Thou, O Lord, hast said through Thy prophet, 'Open thy mouth, and I will do it' (Psalm 80:11). Behold, therefore, the mouth and heart of Thy servant are open, fill them with Thy grace, that at all times I may bless Thee, O Christ, my Saviour. Sprinkle my heart, O good Lover of mankind, with the dew of Thy grace. As the sown land, without the visitation of Thy grace, cannot bring forth its plants: so my heart, without Thy grace, is not able to utter that which is pleasing to Thee, and to bring forth the fruit of righteousness. Behold, the rain nourishes the plants, and the trees are crowned with various flowers: and may the dew of Thy grace enlighten my mind, and may it adorn it with the flowers of tenderness, humility, love, and patience.

And what else can I say? Behold, my prayer is weak, my iniquities are great and mighty, my sins oppress me, my infirmities oppress me: may Thy grace prevail over them, O Lord! Thou, having opened the eyes of the blind man, open the eyes of my mind, that I may behold Thy beauty unceasingly. Thou who hast opened the mouth of the foal, open my mouth to the glory and praise of Thy grace. Thou who hast set a limit to the sea by the word of Thy commandment, set a limit also to my heart by Thy grace, so that neither at the right hand nor in the other side shall I deviate from Thy babbling. Thou who hast given water in the wilderness to a rebellious and contradictory people, give me tenderness and tears to my eyes, that day and night I may weep for the days of my life with humility, love, and a pure heart. Let my supplication draw near before Thee, O Lord (Psalm 118:168). And grant me Thy holy seed, that I may offer Thee handles full of tenderness and confession, and say, "Glory to Him who gave what I shall bring unto Him," and worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen.

And so, I beseech you, let us sober up in this short time, and let us endure the podvig in this one-tenth hour. The evening is near: the Rewarder comes with glory to repay each one according to his deeds. Be careful that one of you, after success, does not become disgusted and does not destroy the immeasurable recompense of the Savior. A monk is like a sown field, which, having grown from various and fruitful rains and grew, bears the fruit of joy; and having reached the time of fruiting, he leads the farmer to great care that hail or wild animals do not devastate the field. And when the farmer shall receive the reward of the harvest, having gathered the reaped fruit into the garner; then he rejoices and rejoices, giving thanks to God. Likewise, a monk, while in this body, must take care of eternal life, laboring in podvig until the last day, so that through negligence he does not make the entire course useless. When, having completed the course, like a farmer, he carries the fruits of his labors to heaven; then he brings joy and gladness to the angels.

Therefore, no one should be lazy, and do not be afraid of temptations. Let the strong help the weak, the zealous comfort the faint-hearted, the sober stir up the sleepy, the constant give advice to the fickle, the temperate admonishes the careless and disorderly. Thus, with one accord, encouraging one another and urging one another on, let us shame our opposing enemy, let us glorify our God, and let us rejoice the holy angels and those who see us and hear about us, and let us serve as a great edification in Christ our Saviour. For like a host of holy angels, so is the multitude of monks, whose minds are always directed in accordance with God. And as honey and honeycomb are in the mouth, so is the answer of a brother to his neighbor, given with love. As cold water is to one who thirsts in heat, so is a word of consolation to a brother in sorrow. And as one gives his hand to the fallen and raises him up; thus the word of counsel and truth raises up a lazy and slothful soul. And as good and fresh seed is in the rich earth, so are good thoughts in the soul of a monk. And as there is a strong bond in the building, there is long-suffering in the heart of the monk during his psalmody. And what is a burden of salt to a weak person, so to a monk is sleep and worldly care. As thorns and thistles are in good seed, so are impure thoughts in the soul of a monk. And that the necrosis of the limbs (in the case of medical Antonov fire), although healable, is never completely healed, is a remembrance of malice in the soul of a monk. As a worm wears away a tree, so enmity is the heart of a monk. As moths spoil clothes, so slander defiles the soul of a monk. As a tree is tall and red, but has no fruit, so the monk is proud and arrogant. As the fruit is red on the outside and rotten on the inside, the monk is envious and unfriendly. As he who throws a stone into a pure spring stirs it up; Thus the answer of a monk, pronounced with anger, disturbs the mind of his neighbor. As he who transplants a tree covered with fruit destroys the fruit and dries the leaves of the tree; so it is with a monk who leaves his place and moves to another. As a building not founded on stone, a monk who has no patience in sorrows. Imagine that another, standing before the king and conversing with him, at the call of a slave like him, leaves a wondrous and glorious conversation with the king, and begins to converse with a servant; Like this is he who speaks during the psalmody. Let us understand, beloved, Whom we stand for. As the Angels, standing before them with great trembling, sing a hymn to the Creator; so we should stand with fear during the psalmody. Let it not be that only our bodies stand before us, and the mind dreams. Like a boat in the waves of the sea, so is a monk in the affairs of life. But let us gather our thoughts, that we may have praise before our God; let us endure the temptations of our enemy, that we may be glorified. Praise to a monk is patience in sorrows, praise to a monk is non-acquisitiveness, humility and simplicity, glorifying him before God and the Angels. Praise for a monk is silence and vigil with tenderness and tears. Praise for a monk is to love God with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself. Praise to a monk is abstinence in food, abstinence of the tongue, coordination of words with one's deeds; praise to him if he patiently remains in his place, and is not carried hither and thither, as dry twigs are carried by the wind.

Woe is me, my beloved! for I have become like the bellows of a blacksmith, which are filled and emptied, using nothing from the wind; and so I, describing the virtues of the flock of Christ, myself have no part in them. Glory to the greatness and goodness of Christ.

If any of you, brethren, has unclean and shameful thoughts, let him not give way to despair in negligence, but let him turn his heart to God, and sighing, with tears, say: "Arise, O Lord, and give ear to my judgment. My God and my Lord, on my hand. Judge me, O Lord, according to Thy righteousness (Psalm 24:33, 50). I am the work of Thy hands; hast thou forsaken and despised me" (Psalm 21:1)? Turn away Thy face from me, and forget my humility (Psalm 43:25)? For the enemy has driven my soul: he has humbled my life to the ground (Psalm 142:3); charcoal in the thymnia of the depths, and there is no constancy (Psalm 68:3). May Thy hand hold me, and I shall not perish." If thou wilt thus call upon Him with patience, the Lover of mankind will soon, having sent His grace into thy heart, and console thee in the painful and difficult battle.

Therefore, let us not be slothful, and let us not be slothful, having such a merciful Lord. For while we are here, He is merciful, and saves, and forgives our iniquities. Who will not be amazed that for the momentary tears, that even in this one-tenth hour He forgives thousands of our falls, and heals thousands of our wounds, and having healed, He still gives a reward for tears? For this is the usual of His grace: after healing He scatters his rewards.

Let us therefore endeavour, brethren, to be healed; for here He has mercy, and is generous with His grace; And there is no more. On the contrary, there is righteous judgment, punishment, and retribution for deeds. There the merciful Abraham proved to be unmerciful and unmerciful to the rich man; and he who prayed for the Sodomites does not pray there for one sinner, that mercy be shown to him.

Thus, let our mind not be bound by earthly things, but let us try to become imitators of the Holy Fathers; let us not lose their lives, lest we lose their glory. But let us take care to receive crowns together with the perfect, and if not crowns with the perfect, then praise with the last. Blessed is he who strives to be crowned with the perfect; but pitiful is he who has not received praise even with the latter. Blessed is he who has been vouchsafed the crown and inheritance of the saints, and who has heard these words: "Come in the blessing of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt. 25:34).

What justification shall we have, brethren, if we neglect? The worldly man still has it, perhaps as one who dwells in the world; But what shall we say? I am afraid that those who praise us here will not laugh at us there. Let not slothfulness and worldly cares be sweet to us, so that eternal fire and the worm that never sleeps become bitter for us. Let us sober up a little, and let us weep in order to be delivered from the eternal fire.

Do you not believe the word of the Saviour, that His coming will be as sudden as lightning (Matthew 24:27)? Let us be afraid that it will overtake us suddenly, unprepared; and then, without any benefit, we will begin to reproach ourselves for our negligence. Believe me, beloved, that the last hour is already there. See to it that the word of the Prophet is not fulfilled in us: "Alas for him who desires the day of the Lord" (Amos 5:18)! Be attentive to yourselves, lest we be like that servant whom the master came to find feasting, and having laid down a part of him with the unbelievers, he cut his half (Matt. 24:51). On the contrary, without shame, let us glorify the Lord, that He may deliver us from darkness and gnashing of teeth, and vouchsafe us His kingdom.

I beseech Thee, O Christ, Saviour of the world, to look upon me and deliver me from the multitude of my iniquities. I have rejected all the good deeds which Thou hast done to me since my youth; for thou hast made me, ignorant and foolish, a vessel full of knowledge and wisdom; Thy grace hath abounded upon me, quenched my hunger, quenched my thirst, enlightened my darkened mind, and gathered together my wandering thoughts. Now I bow down, and beseech Thy ineffable love for mankind, confessing my weakness; Weaken its waves, and keep it for me in that day, and do not be angry with me, O All-Good One, because I have dared to act boldly, not tolerating its streams. Thou art the Image of the Father and the radiance of ineffable glory, weaken it for me, for it burns my womb and my heart like fire; but there grant it to me, and save me in Thy kingdom, at Thy coming, having made with me with the blessed Father the abode of Thy goodness. O Christ, the only Giver of life, grant me what I ask, hide my iniquities from my acquaintances, remembering my tears, which I shed before Thy holy martyrs, that I might draw mercy to myself in that terrible hour, and take refuge under the wings of Thy grace. O Lord, show Thy ineffable love for mankind in me, a sinner, and make me a partaker of that thief who became the heir of paradise in one word. Bring me there, and I will see where Adam hid, and I will give glory to Thy love for mankind, that Thou hast hearkened to my tears, and hast consumed all my iniquities. Lay my tears before Thee, O Lord, according to Thy promise, that my enemy may be ashamed when he sees me in the place of life which Thy mercies have prepared for me, and that he may be covered with darkness, not seeing me in the place which Thou hast prepared for my sins. O Lord, the only sinless and humane one, pour out upon me Thy ineffable goodness, grant me and all those who love Thee to worship Thy glory in Thy kingdom, and in joy to say to Thy babbling: Glory to the Father, Who created us, and glory to the Son, Who saved us, and glory to the All-Holy Spirit, Who renewed us, unto all ages of ages! Amen.