Moreover, be silent, not rash in your word, not arguing, not stubborn, not vain, do not reinterpret everything, but love faithfulness, be not verbose, always ready not to teach, but to learn. Do not be curious about worldly life, it will not profit you in any way. For it is said: "Let not my mouth speak of the works of men" (Psalm 16:4). But desire to know the life of the righteous better, for in this you will find benefit for yourself. Do not be a hunter to show himself in public, going around villages and houses, but run away from them as nets for the soul. And if anyone out of great reverence persuades you to go up to his house with various pretexts, then let him learn the faith of the centurion, who kept Jesus, who hastened to him for healing, from himself, saying: "Lord, I am worthy, that thou mayest enter under my roof, but only the word, and my servant shall be healed" (Matt. 8:8). When Jesus said to him, "Go, and as thou hast believed, be it unto thee. And the servant sought him in that hour" (Matt. 8:13). Therefore, let it be known to you, brother, that it is not by the presence of Christ, but by the faith of the one who asks, that the sick man is freed from his illness. So now, wherever you pray, if the sick person believes that your prayers will help him, everything will be fulfilled according to his desire.

Do not love those who are close to you more than the Lord. For it is said: "He who loves father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me" (Matt. 10:37). What does the Lord's commandment mean? It is said: "Except a man take up his cross and follow me, he cannot be my disciple" (cf. Luke 14:27). If you died with Christ for your kinsmen in the flesh, then why do you want to live with them again? And if you again build up for your relatives what you have ruined for Christ, then you make yourself a criminal. Therefore, do not leave your place for your relatives, for when you leave your place, you may also leave your morals.

Do not love the multitude, villages and cities, but be a lover of the wilderness, always remaining undistracted in yourself, recognizing prayer and psalmody as your work. Do not neglect to read, especially read the New Testament, since reading the Old Testament often causes harm, not because it contains harmful things, but because the minds of those who suffer harm are weak. For all bread is nutritious, but it is harmful to the weak. Thus, "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable" (2 Tim. 3:16), and there is nothing unclean in it, and it is unclean only to him who recognizes it as unclean. Thou art "tempting all; keep the good, guard thyself from every form of evil" (cf. 1 Thess. 5:21-22). "All is my essence, but not all is for good" (1 Cor. 6:12).

Therefore, with all those with whom you have dealings, be unstumbling, intelligent, brotherly, affable, humble-minded, do not depart from the goal of loving strangers for expensive foods, but, being content with what is real, do not take from anyone anything more than is daily necessary for the monastic life, and especially run away from gold, as a libeler of the soul of the father to sin, a servant of the devil. Do not make yourself guilty of love of wealth under the pretext of serving the poor. And if anyone brings you money for the poor, when you know who is poor, advise the one who has money to take it to the poor, so that by accepting money from him you will not defile your conscience. Run away from pleasures, love abstinence, and exercise your body in labor, and accustom your soul to temptations. Recognizing the separation of soul and body as liberation from all evil, expect the enjoyment of eternal blessings, of which all the saints have become partakers.

Constantly weighing the devil's suggestion, oppose it with a pious thought and yield to the latter, like the inclination of a cup on a scale.

And you have made yourself a stranger to so many blessings, and you sit here, feral with the beasts. For here you see great desolation, no small gloomy, lack of teaching, alienation from the brethren, and a spirit of great negligence about the commandment of God."

And I, having once been to spiritual festivals, met hardly one brother, who, according to the

True, I have heard many speeches that are beneficial to the soul; however, he did not find in any of the teachers a virtue corresponding to speeches. And after that, I heard thousands more lamentable stories, which invaded my soul with their pampered sounds. I also heard the pleasant-sounding harp, the applause of galloping people, the voice of laughter, I heard many stupid things and jokes, the shouts of countless people; he saw the tears of the offended, the torment of those who were taken into captivity, the sobbing of those subjected to torture. I saw all this: it was not a spiritual assembly, but a sea tossed and tossed by the winds, which sought to cover everyone at one time with its waves.

For sad events, like sharp edges, pierce the hearts of those who live in peace in the midst of complacency and joy, in order to darken the purity of psalmody. The weeping and weeping of the offended by their fellow tribesmen are heard so that the patience of the poor may be seen. What is the use for me, except for obvious harm to the soul? Therefore, like a bird, I move to the mountains. For "as a bird is delivered from the snare of those who catch" (Psalm 123:7). And I, O evil thought! I live in the same wilderness in which the Lord dwelt. Here is the oak of Mamre, here is the ladder that leads to heaven, and the hosts of angels seen by Jacob. Here is the wilderness, in which the people, having been purified, received the Law and, having thus entered the land of promise, saw God. Here is Mount Carmel, on which, settling, Elijah pleased God. Here is the plain, to which, having retired, Ezra, by God's command, regurgitated all the divinely inspired books. Here is the wilderness, in which Blessed John, eating acrids, preached repentance to people. Here is the Mount of Olives, on which Christ ascended, praying, teaching us to pray. Here Christ is a lover of the desert. For He says: "For where there are two or three gathered together in My name, I am in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20). Here is a strait and narrow path that leads to life. Here are teachers and prophets, wandering "in the wilderness, and in the mountains, and in caves, and in the abysses of the earth" (cf. Heb. 11:38). Here are the Apostles and Evangelists, and the life of monks, which has no city for itself. It was this that I voluntarily accepted, in order to receive what was promised to the martyrs of Christ and to all the other saints, in order to say to me without falsehood: "For the sake of Thy words, keep the ways of cruelty" (Psalm 16:4).

And why should I prolong my speech? Where is the Saviour Himself crucified for us, in order to revive us by His death and encourage us all and draw us to patience? I hasten to Him, and to the Father, and to the Holy Spirit, in order that I may prove His sincerity, recognizing myself unworthy of that which is good in the world. However, I am not for the world, but the world is for me."

Thinking this within yourself and zealously doing this, according to what has been said to you, strive for the truth even unto death. For Christ was obedient even unto death. But the Apostle also says: "Take heed... let not there be a deceitful heart in one of you... But comfort one another and edify one another: "Until today it is called" (cf. Heb. 3:12-13). For the word today means the whole continuation of our life. Thus living, brother, you will save yourself, and you will rejoice us, and you will glorify God forever and ever. Amen.

40 (43). Exhortation to newcomers

(Briefly expounds the Gospel commandments to the hermits)