If any of you, brethren, have unclean and shameful thoughts, let him not give himself over to despair in negligence, but turn his heart to God and, sighing, with tears will say: "Arise, O Lord, and give ear to my judgment, O my God and my Lord, against my mouth. Judge me, O Lord, according to Thy righteousness (Psalm 34:23-24). I am the work of Thy hands: hast Thou forsaken me? (Psalm 21:1). Thou hast turned away Thy face from me, and hast forgotten my humility? (Psalm 43:25). For the enemy hath driven my soul, hath humbled my life to the ground (Psalm 142:3); charcoal in the timenia of the depth, and there is no constancy (Psalm 68:3). May Thy hand hold me, and I shall not perish." If thou wilt thus call upon Him with patience, the Lover of mankind will soon, having sent His grace into thy heart, and console thee in the painful and difficult battle.

Therefore, let us not be slothful, and let us not be lazy, having such a merciful Lord. For while we are here, He is merciful, and saves, and forgives our iniquities. Who does not marvel that for the short-lived tears shed even in this one hour (Matt. 20:9), He forgives thousands of our falls, and heals thousands of our wounds, and, having healed, He also gives a reward for tears. For this is usually of His grace: after healing He scatters His rewards.

Therefore, brethren, let us try to receive healing, because here He has mercy and is generous with His grace, but there He is not. On the contrary, there is righteous judgment, punishment, and retribution for deeds. There the merciful Abraham proved to be unmerciful and unmerciful to the rich man; and he who prayed for the Sodomites does not pray there for one sinner, that mercy may be shown to him.

Thus, let our mind not be bound by earthly things, but let us try to become imitators of the Holy Fathers; let us not lose their lives, lest we lose their glory. But let us take care to receive crowns together with the perfect, and if not crowns with the perfect, then praise with the last. Blessed is he who strives to be crowned with the perfect, but pitiful is he who has not received praise even with the latter. Blessed is he who has been vouchsafed the crown and inheritance of the saints, and who hears these words: "Come, in the blessing of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt. 25:34).

What justification shall we have, brethren, if we neglect? The man of the world still has it, perhaps as one who dwells in the world, but what shall we say? I am afraid that those who praise us here will laugh at us there. Let not laziness and worldly cares be sweet to us, so that eternal fire and the worm that never sleeps become bitter for us. Let us sober up a little, and let us weep in order to be delivered from eternal fire.

Do you not believe the word of the Saviour, that His coming will be sudden, like lightning? (Matt. 24:27). Let us be afraid that it will overtake us suddenly, unprepared, and then we will begin to reproach ourselves for our negligence without any benefit. Believe me, beloved, that the last hour is already there. See to it that the word of the prophet is not fulfilled in us (Amos 5:18): Alas for those who desire the day of the Lord! (Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord!). Be attentive to yourselves, lest we be like that servant whom the master came and found feasting, and cut his half, laying down a part of him with the unbelievers (Matt. 24:51). On the contrary, let us not be ashamed, let us glorify the Lord, that He may deliver us from darkness and gnashing of teeth, and vouchsafe us His Kingdom.

I beseech Thee, O Christ, Saviour of the world, to look upon me and deliver me from the multitude of my iniquities. I have rejected all the good deeds which Thou hast done to me since my youth, for Thou hast made me, ignorant and foolish, a vessel full of knowledge and wisdom; Thy grace hath abounded upon me, quenched my hunger, cooled my thirst, enlightened my darkened mind, and gathered together my wandering thoughts. Now I worship and beseech Thy ineffable love for mankind, confessing my weakness, to weaken its waves and preserve it for me on that day, and do not be angry with me, O All-Good, for not tolerating its streams, I dared to act boldly. Thou art the image of the Father and the radiance of ineffable glory, weaken it for me, for it burneth my womb and my heart like fire; but there grant it to me, and save me in Thy Kingdom, at Thy coming, having made with me with the blessed Father the abode of Thy goodness. O Christ, the only Giver of life, grant me what I ask, hide my iniquities from my acquaintances, remembering my tears, which I shed before Thy holy martyrs, in order to draw mercy to me in that terrible hour and to take refuge under the wings of Thy grace. O Lord, show Thy ineffable love for mankind upon me, a sinner, and make me a partaker of that thief who became the heir of paradise in one word. Bring me there, and I will see where Adam is hidden, and I will give glory to Thy love for mankind, for Thou hast hearkened to my tears, and hast consumed (destroyed) all my iniquities. Lay my tears before Thee, O Lord, according to Thy promise, that my enemy may be ashamed when he sees me in the place of life which Thy mercies have prepared for me, and that he may be covered with darkness, not seeing me in the place which Thou hast prepared for my sins. O Lord, the only sinless and loving of mankind, pour out upon me Thy ineffable goodness, grant me and all who love Thee to worship Thy glory in Thy Kingdom, and in joy to say to Thy babbling: Glory to the Father, Who created us, and glory to the Son, Who saved us, and glory to the All-Holy Spirit, Who renewed us, unto all the ages of ages! Amen.

In imitation of parables

Believe in the Son of God... have eternal life (John 3:16). If anyone believes in the Son of God, his feet will not stumble (Proverbs 4:12); and though he pass through the fire, the flame shall not scorch him (Isaiah 43:2). Believe in the Son of God, as the Scriptures say, "Rivers shall flow out of his womb living waters" (John 7:38).

From the multitude of wood, the flame increases; and in the heart of man the fear of God increases knowledge, and activity increases it.

Be exceedingly sober when you sow the seed of your Lord, lest the enemy mix in the tares or anything of his own, for it is his custom to do evil by means of good.

Let us ask the Lord for grace to grant us knowledge and sense to be sober in all things.

The furnace tempts silver and gold (Proverbs 17:3), and the fear of the Lord is the thoughts of those who love the Lord. As an artist, sitting at an anvil, finishes useful vessels, so the fear of God destroys every evil thought in the heart and replaces it with a rational word.