Concerning what has been said before this, I would like some persons who think of themselves that they are virtuous and spiritual, who, when they fall into any sin, are tormented and languishing, and find no rest for themselves, and, already exhausted by this sorrow and anguish, which arise from nothing else but self-love, flee again from the same urge of self-love to their spiritual father, to be freed from such a burden. And they should have done this immediately after the fall, and they should have done it for nothing else than to quickly wash away the filth of sin that had offended God, and to receive a new power against themselves, in the most holy Sacrament of Repentance and Confession.

On the fallibility of the opinion of those who

At the same time, those sin who consider excessive sorrow to be a virtue, which befalls them after committing a sin, not understanding that this comes from pride and self-conceit, which are affirmed by the fact that they rely too much on themselves and on their strength. For, thinking of themselves that they are not a small thing, they have taken upon themselves a great deal, hoping to cope with it themselves. Seeing now from the experience of their fall that there is no power in them, they are amazed, as if they meet something unexpected, they are troubled and faint-hearted, for they see fallen and prostrate on the ground the very image, i.e. themselves, on which they have placed all their hopes and hopes. But this does not happen to the humble, who trusts in the One God, not expecting anything decisively good from himself. For this reason, even when he falls into any sin, although he feels the burden of it and grieves, he is not troubled or shaken by perplexity, for he knows that it has happened to him because of his own impotence, the experience of which in the fall is not unexpected news to him.

Some Knowledges That Serve to Outline

limit and space of self-doubt and complete

Hope in GodSince all the power by which our enemies are conquered is generated in us from disbelief in ourselves and hope in God, then it behooves you, my brother, to store up accurate knowledge regarding this, so that, with God's help, you may always carry and preserve such strength within yourself. Know firmly that neither all the abilities and good qualities, whether natural or acquired, nor all the gifts freely given, nor the knowledge of all the Scriptures, nor the fact that we have worked for God for a long time and acquired the skill in this work for Him, nor all this together will allow us to faithfully fulfill the will of God, if in every God-pleasing, good deed, which we are to accomplish, in every misfortune that we seek to avoid, in every cross that we must bear according to the will of our God, unless, I say, in all such and similar cases, God's special help will inspire our hearts and give us the strength to do what is worthy, as the Lord said: "Without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:15). 5); so that all our lives, all our days and all our minutes, we must urgently keep unchanged in our hearts such a feeling, conviction and mood that it is not permissible for us to rely and rely on ourselves for any reason, for any thought.

As for the hope in God, to what I have already said in the third chapter, add the following: Know that there is nothing easier and more convenient for God than to make you overcome your enemies, whether they are few or many, whether they are old and strong, or whether they are new and weak. However, He has its own time and order for everything. Therefore, let any soul be excessively burdened with sins, let it be guilty of all the transgressions of the world, let it be defiled as anyone can imagine, and let it, moreover, as much as it wanted and as much as it could, use every means and every podvig to abandon sin and turn to the path of good, but could not establish itself in anything worthy, even the smallest, but, on the contrary, she plunged even deeper into evil – let her be like that; for all this, however, it must by no means weaken in its hope in God and depart from Him, it must not abandon either its weapons or its spiritual feats, but must struggle and struggle with itself and with its enemies, with all courage and tirelessness. For knowing this, know that in this invisible battle only he does not lose who does not cease to struggle and trust in God, Whose help never departs from those who fight in His armies, although sometimes He allows them to receive wounds. Therefore fight each one without yielding, for in this unrelenting struggle is the whole point. And God is always ready to heal those who are afflicted by their enemies, and to help them to defeat them, which in due time He gives to His fighters, who seek Him and have firm hope in Him; in the hour when they do not expect, they will see how their proud enemies are vanishing, as it is written: "The strength of Babylonia is lacking" (Jeremiah 51:30). CHAPTER SEVEN.

About how we should exercise our minds,

If disbelief in ourselves and hope in God, so necessary in our spiritual warfare, remain in us alone, then not only will we not gain victory, but, on the contrary, we will plunge into even greater evil. Therefore, together with them and with them, we must conduct a special kind of work, or spiritual instructive exercises.

Among these exercises, exercises of the mind and will should be in the first place.

The intellect must be delivered and preserved from ignorance, which is so hostile to it, since it, by darkening it, does not allow it to know the truth, which is its own object and the goal of its strivings. For this it is necessary to exercise him, so that he is bright and pure and can clearly discern what is required for us in order to cleanse the soul of passions and adorn it with virtues.

We can attain such brightness of mind in two ways: the first, and more necessary, is prayer, by which we must beseech the Holy Spirit to pour out divine light into our hearts, which He will probably do, if we truly seek the one God, if we are sincerely zealous to act in all things according to His will, and if in every matter we willingly submit ourselves to the advice of our experienced spiritual fathers and do nothing without asking them.

The second way of exercising the mind is to constantly examine things and delve into their knowledge, in order to see clearly which of them are good and which are bad; not as the senses and the world judge them, but as the right reason and the Holy Spirit judge, or the true word of the divinely inspired Scriptures, the Spirit-bearing Fathers and teachers of the Church. For when such consideration and deepening is right and proper, it will certainly give us a clear understanding that we must from the heart impute to nothing and consider vain and false everything that the blind and corrupt world loves and seeks in every way.

Namely, that the honors, pleasures, and riches of the world are nothing but vanity and death of the soul; that the reproaches and blasphemies with which the world persecutes us bring us true glory, and its sorrows bring us joy; that forgiveness of our enemies and doing good to them is true generosity – one of the greatest features of likeness to God; that he who despises the world is more powerful and powerful than he who rules over the whole world; that willing obedience is an act that reveals more courage and firmness of spirit than subduing and commanding great kings; that humble self-knowledge should be preferred to all others to the highest knowledge; That to conquer and mortify one's evil inclinations and lusts, however insignificant, is more praiseworthy than the capture of many fortresses, than the defeat of strong hordes, well armed, than even the working of miracles and the resurrection of the dead.