Such is the meaning and purpose of the miracles performed by the Lord and His Apostles. The Lord declared this; the Apostles proclaimed this. Once, a multitude of people gathered in the house in which the Lord was. The house was full, and a crowd crowded at the door; It was no longer possible to get into the house. At this time, they brought a paralytic who did not leave his bed. Those who brought it, seeing the crowd and crowding, carried the sick man to the roof; having made a hole in the ceiling, they lowered it on the bed before the Lord. Seeing the act of faith, the merciful Lord said to the paralytic: "Child, thy sins are forgiven thee." Some of the scribes were sitting there. To them, as knowing the law by the letter and as infected with envy and hatred for the God-man, the thought immediately occurred to them that blasphemy had been uttered. Who can, they thought, forgive sins, but God alone. The Lord, the Knower of the Heart, having seen their thoughts, said to them: "What do you think in your hearts? what is more convenient; what is easier according to your understanding, say to the weakened: sins are forgiven you; Or say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? To say without evidence "your sins are forgiven" can be both a hypocrite and a deceiver. But let it be known, that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins: He saith unto him that is paralyzed, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go unto thy house. The paralytic was instantly healed and strengthened: he took the bed and went out before everyone [905]. The miracle is filled with Divine wisdom and goodness. First, the Lord gives the sufferer an essential spiritual gift, invisible to the eyes of the senses: the remission of sins. The giving of a gift aroused in the learned Jews an involuntary confession that such a gift could be given by God alone. The Lord, in response to their heartfelt thoughts, gives them a new proof of Himself that He is God. Finally, the spiritual gift and spiritual proof are sealed by the gift and material proof: the instantaneous and complete healing of the sick. The holy Evangelist Mark, concluding his Gospel, says that the Apostles, after the ascension of the Lord, preached the word everywhere, and made haste to the Lord, and confirmed the word with signs that follow the word [906]. The same thought was expressed by all the Apostles in the prayer with which they resorted to God after the threats of the Sanhedrin, which forbade teaching and acting in the name of Jesus: "Grant to Thy servants," they said, "to speak Thy word with all boldness, when Thy hand may be stretched out to Thee for healing, and by a sign and wonder be in the name of Thy servant Jesus." The signs of God were given in aid of the word of God. The signs testified to the power and meaning of the word [908]. The essential actor is the word. There is no need for signs where the word is accepted, because of the understood dignity that belongs to the word. Signs are condescension to human weakness.

The word works differently, and the signs work differently. The word acts directly on the mind and heart; Signs act on the mind and heart through the bodily senses. The consequences of the word that acted are stronger, more definite than the consequences of the action of signs. When both the word and the signs act together, then the effect of the signs remains as it were unnoticed, because of the abundant action of the word. This is clearly seen from the Gospel accounts. Nicodemus was affected by the signs, and he recognized in the Lord only a teacher sent from God [909]. The Apostle Peter was influenced by the word, and he confessed the Lord to be Christ, the Son of God. The words of eternal life, he said to the God-man, and we believe and know that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God [1000]. St. Peter was an eyewitness to many miracles of the Lord; the multiplication of the five loaves and the feeding of the multitude of people with them had just taken place, but in his confession the Apostle is silent about miracles, speaking only about the power and action of the word. The same thing happened to the two disciples, who conversed with the Lord without recognizing Him, on the way to Emmaus, and recognized Him when they came to this village, already in the house, at the breaking of bread. As soon as they recognized Him, the Lord became invisible. They said nothing about the amazing miracle, they paid all attention to the effect of the word. Is it not our heart, they said to one another, burning in it, when the Lord spoke to us on the way, and spoke to us the Scriptures?

The God-Man blessed those who did not see the signs and believed [1002]. He expressed his condolences to those who, not satisfied with words, needed miracles. If you do not see signs and wonders, do not believe [1003], He said to the Capernaum nobleman. That's right! deplorable are those who forsake the word, who seek conviction from miracles. This need reveals a special predominance of carnal wisdom, gross ignorance, a life sacrificed to corruption and sin, a lack of exercise in the study of the Law of God and in God-pleasing virtues, the inability of the soul to sympathize with the Holy Spirit, to feel His presence and action in the word. Signs were most intended for persuading and bringing to faith sensual people, who were occupied with the cares of the world. Immersed in worldly cares, constantly nailed by the soul to the earth and its deeds, they are incapable of appreciating the dignity of the word: the merciful Word attracted them to salvation, granted by the word by means of visible signs, which, constituting a material conviction acting through the senses, led the weak soul to the almighty, saving Word. Those who believed, because of the signs, constituted the lowest category of believers in Christ. When a spiritual, most exalted, all-holy teaching was offered to them, then many of them interpreted it according to their own concepts [1004], did not want to ask God for an explanation of the word of God, condemned the word that was the Spirit and the life [1005], thereby denounced their superficial faith, their superficial pledge of the heart, and many of His disciples, who had seen many signs, went backwards, and did not walk with Him [1006].

Neither the word nor the signs of the God-Man had a beneficial effect on the Jewish high priests, scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, although, with the exception of the latter, they clearly knew the Law of God to the letter. Not only were they strangers to God, hostile to God because of the sinful infection common to all mankind, but they became so, they established and sealed themselves in such a disposition because of their own volition, because of their self-conceit, because of their desire to lead that life and succeed in that life which was forbidden by the Gospel. They could not hear the Son of God speaking to them; they did not listen to His words as they should, they did not hearken to Him; they only caught those words that seemed convenient to them for reinterpreting and accusing the Lord. This is how hatred for the words of the hated is usually attuned. Why do you not understand My discourse? the Saviour spoke to His enemies, who stubbornly and bitterly rejected the salvation offered to them. Why do you not understand My teaching? Why do you not accept My healing word? for you cannot even hear my word: it is intolerable to you. Being children of falsehood and agents in its direction, you do not believe Me, for I speak the truth [1008]. He who is of God will listen to the words of God: for this reason you will not hear, for you bear it from God [1009]. If I do not do the works of My Father, have not faith in Me: if I do, if you do not believe Me, believe in My works: that you may understand and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him [1010]. In vain were the words which, as God's truth, contained in themselves a complete testimony [1011]; in vain were the miracles, which also contained complete confirmation, which were so tangible and obvious that the enemies of the God-man, with all their desire and effort to reject them, could not but recognize them [1012]. A remedy that worked on people who did not know the Law of God or were very little acquainted with it, who spent their lives in earthly occupations and vanities, but did not reject the Law of God of their own free will, this remedy had no effect on those who knew the Law of God in detail to the letter, who rejected it by their lives and will. Everything that could be done for the salvation of people was done by the ineffable mercy of God. If they did not come and spoke to them, the Saviour determines, they had no sin: but now they have no guilt (apology) for their sin: if they have not done any works in them, they have done no one else, they have no sin: but now they have seen and hated Me and My Father [1014]. Christianity is taught with such certainty that there is no excuse for those who do not know it. The cause of ignorance is one will. As the sun shines from heaven, so does Christianity. He who voluntarily closes his eyes, let him attribute his lack of vision and ignorance to his own volition, and not to the absence of light. The reason for the rejection of the God-Man by men lies in men, just as in them lies the reason for the acceptance of the Antichrist. I have come in the name of My Father, the Lord testified to the Jews, and ye receive Me not: if any man come in his name, him ye receive. They are called both those who reject Christ and those who accept the Antichrist, although the Antichrist is mentioned as having to come. Rejecting Christ according to the mood of their spirit, they at the same time accepted the Antichrist according to the same mood of spirit: they were numbered among those who accepted the Antichrist, although they had completed the field of earthly pilgrimage many centuries before his coming. They committed his greatest deed: the murder of God. For the time of his appearance, for himself, such an evil deed has not been left. Just as their spirit was in a hostile attitude towards Christ, so it was in a state of communion with the Antichrist, separated from him by a vast expanse of time, which is now reaching the end of the second millennium. Every spirit, says the Theologian, who does not confess Jesus Christ in the flesh, having come, bears from God: and this is the Antichrist, whom ye have heard, as he is coming, and now is already in the world according to the Spirit [1016]. Those who are led by the spirit of Antichrist reject Christ, have accepted the Antichrist in their spirit, have entered into communion with him, have submitted to him and worshipped him in spirit, acknowledging him as their god. For this reason, that is, God will allow them to act of flattery, in which they believe lies, so that all who did not believe in the truth, but who were pleased in unrighteousness, may receive judgment [1017]. In His allowance God is just. Indulgence will be satisfaction, at the same time rebuke and judgment for the human spirit. The Antichrist will come in his own time, predestined for him. His coming will be preceded by a general apostasy in the majority of people from the Christian faith. By apostasy from Christ, humanity will prepare to receive the Antichrist, will accept him in its spirit. In the very mood of the human spirit there will arise a demand, an invitation to the Antichrist, sympathy for him, just as in a state of severe illness there arises a thirst for a murderous drink. An invitation is pronounced! An appealing voice is heard in human society, expressing the urgent need for a genius of geniuses, who would raise material development and success to the highest degree, who would establish on earth that well-being in which paradise and heaven become superfluous for man. The Antichrist will be a logical, just, natural consequence of the general moral and spiritual direction of people.

The miracles of the incarnate God constituted the greatest material blessings that mankind can imagine. What good can be greater than the return of life to the dead? What good can be more precious than the healing of an incurable disease that took away life during life, making life more like a long death than a life? However, despite the beneficence, holiness, and spiritual significance of Christ's miracles, these miracles were only temporary gifts. In the exact sense they were signs. They were signs of eternal salvation given by the word. Those who were resurrected by the God-Man died again in their own time: they were granted only the continuation of earthly life, and not the return of this life forever. Those healed by the God-Man fell ill again, and also died: health was restored to them only for a time, and not forever. Temporal and material blessings have been poured out as a sign of eternal and spiritual blessings. Visible gifts were distributed to people enslaved to sensuality, so that they would believe in the existence of invisible gifts and accept them. Signs were extracted from the abyss of ignorance and sensuality, led to faith: faith imparted knowledge of eternal blessings and inspired a desire to acquire them. With the help of wondrous signs, the Apostles quickly spread Christianity throughout the world: the signs were a clear and powerful proof of Christianity both for educated peoples and for peoples immersed in ignorance and barbarism. But when faith was planted everywhere, the word was planted, then the signs were taken away, as having finished their ministry. They ceased to operate on a large scale and everywhere: they were performed by the rarely chosen saints of God. St. John Chrysostom, the Father and writer of the fourth and fifth centuries, says that in his time the bestowal of signs had already ceased to be effective, although there were still in places, especially among the monks, men bearing banners [1018]. With the passage of time, the banner-bearing men were constantly diminished. About the end times, the Holy Fathers predicted that then there would be no banner-bearing men [1019]. "Why, say some, are there no signs now? Listen to my answer to this with special attention, because I hear the question put to me here from many, both often and always. Why then did all those who were baptized begin to speak in foreign languages, and now this does not happen?.. Why is the grace of miracles now taken away and taken from men? God does this, not exposing us to dishonor, but even giving us great honor. How? I'll explain. The people of those times were poorer than those who had just been distracted from idols; their minds were white and dull, they were immersed in the material and devoted to it, they could not imagine the existence of immaterial gifts, they knew the meaning of spiritual grace, that everything is accepted by faith alone: for this reason there were signs. Of the spiritual gifts, some are invisible, and are accepted only by faith, while others are combined with a certain sign, subject to the senses, in order to arouse faith in unbelievers. For example: the forgiveness of sins is a spiritual and invisible gift: we do not see with our bodily eyes how our sins are cleansed. The soul is purified, but the soul is invisible to the eyes of the body. Thus, the cleansing of sins is a spiritual gift, which cannot be open to the eyes of the body; and the ability to speak in foreign tongues, although it belongs to the spiritual actions of the Spirit, at the same time serves as a sign subject to the senses, which is why it can easily be seen by unbelievers: the invisible action performed within the soul is made manifest and shown by means of the external tongue that we hear. For this reason Paul also says: "And the manifestation of the Spirit is given for profit" (1020). So, I don't need signs. Why is that? Because I have learned to believe in the grace of God without signs. The unbeliever needs proof; but I, a believer, have no need of proof or sign; Although I do not speak foreign languages, I know that I am cleansed from sin. The former did not believe until they received a sign. Signs were given to them as a proof of the faith they accepted. So signs were given not to believers, but to unbelievers, that they might be made believers; Thus also Paul says: Signs are not to believers, but to unbelievers [1021]."

If signs were necessary, they would remain. The word remained, the establishment of which was facilitated by signs. It spread, reigned, embraced the universe. It has been explained with all satisfaction by the Fathers of the Church: access to it and assimilation of it have become especially convenient. It is essential; it is necessary; it accomplishes the salvation of men; it bestows eternal blessings; it brings the Kingdom of Heaven; in it are hidden the most sublime spiritual signs of God [1022]. But the word of the Lord endures forever. Behold, this is the word preached in you [1023]. In the word is life, and It is life [1024]. It gives birth to dead people into eternal life, giving them Its all-holy life: the hearers and doers of the word are not born of the seed that is corrupted, but is not corrupted, by the word of the living God and abides forever [1025]. In order to know the meaning of a word, one must fulfill it. The Gospel commandments, when fulfilled, immediately begin to transform, transform, and animate man, to transform his way of thinking, his heartfelt feelings, his very body: for the word of God is alive and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and which passes even to the division of soul and spirit, members and brains, and is judged by thought and thought of the heart. The Word of God contains within itself a testimony about itself. Like healing signs, it acts in man himself, and by this action it bears witness to itself. It is the supreme sign. It is a spiritual sign, which, being given to man, satisfies all the needs of his salvation, makes the aid from material signs unnecessary. A Christian, who is unaware of this property of the word, accuses himself of coldness to the word, of ignorance of the word of God, or of dead knowledge of one letter by one.

Part Two

The desire found in modern Christian society to see miracles and even to work miracles should not be ignored. This aspiration needs careful consideration. The desire to perform miracles is greatly condemned by the Holy Fathers: such an aspiration reveals the self-deception that lives in the soul and has taken possession of the soul, based on self-conceit and vanity. The great instructor of monks, St. Isaac of Syria, discusses this subject in the following way: "The Lord is at all times the close intercessor of His saints; but unnecessarily He does not manifest His power by any manifest deed or a sign of the senses, lest His intercession become as it were usual for us, so that we may not lose our due reverence for Him, and it may not cause us harm. This is what He does, providing for the saints: He allows them in every circumstance to show a podvig corresponding to their strength, and to labor in prayer; at the same time, he shows them that his secret care for them ceases for an hour. But if the circumstance by its difficulty exceeds the measure of their reason, if they are exhausted and are not able to act because of their natural deficiency, then He Himself does what is necessary to help them, according to the majesty of His power, as He should and as He knows. He strengthens them as secretly as possible, giving them the strength to overcome their sorrow. He resolves the intricate sorrow with the understanding which He bestows from Himself, and by the understanding of His Providence He arouses them to praise, which is useful in all respects. But when a circumstance requires obvious help, then, out of necessity, He does this also. His means and forms of help are the wisest. They help in scarcity, in case of need, and do not act senselessly. He who dares and prays to God to do something extraordinary, not being forced to do so by necessity, who wants miracles and signs to be performed by his hands, is tempted in his mind by the devil who mocks him, turns out to be vain and sick with his conscience. It is proper to ask for God's help in sorrow; to tempt God without need is miserable. Truly unrighteous is he who desires this. We find examples in the lives of the saints that the Lord, expressing His displeasure, fulfilled such desires. He who desires and desires this spontaneously, without being compelled to do so, falls from the state of self-preservation and deviates into an encroachment from the reason of truth. If the one who asks for this is heard, then the evil one finds a place in him, as in one who walks before God without reverence, with boldness, and plunges him into great inclinations. The true righteous not only do not wish to be miracle-workers, but when they are given the gift of wonderworking, they refuse it. Not only do they not want this in the eyes of men, but also in themselves, in the secret of their hearts. Some of the Holy Fathers, because of their purity, received from the grace of God the gift of seeing those who came to him; but he asked God, begging his friends to pray for the same, that this gift would be taken from him. If some of the saints accepted the gifts, they received them out of necessity or because of their simplicity; others received them at the direction of the Divine Spirit acting in them, and by no means accidentally, without reason... The true righteous constantly think that they are not worthy of God. By the fact that they recognize themselves as accursed, not deserving of God's care, their truth is testified" [1027]. From this holy meditation follows the conclusion that those who wish to perform signs desire this out of carnal fervor, because they are carried away by passions that they do not understand, although it may seem to them that they are guided by zeal for the work of God. In the same state of self-deception and fervor are those who want to see signs. It is forbidden to tempt God, to violate reverence for Him in any case; it is permissible to ask for God's help in extreme need, when one does not have one's own means to get out of it; but the choice of means for help must be left to God, surrendering oneself to His will and mercy. The Lord always sends down a means of help that is beneficial to the soul: it also provides us with the help we need, and in this very help He teaches us the holy taste of humility. Help is not combined with outward brilliance, as carnal wisdom would wish, so that the soul would not be damaged by the satisfaction of its vanity. And in the work of God, in the very service of the Church, one must constantly invoke God's blessing and God's help, one must believe that only Divine, spiritual methods can be useful for faith and piety, and by no means the methods offered by carnal wisdom.

It is difficult for people to endure glory without harm to their souls [1028]. This is difficult not only for those who are passionate or struggling with the passions, but also for those who have conquered the passions, and for the saints. Although they have been granted victory over sin, they have not been deprived of changeability, they have not been deprived of the opportunity to return to sin and under the yoke of the passions, which has happened to some people with a lack of vigilance over themselves, with the admission of trust to themselves, to their spiritual state. The inclination to pride, as St. Macarius the Great notes, resides in the most purified souls [1029]. It is this inclination that serves as the beginning of seduction and infatuation. Because of it, the gift of healing and other visible gifts are very dangerous for those to whom they are given, as highly valued by carnal and sensual people, glorified by them. The invisible gifts of grace, incomparably higher than the visible ones, such as, for example, the gift of guiding souls to salvation and healing them from passions, are not understood and are not noticed by the world: not only does it not glorify the servants of God who have these gifts, but it persecutes them as acting against the principles of the world, as slandering the dominion of the ruler of the world [1030]. The merciful God gives people that which is essential and useful to them, although they do not understand and do not appreciate it, — He does not give that which is in any case of little use, and can often be very harmful, although carnal wisdom and ignorance insatiably thirst for it and seek it. "Many," says St. Isaac of Syria, "performed signs, raised the dead, labored in the conversion of those who had gone astray, performed great miracles, brought others to the knowledge of God, and after this they themselves, having given life to others, fell into vile and abominable passions, killed themselves" [1031]. The Monk Macarius the Great tells us that a certain ascetic, who lived with him, received the gift of healing in such abundance that he healed the sick by the laying on of hands; but, being glorified by men, he became proud and descended into the very depths of sin. In the life of St. Anthony the Great there is mention of a certain young monk who commanded the wild onagers in the wilderness. When the Great One heard about this miracle, he expressed his lack of confidence in the spiritual disposition of the wonderworker; the news of the monk's sorrowful fall did not hesitate to come [1033]. In the fourth century there lived in Egypt a holy elder who had a special gift of wonderworking, and because of his resounding fame among men. He soon noticed that pride was beginning to take possession of him, and that he was unable to conquer it by his own efforts. The elder ran to God with the warmest prayers, so that he would be allowed to be possessed by demons for humility. God fulfilled the humble request of His servant and allowed Satan to enter him. The elder was subjected to all the fits of the possessed man for five months; they were forced to put chains on him; The people, who flocked to him in great numbers, glorifying him as great saints, left him, declaring that he had lost his mind, and the elder, having been delivered from human glory and from the pride that had arisen in him over this glory, thanked God, Who had saved him from perdition. Salvation was accomplished through a slight languor and dishonor before carnal people, who did not understand that because of the signs the devil was causing the elder a calamity, and through open possession the elder was returned to a safe path by the wondrous mercy of God [1034]. After this, it becomes clear why the great Fathers, Sisoi, Pimen and others, having the most abundant gift of healing, tried to conceal it: they did not trust themselves, they knew man's ability to change conveniently, and they protected themselves with humility from spiritual calamity [1035]. The holy Apostles, who were given the gift of wonderworking to facilitate their preaching, were allowed together by God's Providence to suffer grievous sorrows and persecutions for the very purpose of protecting them from exaltation. St. Isaac of Syria says: "A gift without temptations is destruction for those who accept it. If your work is pleasing to God and He will give you a gift, then beseech Him to give you wisdom as to how to humble yourself when you are given, or that a guardian be assigned to the gift (the guardian of the gift of the holy Apostles was the misfortunes allowed by him), or that a gift be taken from you that could be the cause of your destruction, because not everyone can preserve wealth harmlessly for themselves" [1036].

The view of the spiritual mind on bodily ailments and on their miraculous healings is completely different from the view of carnal wisdom. Carnal wisdom recognizes infirmities as a calamity, and healing from them, especially miraculous healing, as the greatest well-being, caring little about whether the healing is associated with benefit for the soul, or with harm to it. The spiritual mind sees both in the ailments sent by God's Providence and in the healings granted by Divine grace, God's mercy to man. Illumined by the light of the word of God, the spiritual mind teaches God-pleasing and soul-saving behavior in both cases. He teaches that it is permissible to seek and ask God for the healing of an illness with the firm intention to use the restored health and strength in the service of God, and not in the service of vanity and sin. Otherwise, miraculous healing will only serve to greater condemnation, attract greater punishment in time and in eternity. The Lord testified to this. Having healed the paralytic, He said to him: Behold, thou art well: thou shalt not sin, lest it be more bitter than thee. Man is weak, inclined to sin. If some saints, who had the grace-filled gift of healing, who abounded in spiritual discernment, were tempted by sin and fell, then carnal people, who do not have a definite concept of spiritual things, can abuse the gift of God all the more easily. And many abused it! having received miraculous healing from their illness, they did not pay attention to God's beneficence and their duty to be grateful for the beneficence, they began to lead a sinful life, they turned the gift of God to their own detriment, they alienated themselves from God, and lost salvation. For this reason, miraculous healings of bodily ailments are rare, although carnal wisdom respects them very much and would very much desire them. Ask, and you will not receive, says the Apostle, ask for evil, that you may depend on your sweetnesses [1038].

Spiritual reason teaches that the ailments and other sorrows that God sends to people are sent by God's special mercy: as bitter healing healings for the sick, they contribute to our salvation, our eternal well-being much more surely than miraculous healings. Often, very often, an illness is a greater blessing than healing, if it were to follow; An illness is a blessing of such importance that to take it away by healing would be to take away the greatest good, incomparable with the temporal good that is brought about by the healing of a bodily ailment. The beggar, sick Lazarus, mentioned in the Gospel, was not healed of his grave illness, was not delivered from poverty, died in the condition in which he had languished for a long time, but for his patience was lifted up by angels to the bosom of Abraham [1039]. The Holy Scriptures testify throughout their entire space that God sends various sorrows, and among them bodily ailments, to those people whom He has loved. Holy Scripture affirms that all the saints of God without exception made an earthly pilgrimage along a narrow and thorny path, full of various sorrows and deprivations [1041]. Based on this concept of afflictions, true servants of God dealt with the afflictions that befell them with the greatest prudence and self-denial. The sorrow that came to them, whatever it was, they met as their own [1042], believing with all their hearts that sorrow would not have come if it had not been allowed by a just and all-good God according to the needs of man. Their first thing, at the coming of tribulation, was the realization that they were worthy of it. They searched for and always found in themselves the cause of sorrow. Then, if they saw that sorrow prevented them from pleasing God, they turned with prayer to God for deliverance from sorrow, leaving the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of the petition to the will of God, by no means recognizing the correctness of their own concept of sorrow. Nor can it be entirely correct: the judgment of a limited, though holy, person does not embrace and see all the causes of sorrow, as the all-seeing eye of God embraces and sees them, Who allows sorrow to His servants and beloved. The holy Apostle Paul three times turned to God with a prayer that the angel of Satan, who hindered the Apostle in preaching Christianity, would be removed. Paul was not heard: God's judgment on this subject was different from that of the divinely inspired Apostle [1043]. Surrendering oneself to the will of God, a sincere reverent desire that it be done to us, is a necessary, natural consequence of true, spiritual reasoning. The holy monks, when they were subjected to illnesses, accepted them as the greatest blessing of God, they tried to dwell in praise and thanksgiving to God, they did not seek healing, although miraculous healings are performed most among the holy monks. They wished to patiently and humbly endure God's allowance, believing and confessing that it was more beneficial to the soul than any arbitrary podvig. St. Pimen the Great said: "Three monastic deeds are equal in their worth: when someone is silent correctly, when someone is sick and gives thanks to God, when someone passes through obedience with pure thought" [1044]. In the Egyptian Skete, where dwelt the greatest holy monks, lived the Monk Benjamin. For his virtuous life, God granted him the abundant gift of healing his infirmities. Having this gift, he himself was subjected to a severe and prolonged water-sickness. He is unusually edema. They were forced to carry him out of their own cell to another, more spacious one. To do this, the doors in his cell with jambs had to be taken out. In the new room, a special sitting was arranged for him, because he could not lie on the bed. Being in such a situation, the monk continued to heal others, and those who, seeing his sufferings, sympathized with him, he exhorted them to pray for his soul, not caring for his body. "When my body is healthy," he said, "then it is of no particular use to me. Now, having been subjected to illness, it does me no harm" [1045]. Abba Peter said that he, having once visited the Monk Isaiah the Hermit and found him suffering from a severe illness, expressed regret. To this the monk said: "So oppressed by illness, I can hardly keep in mind the terrible time (of death and the Judgment of God). If my body were sound, then the memory of this time would be completely alien to me. When the body is healthy, then it is more inclined to stir up hostile actions against God. Sorrows serve us as an aid to the preservation of God's commandments [1046]. The Holy Fathers, in the face of illnesses and other sorrows that befell them, first of all, tried to manifest the patience that depended on them: they resorted to self-reproach and self-condemnation, using them to force the heart and forcing it to endure [1047]; they remembered death, the Judgment of God, eternal torment, the remembrance of which weakens the meaning and feeling of earthly sorrows [1048]; they lifted up their thoughts to God's Providence, reminded themselves of the promise of the Son of God to abide unceasingly with His followers and to preserve them, thereby calling their hearts to good humor and courage [1049]; they forced themselves to praise and thank God for their sorrow, they forced themselves to recognize their sinfulness, which required punishment and admonition because of the justice of God, because of the very goodness of God. In addition to their own effort to acquire patience, they intensified their diligent prayers to God for the gift of a spiritual gift – grace-filled patience, inseparable from another spiritual gift – grace-filled humility, which together with it serves as a sure pledge of salvation and eternal bliss. The great Fathers of the sign did not teach healing, which was so convenient for them, to their disciples, who were subjected to illness by the allowance or Providence of God, so as not to deprive them of spiritual progress, which must necessarily be brought about by illness, which is endured by the moral Tradition of the Church. The abbot of the Gaza community, the Monk Serid, a disciple of the great Barsanuphius, who was silent in the same community, was ill for a long time. Some of the elder brethren asked the Great to heal the hegumen. Saint Barsanuphius answered: "For the health of my son, some of the saints who are here could pray to God, of which I informed him, that he should not be sick for a single day; but then he would not have received the fruits of patience. This illness is very useful to him for patience and thanksgiving" [1050]. Explaining the necessity of sorrows for the ascetic of Christ, St. Isaac of Syria says: "Temptation is beneficial to every person. If it is useful to Paul, then let every mouth be stopped, and the whole world of God will be guilty [1051]. Ascetics are tempted so that they may increase their wealth; the weak, in order to protect themselves from what is harmful to them; those who are asleep — in order to awaken; those who are far away — so that they may draw near to God; their own — so that they would be even more assimilated. An untrained son does not take possession of his father's wealth, because he will not be able to use his wealth usefully. For this reason, God first tempts and torments, and then gives a gift. Glory to the Lord, Who gives us the pleasure of health through bitter healings. There is no person who would not grieve during training. There is no person to whom the time in which he is drunk with the drink of temptation would not seem bitter. But without them it is impossible to acquire spiritual strength. And it is not ours to endure. How can a vessel of clay take out the fineness of water, if it is not first strengthened by Divine fire? If, in reverence, in an unceasing desire for patience, we ask it with humility of God, then we will receive all things in Christ Jesus our Lord" [1052].

Part Three

Before the Second Coming of Christ there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, the sea will roar and be troubled [1053]. How can we distinguish these signs from the signs of the Antichrist? How can we distinguish these signs from the signs of the Antichrist, because he will also give signs in the sun, moon, stars, and air? [1054] "The first signs will be true, which will be quite different from the signs of the Antichrist, which will be composed of manifestations that deceive the senses. The performers of the signs of the Antichrist will be the Antichrist and his apostles; signs in the sun, moon, and stars, signs, heralds of Christ's coming, will appear of their own accord, without any intermediary. The heavenly bodies will fulfill their purpose, with which, by the command of the Creator, they shone in heaven [1055]. They had already fulfilled this assignment at the Nativity of Christ with a wondrous star [1056]; they performed it at the crucifixion of the God-Man, when the sun was covered with a dark veil of darkness at noon [1057]. The holy Evangelist Matthew says that after the tribulation caused by the dominion of the Antichrist has passed, the coming of Christ will immediately come, and it will begin with the fact that the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven [1058]. These luminaries will remain in their places, notes Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, but they will fade and appear to the human gaze to have disappeared from the firmament of heaven because of the abundance of heavenly light, which will illumine the world, which is being prepared to receive the Lord in His glory.

The teaching on miracles and signs, which we have proposed, we dare to call the teaching of the Holy Orthodox Church, the teaching of her Holy Fathers. The essential need for an accurate, if possible detailed exposition of this teaching is obvious. True signs were the companions of the true knowledge of God and the salvation it gives; false signs were accomplices of error and the destruction flowing from it. In particular, the effect of the signs that the Antichrist will perform will be extensive and powerful, and will lead unfortunate humanity to recognize the messenger of Satan as God. Edifying, comforting, soul-saving is the pious contemplation of the miracles wrought by our Lord, Jesus Christ. What holy simplicity there is in them! how by means of them the knowledge of God was made convenient for all men! What goodness in them, what humility, what irrefutable power of persuasion! Contemplating the miracles of Christ leads us to the Word, which is God. God, in order to restore communion with mankind that had fallen away from Him, was pleased that His Word should be clothed in humanity, appear, circulate among men, enter into a close relationship with them, and, having assimilated them to Himself, ascend them to heaven. Having put on humanity, the Word remains the Word of God and acts as the Word, according to His divine dignity. It sits at the right hand of the Father by accepted mankind and dwells everywhere as God. It is inscribed on paper, it is clothed in sounds, but being the Spirit and the life [1059], it enters into minds and hearts, recreates those who are united with Him in the spirit, drawing the body to spiritual life. From the contemplation of the miracles of Christ we ascend to the knowledge of the great significance which is contained in the Word of God, which alone is needed for our salvation, in the Word which serves salvation and accomplishes salvation with all satisfaction. The knowledge of the Word of God from the Holy Scriptures, spoken by the Holy Spirit and explained by the Holy Spirit, combined with the knowledge gleaned from activity directed according to the Word of God, finally overshadowed by the knowledge taught by Divine grace, gives the Christian purity of mind and heart. In this purity the spiritual mind shines like the sun in a clear sky, free from clouds. At the onset of day after darkness, the nocturnal image of sensible objects changes: some of them, hitherto invisible, become visible; others, which were seen indistinctly and in confusion with other objects, are separated from them and designated definitely. This happens not because objects change, but because the relation of human vision to them changes when the darkness of the night is replaced by the light of day. Exactly the same thing happens with the attitude of the human mind to moral and spiritual things, when the mind is illumined with spiritual knowledge emanating from the Holy Spirit. Only in the light of the spiritual mind can the soul see the holy path to God! only in the light of spiritual reason can the invisible procession of the mind and heart to God be infallibly accomplished! Only in the light of spiritual reason can we avoid error, wilderness, and abysses of perdition. Where this light is not present, there is no vision of the truth; where this light is not present, there is no God-pleasing virtue, saving for man, leading him into the abodes of paradise [1061]. The light of the spiritual mind must be illumined by the view of the spiritual eye on signs and wonders, in order to avoid the calamities into which the view of carnal wisdom can lead us. We have seen the nature of the miracles of the God-man; we have seen what their purpose was. The Signs, having completed their ministry, left the field of service, leaving the essential worker to work, the Word, Who abides and will continue to be a worker until the end of the world, as He Himself declared Himself: Behold, I am with you to the end of the world (1062). After the widespread performance of signs, which accompanied the sowing of Christianity by the preaching of the Apostles and Equal-to-the-Apostles, ceased, signs were performed in places by chosen vessels of the Holy Spirit. In the course of time, with the gradual weakening of Christianity and the damage to morality, the banner-bearing men diminished [1063]. Finally, they dried up completely. Meanwhile, people, having lost reverence and respect for all that is sacred, having lost humility, recognizing themselves as unworthy not only to perform signs, but even to see them, thirst for miracles more than ever. People, in the intoxication of self-conceit, arrogance, ignorance, strive indiscriminately, recklessly, boldly to everything miraculous, do not refuse to be participants in the performance of miracles, they decide to do this without the slightest hesitation. Such a direction is more dangerous than ever. We are gradually approaching the time when the vast disgrace of numerous and astounding false miracles is to be revealed, to draw into perdition those unfortunate pets of carnal wisdom who will be deceived and deceived by these miracles.