67–82

67. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ did not say that here, in this earthly life, we shall receive the reward we deserve for our toils and sufferings. Rather, He said that here, in this world, our lot will be only trial, trouble, straitness, hardship and sorrow, while the reward for all this will be given us in the life of that world. Life here is a road of labours and temptations.

68. If you are patient in everything, obedient and submissive to your spiritual fathers, then the Lord will repay you with a beautiful reward. Humility and obedience are the labour which will be remembered before the Lord before all else; whoever obeys his spiritual father by this obeys the Lord and does His will, and everyone who is obedient to the Lord in this world will be obedient to his spiritual teacher too.

69. Above all, let us believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, worship Him and submit to Him in everything; let us do His will at every hour and every minute.

70. Let us pass through this fleeting world in the fear of the Lord, for it is so appointed for us that with fear and trembling we should gain eternal salvation, as the Apostle Paul says: “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). The fear of the Lord roots out of a person’s soul all craftiness and sins, but he who does not fear God is always overcome by the evil one. This holy fear of God guards a person and covers him from every evil until he puts off this mortal body, as the prophet Isaiah says: “And as a woman in travail draws nigh to be delivered and cries out in her pain, so have we been to thy beloved, O Lord, because of thy fear. We have conceived, and have been in pain, and have brought forth the breath of thy salvation, which we have wrought upon the earth. We shall not fall, but all that dwell upon the land shall fall” (Isa. 26:17–18).

71. The man without anger, that is, one who is not malicious in heart, is a perfect man, made like God. He is always full of true joy and is a temple for the Spirit of God. As fire burns everything if we disregard it and do not put it out in time, so the embittering of a person’s heart destroys everything good in his soul and weakens his body too. If you let anger into your heart, it will destroy your soul and defile your body too, since it will breed in you many wicked thoughts and will kindle evil passions — quarrels, discord, the judging and blaming of others, gossip, envy, hatred and much other evil. If the fire of these evils is kindled in your heart, it will greatly harm your body too — it will weigh it down and bring various illnesses upon it. So labour much, brethren, to gain as soon as possible the untroubledness and freedom from anger of the heart, and the sincerity of the saints, so that our Lord Jesus Christ may graciously receive you into His dwelling and that you, like the prophet David, may be able to cry out to Him: “But receive me for my innocence, and establish me before Thee for ever!” (Ps. 40:13).

72. The Lord God says to us by the mouth of the prophet Isaiah: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet: what house, what place will ye build me? And what is the place of my rest? For all these things my hand has made, and all these things are mine. And upon whom will I look, but upon the humble and quiet, and him that trembles at my words?” (Isa. 66:1–2). And in the holy Gospel He commands us: “Take my yoke upon you, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matt. 11:29). So above all gain humility and do not be full of pride, for whoever is full of pride has partaken of the devil’s work. The haughty person, who exalts himself vainly, is hateful to everyone, to God and to people, because his every work is directed to boasting and to showing himself off, and this casts him into many sins. Of course every sin is hateful to God, but the most loathsome of them is pride of heart. A teacher, when he admonishes some proud person and gives him counsel, is like one who pours water into a leaking vessel, or like a man who wants to address a word to a bird that has flown away. So his labour will be wholly in vain. Those proud in heart are hateful before God, but the humble in heart and contrite in soul God will not despise. For the very Love of God came down from heaven to earth and humbled itself to the utmost for us, for the salvation of people. So let us love this greatest of labours — humility — so that we too, like holy King David, may be able to cry out to God: “Look upon mine affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins!” (Psalm 24:18).

73. Do not walk after your eyes on the path of foul desire and do not be weakened in heart by it! — for evil desires corrupt a person’s heart and darken his mind. Therefore put away from you “the lust of the eyes” — the desires and temptations that come through our sight — so as not to anger the Spirit of God who dwells in you. Let us always labour for purity in such a way as not to fear even death, and let us guard ourselves in every way from foul desires. And for this it is necessary to beware of gazing on a woman’s beauty. Let us not become slaves of unclean passions and shameful desires, which are hateful to God. Seal the name of God in your heart and always keep Him before your eyes, so that the word of God may always be proclaimed in you: “…ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (2 Cor. 6:16). One who is enslaved to unclean desires becomes like the animals, which are without any understanding, as the prophet David says: “And man being in honour, understood not: he is compared to the senseless cattle, and is like them” (Ps. 48:13). So let us hate with hatred the useless, corrupted eye and seek purity, for it is the glory of the angels of God. And if we ever fall by the craft of the devil, let us rise again through repentance and follow Him who came into this world to seek the sheep that was lost through sin (Luke 15:4).

74. If someone who is in spiritual labour cannot altogether bridle his lips and tongue, let him at least strive to be sparing of words, as Job says: “…be not a speaker of many words, for is there none to answer thee?” (11:3). Strive, brethren, to live so as to have mastery over your tongue and not to multiply words, lest your sins be multiplied too. Seal your lips with a seal and put a bridle on your tongue, for a person of many words leaves no place in his soul for the Holy Spirit. If some brother monk, still a beginner in the labour, comes to you and asks counsel for the salvation of his soul, answer him as you can; but if he asks about something from which there is no profit for the soul, then be like a deaf-mute, who neither hears nor can speak.

75. So let us force ourselves and set a firm guard over our lips, so as to say nothing bad about a brother, since an evil word is worse than any poison. Every wound in a person heals sooner or later, but the sore inflicted by an evil tongue will never be healed in his heart. The tongue of a careless reviler, whom the devil stirs up, is more poisonous than the tongue of a snake, since it breeds discord and venomous enmity among brethren, sows tumult and wickedness among the peaceful and scatters those who have come together. So beware of blaming and judging others, and rather keep to silence. The labourer who loves the silence of the soul dwells near God and His holy angels, and in the heights is his final dwelling. For the Lord Himself tells us by the mouth of His prophet that He will be our protector on our road if we guard our lips as we ought: “He that keeps his own mouth keeps his own life; but he that is hasty with his lips shall bring terror upon himself” (Proverbs of Solomon 13:3).

76. Holy Scripture assures us that a person’s shame may be of two kinds: one breeds sin, and the other brings forth the glory and grace pleasing to God (Sir. 4:23–25). Shame for a sin committed is true and saving shame; but evil shame, which comes from pride and breeds sin in a person’s soul, only hinders us from keeping God’s commandments. Do not be ashamed to do anything that accords with God’s will, and do not hide from a good deed. Do not be afraid to hear from others the teaching of the Lord and wise preaching, and do not be ashamed to disclose your sins to your spiritual father, so as not to be put to shame by God!

77. Our Lord Jesus Christ, moved by the greatest compassion for our souls, says to us in His holy Gospel: “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26); and again: “How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” (John 5:44). So let us labour all our life not to be enslaved to vain self-exaltation, and let us cut off the most evil branches of pride, lest we perish because of them. Put away from you, brethren, the spirit of pride, for because of it many have perished! Pride and vainglory often move a person even to various labours — to fasting, to prayer, to vigil, to almsgiving and to other good works; but all this is done for show before people, so that the proud soul may be glorified by people, and by this it will in the end be put to shame and derided by God. Let us not try to show in ourselves something great, something special and different from others, so as to stand out and to surpass the brethren! For if we act so, we may perish, entangled in the many branches of pride — for the number of the demons of the love of glory is exceedingly great! So let us hasten with greater diligence to gain the glory of the saints and their spiritual poverty, which is pleasing to God, so that of us too may be spoken those comforting words of the Saviour: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3).

78. Our Lord Jesus Christ said to us in His holy Gospel: “In your patience possess ye your souls” (Luke 21:19); and again: “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matt. 10:22; 24:13). Therefore with what great diligence it truly befits us to labour and to endure much, so as to become worthy of the dwelling prepared in the heavens! And yet, until we shed our own blood for Christ, let us not boast and let us not think that we have attained salvation, since even among painters not one praises his own work until he has finished it and until another praises it. The same may be said of the blessed, who by perfect patience have gained the victory. In due time they too will be glorified in the heavens by the Lord, like Lazarus the beggar of the Gospel (Luke 16:20 and following).

79. The psalmist King David says: “How sweet are thy words to my throat! more so than honey to my mouth” (Ps. 118:103); and again: “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring for ever and ever: the judgments of the Lord are true, and justified altogether. To be desired more than gold, and much precious stone: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb” (Psalm 18:10–11). Fear, brethren, to be unrighteous and to anger our Creator, who preaches the truth even to the unbeliever, reproves him and instructs him. And He is like the man who casts strings of pearls into the depths of the sea. And as water runs down a slope in order to gather somewhere in one place, so the word of God is poured out from above and gathers in the souls of righteous believers.

80. Let us always be watchful and burn every day with the comely diligence of our mind, so that we may not be called negligent and slothful; the one who is always watchful cannot be seized and overcome by evil passions. If a diligent and watchful labourer should ever fall through the great craft of the evil tempter, diligence and watchfulness will at once raise him up again. But if some slothful and careless labourer, who has no zeal for God, falls by reason of the devil’s temptations, he will not even notice his fall, because his heart has turned to stone and he has not gained the ability to feel and to see his own sins. Such a person is like a saddled and bridled donkey, which anyone may mount without any resistance. In such people the devil fulfils all his foul desires and shows in their hearts all his corruption. Every such person, overcome by sin, the devil drives wherever he wishes, until they are wholly filled with his malice and die in sin with weeping and groaning. The soul of such a person is like a house abandoned by negligent dwellers and left in ruins, which has become useless to all and is loathsome to all, like something accursed, like a dwelling of reptiles, scorpions and wild beasts. No one cares any longer for such a dwelling, since it is utterly broken down. Such is the state of the labourer who has given himself to sloth and, having cooled in diligence, has lost holy zeal for God. So let us take care always to be diligent and zealous for God! Let us not put this off to the future, lest we be enslaved to the power of the enemy! When there is in a labouring person this beautiful zeal and good care for the salvation of the soul, then by this he is kept from every fall and harm; so that such a person becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit and, blessedly ending his earthly road, will become worthy to enter in peace into the dwelling of the saints.

81. We know that the blessed Apostle Paul, when he discoursed on virginity, said thus: “Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful” (1 Cor. 7:25). The apostle had no such commandment because not many people can carry this heavy yoke. Therefore the Lord left a person freedom of choice in this matter, and this labour should be taken up only by those who can contain it. So let none of the unmarried boast of their virginity, for this is a gift granted by God Himself. This gift of virginity removes from you the craving for a woman, bodily desires and pride of heart; it destroys your love for all those deeds which come from the devil; it also drives far away impatient complaint, hatred of people and worldly love of glory. This gift will bring you near to the true service of God, will bridle your tongue and will train your belly by fasting. When the labour of celibacy and virginity is adorned with these virtues, it is a blameless and undefiled sacrifice offered by us to God. But if you, soul living in virginity, begin to care for many sweetnesses and walk enraptured with your own merits, wholly taken up with yourself, then you will certainly be put to shame in every work. And if you do not bridle your tongue as you ought, then your whole life and all your labour will be in vain, and you will stand before God empty-handed.

82. So let us walk rightly and in simplicity on that road on which all the saints of the Lord walked, of whom the prophet David said: “Blessed are the blameless in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 118:1) — that is, those who live in a way pleasing to God: with purity of body, purity of tongue, of eyes, of hands, of hearing, of feet, with righteous thoughts and imaginings before God and with a pure and undefiled heart toward one another, as we too cry out to the Lord in the words of the holy psalmist: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me! Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me! Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a governing spirit!” (Psalm 50:12–14).