It is the custom of many to say this when we exhort them to strive for virtue, or to diligently exercise themselves in the reading of the Scriptures. It is none of my business, they say; Have I renounced the world, am I a monk? What sayest thou, man? Are monks alone destined to please God? God "wills that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4), and does not want anyone to neglect virtue. Listen to what He Himself says through the prophet: "Do I desire the death of the wicked? … Is it not that he should turn from his ways and live?" (Ezekiel 18:23). Tell me, was this righteous man in any way hindered by cohabitation with his wife or the care of children? In the same way, I beseech you, let us not deceive ourselves, but the more we are burdened with these cares, the more we will receive healing from the reading of the Divine Scriptures. After all, these people were of the same nature as us; moreover, they did not have so many motives disposing to virtue.

If we continue to proclaim this spiritual teaching to you every day, and you continue to be careless, what will be the use of uninterrupted instruction to you? And what consolation will there be for us when we see that our great work remains useless and there is no true success from our efforts? For, tell me, are we not composed of two natures, that is, of soul and body? Why then do we not take the same care of both, but try to serve the body in every possible way, and give money to the doctors

Wherefore, thou who dost take such great care of the body, wherefore and why dost thou take so little care of the soul, and wilt neither give it its proper nourishment, that is, instruction from the divine Scriptures, nor apply useful medicines to its wounds and sores, which destroy its strength and weaken its vigor, on the contrary, thou hast neglected it, when it is faint from hunger, and from the plagues it decays, and serves as a prey, as it were to dogs, to evil and impure thoughts, which tear it to pieces and break all its strength?

Why do we not take care of the incorporeal and invisible soul as much as the visible body, while caring for it is not only convenient and easy, but also requires no expense and no labor? Thus, as regards the care of the body and the healing of bodily diseases, it is necessary to spend a great deal of money, partly on physicians, partly on all other necessities, that is, on food and clothing, not to mention the fact that very many people spend them with great immoderation even beyond need. And in relation to the soul, nothing of the kind is needed, but if, just as you deliver food to the body every day and spend money on it, you want not to allow the soul to perish from hunger, but you will give it appropriate food, that is, instruction from the Scriptures and from spiritual instruction ("not by bread alone," says the Scriptures, "man shall live, but by every word, proceeding out of the mouth of God" – Matt. 4:4), then you will dispose of it in the best possible way and give due attention to what is most precious to us. Therefore, just as you provide the body with various garments, taking into account the different seasons of the year and the variety of garments, so do not allow the soul to walk naked without good works, clothe it also with decent clothing: through this you will immediately restore it and bring it back to its natural state of health. What is this garment of the soul? Alms and generosity to the poor: this is the most beautiful garment of the soul, this is its bright garment. And if you wish not only to provide her with clothing, but also to adorn her like a body, then add the aid of prayer and confession of sins, and do not cease to wash her face with incessant tears. Just as you wash your bodily face every day with all care, so that no impurity that disfigures it is seen on it, so try to deal with the soul, and wash it every day, shedding hot tears. Washing away impurity from itself with this (tearful) water, the soul becomes brighter and brighter. And since very many women, out of great effeminacy, despising the commandment of the Apostles, which commands not to adorn themselves with braiding (hair), or gold, or pearls, or precious garments (1 Timothy 2:9), adorn themselves with great luxury, and not only wives, but also pampered men bring themselves to the weakness of their wives, putting rings on their hands, and adorning themselves with many costly stones, which they ought to be ashamed of, and blush, then let both these and those, having listened to our words, rather turn these jewels, which do much harm to both husbands and wives, to adorn the soul and adorn it with them. Put on the body, even if beautiful, they make it ugly; on the contrary, those placed on the soul, even an ugly one, give it great beauty. But how, you say, is it possible to put these jewels on the soul? Again by the hands of the poor: they, receiving (almsgiving), impart beauty to the soul (of the giver). Give them your jewels and scatter them in their wombs, and they will bring such beauty to your soul that you will attract to you the true Bridegroom by your appearance, and you will gain innumerable blessings: having attracted the Lord to you with this beauty, you will have the source of all blessings and possess untold riches. And so, if we wish to be pleasing to the Lord, then, abandoning the care of adorning the body, let us take care of the beauty of the soul every day, so that we may also attract for ourselves the goodwill of the loving God and receive unspeakable blessings, through the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom be glory, dominion, and honor to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONVERSATION 22

"Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. When men began to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them" (Gen. 5:32, 6:1).

I want to offer you today the remnants of yesterday's meal; but do not be grieved, beloved, listening to what remains. Of course, sensual foods, after a day or two, often spoil and become unpleasant and unfit for food, and with regard to the spiritual meal one should not be afraid of this; on the contrary, the more time passes, the more pleasant they become, and the fresher and tastier they become. So let us fulfill the promise we made yesterday by our very deeds, let us pay the debt of instruction and show honesty. This benefits not only those who receive, as is the case with (ordinary) debts, but also me, who pay the debt. And what do I say, To me, who pay? The nature of this spiritual debt is such that the more it is paid, the more it increases, and the more it brings abundance and unspeakable wealth to both the giver and the receiver. Do you see the extraordinary nature of the debt and the special kind of payment? Such is the spiritual: when it is distributed, it multiplies still more, and the greater the number communicated, the more it increases, so that even the giver does not feel any loss, on the contrary, his possessions still increase, and those who receive become richer. And if this is the nature of spiritual things, then with all diligence we will hasten to pay, and you prepare your ears to receive them, so that each of you may receive our words into the holes of the bosom of the soul and return home with it. The subject of our discussion will again be the righteous Noah, so that you may know his great virtue and God's ineffable love for mankind and longsuffering, which surpasses all understanding. Yesterday you learned how this righteous man, having received his name from his father, from his very birth was for all the people of that time a harbinger of misfortunes, and in his name he cried out and spoke thus: forsake wickedness, do virtue, fear the threatening punishment; A general flood will befall the entire universe. The wrath (of God) is very strong, because wickedness has also increased greatly. And so he exhorted, not for two or three years, but for five hundred years. Have you seen the long-suffering of the Lord? Have you seen immeasurable goodness? Have you seen the unspeakable condescension? Have you seen the multiplication of wickedness? Did you see their great recklessness? This, as you know, was the end of our sermon yesterday. Today it is necessary to learn how the humane Lord, in His goodness, did not limit Himself to five hundred years, but also showed a new experience, care for such great sinners. "Noah was," says the Scripture, "five hundred years old." The divine Scripture purposely indicated the number of years of the righteous man, so that we might see how long he exhorted his contemporaries, and how they, having chosen the path of impiety, perished on it, while the righteous man, following a completely opposite path, showed such a high virtue that he attracted the favor of God to himself, and while all others were punished, he alone and his family escaped it. From this we learn that if we are vigilant and not careless, then living in the midst of evil people not only does not harm us, but also makes us more thorough in virtue. For this reason the loving God arranged for both the evil and the good to live together, so that the wickedness of the wicked would be weakened, and the virtue of the good would be more brilliant, and the careless would receive the greatest benefit from dealing with the zealous (for virtue) if they wished. Imagine, then, how devoted this righteous man was to virtue, when, in the midst of so many people, striving with great strength for wickedness, he alone went the opposite way, preferring virtue to wickedness, and neither unanimity, nor such a great multitude (of the wicked) stopped him on the path of good, but he had already fulfilled in advance what the blessed Moses later had to say: "Do not follow the majority to evil" (Exodus 23:2). And what is especially surprising and wondrous is that while many, or rather, all inclined to impiety and evil deeds, and no one disposed to virtue, he himself rushed to it with such strength that he went against such a multitude; he was not afraid or frightened by the unanimity of the wicked; I did not act as the negligent usually do, who, when they see that many show unanimity in something, take advantage of this opportunity to cover up their negligence, and say: "Why should I, in spite of all these people, undertake anything new and special, contradict such a multitude and enter into a struggle with such a multitude? Am I more righteous than all of them? What is the use of such enmity to me? What is the benefit of such hatred? But (the righteous man) did not make such fruitless considerations, and did not even think of doing so; he again fulfilled in advance what the prophet said: "Better is one righteous man than a thousand sinners" (Sir. 17:3). Can communion, he thought, and agreement with the multitude of people who strive for evil, save me from punishment? He knew, he truly knew, that each would answer for his own salvation, and that it was impossible for another to suffer punishment for the sinner, or to receive someone else's reward. Therefore, the righteous man, like a spark in the middle of the sea, not only did not fade away, but every day he emitted the clearest light, teaching everyone by his deeds.

Do you see how the Lord created our nature free? Why, tell me, did they (Noah's contemporaries) seek wickedness and bring punishment upon themselves, and this (Noah), having chosen virtue and fleeing from the company with them, did not suffer punishment? Is it not evident that each one chooses wickedness or virtue of his own free will? If it were not so, if our nature did not possess authority, then we should not suffer punishment by it, nor receive the reward of virtue. But since everything, after the highest grace, depends on our will, therefore punishments are prepared for those who sinn, and recompense and reward for those who live virtuously. "Noah," says the Scripture, "was five hundred years old, and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth." Notice the accuracy of the Divine Scriptures. Having told us about the number of years of the righteous man, in order to show the greatness of the Lord's longsuffering, it also wants to explain to us both the increase in the Lord's condescension and the increase in human wickedness.

2. But let us listen to the very words of Moses, who, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, wants to teach us everything with exactness. "When men," he says, "began to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them." Not without reason did he add: "And daughters were born to them," but in order to give us an idea of the great multiplication of people. Where there is such a great multitude of roots, there many branches are necessarily born. "Then the sons of God," he says, "saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, and took [them] to be their wives, whichever they chose." Let us examine each of these words carefully, so that nothing hidden in the depths may be hidden from us. And it is necessary to carefully examine this passage and refute the empty talk of those who speak about everything thoughtlessly. And, in the first place, it is necessary to show that these people dare to speak, and, having discovered the absurdity of their words, then explain to your love the true meaning of the Scriptures, so that you do not innocently listen to those who utter blasphemous speeches and dare to speak on their own heads. They say that this is not said of men, but of angels; it is as if (the Scriptures) called them the sons of God. But first, let them show where the angels are called the sons of God: this they cannot show anywhere. People are called sons of God, but angels are never. Of angels (Scripture) it says: "Thou makest Thy angels spirits, Thy servants a blazing fire" (Psalm 103:4), and of men: "I said, Ye are gods" (Psalm 81:6); and again: "I have brought up and exalted sons" (Isaiah 1:2); and again: "Israel [is] My son, My firstborn" (Exodus 4:22); and the angel is nowhere called either the son or the son of God. But what do they say? Truly, they were angels, but since they came down (from heaven to earth) for a lawless deed, they lost their dignity. Another even greater idle talk! So what is it? Now they have lost (their dignity), and this was precisely the cause of their fall? But the Scriptures teach us otherwise, namely, that even before the creation of the first man they lost their dignity – both the devil and those (spirits) who together with him sought the highest dignity, as the all-wise one says: "Through the envy of the devil death entered into the world" (Wisdom 2:24). Indeed, tell me, if the devil had not fallen before the creation of man, how could he, while remaining in his dignity, envy man? What is the meaning of the angel's envy of a man, who was incorporeal and in such honor, clothed with a body? But since (the devil) had fallen from the highest glory into utter disgrace and had fallen while incorporeal, and yet saw that man was created and, being in the body, was vouchsafed, by the love of the Creator, such a great honor, he was inflamed with envy and by means of the deception committed by him through the serpent, subjected man to the punishment of death. Such is the quality of malice: it cannot indifferently endure the happiness of others. It is obvious to everyone that the devil and all his horde have already lost heavenly glory from time immemorial and have become dishonorable. And on the other hand, is it not insane to say that the angels descended to cohabitation with women, and the incorporeal nature was degraded to copulation with bodies? Do you not hear what Christ says about the angelic nature: "In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but abide as the angels of God in heaven" (Matt. 22:30)? And it is not characteristic of this incorporeal nature to have such (carnal) lust. And moreover, it must be considered that to accept such an opinion even from reason would be the greatest absurdity. If the holy men, who were vouchsafed the Holy Spirit, were not able to endure even the apparitions of angels, if even the man of desire, seeing the presence of the angel, was not the being itself (for how can one see a disembodied being?), but the image he perceived, lost his strength and almost life itself, if even such a great and lofty man fell almost breathless, then who, even the most reckless, Will he agree with this blasphemous and utterly insane opinion, that the incorporeal and spiritual nature had copulation with bodies?

3. But lest it should seem that we ourselves are wasting our time in saying much about this, for this purpose, having proved to your love by our very deed the impossibility of such an event, let us now reveal to you the true meaning of the words proposed, having read again what the divine Scriptures have said. "Then the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, and took [them] for their wives, whichever one chose." We have already told you before that the Scriptures have the custom of calling people sons of God. Since they (meaning those who are called the sons of God) descended from Seth and from his son called Enos ("then," says the Scriptures, "they began to call upon the name of the Lord"), his further descendants are called sons of God in the divine Scriptures, because they had hitherto imitated the virtue of their ancestors; And the sons of men are those who were born before Seth, of Cain, and from him they descended. Then the sons of God (the descendants of Seth and Enos) saw the daughters of men (daughters born of those of whom [the Scripture] said that "daughters were born to them"), (and) that they were beautiful. See how by this expression the Scriptures have shown us all their unbridledness. They rushed to this work, not out of a desire for childbearing, but out of immoderate lust. "They saw," says the Scripture, "the daughters of men, that they were beautiful." The lust for beauty dragged them into this destruction; the beauty of the face was for them the cause of fornication and unbridledness. But the Scripture did not limit itself to this, but added: "And they took [them] for wives, whichever one chose." And this again points to their great unbridledness, that they, i.e. were overcome by beauty and did not want to curb disorderly lust, but, carried away by the sight (of women), sank (in impurity), and by this iniquity made themselves unworthy of the highest providence. And so that we may know that they did not do this according to the law of marriage and not for the sake of childbearing, for this (the Scripture) says: "They saw ... that they were beautiful, and took [them] for their wives, whomsoever they chose. What then? Who can blame the eyes for what they see? Not at all: it was not the eye that caused the destruction of these people, but their careless will and unbridled lust. The eye was created so that we, seeing God's creations with it, glorify their Creator. Therefore, the work of the eye is to see; and to see evil depends on the mind that governs it. The Lord arranged the members (of our body) so that they would be useful to us for doing good, and He left their control to an incorporeal being, that is, the soul. And so, when the soul gives itself over to negligence and weakens the reins, then just as the charioteer, who does not know how to restrain the disorderly impulses of the horses, lowers the reins, and endangers both the horses pulling the chariot and himself, so our will, when it does not know how to use the limbs properly, gives free rein to disorderly lusts, and destroys itself. For this reason our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing the weakness of our nature and carelessness of our will, gave a law forbidding and forbidding superfluous glances, in order to extinguish the flame that burns in us from afar, and said: "That whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matt. 5:28). For this, he says, I forbid unbridled looking, in order to protect against lawless deed. Do not think that copulation alone constitutes sin; the very thought is subject to condemnation. In the same way, these people, seeing beauty, were captivated by their sight. "They saw...," says (the Scripture), "that they were beautiful, and took [them] to be their wives, whichever one chose." But let us see what goodness the Lord showed even after this lawless deed and their disorderly disposition. "And the Lord said," says the Scriptures, "My Spirit shall not be despised by men for ever; for they are flesh; let their days be a hundred and twenty years" (Gen. 6:3). In these few words one can see the abyss of philanthropy. "And the Lord said," it is said, "My Spirit shall not be despised by men for ever; for they are flesh." (The Lord) here called His providential power by the spirit, already predicting their destruction. And that you may know that this is what is being said, see what is added, "Because they are flesh," that is, because they gave themselves up entirely to the deeds of the flesh, and did not use the proper faculties of the soul, but led a life as if they were clothed only with flesh and had no soul. The Divine Scriptures always have the custom of calling carnal people flesh, and virtuous people bodiless, as Paul says: "You do not live according to the flesh" (Romans 8:9), not because they were not clothed with flesh, but because, being clothed with flesh, they were above carnal thoughts. And just as Paul said to these things because of their contempt for the things of the flesh, "You do not live according to the flesh," so he called them flesh because they were constantly engaged in the things of the flesh. "Because they are flesh," so I will no longer allow them to be defiled by sins.

Have you seen the greatness of the wrath (of God)? Did you see the excessive force of the threat? See how (God) dissolved the threat and anger with love for mankind. Such is our Lord: He often threatens not in order to fulfill the threat, but so that, having corrected people, He will no longer carry out the threat. For if He wanted (only) to punish, why did He foretell? But since He does not wish (only to punish), He always delays and delays, and predicts, instilling (through this) the guilty with an inducement to avoid impiety, to choose virtue, and to avoid punishment. Therefore, after He had uttered a threat to consign them to complete destruction (and this is the meaning of the words: "My Spirit shall not be despised by men for ever; for they are flesh" – that is, I will not allow them to live any more)

"Their days will be a hundred and twenty years. At that time there were giants on the earth, – says (the Scripture), – especially from the time when the sons of God began to come in to the daughters of men, and they began to bear children to them: these are mighty men, of old glorious men" (Gen. 6:3,4). Nephilim, I think, is here called by the Divine Scripture people who are strong in body. From them, he says, their race multiplied. This is also spoken of in another place: "I have called My mighty ones to do My wrath" (Isaiah 13:3). And the number: one hundred and twenty years is recognized by some as the limit of life; but this does not mean, but (the Scriptures) want to show the long-suffering that (the Lord) manifests to people even after so many of their sins. Therefore, so that we may know that people, even after (revealed by God) anger and threats, and after the long long-suffering that He gave them for repentance, not only did not reform, but continued to sin. The Scripture says, "From the time that the sons of God began to come in to the daughters of men, and they began to bear children to them: they are mighty men, glorious men of old." Do you see what excessive recklessness? What insensibility of the soul? Neither the fear of punishment nor the duration of (God's) long-suffering turned them away from evil deeds; once they had fallen into the abyss and lost their spiritual sight, they, seized with impure lust, as if by some kind of drunkenness, did not want to reform, as the Most Wise One says: "With the coming of the wicked comes contempt, and with disgrace reproach" (Proverbs 18:3). It is frightening, terrible, beloved, to be caught by the wiles of the devil. Then the soul becomes entangled, as it were, in a net, and just as an unclean animal, wallowing in the mud, delights in it, so it, having given itself over to a sinful habit, no longer feels the stench of sins. Therefore, we must be sober and watchful, so as not to give the evil demon any access (to us) from the very beginning, so that he, darkening our mind and blinding the eye of the soul, does not force us, who cannot look at the light of the sun of righteousness, like those who are deprived of sunlight, to strive into the abyss, which is what happened to these people. Listen also to the long-suffering of the good God. "And the Lord (God) saw," says the Scripture, "that the wickedness of men was great on the earth" (Gen. 6:5). What do the words "And I saw" mean? It is not that the Lord did not know; no: the divine Scripture tells about everything adapted to our weakness. In order to make us understand that these people, even after such great long-suffering of God, remained in the same sins or fell again into even greater ones, it says: "And he saw ... that great was the corruption of men on earth." From this evil deed [i.e., from the mingling of the sons of God with the daughters of men], as from the source, many other sins were born to them; That is why it is said: "The corruption of men." Where there is fornication, an intemperate and unclean life, there is naturally born drunkenness, and disorder, and great injustice, and covetousness, and a multitude of evil. "And the Lord (God) saw," it is said, "that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that all the thoughts and thoughts of their hearts were evil all the time."

See how each word here points to a multitude of sins. Having said in general: "That great is the corruption of men on earth." The Scripture added: "and that all things." This word is meaningful. Not only the young man (sins), but also the elder does similar things to him; not only husband, but also wife; not only a slave, but also a freeman; Not only rich, but also poor. And the word "thoughts" is also meaningful. That is, they do it. Not in fits and starts, but pondering in their hearts, striving for it every hour and deliberately taking care of it, – not just once or twice, simply and accidentally, carried away by sin, they then abandon impiety, but diligently practice it and do evil; That is, they commit sin with great care, not in passing, not carelessly, and not in a short time, but all the days, throughout their entire lives. Have you seen the increase in wickedness? Did you see how they made it their occupation, diligently doing all kinds of evil, and how every age willingly strove to do evil? "All," says (the Scriptures); there was no immature age that had nothing to do with evil, but everyone immediately and from the very beginning competed in this evil feat, trying to surpass each other in lawless deeds. Now imagine the extraordinary wisdom of the righteous man, when, in the midst of such unanimity of evil people, he could have avoided infection and suffered no harm from them, but as if having a different nature, he retained firmness of spirit and, of his own free will, striving to do good, avoided sinful like-mindedness with them, and was delivered from the destruction that had befallen all. "And the Lord (God) repented," says the Scriptures, "that he had created man on the earth" (Gen. 6:6). Note here also the coarseness and adaptability of the expression. "And he repented," it is said, instead of "repented," not because God repents – let it not be – but the divine Scriptures speak to us in a human way, in order to teach us that the excessive multitude of human sins has brought the humane God into such great wrath. "And the Lord (God) repented that he had created man on the earth." Is it for this, says God, that I created him, so that, having fallen into such great wickedness, he should become the author of his own destruction? For this reason I have honored him from the very beginning, and have shown him so much care that he may choose virtue and be safe from destruction. But since he has abused My love for mankind, it is better to interrupt his evil undertakings. "And the Lord (God) said, I will destroy from off the face of the earth the men whom I have created, from man to beast, and I will destroy creeping things and birds of the air: for I have repented that I have created them." For my part, says God, I have done everything: I have brought (people) from non-existence into being, I have put into (their) nature the knowledge of what to do and what not to do, I have granted them free will, I have manifested the ineffable (to them)

"And the Lord (God) said, I will destroy from off the face of the earth the men whom I have created, from man to beast." But perhaps someone will say: why are animals subjected to the same punishment as him for a man's deviation to impiety? That's how it should be. Are animals created for themselves? They were created for man; Therefore, when he is destroyed, what need is there for them? Then they also share (with man) the punishment, so that you may know how strong is the wrath (of God against the sinner). Just as in the beginning the earth fell under the curse for the sin of the progenitor, so now, when death threatens man, the dumb also become partakers of the punishment. Just as in the godly life of man and creation participates in human well-being, according to the words of Paul: "And the creation itself shall be freed from slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (Romans 8:21), so now, when man must be punished for the multitude of his sins and be subjected to final destruction, cattle, creeping things, and birds are subject to the flood with him, who has to cover the whole world. And as in a house, when the chief servant falls under the wrath of his master, all his concelebrants usually share in his sorrow, so here, when, as in a house, people perish, everything that is in the house and subject to them is necessarily subjected to the same punishment. "I repented," says the Scripture, "that I made them." How much condescension there is in this word! Did I want, says (God), to subject them to such punishment? They themselves, by their great iniquities, have brought Me into such great wrath. However, so that we do not think that the human race is being completely destroyed and our nature is being destroyed by the roots, on the contrary, we would know how great an evil sin is, and how great a good virtue is, and that "Better is one righteous man than a thousand sinners" (Sirach 17:3), the Scriptures say: "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Gen. 6:8). If, he says, all the multitude (of people) fell into such great impiety, then this righteous man retained the spark of virtue, and at the same time preached to all these people during all this time and inspired them to abandon impiety, and kept himself free from their defilement. And just as by their evil deeds they provoked the wrath of the loving God, so this one, having loved virtue, "found grace in the eyes of the Lord. … God is no respecter of persons" (Gen. 6:8, Acts 10:34); if in such a multitude He finds at least one who does what is pleasing to Him, He does not leave him unattended, but vouchsafes His care, and the more He shows concern for him, the more zealously he himself walks the path of virtue in the presence of so many who lead Him to wickedness.