Fasting is the spiritual education of the body * The more severe the illness, the more useful it is * When jealousy becomes foolishness * What is a sin for one, is a feat for another * Fasting, we recognize our weakness * The pleasure of the flesh chains to the earth * Do not be offended by God * We are ashamed of the external, not the internal * The cause of all troubles is our passionate heart * Idleness intensifies the strife * God destroys the proud, exalts the humble * Murmuring means we do not repent * "Pray for me - I am possessed" * Hope only in the mercy of God * Rites are an external means for internal benefit * Our values are the opposite of true ones * 15. Neither chains, nor sackcloth, nor fasting, even if one eats once a week, nor long vigils and standings, nor many prostrations, nor all bodily exhaustion will be of any use... if there are no spiritual virtues. (9) If a person gets into a car and goes very fast in the opposite direction to the destination, the faster he goes, the worse it gets. Bodily feats are good when they are used correctly. They are just a means to make our spiritual life more intense. When we concentrate our efforts on them alone or are proud of them, then our movement is accelerated, but not into the Kingdom of Heaven. Fasting is the spiritual education of our body, so that the flesh does not rage under the influence of passions. For those who want to succeed in the struggle against sin, fasting is absolutely necessary. But sick people often cannot fast. One should not be upset, because illness has an advantage over fasting. It has the same effect on the body, but the suffering caused by it protects a person from pride, and besides, everyone gets sick, both the righteous and the sinners, and the majority of people die from illnesses. What is there to be proud of? Fasting, on the other hand, is dangerous because it induces vanity. The more severe the illness, the more it crushes the body, the more useful it is for the soul of a person, if he endures the illness with patience, thanking the Lord. And this benefit is greater than from any abstinence undertaken of one's own free will. 16. Everyone should not be kept in the monastery equally, for others coarse food is harmful and can lead to exhaustion; some came from poverty, from labor to rest, and others from wealth and from tender education. (362) Fasting was established by God in the Church so that we might succeed in abstinence, recognize our weakness and therefore remain in humility, so that, enduring these voluntary sufferings, we would be crushed in our souls, and more often remember eternity. And not at all so that people die prematurely, not coming to the measure in which God blessed them to come. In the writings of Elder Silouan, we read how a young monk, a zealous Athonite ascetic, fasted himself to death. He fasted so much (not seriously, but heavily) that he undermined his health and died. If a person with a stomach ulcer observes the fast according to the Typicon, he will go to the hospital and there he will eat everything that is given to him, and watch TV in the ward, but he will not be able to go to church during the entire Great Lent. This is, excuse me, not jealousy, but stupidity. We should not compare ourselves with John of Kronstadt. When doctors advised him to relax his fast, he refused. He was in such a great spiritual measure that for the sake of God's love, for the sake of grace not weakening in him, despite his ill health and the persistent requests of doctors, he continued to fast. And it was right. We, sinful and weak people, are very far from the state of mind that Righteous John of Kronstadt preserved within himself. We must hold on to prudence. When the need arises, a person should relax the fast. But if at the same time his belly is comforted, he must reproach himself for gluttony and humble himself from it. Father Theophan explains why the living conditions in the monastery should be different for different people. Some people are accustomed to a poor, austere life, in comparison with which monastic life seems to them more nourishing and easier. Another person was driven yesterday on the "Seagull", and today he is driving a wheelbarrow with manure. There is a story on this topic in the Otechnik. One monk came to a famous elder in the desert and saw that he was sitting in slippers, drinking tea and someone else was serving him. He was embarrassed: he seemed to be a great old man, but he lived in such luxury. He told another elder about his embarrassment. He asked: "Who were you before you came to the monastery?" - "A shepherd." - "What bed did you sleep on?" - "I slept on the ground." - "What did you hide yourself with?" - "Matting." - "So you came to rest from your labors, and this man was a nobleman at the royal court and came to this need. He will also be credited with leaving everything behind." We also often look at each other here in church, and it seems to us that here I am performing feats, and a person next to me is doing nothing. But we do not know the inner structure of each other. One and the same thing is a great indulgence and sin for some, and for others it is a feat. One ate a piece of fish during Great Lent and thus defiled his entire fast, and the other ate fish throughout Lent - for him this is severe abstinence. So we must leave all judgment to God. External feats, including fasting, should in no case be accompanied by condemnation, irritation and enmity. If this happens, it means that we are fasting to our own detriment. 17. However, if I eat dry food, let me grumble, let me condemn, dry eating is not good for me. (501) It is as if you read common passages. But such commonplaces are not theoretical considerations, but practical advice to be followed. Thanks to them, some people have gone from earth to Heaven. In studying the Holy Fathers, we must pay special attention to those counsels that concern the spiritual virtues, since it is impossible for us to imitate the outward deeds of the great ascetics. One and the same feat can serve different purposes. For true ascetics, people who possess humility, endowed with the grace of God, fasting, for example, serves to increase grace, reduces carnal activity that hinders the manifestations of grace-filled powers. And for people like us, the whole meaning of any podvig is to know ourselves, to know our weakness, to make sure that we have passions. We need the same fast in order to learn that we are gluttons. Fasting in itself, without spiritual activity, can be harmful, since it strengthens pride in a person. The right path is when a person pays all his attention to the struggle with his passions in order to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit, and as an auxiliary means on this spiritual path he uses all possible bodily work. 18. Food does not defile a person, but gives birth to bad thoughts and nails the mind to earthly desires, thickens the flesh and transforms a spiritual man into a carnal one. (500) This is the true harm of overnourishment, and of all carnal consolations in general. But we are, as it were, between two fires. If we please our flesh, then this does not allow us to tear ourselves away from the earth, we fall into the captivity of sinful thoughts. If we begin an intensified fast, then the onslaught of thoughts weakens, but one begins to prevail: "I am an ascetic." And this thought alone nullifies all the benefits of abstinence. That is why God does not give us the strength to fast. You don't need to be offended by God for this, you need to thank Him for it. If we follow the path of humility, God in due time, when it will be useful to us, will give us strength for external feats as well. 19. "Woe to you, Pharisees, for you love to preside in the synagogues and to greet in the assemblies of the people" (Luke 11:43). The Pharisees strictly observed the outward decrees of the Law, and forgot the commandments of God. Unfortunately, this applies to us to a large extent, because we very often perform external rites with enviable zeal, and neglect God's commandments. I read the memoirs of a priest of the last century, how a woman came to him. He dies, cries, falls at his feet: "Father, I have sinned, I accidentally ate a spoonful of sour cream during Great Lent." He calms her down, asks: "Were there any fornication sins?" - "Yes, there was," she says quite calmly. There is nothing funny here. And now we confess in this way. Such a confession as "fornication during Lent" is the most ordinary thing. A person does not go to church, does not pray to God, almost does not believe in anything, but the only thing he repents of is: "I washed on a holiday." There is a lot of evil hidden in our souls. We do not see it in its entirety because of our spiritual blindness. We are very concerned about external decency. If we accidentally do something for which people will condemn us, we are killed, ashamed, tormented, even ready to run to confession, and when we do evil in secret, we remain completely calm. And we do not pay any attention to our inner sins, thoughts, and heartfelt experiences. Even when in thoughts we reach the point of murder, to the extreme degrees of fornication, this does not bother us, we do not consider it necessary to confess such thoughts. When we are rebuked, we are offended. Not only do we want to sin, we also want to be praised by everyone. 20. If you think that it is bad here, and it is better in another monastery, do not believe these thoughts, the enemy flatters. (265) This is the general teaching of the Holy Fathers. But it does not reach us well. It seems to us that if we change our external circumstances, we will be better. The usual temptation is to change your job, apartment, wife... Especially cowardly dissatisfaction with the circumstances of life leads to a logical, in their opinion, way out - suicide. But at least we Christians must understand that the thirst for a "change of places" is also a kind of passion. The main cause of all our troubles and problems is our passionate heart. We are tormented by our passions, they will torment us everywhere and always. Even when we die, they will not leave us. If we depart from life of our own accord, our godless self-will will go away with us. It is not going anywhere. It is another thing when there is God's blessing to change the way of life. Then the Lord helps a person. And when we try to change circumstances through our passions, it only gets worse. This is an immutable law of spiritual life. And the enemy is pushing us to violate it. 21. If you do needlework in a cell, then you must fight with one demon, and if you are idle, then you will struggle with a hundred demons. (337) This does not apply only to monks. For every Christian who tries to fight the passions, it is the most important task to organize his time. As soon as we find ourselves in idleness, the abuse immediately intensifies. Idleness is contraindicated for those who struggle. Rest, of course, is necessary, but as a change of occupation. The state of "doing nothing" is extremely dangerous. 22. "Bring down the mighty from the Throne, and lift up the humble" (Luke 1:52). Christ the Son of God did not say: "Learn from Me to wear a hairshirt, or in what abysses and caves to live; but "for I am meek and humble in heart." (276) These words should not be understood to mean that external exploits are harmful. External podvigs are good and useful, and even necessary, but they must follow the inner purification of the heart and serve it. If a person succeeds in humility, then with God's blessing he can proceed to external feats. If one is afflicted with pride, then one must be very careful with external feats - they can inflame this pride even more. Of course, we are not talking about the generally accepted rules of Christian life, but about special deeds. We only seem important and significant to ourselves. But it is precisely such that God destroys, and exalts the humble. 23. If outwardly humble, quiet, patient, this is not enough; internal, spiritual self-abasement is needed. (470) It is clearly stated that outward gestures are not enough. But it should be noted that the internal also has its own levels. If you mentally call yourself bad, even have some feelings about it - this is far from what you need. It is important to acquire a heartfelt experience of one's insignificance, conscious and unquestionable. As long as we do not have this living sense of our unworthiness before God, we do not have humility. As Mark the Ascetic writes, if we accept the sorrows sent by God with good humor, it means that our repentance is true and we sincerely consider ourselves sinners. If we murmur, then we have no real repentance. The way of obedience to the will of God, according to the words of Barsanuphius the Great, is to "accept the one who strikes as one who warms." Of course, we are not able to immediately acquire such a dispensation. Therefore, we must begin with the external – not to grumble about the troubles that God sends us, to restrain our sinful manifestations and force ourselves not to be enmity, not to be angry, not to be offended by those people who cause us harm and anxiety, by those through whom God acts. Here it is appropriate to recall the life of the Monk Isidore, described by John of the Ladder, who, having given himself over to complete obedience to the abba, was placed at the monastery gates in order to fall at the feet of each one with the words: "Pray for me, I am possessed." Having come to a great measure of holiness, the monk shortly before his death told us that for the first few years he had fulfilled his obedience with great difficulty, and then he really felt that he needed the prayers of his neighbors, and already sincerely asked to pray for him. 24. Non-acquisitiveness, almsgiving, fasting and prayer are nothing without humility! (472) All outward and even internal good deeds are worthless in themselves if a person does not experience himself in the depths of his heart as a sinner before God. But you still need to do good deeds. Although there is no love for God, there is no true humility, it is necessary, as far as one has enough intelligence, as much as one has enough strength, to act outwardly virtuous and try to inwardly correctly tune oneself and pray. And at the same time, it is necessary to rely only on God's mercy, but not on one's own virtues and feats. 25. Humble prostrations do not constitute anything: it is necessary to have inner humility, to have humble thoughts with a humble bow. (475) It is important to emphasize that in practice both are needed. Many, however, are mistaken, believing that humility is expressed in bodily movements: humbly bow, cross yourself, kiss an icon - and this is enough. Others believe that only the internal is important, and externally you can behave as you like. Both are wrong. The external is inextricably linked with the internal. The exception is the holy fools for Christ's sake, whose outward actions were often ugly, but inwardly they preserved purity before God. But those are saints. We need to remember the words of St. John of the Ladder that the position of the body largely determines our state of mind. That is why the performance of church rites is useful - these are external means that influence the soul and help to find the right inner order. 26. The Lord has taken away from us this external beauty, beautiful clothing: it does not use, it only nourishes vanity. He gives us inner beauty, for He looks at the hearts. (504) If it seems to us that we are deprived of something, and we want to dress more fashionably, if we want to have four sweaters instead of two, if we want to eat sweeter, we should remember that all these desires are vanity, that the external pleasure that we miss so much is an obsession with the passion of vanity. Inner beauty is acquired to the extent that God's commandments are fulfilled, when we gratefully accept what God sends us. 27. Even if one has acquired all the treasures of the world, he will be poor if he does not have the treasure of the soul. (505) The phrase seems hackneyed. But do we realize that in fact everything will be like this? If we come to the Last Judgment, it will turn out that everything that we have been grieving about, about which we have bothered, that we have cherished, was superfluous, even useless. It will turn out that it was necessary to gather treasures for eternity: to learn obedience, patience, humility. We live with the earth, with our body, with our soul, not with our spirit - we live in vanity. And everything that goes beyond our vanity seems to us empty and insignificant. But it would be necessary to understand, before it is too late, that our values are directly opposite to the true ones.

Part 1

You can't settle down in this life in a good way * Well-being is harmful to us * "Thank God" has become an empty saying * God endured and commanded us * God sends sorrows because He loves us * The happy forget about God * You must endure skillfully * Murmuring is blasphemy against God * There is a way out of any situation to the Kingdom of Heaven * The strong endure the weaknesses of the weak * Grace is given to the humble * The cause of sorrows is ourselves * To be offended by God is madness * Do not justify yourself, but reproach * No one would have offended us if God had not wanted it * "Patience is constant complacency" * Seek not justice, but God's mercy * As long as we endure here, so much in eternity we will be comforted * For every infirmity, thank the Lord * 28. We know that temporal life is a temptation. Christ Himself, the Son of God, left us an example; why did He not suffer in this life? and then the Apostles and Holy Martyrs? (143) We all delude ourselves when we think that it is possible to settle down in this life in some good way. You can't get a good job. Temporal life is given so that we may be tempted, purified, and prepared for eternal blissful life. It is possible to settle down in a good way only in eternity, and here to live well means to live according to God's commandments. But this in no way implies earthly goods and comfort. To hope that everything will be painless and prosperous here is even worldly naïve - this does not happen. Therefore, by the way, all kinds of communist utopias are outright deception. Promises of heaven on earth are a real deception. Why are people deceived? Because they do not want to seek the spiritual, the eternal, a person does not love God, does not want to know Him, wants to settle down here more comfortably and thoroughly, and therefore he is deceived by sweet but false fairy tales. If we want to be with Christ in eternity, we must follow the path of Christ here as well. He paved it for us, including through his sufferings. And we, under the influence of demons, perceive them as something illusory. But these were the most real sufferings, He endured them for our sake, so that we could enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We do not like and do not want to endure. Almost because of every trifle we fall into despair. I whimper because of everything: someone looked askance, something didn't work out at work, the apartment was cramped. And imagine that you are in a concentration camp, your children are on the street, your husband or wife is shot (not so long ago this happened). And from this position "on a bunk" look at your current sufferings - they will seem to you paradise. Or the modern situation: you are a refugee, you spend the night with your children on the concrete floor at the train station... In general, everything is fine with us, but we all get angry and constantly grumble, which, in fact, confirms that well-being has never brought any spiritual benefit to anyone. So God sometimes takes away our comfort so that we are purified by suffering. We need to thank God for suffering, and not ask for a warm life. It is harmful to us. 29. We say that we love, but we do not want to accept and endure anything for Him. And what did He endure for us? They vexed Him, reproached Him, beat Him, spat on Him, crucified Him on the cross - He endured everything for our salvation. (21) We read about this very often in the Holy Fathers, but these words slip past our consciousness. It is clear why they slip in, because we do not imitate Christ, we do not want to take upon ourselves the cross, we murmur when God lays the cross on us, we do not thank Him for this. If we strove to unite with Christ, then we would accept any suffering sent by God with love and joy, understanding that this is God's mercy to us, God's trust. If nothing unpleasant happens to us, then we, because of our laziness, because of our indifference, will not even pray to God. Our words of gratitude to God are especially cold. "Thank God" became an empty saying. And the sighs "Everything is not thank God" are insane blasphemy. When sorrow, illness, misfortune come, the heart opens up to God more easily. He, knowing our nature, sends us what we need. If everything is fine with us, we fall asleep spiritually, fall into pride, and cease to care about our salvation. And therefore the Lord, as St. Macarius of Optina writes, allows a person to taste the sorrows of sorrows, so that he would have humble wisdom and not hope for the strength and immutability of temporal good. We would do well to get used to the idea that everything pleasant in this life is temporary. And we console ourselves with dreams that today is good and now it will always be so. It can be eternally good only in the Kingdom of Heaven. Accepting sorrows from God, we must remember that He sends them to us out of His love. God turns everything for good. But if we do evil, if we ourselves want evil, then we will be responsible for it. If one person killed another, then the murdered person died by the will of God, then the time has come for him to die. But the killer is guilty, because he acted out of malice. We should not think that if we sin, it is God's will to do so. There is no will of God for sin. 30. About your lack of patience. I advise you to exhort yourself and say: "Theophania! Why are you faint-hearted and do not tolerate unpleasant words? Christ Himself, the Son of God, did not endure, and gave us an image of patience, so that we might follow in His footsteps. (161) When we are insulted by someone, it is very useful to remember how Christ responded to insults and torments. He did not protest, did not grumble against the offenders, and did not even condemn his murderers, but prayed for them. There is a good folk proverb: "God endured and commanded us." If we begin to imitate Christ in patience, then we will become like Him in glory, we will reign with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven, for which God created us. The only way to find peace of mind is to endure everything that God sends, including insults from people. And any attempt to find peace in an external way will only lead from anxiety to anxiety, and all the time given to us by God we will live in vain. 31. [Christ] has loved us so much, perishable and unworthy; And should we not endure something, moreover, for our sins? Because of our arrogance, we do not feel God's mercies, we have not completely clung to the Lord God, that is why everything is hard for us, everything is boring, that is why we are all in displeasure, in sorrow. (21) It is hard for us because in our hearts we do not agree to accept everything that happens in life as sent down from God. If we truly believed that everything that the Lord sends us, He sends out of love for us, then we would endure. Here is an athlete who endures. The coach tells him: "Lift the barbell a hundred times" - and he lifts. - "Do fifty push-ups" - and he does push-ups... If we believed that God wants our salvation (as a coach wants victory for an athlete) and sends us only what is useful for this, then we would endure everything complacently, would not evade and would not be lazy. With our limited minds, we cannot fully understand the reasons why God sends us sorrows, so we must accept them with humility without much reasoning. And it should not be accepted with slavish obedience (as it happens, a slave is punished, and he is forced to endure, but he is angry with his master), but with good obedience, that is, with a filial attitude, with gratitude. 32. When someone is grieving, one should console oneself with the thought that God is merciful, and the sorrow will pass. (32) The advice is very good, but it is good for those people who aspire to the kingdom of heaven. For them, the thought that God is merciful, that He forgives those who repent their infirmities and sins, is indeed encouraging and strengthening. 33. If someone offends me, I must think that it is the Lord who wants to bring me to my senses, to remind me that I am bad. (455) God sends all troubles, sorrows, and illnesses so that we may remember Him and His commandments and begin to live according to them, and not so that we may destroy our souls by condemning offenders. Abba Dorotheus, when he saw a certain monk patiently, without any external irritation, enduring insults from the brethren, wanted to know what he was thinking at the same time. (This story is described in the book of Abba Dorotheus, one of the best for beginners in the spiritual life.) The abba was amazed that the young monk had come to such a measure of success. He asked him: "How do you manage to do this?" and he answered: "I think of these people that they are not people, but barking dogs." This, of course, is the worst thing that can happen. Because it is better to be irritated in a human way, and then repent of it, than to have such a false peace, which comes from great pride. The elder crossed himself and said: "Deliver me, O God, from such outward patience." But true patience is the most precious gift that is given to the one who accepts sorrows without murmuring, with gratitude. If we were true Christians, we should not pray that God would deliver us from suffering, but that He would grant us the patience to endure it. "Thou art not wiser than God," said St. Isaac the Syrian, exhorting him to submit to the Lord in everything. The subject of our Orthodox faith is that God loves us and does everything exclusively for our salvation, and we are required to accept this with love. 34. We flee from sorrows; And the saints grieved that there were no sorrows: was it possible, they said, to be saved without them? (393) The Monk Abba Dorotheus, when he was still a novice, asked: "Can I be saved if I do not feel any sorrow?" We are weak people and are not able to cut off our will so directly and decisively. We are not called by God to such a great feat, so we must endure sorrows with good humor and know that we are saved only when we endure them. If we feel light for a while, it means that God is sending us comfort. If our life proceeds smoothly, serenely, it is worth thinking about whether we live a godly life. Patience with sorrows is the way to Heaven. But patience must be right. "This life is for endure, and everyone endures something. But one must endure skillfully, otherwise one can endure, but receive no benefit," writes St. Theophan the Recluse, and adds: "Patience does not go for the future, if it is not for the sake of the Lord. We work, endure, exhaust, and all for the sake of the enemy, to our own destruction." What does it mean to "be able to endure"? When something unpleasant happens to us, demons and sinful habits push us to condemn people, to condemn circumstances, to condemn even God Himself. Meanwhile, the basic rule of spiritual life is very simple and well known to us: do not grumble and accept everything that happens as from the hand of God. Such a feat is accessible to everyone, for this you do not need to be a theologian, a monk, or a priest. To do this, you need to be just a Christian and want to save your soul. Everything that happens to us either comes from outside or comes from within ourselves. We are responsible for what comes from us, here is the area of manifestation of our freedom, and everything sinful requires self-reproach and repentance. And what appears to us from outside, which does not depend on us, is sent by the almighty, loving God and must be received without murmuring, with thanksgiving. Murmuring is blasphemy against God. When we murmur, we put our desires above the will of God and thereby actually rebel against God. This is a sin close to Satan's, which is why the Holy Fathers so strictly warn against murmuring. St. Isaac the Syrian writes that God is lenient to our infirmities, but is angry with a person who murmurs, and punishes him. Sorrows should be accepted not only with gratitude, but also with joy, because we are saved by them. If we were to aspire with our minds to eternity, to the Last Judgment, to the toll-houses that await us all without exception, we would rejoice in sorrows. We, on the contrary, try to push away sorrows from ourselves and murmur, because all our attention, all our desires are directed to the temporary, and at the same time, of course, any sorrow is hateful to us, since it interferes with our peace, our enjoyment of life. You need to humble yourself before God. If sorrow has already come (illness, death of a loved one, failure in everyday affairs), you need to bow your head and courageously endure. But we, carnal people, tend to fuss and twitch. From childhood, we are brought up with the idea that there must be a way out of any situation and we must find it at any cost. But in reality, there is only a way out of any situation in the sense of eternal salvation in the Kingdom of Heaven, because in each situation a free choice is possible: to act according to God's commandment or according to one's passionate desire. As for temporal life, nothing pleasant is promised to us here - Christ Himself was crucified and died on the cross. But on the other hand, we are promised: if we endure, as befits all that God sends us in temporal life, then we will be saved in eternal life. 35. The Lord will also correct everyone. (32) When someone does the right thing, he saves himself and helps others. It is known that in monasteries, along with great ascetics, weak brothers always lived. For example, in one monastery St. Barsanuphius the Great, his disciple and the equally great elder John the Prophet, their disciples the Monks Seris and Abba Dorotheus were tied together. And in the same monastery there were brothers who, as Abba Dorotheus recalled, hated him so much that they shook out their rugs with bedbugs in front of his door in order to annoy him. The strong endured the infirmities of the weak, prayed for them, and God called them to repentance, correction, and so they were saved. If we endure the weaknesses of our neighbors, pray for them, then we ourselves will receive salvation and attract God's mercy to our neighbor. So the Lord will correct everyone. 36. Do not be bored with the sorrows that have befallen you; "tribulation worketh patience" (Rom. 5:3). (112) These are the words of the Apostle Paul. Indeed, sorrow gives rise to patience, that is, it changes the quality of our soul. Patience should not be a temporary state (today I endure, tomorrow I do not endure), it is necessary that the soul acquires a new property - it becomes patient. When the soul is patient, it also becomes humble. And already a humble soul is ready to receive grace. God sends sorrows in order to make our soul capable of receiving grace. In the letters of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov we read: "Entrust your external circumstances to the providence of God, and as they are arranged, so let them be arranged. And be peaceful and calm, worrying only about your soul, which you promised to present to Christ cleansed by repentance." The words are very simple and can be considered a common place in spiritual literature. But they make more sense than we usually think. It seems to us that this means "Come what may!" and the fact is that they must be understood literally, then the spiritual meaning of what is said is revealed: we will not be responsible for external circumstances, we will not be held accountable for them. The conditions of life - pleasant, unpleasant and most terrible - are created by Divine Providence and serve our salvation. We will have to answer for how we received them: with a murmur or humbly, preserving the peace of the heart. In general, it must be said that many of the formulations familiar to our ears, which are found in the Holy Scriptures and in the Holy Fathers, are often poorly thought out by us and not understood in a Christian way. The Christian understanding assumes that absolutely all external circumstances are sent by God and as such deserve only thanks from us.

Part 2

37. We think that sorrows just come. No! The Lord God sends us to know that we have not yet attained humility and patience. (393) Nothing ever happens without God's will, including troubles and misfortunes. Therefore, it is ridiculous to be offended by people. To be offended by God is already complete madness. Although, strange as it may seem, this kind of insanity seems to occur more often than ordinary mental disorders. Obviously, it is a consequence of our excessive pride. We imagine ourselves to be judges not only over people, but also over God Himself, because He did not please us in some way, did not arrange something, did not deliver us from our sins. We murmur: why doesn't God correct me? It would be more logical to wonder why He still tolerates us at all. In justice, the Lord should have destroyed us long ago for our sins, but He still spares us, everything awaits our repentance. "Through pride and our sins we ourselves are the cause of our sorrows" - this is the statement of the great Elder Hilarion Troekurovsky. And St. Ambrose of Optina said: "The tree of our sorrows has grown on the soil of our hearts." There are no sorrows that would not be generated by our passions, and there cannot be. 38. "For our life is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20). Do not despair of God's mercy. (112) We often become faint-hearted and complain about the sorrows of our temporal life, but the temporal is temporary, and is absolutely insignificant in comparison with the eternal. We must remember that our true life is still in heaven. All temporal sorrows are only exercises, love punishments, instructions from God to prepare us for eternity. It is not always pleasant for the patient to tolerate the procedures, but if he is in a good clinic and knows that he is being treated by good doctors, then he is happy with any procedures and is grateful for them. Our heavenly Physician is omnipotent, loving, omniscient, and therefore everything He does to us is for our benefit, so we should always thank Him and not despair of His mercy. Any illness is a gift of God, God's admonition. And this gift serves our success, if we give thanks for it. Great torments were endured by Job the Long-suffering. Mental anguish: all his children, all his property perished, only one mad wife remained, who seduced him to blasphemy. Bodily torments: he was stricken with a terrible illness. But he endured, thanking and glorifying God. Such patience led him to great glory both on earth and in heaven. We too must be patient a little, accepting illnesses from God with good humor, and we too will see the glory of God. 39. You write that you are very sad, but although you do not mention the reasons why it happened, it is known that the sorrow is not from God, but from the enemy of our souls; the yoke of Christ is not heavy, according to His holy word: My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. This He deigned to say with His most pure lips, but the enemy has imposed a heavy yoke on you. (163) Good and salvific sorrow is when we grieve over our sins, but hope for God's mercy, thus gaining strength to fight our passions. And any sorrow about worldly affairs is a sorrow that must be overcome. The reason that we experience our life's cross as a kind of heaviness is not in God, but in our passions and demonic delusions, because we have not loved what we should, and when we are deprived of what we love, it is certainly difficult for us. Just like a drug addict begins to "withdraw" when he is deprived of a drug. The cause of his suffering is not a certain substance, but addiction to it. 40. If you want to be saved and destroy the burden of sin, then you must reproach yourself, reproach yourself, and weep for your impatience; to honor everyone, as they are your own sisters, to love everyone - and so you will be saved. (180) If we want to destroy the burden of sin, we must always reproach ourselves, asking God to cleanse the heart of passions. Whether a sinful thought has come, someone has offended us - no matter what happens, we must always sincerely reproach ourselves, and then the passions will recede. When a person does not do to us what we expect from him, it means that God does not notify him. And it doesn't matter if the person is good or not. Everything is in God's hands. When He pleases, He will put a good attitude into an evil person, and He will help us. And if God does not please, then all those closest to him will turn away. And if God wants to punish us and humble us, then all creation will rise up against us. It is better to humble oneself before God and suffer a small punishment than to grumble, rebel, and raise up all creation against oneself. 41. If you are offended or endure passion, resist your evil thoughts. This torment is enough. (205) This is an answer to the nun, who evidently dreamed of the feat of martyrdom. True podvig is the struggle with one's passions. It is imputed to martyrdom. In Greek, martyrs are called "martiros", which translates as "witness". The martyr bears witness to the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven by his life. We are small and weak people, so God does not send us great sorrows, but we must gratefully endure the small things that He sends (sorrows, illnesses, suffering from our own passions) and thus also testify to the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven. 42. The Lord God knows what you need. (394) Good children believe that mom and dad know how to treat them and what's best for them. Children do not like it, but they still drink bitter medicines that their parents give them. In the same way, although it is not easy for us to endure sorrows (they would not be sorrows if we did not grieve from them), we should trust God without murmuring, for He knows best what is good for us. In addition, one must sincerely thank God for sorrows, not hypocritically, not just in words, but from the bottom of one's heart. Just as we thank the doctor who performed the operation on us. It was painful, we lost important organs, but we are sure that without medical intervention we would have died. The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews says that when we endure punishments, we, as children, find the Father in God, and can there be a son who is not punished by the father? Unfortunately, there are children who are not punished by their fathers, especially in our time. These are unfortunate children, they grow up mentally crippled. A person cannot grow up normal, even in the most ordinary everyday sense, if he is not punished, that is, taught, corrected. 43. If you see any deficiency in the meal, you will meet in need other than need, be patient. We are not worthy of what we use here. (496) This is a very important ascetic instruction. If we show impatience, reproach our loved ones (often because of insignificant trifles: looking the wrong way, putting the cup in the wrong place, etc.), we thereby lose salvation. "Patience is uninterrupted complacency," said St. Nikon of Optina. They would have endured, resigned themselves - and they would have received great benefits. And we inflict mortal harm on ourselves with petty impatience. And if we dare to blame God for not giving us something, then we must reason honestly: admit that we do not really deserve anything, that if we are to be judged according to our merits before God, we must simply be exterminated - already now given over to eternal torment. Therefore, it is better for us not to sue God, not to seek our own truth, but to seek God's mercy. 44. There is no need to reproach one another. If there are those who are weak, let those who are stronger bear the weakness of the weak. After all, they did not come to the monastery to point out to each other, who works more and who works less. The more we work, the more we will receive rewards from God. (444) Mutual reproaches, which are habitual to all of us. We all bargain, we consider it normal and natural for ourselves to be offended. I often hear Christians complain: why did he tell me this, why did they do this to me, why was I not praised, why was I scolded for nothing? All this is completely out of place in the Church. It is natural for non-believers to demand respect for themselves, to expect praise. They do not suspect about eternal life, about the Last Judgment. All their values are carnal. For them, everything should take place here on earth. Therefore, they ruthlessly fight for a "place in the sun". And for Christians who are preparing for the Last Judgment, fearing eternal torment and thirsting for eternal bliss, such an attitude to life is absurd. "If you do not endure bitter, you will not wait for sweets," said Elder Hilarion of Troekurovsky. As long as we endure here, so much will we be comforted in eternity. Therefore, when we flee from the labors, sorrows, illnesses, and troubles that God sends us, we flee from eternal blissful life. 45. We see in the common people what need they endure, and they do not understand what it is for, and if we endure it with feelings and attribute all this to my shortcomings that I am not worthy of the best, then, of course, there will be a sacrifice acceptable to God. And if you grumble, then there is no benefit. (42) Of course, it cannot be said that we are now in need, it is only an outrage on our part, that we are grumbling. None of us are starving. None of us is deprived of clothing or housing, but we have some, let's say, small drawback. Thus, we must accept this small shortcoming with gratitude, with the understanding that God protects us from many sins by the absence of luxury, the absence of superabundance, which exists in developed countries. And if this is a punishment, then it punishes us, so that our souls may be cleansed for the Kingdom of Heaven. If we thought so, then everything would be fine with us. God especially punishes our people for continuing to grumble. We didn't like everything under the tsar. The tsar was driven away, they arranged a paradise life for themselves in a concentration camp. The concentration camp is over - again we murmur, again dissatisfied. The Lord has already given us everything, the churches are open, services are going on everywhere, and everyone is full, and the misfortunes that we expected are gone. At one time, everyone was afraid that there would be hunger, there would be some passions - there was none of this. Everything bad that exists is only from our malice. And we continue to grumble. I'm talking about Christians. That it is not Christians who murmur is out of the question. We, Christians, murmur flies from our lips, and all the time we are dissatisfied, and we should only thank God. 46. When there is any deficiency or sorrow at the table, then remember what needs and sorrows the saints endured, but they thanked God for everything! (266) We are always complaining about material circumstances. When this is done by people who do not believe in God, who are completely immersed in their earthly interests, there is nothing to say. When a Christian begins to lament that everything is precious, that we are starving, that we cannot breathe from difficulties, this is already a slander against God, because, thank God, we are all still fed, clothed, and our difficulties are endured. But if we continue to sin, then, no matter the hour, the Lord will punish us for our faint-hearted murmuring. We should be aware that we are not worthy of anything good, and at the same time thank God for everything, then we can hope that the Lord will increase our spiritual, and possibly material possessions. If a person gratefully accepts God's gifts, then this as if prompts God to multiply them. But it's not just a matter of saying, "Lord, thank you." For the most part, we consider ourselves worthy of God's gifts, and often we feel worthy of even more. Therefore, we thank God formally, as if by the way. But by doing so, we add hypocrisy to our sins. And therefore God, in His mercy, so that our sins do not multiply, does not send us spiritual gifts. He restrains his generosity, waiting for our repentance. 47. Do not think that the Lord God does not look upon your labors, on your patience: He looks upon all that is good, and if you live like this, He will not leave you. (395) If we endure, if we bear our cross, we should not be faint-hearted and think that God does not see us, as if He has forgotten us. If we live without murmuring, then, of course, God looks at us with love, and, of course, we will receive a good reward even for our small labors, and an undeservedly large one, far exceeding our labors and sacrifices. 48. There is no need to desire or ask for death, but to pray: Thy holy will be done. (25) Some people, especially those who are sick or very old, ask for death. In vain, because God knows when to take the soul. We must accept all the sufferings that God sends and endure with gratitude, since they serve to purify our souls and prepare us for the Kingdom of Heaven. Christian prudence is also required in relation to illnesses. "He to whom illness will be sent must spend his time in thanksgiving to God," writes St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. Mind you, not in murmuring and not in the search for any urgent healing. Of course, due to infirmity, we are all blessed with medical treatment, there are very few people who could, with benefit for themselves, firmly endure the disease, without resorting to any means to alleviate it. Our spirit is weak, therefore we are forced to turn to doctors for help, but at the same time we must remember that any ailment is a mercy sent to us, for which it is necessary to thank and glorify God. Let us not forget to thank the Lord even after we have received healing through pills, procedures and operations, for God also acts through doctors, through devices and drugs. Forgetting about gratitude, a person risks falling under the wrath of God, when the Lord begins to admonish with stronger illnesses, making it clear that healing in any case comes from Him. Sincerely thanking God, a person receives peace and comfort. This is a real experience of the spiritual life not only of the saints, but also of every Christian. Everyone, having tried, will be convinced that if, without bargaining with God, you thank and praise Him from the heart, then peace and silence reign in the heart, which are the pledge of eternal consolation. 49. In this life it is not long to endure. (396) In the Otechnik there is a story about how the demons tried to bring the ascetic into despondency, predicting how difficult it would be for him to live in the wilderness for a long seventy years. And he replied that he was ready to endure at least two hundred years. Of all the sorrows that we have to endure, it can be said that they are temporary and even short-lived. Always, when something unpleasant happens, one must console oneself with the fact that all this is only for a while, that infinite bliss awaits the sufferer. It should always be remembered that illness is temporary, but life is eternal.

Temptation

Man is known in temptation * We sin because we are sinners * Expect blows to weak points * Give thanks for sorrow * Demonic intrigues for our education * In anger - be silent * Boredom - captivity by the demon of despondency * With two feet in the coffin, but at the TV * Demons lure us from the depths of our hearts * What drives us out of the temple * Offenses and insults are necessary and useful * Endure temptation with gratitude * Destroy the old man * The temptation of the magical path * Search for the culprits kindles anger * 50. It is impossible without temptations. "Child, if thou wilt begin to work for the Lord God, prepare thy soul for temptation" (Sir. 2:1). (390) If we want to be God's servants and enter the path of repentance, we must prepare ourselves for temptations. And temptations are not toys, they are not some kind of exercises and training. These are real troubles and sorrows, this is what is hard. This is both the meaning and the value of fighting temptations. That which is easy to cope with, which can be overcome without effort and pain, does not bring spiritual benefit. If we want to cleanse ourselves, if we want to change for the better, then we must expect blows precisely to the sore and weak spots. And in order to win this struggle, we need not to be offended by those who strike and insult, not to be offended by people, and even more so by God. Sometimes, a person falls into some serious mental temptation and is so upset by it that he even falls ill. Here the advice is not to be faint-hearted, but to repent and humble yourself before the Lord, recognizing your weakness. We must try to ensure that spiritual warfare does not pass into the sphere of emotions, into spiritual experiences, and does not lead us to nervous illnesses. It is impossible without temptations. He who flees from temptation flees from his salvation. The Holy Fathers write that the podvig that is accomplished without struggle, without heartache, is fruitless. There are, for example, people who find fasting easy, they naturally eat little, and they are not attracted to sweets. But there is little spiritual benefit from such fasting, there is no struggle here and there are no fruits of struggle. When fasting is difficult, when the fast is broken, a person suffers and repents, humbles himself from this, then there is a real benefit. 51. And what a reward when you endure temptation! "Thou shalt punish them a little, and they shall be greatly beneficial, for God shall tempt them, and find them worthy of Himself: as gold in the furnace thou hast tempted them, and as the all-fruitfulness of sacrifice I have received" (Wis. 3:5-6). (390) If we are not tested, our worthiness will not be revealed. In temptations, a person is recognized: whether he seeks the Kingdom of Heaven or something else. Without temptations, we could not know our weakness and sinfulness. Trials are allowed by God. When we murmur in temptation, it shows that we do not want to enter His Kingdom. Murmuring is the worst. Various human infirmities, even grave falls, are corrected by repentance. But if a person murmurs, it means that he refuses to repent. 52. Annoying and hostile people are sent from God for our correction and temptation, in order to bring our morals to those of infancy. Say: I have sinned, forgive me for God's sake. (209) It is not Satan who sends people to grieve, insult, and tempt us, but God. Everything that comes at us from the outside is given to us by God. No one can do anything without God's will, including harm to us. However, God is not the source of evil, but He allows the evil will of people and demons to manifest itself. Only it is necessary to accept this evil with gratitude and love, and it will turn out to be good for us. That is why you need to sincerely thank God for everything. And in no case should we condemn those people through whom God sends us saving troubles. 53. The enemy makes his own mistakes; there is no need to be embarrassed, but to ask the Lord God, and so all this will pass. (11) Even if we sincerely desire to live according to the commandments, God still allows demons to work against us, and they tempt us. All this is necessary for our learning, for our humility. There is no need to be perplexed about this, but we need to turn to God with a prayer of repentance, with a request for help, then temptations will be overcome and we will receive real benefit from this. 54. In times of contradiction it is better not to say anything: be dumb and humble and keep silent, according to the words of St. David. (139) Sometimes you should reprimand someone, but not before the anger against that person has passed. As long as we ourselves are in temptation, there is nothing to be said or done. It happens that you need to reprimand, the elders are even obliged to reprimand the younger ones, and they must punish. Both severity and severity are appropriate here, but not anger. There is no need to justify yourself by saying that the subordinate did wrong. Anger is a passion, it is our sin, regardless of how someone behaves towards us. There is a well-known saying: "A monk who does not restrain his tongue during anger will never conquer his passions." The first step in dealing with anger is to refrain from expressing anger in words. But if it has come to the point that you have poured out your anger on someone, you should not despair, but repent. The real struggle with this passion begins when a person outwardly refrains from anger, but inwardly reproaches himself for it. By continuing to pour out anger and justify ourselves, we root this passion even deeper in the soul. 55. Boredom comes from the fact that you do not have the perfect love of God in you. (347) Indeed, this is the cause of boredom. But do not be naïve to believe that we will suddenly be able to love God and our boredom will pass. Through the transgression of Adam and Eve, we fell away from God's love, and now we must constantly repent and ask God for the gift of love. Until we receive this great gift of the Holy Ghost, boredom will not recede from us. Boredom is not a harmless state, it is captivity by the spirit of despondency, the main temptation for all people. For monastics, this temptation is the most difficult, it is not experienced only by those monks who do not asceticize. We, worldly people, have many natural worries and troubles, so the spirit of despondency does not take possession of us so easily. But it takes possession of us imperceptibly. But it is very bad when we are treated for boredom with entertainment. In contrast to work, they distract us from God. At confession, the confessor often hears from old women who are already standing with both feet in the coffin, only they have to lie down, that they are saving themselves from boredom with the TV. Human weakness, of course, remains weakness. But, nevertheless, we must well imagine that with death everything will end and the judgment will begin, at which we will have to answer for all our indulgences, for our laziness and idleness. How to counteract boredom? By prudent action, bodily and mental. It is unlikely that most of us will be suitable for unceasing prayer as a remedy for despondency. This is a lofty feat, not feasible for everyone. Therefore, it is best to consult with experienced spiritual people: how to build your life, how to spend time, how to pray. 56. What the enemy offers, we obey; what God says, we reject. (425) This is the usual state of our soul. The enemy tries to seduce us, he plays on our passions and prompts us that which is pleasant, but destructive. And God, as a loving Father, points out to us what is useful, and it is often unpleasant. How does it happen in life? One boy shouts to another: "Vitka, go out into the yard" - Vitka wants to go out, you can run, shout, play in the street, but the "evil" parents force him to do his homework. So it is in the spiritual life. For the salvation of the soul, for eternal bliss, it is useful for a person to obey God, and the demons, like these boys, lure a person out of the depths of his heart and turn him to external vanity. 57. The Lord God has called you to the threshold of heaven, to the holy abode; but small sorrows lead you to despair, and you say or think: why did you enter the monastery? and so resist the will of God. (143) This is written to a nun, and it applies to all people, especially those who have come to work in the church. A person came to church to work and thinks that now he is almost a saint, deserves to be bowed to, but suddenly he is not honored, called the wrong way, looked at the wrong way - the devil, of course, does not sleep, immediately prompts the idea that he needs to leave the church, go to work at a factory, where they pay more money. But this is a typical temptation that must be overcome. If someone does not pay attention to us and treats us unkindly, as we think, we must agree that we are not worthy of attention. And if someone does us some kind of evil, according to human reasoning, we need to see God's providence in this and thank the people through whom it is accomplished. From a spiritual point of view, offenses and insults are good for us. God sends us sorrows and needs out of His mercy. Great is our error, when we turn away from everything useful, and are drawn to everything harmful. 58. Grant, O God, that you may put off the old man and put on the new! The old man is in temptation, in disorder, and the new man is in patience and in generous hope in the grace of God. (143) In each of us, unfortunately, there is an old man, but there is also a new one. When sin takes possession of us, then we act like the old man, and when we good-naturedly endure what God sends, trusting in God's help, then we act like a new man. Our task is to exterminate the old man, and to allow the new to grow and strengthen. If some passion takes possession of us, it is a matter for repentance, and not for investigation: who led me into temptation, why did I succumb to temptation, and why did I sin... I sinned because it is characteristic of the old man to sin. St. Mark the Ascetic said: "When temptation comes, do not seek how and from whom it came, but seek to endure it with thanksgiving." This is an almost universal and constant misconception - when something happens, we try to figure it out, find out the reasons, find the culprits, and so on. By doing so, we are actually on the path of magic. That is, we try to penetrate into the spiritual world with our carnal reason and, as it were, take possession of it. And God expects something completely different from us - He wants to prepare us for the Kingdom of Heaven, He sends us temptations and teaches us patience, humility, and thanksgiving. It is a different matter with the conviction of conscience, when temptation engenders in the soul a clear feeling that God has punished us for some sin. If such an instruction is given, then it is necessary to use it and repent of what conscience convicts. But to dig into the mind, guess and calculate why and what happened is sinful and harmful to the soul. This is also harmful in terms of human relations. The trial, forbidden by St. Mark, leads the soul into confusion and is capable of sowing the seeds of rancor and hatred of one's neighbors. There is no need to find the culprits of our troubles. The culprits, of course, are ourselves, our sin, which prompts God to arrange our circumstances, to direct the actions of people or demons in such a way that they humble us. And the search for "external" culprits only inflames our own anger.

Forgiveness

We are guilty before our offender * The Holy Fathers did not give moral advice * Praying for those who offend us, we please God * Learn to forgive from the martyrs * The people suffered because they rebelled against their Church * Pleasure from evil * The angry one is always wrong * What will we say at the Last Judgment? * If you do not want to be saved, then God will not help you * Offenses are needed for humility * Sincerely consider yourself worthy of punishment * "Weep that there is no weeping" * Prayer with malice offends God * Forgive not in words, but in the heart * Fruitless donations * 59. If we are offended by anyone, we must say: I have sinned, forgive for God's sake. (2) Even a non-Christian understands that if he has sinned against someone, he must ask forgiveness. Although many Christians do not do this, they are embarrassed to ask for forgiveness when they are to blame. Elder Theophan speaks of the opposite situation: I was offended by some person, and I must realize my guilt before him, because because of my sinfulness, God allowed him to insult me, perhaps unjustly, but for my benefit. 60. If, however, the heart is troubled by an offense, then one should not express confusion in words, but should refrain from them with all one's might... Otherwise, neither our prayers nor other virtues, no matter how great they may be, will be pleasing to the Lord God. (3) I will add: even if we have only inwardly reviled the person who has offended us, all our exploits are useless. If they immediately repented of murmuring, then it is another matter. 61. And the sister who insulted her, pray for her. (32) When we read the Holy Fathers, we must understand that they do not give any empty moral advice. They give practical spiritual advice, and if a person follows it, he receives real benefits. If someone has insulted us and we do not give ourselves over to evil thoughts, but begin to pray both for ourselves and for the offender, then God will grant us peace of heart. This, of course, is not some kind of magical technique, as some people think, but this is the truth, because our God is merciful, and when we beg Him for help, He helps us, and when we pray for our offenders, He also rejoices for us. After all, he himself prayed for his offenders. 62. "His miracles were rejected, He Himself was scolded, beaten, and finally nailed to the cross, and with His last breath He said: 'Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do' (Lk. 23, 34). (32) If we want to enter the kingdom of heaven, we have no other way but the way of Christ, and we must imitate Christ in forgiving our offenders. Christ, being a God-man, had the power to destroy all His enemies, but He endured everything in order to save us. He endured, Christ's sufferings were not illusory: when He was beaten, He was hurt, when He was insulted, He realized the injustice of the insults. But He overcame all this with His infinite divine love, that is, He forgave His tormentors and murderers and, wishing them repentance and salvation, prayed for them. We mostly deal with petty grievances and petty grievances, but do we remain victorious in these petty battles? How to treat suffering correctly, how to forgive, not to take revenge, not to condemn – this can be learned from our New Martyrs, who showed themselves to be true Christians during the persecutions, when, defeated physically, they were victorious spiritually. The terrible iniquities and executions committed during the communist tyranny harmed, of course, those who committed them, and not their victims. The people who rebelled against their Church also suffered from this. The martyrs themselves found eternal blessed life through suffering. And they won with their forgiveness. St. Vladimir of Kiev, Archpriest Philosopher Ornatsky and many others blessed their murderers before their deaths, prayed for them, as Christ did for his crucifiers. The New Martyrs prayed for the unfortunate people who killed them and thereby destroyed themselves. And this prayer of theirs, their forgiveness, the fact that they did not reject their people, did not hate, did not condemn their tormentors and murderers - all this turned out to be a guarantee that the people nevertheless rose up, and the Lord gives us the opportunity to be reborn and again become the people of God. We must learn from our martyrs and confessors of love, learn to forgive at least our petty offenders. After all, they offend us - they step on our feet, answer rudely in the store, delay wages. If we begin to forgive these tormentors, pray for them, and reproach ourselves for irritation, then, if God sends us difficult trials, we will be ready to pray for our murderers and crucifiers. 63. To take revenge, to be indignant, to grumble, to complain, to be displeased, to hurt someone with a word seems pleasant to us, and the enemy rejoices at this. (32) We do not pay attention to the fact that we often take pleasure in our own evil thoughts and evil words. Let us watch ourselves and see that when someone offends us, it is pleasant to cherish anger against the offender. We will also be responsible for such a perverted pleasure. And the enemy rejoices at our schadenfreude, and he rejoices, naturally, at our destruction. 64. Do not be angry: let not the sun go down on your anger! (139) It would be good not to be angry at all. But, in any case, we should not consider ourselves right when we are angry, but we should reproach ourselves, pray to get out of this state. By doing so, a person acquires spiritual experience. When a person is angry and believes that he is right, and the one against whom he is angry is guilty, this is completely unchristian reasoning. Let us think about it: fasting requires willpower, patience, and physical strength is needed to make prostrations. But in order to confess that since I am offended by someone, angry with someone, it means that I am in a sinful state, and God is the judge of other people, for this I need nothing but good will. If we refuse to offer this small sacrifice - the consciousness that I myself am to blame for being in a sinful state, then at the Last Judgment we will have nothing to say to God in our justification. It's the same as it happens that parents drag their child to the institute, they are looking for connections anyway, and they pay money, they pushed him into the institute - but he still does not go there, he walks with friends. Everything is done for him, but if he does not want to study, then he will not. If a person does not want to save his soul, then Almighty God Himself cannot do anything. 65. I advise you in your prayers to mention those sisters who seem hostile to you: they do you more good than anyone else... and praise is useless for us. (181) Our salvation is accomplished through those who offend us, who are hostile to us. Naturally, it is unpleasant for us to see these people, but we must know that they help our salvation with their evil manifestations, and harm themselves by doing so. We need to intercede for them before God, pray for them and in no case respond to them with malice. 66. And in oneself, imagining one's sins, think: I am worthy of punishment and more than this. 2 If each of us remembers his own life, he will find many ugly things in it, of which no one knows and for which we have not been punished. If we do not want the punishment we deserve for our sins, then we do not need to seek undeserved respect for ourselves. God sends illnesses and sorrows, including insults from people, only to humble us for our benefit. Therefore, there is no need to be offended. You need to sincerely consider yourself worthy of punishment. And as long as we do not think so, being in sinful insensibility and ignorance of our sins, all the more must we humble ourselves, all the more must we endure the hardships that alone can crush us. St. John Climacus wrote: "Weep over your sins, and if there is no weeping, then weep over the fact that there is no weeping." 67. There is no need to take revenge: Vengeance is mine, I will repay. (139) There is no need to worry about revenge. The Lord will deal with the offender himself. Good is the sinner whom God will punish in this life. It is worse if he repays in eternity. 68. And if someone has offended him, and the enemy will present that person, in order to turn the prayer into nothing or lead it into sin, then remember the words of the Saviour: "When you stand praying, let him go, if you have any grudge against anyone, and your Father who is in heaven will forgive you your trespasses" (Mark 11:25). (162) Satan's goal is to interfere with our prayer, so the demons try in every possible way to remind us of something offensive, to inflame our passions. The enemy achieves his goal when we continue to get angry when we remember the offenders. As long as we struggle with the enemy's thoughts, although we are distracted from prayer, we still do not sin. If there is agreement with the "just" feeling of resentment, then our prayer becomes more than just useless. By holding on to anger, we not only destroy prayer, we make it offensive to God, we turn it into a sin. The condition for forgiving our sins is very simple and easy: if we forgive, then we will also be forgiven. In this sense, salvation is in our hands. But the enemy usually evokes the mood that everything will work out anyway, as if there is no need to save oneself at all. He puts us to sleep, and we forget both about the commandments of God and about the Last Judgment. If, on occasion, we still remember the Last Judgment, the demons immediately confuse us with the thought of the incredible difficulty of salvation. Indeed, it is not easy to attain a high measure of perfection, for this you need to devote yourself entirely to God. But in order to receive God's forgiveness of sins, one only needs to believe in Christ Himself. And He says: Forgive me, and you will be forgiven. 69. Forgiveness must be done from the heart. (242) Most often we ask forgiveness formally, if only to get rid of it, and we forgive only in words, and not in our hearts. And sometimes it comes to the point that we use the name of God as a curse. "Save, Lord" sometimes sounds like a curse on our lips. For years we go to church, but nothing changes in our souls: malice, condemnation and no spiritual struggle. After all, God does not require anything special from us. Ascetics go into the wilderness, carrying out lofty feats. This is not required of us - just be patient, only admit that you are a sinner in the depths of your heart, only admit that you yourself are to blame, if you are irritated with someone, if you offend someone... And we all get angry, condemn, grumble. If something bright shines in us, it does not shine for long, and then disappears again, as in a bottomless abyss. The Monk Abba Dorotheus writes: "Some do not forgive for a day, another for two, another week or more - all such are under hell." And we do not forgive for months. And if after a week we are forgiven, then we consider ourselves ascetics. A person must forgive immediately (it is said: let not the sun go down on your anger). There is no need to flatter yourself. No matter how many prostrations we make, no matter how much we donate to the church (we can donate millions, those who have them, we can take everything out of the house and put it in the middle of the church), this will not be imputed to us if we do not forgive. Because there is no commandment about donating one's belongings, but there is a commandment about mercy and forgiveness. And if we do not fulfill it, then our donations, our labors for the Church are completely fruitless. And if we also take credit for them, then we will be all the more condemned for this. Even the Old Testament prophet Hosea wrote that what is needed is not sacrifice, but mercy. 70. If there is any displeasure against the sister inside, pray inwardly for the sister, and ask for forgiveness in a word. (457) Of course, one should ask for forgiveness when the irritation is not contained within but manifested outwardly. If a person knows nothing about our evil thoughts about him, we should not tempt him with words about forgiveness, but we should turn to God in our thoughts, asking Him for forgiveness. If we hesitate and do not fight our temptations, if we hold a grudge against a brother or sister, then we commit a real sin that we need to repent of. If we reproach ourselves and pray for our neighbor, if we do not agree with evil thoughts, then we wage a battle, for which, if we do not surrender to the enemy, we will receive a crown from God.

Pride

We are guilty before our offender * The Holy Fathers did not give moral advice * Praying for those who offend us, we please God * Learn to forgive from the martyrs * The people suffered because they rebelled against their Church * Pleasure from evil * The angry one is always wrong * What will we say at the Last Judgment? * If you do not want to be saved, then God will not help you * Offenses are needed for humility * Sincerely consider yourself worthy of punishment * "Weep that there is no weeping" * Prayer with malice offends God * Forgive not in words, but in the heart * Fruitless donations * 59. If we are offended by anyone, we must say: I have sinned, forgive for God's sake. (2) Even a non-Christian understands that if he has sinned against someone, he must ask forgiveness. Although many Christians do not do this, they are embarrassed to ask for forgiveness when they are to blame. Elder Theophan speaks of the opposite situation: I was offended by some person, and I must realize my guilt before him, because because of my sinfulness, God allowed him to insult me, perhaps unjustly, but for my benefit. 60. If, however, the heart is troubled by an offense, then one should not express confusion in words, but should refrain from them with all one's might... Otherwise, neither our prayers nor other virtues, no matter how great they may be, will be pleasing to the Lord God. (3) I will add: even if we have only inwardly reviled the person who has offended us, all our exploits are useless. If they immediately repented of murmuring, then it is another matter. 61. And the sister who insulted her, pray for her. (32) When we read the Holy Fathers, we must understand that they do not give any empty moral advice. They give practical spiritual advice, and if a person follows it, he receives real benefits. If someone has insulted us and we do not give ourselves over to evil thoughts, but begin to pray both for ourselves and for the offender, then God will grant us peace of heart. This, of course, is not some kind of magical technique, as some people think, but this is the truth, because our God is merciful, and when we beg Him for help, He helps us, and when we pray for our offenders, He also rejoices for us. After all, he himself prayed for his offenders. 62. "His miracles were rejected, He Himself was scolded, beaten, and finally nailed to the cross, and with His last breath He said: 'Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do' (Lk. 23, 34). (32) If we want to enter the kingdom of heaven, we have no other way but the way of Christ, and we must imitate Christ in forgiving our offenders. Christ, being a God-man, had the power to destroy all His enemies, but He endured everything in order to save us. He endured, Christ's sufferings were not illusory: when He was beaten, He was hurt, when He was insulted, He realized the injustice of the insults. But He overcame all this with His infinite divine love, that is, He forgave His tormentors and murderers and, wishing them repentance and salvation, prayed for them. We mostly deal with petty grievances and petty grievances, but do we remain victorious in these petty battles? How to treat suffering correctly, how to forgive, not to take revenge, not to condemn – this can be learned from our New Martyrs, who showed themselves to be true Christians during the persecutions, when, defeated physically, they were victorious spiritually. The terrible iniquities and executions committed during the communist tyranny harmed, of course, those who committed them, and not their victims. The people who rebelled against their Church also suffered from this. The martyrs themselves found eternal blessed life through suffering. And they won with their forgiveness. St. Vladimir of Kiev, Archpriest Philosopher Ornatsky and many others blessed their murderers before their deaths, prayed for them, as Christ did for his crucifiers. The New Martyrs prayed for the unfortunate people who killed them and thereby destroyed themselves. And this prayer of theirs, their forgiveness, the fact that they did not reject their people, did not hate, did not condemn their tormentors and murderers - all this turned out to be a guarantee that the people nevertheless rose up, and the Lord gives us the opportunity to be reborn and again become the people of God. We must learn from our martyrs and confessors of love, learn to forgive at least our petty offenders. After all, they offend us - they step on our feet, answer rudely in the store, delay wages. If we begin to forgive these tormentors, pray for them, and reproach ourselves for irritation, then, if God sends us difficult trials, we will be ready to pray for our murderers and crucifiers. 63. To take revenge, to be indignant, to grumble, to complain, to be displeased, to hurt someone with a word seems pleasant to us, and the enemy rejoices at this. (32) We do not pay attention to the fact that we often take pleasure in our own evil thoughts and evil words. Let us watch ourselves and see that when someone offends us, it is pleasant to cherish anger against the offender. We will also be responsible for such a perverted pleasure. And the enemy rejoices at our schadenfreude, and he rejoices, naturally, at our destruction. 64. Do not be angry: let not the sun go down on your anger! (139) It would be good not to be angry at all. But, in any case, we should not consider ourselves right when we are angry, but we should reproach ourselves, pray to get out of this state. By doing so, a person acquires spiritual experience. When a person is angry and believes that he is right, and the one against whom he is angry is guilty, this is completely unchristian reasoning. Let us think about it: fasting requires willpower, patience, and physical strength is needed to make prostrations. But in order to confess that since I am offended by someone, angry with someone, it means that I am in a sinful state, and God is the judge of other people, for this I need nothing but good will. If we refuse to offer this small sacrifice - the consciousness that I myself am to blame for being in a sinful state, then at the Last Judgment we will have nothing to say to God in our justification. It's the same as it happens that parents drag their child to the institute, they are looking for connections anyway, and they pay money, they pushed him into the institute - but he still does not go there, he walks with friends. Everything is done for him, but if he does not want to study, then he will not. If a person does not want to save his soul, then Almighty God Himself cannot do anything. 65. I advise you in your prayers to mention those sisters who seem hostile to you: they do you more good than anyone else... and praise is useless for us. (181) Our salvation is accomplished through those who offend us, who are hostile to us. Naturally, it is unpleasant for us to see these people, but we must know that they help our salvation with their evil manifestations, and harm themselves by doing so. We need to intercede for them before God, pray for them and in no case respond to them with malice. 66. And in oneself, imagining one's sins, think: I am worthy of punishment and more than this. 2 If each of us remembers his own life, he will find many ugly things in it, of which no one knows and for which we have not been punished. If we do not want the punishment we deserve for our sins, then we do not need to seek undeserved respect for ourselves. God sends illnesses and sorrows, including insults from people, only to humble us for our benefit. Therefore, there is no need to be offended. You need to sincerely consider yourself worthy of punishment. And as long as we do not think so, being in sinful insensibility and ignorance of our sins, all the more must we humble ourselves, all the more must we endure the hardships that alone can crush us. St. John Climacus wrote: "Weep over your sins, and if there is no weeping, then weep over the fact that there is no weeping." 67. There is no need to take revenge: Vengeance is mine, I will repay. (139) There is no need to worry about revenge. The Lord will deal with the offender himself. Good is the sinner whom God will punish in this life. It is worse if he repays in eternity. 68. And if someone has offended him, and the enemy will present that person, in order to turn the prayer into nothing or lead it into sin, then remember the words of the Saviour: "When you stand praying, let him go, if you have any grudge against anyone, and your Father who is in heaven will forgive you your trespasses" (Mark 11:25). (162) Satan's goal is to interfere with our prayer, so the demons try in every possible way to remind us of something offensive, to inflame our passions. The enemy achieves his goal when we continue to get angry when we remember the offenders. As long as we struggle with the enemy's thoughts, although we are distracted from prayer, we still do not sin. If there is agreement with the "just" feeling of resentment, then our prayer becomes more than just useless. By holding on to anger, we not only destroy prayer, we make it offensive to God, we turn it into a sin. The condition for forgiving our sins is very simple and easy: if we forgive, then we will also be forgiven. In this sense, salvation is in our hands. But the enemy usually evokes the mood that everything will work out anyway, as if there is no need to save oneself at all. He puts us to sleep, and we forget both about the commandments of God and about the Last Judgment. If, on occasion, we still remember the Last Judgment, the demons immediately confuse us with the thought of the incredible difficulty of salvation. Indeed, it is not easy to attain a high measure of perfection, for this you need to devote yourself entirely to God. But in order to receive God's forgiveness of sins, one only needs to believe in Christ Himself. And He says: Forgive me, and you will be forgiven. 69. Forgiveness must be done from the heart. (242) Most often we ask forgiveness formally, if only to get rid of it, and we forgive only in words, and not in our hearts. And sometimes it comes to the point that we use the name of God as a curse. "Save, Lord" sometimes sounds like a curse on our lips. For years we go to church, but nothing changes in our souls: malice, condemnation and no spiritual struggle. After all, God does not require anything special from us. Ascetics go into the wilderness, carrying out lofty feats. This is not required of us - just be patient, only admit that you are a sinner in the depths of your heart, only admit that you yourself are to blame, if you are irritated with someone, if you offend someone... And we all get angry, condemn, grumble. If something bright shines in us, it does not shine for long, and then disappears again, as in a bottomless abyss. The Monk Abba Dorotheus writes: "Some do not forgive for a day, another for two, another week or more - all such are under hell." And we do not forgive for months. And if after a week we are forgiven, then we consider ourselves ascetics. A person must forgive immediately (it is said: let not the sun go down on your anger). There is no need to flatter yourself. No matter how many prostrations we make, no matter how much we donate to the church (we can donate millions, those who have them, we can take everything out of the house and put it in the middle of the church), this will not be imputed to us if we do not forgive. Because there is no commandment about donating one's belongings, but there is a commandment about mercy and forgiveness. And if we do not fulfill it, then our donations, our labors for the Church are completely fruitless. And if we also take credit for them, then we will be all the more condemned for this. Even the Old Testament prophet Hosea wrote that what is needed is not sacrifice, but mercy. 70. If there is any displeasure against the sister inside, pray inwardly for the sister, and ask for forgiveness in a word. (457) Of course, one should ask for forgiveness when the irritation is not contained within but manifested outwardly. If a person knows nothing about our evil thoughts about him, we should not tempt him with words about forgiveness, but we should turn to God in our thoughts, asking Him for forgiveness. If we hesitate and do not fight our temptations, if we hold a grudge against a brother or sister, then we commit a real sin that we need to repent of. If we reproach ourselves and pray for our neighbor, if we do not agree with evil thoughts, then we wage a battle, for which, if we do not surrender to the enemy, we will receive a crown from God.

Part 1

We condemn our neighbors because we do not know ourselves * "Self-justification closes the spiritual eyes" * Instead of shortcomings, look for the image of God in people * If you want to make a mistake, trust yourself * Someone else's soul is in the dark * God judges the depth of the human heart * "Where the fall occurred, there pride preceded" * Grace and pride are two things incompatible * In bodily rest, grace is diminished * Truth rarely coincides with our opinion * It is more difficult for the strong to humble themselves, than the weak * Woe to the man whose name is higher than his deeds * How Christians become pagans * Tune in to lifelong repentance * Why people fall into delusion * Good deeds are worse than evil ones * Falls are a cure for pride * 71. The enemy, the devil, can present such a mirror to your spiritual eyes that you will see all the shortcomings and sins of others. We must look more at ourselves. (81) Such a mirror is placed before all of us, and we are mostly occupied with considering the faults of others. This in itself gives us unclean pleasure, and besides, against the background of sinners, according to our understanding, we seem better to ourselves. We also enjoy this. If we do not break this devil's mirror with God's help, we will doom ourselves to eternal torment. When passions do not bother us, it begins to seem that we are sinless, and then we easily condemn our neighbors. We condemn because we do not know ourselves. If we knew what condition we ourselves are in, we would not dare to condemn anyone. All the impurity that we see in people is also in us. And if we were holy, then we would not have even a hint of condemnation. The Holy Fathers interpret that the passion of condemnation deprives us of the opportunity to see our neighbors as they really are. Struck by this passion, we cannot help anyone spiritually. Therefore, if we notice condemnation (verbal or mental), we must immediately stop it and always reproach ourselves alone. 72. [The spirit of condemnation] is an inquisitive spirit, a spirit of pride, a spirit of vanity. Deliver, O God, from this soul-destroying spirit! (81) If we are not engaged in self-reproach, prayer, and the struggle with our passions, then we inevitably look at the external world with an unclean eye. "Self-justification closes spiritual eyes, and then a person sees not what is in reality," wrote St. Nikon of Optina. If we live a correct spiritual life, then we will gradually come to the point where we will not care about the shortcomings of others. Our soul will begin to be cleansed, we will begin to see the image of God in people. And if we gain some love for our neighbors, we will be able to help them get rid of their shortcomings. If we did not condemn anyone with humility, but saw our passions and reproached ourselves for them, then God would not allow us to fall into temptations. 73. Pray: Lord! Cleanse me from my secrets, and spare thy servant from strangers. Here pray for the cleansing of your sins, and from strangers, that you may deliver them from the condemnation of your neighbors and from slander. (193) There is a pernicious misconception that the sin of condemning one's neighbor is not so great and therefore not severely punishable. And yet, by violating God's commandment "Judge not," we try to occupy the throne of God, becoming like the devil himself, who was cast down from Heaven precisely for this sin. Our worldly sins are one thing, for example, Vanya and Petya fought, and if they try to overthrow the president, it will be a state crime, for which severe punishment is imposed. In the same way, when we undertake to judge our neighbors, we no longer just sin pettily, but commit a grave crime against God and subject ourselves to the well-deserved wrath of God. 74. We do not live in a time of persecution; but it cannot be said that even now there are no persecutions: there are persecutions from the enemy, - now he presents one thing, then another, in order to lead to despondency, sorrow, despair, in order to somehow tear him away from God - he imagines what did not happen at all, he enlarges, he makes a mountain out of a poppy seed. (391) We are used to trusting ourselves. And in vain. Believe it or not, we are almost always wrong. Nothing but empty fantasies. Someone turned around strangely - it seems to me that he is not happy with me. But in fact, maybe his neck is itching. Someone smiled at me - it means he liked me. And he is just in a good mood. The demons do not sleep, they whisper to us: they think badly of you, they are going to offend you, they are plotting evil against you. But these are not always demonic suggestions, our souls are so corrupted that they themselves are attuned to such a demonic perception of the environment. Let everyone think about whether we know ourselves well, what our heart movements are, whether we can figure them out for ourselves: is the thought good or evil, am I acting according to God's commandment or not? Moreover, we cannot know what is going on in the heart of another person. Therefore, when we see something good in others, we must thank God for what is good in the world, but when we see something bad, we must avoid condemnation and in general from any judgment, but commit everything into the hands of God. 75. Whoever lives well, let him think of himself as better than others, nourishes in himself harmful thoughts. (446) This is the usual temptation: we look around us with a proud eye, and therefore it seems to us that there are few who are saved. St. John of the Ladder says that the demons of vanity strive to show us our good deeds. And as soon as we see them, we immediately lose the benefit that we could have from them. We are incapable of seeing our virtue without self-satisfaction and self-exaltation. At the same time, by judging others, we completely destroy all our already insignificant acquisitions. Even if a person has done many wonderful and great deeds, but condemns others, then spiritually all his deeds turn out to be fruitless. 76. If the thought comes to condemn my sister, immediately say: Save, O Lord, and have mercy on my sister, and by her holy prayers give me humility. (447) Usually such instructions are taken in a moral sense: that we should not be bad, but should be good. In fact, we cannot change so suddenly, at will. It is easy to break a cup, but sometimes it is easy and impossible to glue it together. It is the same with the human soul - it is easy to fall into sin, but it is difficult to be cleansed of it. The above words of the elder should be understood in the literal sense. If someone causes our discontent, we need to pray for ourselves and for this person. And gradually the spirit of condemnation will recede. By the way, I will remind you of the two main obstacles to communion of the Holy Mysteries. First, a state of grave sin, for example, if a person is in enmity with someone. Although for some reason we are not inclined to consider this a grave sin in our insanity. Secondly, when a person considers himself worthy of Communion, when he thinks: I have prepared well, I have been cleansed, now I can receive the Holy Mysteries into the pure vessel of my soul. This is a state of delusion. If one dares to approach the Chalice with such dreams, then one can commune oneself in condemnation, provoking the wrath of God upon oneself. 77. Sometimes we do not think about whom we neglect; and he, perhaps, pleased the Lord more than anyone else. (448) God's judgment is different, another human judgment. We should not think that if people have a good opinion of us, then we are also good before God. God has His own judgment. He judges the depth of the human heart, and not external actions. Of course, if a person falls into grave sins, this is a sign that his heart is not in order. But he can repent at any time and change radically. That is why we should not condemn people as incorrigible sinners. Let's say that someone did something wrong. This is a fact. But thoughts that this person is bad cannot be accepted. It is necessary to distinguish what is in reality from what we think about it. A person can act like an enemy of Christ. But to think of him as an enemy of Christ is a sinful condemnation. Only God knows what a person is really like. All judgment must be left to God, the only judge who never makes mistakes. You should not be deceived at your own expense and fantasize that I live badly, but I have a good heart. Is it really good? 78. God is always with us! He gives grace to the humble. (11) God is always with us, with all, and gives grace only to the humble. But God resists the proud. The fact that He is all-merciful is precisely confirmed by the fact that He punishes us for pride by encouraging us to reform. When we fall into sin, we look for the reason around us: someone has seduced us, circumstances have turned out this way - in general, something has happened and I have fallen into sin. This is wrong. Because the cause of sin is within us. St. John of the Ladder writes: "Where the fall occurred, there pride preceded." Pride is the source of all sin. When we exalt ourselves with our imaginary virtues, or even real ones, we thereby make ourselves displeasing to God, and He, in order to bring us to our senses (if no other means help), sometimes allows us to fall into a grave sin, so that we cease to think highly of ourselves. The cause of despair is also pride. The Church teaches that there is no unforgivable sin, except for unrepentant sin. Therefore, if we have fallen even into a grave sin, we must sincerely repent of it, forsake it, and firmly believe that God forgives us. So in this sense, there is no reason for despair. Demons, when they draw a person into sin, depict God as loving to mankind, all-forgiving, and suggest that it is possible to sin, and then repent. When a person sins, they begin to frighten him with the Last Judgment, with the fact that the sin is so great that it is no longer possible to forgive it. Both are lies. When we feel tempted, then we should remember the Last Judgment and the fact that it is not known whether we will still have time to repent. And if you have sinned by God's permission, then you need to repent and firmly hope for God's mercy. 79. Without humility, even if they wear sackcloth, even if they wear chains, even if they have excessive fasting, all this will not do any good: "Learn from Me, that I am meek and humble in heart." And who is the teacher? Christ the Savior Himself. The vain and proud cannot be at peace anywhere. (41) As long as we have vanity and pride, we will never be able to find peace of heart anywhere. "And they cannot be in the Kingdom of Heaven unless they are cleansed here." Vanity and pride are in each of us. For example, not everyone drinks vodka, not everyone steals, not everyone fornicates, and we are all sinful with vanity and especially pride. At almost every matins we hear these words: "Bring down the mighty from the throne and lift up the humble." The fact that we seem strong to ourselves is precisely what prevents us from reaching the throne in the Kingdom of Heaven. God drives us away from this throne, although it was originally intended for us, because we are children of God by grace, we must reign with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven. But this Kingdom is preserved by humility. If there is no humility, then grace drives us away from there. External feats can be good and effective when a person bears them with humility. The great ascetics wore chains, sackcloth, made many prostrations, endured cruel fasting, slept on the bare ground, on the stones. But they did not consider all this to be some kind of good deed, they simply knew from experience that with bodily rest, grace is diminished. When a person is proud of his feats, he clearly betrays God, clearly sins. It is better not to bear any external feats than to bear them with pride. And when a person humbles himself, then God will indicate the measure of bodily podvig. 80. Satan is very disgusted with the humble monastic life. He wants us to be proud, reproachful, and murmuring. (79) Satan is not only disgusted with the monastic life, but Satan is disgusted with all humble life, and he tries at all costs to upset the spiritual state of man. When there is a small fire in the house, then the residents can still somehow fight it, and when there is a big one, then everything dies. In the same way, Satan tries to fan our pride into a great conflagration, so that man may finally perish. We still have a passion for reproach and murmuring. It's very scary. St. Isaac the Syrian writes that God tolerates every person, He does not tolerate only a person who always murmurs. A tendency to reproach, a desire to insist on one's opinion is a manifestation of pride, and not at all a sign of a strong and firm character. Strength of character is required for another - for obedience and humility, here you need firmness, perseverance, and perseverance. You need to defend not your opinion, you need to defend the truth. And the truth too rarely coincides with our opinion, especially if we insist on it.

Part 2