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

1. The wicked prince, the kingdom of darkness, having first taken man captive, so besieged and clothed the soul with the power of darkness, as one puts on a man, in order to make him a king and give him all the royal garments, and so that from head to nail he would wear all royal things on himself. Thus the evil prince clothed his soul with sin, its whole being, and defiled it all, took all it captive into his kingdom, did not leave in it free from his power a single member of it, neither thoughts, nor mind, nor body, but clothed it in the purple of darkness. Just as in the body not only one part of it, or not one of its members, suffers, but the whole of it is wholly subject to suffering: so the whole soul suffered from the infirmities of vice and sin. The evil one clothed his whole soul, this necessary part of man, this necessary member of him, in his malice, that is, in sin; and thus the body was made suffering and perishable.

2. When the Apostle says: "Put off the old man" (Col. 3:9), then he means the perfect man, whose eyes correspond to his eyes, his head to his head, his ears to his ears, his hands to his hands, and his feet to his feet. For the evil one has defiled and drawn away to himself the whole man, soul and body, and has clothed man with an old, defiled, unclean, God-fighting, disobedient to God's law, into sin itself, so that he would no longer look as man desires, but also see deceitfully, and hear deceitfully, and his feet would hasten to evil, and his hands would do iniquity, and his heart would plot evil. Therefore, let us also beseech God to cast off the old man from us; for God alone can take away sin from us. Stronger than we are those who have taken us captive and keep us in their kingdom; but God has made a promise to deliver us from this bondage. When the sun is shining, and some wind is blowing; and the sun has its own body and its own nature, and the wind has its own nature and its own body, and no one can separate the wind from the sun, unless God alone stops the wind, so that it does not blow any more. In the same way, sin was mixed with the soul; But both sin and the soul have their own special nature.

3. Therefore, it is impossible to separate the soul from sin, unless God stops and stops this evil wind that dwells in the soul and in the body. And again, as another sees a flying bird, and wants to fly himself; but without wings, he cannot fly: so man has a desire to be pure, irreproachable, undefiled, to have no blemish in himself, but always to be with God; But he does not have the strength for this. He wants to fly into the divine air, into the freedom of the Holy Spirit; but he can't until he gets a wing. Therefore, let us beseech God to give us the krill of the dove of the Holy Spirit, that we may fly to Him and rest (Psalm 54:7), and that He may separate us from soul and body, and that He may cease the evil wind in us, which is the very sin that dwells in the members of soul and body. For He alone is able to do this. It is said: "Behold the Lamb of God, take away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). He alone hath wrought this mercy upon men who believe in him, which delivereth them from sin; He brings this inscrutable salvation to those who always hope and hope, and constantly seek it.

4. As in a dark and deep night some cruel wind blows and sets in motion, confusion and shaking all plants and seeds: so man, having fallen under the power of the dark night – the devil, and remaining in the night and in darkness, is caused by the terribly blowing wind of sin to waver, shake and move; his whole nature, soul, thoughts and mind are in turmoil, all his bodily limbs are in convulsion. Not a single member of soul and body is free and cannot but suffer from the sin that dwells in us. Likewise, there is a day of light and the divine wind of the Holy Spirit, which blows and gives life to the souls that abide in the days of Divine light, and penetrates the whole being of the soul, and thoughts, and all the essence, and all bodily members, cools and rests with Divine and ineffable repose. This is what the Apostle expressed: "For ye are the sons of the light, and the sons of the day" (1 Thessalonians 5:5). And as there, in deception, the old man put off the perfect man, and wears the garment of the kingdom of darkness, the garment of blasphemy, unbelief, fearlessness, vanity, pride, love of money, lust, and likewise the other garments of the kingdom of darkness, unclean and filthy rags: so here again, which put off the old and earthly man, and from whom Jesus stripped off the garments of the kingdom of darkness, they have put on the new and heavenly man, Jesus Christ, and again, according to their eyes, they have their eyes, and according to their ears, their ears, and according to their heads, their heads, so that the whole man may be pure and bear upon himself the heavenly image.

5. And the Lord clothed them in the garments of the kingdom of ineffable light, in the garments of faith, hope, love, joy, peace, mercy, goodness, and likewise, in all the other divine, life-giving garments of light, life, and ineffable repose, so that, just as God is love, joy, peace, goodness, mercy, so the new man may be made this by grace. And as the kingdom of darkness and sin are hidden in the soul until the day of resurrection, when the very body of sinners will be covered with darkness, which is now hidden in the soul: so also the kingdom of light and the heavenly image —

Glory to His mercies and kindness! He has mercy on His servants, and enlightens them, and delivers them from the kingdom of darkness, and gives them His light and His kingdom. To Him be glory and dominion forever! Amen.

Discourse 3. That the brethren should live among themselves sincerely, in simplicity, in love, in peace, and wage war and warfare with inner thoughts.

1. The brethren must abide with one another in great love. Whether they are praying, or reading the Scriptures, or doing some work, let them lay love for one another as a foundation; in this case, their will can be vouchsafed God's favor. And whoever prays, and who reads, and who works, can do all things profitably, if they live among themselves in righteousness and simplicity. For what is written? Thy will be done, as it is in heaven and on earth (Matt. 6:10), that just as the angels in heaven dwell among themselves in great unanimity, living in peace and love, and there is no arrogance or envy, but mutual love and sincerity, so the brethren may dwell among themselves. If it happens that some thirty people are doing the same thing, they cannot continue it all day and all night; on the contrary, some of them will spend six hours in prayer and want to read, while others are zealous altar boys, and others are engaged in some kind of work.

2 Therefore, brethren, if they do anything, they should be in mutual love and in joy. Whoever works, let him say of him who prays: "The treasure which my brother possesses is common; therefore I also possess it." And whoever prays, let him say of him who reads: "Whatever he uses in reading, that will be of benefit to me." And whoever works, let him say again the following: "In the service that I render, there is a common benefit." As the members of the body are many, and they constitute one body, and mutually help each other, and each member does his own work; moreover, the eye looks over the whole body, and the hands work for all the limbs, and the feet walk, bearing all the parts of the body, and one member suffers for others: so let the brethren also be among themselves. And he who prays, let him not condemn the worker because he does not pray. And he who works, let him not condemn him who prays, saying: "He continues to pray, and I work." And he who serves, let him not condemn another. On the contrary, whatever he does, let him do it for the glory of God. Let him who reads with love and joy look at the one who prays, reasoning thus: "He also prays for me." And let the one who prays think about the worker: "What he does, he does for the common good."

3. And in this way, great unanimity, peace, and unanimity can keep all together in a bond of peace, and it will be possible to live with one another in righteousness and simplicity, attracting God's favor upon oneself. The most important of all, as is obvious, is a timely stay in prayer. Moreover, let the object of the search be one thing – to have treasure and life in the soul, that is, to have the Lord in mind. Whether anyone works, or prays, or reads, let him have this unfailing acquisition, that is, the Holy Spirit. Some say that the Lord demands only manifest fruits from people, and God Himself does what is secret. But this is not the case in practice; on the contrary, as much as one protects himself according to the outward man, so much must he struggle and wage war with thoughts; for the Lord demands of you that you be angry with yourself, that you wage war with your mind, that you do not consent to evil thoughts, and that you do not delight in them.

4. But in order to eradicate sin and the evil that dwells in us, this can only be done by God's power. For it is not given and impossible for a man to eradicate sin by his own power. It is in your power to fight it, to resist, to inflict and accept ulcers; and to eradicate it is God's work. And if you yourself were able to do this, then what would be the need for the Lord's coming? As it is impossible to see with the eye without light, or to speak without tongue, or to hear without ears, or to walk without legs, or to work without hands, so without Jesus it is impossible to be saved, or to enter the kingdom of heaven. But if you say, "Visibly I am not a fornicator, nor an adulterer, nor a lover of money; therefore righteous"; then you are deceived in this, thinking that you have already done everything. Not only three parts of sin, from which a person must protect himself, but thousands of them. Where does arrogance, fearlessness, unbelief, hatred, envy, deceit, hypocrisy come from? Should you not wage war and struggle with them in secret and in thought? If you have a robber in your house; then this already crushes you, and does not allow you to be careless, even you yourself begin to attack him, inflict wounds on him and accept them: so the soul must resist, confront and repel him.

5. Your will, in opposition, in toil and sorrow, finally begins to gain the upper hand; it both falls and rises; sin again destroys him; in ten and twenty struggles he conquers and overthrows the soul; but the soul also conquers sin in one thing with time. And again, if the soul stands firm and does not weaken in anything, it begins to take advantage, to decide the matter and to gain victories over sin. But even if you look attentively, then sin still overcomes a man, until he reaches a perfect man, to the measure of his stature (Ephesians 4:13), and completely conquers death. For it is written, "The last enemy shall be made extinct by death" (1 Cor. 15. 26). In this way, people overcome sin and become its conquerors. And if, as we said above, someone says: "I am not a fornicator, nor an adulterer, nor a lover of money, this is sufficient for me"; then in this case he fought with three parts, and with the other twenty, by which sin is also at war with the soul, he did not fight, but on the contrary, he was overcome by them. Therefore, one must struggle and strive in everything; for the mind, as we have repeatedly said, is a fighter, and has an equal power to argue with sin and resist thoughts.

6. But if you say that the opposing force is stronger, and vice completely reigns over man; then you accuse God of injustice, who condemns mankind for obeying Satan. When Satan is strong and subdues him by some involuntarily force; then, according to you, he is higher and stronger than the soul. Listen to me, at last. If a young man fights with a young man, and the lad is defeated, and the lad is condemned for being defeated, then there is a great injustice in this. Therefore, we affirm that the mind is a fighter, and an equal fighter. And the struggling soul, seeking help and protection, receives them, and is vouchsafed deliverance; Because struggle and podvig are possible with equal forces. Let us glorify the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.