Oh, how good it would be if you made it a rule to devote every day, at least a few minutes, to thinking about your inner state, to contrition and weeping over your sins. You have enough time for everything: for the toilet, and for a walk, and for food, and for entertainment, but you will not choose time for this. And yet, how important it is for the soul! Imagine: today you have finally secluded yourself and sighed to the Lord thus: "Lord, how weak I am! How many faults I have, how angry I am, how proud I am, how much vanity I have; How intemperate I am in my tongue, how much self-love I have, why do I treat my neighbors so rudely, and how many bad thoughts and desires do I have! How bad I am, how bad I am! I weep, Lord, for my sins and beg you to forgive and correct me, for I want to fulfill my human calling in my earthly life." So today you will come to your senses, tomorrow, etc., and what can come of it? Imperceptibly for yourself, you will begin to develop a balanced Christian nature, kind, truthful, loving God and people.

And is this not desirable, is it not the highest good of man?

***

The passion of vanity, as well as of pride, is all the more repugnant because it penetrates us, wherever we are, in whatever position we may be. Neither solitude, nor poverty, nor poverty save us from it, nor wealth, nor the fullness of power and honor protect us from it. To illustrate this, let us cite the following example, recorded by St. John Cassian. A certain elder, having come to the cell of a certain brother to visit him, heard that he was saying something inside, and paused, wishing to know what the brother was reading from the Holy Scriptures, or by memory what he was reading, how there is a custom among monks to do this at work. Putting his ear closer, the pious observer heard that the brother, as if in a church, was offering instruction to the people; this meant that he, deceived by the spirit of vanity, imagined himself to be a priest and fulfilled the task that lay dreamily on him. After waiting a little longer, the elder heard that the brother had finished his sermon, and, changing his position, as if already in the rank of deacon, he began to proclaim the litany: "Come forth ye catechumens."

***

At times we are visited by a bad mood of spirit, a spirit of despondency. Just as the sky is now clear, now it is covered with clouds, so our soul is sometimes struck by despondency. In bad weather, we do not go outside, so that the rain does not pour down on us, we close the windows and doors, in order to protect our dwelling from destruction; so in times of despondency it is harmful to engage in mental work and to give room for the development of feelings, for despondency is an unhealthy, abnormal state of our spirit. And if so, what good can be expected from our mental and heart activity if it is carried out in times of despondency? It is necessary to survive, to wait out the surging darkness of the soul, and therefore, during despondency, stop serious work of the mind and heart and rather engage in physical labor, otherwise you will hurry to enjoy nature, or simply use the time of despondency for your bodily rest.

***

Some people are calmly ready to bear life's labors and deprivations and even voluntarily impose upon themselves feats (holy saints), while others cannot endure life's misfortunes, raise murmurs, become faint-hearted in illnesses, and lose heart in misfortunes. Why is this? You need to understand the meaning of life. Life is a struggle, which, however, appears to everyone in different forms. It is necessary to endure this struggle in order to fulfill the task of life, in order to achieve the goal of life, to achieve the result of life that can only be on the other side - beyond the grave. And the more difficult the struggle of life, the more joyful the result will be for us. Imagine: you are carrying a heavy burden; on the way you are exhausted, but when you have reached the end, you have thrown off your burden, and you have felt lightness and joy; Only now do you feel that you have not borne it in vain, that the burden has given you to experience pleasure afterwards, and the heavier and more difficult the burden was, the more sensitive is the liberation from it, the greater the joy and comfort at the end. The same is true of the struggle of life: the heavier it is here on earth, the more favorable its outcome is for us there, beyond the grave. If we understand this meaning of life, then it will not be an empty burden for us, but a deed that we must fulfill, no matter how difficult it may be.

***

Often we praise simplicity. "He is a man of simple soul", "what simplicity", - we say, wishing to give a good opinion about the man. What is this quality of the soul "simplicity" and why is it worthy of praise? We are all children of one Heavenly Father, we are all brothers in Christ, we have nothing to be proud of each other. If the Lord has given you any advantages, talents, abilities, wealth, or glory, then they are not yours, but God's, God's gift, as the holy Apostle Paul says (1 Corinthians 12). And he who is simple in heart feels this well, feels a small and equal position with all people. And from this consciousness comes a kind, courteous, affectionate, non-arrogant, even, calm attitude towards others; This is the simplicity of the heart. A simple-hearted person will not offend anyone, will not stand in the way of anyone, will not condemn anyone, will not envy anyone.

Whoever is simple in heart is further capable of great labors, the lowest and most difficult; he is not exacting in regard to food and clothing, he does not demand or seek any comforts of life. And this is understandable - why. Simplicity keeps the heart of man in constant rooting and awareness of his unworthiness. Whoever is simple in heart is compassionate to the poor, the needy and the needy, he easily enters the position of the unfortunate, the sorrowful and the suffering. And why? Simplicity of heart is not malicious, gentle, loving, meek, and all this makes a person of a simple heart comfortable for good deeds, makes him merciful. Whoever is simple in heart can finally pray to God well, the fear of God, faith and love constantly live in his heart. Simple in heart are incapable of unbelief and resistance to God, their property is faith. These are the advantages of simplicity. And the Lord loves simplicity of heart and goes to meet it with His grace. In the heart of the simple dwells the Holy Spirit, Who rejoices their hearts, destroys in them every spirit of despondency and burns in them carnal passions, so that it can be said: the simple in heart are at the same time pure in heart.

***

Some people ask why some icons are miraculous and others are not. Can't all icons be miraculous? The Lord can always work a miracle for one who prays with faith before any holy icon, but, nevertheless, it is also certain that through some icons the Lord especially manifests His mercy to people. And why this is so is within the jurisdiction of God's Providence. The Lord wants everyone to be saved and to come to the understanding of the truth, and so, depending on the need, He reveals here and there His grace-filled springs – miraculous icons.

At the same time, I recall the miraculous icon of the "Joy of All Who Sorrow" in St. Petersburg at a glass factory. More than ten years ago, there was not a single church in this area. From the constant smoke of the factory chimneys, this area always had a gloomy appearance. And the people, deprived of spiritual consolation, spent their free time here in bad entertainments. It was gloomy outside, and inside the human heart it was bad here. There was, however, one small chapel, old and forgotten by all, with an image of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow," simple workmanship, and with a mug attached to it. And then one day in the summer, a terrible thunderstorm broke out over this area. Lightning struck the chapel, smashed it, and only one icon of the Mother of God remained unharmed. At the same time, the copper polushkas that were in the mug, proof of the rare and small visits of people to the chapel, splashed on the icon and stuck to it so firmly that now it is impossible to take them away. The news of this quickly spread throughout the city. The people went in a crowd to venerate the miraculous icon of the Mother of God. In this way a grace-filled spring was opened, from which miracles flowed abundantly. And now this suburb of St. Petersburg has become unrecognizable. On the site of the miraculous apparition, a beautiful church and chapel have grown, and since they stand on the road, the moving people crowd fill the chapel, and this is the people who were previously deprived of spiritual consolation here. In the chapel now there are always many sick, grieving, suffering.