Against anger and rancor

(From the word about anger, as if you were angry with your friends, it is given to the devil)

A certain Isaac, a monk, tells the following story from his life. Once, he says, I quarreled with my brother and became angry with him. Meanwhile, sitting once at my needlework, I remembered my quarrel, repented, and, disturbed by the fear of responsibility before God, thought: what should I do? At that time a young man came in to me, and without making the sign of the cross, as it should have been, he said: "You have sinned and are troubled; give yourself to me and you will be at peace." And when I learned that it was the devil, I answered, "Go away, for you are not of God." And he said to me, "I am sorry for you: you are ruining your work, and yet you are mine." "No, I say, I am not yours, the devil, but God's." He said, "The wrath of those who hold up, and the evil of those who remember evil, God has delivered unto us; but thou hast been angry with thy brother for three weeks." I answered: "You lie." And he: "You have a grudge against him; but the fire of hell awaits those who hold grudges, and I am assigned to such people, and you are mine." When I heard this, I immediately went to my brother, bowed down to him, and was reconciled to him. What then? When I returned home, I saw that the devil, not tolerating my reconciliation, out of malice had burned my needlework and matting, which I used to lay when I prayed.

From this narrative you see, brethren, that whoever has a grudge against his neighbor has the closest access to him the enemy of our salvation, the devil; that whoever does not repent of his malice, the devil even acquires power over him; that the fire of Gehenna awaits those who hold on to malice in the future life; and that, finally, by repentance of our anger and reconciliation with our neighbors, we put the devil to shame and drive him away from us.

Knowing this, what should we do, brethren? The sparks of anger in the heart must be extinguished at the very beginning, so that the spark does not turn into a flame and then does not turn into the flame of Gehenna. We must forgive offenses and love enemies. And in order to learn this, let us, first, think more often about our guilt before God and about God's mercy towards us sinners. For all our absent-mindedness, sins often terrify us terribly, and we ourselves feel worthy of any punishment. But how does the Heavenly Father deal with us? Does He punish us according to our sins? No; He uses all measures for our admonition and correction; He sent His Only-begotten Son into the world to save us from sin and death; He, as a benevolent father, gives us everything necessary for life: food, clothing, and shelter; He guards every hair on our head; He calls all of us sinners to Himself and says: "Come unto Me, ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). And if the Heavenly Father is so merciful to us, then, of course, we should act in the same way with those who offend us. Otherwise, you await judgment without mercy, having not done mercy. - Secondly, let us more often imagine before us the suffering Lord and forgiving His enemies from the cross. They beat His innocent man, spat in His face, crucified Him among evildoers, mocked Him during His terrible sufferings, and He said: Father, let them go! If the Saviour did this in relation to His enemies, then, of course, we should do the same, especially since He did no harm to anyone and was tormented, and we ourselves often insult and arm our neighbors against us in one way or another. Amen.

Not only in monasteries, but everywhere you can be saved

(Prologue of Sept. 3)

In the Prologue, on the 3rd day of September, in the homily of St. Basil, among other things, it says: "Do not send all to the monasteries of those who are being saved. For many come to a virtuous life, but few of them accept it by the yoke." "What does this mean? That those are mistaken who, doing nothing for their own salvation, think that if we lived in a monastery, then we would only be saved. " And it is they who are wrong; for we repeat, although, according to the words of Basil, many come to the monastery to a virtuous life, nevertheless, only a small number of them accept it with the yoke. Hence it is evident that it is bad for the lazy everywhere: it was bad in the world, but it must be no better in the monastery. So, what should he do? First of all, give up your laziness, and think about the monastery. To give up laziness - and he will be saved in the world, not to give up - both in a monastery and in the most distant desert he will perish.

"A certain city dweller, in a conversation with the Monk Niphon, said that he who wants to be saved must certainly go to a monastery, but in the world there is no way to be saved. What did the monk answer him? Here is this: "A child's place will not save a person and will not destroy him, only deeds save or destroy. There is no benefit either from a holy place or from a holy office to one who does not fulfill the commandments of the Lord. Saul lived in the midst of the king's splendour, and perished; David lived in the midst of the same splendor and received the crown. Lot dwelt in the midst of the wicked Sodomites and was saved; Judas was among the Apostles and inherited Gehenna. Whoever says that it is impossible to be saved with a wife and children, flatters his own foolishness and vices. Abraham had a wife and children, three hundred and eighty male and female servants, and a great deal of gold and silver, but this did not prevent him from acquiring the name of the friend of God. How many servants of the Church and desert lovers were saved! How many nobles and warriors! How many craftsmen and farmers! How many in the midst of noisy capitals and silent Ves! On the other hand, in the same ranks and estates, in the same places and at the same time, countless people perished. From kings to slaves there are children of the kingdom of heaven, and from kings to slaves there are children of perdition. Son of the Church of Christ! Do not turn your mind and heart away from the temptations of the world: in every place the salvation of our God is found, if you fulfill His holy will. The Lord receives into His arms the righteous soul equally - from the throne, and from the plow, from the altar and from the battlefield. So, does anyone live in peace? Let him not despair. Will he sin? Through repentance, he can again draw closer to God. Everyone do the works of his calling, in which God has placed you. Be pious and philanthropic, and you will be saved. On the contrary, even if he withdraws into a silent desert, and does not abandon his evil deeds and evil will, he will inevitably perish."

What we give to God is returned to us a hundredfold not only in the future life, but also in the present

(Homily on the Young Man Who Forged the Cross to Patricius, Who Added His Gold to Ten Gold Pieces, Prologue Sept. 5)

There is no doubt that what we sacrifice for God will return to us a hundredfold in the life to come. Thus, for example, the Lord says to the rich young man: "Go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor: and you shall have treasure in heaven" (Matt. 19:21). The same truth is revealed by the Apostle James in the words: mercy rejoices in judgment (James 2:13). And finally, the Apostle Paul testifies to the same, advising his disciple to bequeath to the rich, that they may be rich in good works, so that they may afterwards receive eternal life for them (1 Tim. 6:17-19). But the question is: Will our sacrifices for God be rewarded by Him in this life? Can we hope that what we have distributed will return to us here as well? Shall we receive what we have given to God in this world? Let's give the answer to these questions in an example. One young man was distinguished by the art of forging various utensils from gold. A certain rich nobleman once summoned him to him, gave him a great deal of gold, and commanded him to make a cross out of it for the church. Returning home from the nobleman, the youth pondered and said to himself: "The nobleman will receive a great reward from the Lord for such a large amount of gold donated; but why should I not become a partaker with him in the reward from the Lord? I will take and put in the cross at least a little gold of my own, and I will hope that the Lord will accept my sacrifice in the same way as He received the two mites of the Gospel widow." And with these words he put his ten pieces of gold into the construction of the cross. When the cross was ready, the young man brought it to the nobleman. The latter put the cross on the scales and, finding in it a weight greater than the amount of gold given by him, suspected the young man of theft and said: "Why did you steal my gold, replacing it in the cross with some other metal?" - "God, who knows the heart, sees that I have not appropriated any of your gold to myself; but I was jealous of the reward that would be yours, and I wished to be a participant in it myself, and therefore on my part I put ten pieces of gold into the cross, believing that God would accept them in the same way as He accepted the two mites of the Gospel widow." Hearing this, the nobleman was amazed and said to the youth: "Oh, my son, did you really do this?" - "Yes, lord," the youth answered, "as I told you, so I did." Then the nobleman exclaimed: "Therefore, if you have truly given Him your goods out of love for God, desiring to have a share of Him as a reward with me, then know that from this very day I will adopt you as sons and make you heir to all my possessions." And the nobleman did not know how to put his words into effect. For, the legend concludes, both he and the youth, having lived together in love and peace, both received salvation. Thus, not only in the future life does the Lord return a hundredfold what has been given to His glory, but also in this and in this one He rewards the merciful and manifests the miracles of His mercy upon them. And more than one example cited now proves this truth. Thus we know that Tobit made many sacrifices for God: but for this God freed his son from Asmodeus, and gave him sight himself, and with it wealth and a quiet life. The widow of Zarephath shared the latter with Elijah for God's sake, and for that, during the time of the famine, the water-pot of her flour did not fail, and the swagger of oil did not diminish (3 Kings 17:16). And finally, David also says that he, having lived to old age, did not see the righteous man forsaken, and below his seed begging for bread (Psalm 36:25, 26). The examples also seem to be compelling. And therefore, we think, brethren, after this we have nothing more to convince you of the above-mentioned truth, and it remains, in conclusion of the word, only to wish with all our hearts that we do not grudge our good to give to God, that we would be merciful and compassionate to the unfortunate, and that we would more often wipe away the tears of widows and orphans, so that for your sacrifices and almsgiving, both you yourselves and in this present life, the Lord God would bless you in all your deeds and in everything (Deut. 15:7-10), and in the future He would lead into eternal dwellings. Amen.

And so, do you hear, you lazy ones? "Even if he withdraws into a silent desert, and does not abandon his evil deeds and evil will, he will inevitably perish." This means that it is clear as day that you should not go to a monastery with your laziness, but must first part with it, living in the world, crucify your flesh with passions and lusts, serve God with all your heart and with all your zeal; and then, God willing, perhaps it will be possible to talk about the monastery. And in any case, both after serving God in the world, and after making up for laziness by good works, quote more often the words of Niphon, who says: "That in every place the salvation of our God is found, and the Lord equally receives a righteous soul from the throne and from the plow, from the altar and from the field of battle." "And therefore, even after pleasing God with asceticism, live where you lived, and seek, according to the proverb, happiness and salvation not in the village, but in yourselves. Amen.

For the edification of those who hide their sins at confession