In order to understand this phrase (ώς άδίαλεί'πτως σύναξίν ποίων), it is necessary to recall that the Egyptian monks who were nourished by St. Ammon usually lived in monasteries of the semi-hermit type, gathering only on Sundays and feast days for joint worship. St. Ammon exhorts the monks to constantly strive towards the ideal of Christian life, which was well expressed by Archimandrite Cyprian: "Our worldview must be Eucharistic and must live in a Eucharistic mood" (Khmirmian (Hern), Argmjändrmt, Eucharist, Paris, 1947, p. 28).

167

The verb αγοράζω ("to buy", "to redeem") refers to the dogma of the Lord's redemptive sacrifice. It is based on "the idea of retribution to the law of Divine truth, the rights of which are trampled upon by the sin of man, the idea of the necessity of paying a debt to God on the part of man and the payment of this debt by Christ in place of mankind – this idea at the very beginning of the ancient Church was its inalienable property and found its clear expression already in the first Christian writers." The consequence of this idea was the idea "that the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ are a propitiatory sacrifice to God the Father, by whom the human race is delivered from sin, curse and death and is reconciled to God. This idea is actually the essence of the Church's teaching on the redemptive sacrifice of Christ, and it is do2zhazh" (Orfyanmzhskmm I. Historical exposition of the dogma about the redemptive sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Moscow, 1904. pp. 147–150).

168

This phrase (τη δε συνε<δήσε< άπο^ανών) probably presupposes the widespread idea in patristic writings of conscience as the inner judge and accuser of man. Usually, the Fathers of the Church call conscience "an internal, one's own judgment seat," in which judgment (χρ<σ<ς) takes place and sentences are drawn up (ψή^ο<). Sometimes conscience is called "a judge who is constantly awake, vigilant, undeceiving and incorruptible"; an accuser who acts before, during, and after the commission of a sin, an admonitor who persuades them to abandon sin, a rebuke and a punisher. "In general, conscience is our adversary (άντ<δ<χος) when we wish to do the will of our flesh, according to the expression of Abba Isaiah" (Loioe D. Blessed Diadochos (V century), Bishop of Photica of Ancient Epirus, the doctrine of reason, conscience and thoughts // Proceedings of the Kiev Theological Academy. 1898. № 7. Pp. 458–460). Therefore, a Christian, according to St. Ammon, must daily stand before his conscience, as one who has died before God, the Judge of all.

169

Wed. Venerable. Peter of Damascus: "the doer of the Divine commandments of Christ" (on εργάτης τών ^εί'ων εντολών τού Χριστού) believes that for the Lord all things are possible, that all His will is good, and without Him there can be nothing good. Therefore, such a "worker" does not want to do anything outside the will of God, "even if it be life" (παν ζωή εστι), but seeks only the will of God, for it "is eternal life." See: ΦΙΛΟΚΑΛΙΑ. ΤΟΜΟΣ Γ'. Σ. 116.

170

The many-minded concept of γνώμη ("thought, reason, spirit, will, decision", etc.) is most likely used here in a similar meaning. This meaning is also found in one of the epistles of St. Ignatius the God-bearer, who exhorts Christians to live in harmony (lit.; converge) with the will (or "thought") of God (συντρεχητε τή γνώμη τού Θεού). See: T^pase ^IiyosAe. Ro/usa^re ^e ^zhugpe. Lettres. P. 60.