Moreover, according to your words, you grieve greatly because the power of despondency has so taken possession of your soul that you often almost threw yourself into a noose, or into a river, or into an abyss. There is also a fifth complaint, which consists in the fact that you see how your peers and those who have begun to lead an ascetic life together with you are enjoying themselves, while you are still in the most severe storm and live in the most terrible prison. According to your words, it is not so much that those who are bound in iron should weep as those who are bound with these chains. Then, you told me, there is something else that troubles you greatly: you fear and tremble for your father, lest he, having learned of this, cause great trouble to the saints who received you at first; for, trusting in his own strength and riches, and giving himself up to tribulation, he will dare to do anything against them, and will not refrain from anything he pleases. Until now, his mother could hide what had happened to him and distract him when he was looking for you; but in the course of time the mother's pretense would be revealed, and he would treat her and the monks cruelly. But the height of misfortune is that you cannot hope for the future, and you do not know for sure whether this illness will ever cease and end, after you have hoped so many times for healing and then again subjected to the same torments. All this, of course, is capable of disturbing the soul and filling with great confusion, but a soul that is weak, inexperienced and careless. If we wish to be somewhat attentive and to judge piously, then let us scatter these causes of despondency like fine dust. Do not think that I now promise you this so easily because I myself am a stranger to this sorrow and storm. Even if my words seem incredible to others, I will speak in spite of this; And you yourself, of course, will not distrust us along with others. When the unclean demon first attacked your soul and threw you down while you were praying with everyone, although I was not present (for which I thank the loving God), I nevertheless learned everything exactly, as if I were there. My friend and your friend Theophilus the Ephesian, when he came, told me in detail about everything: about the writhing in the hands, about the crooked eyes, about the foam on the lips, about the terrible and inarticulate voice, the shaking of the body, the prolonged fainting, and the dream that you had that night: it seemed to you," he said, "as if a wild pig, stained with mud, was constantly rushing at you and fighting with you; and when the one who slept beside you, alarmed by this vision, woke up, he saw that the demon was tormenting you again.

2. When he told us about this, he brought upon us the same darkness into which the demon plunged you, beloved! But when, after a long time, I came to my senses, everything unpleasant in this world ceased to seem unpleasant to me, and everything pleasant ceased to seem pleasant to me; Having long known all the vanity of life, I felt it even more, and my love for your piety became stronger. Such is the nature of misfortunes: they usually strengthen friendship; This is evident from the fact that they can easily stop enmity. And there is no man so cruel and insensitive, who, seeing his enemy in misfortune, could still harbor hatred for him. If, however, we pity even our enemies, and treat them as friends, when we see them suffering some misfortune, then think what I must have felt when I saw in the grievous torments of despondency the one who is most dear to me, and whom I cherish as my own head. Do not think that we are strangers to your sorrow, and therefore do not accept my consolation with suspicion. Though I, by the mercy of God, am free from the torments and attacks of the evil demon, yet no less than yours I feel despondency and sorrow from these torments, as anyone who knows how to love as one should love will believe me. Let us shake off this dust; then this despondency will be tolerable and easy by its nature, if only we do not want to carelessly allow this feeling to drag us into the abyss, but try to cheer up and think about what we need to do. Many of the seeming misfortunes seem great and intolerable until they have been well considered; but whoever considers them wisely will find that they are much easier than they were thought of; This, I hope, will happen now. Be of good cheer, therefore, and do not follow the vain and foolish opinion of the multitude, and do not make the enemy stronger against us.

When God created the angels – or rather, let us speak from the highest – before the angels and the other powers of heaven came into being, there was a God who had no beginning of His being. As a Being who never needs anything (for such is the Godhead), he created angels, archangels, and other incorporeal beings; He created it solely according to His goodness, and not for any other reason. If He had not been supremely good, He would not have created those whose service He did not need. After creating them, He creates, again for the same reason, both man and this whole world. Having endowed man with innumerable blessings, He made this small and feeble creature ruler over so many creatures, making him on earth what He Himself is in heaven. For the words: "Let us make man in our image and after our likeness" (Gen. 1:26) mean nothing else than that man also has been given power over earthly things. Having created him and placed him in such honor, God assigned to him, as a king, the most beautiful place on earth – paradise. In addition, wishing to show him in another way how superior he is to other creatures, God brings all the animals to him and commands him to give them all names; but he does not give him any of them as helpers, giving him the reason: "There was no helper," he says, "like him" (Gen. 2:20). Having thus shown man that he occupies the middle ground between the two natures (heavenly and earthly), that he is above all earthly things, and that of the multitude of these creatures none is equal to him, God then creates a woman, and thereby honors him with a new honor, and clearly shows that the woman was created for him, as Paul says: "And the man was not created for the woman; but a woman for her husband" (1 Cor. 11:9). And not only did God distinguish man by this, but also by imparting to him the gift of speech to one of all creatures, vouchsafed him the knowledge of Himself, allowed him to enjoy communion with Himself as much as was possible for him, promised to give him immortality, filled him with great wisdom, and bestowed upon him spiritual grace, so that he uttered certain prophecies. God gave all this to man at a time when no good deed had yet been done on his part. What did man do after so many and great blessings? He believed the enemy more than the one who had granted all this, and, despising the commandment of the Creator, he preferred to deceive him who tried to completely destroy him and deprive him of all blessings - he preferred in spite of the fact that the devil did not show him any favor, neither great nor small, but only said a few words to him. But did God ruin man because he showed such ingratitude at the very beginning and, so to speak, at his first step? It would be just necessary to destroy and expel from among the living the one who, having received innumerable blessings, at the very beginning of his life paid for these blessings with disobedience and ingratitude. But God continued to do good to him no less than before, showing that even though we sinned a thousand times and departed from Him, He would never cease to arrange our salvation, and that if we were converted, we would be saved; but if we persist in evil, then at least it will be clear that God does everything that depends on Him. In the same way, the expulsion from paradise, and the removal from the tree of life, and the condemnation to death seem to be the work of the one who punishes and avenges, but in fact it is no less than the former work of the Providence (of man). Although these words seem strange, they are true: the events, of course, were opposite to one another, but the goals of both are the same and agree; That is, the expulsion from paradise, the settlement in view of it, the prohibition (to eat) from the tree of life, the removal from this tree, the condemnation to death, the temporary postponement of this condemnation, all this, just like the former beneficence, is done for the salvation and honor of man. Of the former I will say nothing (for it is obvious to everyone), but of the latter it is necessary to say.

3. How do we know that the latter is also done for the benefit of man? (We will know) if we consider what he would have been subjected to if this had not happened. What would he have been subjected to? If man, after the devil's promise to make him equal to God by transgressing the commandment, had remained in the same honor, he would have fallen into three extreme calamities. Firstly, I would consider God to be malevolent, a deceiver and a liar, secondly, a real seducer, the father of lies and malice, a benefactor and a friend; and besides, he would continue to sin indefinitely. But God delivered him from all this, then expelling him from paradise. In the same way, if the doctor does not touch the wounds, then he allows it to fester more; if it cuts out, it stops the further spread of the rottenness of the ulcer. What of this? - someone will say, God did not stop there, but still imposed on man feats and labors; for nothing is so incapable of making use of rest as human nature. If even now, when such labors lie upon us, we sin unceasingly, then what would we not dare to do if God left us in pleasure and inactivity? "Idleness," says the Scriptures, "has taught many evil things" (Sir. 34:28). This saying is confirmed by both daily events and what happened to our ancestors. "And the people sat down," says the Scriptures, "to eat and drink, and afterwards arose to play" (Exodus 32:6). And again: "And Israel grew fat, and became obstinate; fattened, fattened, and fattened; and he forsook God, who created him, and despised the stronghold of his salvation" (Deuteronomy 32:15). Blessed David also says in agreement with this: "When He slew them, they sought Him and turned to Him, and from early morning they ran to God" (Psalm 77:34). And to Jerusalem God says through Jeremiah: "Understand, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee a wilderness, a land uninhabited" (Jeremiah 6:8). And that not only evil, but also good people are salvific to be subjected to humiliation and suffering, the prophet also says about this: "It is good for me that I have suffered, that I may learn Thy statutes" (Psalm 118:71). After him, Jeremiah says the same thing, though not in the same words: "It is good for a man when he bears the yoke in his youth; he sits alone and is silent" (Lamentations 3:27-28); and for himself he prays to God thus: "Have no mercy on me for my alienation in the fierce day" (Jeremiah 17:17). And Blessed Paul, who shone so brightly with grace and surpassed human nature, nevertheless had need of this beneficent remedy; Wherefore He said, "A thorn in the flesh has been given unto me, O angel of Satan, to afflict me, that I may not be exalted. Three times I prayed to the Lord to remove him from me. But [the Lord] said to me: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Although the preaching of the Gospel could have been accomplished without persecution, without sorrows, without labors and podvigs, Christ did not want this, caring for the preachers. Therefore He said to them: "In the world ye shall have tribulation" (John 14:33). And He commanded those who wished to enter the kingdom of heaven to walk the narrow path, for otherwise it would be impossible to reach it (Matt. 7:13). Thus, sorrows, temptations, and all the troubles that happen to us prove God's care for us no less than joys. And what do I say about the sorrows here? The very threat of hell, no less than the promise of the kingdom of heaven, shows God's love for mankind. If He had not threatened with hell, then it would not have been possible to achieve heavenly blessings soon. The promise of good things alone is not sufficient to induce virtue, if the fear of punishment does not encourage those who do not strive for it. That is why God expelled the first-created man from paradise in the beginning, since the honor granted to him would have made him worse if he had remained firm and unshaken after breaking the commandment.

Meanwhile, the former deserved the same, if not more cruel punishment. If it is considered a transgression and an offense among people when one of the slaves saves the best for himself, and gives the worst to the master, how much more does this apply in relation to God? But Cain committed not only this sin, but also another no less - he envied his brother's honor. If he had repented of his sin, he would have pleased God with this beautiful change; but it was not from repentance, but from envy and hatred that his confusion arose, as the end of the affair showed. Cain was almost angry with God because God, offended by him, did not honor him and did not prefer evil to good; but God, in spite of the fact that Cain's sins required a heavy punishment, treats the sinner much more mercifully than he deserved, and tries to calm his irritated soul. For Cain's sorrow came from irritation; wherefore God saith unto him, Be silent (Gen. 4:7). Thus spoke God, although He knew to what extent Cain's wickedness would reach; but He wanted to take away from the ungrateful any pretext (for murmuring). If Cain had been punished in the beginning, many would have said so; "Was it not possible to impress in advance with words, to reason and frighten, and then to punish, if Cain had remained in his former disposition? His punishment is very cruel and severe." That is why God endures the insults inflicted on Him for a long time, in order to stop the mouths of such people, and at the same time to show that He punished the father of Cain in His goodness, and moreover, to lead subsequent people to repentance by His mercy. But when Cain, through his stubbornness and impenitence of heart, has gathered for himself anger (cf. Rom. 2:5), then He punishes; if Cain had remained unpunished even after the murder, he would have decided on another, even greater evil. Nor can it be said that he sinned through ignorance: could he not know what his younger brother knew? However, if you will, let us assume that the first (crime) arose from ignorance; But after he had heard, "Be silent," after he had received forgiveness, had he ignorantly decided to kill, defiled the earth, and violated the laws of nature? Do you see that the former did not come from ignorance, but from malice, deceit, and extreme impiety? What is the punishment for all this? "You will groan and tremble on the earth," says God (Gen. 4:12). The punishment is apparently heavy; but it will not be so if we reflect on sin and carefully consider the punishment itself. Cain, after having offered a sacrifice unjustly (cf. Gen. 4:7), was offended by the fact that the offender was not honored by the offended God, rejected His suggestion, was the first to dare to commit murder, or rather, a sin even more criminal than murder, grieved his parents, lied before God. "Am I," he said, "my brother's keeper" (Gen. 4:9)? And for all this he is punished only with fear and trembling! However, it can be said that the goodness of God is seen here not only from the fact that punishment is lighter than sin, but from the fact that there is no small benefit in punishment. And the benefit is that all subsequent people are brought to their senses by Cain's punishment and become better. Therefore, God did not immediately put Cain to death; for it makes no difference whether to hear that a certain Cain, who killed his brother, was put to death, or to see this murderer being punished. In the first case, they could not believe the story because of the excessiveness of the crime; and now that Cain was visible, and many had long witnessed his punishment, the event became evident and certain both to his contemporaries and to posterity. But, it will be said, what is the use of this for himself? Very great: God was also concerned about his salvation, when by verbal admonition He moderated his rage, as far as depended on Him. But if we consider the punishment itself, then it will also be of great benefit. If God had killed Cain immediately, He would not have given him time to repent and reform. Now, continuing to live in fear and trembling, he could have received great benefit from such a life, if he had not been extremely insensible and more like a beast than a man. In addition, the present punishment lessened the severity of future torment for him; for by the punishments or calamities which God sends upon us in the present life, a great part of future torments is removed. Evidence for this can be cited from the divine Scriptures. Christ, speaking to His disciples and telling about Lazarus, says that Abraham, when the rich man asked him to sprinkle a burning tongue with the tip of his finger, said to him: "Child! remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus has received your evil; but now he is comforted here, and you suffer" (Luke 16:25). And Paul (when I speak of Paul, I also mean the commandments of Christ, because this blessed soul was moved by Him), when he writes to the Corinthians about the fornicator, commands that he be delivered up to Satan "for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. V, 5). And again, speaking to them about those who unworthily partake of the Mysteries, he says: "For this reason many of you are weak and sick, and many die. 31 For if we were to judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, lest we be condemned with the world" (1 Cor. 11:30-32). Do you see the ineffable love of humanity and the boundless riches of goodness? Do you see how God does and undertakes everything so that we, even if we have sinned, may suffer punishment lighter than we deserve, or even completely get rid of it?

4. But if anyone says, "Why did God not destroy the ancient tempter?" If the evil one took possession of us by force, then this question would have some validity; but since he does not have such power, but only tries to persuade us (whereas we may not bow), why should we remove the reason for merit and reject the means of attaining crowns? Moreover, if God, knowing that the devil is invincible and can subdue everyone, had left him in the world, then such a question should not have been asked; and then we ourselves would be guilty if he overcame and conquered those who do not resist him, but submit voluntarily. However, what has been said would not be enough for those who do not want to come to their senses. And if there are many who have already overcome the power of the devil, and there will be many more who will overcome it, why should those who are glorified and gain a brilliant victory be deprived of this honor? God left the devil for this reason, so that those who had already been defeated by him would overthrow him himself; and this is heavier for the devil than any punishment and can lead him to final condemnation. But, someone will say, not everyone can overcome it. What of this? It is much more just that the valiant should have a reason to reveal their good will, and the unvaliant should be punished for their own negligence, than that the former should suffer harm for the latter. Now the wicked one, if he suffers harm, it is because he is defeated not by the enemy, but by his own negligence, as is proved by the fact that many defeat the devil.

Here the brave would suffer harm because of the unworthy; and the latter is bad, not because of his braveness, but because of his own unworthiness. Moreover, although the present question apparently concerns the devil, such reasoning, extending further along the connection of thoughts, will in many respects lead to the accusation and condemnation of God's Providence and will subject the entire universe to reproach. Thus it will condemn the creation of the mouth and the eyes; for through the eyes many receive a desire for what they ought not to do, and fall into adultery, and with the lips of others they utter blasphemy and teach pernicious doctrine. Was it therefore necessary for people to be without a tongue and without eyes? So let us cut off the legs, and cut off the hands; for sometimes the hands are red with blood, and the feet run to sin. And the ears could not escape the same severe condemnation, because they also receive vain rumors and transmit to the soul a pernicious teaching; let us cut them off also.

The fact that people are made better in itself torments and torments the devil; and when we achieve this through him, he will not be able to endure such shame. But how is this achieved through him? When, fearing his cruelty, constant slanders and incessant intrigues, we will drive away from ourselves heavy sleep, be awake and always remember the Lord. These are not my words, but those of Blessed Paul, listen to how he awakens those who sleep from among the faithful with almost the same words. In his Epistle to the Ephesians, he says: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). Thus he spoke, not to deprive them of courage, but to encourage them. And Peter says: "Be sober, be watchful: for your adversary the devil walketh about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet. 5:8). He said this, wishing to make us more courageous and to inspire us to cleave more to God. Whoever sees the advancing enemy is more likely to run and cling to him who can help. In the same way, little children, when they see something terrible, run into their mother's arms, grasp at her clothes, hold fast to them, and do not lag behind, despite the efforts of many to drag them away; and when there is nothing to fear, they do not listen to her call or impulse, reject her invitations, turn away when she tries in every way to lure them to her, and do not even look at the food offered. For this reason, many mothers, when persuasion does not work, contrive by means of scarecrows and horrors to bring their children back to them, and persuade them to run to them again. This happens not only with children, but also with us. When the evil one frightens and confuses us, then we come to our senses, then we come to know ourselves, then with great zeal we turn to God. But if the devil had been destroyed at the very beginning and did not exist, then perhaps many would not have believed what happened, that is, that he deceived man and deprived him of many blessings; but they would say that God did this out of ill-will and envy. If even now, after such clear proofs of the devil's deceptions, some dare to say this, then what would they not have said, what would not have been said, if they had not experienced his malice at all? However, if we pay strict attention to deeds, then (it can be noted that) the devil does not always push us to evil; although he does us much evil, we also do much harm to ourselves, solely because of our carelessness and negligence. Let's turn again to where we started. When did the devil approach Cain and instruct him to commit murder? With his mother he spoke openly and seduced her, but with him he did not do this; if it is said that he put evil thoughts into him, then this also depended on Cain himself, who accepted the suggestion, obeyed and gave the devil a reason to attack. However, God did not abandon Cain even then, but continued to teach and admonish him, by which, apparently, He punished him. But what do I say about the punishment of Cain, one man, when even the flood, in which so many people perished, can reveal to us God's providence? And in the first place, God did not bring this calamity suddenly or suddenly, but foretold it, and not a short time in advance, but another hundred and twenty years in advance. Then, so that the people, because of the remoteness of the prophesied, would not forget and fall into carelessness, He commanded that an ark be built before their eyes, which spoke more clearly than any words about the threat of God. Cain had already been erased from people's memory, and this ark, which was before their eyes, constantly reminded them of the impending disaster. But even after this people did not come to their senses, but continued to cause and bring disaster upon themselves. God would never want to threaten the flood and bring it, just as he would not want to threaten hell, but we ourselves are the cause of everything. Knowing this, the Most Wise One said: "God did not create death, and does not rejoice in the destruction of the living" (Wis. Sol. 1:13). And God Himself through the prophet says thus: "Do I desire the death of the wicked? saith the Lord God. Is it not that he should turn from his ways and live?" (Ezek. 18:23, cf. Ezekiel 33:11). If we do not convert, we bring destruction and death upon ourselves, and not God, who does not want us to perish, and shows us the way to escape the devil. But is this the only thing we can say about the flood, and will we not find any benefit resulting from it? It is impossible to say how much benefit came from it both for the dead themselves and for subsequent people. The former were deterred from further crimes; and the latter received even greater benefit, since together with the sinners themselves was destroyed, so to speak, the leaven and the cause of evil. If men can easily invent evil without example, what would they not do if many encouraged them to do evil things? In order to prevent this from happening, so that subsequent people would not have so many teachers of evil, God destroyed all of them at the same time.

5. But how wise, or rather, how insane is the judgment of those who, not wishing to do anything good, invent and say everything in order to lay the blame of their own sins on God! If, they say, God had not allowed it, then the devil would not have approached, and would not have deceived him immediately. But then Adam would not have known what good he had, and would never have humbled his pride. Who thought so highly of himself that he hoped to be a god, which he would not have dared to do if he had not been enlightened? Suppose the devil had not suggested anything to Eve and had not said a word to her about the tree, would the progenitors never have fallen? This cannot be said. Whoever so easily obeyed his wife, even without the devil, by himself, would soon fall into sin, for which he would be subjected to an even greater punishment. Moreover, in the present event it was not only the deception of the devil that was the cause of all evil, but the wife was carried away by her own lust and fell. The Scripture also pointed to this, saying: "And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes, and desirable, because it gave knowledge; and she took the fruit thereof, and ate it" (Gen. 3:6). I say this now, not in order to absolve the devil of the accusation of treachery, but to show that if the first men had not fallen voluntarily, no one would have made them fall. Whoever so easily accepted deception from another, was careless and inattentive even before the deception; and the devil would not have had such success if he had entered into conversation with a soul that was awake and attentive. But there are people who, when they are refuted from this side, leaving the devil, turn to the commandment and, without touching the person who has sinned, accuse God and say: Why did He give people a commandment, when He knew that they would sin? And these are the words of the devil and the fabrications of the wicked mind. God, in giving the commandment, showed greater care (for people) than if He had not given it; This is evident from the following. Let us suppose that Adam, whose will was so careless, as the consequences showed, would not have received any commandment, and continued to enjoy blessedness: would his carelessness and effeminacy from these pleasures have led him to the worse, or to the better? It is obvious to everyone that he, not concerned with anything, would have reached the extreme degree of evil.

Aren't such words extremely insane? If the devil had approached a person who had not received the commandment with advice to depart from God, he would easily have persuaded him to do so; for whoever despised Him who gave it after receiving the commandment, if he had heard nothing at all from Him, would soon forget even that he was under the authority of the Lord. Therefore, God taught him beforehand by His commandment that he had a Lord, Whom he must obey in everything. But, it will be said, what benefit has come from this? Even if there were no benefit, this should not be blamed on God who gave the instruction, but on the man who did not heed this beautiful suggestion. Meanwhile, the granting of the commandment did not remain useless even after its violation: and the fact that the first people hid themselves, and confessed their sin, and tried to lay the blame of the crime on the wife, and the woman on the serpent – all this shows that they feared, trembled, and recognized the power of God over them. And how useful it was to pass from the satanic hope of being gods to such fear is understandable to everyone. He who dreamed of equality with God has humbled and humbled himself so much that he fears punishment and torment and confesses his sin! Not to sin unconsciously, but to quickly notice and recognize one's sin is a very important matter, the beginning and path leading to correction and change for the better. Thus, it is impossible to know or explain all the goodness of the Lord to us; I will tell you the main thing that we know. After such disobedience, after so many sins, when the power of sin took possession of the whole world, when the human race had to suffer the most severe punishment, to perish completely, and to be blotted out of its very name, then God did us the greatest favor, He delivered His Only-begotten to death for the enemies who had departed, turned away, and hated Him, and through Him He reconciled us to Himself, and promised to give us the kingdom of heaven, eternal life and innumerable blessings, which "eye has not seen, ear has not heard" and which "have not entered into the heart of man" (cf. 1 Cor. 2:9). What can be compared with this solicitude, philanthropy, goodness? That is why He Himself says: "But as the heavens are higher than the earth, so is My way higher than your ways, and My thought than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9). And the meekest David, speaking of His love for mankind, says: "As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is [the Lord's] mercy to those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our iniquities from us; as the father has mercy on his sons, so the Lord has mercy on them that fear him" (Psalm 102:11-13), and even more than the father, but we do not know of another better example of the highest love. Isaiah gave an example of this, pointing to a mother who is much more attached to her children than a father. He says this: "Shall a woman forget her suckling child, that she may not have pity on the son of her womb? but if she also forgets, I will not forget you" (Isaiah 49:15), showing that God's mercy is above natural affection. Thus spoke the prophets; and Christ, speaking to the Jews, said: "If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him" (Matt. 7:11), expressing by these words nothing else than that as much as good differs from evil, God's care differs from that of parents. But do not stop there, but penetrate the mind even further. This is said in relation to your understanding; but with Him whose wisdom and goodness are boundless, His love for mankind is the same. If we do not notice His love for humanity in every event, then this is also a sign of His infinity. God daily arranges for our salvation many things that are known only to Him. He does good to our race according to His goodness, needing neither glorification from us nor any other retribution, and therefore leaves very much hidden from us; and if He sometimes does, He does this for us, so that we, imbued with a sense of gratitude, may be vouchsafed His even greater help. Let us thank Him not only for what we know, but also for what we do not know; for He does good to us, not only when we desire it, but also when we do not. Knowing this, Paul also inspired us to give thanks "always and in all things" (Eph. 5:20).And that God cares not only for everyone in general, but also for each individual, can be heard from Him Himself, when He says: "It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish" (Matt. 18:14), meaning those who believe in Him. He desires that all those who do not believe in Him should be saved, having corrected themselves and believed in Him, as Paul says: "He desires that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4); and He Himself said to the Jews: "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matt. 9:13); and again: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice" (Matt. 9:13; Hos. 6:6). Even when people do not want to correct themselves and know the truth even with such care for them, even then He does not abandon them; but since they voluntarily deprive themselves of heavenly life, He provides them with at least everything necessary for the present life, commands the sun to shine on the evil and the good, sends rain on the just and the unjust, and gives everything else for the continuation of the present life (Matt. 5:45). But if He thus cares for His enemies, will He ever leave without care those who believe in Him and please Him according to their ability? No, no; He cares for them more than anyone else: "And the hairs of your head," He says, "are all numbered" (Luke 12:7).

6. And so, when you think that you have left your father, home, friends, relatives, innumerable riches and great glory for Christ, and now you are suffering such sorrow, do not lose heart; from which perplexity is born, thereby our perplexity will be resolved. How? God cannot lie; and He promised everlasting life to those who would forsake all these things.

See what promise the faithful Abraham received, and what was he commanded to do? The promise was that his descendants from Isaac would fill the whole world; and the command required that he should sacrifice the same Isaac, whose descendants were to fill the whole earth. What then? Did this confuse the righteous man? No; and with such a disagreement and contradiction of the command with the promise, he was not troubled, did not doubt, and did not say anything like this: "God has promised one thing, and now he compels me to do another; from this son he promised me a great multitude of descendants, and now he commands me to slaughter him; How will it come to pass if this root is cut off? Surely God deceived me and laughed at me." Abraham did not say anything of the sort, did not even think of it, and very rightly; for if God promises, then, even if there are thousands of obstacles to the fulfillment of the promise, one should not be confused and doubt about the fulfillment. The action of God's power in this is especially to find a way out of a hopeless situation; so also the blessed Abraham reasoned at that time. Therefore Paul was amazed at his faith and said: "By faith Abraham, being tempted, sacrificed Isaac, and having the promise, he offered the only begotten" (Hebrews 11:17), indicating and alluding to the very thing that I have just said. And not only Abraham, but also his great-grandson Joseph, although he saw that the promise given to him remained unfulfilled for a long time and in many circumstances, nevertheless he remained unyielding, because he turned his eyes only to Him who promised; and if he had given himself up to human reasoning, he would have despaired of the fulfillment of the promise. The dream he saw foreshadowed the worship of his brothers and parents, and the events were not so, and in many ways did not correspond to this. In the first place, those who ought to bow down to him cast him into a pit, and, having sold him to foreigners, send him to a strange and distant land; These events seemed so contrary to the dream that the unfortunates themselves (his brothers) mocked him, and said: "Behold, the dreamer is coming; let us go now, and kill him, and cast him into a pit, and say that a beast of prey has eaten him; and we shall see what shall come out of his dreams" (Gen. 37:19-20). Then those who bought Joseph again sold him, not to any free man, but to a royal slave. And this was not the end of his misfortunes, but, having been slandered by his mistress and being condemned, he lived for many years in prison, and although others came out of it, he remained there for a long time. In spite of so many circumstances that could trouble his soul, he remained steadfast. Such is our position, or rather, it is even more difficult. God has promised us the kingdom of heaven, eternal life, immortality, and innumerable blessings, but what is happening and happening to us now, namely, death, corruption, punishment, torment, and various and continuous sorrows, is far from corresponding to this. Why does God do this and allow such events that contradict the promises? In this way He accomplishes two great works: first, He gives us an indubitable proof of His power, that is, that He can fulfill promises that seem to be the most improbable; secondly, it teaches our soul to believe in Him in everything, even if events seem to contradict the predictions. Such is the power of hope: it does not shame those who are sincerely devoted to it. But if those who received the promises of the blessings of this world did so, how much more should we do so, who hope for the fulfillment of good promises, not in the present life, but in the age to come. For this life, the Lord predicted sorrow and distress. What is it that troubles you? Why don't you trust God's promise? To despise the whole world for Him and then say that He does not care, can only be done by one who does not believe, doubts, and considers God's promise to be a deception; and this truly means to be possessed and to bring upon oneself the fire of Gehenna. However, among people who are devoted to worldly affairs, are there those who live in peace? - Thus, and this is foretold by Christ: "

Verily, verily, I say unto you," He said, "ye shall weep and mourn, but the world shall rejoice."

(John 16:20). And among the previous generations, the Babylonians, even those who did not know God, enjoyed wealth, power, and honor, while the Jews lived in captivity, in slavery, and in extreme distress.