Thus, since the human race must be punished by God for such faults, it seems to me that therefore the word of God, by the teaching set forth in prayer, instructs us to prayerful communion with God, even if one of us and all of us is more distant from human sins, never to approach with such boldness as if he had a clear conscience. For another, perhaps, like this rich young man, having formed his life according to the commandments, has the right, like the latter, to boast of his life, and to say to God: "All these things I have kept from my youth" (Matt. 19:20), and even to suppose of himself that it is extremely unseemly for him, as one who has not sinned in anything against the commandments, to ask for the forgiveness of debts, which is suitable only for those who have sinned. Such words are appropriate for a person defiled by fornication, he will say, or for covetousness accused of idolatry, it is necessary to ask forgiveness, and in general, it is beautiful and appropriate for anyone who has wounded the conscience of the soul to have recourse to mercy in accordance with the need. And if he is Elijah the great, or works in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17), or great of those born of women (Matt. 11:11), or Peter, or Paul, or John, or any other of those whose superiority is attested to by the Divine Scriptures, then for him to use such sayings, which ask for the forgiveness of debts to one who has no sinful debt? In order that another, having in mind something similar, would not fall into arrogance, like the Pharisee, who did not know what he was by nature. (For if he had known that he was a man, then, of course, he would have learned not to represent his nature as pure from defilement from the Holy Scriptures, which say: "Thou shalt not find among men that the life of one day may be without defilement" [Job 14:4-5]). Therefore, in order that something similar may not happen to the soul of one who approaches God with prayer, the word of God commands not to look at the transgressions, but to bring to mind the general debts of human nature, in which everyone, without a doubt, participates himself, as one who participates in nature, and to beseech the Judge to grant forgiveness of sins.

For since Adam lives in us, and each of us is a man, as long as we see on our nature these leather tunics, and the quickly fading leaves of this material life, which, stripped of our eternal and bright garments, we have sewn for ourselves to our own detriment, instead of the Divine garments, having clothed ourselves in amusements, glory, one-day honors, murderous pleasures of the flesh, and while we gaze upon this bodily abode, on which

43 According to the manuscript: with the fetid tempers of pigs.

we are condemned to dwell as soon as we turn to the east (not only because there we see God, Who, as omnipresent, is not encompassed exclusively by any place, but contains everything, but because in the east our original sojourn is in paradise, from which we were expelled (the Lord God planted paradise in Eden in the east [Gen. 2:8]); therefore, as soon as we turn our gaze to the east and mentally recall our expulsion from the bright and eastern lands of bliss, Then we justly add these sayings, too, who are swept away by the evil fig tree of life, rejected from the eyes of God, who have willfully given ourselves over to the serpent, who eats the earth and crawls on the earth, walks on his forehead and on his belly, and advises us to do the same, to give ourselves over to earthly pleasures, to occupy our hearts with creeping and dragging thoughts on the earth, and to walk on the belly, that is, to take care of the voluptuous life. Therefore, being in this state, like that prodigal son, after a long misery in which he was tending swine, as soon as we come to ourselves, like him, and bring the Heavenly Father to our thoughts, then we make excellent use of such sayings: Forgive us our debts.44

Therefore, even if someone be Moses and Samuel, and someone else who is famous for virtue, nevertheless, since he is a man, he considers these words proper for himself, as a partaker of Adam's nature, a participant in his fall. Since, as the Apostle says, in Adam all die (1 Corinthians 15:22), then the saying which befits Adam in repentance should be common to all those who have died with him, so that we, having been granted forgiveness of sins, may again, as the Apostle says, be saved by the grace of the Lord (Ephesians 2:5). But this is said so that some, looking at the more general, may understand what is offered in the word. If, however, anyone seeks the true meaning in this saying, then, I think, it will not be necessary for us to raise the concept to a general view of nature; for conscience is sufficient to make it necessary to ask for mercy in the consideration of every action in life.

Since in this world, as I think, our life is subject to manifold influences, both in soul and understanding, as well as in bodily feelings, it is difficult, or even absolutely impossible, not to be carried away to sin by at least one passion. For example, this pleasure-loving life is divided in relation to the body according to our feelings, and in relation to the soul it manifests itself in the striving of reason and in the movement of arbitrariness: who is so exalted and endowed with such prudence that in both lives he can get rid of all the filth of vice? Who is sinless in the eye? Who is innocent by hearing? Who is alien to this bestial delight of the larynx? Who is clean from touching sin by touch? Who does not know this riddle offered by the Scriptures: death enters into our windows (Jeremiah 9:21). For the senses, by means of which the soul, communicating with external objects, is occupied with them by choice, are called by the Scriptures windows, which, according to the words of the Scriptures, pave the way for the entrance of death.

In fact, in many deaths the eye often becomes the entrance, it sees the irritated, and is itself aroused to the same passion; or he sees him who prospers not according to his worth, and is inflamed with envy; or he sees the proud, and falls into hatred; or he sees some good-colored substance, a beautiful disposition of the face, and wholly creeps into the lust of the one he likes. And the ear opens the windows of death – along with what it hears, it receives into the soul many passions: fear, sorrow, irritation, pleasure, lust, immoderate laughter, and the like. And the pleasure of taste, as some will say, is the mother of all evils in the order of evil. For who does not know that the root of almost all errors in life is concern for the larynx? Luxury, drunkenness, gluttony, disorderly behavior, polygamy, gluttony, debauchery, a dissolute life, a bestial and unreasonable fall into the passion of dishonor depend on it. In like manner, the sense of touch is the ultimate limit of all transgressions: whatever is done to the body by sensualists belongs to the number of ailments of the sense of touch, the detailed description of which would be lengthy; And it is indecent to important subjects

44 The whole of this section is read in manuscript.

to mix in everything that serves to reproach the sense of touch. And is the whole swarm of errors of the soul and arbitrariness able to count any word? It is said: "Evil thoughts proceed out of the heart" (Matt. 15:19), and a list of those who defile us with thoughts is added. And so, if everywhere the remnants of sins are spread out to us with all the senses and heartfelt movements of the soul, then who can say, as Wisdom says, "I have cleansed my heart" (Proverbs 20:9)? Who is clean from defilement? as Job testifies to such a thing (Job 4:4). And defilement for spiritual purity is pleasure, in many forms and in many ways mixed with human life both soul and body, thoughts and feelings, deliberate movements and bodily actions. Who, then, has a soul that is clean from this defilement? Who has not been struck by arrogance? Who is not trampled under the foot of pride? Who has not been shaken by the sinful hand? Whose foot did not hurry to vice? Who has not been defiled by a disorderly eye, who has not been plunged into impurity by an ignorant ear, who has not occupied the palate? Whose heart remained inactive for vain movements?

Since we have all these things in us, and those who live like beasts are very bad and intolerable, and those who are more attentive to themselves are more tolerable, but all who are of the same nature as us always necessarily participate in the errors of nature, then, falling down in prayer to God, we ask that we forgive us our debts. But such a voice is not accepted45 and does not reach the Divine ear, if our conscience does not cry out at the same time that it is a beautiful thing to share with others by the grace of sharing. For whoever considers that love for mankind is proper to God (and if he did not consider it proper, he would not ask God for what is unseemly and incongruous), justice demands that by his own deeds he confirm the judgment about a beautiful deed, so that he himself does not hear from the righteous Judge: "Physician, heal thyself. You beseech me for love for mankind, which you do not share with your neighbors. You ask for the forgiveness of debts; Why do you torture the debtor yourself? Do you beg that the handwriting be blotted out from you, and you yourself carefully keep the contracts with those who borrow from you? Do you ask for a reduction in the account of debts, and you yourself increase the loan with interest? Your debtor is in prison, and you are in the meetinghouse? He suffers for debts, and you ask for forgiveness of debt? Your prayer is not heard, because it is drowned out by the voice of the suffering. If you forgive bodily duty, spiritual bonds will be forgiven you. If you forgive, you will also be forgiven: you will be your own judge, you will prescribe a law for yourself, pronouncing a sentence about yourself by your disposition towards him who lies at your feet."

Something similar, it seems to me, the Lord teaches in another word, in the form of a narrative, offering this teaching. According to this narration, a certain king somewhere menacingly presides over the trial and summons the servants to him, collecting information about each of their orders. A debtor is brought before him, and the king shows him humanity, because the debtor, falling at his feet, has given a request instead of money in payment; and then he treats a slave like himself cruelly and inhumanely for a small debt, and angers the king with his inhumanity towards a slave like himself. The emperor commanded the executioners to banish him completely from the royal house, and to prolong the torment until he had endured a punishment worthy of guilt. And indeed, what is the meaning of a few worthless and easily counted oxen in comparison with thousands of talents,46 so are the debts of our brethren to us in comparison with our sins before God. To your detriment, of course, is either an insult inflicted by someone, or the depravity of a servant, or an evil intent on bodily life; and in the flames of your heart you are irritated to avenge this, you seek all possible means to punish those who have grieved you.

And if irritation is kindled against a servant, you do not reason that it is not nature, but lust for power that divides the human race into slaves and masters. For the Steward of the universe has ordained the one dumb nature to be a bondage to man, as the Prophet says: He hath put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,

45 According to the manuscript, instead of άπρακτος, it reads: α̉παραδίκτος.

46 The ovol and the talent are monetary units. — Ed. 25