Here are also given testimonies from Holy Scripture that the works of the Holy Fathers are true, for they agree with the writings of the prophets and apostles, the Ninth Word, against the heresy of the Novgorod heretics, who say: "Why is there not the second coming of Christ, although its time has already come? After all, the Apostles wrote that Christ was born in the last years, and one thousand five hundred years have passed since the Nativity of Christ, and there is no second coming of Christ, and therefore the writings of the Apostles are false."

Here are also given proofs from the Holy Scriptures that the writings of the holy apostles are true, since they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The tenth word, against the heresy of the Novgorod heretics, who blaspheme the works of St. Ephraim and say that his works are false. Here are also given proofs from the Holy Scriptures that the works of Saint Ephraim are true and correspond to the prophetic, evangelical and apostolic writings Eleventh Homily, against the heresy of the Novgorod heretics, blaspheming the monastic life Chapter 1.

About those who say that the monks have departed from the commandments of God and from the prophetic, evangelical and apostolic writings, according to their invention and self-instruction they have arranged for themselves a life and adhere to human tradition. Chapter 2. Others say that if the monastic life had been pleasing to God, then Christ Himself and the divine apostles would have dwelt in a monastic image, but now we see Christ, as well as the holy apostles, depicted in a secular image, and not in a monastic one. Chapter 3.

Others say that the monastic image of the schema was not given to Pachomius by a holy angel: if it had been an angel of God, he would have appeared bright, but he appeared black — and this is a sign of demonic action. Chapter 4. Others distort the words of the holy Apostle Paul, which he wrote to Timothy: "But the Spirit clearly saith that in the last times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, through the hypocrisy of false talkers, who are burned in their consciences, forbidding to marry and to eat the things which God has created, that the faithful and those who know the truth may eat with thanksgiving" (1 Tim. 4:1). 1 — 3).

Heretics say that the holy Apostle Paul said this about monks: after all, they forbid marriage and abstain from food, and of such it is allegedly written: "Cursed is everyone who does not raise up seed in Israel." The words of Holy Scripture are also collected here, refuting and denouncing all these heretical speeches. Homily Twelve, against the heresy of the Novgorod heretics, who say that if a bishop is a heretic and does not bless or curse any of the Orthodox, God's judgment will follow his judgment.

Here are also testimonies from the holy books that if a heretic, even as a bishop, does not bless or curse any of the Orthodox, then God's judgment will not follow the judgment of the heretic. Homily Thirteen, against the heresy of the Novgorod heretics, who say that neither a heretic nor an apostate can be condemned. Here are also collected testimonies from the holy books that a heretic and an apostate should not only be condemned, but also cursed, while kings and princes and judges should send them to prison and hand them over to cruel executions.

The Fourteenth Homily, against the heresy of the Novgorod heretics, who say that one should not inquire too much, find out and inquire about heretics and apostates, if they themselves do not confess their heresy and apostasy. Here are also collected the testimonies of the holy books that all those who love Christ should show every effort, effort and prudent cunning in discerning heretics, seek them out and find out about them, and having found out about them, do not conceal them; he who tries to hide a heretic is an accomplice of heretics.

Homily Fifteen, against the heresy of the Novgorod heretics, who say that if a heretic or apostate repents, then he should soon enter the holy church and commune of the Divine Mysteries. Here are also collected the testimonies of the holy books about which heretics and infidels, if they repent, should soon enter the holy church and partake of Christ's Mysteries, and which heretics and apostates, if they repent, should not enter the holy church and partake of the Divine Mysteries, until everything that the Divine canons command in this case has been done to them; and also that the Novgorod heretics and apostates who have now appeared are the worst and most vile of all the heretics and apostates who have lived under heaven.

The sixteenth word, against the heresy of the Novgorod heretics, who say that if heretics or apostates, convicted of their heresies and apostasy and condemned, begin to repent, then they should accept their repentance and vouchsafe them mercy. Here are also collected the testimonies of the holy books that if a heretic or apostate begins to repent not of his own free will, but only after being convicted and condemned, then such repentance cannot be accepted; for thieves, robbers, murderers, grave robbers, and other evildoers repent when they are rebuked and condemned, but their repentance is not accepted.

The     Monk Joseph of Volotsk (in the world John Sanin) was born on November 12, 1440 in the village of Yazvishche-Pokrovskoye near the city of Volok Lamsky (now Volokolamsk) into the family of pious parents John and Marina. As a seven-year-old youth, John was given to study the monk of the Volokolamsk Monastery of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Arsenius.

At the age of twenty, despising worldly vanity, John chose the path of monastic life. With the blessing of the elder of Tver Savvin of the monastery Barsanuphius, he withdrew to Borovsk, to the monastery of the Monk Paphnutius († 1478, Comm. 1 May), who tonsured him into monasticism with the name Joseph. The tonsure and subsequent monastic exploits of the Monk Joseph yielded grace-filled fruits in the life of his entire family.

Soon after the departure of the monk from the world, his father, John, was stricken with a grave illness – paralyzed. The Monk Paphnutios immediately received him also into his monastery, tonsured him into monasticism with the name Ioannikii, and entrusted him to the care of his son, who rested him for 15 years, until his very death. To his mother the Monk Joseph wrote a letter of admonition, advising her to choose the monastic order; she took monastic vows at the Blaise Convent of Volok Lamsky (in schema Maria).

Following their parents, the brothers of the Monk Joseph also went into monasticism. Joseph spent eighteen years in obedience to the Monk Paphnutius, carrying out the heavy obediences entrusted to him in the kitchen, bakery, and hospital. After the repose of the Monk Paphnutius in 1478, the administration of the monastery passed to the Monk Joseph. Wishing to establish a perfect and complete communal life for the brethren, the Monk Joseph undertook a journey to other monasteries in search of a proper arrangement of monastic life.

The order which he wished to establish in his brotherhood, the monk found at the Kirillo-Belozersk monastery, where in fullness and strictness was carefully preserved the cenobitic rule commanded by the Monk Cyril. But many of the brethren of the Paphnutiev monastery refused to accept the strict order of communal life, and then the Monk Joseph conceived the idea of founding a new monastery in a desolate, untouched place.