1. "Then" - when? After Peter said, "Be merciful to yourself, O Lord! let it not be with Thee," and received the answer: "Get thee behind Me, Satan!" The Lord was not satisfied with one rebuke, but, wishing to fully demonstrate the inappropriateness of Peter's words and the benefit of suffering, He said: "Thou sayest unto Me: Be merciful! let it not be with Thee"; and I tell you that not only is it harmful and destructive for you to hinder Me and to grieve over My suffering, but you yourself cannot be saved unless you are always ready to die. And so that the disciples do not think that it is dishonorable for Him to suffer, He admonishes them about the benefits of suffering not only by the above words, but also by the following ones. Thus, in John He says: "If a grain of wheat falls into the ground and does not die, it will remain alone; but if he dies, he will bear much fruit" (John 12:24). Thus, here, fully revealing the benefits of suffering, what has been said about the necessity of dying extends not only to himself, but also to them. Such is the benefit of this podvig, that for you not to wish to die is pernicious, and to be ready for it is a blessing. However, Christ fully explains this later, and now reveals it only partially. And notice how He does not force you to say this; He did not say that you should suffer willingly or unwillingly, but what did he say? "If any man will come after me." I do not force, I do not coerce; but I leave it to everyone's own will. Wherefore I say, "If any man will." I invite you to a good deed, and not to an evil and painful one, not to execution and torment, to which I would have to be forced. The case itself is such that it can attract you. By speaking in this way, Christ only attracted more to follow Him. He who coerces often turns away; and he who gives the listener freedom is more likely to attract. Gentle treatment is more effective than coercion. That is why Christ also said: "If any man will." Great are the blessings, He says, which I give you, such that you will gladly strive for them. He who gives gold and offers treasure will not use violence. If, however, violence is not necessary for these goods, then it is all the less necessary for heavenly blessings. If the quality of the good itself does not impel you to strive for it, then you are not worthy to receive it; but if you do, you will not know the price of what you have received. That is why Christ does not compel us, but condescendingly exhorts us. Since the disciples, being troubled by the words of Jesus, apparently murmured a lot in private, He says: "There is no need to murmur and be troubled." If you do not believe that what I have spoken of will be the cause of innumerable blessings and will come to pass with you, I do not force or coerce; but whoever wishes to follow, I call him. Do not regard as following Me what you are now doing when you follow Me. If you want to follow Me, then you will have to endure many labors, many dangers. Do not think, Peter, that because you have confessed Me to be the Son of God, you can expect crowns for this alone; do not consider this sufficient for your salvation, and do not rest on it, as if everything is done by you. I, as the Son of God, can cause you not to be exposed to disasters, but I do not want you to have something that is your own, and that you deserve more praise. What manager of the games in the field, being a friend of the wrestler, would want to crown him only by mercy, without any merit on his part, and solely because he loves him? In the same way, Christ desires those whom He especially loves to gain glory by themselves, and not only with His help. See, then, how not difficult is the commandment He proposes. He does not condemn them alone to disasters, but gives a common commandment for all, saying: "If anyone wills, whether he is a wife, a husband, a ruler, or a subordinate, everyone must follow this path. And although he apparently speaks of one thing, he means three actions: denying oneself, taking up one's cross and following Him. Two are connected to each other, and one is set separately. Let us see, then, first, what it means to deny oneself. Let us examine beforehand what it means to deny another, and then we shall know what it means to deny oneself. So, what does it mean to reject another? He who renounces another, for example, a brother, or a slave, or anyone else, even if he sees that he is beaten, or tied, or led to execution, or otherwise tortured, does not intercede, does not defend, does not sympathize, does not take any part in him, as if he were a complete stranger to him. In the same way, Christ desires that we should not spare our bodies: whether they are beaten, persecuted, burned, or whatever else they do, do not spare ourselves. This is what it means to feel sorry for yourself. And fathers then feel sorry for their children, when, entrusting them to teachers, they command not to spare them. So it is with Christ. He did not say, "Let him not pity himself," but, what is much stronger, "let him deny himself," that is, let him have nothing in common with himself, but let him condemn himself to dangers, to exploits, and endure them as if someone else would endure them. Christ did not say, "Let him deny himself" (arnhsasqw), but, "Let him be rejected" (aparnhsasqw), giving greater force to His words by this small addition, since the latter is much more expressive than the former.

2. "And take up your cross." This follows from the first. Lest you think that, in denying yourself, you must endure only verbal insults and reproaches, He sets a limit to which self-denial must extend, namely, death, and a shameful death. That is why He did not say, "Let him deny himself" even unto death, but, "Let him take up his cross," meaning a shameful death, and an action not once or twice, but a lifetime performed. Continually, He says, have death before your eyes, and every day be ready for the slaughter. Many, although they despised wealth, pleasure, and fame, did not despise death, but feared dangers; therefore, He says, I want My ascetic to fight to the point of blood, and his ascetic deeds to continue until the very slaughter. Therefore, if it is necessary to endure death, and a shameful death, death under a curse and on suspicion of evil deeds, then everything must be endured with courage, and still rejoice in this. "And follow Me." Since someone who suffers will not follow Him when he does not suffer for Him (and robbers, for example, and tomb robbers and sorcerers suffer many grievous torments), so that you do not think that the most calamities are enough, no matter what they come from, He adds what the cause of the calamities should be. What is it? Whatever you do or endure, follow Christ, endure everything for Him, and observe the other virtues. In the words, "And follow me," it is also implied that you should show not only courage in adversity, but also chastity, and meekness, and every virtue. That is what it means to follow Him as we ought, in order to strive for every other virtue, and to endure everything for Him. There are people who, following the devil, endure the same thing and give up their souls for him; but we suffer for Christ, or rather, for ourselves. By patience they harm themselves both here and there; and we gain benefit both in this life and in the life to come. Is it not extreme negligence, then, not to show such courage as those who are perishing, and this in spite of the fact that so many rewards are prepared for us? Moreover, Christ helps us, and no one helps them. Even earlier, when He sent His disciples, the Lord commanded them, saying: "Go not into the way of the Gentiles; I send you as sheep among wolves"; and, "They shall bring you before rulers and kings" (Matt. 10:5,16,18). And now he commands much more strongly and strictly. At that time he spoke only of death, but now he also mentioned the cross, and the everlasting cross: "and take," He says, "thy cross," that is, let him hold it and bear it unceasingly. This is how Christ usually acted: not at first, not at the first instructions, but gradually and little by little He offered the most difficult commandments, so as not to alarm the listeners. Further, since the commandment seemed heavy, see how He softens it by the following words, how He offers rewards that exceed labor, and not only rewards, but also punishments for sins; He expands on punishments even more than on rewards, because it is usually not so much the giving of blessings as a severe threat that makes many wiser. See how He begins here, and ends in the same way. "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it; What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? or what ransom shall a man give in exchange for his soul" (Matt. 16:25-26)? These words mean: Do not think that I will not spare you; on the contrary, I am very sorry when I command you this. In the same way, he who spares his son destroys him, and he who does not spare him preserves him. A wise man said the same thing: "If thou chastest thy son with the rod, he shall not die, but shalt save his soul from hell" (Proverbs 23:13-14); and again: "He who pleases his son shall bind up his wounds" (Sirach 30:7). The same happens with soldiers: if a military commander, sparing the soldiers, allows them to always stay at home, then he will also destroy those who remain with them. Therefore, in order that the same thing may not happen to you, He says, you must always be ready for death. For even now a terrible battle is already flaring up. Therefore, do not sit at home, but go and fight; even if you fall in battle, you will revive at the same moment. If even in visible battles he who goes to death is more glorious than others, and is considered invincible, and is especially terrible to his enemies, although the king, for whom he takes up arms, is not able to raise him after death, how much more in these battles, when there is so much hope of being resurrected, he who gives up his life to death will find it, first, because he will not be quickly defeated, secondly, because if he falls, he will gain a better life for it.

3. Then, when he says, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it," in both cases he uses the words, "He will save and he will destroy," so that no one thinks that to destroy and to save in both cases is the same thing, but to see clearly that there is the same difference between the two salvations, what is the difference between perdition and salvation, He explains it from the opposite: "What shall it profit a man," He says, "if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

Judge the soul in the same way: when the flesh enjoys and becomes rich, the soul expects future destruction. "What ransom shall a man give in exchange for his soul"? Again confirms the same. You cannot, He says, give another soul instead of a soul. If you lose money, you can give others; the same may be said of the house, of the slaves, and of all other possessions; And if you lose your soul, you will not be able to give another soul. Though thou possessest the whole world, though thou art the king of the universe, yet thou hast given up the whole universe, and for the whole universe thou shalt not buy a single soul. And what wonder if this happens to the soul? Just as everyone can see, so it is with the body. Even if you put thousands of crowns on yourself, but if your body is sick by nature and suffers incurably, you cannot help it, even if you give a whole kingdom and add thousands of bodies, cities, and possessions. Judge the soul in the same way, and the soul even more, and, leaving everything else, make every effort for it.

4. Taking care of what is not yours, do not forget yourself and your own, as everyone does today, imitating miners. For them there is no benefit from such work and from the jewels themselves; on the contrary, there is still greater harm, because they are exposed to dangers in vain and exposed to others, without receiving any fruit for themselves from their labors and exhaustions. It is these things that many now imitate, gathering wealth for others. Yes, we should be pitied more than they are, because after such labors hell awaits us. The miner is freed from his labors by death; but for us, death is the beginning of innumerable evils. You say that it is pleasant for you to work when you are getting rich; but show that your soul rejoices: then I will believe. The most important thing in us is the soul. But if the body becomes fat, and the soul faints, then it is of no use to you. Thus, if the slave rejoices and the mistress dies, then there is no benefit to the mistress from the welfare of the servant; so for a sick body there is no benefit from elegant clothing. "What ransom shall a man give in exchange for his soul"? - Christ says to you again, commanding you to do everything you can to take care of your soul, and to take care of it alone. Having frightened by pointing to the destruction of the soul, Christ also comforts with the promise of good things: "For the Son of Man will come," He says, "in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each one according to his works" (Matt. 16:27). Do you see that to the Father and to the Son belongs one glory? But if the glory is one, then it is evident that the essence is also one. If, in the unity of essence, there is a difference in glory ("the glory of the sun is different, the glory of the moon is different, the glory of the stars is different; and star differs from star in glory" (1 Cor. 15:41), although they are of the same essence), then how can those to whom the same glory belongs be considered not of the same essence? And He did not say, "In such glory as is proper to the Father," lest you again think that there is any difference in this, but He shows with all certainty that the glory is one and the same, saying that in the glory of the Father He will come. "Wherefore," he says, "what art thou afraid, Peter, when thou hearest of death? Then you will see Me in the glory of the Father. And if I am in glory, so are you. Your reward is not in real life; no, you inherit another, better lot. Having spoken of blessings, however, He did not stop there, but added threats, mentioning the last judgment, severe torture, impartial sentence, and a righteous decision. However, He did not want only to grieve them with a word, but dissolved it with pleasant hopes. He did not say, "Then He will punish sinners," but "He will reward each one according to his deeds." In saying this, He understood not only the punishment of sinners, but also the rewards and crowns of the righteous. He said this in order to encourage virtuous people as well. And I always tremble when I hear about the judgment, because I am not one of the married ones. I think that others are also frightened and terrified, for who will not be frightened, who will not be made trembling by this word, if the hearer comes only to the consciousness of himself? Who will not be convinced that sackcloth and the strictest fast are more necessary for us than for the people of Nineveh? We are told not about the destruction of the city, not about general destruction, but about eternal torment, about inextinguishable fire.

5. That is why I salute and marvel at the monks who withdrew into the wilderness, being moved both by other reasons and by this word of Christ. After lunch, or rather, after supper (they sometimes do not have lunch, since they consider the present life to be a time of weeping and fasting), after supper, lifting up songs of thanksgiving to God, they remember this word. If you want to hear their song itself, so that you will always pronounce it, then I will repeat to you all this sacred song. Here are her own words: "Blessed be God, who nourishes me from my youth, who gives food to all flesh! Fill our hearts with joy and gladness, that we, having all contentment, may always abound in every good work, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom be glory, honor, and dominion to Thee, with the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen. Glory to Thee, O Lord, Glory to Thee, Holy Glory, Glory to Thee, O King, that Thou hast given us joy and joy! Fill us with the Holy Spirit, that we may be found acceptable before Thee, that we may not be ashamed, when Thou wilt reward every one according to his works." The whole song is worthy of wonder, especially its end. Since at the table a person is somewhat forgotten by food and becomes heavier, they, remembering the time of judgment, during the rejoicing with the word of Christ, as if with a kind of bridle, tame the soul. They know what happened to Israel because of the luxurious food: "He grew fat, fattened, and fattened; and he forsook God" (Deuteronomy 32:15). Thus also Moses said, Thou shalt eat and be satisfied, then take heed lest thou forget the Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:12,11), because after being satiated, the Israelites ventured into great iniquities. Therefore, take care that something similar does not happen to you. Though you do not sacrifice sheep and calves to stone or gold, take heed lest you sacrifice your soul to wrath, or your salvation to fornication or other similar passions. For this reason the monks, fearing such falls, after the table, or rather after the fast (since they observe the fast at the table), bring to mind the Last Judgment and the Last Day.

You yourselves ought to go to them in order to receive such a benefit; and if you do not want to, at least listen to this spiritual sweetness from my lips, and let everyone after the table say the words of the song, beginning with this: "Blessed be God"! Thus, at the very beginning, they fulfill the apostolic commandment, which prescribes: "Everything that you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks through Him to God the Father" (Colossians 3:17). Thus, one should give thanks not for one present day, but for a whole life, which is why it is said: "Who nourishes me from my youth." And here lies the teaching of wisdom. If God nourishes, then you don't need to take care yourself. If the king had promised to give you daily sustenance from his treasury, you would have remained calm; how much more should you be free from all care, when God Himself gives and everything flows to you from Him like a river. For this reason they utter such words, in order to convince themselves and those they teach to renounce all worldly cares. Further, lest you think that they give such thanks only for themselves, they add, "He who gives food to all flesh," thanks to them for the whole world. As fathers of the entire universe, they bless God for all, stirring themselves up to sincere brotherly love; they cannot hate those for whom they thank God, who nourishes them. Do you see from what has been said now and before, how thanksgiving leads to love, and removes worldly cares? If the Lord nourishes all flesh, how much more so for those who trust in Him. If He nourishes those who are bound by the cares of life, how much more so are those who are free from them, as Christ also confirmed when He said: "You are more precious than many little birds" (Luke 12:7). With these words He taught not to rely on the richness and fruitfulness of seeds. This is not what nourishes, but the word of God. In this way, the monks, by their song, put to shame the Manichaeans and Valentinians, and all their like-minded people. In fact, one cannot be considered evil who offers his blessings to everyone, even to those who blaspheme him. Then follows the petition: "Fill our hearts with joy and gladness." What joy: is it not worldly? No. If the monks had desired such joy, they would not have lived on the heights of the mountains and in the deserts, they would not have put on sackcloth. On the contrary, they speak of that joy which has nothing to do with the present life, of the joy of the angels, of the joy of heaven. And they do not just ask for joy, but ask for it in great abundance. They do not say: give; but: "fulfill"; They do not say, "Fill us," but, "Our hearts." Such joy is primarily the joy of the heart. "The fruit of the Spirit," it is said, "is love, joy, peace" (Galatians 5:22). Since sin has given rise to sorrow, they ask that righteousness be established in them along with joy; otherwise there can be no joy. "That we, having all contentment, should always abound in every good work." Here is the fulfillment of the Gospel word: "Give us our daily bread every day" (Luke 11:3). See how they seek contentment only for the soul: "that we may abound in every good work." They did not say that we should do only what is due, but even more than what is commanded. This is the meaning of the words: "that we may abound." And although they ask God for satisfaction only in the necessities of life, they themselves are ready to obey not as much as is required of them, but with a great abundance in everything. Thus it is always and in all things that is characteristic of well-intentioned servants, men of wisdom. Then, again reminding themselves of their weakness and of the fact that without help from above they can do nothing good, they add to the words: "that we may abound in a good work," they add: "In Christ Jesus our Christ, with whom be glory, honor and dominion to Thee forever, Amen." In this way, they both begin and end the song with thanksgiving.

6. After that, they start again, as it were, again, but, in fact, they continue the same. In like manner Paul ended the beginning of his epistle with a doxology, saying, "By the will of God and our Father; To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen" (Galatians 1:4-5), then begins to reveal the content of his epistle. In the same way, in another place, having said: "They worshipped and served the creature instead of the Creator, Who is blessed for ever, Amen" (Rom. 1:25), he did not end the speech, but continues it further. And so, let us not blame these angels for not keeping order, when, having concluded their speech with a doxology, they again continue the sacred songs. They follow the example of the apostles, when they begin with a doxology and end with the same thing, and at that end they begin again. And so, they say: "Glory to Thee, O Lord, glory to Thee, Holy One, glory to Thee, O King, that Thou hast given us a brush for joy"! One should give thanks not only for great blessings, but also for small ones. Thanking and for the little, they denounce the heresy of the Manichaeans and all those who say that the real life is evil. In order that you, judging by their lofty wisdom and their neglect of the belly, should not conclude that they abhor brushes like suicides, they teach you by their prayer that they abstain from many things, not out of aversion to the creatures of God, but out of love for asceticism. And see how they, having given thanks for the blessings that have already been bestowed, ask for other greater ones, and do not stop at worldly things, but are lifted up above the heavens, and say: "Fill us with the Holy Spirit!" Without being filled with the grace of the Spirit, it is impossible to have proper success in anything, just as it is impossible to accomplish anything valiant and great without the help of Christ. And as they add to the words, "That we may abound in every good work," so here they say, Fill us with the Holy Spirit, that we may be found acceptable before Thee. Do you see that they do not pray for worldly things, but only give thanks, and for spiritual things they give thanks and pray? "Seek," said Christ, "first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). Take note of their wisdom further. "May we find ourselves," they say, "acceptable before Thee, that we may not be ashamed." We do not fear, they say, the shame of men; Whatever people say about us in mockery and reproach, we do not pay any attention to it. We only take care of this, so that then we will not be ashamed. And when they say this, they think of the river of fire, of reward, of honors. They did not say, "That we may not suffer punishment; but: so as not to be ashamed. To appear as offenders of the Lord is more terrible for us than hell. But since many of the careless are not frightened by this, they add: "Then you will repay each one according to his deeds." You see how much benefit these wanderers and strangers, desert dwellers, or better - celestials, bring us. We are pilgrims of heaven, and inhabitants of the earth; And they are the opposite. After such a song, filled with tenderness, with hot and abundant tears, they go to sleep and sleep as long as is necessary for a little rest. And again night is turned into day, spending time in thanksgiving and psalmody. And not only men, but also women exercise themselves in such wisdom, overcoming the weakness of nature with an excess of diligence. So we, men, will be ashamed of the strength of women and will cease to care about the present - about the shadow, about the dream, about the smoke. Most of our life is spent in insensibility. In youth we are almost completely unreasonable; when old age comes, every sense in us is blunted. There remains a small interval in which we can enjoy pleasure with full feeling; and even at this time we do not fully enjoy, because of innumerable cares and labors. That is why I urge you to seek unchangeable, incorruptible blessings, and a life that never ages. After all, it is possible, living in the city, to imitate the wisdom of the desert dwellers; Both the married and the married can pray, fast, and come to tenderness. Thus, the first Christians, taught by the apostles, lived in cities, but showed the piety characteristic of the desert dwellers; others were also engaged in needlework, such as Priscilla and Aquila. And all the prophets had wives and houses, such as Isaiah, Ezekiel, the great Moses; However, this did not prevent them from being virtuous.

Amen.

DISCOURSE 56

"Verily I say unto you, there are some of them standing here that shall not taste death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom" (Matt. 16:28).

1.

And notice how He acts. Having spoken of hell and the kingdom [namely, in the words: "Whoever will save his life will lose it," and if anyone destroys "it for my sake, he will find it," and "He will repay each one according to his works" (John 12:25; Matt. 16:27) He meant both], having spoken of both, He places the kingdom before His very eyes, and puts Gehenna away from His sight. Why is that? Because for the coarser people it was necessary to speak of Gehenna; and since His disciples were experienced and knowledgeable, He convinces them with that which could give them great consolation. Moreover, it was more fitting for Jesus Christ to speak in this way. However, He does not completely abandon Gehenna, but sometimes He presents it before His eyes, when, for example, He cites the image of Lazarus (Luke 16), or the lender, or the man who demanded a hundred denarii (Matt. 18), clothed in dirty clothes, and many others (Matt. 22). "And it came to pass, after six days, that Jesus took Peter, and James, and John" (Matt. 17:1). If another Evangelist says: "after eight days" (Luke 9:28), then there is no contradiction here, on the contrary, there is agreement. One understood both the day on which Jesus spoke, and the day on which He led His disciples into the mountain; and the other counts only those days that have passed between these days. See how impartial Matthew is: he does not hide those that were preferred to him. John often does the same, describing with complete accuracy the excellent praise given to Peter. Thus, all these holy men have always been strangers to envy and vanity.

And so, having taken the chief apostles, "He led them up to a high mountain alone, and was transfigured before them: and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with Him" (Matt. 17:1-3). Why does Christ take only these disciples? Because they were superior to the rest: Peter by his strong love for Jesus, John by the special love of Jesus for him, and James by the answer which he gave with his brother: "We may drink the cup" (Matt. 20:22), and not only by the answer, but also by the works, both by others and by those by which he justified his words. And indeed, he was so hostile and hateful to the Jews, that Herod also thought to make a great gift to the Jews by killing him. Why does Jesus not immediately raise them up? So that the other disciples would not be confused. That is why He does not even speak of the names of those who will ascend the mountain with Him. Otherwise, the other disciples would have greatly desired to follow Him, in order to see the image of the future glory, and would have grieved as if they had been despised. Although Christ intended to show His glory in a sensual way, nevertheless, this was desirable for them. But why did He speak of this before? In order that they, having heard of it earlier, might become more capable of contemplation, and that the number of days, having kindled in them a strong desire, might compel them to approach with a thought that was awake and anxious. Why do Moses and Elijah appear here? There are many reasons for this. And, in the first place, since some of the people revered Christ for Elijah, others for Jeremiah, and others for one of the ancient prophets, the chief prophets appear, so that the difference between the servants and the Lord may be seen, and that Peter is justly commended, for confessing Christ to be the Son of God. Further, the second reason can be indicated. The Jews often accused Christ of breaking the law and blasphemy, as if He were stealing away the glory of the Father, which did not belong to Him, and said: "This man is not of God, for he does not keep the Sabbath" (John 9:16); and again: "We do not want to stone Thee for a good deed, but for blasphemy, and because Thou art a man, making Thyself God" (John 10:33); therefore, in order to show that both accusations arose from envy, and that He is free from both, that is, that He did not transgress the law, nor did He appropriate the glory that did not belong to Him, calling Himself equal to the Father, He presents men who are glorified both for the fulfillment of the law and for zeal for the glory of God. If Moses had given the law, the Jews might have concluded that he would not have tolerated the contempt of the law, as they had thought, and would not have served the transgressor of it, who was hostile to him. In the same way, Elijah, out of zeal for the glory of God, would not have stood before and obeyed Christ, if He had been an adversary of God, and called Himself God and equal with the Father, without really being such.