attention to diabolical disturbances, separations, and animosities. Repeat: everything is – one. Say: we are – one.

685) Count all worldly delights as – worthless and corruption; do not love anything earthly, do not grudge anything earthly to any man, and do not nourish any animosity against him through such things. Love aspires to rejoice the beloved and is sparing of nothing.

686) Lord, grant that I may see my transgressions, that I may not despise sinners, like unto myself, and may not nourish any ill-feeling in my heart against them for their sins, that I may despise myself as I deserve, as the greatest of sinners, and that I may ever feel an implacable hatred of myself – of my own carnal man: «If any man.....doesn’t hate.....his own life he cannot be My disciple,»^[583] says the Lord.

687) God is the Creator and Ruler of the whole world and everything in it is – His work, the fruit of His power and Wisdom.

688) There is no need to ask anyone whether we ought to spread or propagate the Glory of God, either by writing, or by word, or by good works. This we are obliged to do according to our power and possibility. We must make use of our talents. If you think much about such a simple matter, then, perhaps, the Devil may suggest to you such foolishness as that you need only be inwardly active.

689) The principal characteristic of this present, temporal life is temptation.

690) What is sweeter than love? And yet there is not much love in us! Why? We love our flesh exceedingly, and with it everything carnal, material and earthly! Let us, therefore, despise the flesh and walk by the spirit, mortifying the works of the flesh by the spirit.

691) Avarice occasions a waste of love, and inspires hatred against those who deprive or rob us of our property; while hearty generosity arouses love for those, to whom we are liberal; forced generosity, however, also produces dislike. Avarice proceeds from–the Devil, generosity from–God. He is the Father of bounties. Every attachment to material things proceeds from--the Devil; neglect, contempt of material things and indifference to them, for the love of God–from God. Amen.

692) «My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.»^[584] Thus the Lord's commandments are easy and light. while the Devil's yoke is evil, and his burden heavy. But what do we see? We transgress the Lord's commandments and fulfill those of the Devil. How accursed are we!

693) Always remember that your neighbor, whoever he may be, if he is a Christian, is a member of Christ, though he may be a sick one, but then you yourself are also sick, and you must always receive him with respect and love, converse with him heartily, entertain him, and not grudge him anything: neither food, drink, clothes, books, nor money, if he has need of them. The Lord will reward you for him. We are all His children, and He is–everything to us. We are all sinners, and «the wages of sin are–misfortunes, troubles, sorrow and sickness, and–"death.»^[585] In order to be saved from sin, we must pray; and in order to pray, we must have faith and hope. Thus, for us sinners, prayer, faith and hope, are most necessary. prayer ought not to cease coming from the mental, and even from the outward lips of a sinner.

694) During prayer at home and at church against the craftiness of the Devil, and the distraction of your thoughts, remind yourself of the simplicity of truth, and say to yourself: « simply,» I believe in everything that I ask in the simplicity of my heart, and ask for everything simply; while all my enemy's–craftiness, blasphemies, abomination, and illusions–I renounce. Let the origin, and the foundation, and the source of all your thoughts, words, and works be humility, the consciousness of your own nothingness, and the fullness of the Godhead Who has created and fills everything, and «works all in all.»^[586] He who is infected by pride is inclined to show contempt for everything, even for holy and Divine objects: pride mentally destroys or defiles every good thought, word, act, every creation of God. It is the deadly breathing of Satan.

695) What hinders you from fulfilling Christ's commandments The flesh and the world: that is, pleasant food and drink, which men like, in which they delight both in thought and in fact, which make the heart gross and hard–a partiality for elegant dress and adornment, or for distinctions and rewards; if the dress or adornments are made of very beautiful colored and delicate materials, then care and anxiety arise how to avoid staining or soiling them, or getting them dusty or wet, while care and anxiety how to please God in thought, word, and deed vanish and the heart lives for dress and adornment, and becomes entirely engrossed in these things, ceasing to care about God and being united to Him; if such is the case with a priest, then he neglects praying for his people, and becomes not soul-loving, but money-loving and ambitious, seeking not the men themselves, but that which is relevant to them, that is, money, food, drink, their favor, their good opinion and good word, and flattering them. Therefore fight against every worldly enticement, against every material enticement that hinders you from fulfilling Christ's commandments, love God with all your heart, and care with all your strength for the salvation of your own soul, and the souls of others, be soul-loving. Remember, that the world, which rose from nothing, is indeed nothingness, and will return to nothing, for heaven and earth shall pass away, but the human soul, the breath of God, the image of the immortal King is itself immortal. Remember all this, and renounce attachments to all earthly things. Besides looking upon corruptible creatures and created things, turn your eyes constantly to the Creator, Who is in every creature, and Who constantly looks upon you, constantly proving your heart and your thoughts. Do not cling with your heart to anything, and do not make it the god of your heart; the sole God of our heart must be the Lord-God, Who created it: for our heart is His breath. Do not cleave with your whole heart unto any person, that is to any flesh, for the sole God of our heart must be the Lord-God, and to Him only must we cleave. For attachment to material things, or to flesh, is a lie, an enticement of Satan and the will of the Devil. Amen.

696) By attaching ourselves to mere nothingness, to transitory things, what do we lose?–Of what blessings do we deprive ourselves and are deprived? The Lord has told you, my soul, that the whole visible world in comparison to you is nothing. Therefore, count it as nothing, and see for what purpose the Creator has created You and what He wishes to make You. Remember how the Son of God came down upon earth; how He walked upon earth, announcing the good tidings of heavenly truth; His voluntary poverty; His miracles and prophecies: His last supper; His shame; His sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven; and aim and aspire to heavenly bliss.

697) True love willingly bears hardships, troubles, and labors; endures offenses, humiliations, defects, sins, and injustices, if they do not harm others; bears patiently and meekly with the baseness and malice of others, leaving judgment to the all-seeing God, the righteous Judge, and praying that He may teach those who are darkened by senseless passions.

698) During prayer, and when reading God's Word, we must revere every thought, every word, as the Spirit of God Himself, the Spirit of Truth. We must eradicate doubt and contempt for the Word as a poison of the spirit of falsehood; and as doubt and contempt are the fruits of self-conceit and pride, we must eradicate pride, and be like infants, lisping in their simplicity before God–like infants, who know and say only that which their parents have taught them, and who do not hear or know any suggestions different to those of their parents, and do not even wish to listen to or know them. For the Holy Spirit taught the Holy Fathers, like simple-hearted and gentle children, how to pray; to thank and praise God by means of those prayers which the Church puts into our mouths. Remember that all of us are the children of the Heavenly Father, and in the simplicity of your soul look upon all as upon the children of the Eternal Father, holy, most good, omnipresent, omniscient, Almighty, most wise, righteous, unchangeable, providing for all and protecting all under the wings of His goodness; and live in love with all, conquering every evil in men by good.

699) What a high dignity, honor, and happiness it is to pray for men, for this precious possession and inheritance of God! With what gladness, boldness, zeal, and love we must pray to God, the Father of mankind, for His people, redeemed unto Him by the blood of His Son! « These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.»^[587] Hear, O priests of God! To you it often happens to converse with God by means of a set form of prayer. Do not let your tongue speak falsely, your lips saying one thing and having another in your heart, or saying and not feeling what you say. If you are praying for anyone, do not let there be any diabolical craftiness and duplicity in you, but pray to the Almighty God, «Who tries the very hearts and reins,»^[588] with your heart as well as your lips. And in order that you may always pray sincerely to the Lord God, despise everything earthly; be without partiality for all the goods and delights of this seductive, corrupt, and fleeting world–food, drink, pleasures, money, dress, and various ornaments and distinctions, the comfort of your temporary abode–consider all this as worthless, corruption, and water; be temperate; love God with all your heart, undividedly –not only superficially or in whatever manner–love him with all your mind and all your strength, and not slightly, so that nothing could tear you away from the love of God: neither sorrow, nor oppression, nor persecutions and misfortunes, nor death, nor life, nor anything else; and love your neighbor as your own self, magnanimously bearing with his faults, infirmities, errors, the outbreak of his passions. Remember, it is a great matter to converse with God, Who continually sees us, continually hears us, trying our hearts and reins. Do not let your heart lie; do not let it be cold towards God and your neighbor during the time of prayer for your neighbor. Remember God shall judge you for everything, for every idle or insincere word. And meanwhile the enemy from time immemorial, the father of lies, the Devil, does not slumber, and endeavors to harden by every means your passionate heart and to make it insensible, false, and crafty; endeavors to drive away from your heart faith and hope in God, together with love for Him and love and have sympathy for your neighbor, and to occupy you solely with worldly, temporal interests. Watch, watch yourself, the thoughts of your heart, O priest of God, and do not bind yourself by worldly, carnal desires and pleasures. Let your happiness be the one God and the human soul; be soul-loving, and not money-loving or sensual. Lord, accomplish all this Yourself, for without You we can do nothing.^[589] So be it! So be it!

700) The most merciful and bountiful Lord is everything to all and to me, a miserable sinner, and I have nothing of my own (the renunciation of every possession). I ought to reverently thank God for everything–for the currents of air, light, water, for every mouthful of food, for clothes. Everything, even our bodies themselves, are indeed only earth and water. Amen.

701) We are all one, and must love one another as ourselves. The selfish grudging of anything to another, and the vexation at giving, the impulse to grudge, proceed from the Devil. Every attachment to earthly things is an enticement of the Devil and of our own self-love.

702) What does the holy Church instill in us by putting in our mouths, both during prayer at home and in church, prayers addressed, not by a single person, but by all? She instills in us constant, mutual love, in order that we should always and in everything, during prayer and during worldly discourse, love one another as our own selves–in order that we, imitating God in three Persons, constituting the highest Unity, should ourselves be one formed of many. « That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us.»^[590] Common prayer on the part of all teaches us also to share earthly needs with others, so that in life also we may have everything in common and as one– that is, that mutual love should be evident in everything, and that each one should use his capacities for the good of others, not hiding his talent in the ground–that he should not be selfish and idle. If you are wise, give advice to the foolish. If you are educated, teach the ignorant. If you are strong, help the weak; if rich, help the poor.

703) When you are praying alone, and your spirit is dejected, and you are wearied and oppressed by your loneliness, remember then, as always, that God the Trinity looks upon you with eyes brighter than the sun; also all the angels, your own Guardian Angel, and all the saints of God. Truly they do; for they are all one in God, and where God is, there are they also. Where the sun is, there also are directed all its rays. Try to understand what this means. Always pray with a fervent heart; and to attain this, never eat and drink excessively. Remember with Whom you are conversing. Men very often forget with Whom they are conversing during prayer, Who are the witnesses of their prayer. They forget that they are conversing with the Vigilant and the All-seeing God; that all the Heavenly Powers and the saints of God are listening to their converse.

704) If enemies surround you, and you are in spiritual distress, call immediately upon our Most Holy Theotokos. She is Queen in order that she may reign, by Her sovereign power, over the powers that oppose us, and may mightily succor us, for we are Her inheritance.

705) We are all one, and there is one Lord for all–for the angels, for the saints, for all material worlds, and for each smallest part of them. «Behold the fowl of the air. . . . Consider the lilies of the field. ... If God so clothed the grass of the field . . . shall He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ...^[591] Seek you first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness» (mutual love), «and all these things shall be added unto you»^[592] (from God). This is the most indispensable truth for you. Follow it! Set your hope in everything upon God. «Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.»^[593] Indeed, how is it possible to live as we live, as though there were no God caring for us? We think to order everything ourselves. We think to provide for ourselves, setting aside the thought of God, Who cares for us all.

706) Do not merely not care for pleasures and fine things, but do not even care for your own sinful flesh; for by the slightest attachment to all these things you anger God. «While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.»^[594] You see, therefore, that you are not to pay attention to visible things – let them be as though they did not exist; but you must pay attention to invisible things; for the former are temporal, and the latter eternal. Besides this, if you seek the invisible, then God will provide the visible for you, as He has done until now.

707) What greatness it is for a Christian, and above all for a Christian priest, that he becomes one with Christ and God the Savior through the Holy Sacrament!

708) When partaking of the Holy Mysteries, O priest (Editor: it makes sense to add “laity”), say in your heart: « Come unto me, Life-Giver, to rescue me from the jaws of the serpent of hell, to cleanse me from the impurity of passions, to appease my troubled heart, to give life to my deadened soul, to rejoice my sorrowful and despondent spirit. Come to feed me, starving from sinful hunger; to clothe me, naked of every virtue; to strengthen me, the infirm; to honor me, the dishonored; to exalt me, the base; to ennoble me, the despised; to enlighten my darkened soul. You bestow every blessing upon me. I thank You, O Most Merciful One!»

709) Our heart is like the darkened earth; the Gospel is like the sun, enlightening and giving life to our hearts. May the true sun of Your righteousness shine in our hearts, O Lord!

710) When I look more closely upon some of the poor, and talk with them, then I see how meek, lovable, humble, simple-hearted, truly kind, poor in body, but rich in spirit they are. They make me–I who am rough, proud, evil, scornful, irritable, crafty, cold towards God and men, envious and avaricious ashamed of myself. These are the true friends of God. And the enemy, being aware of their spiritual treasures, awakens in his servants–that is, in proud, rich men–contempt and ill-feeling towards them, and would like to wipe them off the face of the earth, as if they had no right to live and walk upon it. O, friends of my God, my poor brethren! It is you who are the truly rich in spirit, while I am the real beggar, accursed and poor! You are worthy of sincere respect from us, who possess the blessings of this world in abundance, but who are poor and needy in virtues: abstinence, meekness, humility, kindness, sincerity, fervor, and warmth towards God and our neighbor. Lord! Teach me to despise outward things, to turn my mental vision inwardly, and to value inward, and despise outward things. Grant that I may observe this in my relations towards the rich and powerful of this world!

711) A miser values things, and does not value the man who requires these things; he is sparing of the things and unsparing to the man, though the man is a priceless being. He does not grudge himself anything; but he grudges giving to others; he loves himself, and does not love others. But in general everything is rubbish and water. The inexhaustible Lord is everything to all. He has subdued the whole world like dust and hay under the feet of man.

712) « Charity is tolerant»^[595] –that is, it does not immediately punish the one who sins, but patiently endures his lapses, teaching and correcting him; while the nature of malice is to immediately strike an antagonist, or to make him unhappy, pushing him to extremes. It is amazing how evil and impatient we are! If our brother has sinned, we are not sorry that he sins, we do not weep from brotherly love at his willful insanity, at his passion; but we bear malice against him, we despise him for his sins; while meanwhile, perhaps we ourselves are, or were, guilty of the same, and were indulgently forgiven our sins, and, only thanks to the indulgence of our superiors, have at last somehow corrected ourselves of these failings, passions, and. vices, and become good for anything. If we happen to be even now guilty of the same sins, only not so gravely as our erring brother, it signifies that we too are answerable for them. How, then, can we be otherwise than indulgent to our erring brethren? Thus, in punishing others for sins and crimes, we must also remember our own weaknesses, our vices and passions, past and present, and punish our subordinates lovingly, pityingly, and patiently, and not angrily, not pitilessly, impatiently, hastily. « In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God perhaps will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.»^[596] It was not without reason that the Apostle placed tolerance and mercy as the first signs of our love for our neighbor: « Charity is tolerant, and is kind»^[597]: for every man is ill, weak, rash, easily inclined to every sin, but at the same time he may also easily think better of it, rise up, and repent under favorable conditions; and therefore it is necessary to be patient to his infirmities and sins, as we ourselves would wish others to be indulgent to our infirmities, and, seeing them, be as though they did not see them and did not notice them. But in those cases, however, where the sin acts injuriously upon others, or when it is connected with the omission of the duties of our calling, or when it attains great dimensions, then an immediate strictness is necessary for restraining or putting a stop to it, or for removing the injurious person from the midst of well-intentioned people. « Remove from among yourselves that wicked person.»^[598]

713) God did not spare for our sakes even His Only Begotten Son. How, then, after this can we grudge anything to our neighbor: either food, drink, clothing, or money for his various needs? The Lord gives much to some and little to others in order that we may provide for each other. The Lord has so ordered that if we willingly share the bountiful gifts of His mercy with others, then they serve to benefit our souls and bodies, by opening our hearts to the love of our neighbor, while our moderation in using them serves to benefit our body, which does not become satiated and overloaded by them. But if we use these gifts selfishly, avariciously, and greedily, for ourselves only, and grudge them to others, then they become injurious to our soul and body – injurious to the soul, because greediness and avarice close the heart to the love of God and our neighbor, and make us repulsive, self-lovers, increasing all our passions; and injurious to the body, because greediness produces satiety in us, and prematurely impairs our health.

714) We ought to confess our sins more frequently, in order to strike and scourge the sins by the open avowal of them, and in order to feel a greater loathing for them. Think, man, into what misery audacious sin has cast you, and what has been done for your salvation by our Master, Christ, the Son of God; remember His Incarnation, His voluntary self-extinction, His discourse with men, His words, His miracles, how He was mocked, reviled, spat upon, scourged, buffeted, and, lastly, remember His most shameful crucifixion upon the cross, His death and burial, and His resurrection from the dead. Think what he bore to save us from everlasting torments, and what he requires from you in return: that you should give yourself up wholly to Him; that you should live, not for yourself, but for Him, fulfilling His commandments. Shun, therefore, everything that draws you into sin: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; crucify your flesh, with its passions and lusts; save your soul by patience; love God, and your neighbor as yourself.

715) What has the Lord of our life done for us insignificant, ungrateful, and evil-natured creatures? He came down from heaven, He assumed our flesh, worked many and various miracles; He suffered, shed all His blood, died, descended into hell, bound Satan, destroyed hell, freed the prisoners bound in hell, and brought them up to heaven. He rose from the dead in order to raise us also with Him. Let us fulfill His last will and testament; let us love one another; let us be diligent in fulfilling His other commandments, and let us cease offending Him by our self-will and resistance. Lord, help us!

716) We ought to be one spirit with the Lord – the spirit of holiness, the spirit of love, of goodness, meekness, tolerance, mercy. He that does not have this spirit in him is not of God. Thus I ought to be love, solely love, counting all as one «That they all may be one.»^[599] May it be so! Lord, help me!

717) How will it be with us in the future life, when everything that has gratified us in this world: riches, honors, food and drink, dress, beautifully furnished dwellings, and all attractive objects---how will it be, I say, when all these things leave us---when they will all seem to us a dream, and when works of faith and virtue, of abstinence, purity, meekness, humility, mercy, patience, obedience, and others will be required of us?

718) We ought to have the most lively spiritual union with the heavenly inhabitants, with all the saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, prelates, venerable and righteous men, as they are all members of one single body, the Church of Christ, to which we sinners also belong, and the living Head of which is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This is why we call upon them in prayer, converse with them, thank and praise them. It is urgently necessary for all Christians to be in union with them if they desire to make Christian progress; for the saints are our friends, our guides to salvation, who pray and intercede for us.

719) Trample the flesh under foot---that is, its passions. Put it and everything carnal on a level with the dirt, and do not care for it. Lord, Yours is the power; help us! When we count everything carnal and sinful as nothing, then the Lord will be everything to us. The Lord shall then reign in our hearts, upon the ruins of our earthly attachments.

720) Through our attachment to the flesh, its lusts, or through excessive estimation of the flesh and of everything carnal, the Devil reigns in our hearts, fulfilling his impious will, driving God's kingdom from our hearts, and destroying the work of Jesus Christ, our elevation into heaven. This is true! «Despise the flesh, for it passes away.»^[600] But in the present time, men of this world set all value upon the flesh and carnal things, and none on the spirit and spiritual things, such as faith and virtue.

721) The Lord does not dwell in the heart, in which reigns greediness and attachment to earthly blessings, to earthly pleasures, money, etc. This is daily proved by experience. In such a heart dwell cruelty, pride, presumption, scornfullness, malice, vengeance, envy, avarice, vanity, and boastfulness; theft, deceitfulness, hypocrisy, and dissimulation; craftiness, flattery, cringing, fornication, profane speaking, violence, treachery, and perjury.

722) We are all one through unanimity and love, and through spiritual regeneration, and the heavenly Father is everything to all of us. «Our Father, Which art in heaven.» We are one brotherhood, with one spirit. «Now, if any man doesn’t have the spirit of Christ, he is not His.»^[601] Let us understand this. We are the Church of Christ, of which the Head is Christ Himself, Who is meek and humble, inexhaustible in His mercies to us, if only we live in mutual love. We are the flock; He is the Shepherd. We are the members; He is the Head. How can the members be proud of anything, when they receive everything from the Head?

723) If we are in lively, active union with the members of Christ here, if we love them in deed and in truth, then God's saints will be in lively, active union with us, and whatever we ask them they will obtain for us from Christ our God, for Whose sake they sacrificed all that was dear to them.

724) Do we, who have received life from God, the Life of all, bring to Him as an offering our life, the fruits of our life, as did our forefathers, the prophets, apostles, martyrs, prelates, venerable and righteous men, and all the saints? Do we even think of this daily? Do we not only live for ourselves? Do we live in accordance with the commandments and ordinances of the Life-Giver? If not, what prevents our doing so! The love of ourselves, self-love. Let us offer our self-love as a sacrifice of love to the Lord, for what are we of ourselves? Sin, corruption.

725) You are asked daily for alms, and you ought daily to give willingly, without anger, harshness, and murmuring. You do not give your own, but you give that which belongs to God, to God's children, who bear the cross, and have scarcely where to lay their heads. You are only a steward of God's property; you are the daily servant of the least of Christ's brethren; and therefore you must fulfill your duty meekly, humbly, and tirelessly. You will thus be serving Christ, the Judge and Recompenser---a great honor, a high dignity! Do good work with gladness. Money comes to you easily, without great labor; and you should distribute it easily, without thinking much about it. Your labors are generously rewarded; be generous to others. They are not rewarded in accordance with their merit; do not give to others in accordance with their merits, but for their need's sake.

726) As a passionate man is one spirit with the Devil---and this I and many others feel and experience---so a virtuous man is and remains one spirit with the Lord, and this he feels and experiences, saying: «I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me»^[602] ; or, as it has been said by the Lord himself: «He that eats My body and drinks My blood dwells in me, and I in him»^[603] ; or, again, as the Apostle said: « Don’t you know your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?»^[604] Thus God's saints are one spirit with the Lord; likewise all those who live piously upon earth. This is a great mystery and a great honor for earthborn creatures. But, also, what shame and destruction it is to the sophistical and disobedient! They are one spirit with the Devil, from whom, Christ our God, deliver us all!

727) If the truth of something has been revealed in the Word of God, has been investigated and explained to us by the Divinely enlightened mind of the saints, whom God has glorified, and has been recognize d by the heart in its light and life-giving effect, then it is a great sin and diabolical pride of the intellect and heart to doubt it and to be perplexed about it.

728) I myself, am every moment a debtor to the Lord, both spiritually and bodily: spiritually through my sins, and bodily through freely receiving His material gifts: food, drink, money, clothing, air, warmth, light, and in general the various comforts of life. How, then, can it be otherwise than a happiness to me to forgive the debts of my neighbor, both spiritual and material, when the Lord forgives me the innumerable multitude of my own debts? How can I do otherwise than freely give the gifts that belong to the Lord when the Lord freely bestows upon me innumerable spiritual and material blessings---the light of the intellect and heart, peace and joy to the heart, a variety of knowledge, and everything else, down to the currents of air? It would be monstrous to do otherwise. We are all one body and members one of another, and are absolutely mutually indebted for something; as in the social body it is impossible to avoid others being indebted to us, or our being indebted to others. And it is impossible for us not to forgive each others debts; as in the body some members naturally often live at the expense of the others---for instance, the stomach at the expense of the head, or of the hands and feet---so it is also among men. But the chief thing is to remember that we receive everything freely from God, that we are indebted to Him infinitely much, and that He lovingly forgives us our trespasses, on condition that we forgive them that trespass against us. Let us, therefore, willingly and heartily forgive our neighbors their trespasses against us; let us daily offer this sacrifice unto God and live in love. Let us renounce self-will and the tumult of passions, and entirely submit to the will of God. We are the image of God, and « God is love.»^[605] Let us, therefore, live in love; let us strive for love with all our might. Lord help us! But let us count everything earthly---food, dress, money---as worthless, and do not let us anger God through this rubbish, by bearing ill-will or enmity against each other. Is it possible that we should sell our Lord for food, for money? One thing only: either God or the flesh. We cannot acknowledge two gods, we cannot serve two. The flesh dictates its own laws to us entirely opposite to the laws of God: gluttony, intemperance, trust in food, drink, money, avarice, or grudging God's gifts to our neighbor; ill will to our neighbor, through food, drink, money; contempt for him through the same hard-heartedness towards his misfortunes, and so on. What must we do, then, in order not to serve God hypocritically? We must crucify the flesh, with its passions and lusts, counting it as nothing, and everything that it values much, that it loves---pleasures, dress, money, houses, carriages---likewise as nothing, as rubbish, corruption, earth, as indeed they really are; but count love as the most precious thing in life, sacrificing everything to it, submitting everything to it, and neglecting everything for it.

729) Everyone must know and believe that there is a spiritual, deadly serpent, called the Devil, or Satan, condemned by the Creator to everlasting torments, that can lead away into everlasting torment those who do not believe, are unrighteous and impenitent. Everyone must know and believe that the Savior was sent from God into the world in order to save men from the deadly shafts of this serpent---that is, from sin and everlasting death; and that this Savior bestows upon all His saving, healing remedies against the bites of this serpent: faith, penitence, and the Holy Mysteries of His Body and Blood.

730) There are many drops of rain, but all proceed from a single cloud; there are many rays of the sun, but all proceed from one sun; there are many leaves on a tree, but all are produced by a single tree; there are many grains of sand upon the earth, but they are all from the one same earth. There are also many men, but all of them derive their origin from the one same Adam, and before all, from God.

731) For what purpose does the Lord add day after day, year after year, to our existence. In order that we may gradually put away, cast aside, evil from our souls, each one his own, and acquire blessed simplicity; in order that we may become, for instance, gentle as lambs, simple as infants; in order that we may learn not to have the least attachment to earthly things, but like loving, simple children, may cling with all our hearts to God alone, and love Him with, all our hearts, all our souls, all our strength, and all our thoughts, and our neighbor as ourselves. Let us hasten; therefore, to pray to the Lord, fervently and tearfully, to grant us simplicity of heart, and let us strive by every means to cast out the evil from our souls– for instance, evil suspicion, malevolence, malignity, malice, pride, arrogance, boastfulness, scornfullness, impatience, despondency, despair, irascibility and irritability, tearfullness and faintheartedness, envy, avarice, gluttony, and satiety; fornication, mental and of the heart, and actual fornication; the love of money, and in general the passion for acquisition; slothfulness, disobedience, and all the dark horde of sins. Lord, without You we can do nothing! Bless us Yourself in this work, and give us the victory over our enemies and our passions. So be it!

732) Let us put away our spiritual short-sightedness, and let us cease to concentrate all our attention upon temporal, earthly things; let us look ahead, with our mental vision, the future, everlasting life, and rise in our hearts to our heavenly country. Indeed, it is wonderful short-sightedness for the immortal soul only to look upon the present, visible things, generally relating to the senses, and flattering our carnal nature, and not contemplate the life of the world to come–the blessings which «eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,» but which the Most Merciful and the Most Wise God has prepared for them that love Him.»^[606] Of what do we not deprive ourselves through this voluntary short-sightedness! Like flies we adhere to earthly sweets, and do not wish to rise up, to tear ourselves away from them. Blessed is he who despises the joys of this world; there shall be no end to his bliss.

733) As in the earthly life, there are poor and rich, so also in the spiritual life, there are also poor and rich. As the poor ask for charity from the rich and well-to-do, and cannot live without their help, so also in the spiritual order the poor must have recourse to the spiritually rich. We are the spiritually poor, while the saints, or those who shine even in this present life by their faith and piety, are the spiritually rich. It is to them that we needy ones must have recourse. We must beg for their prayers that they may help us to become simple as infants; that they may teach us spiritual wisdom, how to conquer sins, how to love God and our neighbor. And therefore pray for me, saints of God–prophets, apostles, martyrs, prelates, venerable and righteous men–that I may become like unto you!

734) When you pray to the Lord, picture to yourself vividly to whom you are praying. You are praying to the unoriginated, endless King of all creatures, to the All-holy, All-merciful, Almighty, Most-wise, Omnipresent, All-righteous God, Whom millions of millions of angels of various orders revere, Whom the armies of martyrs, the companies of prophets and apostles, the assemblies of prelates, venerable and righteous men praise. When you pray to the Holy Theotokos, also picture to yourself Her unprecedented holiness, Her greatness, mercy, wisdom, Her helpfullness to all, and the humble worship rendered unto Her by the assemblies of angels and men.

735) We must constantly bear in remembrance and strive to live in accordance with the mystery of our redemption by Christ, His sufferings, His death on the cross, and His resurrection and ascension, and His second coming; we must honor above all the holiness of the Mother of God as the living ark and temple of the Godhead, and ask Her, after the Lord Himself, for cleansing and holiness, and steadfastness in faith and love.

736) Avoid flattery, audacity, and taking the law into your own hands. Our soul has a passion for doing this when others do something differently to what we would like them to, or do not do what we would like them to. Bear with this; think how it would be if others revenged themselves upon you immediately after you had done something not in accordance with their will, or after you had not fulfilled that which you might and ought to have done. « As you would that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise;»^[607] or keep to the rule: «We forgive them that trespass against us.» Man is duty personified. We must remember here that our heart is extremely capricious, evil, and foolish. Sometimes we take a violent dislike to a person without any cause or reason, and nourish malice in our heart against him, and are ready to offend him without any cause. We must despise the natural and unjust malice of the heart, and pray to God to drive away from our heart this stench of the abyss of hell. Let us remember what we were commanded: « These things I command you that you love one another.»^[608]

737) The life of the heart is love, while malice and enmity against our brother are its death. The Lord keeps us on the earth in order that love for God and our neighbor may wholly penetrate our heart. This is what He expects from us all. This is, indeed, the purpose of the world's standing.

738) My daily greatest misfortune is my sins, wounding and gnawing at my heart. But against this misfortune there is also a daily greatest Deliverer and Savior, Jesus Christ. He daily benefits me, invisibly, bountifully. Poor sinners! Learn to know this Savior as I know Him, by His grace, by His gifts.

739) You are angry with your neighbor, your brother, and say of him: « He is such and such–a miser, malicious, proud,» or that he has done this and that, and so on. What is that to you? He sins against God, and not against you. God is his Judge, not you: unto God shall he answer for himself, not to you. Know yourself, how sinful you are yourself, what a beam you have in your own eye; how difficult it is for you to master and get the better of your own sins; how afflicted you are by them; how they have ensnared you–how you wish for indulgence from others towards your own infirmities. And your brother is a man like you; therefore you must be indulgent to him as to a sinful man, similar in everything to yourself, as infirm as you; love him, then, as yourself, listening to the Lord saying: «These things I command you, that you love one another»^[609] ; and as you pray for yourself, that the Lord may help you to root out your own cruel and incurable passions, so pray also for your brother, that the Lord may free him from the flattery and corruption of his passions, from their darkness and oppression. We must remember that we are one sinful body, more or less infected in our members by the breathing of the « common enemy–the Devil”; and that of ourselves, without God's grace, we are powerless to free ourselves from this deadly and darkening breathing: only the Holy Spirit by His breathing can drive away this demoniacal darkness of the passions, through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ's sufferings upon the cross. We must therefore humbly pray to the Lord, in the spirit of brotherly love, for all our brethren and for all people, that they may escape from the darkness of the passions and their great attractiveness, in which they delight, not knowing their destructiveness; for instance: the rich man rejoices in his wealth; the ambitious one–in his distinctions; the glutton–in his food, drink, and dainties; the malicious–in his malice; the envious–in the sufferings of the victim of his envy; and so on.

740) As the Lord hears every word of the prayer, » God, have mercy upon me,» and fulfills every word (this is from experience), if only we speak from the depths of our heart; so, likewise, He hears and fulfills all the words of other prayers, even our own particular sincere prayers. O, Lord, Who so graciously heareth us, glory to You! « Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for «everyone that asks, receives»^[610] Only pray in the simplicity of your heart, and without doubting.

741) By striking our bodily structure with sickness, the Lord crushes the old, sinful, carnal man, in order to give strength to the new man, whom we have weakened by the works of the flesh: gluttony, slothfulness, amusements, and manifold sinful attachments and passions. «For when I am weak, then am I strong.»^[611] Therefore, we must accept every malady with gratitude.

742) God's Saints are great through their spiritual disposition, through their faith, their firm trust in God, and their burning love to God, for Whose sake they despised all earthly things. O, how little we are, compared to them; how unlike them! They are great by their great deeds of abstinence, vigilance, fasting, unceasing prayers, their diligence in studying the Word of God, and in pious meditation. O, how unlike them we are! How deeply we must venerate them! With what reverence we must ask for their prayers for us! But in no case must we regard them lightly, irreverently, remembering their godliness and their union with the Godhead.

743) I thank You, my Lord, my Master, and my Judge, for teaching me how to pray simply to You, for hearing my calling upon You, for saving me from my sins and sorrows, and for rightly directing my ways. I called upon You (in the sin of my wickedness) in the words of the church prayer: « O, Lord, our God, Who grants forgiveness to men through repentance .....» And as soon as I finished this prayer, peace and lightness established themselves in my soul (29th June, 1864).

744) Do not listen to the slander of the enemy against your neighbor, his abominations, his various wickednesses, and his pride. Look upon everybody simply, respectfully, as upon the image of God; and do not think any evil of him without reason. When you are praying either inwardly only, or both inwardly and outwardly, be firmly convinced that the Lord is there, by you and within you, and hears every word, even if only said to yourself, even when you only pray mentally; speak from your whole heart, sincerely, judge yourself likewise sincerely, without in the least justifying yourself; have faith that the Lord will have mercy upon you–and you will not remain unforgiven. This is true. It is taken from experience.

745) You are angry with your neighbor, you despise him, do not like to speak peaceably and lovingly to him, because there is something harsh, abrupt, careless, unpleasant to you in his character, in his speech, in his manners–because he is more conscious of his dignity than perhaps is necessary; or because he may be somewhat proud and disrespectful; but you yourself, your neighbor's physician and teacher, are more guilty than him. «Physician, heal Yourself.»^[612] Teacher, teach yourself. Your own malice is the bitterest of all evils. Is it then possible to correct malice by means of evil? Having a beam in your own eye, can you pull out the mote from the eye of another? Evil and faults are corrected by good, by love, kindness, meekness, humility, and patience. Acknowledge yourself as the greatest of sinners, of those who appear to you to be sinners, or are sinners in reality; consider yourself worse and lower than all; wrest out every pride and malice against your neighbor, all impatience and fury, and only then try to cure others. Until then cover the sins of others with your indulgent love. What would life be if everyone were to notice all their neighbor's iniquities? Eternal animosity and discord; for who is without sin? And, therefore, we are commanded to forgive all those who trespass against us; for if the Lord will be extreme to mark our iniquities, who of us may abide before His justice?^[613] «For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.»^[614] We stand before the altar of love in the presence of Incarnate Love Itself, but we have no love for each other. How strange it is! And we do not even care about this. But love will not come of itself without our zeal, efforts and activity.

746) Lover of men, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, I thank You from all my heart, for having heard my prayer to love my neighbor and despise earthly things, and for having poured into my heart peaceful, reasonable and sweet love. Strengthen these in me, O God, through the prayers of The Most Holy Theotokos, Your Mother, and may I be Your child, O Lord, and Her truest child. (26 July, 1864. 11 óclock, evening.)

747) O, how beautiful, how precious a creature is man! O, what a most graceful and splendid palm-tree is man! O, man is the best of God's creatures! O, most honorable of God's creatures, that ought, as the image of God, as the justly-revered temple of God Himself, to be inviolable to anything impure! May all impure, evil, blasphemous thoughts, as well as all doubting thoughts, flee from us. We are--the children of God; we are--holy in Christ; let us keep, let us preserve our hearts in holiness, so that the hand of the impure and evil spirits may not in any way touch us, the living arks of God, our thoughts and hearts! Word of God and God Yourself, Who was incarnate for our sakes, preserve us in Your holiness! Our Most Holy Head! Deliver not our hearts and bodies to the impure Satan, let him not sully them by evil thoughts, but ever dwell with us and keep us pure and spotless. Grant, Lord, that as members of Your Body, we may ever have living union with You, our Most Divine Head–union in the thoughts of our hearts, in our prayers, and in our deeds. The falling away of our hearts from You is–darkness and death, sorrow and constraint, shame, humiliation and the spiritual abomination, while with You we find–light, life, peace, joy, wide-ness of heart, boldness, greatness and holiness.

748) You know that eternal life in God is promised you, that you must earn it by obedience to God and His Church during this transitory life, by patience in sickness, sorrows, misfortunes and various privations–and yet you do not wish to obey the Creator, you live in carelessness and neglect of your souls, in neglect of virtue, in continual sin! What can you expect after this, ungrateful, evil-natured, and disobedient creatures? My soul, think and direct all your earthly life to the glory of God and the good of your neighbor. Do not gratify flesh and blood, but seek to please your Lord; for flesh and–blood are–perishable like all earthly things.

749) Why be suspicious, where there should be no suspicion? For instance, during reading and listening to the Word of God, or during the reading and singing in church, during the prayers, etc. God is truth, and that is enough; the Church is « the pillar and ground of truth»;^[615] The Devil is–falsehood itself, the calumniator, the adversary–that is enough. Know the one God and His truth; shun the Devil and his lies, illusions and follies.

750) The demons tremble at the sight and even at the sign of the life-giving cross, because the Son of God was nailed to the wood of the cross and sanctified it by His sufferings upon it; how much more do the demons tremble before the Holy Theotokos, the Mother of God, and even at Her Most Holy name? The Holy Theotokos is like the brightest star: she is all radiant with the Light–in God, she is like a glowing ember in a large fire, all-luminous and full of fire. As it is easy to think that He, God, is Light and Holiness, so it is that She, too, is eternal light and eternal holiness. Amen.

751) Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever «;^[616] as likewise God's truth–everything that is read in the Gospel, the Holy Scriptures, the Church prayers, the Canons, the Acathistos, the Psalms–is the one same eternal truth; it is the same now, as when you first found it, or when you prayed with a fervent heart, and felt its full verity, its sweetness, peace and life-giving effect. You change and place yourself in various relations to it, but the truth itself remains for ever the same–the eternal enlightening, warning and life-giving sun.

752) How long will it be before the Holy Mysteries of which we partake remind us that, «we, who are many, are one body»;^[617] and how long will there be no mutual hearty union between us, as members of the single body of Christ? How long shall we make our own laws of life be inimical to each Other, envy each other, torment, grieve, fret, judge and abuse each other? When will the Spirit of Christ abide in us, the spirit of meekness, humility, kindness, love unfeigned, self-denial, patience, chastity, abstinence, simplicity and sincerity, contempt for earthly things and entire aspiration after heavenly ones? Lord Jesus Christ! Enlighten our spiritual vision and «let Your loving Spirit lead us all into the land of righteousness.»^[618] Give us Your Spirit!

753) The Lord is everything to us all, for we cannot do anything of ourselves, for ourselves. He is the Giver of all powers, all blessings and of everything necessary for our welfare. Let us cast all our sorrows, cares and anxiety upon the Lord.

754) During prayer, be like a lisping infant, mingling your spirit in one with the spirit of the prayer you are pronouncing. Count yourself as nothing and accept the prayer as a great gift of God. Renounce your own carnal wisdom and do not listen to it, for carnal «knowledge puffs up,»^[619] it doubts, imagines, blasphemes. If, during prayer, or at any other time, the enemy hinders your soul by any kind of blasphemy or abominations, do not become despondent in consequence of them, but say firmly in your heart: It was for the cleansing from these and like sins that our Lord Jesus Christ came upon earth; it was to heal these and other like infirmities of spirit that the Most Merciful came to help us; and if you say these words with faith, your heart will be immediately at rest: for the Lord will cleanse your heart. In general, you must not fall into despondency through any sin or evil imagination, but trust in the Savior. O, boundless Mercy and Compassion of God! O, most great service of the God-Man to us sinners! And even until now He serves us in His love for men, cleansing and saving us. And therefore let the dominion of the enemy be covered with shame!

755) By praising your pious neighbor–you praise God; by doing good to your neighbor–you do good to yourself, for we are– one body; by doing good to your neighbor–you make God your debtor, for your neighbor is the image of God, and God–is everything in all. By doing good to a Christian–you make Christ, the Son of God, your debtor, for Christians are His body, His members. By lending to a Christian–you lend to the Holy Spirit, for Christians are the temples of the Holy Spirit. « Don’t you know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?»^[620]

756) God created man after His own image and likeness–this is an infinitely great gift; but man, a reasonably free creature, became ungrateful to His Creator, offended Him by his perfidy and faithlessness, by his pride; he wished to become equal to his Creator and went against Him. Every sin is a war against God. But, O infinite gift of God's love to men! When we had fallen so low by having sinned against the Creator, when we had fallen from life into death, by turning away from God, our Life; when we had corrupted ourselves by sins, and when everlasting death threatened us–God sent upon earth the Redeemer of the World, His own Only-begotten Son, in flesh like unto ours, to suffer for our offenses and thus cleanse us from sins, through repentance and faith in Him, and bring us again to His Father, from Whom we had fallen away. Let us value this, God's greatest benefit to us, and let us not «neglect so great salvation!»^[621] Let us constantly remember our sinful corruption, and the means of grace offered by the Church for our regeneration. « Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.»^[622] Are we new or the same as of old, with the same sins as before?

757) The Mother of God is one flesh and blood, and one spirit with the Savior, as His Mother. So infinitely great was Her merit by the grace of God that she became the Mother of God Himself, giving Him most pure and most sacred flesh, nourishing Him with Her milk, carrying Him in Her arms, clothing Him, caring in every way for Him in His infancy, kissing Him over and over again, and caressing Him. O Lord, who can describe the greatness of the God-bearing Theotokos? « Every tongue is in doubt how to worthily praise You, even the angelic mind itself wonders how to praise You, Mother of God.....»^[623] We must call upon Her with one thought and simple impulse of the heart..... She is one with God, like the Saints.

758) Know and remember, that the matter of your salvation is always near to the heart of the Holy Theotokos, the Mother of God, for it was for this that the Son of God, by the favor of the Father, and the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, chose Her out of all generations and was incarnate of Her in order to save the human race from sin, the curse and the eternal death, or everlasting torments. As the matter of our salvation is near to the Savior, so likewise it is near to Her. Turn to Her with full faith, trust, and love.

759) Christ, the Son of God, the Most Holy God, «is not ashamed to call us sinners brethren;»^[624] therefore do not at least be ashamed to call brothers and sisters poor, obscure, simple people, whether they be your relatives according to the flesh or not, do not be proud in your discourse with them, do not despise them, for we are all actually brothers in Christ–we were all born of water and the Spirit in the baptismal font and became children of God; we are all called Christians, we are all nourished with the Body and Blood of the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the sacraments of the Church are celebrated over all of us, we all pray the Lord's prayer: « Our Father.....» and all of us equally call God our Father. We do not know any other relationship besides the spiritual, the highest, the eternal relationship, which was given to us by the Lord of our life, the Creator, and the Regenerator of our nature, Jesus Christ, for this relationship is alone true, holy, lasting, while earthly relationship is untrue, changeable, inconstant, transitory, corruptible as our flesh and blood are corruptible. And therefore be simple in your discourse with your fellow-men, as an equal with equals, and do not exalt yourself above anyone, but, on the contrary, humble yourself. «For every one that exalts himself shall be made humble; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.»^[625] Do not say: I am educated and he or she–is not, he or she–is a simple uneducated peasant; the gift of God is given to you, an unworthy one: do not turn it into an occasion for pride, but into an occasion for humility, for «unto whoever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.»^[626] Do not say: I am of noble birth, and he is of low birth–earthly nobility, without the nobility of faith and virtue, is–an idle name. What is there in my nobility, when I am as much a sinner as others, or perhaps even worse? And we must love our neighbor, not in our way, but in God's way, that is, not according to our will, but in accordance with the Will of God. Our will is only to love those who love us, and to despise, hate, and persecute our enemies or those who are displeasing to us for some reason or other. But God desires that we should love these still more, because they are sick; so that we ourselves, being also sick with self-love, scorn and malice, should cure ourselves by love and humility, applying this same all-healing plaster also to the wounds of their hearts. In curing the spiritual maladies of others, we must not in any case be arrogant nor bear malice, nor become angry and get out of temper, nor think of our own advantage instead of our neighbor's, and serve our own self-love and, in general, our own passions. «Charity is not provoked» by the thoughtless or arrogant behavior of its neighbor, «but is tolerant, and is kind. . . .Does not celebrate itself, is not puffed up. . . . . thinks no evil,»^[627] does not take account of every word and screens everything. Yes, this is right: for what you screen by indulgence, often easily passes away of itself. And therefore he who strives to cure others, must himself be in good health, so that he may not be told: «Physician, heal Yourself.»^[628] If the man, whom you strive to heal, notices that you yourself are evil, angry, and do not love him, then he will inwardly despise and hate you, and you will not produce any effect upon him by anything, for evil is not amended by evil, but by good. «Overcome evil with good,»^[629] first root out in yourself that which you wish to root out in others.

760) Worldly cares obscure the mental horizon of our soul; like mist, they darken the spiritual vision and bind the soul. Don’t worry for anything, and cast all your sorrows and anxieties upon the Lord, in accordance with the Spirit-bearing teaching of the apostle. Do not grudge any expenses incurred for others; these are a pledge of new and greater bounties from the Lord to you.

761) Some seem to be praying to the Lord, but are in reality serving the Devil, who nestles in their hearts, because they pray only with their lips, while their hearts are cold, do not feel, and do not desire that which the lips ask and say, and are «far from»^[630] the Lord. Likewise, there are many communicants who partke of the Body and Blood of Christ insincerely, not with great love, but only with their mouths and bellies, with little faith, coldly, with hearts attached to food, drink and money, or inclined to pride, malice, envy, slothfulness, and far from Him Who is all love, holiness, perfection, great wisdom, and unspeakable goodness. It is necessary for such people to go deeper into themselves, to repent more deeply, and think profoundly of what prayer is, and what Holy Communion is. Coldness of heart towards God, towards prayer, proceeds from the Devil, he is the coldness of hell; but let us, as children Of God, love the Lord with burning love. Grant us this, our Lord, for without You «we can do nothing.»^[631] For You are–everything to us, while we ourselves are–nothing. You have brought us from nonentity into being, and have provided us with everything.

762) To repent–means to feel in our hearts the falsehood, the madness, the guilt of our sins, it means–to acknowledge that we have offended, by them, our Creator, our Lord, our Father and Benefactor, Who is infinitely holy, and infinitely abhors sin, it means, to desire, with the whole soul, to amend and to expiate our sins.

763) Remind the Christian who has sinned voluntarily or involuntarily, more frequently of his dignity, that he has been made godly, and that our nature is placed upon the throne with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Tell the Jew, Muslim, or heathen–at a fitting occasion–of what they deprive themselves by lingering in unbelief, tell them how our nature has been raised, ennobled, filled with grace by the Son of God; exhort Christians to give up sinning for the sake of this nobility of their nature and draw unbelievers to the faith of Christ.

764) «The Great Litany.» In accordance with it, we are all–one. In the litany are enumerated all the members of the Church–the body of Christ–first the earthly members, and then the heavenly ones. Such is the character of all the Divine services of the Russian Orthodox Church: of the vespers, matins, Liturgy. With what a spirit, with what elevation of the thoughts, with what love, must the priest pray to God «in behalf of all, and for all.»^[632]

765) Throughout the prayers and hymns of the Church moves the Spirit of Truth. Everything contradictory and blasphemous that comes into the head, from without, proceeds from the Devil, the father of lies, the calumniator; the prayers and psalms are the breathing of the Holy Spirit.

766) He who prays to the Lord, to the Mother of God, to the Angels and Saints, must first of all endeavor to amend his heart, and his life, and afterwards to imitate Them, as it is written: « Be you therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.»^[633] «Be you holy; for I am holy.»^[634] Those who pray to the Mother of God must imitate Her humility, Her unimaginable purity, submission to the Will of God (for instance, when you see injustice), and Her patience; those who pray to the Angels must think of the higher life, and strive for spirituality, gradually laying aside all fleshliness and carnal passions, striving also after ardent love for God, and their neighbor; let those who pray to the Saints imitate them in their love for God, and their contempt of the world or its vain blessings, their prayers, abstinence, disinterestedness, patience in sickness, sorrows, and misfortunes, their love for their neighbor. Otherwise, the prayers will be as useless as beating the air.

767) He who prays must hunger after, must ardently desire those blessings–especially the spiritual ones–the forgiveness of sins, the cleansing, the sanctification, the strengthening in virtue, for which he prays, otherwise, it will be a useless waste of words. The same applies to thanking and praising the Lord; hunger and thirst to constantly thank and praise the Lord, for everything comes from Him, everything is the gift of His goodness and mercy.

768) The Lord–is my being; the Lord–is my deliverance from everlasting death; the Lord–is my eternal life; the Lord–is my cleansing and deliverance from a multitude of iniquities, and my sanctification. The Lord is–strength in my weakness, space in my constrain, trust in my faint-heartedness and despondency; the Lord–is a life-giving fire in my coldness; the Lord–is light in my darkness, peace in my disturbance; the Lord–is the intercessor in my temptations; He is my thinking, my desire, my activity; He is–the light of my soul and body, food, drink, and clothing, my shield, my weapons. The Lord is everything to me. My soul, love and thank the Lord constantly! «Praise the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me praise His Holy Name. Praise the Lord, O my soul: and forget not all His benefits; Who forgives all Your sin; and heals all your infirmities; Who saves Your life from destruction; and crowns You with mercy and loving kindness; Who satisfies Your mouth with good things.»^[635]

769) «All you are brethren.»^[636] «Love one another.»^[637] The Church is like a great, holy family of God, in which God Himself is–the Father; the Most Holy Theotokos, the Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ–our Mother; the Angels and Saints–elder brothers; and all of us–younger brothers, born of the same mother and begotten of the Church in the baptismal font by the Holy Spirit. The younger brothers are naturally obliged to respect the elder, are naturally subordinate to them, and, being not yet perfect, ask the elder ones to pray to God for them, as they are God's friends, whose intercession is favorably received by the Lord. The children of the Heavenly Father have the prayer previously given to them by His Son: « Our Father. . . . »

770) Lord! You came to save us through faith in You; behold, I truly believe that You are my Savior–save me! You came to renew my nature, corrupted by sin–renew me, I who have corrupted myself by passions and carnal desires, renew me, both spiritually and bodily, so that I may be pure in heart and strong in body to the glory of Your Name. You came to deliver us from the works of the enemy–deliver me from the works of the most evil, impure, and abominable enemy, warring in my limbs and inclining me, drawing me forcibly to sin. You came to enlighten us–enlighten my heart, darkened by passions. You came to gather together that which was scattered–gather together my thoughts, scattered by the enemy. Thou camest to strengthen us in our weakness, and said: «For My strength is made perfect in weakness»; and Your apostle says: «Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me»;^[638] behold I am most ill, and without You can do no good thing; without You I cannot think or feel anything good, cannot wish or speak, or do anything good. I am positively powerless for any good without You; bestow Your grace upon me, give me light and strength to think and feel good that which is, and to easily speak and do that which shall please You. Behold, I commit all my life unto You, Christ my God, my Savior, my Regenerator, cleanse, sanctify, and save me.» Make me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.»^[639] Help me: for without You my destruction is near and speedy at every hour.

771) By their malice towards us, by their craftiness against us, and by their various offenses against us, men are worthy of our special pity and love, as those who are sick and perishing, and who have become the tools of our most wicked enemy–the Devil, who teaches us every evil, and who seeks, through beings like unto ourselves, to bring some affliction and misfortune upon us. But these afflictions and misfortunes are very, very advantageous to us, for they reveal to us the wounds of our heart, which we had not seen nor felt before.

772) When some inward disturbance or weakness of the heart prevents your pronouncing the words of the prayers during Divine service, then consider such disturbance and weakness as an illusion of the enemy, of the demon; throw aside the despondency, the faint-heartedness, and timidity, and speak concerning the name of the Lord without hurrying, calmly and intentionally louder; you will thus overcome your disturbance and weakness, and will obtain courage and strength. Everything is possible to those who believe and trust. We must struggle and conquer.

773) Love your neighbor as yourself; for, by loving your neighbor you love yourself, while by hating your neighbor, you first of all do harm to yourself, you first of all hate your own soul. You know this by experience. O, most wise, creative, and life-giving laws of the Lord! How good it is to fulfill them, although the flattery of sin makes their fulfillment difficult. How blessed is the Lord's yoke for the soul, and how light His burden, that is, His commands.

774) If you have Christian love for your neighbor, then all heaven will love you; if you have union of spirit with your fellow-creatures, then you shall have union with God and all the dwellers of heaven; if you are merciful to your neighbor, then God and all the Angels and Saints will be merciful to you; if you pray for others, then all heaven will intercede for you. The Lord our God is Holy, be so yourself also.

775) You earth-born creatures, who have not purity, triumph in the fact that the Most Holy Theotokos, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, has entirely and super-abundantly attained the purity of soul and body unattainable to you; triumph in this, and pray to Her, that She may teach you and your children to pass your lives in purity in this corrupt world, so full of temptations. It is because of Her purity, humility, and virtues, and because She was found worthy of becoming the Mother of God the Word, that, when offering the bloodless sacrifice, we offer gratitude to the Heavenly Father, and say: «Especially to the Most Holy .... Glorious Theotokos, the Mother of God . . . .»^[640] –that is, we offer to You our verbal service, glory, and thanksgiving.

776) How corrupt I have become through sin! Anything bad, evil, impure immediately enters into my thoughts and is felt in my heart, while anything good, right, pure, holy–is often only thought and spoken of, and not felt. Woe unto me! For as yet evil is nearer to my heart than good. Besides this, we are at once ready to do evil as soon as it is thought of or felt, and we do it quickly and easily if we have no fear of God, while «how to perform that which is good I can not find»^[641] the power within me, and the intended good work is often put off indefinitely.

777) Pray for others as you would pray for yourself, for we are one, as the children of the Heavenly Father.

778) The chief conditions in supplicatory prayer are–faith in God; a sincere, firm desire for those blessings for which we ask, and a disinclination or aversion for those sins of which we repent. But it often happens that we desire with the tongue and thought while the heart remains insensible, or it is as though our tongue had an aversion to the sins and not our heart, and we continue to linger in the same sins from which we daily pray to be delivered. And the prophecy of Isaiah « This people draws near Me with their mouth, and with their lips honor Me, but have removed their heart from Me»^[642] –is fulfilled in us.

779) When your heart is touched by thoughts of fornication, or impurity, evil, or blasphemy, or when thoughts of malice, envy, avarice, covetousness, gluttony, darken, wound, and oppress you, then say to yourself, with firm, heartfelt conviction, that all this is an imagination of the Devil, and all such ideas and thoughts shall immediately vanish. Blessed is he that « speaks the truth from his heart.»^[643] Tortured will be he who imagines or thinks of evil and sin in his heart! «Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that does evil.»^[644] Despise the carnal delight of sin, for it is a provocation of the perishable flesh. When a thought of doubt in the truth comes to you, say, that this thought is an illusion, while the truth remains–eternal truth.

780) What am I? Upon the one side sin, an abyss of sin, all opposition to my God, the Creator and Worker of everything, deserving of every condemnation and torment; upon the other, entire poverty in every virtue and infirmity for every virtue. So deeply have I fallen and become corrupt and impotent. Without my Savior I can do nothing in accordance with His Word and in accordance with my own innumerable experiences. He has created me, soul and body; He has reared me; He has educated my faculties; He still continues to accomplish everything that is good within me if I do anything good, while I of myself am only evil. But, my Creator and my Redeemer, You have created me; I am Your creature, Your servant. Direct me and fulfill Your will through me. Grant me Your grace, that I may entirely subdue my will to Your will, for I cannot do this without Your grace. You, my Shepherd, pasture me. You, my Savior, save me. You, my light, enlighten me. You, my strength, strengthen me.

781) What fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion has light with darkness?»^[645] Not the slightest. « The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord,»^[646] and the Lord withdraws Himself from the heart in which such thoughts nestle. We feel this in our own selves. And therefore, in order that the Lord may unite Himself with anybody, it is necessary that that man should be perfectly free from the impurity of sin and be adorned with virtues, or that he should believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who took upon Himself the sins of the whole world; that he should acknowledge his sins, should sincerely condemn them, considering them foolish, and that he should ask with all his heart to be forgiven them, firmly intending not to sin again in future. It was in this manner that all the saints were united with the Lord and became holy. How holy therefore must be the Holy Theotokos, the Mother of God, with Whom God the Word Himself, the Light everlasting, was most truly united: « the true light, Which lightens every man that comes into the world,»^[647] whom «the Holy Spirit came upon,» and whom «the power of the Most High overshadowed»!^[648] How holy and most holy must be our the Holy Theotokos, the Mother of the Lord, Who became the temple of God, not made with hands, and was entirely penetrated, in all Her thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds, by the Holy Spirit, and from Whose blood the Creator Himself made flesh for Himself? Truly She is most holy, firm, steadfast, immovable, unchangeable throughout all eternity in Her most high, divine holiness, for the all-perfect God, Who humanly became Her Son, made Her all-perfect by reason of Her most great humility, Her love of purity and the source of purity, God; Her entire renunciation of the world, and Her attachment with all Her thoughts to the heavenly kingdom, and especially by reason of the fact that She became His Mother, carried Him in Her womb, and afterwards in Her most-pure arms, nourished with Her most-pure milk, Him Who feeds all creatures, cared for Him, caressed Him, suffered and sorrowed for Him, shed tears for Him, lived Her whole life for Him, for Him alone was wholly absorbed in His Spirit and was one heart, one soul with Him, one holiness with Him! O highest unity of love and holiness of the most-pure Holy Theotokos and Her Divine Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! Wonderful, too, are God's saints by their entire love for the Lord, by the streams of blood and sweat they shed out of love for the Lord.

782) O infinitely great Benefactor, my Savior! When I picture to myself the infinite corruption of my nature by manifold sins and passions, my spirit is despondent and downcast, but as soon as I remember You, that You came to renew my nature, corrupted by sin, and to bestow upon my dishonor, upon my shame, the nobility of the angels, and even a still higher nobility than that of the angels, the nobility of the Son of God Himself, through faith in You, through regeneration by water and the Spirit, and through the communion of Your Holy Sacrament, then my spirit instantaneously rises up from its despondency, shakes off the infamy of the passions, and is wholly filled with gratitude to You. Glory to You, O infinite Mercy and Power, Son of God!

783) Do not, therefore, grow despondent, sinners like unto me, but only believe in the Son of God. Sinners, esteem one another, and do not despise any sinner, for we are all sinners, and the Son of God came to save, to cleanse, and to raise all up to heaven.

784) «We forgive them that trespass against us.» This means not to feel against our neighbor who has been guilty towards us (intentionally, obstinately, or unintentionally) any vexation, enmity, or malice, but to forgive him his fault in all simplicity of heart, vividly picturing to ourselves our own infirmities and falling into sin, and maintaining towards our guilty neighbor the same love and the same feelings of kindness which we felt towards him before his fault. What would it be if the Lord were to notice our iniquities as we do the faults of our neighbor? Who could withstand it? But as the Lord is tolerant and merciful, be also tolerant and merciful (not strictly exacting, but compassionate). «Charity is tolerant, and is kind.»^[649] Do not consider the faults of your neighbor, consider them as though they were not; as nothing! We are one body, and his body is a sinful one. What is more common and easier to us than sins? We breathe them like air. But the Lord, the Head of the body of the Church, is the cleansing of them. Leave everything to the Head, Who works all things in all; and hold fast to love alone, for it is the only infallible thing in our life (pure love). Do not serve the Devil by the spirit of enmity, malice, hatred; do not increase evil by evil, and do not spread the kingdom of the enemy in the kingdom of Christ.» Overcome evil with good.»^[650] For you cannot conquer evil with evil, just as you cannot put out fire with fire, but only by water. Malice is always an imagination of the Devil. Love is always God's truth and God's child.

785) Attachment to earthly and carnal things to the oblivion of God, of the soul, proceeds from the Devil, who, through attachments to earthly things, makes our heart carnal, earthly, a shameful vessel of passions, while it ought to be meditating upon heavenly things, to be spiritual and the temple of the Holy Spirit. « you cannot serve God and mammon;»^[651] you cannot serve God and riches, God and the flesh, God and the world, God and earthly delights; therefore, you must rule your flesh and your heart, for this is the science of sciences, the art of arts. I am sometimes flesh, and sometimes spirit. O inconstancy! O ingratitude! O slothfulness! O the tolerance of God! But how long shall I change like the moon, or like a kaleidoscope? Lord, establish me on the rock of Your commandments!

786) The crucified flesh reconciles itself with the spirit and with God; while the flesh that is cherished, that is abundantly and daintily fed, fights hard against the spirit and against God, and becomes wholly an abomination of sin. It does not want to pray, and, in general, rebels against God by blasphemy, for instance, and estranges itself from God. This is from experience. Therefore, «they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.»^[652]

787) Christ «came upon earth in order to raise us up to heaven.»^[653] Do we aspire to the realisation of the object of our beloved Savior's coming upon earth? Do we meditate upon heavenly things? Do we long for the heavenly kingdom? Let us ask ourselves these questions, and answer them more frequently. Do we sufficiently value the Savior's teaching and preaching, His sufferings and death? Do we not trample upon His whole edifice by clinging to earthly instead of heavenly things? Yes truly, Lord.

788) You alone know the cares, labors, and sweat of Your saints, in order to purify themselves to please You, the Father of all. You alone know Your saints. Teach us to imitate them in our lives, so that we too may be in union with all through love.

789) Why do the children of this world often scoff at that which is truth, light, sweetness, our life–I mean at the Divine service of the Church, the Church-reading and singing, or at Your saints glorified by You? «These speak evil of those things which they know not.»^[654] «Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,»^[655] and enlighten them!

790) Love does not reflect. Love is simple. Love never mistakes. Likewise believe and trust without reflection, for faith and trust are also simple; or better: God, in whom we believe and in whom we trust, is an inseparable Being, as He is also simply love. Amen.

791) Why do we read the Acathistos to Jesus Christ and to the Mother of God? In order that we may enter into the spirit of the Lord and that of His most-pure Mother; in order that we may recognize the greatness of the gift, which was revealed in Christ's incarnation and our redemption, and in bestowing upon us His Body and Blood in the Holy Sacrament, and in order that we may worthily receive this gift.

792) The Lord is so holy, so simple in His holiness, that one single evil or impure thought deprives us of Him, of the sweet and most sweet, of the pure and most pure peace and light, of our souls. Hence it follows that the saints are all light; they are all one fragrance, like the light of the sun, like the purest air. Lord, grant this simple holiness to me also!

793) The Lord, before His incarnation, let mankind experience all the bitterness of sin, all their powerlessness to eradicate it; and when all longed for a Deliverer, then He appeared, the most wise, all-powerful Physician and Helper. When men hungered and thirsted after righteousness, as it grew weaker, then the everlasting righteousness came.

794) For all the many and various snares of the enemy, there is but one name–the Devil. My soul, be persuaded of this and do not be fainthearted, do not despond in the misfortunes occasioned by the enemy and in the storms wrought by the enemy.

795) «Yours is the power;»^[656] that is, You hold all and everything in Your power and under Your authority, even the spirits of evil. «Yours is the kingdom.» You are King over all, even over the spirits of evil. «Yours is the strength.» You maintain all through Your strength, and «Yours is the glory,» for You have created everything for Your glory.

796) As God is everything good to us, so the Devil is every evil, every abomination of sin. A simple heart, taught by God, knows how to unite itself to God, and how to avoid every connection with the Devil.

797) It is sometimes necessary to ask a person who prays for himself, or for others, the following question in order to rouse his slumbering heart and conscience: «Are you in need of that for which you are apparently asking, and do you really desire to obtain it ? Do you sincerely desire, for instance, amendment and holiness of life for yourself and others?»

798) There is only one God of my heart, my Lord and my God, and He is everything to me, as He is also everything to the whole world, visible and invisible, which was created by Him from nothing. Therefore, I ought not to cling to anything but to my God; I ought to part from everything that I have without regret, as from the dust which we trample under feet, and ought only to have in my heart love for God, and my brethren who are received in Christ into union with the Divine nature. «you might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.»^[657] «Now are we the sons of God.»^[658] while malice is the child of the Devil, may it never, neither pride, nor self-exaltation, and envy, touch our heart, even for a single moment!

799) It is a remarkable phenomenon in nature that, if you put a plant into a large, wide pot or tub, it grows very much at the roots; they thicken, they give out many ramifications, but the tree itself does not grow much in height, and only yields a bit and small leaves and flowers. But if it is planted in a small pot, then the roots are small, but the plant itself grows rapidly in height and yields beautiful leaves and flowers (if it is the nature of the plant to produce flowers). Is it not the same with man? When he lives in full liberty, in abundance and prosperity, then he grows in body and does not grow in spirit, does not bring forth fruits--good works; while when he lives in constraint, in poverty, sickness, misfortune, and afflictions, in a word, when his animal nature is crushed, then he grows spiritually, bears flowers of virtue, ripens and brings forth rich fruits. This is why the path of those who love God is a narrow one.

800) We all, without distinction of our different stations in life, rich and poor, high and low, educated and uneducated, are one body, and must love one another, as we love ourselves. « We, being many, are . . . one body.»^[659] «Love one another,»^[660] commanded the Lord. We must crucify, despise our self-loving, proud, scornful, evil, darkened, deadened, rebellious, passionate heart, which violently opposes our acting in accordance with these words in our everyday life; in our worldly relations with our neighbor we must also renounce our self-will, and follow the Will of God in everything.

801) Our heart, full of passions, loves enjoyment and tranquility, cannot endure bitterness and afflictions, and does not like anyone to disturb us in any way; for instance, by a request to do something for him. But the Lord commanded us to renounce the sinful rest of the flesh, and to be the servants of all, and Himself showed us an example, for He knew no rest upon earth during His service for our salvation. The Apostles were also an example of this, especially the Apostle Paul.

802) Our heart often sleeps during prayer; the outer man prays, but not the inner one. We often only flatter with our tongue during prayer.

803) Having put on Christ by faith and by the Communion of the Holy Sacrament, I become firm and steadfast as a rock. Christ is the fullness of all blessings to me, and, above all, most sweet life, and the peace «which passes all understanding.»^[661]

804) When the flesh flourishes, the soul fades; when the flesh has full liberty, the soul is constrained; when the flesh is satiated, the soul hungers; when the flesh is adorned, the soul is deformed; when the flesh overflows with laughter, the soul is surrounded by misfortune; when the flesh is in the light, the soul is in darkness--in the darkness of hell. Modern, false education estranges from the true Light «which lights every man that comes into the world,»^[662] and does not approach It. But without Christ all education is vanity.

805) Our old man, with the old works of the Devil, is constantly present with us, and acts mortally within us. This is why we occupy ourselves in the pulpit with this old man and his works, in order that all who hear us may learn to know themselves and the enticement of the passions, and, with the help of God's grace, may slay the old man within them; while we do not occupy ourselves with the news of this world, as it does not concern us. Thus we teach all to know God, to love Him with the whole heart, and to love their neighbor as themselves. And as self-love is incompatible with love for God and our neighbor, we teach men, in accordance with the precepts of the Savior, to renounce themselves, and to crucify the flesh, with its passions and lusts. This is an old discourse, but yet it may be a new one, according to how it is turned, whether the preacher directs it against the human passions and lusts of the present day, or speaks in general, without special indication, of the necessity of crucifying the old man.

806) Blasphemy against holiness, or thoughts of carnal impurity, proceed from the Devil. When this stink from the abyss of hell disturbs and suffocates you, only be convinced, only believe sincerely, that it is the work of the Devil, and this abomination will leave you. May the Lord enlighten and strengthen us!

807) The history of the choosing and the rejection of the Hebrews shows the truth, that God shall exalt and honor those who are faithful to Him, and shall abase and reject the ungrateful. It also shows the truth that He is faithful in His promises and threats.

808) He Who has adorned the heavens with stars, could He not still more beautifully adorn His mental Heaven, the most pure Theotokos, His Mother? He, Who has adorned the earth with various and many-colored flowers, and poured fragrance upon it, could He not adorn His earthly Mother with all the various flowers of virtues, making Her fragrant with all spiritual perfumes? Truly He could. And the Holy Theotokos has become «Heaven and the Temple of the Godhead, adorned with all beauties, and more fragrant than all earthly perfumes. O, if God in His mercy, through the prayers of His most pure Mother, would adorn me, disfigured by sin; if He would make me, the unclean, fragrant! For with God nothing shall be impossible.^[663] «Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.»^[664]

809) Adam became so proud that he wished to become God and died for his pride; the Son of God humbled Himself unto death, and gave life to the fallen. O abyss of humility! Adam and Eve lost themselves through gluttony, the Lord fasted and died for them, in order to give them life. They were disobedient, Christ fulfilled obedience.

810) «Having seen the wonderful birth of Christ, let us shun this vain world and set our minds upon godly things. God came down from heaven in order to raise us up to heaven,»^[665] while the Devil and the flesh drag us down to earth. Christ calls and draws us to the life eternal, while the Devil allures us by the temporal life, and attaches us to temporal things, concealing the eternal in darkness, or making men disbelieve in eternal life. Observe his snares, and do not be allured by the earthly life.

811) Man, in his present state, is wholly permeated with pride, wickedness, unbelief, doubt, incredulity, disobedience, heedlessness, malice, fornication, envy, covetousness, avarice, slothfulness, sometimes cowardice, despondency, theft, falsehood, and blasphemy. What a great labor lies before every Christian man to cleanse himself from all the impurity and corruption of the passions!

812) The Devil generally enters into us through one single lying imagination, or through a single false thought and sinful desire of the flesh, and afterwards he works in us and disturbs us, so inseparable is he. Cannot, therefore, the Lord of all spirits enter into us through one single thought and through true and holy love, and abide with us, and be everything to us? And therefore pray without doubting; that is simply, in the simplicity of your heart, without a doubt: it ought to be as easy to pray as to think.

813) Leave all human injustices to the Lord, for God is the Judge, but as to yourself, be diligent in loving everybody with a pure heart, and remember that you yourself are a great sinner and in need of God's mercy. But in order to deserve God's mercy, we must forgive others in every way. So be it! So be it! The Lord is everything to all: He is the Judge as well as the generous Giver of gifts, and mercy and the cleansing from sins, and the light, the peace, the joy and the strength of the heart.

814) Grant, Lord, that I may ever love each of my neighbors as myself, and not be angry with them for any cause, and not serve the Devil in this way. Grant that I may crucify my self-love, pride, covetousness, incredulity, and other passions. Let mutual love be our name; grant that we may believe and trust that the Lord is everything to us all; that we may not be careful nor anxious for anything; that You, our God, may truly be the sole God of our heart and nothing besides You. Let there be union of love between us as there ought to be, and let everything that divides us from each other, and prevents us from loving one another, be despised by us, like the dust trampled under foot. So be it! So be it! If God has given us Himself, if He abides in us and we in Him, according to His own true words, then what will He not give me, what will He spare for me, of what will He deprive me, how can He forsake me? «The Lord is my shepherd: therefore can I lack nothing.»^[666] «Shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?»^[667] And therefore, my soul, be perfectly at rest and know nothing but love. «These things I command you, that you love one another.»^[668]

Part II

815–1200 Chapter 4

«This is life eternal, that they might know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."–St. John 17:3.

«May the living water of the Holy Spirit fill my heart, and may rivers of living water flow from my heart to the glory of God, and for the salvation of God's people.»

To the Glory of the Holy Trinity. Amen.

815) Lord! I am–a miracle of Your goodness, wisdom, and omnipotence, inasmuch as I was brought by You from non-existence into existence; inasmuch as I am preserved until now by You in this existence; inasmuch as by the mercy, bounties, and love to mankind of Your Only begotten Son, I shall inherit eternal life, provided I am faithful unto You; inasmuch as by the mysterious act of Yours, offering Yourself through Your Son as a sacrifice, I am restored from the terrible fall, I am redeemed from eternal destruction, I glorify Your goodness, Your infinite power, Your wisdom! But complete the miracle of Your goodness, omnipotence, and wisdom upon me, a miserable sinner, and by ways known to You, save me, Your unworthy servant, and lead me into Your eternal kingdom, make me worthy of the life that never grows old, of the day that has no evening.

816) My heart ought to cling to God alone. «It is good for me to hold me fast by God »;^[669] but–what blindness and perversion! It clings to earthly delights: to food, drink, carnal pleasures; to money, to this dross, to dress, to this corruption, to perishable colors, to patterns, to fashions, that charm the eyes, to luxuriously furnished rooms, etc. How strange it is! That I, a Christian, a heavenly man, am occupied with everything earthly, and care but little for heavenly things. I am transplanted in Christ into heaven, but meanwhile I cling with all my heart to earth, and apparently would never desire to be in heaven, but would prefer to always remain on earth, although earthly things, notwithstanding their delights, oppress and torment me; although I see that everything earthly is uncertain, corruptible, and soon passes away; although I know and feel that nothing earthly can satisfy my spirit, can appease and rejoice my heart, which is constantly disturbed and grieved by earthly vanity. How long, therefore, shall I, a heavenly man, remain earthly? How long shall I, the child of God, be flesh, notwithstanding that I was born in holy baptism, «not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God»^[670] How long will it be before I turn wholly to God? Lord! Draw my heart to You by Your Holy Spirit. Lord! Turn my heart away from earthly vanities. Lord! Without You I can do nothing.

817) We love everything brilliant on earth: gold, silver, precious stones, crystal, bright clothing–why then do we not love the future glory to which the Lord calls us? Why do we not aspire to shine like the sun? «Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.»^[671] It is because we have perverted the nature of our soul by sin, and have attached ourselves to earth instead of to heaven, to corruptible things instead of to incorruptible ones; because we love earthly, transitory, perishable, and seductive splendor. But why is there such a love for everything bright in us ? Because our soul was created for heavenly light, and was originally all light, all radiance; thus light is inborn in it, the feeling and desire for light are inborn in it. Direct this aspiration to seeking for heavenly light!

818) When you see a beautiful girl or woman or a handsome youth, immediately lift up your thoughts to the supreme, most holy Beauty, the Author of every earthly and heavenly beauty, that is, to God; glorify Him for having created such beauty out of mere earth; marvel at the beauty of God's image in man, which shines forth even in our perverted state; imagine what our image will be when we shall shine forth in the kingdom of our Father, if we become worthy of it; picture to yourself what must be the beauty of God's saints, of the holy angels, of the Mother of God Herself, adorned with the Divine glory; imagine the unspeakable goodness of God's countenance, which we shall behold, and do not be allured by earthly beauty, by flesh and blood. Carnal desire is sweet, but it is sinful, corruptive, and repugnant to God. Do not attach yourself with your heart to any girlish or female beauty, but to the Lord God alone, Who has created every beauty for His own sake, and say: «It is good for me to hold me fast by God,»^[672] to God alone, and not to fleeting carnal beauty.

819) The despondency that we fall into through failure in any work, especially in priestly matters, which we do for others, and the sense of shame proceed from our bodiless enemy, who ever seeks, like a roaring lion, to devour us, and who forces us into every failure, into every sin. Therefore, in order to be unerring in such matters, we must previously prepare ourselves by intelligent study, combined with abstinence and prayer; we must strive after perfection in everything, and not give place to the Devil. If failure occurs, do not let us be overwhelmed with despondency, but, acknowledging before God our sin and infirmity, let us humble ourselves before Him, throwing aside our self-love, and without shame confess our sin, our carelessness, slothfulness, or weakness, and cast our sin into the abyss of God's mercy, asking for His grace and help for the good and successful accomplishment of our work in future.

820) In prayer, and in every work of your life, avoid suspicion, doubt, and diabolical imaginations. Let your spiritual eye be single, in order that the whole body of your prayer, of your works, and of your life may be light.

821) During general prayer let your whole heart be in God, and do not on any account let it cling for a single moment to anything earthly; have also an ardent love for human souls, love for the sake of God, and be zealous for their salvation; pray for them as for those who are in great misery, for it is said: «All we who are subjected to the enticements of the evil one are in misery.»

822) When hungry, do not throw yourself upon food–else you will overload your heart and body. Eat slowly, without eagerness, with reflection to the glory of God, remembering the God Who feeds us, and above all His incorruptible food, His Body and Blood, that out of love He has given Himself to us in food and drink, remembering also the holy word of the Gospel.

823) Everything that disturbs us, and as though undermines the heart in its foundation and oppresses it, proceeds from the Devil, for he himself is eternal disturbance and oppression. The Lord is the peace and rest of the heart. «Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.»^[673] «Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you.»^[674] How many passions there are, how much disturbance and oppression; how many attachments, how many sharp arrows penetrating the heart, and how much darkness! The greater part of a man's life is spent in spiritual darkness.

824) Should thoughts of self-praise, of self-satisfaction, occur to you, say: «I am nothing; all that is good in me is accomplished by the grace of God.» «What do you have that you didn't receive?»^[675] «Without Me, you can do nothing.»^[676] Should the thought of despising any of your neighbors, or of your family occur to you, say: «The entire man is the beautiful work of God's hands; everything in him is very well ordered.» For «it was very good.»^[677]

825) What is your obligation as a participant of the Holy Mysteries? «You must seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God;»^[678] and not think of earthly things, for «Christ came upon earth in order to raise us up to heaven.»^[679] «In My Father's house are many mansions...... I go to prepare a place for you.»^[680] «Our conversation is in heaven.»^[681] «Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.»^[682] «Unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.»^[683] «Let little children come unto Me .... for of such is the kingdom of God.»^[684] Do you see what the final purpose is for which Christ came upon earth, for which He gives us His divine Mysteries– His Body and Blood? This purpose is–to give us the kingdom of heaven. Let us aspire to gain it.

826) Pride is of the demon; malice is of the same demon; envy of the same demon; the abomination of fornication is of the same demon; enforced blasphemy, of the same demon; enforced doubt in the truth, of the same demon; despondency, of the same demon; the passions are various, but the same Satan acts in all of them; the passions are various, but they are, all together–the barking of the same Satan, only in different tunes; and the man, when subjected to them, is one and the same spirit with Satan. When you are subjected to the malicious and furious violence of the passions, and to the harassments of the Devil, during the fulfillment of various works for God, accept these sufferings as sufferings for the name of Christ, and rejoice in your sufferings, thanking God; for the Devil is preparing for you, without knowing it himself, the most shining crowns from the Lord! Amen. We must absolutely resist the Devil.

827) Do not be vexed with those who show pride, or malice, effeminacy, and impatience in their discourse with you or others, but, remembering that you yourself, are subject to the same and greater sins and passions, pray for them and be meek with them. «If a man is overtaken by a fault, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering yourself, lest you also are tempted. Bear you one another's burdens [if anybody has offended you, and it is hard for you, bear this], and so fulfill the law of Christ.»^[685]

828) Do you pay sufficient attention to the state of your soul? Whether it is in good health, and, seeing that it lives, is its life vigorous? And, if its present temporal life is happy, then is its eternal life, its eternal happiness, ensured by anything – for instance, by faith – is there in your soul, a lively faith in God, in the Savior, in the Church,–by good works, meekness, humility, gentleness, love of truth and honesty, abstinence, chastity, mercy, patience, obedience, industry, and others? If the reverse is the case, then all your labor is in vain. The soul, perhaps, does many things worthy of wonder, but it will be itself lost. « For what has a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?»^[686]

829) A day is the symbol of the transitoriness of earthly life: it begins with the morning, then comes the day itself, followed by the evening, and, with the coming of the night, the whole day has passed away. So, likewise, life passes away. First, childhood, like the early morning, then adolescence and manhood, like the full day and noon; and then old-age, like evening, if God grants it; and afterwards inevitable death.

830) Wherever a man goes, he always comes back home afterwards. So it is with the Christian, whoever he may be, whether he is a person of distinction or a simple one, rich or poor, learned or ignorant; wherever he may be, whatever station he may occupy in society, whatever he does, he must remember that he is not at home, but on a voyage, on the way, and that he must return home–to his father, mother, to his elder brothers and sisters; and that this home is heaven, his father–God; his mother–the Most-pure Mother of the Lord; his elder brothers and sisters–the angels and saints of God; and he must also remember that all his earthly duties and works are artificial, while his real duties are the salvation of his soul, the fulfillment of Christ's commandments, the cleansing of his heart.

831) How can we love God with all our heart, with all our soul and all our strength, and with all our thoughts? With all our heart means–undividedly, not dividing ourselves between the love of God and love of the world, or in general of creatures. If, for instance, you pray, pray with an undivided heart, not allowing your attention to be distracted by vain thoughts, by earthly attachments; be wholly in God, in His love, with all your soul–that is, do not only love Him with part of your soul, not only with your mind, without your heart and will sharing in this love–with all your strength, not with half your strength or slightly. When you have to fulfill any commandment, fulfill it most zealously, unto sweat and blood, unto laying down your life for it, if necessary, but not slothfully, indolently or unwillingly.

832) How varying is this world! Here is merriment, music– there are prayers, hymns, lamentations for the dead; here are riches, luxury, splendor–there naked poverty, need of everything, even of decent and sufficiently warm clothing, overcrowding, disgusting dirt and damp; here is blooming health, excess strength–there maladies, decrepitude, exhaustion; here are enlightenment, much knowledge–there ignorance, darkness; or here worldly education is united with spiritual enlightenment and piety, and in this union there is beautiful and pleasant harmony and spiritual beauty, while there worldly education is accompanied with unbelief immorality, spiritual deformity, want of harmony and dissonance, harrowing the soul; here is success in all undertakings–there failure; here everything is easily obtained (money, position in society, honors, distinctions), while there a man strives with all his might and obtains nothing, or only by enormous efforts obtains even a little. Who shall solve this apparent contradiction? God alone. We can only conjecture.

833) He who is insolent towards men is insolent towards God, as many of us are. Respect in man the grand, inestimable image of God and be forbearing towards the faults and errors of fallen man, so that God may be forbearing towards your own, because the enemy of God and of mankind, being unable to vent his malice upon God, endeavors to vent it upon his image–man, as well as all his impurities, his darkness, pride, envy, etc. Respect, therefore, man and save him; watch yourself also, do not become irritable nor malicious, do not envy, do not offend, do not lie, do not commit adultery, do not steal, and so on.

834) Our soul is simple as thought, and rapid as thought or lightning. In an instant it can be wounded by sin and become attached to corruptible things; in an instant it can fall away from the love of God and its neighbor through a single unrighteous thought, through a single passionate desire, through a single malevolent thought, and, therefore, we must constantly watch our heart, lest it should incline to words or thoughts of evil, and must ever strive to preserve it in God's simplicity and purity, and in the love of God and its neighbor.

835) The best moments on earth are those during which we meditate upon heavenly things in general, when we recognize or defend the truth, that heavenly dweller and citizen. Only then do we truly live. Therefore, the essential interests of the soul require that we should more often rise above the earth, upwards to heaven, where is our true life, our true country, which shall have no end.

836) Looking upon the many various diversions of men, upon their exclusive care for the flesh, one thinks: «Have these men a soul? And if they have, then why do they not care for it, why do they not think of its salvation?–for it is given up to innumerable sins which constitute its death, and eternal death. Are there indeed eternal torments and eternal bliss? And if these exist, then why do men strive so little, or do not strive at all, to escape eternal torment and to inherit eternal bliss?» This is what astonishes me. And also, why don’t men fear the terrible hour of death? For we cannot live on earth forever. Some time our turn will come, and we shall be told: «Return you, sons of men, to the earth from which you were created.» O, how heedless we are, how great is our pride, how manifold our passions, our attachments to the earth! Sinners, do you think that God has no means by which He can punish you ? O, there are means, there are! There is the fiery Gehenna, the lake of fire, the terrible Tartarus, at which even Satan himself trembles, the worm that never dies, and the gnashing of teeth. But why do I say this only to you? I ought to say the same to myself, to myself also, for I am the greatest of the sinners, for whom the torments of hell were prepared, but from which Christ, in Whom is all my hope, has saved me. But you, my brethren, have you all faith in Christ, in His Gospel? Where is your evangelical life? Who of you reads the Gospel, even daily, that greatest gift of God, and law of life? « They have all gone out of the way, they have together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one.»^[687]

837) Both learned and unlearned young men seldom go to church, and in general do not attend to their spiritual education, looking upon it as unnecessary and giving themselves up to worldly vanity. Attention must be paid to this. It is the fruit of pride, of want of spiritual development. They consider attendance at church and the Divine service as the business of the common people and women, forgetting that, in the temple, Angels officiate with trembling, together with men, and regard this as their highest bliss.

838) Does not coldness towards public worship, towards the Divine service, proceed from the fact that some do not understand it, and that others, although they have studied the science of Divine service, have been taught it dryly, without any examples, only according to the understanding? while the Divine service, being the high contemplation of the mind, is at the same time, and pre-eminently, the peace, sweetness and blessedness of the heart.

839) A priest, as the physician of souls, ought himself to be free from spiritual infirmities (that is, from the passions), in order to be able to cure others; as a pastor, he ought to be pastured himself on the grassy pasture land of the Gospel and the writings of the Holy Fathers, in order to know where to pasture his sheep; he ought to be skilful in struggling against the mental wolves, in order to know how to drive them away from Christ's flock; he ought to be skilful and mighty in prayer and abstinence; he ought not to be bound by worldly desires and delights, especially by covetousness, self-love, pride, ambition. In short, he ought to be a light himself, in order to enlighten others; to be himself the spiritual salt, in order to preserve others from spiritual corruption; and ought himself to be free from the corruption of the passions. If the reverse is the case, every spiritually sick person may say: «Physician, heal yourself »^[688] first, and then I will let you heal me. «You hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to take out the splinter of your brother's eye.»^[689]

840) The heart is refined, spiritual, and heavenly by nature– guard it; do not overburden it, do not make it earthly, be temperate to the utmost in food and drink, and in general in bodily pleasures. The heart is–the temple of God. «If any man defiles the temple of God, God shall destroy him.»^[690]

841) Be a Christian in heart–that is, be always sincere in prayer, in your discourse with your neighbor, ever believing, trusting, meek, gentle, wishing well to everybody, just, not covetous, compassionate, merciful, abstinent, chaste, patient, obedient, courageous.

842) O, how dearly our Lord Jesus Christ valued our soul and its salvation by coming down upon earth, by taking upon Himself our soul and body, by His awful sufferings, and by dying for us! And how do I value my soul and its eternal salvation? O, I do not know how to value it, and have not, until now, learned how to answer the love of my Savior, having attached myself wholly to the earth, having given myself up wholly to slothfulness and various passions. How can the love of God, the kingdom of heaven, be in you when in your heart reigns earthly love–sensuality, cupidity, and pride? It is impossible, until you have «crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts;»^[691] «for no man can serve two masters;»^[692] and «whoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.»^[693] «Love not,» it is said, « the world, neither the things that are in the world. . . . For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father. . . . And the world passes away, and the lust thereof; but he that does the will of God abides forever.»^[694]

843) Our Lord God is pleased with us for our persistent request for His mercies, seeing in our persistence our faith and love to Him; while we sinners are angry with the poor, who daily and persistently ask alms of us–even with poor children, whose confidence in men is especially great, and whose belief in the goodness of others is boundless, because they themselves are simple, good, and meek. Being covetous, sensual, and proud, we often look contemptuously upon them, cry out at them–the meek lambs–get out of temper, not wishing to understand that hunger, want of clothes, boots, urgent demand for the rent of their miserable lodgings, force them to beg persistently of us. Is it not they that cry unto the Lord against us in the words of the prophet David: «Our soul is filled with the scornful reproof of the wealthy, and with the spitefully of the proud»?^[695] And certainly, sooner or later, the voice of their complaint shall reach heaven. It has, perhaps, long ago reached the ears of the Lord God of Sabbaoth, and will move Him to wrath against us and to righteous vengeance.

844) Until now I have not become impoverished by being merciful to others, and shall not become impoverished to the last, for «Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today.»^[696] It is not said without reason: «He that gives to the poor shall not lack.» Indeed, up till now, the Lord has only increased my temporal blessings, and has not taken them away. I praise the bountifulness of the Lord, His rich Providence.

*BONUS) You are the representative of faith and of the Church, O priest; you are the representative of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; therefore, you must be an example of meekness, purity, valor, firmness, patience, of elevation of spirit. You are doing God's work, and must not lose courage before anybody; you must not flatter anyone, nor be servile, and must consider your work as higher than all human affairs.

845) He who is accustomed to giving an account of his life at confession here will not fear to give an answer at the terrible judgment-seat of Christ. It is for this purpose that the mild tribunal of penitence was instituted here, in order that we, being cleansed and amended through penitence here below, may give an answer without shame at the terrible judgment-seat of Christ. This is the first motive for sincere confession, and, moreover, it must absolutely be made every year. The longer we remain without confessing, the worse it is for us, the more entangled we become in the bonds of sin, and therefore the more difficult it is to give an account. The second motive is tranquility: the more sincere our confession has been, the more tranquil will the soul be afterwards. Sins are–secret serpents, gnawing at the heart of a man and all his being; they do not let him rest, they continually suck his heart; sins are–prickly thorns, constantly goring the soul; sins are– spiritual darkness. Those who repent must bring forth the fruits of repentance.

846) Consciousness, memory, imagination, feeling, and will are helpers to penitence. As we sin with all the powers of our soul, so penitence must be from our whole soul. Penitence in words only, without the intention of amendment and without the feeling of contrition, may be called hypocritical. Should the consciousness of sins be obscured, it must be cleared up; should the feeling be smothered and dulled, it must be roused; should the will become blunt and too weak for amendment, it must be forced; «the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.»^[697] Confession must be sincere, deep, and full.

847) Ah, my brethren! Shall we not all soon vanish from the face of the earth, and be as though we had not existed? Where are, then, our works of love? Where is the fulfillment of the Creator's commandments? Where is the spirit of Christ in us? Where is gentleness, where is humility, where is love for souls, where is detachment from temporal things? Where is zeal for spiritual blessings? How vain and most foolish we are! We have distorted the image of our souls, distorted our life, perverted it, turned it upside down. Instead of pleasing Christ, we please the Devil.

848) This tranquil, beautiful heaven, studded with stars, will some day present the most terrible spectacle before the second coming of the Lord. O sinners, be taught daily by the spectacle of the heavens while there is yet time to learn. «The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.»^[698]

849) There is, my brethren, a true, real life, and there is a false, imaginary life. To live in order to eat, drink, dress, walk; to enrich ourselves in general, to live for earthly pleasures or cares, as well as to spend time in intriguing and underhand dealings; to think ourselves competent judges of everything and everybody is–the imaginary life; while to live in order to please God and serve our neighbors, to pray for the salvation of their souls and to help them in the work of their salvation in every way, is to lead the true life. The first life is continual spiritual death, the second–the uninterrupted life of the spirit.

850) The Lord said of His Church: «I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.»^[699] This is said of the pastors of the Church, or the Church hierarchy, and of all true believers, as well as of all the sacraments, all the dogmas and commandments of the Holy Orthodox Faith, and of all the offices of the sacraments; for instance, the Liturgy, Holy Orders, Matrimony, Baptism, Chrism, Holy Oil, which have been established unto all the ages, and have already been in existence unchanged for many centuries. See how firm the Church is, founded by the Lord! Remember these words of the Lord, and do not waver in the slightest degree when celebrating any of the sacraments. Be adamantly firm.

851) I love to pray in God's temple, especially within the holy altar, before the Holy Table or the Prothesis, for by God's grace I become wonderfully changed in the temple. During the prayer of repentance and devotion the thorns, the bonds of the passions, fall from my soul, and I feel so light; all the spell, all the enticement of the passions vanish, and I seem to die to the world, and the world, with all its blessings, dies for may I live in God and for God, for God alone. I am wholly penetrated by Him, and am one spirit with Him. I become like a child soothed on its mother's knee. Then my heart is full of most heavenly, sweet peace. My soul is enlightened by the light of heaven. At such times we see everything clearly; we look upon everything rightly; we feel friendship and love towards everyone, even towards our enemies, readily excusing and forgiving everyone. O, how blessed is the soul when it is with God! Truly the Church is earthly paradise.

852) What is most terrible to man? Death? Yes, death. None of us can imagine, without terror, how we will have to die and breathe our last breath. And how parents grieve when their beloved children die, when they lie breathless before their eyes! But, brethren, do not fear, and do not grieve beyond measure. By His death, Jesus Christ our Savior has conquered our death, and by His resurrection He has laid the foundation for our resurrection, and every week, every Sunday, we solemnise in the risen Christ our common future resurrection from the dead, and begin beforehand the life eternal, to which our present temporal life is but a short, narrow, and most sorrowful way. For a true Christian, death is merely like a sleep until the day of resurrection, or like birth into a new life. And thus in solemnising every week the resurrection of Christ and our own resurrection from the dead, let us learn to continually die to sin, and to rise with our souls from dead works, to enrich ourselves with virtues, and not sorrow inconsolably for the dead. Let us learn to meet death without dread, as the decree of the Heavenly Father, which, through the resurrection of Christ from the dead, has lost its terror.

853) Sin is foolish and destructive. For instance, a drunkard, from the excessive use of spirituous liquors, becomes ill, and indulges in various over-indulgences and shameful acts, which he himself is ashamed to think of and remember afterwards. And yet he continues to give himself up to drink. A glutton, after excessive eating, feels a heaviness, his capabilities become obscured, his tongue is bound, and he sees that he has become like an animal or bestial in nature, because he often breathes malice and spite against those who live with him, or who daily ask alms of him. He is subjected to oppression and affliction; he is deprived of peace and tranquility; he becomes incapable of meditating upon heavenly things, or of being a true Christian, of living for the highest purpose of existence. And yet he continues to be greedy for pleasure and eating. An adulterer sees that through adultery he defiles and dishonors his nature, his soul and body, subjects them to maladies, perverts the order of life established by the Creator, exposes himself to shame; and yet he continues to commit adultery. A miser sees that his riches are a burden to him, sees that they deprive him of his spiritual freedom and make him their slave; that they turn him away from God and the love of his neighbor, draw him away from the true life, and bring death into his soul, depriving him of spiritual and bodily rest; that they lay heavy anxieties upon him; but yet he continues to accumulate greater riches and to add to his load, until, exhausted by cares, he falls ill and dies, having lost his soul through the accumulation of riches. And so it is with every sin–pride, malice, envy, and others.

854) We must kill in ourselves earthly love, love (the passion) for earthly, carnal beauty, for pleasures, for gain, for our own flesh, for honor, and quicken in ourselves love for heaven, our true country: for the soul, the heavenly denizen: for virtue. We must hate everything that the flesh loves, and love that which it despises, which it fears (for instance: meditation upon death, upon judgment); we must also love poverty, the sick and suffering.

855) Let others mock you, oppose you, when you are under the influence of any passion; do not be in the least offended with those who mock or oppose you, for they do you good; crucify your self-love and acknowledge the wrong, the error of your heart. But have the deepest pity for those who mock words and works of faith and piety, of righteousness; for those who oppose the good which you are doing, or which you wish to instill into others. God preserve you from getting exasperated with them, for they are deserving of pity and tears. Glory to You, Lord, my Savior, for having delivered me at my prayer from the tyranny of the passions!

856) When you are in the temple, remember that you are in the living presence of the Lord God, that you stand before His face, before His eyes, in the living presence of the Mother of God, of the holy angels, and of the first-born of the Church– that is, our forefathers, the prophets, Apostles, hierarchs, martyrs, reverend Fathers, the righteous, and all the saints. Always have the remembrance and consciousness of this when you are in the temple, and stand with devotion, taking part willingly and with all your heart in the Divine service.

857) I am morally nothing without the Lord. I have really not one true thought or good feeling, and can do no good works; without Him I cannot drive away from me any sinful thought, any passionate feeling such as malice, envy, fornication, pride, etc. The Lord is the accomplishment of everything good that I think, feel, and do. O, how boundlessly wide is the Lord's grace acting in me! The Lord is everything to me, and so clearly, so constantly. Mine–is only my sinfulness; mine–are only my infirmities. O, how we ought to love our Lord, Who was pleased to call us into existence from non-existence, to honor us by His image and likeness, to establish us in a paradise of delights, to subdue all the earth unto us, and Who –when we did not keep His commandments, but were allured by the enticement of the Devil, and immeasurably offended our Creator by our ingratitude, and assimilated unto ourselves all the qualities of the tempter (pride, malice, envy, ingratitude) and all his evil arts, which he taught us as his prisoners–did not reject us for ever, but deigned to redeem us from sin, from the curse and death into which we had fallen through sin, and Himself appeared upon earth, having taken our nature upon Him; He Himself became my Teacher, my Healer, my Worker of miracles, my Savior; He Himself bore the punishment for us, died for us in order that we should not be eternally lost. He rose from the dead, in order to raise us too after death. He ascended into heaven, in order that we, too, should ascend, we who had fallen so low through sin; and He became everything to us–food, drink, light, purification, sanctification, health–and the power that protects, saves, preserves, and has mercy upon us.

858) I myself am nothing, but by the grace of the priesthood, by bestowing upon others the Divine Body and Blood, I become the second or third means of healing sicknesses. Through me the grace of the Spirit gives new life to infants and grown persons; administers in the sacrament of the Eucharist the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, uniting believers with the Godhead; through me it looses or binds the sins of men, opens or closes heaven, gives salutary counsels, rules, etc. O, how venerable is the office of priest! Do you see, brethren, how many benefits the Creator and Savior pours upon you through priests?

859) It very often happens that the mist of the spirit of malice surrounds our heart, and does not allow us to speak peaceably with our neighbors, who have once or several times offended us, or expressed any ill-will towards us. We must pray fervently to the Lord, that He Himself would disperse this mist of malice, and fill our heart with mercy and love, even towards our enemies, for they, in the blindness of the passions –of pride, envy, covetousness, malice–do not themselves know what they do, as the enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ knew not what they did when they persecuted Him all His life and at last put Him to a shameful death. We must remember that the Christian religion consists in loving our enemies: «For if you love them who love you, what reward do you have? Don't even the publicans do the same?»^[700]

860) «Seek you first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.»^[701] How are we to seek first the kingdom of God? In the following manner: let us suppose that you wish to walk, or drive, or else go in a boat somewhere on any worldly, temporal business; before doing so, first pray to the Lord that He may correct the ways of your heart, and then also your present bodily way, or that He may direct the way of your life in accordance with His commandments; desire this with all your heart, and often renew your prayer concerning this. The Lord, seeing your sincere desire and endeavor to walk in accordance with His commandments, will, by degrees, correct all your ways. Further, for instance, if you wish to get pure air into your room, or if you go for a walk in the fresh air, think of the pure and of the unclean heart. Many of us like to have pure air in the rooms (and this is an excellent habit), or are fond of walking in the fresh air, but they do not even think of the necessity of the purity of the spirit or heart (of, so to say, spiritual air, the breath of life); and, living in the fresh air, they allow themselves to indulge in impure thoughts, impure movements of the heart, and even impurity of language, and very impure carnal actions. Again, when seeking material light, remember the spiritual light which is indispensable for the soul, and without which it remains in the darkness of the passions, in the darkness of spiritual death. «I have come a light into the world,» says the Lord, «that whoever believes in Me, should not abide in darkness.»^[702] If you see the fury and hear the howling of the tempest, or read of shipwrecks, think of the storm of human passions causing daily groans and disturbance in the hearts of men, wrecking the spiritual ship of the soul or the ship of human society; and pray fervently to the Lord that He may subdue the tempest of sins, as He once subdued the tempest at sea by His word, and that He may root out our passions from our hearts, and reestablish in them unceasing tranquility. If you experience a feeling of hunger or thirst, and wish to eat and drink, think of the hunger or thirst of the soul (it thirsts after righteousness, for justification, Christ, for sanctification), which, if you do not satisfy, your soul may die from hunger, crushed by the passions, weakened and exhausted; and in satisfying your bodily hunger, do not forget to appease, above all and before all, your spiritual hunger, by conversing with God, by heart-felt repentance for your sins, by reading the story and precepts of the Gospel, and especially by the communion of the Divine Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ. If you are fond of dressing elegantly, or when you put on your clothes, think of the incorruptible garment of righteousness, in which our souls should be arrayed, or of Jesus Christ, Who is our spiritual raiment, as it is said: «For as many of you as have been baptised into Christ, have put on Christ.»^[703] A passion for dress often entirely thrusts out from the heart the very thought of the incorruptible raiment of the soul, and turns the whole life into vain cares about elegance in dress. If you are a scholar, a student in any educational establishment, or an official in some ministry, an officer in any of the branches of the military service, or a technologist, a painter, a sculptor, a manufacturer, a mechanic–remember that the first science for each one of you is to be a true Christian, to believe sincerely in the Holy Trinity, to converse daily with God in prayer, to take part in the Divine service, to observe the rules and regulations of the Church, and to bear in your heart, before your work, during your work, and after your work, the name of Jesus, for He is our light, our strength, our holiness, and our help.

861) It is a wonderful thing that, however much we trouble about our health, however much we take care of ourselves, whatever wholesome and pleasant food we eat, whatever wholesome drinks we drink, however much we walk in the fresh air, still, notwithstanding all this, in the end we are subjected to maladies and corruption; while the saints, who despised their flesh, and mortified it by continual abstinence and fasting, by lying on the bare earth, by watchfulness, labors, unceasing prayer, have made both their souls and bodies immortal. Our well-fed bodies decay and emit an offensive odor after death, while theirs remained fragrant and flourishing in life as well as after death. It is a wonderful thing: we, by building up, destroy our body; while they, by destroying, built up theirs; they, by only caring for the fragrance of their souls before God, obtained the fragrance of their bodies also. Brethren! Understand the problem, the purpose of your life. We must mortify our body with its many passions, or our carnal passions, through abstinence, labor, prayer, and not animate it and its passions through delights, overeating, and slothfulness.

862) It is well in every respect to give to the poor, besides obtaining mercy on the terrible day of judgment. Even here, while on earth, those who give alms often obtain great mercies from their neighbors, and that which others only obtain for large sums of money is given to them freely. Indeed, will not the Lover of mankind, the most-righteous and the most-bountiful heavenly Father, Whose children are shown compassion by the merciful, reward them here also, in order to encourage them to still greater works of mercy, or to the continuance of their previous works of mercy, as well as to the amendment of the unmerciful, who mock at the merciful? He will reward them both worthily and righteously.

863) How many trifling and incessant pretexts the hater of mankind offers us for hating our neighbor, so that we are almost constantly angry with others, almost constantly bearing malice against others, and living in accordance with his infernal all-destructive will. But do not let us chase his phantoms; let us put aside all enmity, and love everyone, for love is of God.

864) Lord, You continually conquer hell in me, in accordance with my prayer; and if I am not yet in hell, it is through Your mercy, Conqueror of hell, my Lord! Glory to You, our Benefactor, our Savior! How would it have been with us without You? We should truly have been like the beasts, and should have exterminated each other. As it is with separate individuals, so it is also with nations. If separate individuals and nations lived in accordance with Your Gospel, then there would not be any enmity, dissension, wars. When shall we fully acknowledge the necessity for our temporal and eternal good–to live in accordance with the Gospel? But now how few there are who even read the Gospel!

865) Lord! I confess to You that neither in the country nor in the forest are to be found life, and health, and vigor of the spiritual and material powers, but with You in the temple, and, above all, during the Liturgy and in Your Holy Life-giving Mysteries! O, greatest blessedness of the Holy Mysteries! O, Life-giving Mysteries! O, Divine Mysteries, that are love unspeakable! O, Divine Mysteries, that are the Lord God's constant and wonderful Providence for saving and sanctifying us! O, Divine Mysteries, that are the prefiguration of eternal life!

866) Our Lady, Most-holy Mother of God! I prayed to You, before the Liturgy, that You would grant me grace to celebrate it with much power, to the glory of God, for the salvation of the world and my own! You have ordered all things well. I thank You, all-gracious Helper, You Who hear us speedily, You Who do not let our trust in You be shamed!

867) How many benefits has my faith in Christ brought me until now! Without speaking of innumerable other benefits, I will mention the following ones:–How many disturbances of the soul and passions has it driven away and appeased in me! How many evil inclinations of the heart has it corrected! How many times I was cleansed from my sins and my soul saved from spiritual death! And how near is our Lord unto him who believes! He is like the air, like the breath of our mouth, like the breathing of our heart, of our soul.

868) Lord, I thank You from all my heart for the blessed moving of Your Holy Spirit during Divine service, both public and private, for the cleansing from sins, for peace, for devotion and tears, for fatherly consolation, for boldness, for power.

869) As a priest, pray above all for the cleansing from sins, for the enlightenment and renewal of God's people, and for your own renewal; for although you often drink the Blood of the New Testament and eat the life-giving Flesh of the Lamb of God, which can speedily regenerate and renew you, nevertheless, owing to your negligence, you are not yet regenerate nor renewed, being given up in the depths of your heart to the same passions that were in you before. Offer, then, unto God ardent prayer for your own renewal and that of His people. This is the most pleasing sacrifice to God. Offer your prayer with faith, firm trust, and love unfeigned: for to Him Who came to make a new garment out of the old one, and to pour new wine into old bottles, prayer for renewal is like fragrant incense, and concurs with the Lord's purpose of the regeneration of the human race, decayed by sin.

870) Obedience without murmuring is very profitable to the soul; we this see from the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who for His obedience was exalted, according to His human nature, above all dominations, principalities, and authorities, as well as from the examples of all God's saints, who for their obedience to the Son of God and His Gospel were deemed worthy of incorruptible heavenly crowns and eternal life with God and His holy angels. Besides this, obedience is also abundantly profitable to the body: for what the slothful lose is acquired by the laborious and zealous, who are obedient. Therefore obedience is profitable both to the soul and to the body; and even if it is not always profitable to the body, then it is absolutely so to the soul. And thus let everyone be obedient in that which is good, but not in evil.

871) To be humble means to consider ourselves deserving, for our sins, of every humiliation, injury, persecution, and even blows; and to be meek means to patiently endure injustice, abuse, etc., and to pray for our enemies.

872) The poignant sorrow with which you unintentionally pierce another's heart shall return to your own heart according to the strict law of requital: « With what measure you give, it shall be measured to you again.»^[704] If you do not desire sorrow for yourself, do not cause it to others.

873) If people labor so long for worldly vanity, and often make us wait in vain for them to finish, then should not we, God's servants, labor for the Lord God slowly, pausing with understanding, with feeling, with great reverence and zeal, reading the prayers distinctly, separately? Better let people wait for us than we for them. Lord, let it be thus at every celebration of Divine service, of the Sacraments. Give all this Yourself: for without You we can do nothing.^[705]

874) A true Christian never forgets that in this world he is the prisoner of the Devil, and he continually sighs for the spiritual freedom given by the Son of God to all those who believe in Him and strive to free themselves from the bondage of sins; a true Christian lives watchfully, using all earthly things in moderation; he does not spend his time in idle talk or idle amusements; he is not extortionate, does not envy, prays constantly, and repents of his sins.

875) People say that it is not a matter of importance if you eat meat during Lent, for Lent does not consist in food; that it is not a matter of importance if you wear costly, fine clothes, frequent theaters, evening parties, masquerades; if you provide yourself with expensive plate, china, furniture, costly equipages, spirited horses; if you amass and hoard money, etc. But what is it that turns away our heart from God, the Source of life; through what do we lose eternal life? Is it not through gluttony, through expensive dress, like the rich man in the Gospel! Is it not through theaters and masquerades? What is it that makes us hard-hearted to the poor, and even to our own relatives? Is it not our attachment to carnal pleasures in general, to our belly, to dress, plate, furniture, carriages, money, etc.? Can a man serve God and riches;^[706] be a friend of God and a friend of the world, work for Christ and for the Devil ? It is impossible. Through what did Adam and Eve lose Paradise, through what did they fall into sin and death? Was it not through food alone? Let us consider well what makes us careless about the salvation of our soul, which cost the Son of God so dear; what makes us add one sin to another; what makes us fall continually into opposition against God, into a life of vanity. Is it not attachment to earthly things, and especially to earthly delights? What makes our heart gross ? What makes us become flesh, and not spirit, perverting our moral nature? Is it not attachment to food and drink and other earthly goods ? How after this can it be said that to eat meat during Lent is unimportant? To say so is nothing but pride, sophism, disobedience, want of submission to God, and estrangement from Him.

876) From what deep sores, from what mortal wounds, from what deathly breathing of sin, did the heavenly Physician, our Lord Jesus Christ, come to save us? Who can fully understand this? Nobody. Only in part, from our own experience, some of us see the depths of the abyss into which we have fallen through sin–all our powerlessness for good, all the power and abyss of the evil or sin nestling in our hearts. But even to see this is granted unto us by the grace of God, enlightening our darkened hearts. A man does not see this by his natural understanding, and therefore he cannot see and feel the necessity of amendment, and have strength for such amendment and renewal.

877) I thank the Lord, Who is mighty in His mercy and merciful in His might, for speedy and great forgiveness, for the healing of deep, spiritual wounds caused by sin. What long, continued prayer at home could not do was accomplished by only touching the life-giving, glorious, and terrible altar of God in the Temple of the holy and glorious leaders of the Apostles–Peter and Paul; the wounds of the heart, the disturbance, affliction, and oppression suddenly vanished, as if a great mountain had fallen from my heart, and I was at peace; my heart expanded and grew light and daring. Wonderful are Your works, Lord! Wonderful are You, sitting on the throne of Your glory in Christian temples. Lord, most righteous Judge, most merciful and Almighty Savior! Glory to Your invincible goodness, glory to Your immeasurable power, King of all ages.

878) Brethren! Among the beings created by God, there are the temporal, transitory ones, such as all unintelligent, animate and inanimate creatures, organic and inorganic, as well as the world itself, which will pass away; «for the fashion of this world passes away.»^[707] And there are eternal beings, which are not transitory, such as the angels and the souls of men, the demons themselves with Satan. For man, the earthly life, life in the body, serves only as a preparation for eternal life, which will begin after the death of the body. Therefore we must avail ourselves without delay of the present life as a preparation for the other life; and as we chiefly work during week-days for the earthly life, we must work on Sundays and other holidays wholly for the Lord God, devoting them to attendance at Divine service, to reading the Word of God, to pious meditation, to edifying conversations, good works, and especially to works of mercy. They sin grievously who neglect the matter of their spiritual education for eternal life in the world above. How can we forget our final destination? How is it possible to be so ungrateful to the Creator, Who created us after His own image and likeness, incorruptible, and for union with Himself; Who redeemed us by His cross, and opened to us the gates of the kingdom of heaven? How can many of us become «like the beasts that perish»?^[708] «Let us lift up our hearts!»^[709]

879) The body, being only the temporal garment of the soul, is perishable, and does not constitute the true life of the man. The true life is the spiritual life. If you rend, if you destroy the man's garment, still he himself remains alive; so also after the slaying, after the death, the corruption of the body, the soul remains alive. Let us then chiefly care for the soul, for its salvation!

880) O, holy temple, how good, how sweet it is to pray in you! For where can there be ardent prayer if not within your walls, before the throne of God, and before the face of Him Who sits upon it? Truly the soul melts from prayerful emotion, and tears flow down the cheeks like water. It is sweet to pray for all.

881) I marvel at the greatness and life-giving properties of the Holy Sacrament. An old woman who was spitting blood, and who had lost all strength, being unable to eat anything, after the Communion of the Holy Sacrament, which I administered to her, began to recover on the same day from her illness. A young girl who was almost dying, after the Communion of the Holy Sacrament began to recover on the same day from her illness; began to eat, drink, and speak; while before this she was almost in a state of unconsciousness, violently tossed about, and could neither eat nor drink anything. Glory to Your life-giving and terrible Mysteries, O Lord!

882) Be true to God always and in everything. If you say the prayer «Our Father . . .» pronounce each word sincerely, with reverence, fixing your mind and heart upon God alone, not paying attention to anything or anybody around you. If you say any other prayer, say it also with all your soul, not with your heart divided, not paying undue attention to anything or anybody. The enemy of our salvation especially strives to draw our heart and mind away from God when we are about to serve Him, and endeavors to adulterously attach our heart to something irrelevant. Be always, every moment, with God, especially when you pray to Him. At this time be especially true and constant to Him. If you are inconstant, you will fall away from life, and will cast yourself into sorrow and constraint.

883) Do not hasten to eat and drink, but rather hasten to perform God's service; and when performing God's service, do not think of food and drink. Think well before Whom you stand, with Whom you are conversing, to Whom you are singing praises; be wholly in God, belong wholly to Him alone, pray with all your heart, sing with all your heart, serve for your neighbor as you would serve for yourself, gladly, heartily, not with a divided heart and thoughts. Lord! Help us; for without You we can do nothing.^[710]

884) When the heart is pure, then the whole man is pure; when the heart is unclean, the whole man is unclean: «For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies . . .»^[711] But the saints all acquired pure hearts by fasting, vigilance, prayer, pious meditation, by reading the Word of God, martyrdom, labor, and sweat; and the Holy Spirit abode in them, cleansed them from every impurity, and sanctified them by eternal sanctification. Strive also, above all, for the cleansing of your heart. «Make me a clean heart, O God.»^[712]

885) Do not value God's Sacraments at the price of gold and silver. That which you have freely received, be also ready to freely give. Leave the reward for your labor to the free-will of those who receive the Sacraments, and labor for those who give, or can only afford to give you, the smallest remuneration for your spiritual labor, as willingly as for those who offer you a large remuneration. During God's work do not think of silver; do not offend the Holy Spirit, and do not sell God's gifts, lest your silver be the cause of your own destruction. Ah, indeed some really do sell, and others buy, or think of buying, the gifts of the Holy Spirit for silver, like Simon the sorcerer.

886) Food and drink must only be used for strengthening our powers, and not as delights, and we must not eat when nature does not require it. Many of us (and I myself the first), if we do not repent and correct ourselves, will be condemned for having eaten and drunk unseasonably, and thus for having lived, having understanding, like the brutes that have no understanding, and for having darkened our foolish hearts. You have amused yourselves with food and drink, and have often eaten and drunk when there was no need for you to eat and drink: «Woe unto you that are full! For you shall hunger.»^[713] «you have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; you have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.»^[714]

887) You must pay the most strict and active attention to this your daily action of eating and drinking, for from food and drink, from their quality and quantity, your spiritual, social, and family activity very greatly depends: « Take heed of yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with wanting more and drunkenness.»^[715] Tea and coffee also pertain to drunkenness if indulged in unseasonably and to excess. O, woe unto us who are full now, and frequently look neglectfully upon God's gifts.

888) Through our flesh, and in general through our materiality, the Devil acts injuriously upon us. Thus, through wine, tea, coffee, through sweets, through money, dress, etc., he inflames our passions. Therefore we must guard against drinking much wine, tea, or coffee, and against eating sweets, especially without other substantial, solid, and wholesome food. These sweets must only be used after everything, and in the most moderate quantity.

889) «Behold, Satan desires to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.»^[716] It is he who so greatly distracts our thoughts in the temple during Divine service and at home during prayer; it is he who draws away our thoughts from God, from our souls and the souls of others, from heavenly and eternal things; it is he who occupies us with earthly trifles or with earthly vanity, with earthly nothingness, with earthly allurements, with food, drink, dress, houses, etc. We must pray for each other, that our faith should not fail, as the Savior prayed for Peter.

890) By eating a lot, one becomes a carnal man, having no spirit, or soulless flesh; while by fasting, one attracts the Holy Spirit and becomes spiritual. When cotton is not wetted with water it is light, and if in a small quantity flies up in the air; but if it is wetted, it becomes heavy and at once falls to the ground. It is the same with the soul. O, how important it is to preserve it by fasting!

891) Is unwilling outward prayer profitable? No, it is repugnant to God. The same applies to study. Unwilling, literal study is not profitable. As the man who prays unwillingly only runs over the words, often without understanding their power, without feeling them, and his heart is not enlightened, not warmed, not vivified by them, so it is also with the unwilling pupil. It is necessary, when teaching, to accustom the pupils to study willingly, and to teach them to think about what they say.

892) By what name are you called according to the faith? By the name of Christian. What does it mean? It means that I am a member of the body of Christ, which is the Church of Christ, that I am a servant of Christ. To what does the name of Christian oblige you ? It obliges me to always have Christ in my thoughts and heart, always to have His spirit, throughout all my life, imitating His life, fulfilling His holy commandments, and to «seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God.»^[717]

893) What is holiness? Freedom from every sin and the fullness of every virtue. This freedom from sin and this virtuous life are only attained by a few zealous persons, and that not suddenly, but gradually, by prolonged and manifold sorrows, sicknesses, and labors, by fasting, vigilance, prayer, and that not by their own strength, but by the grace of Christ. Only the Holy Theotokos, the Mother of God, was sanctified from Her early childhood, from Her mother's womb, and afterwards the Lord sanctified Her in the Holy of Holies with the most perfect sanctification through Her unceasing prayer, the reading of the Word of God and meditations upon it, through the teaching of the pure, heavenly and bodiless powers, and especially through Her own inward illumination. Holiness corresponds in nature to the light of the sun and to the whiteness of snow, while sin to darkness, want of light, and filth or rust.

894) When you look upon the icon of the Mother of God, with Her Eternal Infant, marvel how most truly the Godhead was united with human nature, glorify the goodness and omnipotence of God, and, recognizing your own dignity as man, live worthily of the high calling to which you are called in Christ –that is, the calling of a child of God and an heir to eternal bliss.

895) Why does the Lord give to man the prolongation of his days upon the earth? In order that a man should have time to repent and to cleanse himself from his sins and passions, and that truth and love should entirely penetrate his heart, by means of the teaching of his feelings in relation to good and evil.

896) What is the human soul? It is the one same soul or the one same breath of God, which God breathed into Adam, and which until now is diffused from Adam upon the entire human race. Therefore all men are as though one man, or one great tree of mankind. From this comes the most natural commandment, founded upon the unity of our nature: «You shall love the Lord your God [your Prototype, your Father] with all Your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor [for who can be nearer to me than the man like me, of the same blood as me?] as yourself.»^[718] To fulfill these two commandments is a natural necessity.

897) Receive everyone who comes to you, especially with a spiritual purpose, with a kind and cheerful aspect, although he or she may be a beggar, and humble yourself inwardly before everybody, counting yourself lower than he or she, for you are placed by Christ Himself to be the servant of all, and all are His members, although like you they bear the wounds of sin.

898) We must not doubt in the truth of the Gospel and of the Church-readings. Everything that is in the Gospel and in the Church is the breathing of the Spirit of truth, «the silver, which from the earth is tried, and purified seven times in the fire,»^[719] life, peace and spiritual sweetness. Woe to him who doubts: the lying spirit shall darken, oppress, and plunge him into despondency and affliction. This is from experience.

899) It is pleasing to the Lord, as to a most loving Father, when we pray for others–His children; and as parents, at the request of their good and well-principled children, forgive their wicked, capricious, and evil-natured ones, so also the heavenly Father, at the prayer of those « that are His,»^[720] or at the prayer for the people of His priests, invested with His grace, has mercy even upon the unworthy, as He had mercy upon and forgave the rebellious and murmuring Hebrew people in the desert at Moses' prayer. But what an ardent prayer that was!

900) To the glory of the most holy name of our Master the Lord Jesus Christ and that of the Holy Theotokos, the Mother of God, I have experienced a thousand times in my heart, that, after the Communion of the Holy Sacrament or after fervent prayer at home –ordinary prayer or prayer in consequence of some sin, passion, and sorrow and constraint–the Lord, at the prayers of the Theotokos, or the Theotokos Herself, by the Lord's grace bestowed upon me, as though it were a new spiritual nature, pure, good, great, bright, wise, beneficent, instead of impure, despondent, languid, fainthearted, dark, dull, and evil. Many times was I thus changed, with a marvellous great change, to my own wonder and often to that of others. Glory to Your power, Lord! Glory to Your mercy, Lord! Glory to Your bounties, Lord, which You have manifested upon me a sinner!

901) Our life is love–yes, love. And where there is love, there is God; and where God is, there is every good. « Seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.»^[721] And therefore joyfully feed and delight all, joyfully gratify all and trust in the heavenly Father for everything, in the Father of bounties, and the God of every consolation. Offer that which is dear to you as a sacrifice of love for your neighbor. Bring your Isaac, your heart, with its many passions, as a sacrifice to God, stab it of your own free will, crucify the flesh with its passions and lusts. As you have received everything from God, be ready to give back everything to God, so that, having been faithful in small things you may afterwards be made ruler over many things. «You have been faithful over a few things, I will make You ruler over many things.»^[722] Look upon all passions as upon illusions, as I have found out a thousand times. Amen.

902) O, how wise ought the Christian to be during his life! He should be like the many-eyed cherubim–all eyes, all intellect, and incessant reflection, excepting in cases where absolute unreflecting faith is required.

903) Christian! Remember and always bear in your thoughts and heart the great words of the Lord's prayer: « Our Father Who is in heaven [remember, who is our Father!–God is our Father, our love; who are we? We are the children of God, and brothers among ourselves; in what love ought the children of such a Father to live among themselves ? » If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham «^[723] ; what works, then, ought we to do?] Hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done. Give us this day our daily bread [our bread, common to all and not for oneself alone: self-love must be banished from the hearts of God's children; we are one]. And forgive us our trespasses [you wish that God should forgive your trespasses, therefore look upon it as customary to forgive the sins of those who trespass against you, knowing that love is long-suffering and compassionate]. Lead us not into temptation [and you, yourself, must not give way to temptation: «He will not let your foot to be moved; and He that keeps you will not sleep. The Lord is Your defense upon your right hand.»^[724] ], but deliver us from evil [do not willingly give yourself up to evil and the Lord will not give you up to it]: for Yours is the kingdom [acknowledge the one King, God, and serve Him alone], the power [trust in His almighty power] and the glory [be zealous for His glory with all your might and during all your life], for ever [He is the eternal King, while Satan's kingdom shall soon pass away, being rapacious and false]. Amen.» This is all true. Remember this prayer above all, and repeat it more often in your mind, thinking over the meaning of each word, of each expression, and each petition in it.

904) Brothers and sisters! You were born again (after you were born of your parents) by water and the Spirit, you then became the children of God–say, do you live worthily of this high calling? Do you live as the children of God ought to live? Is it evident from your behavior and actions that your « conversation is in heaven »?^[725] Is it evident that you await your Lord again from heaven, as He promised us in His holy Word? Do you despise earthly things, and do you aspire with your whole heart after heavenly things? Do you not love this adulterous and sinful world? «If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.»^[726] «The friendship of the world is enmity with God.»^[727] «For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father.»^[728] This world has crucified and crucifies even now the Son of God, brothers and sisters! Watch over yourselves, do you live in accordance with the Gospel! Do you not live contrarily to it? Read the first chapters of the Gospel according to St. Matthew more often.

905) Save us, Your race, oh Holy Theotokos! Save us, we who are of one blood with You! Save us, Mother of Life and Mother of us all, although we are not worthy to call You our Mother! Cleanse, sanctify, strengthen and save us through Your prayers!

906) For what purpose do I require property? In order to have means of subsistence for myself, my family and my relatives, and in order to help the poor, and not for the purpose of hoarding it. Measure bountifully, so that God may measure bountifully to you in accordance with your gift. Besides, all our property or all our means of existence are God's and not ours, and God is the Master of life. He cares for the support of our life, through ourselves or through others, or directly. « Let us commend ourselves and each other, and all our life to Christ our God.»^[729] We say we must live, and our life is God, therefore God gives and will give all our means of existence.

907) In many worldly magazines and newspapers, the number of which has so greatly increased, there breathes an earthly spirit, frequently impious, while the Christian, in his hope, is a citizen not only of the earth, but also of heaven, and, therefore, he ought also to meditate upon heavenly things. The heathen writings of antiquity were, it would seem, often better and purer (Cicero, for instance), higher in their foundation and motive, than some writings of Christian peoples. The Personal Word of the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, is continually and greatly offended by Christian people, who are gifted with speech, and ought to be Godlike, both in their speech and writings, while now their words are often wasted in vain and even to tempt the Christian, who is turned aside by worldly writings from reading the Word of God and the writings of the Holy Fathers. The editors and publishers of worldly magazines and newspapers ensnare and entice the flock of Christ by the increase of flattering words. O Word of God! What answer shall we give at Your terrible Judgment?

908) Where do we now find in houses the reading of the divinely-inspired Psalter, which instills such great faith in God, such strong trust in God in misfortunes, sicknesses and sorrows, and such ardent love for God? Where is the reading of the divinely-inspired Psalms, which was the favourite reading of our forefathers, not only of the common people, but also of nobles and princes'? Such reading is not to be found nowadays; and owing to this, there is no faith in many people, no trust in God, and no love for God and their neighbor, but unbelief, despair, and hatred. There is no ardent prayer, no purity of morals, no spirit of contrition for sins and of devotion, no righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The greater number of Christians are penetrated by the spirit of the world, by the spirit of magazines, newspapers, and in general of worldly writers, who themselves, in their turn, are penetrated by a heathen and not a Christian spirit, by the spirit of the denial of the Divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by the spirit of self-exaltation, of the exaltation of their own proud and presumptuous intellect, and by the spirit of worldly vanity.

909) Everything that the Church puts into our mouths and hearing is truth, the breathing or teaching of the Holy Spirit. Reverence every thought, every word of the Church. Remember that the domain of thought and word belongs to God as well as the whole visible and invisible world. You have nothing of your own, not even any thought or word. Everything is our Father's, everything is God's. Mingle with the common order of things, as gold melts into various forms, or as nature forms one harmonious whole. Do not lead a self-loving, separate life.

910) The breaking up of the ice in the seas and rivers is an image of the dissolution of our soul from the body. When the waters are freed from ice they come face to face with the air, which begins to move them, and with the sun, which begins to bathe in them; so likewise pure souls, being freed from their bodies, come face to face with Christ, are refreshed by Him, and are made resplendent by Him. The waters, while they are covered with ice, are as though imprisoned in chains, have no immediate contact with the air and the light of the sun; so likewise our souls, while they live in their bodily covering, have no immediate communication with God and His saints, but only by means of their covering in part, indirectly, and only when this bodily covering falls off shall we see our Lord face to face, as the waters, when they are freed from the ice, are directly exposed to the sun, and come into direct contact with the air.

911) Our heart is inseparable, single, and therefore cannot «serve two masters: God and mammon»^[730] –that is, riches. This means that it is impossible to serve God truly and at the same time to be attached to earthly things, for all such things relate to mammon. Besides, it is unworthy of a man to serve riches, for they are earth and dust. All earthly things, if our heart attaches itself to them, make it gross and earthly, turn us away from God, from the Mother of God, and all the saints, from everything spiritual, heavenly, and eternal, and from love for our neighbor, and bind us to that which is earthly, perishable, and temporal. To complete that which has been said, it must be added that the spirit of attachment to earthly things, of sparing and grudging earthly things, is the spirit of the Devil, and the Devil himself dwells in the man through his attachment to earthly things. He often enters into our heart as an insolent conqueror, through some momentary attachment to earthly things, not immediately renounced, darkening, crushing, and deadening our soul, and making it incapable of any work for God, infecting it with pride, blasphemy, murmuring, contempt for holy things and its neighbor, opposition, despondency, despair, and malice.

912) It was for our sakes that the Lord was incarnate, suffered, was crucified, died, and rose from the dead. It was for our sakes also that He adorned His Mother, the Most Pure Virgin Mary, with all virtues, and endued Her with all Divine powers, so that She, the most merciful and the most perfect, should be, after Himself, everything to us. And therefore let not God's grace, with which the Holy Theotokos is filled, be fruitless for us. Let us all come with boldness and trust in the Theotokos’ wonderful, ever-helpful, and most pure protection. If sins trouble us, let us pray to Her, that She may cleanse us with the hyssop of Her prayers from every impurity of the flesh and of the spirit.

913) From what do blasphemy and contempt of the spiritual Word proceed? From the pride of our heart; from the presumption and satiety of our intellect.

914) You constantly notice that God does not tolerate the slightest momentary impurity in you, and that peace and God Himself leave you immediately after the admittance of any impure thought into your heart. And you become the abode of the Devil if you do not immediately renounce the sin. So that at every sinful thought, and still more at every sinful word and deed, we must say, « This is the Devil.» while at every holy and good thought, word, and deed, we should say, « This is God»; or, « This comes from God.» Imagine, therefore, now what a resplendently-adorned, pure, and immovable Palace of the Almighty must have been the most-holy soul and the most-pure body of the Mother of God, in Whose womb God the Word came to dwell, and abode in Her by His Godhead with His most pure Soul and Body! Imagine what eternal, infinite, unchangeable holiness She is! Imagine of what reverence and glorification She is worthy! Imagine what we are: « A reed shaken with [the Devil's] wind.»^[731] The Devil breathes his blasphemy into our hearts, and we are immediately shaken with it. We are disturbed, depressed, when we ought to despise all his blasphemies, or not pay any attention to them, looking upon them as an illusion.

915) As in God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are undivided, so also in prayer and in our life the thought, the word, and the deed ought to be undivided. If you ask anything of God, believe that it will be done in accordance with your request, as God pleases. If you read the Word of God, believe that everything that is spoken of in it was, is, and shall be; or was done, is being done, and shall be done. Believe thus, speak thus, read thus, and pray thus. Great is the Word; great is the thinking, speaking, and acting soul, the image and likeness of the Almighty Trinity. Man, know yourself! Know what you are, and conduct yourself in accordance with your dignity.

916) Merciful Theotokos, ever manifest and show Your power upon me, and upon Your people who are God-fearing and virtuous, by delivering us, in accordance with our prayer, from impure, crafty, and blasphemous thoughts, from all our sins and passions, and from the snares of the Devil, for You are the merciful Mother of God.

917) Pray to the Holy Theotokos- the Mother of God, to the angels, and to all the saints, as you would pray to the Holy Spirit Himself; or rather, as you would pray to the Holy Trinity, Who sanctifies them and rests in them. «That they may be one in Us.»^[732] «For You are holy, our God, and rest in the saints.»^[733] Amen.

918) We all live in a kind of seductive darkness of the heart and intellect, but the Lord Jesus Christ is our enlightenment. The saints always see us by the grace of God, because they are in God, and God is in them. They are one spirit with the Lord^[734] , and the Lord sees everything, hears everything. Therefore when, for instance, in church you look upon the images of God's saints, believe that they see you, and, above all, that they see your heart.

919) By whatever passions enemies may attack you, endure it without falling into despondency, without anger, meekly and humbly, and do not allow any movement of impatience, malice, murmuring, and blasphemy to arise in your heart.

920) Every creature witnesses to the infinite mercy and righteousness of the Creator, even Satan himself and his angels by their shameful existence and most malicious snares against men prove the immeasurable mercy and righteousness of the Creator; for who were originally Satan and his angels? What lights, what treasuries of blessings, and of what were they deprived by their entirely voluntary ungratefullness, pride, malice, and envy, against the Lord ? Did they not fall quite deliberately, intentionally, with the purpose of eternally waging war against the Creator and His creatures, reasonable beings endowed with speech? Judging by Satan's malicious actions in the world, by their number and power, we can guess how powerful a spirit was Satan, the fallen angel. Judging by his great darkness and his manifold enticements in men scattered throughout the whole world (« Who deceives the whole world»^[735] ), we can guess how bright and full of truth he originally was. « You have been in Eden, the garden of God: every precious stone was your covering.»^[736] Judging by the most evil, carnal, and impure desires suggested by him, we may conclude how amiable and perfect he was in the time of his goodness, received by him from the Creator! Judging by his craftiness and wicked wiles, we may guess how wise he was, and how much good he might have done, of how much service he might have been to his Creator in His providence for the inferior spirits or men. From this enormous colossus of evil, Satan, we may judge, what a great, good, beautiful, most bright, powerful, wise creature Satan previously was. How many gifts of the Creator's goodness were comprised in him, and of how much was he deprived by his wicked and intentional madness! By his malice in men, judge how good he previously was; by his envy, judge of his previous goodwill; by the boundless avidity and avarice he excites in men, judge of his previous generosity; by his pride, of the greatness he received from God; by the despondency, weariness, and sometimes unbearable anguish he inspires in men, judge of his former blessedness. For he was previously as good as he is now evil! He offers an eternal lesson for humility and obedience to all the heavenly angels, and to all well-intentioned men; for however perfect the angels are, and however wise, and, in general, however perfect men may be in some things, they have received everything from the goodness of the Creator alone, and not from themselves, and must thank the Creator for everything, and pray to Him for everything with undoubting faith in His goodness and omnipotence with the hope of receiving everything from Him. The evil spirits fell through pride and malice: there is a lesson for all men in this; that is, to humble themselves before their Creator, to consider themselves as nothing, to ascribe everything to the Creator, and to live solely by the Creator and by fulfilling His will. And –how wonderful are Your works, Lord!–that which Satan was not able and did not desire to attain, with all his wisdom, was attained by the Virgin from a perishable but spiritually immortal race; the most holy Theotokos attained unexampled humility, attained the highest holiness. «Hail, You that are highly favoured: the Lord is with You.»^[737] « For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden.»^[738] Likewise, all of us being of ourselves mere littleness, must constantly and deeply humble ourselves before the Creator, having recourse in everything to His mercy.

921) You cannot conquer any passion, any sin without gracious help; therefore, always ask the help of Christ, your Savior. It was for this that He came into the world, for this that He suffered, died, and rose from the dead, in order to help us in everything, to save us from sin, and from the violence of the passions, to cleanse us from our sins, to bestow upon us power in Holy Spirit to do good works, to enlighten us, to strengthen us, to give us peace. You ask how you can save yourself when sin stands at every step, and you sin at every moment? There is a simple answer to this: at every step, at every moment, call upon the Savior, remember the Savior, and you will save yourself and others.

922) Avail yourself of My gifts, not separately as self-lovers, but as My children, who should have everything in common; not grudging, but freely offering unto others the fruits of the work of My hands, remembering that I give them freely to you in accordance with My fatherly goodness and man-loving bountifullness. So it is in a family. When a father, mother or brother brings presents, he bestows them upon all his children, or a brother upon his brothers; and if the children, the brothers and sisters, live in mutual love, then they do not feel happy or satisfied if their father or brother passes over one of them, or has not given one of them the same as he has given to others. And why is this? Because through their mutual love they feel as one body, because they are all like one–like a single person. So should each one of you behave. And I know how to reward you for the love which is so pleasing to Me. If I am bountiful even to those who do not fulfill My commandments–"The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully»^[739] –then shall I not be bountiful to My true children, for whom I have duly predestined all of My bounties? Truly, I will! «I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.»^[740]

923) «If you fall, rise and you shall be saved.» You are a sinner, you continually fall, learn also how to rise; be careful to acquire this wisdom. This is what this wisdom consists in: learning by heart the psalm, «Have mercy upon me, O God, after Your great goodness,» inspired by the Holy Spirit to the king and prophet David, and say it with sincere faith and trust, with a contrite and humble heart. After your sincere repentance, expressed in the words of King David, the forgiveness of your sins shall immediately shine upon you from the Lord, and your spiritual powers will be at peace. The most important thing in life is to be zealous for mutual love, and not to judge anyone. Everybody shall answer for himself to God, and you must look to yourself. Beware of malice.

924) Orthodox Christians are like a family, the children of Jesus Christ, and in a good family the mother is always held in high respect (the Mother of God), likewise the elder brothers enjoy the respect and esteem of the younger ones, and these latter imitate the former. Lutherans and Anglicans! Why is it not so with you? Why is not the Mother of God duly reverenced and solemnly honored and worshiped by you too? Why do you not solemnly honor and worship the holy angels and God's saints? Why do you not wish to imitate them? Or is it that you honor God alone, and worship Him only? But you should remember that the Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, the holy angels, and the saints are pure images of God–friends of God, as Abraham is called the friend of God. How can you, then, not worship the living images of God, the children and friends of God?

925) The world is a house. The Builder and the Master of this house is the Creator, and the Father of the Christian people living in it is God. The Mother in this house is the most holy Mother of the Lord. Always walk in the presence of your Father, in love and obedience to Him; likewise in the presence of our common Mother, the most holy Mother of the Lord, in holy love, reverence, and obedience to Her. In your bodily and spiritual needs, in your sorrows, misfortunes, and sicknesses, turn to Her with faith, hope, and love. Be holy, as the Lord God your Creator and Father is holy; as the Theotokos- the Mother of God, and your Mother, too, in accordance with the Savior's words, «Woman, behold Your Son; ... behold Your Mother.»^[741] In order that we should not doubt our right to call the most exalted Mother of the Most High God, the most holy, most pure, most blessed, glorious Theotokos, our Mother, Her Eternal, Divine Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, has solved our doubt by directly allowing us, or those of us who are zealous after holiness, to call Her our Mother. « Behold Your Mother.» For, in the person of St. John the Divine, this is also said to us Christians. Yes; She is indeed our most tender, most provident, and all holy Mother, guiding us, Her children, to holiness.

926) You see very clearly that it is extremely difficult, and without God's grace and your own fervent prayer and abstinence, impossible for you to change for the better. You feel within yourself the action of a multitude of passions: of pride, malice, envy, greediness, the love of money, despondency, slothfulness, fornication, impatience, and disobedience; and yet you remain in them, are often bound by them, while the long-suffering Lord bears with you, awaiting your return and amendment; and still bestows upon you all the gifts of His mercy. Be then indulgent, patient, and loving to those who live with you, and who also suffer from many passions; conquer every evil by good, and, above all, pray to God for them, that He may correct them–that He may turn their hearts to Himself, the source of holiness. Do not help the Devil to spread his kingdom. Hallow the name of your Heavenly Father by your actions; help Him to spread His Kingdom on earth. « For we are laborers together with God.»^[742] Be zealous of the fulfillment of His will on earth, as it is in heaven. Forgive them that trespass against you with joy, as a good son rejoices when he has a chance of fulfilling the will of his beloved father.

927) What pleasure and joy you feel when you find some necessary and valuable object which was lost! You are ready to leap with joy. Picture to yourself how pleasing to the Heavenly Father is the sight of His lost child, the sinner who is found; the sight of His lost sheep brought to life again; the sight of His lost and found piece of silver–that is, of the living image of God–man. It is impossible to describe this joy. The joy of the Heavenly Father over His lost and found prodigal son is so great that the whole loving and kind heaven is moved to joy. « Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents.»^[743] My lost brothers and sisters! Return from the way of destruction to the Heavenly Father. « Repent you, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.»^[744]

928) Everyone should know and remember the singleness of his soul, which is the breath of God. God is single, and the soul is single. And as the soul is single, it cannot love two opposite objects–God and anything worldly, man and anything material, very pleasing to our carnal man. In order to love God with all our heart we must absolutely count everything earthly as worthless, and not be allured by anything; in order to love our neighbor as ourselves we must disdain money, must not be allured by any sweets, dress, distinctions, rank, praises, or human opinion. We must especially guard the singleness of the soul during public worship and prayer at home; during the reading of the Word of God and the writings of the Holy Fathers; and, in general, during every important matter. «No man can serve two masters.»^[745]

929) A Christian ought to love God, and his neighbor, the image of God, so fervidly and deeply that he may always be able to say: «Who shall separate us from the love of Christ [and of our neighbor]? Shall tribulation, or distress or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword,»^[746] or money, or the sweetness of food and drink, or a luxurious dwelling, or cares about dress, or various worldly pleasures? But I count all these earthly things as worthless, and worldly pleasures as a dream. I ascribe the faults of my neighbors to the corruption of nature, to the action or wiles of evil spirits, to insufficient or bad education, to the unfavourable conditions of life, to the natures of parents and tutors. Knowing my own sinfulness, my own malice, avidity, impurity, my own infirmity, I cannot hate men like unto myself, having the same weakness and vices; for I should love my neighbor as myself, and I love myself, although I know myself to be guilty of innumerable sins; lastly, I ought to love them because we are all one body.

930) Bear in mind that for cleansing your heart from sins you will obtain an infinite reward–you will see God, your most gracious Creator, your Providence. The work of cleansing the heart is difficult, because it is connected with great privations and afflictions; and, therefore, the reward is great. «Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.»^[747]

931) People say that God is merciful; that He will have mercy upon us. Certainly, God is infinitely merciful. But if He is infinitely merciful and bountiful to us, then why do we voluntarily offend Him by our iniquities'! The more He loads us with benefits, the more we ought to love Him, to be grateful to Him, and obedient to His holy commandments or orders. But where is this love, this gratitude, this obedience?

932) A malicious, proud man is ready to see only malice and pride in others, and is glad when any of his acquaintances, especially those who live happily and richly, but are not dear to his soul, are badly spoken of by others; and the worse they are spoken of the more he rejoices that others are bad, while he himself is perfection in comparison to them; and he is ready to perceive only evil in them, and to compare them to demons. O, malice! O, pride! O, want of love! No, you must seek, even in the malicious man, something good, and rejoice at this good, and speak joyfully of his good qualities. There is nobody in whom there is not some good; cover the evil that is in him with good, and pray to God for him, that God may «make the evil be good in His benevolence.»^[748] Do not be an abyss of evil yourself.

933) Christian! Remember that Christ, the Founder of your faith, was crucified on the cross, and left you the cross. Why, then, do you live in luxury, in spaciousness, in indulgence, in idleness! He suffered dishonor, and commanded you not to shun dishonor for His name; but you seek honor. Gaze more often upon the Crucified and learn your duties. «And they that are Christ's have crucified their flesh with the affections and lusts.»^[749]

934) «There shall not a hair of your head perish;»^[750] that is, not a single holy thought of your intellect shall be lost, not only for God, but also for men. For we see that the holy thoughts and feelings of God's saints have been preserved to us in their entirety, having been written on parchment.

935) In Whom is the cause of everything visible and invisible? In God. And God is invisible. Therefore, reverence the invisible God. Yearn after the invisible God. God is an eternal, All Holy, Most Gracious, Omniscient, Almighty, All Righteous, Omnipresent, Unchangeable, All Satisfied, Most Blessed Spirit. And you are the image of God. Therefore, be spiritual, despising the flesh, which is only your temporal home; be holy, kind, wise, just, watchful, and courageous, unchangeable in good, and satisfied with everything.

936) He who has built himself a house, he, by every right, ought to live in it. We are the houses of our Creator; He has created us for Himself, for He «has done all things for His own sake;» and it is He Who should dwell in us, and not the Devil–this murderer, thief, ravisher, this deceiver. « Come and make Your abode in us.»^[751] «We will come unto him, and make our abode with him.»^[752] «Don’t you know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?»^[753]

937) Reverence every word, every thought of the Word of God, of the writings of the Holy Fathers, and, among them, the various prayers and hymns which we hear in church or which we read at home, because they are all the breathing and words of the Holy Spirit. It is, so to say, the « Holy Spirit Himself,» Who « intercedes» for us, and through us, « with groanings which cannot be uttered.»^[754]

938) The Great Litany said daily in the Orthodox Church is the most wise litany, the litany of love; in it both living Christians and the saints are represented as fellow members of the Body of Jesus Christ. It finishes most beautifully with the following exclamation: « Commemorating our most holy, most pure, most blessed, glorious Theotokos, the Mother of God and Ever Virgin Mary, together with all the saints, let us commend ourselves and one another and all our life to Christ our God.» The redoubled and supplicatory litanies are also beautiful. We have grown accustomed to them, but let us imagine that we hear them for the first time: let us put ourselves in the position of foreigners.

939) When praying to God, we must always picture to ourselves His infinite greatness, His worship by thousands of thousands and millions of millions of the angels of Heaven and the saints; also His omnipresence and omniscience, His infinite mercy, righteousness and holiness. When in prayer, you call the most holy Virgin Mother of God, most holy, most pure, most spotless, most blessed--represent to yourself that Her very being is holiness eternal, immovable, unchangeable, unimaginable, «impenetrable, even to angelic eyes.»^[755] Think the same of all the angels and saints--that is, that their being is holiness and goodness, by the grace of Jesus Christ. Always consider as a great happiness for you to be able to converse in prayer with the Lord, or with His most pure Mother, or with the angels and saints, and pray to them with joy and trembling reverence, remembering with Whom you are conversing, you an impure and insignificant worm.

940) «For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,» not ours. We should like to reign with our passions--that is, to order everything as we like, to trust our own power, and not Yours, to seek our own glory, and not Yours; but this is the Devil's wish in us. We ought to submit everything to Your will, seek in all matters Your power, and do everything for Your glory. «Do all to the glory of God.»^[756]

941) By the Cross, as well as by the sign of the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ is ever with us, living and life-giving, and ever acts by means of various powers for our salvation, through our faith in Him, our God and Savior. Glory for this to our Lord, who is ever present with us! «I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.»^[757]

942) Communicants of the Divine Mysteries! Know how most truly you become united to the Lord if you participate worthily. What boldness you have towards the Lord and towards the Mother of God! What purity you ought to have! What meekness, humility, gentleness! What detachment from everything earthly! What a burning desire for heavenly, most pure, eternal joys!

943) In making the sign of the cross, believe and constantly remember that your sins are nailed to the cross. When you fall into sin, immediately judge yourself sincerely, and make the sign of the cross over yourself, saying: «Lord, You Who nails our sins to the cross, nail also my present sin to Your cross, and have mercy upon me after Your great goodness;'»^[758] and you will be cleansed from your sin. Amen.

944) All possible sins and passions are ready to break into the soul, and strive to do so at every moment. But fight against them valiantly and vigilantly unto your last breath, looking upon them as dreams of your imagination, as illusions of the spirits of evil.

945) Be so sure of the Lord's nearness to you that you may feel, when praying to God, that you touch Him not only with your thought and heart, but also with your mouth and tongue. « The word is near You, even in Your mouth, and in Your heart;»^[759] that is God.

946) Let the following conviction be inherent in your heart: all we men are one (brethren), and God, the Most merciful, Almighty, Inexhaustible Source of all things, is everything to us all. But in all of us the Devil also can and does act, the enemy of mankind, whose wickedness, worked in men, must be conquered by good, patience, meekness, indulgence.

947) Do not confound man–that image of God–with the wickedness that is in him, because the wickedness is only accidental, his misfortune, sickness, an illusion of the Devil; but his being–the image of God–still remains in him.

948) If you sin in any way before God (and we sin greatly every day), immediately say in your heart, with faith in the Lord, who hears the sobs of your heart, with the humble acknowledgment and feeling of your sins, the Psalm: « Have mercy upon me, O God, after Your great goodness;» and say the whole Psalm heartily. If it does not take effect the first time, try again, only say it still more heartily, still more feelingly, and then salvation and peace of soul shall speedily shine upon you from the Lord. Thus be always contrite; this is the true proved remedy against sins. If still you do not obtain relief, blame yourself. It shows that you have prayed without contrition, without humility of heart, without a strong desire to obtain forgiveness of sins from God; it shows that you are not deeply grieved at your sin.

949) If I have sinned, the Lord is my cleansing; if I am despondent or gloomy after sin, from the offenses of the enemy, the Lord does away with my despondency and revives my boldness. The Lord is everything to me. O Lord, Who truly is (Who is–that is, Who exists), glory to You!

950) The Holy Spirit, like air, fills everything and penetrates everything: « Who is everywhere present and fills all things.»^[760] Those who pray fervently attract the Holy Spirit to them, and pray through the Holy Spirit.

951) « For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.»^[761] Why is the Lord's presence pre-eminently promised to two or three? Because there, where two or three are gathered in the name of Christ, is the Church, the union of faith and love; there is mutual love. « By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one to another.»^[762]

952) The Spirit of truth–that is, of everything true that is thought of–all true thoughts, are the breathing of the Holy Spirit. Truth is as simple, easy, and life-giving for man as thought, as breath.

953) Believe and trust that as it is easy for you to breathe the air and live by it, or to eat and drink, so it is easy and even still easier for your faith to receive all spiritual gifts from the Lord. Prayer is the breathing of the soul; prayer is our spiritual food and drink.

954) To you, a pastor of men, the Lord has given to see how cruel the mental wolf is, in order, among other reasons, that you should strenuously endeavor to save both yourself from his claws and jaws and also the flock entrusted to you by God. Begin, therefore, from now to teach them with special power, in the like manner as the Lord Himself taught, and show them how unceasingly this wolf hunts them, and through what he catches them: how he flatters their sensuality so that they may sin more easily and willingly; how many do not understand his flattery, how many serve him willingly–for instance, by gluttony, drunkenness, fornication, and adultery; covetousness, pride, vanity, malice, envy, scoffing at sacred things, slothfulness, bad language, idle speaking, mocking, a passion for dress, for dancing, a passion for theaters, cards, etc.

955) Everyone busies himself with elegant and clean clothing for the body, everyone tries to dress with taste and elegance, but who thinks of the incorruptible raiment, which is all defiled with sins, and in which we all shall have to appear before God the Judge? Who washes it with tears of repentance, with works of mercy, adorns it by fasting, prayer, watchfulness, and pious meditation?

956) «Make us glad according to the days wherein You hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.»^[763] The merciful Lord, having punished us, forgives us afterwards by His temporal and eternal mercy. Sometimes a sick person suffers a long while from his malady, as from a wicked tyrant; but during this malady his soul is purified like gold; he obtains the freedom of God's children, and is deemed worthy of eternal peace and blessedness.

957) Without trial, even common iron appears to be steel; tin appears to be silver, or an alloy of silver appears to be real silver; bronze appears to be gold, gold mixed with earth pure gold, and common glass a diamond. Only testing proves the real worth of these materials. So it is also with men. By their appearance many seem meek and humble, merciful, kind, simple, chaste, believing, etc., but trial often proves that they are evil, proud, bard-hearted, impure, avaricious, greedy, envious, rancorous, lazy, etc. Men are tried through privations and losses, sorrows, sicknesses, dishonor; and those who stand the trial are fit for the kingdom of God; while those who do not stand the trial are unfit, because a great admixture of evil remains in them.

958) Live as members of one body, as children of God, in love and harmony, in peace and tranquility, esteeming one another, being indulgent to one another, as the Lord is indulgent to us. Do not be proud, do not envy, do not bear ill-will; subdue all carnal desires; preserve chastity; abstain from every superfluity; do not be slothful in prayer; begin every worldly work or undertaking with a short prayer; begin and end the day with fervent prayer to God, to our heavenly Theotokos, and to your Guardian Angel; pray for all as for yourself; wish well to all as to yourself, and do not wish or do evil to anyone.

959) When you see men fall into various sins against yourself, against the Lord, against their neighbors, and against themselves, do not be angry with them– for there is much anger and malice in the world without your anger–but pity them from all your soul and excuse them when they offend against you, saying to yourself: « Father! Forgive them,» for sin perplexes them; « they know not what they do.»^[764]

960) Everything earthly, material, when the heart clings to it, is disturbance* affliction, constraint, and death to our soul; and by itself and in itself our body itself is corruption, dust, and smoke. The only requirements of our soul are righteousness, holiness, truth, love, mercy, meekness, kindness, peace, spiritual freedom, or the grace of God in the heart. These treasures give life to our whole being, and are eternal. Let us strive with all our might to acquire them, and, having acquired them, to preserve, increase, and strengthen them in ourselves; for through our sinfulness every good soon evaporates.

961) O Lord! Ever give me a meek heart, a bright, straightforward, and kind look. Grant it, Lord! Glory to You for the change accomplished in me by Your right hand. I thank You for having taken away from me the burning thorns of my passions, my constraint, my shame, and my infirmities, and for having bestowed upon me peace, tranquility, freedom, power, and boldness. Strengthen, then, in me that which You have accomplished in me. Glory to the power of faith, to the power of prayer; for everything that I ask of You believing in prayer I receive in accordance with Your word.^[765] I thank You for raising me from the dead so many times,^[766] and for destroying the kingdom of death and sin within me.

962) A Christian ought to meditate on things above, upon heaven, where Christ is, and not to cling to the corruptible blessings of the world: this is the concern of the heathen. But meanwhile we attach ourselves passionately to all earthly pleasures and things. We have perverted our life by withdrawing ourselves from the example set us by the Lord, the apostles, martyrs, reverend fathers, the unmercenary, and all the saints. They were not of this world, but we are of this world; we lead a life according to our own conception, but not a Christian life. Envy, pride, condemnation of others, enmity, hatred, malice, iniquities, carnal impurity, are not banished from our hearts, but are firmly and widely implanted in them.

963) Do not for one moment fulfill your own will, but fulfill the will of God, which is love for all, even for our enemies, and our holiness; while our will is sin of various kinds: self-love (and not the love of God), malice, hatred, pride, envy, sensuality, gluttony, drunkenness, theft, covetousness, fornication, craftiness, slothfulness, hardness of heart, and insensibility to our neighbors' sufferings, rejoicing in their misfortunes; rancor, murmuring, blasphemy, scoffing at sacred things.

964) Great are the following words: «Grant us with one heart and one mouth to glorify and celebrate Your glorious and majestic name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.»^[767] O, that it were ever so, and that our hearts were not apart, not even from those of other men, but even from our own selves!

965) If I despise, hate anybody, it signifies that I unlawfully exalt, unlawfully love myself–that is, my flesh. Our heart continually flatters us, secretly exalting ourselves and depreciating others. But we must constantly see our innumerable sins in order to judge ourselves, to weep over ourselves, as for the spiritually dead. Then we shall not have time to notice the faults of others, and to condemn our neighbors for them, or to despise them; but we shall esteem them, for we shall find that they are incomparably better than us in many things.

966) Truly, the temple is heaven upon earth; for where the throne of God is, where the terrible mysteries are celebrated, where the angels serve together with men, where the Almighty is unceasingly glorified, there is truly heaven, and the heaven of heavens. And thus let us enter into the temple of God, and above all, into the Holy of Holies, with the fear of God, with a pure heart, laying aside all passions and every worldly care, and let us stand in it with faith and reverence, with understanding attention, with love and peace in our hearts, so that we may come away renewed, as though made heavenly so that we may live in the holiness natural to heaven, not binding ourselves by worldly desires and pleasures.

967) Fasting is a good teacher: (1) It soon makes everybody who fasts understand that a man requires very little food and drink, and that in general we are greedy and eat a great deal more than is necessary–that is, than our nature requires. (2) Fasting clearly shows or discloses all the infirmities of our soul, all its weaknesses, deficiencies, sins, and passions; just as when muddy, standing water is beginning to be cleaned it shows what reptiles and what sort of dirt it contains. (3) It shows us all the necessity of turning to God with the whole heart, and of seeking His mercy, help, and salvation. (4) Fasting shows all the craftiness, cunning, and malice of the bodiless spirits, whom we have hitherto unwittingly served, and whose cunning, now that we are enlightened by the light of God's grace, becomes clear, and who now maliciously persecute us for having left their ways.

968) All natural bodies gravitate towards the center of the earth, and all human souls naturally yearn after their spiritual Center or Prototype–God; only sin has perverted, and still perverts this natural tendency. Fire and smoke gravitate towards the elements akin to them.

969) Your soul seeks true life and its natural food. Food for the mind is truth; food for the heart is peace and blessedness; food for the will is normal direction or lawfullness. Go to the Church; she will give you all this in plenty; she possesses all this in superabundance; she is « the pillar and ground of the truth,»^[768] because in her is the Word of God, showing the origin of all things–the origin of the human race, the creation of man after the image and likeness of God, his fall, his restoration through the Savior of men, the means of salvation, faith, hope and love. She affords us peace and blessedness through her Divine service, and especially through the sacraments. She calls us: « Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.»^[769] She teaches us the true way, which our will ought undeviatingly to follow, and which will lead us to eternal life–that is, the way of God's commandments.

970) The Lord has given me the greatest inalienable riches–His image and likeness. He has given me Himself. As it is said: « You, O Lord, . . . have given a heritage unto those that fear Your name! »^[770] What earthly riches do I want after this? What honor? There is no higher honor than to be a Christian and a member of the body of Christ, a child of God in Christ. There is no one richer than the man who always bears Christ and His grace in his heart. « Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison to You. My flesh and my heart fail: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.»^[771] And yet we are greedy, covetous, avaricious, proud, envious. What delusion, what foolishness! Man! Be rich through God; everything comes to you from God.

971) When you look at the candles and lamps burning in church, rise in thought from the material fire to the immaterial fire of the Holy Spirit, « for our God is a consuming fire.»^[772] When you see and smell the fragrant incense, rise in thought to the spiritual fragrance of the Holy Spirit, « for we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ.»^[773] Also, in contrast, think of the spiritual stench, which is sin, and endeavor to be filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Drive away every coldness of heart, which proceeds from the Devil, the flesh, and the world, and be yourself a sweet savor before God, by the fragrance of the virtues of meekness, gentleness, humility, obedience, abstinence, chastity, patience, and others. Flee from the stench of the passions; from malice, envy, pride, disobedience, intemperance, fornication, etc.

972) The voice of the readings in church, the hymns, prayers, and supplications, is the voice of our own souls pouring forth from the acknowledgment and feeling of our spiritual needs and requirements; it is the voice of all mankind acknowledging and feeling its poverty, its accursedness, its sinfulness, the necessity of a Savior, the necessity of gratitude and praise for the innumerable benefits and the infinite perfections of God. Wonderfully beautiful are these prayers and hymns; they are the breathing of the Holy Spirit!

973) The sign of the cross as a blessing from a priest or a bishop is an expression of the blessing or of the favor of God to a man in Christ and for Christ's sake. What a joyful, significant, and precious ceremony this is! Blessed are all who receive such a blessing with faith! How attentive should the priests themselves be in bestowing their blessing upon the faithful! « And they shall put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.»^[774]

974) Is it in vain that we say several times a day the thrice holy «Our Father» and other morning and evening prayers? Are we not cleansed by them from our sins and impurities? Are we not delivered from temptations, misfortunes, and unfavorable circumstances? Is it in vain that we sign ourselves with the sign of the cross? O, no; it continually acts beneficially upon us and upon those who make it with faith, especially when it is the blessing of a priest. Therefore let us continually praise the mercy and power of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hears and saves us, unworthy ones, by His mercy, for His holy namés sake

975) All the words of the Church prayers and praises are great words, but these words, «For You are the resurrection and the life, and the repose,» which afford such great consolation to our mortal race and constitute the hope of the Christian, are especially great. Therefore they must be pronounced with special power, with special emphasis.

976) O holy faith! By what words, by what hymns can I sufficiently praise You for the innumerable blessings for my soul and body which You have bestowed upon me? For all the powers which You have accomplished and still accomplish in me? For the blessings of peace and the withdrawal of disturbance? For the blessings of freedom with the withdrawal of bitter oppression? For the blessings of spiritual light and the dispersal of the darkness of the passions? For the blessing of boldness, with the withdrawal of faint-heartedness and fear? For the blessing of spiritual power and spiritual greatness with the withdrawal of spiritual slavery and mean-spiritedness? For the blessing of holiness, with the withdrawal of sinful impurity? For deliverance from malice, envy, self-will and obstinacy, cupidity, fornication, and every spiritual corruption? Glory to You, my Lord God, my Benefactor, unto ages of ages! May You be known, Lord, in Your faith by all Your people and by all races of the earth, so that they all may glorify You with one heart and one mouth, from east to west! So be it! So be it!

977) Doctors who have much practice, and receive much money from sick people, ought, for their soul's sake, to give alms generously, if they believe that they have an immortal soul. Rich priests who are generously rewarded for their prayers and spiritual labors ought also to give alms freely, so as not to be condemned with Judas the betrayer, who sold the Lord of Glory for pieces of silver. Merchants who make large profits ought absolutely to practice almsgiving, and be generous in adorning God's temples. Officials who receive large salaries ought not to consider the rich recompense given them in return for their labors as their exclusive property, but should remember their poorer brethren, so that they may obtain a reward from God and purify their souls. All should provide themselves with the holy oil of charity and good works, so that they may not appear empty-handed before the Judge on the day of the terrible trial; that they may not appear naked and bare of virtue on the day when all hearts shall be scrutinized.

978) I thank my all holy, all merciful, and most wise Mother, the Church of God, for salutarily guiding me during this temporal life, and for educating me for the heavenly citizenship; I thank her for all the offices of prayers, for the Divine services, for the sacraments and rites; I thank her for the fasts so beneficial to me both in spiritual and bodily respects (for through them I am healed both in spirit and body, calm, vigilant, and light; without the fasts I should feel extreme heaviness, which I indeed experienced when not fasting); I thank my spotless Mother the Church of God for enrapturing me with her heavenly services, transporting my spirit to heaven, enlightening my intellect with heavenly truth, showing me the way to eternal life; for delivering me from the violence and ignominy of the passions, and making my life blessed.

979) The whole world–heaven and earth, and all that is in them, the sea, and all that is therein–is the outpouring of God's infinite mercy, of His wisdom and infinite power and might and goodness to the creatures that He has created for joy and happiness, and especially of His goodness to the human race. The world is the mirror of the goodness, mind, wisdom, and power of God; and therefore we must not cling to the world, but to God. « Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison to You. My flesh and my heart fails; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.»^[775]

980) It is necessary for a Christian to fast, in order to clear his mind, to rouse and develop his feelings, and to stimulate his will to useful activity. These three human capabilities we darken and stifle above all by «overindulging, and drunkenness, and cares of this life.»^[776] Through these we fall away from God, the Source of life, and fall into corruption and vanity, perverting and defiling the image of God within us. Overindulging and sensuality nail us to the earth, and cut off, so to say, the wings of the soul. But look how high was the flight of the souls of the ascetics and abstinent! They soared in the heavens like eagles; they, the earth-born, lived by their intellect and heart in heaven, and heard unspeakable words there, and learned Divine wisdom there. And how a man lowers himself by gluttony and drunkenness! He perverts his nature, created after the image of God, and becomes like unto the beast, and even worse. O, woe unto us for our attachments, for our iniquitous habits! They hinder us from loving God and our neighbors, and from fulfilling God's commandments; they implant in us criminal carnal self-love, the end of which is everlasting destruction. Thus the drunkard does not grudge money for the sake of gratifying his flesh and stupefying himself, while he grudges giving a few pence to the poor; the smoker flings away tens and hundreds of rubles, and grudges pence to the poor, which might save his soul; those who love to dress luxuriously, or are lovers of elegant furniture or china, spend enormous sums upon dress, furniture, and china, and pass by beggars coldly and contemptuously; those who like to fare sumptuously do not grudge spending tens and hundreds of rubles for dinners, while they grudge a few coppers to the poor. It is also necessary for a Christian to fast, because, with the incarnation of the Son of God, human nature became spiritualised and made godly, and now we hasten towards the kingdom of God, which is « not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.»^[777] «Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them.»^[778] To eat and drink–that is, to care for sensual pleasures–is only natural to heathenism, which, not knowing spiritual, heavenly delights, sets the whole life in the pleasures of the belly, in much eating and drinking. This is why in the Gospel the Lord so often reproves this destructive passion. Why, therefore, shall we darken and stifle our souls and kill their last spiritual powers ?

981) Many things are taught to the pupils of educational establishments, but they often do not know the one thing which is needful–God and themselves, nor their sins, their spiritual infirmities, their nothingness without God and before God. Remember the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian: « Lord! Let me see my transgressions.» To see our sins in their multitude and in all their abomination is indeed a gift of God bestowed in consequence of fervent prayer. The above applies equally to many learned, rich, and distinguished persons: they know much, they possess much, but they do not know and often have not the essential. « You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Your sight.»^[779] Wonderful are Your works! It is evident that the grace of God and the blessings of this world are not the same thing, and our attachment to them is incompatible with the grace of God.

982) Great is Your love, O Lord: You have wholly spent Yourself out of love for me. I gaze upon the cross and marvel at Your love to me and to the world, for the cross is the evident token of Your love to us. «Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.»^[780] Your life-giving Mysteries, Lord, serve as a perpetual, glorious proof of Your love for us sinners; for this Your Divine Body was broken for me, for us all, and this Blood was poured out for me, for us all. Lord, I glorify the wonders accomplished by Your Holy Mysteries upon Your believers, to whom I have administered Them; I glorify the innumerable cures of which I was witness; I glorify Their all-saving action in myself. I glorify Your mercy to me, revealed to me in Them and through Them, and Your life-giving power, acting in Them. Lord! In return for this Your great love, grant that I may love You with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself, grant that I may also love my enemies, and not only those who love me.

983) Lord! Teach us to live in mutual love, and strengthen this love in us by Your Holy Spirit; subdue the outbursts of the passions, which hinder heavenly, evangelical love, and make our hearts dead to earthly delights. Grant, Lord, that I may ever prefer Your grace, Your peace, Your righteousness and holiness to all earthly blessings, and that I may abide in it all the days of my life, unto my last breath.

984) Want of spiritual education, of the development, of the softening, and amendment of the heart is a thousand times more culpable than want of mental education; for a mentally uneducated man is in darkness and is deserving of indulgence and pity, while an educated man, given up to the passions and vices, to malice, pride, scorn, envy, gluttony, overindulging, drunkenness, covetousness, fornication, and other passions, with all his knowledge, and also with the knowledge of the will of God, is a man whose heart is hardened, and who is dead to God; for he does not apply the principles he has learned to practice; he does not fulfill the will of God, but transgresses it with even greater fearlessness and insolence than the uneducated. The uneducated man's simplicity of heart, meekness, gentleness, humility, silence, and patience are dearer to God than all our knowledge, all of our external polish, than all our studied expressions, all our feigned courtesy, than all our lengthy prayers, than all our artful speeches. Even sins themselves, being sins of ignorance, are more excusable in the uneducated. Therefore respect the simple want of education and learn from it that which is not possessed by the so-styled educated–that is, simplicity, gentleness, patience, and other virtues. The uneducated are the babes in Christ, to whom the Lord sometimes reveals His mysteries.

985) «They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.»^[781] These are the words of Jesus Christ concerning the Apostles. This is great praise to them. What does it consist of? In the fact that the Apostles, living in the world, were strangers to it, strangers to its attachments, did not seek in it either glory or riches, or happiness or tranquility, but were like beings of another world, the heavenly one. They meditated upon and cared for heavenly things and sought after incorruptible heavenly glory, incorruptible riches, heavenly joys and heavenly rest in God, and union with Him; while we sinners are of this world, because we seek the glory of this world, material riches, health, length of life, the enjoyment of the blessings of this world, earthly tranquility, earthly joys. But all our misfortunes, passions, temptations, and failure in the Christian life proceed from attachment to the world and its goods.

986) Why is it necessary to pray at home and go to church to attend Divine service? And why is it necessary for you to eat and drink, and walk in the fresh air every day, or to work every day? In order to support the life of the body, and strengthen it. It is also absolutely necessary to pray in order to support and stimulate the life of the soul, to strengthen the soul, which is sick with sins, to cleanse it, just as you employ certain kinds of food and drink to cleanse the body from injurious humours, or impurities. If, therefore, you do not pray, then you behave most unwisely, and unadvisedly, supporting, gratifying, and strengthening your body in every way, but leaving your soul in neglect. Every man is dual, for he consists of soul and body.

987) It is better not to pass on the words of reproach that have been transmitted to us by anyone, but to keep silence concerning them, or transmit words of love and good-will, then our spirit will be tranquil. But to pass on words of animosity and envy is very hurtful; they often produce, in the impatient and self-loving men, to whom they refer, a spiritual tempest, rekindle extinct enmity, and occasion dissension. We must have Christian patience, and the wisdom of the serpent.

988) Why is it that one evil word, one word of slander, produces the most disagreeable impression upon us, agitates us to the depths of our souls, while, on the contrary, sometimes thousands of good words, for instance, concerning God and His works in the world, do not reach our hearts at all, and are lost in the air? The Devil comes and catches away the word, sown in the hearts of men. It is also he, on the other side, who sows and grows in our hearts the seeds of evil, and does not miss the slightest opportunity of implanting enmity and envy for our neighbor in our hearts. One glance of our neighbor at us, often quite innocent, but appearing suspicious to us, is sufficient to give rise to a feeling of enmity in us towards him. And, therefore, do not let us take to heart any evil occasioned to us, intentionally or unintentionally, by our neighbor, for we know the author of it, and that «the whole world lies in wickedness,»^[782] from its beginning, but let us bear every affront offered us serenely, praying for those who offend us, as for our benefactors, for even in their affronts we may often hear words of good-will towards us, although not proceeding from a good heart. May the Lord teach them, and not impute their behavior unto us as sin to them, and let us be more careful, so as not to give place to the Devil.

989) In this life we sin continually, and at the same time we are so self-loving, that we cannot endure our faults and sins to be reproved, especially before others; but in the future life our transgressions will be reproved before the whole world. Remembering this terrible judgment seat, let us bear reproof here humbly and gently, and let us correct ourselves of all our faults and sins; let us especially bear reproof from our superiors, and may the Lord teach them to reprove our faults, not maliciously, but lovingly, and in the spirit of meekness.

990) Love to be reproved of sin by others, justly or unjustly here, in preference to being reproved at the dreadful judgment seat, before the whole world, before all the Angels and men. O, the unbearable fear and shame of Your terrible judgment seat, Lord!

991) We must pity every evil man, and not be angered with him, and not thus gratify Satan; we must look upon even every enemy, simply as upon God's creation, as upon one created after the image of God, and as upon our own member, and not breathe malice against him, that is, not become a devil, for every one who breathes malice becomes a devil himself, while he is angered. We must always be meek, gentle, kind-hearted, patient, as though we did not notice the malice of others, we must « overcome evil,» or wicked people « with good,»^[783] by kindness, benefits. May God deliver us from evil suspicion, through which everything in our neighbor has the worst construction put upon it; his movements, gestures, look, voice, step, and every word.

992) I thank You, Lord, for bestowing new life upon me each time, when, with tears of repentance and gratitude, I celebrate the Divine Liturgy and partake of Your most pure and life-giving Mysteries. To Your Holy Mysteries I owe: the prolongation of my existence until now, the purity of my ways, and my good report among Your people. May Your great Name be glorified more and more in me and in all Your people. May they be called by Your great Name, throughout the whole world; Your kingdom come, the kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, in all our hearts, as You have said: «I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people,»^[784] and may Your will, Your holy, most wise, all-good, most perfect, and most blessed will be done in earth, in all Your people, and in me, a sinner, as it is in heaven, for our own will is erring, shortsighted, sinful, destructive, unloving, evil, envious, proud, slothful, luxury-loving, money-loving, and avaricious.

993) Poor peoplés need is persistent in its requirements, and is, sometimes, even shameless, so also our passions are obstinate and persistent, insolent and shameless–fornication, malice for instance, avarice, covetousness, envy, pride, theft, heresy, dissent, superstition, idolatry. But let us yield to the reasonably persistent requests of the needy, poor and suffering; it will serve to our salvation, to our eternal bliss. For as the poor and suffering compel us to compassion, so let us mutually compel ourselves to almsgiving; let us compel ourselves to good, works, while there is yet time, as sin compels us to that by which we continually transgress and anger God, and increase for ourselves the food of the fire of Gehenna, which, by degrees, already begins to be kindled here in our hearts, and foreshows to us the eternal flame, where there shall be everlasting lamentation and gnashing of teeth. «The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.»^[785] The enemy likewise endeavors to force into Gehenna all the imprudent, unbelieving, unrepentant, and those who are passionately attached to the blessings of this life.

994) Why, after every six days, is a day of rest observed? In order that we may continually remember that after the labors of this present life, the day of eternal rest will come; for in accordance with the apostle, « there remained therefore, a rest to the people of God.»^[786] And Sunday signifies the day of the general resurrection, after which a day of rest shall come for all those who have done good work in this present life, in Christ Jesus.

995) All offerings and charity to the poor will not replace love for our neighbor, if there is no love in the heart; therefore, in bestowing charity, we must be careful that it should be bestowed lovingly, from a sincere heart, willingly, and not with a feeling of vexation against the poor. The very word charity shows that it should be an act or an offering of the heart, and should be bestowed with feeling or pity for the unfortunate condition of the poor person, and with a feeling of, or contrition for, our sins, to cleanse which the charity is bestowed; «for alms ... [according to the Scripture] shall purge away all sin.»^[787] He who bestows charity unwillingly and with vexation, avariciously, does not recognize his sins, has not learned to know himself. Charity is, first of all, a benefit to those who bestow it.

996) «Be not overcome of evil [your neighbor's], but overcome evil with good,»^[788] chiefly, by prayer for those who do evil unto you. Let us commit ourselves and each other, and all our life, with all our defects, mutual offenses, unto Christ our God. Let us not take vengeance upon anyone ourselves, not by a single thought or intention, but let us leave vengeance to God. «Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.»^[789] We must love our enemies, it is the Devil who teaches and incites them to bear us enmity.

997) The theater lulls the Christian life to sleep, destroys it, communicating to the life of Christians the character of the life of heathens. «They all slumbered and slept»^[790] ; this disastrous sleep is produced, among other things, also by the theater. And what else? The sciences, taught in the spirit of heathenism, worldly cares carried to excess, love of gain, ambition and sensuality. The theater is the school of this world, and of the Prince of this world–that is, the Devil, but sometimes he is transformed into an angel of light^[791] in order to more easily tempt people who are not far-seeing, he sometimes introduces an apparently moral play on to the stage, but this is done in order that everybody should proclaim and repeat that the theater is a most moral institution, and that it is not less worth frequenting than the church, and even, perhaps more so, because in church everything is the same, while in the theater there is a variety of plays, scenery, costumes and actors.

998) In order to test yourself, whether you love your neighbor in accordance with the Gospel, pay attention to yourself at the time when others offend you, abuse you, mock you, or do not render you the respect due to you, and which is customary in social discourse, or when your subordinates err against the rules of the service, and are negligent. If you remain calm on such occasions, are not filled with the spirit of enmity, hatred, impatience–if you continue to love these persons as much as previously, before their offenses or negligence, then you do love your neighbor in accordance with the Gospel; but if you become irritable, angry, agitated, then you do not do so. «If you salute your brethren only, what do you do more than others?»^[792]

999) As we are strangers, sojourners, and travellers to the heavenly kingdom, we must not burden ourselves with worldly cares, nor become attached to earthly blessings, riches, pleasures, honors, in order that these cares and attachments should not hinder us in the hour of death, nor make it shameful. The Christian, even here on earth, must accustom himself to live the heavenly life; in fasting, in renunciation, in prayer, love, meekness, gentleness, patience, courage, and mercy. How hard will the hour of death be to the man who in his lifetime made his idols of money, or food and drink, or earthly honors! In that hour none of these things shall serve him, while his heart, being strongly attached to them, does not possess the true treasure, which would give him life, that is, virtue. And therefore, in order to die more easily–and we must all die–we must not love anything in the world. «And having food and raiment, let us therefore be content.»^[793]

1000) In church, I am truly as if in heaven upon earth; here I see the images of the Lord, of the Most Pure Mother of God, of the holy Angels; here is God's throne, here is the life-giving cross, here is the eternal Gospel, that word of God, by which all things were created; here are the images of the Saints; I feel myself in the visible presence of God, of His Mother, of the heavenly powers, and of all the Saints. This is truly heaven on earth: here I know that I am, and indeed feel a member of Christ and of His Church, especially during the celebration of the most heavenly Liturgy, and the Communion of the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ. O, how I ought to live, think, feel, speak, in order to worthily be in this heaven on earth! I ought to live worthily of the high calling to which I am called by the grace of the much-endowing God. How I ought to live, in what meekness, humility, purity, abstinence, in order to worthily name my Theotokos, the Most Pure Mother of God, my Master, the Lord of glory! Lord, make me worthy of such an abode! I desire to live worthily of the Christian calling, but I find no power in myself to attain this; sin unceasingly tempts and wars against my soul.

1001) Call without doubting, in the simplicity of your heart, upon the Lord God, also upon the Angels and the Saints, who by the grace of God and through their association or union with God, and the simplicity of their being, most speedily, with the rapidity of lightning, both hear and fulfill our prayers in accordance with the will of God.

1002) To love God with all our heart means not to have any attachments to anything earthly, and to surrender all our heart to the Lord God, fulfilling His Will in everything, and not our own; to love God with all the soul means always to have all our mind in Him, to establish all our heart in Him, and to submit all our will to His Will in all circumstances of life, both joyful and sorrowful; to love God with all our strength means to love Him so that neither any opposing power nor any circumstance of life, neither tribulation nor distress, nor persecution, nor peril, nor the sword, nor height, nor depth,^[794] shall be able to separate us from the love of God; to love God with all our understanding means always to think of God, of His mercy, long-suffering, holiness, wisdom, omnipotence, of His works, and to withdraw ourselves by every means from thoughts of vanity and from evil recollections. To love God means–to love righteousness with all our soul, and to hate iniquity, as it is said: «You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity»^[795] ; to love God means–to hate oneself, that is, our old carnal man: «If any man comes to Me, and doesn’t hate his own life, he cannot be My disciple.»^[796] In us, in our thoughts, in our hearts and in our will, there is an evil power extraordinarily living and active, which always, every day and every moment, endeavors to estrange us from God, suggesting thoughts, desires, cares, intentions, undertakings, words and acts of vanity, exciting the passions and forcibly instigating us to them, namely, to malice, envy, covetousness, pride and ambition, vanity, slothfulness, disobedience, obstinacy, deceit and intemperance. To love God means–to fulfill His commandments: «If a man loves Me, he will keep My words. He that doesn’t love Me, doesn’t keep My sayings.»^[797]

1003) What wealth the Lord has of light, air, water, earth, and fire–of these five material elements, out of which our body is formed, and by which it lives! What wealth of the products of the earth and water! And all these are chiefly for the use of man, the king of creatures! Thanks be to You, our Creator! Glory to You, our Providence and our Redeemer, Who has created us after Your own image and likeness, and has deigned to take our nature upon Yourself!

1004) What does the true wealth of a man consist of? In his image and likeness to God, and not in lands, nor money; neither in various earthly sciences and arts, nor in property of various kinds, nor in many servants, nor in many clothes, nor, in general, in a multitude of earthly blessings, for all these are corruptible and temporal; while the soul–the image of God–is eternal, and its riches are–virtue, holiness, humility, gentleness, temperance in all things, faith, hope, and love.

1005) When I gaze in meditation and with faith upon the holy icons in church, and upon all its belongings, then I am lost in wonderful contemplation; the whole temple appears to me to be sacred history in action, a wonderful scripture of the works of God, accomplished in the human race. Here I see the history in action of our fall and of our restoration by God's wonderful ordering, and our elevation by the Lord's incarnation, our being made godly, and our exaltation into heaven; here I picture to myself the archangel Gabriel announcing the Birth of the Son of God of the Virgin; here I see the Birth itself of the Child God, the Virgin Mother, the manger at Bethlehem; here is the Circumcision; there is the Baptism; further is the meeting of the Child God in the temple by Simeon; there is the Transfiguration of our Lord, and the effusion of light on Mount Thabor; there the Entrance into Jerusalem of the righteous Savior, meek King; the Lord's Supper, and the institution of the all-saving Sacrament of the Holy Communion; there are the all-saving sufferings of the Lord of glory; I see as though it were Golgotha itself, and the Lord crucified for the sins of the world; I see the descent into hell of the Conqueror of hell, and the deliverance of the captives of hell, His Resurrection, Ascension into heaven, all for the sake of mankind, and for my sake. In the church I am lost in Divine contemplation, and thank the Lord for having so greatly loved me, for having so greatly honored and blessed me. But when I look within myself–in my own heart, my God, what do I see! I see an abyss of voluntary and involuntary sins, an abyss of infirmities, temptations, afflictions, oppressions, fears, snares of the enemy, impenetrable darkness, thousands of falls, thousands of destructions and deaths. Sometimes I see within myself the very hell itself.

1006) The whole power, character, and craftiness of the Devil's temptations to men consist in the fact that he has enticed and entices, has incited and incites, men to love the world and that which is in it–the vain wisdom of this world, riches, glory, distinctions, earthly delights–and to turn away from God, from the heavenly kingdom and bliss, to love vain earthly things, to strive to invent and acquire as many of them as possible, and to despise the soul and its real requirements, to love the flesh, its health, color, beauty, carnal sensuality, and to hate the soul–that is, virtue–to forget the immortality of the soul, its Prototype–God, so that it should not even think of immortality and of the way that leads to immortality, of God, and of union with Him. Blessed are the Saints of God who despised the world and loved God, who despised the flesh and diligently cared for their souls, for that which is eternal. How pitiful, how accursed are we, who love the world and its vain blessings, who cherish the flesh and despise the soul!

1007) If some Christians cannot comprehend our Orthodox faith, its Sacraments, it proves that the minds and hearts of such persons are too impure and passionate to bear its purity and brightness, just as sick eyes cannot bear the light of the sun. This heavenly treasure can only be comprehended by the hearts of those who free their minds and feelings from worldly attachments.

1008) If all pastors or priests of God, and their flocks, prayed sincerely and unanimously, with one accord, by means of those prayers, which the Church utters aloud to us or says secretly, then what should we not entreat of God? What blessings should we not obtain, from what sins and passions, evil, misfortunes and disasters should we not be saved? These prayers are the most wise, expedient, most pleasing to God, the most powerful and capable of inclining the Lord to every mercy. May the Lord grant to us all to pray to Him unanimously, sincerely, powerfully, without distractions!

1009) Those who attend the Divine service of the Orthodox Church, and study the science of Divine service, must bear in mind that the service here on earth is a preparation for all-rejoicing service to God in heaven; that in serving God with the body, it is still more necessary to serve God with the soul and with a pure heart; that in hearing the Divine service, they must learn to serve God as those Saints served Him, whose lives and works of faith, hope, and love we hear of during the Divine service; that God should be above all served by deed and truth, and not only by words and the tongue. We are called to serve God by our very being: we are given an upright stature in order that we may continually look upon God, thank and glorify Him; our understanding, heart, will, and all feelings are given to us for the same purpose.

1010) Lord! Grant that I may ever pour forth my supplications to You for the whole world and for the fulfillment of the requests of the whole Church, with all comprehensive, unfeigned love, for by Your grace I have to pray for the sins of all and for mine own. Grant, O Lord, God the Father, that I may contemplate Your unspeakable love unto the world, manifested in giving unto us Your beloved, Only-begotten Son. Grant, O God, Son of God, that I may contemplate Your exhaustion in the world and on the cross for the sake of our salvation; grant, O God, the Holy Spirit, that I may contemplate Your grace, abundantly out-poured and still being out-poured upon the world, for the sake of the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, and so often filling even my sinful heart; O Holy Trinity, grant that I may continually glorify You with my heart and mouth, and above all by my deeds!

1011) Those who reject fasting forget from what the falling into sin of the first men proceeded (from intemperance), and what means against sin and temptation were indicated to us by the Savior, when He Himself was tempted in the desert (He fasted forty days and nights); they do not know, or do not wish to know, that a man most frequently falls away from God through intemperance, as was the case with the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, and with Noah's contemporaries–for intemperance is the cause of every sin in men; those who reject fasting take away from themselves and from others the arms against their flesh, with its manifold passions, and against the Devil, both of which are especially powerful against us through our intemperance; therefore they are not soldiers of Christ, for they throw down their arms and give themselves up willingly as prisoners to their sensual and sin-loving flesh; lastly, they are blind and do not see the connection between the causes and the consequences of acts.

1012) We should never forget that we are fallen, impure, corrupt creatures, guilty before the God of righteousness, and that we ought always to humble ourselves deeply before Him and before one another. This is instilled into us by the daily prayers of the Church, such as: God, be merciful to me a sinner . . . . O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God . . . . O Heavenly King .... Holy God .... Most Holy Trinity .... Our Father .... the morning and evening prayers, and nearly all the prayers. Accordingly, let all young people, who are learning, know and remember that they come from a sinful root, and are themselves subjected to every kind of sin, and lay this knowledge as a foundation for all other knowledge, and, knowing much, let them not pride themselves upon this, but strive above all for the cleansing of their soul and body.

1013) Love your earthly country and the Father of this country, for it has educated you, enlightened you, distinguished and honored you, and has provided you with everything; but especially love the heavenly country, the Father of the future life; that country is incomparably more to be honored and dearer than this one, for it is holy and righteous, immovable, infinite, incorruptible, beautiful, blessed; because it has given and gives you incomparably greater advantages and blessings than this earthly one; because the Father of that country is not a mean mortal man, but the Eternal God, Who has created everything; it has given you the name of a child of God, of an inheritor of God, and a joint-heir with Christ; because the heavenly Father will make you a partaker of all the blessings of His kingdom, which «eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, neither have entered into the heart of man.»^[798] That country has been gained for you by the priceless blood of the Son of God. But in order to be a member of it, respect and love its laws, as you are obliged to respect, and do respect, the laws of your earthly country, for otherwise you cannot become a citizen of so sublime a country; love also that spiritually-educating school (the Church), which makes us into members and citizens of that country.

1014) The bodiless enemy fights vigorously against us during Divine service, because at this time, by God's grace, through our inter-medium, the regeneration of our souls is accomplished; therefore, do not let be us be depressed by the slanders of the Devil, but let us take courage and be strong, looking with our spiritual eyes upon Christ, the Founder of all great deeds, invisibly standing before us, and mysteriously accomplishing the regeneration of our souls.

1015) God's Saints are–beautiful, incorruptible, fragrant flowers. Do not touch these flowers with lips defiled by sins–that is, pray to them with a pure heart and pure lips, not carelessly, not with distracted thoughts, but with reverence, and without haste. They are speaking heavens; they led a heavenly, wonderful life on earth, doing great deeds, they lived in great love, in deep humility, gentleness, patience, self-denial, loving God above all things.

1016) In the Church are all our sweetest hopes and expectations, our peace, our joy, together with cleansing and sanctification. It is there that the truth of the future resurrection, of the victory over death, is so often announced. Would not they, who love life, love the Church with all their heart! Everything that is best, most exalted, most precious, holy and wise, is found in the Church. In the Church–is the ideal of mankind; the Church is–heaven upon earth.

1017) In the Church we are freed from worldly enchantment, and from the intoxication of worldly passions and desires; we become enlightened, sanctified, cleansed in our souls; we draw near to God, we are united with God (« Who, by Your glorious Childbirth, hast united God the Word with men»).^[799] How worthily reverenced and loved should the temple of God be! How God's Saints loved it!

1018) We ought not to grieve or become irritated at anything because, by frequent vexation and irritability, we form the morally and physically very injurious habit of irritability, while by bearing opposition with equanimity we form the good and useful habit of enduring everything calmly and patiently. Many occasions for vexation may arise in this life through our innumerable mutual imperfections, and if we were to become irritated upon every such occasion, our life could not last more than a few months. Besides, matters cannot be set right by vexation and irritation, but, on the contrary, only become worse. Therefore, it is better to be always calm, even always full of love and respect for morally sick humanity, or to speak more particularly in regard to our friends, relatives, and subordinates. For man is not an angel, and, besides, our life is so constituted that we sin daily, and almost involuntarily, even though we do not wish: « For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil, which I would not, that I do.»^[800] And the Lord taught us to look indulgently upon the frequent negligences and falls of men, having said: «Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.»^[801] «All things whatever you would want that men do to you, do you so to them.»^[802] And who of us does not wish that others should behave indulgently and patiently to him in his needs, stumblings and falls, negligences and omissions? This is why the apostle also teaches us long-suffering and indulgence: « Charity,» says the Apostle Paul, « suffers long, and is kind .... is not easily provoked, thinks no evil, rejoices not in iniquity, bears all things .... and never fails.»^[803]

1019) Free-thinkers and atheists say that religion, the Church, the Divine service, the sacraments and rites, were invented by men in order to keep people in fear and submission, and to maintain morality, and, perhaps, also in order to collect revenues from them. This is how God's mercy and His wonderful ordering for our salvation, the very incarnation, sufferings and death of the Son of God for our sakes, are blasphemed by the ignorant and free-thinkers who have lost the fear of God. But look upon their life; how do they live, and do they live long? Having lost their strength and health in dissipation and drunkenness, they become prematurely aged, decrepit, dull, fall ill and die.

1020) Christian love prefers rather to endure all the outward discomforts of life, narrowness, want of fresh air, losses, than to allow impatience, vexation, irritation, anger, murmuring, through these outward and similar discomforts, against those who inconvenience us by living at our expense and at the expense of our tranquility, either through need or out of caprice. Love endures everything and bears everything to its own detriment, to the detriment of its own material and bodily life: for where love is, there is God's grace and every good thing, there is tranquility, there is sufficiency. A Christian suffers everything so long as he is not deprived of God's grace, which is the greatest blessing to him.

1021) What spiritual storms, hurricanes, fearful, fiery, sudden whirlwinds often occur in the life of man, in the life of those who endeavor to lead a Christian life, and to serve God by prayer, interceding for themselves and others before His unspeakable mercy! It is only by God's mercy that the bark in which our soul travels over lifés sea towards the eternity awaiting it, is not entirely wrecked and lost!

1022) A priest ought to endeavor by every means to maintain within himself courage, boldness, daring, in spite of the bodiless enemy, who continually sows in him (the priest) his illusive fear, his foolish dread; otherwise he cannot be a reprover of human vices, nor a true celebrant of the sacraments. Daring is a great gift of God and a great treasure of the soul! Courage or boldness plays an important part in earthly warfare, for it simply works wonders; but in spiritual warfare it does far more.

1023) The source of every true joy, of all true tranquility and peace of conscience, of cleansing, of spiritual and bodily healing, the source of spiritual power and boldness, flows in the temple, while theaters and various worldly distractions and consolations can never replace that which a true Christian receives in the temple, where God Himself comforts the souls of believers and those whose hearts are turned to Him, as a mother comforts her child. It is from the temple, too, that our departed ones receive consolation and solace, with the cleansing from their sins and forgiveness. How ardently we should love the temple, how we should adorn it! And so do all those who recognize its value; and the Church prays for them, saying: Let us pray for them that, with faith, piety, and fear of God, enter in; and further: Let us pray for them that bring forth fruit and do good deeds in this holy and all-venerable temple; or, Hallow those that love the beauty of Your house. Glorify them in return by Your Divine might.

1024) The world is immeasurably great, there are incalculably many beings inhabiting it, but what order there is in all its course, in all the life of the world (of nature)! Immeasurably great is the world of celestial spirits, of Angels, but what order there is in the angelic world, what strict fulfillment of the will of God! Great is the human world, too, but how much disorder, self-will, how many deformities and misfortunes proceeding from these there are in it, misfortunes of maladies, of deaths of various kinds–of wars, famine, inundations, fires, disasters through storms and bad weather, disasters through drunkenness, gluttony, covetousness, falsehood, perjury, suicide, murder! They are innumerable! Woe unto us! But how will it be there–beyond the grave, in eternity?

1025) Man is a wonderful, grand, most wise, artistic production of the most perfect Artist, God; he was not originally defiled, but incorruptible and pure; only sin, that monstrous breed of the spirit of darkness, that foul, foolish, and evil power, made him defiled, sickly, impure, and corruptible, both in spirit and body, in accordance with his double nature. However, the most wise and almighty, the all-merciful Artist did not allow His and our enemy to entirely destroy His beautiful and grand creation, and made Himself a body like unto ours, and borrowed a soul in the womb of His Most Pure Virgin-Mother; by His incarnation, His teaching, miracles, sufferings, death and resurrection, by His wonderful and most wise orderings, He again restores to the work of His hands its former and even greater beauty and glory; He again bestows upon it incorruptibility, holiness, and wonderful Divine beauty, and raises it to the highest bliss, making human nature godly, and setting it with Himself on the throne of the Godhead. Glory be to You, most merciful, the most wise and almighty Artist!

1026) O, my invisible Benefactor, by Whom I unceasingly live! You who hears me, You Who fulfills for my good all my heart's desires, You Who saves me from my sins, from the malice of my invisible enemies, You Who mercifully orders my destiny, my enlightenment, my succour, my glory, my power, my strengthening, when shall I see You? When shall I see my Benefactor and Creator face to face ? And you, my enemy, you Devil, who continually fills my soul with sin, you who is crafty, flattering, evil, who continually slays me, darkening, weakening me, covering my face with shame and dishonor, when shall I entirely free myself from You, through the grace, bounties, and love to mankind of my Lord Jesus Christ? When will every possibility of pouring the poison of Your malice into my heart be taken from You?

1027) «What do I need?» I need nothing upon earth besides the indispensable. What do I need? I need the Lord, I need His grace, His kingdom within me. On earth, in this place of my journeying, of my temporary instruction, I have nothing of my own; everything is God's, and everything is transitory, destined for my temporary use; my abundance is–the inheritance of my poorer brethren. What do I need? Do I need true, Christian, living, active love? I need a loving heart, compassionate towards my neighbors; I need joy at their welfare and abundance, sorrow for their sorrows and sickness, for their sins, infirmities, disorders, deficiencies, misfortunes, poverty; I need warm and sincere sympathy for them in all the circumstances of their lives, to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with those who weep. It is time that we ceased to give place to our self-love, to egoism, to live only for ourselves, to draw everything to ourselves only– riches and pleasures and worldly honors. We ought not to live, but to die; we ought not to rejoice, but to suffer, we who bear within ourselves the poison of self-love–for self-love is a poison continually poured into our heart by the Devil. O, may I exclaim with the Psalmist: « Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison to You. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.»^[804] Lord, You know my heart and all its movements, and of the writing of these lines–grant me that which I ask of You! With me this is impossible, but « with You all things are possible.»^[805] Grant me the true life, disperse the darkness of the passions, destroy their power by Your power!

1028) What is the relation between the word and the deed? The word of God called the visible and invisible world from non-existence into existence; the word in the mouth of God– the word was deed. Therefore the word and the deed ought to be inseparable from each other, as the soul and body are inseparable in their being. He who faithfully and continually fulfills the word of Christ, with Whom the word is the deed, can even now accomplish great and wonderful deeds, and everything obeys His word: the demons obey Him, maladies are cured, and human morality is taught.

1029) The cross is in Christ, and Christ is on the cross; the cross is the image of the crucified Christ, the Son of God, and therefore the sign of the cross and even its shadow are terrible unto the demons, as the sign of Christ Himself, as the shadow of Him, crucified. Therefore it is very important to sanctify the water by immersing the cross in it; through this it becomes healing, and drives away demons.

1030) A Christian is–the vessel of God, the temple of God, the house of God. O, how worthy of honor is the true Christian, how zealously he ought to shun every sin, and how greatly Christians ought to respect one another!

1031) The most abominable enemy endeavors to destroy love by love itself: love for God and our neighbor–by love for the world, for its fleeting blessings and its corrupt, impious habits, by carnal love, by the love of riches, of honors, of pleasure, of various amusements. Therefore let us extinguish every love for this world in ourselves, and let us kindle in ourselves, by self-denial, love for God and our neighbor. Every beauty in this world (personal beauty) is only a faint, insignificant shadow of the uncreated beauty, of the unspeakable goodness of God's face; every earthly enjoyment is nothing in comparison to future delights. I pray, Lord, that the faith of Christ may penetrate into the depths of my heart, that Christ's Gospel may penetrate all my thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds, into all my bones and my brains, and not me only, but all men, as the universal truth, the highest wisdom, and the life eternal. « And this is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Who You have sent.»^[806]

1032) How fragrant are the bones of the Saints! What a wonderful perfume the relics of God's Saints emit! What a great blessing it is to gain the sweet-smelling grace of the Holy Spirit and the life eternal! Why do we run after corruption? Why have we loved the stink of sins, of poisonous passions?

1033) Lord in our prayers to You, we ask the intercession of the Saints, these spiritual sweet scents, that fragrance of Your perfumes! Accept their prayers for us, fragrant with love and purity, and save us from the evil odor of sins, for our hearts are unclean and our mouths impure, and we are unworthy of most sweet converse with You. Everything in us is–earthly, corrupt, impure, and evil, while they, Your Saints, are the purest fragrance; and, above all, Your Most Pure Mother, Your living, light-bearing abode, She is purer than all the brightness of the sun, more fragrant than all perfumes, for heaven and earth are full of the fragrance of Her holiness and of Her Divine virtues.

1034) Pronounce the Name of God with the deepest reverence, remembering that everything was brought by God from non-existence into existence, and that everything which exists is maintained in good order solely by His mercy, omnipotence, and wisdom. Pronounce with the deepest reverence the Name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, “by Whom all things were made, and all things are governed; Who, until now, upholds all things by the word of His power»;^[807] Who produces times and seasons – summer, autumn, winter, and spring; Who brings forth all the fruits of the earth, peoples the earth with men and animals, the air with birds, the sea, the lakes, and rivers with fishes; Who multiplies the human race and provides it with all blessings–saves it from sins and evil spirits, and prepares an abode for those who love Him in the Kingdom of Heaven; Who, until now, makes the luminaries light the earth or moderate the darkness of the night; Who diffuses such vivifying air for all living creatures to breathe; Who has given such wonderful properties to fire, that it warms, burns, and lights; Who created the earth, capable of easily revolving round such an immense planet as the sun, as well as on its own axis; capable of generating innumerable sorts of plants; water, capable of being turned into an innumerable variety of juices in an innumerable multitude of fruits, trees, shrubs, and grasses. «Our God does wondrous things.»^[808] He is all-good and almighty, most wise, the God of mercy, bounties, and love to men. «There is none like unto You, O Lord!»^[809] Reverently pronounce also the Name of the Most Pure Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Ever-Virgin Mary, Who gave birth to Him for our salvation; through Her, by the Lord's grace, we were found worthy of innumerable blessings: of the forgiveness of sins, of sanctification, of enlightenment, of renewal, deliverance from eternal death, of elevation to heaven, of becoming the sons of God, of being made godly, and of inheriting life eternal. Reverently pronounce the names of Christ's Apostles, who were His eye-witnesses and His servants, who carried His Divine teachings throughout all the world, who implanted and spread throughout the earth the saving faith and Church of Christ – faith in renewal and salvation; also the names of the martyrs, who were born by their blood into eternal life, of the venerable Fathers, who, by the mortification of their flesh, mortified in themselves the sins and passions, and attained blessed renewal and eternal life; also the names of the un-mercenary, who, by their disinterestedness, obtained for themselves the priceless treasures of the spirit and of eternal life; and the names of all the Saints.

1035) This very flesh which we cherish, rest, gratify, and adorn so much, is–the enemy of our soul, a very crafty and dangerous enemy; it continually resists the love of God, the will of God, the commandments of God, and longs to fulfill its own will, and nearly always succeeds in doing so; unless the Lord God, in His merciful and wise providence for our salvation, opposes a powerful obstacle to this. We must ever crucify this flesh with its passions and lusts, and not cherish it; we must mortify it by fasting, by watchfulness, prayer, work; and exercise the soul by reading the Word of God, by pious meditation and prayer.

1036) I feel bright, warm, and tranquil, when I turn with my whole soul to the mental sun, the Sun of righteousness, to Christ my God. Then the ice of my heart melts, all its darkness, impurity, and corruption vanish; spiritual death flees, heavenly life reigns in its stead, and nothing earthly occupies me any longer.

1037) «Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.»^[810] The holy, Divine, most heavenly Christian faith requires a pure heart in order that it may act beneficially upon man's whole being, for it cannot dwell and produce beneficial changes in an impure heart if the man does not correct himself of his vices. This is also why, in Christianity, many are called, but few are chosen. Many call themselves Christians, but few are really such; few bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom of God; this is why, even among Christians, there are so many atheists, free-thinkers; so many who are superstitious, covetous, sensualists, fornicators, drunkards, thieves, and so on. It is not the fault of the religion that some Christians are such, but it is those who bear the Name of the Christ that are guilty in their carelessness for their religion and its rules, in their impurity and attachment to earthly things, owing to which they cannot find room in their impure hearts for the purest heavenly treasure–the faith of Christ– and are lost at the very source of salvation. Woe unto us, ungrateful, evil-natured, sophistical, vain, sensual, and slothful creatures! Lord, what shall we do? Conquer us by Your mercy, by Your love, by Your great wisdom; destroy the cunning of our flesh, vanquish our malice by the power of Your goodness!

1038) Every man on earth is sick with the fever of sin, with the blindness of sin, is overcome by the fury of sin; and as sins mostly consist in malice and pride, it is necessary to treat everyone who suffers from the malady of sin with kindness and love. This is an important truth, which we often forget. We often, very often, act in opposition to this truth; we add malice to malice by our anger, we oppose pride to pride. Thus, evil grows within us and does not decrease; it is not cured, but rather spreads. Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon mankind!

1039) It was through the eating of the forbidden fruit in Paradise that mankind acquired the cruel sickness of the soul, attachment to this transitory life, to earthly blessings and pleasures, that most destructive division of the heart between God and the world, between good and evil. And as earthly blessings cannot satisfy the soul, created for delighting in spiritual, eternal, infinite blessings, and they are not equally distributed among all–so that through passion or blind attachment some gain possession of very many of them, while others have very few, and some even, none at all–therefore, from this proceeds eternal sin, enmity and death for possession; hence the envy and ill-feeling between separate individuals and nations, hence wars and bloodshed, hence the luxury of some and the extreme poverty of others, the gorging of some and hunger of others, the seeking for conspicuous, advantageous places by some and the oppression of others, hence thefts, extortion, and every kind of evil. This is what the eating of the forbidden fruit has done; it has occasioned so much evil that it is impossible to escape from it. And if the Son of God had not been incarnated, and had not suffered and died for our salvation, then all mankind would have remained in endless, inconsolable, and unimaginable woe; for all would have been lost in their sins, and everlasting wailing and gnashing of teeth in hell, without any hope of salvation, would have been their lot, to which everlasting torments impenitent sinners are even now doomed.

1040) Being occupied with vanity and vain pleasures, you have neither the time nor the desire to penetrate into the spirit of the Christian religion, of the Christian Divine Service, and to know the rules of the Church, the purpose of the festivals of the Orthodox Church, of the fasts, and, in particular, the significance of every week of the great Lent, or of the historical reminiscences connected with each week. You sometimes know by heart a play that is given at a theater, of how many acts or scenes it consists, what are its contents in general and in particular; yet you do not know the essence of the sacraments, although they give eternal life, and the unspeakable blessings of that life to those who receive them worthily. You do not know the essence of the Divine Service of the holy Orthodox Church–your Mother, who nourishes, warms, purifies, sanctifies, and strengthens you upon her holy, maternal bosom. You do not know the nature and significance of the Evening and Morning Services, nor the Liturgy, the usual psalm-singing, the readings and rites of the Church. Some people justify play-acting, and call it instructive and moral, or harmless, or at least a lesser evil in comparison with drunkenness and profligacy; and with this object they endeavor to organize theatrical performances everywhere. It is wonderful that Christians have not found any better way of spending their precious time than the theater, which both by its origin and meaning preserves, even up to now, a heathenish, idolatrous character; a character of vanity, frivolity–a character showing in itself, in general, the fullest reflection of all the passions and deformities of this world: of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and of the pride of life; and only seldom, very seldom, represents the valour of the sons of their country, and even then, of course, of an earthly country, and not of the heavenly one. Everything heavenly, holy, bearing the stamp of Christianity, is foreign to the theater; and if it does sometimes appear on the stage, then it is made the subject of ridicule. The very name of God, terrible to every creature, is only pronounced there heedlessly, with derision and scoffingly; the sacred calling–for instance, the monastic calling, the angelic calling–is turned into ridicule; the respect for authorities, for parents, and the clergy is prejudiced when any reprehensible actions of such persons are publicly turned into ridicule, and this before the whole of society, before thoughtless young people, even before children, to whom the names of their parents and superiors ought to be sacred. One disrespectful or unbecoming word concerning their elders is sometimes sufficient to prejudice the respect due to them. Have Christians become so thoughtless that they can find no better means of spending their precious time than in the theaters, for which they leave even the God's temple, the Divine Service? And the precious festival time, given by God for instruction in the Holy Scriptures, in salutary reflections, and in virtuous actions, they fritter away in laughter and stupid applause in the theaters. No; say what you like, theaters are an ungodly institution. Only penetrate into their spirit and you will agree that they are schools of incredulity, mockery, of the insolent ridicule of everything, and that they are depravity. Woe unto that society in which there are many theaters, and which loves to frequent them! Occasionally, it is true, the theater is the lesser evil for those who love evil. Lend an ear to popular opinion, to the opinion of those who have visited the theater many times; they do not hesitate to say that theaters lead to depravity. Only the blind, «In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not,»^[811] say that a theater is moral. No; Christians ought to perseveringly study their religion; they ought to read the Gospel more frequently, to study the Divine Service, to fulfill the commandments and the rules of the Church; to read the writings of the Holy Fathers, religious publications, in order to become imbued with the spirit of Christianity, and to live in a Christian manner. Such should be your occupations and recreations.

1041) O how bitter were my sins to You, Christ, my God and my Savior, when You were buffeted, scourged, spit upon; when Your head was pierced with thorns and You were nailed to the cross for my sake; when You hung on the cross, in unspeakable torments, to save me from the most bitter, unspeakable torments of hell! But I ought to call to mind more frequently this Your self-exhaustion, these Your sufferings, in order not to commit sin, and to zealously fulfill all virtue in order to love You with all my heart, to fulfill Your saving commandments. Meanwhile, I often forget this awful sacrifice, offered for me by the Only Begotten, unoriginate, co-eternal Son of the Heavenly Father. Grant unto me then, Lord, a pure heart and unchangeable repentance, leading to salvation; grant that I may find favor in Your sight during the remainder of my life!

1042) «Have you often called upon Me sincerely in prayer?» says God to the sinner. «Have you often thanked Me with a sincere heart for My innumerable benefits, surpassing every imagination? Have you often offered Me the sincere sacrifice of praise in order that I might again and again pour upon you My mercies? But what shall 1 do with your depravity, with your corruption, with your perverted mind and heart, with your will, hourly inclined to evil and vice! «Whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.»^[812] «Thus, do not be cast down, you who are reproved, chastened by Me, but endure.» «Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyes, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto those who are therefore exercised.»^[813]

1043) The celebration of the Divine Liturgy requires an elevated soul, or a man with an elevated soul, not bound by any worldly passions, desires, and attachments to earthly delights; whose heart is wholly embraced by the flame of the Holy Spirit, by ardent love for God and mankind, for every human soul, and, above all, for the Christian soul, so that with a sincere heart he may ever rise to God in prayer: «I have come to send fire on the earth; and would that it were already kindled.»^[814] This fire was sent down from heaven upon the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire. This fire is also necessary for us, for our frozen hearts, in order to warm, soften, to melt them again and again, to continually cleanse them, in order to enlighten and renew them. Where is there to be found such a worthy priest who, like the Seraphim, would burn before the Lord with love, praise, and gratitude for His marvels of mercy and wisdom manifested unto us and within us? I am the greatest of sinners in unworthily celebrating this most heavenly Sacrament, for I have ever an impure heart, bound by desires and attachments to earthly delights. Lord, You see the depths of our hearts; but «You shall purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; You shall wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.»^[815] «It is not wonderful if You have mercy upon the pure; and it is not a great thing if You save the righteous, but show the wonders of Your mercy upon me, a sinner! »^[816]

1044) Lord! I thank You with my whole heart for having saved me an innumerable multitude of times from the shamefulness, violence, and cruelty of the passions, and for having quenched in me the fiery arrows of the evil one, and for having guarded my soul with peace, refreshing it with the dew of Your grace. Glory to You, most merciful and Almighty, that by Your grace I still remain whole and unharmed, in spite of the innumerable wiles of the invisible and most evil enemies endeavoring to devour me! I believe and know that You, Lord, will deliver and save me from all their snares and slanders by ways known unto You, and will grant Your heavenly kingdom to me, and not to me only, but to all those who live piously and are subjected to the slander of the spirits of evil; for to You it appertains to be merciful and to save those who desire to be saved, and even those who do not desire to be saved. ''Save me,» it is said, «whether I wish or do not wish to be saved.»^[817]

1045) «Let us pray to the Lord for the salvation of our souls.»^[818] He who sincerely watches over himself continually notices that our soul is destroyed by various sins, sleeps the deadly sleep of sin, is continually taken captive by the Devil, is bound by the strong fetters of the passions; he notices this and sighs, and prays fervently to the Lord for the salvation of the souls redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. Thus our souls are daily destroyed by malice, envy, harsh judgment, covetousness, love of pleasure, gluttony and drunkenness, fornication, slothfulness and negligence, despondency and murmuring ignorance, impure language, idle speaking, frivolity, free-thought, rebellion, insolence, self-will, and other passions. We pray for «the peace from above, for there is no rest [peace] in our bones because of our sins.»^[819]

1046) By means of its Divine service, the Orthodox Church educates us for heavenly citizenship, by teaching us every virtue, exemplified by the lives of the Mother of God, and of all the Saints, by purifying, sanctifying, and making us godly through the sacraments, and by giving «unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.»^[820] Therefore, it is urgently necessary for us to attend intelligently, reverently, and willingly the Divine services especially on the festivals, and to take part in the sacraments of penitence and Holy Communion. But those who withdraw themselves from the Church and the Divine services become the victims of their passions and are lost.

1047) With what maternal, or rather Divine love, the Church daily carries us in her arms, unceasingly raising to the Lord prayers for us all–in the evening, at midnight, in the morning, and about mid-day. She teaches us, cleanses us, sanctifies us, heals and strengthens us through the sacraments, guides us by every means in the tenderest and gentlest manner to salvation and eternal life. Blessed are those priests and ministers who understand this love and this care of the Church for the salvation of her children, and endeavor to appropriate unto themselves her spirit, to live by this spirit, to breathe by this spirit, both within and without the Church, and to offer prayers and praises, and celebrate the Divine services of the Church with heartfelt attention and reverence, remembering that through all this they save both themselves and their flock!

1048) What a grand creature is man–what a wonderful creation of God, created after His own image! If even in a fallen state he is capable of accomplishing the many wonderful works which he has produced and still produces, as we constantly see, both in history and in the present time, then of what might he not be capable in a state of holiness and perfection! But that which in him is above all deserving of attention, wonder, reverence, and the most heartfelt gratitude is that he may be likened to his Creator–God; that he is predestined to immortality, to eternal bliss in God, and with God; that he will some day shine forth, like the sun, in the kingdom of his heavenly Father. The Lord, foreseeing this glory of His faithful chosen ones, says: «Then [at the second coming] shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.»^[821]

1049) During the oblation, the whole Church, in Heaven and upon earth–the Church of the first-born, inscribed in the heavens, and the Church militant, fighting against the enemies of salvation upon earth–is typically represented assembled around the Lamb, who took upon Himself the sins of the world. What a great spectacle, enrapturing and moving the soul! Is it possible that I too am among this assembly of saints; that I too am redeemed by the Lamb of God; that I too am the joint heir with the saints, if I remain faithful to the Lamb until death? Are not all my brethren too, members of this heavenly holy assemblage, and joint heirs of the future kingdom? O, how widely my heart should expand in order to contain all within itself, to love all, to care for all, to care for the salvation of all as for mine own! This is wisdom and the highest wisdom. Let us be simple; let us walk in simplicity of heart with all. Let us remember our high calling and election, and let us continually aspire to the honor of God's heavenly calling through Christ Jesus. «We are the children of God, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.»^[822]

1050) Do not observe the sins of others, and do not behave with hostility, inwardly or outwardly, towards those who sin, but picture to yourself your own sins, and heartily repent of having committed them, considering yourself in reality worse than all. Pray lovingly for those who sin, knowing that we are all inclined to every sin.

1051) A true Christian behaves in this life so that it may be a preparation for the future one, and not only a life here below. In his actions he does not think what will be said of him here, but of what will be said there in Heaven; he pictures to himself that he is always in the presence of God, of the angels and all the saints, and remembers that some day they will bear witness of his thoughts, words, and deeds.

1052) By my love for God and my neighbor I belong to heaven, I am heavenly; while by worldly cares, especially by worldly attachments, I belong to the earth, I am earthly, devilish. «Lord and Master of my life, grant unto me, Your servant, the spirit of love.»^[823]

1053) Love. With love for God and your neighbor in your heart you will possess all things and will lack nothing; for where love is, there is God; and God is everything to us, and chiefly our life, peace, sweetness, and blessedness. It is strange and pitiable to see through what vain causes the Devil deprives us of love for God and our neighbor: through earthly dust, in the strict sense of the word–the countless dust which we trample under feet: through money, food, and drink, dress, houses, honors, through all these things which pass away, together with their mother, the earth, and with our own much cared for bodies, which are also nothing but dust.

1054) Remember the Love that laid down His life for men, and do not spare your very life itself for your brother, but unmercifully crucify your carnal man, who turns you away from sacrificing yourself for your brother.

1055) Greedy, covetous miser! Is it money, is it bread that has given you life? Is it not God? Is it not His word which gave being and life to you and all other creatures? Does not the Son of God uphold «all things by the word of His power?»^[824] Do money and bread, water and wine alone support your life? Does not man live «by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God»?^[825] Are not money and bread mere dust? Is not bread the least of the things necessary for supporting our life? Everything was created and is supported by the word. The word is the source and preservation of life.

1056) The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit–God in the Trinity–is glorified by all His creatures, by the angelic assemblies unceasingly singing the Thrice Holy hymn, and by the holy Church of Christ, the holy apostles, martyrs, prelates, reverend fathers, the righteous, and all the saints–by the whole visible world, by all living Christians, by the whole world. The truth of the Trinity of the Godhead surrounds us upon all sides, like the air that we breathe, and with which we are wholly penetrated. Is it possible, after this, to have any doubt in the Divinity of the Son, or of the Holy Spirit? How many works do we see accomplished in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit? How many powers of the Holy Spirit have we experienced, and still experience upon ourselves? The Holy Spirit is the spiritual air of reasonable creatures. What ordinary air is in relation to physical bodies, such is the Holy Spirit to reasonable and free creatures. He fills, enlivens, and enlightens them, endues them with wisdom, and strengthens them. The Son of God is to us «the way, the truth, and the life;»^[826] the rest– (« I will give you rest»^[827] ); the joy–(« I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice.»)^[828] We have experienced and experience this in ourselves. Shall we listen, after this, to him who would suggest the contrary? Is it not the inward whispering of the evil spirit, of that dark spirit breathing falsehood, malice, despondency, constraint, and fire, which vanishes like smoke or dust at the name and before the cross of the Lord? Shall we listen to this dreamer, and shall we be disturbed by his snares? Be firmly assured that he is the complete denial of truth. «If I should say I know Him [the Father] not, I shall be a liar unto you; but I know Him.»^[829] The mere fact that he always destroys the soul proves that he is falsehood, death, and not truth, not life. We only know of one cause of death–the Devil. Amen.

1057) If we call upon the saints with faith and love, then they will immediately hear us. Faith is the connecting element on our part, and love on theirs, as well as ours; for they are in God, and we are in God, Who is Love.^[830]

1058) Why is long-continued prayer necessary? In order that by prolonged, fervent prayer we may warm our cold hearts, hardened in prolonged vanity. For it is strange to think, and still more so to require, that the heart, hardened in worldly vanity, could be speedily penetrated during prayer by the warmth of faith and the love of God. No; labor and labor, time and time are needed to attain this. «The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.»^[831] The Kingdom of Heaven does not soon come into the heart when men themselves so assiduously flee from it. The Lord Himself expresses His will that our prayers should not be short, by giving us for an example: the persistent widow who often came to the judge and troubled him with her requests.^[832] Our Lord, our Heavenly Father knows, even before we ask Him, what things we have need of,^[833] what we want; but we do not know Him as we ought, for we give ourselves up to worldly vanity, instead of committing ourselves into the hands of our Heavenly Father. Therefore in His wisdom and mercy He turns our needs into a pretext for our turning to Him. «Turn you, My wandering children, even now unto Me, to your Father, with your whole hearts. If before you were far from Me, even now, at least, warm by faith and love to Me your hearts which were formerly cold.»

1059) Worthy, sincere, and reverent service to the Lord in the temple, accompanied by lively faith, is a source of peace, joy, and blessedness to our souls. Thus a reverent priest celebrating the services, the sacraments, and the reading of the prayers, in his very duty itself finds the highest delight and blessedness for himself.

1060) The Word of the Lord is deed, life, being. From Him Who exists comes existence; from the Life, life; from the Truth, truth; while from the Devil, who fell through his illusive pride, who wished to appropriate to himself the impossible, and who fell away from life and truth, come illusion, falsehood, and death from death.

1061) Man, they say, is free; he cannot compel himself, or ought not to force himself, to any religion or instruction. Lord, have mercy upon us! What a diabolical opinion! If they are not forced, then what will become of men after this? What will become of you, the proclaimer of these newly-invented rules, if you do not force yourself to that which is good, and live as your vicious heart, your proud, short-sighted and blind intellect, your sinful flesh, incline you to live? Say, what will become of you? Do you not, then, force yourself, I do not say to good, but even to that which is your duty and is useful? How can one do without forcing oneself? How is it possible not to induce or force Christians, too, to fulfill the precepts of religion and piety? Is it not said in the Scripture that « the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force»?^[834] And, especially, how is it possible not to compel boys to instruction, to prayer? What will become of them? Will they not become idlers and good-for-nothing? Will they not learn every evil?

1062) Concerning modern works of charity. If you enjoy earthly blessings in full measure, and if you give to the needy, but indulge yourself still more, it means that you do good works without the least self-denial. Your works of charity are not great. But what else do we find? What are so-called works of charity? People arrange different entertainments with a charitable object–that is, they intentionally wish before all to serve their sinful flesh, the Devil, and only afterwards their neighbor and God. But this is no charity at all! Such works only bear the name of charity. «Let us do evil, that good may come.»^[835] «Woe unto you that are full, for you shall hunger! Woe unto you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep!»^[836]

1063) When you pray to God and ask of Him various blessings –spiritual, heavenly, material, earthly–then, for complete assurance of obtaining that which you ask for, or, in general, the blessing mostly needed by you, in accordance with the wisdom and grace of God, have in your mind and heart the following words of the Savior:–"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asks receives, and he that seeks finds, and to him that knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you who, if his son asks for bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father Which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?»^[837]

1064) When reading certain truths, do not say: «This is not new; I know this; I said this myself also.» All this is diabolical pride. Such a frame of mind responds with the following philosophy: «I know everything, good and evil.» It almost signifies: « I am omniscient.» And many people do not read sermons and religious books because they think that they know all that is written there–that all that is written there is a repetition of what has been known to them long ago; while worldly books, in which, indeed, there is always the one same empty worldly vanity, they read willingly, and sometimes several times over. O, impure flies that feed upon carrion!

1065) The Lord calls all of us to union with His divine nature, and we ought to carefully preserve the unity of the spirit in the union of peace, as members of Christ's body, as members of one another. «For we are members one of another.»^[838]

1066) After having worthily celebrated the service and the sacraments, always thank the Lord from your whole heart with a short prayer for having found you worthy of serving Him, of serving His most loving intentions and deeds with all your heart, with faith and love; for our service to our Lord, Creator and Redeemer, is the greatest gift and favor to us sinners, always bringing forth good fruit, both in those who receive through us sanctification and salvation from God, and also in ourselves, because it gives us peace, life, and joy. We must always thank God for having designed to make us His sinful and unworthy servants, His fellow-laborers. As the Apostle says: « We are laborers together with God; »^[839] the servants and stewards of His Mysteries. « Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.»^[840] But meanwhile, what do many of us do? They celebrate the service and sacraments, the reading of the prayers unwillingly, indolently, negligently, hurriedly, with omissions, wishing to finish the holy work quicker, and hasten after worldly vanity. What a fearful temptation, and what a grievous sin! Involuntarily one remembers the terrible word of God to the neglectful fulfillers of His works: «Cursed be he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully!»^[841] I said, what a fearful temptation! yes, it is a fearful temptation, because, through blindness, we treat with neglect the words of the Holy Spirit, breathing in the prayers of the sacraments and services–we treat with neglect that which itself would be the source of the sweetest peace, of joy in the Holy Spirit, and even the source of our own bodily health, did we serve with true zeal and attention; for the words of the prayers connected with the services and sacraments read with faith, reverence, and the fear of God, calmly, with a fervent spirit, have the indubitable and wonderful property of vivifying, strengthening, and healing our body itself together with the soul. This I know from experience. It is a grievous sin, I say, because by celebrating the sacraments carelessly we, through this, mock at the Lord's holy things. What must we do, therefore, in order to celebrate the sacraments and services worthily, attentively, with a fervent spirit? We must always have living faith that our God–worshiped in the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit–is ever with us, is looking upon us, and at the first word of our sincere prayer for help is ready to help us in the holy work; for the prayer of faith, like breathing in relation to our body, is absolutely necessary for us while we live upon the earth. What breathing is to the body, the prayer of faith is to the soul. By remembering that the Almighty is ever with us, and really having Him in our thoughts, and casting away from our hearts all earthly thoughts, doubts, cares, and attachments, we shall always accomplish God's work worthily.

1067) Concerning hypocritical prayer. Did the Pharisees think that they prayed hypocritically? They did not think so; they considered themselves to be right in their hypocrisy itself! It had become their habit; it had become, so to say, their nature; and they thought they were serving God by their prayer. Do the Christian hypocrites of the present day think that they pray and live hypocritically? They do not think so. They pray daily perhaps long; they pray out of habit with their lips, but not with their hearts, without hearty contrition, without a firm desire for amendment, and only in order to fulfill the established rule, and «think» that they do «God service,»^[842] while by their prayer they only incur the wrath of God. We all more or less sin in praying hypocritically, and shall be greatly censured for this. Humble yourself, consider yourself as the grass, which is nothing in comparison to the ancient oak-trees, or as a prickly thorn, which is nothing, which is worthless in comparison to the fragrant and delicate flowers; for you are indeed grass; you are indeed a prickly thorn, by reason of your passions.

1068) When you give alms to one who begs of you, and who, apparently, is not deserving of, does not require your charity– owing to which your heart grudges him the alms given–repent of this; for the Divine holy Love also bestows His blessings upon us, even when we have a sufficiency of them already. Love for your neighbor ought to say to you, «Even though he has something, still it will not do any harm if I add to his prosperity (although, to tell the truth, a few pence will not greatly add to or amend his fortunes). God gives to me, why then should I not give to the needy?» I say to the needy, for who would hold out his hand without need ? Had you only received gifts from God in accordance with your merits, you would have been a beggar yourself. God is bountiful to you, not in accordance with your merits, and you yourself wish that He should be bountiful. Why then, having plenty, do you not wish to be generous yourself to your brethren?

1069) Look upon everything in this world as upon a fleeting shadow, and do not cling with your heart to anything; do not consider anything in this world great, and do not lay your hopes upon anything earthly. Cling to the One imperishable, invisible, most wise God. « We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.»^[843]

1070) The mode of curing spiritual illnesses (the passions) entirely differs from the mode of curing of bodily illnesses. In the latter case, attention must be fixed upon the malady; the tender part must be treated by softening means–warm water, compresses, etc. But it is not so in the case of spiritual illnesses; so if you have fallen spiritually sick, do not pay attention to it, but strike the malady, crucify it; do not in any way indulge it, do not cherish it, do not warm it, do quite the reverse to that which it asks you to do. If you feel hatred for your neighbor, crucify this passion quickly, and immediately begin to love your neighbor; if you have fallen into avarice, try to quickly become generous; if you have grown envious, try to quickly become benevolent; if you have fallen into pride, quickly humble yourself to the ground; if you have fallen into covetousness, praise those who are disinterested, and endeavor to become like them; if you are tormented by the spirit of enmity, strive after peace and love; if you are overcome by gluttony, quickly strive to be abstinent and keep fast. The whole art of curing the diseases of the spirit consists in not paying attention to them, and in not in the least indulging them, but in immediately cutting them off.

1071) In reference to the fulfillment of that which you ask of God in prayer, believe that it is as easy, and even incomparably easier, for the Lord to fulfill each of your words than it is for you to pronounce the words, and that if there is the word, there is also the deed; for with the Lord there is no word without the deed; no word shall return unto Him void,^[844] according to His word. Remember constantly during prayer that God is That Which Is, and that from Him everything proceeds: both the thought concerning anything, and the word concerning anything and everything–that He is all wise, almighty, and all gracious.

1072) How much people lose during their conversation at home for giving life to it through not speaking about God! How animated, how fruitful and varied their conversation would become through this! Rivers of saving words would flow out of the bellies of believers.^[845] How edifying, how soothing such conversation would be! what true bliss it would afford! while now that they do not speak of God in the home circle, but only speak of worldly vanity, the conversation soon becomes exhausted, people soon feel dull, and then kill the precious time in stupid games or dancing. The enemy of mankind has observed this weakness in men to occupy themselves with vain, worldly conversation, and, in general, to spend their time in vain amusements. He has derived and derives an immense advantage from this weakness; he has instituted theaters, circuses–the true realization of vanity, the true derision of worldly vanity; and foolish persons inclined to vanity, to slothfulness, indolence, willingly frequent these theaters and circuses, not finding any better occupation which would afford tranquility and pleasure to their souls. «Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.»^[846]

1073) You are ill, and your illness is very painful; you have become low-spirited and despondent; you are troubled and tossed with thoughts, each darker than the other; your heart and your lips are ready to murmur, to blaspheme God! My brother! Listen to my sincere advice. Bear your illness bravely, and do not merely not be despondent, but on the contrary, rejoice, if you can, in your illness. You would ask me what there is for you to rejoice at when you are racked all over with pain? Rejoice that the Lord has sent you this temporary chastisement in order to cleanse your soul from sins. « For whom the Lord loves, He chastens.»^[847] Rejoice in the fact that now you are not gratifying those passions which you would have gratified had you been in good health; rejoice that you are bearing the cross of sickness, and that therefore you are treading the narrow and sorrowful way leading to the kingdom of heaven. Maladies in our eyes only appear painful, unpleasant, and terrible. It is seldom that any one of us during the time of sickness represents to himself the profit which his illness brings to his soul; but in God's all wise and most merciful Providence, not a single malady remains without some profit to our soul. Sicknesses in the hands of Providence are the same as bitter medicines for our soul, curing its passions, its bad habits and inclinations. Not a single malady sent to us shall return void. Therefore, we must keep in view the utility of sicknesses, in order that we may bear them more easily and more calmly. «He that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,»^[848] says the Holy Scripture.

1074) The Lord's love is greater than a mother's love. My mother bore me in her womb, and by God's ordering gave me birth. Afterwards she nourished me, fondled me, and carried me in her arms. When I was able to walk by myself she left off carrying me in her arms, and still earlier she ceased to feed me at her breast; while the Lord always, so to say, carries me in His bosom: « He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood, dwells in Me,» says He, «and I in him»;^[849] or «So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spit You out of my mouth.»^[850] He always carries me in His arms: « I have engraved you upon the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me,»^[851] «Upholding all things by the word of His power.»^[852] He is my power, my sweetness and my joy, the light of my mind and my heart. He constantly nourishes me with the many various products of the earth, as a mother nourishes her child. He is my «strong food and inexhaustible drink.»^[853] Our parents leave us and we them when we grow up, for it is said: « A man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife,»^[854] either in the literal sense of the words, or figuratively, to Christ, which is the highest and holiest love, greater than that of a loving wife; while the Lord, from the beginning of our existence until our death, does not leave us for a moment–» continually before Me,»^[855] every moment providing for us as a bird provides for her young ones. He is our hope even in death; He is our life after death; He is our consolation at His judgment. He will not cover us with shame even then,^[856] and will lead us into the eternal mansions of the heavenly kingdom.

1075) My brothers and sisters who are preparing for Holy Communion!^[857] let us fear hardened insensibility to our sins; let us fear the pride of our hearts, which says: «I do not need any forgiveness of sins; I am not guilty, I am not sinful »; or else: «My sins are trifling, they are only human ones «–as though it were necessary that they should be diabolical; or: '' I do not feel amiss living in my sins.» This is the pride of Satan, and it is Satan himself speaking these words in our hearts. Let us feel deeply, deeply, with our whole hearts, our innumerable iniquities; let us sigh for them from the very depths of our souls; let us shed tears of contrition for them, in order to appease the Master, Who we have angered. Let us not in the least justify ourselves like the Pharisees, the hypocrites: « For in Your sight,» it is said, « shall no man living be justified;»^[858] and we can only appease God to be merciful unto us by sincere repentance for our sins. Let us put aside indifference and coldness; let us labor unto the Lord with a fervent spirit. Do not let us forget that we have now come to appease the Master of our lives and our righteous Judge for the long period of our sinful lives. Is this, therefore, a time for any coldness and indifference, which are not approved of even in social discourse, in our relations with our fellow-men? Ought not our soul, on the contrary, to be turned into a spiritual fire, and pour itself forth in tears of most heartfelt repentance? O, my God, my God! Our iniquities have literally increased beyond the number of the hairs of our heads, above the number of the sand of the sea, and yet we do not feel them, we are indifferent to them; we even do not cease to love them. « If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?»^[859] Grant, Lord, unto us all a contrite spirit and a humble heart, so that we may offer to You true penitence. Amen.

1076) When your faith in the Lord, either during your life and prosperity, or in the time of sickness and at the moment of quitting this life, grows weak, grows dim from worldly vanity or through illness, and from the terrors and darkness of death, then look with the mental eyes of your heart upon the companies of our forefathers, the patriarchs, prophets, and righteous ones–St. Simeon, who took the Lord up in his arms, Job, Anna the Prophetess, and others; the Apostles, prelates, venerable Fathers, martyrs, the disinterested, the righteous, and all the saints. See how, both during their earthly life and at the time of their departure from this life, they unceasingly looked to God and died in the hope of the resurrection and of the life eternal, and strive to imitate them. These living examples, which are so numerous, are capable of strengthening the wavering faith of every Christian in the Lord and in the future life. Those Christian communicants who do not venerate the saints and do not call upon them in prayer lose much in piety and in Christian hope. They deprive themselves of the great strengthening of their faith by the examples of men like unto themselves.

1077) When your spirit is dejected during sickness, and begins to represent to you the terrors of death, then calm and comfort your troubled, trembling, and sorrowful heart by the following words: «You, O Lord, in the depths of Your wisdom and love to men, order everything and give unto all everything that is profitable for them,» and believe that He will unfailingly order everything for your good, whether it be life, sickness, misfortune, sorrow, or death, so that you could not even desire better. Do not say: «It is early for me to die. I would have wished to live a little longer for the glory of God. For the advantage of my relatives and neighbors. I should have liked to look a little longer upon the world, to enjoy earthly blessings.» Be thankful to God for having enjoyed up till now His blessings, favours, and bounties. Now submit to His will, to His call, but at the same time do not despair of the continuation of your earthly life.

1078) Through faith and love, through the prayer of faith and love, I can include both God and men in my heart. How deep and vast is the human heart! How great is man!

1079) A true shepherd and father of his flock will live in their grateful memory even after his death. They will extol him; and the less he cares to be extolled here on earth on account of his zealous labors for their salvation, the more his glory shall shine after his death: even when he is dead he will make them speak of him. Such is the glory of those who labor for the common good.

1080) You are a being who has fallen of your own free will, corrupted by sins; this ought to be the most powerful incentive for you to pray. You daily receive the greatest mercies from God; this ought to be a powerful incentive to thank God. You daily contemplate the works of the omnipotence, wisdom and goodness of God; this ought also to be an incentive to daily praise.

1081) On the manifestation of the pride of Satan in men.–Pride generally shows itself chiefly in the fact that the man who is infected with it makes himself equal to all, or at any rate to many, who are his superiors in age, power, abilities, and cannot bear to be considered beneath them. If a proud man is a subordinate, he does not respect his chief as he ought, does not like to salute him, does not respect his orders, but fulfills them unwillingly, only out of fear. He makes himself equal to all educated people, and does not acknowledge anyonés superiority over himself, or only acknowledges the superiority of a very, very few indeed. If he is a learned or even an unlearned son, he does not pay due respect to his parents and benefactors, especially those who are simple and rough, considering them equal to or even lower than himself. You must take the utmost care not to compare yourself with others in any respect, but always to put yourself below others, although you may really be better or equal to others in some respects. Everything good in us comes from God and is not our own. « And that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.»^[860] «All these works are divided by the One and same Spirit to every man as He will.»^[861] And how can we be proud of the good that does not belong to us and equal ourselves to those who have been placed by God and general confidence higher than us? «Therefore, sit not down in the highest room, lest a more honorable man than you is bidden. For everyone that exalts himself shall be humbled; and He that humbles himself shall be exalted.»^[862]

1082) When we speak of the God of glory, of His will, of His law, then we must entirely forget our own glory and be completely absorbed in the contemplation of the glory of God or of His most wise, all-gracious will. At such times we should not think of our own imperfections, which the Devil puts into our mind and feeling in order to lower us in our own eyes and to plunge us into false shame, despondence, and despair. We must remember that there is no perfection in anything upon earth, nor in any earthly glory: « For we know in part, and we prophesy [preach] in part.»^[863] And he who is ashamed and blushes for his imperfection is ashamed of a phantom, appearing to him in his own imagination, and is proud of his imaginary perfections.

1083) I have seen and heard men relate maliciously and malevolently the dark spots in the life and activity of great and even holy men, and condemn, on account of such imaginary or real dark spots, the whole life of such men, calling them hypocrites and almost apostates. They will even present to you facts; only these facts are as dark and doubtful as their own suspicious, cunning souls, which would like to find an imaginary justification for their own vicious deeds in the spots, sins, and weaknesses of others. But such people do not justify themselves, but only increase their own condemnation by beholding the splinter in their brother's eye and judging him, not considering the beam (truly a beam) in their own eye.^[864] You say: «There are such and such sins in this holy father, or in that pious man.» What of that? He is a man, and no man is sinless. « If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.»^[865] Are you sinless? If not, then why do you cast the stone of condemnation at your brother? If I were to examine your life, in accordance with the Word of God, I should convict you by your own words of innumerable and grievous sins: of pride, presumption, unbelief, love of money, adultery, and of the misinterpretation of the Word of God and of God's commandments, of coldness to your faith, and of what not besides. I should perhaps find that the whole of your body is dark, because the eye of your heart is evil. O, how revolting to me is this devilish rejoicing at the sins of your neighbor, these infernal endeavors to prove their real or imaginary weaknesses! And yet people who act thus dare to say that they respect and strive with all their might to fulfill the commandment concerning love for God and their neighbor! What sort of love is it, when they intentionally wish to see and find dark spots even in great and holy persons–-when they blacken the whole life of such persons for a single sin, and do not wish to hide their neighbor's sin, if, indeed, it really exists? Have they forgotten that «charity endures all things?»^[866] What an amount of evil these moral worms do themselves and others! They prejudice the lawful respect of others for a renowned person, darken his light for them, hinder them from imitating him, and trouble their minds with thoughts of condemnation; and harm themselves, too, by receiving from the Devil the poison of judging their neighbor. Brother! «Who are you to judge another man's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Yea, he shall be held up: for God is able to make him stand.»^[867]

1084) Having invoked the Holy Spirit upon the Holy gifts lying before you, and having sanctified them by the prayer of consecration (during the Liturgy), remember that heaven and earth shall pass away, but the words of the Lord shall not pass away;^[868] and that the bread and wine have absolutely changed into the Body and Blood of the Lord, by the will of the Lord Himself and by the operation of the Holy Spirit, even if the officiating priest should be unworthy through any infirmity.

1085) Concerning forcing ourselves to all that is good.–"The kingdom of heaven,» it is said, «suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.»^[869] Therefore it is necessary to continually force ourselves to truth and goodness; when praying, we must every moment force ourselves to pronounce each word with power, truly from the heart. In case of negligence, inattention to our heart, of our not forcing ourselves to sincerity, the prayer will be hypocritical, false, and impious; we must say the words of the prayer persuasively to ourselves. If the words of the prayer are persuasive to our own selves, then they will also be persuasive to God; but without persuading yourself do not think to persuade God by your prayer to grant you any blessing you ask for. God will grant us according to our own heart:^[870] the more sincerity, the more heartfelt fervor we have when praying, the more bountiful will be the gift.

1086) Remember, man, that you are morally and physically nothing: morally because you are wholly sin, passion, infirmity; physically, because your body is earthly dust. In order to manifest their humility before God in a lively and evident manner, people in the olden times, and even some people in the present time, express this by sprinkling ashes upon their heads and laying aside their bright clothes, which feeds vanity and pride in the immortal human spirit. Remember, therefore, man, that even the smallest good in you comes from God, just as the smallest current of air within you or which you breathe comes from the air surrounding you.

1087) Glory to the most Holy, consubstantial and life-giving Trinity! When the Devil oppresses me with displeasure or hatred against my neighbor for any worldly, carnal reason, and I feel distressed and tormented, I rise up, and lifting the eyes of my heart to the Holy Trinity, I say: «Father, Son, and most Holy Spirit, have mercy upon me,» while I myself look upon the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as upon the very substance of the most Holy Trinity, essentially present everywhere, even in a single word, and immediately I feel easy, and the enemy flees before the Almighty, everlastingly worshiped Name, and vanishes like smoke. «Glory to You, most Holy, consubstantial, life-giving, and undivided Trinity.»^[871] Most Holy Trinity! Teach me how to despise all earthly things, teach me to lay my peace, satisfaction, and blessedness in You alone! And in order that I may not be puffed up on account of the merciful attention of the most Holy Trinity to me, and of the salvation granted unto me, may I remember that the Holy Trinity is mercifully attentive to every worm, to every little bird! Let me also remember that some Christians who have done many mighty works in the name of God will some day hear from the Lord the words: «Depart from Me, I know you not,»^[872] on account of their un-evangelical life. Most Holy Trinity! Preserve me from pride, and teach me humility! You hear me and save me, mercifully and speedily, I may become proud through such mercy. I may turn Your infinite goodness and mercy into a pretext for self-praise, as though I myself were worthy of such attention, as though I had done some good. Protect me, most Merciful Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, «under the cover of Your wings,» from every sin.

1088) When you pronounce to yourself in your heart the name of God, of the Lord, or that of the most Holy Trinity, or of the Lord God of Sabbaoth, or of the Lord Jesus Christ, then in that Name you have the Lord's whole being: in it is His infinite mercy, His boundless wisdom, His inaccessible light, omnipotence, and immutability. Approach this all-creative, all-keeping, and all-ruling Name in your thoughts and heart with the fear of God, and with faith and love. This is why God's commandment strictly forbids us to use God's name in vain, because His name is Himself, one God in three Persons, an inseparable Being, represented and contained in one single word, although at the same time He is not contained or limited either by it or by anything that exists.

1089) This present life is not a jest nor a plaything, although men have turned it into a jest and a plaything. They heedlessly play with time, given for preparation for eternity; they play with idle words. They assemble at their friends', sit and talk idly, and then begin to play at something. They go to theaters, and there both the performers and the spectators only amuse themselves. Others amuse themselves with their mental gifts, with human infirmities or virtues, with the capability of speaking or writing well. Some even amuse themselves with food and drink, using them in excess instead of only using them for satisfying the necessities of hunger and thirst. Some amuse themselves with their clothes, with their faces; they amuse themselves with their children, instead of educating them in faith, piety, and the fear of God. Their whole life is an amusement. But woe unto those who thus amuse themselves!

1090) O, how fearful it is to use food and drink for amusement, to eat and drink in excess! A full stomach makes a man lose faith and the fear of God, and makes him unfeeling in prayer, thanksgiving, and praise to God. A satiated heart turns away from the Lord, and becomes as hard and unfeeling as a stone. This is why the Savior carefully warns us against overindulging and drunkenness: «And so that day comes upon you unawares,»^[873] because of the wrath of the Lord upon us for heedlessly and idly spending the time in eating and drinking.

1091) In proportion as a man gratifies his sensuality, he becomes carnal, and drives away from himself the most Holy Spirit of God, Who cannot dwell in those who lead a carnal life. «What communion has light with darkness?»^[874] Such a state, worthy of tears, is experienced by very many; but, alas! They do not even recognize that they don’t have the Spirit of God in them–just the same as a man blind from birth is not conscious of his great loss in not seeing the light. Such men have neither faith nor love in their hearts, nor the spirit of prayer, and they avoid communion with the Church. My God, how many dangers there are in life for me! When I gratify my flesh too much, I become my greatest enemy.

1092) Remember that the celebration of the life-giving Mysteries is the unchangeable assent of the life-giving Trinity, predetermined from the creation of the world: it cannot be but. When you are celebrating the Mysteries, God the Father Himself, by His Holy Spirit, changes the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ–you are only an instrument. The Father Himself, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, celebrates through you the Liturgy, and consecrates the Holy Gifts. « You are He that offers, and is offered,» it is said, « Christ our God.»^[875] Remember, therefore, the immutability of God and the truth in all His words.

1093) You will only worthily perform the sacrament of penitence when you will be soul-loving and not gain-loving, when you will be patient and not irritable. O, what great love for our neighbors' souls is necessary in order to confess them worthily, patiently, not hurriedly, and without growing angry! The priest who hears confession should remember that «joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents.»^[876] How zealously should he, therefore, strive to awaken feelings of repentance in those who confess to him, and who sometimes do not even know what to repent of as they ought! The priest should also remember how the Apostle, night and day, with tears warned every one of the newly-enlightened Christians.^[877] Every thought of gain in the service of God ought to be entirely thrown aside, trusting to God alone, the soul-lover, for recompense. Question concerning the sins, and teach with firmness and sincerity, and not indolently or with a divided heart. A firm word will call forth firm repentance, will speedily pierce the heart and draw forth tears of emotion and heartfelt contrition; but if the priest does not question firmly concerning the sins, but indolently and insincerely, then his spiritual children also, seeing the indolence and double-minded-ness of their spiritual father, are not disposed to confess heartily, sincerely.

1094) Picture to yourself, as far as lies in your power, the omnipotence and the great splendor of the personal Word of God. He speaks, and His word immediately becomes manifold and diverse existences. He says: « Let there be light,» and there is light. He says: « Let there be a firmament,» and He makes the firmament He says: « Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place .... Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven .... Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life,» and so on, «and it was so,»^[878] according to His word. Thus the voice of a chief, resounding through the air and reaching the soldiers' hearing, moves the troops according to the will of the chief, placing them in various positions, making them perform various evolutions, and attaining through them the fulfillment of his various intentions and purposes. Picture to yourself these masses of created matter. Imagine how the enormous mountains rose up from the earth in accordance with the word of God; what the noise of the waters must have been when they gathered together into oceans, seas, rivers, and sources. Imagine how the air was diffused, how the most varied vegetation suddenly appeared at a single word of the all-creating God. Picture to yourself how the planets appeared and shone, and how they began to perform their infinite revolutions; how the fishes, birds, reptiles suddenly appeared, and, lastly, man. And all these (excepting man) were created from one and the same formless matter, or, to speak more precisely, from only four soulless, formless, inanimate elements. O, does not all this make the mind marvel? «O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all!»^[879] Thus even now the Master creates everything that He pleases from matter: He says, and it is done. He changes the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Eucharist.

1095) You are a being endued with speech. Remember that you derive your origin from the word of the Creator of all things, and that in union (through faith) with the creative Word, by means of faith, you can yourself be a material and spiritual creator. Believe that by your faith in the creative word of the Father, your own word, too, shall not return to you vain, powerless (when, for instance, you pray to God, the Benefactor, in accordance with the holy Church's direction or the Lord's guidance), but it shall bring you the gift necessary for good deeds; believe that through faith in the creative Word you will not be unsuccessful in teaching people either in the temple during Divine service, or during the celebration of the sacraments in private houses; neither shall your teaching in schools be unsuccessful, but it shall rouse up the minds and hearts of those listening to you.

1096) Remember that the possibility of the deed is contained in the word itself; it is only necessary to have faith in the power of the word in its creative faculty. With the Lord the deed is inseparable from the word. Not a single word addressed to Him shall return void: « For with God nothing shall be impossible.»^[880] It ought to be the same with us; for we are images of the Word, and the Word is most truly united with us through His incarnation, making us godly and partakers of the Divine nature.

1097) By opening unto others the gates into the kingdom of heaven through baptism, shall we not enter in ourselves? By cleansing others through penitence and absolving them from their sins, shall we not obtain remission of our sins? By uniting others with Christ in the Sacrament of the Holy Communion, shall we not ourselves be most truly united with Him «on the nightless day of Christ's kingdom»? By bestowing upon others in the Sacrament of Chrism the strengthening and generative grace of the Holy Spirit, shall we not obtain strength and power ourselves from the most Holy Spirit, and shall we not ourselves grow in spiritual gifts'? Truly we firmly hope to receive the promised blessings by the grace, bountifulness, and love to men of God our Savior. God grant that we may all receive them! Only do not let us become slothful, despondent; do not let us «make provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof»;^[881] but let us hold «the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience,»^[882] and let us progress in love for God and our neighbor.

1098) When you doubt in the accomplishment or fulfillment of any word of prayer, remember that the nature of the word is accomplishment, realization, and that the Holy Spirit, teaching us to pray for anything as we ought,^[883] is Himself called the Accomplisher. It is He also Who accomplishes our prayer (accomplished by the Spirit). Remember that the word is power. «With God,» it is said, «nothing shall be impossible.»^[884] The word of the Lord « shall not return unto Him void,»^[885] but, like rain or snow, it shall water the earth of our hearts, and shall give seed (the fulfillment) to the sower. Even of men, people say: « His word has extraordinary power.» You see, therefore, that the word is power, spirit, life.

1099) When you pronounce the powerful commanding, creative words of the Lord Himself, then consider their fulfillment as easy and usual a matter as it is easy and usual for you to breathe or to take, as easy and usual as it is for an infant to be formed in its mother's womb, and even incomparably easier.

1100) In order that you should have steadfast assurance during prayer, of receiving every spiritual blessing from the Lord, believe that by uniting yourself unto the Lord during your prayer you become one spirit with Him,^[886] and that God is most gracious, almighty, and most wise. He is all-perfect perfection, therefore you, too, according to your receptivity, according to your faith and love, will become a partaker of His Divine perfections. In the union of your soul with God, do not consider anything impossible or difficult of fulfillment, «for with God all things are possible»^[887] –not only the things which you can think of, or are thinking of, but also those which you cannot think of, or which you think of as impossible, for God is an infinite Being, and all His perfections are infinite.

1101) If you doubt of obtaining the blessings you ask of God, then remember at least that even you, being evil and avaricious, and not rich, not almighty, give to those in want who ask of you, and sometimes even before they ask you, when you only know of their need. «How much more shall your Father Who is in heaven,» who is most gracious, most rich, most wise and almighty, « give good things to them that ask Him.»^[888]

1102) The greater the number of persons for whom one asks blessings of the Lord, and the higher are these blessings, the more violently the Devil opposes the priest praying, in order that God should not grant these blessings at his earnest, fervent prayers; for, «According to your faith,» it is said, « be it unto you,»^[889] and «all things are possible to him that believes.»^[890] However, where the snares of the Devil abound, there also the grace of God abounds.

1103) He who prays should remember that if God spared not even His own Only Begotten Son for us sinners, but gave Him for us all, then how will He not give us everything, every imaginable blessing? For if the infinite greatest blessing has been given to us, then will not lesser blessings be also granted unto us? Our Heavenly Father gives us every blessing in Christ. «His Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him.»^[891]

1104) During prayer, when the Devil violently tempts you, cast all your care upon the Lord, « for He cares for you.»^[892] During prayer only have faith in the Lord, Who is at your right hand, and all things shall be possible unto you.

1105) When you sin for the fiftieth and hundredth time in the day, and are seized with the most devilish despondency, and despair in God's mercy, say, from the depths of your soul, with Metaphrastes (Symeon the Metaphrast): «I know well, O Lord, that my iniquities have gone over my head; but I also know that without measure is the multitude of Your bounties, and unspeakable is the mercy of Your great goodness, and no sin is there that can overcome Your loving-kindness. Therefore, O most wonderful King, O Lord most good, show Your mercies in me, a sinner; manifest in me the power of Your goodness and the might of Your loving-kindness, and receive me who turns to You. Accept me as You did the prodigal, the thief, and the sinful woman. Accept me, though in word and in deed, by my evil passions and unreasonable imaginations, I have sinned without measure against You. But, O Lord, O Lord, rebuke me not in Your righteous wrath; neither chasten me in Your hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for, though I am weak, I am also Your creature. You, O Lord, have established Your fear in me, and yet I have done evil in Your sight. O Lord my God, I have put my trust in You. If there is any hope of salvation for me, if Your loving mercy can overcome the multitude of my transgressions, be my Savior, and, according to Your goodness and mercy, loosen, remit, and forgive all that I have sinned; for my soul is full of trouble and there is no hope of salvation in me. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness; deal not with me according to my sins: but turn, preserve, and deliver my soul from the evils besetting it, and from all its wicked undertakings. Save me for Your mercy's sake, that where sin abounded Your grace may much more abound, and I will glorify You always, all the days of my life. For You are the God of the penitent, and the Savior of sinners.»^[893]

1106) Remember that if you do not speak idly during prayer, but say the words of the prayer with feeling, then your words shall not return to you void, without power (like the husk without the grain), but shall unfailingly bring you those same fruits which are contained in the word, as the fruit is enclosed in the shell. This is a most natural thing, as natural and common as the fruit and its shell in nature. But if you scatter the words to no purpose, without faith, without feeling their power, like the shell without the kernel, then they will return to you empty, in the same way as if you were to scatter the shell, the shell would return to you; but if you scatter seed, the full ears of corn will return to you; and the better, the richer are your seeds, the fuller shall be the ears of corn. It is the same with our prayers: the more sincerely, the more heartily each word is pronounced, the greater will be the fruit of the prayer. Each word, like a grain, shall bring you spiritual fruit, like a ripe ear of corn. Which of those who pray has not experienced this? It was not without reason that the Savior compared the seed with the word, and the human heart with the ground.^[894] The same applies to the words of the prayer. Also, who does not know that the rain moistens the ground and plants and waters them? Likewise, the word of God, and even our own word spoken with faith, shall not return to us without watering our own soul or the souls of others who are obedient and believing. This is just as natural as it is natural for rain to water and fructify the ground and plants, and to assist their growth.

1107) He who becomes irritated against another on account of something material, places a material object above his brother. But what can be higher than man ? Nothing on earth is higher.

1108) When you pray, endeavor to pray more for others than for yourself alone, and during prayer picture to yourself vividly all men as forming one body with yourself, and each separately as a member of the Body of Christ and your own member, «for we are members one of another.»^[895] Pray for all as you would pray for yourself, with the same sincerity and fervor; look upon their infirmities and sicknesses as your own; their spiritual ignorance, their sins and passions, as your own; their temptations, misfortunes, and manifold afflictions as your own. Such prayer will be accepted with great favor by the Heavenly Father, that most gracious, common Father of all, with Whom «there is no respect of persons,»^[896] «no variableness,»^[897] that boundless Love that embraces and preserves all creatures.

1109) It is a wonderful thing! Our soul, upon coming into contact with one who is unbelieving and cold towards God, feels an aversion to him, and the Devil endeavors to turn this just dislike and indignation into a feeling of malice. In order not to cherish malice, and not to serve the Devil by it, we must say to ourselves: «I feel a dislike and coldness towards my brother for his aversion and coldness to God, but I do not feel hatred or malice against him, for I bear with him as my own sick member, and I wish to cure him in meekness, instructing him that opposes himself, 'if God perhaps will give them [him] repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.'^[898] If he turns to God, I shall turn to him, also, with heartfelt love; if he becomes compassionate towards others, and does not think of himself alone, of his own advantage and pleasures, then I, too, shall sympathise with him.» Besides this, bear lovingly with everybody, and look more upon yourself, what you yourself are; are you not cold and indifferent to God and your neighbor yourself? If so, then there is no reason for you to cast a stone at your brother, when this stone should be directed against yourself.

1110) «God came upon earth in order to raise us up to heaven.»^[899] It would seem, after this, that even when living upon earth we must live as if in the heavenly kingdom, dwelling there in anticipation by hope. But in reality, for the greater part, the contrary is the case. Men cling with their whole being to the earth and everything earthly. Why is this? Because our common enemy, the Devil, endeavors with all his might to oppose the intentions of the God-man, Christ. He endeavors to do everything in opposition to what Christ did and does. Christ wishes to raise men up to heaven, and has given them all the means to attain this; while the Devil, who himself for his pride was cast down from heaven into the dominions of the air, wishes by every means to attach men to earthly,– sensual, transitory things, and, in order to attain this end, he employs the most powerful, most prodigious means. Christ taught us truth; the Devil teaches us falsehood, and strives in every way to contradict every truth; devising various calumnies against it. The Devil endeavors by every means to keep men in error, in the enticement of the passions, in darkness of mind and heart; in pride, avarice, covetousness, envy, hatred, wicked impatience and irritation; in evil despondence, in the abominations of fornication, adultery, theft, false-witness, blasphemy, negligence, slothfulness, and sluggishness.

1111) Bear in your heart continually the words «Christ is Love,» and endeavor to love all, sacrificing for the sake of love, not only your possessions, but even yourself.

1112) The root of every evil is a self-loving heart, or self-pity, self-sparing; it is from self-love, or from excessive and unlawful love for oneself, that all the passions proceed: coldness, insensibility, hard-heartedness towards God and our neighbor, wicked impatience or irritability, hatred, envy, avarice, despondency, pride, unbelief, incredulity, greediness after food and drink, or gluttony; the love of money, vanity, slothfulness, hypocrisy. Never pity yourself in anything, crucify yourself–your old man, nestling chiefly in the flesh–and you will strike at the root of all your passions. Bear patiently all that is unpleasant to your flesh; do not spare it, go against it, and you will become a true follower of the Christ. The whole wisdom of a Christian consists in his wisely going against his flesh in everything during his lifetime. «For I know that in me [that is, in my flesh] dwells no good thing,»^[900] says the Apostle.

1113) The heart of a perfectly healthy man becomes weakened for faith and love to God and his neighbor, and easily gives itself up to carnal desires: to slothfulness, negligence, coldness, gluttony, avarice, fornication, pride; while the heart of a sick man, or a wounded, oppressed, weary heart, is strengthened in faith, hope, and love, and is far removed from carnal passions. This is why the Heavenly Father, Who cares for our salvation, chastises us with various illnesses. The oppression and afflictions of sickness make us turn again to God.

1114) To love your neighbor as yourself, to sympathize with him in his joy and sorrow, to feed, clothe him, if he is in need of food and clothing; to breathe, so to say, the same air with him–look upon all this as the same thing as feeding and warming yourself, and do not count these as virtues or as works of love to your neighbor, lest you grow proud of them. «For we are members one of another.»^[901]

1115) I marvel at the omnipotence and wisdom of God–how He has created out of the one same earth and water the many and diverse parts of my body: flesh, blood, skin, bones, hair, lungs, liver, veins, eyes, ears, everything. How He set into motion this matter, inert and motionless in itself, and how the regular movements of the blood, juices, and liquids, separation of food, etc., are now uninterruptedly accomplished within me. Wonderful are Your works, O Lord, «in wisdom You have made them all.»^[902] You have no words to declare the wisdom, goodness, and omnipotence of God the Creator and Provider– ask them of the Word of God. And what a variety there is of heavenly and earthly creatures, animate and inanimate, created from the four elements! «Such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me, I cannot attain it.»^[903]

1116) I think; but for God to think and to create or change is one and the same thing, because He is That Which Is, an inseparable and almighty Being. Owing to His very inseparability, everything is possible to Him in a single moment. The Lord has spoken–and this is sufficient for one to believe without any doubt that a certain thing is precisely what He has said. Doubt is impossible. The Godhead would not be Godhead, if It were not almighty. «As for our God, He is in heaven: He has done whatever pleased Him.»^[904] He wishes, and it is. He wished that water should flow from the rock, and it flowed; He wished that there should be a world out of nothing, and it appeared. His works prove that He is almighty. Come and see.

1117) Try to turn your whole life into service to God; if you are reading anything at home, begin this work by a short fervent prayer that God may teach you and make you wise in faith and piety and in the careful accomplishment of your duties; never read idly, in order to pass the time; by thus doing you lower the word, which should serve entirely for our salvation, and not for idle words, nor as a means for pleasure and spending time agreeably. If you talk to your neighbor, speak reasonably, prudently, instructively, edifyingly; avoid idle speaking as the poison of a serpent, remembering that «every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account for on the day of judgment»^[905] –that is, they shall hear the just sentence of the Judge. If you are teaching children, your own or those of others, turn this work into God's service, teaching them zealously, considering beforehand the best means of making the instruction clear, comprehensible, complete (as far as possible), and fruitful. Conquer by the name of the Lord and by the sign of the cross the snares of the enemy, who endeavors to disturb, darken, oppress, and weaken you. Even when you eat, drink, or do anything else lawful, «do all to the glory of God.»^[906]

1118) In every word is God the Word, an inseparable Being. How carefully we must therefore pronounce the words, with what humility, how prudently, in order not to anger God the Word, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit!

1119) My Master, Lord Jesus Christ! My swift, most speedy Intercessor, Who never lets me be ashamed! I thank You from my whole heart for having mercifully heard me when I called unto You in my darkness, constraint, and when I was in the flames of the enemy; for having delivered me most speedily, mightily, and graciously from my enemies, and for having given unto my heart graciousness, ease, light! O, my Lord, in what distress I was from the snares of the enemy! How opportunely have You shown me Your help, and how manifestly and almightily have You succored me! I glorify Your mercy, Master, speedy to hear us; Hope of the despairing, I glorify You, that Thou hast not let my face be ashamed, but have mercifully delivered me from the darkness and ignominy of hell. How after this can I ever at any time despair of Your hearing me and having mercy upon me a sinner? I shall always, always call upon Your sweetest name, my Savior; You, O incalculable Bountifulness, save me as You have ever done before in Your immeasurable compassion, for Your name is Lover of men and Savior!

1120) Do not believe your flesh when it grows weak and refuses to serve you on the pretense of not being sufficiently strengthened by food. This is a delusion. Overcome it; pray fervently, and you will see that the weakness of your body was false, imaginary, not real: you will see in truth that « men shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.»^[907] Do not put your trust in bread.

1121) It is said: «Christ on earth, be lifted up.»^[908] This signifies that he who believes in Christ's coming upon earth, in His incarnation, and in all His loving care for our salvation, does not cling to the earth, but continually raises himself up to heaven in mind and heart; his will continually aspires upwards to God, to heavenly blessings, and is not allured by earthly delights, by earthly splendor, riches, and honors. Unfortunately, we have but little faith in Christ, and try to combine our love for the world with love for Christ, earthly attachments with love for God. These things are incompatible! «If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself»^[909] of everything he is passionately attached to in the world, and let him hate his own sin-loving soul. (December 24th, 1869.)

1122) My God! How the love and sincere sympathy of our neighbor towards us rejoices our hearts! Who shall describe this blessedness of the heart, penetrated with the feeling of others' love towards me, and my love to others? It is indescribable! If, here on earth, mutual love so rejoices us, then with what sweetness of love shall we be filled in heaven, when we shall dwell with God, with the Mother of God, with the heavenly powers, with God's saints? Who can imagine and describe such bliss, and what earthly temporal things should we not sacrifice in order to obtain the unutterable bliss of heavenly love? God, Your name is Love! Teach me true love, strong as death. I have most plenteously tasted its sweetness from my communion in the spirit of faith, in You, with Your faithful servants, and have obtained plenty of peace and life through it. Strengthen, O God, that which You have created in me. O, had it ever been thus all the days of my life! Grant that I may more often be in the communion of faith and love with Your faithful servants, with Your temples, with Your Church, with Your members!

1123) My sweetest Savior! Having come down from heaven for the service of mankind, You did not only preach the Word of Heavenly Truth in the temple, but You went through the towns and villages; You did not shun anyone; You visited the houses of all, especially of those whose fervent repentance You foresaw with Your Divine gaze. Thus You did not remain sitting at home, but had loving discourse with all. Grant to us, too, to be in such loving discourse with Your people, so that we pastors should not shut ourselves up in our houses away from Your sheep as if in castles or prisons, only coming out of them for services in the church or to officiate in the houses of others, only out of duty, only with prayers learned by heart. May our lips be freely opened to discourse with our parishioners in the spirit of faith and love. May our Christian love for our spiritual children be opened and strengthened by animated, free, and fatherly conversation with them. O what sweetness, what bliss You have concealed, Lord, our boundless Love, in the spiritual converse warmed by love of a spiritual father with his spiritual children! And how is it possible not to strive upon earth with all our might after such bliss? Yet it is only a faint beginning, only a faint likeness of the heavenly bliss of love! Especially love the communion of good works, both material and spiritual. « Do not forget to do good and share.»^[910]

1124) When the Devil disturbs you by unbelief in the Holy Mysteries, saying, «It is impossible that bread and wine should be the Body and Blood of Christ,» say to him, «yes, it is impossible for you and me–you are right–but not for God; 'for with God all things are possible.'»^[911] With God the thought itself is deed. «Said . . . and it was so.»^[912] He speaks, and it is. Short and clear. And all the worlds stand by the Word of God. «Upholding all things by the word of His power.»^[913] Do not the feet wish to stand above the body and, strange to say, teach the Creator of all things? Is it possible to doubt in the existence of that of which our own experience and the visible and invisible world assure us? What does the mystery of the existence of all creatures consist of? In the Word of the Creator. « Said . . . and it was so.» Everything proceeded from the Word, all the infinite different varieties of creatures from the almighty, most-wise, all-merciful Word of God, not from anything else. Examples are also given to you in the Scriptures as to how rapidly everything was created by the sovereign word of God: the waters were turned into blood at the voice of Moses, the dust of the earth into lice, a rod into a serpent; his hand was covered with leprosy, and then suddenly cured or restored; light was turned into a darkness that might be felt; Moses only stretched forth his hand, and in an instant the Lord changed the substance of things; the land of Egypt was covered with frogs when Aaron stretched forth his hand over the waters at Moses's bidding; again Moses took ashes in his hand and sprinkled it towards heaven, and men and beasts were covered with sores; Moses only stretched forth his rod toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail.^[914] Come and see. How easy it is for the Lord to create and to change everything! Does not the same Lord act through us priests, and with us as well? The Lord Himself is here, the Lord, Who was incarnate for us, and Who is the Mediator and the Accomplisher of all «For You are He that offers and is offered, and receives and is distributed.»^[915] The priest only says the words, stretches forth his hand, and the Lord changes everything.

1125) Remember that the intellect is the servant of the heart, which is our life; if it leads the heart to truth, peace, joy, and life, then it fulfills its destination, it is the truth; but if it leads the heart to doubt, disturbance, torment, despondency, darkness, then it does not fulfill its destination and is absolutely false («science falsely so called.»^[916] ) If the heart feels peace, joy, ease from faith in anything, this is quite sufficient; it is unnecessary, then, to require from the reason proofs of the truth of such an object; it is undoubtedly true the heart asserts it by its life, for the purpose of all investigations is truth and life.

1126) In ministering the sacrament of penitence, one feels onés own most miserable sinfulness before God, and all the misery, ignorance, and sinfulness of human nature. Confession is a cross, truly a cross! O what a debtor before his spiritual children a priest feels himself to be during confession! He truly feels himself to be an insolvent debtor, a debtor guilty before the heavenly truth, and deserving of thousands of the fires of Gehenna! One sees and feels at peoplés deep ignorance, at their ignorance of the truths of religion, and of their sins, at their stony insensibility, that a confessor must pray for them most fervently, and teach them day and night, early and late! O what ignorance! Some do not even know the Holy Trinity; they do not know who Christ is; they do not know why they live upon earth! And what a multitude of sins! Yet meanwhile, we seek enrichment, rest; we dislike labor, we become irritated when there is more of it than usual! We seek spacious abodes, rich clothing! Let us not love earthly rest, let us not become slothful, let us not be negligent in the performance of our spiritual duties, and let us not deprive ourselves of heavenly blessings and rest, for having tested the worldly rest in abundance here, what rest can we look for there?

1127) The most Holy Trinity is the most perfect union of three Persons in one Being, because it is the most perfect equality.

1128) He truly bestows charity who gives from his heart, and with a loving heart. He is truly merciful who converses with everyone heartily, and not only with the intellect and lips, who renders sincere, hearty respect to everyone, who preaches the Word of God and serves God with a true heart, not hypocritically–in a word, who embraces all, and carries all in his heart by love, despising everything material that may become a hindrance to love between himself and his neighbor– such a one is truly merciful.

1129) In order to prevent our corrupt nature from being allured by the temporary sweetness of sin, the Lord has so ordained that the most agreeable sensual pleasures upon which we greedily throw ourselves are injurious to us, both by their nature and through our own greediness and intemperance; such are almost all sweet dishes, all agreeable drinks, all sensual pleasures. Glory to the mercy and great wisdom of the Heavenly Father, Who uses every means to prevent us from falling into sensuality or the coarse pleasures of sensuality. Who has spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear all this, let him see and hear.^[917] Thus, Christian, the very injuriousness of sensual pleasures which are destructive to our body shows that we are not created and do not live upon earth for them, but for higher, spiritual, and eternal pleasures. And, therefore, my soul, rejoice and find peace in God. This is Your perfect, harmless, true and eternal enjoyment; this You have already experienced many times; while all earthly pleasures are delusive, injurious, fleeting, and bear in their very origin the germs of corruption the moment we approach them. Suffering and maladies are proof of this.

1130) Brother, you feel a deadly malice in your heart against your neighbor; you are tormented by evil thoughts from the offenses he causes you. Here is a means of saving yourself from inward constraint. Picture to yourself the multitude of your own sins, countless in their number, and vividly imagine how the Master of your life bears with them in you, how He daily and endlessly forgives you your sins if you pray to Him sincerely, while you yourself do not wish to forgive your neighbor a few fits of passion excited in him by the Devil. Sigh, weep if you can, at your own foolishness, condemn yourself only, and not in any way your neighbor, and the forgiveness of the Lord will be ready for you. Your inward constraint will vanish like smoke, your thoughts will become clear, your heart will become calm, and you will again walk in freedom of heart. Train yourself to meekness, be as though you did not hear reproaches, calumny, affronts, as if they were heard by somebody quite different, or by your shadow. Do not allow any suspicion. «I have walked innocently.»^[918] «While the ungodly is in my sight I held my tongue and spoke nothing: I kept silent.»^[919] «I became even as a man that hears not: and in whose mouth are no reproofs.»^[920]

1131) Christ is the Bread of life, therefore let us lay aside our care about other bread. The God Who gives us the Body and Blood of His Son for our food and drink will likewise give us natural bread. He Who clothes our soul in Christ will likewise give us material clothing. He Who deigns to dwell in us will not deprive us of a perishable dwelling.

1132) To doubt in the Divinity of the Holy Spirit means to doubt in our own life, for the Holy Spirit gives life, and spiritually feeds all–serves as a spiritual sun, as air, food, and drink to our souls; it means to reject prayer, for we pray through the Holy Spirit; to reject truth and holiness, for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and of all holiness; to reject every spiritual consolation and comfort in sorrows and sicknesses, for the Holy Spirit is the true and only Comforter, together with the Father and the Son; to reject faith, for faith is given by the Holy Spirit; to reject hope and love, for hope and love are likewise bestowed upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit: « The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given unto us»^[921] ; to reject spiritual and bodily power, for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of power and strength; to reject wisdom and understanding, the fear of God, our own breathing, for He is the breathing, the air of the soul; in a word, it means to doom ourselves to moral nothingness and destruction. Do not pay attention to doubts in the truth, for they are the breathing of the evil spirit, of the spirit of falsehood–the destroyer; « you shall know them by their fruits.»^[922] Doubt in the truth is always destructive to the soul. Every truth is the breathing of the Holy Spirit: the Word of God, the writings of the Holy Fathers and of the teachers of the Church, the words and works of every pious person who loves the truth.

1133) Love for God and our neighbor, in our present corrupt state is impossible without self-sacrifice; he who wishes to fulfill the commandment concerning love for God and his neighbor, ought to devote himself in good time to great deeds and privations for the sake of those that he loves. (Amen.) « By this, we perceive the love of God, because He (the Christ) laid down His life for us.»^[923] «Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.»^[924]

1134) God is eternally watchful; and therefore we must always pray to Him with a watchful and sober mind and heart: «Be therefore sober and watch unto prayer,»^[925] it is said, and drive away any self-forgetfullness and slothfulness from ourselves. Do not let your prayer evaporate and only dry words remain from it, but let it breathe with the warmth of the Spirit, like moist hot bread, just taken out of the oven.

1135) Many people pray hypocritically, and their hypocritical prayer becomes a habit with them; they do not even observe themselves, and do not wish to observe, that they pray hypocritically, and not in spirit and truth, so that if anybody were to accuse them of praying hypocritically, they would be angry with those who dared to say, in their opinion, such an absurdity. Men do not suddenly become hypocritical, but gradually. At first, perhaps, they prayed with their whole hearts, but afterwards–for always to pray with the whole heart is a difficult work, to which we must force ourselves, and « the kingdom of heaven » (it is said) «suffers violence»^[926] – they begin to pray more with their lips superficially, not from the depths of the soul, which is much easier, and finally at the increased assaults of the flesh and Devil, they only pray with their lips, without the power of the words of the prayer reaching the heart. There are very many people who pray like this. The Lord said of them: « This people draws nigh unto Me with their mouth and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.»^[927] What is said concerning prayer equally applies to the communion of the Holy, immortal, and life-giving Mysteries. At first, a man participates with lively faith, with a feeling of love and devotion, but afterwards, at the continual opposition of the flesh and the Devil to the truth of God, he lets them get the victory over him and participates hypocritically, not of the Body and Blood, but in accordance with the thoughts of his heart, of bread and wine. The essence of the Mysteries, «the spirit and life,»^[928] as the Savior said, « has no place»^[929] in him; he is thus inwardly robbed by Satan. May God preserve us all from such communion, from such blasphemy against the Lord! It is the same also with the sacrament of penitence.

1136) Confession is a school of self-denial for a priest. How many occasions there are in it for impatience, irritation, slothfulness, negligence, inattention! It is truly the touchstone of the priest's love for his parishioners. A priest ought not on any account to live in softness and ease, and especially must not indulge himself with sleep and pleasant food and drinks, otherwise the Devil will strike his heart with some passion or other, and will cast him into constraint and prostration. It is necessary to crucify, absolutely to crucify, the flesh. Confession for a priest is a labor of love for his spiritual children; it must be without respect of persons, long-suffering, compassionate; for charity doesn’t raise itself, is not puffed up, seeks not its own (its tranquility or gain), is not easily provoked, rejoices not in iniquity, or does not connive at iniquity, but rejoices in the truth, covers all things, endures all things, never fails.^[930] Then it is evident–then the priest himself sees and his spiritual children see, whether he is a shepherd or a hireling, a father or a stranger to his children, whether he seeks his own or Christ Jesus. My God, how difficult it is to hear people’s confession properly! How grievously one sins before God by not confessing them properly! How weak the word grows! How many hindrances the enemy puts in our way! How obstructed the source of the word becomes in the heart! How the tongue and intellect fail! O, how much preparation is required for confession! How one must pray for the successful accomplishment of this great work! And what ignorance one encounters in the spiritual children! It is necessary to be with them day and night, calmly, gently, and most patiently teaching each one of them. What a cross confession is for a priest, being conscious of the ignorance of those who confess to him, of their coldness, of their sinfulness of every kind, and having at the same time the consciousness of his own sinfulness, of his own infirmity, languidness, the inertness of his heart to sympathy, and to zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of his neighbor, as for his own. And how many crosses the Devil lays upon one during confession! He turns the work of love, the work of the discourse of a father with his children, into the work of a hireling with slaves, unwillingly reckoning with them.

1137) The Lord Jesus Christ, together with His Father and the Holy Spirit, is everywhere. The angels and saints are one spirit with the Lord. But if, by the action of the evil spirit, you have lost for a time hearty faith in the Holy Spirit, then during that time there is neither Son nor Father for you, for faith is given by the Holy Spirit, by the Spirit of Truth–that is, the Spirit of Christ, Who said of Himself: «l am the truth;»^[931] or by the Spirit of the Father: «The Spirit of your Father, Which speaks in you;»^[932] or by the Spirit of the Son: «God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts.»^[933]

1138) Concerning words. In words, there is an image of the most Holy Trinity, for in a word, there is both thought, and word, and spirit. When praying truly with the whole heart, we feel that we are praying by the Holy Spirit: the words are penetrated by such hearty warmth, while sometimes we feel that we are praying not by the Holy Spirit, but by the spirit of falsehood: the lips say one thing, and the heart feels another, sometimes quite the contrary; for instance, we say the words with doubt, in the spirit of impatience, of resentment against someone, or in the spirit of pride, of self-exaltation, not acknowledging ourselves to be that which we really are.

1139) Concerning Malice. If you are angry with your brother on account of his sins, even supposing they are offensive ones, then recollect that you yourself are also not without sins which are also offensive, although they may perhaps be of a different sort. You desire that your shameful sins should be covered by the indulgence, by the all-sheltering love of your neighbors; recollect how thankful you would be to them, how lovingly you would embrace them for their all-enduring love; how this indulgence would lighten your already grievous sorrow for your sins, and would strengthen your weakness in your struggle against them, would strengthen your spirit by trust in God's mercy! But that which you would desire for yourself in such cases you must also desire for your brother: he is your member and a member of Christ's. «You shall love Your neighbor,» it is said, «as yourself.»^[934] When judging your neighbor in the malice of your heart for his sins, always remember that you yourself are not without sin. «And why do you see the splinter that is in your brother's eye, but not the beam that is in your own eye! You hypocrite «–truly a hypocrite–"first cast out the beam out of your own eye: and then you will see clearly to cast out the splinter out of your brother's eye.»^[935] Besides, your brother « stands or falls to his own Master,»^[936] and not to you. And if your brother has sinned against you, then you must certainly forgive him his offense against you, or his transgressions against you. You yourself are greatly in need daily of your own sins being forgiven you by the Heavenly Father, and you pray: «Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.»^[937] And if you wish your sins to be forgiven you, you must forgive your brother's sins against you. « For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.»^[938]

1140) Our soul is single, because it cannot at the same time love both God and, for instance, money, food, drink; or both its neighbor and at the same time money, food, and drink. Therefore it is said: « No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches.»^[939] This is why the Psalmist says by the Holy Spirit: «If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.»^[940] Thus, Christian, be afraid, each one of you, of setting your heart upon money, food, drink, dress, luxurious rooms, books, or profane music; do not love, do not indulge the flesh by anything; either by pleasures, fine views, dainty food, and drink, or by sleep, idleness, and slothfulness, by shameful deeds, games, idle traveling, or frivolous books and sights. Love the one God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your thoughts, and your neighbor as yourself, and be indifferent to everything else in the world. Do not attach yourself to or be greedy after anything. Strive after singleness in everything, in order to be loved by the inseparable Being God. Drive away all craftiness, doubt, incredulity, and duplicity from your soul.

1141) God is Life; He gave being and life to everything. He is That Which Is and Almighty, for everything proceeds from Him, and everything is supported by Him; let us therefore know Him Who alone Is. The Devil is death, because he voluntarily turned away from God the Life, and as God is That Which Is, so the Devil, by reason of his having completely fallen away from That Which Is, is the cause of that which is not, of imagination, enticement, for he cannot truly bring anything into being by the word; thus he is falsehood, as God is truth.

1142) What air is to animal bodies and vegetation, the Holy Spirit is to spiritual beings, to angels and men. This is why the Lord said: « The Spirit blows where it will and you hear the sound» (the breathing), «but can’t not tell where it comes and goes.»^[941] Believe, therefore, that your soul breathes by the Holy Spirit; know your Benefactor, your Life, revere Him daily and honor Him by love and good works. Avoid the deadly breathing of the Devil, of the sins and passions, and especially enmity, discord, pride, and unbelief. Say to yourself more often: My soul breathes by the Holy Spirit, may I ever glorify the Holy Spirit, together with the Father and the Son!

1143) We must always remember that man is the breathing of God's mouth and the image of God–of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit–while the sins and infirmities in him are accidental, coming from without, foul stains which can easily be cleansed by grace. « You shall purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; You shall wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.»^[942] We must remember that «God so loved the world,» though it is adulterous and sinful, « that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.»^[943] And we must love with God (as God does) every man as ourselves. We love ourselves though we are great sinners; we must also love others, though they may be sinful too, for there is no one without sin.

1144) False thoughts in the matter of faith immediately reveal themselves; they kill the life of the heart, which is a sign that they proceed from a liar, a visionary, having the power of death –the Devil. True thoughts show their truth by deeds; they give life to the heart, a sign that they proceed from the life-giving Spirit of God, the Life itself, Who proceeds from the Life–the Father–and rests in the Life–the Son. «By their fruits you shall know them.»^[944] Do not, therefore, be disturbed, and do not linger in trouble and doubt when deadly thoughts come crowding into your head and oppress your heart and your soul; they are false, they proceed from the Devil, the destroyer of men. Drive them away, and do not ask where they come from, these uninvited guests: by their fruits you shall instantly know them. Do not enter into controversy with them, it will lead you into a labyrinth from which you will not be able to extricate yourself, in which you will become entangled and exhausted.

1145) I love to gaze upon the image of the risen Life-giver with the banner in His hand, with that symbol of victory over death and Him who has the power of death: « O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?»^[945] What a glorious Victor! What a cruel, most wicked enemy He has conquered! An enemy who gloried in his victories for thousands of years! «To You, Conqueror of death, we cry: Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.»^[946] «We glorify You, Life-giving Christ, Who descended into hell for our sakes, and did raise all with Yourself.»^[947] «In rising from the tomb, Christ, You did raise all the race of Adam with Yourself.»^[948]

1146) «Every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account for on the day of judgment»^[949] From this you see that an answer and a punishment awaits you for every idle word, and not only for scandalous, shameful ones. It is because that with our Lord, the All-creating Word, there is not, and cannot be, any idle words: « The word of the Lord shall not return to him void »^[950] –» for with God nothing shall be impossible.»^[951] And as we are created after God's image, therefore our words too ought not to be pronounced idly, in vain, unmeaningly, but every word of ours ought to have spiritual, edifying power. «Let your speech always be with grace.»^[952] Therefore, be most watchful not to speak idly, unmeaningly, either in prayer or in conversation.

1147) How can you worthily, with faith and love, receive the Body of Christ when you despise His members or don’t have compassion for them? All Christians are members of Christ, and especially the poor. Love His members, have compassion upon them, and the Master will plentifully bestow His rich mercy upon you. And can any mercy be greater than that which our Savior bestows upon us in the communion of His most pure body and of His most pure blood?

1148) The words «For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever,» signify You alone are everywhere and eternally reigns, Almighty and glorious King; or, the kingdom is the Father, the power the Spirit, and the glory the Son, for it is said, «I have glorified You on the earth.»^[953]

1149) Do not be dead at heart, do not let your heart incline to slothfulness, to spiritual sleep, and to hardened unfeelingness; otherwise woe to you, when its disposition is such during God's service, which requires labor both of heart and mind. Uproot from your heart, by every means, both bodily and spiritual pride, which resists the Holy Spirit; it lies imperceptibly hidden in your heart, and clearly shows itself in your intercourse with your fellow-men, or during prayer.

1150) From the essence of the thinking spirit is born the word, inherent to it, which discloses the thought, and is equal to it. From the thought, and with the thought, proceeds the spirit, resting in the word and communicating in the word to those who listen; this spirit is fully equal to the thought and to the word, and is inherent to them. For instance, in the words «I love,» one sees both the loving origin and the words born from it, and one feels a kind of pleasant breathing of love.

1151) I render thanks to the Lord my God, to the God of my salvation! During Passion Week the enemy hindered me just before the time of confession by striking my heart with constraint, disturbance, and evil despondency. But I prayed with my whole heart, and with undoubting faith to Him, to the God of my salvation, and said: «O God, most merciful Father! You spoke through Your Only begotten Son, our Lord Christ, saying: 'Ask, and it shall be given you.... for every one that asks- receives.... or what man is there of you whom, if his son asks for bread, will he give him a stone. . . . how much more shall your Father, Who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him.'^[954] Embracing by faith these Your words in my heart, I call upon You: Give unto me now Your Holy Spirit that my heart may be strengthened in performing the work of confession in the wise remission or binding of the consciences of men, in patience and benignity, in kindly and edifying behavior with my spiritual children.» And what happened ? O God of mercy! I went through the whole time of confession exceedingly well; I was calm, kind, edifying, and did not experience any oppression or uneasy hurry. I glorify the merciful right hand of the most gracious Heavenly Father. Thus it is ever necessary to strengthen oneself by heartfelt prayer to the Heavenly Father before every spiritual work, as our Lord Jesus Christ Himself prayed before His manifestation to mankind before the choosing of the apostles before His sufferings.

1152) Do not be offended if anyone speaks or behaves insincerely to you, for do you yourself always speak and behave sincerely with others? Are you not often hypocritical? Do you always converse sincerely, not hypocritically, with God in prayer? Do not your lips often pronounce words of truth, while your heart lies? Do you walk before God in sincerity, in simplicity? If you yourself are not right before God and men, if you are often false, hypocritical, then do not be angry if others behave insincerely, hypocritically towards you. «However a man sins, by the same also shall he be punished.»^[955] Be indulgent to others in that which you yourself sin.

1153) Believe firmly that the wickedness of the Devil in you and your own wickedness will never conquer the unspeakable, infinite mercy of God. Great is the wickedness of the Devil in you, but the mercy of God is infinitely greater. Therefore, in times of doubt, incredulity, blasphemy, malice, envy, avarice, covetousness, involuntary hypocrisy, entreat the Lord with hope, and be sure that His infinite goodness will incline Him to have mercy upon you, if you turn from your wickedness.

1154) Be charitable to the poor, willingly, without suspicion, doubt, and minute investigation, remembering that in the person of the poor you do good to Christ Himself, as it is written: «Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, My brethren, you have done it unto Me.»^[956] Know that your charity is always nothing in comparison with man, that child of God; know that your alms are but earth and dust; know that any material charity must absolutely be accompanied by spiritual charity: kind, brotherly, open-hearted, loving behavior towards your neighbor; do not let him notice that you are doing him a favor, do not appear proud. « He that gives,» it is said, «let him do it with simplicity.... he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness.»^[957] See, then, that you do not take away the value from your material charity by not showing spiritual charity. Know that on the day of judgment the Master will test your good works too. Remember that both heaven and earth are given to man, for to him «is reserved in heaven an inheritance incorruptible;»^[958] for man, God the Father did not spare His Only Begotten Son, but delivered Him unto death. The Devil hinders us in our good works through our subtlety.

1155) The words of a prayer are like. rain or snow if they are pronounced with faith and feeling: each of them contains its power and its fruit. The rain-drops or snowflakes falling in a continuous stream, or in isolated flakes water the ground, and it germinates and brings forth fruit. Likewise, the words of a prayer–this spiritual rain–each separately, water the soul, it germinates and brings forth the fruits of the virtues co-operating with the Holy Spirit, especially if there is a rain of tears besides.

1156) Human charity is suspicious: it fears lest it may somehow give to a person who already has something, or lest it may give too much. But the Lord's charity is not like this: « The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.»^[959] «Unto everyone that has,» says the Lord, «shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that has not, shall be taken away even that which he has.»^[960]

1157) Do not indulge your slothful flesh during prayer; do not hurry. The flesh, growing weary and oppressed by the holy work, hastens to finish praying, in order to rest or to occupy itself with worldly or carnal matters.

1158) Let simplicity accompany you everywhere. Be especially simple in your faith, hope, and love, for God is an inseparable Being, the eternally-worshiped Unity, and our soul is also simple. The flesh hinders the simplicity of our soul when we gratify it–for instance, when we eat sweets, and, in general, when we eat and drink pleasantly and much, when we smoke, and in general do what pleases it, for then it preponderates over the spirit.

1159) How sharply are distinguished in us, on one side, the good spirit, the spirit of peace, of tranquility, joy, light, the life-giving spirit; and, on the other side, the evil spirit, the spirit of strait-ness, weariness, despondency, darkness, the spirit that destroys our soul. The first is the Spirit of God, by which we live, spiritually breathe, move, and exist; the second is the evil spirit, Satan.

1160) The God of Love is unchangeable, and we ought to be unchangeable and constant in our love. « Charity never fails,»^[961] while dislike, hatred, or indifference and neglect proceed from the Devil.

1161) Every word of the Master is spiritual or material being, because He is That Which Is and the Creator. The Master, the Lord God, is almighty, because He is an infinite Spirit, unlimited power and wisdom j and every thought of His immediately is or may be in accordance with His will, deed, life.

1162) Unfortunate is he who immoderately loves the comforts of life, and has surrounded himself with all possible comforts. He will shun every discomfort; he will become effeminate and unaccustomed to patience; while the life of the Christian is all discomfort, a narrow, rough way, a cross, requiring discomfort and great patience. And therefore, Christian wrestler, do not seek for all comforts in your dwelling and surroundings; do not love the comforts of this world, but love Christ, the cross-bearer. Endure discomfort, accustom yourself to discomforts: «I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content,»^[962] says the Apostle. Unfortunate is he who loves adornment and seeks the adornment of his body; he will not strive as he ought for the adornment of his soul by faith, love, meekness, humility, righteousness, patience. Especially unfortunate is he who seeks to be adorned with honors; he will make a shameful idol of himself, like Nebuchadnezzar; will become proud in his demeanour towards those who have not such honors, and will exact reverence «not with costly array.»^[963] Even we men, like women, seek after adornment and adorn ourselves like idols, while we think but little of inward beauty, and even entirely forget the inward temple, or the tabernacle, of our soul. Unfortunate is he who loves haste: he will meet with a multitude of obstacles, with thousands of unpleasantries and inward constraint, through his haste, and will have many occasions for irritation. Unfortunate is he who is passionately fond of eating and drinking, cares for overindulging and enjoyments: he will indeed find, when he begins to labor for the Lord, that food and drink, if we set our heart upon them, are a heavy burden for the body, affliction and destruction for the spirit, and that man can be really satisfied with very, very little and simple food.

1163) The human soul is single, like the spirit; therefore it ought also to be single in love; that is, it ought to love God as its Author, from Whom it came forth, and man as itself–like unto like; it ought not to attach itself for an instant in any way to the things of this world, for these are not akin to it, and it is because of their not being of the same nature as our soul that the soul feels itself so ill at ease when it cleaves to them.

1164) Every word of Holy Writ, every word of the Divine liturgy, of the morning and evening services, every word of the Sacramental prayers and of the other prayers, has in itself the power corresponding to it and contained in it, like the sign of the honorable and life-giving cross. Such grace is present in every word of the Church, on account of the Personal Incarnate Word of God, Who is the Head of the Church, dwelling in the Church. Besides this, every truly good word has in itself the power corresponding to it, owing to the all-filling simple Word of God. With what attention and reverence, with what faith, must we therefore pronounce each word! For the Word is the Creator Himself, God, and through the Word all things were brought into existence from non-existence.

1165) The Holy Mysteries are called the Divine gifts, because they are given to us by the Lord quite freely, for nothing, undeservedly on our part. Instead of punishing us for our daily numberless transgressions and giving us over to spiritual death, the Lord, in the Holy Mysteries, grants us forgiveness and cleansing from our sins, sanctification, peace of our spiritual powers, healing and health of soul and body, and every blessing solely in accordance with our faith. If, then, the Lord daily gives us Himself, His Divine Mysteries, to partake of, ought we not therefore absolutely to give freely, for nothing, perishable goods such as money, food, drink, clothes, to those who ask us for them? And how can we be angered with those who eat our bread for nothing when we ourselves partake freely of the priceless and immortal food of the Body and Blood of the Lord? «Of him that takes away Your goods, ask them not again.»^[964]

1166) You live in God's house–in this beautiful world–and enjoy all the gifts of God's goodness and bountifulness freely given through nature. You live in God's house – in the Church, or in the company of the saved, and you enjoy all the gifts of grace for your salvation; also freely therefore you trust unhesitatingly and freely do good to your brethren, as far as lies in your power. Do good even to those who are ungrateful and evil, that you may be the child of the Highest.^[965] Receive all willingly in your house, knowing that you yourself live freely in the house of God, in the universe, and in the spiritual house of God–the Church, which prepares you for the life eternal. Give joyfully, and let others partake freely at your table, remembering that you, too, freely partake daily at the Lord's table of His most pure Body and Blood (16th April, 1862).

1167) You say: «What can I do with my heart? It sets itself in opposition to everything true and holy; it becomes weakened by unbelief where strong faith is required; it fails when faithfulness unto death is necessary; it does not tremble, and is even ready to mock when it should tremble and fear. What can I do! What shall I do,» you say, « with my heart?» recognize firmly, once and for all, as an irrevocable truth, that your heart is falsehood and a pillar of falsehood. «All men are liars,»^[966] while everything that is in the Church, beginning with the Word of God down to the shortest prayer, is truth; that «the Church» of God «is the pillar and ground of the truth,»^[967] for it is founded upon the corner-stone–Christ, Who is the Truth, and is animated and eternally guided by the Holy Spirit, Who is the Spirit of truth.

1168) The Church is the sure way to the life eternal; walk in it without deviating, hold fast to it, and you will gain the kingdom of heaven; but if you turn aside at the crossroads of your own sophistry and unbelief, then you have only yourself to blame, you will go astray and be lost. «I am the way, the truth, and the life.»^[968]

1169) There is no doubt that in the hearts of many people the presence of the Devil manifests itself by a kind of spiritual languor, prostration, and slothfulness for every good and useful work, especially for works of faith and piety requiring attention and soberness of heart, and for spiritual work in general. Thus he strikes the heart with languor and the intellect with dullness during prayer, with coldness and indolence when it is necessary for us to do good–for instance, to have compassion upon those who suffer, to help those who are in need, to comfort those who are in sorrow, to teach the ignorant, to guide the erring and vicious into the way of truth. We must constantly watch our heart, drive away from it the mists of slothfulness and hardened unfeelingness, and see that it should always burn with faith and love for God and our neighbor, and ever be ready for every kind of labor and self-sacrifice for the glory of God and the salvation of our neighbor. «Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit: serving the Lord.»^[969] The Devil also manifests his presence in our hearts by unusually violent irritation. We sometimes become so sick with our own self-love that we cannot even endure the slightest contradiction, any spiritual or material obstacles; cannot bear a single, rough, harsh word. But that is the very time for endurance when the waters of malice and impatience reach the depths of our souls. «In your patience, you possess your souls.»^[970] «The rain descended, and the floods came . . . upon that house.»^[971] What will become of it? What will become of the man himself when the Devil lets in upon him the floods of his temptations and blows upon him with the wind of his snares? If the Christian stands firmly upon the rock, Christ, then he will not fall; but if he stands upon the sand of his own sophistry and passions, then great will be his fall.^[972]

1170) Am I not everything to you, My worm, adorned with Mine image? To what, then, do you cleave ? In what else do you trust? Do not leave Me, the Source of living water (of life); I am the very Life. Our Life–the Lord–is single. If He is in the heart, it is enough. He alone supports our life. Therefore it is said: « Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.»^[973]

1171) Do not be slothful in praying fervently for others at their request, or of yourself, and together with them; you will thus obtain a recompense from God–the grace of God in your heart, which shall rejoice you and strengthen you in faith and love for God and your neighbor. These words are true; they are taken from experience. In general, we do not pray very willingly for others, but more out of obligation and habit, and without our heart fully participating in the prayer; we must force ourselves to pray from the whole heart, with great faith, with great boldness, in order that we may obtain great and rich mercy from the bountiful and greatly-endowing God! « Let him ask,» it is said, « in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.»^[974] It pleases the Lord, the common Father of all, when we pray for each other willingly with faith and love, for He is Love, ready to forgive all for their mutual love. The Holy Spirit said: «Pray one for another, that you may be healed.''^[975] You see how pleasing to God, and how fruitful the prayer of one for another is.

1172) When you are praying to God, then you can not picture to yourself His nearness, how so that you breathe every moment in Him, that you are enlightened, sanctified, rest, are comforted, and strengthened by Him–that, in a word, you live in Him, in accordance with the Scripture: » For in Him we live, and move, and have our being: He gives life to all, and breath, and all things.»^[976] «God [the Word] is nigh You, even in Your mouth, and in your heart . . . that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.»^[977]

1173) A Christian ought to pray for all Christians, as for himself, that God may prosper them in life, in faith, and in spiritual wisdom, and may free them from sins and passions. Why? In accordance with Christian love, which sees in all Christians, its own members and members of God the Christ, the common Savior of all, desires for them the same as for itself, and strives by every means to do unto them as unto itself.

1174) We have icons in our houses, and venerate them, in order to show, among other things, that the eyes of God and of all the heavenly dwellers are constantly fixed upon us, and see not only all our acts, but also our words, thoughts and desires.

1175) I thank my mother Church, for having shown me in the litanies what to pray for–"For we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Itself intercedes for us,» in the litanies, « with groanings which cannot be uttered.»^[978] Glory to the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter! I believe that in accordance with the Savior's promise, He will dwell with us forever, and will guide us into all truth, and will not allow those who seek God's truth zealously and humbly to err. Why do we begin our prayers by the prayer to the Heavenly King–the Spirit of truth? Because He is the Teacher and the Giver of prayer, because He dwells with us forever, and works in the world. We thank You, Lord Jesus, that for Your sake the Holy Spirit also came down from heaven into the world!

1176) Christ is our hope, our cleansing and sanctification, our resurrection, life and repose. He alone-is what we all need, and, therefore, the Church constantly pronounces these words aloud so that we may hear them during the requiems or funeral services, and during the other Church services, for we are inclined to forget the only thing we need; the passions draw away after them our intellect, memory and imagination, our heart and will. With death all will be taken from us, all earthly goods: riches, honors, the beauty of the body, beauty of raiment, spacious dwellings, all the sweetness of food and drink, but the virtue of the soul, that incorruptible raiment, shall remain with us eternally; and Christ–our eternal riches, our life and true beauty, true glory and honor, our incorruptible raiment– will eternally remain with us.

1177) In order that a Christian should lead a Christian life, and that the life of the spirit should not be completely extinguished in him, both private prayer and public prayer are necessary for him; it is also indispensable that he should attend Divine service in the temple with faith, understanding and zeal, just as it is indispensable to pour oil into a lamp, in order that it should burn and not go out; but as sincere, fervent prayer is connected with abstinence, therefore, in order to maintain the Christian life within ourselves–that is, the ardour of faith, hope, and love–abstinence and fasting are necessary. Nothing so soon extinguishes the spirit of faith within us as intemperance, indulgence, distraction and an irregular life. My spirit is quenched, I die spiritually when I do not celebrate service in the temple for a whole week, and my spirit becomes inflamed, I live again, in soul and heart, when I officiate, forcing myself to prayer, not formally, but really, spiritually, sincerely, ardently. But how many bodiless enemies I then have to struggle against! How many wiles and slanders of theirs I have to overcome! The theater likewise extinguishes faith and the Christian life, teaching distraction, cunning (or knowledge of the world), a fondness for laughter and joking; it trains clever children of this world, but not children of light. The theater is the opponent of the Christian life; it is the offspring of the spirit of this world, and not of the Spirit of God. True children of the Church do not visit it.

1178) Nothing in the world is more important than the salvation of human souls, and there is no subject more worthy of unceasing and perpetual remembrance than the redemption of the world by the Son of God from sin, the curse and eternal death. The Holy Church has engraved in her Divine services, by means of eternally indelible letters, by images and rites, the whole ordering of our salvation, in order that men–so inclined to forget God, and the salvation of their souls, and all that God has done for their salvation, eternal joy and bliss–should constantly have, so to say, before their eyes, and as though within their reach, all God's great, most wise and good deeds concerning them, and that they may continually be urged to repentance, amendment, and salvation, and shun the vanities of this corrupt and fleeting world. «The world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides forever.»^[979]

1179) Watch yourself continually, in order that the spiritual life and spiritual wisdom should not be dried up within you. Meditate more often upon what you read, or sing, or hear in church, or sometimes at home. Live as the saints lived: by their prayers, wisdom, and virtues; in meekness, humility, and gentleness, not sparing yourself, but renouncing yourself, your rest, ease and enjoyment, for the love of God and your neighbor, in patience, courage and struggle–have their faith, hope and love. « Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and you yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding.»^[980]

1180) If you read worldly magazines and newspapers, and derive some profit from them, as a citizen, a Christian, and a member of a family, then you ought still more and still more often to read the Gospel and the writings of the Holy Fathers; for it would be sinful for a Christian, who reads worldly writings, not to read divinely-inspired ones. If you follow the events of the outer world, do not lose sight of your inner world, your own soul besides: it is nearer and dearer to you. Only to read worldly magazines and newspapers means only to live with one side of the soul, and not with the whole soul; or only to live by the flesh, and not by the spirit. Everything worldly will come to an end with the world itself. And «the world passes away, and the lust thereof [all its devices]; but he that does the will of God abides forever.»^[981]

1181) Attachment to outward things immediately causes coldness towards God and the work of our salvation; coldness towards our neighbor, or hatred and envy towards him, if it depends upon him to give us certain things and he does not give them to us, or if we are obliged to give them to him against our will. Therefore, it is good to be perfectly indifferent to outward things, in order not to have any occasion for enmity towards our neighbor, which is a great sin. Be above all attachments to this perishable, vain, fleeting world; live by your heart in heaven, and love the incorruptible blessings prepared for those who love God and their neighbor.

1182) A priest, like an angel of the Almighty Lord, ought to be above all passions and spiritual disturbances, above all worldly or vain attachments and fears, occasioned by demons; he ought to be entirely in God, to love and fear Him alone. The fear of man means that he does not yet entirely cleave to God.

1183) Do not forget yourself in looking upon the bodily face– look more attentively with your inward vision upon the face of your soul, what aspect it wears: is it not disfigured by the passions? and if so, destroy this disfigurement by prayer and tearful repentance. Do not forget yourself in looking upon beautiful raiment: it is corruption; but consider the incorruptible raiment of your soul, in what state it is: is it not hideous and impure, owing to frequent transgressions, both secret and evident; and strive to clothe your soul in the imperishable beauty of meekness, humility, chastity and purity, mercy and righteousness.

1184) «I believe in one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.» Do you believe that all Orthodox Christians are members of one and the same body, and that therefore we must all «keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,»^[982] must care for one another, help one another? Do you believe that the saints are likewise members of the one body of Christ–that is, of the Church, and are our brethren, interceding for us before God in heaven? Do you respect every Christian, as a member of Christ, as His brother according to human nature? Do you love everybody, as yourself, as your own flesh and blood? Do you generously forgive offenses ? Do you help others in need, if you yourself have means ? Do you teach the ignorant ? Do you turn the sinner from the error of his ways? Do you comfort those who are in affliction? Faith in the Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church inspires, obliges you to do all this; and for all this you are promised a great reward from the Head of the Church–our Lord Jesus Christ.

1185) Through our attachment to perishable things, by thoughts and cares about them, we lose sight of objects of the greatest importance, of the objects really natural to our souls, constituting their true and eternal element; we hew out for ourselves « cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water,» and forsake «the Fountain of living waters»;^[983] we do not turn spiritual, holy, heavenly and life-giving thoughts into our life, into our blood, and continue to live by worldly, earthly, passionate thoughts and aspirations, which only oppress, torment, and slay us. O, if we could ever reason, as the Gospel teaches us, as the holy Church teaches us in her Divine services, prayers, at the celebration of the sacraments and other offices, as the Holy Fathers did in their writings! Then even upon earth we should all become citizens of heaven, speaking heavens.

1186) The Divine Liturgy is truly a heavenly service upon earth, during which God Himself, in a particular, immediate, and most close manner, is present and dwells with men, being Himself the invisible Celebrant of the service, offering and being offered. There is nothing upon earth holier, higher, grander, more solemn, more life-giving than the Liturgy. The temple, at this particular time, becomes an earthly heaven; those who officiate represent Christ Himself, the Angels, the Cherubim, Seraphim and Apostles. The Liturgy is the continually repeated solemnisation of God's love to mankind, and of His all-powerful mediation for the salvation of the whole world, and of every member separately: the marriage of the Lamb–the marriage of the King's Son, in which the bride of the Son of God is–every faithful soul; and the Giver of the bride–the Holy Spirit. With what prepared, pure, elevated souls it is therefore necessary to assist at the Liturgy, in order not to be among the number of those who, having no wedding garment, but a garment defiled by passions, were bound hand and foot, and cast out from the marriage feast into utter darkness. while now, unfortunately, many do not even consider it necessary to assist at the Liturgy at all; others only go out of habit, and go away in the same state of mind as they came, without elevated thoughts, without a contrite heart, with an unrepentant soul, without the determination to amend. Some stand in church irreverently, inattentively, without any concentration of mind, without any previous self-preparation at home by means of meditation and abstinence; and many manage to drink and eat more than they should before service. When the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai the Hebrew people were ordered to previously prepare and cleanse themselves. In the Divine service we have not a lesser event than God's descent upon Mount Sinai, but a greater one: here before us is the very face of God the Lawgiver. When the Lord appeared to Moses upon Mount Horeb in the bush, he was ordered to take off his shoes from his feet; but here is a greater manifestation of God than upon Horeb; there was only the prototype, here is the Typifier Himself. O, how we cling to earthly things! We do not even wish to devote one hour exclusively to God! Even during the Divine, most heavenly Liturgy we allow ourselves to think and dream of earthly things, and fill our souls with images and desires for earthly things, sometimes–alas!–even with impure images; when we ought to be praying ardently, to be assiduously meditating upon this great mystery, to be repenting of our sins, longing and praying to be cleansed, sanctified, enlightened, renewed, and strengthened in the Christian life, and in the fulfillment of Christ's commandments; when we ought to be praying for the living and dead; for the Liturgy is a sacrifice of propitiation, thanksgiving, praise, and prayer. Great is the Liturgy! In it, remembrance is made, not of the life of any great man, but that of God Incarnate, Who suffered and died for us, Who rose again, ascended into heaven, and Who shall come again to judge the whole world!

1187) What is false gratitude to God? Gratitude is false when, having received bountiful, undeserved spiritual and material gifts from God, people thank God for them with their tongue, and use them only for their own advantage, not sharing them with their neighbors; when they obtain them and conceal them in their treasuries, chests, libraries; thus depriving many of their brethren of spiritual enlightenment, instruction, and consolation; or of food, drink, clothing, dwelling; or of being cured of their maladies; or of the means of moving from one place to another for the purpose of acquiring means of subsistence. Such gratitude is false and impious. It means thanking God with the tongue, and meanwhile showing extreme ingratitude and ill-nature in deed. But how many such grateful–or, rather, ungrateful–men there are!

1188) Our corrupt nature is inclined to speedily forget every thing holy and salutary, because sins and passions continually cloud and darken our heads and hearts, occupy them, and dominate in them, thrusting out remembrances, thoughts, and feelings about holy events and God's great benefits to up. Therefore the holy Church, faithful guardian of her Lord's commandments, of all His teaching and works, eternally grateful for His unspeakable benefits, has instituted the solemn commemorative celebration, in the daily, as well as in the Sunday and festival services, with picturesque, impressive, emblematical rites, of all the saving events of the life and acts of our Lord Jesus Christ, all the orderings of His salvation in the Old and in the New Testament, as well as the creation itself by Him of the visible and invisible world; and not only the events of His own all-saving, most wonderful life, but also those from the life of His Most Pure Mother, Who so gloriously served to the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God; from the life of His Forerunner, and the lives of the Apostles, Prophets, Hierarchs, Martyrs, venerable Fathers, disinterested, righteous persons, and of all the Saints, who pleased and served God in every way; of these innumerable witnesses of the Lord, and of the truth and saving properties of His Divine religion, and all His Divine teaching, who have inherited the life everlasting in accordance with His promise. This is useful and necessary for the strengthening of our faith, hope and love, for the spiritual education of all Christian mankind; for constantly teaching them the dogmas of faith and various virtues, such as faithfullness, courage, patience, meekness, kindness, humility, disinterestedness, abstinence, purity, chastity, and other virtues; for the lives of the Lord and of His Most Pure Mother, as well as those of the Saints, present examples of all the virtues, by fulfilling which a man can become well-pleasing to God, and save his own soul and the souls of his brethren.

1189) The science of sciences is to conquer the sin dwelling in us, or the passions acting in us. For instance, it is great wisdom not to be angry with anyone, nor at anything; not to think evil of anyone, not even if someone has done us harm, but to excuse him in every way; it is wisdom to despise gain, luxuries, but to love disinterestedness, and simplicity of food and drink, combined with constant moderation; it is wisdom not to flatter anyone, but to speak the truth fearlessly to everybody; it is wisdom not to be charmed by beauty of person, but to respect in all, whether they be handsome or ugly, the beauty of the image of God, which is equally in all; it is wisdom to love your enemies and not to take vengeance upon them either by word, thought, or deed; it is wisdom not to amass wealth for ourselves, but to give it to the poor, in order to gain for ourselves «a treasure in the heavens that faileth not.»^[984] Alas! We have studied nearly all the sciences, but have not learnt the science of avoiding sins, and often show ourselves entirely ignorant of this moral science. And thus it follows that the truly wise, the truly learned, were the holy, true disciples of the true Teacher, Christ; while all of us, so-called learned men, are ignorant; and the more learned we are, the worse is our ignorance, because we do not know and do not do the one thing needful, but only serve our self-love, love of fame, sensuality and covetousness.

1190) How indifferent a priest should be to earthly things, in order that when celebrating such services, such high and most heavenly sacraments, he may not be ensnared by the enemy, but may always burn with pure love for God and his fellow men, who are lost through sins and are saved by the grace of Christ in the Holy Spirit! But how greatly we are wont to sin! How strong are our earthly attachments! Even when celebrating the sacraments, we sometimes, through being accustomed to them, do not completely lay aside worldly cares and attachments, and therefore the enemy disturbs, darkens and perverts our mind, binds our heart, and takes us prisoners. And deservedly! Do not dream. A priest should be an angel by the elevation of his thoughts, by the purity of his soul and body, by the ardor of his love for God, the Creator of all things, and the Savior, and for men, his brethren.

1191) To love God with all your heart means–to love with all your soul meekness, humility, purity and chastity, wisdom, truth, mercy, obedience, for the sake of God, and never to act contrarily to these virtues; that is, not to become proud, irritated, angry against anyone; not to commit adultery even in the heart; not to violate chastity, either by look, thought, or gesture; to avoid every inconsiderate, needless word and deed; to shun every iniquity; to hate avarice and covetousness; to flee from self-will and disobedience.

1192) The passions spur us on like cruel drivers, daily urging us, through our love for earthly things, to act in opposition to the Lord and to our own true welfare, and to do that which is pleasing to the flatterer, Satan.

1193) I thank You, my joy, Lord of glory, for having taken my image, through the incarnation of the Most Pure Virgin, and for having thus honored, raised, and made mankind godly. I thank You for raising me from corruption unto in-corruption; for cleansing my impurities; for healing my infirmities and sicknesses; for turning my sorrow into joy, the constraint of sin into the wideness of Your justification: for through faith and heartfelt penitence You drive away the darkness of the passions, and bestow Your spiritual light. You take away disturbance, and send down peace from above. You take away faintheartedness, and bestow courage and daring. Glory to Your mercy!

1194) I gaze upon the icons in the temple–upon Your holy icon, my Lord, upon that of Your Most Pure Mother, those of the holy Angels and Archangels, and upon the faces of the saints, adorned, resplendent with gold and silver–and think to myself how You have honored and adorned our nature, Creator and Provider of all! Your saints shine with Your light, they are sanctified by Your grace, having conquered sin and washed away the sinful impurities of body and spirit ; they are glorious with Your glory, they are incorruptible through Your incorruptibility. Glory to You for having so honored, enlightened, and raised our nature! Here are Your Apostles and Hierarchs, living images of You, the Highest, Who passed through the heavens, Envoy of the Father, Hierarch and Chief of Shepherds; Your goodness, Your wisdom, Your might, spiritual beauty, power, and holiness shine in them. Here are Your martyrs, who by Your strength overcame terrible temptations and endured fearful tortures; they have washed the garments of their souls white in Your blood. Here are Your venerable ones, who by fasting, vigilance, and prayer obtained Your wonderful gifts, the gifts of healing, of discernment; Your might strengthened them to stand above sin and all the snares of the Devil; Your likeness shines forth in them like the sun.

1195) In the temple, in its arrangements and parts, in the icons, in the Divine service, with the reading of the Holy Scriptures, the singing, the rites, the entire Old Testament, New Testament, and Church history, the whole Divine ordering of the salvation of mankind is emblematically traced, as upon a chart, in figures and in general outlines. Grand is the spectacle of the Divine service of our Orthodox Church for those who understand it, who penetrate into its essence, its spirit, its signification, its sense!

1196) Sensualist! Upon what will you set your love after your death, when you will no longer have any carnal delights, and their place is filled by the bitterness of entire deprivation? Upon what will your imperishable soul be fed? Carnal delights will no longer be compatible with it. Covetous man! Upon what will you set your heart's love when with your death the possession and enjoyment of your money and various treasures cease? Your soul, a spiritual being, will not then require these treasures; they would be repugnant to it, like poison, like the rust and rottenness which corrupted it during its lifetime, estranging it from God and depriving it of the incorruptible treasure–God. Proud, ambitious man! you who seek distinctions and honors, and love them above everything in the world! Upon what will you set your love when death divests you of all your distinctions and shows you in all your nakedness and deformity? What will then be the food and life of the imperishable spirit that has withdrawn itself from God for the sake of the vain honors of this world, making a god of itself, like the worshipers of idols? So vain is the man subjected to passions that he does not understand what he does, what deprivations he prepares for himself, what torment for his foolish passions, that after having been honored by the likeness of God, by the name of a child of God, of a friend of God, of an heir of the heavenly kingdom, of a joint heir with Christ, by his foolishness «he may be compared unto the beasts that perish,»^[985] in greediness, in his sensual fury, in malice, in envy! Therefore fear to cleave with your whole soul to anything earthly.

1197) Imagery or symbols are a necessity of human nature in our present spiritually sensual condition; they explain by the vision many things belonging to the spiritual world which we could not know without images and symbols. It was for this reason that the Divine Teacher, the Personal Wisdom Who created all things, the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, often taught men by means of images or parables; it is for this reason also that in our Orthodox temples it is the custom to represent many things to the gaze of the Christian by imagery: for instance, to represent the Lord Himself, the Most Pure Mother of God, the Angels and saints, on icons, in order that we may conform our lives, all our thoughts, words, and deeds, to the image of the thoughts, words, and deeds of the Lord and His saints; hence also the frequent making of the sign of the cross, the use of incense, the burning of candles and lamps, the processions in and out of the altar; hence the genuflections, the bowing of the head and the falling down upon the race (for we have fallen deeply through sin). All these remind us of various spiritual things and conditions. Imagery greatly influences the human soul, its creative or active capacity. Thus it is said that if during the time preceding the birth of her child a mother often looks upon the face or portrait of her beloved husband, then the child is born very like his father, or if she often looks upon the portrait of a beautiful child she gives birth to a beautiful infant; thus, if a Christian often gazes with love and reverence upon the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, or of His Most Pure Mother and His saints, his soul will receive the spiritual features of the face lovingly looked upon (meekness, humility, mercy, and abstinence). O, if we more often contemplated the images, and especially the life of the Lord and of His saints, how we should change, and rise from strength to strength! Thus, the fragrance of incense in church or in our houses reminds us by analogy of the fragrance of virtue, and by contrast of the evil odour of sins, and teaches those who are attentive to inward feelings to avoid the stench of the passions, of intemperance, fornication, malice, envy, pride, despair and other passions, and to adorn themselves with every Christian virtue; the incense reminds us of the Apostlés words: «For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the savour of death unto death, and to the other the savour of life unto life.»^[986] In a like manner the candles or lamps burning in church remind us of the spiritual light and fire; for instance, of the Lord's words: «I have come a Light into the world, that whoever believes on Me should not abide in darkness;»^[987] or «I am come to send tire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?»^[988] or «Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and you yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he comes and knocks, they may open unto him immediately;»^[989] or «Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.»^[990] And the objects themselves by their very nature teach us concerning the spiritual objects and things corresponding to light and fire; for instance, that our hearts should always be burning with love for God and our neighbor, that we should not let the passions or the fire of Gehenna be kindled within us, and that by the example of a virtuous life we should light others, as a candle lights us in our worldly doings.

1198) It is natural for us to have images of Christ, of His Most Pure Mother, of the Angels and saints. Firstly, because it is a requirement of our nature: we always wish to have before us an image of the Beloved, an image of our Benefactor, in order that in gazing upon it we may more often remember Him and His benefactions (worship Him), the same as we do with living persons, especially with those whom we love and respect. Secondly, we are created after the image and likeness of God, therefore it is natural for us to wish to have always before our eyes our own Prototype, our First Origin, the Lord God, in those images, in which He was pleased to manifest Himself to men, in order that we should more often remember Him, His constant presence with us, His providence; in order to express our reverence, gratitude, and love to Him in visible signs or ceremonies; for we are corporal, and on account of our corporality we need material representations, material ceremonies. It was certainly because of this that the Lord Himself appeared to His saints–for instance, to Abraham, in the form of three strangers, under the tree upon the plains of Mamre; to Isaiah in the form of a great King, sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; to the prophet Daniel in the form of the Ancient of Days and in the form of the Son of Man, brought near before Him. Had not the visible image of the invisible God been necessary, He certainly would not have appeared in a visible manner; would not have appeared upon earth in our flesh; would not have taken the form of a servant. And David says: «Seek His face evermore.»^[991] For this reason also we make, keep in our houses, and venerate, pictures of the Most Pure Mother of God, of the Angels and saints, because they are living images and likenesses of God, and, looking upon them, we remember more vividly their great deeds, virtues, their benefactions to us, their ardent love to God, and we ourselves thus become inspired to imitate them in their constant vigilance over themselves, in cleansing ourselves from every impurity of body and spirit, and we glorify their exploits, thus making them our intercessors and protectors before God, for God deigns to accept the intercession of His friends and faithful servants on behalf of those for whom they intercede before Him. As we are not bodiless spirits, but beings, covered with flesh, having material contours and a material image, it is natural that we should seek images of invisible beings; and it was indeed in condescension to our infirmity that the Lord gave the Angels power to take our form upon themselves and appear to us (when He pleases) in our image, as, for instance, when the Archangel appeared to Joshua, the son of Nun, to David, to Manoah and Hannah, to Zacharias, to the Most Pure Virgin Mary, and to other saints of the Old and New Testaments. Do we not ourselves prove in our daily life the requirement of our nature, its longing to have representations of the persons whom we love, when we express the desire to have their portraits and have our own portraits done, hang them up on the walls, or place them in albums, in order to look at them often, and to enjoy contemplating the respected and beloved faces? And this natural, right, and pious veneration of the holy icons many Lutherans and Anglicans regard as something unnatural, repugnant to God, as idolatry and heresy; they don’t have icons either in their houses or even in their temples, and consider it a sin to have and worship them. Through this they lose much in faith and piety, for by breaking the visible connection with the saints they likewise destroy the invisible one, while in reality, as the Church is heavenly and earthly, it forms one body. They have broken in the same way their connection with the departed, because they do not pray for them and do not offer sacrifices for their souls, sacrifices which are well-pleasing to the merciful God; and thus prove their unbelief in the power of the prayers of the Church for the departed. What kind of a Church is this that has unwisely and audaciously broken her ties with the heavenly, triumphant Church? Has interrupted communion by means of prayers with the departed, and broken off communion with the Church that professes the faith in Christ in its primitive purity? Is it a living and holy body of the Church? Can a single trunk of the body, without head, without hands and feet, without eyes and ears, be called a living, organised body? And yet such a community proclaims its faith as the purified, true faith, and eschews the rites of our holy, spotless religion. Is that religion purified that has rejected the Sacrament of Orders and the other sacraments, excepting Baptism and Holy Communion, which last, however, is not valid; has rejected the veneration of the saints, of their relics, icons, fasting, monasticism, and prayers for the departed? Is this the faith of the Gospel? Is it the Church of Christ and the Apostolic Church? No; it is a self-made Church, constituted by the will of men, under the influence of human passions and pleasing human passions; it is « the truth in unrighteousness »^[992] ; it is the perverted Gospel of Christ; it is the perversion or turning away of Christ's people « unto another Gospel,» of which the Apostle said: «But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.»^[993] It is not a Church, but a soul-destroying dissection of the body of Christ. And thus the veneration of icons is natural, righteous, pleasing to God, and profitable.

1199) The holy Angels and God's saints are our best, kindest, and truest brothers and friends, so often helping us in various circumstances in which no human beings can help us. As these brothers, who eternally live and load us with benefits, are invisible, while we, on account of our corporality, wish to have them before our eyes and as though always present with us, therefore we have images of them; and, looking upon these images, we represent to ourselves that they are with us, and we call upon them in our prayers, knowing that they have great boldness before God and help us in various circumstances. Thus the veneration of icons is most beneficial for us, corresponding with our nature and with common-sense, as well as with the Holy Scriptures themselves, for there were images of the Cherubim in Moses' tabernacle of the Old Testament. Icons serve as a constant reminder to us that the Lord is always with us («I am with you always, even unto the end of the world»^[994] ); that the Most Holy Mother of God is always near us as the «First-Origin of the spiritual renovation»^[995] of the Church, as the Mother by grace of all true Christians. And therefore all true Christians have in their houses the image of the Mother of God, their Queen and Mother by grace, and abundantly, worthily, and rightly adorn it with silver, gold, and precious stones; for, after God, there is no one dearer and more reverenced by them than His Most Pure Mother. Both the Lord Himself and His Most Pure Mother continually prove to us by means of miracles, both inwardly and outwardly, that our true veneration of His saints, and of His Mother, and of His holy icons, is pleasing to Him and profitable to us in the highest degree.

1200) The Nativity of Christ.–He has come upon earth, He Who in the beginning created us from earth and breathed His Divine breath into us; He has come Who « gives to all life, and breath, and all things»^[996] ; He has come, He Who by a single word called all things visible and invisible from non-existence into existence, Who by a word called into being birds, fishes, quadrupeds, insects, and all creatures, existing under His almighty providence and care; He has come, He Whom the innumerable hosts of Angels continually serve with fear and joy. And in what humility has He come! He is born of a poor Virgin, in a cave, wrapped in poor swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. Riches, honors, glory of this world! Fall down, fall down in humility, tearful devotion, and deep gratitude before the Savior of men, and share your riches with the poor and needy. Do not pride yourselves on your visionary, fleeting distinctions, for true distinction can only be found in virtue. Glory of this world! Admit here, before the manger, your vanity. Thus, let us all humble ourselves; let us all fall down in the dust before the boundless humility and exhaustion of the Sovereign of all, of God, Who has come to heal our infirmities, to save us from pride, vanity, corruption, and every sinful impurity.