Part One

All the good we do must be attributed to the mercy of God, and not to our own merit, so that it may be, as it is written: "He who boasts, let him glory in the Lord" (cf. Jeremiah 9:24).

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The so-called impressionability comes from the influence of the external environment on us, external influences, and it shows that we live more outside ourselves, mainly watching what is happening around us. Look more inside yourself. There you will see all your filth: even at night my inward part teaches me (Psalm 15). This will cause another kind of impressionability - sorrow, weeping, regret for one's sins, the result of which will not be anxiety, which is generated by the first kind of impressionability, but inner calm, peace of heart: "Create a pure heart in me, O God, and renew the spirit of righteousness in my womb" (Psalm 50:12).

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If you are not able to help your neighbor in sorrow, misfortune, misfortune, - take all his sorrow into your heart and weep with him, thereby you will ease his spiritual hardness.

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Father John of Kronstadt before each service of the Divine Liturgy fell down before the altar and secretly confessed to the Lord God and prayed until he began to feel that the Lord forgave him with His mercy[1]. What a great example for every pastor!

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It is not enough to reproach oneself - and especially without witnesses - it is good to accept reproaches from others without embarrassment, this will already be the highest degree of humility and meekness.

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How sickness humbles us: it makes me thin, pale, and ugly! And all this is so useful for the struggle with the lusts of our sinful flesh: if our outer man decays, then the inner one is renewed from day to day (2 Corinthians 4:16).

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