The proposed article deals with this important issue. Its revelation is given on the basis of the works of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov, 1807-1867), who briefly and accurately expounded the patristic ascetic teaching of the Church, taking from it all that is most valuable and necessary for our time.

The 600th anniversary of the memory of the "second sun" of ancient Russia – St. Sergius of Radonezh – provides a rare opportunity in the rays of this great jubilee to remember and properly appreciate the "small" date associated with the memory of his faithful follower on the path of Christ – the 125th anniversary of the repose of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov). This remembrance will not concern the Life of the great teacher of spiritual life, but his thoughts, the knowledge of which is especially necessary for a modern Christian.

"People usually consider thought to be something of little importance, so they are very undiscerning when accepting thoughts. But from the accepted right thoughts is born all that is good, from the accepted false thoughts all that is evil is born. Thought is like a ship's rudder: from a small rudder, from this insignificant plank dragging behind the ship, depends the direction and, for the most part, the fate of the entire huge machine" (IV, 509) [1], wrote Bishop Ignatius, emphasizing the serious importance that our thoughts, views and theoretical knowledge have in general for spiritual life, that is, for the healing, transfiguration and regeneration of the soul by the Holy Spirit. Spiritual life, as we know, includes not only the correct dogmatic faith and evangelical morality, but also that which most characterizes it precisely as spiritual – knowledge and strict observance of the special laws that determine the development of the new man (Ephesians 4:24). In other words, the correct theoretical understanding of spiritual life in many respects predetermines the process of the regeneration of the passionate, carnal, old man (Ephesians 4:22) into a new one.

However, the theoretical understanding of this issue itself is not as simple as it may seem at first glance. The variety of so-called spiritual paths that are now offered to our compatriots for the purpose of their "salvation" by uninvited "enlighteners" from all corners of the world, including Christians of various confessions, is one of the illustrations of the complexity of this problem. In this regard, a question of exceptional importance arises: what is true spirituality characterized by? And although it seems to us that the two-thousand-year experience of the Church in the person of her saints speaks enough about this, in reality the perception of it by a modern person, who grew up in the conditions of a completely soulless civilization, encounters considerable difficulties. They are as follows.

Instructions on the spiritual life by the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church were always given in accordance with the level of those to whom they were intended. The fathers did not write "just like that", "for science". Therefore, many of their advices, addressed to ascetics of a lofty contemplative life, or even to those who in antiquity were called novices, are unacceptable in full for a modern Christian, a spiritual infant, since they may turn out to be beyond his strength, premature and therefore extremely harmful. On the other hand, the very variety and ambiguity of these tips can mislead and completely disorient an inexperienced person. It is very difficult to avoid these dangers when studying the spiritual heritage of the Holy Fathers, without knowing at least the most important principles of spiritual life. But at the same time, even without the guidance of the Holy Fathers, a correct spiritual life is inconceivable. In the light of this seemingly insoluble contradiction, the full significance of the spiritual heritage of those Fathers, mostly those closest to us in time, who "translated" the previous patristic experience of spiritual life into a language accessible to modern man, who is little familiar with this life and does not have, as a rule, a proper guide.

Among such saints, St. Ignatius, an ascetic of faith and a deeply spiritual writer, stands out. The special value of his works lies in the fact that, being the fruit not only of the most thorough theoretical study of the patristic experience, but also of its personal realization, they give the modern Christian seeking salvation an impeccably true "key" to the understanding of the entire patristic heritage.

What exactly do we find in the works of St. Ignatius? First, a deeply spiritual explanation of the most important concept of the Christian religion – faith in Christ. He writes: "The beginning of conversion to Christ consists in the knowledge of one's sinfulness, one's fall; from such a view of oneself a person recognizes the need for a Redeemer and approaches Christ through humility, faith and repentance" (IV, 277). "He who is not aware of his sinfulness, his fall, his perdition cannot accept Christ, cannot believe in Christ, cannot be a Christian. What good is Christ to him who himself is both rational and virtuous, who is satisfied with himself, who recognizes himself worthy of all earthly and heavenly rewards?" (IV, 378), I would like to draw attention to the discrepancy between the above words and the generally accepted theological thesis about faith as the initial condition for accepting Christ. The saint seems to emphasize: it is not in the intellectual faith that Christ came, suffered and rose again, "the beginning of conversion to Christ", but, on the contrary, faith itself is born from the knowledge of "his own sinfulness, his fall", for "he who is not aware of his sinfulness... cannot believe in Christ." This statement contains the first and most important proposition of spiritual life. In the Orthodox understanding, only a person can and is a believer who sees his spiritual and moral imperfection, his sinfulness, suffers from it and seeks salvation. Only a person who has humbled himself within himself is capable of correct, that is, saving, faith in Christ. (From this, by the way, both the absurdity of a purely rational and ceremonial, legalistic faith, which grows self-satisfaction and pride in man, and the true dignity of true humility become obvious.) The thought of St. Ignatius is quite clear: he who sees himself as rational and virtuous cannot yet be a Christian and is not one, even if he considers himself so. As an argument, the saint cites the story of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus, when Christ with tears of repentance was received by simple, self-aware Jews and with hatred was condemned to a terrible execution by the "intelligent", "virtuous", respectable Jewish elite.

The thought of St. Ignatius constantly turns to the words of the Gospel: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick" (Matt. 9:12). That is, only those who are able to see the illness of their soul, its incurability by their own efforts, take the path of healing and salvation. From this state of humility they turn to the true Physician who suffered for them – Christ. Without this state, which the Fathers also call self-knowledge, a normal spiritual life is impossible. "On the knowledge and awareness of weakness rests the whole edifice of salvation," writes Bishop Ignatius (I, 532). He repeatedly quotes the remarkable words of St. Peter of Damascus: "The beginning of the enlightenment of the soul and the sign of its health lies in the moment when the mind begins to see its sins, in their multitude like the sand of the sea" (II, 410). That is why the saint repeats again and again: "Humility and repentance born of it is the only condition under which Christ is accepted! Humility and repentance are the only price at which the knowledge of Christ is bought! Humility and repentance are the only moral states from which it is possible to approach Christ, to assimilate to Him! Humility and repentance are the only sacrifices that God seeks and accepts from fallen humanity (Psalm 50:18-19). Those who are infected with pride, erroneous opinions about themselves, who recognize repentance as superfluous for themselves, who exclude themselves from the number of sinners, are rejected by the Lord. They cannot be Christians" (IV, 182-183).

How does man acquire this salvific knowledge of himself, of his old man, which reveals to him all the infinite significance of Christ's Sacrifice? Let us listen to Bishop Ignatius: "I do not see my sin, because I am still working for sin. He who enjoys sin, who allows himself to taste it, even with thoughts and sympathy of the heart, cannot see his sin. Only he can see his sin who has resolutely renounced all friendship with sin, who has stood on good guard at the gates of his house with a drawn sword – the word of God, who repels and cuts sin with this sword, in whatever form it approaches it. Whoever accomplishes a great deed – establishes enmity with sin, forcibly tearing away from it mind, heart and body, God will grant him a great gift: the sight of his sin" (II, 122). In another place he gives the following practical advice: "Whoever has refused to condemn his neighbors, his thoughts, naturally, begin to see his sins and weaknesses, which he did not see while he was engaged in condemning his neighbors" (V, 351). St. Ignatius briefly expresses his main thought in the following words of St. Symeon the New Theologian: "The careful fulfillment of the commandments of Christ teaches a man his weakness" (IV, 9), that is, it opens, shows him a true sad picture of what is and what is happening in his soul.

In essence, the question of how the vision of one's sin, or the knowledge of oneself, one's old man, is acquired is central in spiritual life. St. Ignatius beautifully showed its logic: only he who sees himself as perishing needs the Savior; the "healthy" do not need Christ. Therefore, for those who wish to believe in Christ are right (and the demons believe and tremble (James 2:19)), who strives for salvation, in other words, for those who wish to lead a correct spiritual life, this vision is the main task of the podvig and, at the same time, the main criterion of its truth. On the contrary, a podvig that does not lead to such a result is a false podvig, and a spiritual life without it is a false spiritual one. The Apostle Paul expresses precisely this idea when addressing Timothy: "But if any man strive, he shall not be crowned, if he strive unlawfully" (2 Tim. 2:5). St. Isaac the Syrian speaks about this even more definitely: "Retribution is... not virtue and not labor for its sake, but the humility born of them. But if it is lost, the former will be in vain."

The last statement reveals another important aspect in the understanding of spiritual life and its laws: it is not virtues in themselves and not labors that bring to man the good of the Kingdom of God, which is within us (Luke 17:21), but the humility that flows from them. If humility is not acquired, all labors and virtues are fruitless and meaningless. At the same time, only the feat of fulfilling the commandments of Christ teaches a person humility or, in the words of St. Simeon, his weakness, through the knowledge of which the gates of paradise are opened to man. This is how one of the most difficult problems in theology is clarified: the relationship between faith and so-called good works.

St. Ignatius pays great attention to this issue. He considers it in two aspects: first, in terms of understanding the necessity of Christ's Sacrifice, and, second, in relation to Christian perfection. His conclusions, which express the very essence of patristic experience, are at the same time very unusual for many who are unfamiliar with the writings of the Fathers. He writes: "If good deeds brought salvation according to the feelings of the heart, then the coming of Christ would be superfluous" (I, 502). "Supposedly good works, according to the attraction of fallen nature, grow in man his 'I', destroy faith in Christ, and are hostile to God" (I, 513). "Unhappy is he who is satisfied with his own human truth: he has no need of Christ" (IV, 24). "Such is the nature of all bodily feats and good visible deeds. If, in doing them, we think to offer sacrifice to God, and not to pay our immense debt, then good deeds and feats are made in us the parents of soul-destroying pride" (IV, 20). Bishop Ignatius even writes thus: "The worker of human truth is full of self-conceit, arrogance, self-deception... with hatred and vengeance he pays those who would dare to open their mouths to the most thorough and well-intentioned contradiction to his truth; recognizes himself as worthy and worthy of awards, earthly and heavenly" (V, 47). Hence the natural call: "Do not seek Christian perfection in human virtues: there is none here; it is mysteriously preserved in the Cross of Christ" (IV, 477-478). Thus, the truth and virtues of the old and new man turn out to be not complementary to each other, but mutually exclusive, for the former exalt man in their own eyes, blind him and thus "deprive" him of Christ, the latter, on the contrary, reveal to man his fallen nature, humble him and bring him to Christ.

In other words, virtues and podvigs can be extremely harmful if they are not based on the knowledge of one's sin and, in turn, do not lead to a deeper vision of it. "It is necessary," instructs St. Ignatius, "first to discern one's sin, then to wash it away with repentance and to acquire purity of heart, without which it is impossible to accomplish a single virtue purely, completely" (IV, 490). As an example, the saint cites the ascetics' assessment of their feats and virtues. "The ascetic," he writes, "has just begun to fulfill them, when he sees that he fulfills them very insufficiently, impurely... Intensified activity in the Gospel reveals to him more and more clearly the insufficiency of his good works, the multitude of his deviations and motives, the unfortunate state of his fallen nature... He recognizes his fulfillment of the commandments as a distortion and desecration of them" (I, 308-309). "For this reason," he continues, "the saints washed away their virtues, as if they were sins, with streams of tears" (II, 403).

Let us turn to another important principle of spiritual life, revealed in the works of St. Ignatius. It consists in the fact that the actions of both passions and virtues are in a natural mutual influence and strict sequence, the violation of which can lead to the most serious consequences for the ascetic. All this is conditioned, let us say in the words of the saint, "by the affinity of both virtues and vices with each other." "Because of this affinity," he writes, "voluntary subordination to one good thought entails natural subordination to another good thought; the acquisition of one virtue introduces into the soul another virtue, akin and inseparable from the first. On the contrary, voluntary submission to one sinful thought entails involuntary submission to another; the acquisition of one sinful passion draws into the soul another passion, akin to it; the voluntary commission of one sin leads to an involuntary fall into another, the sin born first. Malice, according to the sayings of the Fathers, does not tolerate being unmarried in the heart" (V, 351). A serious warning! How often Christians, not knowing this law, treat the so-called "minor" sins carelessly, arbitrarily, that is, without the violence of passion, sinning in them. And then, in bewilderment, with suffering and despair, already like slaves, they involuntarily fall into grave sins.