I wanted to consider what follows, but in order not to burden your memory with so much of what has been said, it is necessary to stop saying here. Our goal is not only to say a lot; we speak so that you, constantly keeping this in your minds, may not only know what is contained in the divine Scriptures, but also be teachers to others, able to admonish them. Therefore, each of you, when you leave here, together with your neighbor, renew in memory what is said here, and communicating to another what is yours, receive from him also what he remembers. And in this way, gathering everything and keeping it in fresh memory, go home and there, each on his own, again think over these divine lessons, so that, devoting all your cares to them and occupying your mind with them, you can easily conquer the passions that disturb you, and avoid the wiles of the devil. For when that evil demon sees that the soul cares about divine things, and only constantly thinks about them, deals with them, then he does not dare to approach, but immediately withdraws, driven by the power of the Spirit, as if by some fire. Therefore, in order for us and ourselves to be of the greatest possible benefit, and to overcome this enemy, and to receive greater mercy from God, let us occupy our minds with these things. Then all your deeds will prosper - the difficult will become easy, the seemingly sorrowful will have a happy ending, and nothing here will be able to grieve us. If we take care of the divine, then God Himself will take care of ours, and we will cross the sea of the present life with perfect safety, and, guided by the great Helmsman, the God of all, we will enter the harbor of His love for mankind. To Him be glory and dominion, now and ever, and unto the endless ages of ages. Amen.

Discourse XV: Adam will not find a helper like him. And God put a transgression upon Adam, and succeeded: and he took one from his side, and filled him with flesh instead of him

1. I am very grateful to you that yesterday you accepted our admonition with great readiness, and not only were you not burdened by the length of the word, but were so attentive to the end that you retained a lively disposition to listen; In this way you give us good hopes that you will carry out our advice by deed. Whoever listens with such pleasure is obviously disposed to do (what he heard) in practice. On the other hand, your present confluence serves as proof of your spiritual health. Just as the urge to eat is a sign of bodily health, so love for the word of God serves as the best testimony to the well-being of the soul. Since the fruit of your diligence is manifested in the fulfillment of what you have heard, so we will give your love the reward that we promised yesterday. I call this spiritual teaching a reward, which can increase the wealth of me, the giver, and make you, who receive, rich. Such is everything spiritual; but this does not happen in sensible things. There the giver reduces his possessions, and makes the receiver richer; but here it is not so, on the contrary, and the giver, by this very thing, increases his own wealth even more, and the wealth of those who receive it increases. And so, since we are ready to report, and the bowels of your minds are prepared to receive this spiritual riches, then let us fulfill our promise and, having taken up a further explanation of what has been read from the blessed Moses, through this we will give you a reward. It is necessary to explain what has been read today, so that in this way you can accurately reveal the richness of thought contained in the utterances, and communicate it to your love. You have recently heard the words of the Divine Scriptures: "Adam shall not find a helper like him." What does this short saying mean: "To Adam"? Why is the conjunction (же) added? Was it not enough to say, "To Adam"? We wish to investigate this not simply out of excessive inquisitiveness, but in order to carefully interpret everything to you, and to teach you not to omit in the Divine Scriptures without attention and brief utterance, not even a single syllable. For these are not mere words, but the words of the Holy Spirit; therefore it is possible to find a great treasure in one syllable. Take heed, I beseech you, diligently: no one is lazy, no one is sleepy, all have a cheerful mind; let no one wander in his mind on the sidelines, and while standing here, let him not be distracted by worldly cares. On the contrary, considering the dignity of this spiritual assembly, and that we hear God speaking to us through the mouth of the prophets, let every one open his ears accordingly, and strain his mind, lest any of the seeds which we cast fall on a stone, or on the way, or on thorns, but that all the seed may fall on good ground, that is, to the breadth of a great mind, it could bring you abundant fruit, and what we sowed was multiplied. Let us see what the addition of the conjunction means. But Adam, he says, will not find a helper like him. Notice the accuracy of the Divine Scriptures. Having said, "Adam shall not find a helper," he did not stop there, but added, "Like unto him," explaining to us by this addition the reason why he used the conjunction. I think that those who are quicker in their considerations will already foresee what we will say. But since we, in offering instruction to all in general, must endeavour to make our words clear to all, we will show you why (the Scriptures) said so; Just be patient a little. Before, as you remember, it is said in the Divine Scriptures: Let us make a helper according to him, then it is reported to us about the creation of beasts, and creeping things, and all dumb ones: And God created, it is said, all the beasts and all the birds of the air from the earth, and bring me to Adam, to see what I shall call; and (Adam), as lord, he called names to all (Gen. 2:10). II, 18, 20), to each breed of beasts and birds, and to all the dumb ones, he assigned, according to the wisdom granted to him, a proper name. And so that we may see that all these creatures, although they perform a certain service and help man in his labors, nevertheless irrational creatures are very far from man, so that we may think that (God) said of them: Let us make him a helper. For even if they help a man and bring him much benefit by their service, they are still foolish. That they do not help (him)

And so, so that we do not apply to these animals what has been said above: let us make him a helper, for this purpose the blessed Moses, now beginning his discourse, says: "For Adam there shall not be found a helper like him." As if he were teaching us and saying: all these (animals) were created (by God for man) and received their names from Adam, yet not one of them was worthy to be his helper. For this reason (Moses) wants to impress upon us that a new animal is to be created, and that this animal ready to appear is the very one of whom it is said: let us make him a helper after him, like, that is, to him, of the same nature, worthy of him, in no way inferior to him. For this reason this blessed one said: "Adam will not find a helper like him, showing us that no matter how much dumb people may be useful to us by their services, the help given to Adam by a woman is of a different kind and much more excellent.

2. And so, when all the animals were already created and received names from the first-created, the loving Lord, arranging everything for His creation, sought a helper like Him; having created for him all this visible creature, he also creates a woman above all else. And see with what precision (the Scriptures) teach us about the creation of this creation. Since it has already informed us that (God) wants to create for Adam a helper like him, and it is said above, Let us make him a helper after him, and here it says, There is no helper like him, therefore the creation of a woman is made from the essence of Adam, as it is said, "And God put a frenzy on Adam, and succeeded: and taking one from his side, and filling him with flesh in his place." And the Lord God made a rib, which He took from Adam to be a wife, and brought her to Adam (Gen. 2:10). II, 21-22). Great is the power of these words; it surpasses all human reason: it is possible to understand their greatness only by examining them with the eyes of faith. And it is said, God put a frenzy on Adam, and he succeeded. Pay attention to the accuracy of the teaching. Both of these circumstances (ecstasy and sleep) were indicated by the blessed prophet, or better yet, by the Holy Spirit through his mouth, revealing to us the conformity of the event. Put a frenzy on Adam, it is said, and he will succeed. It was not a mere frenzy or an ordinary dream; but since the all-wise and skilful Creator of our nature wanted to take from Adam one of his ribs, so that he would not feel pain and then hostile disposition towards that which is being created from his rib, so that, remembering the pain, he would not hate the animal being created, for this (God), immersing (Adam) in a frenzy and as if commanding him to be seized with a kind of torpor, put him into such a sleep that he did not feel at all what was happening (to him). As the most perfect Artist, He took what He considered necessary, and made up for what was lacking, and arranged what He took according to His love for mankind. Put a frenzy on Adam, it is said, and succeeded: and take one from his side, and fill it with flesh in his stead, so that Adam, after the cessation of sleep, could not know about what had happened because of the lack (of the rib). For if he did not know about it at the time of the removal (of the rib), then he could have known afterwards. Therefore, so that the very removal of the rib would not cause him pain, and then its lack would not arouse (in him) sorrow, God arranged both in this way: and (the rib) took (the rib) painlessly, and then made up for the deficiency, and thereby did not allow Adam to know what had happened to him. So, taking the edge. The Lord God, it is said, created for a woman. A wondrous deed, immeasurably beyond our minds! Such are all the works of the Lord. In fact, (the creation of a woman from Adam's rib) is no less than the creation of a man from dust. At the same time, pay attention to the condescension of the Divine Scripture - what words it uses for the sake of our weakness. And he took, it is said, one of his side. Do not understand these words in a human way, but know that the use of coarse utterances is adapted to human weakness. For if (the Scriptures) did not use these words, how could we know the unutterable mysteries? Let us not dwell only on words, but let us begin to understand everything decently, as relating to God. This is the expression: "Taking it," and all those like it are used for the sake of our weakness. See again how here (the Scriptures) used the same expression as when speaking of Adam. As there it said once, and twice, and many times: "And the Lord God took the man whom he created," and again: "And the commandment of the Lord God to Adam," and again: "And the Lord God said, Let us make him a helper after him," so now he says: "And the Lord God made a rib, which he took from Adam for a wife, and above: and the Lord God put a frenzy on Adam; this is so that you may know that in the use of these words (God and Lord) the Scripture makes no distinction between the Father and the Son, but since they both have the same essence, it also uses names that are indifferent. into a wife. What will the heretics say here, who want to subject everything to investigation and think that they have comprehended the birth of the Creator of all things? What word can express this? What kind of mind is it to comprehend? One rib, it is said, was taken (by God): how then did (He) form a whole animal from this one rib? And what do I say: how did God form an animal from this one rib? Tell me, how was the taking away (of the ribs) accomplished? How did (Adam) not feel this withdrawal? But you can say nothing of the sort: only He who made the creation knows. If we do not understand what is at our fingertips, the formation of an animal homogeneous to us, how senseless and foolish is it to investigate what concerns the Creator, and to say that we understand that of which the higher, incorporeal powers do not have a precise concept, and that it is only constantly glorified with fear and trembling?

3. And it is said, the Lord God made a rib, which He took from Adam to be a wife. Pay attention to the accuracy of the Scriptures. It did not say, "Create," but, "Create." Inasmuch as God took a part of what was already created, and, so to speak, gave only what was lacking, therefore the Scripture says: "He did not produce another creature, but having already taken a small part from the finished creation, He built a whole animal out of this part." What is the power of the highest Artist of God, to produce from this small part (the rib) a composition of so many members, to arrange so many senses, and to form a whole, perfect and complete being, which could both converse and, according to the unity of nature, give the husband great consolation! After all, this creature was created for his consolation. For this reason Paul also said, "A man was not created for the woman's sake, but a woman for the man's sake" (1 Cor. XI, 9). Do you see how everything is created for him? All creation had already been created, the dumb ones had already appeared, fit for food and capable of serving man; but the primordial had no one to converse with, and who, by the unity of nature, could give him great consolation. Therefore, (God) creates this rational animal from his rib and, according to His great wisdom, makes him perfect, in all things like a man, i.e. intelligent, capable of helping him in the necessary needs and circumstances of life. Thus God arranged everything wisely and skillfully. If, through the weakness of reason, we are unable to understand how things are created, then we nevertheless believe that everything obeys the will of the Creator and that what He commands is done. And created, it is said. The Lord God took a rib from Adam to be a wife, and brought her to Adam, showing that He had made her for him: bring her, he says, to Adam. That is, since among all the dumb there was not found a helper like thee, this is what I promised (and I promised to create a helper like unto thee), that I have fulfilled, and I commend unto thee: bring me to Adam. And Adam said, "Behold, now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh" (v. 23). See here, beloved, how (Adam), together with the ineffable wisdom given to him by God, which he showed us in naming so many breeds of dumb animals, was also vouchsafed the gift of prophecy. For this reason the blessed prophet (Moses) showed us above that, together with his sleep, Adam was seized by a frenzy, so that he did not feel at all what was happening to him, so that, having now learned that Adam, when he looked at his wife, accurately explained what had happened, you would be completely convinced that he was saying this by the gift of prophecy, guided by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. For he knew nothing of what had happened, and yet when (God) brought his wife to him, he said, "Behold, now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh." And the other translator instead of "now says: behold once," giving to understand that it was only now, and after that the birth of the woman will no longer be such. Now, he says, the woman is descended from the man, and afterwards not so, but from the woman (will come) the man, or, better, not from the woman, but from the participation of both of them, as Paul also says: "Man is not of the woman, but woman of the man: for the man was not created for the woman's sake, but the woman for the man's sake" (1 Cor. XI, 8, 9). So, you will say; but these words show that the wife is descended from her husband. Be patient, and from what follows you will see the true teaching. The Apostle says, "Neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man" (v. 11), teaching us that after (the creation of the first wife) the birth of the husband and the woman is from the participation of both. Wherefore Adam also said, Behold, now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.

4. Then, in order to assure you of the accuracy of Adam's prophecy, that what he said is still coming true, and (will come to pass) to the very end (of the world), listen to what follows even further. This, he says, shall be called a woman, for this was taken from her husband: for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh (v. 23, 24). You see how (Adam) revealed everything to us, explaining each (circumstance) with his prophetic spirit exactly. This, he says, shall be called the woman, as she was taken from her husband: here he alludes to the taking of the rib. Then, revealing the future, he says, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh." Where, tell me, did it occur to him to say this? How did he know the future, and that the human role would multiply? How did he know that there would be copulation between husband and wife? After all, it happened after the fall; but before that men lived in paradise like angels, were not inflamed with lust, nor were they inflamed with other passions, nor were they burdened with bodily needs, but, being created completely incorruptible and immortal, did not even need to be covered with clothing: for they are both naked, and are not ashamed, v. 25. Until sin and disobedience came, they were clothed with the highest glory, and therefore they were not ashamed; but after the violation of the commandment, both shame and the consciousness of nakedness arose.

He was for himself the cause of all evils, as you will learn later, that is, the deprivation of so many blessings, and the condemnation to which he was subjected for disobedience. When I think of the order of life which the Lord gave to Adam, having shown him such great blessings, and first, that before his creation He created for him the whole created world, and then created it, so that when he appeared, he could use all that is visible, then that, having commanded there to be paradise, He was pleased to settle man there, apart from dumb animals, and, having given him power over all (them), He commanded him, as a master of some kind, to give them all names, as slaves and subjects, and furthermore, that, since he, being alone, needed a helper who would be of the same nature as him, (God) did not refuse this also, but having created a wife as He pleased, He entrusted her to him, and in addition to all this He granted him the dignity of prophecy, and after these unspeakable blessings, He gave and, most importantly, freed him from all cares for the body, did not allow him to need clothes or anything else necessary, but, as was said, pleased that he should live on earth like an earthly angel - when I think about all this, I am amazed at the Lord's love for our race, and at the carelessness of man, and the wickedness of the devil: it was unbearable for the evil demon to see the angelic life in human flesh.

5. But in order that we may not continue the word too much, let us leave, if you will, the discourse on the consequences of the slander of the evil demon until the next day, and let us cease our teaching here, asking your love to carefully remember what has been said and to consider everything yourselves so that it takes root in your minds. If we constantly remember the blessings of God, which He has poured out on your nature, then we ourselves will be grateful, and this will serve as a powerful incentive for you (to walk) on the path of virtue. Whoever is mindful of God's blessings will undoubtedly try not to be unworthy, but will show such zeal and gratitude that he will be worthy of others.

If we, listening to spiritual instruction every day, remain the same, do not succeed in virtue and expel various vices from our souls, then this will not only not serve us well, but even more harm, because whoever, even with such care for him, does not bear any fruit, gathers for himself more of the fire of Gehenna. Therefore, I beseech you, let us use at least the rest of the time of fasting, as we should, and every week, or even every day, let us examine ourselves and expel vices from our souls, and increase the treasure of virtues, let us deviate, as the prophet exhorts, from evil, and do good (Psalm 1:11). XXXIII, 15): this is true fasting. Let the wrathful one pluck out from his soul the passion that possesses (him) by pious contemplation, and let him love meekness and humility. Careless and unrestrained, looking with passion at the beauty of the body, bridling his thoughts and imprinting in the bosom of his soul the law of Christ, which says: "Whosoever looketh upon a woman, to lust after her, hath already committed fornication with her in his heart" (Matt. V, 28), let him flee from the passion of incontinence and exercise chastity.

He who is intemperate with his tongue and speaks without reasoning about everything that happens, let him imitate the blessed prophet and say: "Set up, O Lord, a guard over my mouth, and a door of protection over my lips" (Psalm. CX, 3); - let him never utter words without reflection and how it happened, but give heed to Paul, who says: "Let every shouting, and anger, and slander, and foul language, and blasphemy, be taken away from you, with all malice" (Eph. IV, 31), and again: if there is any good word for useful edification, let him give grace to those who hear (ibid., v. 29). Let him avoid oaths in every possible way, when he hears the command of Christ: "It was said to them of old time: Do not cry to lies; And I say unto you, Thou shalt not swear by any swear (Matt. V, 33, 31). Do not say to me, I swear the truth; one should not swear either truth or untruth. Thus let us keep our lips pure from oaths, and guard against all these things, and our tongue, and our lips, and our minds, so that no evil thought may arise in us, nor be expressed by the tongue. Let us also shut our ears tightly, so that we do not receive even empty hearing, as the blessed Moses commanded: "Thou shalt not receive vain hearing" (Exod. XXIII, 1), and as Blessed David also said: "He who slanders the secret of his sincerity, he is cast out" (Ps. C, 5). Do you see, beloved, how much vigilance we need, how much labor for virtue, how the slightest negligence destroys us completely? For this reason the blessed David exclaimed in another place, rebuking him who did this: "Sitting down, thou hast slandered thy brother, and hast put thy mother's son into offense" (Ps. XLIX, 20). If we guard all our limbs in this way, then we will be able to vigorously strive for good deeds, to exercise our tongue in praise and hymns to God of all kinds, our ears in hearing and studying the word of God, our minds in contemplation of spiritual things, our hands not in stealing and acquisitiveness, but in alms and doing good works, our feet (in going) not to the theaters, hippodromes and harmful spectacles, but to the church, prayer houses and tombs of the holy martyrs, so that, having received their blessing, we may make ourselves elusive to the snares of the devil. If we are thus concerned and preoccupied with our own salvation, then we can also benefit from fasting, avoid the wiles of the devil, and attract great favor from above, which may we all be vouchsafed by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, dominion, honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Discourse XVI: On the Fall of the Primordial. And both were naked, Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed (Gen. 2:10). II, 25)

1. Today I want to reveal to you, beloved, a spiritual treasure which, being shared, is never exhausted, enriches everyone, and does not diminish in the least, on the contrary, let it also increase. And from the treasure of the senses, if one manages to take even a small particle, he makes himself a great treasure; so in the Divine Scriptures, even in a brief utterance, one can find great power and an ineffable richness of thought. Such is the quality of this treasure: making rich those who receive it, it itself never fails, because it is poured out abundantly by the fountain of the Holy Spirit. And it is your business to carefully observe what is offered and keep it firmly in your memory, so that you may be able to easily follow what is said. If only we diligently do what depends on us, and grace is ready, and seeks someone who would receive it in abundance. Let us also listen to today's reading, so that we may know God's ineffable love for mankind, and what condescension He has shown for our salvation. And both were naked, Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed. Think of the great blessedness (of the progenitors), how they were above all bodily things, how they lived on earth as in heaven, and being in the body, they did not endure bodily needs: they did not need shelter, or a house, or clothing, or anything else of the kind. The Divine Scriptures have communicated this to us not simply and not without intention, but so that we, having learned of such a sorrowless and painless life of theirs, and of the angelic state, so to speak, when we shall see later that they have been deprived of all this, and have fallen from great abundance into the most extreme poverty, may attribute it to their carelessness. However, it is necessary to listen to the reading itself. Blessed Moses, having said that (the forefathers) were naked, and was not ashamed (since they did not know that they were naked, because they were clothed and adorned better than any garment by ineffable glory), he says: "And the serpent is wiser than all the beasts that are on the earth, whom the Lord God created." And the serpent said to the woman, "What is God saying, Let not food of every tree of paradise" (Gen. 2:11). III, 1). See what envy and the many-woven cunning of the evil demon. Seeing that the created man is in the highest honor and is almost no less than the angels, as the blessed David says: "Thou hast made him humble with a little of the angels" (Psalm. VIII, 6)

And what does it do? Having found this beast, i.e. the serpent, which surpassed the other beasts in sense, as Moses also testified with the words: "The serpent is wiser than all the beasts that are on the earth, which the Lord God created," using it as a tool, the devil enters into conversation with the woman through it, and draws this simplest and weakest vessel into his deception. And he said, "The serpent said to the woman." From this, beloved, conclude that in the beginning no beast was feared by either husband or wife; on the contrary, acknowledging their subordination and power (of man), both wild and indomitable animals were then tame, as they are now meek.