39) During prayer it behooves us to forget our human nature, and, embraced by a warm aspiration towards God, in union with reverent fear, not to see anything of the world, but to think that we stand among the angels and perform the same service with them to the Most High God [Ibid.].

(40) All the other things of us and the Angels, such as nature, mode of being, wisdom, knowledge, and everything else you touch, are different: but prayer is a common cause, of the angels and of men, and in this respect there is nothing in the midst of them and of us (one choir). But whoever diligently applies himself to prayer and his heart to striving for God, he will soon become like them in knowledge, and in wisdom, and nobility, and in the way of life (Ibid.).

41) If one who has occasion to converse with wise men, by frequent conversation with them he assimilates their wisdom and becomes like them in it; then what can be said about those who often converse with God in their fervent prayers? What wisdom, what virtue, what knowledge, goodness, chastity and good manners will not fill them with prayer and unceasing dealings with God! So it is not a sin who says that prayer is the source of all virtue and righteousness, and that nothing that promotes piety can enter into a soul empty of prayer and supplication [2, 780].

42) Just as a city that is not surrounded by walls easily falls under the power of enemies, due to the absence of any obstacle to occupying it, so the devil easily takes a soul that is not protected by prayers into his power and fills it with all kinds of sins. As for those who are devoted to prayer, he has no success. Seeing the soul protected by prayers, he does not dare to come close to it, fearing the power that prayers impart to the soul, nourishing it more than bread nourishes the body. Moreover, those who pray earnestly do not allow anything unworthy of prayer to enter into themselves, but reverently before God, with whom they have just conversed, they immediately repel all the snares of the evil one, bringing to their mind how inappropriate and bad it is for one who has just asked God in prayer for chastity and reverence, immediately goes over to the side of the enemy, allowing the soul to lust for shameful sweets and thus give the devil an entrance into the heart, which God has just set down (Ibid.).

43) Without the assistance of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible for a person to properly conduct a divine conversation; therefore, first of all, we must pray, so that His grace may be inherent in us and our prayerful work will be inspired, when we enter our church or at home into our cell, in order to kneel and lift up our prayers and supplications to God. When you are convinced that, while praying, you also converse with God and receive the assistance of the Holy Spirit; then you will no longer allow the devil to have access to your soul, sanctified by the Spirit [2, 781].

44) Whoever says that prayers are the nerves of the soul will tell the truth. For just as, with the integrity of the nerves, the body is kept in order and lives, stands and walks, but with their suppression it is completely upset: so the souls, under the action of prayers, are well-ordered, firm, and easily flow along the path of piety; but if you deprive yourself of prayer, you will do in your soul what the cutting off of the nerves does in the body—it will freeze—or, in another comparison, it will be like taking a fish out of water, for just as life is water for a fish, so prayer is for your soul [2, 781].

45) Wishing to draw people to prayer and to present to our souls what a great blessing prayer is, Christ the Lord introduces a certain evil and cruel judge, who has lost all shame before people and expelled the fear of God from his soul. It would be enough to assume a truthful and merciful person, and, comparing his truthfulness with God's love for mankind, to show through this the power of prayer. For if a good and meek man graciously receives those who turn to him with supplication; Is not God all the more so, the greatness of Whose love for mankind not only surpasses our understanding, but is inconceivable even to the Angels themselves? Therefore it was enough, I say, to suppose the face of a righteous judge; but the Lord introduces a cruel, impious, inhuman judge, saying at the same time that he, who in all cases manifests indomitable cruelty, did not endure this character in the face of fervent and persistent petition, but appeared here good and meek. Why did the Lord do this? "In order to make you understand that petition and supplication easily transform the evil nature into good and merciful, and in this way the power of prayer will no longer remain unknown to anyone. For this purpose, having placed the widow before the most wicked judge of all, and having shown him, not according to his natural character, to be philanthropic, from him, evil, He transfers the word to His Father, good, meek, philanthropic, surpassing iniquity, forgiving many sins, blaspheming and bearing blasphemy, seeing the worship of demons and insulting Himself and His Son, and not taking revenge. If now He, the blasphemer, so meekly endures those who insult Him, then, when we fall down to Him with due fear, will He not have mercy on us quickly and generously? Do you hear, says the Lord, that the judge of iniquity speaketh? "If I fear not God, and man am not ashamed: but this widow does not work for me, I will avenge her" (Luke 18:4-6). If the widow, falling down, made cruel so meek; what can we not expect from a man-loving God, falling down before Him? [2, 782].

46) "For that servant fell, bowing down to him, saying: Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all. And having had mercy on the masters of that servant, forgive him, and forgive him the debt" (Matt. 18:29, 30). Let us listen to prayer, lazy ones, what power belittling has. This servant did not show any special fasting or anything of the kind, but for this reason he only begged his master, bowed him to mercy. Let us not lose heart and despair in our prayers. Who was more insignificant than this slave, who only accumulated debts and had nothing good, neither greater nor small, in himself? However, he did not say to himself: I am bold, shame covers my face, — how can I approach? How can I open my mouth to supplication? — what many sinners say, sick with devilish piety. Are you bold? For this reason draw near, in order to acquire boldness. Is man the one whom you seek to propitiate, that you may be ashamed of Him and blush? He is God, desiring more than you yourself to cleanse you from your debts to Him. You do not so much wish to put yourself in a position safe from all sides, as He desires your salvation. And He showed this by His very deeds. "Have you no boldness?" But that is why you yourself should dare to be aware of yourself as such. For the greatest boldness is to consider oneself bold, just as the greatest shame is to justify oneself before the Lord. Such a person is unclean, even though he be holiest of all men; On the contrary, he is righteous who considers himself the last of all. The witnesses of this are the Pharisee and the publican. Let us not despair and lose heart because of our sins, but let us approach God, let us fall down, let us beg, as this servant did, who had hitherto been in a truly good mood. For not to lose heart, not to despair, to confess sins, to ask for relief and patience — all this is good, and is a sign of a broken heart and a humble soul. But what he did after that is not at all similar to what he did at the beginning. Whatever he gathered by repulsion, he lost it all by his lack of mercy to his fellow servant. "But let us pass on to the image of pardon, and see how the lord forgave him, and how he came to this. He asked for patience, and this one forgave him all the debt, so that he received more than he asked. That is why Paul says: "To him who is able to do all things according to abundance, which we ask or understand... glory" (Ephesians 3:20). You cannot even imagine what and how much He has prepared to give you. Do not be ashamed, and do not blush. True, be ashamed of your sins, but do not despair, and do not depart from prayer, but approach even being a sinner, in order to propitiate the Lord and give Him the opportunity to manifest His love for mankind in you by forgiving you of your sins. But if you are afraid to approach, you will put a barrier to His goodness and prevent His generosity from being poured out on you [3:26-7].

(47) (I do not say, "Be in church all day.") But give me two o'clock in the afternoon, and keep the rest for you. But even these two hours you will not give to me, but to yourself, so that you may be comforted by the prayer of the fathers, that you may be filled with their blessings, that you may come out of here completely safe, so that, having put on the full armor of the spirit, you may become inaccessible and irresistible to the devil. What is more pleasant, tell me, than to be here? Even if you were to spend the whole day here, what is more honorable than this? Where is safer than here, where there are so many brethren, where is the Holy Spirit, where is Jesus in the midst, and His Father? What other congregation like this will you find? What kind of meeting? What synod? Such are the blessings here at the table (of the Lord), in hearing (the word of God and teachings), in blessings, in prayers, in mutual communion: but do you turn your eyes to other places of assembly? What excuse can you have for this? "I say this not for you (who are present here), because you have no need of such healings, showing by deeds your health, obedience, and warm love for being in church. But I say this to you, so that through you they may hear those things that are not present here. Do not tell them, however, that I only condemn those who have not come here, but give them all my word from the beginning. Tell them how much better than all others the congregation here is, tell them what a great reward is received by those who gather here. For if you only say that I have condemned them, you will only anger them, and you will inflict a wound, and you will not put a cure on it. But if you let them know that I did not condemn them as an enemy, but as a friend who grieved for them, and convince them that "the essence of a friend's wound is more certain than the free kiss of an enemy" (Proverbs 27:6); then they will receive reproof with great pleasure: for in this case they will pay attention not to the words, but to the intention of the speaker. Thus heal your brethren. We are responsible for the salvation of you who are present here, and you are responsible for the salvation of those who are absent. We cannot converse with them face to face: let us conduct it through you, through your teaching. May your love for them be a bridge for us. Make our words pass through your tongue into their ears [3, 70].

48) Considering your small number and the fact that our congregations are becoming more and more diminished, I grieve and rejoice. I rejoice for you, who are inherent; I grieve for those who are absent. You are worthy of praise, that even the small number of those who came did not diminish your diligence and did not make you more careless; and they are the most guilty, that even by your diligence they have not become the most scrupulous. Wherefore do I praise you, and call you zealous, because the belittling of those who come here has not harmed you in the least, but I consider them wretched, and I weep for them, because your diligence has not benefited them in any way. They did not listen to the Prophet, who says: "It pleased me to dwell in the house of my God, rather than dwell in the dwellings of sinners" (Psalm 83:11). He did not say, "It is my pleasure" to dwell in the house of my God, nor to abide in it, nor even to go in; but: "Izvolhikh primetsya" (near to be and around). It is kind for me to be among the last; I will be satisfied, he says, if I am worthy to enter at least in the vestibule; a great honor for nothing, if at least one of the last who ranks me in the house of my God. Love makes the Lord common to all its own: for such is love. He who loves not the beloved only loves to see, and not only his house, but also the porch, and not only the porch of the house, but also the porch and the courtyard. He sees his beloved at least clothes, or shoes, he thinks that he himself is his beloved. Such were the prophets. For they did not see the incorporeal God, they saw His house, and through the house they imagined His presence. "Thou hast deigned to dwell in the house of my God, rather than dwell in the dwellings of sinners." Every place, in comparison with the house of God, is a sinner dwelling, call it a judgment seat, call it a council, or a private house. There are also prayers and supplications, but there are also disputes, and battles, and wrangling, and agreements in matters of life. This house (church) is clean from all this. Why are they sinners' villages, and this is the house of God? As a harbor sheltered from winds and waves, great safety is given to the ships that enter it; so God's house, stealing those who enter it from the rebellion of worldly affairs, as from a storm, allows them to stand in great quietness and serenity and listen to the word of God. This place is a disposition to virtue, a school of wisdom, not only during the assembly, when the Scriptures are heard, spiritual teachings are offered, and the most venerable fathers stand before you: but at any other time, enter only the vestibule (nartik, porch), and you will immediately put aside the cares of life. Go in, and immediately a spiritual breeze will envelop your soul. The silence that reigns in it produces a sobering awe and disposes you to be wise, excites the mind, beats off the memory of everything here, and transports you from earth to heaven. But if without an assembly (divine service) there is such benefit from being here; then, when the voice of the prophets is heard, when the Apostles preach the gospel, when Christ is in the midst, when the Father accepts what is here (sacrifice), when the Holy Spirit fills with spiritual joy, what blessings will be satiated with those who are present here! Those who are absent will suffer what damage! [3, 144—5].

49) I would like to know where our despised congregation spend their time, what has kept them from this sacred meal (i.e., hearing the word), about which they are talking. But I already know for sure that they are either chattering about inappropriate and ridiculous things, or are entangled in the cares of life. Neither is worthy of excuse and the extreme deserves reproof. There is nothing to say about the former: so it is self-accusatory. But that even those at home who present us with affairs and speak of urgent needs there, cannot expect indulgence, when once a week they are called here, and here they do not want to prefer the spiritual to the earthly, this is clearly from the Gospel. And in the parable, those who were invited to the marriage presented the same excuses: one bought oxen, the other bought a field; the third took his wife (Luke 14:18-20); however, they did not escape the king's wrath. Those reasons are certainly valid; but when God calls, they have no price. Any need must recede before reverence for God. Almost God; then turn your care to something else. What slave, tell me, before performing the proper service of his master, will clean anything in his house? How absurd, then, is it not for masters, people where dominion is only an empty name, to show such fear and obedience, and not to vouchsafe Him Who is truly the Lord, not only ours, but also the highest Powers, not to be worthy of such service and reverence as is shown to fellow servants? "If it were possible for you to penetrate into the conscience of such people, you would see how wounded they are, how many thorns they have!" "As the earth, which is not touched by the hand of the farmer, becomes desolate and overgrown with all kinds of weeds: so the soul that is not cultivated by spiritual teaching is overgrown with thorns and thistles. For if we, who listen to the prophets and apostles every day, can scarcely restrain our anger, hardly restrain our wrath, scarcely tear out the splinter of envy, and have time to put down these shameless beasts by singing from the divine scriptures to our passions, then they, who never receive such medicines, never listen to the lessons of divine wisdom, what hope of salvation can they have, tell me? I wish I would show their souls to your eyes, and you would see them covered with all kinds of filth, sloppy, disheveled, humiliated, and not daring to appear before your eyes. Just as the body, when it is not washed, is covered with dirt and impurity: so the soul, which is not overwhelmed by spiritual teaching, is burdened with a multitude of sins. And everything that happens here in the church is a spiritual bath, evaporating all impurity with the warmth of the Spirit. The fire of the Spirit not only evaporates all impurity, but also the color (induced by it). For the Lord says: "If ye sin as scarlet, as white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18). At least he says, sinful impurity was so deeply rooted in the nature of the soul that it would become immovable in it like the natural color of things, and then I can change it into the opposite quality. It is enough to make one gesture, and every sin will disappear [3, 145-6].

50) (Why don't lazy people dissuade themselves from going to church?) Others make it hot. They say that the atmosphere is suffocating now, the heat is unbearable, we cannot endure crowding and crowding among the people, when then it blows like this, heat, stuffiness. I'm ashamed of them, believe me. For these are women's excuses. But they cannot be sufficiently excused for this, although their bodies are more delicate and their nature is weaker. It would be a shame to denounce such twists, but the need is coming. For if they do not blush when they put forward such pretexts, how much more should we not be ashamed to speak against it. What shall we say to those who expose this? I want to remind them of the three youths in the flames of the sand. Fire swept over them from everywhere, scorched their eyes, poured into their mouths, took their breath away, and they did not cease to sing this sacred hymn of praise to God in the presence of all creation, but standing in the midst of the flames, as if walking in a meadow, they zealously offered their common praise to the Lord. After these three youths, I will bring to them a den of lions, and Daniel among them; and not only that, but I ask them to remember the other pit and the prophet, the pit in which Jeremiah was immersed up to his neck. Rising from these ditches, I would like to lead these those who are dissuaded by pressure and heat, into the prison and show them Paul and Silas, tied to a log, covered with scars and sores, their whole bodies flushed because of many wounds, and in spite of this, singing a song to God at midnight and performing this sacred all-night vigil. How can it not be incongruous now, that while those saints, being in the furnace, in the fire, in the pit, among the beasts, in the mud, in the prison, in the wounds, in innumerable pains and sufferings, do not make excuses for this, but spend their time with ardent zeal in prayer and in the singing of sacred songs, we are no less, Not tolerating anything like this, because of a little heat and sweat, do we give ourselves the audacity to neglect our salvation, and, leaving the sacred assembly, to wander outside, interfering with corrupting gatherings that have nothing sound? [2, 174—5].

(51) Say to him (who does not go to church): Are you not ashamed and should you blush before the Jews, who keep their Sabbath with such exactness, and leave all work from the eve of it? As soon as they notice on Friday that the sun is going down, they immediately stop all transactions and stop trading. And if a man, having bought something from them before the evening, brings them the price of what he bought in the evening, they will not agree to accept it and take the silver in their hands. What do I say about the price of what I bought? Even if they had to get a treasure, they would rather lose it than break the law.

Besides, do you not know that if you, having come here, worship God and stay here for the entire service, then the affairs that are in your hands will flow more successfully? You have worldly worries. But hasten here, so that, having gained God's favor for the sake of your prayerful stay here, you may come out of here with the hope of success, so that you may have God as your helper in the struggle with difficulties, so that, by virtue of the help of the right hand on high, you may become invincible to the demons. If you are vouchsafed here the prayers of the fathers, if you partake of the power of the common (brethren) prayer, if you listen to the words of God, if you attract God's help, if you are protected by such weapons, you come out of here; then the devil himself will not even be able to look upon you, and not only evil people, who have only worries about how to tempt and slander someone. If you go directly from home to the marketplace, then, being deprived of all such weapons, you will be open to all attempts against you [3, 176-7]. (52) (A second marriage is permissible.) Only fornication and adultery are prohibited. We will run away from them, both those who have wives and those who do not. Let us not shame our lives, let us not live a life worthy of ridicule, let us not introduce an evil conscience into our souls.