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.

2.

And so, taking advantage of this wordless for the construction of the Devil, (the devil) enters through him into conversation with the woman and says: "What is it that God has said, Let not the food of every tree of paradise?" Look, what an extremely subtle trick is here! What God did not say, the devil offers in the form of advice and a question, as if caring for them, because such a disposition is shown by these words: "What is it that God says, Let there be no food of every tree of paradise?" As the evil demon would say: Why did (God) deprive you of such pleasure? Why does He not allow us to fully enjoy the blessings of paradise, leaving them to enjoy contemplation, and does not allow us to taste and feel the greater pleasure from this? What has God said? What is this thing for? What is the use of living in paradise, since it is impossible to use what is in it, but one has to experience all the greater sorrow because one can look at it, but not receive the pleasure that comes from it? Do you see how through these words, as if through a bait, he lets poison in? From this very beginning, the woman should have guessed the extreme audacity of the devil - that he deliberately speaks about what is not there, and also, as if caring for them, (speaks) in order to find out what God has commanded them, and thus lead them to crime. Thus, the wife could immediately recognize the cunning of the devil, avoid talking to him as one who speaks empty things, and not bring herself to such humiliation; but she did not want (this). She should not even enter into conversation with him, but converse only with the one for whom she was created, to whom she was equal in dignity and created as a helper. When, I do not know how, she had already entered into conversation with the serpent and through him, as through an instrument, she accepted the disastrous words of the devil, and then, understanding the incongruity of his words, and seeing that the Creator had commanded some things, and that the devil had spoken others, contrary to the words of the Creator, she should have immediately turned away her ears, fled from conversing with him, and despised daring to sharpen her tongue against the commandment given to him. But through extreme inattentiveness, not only did she not deviate, but also fully revealed to him the commandment of God, threw the pearls before the swine, and the word of Christ was fulfilled: "Do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and when they turn you will be torn asunder" (Matt. VII, 6). And so it was now: (the woman) threw down the divine pearls before the swine, before this evil beast, or demon that worked through him, and he not only trampled them down and opposed what was said (from God), but having turned he dragged into the abyss of obedience not only the woman, but also the first-created one with her. It is so dangerous to reveal, without reasoning, as one had to, the divine mysteries! Yes, to hear (these) those who speak to everyone without distinction and without reasoning. And Christ does not speak to us about a sensual pig, but means people like these animals, wallowing like dumb people in the impurity of sin; and by this he admonishes us both to pay attention to the difference of persons, and to carefully consider the circumstances under which it is necessary to reveal something from the word of God, so as not to do harm either to others or to ourselves. Such not only do not themselves benefit from the words offered to them, but often drag into the same abyss of destruction those who recklessly give them these precious pearls. Therefore, we must carefully watch that we also do not suffer the same thing as those who are now deceived (the first parents). After all, if in this case the wife had wanted not to throw the divine pearls before the pig, then she herself would not have plunged into that abyss, and would not have carried away her husband.

3. But let us hear what she answers the devil. When the serpent said, "What did God say, Let not ye eat of every tree of paradise?" then the woman said to him, "Of every tree of paradise we shall eat: but of the fruit that is in the midst of the garden, God said, "Do not eat, touch it below, lest you die" (v. 2, 3). Do you see how treacherous? (the devil) said something that did not happen, so that, having called her to a conversation, he would find out what had happened (in fact). The wife, trusting him, as if he were well disposed towards her, opens the entire commandment, tells about everything in detail, and by her answer takes away all justification from herself. In fact, what can you, wife, say (in your own defense). God said, Let not the food of every tree of paradise. You ought to turn away from him (the devil), as having said the contrary (to the truth), and say to him, "Go away, you are a deceiver, you know neither the power of the commandment given to us, nor the greatness of what we use, nor the abundance of gifts (of God). You say that God said that we should not eat of any tree of paradise; and the Lord and Creator, in great goodness, having permitted us to use and possess all (trees), commanded us to abstain from one thing, this because of His care for us, so that we, through eating of it, would not be subjected to death. She should, if she had been prudent in saying these words to him, turn away altogether and no longer speak to him or listen to his words. But she, having opened the commandment and told them what God had spoken to them, received from the devil a new suggestion, more pernicious and deadly. When the woman said, "From every tree of paradise we shall eat, but from the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of paradise," God said, "Do not eat of it, touch it below, that you may not die," then the evil enemy of our salvation offers his suggestion, contrary to (the word of) the Lord. Whereas the loving God, out of great solicitude, forbade them to eat, lest they should become mortal through obedience, this one says to the woman, "Ye shall not die by death," v. 4. What excuse does the wife deserve for listening so willingly to one who spoke so boldly? God said, "Touch below, lest you die," but this one says, "You will not die." Then, not content with contradicting the divine words, he still presents the Creator as envious, so that in this way it is more convenient to deceive and, by seducing his wife, he will achieve his goal. Not by death, he says, you will die. For God knoweth that in the next day ye shall take away from him, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil, v. 5. Here's the whole bait! Having filled the cup with the deadly poison, (the devil) gave it to the woman, and she, not paying attention to the deadly action (if she had wished, she could have known it from the very beginning), but hearing that God had therefore forbidden you to eat (from the tree), because your eyes would be opened, and you would be like God, knowing good and evil, carried away by the hope of equality with God, At last I dreamed of myself a lot. Such are the tricks of the enemy: he raises him to a great height with flattery, and then throws him down into a deep abyss. Dreaming of equality with God, she hastened to partake (of the fruit) and thither she directed both her mind and her thought, and saw nothing else but to drink the cup dissolved by the evil demon. And to assure you that she took care of this, as soon as she took the fatal poison on the advice of the serpent, listen to what the Scripture says: "And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it pleased her eyes to see, and that it was beautiful to understand, and she took of its fruit and poison" (v. 6). Verily, good customs corrupt, and evil conversations (1 Cor. XV, 33). In fact, why did not (Eve) experience anything of this kind before the suggestion of this evil demon, did not think about the tree and did not see its beauty? Because she was afraid of the commandment of God and the future punishment for eating. And now, when she had been deceived by this wicked beast, as if they would not only not suffer it (punishment), but would become equal to God, the hope of this promise impelled her to eat of the tree, and she, not wishing to remain within her bounds, but acknowledging the enemy and adversary of our salvation more trustworthy than the words of God, not long afterwards knew by experience the perniciousness of the suggestion (of the devil) and the misery, which had to come upon them for eating. Seeing, as it is said, that the tree is good for food, and that it is pleasing to the eyes to see, and to understand it clearly, the woman, through the deception of the devil, into which he led her through the serpent, thought to herself: if the tree tastes good, you can. so to delight the eye, and there is a certain inexpressible beauty in it, and to eat of it will bring us the highest honor, so that we will have the same dignity as the Creator, then why should we not taste of it?

4. Do you see how the devil took his wife into captivity, carried away her mind and forced her to dream of herself above her dignity, so that, carried away by vain hopes, she would lose even what had already been given to her. And he took of his fruit, and of the poison, and gave it to his husband also the poison. And the eyes of the vow were opened, and the mind was opened, as if it were a besha (v. 7).

Was the one who gave the advice of the same nature as you? It was from among the subordinates, from among the slaves under your rule. Why did you put yourself to shame so much, and, leaving him for whom you were created, to whom you were made to help, to whom you were equal in dignity, in essence and in the gift of speech, you decided to enter into conversation with the serpent and through this beast to receive the suggestion from the devil, and despite the fact that (this suggestion) clearly contradicted the commandment of the Creator, you did not evade, but in the hope of a promise dared to taste? Let it be so, even if you have plunged yourself into such an abyss and have lost the highest honor: why then do you make your husband a participant in this terrible fall, and to whom you are appointed to be a helper, you have become a libel, and through the partaking of a little food you have deprived him, along with yourself, of the favor of God? What extreme madness has brought you to such audacity? Was it not enough for you to lead a life without sorrow, to be clothed with a body and not to need anything bodily, to enjoy all the fruits of paradise, except for one tree? Were you not satisfied that everything visible was in your power and that you had dominion over everything? Seduced by hopes, did you want to rise to the highest height? And so you will learn by your own experience that not only will you not gain that which you had hoped, but that you will deprive yourself and your husband of all that has already been given to you, and that you will both be so repentant that you will acknowledge that it is useless, and that the evil demon who gave you the disastrous advice will laugh and triumph over you, as if you had already fallen and experienced something like him. As he, having dreamed of himself more properly, fell from the dignity he had acquired and was cast down from heaven to earth, he wanted to do the same to you - through the transgression of the commandment to subject you to the punishment of death and to satisfy his envy, as the most wise one said: "Through the envy of the devil death has entered into the world" (Wis. II, 24). And it is said, he gave to his husband, and poison. And the eyes of the vow were opened. Great is the carelessness of the husband. Although (the one who offered the fruit) was of the same nature as him, and his wife, yet he, as one who vividly remembered the commandment of God, had to prefer it to the inappropriate desire of his wife, not to take part in the crime, not to deprive himself of so many blessings for the sake of a momentary pleasure, and not to offend such a Benefactor, who showed him so much love and gave him such a painless and comfortable life. Were you not allowed to enjoy all the other fruits of paradise in abundance? Why did you not want to keep such an easy commandment? But you, of course, heard from your wife about the promise of the evil counselor, immediately, carried away by hope, and took part in the meal. Therefore the punishment extends to both of you, and experience itself will teach you not to believe in the suggestion of the evil demon more than in God.

5. And he will give to his husband, and poison. And the eyes of the vow were opened, and the mind was stirred, as if it were a besha. Here arises a very important question for us, which we have promised your love before. Another will justly ask what power this tree had, that eating of it opened their eyes, and why is it called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Be patient, if you will, I want to talk to you a little about this and teach your love that if we are willing to accept with reasoning what is said in the Divine Scriptures, then not a single word will seem difficult to us. It was not eating from the tree that opened their eyes: they saw before they ate. But since this eating served as an expression of disobedience and violation of the commandment given by God, and for this guilt they later lost the glory that clothed them, having become unworthy of so great an honor, therefore the Scriptures, following their custom, say: "Poison, and the eyes of the vow were opened, and the mind was opened, as if it were a besha." Having been deprived of the commandment of the highest grace for their transgression, they also feel sensual nakedness, so that from the shame that has seized them they may fully understand into what abyss the transgression of the Lord's commandment has brought them. In fact, hitherto they had enjoyed such freedom, and did not even know that they were naked (they were not naked, because they were covered better than any garment by the highest glory), but after eating, i.e. after transgressing the commandment, they came to such humiliation that, unable to endure shame, they began to seek a veil. The transgression of the commandment committed by them took away (from them) that wonderful and unusual garment, that is, (the garment of) glory and high favor, with which they were clothed, and at the same time aroused in them a sense of nakedness, and covered them with unspeakable shame. And she sewed together fig leaves, and made her girdles, v. 7. Consider, Beloved, from what a height into what deep abyss the devil's suggestion has plunged them. Hitherto clothed with such glory, they now sew fig leaves together and make themselves girdles. Such is the fruit of the devil's deception; Such is the cunning of this suggestion, that it not only did not bring great benefits to people, but also deprived them of those that they had. Since such a reason - eating - produced disobedience, therefore the Scripture says: "And the poison, and their eyes were opened, meaning not the bodily eyes, but the mental sight." Since they transgressed the commandment, (the Lord) also made them feel what they had not felt before, because of the favor which He showed them. When you hear that their eyes have been opened, understand it in such a way that (God) has made them feel nakedness and deprived of the glory that they enjoyed before they partook of it. And that this is the custom of the Scriptures, listen to how it says in another place. When Sarah's maidservant, having fled from her mistress, was wandering, and having thrown the child under a single tree, she awaited his death from afar, (of whom the Scripture) says: "God opened the eyes of Hagar" (Gen. 2:10). XXI, 19), not because she had not seen before, but because God (at that time) had stirred up her mind. Do you see that the word "opening" does not refer to the bodily eyes, but to the mental sight?

We can say the same about another question that arises here. They say: why is this tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Many lovers of arguments dare to say that Adam, after already eating from the tree, received the ability to distinguish between good and evil. It would be extremely crazy to think so. In order that no one should be able to speak in this way, for this reason, foreseeing this, we have recently reasoned so much about the wisdom given by God to man, proving it by the naming of the names which he gave to all beasts, and birds, and dumb (animals), and by the fact that, in addition to this lofty wisdom, he was also vouchsafed the gift of prophecy. How could the one who gave names and uttered such a wonderful prophecy about a woman not know what is good and what is bad? If we allow this (which may not happen!), then we will again utter blasphemy against the Creator. How did He give a commandment to one who did not know that transgression was evil? It's not that; on the contrary, he knew it clearly. Therefore, from the beginning (God) created this animal (man) autocratic: otherwise he should not have been punished for transgressing the commandment, and rewarded for its observance. That he became mortal for a crime is evident both from the commandment itself and from subsequent events. Listen to what the woman herself said to the serpent: "Of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God saith, that ye may not eat of it, lest ye die." This means that they were immortal before eating: otherwise God, even after eating, would not have brought death upon them as a punishment.