19) Are you a sinner? Do not despair, but enter (into the church) and repent. Have you sinned? Say to God, I have sinned. What difficulty is it to say, I have sinned? Will you not, if you do not profess to be a sinner, and you will not have the devil as your accuser? Warn him, then, and exalt this dignity of him; for it is his dignity to condemn. And why do you not warn him, tell him of his sin, and blot him out, when you know that in him (the devil) you have such a rebuke who will not remain silent? "Have you sinned?" "Enter the church, and say to God: I have sinned." I demand nothing more of you than this one thing. For the Scripture says: "Thou shalt speak thy iniquities first, that thou mayest be justified" (Isaiah 43:26). Say sin, that you may be absolved from sin. There is no difficulty in this, you do not need to type a lot of words for this, and no spending is required for this, and nothing of the kind. Say, 'How can it be seen that if I speak my own sin, I will receive absolution from my sin?' You have in the Scriptures an example of how one said his sin and received forgiveness, and how another did not say his sin, and was condemned. These are Cain and David [2, 285].

20) Pray every hour; but do not be bored when you pray, and do not be lazy to ask for mercy from the loving God, and He will not forsake you because of your perseverance, but will forgive you your sins, and will give you what you ask for. If you pray and be heard, continue in prayer, giving thanks (for mercy); and if thou shalt not be heard, abide in prayer that I may be heard. Do not say: I prayed much, but was not heard; for this also often happens for your own benefit. God knows that you are lazy and indulgent yourself, and if you receive what you ask for, you will leave and pray no more; why does He delay hearing you, in order to compel you, out of necessity, to converse with Him more often and to spend time in prayer. Remain in prayer, and do not allow yourself to be dissipated in it. Prayer can do much, beloved; therefore, do not approach it as a matter of little importance [2, 297].

(21) Have you sinned? enter the church and blot out your sin (by repentance). No matter how many times you fall on the marketplace, every time you get up: so and how many times you sin, hasten to repent, do not allow despair. If you sin again, repent again; do not stoop and do not fall away from the hope of receiving the blessings that are set before us. Even though you are already an old man, and you have sinned, go to church and repent. Here is a doctor's office, not a judgment seat; here they do not impose torments for sins, but give remission of sins. Say thy sin to God alone: "Unto Thee alone have I sinned, and have done evil before Thee" (Psalm 50:8), and thy sin shall be forgiven thee [2:297-8].

22) You also have another way of repentance, not difficult, but very convenient. What is it? Weep over your sin, learning it from the Gospel. Peter, the chief apostle, the friend of Christ, who received revelation not from man, but from the Father, as the Lord Christ testifies of him, saying: "Blessed art thou Simon, O Jonah, for flesh and blood thou hast not shown thee, but the Father in heaven" (Matt. 16:17), — this Peter committed not a small sin, but an extremely great one, — he rejected the Lord Himself, — I say this not to condemn him, but for you as a guide to repentance, I have rejected the Lord Himself, the Lord of the universe, the Savior of all. And when is it? On the night when Christ was betrayed, Peter stood, says the Gospel, by the fire and warmed himself. A maidservant came up and said to him: "And thou wast with Jesus" (Matt. 26:69). What is he? — "I do not know this man" (Mark 14:68). Then the second and third time too. And the prophecy of the Lord was fulfilled. Then Christ looked upon Peter and with His eyes let out a voice (of rebuke to him). He did not speak a word to him with His lips, so as not to rebuke him before the Jews and not to shame His disciple, but with His eyes He emitted a voice (of rebuke), as if thus: Peter! what I told you was fulfilled. "Then Peter felt his fall and began to weep, and he wept not simply, but bitterly, with tears from his eyes arranging for himself a second baptism. With such bitter weeping he blotted out his sin. But if such a sin is blotted out by weeping, then if you weep, will you not blot out your sin? It was not a small sin to deny one's Lord and Lord, but it was extremely great and heavy; and yet tears blotted out this sin. "Weep over your sin, too, and weep not just for show, but bitterly, like Peter. From the very depths bring forth fountains of tears, so that, having compassion on you, the Lord will forgive you your sin. For he is a lover of mankind, as he himself said: "I do not desire the death of the sinner, but that the wicked should turn from his way, and live for him" (Ezekiel 33:11). He wants little work from you, but He Himself gives you great things. He waits for a reason from you to give you the treasure of salvation. Bring tears, and He will grant you forgiveness; bring repentance, and He will grant you forgiveness of sins [2, 298].

(23) How can we bow down to the mercy of the Lord? "That's right!" Let us plant prayer in our hearts, and let us add humility and meekness to it. For the Lord says: "Learn from me, that you are meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:29). And David sang: "Sacrifice to God the spirit is broken: "God will not despise a broken and humble heart" (Psalm 50:19). The Lord loves nothing so much as a meek and humble soul. Take heed, brother, and do not resort to people when something accidentally burdens you, but, bypassing everyone, go with your thoughts to the Physician of souls. For He alone can heal the heart, "Who created our hearts in private" and "understands all our works" (Psalm 32:15). He can enter into our conscience, touch the mind, console the soul. If He does not comfort our hearts, human consolations are superfluous and senseless: on the contrary, when He comforts, even though innumerable people oppress us, they will not be able to harm us by a hair's breadth. When He strengthens the heart, no one can disturb it. Knowing this, beloved, let us always have recourse to God, Who desires and is able to dispel the clouds of sorrows that have fallen upon us [2, 304].

24) When people are to be addressed with any request, it is necessary in every possible way to adapt oneself to the time, and to the place, and to the person, and to speak deliberately; but when we approach God, nothing of the kind is required. Cry out only from the heart, and not with your lips alone, and that's it. "When thou prayest, enter in," he says, "into thy cell, and shutting thy doors, pray unto thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father, seeing in secret, shall reward thee in Java" (Matt. 6:6). Do you see the abundance of honor for you? When you ask Me, let him speak, no one sees; but when I honor you (by hearing and freely), then I will make the whole world a witness of good. Let us obey the word of the Lord, and let us not pray for show; nor will we show the Lord the way to help us. Have you told Him your need, what have you said in your soul? Do not say further how to help you. He Himself knows better than you what is good for you. Others say much in their prayers: Lord, give me health, increase my possessions, avenge my enemy. This is full of all foolishness. It behooves us, leaving all this, to beseech God with the words of the publican: "God, be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13). And He already knows how to help us. Thus let us be wise in prayer, praying with pain of heart and humility, beating ourselves in the forehead, as he (the publican) did, and we shall receive what we ask for. If, having indignation and anger in our hearts, we pray, then we will appear vile and hateful to God. Let us break our hearts, let us humble our souls, and let us pray both for ourselves and for those who have offended us. God listens all the more and fulfills the petition of those who pray for their enemies, who are not vindictive, who do not rise up against their enemies. And the more they do this, the more God takes vengeance on their enemies, unless they repent [2, 304-5].

25) In three days, what a multitude of sins did the Ninevites pray for, and what terrible sentence of God did they reject?? Just as a lazy (not energetic) soul, even though it spends a lot of time in repentance, will not do anything special and will not achieve reconciliation with God: so, on the contrary, a soul that is agitated, burning with zeal, and manifests repentance in an all-contrite way, can blot out many years of sins in a short time. Did not Peter deny three times? And for the third time, is it not with an oath? And was he not afraid against the words of the insignificant servant? "What then?" Did he need many years to repent? — Not at all. But in the same night he slipped, and got up, and received the wound, and received healing, and fell into illness, and returned to health. How and how? Weeping and tearing my heart; not just weeping, but with great contrition and deep pain in the heart. That is why the Evangelist did not say: "weeping," and only, but: "weeping bitterly." How strong was the weeping and how abundant the tears, no word can imagine; but clearly shows the outcome of the matter. For after such a calamitous fall, for there is nothing more calamitous than the renunciation of the Lord, after such a fall, the Lord again raised him to his former dignity. So do not fall under the weight of sins. The most pernicious thing in sin is to remain in sin, and the most miserable thing in the fall is to lie in the fall [2, 308-9].

26) Great is the power of sorrow for God, and it brings great benefit. Wishing to show this, this is what the Prophet Isaiah, or even more so God Himself through Isaiah, says: "For sin they grieved him little," but when he saw that "he was grieved, and went away decrepit, healed him" (Isaiah 57:17). Not what should have been, he says, I have laid down the punishment for sin. For in the rewards of virtues God exceeds the proper measure; but for the most part he only rebukes sins, and the punishment, if he sometimes sends, is always much lighter in comparison with sins. But even this cancels it, if one repents of his sins. This is indicated by the above words. Do you see how swift and how great the benefit flows from repentance? Not much, he says, having punished him for his sins, when he saw that he was grieved and went to decrepit, and this small punishment he forgave him. God is so quick and ready to reconcile with us, and waits for only a pretext for this, even the slightest. Let us always give Him an opportunity to show our love for us, trying in every way to protect ourselves from sins, and when we fall, hastening to rise up with bitter weeping over sins, in order to gain joy in the Lord. If the one who is sorrowful and decrepit has reconciled God to himself, then what will not he do who has added tears to it and diligently beseeches Him [2, 651]?

(27) At the shore of the Red Sea, God said to Moses, "Why do you cry out to me?" while Moses said nothing. By this God revealed this: I am a God who hears not only what comes out of the mouth, but also knows what is in the heart; Prayer is not something that the lips cry out, but something that moves in the heart. "Why do you cry out to me?" his mouth said nothing, but his heart cried out. A prayer that is quickly heard is one that comes from a good heart, and is not pronounced with one strong voice [2, 743].

28) For two reasons, it is fitting to bless the holy servants of God and marvel at them, — both because they placed the hope of their salvation in fervent prayers, and because, having preserved through the Scriptures the songs and prayers which they lifted up to God with fear and joy, they also handed down to us this treasure, so that all the generation that follows them may attract to imitate their prayerful zeal (for the way of life of teachers should pass on to the disciples, and the hearers of the Prophets should be imitators of their righteousness), so that we, too, like them, spend all the time of our lives in prayer, worship and contemplation of God, now in life, now in health and wealth, now considering the height of good things, so that we may constantly pray to God from a pure and blameless soul [2, 775].

29) As the sun is light for the body, so prayer is for the soul. If it is a great deprivation for a blind man not to see the sun; then how great is the deprivation for a Christian not to pray often, so that by prayer he may bring the light of Christ into his soul? [Ibid.].

30) Who will not be amazed, and who will not be amazed at the love for mankind that God shows to us, granting people such honor that He vouchsafes them to converse with Himself in prayer? For truly we converse with God during prayer, and through this we come into contact with the Angels and depart far from other living, but irrational creatures. Prayer is the work of the Angels; it exceeds even their dignity, since to converse with God is above the angelic dignity (in itself) [Ibid.].

31) The angels, offering their prayers with great fear and joy, teach us that when we approach God in prayer, we must do this with fear and joy: with fear, fearing that we may be unworthy of prayer; and we must be filled with joy because of the greatness of honor, that our mortal race is vouchsafed such and so great favor of God, that it is given to it to converse with God often, by virtue of which we cease to be mortal and temporal; — by nature we are mortal, but through conversation with God we pass on to immortal life. For he who converses with God cannot but rise above death and corruption. As one who is enveloped in the rays of sunlight cannot but be far from the darkness of even the slightest; so it is impossible for one who is vouchsafed to converse with God not to rise above death. Such greatness of honor places us in the realm of immortality (gives us a breath of the air of immortality). If those who converse with the king and are vouchsafed honor from him, cannot be poor in anything; how much more are it impossible for those who approach God in prayer and converse with Him to have mortal souls: for the death of the soul is impiety and lawless life; On the contrary, the life of the soul is service to God and a life in accordance with this: but prayer prepares a venerable life and a life in accordance with the service of God, and wonderfully treasures in our souls [2, 775].

32) Whether one has loved virginity, or zealously honors marital chastity, whether one has given up anger to tame and meekness as his concubine, whether he is to guard himself pure from envy, or something else that is befitting to be done, he will easily and conveniently complete his pious course, if he takes prayer as a guide and with it in advance smooths such a path of life. For whoever asks God for chastity, righteousness, meekness, and mercy, it is impossible for him not to receive what he asks. "Ask," says the Lord, "and it shall be given you; seek and you will find; pound and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and seeks, finds, and to him who interprets it will be opened. Or who eateth of you, and his son asks him of his bread, and the food of the stone shall give him? Or if he asks for fish, will he give food to the serpent? For if ye are deceitful, and know how to give good things to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give good things to them that ask Him" (Matt. 7:7-11), or, as it is said in another place, "He will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him" (Luke 11:13). With such words and such promises, the Lord urges us all to be diligent in prayer; but we must, in obedience to His divine inspiration, spend our lives in hymns and prayers, zealous to please God in the most accurate way. Only by living in this way will we live a real human life [2, 776].