Know, brethren, that many laymen come to us every day to enter monasticism, but I, as I have already told you more than once, refuse them, not because I do not like you to be more numerous than other monasteries, than I, as vain, could boast about, but because I desire that you multiply to the glory of God and according to His will. For it is not just those who gather in great numbers that give glory to God, but only those who are gathered in great numbers in His name. And if the Lord rejoices over one sinner who repents, how much more so for many. And if he is found in the midst of two or three (Matt. 18:20), will he not rejoice in finding himself among many? Seeing my weakness and my many passions, I always say that I am not worthy to dispose of myself, especially anyone else, and especially many. But for the sake of the commandment, which commands thus: "Whosoever cometh unto Me I will not cast out" (John 6:37); and again: "Leave ye children to come unto Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven" (Luke 18:16), I bow down and receive children, both old and young, unmarried and married, healthy in body and crippled, armless and lame. And I do this not of my own volition, so that I may be considered to be doing something great, but as a debtor and obligated to it, according to the teaching of the Divine Fathers. And if I do not do this, then I will turn out to be a transgressor of the Divine commandment. What do you say? Do you agree with me, and accept them, or not? Let everyone answer me, then I will do it even more diligently; For your labors are yours, but by the help of God, who fulfills every animal of good pleasure (Psalm 144:17), and gives food to the cattle and the young of corvids, who call upon it (Psalm 146:9), saying, "Behold the birds of the air, for they do not sow nor reap, and our heavenly Father feedeth them" (Matt. 6:26). Therefore, trusting in your prudence, I trust that we will keep the commandments, and we will not be condemned for one, and none will remain unfulfilled with us. For why should I become a transgressor for the sake of transgressing one commandment, without receiving the crippled, and without giving rest to the old? For the keeping of the commandments is a circle and exultation, and one holds on to the other. If anyone breaks one commandment, then I will be called in the kingdom of heaven. And me, according to the explanation of the great Chrysostom, means nothing else than that such a person is guilty of torment. And so, let us receive both the youths, and the old, and the lame, and the armless, and our good God will not forsake us, but will give us all that is necessary both for soul and body, as we have received it from Him from the first day until now.

I am in sorrow because I must be separated from you for a while. But you do not grieve, children, for I am always with you, although I am a sinner. May the grace of our Lord, through the prayer of our Father, preserve you unharmed, and I will see you again, and I will be glad to meet you healthy in soul and body, as I hope, hopeless. May Christ our God, the all-generous and all-good, help you in every good work, and may He fill you with all spiritual joy, and may He make you all-perfect in the Holy Spirit. Glory to Him forever. Amen.

SERMON 33: That the Fallen Must Rise, and a Useful Narration of How the Holy Elder Subjected Penance and Bound (His Disciple)

Fathers, brethren and children! Thus, I must teach you, my children, and speak my humble and useless word, to you, children of God, who in truth daily with sickness perform the field of obedience; I must console you with advice, excite you with instruction, and make you bold and courageous by means of mysterious narrations, especially those who are zealous among you and not lazy, but with joy turn their ears to the reception of what I want to speak. We, children, are in battle, and in a great and fierce battle; for the Apostle says: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, and against the powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). As a military commander, at a time when the armies want to fight, by the stories of ancient heroes arouses courage in the soldiers and encourages them to engage in battle with their enemies and to victory: so I, the accursed one, stir you up, the soldiers of the Lord. And not for one or two days I must, and it is required of me, to do this, but always. I especially desire, although I cannot do so, to stir you up and make you zealous and courageous against the attacks of demonic armies and against the manifold passions of dishonor. Your labors are not small, my Christ-loving brethren, and not small are the sweats of your spiritual labors, as the word shows; On the contrary, your labor is very great, warlike, suffering, ascetic, supernatural, laboring, wonderful, sweaty, and worldly. For you always endure the cutting off of your will, like the shedding of blood, the blows of reproach, like the wounds of death, and changes in obedience, like feats of war. And none of you has the power to transgress what is prescribed by the rule, but all of you are fighting, suffering and sorrowing, drawn and surrounded in every ascetic labor by hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness, glory and dishonor, and other things that the Apostle boasted of. (2 Corinthians 6:8; 11:27). But rejoice, my children, and rejoice, not looking at the visible, for the visible is temporary, but the invisible is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18); and your life is hidden in Christ. And when Christ shall appear to your life at the Second Coming, then ye also shall appear (Colossians 3:3, 4), and ye shall rejoice eternally, and the Lord the Founder of the Podvig shall reward you for your labors accomplished in the flesh with eternal and priceless blessings. Therefore, be patient a little longer, be patient, my lords and masters, for the love of God.

For now we are all one in Christ Jesus, and I have begotten you spiritually. What reward will we bring for this to the God who strengthened us? What if not to destroy by laziness and insensibility what you have gained, and not to despise what you have done, and not to be in the least afraid of what is to come in the future; but if it is necessary to shed blood, then let us do this also with joy and thanksgiving. Thus I seek to give you, my children, my honor and glory, my adornment and praise, to give you advice, to instruct you, and to protect you in matters of godliness. There is one story. O that you may be strengthened through him, my children, and show even greater diligence and courage from now to eternity! We sent some brethren to a certain miracle-worker, the abbot of the local monasteries, in order to learn from him about the accursed and lost Thalassia, whither he had gone. Listen to this, for it can be of great benefit to you, strengthen you, and strengthen you as something wonderful and worthy of telling. This accursed man went to the elder of Sykeot and asked him for forgiveness and permission for his insoluble penance. And since the elder told him that neither he nor anyone else could forgive him, as soon as I was humble; then he, remaining with him, with great boldness annoyed him, and said, "If he does not release me, will I remain forever excommunicated?" Then the elder told him the following story, as he passed on to the brethren who came there.

Listen, child, he said, what I have heard from my father. This is true, for he heard it from the mouth of him to whom it happened. Not long ago there was a certain elder who asceticized in a certain place, who had a very reverent disciple. Since the animals, which were with them for the needs of the monastery, caused harm to the neighboring fields, and the villagers scolded the elder for this, the elder became angry with the disciple, and gave him a commandment that he should not eat bread until he had stopped and brought back the animals, and had made the necessary fence so that they would no longer go to the fields. But when the brother went to fulfill what he had been commanded, the elder died. Returning and finding him dead, the disciple was greatly grieved. He wept for a long time, regretted and grieved, first, because he had lost his father, and that his light had been extinguished, and that the same true orphanhood had befallen him as orphanhood according to the flesh; and secondly, because he had a penance left on him — not to eat bread. When the elder was buried, the disciple explained the matter to whom it should be, and asked for medicine and permission for penance. However, no one was found who would heal the ulcer and loose the bound one; for each one denied and sent him to the eldest. And so, since none of those who were there could resolve him, then, on the advice of a greater number of people, he departed from there, came to Constantinople and went to the Patriarch – Saint Germanus was then the Patriarch – explained to him the reason for his coming, and asked him for help, as from such a person who was the head of the Church; however, even here he does not receive permission and healing. What then? A council is convened, a novice appears on Wednesday, and his guilt is examined. But even after all this there followed some amazing, glorious and truly incomprehensible decision, under such a bishop and confessor. Neither he nor the assembled council despised the penance of the elder, who bound him and died suddenly, although the elder did not want his disciple to remain under penance. But since he, bound on earth, was also bound in heaven, they left him with penance unresolved, and did not dare to release the bound man by one man, who perhaps did not even have the degree of priesthood, but was only the abba of his disciple, although there were bishops and even the head of the church. Thus this brother remained until death, without eating bread.

Hearing this, I was accursed, praised and blessed the true bishop and all-wise novice, and I feared the commandments of the fathers, seeing their immutability and steadfastness. Fear also, children, marvel at this, and keep what is commanded to you unto death in your honest souls; for it is the fear and firm guard of your five-suffering[42] obedience and obedience in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is due glory and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

SERMON 34: On Enduring Reproach and Reproach with Good Faith in Future Blessings

Fathers, brethren and children! Since you daily grow and multiply, because you have spent much time in asceticism and have acquired the habit of active and speculative virtue, then I, a sinner, am drawn to good, and I will tell you truly, believe me, I am all in fear and trembling; for I pass from strength to strength, I stand on the high and exalted guard, and I see to what heights of abbotship I have ascended accursed, how great and broad is the mental sea of our life, where is the refuge of salvation — a mountain high in the heavens of heavens; there are so many occasions, storms and waves from opposing spirits, how much confusion and confusion from the hostility and envy of people. From this I am terrified, my children. And how can I, who am ungoverned, lead you from earth to heaven and from the material to the divine and eternal? Have mercy on me, help me, take up your deeds and labor together with me, unite and be vain, and empty every one will take something from the spiritual weapons. Let one look forward, the other stand with me; let one watch, another go around; let others watch over the depth of their sins, lest they be found on a pitfall, or on a ground, lest a storm overtake us, and this or that happens, which you know and see every day. We take these comparisons as an example, so that all of us, with God's help and through the prayer of our father, may reach the desired refuge. And do not think, my most honorable brethren, that to attain the kingdom of heaven is a matter of little importance. For this reason, as it is said in the Scriptures, all the Saints walked in goatskins, destitute, sorrowful, embittered, wandering in the wilderness, and in the mountains, and in caves, and in the abysses and clefts of the earth, of which the whole world is not worthy (Heb. 11:38). Thus Isaiah was sawn with a saw; Jeremiah was cast into a pit of mud; Jonah was thrown into the sea and devoured by a whale; Daniel was given to the lions, that they might devour him, he fasted there for three weeks, and the covetous did not eat bread; the three youths were cast into the heavens; Zachariah, the father of the Baptist, died by the sword; the Forerunner himself was beheaded. And I will not have time to tell about Paul, who, as he himself says, dwelt in hunger and thirst, in winter and nakedness, in labor and asceticism (2 Corinthians 11:27); and I leave it to count his other innumerable feats. The First Martyr Stephen was stoned; James, the brother of God, was killed. But why should I go into an innumerable multitude of examples, presenting the other sorrows of the Apostles, the sufferings of the Holy Martyrs, and the feats of a multitude of venerable Fathers? In this way, my beloved brethren, as we have said, they received the promised blessings and eternal and ineffable delight. Thus, my children, we also humble will struggle, I beseech and beseech you as my fathers; for, as Basil the Great says, those are honored who labor, and crowns for those who gain the victory. Let us labor and strive always in the field (of our life), let us fight against the adversary, let us be tireless in the struggle, let us not retreat; advocating, let us not turn back. Let there be zeal in our hearts like fire, and no one will stand before our eyes, and the demons themselves will turn to flight. For it is said that they melt like wax from such spiritual fire; people will also fear us, or they will be reverent. Having ascended above everything, we will ascend to the place where our life and peace are ineffable. Woe, woe! Why are we so faint-hearted and impatient? Go, it is said, to the grave, about the lazy. (Proverbs 6:6).

Therefore, let us rejoice, my brethren, let us be of good cheer, that we may be of good courage and strengthened, that we may be strengthened and enlightened, that we may embrace and kiss one another with love. Let us guard ourselves, let us arm ourselves, and let us receive salvation in Christ our Lord Himself, to Whom belongeth glory and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

HOMILY 35: We Must Grieve and Pray for Those Who Foolishly Separate Themselves from the Brotherhood

Fathers, brethren and children! Our business, according to the Divine Scriptures, is likened to anything else but the position and duties of the helmsman? Usually, when the helmsman crosses this great sea and the sea of thought, he encounters many things: stormy winds, i.e., unclean spirits, various waves, confusion, and insurmountable noise. For the sound of its waves, as the Prophet says, who will stand? (Psalm 64:8, cf. 106:23 et seq.). For our humble spiritual ships ascend as it were to the heavens, and descend to the abysses.

But if this is so, and it often happens that we are exposed to waves, we are flooded with water, the ship is troubled, the tackle is torn, and we are run aground; however, we should not grieve over this, despair and leave the ship, but we should make even more efforts, and then both the helmsman and the miracle of salvation will be revealed. For if the helmsman is afraid of the contrary winds, the waves that cover the ship, and the waters in the ship, and even with one word he reveals fear, and because of fear his countenance is changed, then before the wreck he is the cause of destruction both for himself and for others in the ship, having brought them to despair. Therefore, my children, if sometimes one of the brethren is disturbed, like the waters of the sea, or shakes another, like the ropes of a ship, or resists some and rebukes like contrary winds, and we, the accursed, are afraid, then we harm both ourselves and you, and we are in distress, as if without a helmsman.

It is sorrowful when someone out of recklessness separates himself from the brotherhood, as has now happened to the humble Tarasius. Is it not also sorrowful if someone makes disorder and is troubled? It is truly deplorable, but not as if someone separates himself from our nourishment. On the contrary, we must try to gather together those who are scattered, to pacify those who are at war, and to do everything and make an effort for the benefit of our society [44] and yours for the sake of salvation. In this way, let us always pray for those who have fallen into sin, and especially for the accursed Thalassia. For God hates no one so much as the proud, just as the Brother of God says: "The Lord resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble" (James 4:6). Let us therefore guard ourselves, let us strengthen ourselves, and let us flee from the mouth of the serpent, who seeks to devour us, separating us from the brotherhood; let us dwell in the courts of the Lord's commandments, there serving and eating there, where there are no pastures bitter and deadly, but only life-giving, nourishing, fattening, and strengthening your honest souls. There drink yourselves, where there are no bitter and harmful waters of sin, but only sweet, quiet and God-filled. God has opened a stone for us; drink the waters of salvation. Manna is sent down from heaven; gather and eat. The sea splits; go, cross, and march into the land of eternal blessings. In order not to prolong the words, for the sake of the brevity of the night (I will say in general); observe all these things, and shun every evil deed, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is due glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.