Although in the Holy Trinity there is no One Who was before and One Who was afterwards, and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are inseparably present, yet the Father is the one cause and source of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and the Son is not the source of the Holy Spirit. But if anyone says that the Son is also the source and cause of the Holy Spirit, for He proceeds also from the Son, he annoys God and produces the most evil confusion, all the more so since, according to Gregory the Theologian, in this case, God is also vexed and confused, and the creation is burdened with the dishonor of God.

And who would dare to speak of the Divine essence with an abominable tongue and filthy flesh, and not to learn from the Holy Scriptures, the writings of the prophets and apostles, from our holy and venerable and God-bearing fathers, thus gathering burning coals on his head? Therefore, we have chosen the testimonies from the holy books, and not our own, and have written them down in order, since they lead us to the right faith and do not allow us to get lost or perish.

For, wearing the Apostolic Orthodoxy, the teachings of the Holy Councils and the teachings of our holy great-eminent fathers, as royal attire, we will become heirs of the Heavenly Kingdom – by the grace of the true, life-giving, omnipotent and omnipotent Holy Spirit, Who proceeds from the Father, and not from the Son, Who is due to worship and glorification together with the Father and the Son, and Who spoke through the prophets.

The believer is "truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile" (John 1:47), and such a person has truly come to know what God is and how it is proper to reason about God! In addition, one must know how to worship the Lord God now. When you worship the Lord your God in the holy church of God or anywhere else, then with all your heart and mind and thoughts, lift up the sight of your mind to the Holy, One-in-Essence and Life-Giving Trinity — in your thoughts and in your pure heart; and call Him the One God Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, Creator and Creator of things visible and invisible.

Lift up your sensual eyes to the Divine and all-honorable icon of the Holy and One-in-Essence and Life-Giving Trinity, or to the Divine-human image of our Lord Jesus Christ, or to His Most-Pure Mother, or to any of the saints, or to His Precious and Life-Giving Cross, or to the Holy Gospel, or to the Most Pure Divine Mysteries, or to the Holy Churches, or to the consecrated vessels in which the Divine Mysteries are performed, or to the holy relics, — and worship them with your soul and body with your senses.

As it is proper to worship — with the soul in thought and in the body sensually — listen attentively. When you arise to pray to the Lord Your God, first of all establish a law for yourself — not to stand lazily, paralyzed and careless, but in such a way as not to think about vain and perishable things; besides, let the disorderly voices be silent and the movements and waving of the hands be subdued, let us present them to God as if bound and tightened, and let us set our feet decently, and let us banish all earthly things from our thoughts: rancor and anger, rage and hatred and carnal lusts, and let us force our eyes to tears, and let us direct ourselves entirely to heaven.

And let us stand as the priest says: "Let us become good." And "to stand well" at this time means to stand as it befits God, with fear and trembling, and with a sober and cheerful soul. An archer who wants to shoot arrows successfully first tries to stand up properly, and standing with attention against the banners, he carefully takes up the arrows. In the same way, you, wishing to strike the evil devil at the head, first take care of the decency of the senses, then of the well-being of your inner thoughts, in order to safely shoot arrows at the devil, that is, pure prayer.

But I do not mean prayer that rests only on the lips, but proceeds from the depths of thoughts; Like trees that, having taken root in the depths, are not broken by the wind, so prayer, sent out from the depths of the mind, stretches out into the heights. That is why the prophet says: "From the depths" of the mind (In the manuscript of Archbishop Gregory, the manuscripts of the Solovetsky Library No327 and No331 there is no insertion of an explanatory word.) "I call upon Thee, O Lord" (Psalm 129:1).

You see how you should speak and pray! From the depths of the heart. Not with that evil prayer that is filled with dissipation, but with diligence and with a sick soul and a contrite thought: this is the prayer that leads to Heaven. Like waters: as long as they flow on a flat ground, they do not rise to a height; and when they are gathered together, blocking the stream, they, constrained, fly faster than any arrow to the height.

So it is with human thought: as long as it remains without fear and in neglect of itself, it spreads widely and spreads; but when sorrowful deeds and sorrowful circumstances restrain her from the valley, then, strongly squeezed, she sends up pure and powerful prayers to the heights. For the prophet says: "I have cried to the Lord in my affliction, and He has heard me" (Psalm 119:1).

Therefore, let our soul grieve, remembering death, the answer it will give for sins, remembering the Last Judgment, the Judge who knows no mercy and forgiveness, remembering the dark fire, the abyss, the abyss of impassable underground flames, and the subterranean terrible places and abysses, remembering God (In the manuscript of the Solovetsky Library No331 — "God's mercy".)

, and of the Kingdom of Heaven, and of the holy angels: for nothing so much drives away decay and exhaustion as the constant remembrance of this, especially during prayer. Thus, gathering thought from the outside and turning it inward, let us drive away decay and exhaustion, and, having expelled from our thoughts all earthly things, let us all aspire to Heaven. And as if standing near the Throne of Glory, let us think, with whom do we want to call upon God together?

"Standing with the cherubim, flying in thought with the seraphim, being numbered in the flesh with the bodiless powers, thou hast been vouchsafed to stand before the common Lord. With all this let us warm our conscience, and let it grieve and be oppressed: in this way, during prayer, the grieving person can always attract into his soul the Divine sweetness that flows from tears. Thus, the confluence of clouds makes the sky gloomy; but when frequent drops flow and rain pours out, then the whole place becomes quiet and bright. The same is true for sadness, while it is inside (

In the manuscript of the Solovetsky Library No327 after these words is added: "darkens our thoughts".); but when it is poured out with the words of prayer, and then with tears, then the soul will renounce vain and evil worldly conversations and will be filled with great brightness, with the help of God, as if certain rays are sent from God into the thoughts of the person praying. Both the light of the lamp and the light of prayer (In the manuscript of Archbishop Gregory it is added: "enlighten the soul").