Others delight in the kingdom of heaven, but we are kidnapped by a flatterer. Others perform the works of martyrs, and we are condemned for falling into apostasy. Others ascend to heaven, and we descend into the pit of the earth. Others place in their hearts the ascent of virtues, but we arrange a descent to our destruction. If we are not ever converted, if we do not rise up, if we do not say the prophetic word: "Thou hast drawn our heart, Thou hast drawn our heart" (Hymn 4:9)! To her, I beseech you, to compel ourselves, let us raise ourselves up; avoiding the guilt of sin, let us strive to do God-like and holy things: obedience without judgment and obedience, thoroughness in our deeds, obedience with humility, so that we may reveal everything through confession, and as soon as the devil inspires us with evil thoughts, contradict him and say: "Follow me, Satan" (Matt. 16:23): whether he draws us to carnal lust, or incites us to apostasy, or plunges us into despondency, or captivates us with impatience, or traps us with unbelief; for he always sets his nets, nets, and snares, and gives food and deadly potions; He never knows rest, does not sleep, does not eat, does not drink, and has nothing else to do but day and night strives for the destruction of our souls. Therefore, the only and main help against it is to strengthen oneself by confession, with the help and intercession of God. Therefore, let us not mold ourselves and be subjected to falls. Though great is his power to destruction, though he is cunning in the variety of malice, though he is merciless by nature and the inventor of our destruction, yet let us not fear him. For from the time that Christ our God took on flesh and became man, he lost his strength and strength. Let us sing: "The enemy is short of weapons in the end" (Psalm 9:7); for the Lord, who overcame him, gave us power to tread on his head. Strengthened by faith, we will not consider him an insignificant bird; but let us trample on him like a creeping thing in Christ our God, to whom is due glory and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

SERMON 25: That the Abbot Must Seek Out and Use All Means to Ensure That Those Who Walk the Field of Martyric Obedience Would Be Complacent, So That Having Gained Victory Over Their Enemies, They Would Receive as a Reward Eternal Crowns from the Founder of the Feat of God

Brothers and fathers! Those who fight in the battles of the people have their own teachers who guide them, teach them the art of war, and show them how and from where to attack the enemy, in order to defeat them more conveniently, and many other things that contribute to the victory. So should we, the humble, deal with you, the fighters and sufferers of Christ, who struggle in the field of martyric obedience; I must say and do for you everything that serves in your consolation, for courage, for good humor, for patience, for hope, which leads you to the habit of your good fight, so that you may overcome your enemies, and receive crowns, not temporary, but eternal from the Founder of the podvig of God.

Let us see, if you please, how they prepare for war, and from their example we will see what is required of us.

And their conversation day and night is about nothing else but how to act in order to gain the victory, how to attack, when they come to the place of action, and where to retreat, or who will defeat whom of the enemy. Thus, they use a lot of labor. For what? In order to win, to receive perishable crowns and temporary rewards to please the spectators and shame the defeated. But if they do so with such deliberation and prudence; How much, in your opinion, should we and you have care, care, prudence, care, vigilance, and attention to this and that, to this and that? For our adversary, rival and enemy is neither inexperienced nor new, neither negligent nor lazy; but in confronting us, he has a great and inexpressible concern about where to attack us, how to strike us, where to wound us, how to throw and thrust arrows into us, to catch us with nets, and how to cast down and cast down the fate of the humble monk and sufferer of piety.

So, isn't our podvig great? Do we not need great care? Isn't it great thoroughness? Is it not necessary for us to lift up our hands to heaven and say: "Look, O Lord, from Thy holy tabernacle, raise up Thy power, and come to save us" (Psalm 79:3). We need much to learn and heed this, and never to turn our minds and thoughts anywhere but to this, and moreover with humility and contrition of heart, with hope and courage of soul, with pure and tested faith and obedience, so that the enemy, seeing this, will be afraid and turn back. The Lord will never allow an ascetic of virtue to fall into despondency, if he calls upon Him for help; For in Him, it is said, my heart trusts, and help me, and my flesh flourishes (Psalm 27:7). And when the Lord helps us, then who can resist, or who can overcome us? No one. But if thousands and thousands of enemies arise, he will not be afraid; for in the Name of the Lord He will conquer and scatter them, though not in a short time. For the enemy does not cease to fight for many, many years; but it cannot in any way stop our zeal, when, with God's help, we hope for victory and eternal delight. There one day is spent in struggle, and the victors are crowned, rejoice and rejoice; but their joy is not always, but only for a certain time, and again they are as if they had not conquered.

And who can express all the sorrow that will meet sinners, as well as joy and gladness for the righteous?

He is pitiful as one who has done what is worthy of pity, cursed as one who has acted accursed. It would be better if he were condemned as a dumb animal, than, being reasonable, subjected to eternal torment.

But come, look at the ascetic of Christ, who prudently judged, who sold everything, both will and desires, and acquired only the beads of Christ, whom the flatterer could not deceive with the pleasures of this world. Let us say with the Apostle, he was imputed as a flatterer (2 Corinthians 6:8) not deceived by passions, but keeping his soul unenslaved from passions, and desiring to be only a servant of the Lord; He was not subjected to ridicule like many, but mocked and laughed at the world and those who were mocked by it, those who clung to evil, evil, and harmful, as to good, desirable, and useful: he was abstinent, rejected the pleasures of the flesh, loved virginity, non-acquisitiveness, prayer, and other virtues, and hated sins and iniquities. So wisely he judged; even if he had all human well-being, and renounced it and forsaken it for God's sake, then he did nothing great, but left as it were one coppersmith, or the insignificant glory of one day, but received innumerable treasures and infinite honor; This is what he has likened himself to. See how he will rejoice there, rejoice, rejoice, how he will bless his good determination, his good teachers and the right hands of his primates. And let us not continue the word, there will be no end to the joy of the one, and for the other, on the contrary, sorrow, sorrow, and torment with great shame and shame will have no end.

Thus, even though we are stones, we must come to our senses and praise the good deed that we have done, the greatest and most blessed, that is, that we have left the world, have become monks and spend our lives in virginity. Why did I say this? In order that we may add ascent to ascent, diligence to diligence, and, as it were, having received wings, and warming our hearts, we may fly with virtue to God, by no means giving the devil room to possess us. Therefore, let vanity disappear, let disobedience flee, let murmuring, slander, insolence, verbosity, sloth, contentiousness, reproach, envy, backbiting, and every vile passion be driven away. And let good, longed-for and divinely created humility, heavenly obedience, Christ-bearing virginity, enlightening tenderness, joyful weeping, and every other sacred work dwell with boldness and shine. O that all of us, as partakers of these works, may be heirs of the Heavenly Kingdom in Christ Jesus our Lord, to Whom is due glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

INSTRUCTION 26: Not to Give or Take Anything from the Food in the Brotherhood Without a Blessing

For Zion's sake I will not be silent, and for Israel's sake I will not be silent, says the Divine Scripture (Isaiah 62:1). And I, a sinner, for the salvation of your souls, am not slothful to teach you lessons of piety, but always instruct you in all truth. If the students are obedient, then neither I nor they will be condemned; but if they disobey me, then I will receive my reward, and I will not be condemned, but the disobedients will see for themselves. It is unjust for everyone to observe only his own benefit and to despise the benefit of his neighbor. Great deprivation and great calamity is endured by him who sows tares among pure wheat, as the Psalmist says: "If thou hast seen thyself, thou hast flowed with him, and hast counted thy participation in thy adulterer." (Psalm 49:18). And: "Do not dwell in the midst of your house, do pride: speak unrighteously, do not correct it before my eyes" (Psalm 100:7). Therefore, my most honorable children, do not wish to resist one another, but show good emulation and proper brotherly love to one another, even to him who is cold to me and does not listen to my words. I say this in order that we may all be saved. For our Lord Jesus Christ says: "There is no will in the sight of My Father in heaven, that any man perish" (Matt. 18:14). And so, all of you are saved, all of you are compelled to present yourselves to God pure, as you were created at first, in the likeness of the Divine image, knowing neither enmity nor temptations. Do not gather in the evenings, do not talk idly and do not laugh; do not do this in the case of joint occupations, and do not draw one another into the abyss. "My heart aches, and the feelings of my heart are troubled," (Jeremiah 4:19) says the loud-voiced Jeremiah in his God-inspired words. But I, unclean and accursed, say to you, Sorrow overtakes me, and the arrows of thoughts pierce me, when I hear that you live badly.

Fear, my children, the terrible God, and do not ruin your great podvig and labor with a little negligence. We have crossed the great sea, why should we be exposed to calamity in the harbor? We walked the blessed path; why slumber when the Divine abodes have not yet attained rest? Understand what I am saying, for you have been given understanding by God. "Be of good courage, and let your heart be strong" (Psalm 30:25) strive and be strengthened in humility. Do not be self-willed, otherwise you will not fulfill my commands with joy. For if a man mortages his will, no matter how heavy the commandment given to him, he is not offended, but accepts it with joy, obeys, walks, and does not contradict it, like a dumb animal, which does not contradict the one who binds it, as the Divine Scripture says. Let each one of you observe himself, how he lives and how he obeys. For I also infer from external actions what is within you. Whoever does not have his own will, says St. John. Dorotheus, for whatever happens in the monastery, everything is in accordance with his will, and such a person is always at peace. And whoever holds fast to his own will grieves, is troubled, carried away in many ways and deceived by his thoughts, justifies himself and is hypocritical, in one way or another. O that none of you may be such, and if he deviates, let him not remain so! But let us all serve God in purity. And if I am one thing, and you are another, then this will already be strife and resistance. If all of you prove that you seek the will of God, and I the will of the devil, then let yours remain, and mine be abolished. But if you know that all that I say to you is good, why do you oppose me? Why do you cause me sorrows and labors? You who consider yourselves thorough, take heed: if the good land remains uncultivated for a long time, thorns grow, as the Scripture says. Therefore, when I subject such people to penances, I benefit both myself and them, for I do and say everything in order to save both you and myself, the accursed one.

This is what I have reminded you, and I will not cease to remind you of it as long as the breath remains in my nostrils. I have something else to remind you, my brethren. Why do you not fulfill this commandment like the others? Though it seems small, it nevertheless destroys your great virtues. And what do I say, "small or great"? It is necessary that every commandment of God should be fulfilled, for every disobedience justly deserves punishment. Many times have I told you and forbidden that none of you should arbitrarily give food or drink to anyone; for this can only be done without permission by the steward, the steward, the cellarer, and other stewards, as I have commanded and command. And therefore from now on I command that no one should do this, otherwise he will be subjected to penance for secret eating. You are falsely ashamed of one another, and fear there, where there is no fear, and not wishing, as you say, to offend your brother, you insult God and me, who am unworthy. Woe to your conscience; for this is madness, hatred of God; arbitrariness and carnality. I dare say that even if there were an Angel, do not accept anything from him. You often receive fruit with a blessing; let everyone eat them; and if anyone does not desire them, as it happens, because of infirmity or some other motive, then let him either give them to the cellarer, or explain the reason to the one who distributes them. Then he will not be condemned. Do you not know that from this comes shameful friendship? For it happens that you give to those for whom you have an impure love. However, even if this did not happen, do not temptations, reproaches, and confusion arise from this, when one receives, and the other stands and watches? In every possible way, he will think that he is not loved. If you say that you do not give anything in front of another, then you need to wait for a convenient hour, time and place; and from this will come private friendships and meetings. What does Basil the Great say? That signs given by the eyes and whispering in the ear give reason to suspect of some evil deed [32]. Why, you will say, is my freedom sued by another conscience? (1 Corinthians 10:29). Is it not from me your father, if you do not obey me? For this also happens. If it is from me, how much more from others. But someone will say: in order to show love to the enemy, I give him only very little, talk to him in a friendly way, and go away. You have no right to do this, except for the stewards, except by their order. And if anyone turns out to be a disobedient, he will certainly be subjected to penance.