11) In these three all the virtues are combined.

If anyone wants to study with all attention to the exactness. then he will find that on this trembling and indissoluble rope hangs the purple woven by God of all virtues. For the life according to God is a kind of precious golden-speckled net, in which one virtue is closely combined with another, and all are harmonized into one: for they all arrange one thing, namely, that which is adored by the man who sincerely lives in them. enriching it in a way, as it were, with connecting rings, with this sweetest name of our Lord Jesus Christ, with faith, if you will, and with hope and humility, with salvific invocation, and also enriching it with peace and love, which are truly a God-planted three-stemmed tree, a life-giving tree, which he touches in good time and, as befits him, partakes of Communion, does not gather death, as the first-created, but unceasing and eternal life.

12) The gift and presence of the Holy Spirit is given to the faithful by God the Father in Christ Jesus and in His holy name.

And the gift of the Holy Spirit is also given to the faithful by God the Father, in Christ Jesus and in His holy name, as the most divine and soul-loving Lord Jesus Christ Himself says to the Apostles: "I have not eaten you, but I am coming: for if I do not come, the Comforter will not come to you: but if I come, I will send Him to you" (John 6:11). 7); and when the Comforter comes, I will send him to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, and so on. . . . (John 15:26); and again: "And the Comforter is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father hath sent in My name" (John 14:26).

13) The Holy Fathers and the Holy Spirit living in them have reverently ordained that we pray to our Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him for mercy.

For this reason, very wisely, our glorious leaders and instructors, and with the Holy Spirit living in them, and all of us, especially those who have desired to enter the field of God-created silence, to dedicate ourselves to God and, having been torn away from the world, to be reasonably silent, teach us above all other work and care, to pray to the Lord and to ask Him for mercy with undoubted hope, having unceasingly in deed and occupation the invocation of His all-holy and sweetest name, always carrying Him in our minds, in our hearts, and in our mouths, and in every way forcing ourselves, in Him and with Him, to breathe, and to live, and to sleep, and to be awake, and to walk, and to eat, and to drink, and in general, whatever we do, to do so. For just as, in His absence, all that is harmful flocks to us, leaving no room for anything beneficial to the soul: so, in His presence, all that is contrary is driven away, there is no lack of anything good, and everything is possible for fulfillment, as our Lord Himself declares: "Whosoever shall be in Me, and I in him, the same shall bring forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing" (John 15:15). 5). For this is a fearful and venerable name for every creature, more than any name, having called upon with faith, and we, the unworthy, with His help, will boldly lift up the wind of the present word and begin to stretch out into the former.

14) He who desires to walk in the Lord without falling along the path of silence, above all, with complete renunciation of everything, must also choose perfect obedience.

On the name of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, he said: "I am the light, and the life, and the truth, the way, and the door to the Father" (John 8:12, 14, 6); And: "By Me whosoever shall enter in, shall be saved, and shall enter in, and shall go out, and shall find a pasture, of course, a saving one" (John 10:9, 10, — heed what we say, and sincerely advise thee. — First of all, choose for thyself with complete renunciation, according to the divine word, perfect obedience, unfeigned. For this purpose, with all earnestness, seek and try to find for thyself a guide and teacher who is not lovely (let his loveliness be presented to them in confirmation of the fact that what he says, testimonies from the Divine Scriptures), spirit-bearing, in accordance with his words and a leading life, lofty in contemplation, humble in wisdom about himself, good-natured in everything, and in general such as, according to God-given words, a teacher of Christ should be.

And having found such a man, and to him as to his own father, the father-loving son, having cleaved in body and spirit, from that time be wholly in his commands, and agree with him in all things, looking upon him as Christ Himself, and not as a man. and driving away all unbelief and doubt, as well as all one's own wisdom and self-willing; Step by step, follow your teacher, like a mirror, like your conscience, having this unreasoning complete obedience to him. And if sometimes something contrary to this is sown in your mind by the devil, who is hostile to all good, as from fornication and as from fire, jump away from him, so wisely speaking to yourself against the deceiver who puts such thoughts: it is not he who is led by the guide, but he who is guided by the guide; it was not I, the ruler, but he who took upon himself the judgment (my guilt); not I, but he is my judge, according to St. Climacus, and the like (Verse 4).

For one who has taken the intention of dissolving the handwriting of his sins and being vouchsafed to be inscribed in the divine book of the saved, there is no surest way to do so than such a way of life, i.e. obedience. For if, according to Blessed Paul, the Son of God and our God, the Lord Jesus, having become like us for our sake, and wisely arranging the father's favor toward us, this path (of obedience) is seen flowing, and through it is vouchsafed to be glorified by the father, for pleasing Him according to humanity; for He humbled Himself, it is said, being obedient even unto death, even the death of the cross; wherefore also God exalted Him, and gave Him a name, more than any name, etc. . . . (Phil. 2:8, 9): then who dares boldly, not to say senselessly, to hope that he will be vouchsafed the glory of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the recompenses of his fathers, without choosing to walk the same path with our Leader and Teacher Jesus Christ. For a disciple, if he has a concern to be like a teacher, must unswervingly look at the life and deeds of his leader with all the zeal of his soul, as the best example and prototype, and force himself to always imitate him in everything. So it is written of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, that He was in obedience to His father and mother (Luke 2:51); and the Saviour says of Himself: "Come not, that they may serve Me, but serve" (Matt. 20:28). After this, is it possible for one who lives differently, i.e., without a guide, self-pleasing and self-willed, to think that he lives a divine life, in accordance with the Word of God? Not at all. And Climacus says: "As one who walks without a guide easily loses his way and errs, so he who goes through the monastic life on his own easily perishes, even if he knows all the wisdom of the world." Why are there many, not to say all, of those who do not walk the path of obedience and without advice, although in their work and sweat they dream, as in a dream, as if they were sowing much, but in truth they gain very little; some instead of wheat, alas! they reap the tares, as those who arrange their lives arbitrarily according to self-pleasing wisdom — there is nothing worse. This is testified to by St.

on which there is only one path. misleading, is called arbitrariness. "Whoever has completely rejected self-will, has already attained everything that he considers good, spiritual, and pleasing to God before he enters upon podvig, because obedience is disbelief in oneself in all that is good, even to the end of one's life" (Verse 4, par. 5).

Wherefore thou, too, having wisely understood this, and desiring to learn the good and unavoidable part of the heavenly silence, follow the good laws established as shown to thee, and first embrace obedience, and then silence. For just as action is a step to contemplation, so obedience to silence. Do not attempt to set the limits set by the Fathers, as it is written (Proverbs 22:28); remember also that woe to one (Ecclesiastes 4:10). Having thus laid a good foundation for the foundation, with the passage of time, you will also lay a glorious veil on your spirit-creating edifice. For just as he who has a beginning that is not skilful, as someone has said, all things are not tolerable: so, on the contrary, he who has a skilful beginning, everything is splendid and orderly, although sometimes the opposite of this happens: which, however, happens from our will.

15) What are the signs of true obedience, which, having a true novice, could obedience without falling?

But since there is much to say about this way of life, it is not convenient for us to speak; For this reason those who pass through it also pass through it in different ways: it is necessary to point out to you certain distinguishing features of it, as signs which, if you were to adhere to as a rule and plumb, you could live with infallible regularity. "And behold, we say to you, that it seems to us that a true novice must observe the following five virtues: first, faith, pure and unflattering faith in his superior (leader) to such an extent that he looks upon him as Christ Himself, and as Christ obeyed him, as the Lord Jesus says: Listen to you, Me hears, and reject you, Me is rejected; but cast away Me, Him who sent Me is rejected (Luke 10:16); and as the Apostle teaches: "Whatever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). Secondly, the truth, that is, that he should be true in deed and word, and in the exact confession of thoughts; for it is written, "The beginning of thy words is truth" (Psalm 118:160), and "The Lord seeketh the truth" (Psalm 30:24). And Christ says: "I am the truth" (John 14:6); wherefore it was also called self-truth. Thirdly, not to do one's own will: for a novice, as they say, to do one's own will is a great loss and a great harm; he must always cut off his will, and at the same time willingly, that is, not under compulsion from his Father. Fourthly, by no means to contradict or argue; for reproach and disputation are not peculiar to the godly. And the most holy Paul writes: "If anyone thinks that he is disputing, we are not imams of such a custom below the Church of God" (1 Corinthians 11:16). If this is so simply and in general forbidden to all Christians, then how much more so to monks who take a vow of complete obedience in everything. Reproach and contentiousness come from self-conceit, the cohabitant of unbelief and arrogance; on the contrary, unquestioning and non-argument come from a faithful and humble-minded disposition. Fifthly, he must observe the following virtue – to confess everything accurately and sincerely to his superior (superior); As we are at tonsure. as if standing before the throne of Christ, before God and His Holy Angels, we have vowed to have the beginning and the end (of our efforts and deeds), together with our other vows and covenants to the Lord, and the confession of the secret hearts (thoughts and desires). It is also said by the divine David: "Let us pour out my iniquity upon me, O Lord: and thou hast forsaken the wickedness of my heart" (Psalm 31:5); and Climacus: "Wounds, when you declare them, will not be worse — they will come to a state, but they will be healed" (Verses 4:10).