Wherefore God, having freed us from this pernicious care, has instilled in us the capacity for a better work, so that he who is not able to make the body beautiful from the ugly can raise his soul, even though it descends to the utmost ugliness, to the very summit of beauty, and thus make it worthy and attractive, desirable not only to good men, but also to the King and God of all himself. as the Psalmist, speaking of this beauty, said: "And the King will desire thy beauty" (Psalm 44:12). Do you not see that even in shameful houses, even single combatants, fugitives, and fighters with beasts are unlikely to approach ugly and shameless women; If, for some reason, a well-behaved, noble, and modest woman should fall into such an extreme, then some of the most noble and important people would not be ashamed to marry her? If people have such pity and such contempt for glory that they often deliver women who have been dishonored under this roof from bondage and take them as their spouses, then is it not much more possible with God in relation to souls who, through the violence of the devil, have fallen from primitive nobility into the harlot of the present life? You will find many such examples in the prophets, when they turn their speech to Jerusalem, which also fell into fornication, and moreover into some new fornication, as Ezekiel says: "All harlots are given gifts, but you yourself have given gifts to all; and therefore thou hast acted contrary to others" (Ezekiel 16:33,34); and another: "Thou didst sit for them like an Arabian in the wilderness, and thou didst defile the earth with thy fornication" (Jeremiah 3:2). And such a city, so fornicating, God again calls to Himself. The very captivity (of the Jews) was not so much for punishment as for their conversion and correction; for if God had wanted to punish them decisively, He would not have returned them to their homeland, would not have erected an even greater and more brilliant city and temple. "The glory of this," says (the prophet), "the last temple will be greater than the first" (Haggai 2:9). But if God has not deprived the city of repentance, which has committed fornication many times, then much more will He accept your soul, which has undergone the first fall. Truly, no lover of the flesh, even if he is extremely inflamed, burns so much for his beloved as God desires the salvation of our souls. This can be seen both from everyday events and from the divine Scriptures. See in Jeremiah at the very beginning, and in many places in the prophets, how God was despised and despised, and how He drew near again and sought the love of those who turned away from Him, as He Himself expressed in the Gospel with the words: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who slayeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto thee! how often would I gather your children together, as a bird gathers her young under her wings, and you would not" (Matthew 23:37). And the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians said: "God in Christ reconciled the world to Himself, not imputing to [men] their transgressions, and gave us the word of reconciliation. Thus, we are messengers in the name of Christ, and it is as if God Himself exhorts through us; in the name of Christ we beseech you: be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:19,20). Take this now for what has been said to us. For not only unbelief, but also an unclean life can produce this deplorable enmity. "For the carnal mind," says (Scripture), "are enmity against God" (Romans 8:7). Let us break down this barrier, overthrow it, and put it to death, in order to attain a blessed reconciliation, in order that we may again become desirable and pleasing to God.

14. I know that you now admire the beauty of Hermione, and think that there is nothing on earth like her beauty; but if you will, my friend, you will be as beautiful and beautiful as golden statues are better than clay statues. If bodily beauty so amazes and captivates the souls of many, then when it shines in the soul, what can be compared with such beauty and grace? The basis of bodily beauty is nothing else than mucus, blood, moisture, bile, and the juice of the food taken. This fills the eyes, cheeks, and everything else; and if they do not receive every day such a drink flowing from the womb and liver, then at the same time, as soon as the skin is more dry than it should be, and the eyes are sunken, all the beauty of the face is immediately lost; "So if you imagine what is hidden inside the beautiful eyes, what is inside the straight nose, what is inside the mouth and cheeks, then you will call the beauty of the body nothing but a fallen coffin: such impurity is the inside! Further, if you see a rag stained with any of these substances, such as mucus or saliva, you will not want to touch it with the tips of your fingers, nor will you even look at it; And do you admire their receptacle and storehouse? And your beauty was not such as the heavens are better than the earth, or rather, much more brilliant and excellent. Of course, no one has ever seen the soul by itself, without a body; but I will try to present to you its beauty in a different way from that of the higher powers. Listen to how their beauty struck the man of desires: intending to depict their beauty, and not being able to find such a body, he resorted to metallic substances, but not being satisfied with them alone, he took as an example the glitter of lightning. If, however, those (powers) which manifested their essence not in all their purity and nakedness, but in a very obscure and concealed manner, were nevertheless so brilliant, what must they be without any covering? Something similar should be imagined about the beauty of the soul: they will be, says (the Lord), "equal to the angels" (Luke 20:36). Even between bodies, those which approach incorporeal objects more easily and subtly are much better and more excellent than others. Heaven is more beautiful than earth, fire is more beautiful than water, stars are more beautiful than stones; and we admire the rainbow much more than violets, roses, and all other flowers of the earth. In general, if it were possible to see the beauty of the soul with bodily eyes, you would laugh at all these examples of bodies – so little do they represent to us the splendor of the soul! Let us not neglect such acquisition and such blessedness, especially since a return to this beauty is convenient for us in the hope of the future. "For," says the Apostle, "our slight suffering for a short time produces eternal glory in an immeasurable abundance, when we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen: for the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:17,18). But if the sorrows that you know are called by Blessed Paul not heavy and light, because he did not look at what is visible, then it is all the easier for you to abandon impure lust. We now call you not to danger, not to daily deaths, unceasing blows, scourgings, bonds, struggles with the world, enmity from the household, unceasing vigils, long voyages, shipwrecks, attacks of robbers, intrigues from relatives, sorrows for friends, hunger, cold, nakedness, heat, sorrow for one's own and not one's own. We do not demand anything of the kind now; We ask only one thing – to free ourselves from accursed slavery and return to our former freedom, imagining both the punishment for lust and the honor of the former life. If those who do not believe in the doctrine of the resurrection give themselves over to carelessness and never feel this fear, this is not at all surprising; but for us, who hope more for future than for present blessings, to lead such a miserable and miserable life, to feel nothing at the remembrance of the former, but to sink to the utmost insensibility, would be very foolish. When we, believers, act like unbelievers, or behave worse than they do (and among them there are those who have shone forth with worldly virtue), what consolation, what justification will we have? Many of the merchants, having been shipwrecked, did not lose heart, but again went the same way, although they suffered this misfortune not from their own carelessness, but from the power of the winds; And we, who can hope for a happy ending, and know for sure that without our will neither shipwreck nor any other misfortune will befall us, shall we not take up the same thing again, and will not gain as before, but will lie idle, with folded hands in our hands? And oh, if only with oneself, and not against oneself – what does sheer madness mean! For if any of the wrestlers, having left his opponent, turned his hands on his head and began to strike his own face, tell me, would he not be reckoned among the madmen? The devil overcame us and threw us down; therefore, it is necessary to get up, and not drag on and plunge yourself into the abyss, not to add your own blows to its blows. And blessed David fell in the same way that you do now; and not only this, but then another, that is, murder. Did he remain lying down? On the contrary, did he not immediately rise up with courage, and did he not take up arms against the enemy? And so he valiantly struck him down, that even after his death he became a covering for his descendants. For to Solomon, who had committed great iniquity and had become worthy of a thousand deaths, God said that for David's sake the kingdom was left to him intact, with these words: "I will tear away the kingdom from you, and I will give it to your servant; but in thy days I will not do this," why?, "for the sake of David thy father; out of the hand of thy son I will pluck him out" (1 Kings 11:11,12). And to Hezekiah, who was in extreme danger, though righteous, He promised help for the sake of the same blessed one: "I will keep this city," he says, "that I may save it for my own sake and for the sake of David my servant" (2 Kings 19:34). Such is the power of repentance! And if David had reasoned as you do now, namely, that it is no longer possible to propitiate God, and if he had said to himself, God hath honoured me with great honour, and numbered me among the prophets, and hath given me the principality of my fellow-countrymen, and delivered me from a multitude of dangers, how is it that I, after so many good deeds, have grieved him, and dared to commit utter iniquities? Can I propitiate Him again?" If he had reasoned in this way, he would not only have not done what he did afterwards, but would have destroyed his former works.

15. Not only bodily, but also spiritual wounds, if left unattended, cause death. Meanwhile, we have come to such madness that we take great care of the former, and neglect the latter. And although many bodily wounds are often incurable, nevertheless we do not despair, and often hearing from doctors that such and such a disease cannot be eradicated by medicines, we insistently ask to invent at least some kind of relief; but for souls in which there is no incurable illness – since they are not subject to natural necessity – we are so negligent and despair of them, as if their illnesses were alien to us. Where the very nature of illness should plunge us into hopelessness, there we, as those who have great hopes, take care of our health; and where there is nothing to despair, there, like the despairing, we retreat and give ourselves over to carelessness. We care so much more about the body than about the soul! Therefore, we cannot save the bodies. For whoever neglects the main thing, and directs all his care to the lower, destroys and destroys both; and whoever keeps order, guarding and preserving the most important, even if he does not care about the secondary, saves even this through the preservation of the first, which Christ also explained to us in the words: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). Have we persuaded you, then, that you should never despair of mental illnesses, as if they were incurable, or do we need to offer other proofs? Even if you despair of yourself a thousand times, we will never despair of you, and we ourselves will not allow that for which we condemn others, although it is not the same thing for someone to despair in himself, or for another in him; for he who despairs of another can soon receive forgiveness, but he who despairs of himself can never. Why? Because he has no power in the mood and repentance of the other, but this one has power over himself. And yet, in spite of all this, we will not despair of you, even though you yourself have been subjected to it a thousand times; for perhaps there will be a return to virtue and a renewal of the former life. Listen to the following. The Ninevites, hearing the prophet's strong and clear threat: "Forty more days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed" (Jonah 3:4), did not lose heart after that, and although they were not sure that they would pray to God, but rather could fear the contrary about the prophecy (for it was pronounced not with any restriction, but as a direct definition), they repented and said: "Who knows, perhaps God will still be merciful and turn away His burning wrath from us, and we will not perish." And God saw their works, that they had turned from their evil way, and God was sorry for the calamity, which He had said that He would bring upon them, and did not bring it" (Jonah 3:9,10). But if barbarian and unenlightened men could be so prudent, how much more should we do so, who have been taught the divine dogmas, and have seen a great multitude of such examples, both in word and in deed. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. But as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8,9). If we often accept the guilty servants, when they promise to reform, and again honor them, and often show them even greater confidence, then much more so is God.

For it is not so much the sins we have committed that can irritate Him, as the unwillingness to change. Sin is still characteristic of man; But to stagnate in sins is no longer a human thing, but a completely satanic one. See how through the prophet God rebukes the latter more than the former: "Have you seen," he says, "what did the apostate, the daughter of Israel, do? She went to every high mountain and under every branching tree, and there she committed fornication. And after she had done all these things, I said, "Return unto me"; but she did not return" (Jeremiah 3:6,7). And in another place, again wishing to show how great He cares for our salvation, as soon as He heard that (the Israelites) after many iniquities had promised to walk the right path, He said: "Oh, that their heart were such that they should fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it might be good for them and their children forever" (Deuteronomy 5:29). And Moses said to them, "Now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only that thou shouldest fear the Lord thy God, and walk in all His ways, and love Him" (Deuteronomy 10:12) And so, He Who seeks to be loved by us, and does everything for this, Who has not spared even the Only-begotten for our love, and deems it desirable that we may ever be reconciled to Him, if He will not accept and love those who repent? Listen to what He says through the prophet: "Speak thy iniquities first, that thou mayest be justified" (Isaiah 43:26). This is what He requires of us, so that our love for Him may be strong. When the lover, having received many insults from his loved ones, does not extinguish love in himself, then, if he tries to discover these insults, it is for nothing else than to show the full strength of his love, to incline them to a greater and stronger love. If the confession of sins brings such consolation, then much more is their cleansing by works. If it were not so, God would prevent those who have once strayed from the straight path from returning to their former ways; then no one, perhaps, except a few and very few in number, would enter the kingdom of heaven; and now let us meet especially glorious among those who have been subjected to these falls. For those who have shown great power in evil will show the same power in good, knowing what debts they have burdened themselves with, as Christ also explained when He said to Simon about the woman: "Do you see this woman? I came to thy house, and thou didst not give me water on my feet, but she poured tears on my feet, and wiped the hair of her head; thou hast not kissed me, but she, since I came, has not ceased to kiss my feet; thou didst not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with myrrh. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her many sins are forgiven, because she has loved much, and to him that loveth little, loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven" (Luke 7:44-48).

16.

And this is their advantage over those who have never fallen, that is, they show the greatest zeal, if only, as I have said, they make a beginning. True, it is difficult and difficult to make an effort to approach the entrance and, having reached the threshold of repentance, to push away and overthrow the enemy, who is breathing heavily and leaning on here. And after this, he, too, having once been defeated and fallen where he was strong, does not show such fury, and we, having more zeal, will very conveniently accomplish this good feat. Let us finally begin our return, let us hasten to the heavenly city, in which we are inscribed, in which we must dwell. Despair is fatal not only because it shuts the gates of this city to us and leads to great carelessness and negligence, but also because it plunges us into satanic madness; for the devil also became so not because of anything else but because he first despaired, and then fell into madness out of despair. In the same way, the soul, once despairing of its salvation, no longer feels how it strives into the abyss, deciding to speak and do everything against its salvation. Like madmen, once deprived of their sanity, they fear nothing and are not ashamed of anything, but fearlessly dare to do anything, even if they have to fall into fire, or into the sea, or into an abyss; in the same way, the madness of despair irresistibly rushes to every evil, and if death does not overtake them and does not restrain them from this madness and striving, they inflict many misfortunes on themselves. Therefore I beseech you, before you are too immersed in this intoxication, sober up and awake – leave behind the satanic rapture, if it is impossible suddenly, then gradually and little by little. It seems to me that it would be easier, immediately breaking away from all those who delay the journey, to go to the school of repentance. If this seems difficult to you, then as you wish, enter the path that leads to the best, only enter and receive eternal life. Thus, I ask and beseech in the name of the former valor, the former freedom, that we may again see you on the same height and with the same cheerfulness. Have pity on those who are offended by your head, who fall, who become more careless, who despair on the path of virtue. Now the assembly of the brethren is embraced with sorrow, and the company of unfaithful and careless youths is embraced with joy and joy. And when you return to your former strict life, it will be the other way around: all our shame will pass on to them, and we will feel great joy, seeing you again crowned and glorified with great brilliance. Such victories bring more honor and joy, because you will receive a reward not only for your own valor, but also for the consolation and approval of others, representing to them, if any of them ever fall into the same calamity, the greatest example of how to rise again and reform yourself. Do not despise such benefit and do not bring our souls to hell with sorrow, but let us breathe and dispel the cloud of sorrow that surrounds us for you. We now, having left our sorrows, weep over your misfortunes; but if you want to sober up and open your eyes, and join the angelic host, then you will deliver us from this sorrow and blot out most of our sins. And that those who are converted through repentance can shine forth much and brightly, and often even more than those who did not fall from the very beginning, we have also shown from the divine Scriptures. In the same way, publicans and harlots will inherit the kingdom of heaven; so many of the latter stand before the former.

17. I will tell you about what happened in our presence and what you yourself can witness. You know Urbanov's young son, Phoenix, who was orphaned in his youth and was the owner of a lot of money, slaves and fields. First of all, leaving his studies in museums and throwing off his bright clothes and all the pride of life, and then immediately putting on thin clothes and withdrawing into the wilderness to the mountains, he showed great wisdom, not only in age, but also in comparison with great and wonderful men. After this, having been vouchsafed a sacred participation in the sacraments, he progressed still more in virtue. And everyone rejoiced and glorified God, that a man brought up in wealth, who had famous ancestors, and was still very young, suddenly trampled on all the pomp of life and reached the true height. When he was in this state and aroused surprise, some corrupters, who by right of kinship had supervision over him, again dragged him into his former cycle. Abandoning everything, he soon descended from the mountains, and again appeared at the market-place, and sitting on horseback, with many companions, he rode through the whole city, and no longer wanted to be inquisitive. Burning with great voluptuousness, he of necessity gave himself up to impure love, and there was no one among those close to him who did not despair of his salvation; he was surrounded by a crowd of flatterers, and was joined by orphanhood, youth, and great wealth. Those who were inclined to blame everything lightly, began to accuse those who had first turned him to that (spiritual) path, asserting that he had failed in spiritual affairs as well, and would be unfit for his own affairs, since he had abandoned the study of the sciences before the time, and could not derive any benefit from them. When this was said, and great disgrace occurred, certain holy men, who had often caught such prey, and who knew well from experience that those armed with hope in God should not despair in such matters, kept a constant watch on him, and when they saw him appear in the marketplace, they approached him and greeted him. At first he spoke to them directly from his horse, and they followed him on either side; Such shamelessness was in him at first! But they, compassionate and child-loving, were not at all ashamed of this, but only looked at how to take the sheep from the wolves, which they achieved with patience. For afterwards, as if from some kind of mental frenzy, he came to his senses and was ashamed of their great solicitude, as soon as he saw from a distance that they were coming towards him, he immediately jumped off his horse, and lowering his eyes, listened to everything from them in silence, and in the course of time he began to show them more and more respect and reverence. In this way, by the mercy of God, little by little, having freed him from all these snares, they restored him to the former wilderness and wisdom. And now he has shone so brightly that his former life seems to be nothing compared to life after the fall. Knowing the temptation well by experience, he distributed all his wealth to the poor, and having freed himself from the care of it, he took away from those who wanted to plot every pretext for this, and now, marching along the path to heaven, he had already reached the summit of virtue. But this one fell and rose in his youth; And someone else, after many labors he had endured in the wilderness, having only one cohabitant, leading an angelic life and having already reached old age, I do not know how, by some satanic trick and his own carelessness, having given the evil one access to him, fell into the lust of communion with women – a man who had never seen a woman since he entered the monastic life! At first he asked his roommate to give him meat and wine, and threatened, if he did not receive it, to go to the marketplace. And he said this not so much because he wanted meat, but in order to have an excuse and an excuse to go to the city. The latter, perplexed and afraid lest, by refusing to do him this, he would do him more harm, satisfies his desire. When he saw that his ruse had failed, he threw off his pretense with evident shamelessness and said that he must certainly go to the city. The latter, unable to stop him, finally let him go, and following him from a distance, watched what his journey was leading to. And when he saw that he had entered into an unseemly house, and learned that he had communicated with a prostitute, he waited until he had satisfied his unclean lust and came out of it, received him with open arms, embraced him and kissed him fervently, and without in the least reproaching him for what he had done, he only asked that, since he had already satisfied his lust, he should again return to wilderness. This one, ashamed of his great meekness, was instantly struck in his soul, and feeling contrition for sin, followed him to the mountain; And when he came thither, he asked the man to shut him up in another cell, and shut the doors, and bring him bread and water on certain days, and to those who asked about him, he said that he was dead. Having said this and having persuaded his cohabitant, he shut himself up and lived there constantly, washing his soul from sinful impurity with fasting, prayers and tears. After a short time, when a drought befell the nearest country and all its inhabitants were in sorrow, someone received in a dream a command to ask the hermit to pray for an end to the drought. Taking his friends with him, he went thither; but there at first they found only the recluse's roommate; but when they asked about the latter, they received the answer that he was dead. Thinking that they had been deceived, they again turned to prayer, and again through the same vision they heard the same thing as before. Then, surrounding the one who was really pretending, they asked to show them this man, claiming that he was not dead, but alive. He, hearing this, and seeing that the agreement that had taken place between them was open, led them to this saint, and they, having dismantled the wall (for the entrance was also bricked up), and having all entered, fell down at his feet, told him what had happened, and besought him to deliver them from hunger. At first he refused them, asserting that he was far from such boldness, since he constantly had before his eyes his sin, as if it were only now committed. When they told him all that had happened, they persuaded him to pray, and after praying, he put an end to the drought. And of that young man who was first a disciple of John Zebedee, and then for a long time the chief of robbers, and was again caught by the holy hands of the blessed one, and from the hiding places and caves of the robbers returned to his former virtue, you yourself are not ignorant, and you know everything as well as we do, for I have often heard you marvel at the great condescension (of John), who first kissed the bloody right hand of the youth, embraced him, and in this way brought him back to his former state.

18. Blazh. Paul, with regard to Onesimus, that scoundrel, fugitive and thief – such a man, he not only himself takes into his arms when he has changed, but also asks his master to give the penitent the same honor as the teacher, thus saying: "I ask thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have borne in my bonds: he was once unfit for thee, but now he is fit for thee and me; I return it; but receive him as my heart. I wanted to keep him with me, that he might serve me in chains instead of you [for] the gospel; but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your good deed would not be forced, but voluntary. For perhaps he was absent for a time, that you might receive him forever, not as a servant, but above a servant, a beloved brother, especially to me, and all the more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. Therefore if thou hast fellowship with me, receive it as me" (Philemon 1:10-17). And in the Epistle to the Corinthians he also says: "When I come, my God hath not despised me among you, neither that I should mourn for many who sinned before and did not repent" (2 Corinthians 12:21); and again: "I have preceded and precede, as if I were with you a second time, and now, being absent, I write first to those who have sinned, and to all others, that when I come again, I will not spare them" (2 Corinthians 13:2). Do you see whom he mourns and whom he does not spare? Not those who have sinned, but who have repented, and not only have they not repented, but after one or two exhortations to repentance, they will not obey. The expressions: "I preceded and precede, as if I were with you for the second time, and now, being absent, I write" mean nothing else than this, which should be feared, lest it happen to us now. For although Paul is not with us, who threatened the Corinthians, yet Christ is coming, who spoke through him then, and if we do not cease to persist, He will not spare us, but will strike us with a mighty blow here and there. Therefore "let us stand before His face in confession, in the Psalms let us cry out to Him" (Psalm 94:2). "If thou hast sinned," says (the Scriptures), "add no more sins, and pray for the former ones" (Sir. 22:1). And again: "The accuser in the first speech at the trial is right with regard to himself" (Prov. 18:17). Let us not wait for the accuser, but first take his place, and in this way, by our frankness, we will make the Judge more merciful. I know well that you confess your sins and are excessively contrite; but I do not want only this, but I want to see if you want to justify yourself by deed. Until you make this confession fruitful, until then, although you condemn yourself, you cannot abandon subsequent sins. No one can do anything with diligence and in a proper way, unless he is convinced beforehand that this work will be beneficial. Thus the sower after sowing the seed, if he does not wait for the harvest, will never reap.

And repentance is harmed by stagnation in the same sins. "When one builds," says (the Scriptures), "and another destroys, what will they get for themselves except weariness? When someone washes himself from the defilement of the dead and touches him again, what is the use of his washing? So a man who fasts for his sins and goes again and does the same thing, who will hear his prayer?" (Sir. 34:23,25,26). And again: "If any man turn from righteousness to sin, the Lord will prepare him for the sword" (Sir. 26:26). And "as a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness" (Proverbs 26:11).

19. And so, declare your sin not only as condemning yourself, but also as having to be justified through repentance: then you will be able to induce the confessing soul not to fall into the same sins again. For to condemn oneself strongly and to call oneself a sinner is a common thing, so to speak, and untrue. Many of those who act on the stage, both men and women, who are the most shameless, call themselves accursed, although not for the proper purpose. Therefore I will not call it confession, because they do not declare their sins with contrition of soul, nor with bitter weeping, nor with a change of life; but some of them do this in order to gain glory from those who hear them by the frankness of their words, since sins do not seem equally grave when someone else reveals them, and when it is the sinner himself. Others, as a result of great despair, having fallen into bitterness and despising human glory, with extreme shamelessness declare to everyone their own vices, as if they were someone else's. But I wish that you do not belong to the number of them, that you approach confession not out of despair, but with good hope, and, having uprooted despair, show the opposite zeal. What is the root and mother of despair? Carelessness; or rather, it can be called not only a root, but also a nurturer and a mother. For as in wool corruption gives birth to worms, and is itself multiplied by them, so here carelessness begets despair, and itself feeds back on despair, and thus, by giving each other this accursed assistance, they do not increase in strength a little. Therefore, whoever destroys and eradicates one of these evils will be able to easily overcome the rest; he who does not give himself over to carelessness does not fall into despair; Whoever feeds on good hopes and does not despair of himself cannot fall into carelessness. Break this couple and break the yoke, that is, various and heavy thoughts; for they are not united by the same (thoughts), but by different and of every kind. What are they? It happens that another, having repented, performs many and great good deeds, and in the meantime again falls into sin, which is equivalent to these good deeds; and this is quite enough to plunge him into despair, as if what he had created had been destroyed and all his labors had been in vain. But it is necessary to delve into this and drive away the thought that if we do not have time in advance to store up good deeds in a measure equal to the sins committed after them, then nothing will keep us from a strong and complete fall. On the contrary, good deeds are like strong armor, which does not allow a sharp and destructive arrow to do its work, but, being cut by it, protects the body from great danger. Therefore, he who goes there with a multitude of both good and evil deeds will receive some relief both in punishment and in the torments there; but whoever, not having good works, brings only evil ones, it is impossible to say how much he will suffer, having been subjected to eternal punishment. There evil deeds will be compared with good ones, and if the latter are pulled in the balances, then the one who has committed them will not least serve for salvation, and the harm from the commission of evil deeds will not be so strong as to move him from his former place; but if the former prevail, they will drag him into the fire of hell; for the good works are not so numerous as to be able to withstand the strong preponderance of the evil. And this is inspired not only by our reasoning, but also by the Word of God. For the Lord Himself says: "He will reward each one according to his works" (Matthew 16:27). And not only in Gehenna, but also in the kingdom itself, there are many differences: "in My Father's house," he says, "there are many mansions" (John 14:2); and: "There is another glory of the sun, another glory of the moon" (1 Corinthians 15:41). And is it surprising that (the Apostle), having made a distinction between these (luminaries), says that there too there will be the same difference as between one star and another? Knowing all this, let us not cease to do good works, let us not give up our labors, and if we are not able to stand alongside the sun or the moon, let us not despise the place with the stars. If we at least show such a virtue, then we can also be in heaven. If we are neither gold nor precious stone, then at least we will retain the quality of silver, and we will remain on our foundation; if only we do not again come to the quality of that substance which easily burns fire, and so that, not being able to accomplish great deeds, we may not find ourselves without small ones: this is extreme madness, which may not happen to us. Just as material wealth is multiplied by the fact that lovers of it do not neglect even the slightest profits, so it is with spiritual wealth. It would be absurd in view of the fact that the Judge does not leave even a cup of cold water without reward, for us only because we do not have very great deeds, we do not care about doing small ones. On the contrary, he who does not neglect the lesser things will show great zeal for the greatest, and he who neglects the former will forsake the last; in order that this might not happen, Christ appointed great rewards for the former. What could be easier than visiting the sick? However, for this, too, He will give a great reward. Therefore, strive for eternal life, rejoice in the Lord and pray to Him; take up the good yoke again, bow down under a light burden, add to the beginning its worthy end; do not allow such wealth to perish. If you continue to provoke God to anger with your deeds, you will destroy yourself; but if before this great loss is accomplished, and the whole field is covered with water, you shut up the channels of wickedness, then you will be able to regain what you have lost, and add to it another considerable increase. Thinking about all this, shake off the dust, get up from the ground, and you will be terrible to the enemy. He threw you down, thinking that you would not rise again; and when he sees you with your hands raised against him, then, struck by the surprise, he will lose the desire to fight you again, and you yourself will be safer from receiving such a wound in the future. Truly, if the misfortunes of others are able to bring us to reason, then much more so are those that we ourselves have suffered. I hope to see this soon on your head – I hope that you, with God's help, will be even brighter, and show such virtue that you will stand there before others. Only do not despair, do not lose heart; this I will not cease to repeat to you in every conversation, wherever I see you, and through others; and if you obey this, you will not need any other healing.

IN ADDITION, THEODORE

EXHORTATION 2.

IF I could write down tears and lamentations, I would fill the letter with them and send them to you. I do not weep because you care about your father's affairs, but because you have blotted yourself out of the list of brethren, that you have trampled on the covenant with Christ. Because of this I shudder, I grieve over it, I fear and tremble, knowing that the violation of the covenant brings great condemnation upon those who enlist in the good army and through their own carelessness leave the ranks. From this it is obvious that such people are threatened with severe punishment. No one will ever accuse a commoner of not belonging to the army, and whoever once becomes a warrior, if he is caught fleeing from the ranks, is in extreme danger. The evil is not, dear Theodore, to fall while fighting, but to remain so, having fallen; it is not miserable to be wounded while fighting, but to despair after defeat and not to care for the wound. No merchant, having once been shipwrecked and having lost his cargo, does not abandon navigation, but again crosses the sea, and the waves, and the vast abysses, and regains his former wealth. And we see the wrestlers crowned after repeated falls; Likewise, the warrior who has fled many times is finally a hero and defeats his enemies. Even many of those who renounced Christ, because of the cruelty of the tortures, again entered into the struggle and departed adorned with the crown of martyrdom. But if each of them had given himself over to despair after the first blow, he would not have received subsequent blessings. So now you, dear Theodore, because the enemy has shaken you a little in your position, do not push yourself into the abyss, but stand good and hasten to return to where you came from, and do not consider this short-lived defeat a disgrace. You would not reproach a soldier when you saw him returning from war with a wound; for it is shameful to throw down arms and evade enemies; but as long as anyone remains in battle, even if he is struck down and retreats somewhat, no one will be so imprudent and inexperienced in military affairs as to accuse him for this. Not to be wounded is characteristic of those who do not fight; but it is characteristic of those who rush with great zeal against their enemies to be sometimes struck down and fall, as has now happened to you; you, striving to kill the serpent, were immediately wounded by it. you need a little vigilance, and there will be no trace of this wound; even, by the grace of God, thou shalt crush the head of even the evil one; Do not be dismayed by the fact that you stumbled so soon and at the very beginning. The evil one saw, soon saw the valor of your soul, and from many things he guessed that you would grow up to be a courageous opponent of him: having shown at the very beginning such a great and strong zeal against him, such a man, if he resisted, would easily, he thought, gain victory over him. Therefore he hastened, awoke, rose up with power against you, or rather, against his head, if you would stand bravely.

This is what saddened the evil one, this is what stirred him up to a strong struggle; However, he did not inflict a mortal wound. If he were to overthrow you after long uninterrupted fasts, prostrations to the ground and other feats, then even then you should not despair, although some would call the defeat accomplished after many efforts and labors and victories a great calamity; but since he overcame you when you were just preparing to fight him, he only succeeded in making you more zealous to fight him. You were just starting your voyage, and not returning from trade and carrying a full load, a ferocious pirate attacked. And just as he who seeks to kill a noble lion, only by scratching his skin, does not harm him in the least, but rather irritates him against himself, and makes him henceforth more cautious and difficult to grasp, so the common enemy, striving to inflict a deep wound, did not achieve this, but made (you) henceforth more vigilant and cautious.