Beloved of me in the Lord! I received you into my bosom when you came to me, with warm zeal I taught you the true teaching, with no small difficulty I imagined you in the image of Christ through repentance, and I regenerated you as a spiritual child with great patience, many cares and daily tears, although you did not know any of these things that I experienced for your sake. This is not miraculous. And the children, being in the womb, do not feel in the least the sorrow of their mother, nor the diseases that she endures at the time of their birth.

Likewise, they finally come to know their father and begin to distinguish him from others, to honor and obey, not only according to the natural law, but also according to the laws that the humane God has given.

In this way, parents show proper care for their children, and children repay their parents with goodwill and obedience, and, living with them, are taught by chastisement and the teaching of the Lord. But if parents do not take proper care of their children, do not teach them reason, do not instill good rules in them, then the souls of the children will certainly be exacted from their hands. And on the contrary, if children despise their parents in audacity and disorder, do not listen to their instructions and obey their commands, then, although they will not be given over to temporal death for this, as the old law determines, they will undoubtedly be given over to eternal fire and utter darkness. All the inspired Scriptures clearly proclaim this to us, and we, as if we were deaf, do not listen to it, and if we do, we do not do it, as if we had not heard.

To such I did not have and do not have any desire to say anything or write, especially when I heard what our Lord and God said to His disciples: "If I be cast out, you also shall be cast out" (John 15:20); and again: "If Beelzebub is called the master of the house, how much more than his household" (Matt. 10:25). But in spite of this, He nevertheless sent them to us, the tongues, saying: "Go ye therefore to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that is commanded unto you" (Matt. 28:19), and then added to this: "Whosoever has faith and is baptized, he shall be saved; and whosoever hath not faith shall be condemned (Mark 16:16), then I have been disposed to write thy love in remembrance, which is good and profitable for thee. And this is especially because my strong love for you overcomes me, as a child-loving father, not allowing me to endure that you, my spiritual son in the Lord, should lead your life as you live. A warm disposition towards you compels me to descend to you and offer the truth of God before your eyes, although in writing I will write the same thing that you yourself read every day and which the Divine Scripture commands us to observe.

Perhaps you will ask me: if you promise to tell me what I already know and what the Divine Scriptures teach us, then the latter is sufficient for me, for what else do you want to write to me about the same thing? To this, my son, this is the reason, or rather the cause, that prompted me to write to you. I do this, in the first place, so that I may not be condemned, as was condemned by this evil servant, who hid the talent of his master, and let me not also hear, when on the day of judgment my Lord will demand an account from me: a wicked servant and a slothful one... And when I came, I took my money with interest" (Matt. 25:26-27). Secondly, in order to leave to you, my beloved son, that which I have to tell you as an inheritance: all this comes from our spiritual fathers and forefathers, but it was received by me before and handed down to you; I do not delay, accept your father's inheritance, but to me, as a grateful child, if you judge, give me the love that you have. Thirdly, in order to show you, my sincere son, what a great spiritual wealth has been given to me by my spiritual father, who begat me through repentance by the grace of the Holy Spirit, so that, not knowing this, you will not somehow despise me, your spiritual father, as poor, having nothing and worthless, thinking that you have not inherited from me any valuable inheritance. Fourthly, and this is most important, so that, having despised me, you will not be found guilty at the Last Judgment of the Lord, if it pleases God to humiliate me and to impute my words to humiliation of Yourself and Your word. Fifthly, that others may hear the word of truth, both now and hereafter, and bear fruit afterwards, some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred, if they receive it in their hearts as seed; but if they do not receive him, that I may remain innocent of blood for their souls.

And in spiritual things it is the same as in sensual things. Each of those who have received wealth from their ancestors then leaves an inheritance to some, gifts to others, such as children, friends, servants, and moreover, in fulfillment of the commandment of God, distributes from his possessions to the poor as much as he wants, and each of those who have received something gives an account of how he has disposed of what he has received. In the same way, those who have received a spiritual gift from God have the duty to pass it on to their spiritual children first, then to friends, acquaintances and servants, and then to strangers, whether they are rich or poor, whether they have received the word of wisdom, or the word of understanding, or the gift of healing, or intercession for souls, or helpful power, or administrative reasoning. And let every one of those who teach or do anything for others know that none of them will be praised or recompensed for what he does, but will be severely tormented, condemned, and punished for everything that he fails to do.

Therefore, I beseech you, do not accept the devil when he comes and begins to suggest to you that I am writing this to you for show, out of pleasing people. You yourself know very well that he who acts in this spirit not only destroys his reward, as one who sells the word of Christ and sells it, but will also be given over to torture where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Know that those who condemn him will be condemned with him, for you hear what the Lord says: Judge not, that ye be not judged. For what you judge with judgment, you will be judged, and according to the measure you measure, it will be measured to you (Matt. 7:1,2). Think about this, my brother, remembering at the same time the words of the Apostle, who says: "Obey your leaders and submit yourselves: for they watch over your souls, for they desire to repay the word; let them do this with joy, and not with sighing: for this is not profitable for you (Hebrews 13:17), and the word of the Lord, Who daily calls out to us in the Holy Gospel: "He who receives you, receives Me" (Matt. 10:40), and "Hear you; Mene listens; and reject you, I am rejected (Luke 10:16), and, zealous for your salvation with fear and trembling, obey me and give heed to my word. Do not let your thought tell you that this is said only about the Apostles and that we are obliged to listen to them alone, but listen to what Christ the Lord says to them again: "What I say to you, I say to all" (Mark 13:37). Who is it all for? To those who have faith in me through your teaching, they will keep my commandments even as you do.

Listen, I beg you! Our Lord God, having chosen His disciples and Apostles, revealed to them and entrusted to them all the mysteries of His economy, hidden from eternity, then He gave them the Holy Spirit and sent them, saying: "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that is commanded unto you" (Matt. 28:19-20). The apostles went forth and taught and preached the word of God, and many nations believed in Christ, and churches of believers were established in the cities. When an Apostle, having established a Church somewhere, had the intention of leaving the faithful there in order to go to other places, cities and villages, he ordained bishops and priests for them in his place, and left them as teachers, spiritual fathers and leaders. These again, approaching death, chose other worthy people for such service, ordained them and left them in their place. Thus according to tradition this order went until it came down to us, and such a law is observed even to this day by the action of the Holy Spirit. In the same way, through the intermediary of these same persons, all the traditions and teachings which the Apostles received from the Lord of all and our God have come down to us. But as the flock of Christ multiplied and the people of the faithful became innumerable, the grace of the Holy Spirit arranged that abbots and other spiritual fathers (from among the monks) should be added to the bishops and priests, who by their deeds show firm faith in Christ, our true God, and have the grace of the Holy Spirit in them, so that they also may co-pastor with them and co-operate for the salvation of them, who want to be saved.

If the Lord had not entrusted them with the task of teaching us all this, they would not have taught them, and would have been like all other people.

2.

It behooves us to seek and find such a teacher, who would first hear all this in the word and learn it from words, and then be taught everything mysteriously and in truth by the Comforter Spirit Himself through action and experience; so that he also may be vouchsafed to hear from Christ the Lord Himself, Who taught the Apostles: "It is given unto you to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 13:11). If we seek, of course, we will find, for God is not unrighteous, and He does not rejoice in the destruction of man, but, as it is written, so do God love the world, as He also gave His Only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). If He gave up His only begotten Son to death, that we might be saved through Him, is it possible, when we ask Him to send us, or rather to show us some true servant of His, who would guide us in the work of salvation and teach us to know His will, is it possible, I say, that He would hide such a person from us and deprive us of true guidance? No, no! This is impossible. Let what happened to the centurion Cornelius teach us to believe. He was a reverent man, and fear God with all his household, give alms to many people, and pray to God always. For this he was vouchsafed that he saw in a vision that at the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God came down to him, and spoke to him... thy prayers and thy alms have been lifted up in remembrance before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call upon Simon, who is called Peter. This one wanders with a certain Simon Usmar, who already has a house by the sea (Acts 10:2-6).

Do you see how well I have said that we must use all diligence and diligence in order to find a true disciple of Christ? And note what the Scripture says: Cornelius is a man of reverence, and fear God with all his household. Not only did he keep himself in the fear of God, but he taught all those who dwelt in his house to fear God. And this good is and is pleasing in the sight of God (1 Timothy 2:3), let everyone take care not only of that which is proper for him, but also of that which is useful to all who live with him. In this way, this centurion, before he was taught by the Apostles, had already fulfilled the apostolic commandment, which commands: "Let no one seek his own, but his neighbor" (1 Corinthians 10:24). He also did many almsgiving, and prayed to God day and night; and thus, before he believed, he clearly fulfilled the commandment of our Lord and God, which commands: Watch and pray, that ye may not enter into trouble (Matt. 26:41), and again: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; push, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt. 7:7). Do you see what this unbeliever in Christ and almost a pagan did? He had not yet heard the word of the Gospel, but was already zealously fulfilling the commandments of the Gospel, before he was taught them by anyone. He asked through reverence, and he received; He sought by almsgiving, and he found it; he pushed him by fasting and prayer, and it was opened to him. Send, he says, to Joppa, and summon Simon, who is called Peter. Behold a wonderful gift! This is a wondrous beneficence! Who wanders with a certain Simon Usmar, who also has a house by the sea. Do you see how the angel revealed to him not only the name of the leader, but also the name of the one who received him, even the place of the house in which he found refuge? And the angel did this so that Cornelius would not be deceived and would not call someone else instead of Peter, and would not fall on the wolf instead of the shepherd.

If you also want to show yourself to be a true, faithful and chosen disciple of Christ, live the same life, do the same deeds, fall down to God in your prayers in the same way, and He will open the eyes of your soul, so that you too may see such a person as Cornelius saw the Angel. Imitate at least the unbeliever, you who proclaim yourself to be faithful, you who are called a child of Christianity, brought up in the teaching of the Apostles and highly intelligent when you hear the mockery of the ignorant. Imitate the centurion, thou who wieldest power only in thy own house, and in every way take care to show thyself and these few, who are under thee and in thy power. But if you despise these deeds, which are in your power and in your will, if you neglect the commandments of God that you know, if you do not care about their fulfillment, and if you are not zealous to show yourself and those who are under your power to be in good order, then tell me, how will God show you a teacher who would teach you the most perfect and highest? And if God does not show it to you, how can you find it yourself, or recognize it? How can you receive him without a doubt, as a saint? And how will you receive afterwards (for such acceptance) the reward of the righteous and holy? No, no! This cannot be.

Wherefore they kept their words as the laws of God, and received a reward according to the measure of those whom they received. And now, if such are found anywhere, acceptable and accepting, surely even now these latter accept a reward to the measure of the former.