If we remembered, brethren, the words of the holy elders, if we always learned from them, then we would not so easily indulge in carelessness about ourselves: for if, as they said, we did not rejoice over the little things, and over what seems insignificant, they would not fall into the great and heavy. I always tell you that from these insignificant (sins), from the fact that we say: “What is the importance of this or that”, an evil habit is formed in the soul, and (a person) begins to neglect the great. Do you know what a grave sin it is to judge your neighbor? For what is heavier than this? What does God hate so much? What is it that turns away so much? As the fathers said, there is nothing worse than condemnation. However, even in such a great evil a person comes from this (negligence) about apparently insignificant things. For from the fact that (a person) allows himself a small sight of his neighbor, from what we say: “What is the importance if I listen to what this brother says? What is the importance if I say one such and such a word? What does it matter if I see what this brother or that stranger will do?” - (From this very) the mind begins to ignore its sins and notice the sins of its neighbor. And from this then it happens that we condemn, slander, humiliate (neighbors), and finally we fall into the very thing that we condemn. For from the fact that (man) does not care about his sins “and does not mourn,” as the fathers said, “his dead man,” he cannot succeed in anything good, but always pays attention to the deeds of his neighbor. And nothing angers God so much, nothing exposes a person and leads to abandonment (from God) as slander, or condemnation, or humiliation of one's neighbor.

It is another thing to slander or blame, it is another to condemn, and another to humiliate. To rebuke means to say about someone: "So-and-so lied, or became angry, or fell into fornication, or (did) something like that." Here is such a slanderer (brother), that is, he spoke biasedly about his sin. And to condemn means to say: "Such and such a liar, angry, fornicator." This one condemned the very disposition of his soul, pronounced a sentence on his whole life, saying that he was such and such, and condemned him as such - and this is a grave sin.

For it is another thing to say, “He is angry,” and another thing to say, “He is angry,” and, as I said, to pronounce (thus) a sentence on his whole life. And the (sin) of condemnation is so much heavier than any other sin that Christ himself said: hypocrite, first remove the log from your eye, and then see clearly to remove the twig from your brother’s eye (Luke 6:42), and the sin of your neighbor likened a twig, and condemnation - log. So heavy is condemnation, which surpasses all sin.

And this Pharisee, praying and thanking God for his virtues, did not lie, but spoke the truth, and was not condemned for this: for we must thank God when we were honored to do something good, because He helped and assisted us in this. For this the Pharisee was not condemned, as I said, that he gave thanks to God, counting his virtues, and he was not condemned for this, that he said: I am not like other men, but when he turned to the publican and said: or like this publican, then he was condemned; for he condemned the very face, the very disposition of his soul, and, to put it briefly, his whole life. Therefore, the publican came out justified more than this (Luke 18:11).

There is nothing harder, as I have said many times, there is nothing worse than condemnation, contempt or humiliation of one's neighbor. Why do we not better condemn ourselves and our sins, which we know for sure and for which we will have to answer before God? Why do we admire (ourselves) the judgment of God? What do we want from His creation? Should we not tremble when we hear what happened to that great old man, who, learning about a certain brother that he had fallen into fornication, said: “Oh, he did bad!” Or do you not know what terrible event is narrated about him in the Fatherland? The holy angel brought to him the soul of the sinner and said to him: “Look, the one whom you condemned has died; where will you order him to be placed, in the Kingdom or in torment? Is there anything worse than this hardship? For what else do the words of the angel to the elder mean, if not this: since you are the judge of the righteous and sinners, then say what will you command about this humble soul? Will you have mercy on her, or will you torture her? The holy elder, struck by this, spent the rest of his life in groaning, tears and in immeasurable labors, praying to God that He would forgive him that sin - and (all) this already after he, having fallen on his face at his feet holy angel, received forgiveness. For what the angel said: “Behold, God has shown you what a grave sin condemnation is, so that you no longer fall into it,” already meant forgiveness; however, the soul of the old man, until his death, did not want to be consoled anymore and leave his crying.

So, what do we want from our neighbor? What do we want from someone else's burden? We have something to worry about, brethren! Let everyone take heed to himself and his sins. To God alone belongs (the power) to justify and condemn, since He knows the spiritual disposition of everyone, and the strength, and the image of education and talent, and the physique and abilities; and judges everyone accordingly, as He alone knows. For God judges differently the affairs of a bishop, and otherwise a ruler (lay), differently judges the affairs of an abbot and otherwise a disciple, otherwise an old one and a young one, otherwise a sick man and a healthy one, And who can know all these judgments? Only One, who created all, created everything and leads everything.

I remember hearing that there was once such an incident. A ship with slaves came to a certain city, and in that city there lived one holy virgin, who was very attentive to herself. She, having heard that this ship had come, was very glad, for she wanted to buy herself a little girl and thought: “I will take and raise her as I wish, so that she does not know the vices of this world at all.” She sent for the owner of the ship, and calling him to her, found out that he had two little girls, exactly the kind she wanted, and she immediately gladly gave the price (for one of them) and took her to her. When the owner of the ship departed from the place where this saint was, and barely moved a little, a completely depraved harlot met him, and seeing with him another girl, she wanted to take her; agreed with him, gave the price, took (the girl) and left with her. Do you see the mystery of God? Do you see the judgment (of God)? Who can explain it? So, the holy virgin took that little one, brought her up in the fear of God, instructing her in every good deed, teaching her monastic life, and, briefly, in every fragrance of the holy commandments of God. The harlot, having taken that unfortunate woman, made her an instrument of the devil. For what could this infection teach her, if not the destruction of her soul? So, what can we say about this terrible fate? Both were small, both were sold, not knowing where they were going, and one ended up in the hands of God, and the other fell into the hands of the devil. Is it possible to say that God will exact equally from both one and the other? How is this possible? If both fall into fornication, or into another sin, can it be said that both of them will be subjected to the same judgment, although both have fallen into the same sin? Is it possible? One knew about the court, about the Kingdom of God, day and night she studied in the words of God; the other, unfortunate, has never seen or heard anything good, but always, on the contrary, everything bad, everything diabolical: how is it possible that both should be judged by one judgment?

So, no man can know the judgments of God, but He alone knows everything and can judge the sins of everyone, as He alone knows. It really happens that a brother errs in simplicity; but he has one good deed, which pleases God more than your whole life: and you judge and condemn him, and burden your soul. But if he happened to stumble, how do you know how much he labored and how much he shed his blood before sinning? and now his transgression appears before God, as if it were a work of righteousness? For God sees his work and sorrow, which, as I said, he took up before sinning, and has mercy on him. And you know only this (sin); and while God has mercy on him, you condemn him and ruin your soul. How do you know how many tears he shed about this before God? You saw his sin, but you did not see his repentance.

Sometimes we not only condemn, but also humiliate (neighbor); for it is, as I said, to condemn and another to humiliate. Humiliation is when a person not only condemns (another), but despises him, that is, he despises his neighbor and turns away from him as from some kind of abomination: this is worse than condemnation and much more pernicious. Those who want to be saved do not pay attention to the shortcomings of their neighbors, but always look at their own and succeed. Such was he who, seeing that his brother had sinned, sighed and said, “Woe is me! As he sinned today, so I will sin tomorrow.” Do you see hardness? Do you see the mood [In Slavonic: "preparation", that is, to the temptations] of the soul? How he immediately found a way to avoid the condemnation of his brother. For having said: “So will I tomorrow,” he inspired fear and concern in himself that he, too, might soon sin, and thus escaped the condemnation of his neighbor. Moreover, he was not satisfied with this, but he threw himself under his feet, saying: “And he (at least) will repent of his sin, but I will not repent, as I should, I will not achieve repentance, I will not be able to repent.” Do you see the enlightenment of the Divine soul? He not only managed to avoid the condemnation of his neighbor, but also threw himself under his feet. But we, the accursed ones, indiscriminately condemn, abhor, humiliate, if we see or hear something, or only suspect; and what is even worse, we do not stop at our own harm, but when we meet another brother, we immediately say to him: this and that happened, and we harm him, bringing sin into his heart [Greek: pouring fetid impurity into his heart] . And we are not afraid of the one who said: Woe to the one who soldered his friend with muddy corruption (Habak. 2:15), but we are committing a demonic deed, and we are negligent about it. For what else is a demon to do, how not to confuse and harm? And we turn out to be helpers of demons for our own and neighbor's perdition: for whoever harms the soul, he assists and helps the demons, and whoever benefits it, he helps the holy angels. From what do we fall into this, if not from the fact that there is no love in us? For if we had love, then we would look with condolence and compassion at the shortcomings of our neighbor, as it is said: love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). Lyuba does not think evil; covers everything, etc. (1 Cor. 13:5).

So, if, as I said, we had love, then this love would cover every sin, as the saints do when they see human shortcomings. For are the saints blind and do not see sins? And who hates sin so much as the saints? However, they do not hate the sinner and do not condemn him, do not turn away from him; but they sympathize with him, mourn for him, admonish him, console him, heal him like a sick member, and do everything to save him. Like fishermen, when they throw a hook into the sea and, having caught a big fish, they feel that it is rushing about and beating, they do not suddenly attract it strongly, because otherwise the rope will break and they will completely lose the fish; but they let the rope loose and loosen it to go as it wants; when they see that the fish is tired and has ceased to beat, then little by little they attract it; so the saints, by long-suffering and love, attract a brother, and do not turn away from him and do not abhor him. As a mother who has an ugly son, not only does not disdain him and does not turn away from him, but also decorates him with love, and everything that she does, she does for his comfort; so the saints always cover, adorn, help, so that they can correct the sinner over time, and no one else will receive harm from him, and they themselves will more succeed in the love of Christ.

What did Saint Ammon do when one day the brethren came to him in confusion and said to him: “Go and see, father, there is a woman in the cell of such and such a brother.” What mercy showed what love this holy soul had! Realizing that the brother had hidden the woman under the tub, he went and sat on it, and ordered them to search all over the cell. When they found nothing, he said to them, "God forgive you." And so he put them to shame, established them, and did them great good, teaching them not to easily believe accusations against their neighbor; and he corrected his brother, not only covering him according to God, but also admonishing him when he found a convenient time for that. For, having sent them all out, he took him by the hand and said to him, "Think of your soul, brother." This brother immediately felt ashamed, came to tenderness, and the philanthropy and compassion of the elder immediately affected his soul.

So, let us also acquire love, acquire indulgence towards our neighbor in order to save ourselves from pernicious slander, condemnation and humiliation, and let us help each other as our own members. Who, having a wound on his hand, or on his leg, or on some other member, abhors himself, or cuts off his member, even if it fester? Doesn’t he rather cleanse him, wash him, put a plaster on him, tie him up, sprinkle him with holy water, pray and ask the saints to pray for him, as Abba Zosima said? In a word, (no one) leaves his penis (neglected), does not turn away from it, or even from its stench, but does everything to heal it. So we must also sympathize with each other, we must help each other, ourselves and with the help of other strong ones, and invent and do everything in order to help ourselves and one another; for we are members of one another, as the Apostle says: Therefore, we have one body in Christ; 26). What do dorms look like to you? Are they not one body, and (all the members of the hostel) members of each other. Ruling and instructing are the head; observing and correcting - eyes; those who use the word are mouths; those who listen to them are the ears; those who do are the hands, and the feet are those who send out and do service. - Are you the head? - Instruct. Is it an eye? - Watch, watch. Is it mouth? - Speak, use. Is it an ear? - Listen. Is it a hand? - Do it. Is it a leg? - Serve. Let each one serve the body according to his strength, and try to constantly help each other: either by teaching, putting the word of God in the heart of a brother, or by consolation during sorrow, or by giving help in the work of service. And in a word, each, as I said, according to your strength, try to have unity with one another; for the more one unites with his neighbor, the more he unites with God.

And in order for you to understand more clearly the power of what has been said, I will offer you a comparison betrayed by the fathers. Imagine a circle drawn on the earth, the middle of which is called the center; and straight lines from the center to the circumference are called radii. Now understand what I am going to say: suppose that this circle is the world, and the very center of the circle is God; radii, that is, straight lines going from the circumference to the center, are the paths of human life. So, as far as the saints enter inside the circle, wishing to draw closer to God, to the extent that they enter, they become closer both to God and to each other; and how much they approach God, so much they approach each other; and how much they approach each other, so much they approach God. So understand also about removal. When they move away from God and return to the external, it is obvious that in the same measure that they proceed from the center and move away from God, they also move away from each other to the same extent; and how much they move away from each other, so much they move away from God. Such is the nature of love: insofar as we are outside and do not love God, so far each one is removed from his neighbor. If we love God, then as much as we draw closer to God with love for Him, so much we unite with love with our neighbor; and how much we unite with our neighbor, so much we unite with God. May the Lord God vouchsafe us to hear what is beneficial and to do it; for as we try and care about the fulfillment of what we hear, God always enlightens us and teaches us His will. To Him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.

“But we, sleeping, want to be saved, and therefore we are exhausted in sorrows; whereas we should thank God and consider ourselves blessed that we are worthy to suffer a little here, in order to find a little peace there.

The devil loves those who rely on themselves, because they help him and intrigue themselves.

But in brotherly love you grow weary because you receive thoughts of suspicion against your neighbor and believe in your own heart; it happens to you also because you don't want to suffer anything against your will. And so, first of all, you must, with the help of God, by no means believe your own opinions ... "

Reverend Abba Dorotheos

The carelessness and transience of earthly time is the Will of God. What is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God? - Confession - Love for one's neighbor. How to deal with dislike? - Alms - Insults, insults - Condemnation. About not judging your neighbor - Fasting - Self-will - Sorrows, temptations and illnesses. Providence of God - Humility - The state of the soul after death - Passion - Fear of God. How to deal with insensitivity?

Rev. Abba Dorotheos of Palestine (620):

Carelessness and transience of earthly time

If anyone loses gold or silver, he can find another; if he loses time, living in idleness and laziness, he will not be able to find another to replace the lost.

Will of God. What is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God?

... What does the Apostle say: will God's and good, and pleasing, and perfect(Rom.12, 2)? Everything that happens happens either by the good pleasure of God, or connivingly, as the Prophet says: I am the Lord, who made light and created darkness(Is.45, 7). And further: or there will be evil in the city, if the Lord does not create(Amos 3, 6). Everything that burdens us is called evil, that is, everything that is mournful, which happens to be our punishment for our depravity, such as: famine, pestilence, earthquake, lack of rain, illness, warfare - all this happens not by the good pleasure of God, but connivingly, when God lets it come upon us for our good. But God does not want us to desire it, or cooperate with it.

For example, as I said, there is a permissive will of God for the city to be ruined; but God does not want us, inasmuch as it is His will to destroy the city, ourselves to set fire and set fire to it, or that we take axes and begin to destroy it. God also allows anyone to be in sorrow or sickness; but although it is God's will that he be sad, yet God does not want us to grieve Him, or to say: since it is God's will that he be ill, we will not pity him. This is not what God wants; does not want us to serve such His will. He wants, on the contrary, to see us so good that we do not want what He does indulgently.

But what does he want? He wants us to desire His good will, which happens, as I said, according to His good pleasure, that is, everything that is done according to His commandment: to love one another, to be compassionate, to do alms, and the like; this is the will of God good.

What does it mean and pleasing? Not everyone who does something good does it pleasing to God.. And I'll tell you how (it happens). It happens that someone finds an orphan poor and beautiful in appearance; he likes her because of her owl beauty, and he takes her and brings her up, as a miserable orphan, but at the same time as beautiful herself. This is the will of God good, but not pleasing. A pleasing the one when someone does alms not from any human impulse, but for the sake of the very good, out of compassion alone: ​​this is pleasing to God.

The perfect (God's will) is that when someone gives alms not with stinginess, not with laziness, not with coercion, but with all his strength and all his will, giving as if he himself received, and so doing good, as if he himself received good deeds, and then it is fulfilled perfect the will of God. Thus does a man fulfill the will of God, as the Apostle says, good and pleasing and perfect...

Confession

The soul, thinking about confession, is kept by it from sins, as if by a bridle.

Love for your neighbor. How to deal with dislike?

And in brotherly love you get tired of you accept thoughts of suspicion against your neighbor and trust your heart; it happens to you also because you don't want to endure anything against your will. So, first of all, you must, with the help of God, by no means believe your own opinions and with all your strength try to humble yourself before your brothers, and with all your soul cut off your will before them. If one of them annoys you or somehow saddens you, then, according to the word of the fathers, pray for him, as he has done you great benefit and heals your voluptuousness. Through this, your irritability will decrease, for, according to the words of the holy fathers, love is a bridle of irritability. First of all, pray to God to give you attention and understanding, so that you may know what His will is. good and pleasing and perfect(Rom. 12:2), as well as the strength to be ready for every good work.

Alms

One must also know the very good of almsgiving, its very grace. It is so great that it can also forgive sins, as the Prophet says: deliverance to her husband his wealth(Prov. 13, 8). And again in another place he says: expiate your sins with alms(Dan. 4:24). And the Lord Himself said: be merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful(Luke 6:36). He did not say: Fast, as your Heavenly Father also fasts. He did not say: Be non-possessive, just as your Heavenly Father is non-possessive. But what does he say? Be merciful, as your heavenly Father is also merciful: for this virtue especially imitates God and likens man to Him.

And so it must always be ... to look to this goal and wise to do good: for and in the purpose of almsgiving there is a great difference.

Another gives alms so that his field may be blessed, and God blesses his field, and he achieves his goal. Another gives alms so that his ship can be saved, and God saves his ship. Another gives it for his children, and God saves and keeps his children. Another gives it in order to be glorified, and God glorifies him. For God does not reject anyone, but gives to each what he desires, unless it harms his soul.

But all these have already received their reward, and God does not owe them anything, because they did not seek anything beneficial for themselves from Him, and the goal that they had in mind had nothing to do with their spiritual benefit. You did this so that your field might be blessed, and God would bless your field; you have done this for your children, and God has kept your children. You did it to be glorified, and God glorified you. So what does God owe you? He gave you the wages you were doing.

Another gives alms in order to get rid of future torment: this one gives it for the (benefit) of his soul; this one gives for the sake of God, however, he is not what God wants, for he is still in the state of a slave, and the slave does not voluntarily do the will of his master, but is afraid of being punished: so this one also gives alms in order to get rid of torment, and God delivers him from it. Another gives alms in order to receive a reward: this one is higher than the first, but this one is not what God wants: for he is not yet in the state of a son, but, like a hired hand, does the will of his master in order to receive payment and profit from him : so also this one gives (alms) in order to acquire and receive a reward from God (and receives).

For in three ways, as he says Basil the Great we can do good, as I mentioned to you before: or we do good, fearing torment, and then we are in the degree of a slave; or in order to receive a reward, and then we are in the degree of a hireling, or we do good for the sake of good itself, and then we are in the degree of a son, for the son does the will of the father not out of fear and not because he wants to receive a reward from him, but desiring please him, honor him and comfort him.

So we must give alms for the sake of the very good, compassionate to each other as to our members, and so please others, as if we ourselves accepted services from them; serve as if we ourselves receive. And this is reasonable almsgiving; thus we come to the degree of a son...

Insults, insults

To accept insult, to lay the blame on ourselves and to consider everything that comes upon us as our own is a matter of reason, because everyone who prays to God: “Lord, give me humility,” should know that he is asking God to send him someone somehow offend him.

condemnation

What do we want from someone else's burden? We have something to worry about, brothers! Let everyone take heed to himself and his sins. To God alone belongs the power to justify and condemn, since He knows the spiritual disposition of everyone, and the strength, and the way of education, and gifts, and physique, and abilities; and judges everyone accordingly, as He alone knows.

Fast

It is written in the law that God commanded the children of Israel to give a tithe every year of everything they acquired, and in doing so, they were blessed in all their affairs. Knowing this, the holy apostles established and betrayed to help us, and as a blessing to our souls, something more and higher - that we should separate a tithe from the very days of our lives and consecrate it to God: so that we also receive a blessing in all our works, and yearly cleanse the sins that we have committed during the whole year. Judging thus, the apostles consecrated to us of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year these seven weeks of the Holy Forty Days. God gave these holy days so that if anyone tries with attention and humility to take care of himself and repent of his sins, he will be cleansed from the sins that he has committed during the whole year. Thus, his soul will be freed from the burden, and thus, purified, he will reach the holy day of the Resurrection and unjudgmentally partake of the Holy Mysteries, having become a new person through repentance in this holy fast. Such one, in spiritual joy and gladness, with the help of God, will celebrate the whole of Holy Pentecost, for Pentecost, as the Fathers say, is the rest and resurrection of the soul; this is signified by the fact that we do not bow our knees throughout Holy Pentecost (from Holy Pascha to Trinity).

But we must not only observe the measure in food, but also refrain from every other sin, so that, as we fast with the belly, we also fast with the tongue. We should also fast with our eyes, that is, not look at vain things, not give our eyes freedom, not look at anyone shamelessly and without fear. Likewise, the hands and feet must be restrained from every evil deed. By fasting, as St. Basil the Great, with favorable fasting, moving away from every sin committed by all our senses, we will reach the holy day of the Resurrection, having become, as we said, new, pure and worthy of communion of the Holy Mysteries.

willfulness

The devil loves those who rely on themselves, because they help him and intrigue themselves.

Nothing benefits people as much as cutting off one's will and from this man prospers more than from any other virtue.

Only then does a person see the immaculate way of God, when he leaves his will. When he obeys his will, he does not see that the ways of God are blameless, and if he hears some instruction, he immediately reproaches and denies it.

Cutting off your will is a real battle with yourself to bloodshed, and to achieve this, a person must work to the death ...

God wants us to desire His good will. To love one another, to be compassionate, to do charity and the like—this is the good will of God.”

When the devil sees that someone does not want to sin, then he is not so unskilled in doing evil that he begins to inspire him with any obvious sins, and does not say to him: go, commit fornication, or go, steal; for he knows that we do not want this, and he does not consider it necessary to inspire us with what we do not want, but finds in us, as I said, one desire or one self-justification, and thus, under the guise of good, harms us. So it says again: the evil one does evil when combined with the righteous...(Prov. 11, 15). The evil one is the devil, and then he acts evil, always combined with the righteous, i.e. when combined with our self-justification, then it becomes stronger, then it harms more, then it acts more. For when we hold on to our will and follow our justifications, then, while doing what seems to be a good deed, we spread our own nets and do not even know how we perish. For how can we comprehend the will of God or seek it if we believe in ourselves and keep to our own will?

That's why Abba Pimen and said that our will is a copper wall between man and God. Do you see the power of this saying? And he added: she is, as it were, a stone that opposes, opposes the will of God.

So, if a man abandons his will, then he can also say: By my God I will pass the wall. My God, His way is blameless(Ps. 17:30-31). Very well said! For then only a man sees the immaculate way of God, when he leaves his will. When he obeys his own will, he does not see that the ways of God are blameless; but if he hears anything pertaining to instruction, he immediately reproaches it, humiliates it, turns away from it and acts on the contrary: for how can he endure anything or obey anyone's advice if he keeps to his own will!

Further, the elder speaks of self-justification: If self-justification also helps the will, then the person is completely corrupted.". It is amazing what consistency in the words of the Holy Fathers! Indeed, when justification is united with the will, then this is perfect death, great danger, great fear; then the unfortunate one finally falls. For who can make such a person believe that another person knows more than he does what is good for him? Then he completely surrenders to his will, his thought, and finally the enemy, as he wants, arranges his fall ...

Sorrow, temptation and sickness. Providence of God

Whether someone does good to us, or we suffer evil from someone, we must look at grief and thank God for everything that always happens to us, reproaching ourselves and saying, as the fathers said, that if something good happens to us, then this is the work of God's Providence, and if evil, then these are our sins, for, truly, everything that we cannot bear, we bear for our sins.

There are some foolish people who are so exhausted by the occurrence of sorrows that they renounce life itself and consider death sweet, if only to get rid of sorrows, illnesses and misfortunes on earth, but this comes from cowardice and much unreason, for such people do not know the terrible need that meets us after the departure of the soul from the body. This is what is told in the book Fatherland. One very zealous brother asked a certain old man: “Why does my soul desire death?” The elder answered him: “Because you avoid sorrow and do not know that the coming sorrow is much harder than this one.”

But we, sleeping, want to be saved, and therefore we are exhausted in sorrows.; whereas we should thank God and consider ourselves blessed that we are worthy to suffer a little here, in order to find a little peace there.

The soul of a person, when it ceases to perform sins in reality, must first labor in feats and many sorrows, and so through sorrows enter holy rest, for through many tribulations it is fitting for us to enter into the Kingdom of God(Acts 14:22). Sorrows attract the mercy of God to the soul just as the winds bring blessed rain. Carelessness, carelessness and earthly peace relax and disperse the soul, while temptations, on the contrary, strengthen and unite with God, as the prophet says: Lord, in sorrow remember Thee(Is.33, 2), therefore, we should not be embarrassed or lose heart in temptations, but we must endure and thank God in sorrows and always pray to Him with humility, that He would show mercy to our weakness and cover us from every temptation for His glory.

It is great philanthropy, brethren, that we are punished while in this world; but we, not knowing what is going on there, regard it as heavy here.

Believe that everything that happens to us, even to the smallest detail, happens according to the Providence of God, and then you will endure everything that comes upon you without embarrassment.

First of all, my brother, it must be said that we do not know the ways of God's providence and therefore we must leave Him to arrange everything that concerns us, and even more so we must do so now. For if you want to judge what happens by human thoughts, instead of placing all your sorrow on God, then such thoughts will only make you more difficult.

So, when nasty thoughts rise up against you and begin to oppress you, you must cry out to God: “Lord! as You wish, and as You know, arrange this matter”; for the providence of God does much beyond our consideration and hope. And sometimes what we assume from experience is different, and in a word: in times of temptation, one must have long-suffering and pray, and not wish, as I said, and not believe that it is possible to overcome the thoughts of demons with human thoughts ...

So my son, believing that this is true, leave your own thought, even though he was both reasonable and have hope in God, who can do incomparably more than what we ask or think(see: Ephesians 3:20).

humility

One of the elders said: First of all, we need humility of mind to be ready for every word we hear to say: sorry; for with humility of mind all the arrows of the enemy and adversary are crushed". Let us examine the meaning of the elder's word; why does he say that first of all we need humility of mind, and did not say that temperance is needed first? For the Apostle says: abstain from all(1 Corinthians 9:25). Or why didn't the elder say that first of all we need the fear of God? For Scripture says: (Ps. 110, 9) and again By the fear of the Lord everyone turns away from evil(Prov. 15, 27). Why does he not say that first of all we need charity or faith? For it is said: sins are cleansed by alms and faith(Prov. 15, 27), and the Apostle says: without faith it is impossible to please God(Heb. 11:6). So, if it is impossible to please God without faith, and sins are cleansed by almsgiving and faith, and if everyone turns away from evil through the fear of the Lord, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and he who strives from everything must refrain from everything, then how (the elder) says that first of all it is necessary us humility of mind, and left everything else so necessary? The elder wants to show us this that neither the very fear of God, nor almsgiving, nor faith, nor abstinence, nor any other virtue can be accomplished without humility of mind. That is why he says: “First of all, we need humility of mind, so that we are ready for every word that we hear, to say: sorry; for with humility of mind all the arrows of the enemy and adversary are crushed. You see, brethren, how great is the power of humility of mind; see what effect the word has: sorry.

But why is the devil called not only an enemy, but also an adversary? He is called an enemy because he is a misanthrope, a hater of good and a slanderer; he is called an adversary because he tries to hinder every good deed. Does anyone want to pray: he resists and hinders him with evil memories, captivity of the mind and despondency. Does anyone want to give alms: he prevents the love of money and stinginess. Does anyone want to stay awake: he hinders with sloth and negligence; and so he resists us in every deed, when we want to do good. Therefore, he is called not only an enemy, but also an adversary.

By humility of mind, all the weapons of the enemy and adversary are crushed. For humility of wisdom is truly great, and each of the saints walked along its path and shortened his path with labor, as the Psalmist says: see my humility and my work, and forgive all my sins(Ps. 24:18), and: humble yourself, and save me Lord(Ps. 114:6). However, humility alone can lead us into the Kingdom, as the elder Abba John said, but only slowly.

Blessed, brethren, who has humility; great humility. Well, one saint also meant the one who has true humility in this way: “Humility does not get angry at anyone and does not anger anyone, and considers this completely alien to itself.” Great, as we said, is humility; for it alone resists vanity and keeps man from it.

When Saint Anthony I saw all the nets of the devil stretched out and, sighing, asked God: “Who will escape them?” - then God answered him: "Humility avoids them"; and what is even more surprising, he added: “They don’t even touch him.” Do you see the grace of this virtue? Truly, there is nothing stronger than humility of mind, nothing defeats it. If something sad happens to a humble person, he immediately turns to himself, immediately condemns himself, that he is worthy (of that), and will not reproach anyone, will not lay blame on another, and thus endure (what happened) without embarrassment, without sorrow. , with perfect calmness, and therefore does not get angry and does not anger anyone. So, the saint well said, that first of all we need humility of mind.

There are two humility, just like there are two prides. The first pride is that when someone reproaches a brother, when he condemns and dishonors him as meaningless, and considers himself superior to him. Such, if he does not come to his senses soon and does not try to correct himself, then, little by little, he will come to the second pride, so that he will become proud even against God Himself, and will begin to attribute his exploits and virtues to himself, and not to God, as if he had done it himself. them, with your own mind and diligence, and not with the help of God.

Pride can also be worldly and monastic: worldly pride is that when one is proud before his brother that he is richer or more beautiful than him, or that he wears better clothes than he, or that he is nobler than him. So, when we see that we are conceited by these (advantages), or by the fact that our monastery is larger or richer (others), or that there are many brethren in it, then we should know that we are still in worldly pride. It also happens that people are conceited about some natural talents: another, for example, is conceited that he has a good voice and that he sings well, or that he is modest, hardworking and conscientious in his service. These advantages are better than the first, but even this is worldly pride. Monastic pride is that when someone boasts that he is exercising in vigil, in fasting, that he is reverent, lives well and is careful. It also happens that another humbles himself for glory. All this refers to monastic pride.

Behold, we have said what is the first pride, and what is the second; they also said what is worldly pride, and what is monastic. Let us now consider what the two humility also consist of. The first humility consists in revering one's brother as wiser than oneself and more excellent in everything, and, in a word, as the holy fathers said, "respecting oneself as the lowest of all." The second humility consists in ascribing to God one's exploits—this is the perfect humility of the saints. It is naturally born in the soul from the fulfillment of the commandments.

I remember once we had a conversation about humility. And one of the noble (citizens) of the city of Gaza, hearing our words, that the more one approaches God, the more he sees himself as a sinner, he was surprised and said: how can this be? And not understanding, I wanted to know: what do these words mean? I told him: “Eminent gentleman! Tell me, who do you consider yourself to be in your city?” He answered: "I consider myself great and the first in the city." I say to him: “If you go to Caesarea, what will you consider yourself to be there?” He answered: "For the last of the nobles there." “But if,” I say to him again, “you go to Antioch, who will you consider yourself to be there?” “There,” he answered, “I will consider myself one of the commoners.” “But if,” I say, “you go to Constantinople and approach the king, who will you consider yourself to be there?” And he answered: "Almost for a beggar." Then I said to him: “This is how the saints, the closer they come to God, the more they see themselves as sinners.” For Abraham, when he saw the Lord, called himself earth and ashes (Gen. 18:27); Isaiah said: cursed and impure am I(Is.6, 5); so also Daniel, when he was in the lions' den, to Habakkuk, who brought him bread and said: accept the dinner that God sent you, answered: and so God remembered me (Dan.14, 36, 37). What humility his heart had! He was in the den in the midst of the lions and was unharmed by them, and moreover, not once, but twice, and after all this he was surprised and said: and so God remembered me.

Once Abba Zosima spoke of humility, and some sophist who was there, hearing what he said and wanting to understand (it) exactly, asked him: “Tell me, how do you consider yourself a sinner? Don't you know that you are holy? Don't you know that you have virtues? After all, you see how you fulfill the commandments: how do you, doing this, consider yourself a sinner? The elder did not know what answer to give him, but only said: “I don’t know what to tell you, but I consider myself a sinner.” The Sophist insisted on his own, wanting to know how this could be. Then the elder, not finding how to explain this to him, began to say to him with his holy simplicity: “Do not embarrass me; I truly consider myself to be."

Seeing that the elder was at a loss as to how to answer the sophist, I said to him: “Isn’t it the same in the sophistical and medical arts? When someone is well trained in the art and practices it, then, as he exercises in it, the doctor or sophist acquires a certain skill, but he cannot say and is not able to explain how he became experienced in the matter; the soul acquired the habit, as I said, gradually and insensibly, through the exercise of art. So it is in humility: from the fulfillment of the commandments there is a certain habit of humility, and it is impossible to express this in a word.". When Abba Zosima heard this, he was delighted, immediately embraced me and said: You comprehended the matter, it happens exactly as you said". And the sophist, having heard these words, was pleased and agreed with them.

What brings us to humility, the fathers said. For it is written in the Fatherland: a brother asked an old man: what is humility? The elder answered: “Humility is a great and Divine thing; the path to humility is bodily labors performed intelligently; also, to consider yourself lower than everyone and constantly pray to God - this is the path to humility; the very humility is Divine and incomprehensible.”

May the good God give us humility, for it delivers a person from many evils and covers him from great temptations. Glory to God and power forever. Amen.

State of mind after death

For souls remember everything that was here, as the fathers say, and words, and deeds, and thoughts, and none of this can be forgotten then. And it says in the psalm: On that day all his thoughts will perish.(Ps. 145, 4); this refers to the thoughts of this age, i.e., about the structure, property, parents, children, and every deed and teaching ... And what she did regarding virtue or passion, she remembers everything, and none of this perishes for her ... And nothing, as I said, the soul does not forget what it has done in this world, but remembers everything after leaving the body, and, moreover, better and more clearly, as having been freed from this earthly body.

Passion

If passion disturbs us, then we should not be embarrassed by this: to be embarrassed that passion disturbs us is a matter of foolishness and pride and comes from the fact that we do not know our state of mind and avoid labor, as the Fathers said. Therefore, we do not succeed because we do not know our measure and do not have patience in the things we begin, but we want to acquire virtue without difficulty. What surprises the passionate when passion disturbs him? Why is he embarrassed? You acquired it, you have it in yourself and you are embarrassed! He took into himself her pledges, you say: why does she disturb me? Better endure, strive and pray to God.

Fear of God. How to deal with insensitivity?

... It is impossible ... to achieve perfect fear, if one does not first acquire the original. For it is said: the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord(Prov. 1, 7), and it is also said: the fear of God is the beginning and the end(Sir. 1, 15, 18). The beginning is called the initial fear, followed by the perfect fear of the saints. Initial fear is inherent in our state of mind. He saves the soul from all evil, like polishing copper, for it is said: but by the fear of the Lord everyone turns away from evil(Prov. 15, 27). So, if someone turns away from evil for fear of punishment, like a slave who fears his master, then he gradually comes to do good voluntarily, and little by little begins, like a hired hand, to hope for some reward for his good deed. For when he constantly avoids evil, as we said, out of fear, like a slave, and does good in the hope of reward, like a hired hand, then, staying, by the grace of God, in good and proportionately uniting with God, he receives a taste of good and begins to understand what the true good is, and no longer wants to be separated from it. For who can separate such a person from the love of Christ? — as the Apostle said (Rom. 8:35).

Then he reaches the dignity of a son and loves goodness for the sake of goodness itself, and is afraid because he loves. This is the great and perfect fear. Therefore, the Prophet, teaching us to distinguish one fear from another, said: come, children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is a man, even though he belly, love to see good days?(Ps.33, 12-13).

How to deal with insensitivity?

When the soul is insensible, brother, it is useful to frequently read the Divine Scriptures and the touching words of the God-bearing fathers, remembering the terrible judgment of God, the exit of the soul from the body and the terrible forces that have to meet it, with the complicity of which it did evil in this short and disastrous life. It is also useful to remember that we will have to stand before the terrible and righteous Judgment Seat of Christ, and not only in deeds, but also in words and thoughts, give an answer before God, before all His Angels and in general before all creation.

Remember also often the sentence that the terrible and righteous Judge will pronounce on those who stand at His left: go from me cursed into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angel(Matthew 25:41). It is also good to remember great human tribulations, so that, although involuntarily, the cruel and insensible soul will be softened in this way and come to the consciousness of its sinfulness.

According to the book: “Our Reverend Father ABBA DOROTHEOUS Soulful teachings and messages. "Father's House", Moscow, 2005

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (John 4:5-11)

In his youth, he diligently studied science. “When I was studying external teaching,” the abba wrote, “at first I was very weary of the teaching, so that when I came to take a book, it was like walking towards a beast. But when I began to force myself, God helped me, and I got so used to that he did not know what he ate, what he drank, how he slept, from the warmth felt when reading. They could never lure me to a meal with any of my friends, did not even go to them and for a conversation while reading, although he loved "I am society and loved my comrades. When the philosopher let us go ... I went back to where I lived, not knowing what I would eat, because I did not want to waste time ordering food." Thus did the Monk Abba Dorotheos imbibe the wisdom of the book.

With even greater zeal, he devoted himself to monastic deeds when he retired to the desert. “When I came to the monastery,” the monk recalled, “I said to myself: if there was so much love, so much warmth for external wisdom, then it should be all the more for virtue, and all the more strengthened.”

One of the first obediences of the Monk Dorotheus was to meet and accommodate the pilgrims who came to the monastery. He had to talk with people of different positions, bearing all sorts of hardships and trials, struggling with various temptations. At the expense of one brother, the Monk Dorotheos built a hospital, in which he himself served. The holy abba himself described his obedience in the following way: “At that time I had just risen from a serious illness. And here come the wanderers in the evening—I spent the evening with them, and the camel drivers were there—and I prepared what they needed; many times it happened that when I went to bed, another need met, and they woke me up, and then the hour of vigil approached. In order to fight sleep, the Monk Dorotheos begged one brother to wake him up for the service, and not to allow the other to doze off during the vigil. "And believe me," said the holy abba, "I had such respect for them, as if my salvation depended on them." For 10 years, the Monk Dorotheos was a cell-attendant with the Monk John the Prophet. Even before, he revealed to him all his thoughts, and combined his new obedience with the complete surrender of himself to the will of the elder, so that he had no sorrow. Worried that he would not fulfill the commandment of the Savior that it is fitting to enter the Kingdom of Heaven through many sorrows, Abba Dorotheos revealed this thought to the elder. But the Monk John answered: "Do not grieve, you have nothing to worry about, whoever is in obedience to the fathers enjoys carelessness and peace." The Monk Dorotheos considered it his happiness to serve the great elder, but he was always ready to yield this honor to others. In addition to the fathers of the monastery of Abba Serida, the Monk Dorotheos visited and listened to the instructions of other great ascetics of his day, including the Monk Abba Zosima.

After the death of the Monk John the Prophet, when he assumed complete silence, the Monk Dorotheos left the monastery of Abba Serida and founded another monastery, the monks of which he nursed until his death.

To the Monk Abba Dorotheus belongs 21 teachings, several epistles, 87 questions with recorded answers of the Monks Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet. The manuscripts also contain 30 words about asceticism and a record of the instructions of St. Abba Zosima. The creations of Abba Dorotheus are full of deep spiritual wisdom, they are distinguished by a clear, refined style, simplicity and accessibility of presentation. The teachings reveal the inner life of a Christian, his gradual ascent to the measure of the age of Christ. The holy abba often turns to the advice of the great saints: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory of Nyssa. Obedience and humility, combined with deep love for God and neighbor, are those virtues without which spiritual life is impossible - this thought pervades all the teachings of Abba Dorotheus.

In the exposition, the personality of the Monk Dorotheus is felt everywhere, whom his disciple, (Comm. 19 February) characterized as follows: dispute - but this is the beginning of reverence, goodwill and that which is sweeter than honey - unanimity, the mother of all virtues.

The teachings of Abba Dorotheos are the beginning book for those who have embarked on the path of spiritual work. Simple advice on how to act in this or that case, and the most subtle analysis of the thoughts and movements of the soul are a reliable guide for those who have decided to read the works of Abba Dorotheus by experience. Monks, having started reading this book, do not part with it all their lives.

The works of Abba Dorotheos were in all the monastic libraries and were incessantly copied. In Rus', his book of soul-beneficial teachings and answers of St. Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet was the most common in terms of the number of lists, along with the Ladder and creations. It is known that († 1427, Comm. 9 June), despite the numerous duties of the abbot, he personally copied the teachings of Abba Dorotheus together with the Ladder of St. John.

The teachings of Abba Dorotheus apply not only to monks: at all times this book was read by everyone who strove to fulfill the commandments of the Savior.

*Published in Russian:

1. Teachings. M., 1652. The same. Vilna, 1767.

2. Soulful teachings and messages with the application of questions and answers given to them by the holy elders Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet. M., 1756. The same. Ed. 2nd. SPb., 1862. (Conversation with the great old man Saint Barsanuphius and his disciple Abba John the perspicacious. See also: Christian Reading. 1829. XXXVI. C. 154 ff.). Same. Optina Pustyn, 1913.

3. The book, called the Flower Garden, composed by the priestly monk Dorotheus, containing the commandments of the Gospel and the holy father teachings. Warsaw, 1785. The same. Grodno, 1790, 1795.

4. The book of the God-pleasing works of our reverend father Ephraim the Syrian and Abba Dorotheus. M., 1701.

5. Holy Books of the Monk Father Ephraim the Syrian and Abba Dorotheus. Vilna, 1780.

6. Holy and Inspired Books of Saints and Rev. Father Ephraim the Syrian and Blessed Abba Dorotheus. M., 1652. The same. Klintsovsky Posad, 1787. The same. Suprasl, 1791. The same. Yanovskaya type., 1817.

7. Instructions (About self-denial. - About what we should not condemn our neighbor. - About humility. - About the fear of God. - About what we should not dispose of ourselves according to our own mind. - About the fact that we are awake and with a known goal must follow the path of God - to the monastic steward) // Christian reading. 1826. XXIV; 1827. XXV; 1829. XXIII; 1830. XXXIX, XL; 1831. XLIII.

8. Words (About holy fasting. - About rancor. - About the building and harmony of spiritual virtues. - About conscience. - About the horror of future torment, and that one who wants to be saved should never be careless about his salvation. - About a lie. - On enduring temptations with calmness and gratitude) // Christian reading. 1830. XXVII; 1829. XXXIV, XXXV, XXXVI; 1831. XLI, XLII.

9. Explanation of some speeches of St. Gregory, sung with troparia on Holy Pascha and in remembrance of the holy martyrs // Christian Reading. 1830. XXXVIII; 1831. XLIII.

10. Letters // Ibid. 1830. XXXVII, XXXIX, XL.

11. Instructions for a virtuous life // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 1970. No. 11. S. 20-24; No. 12. S. 32-35.

12. Instruction for Holy Easter // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 1978. No. 4. S. 25-27.*

was originally from Ascalon and spent his early youth with his family in Gaza. In his youth, he deeply studied secular sciences; perhaps his teacher was the famous philosopher Procopius of Gaza. Dorofei's family was wealthy; later, his brother built a hospital in the monastery of Abba Serida at his own expense. Saint Dorotheos did not immediately take monastic vows, but lived for some time near the monastery, using the funds of his large inheritance. Entering the monastery of St. Serida, Dorotheos became a cell-attendant of St. John the Prophet and was his novice for ten years. His main obedience in the monastery was the reception of wanderers, to which he showed great patience and zeal. He was the mentor of the Monk Dositheus. Not earlier than 540, after the death of Abbot Serida and St. John the Prophet, Dorotheos withdrew from the dormitory of Abba Serida. A possible reason for this was the desire of the brethren to elect him hegumen, which he humbly refused. Soon other monks began to settle near Dorotheus and he founded his own monastery, the abbot of which he remained until his death in 620. Abba Dorotheos is famous for his literary heritage: teachings (number 21), epistles (number 10) and recording of the answers of the elders Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet to the questions of the Monk Dorotheus (number 87). The works of Abba Dorotheus are classics of ascetic literature, studied by monastics and laity as a source of analysis of the thoughts and movements of the soul of a Christian. On Rejection of the World On Humility of Wisdom On Conscience On the Fear of God Do Not Rely on Reason Do Not Judge Your Neighbor Reproach Yourself, Not Your Neighbor On Resentment One Should Not Lie The Way of God Cut Off Passions On Fear of Torment Temptation On Virtue

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Hello dear readers!

Of course, first of all, this book will be of interest to believers. However, it contains thoughts that can be useful for people far from faith. In this article I will give those excerpts from the Teaching, which, in my opinion, should be taken into account by every person, and I will also give my interpretation of what was written for unbelievers. For believers, the meaning will, of course, be much deeper.

It should be noted that Abba (father) Dorotheos expressed not just his thoughts, but his rich spiritual experience, tested by time and deeds. It is worth listening to him and taking into account his teachings.

From the teaching of the first. On the rejection of the world

Let us suppose that someone, after walking a short distance, sees something and the thought says to him: “Look there.” And he answers the thought: “Truly I will not look,” and cuts off his desire, and does not look. Or he meets idle talkers among themselves and the thought says to him: “Say such and such a word, too,” but he cuts off his desire and does not speak. He sees something, and his thought says to him: “Ask who brought this,” but he cuts off his desire and does not ask.

I think it's about distraction of the mind. A person whose mind is distracted is like a ship without sails, dangling aimlessly on the sea. Anyone who has goals and a desire to achieve these goals moves forward without being distracted by other goals and other things. Such a person turns on the computer in order to work and really works. And the one whose mind is distracted is distracted by mail, social networks, phone calls, ICQ, etc.

From the teaching of the second. About humility

“Humility is a great and Divine thing; the path to humility is bodily labors performed intelligently; also, to consider yourself lower than everyone and constantly pray to God - this is the path to humility; the very humility is Divine and incomprehensible.”

This can be interpreted as follows. In order to achieve something, you must come to terms with what you have - the environment, opportunities, resources, family, country and city in which you live - even if it does not suit you. All this should be accepted with gratitude: after all, it could have been worse. And then step by step with the help to build your life the way you want it to be.

From the lesson of the third. About conscience

So, let us try to keep our conscience while we are in this world, we will not allow it to convict us of any deed: let us not trample it on anything, even if it is the smallest. Know that from the neglect of this small and essentially insignificant thing we pass to the neglect of the great. For if anyone starts to say: “What is the importance if I say this word? What does it matter if I eat this trifle? what is the importance if I look at this or that thing?” - from this: "What is the importance in this, what is the importance in the other" he falls into a bad habit and begins to neglect the great and important and trample on his conscience, and thus, stagnant in evil, is in danger of coming into complete insensibility. Therefore, beware of neglecting the small, beware of despising it as small and insignificant; it is not small, because through it a bad habit is formed. Let us pay attention to ourselves and take care of the easy while it is light, so that it does not become heavy: for both virtues and sins begin from small things and come to great good and evil.

A person becomes lazy not suddenly immediately, but gradually. A person begins to abuse alcohol not suddenly immediately, but gradually. This principle applies in all cases.

It is important not only to understand, but also to feel. Therefore, you should be attentive to the little things. If you say to yourself: “I will do this thing tomorrow, and today I will have fun,” then you are thereby training the habit of procrastination, and if you finish the job today, you are training the skill to bring everything to the end.

The path to prosperity and the path to degradation start small. We should be attentive to what books we read, what films we watch, what websites we visit, how we spend our free time, with whom we communicate, and so on.

From the teaching of the fourth. About the fear of God

A person acquires the fear of God if he has the memory of death and the memory of torment; if every evening he examines himself how he spent the day, and every morning how the night passed; if he is not bold in his dealings, and, finally, if he is in close fellowship with a man who fears God. We drive away the fear of God from ourselves by doing the opposite: we have neither the memory of death nor the memory of torment; because we do not heed ourselves and do not test ourselves, as we spend time, but we live negligently and deal with people who do not have the fear of God, and because we are not guarded from boldness. This latter is the worst of all: it is perfect destruction. For nothing drives away the fear of God from the soul like insolence: it is the mother of all passions, because it drives the fear of God from the soul.

Let's start in order. The memory of death and the memory of torment means remembering that you have only one life and, therefore, you need to live it in such a way that it does not “excruciately hurt for the aimlessly lived years.”

Every evening to experience how you spent the day, and every morning - how the night went - this means controlling your life, not allowing yourself to do unnecessary things for you, distracted from your goals.

Communicating with people who have the fear of God means learning from the experience of other people, not making their mistakes.

To be bold means to put yourself above everyone, to tell yourself that “I am sinless and do not make mistakes”, to be sure that my opinion is the most correct one - this puts an end to your creative path.

From teaching six. About not judging your neighbor

It is another thing to slander or blame, it is another to condemn, and another to humiliate. To blame means to say about someone: such and such a lie, or got angry, or fell into fornication, or did something like that. This is how he slandered his brother, that is, he spoke passionately about his sin. And to condemn means to say: such and such a liar, angry, fornicator. This one condemned the very disposition of his soul, pronounced a verdict on his whole life, saying that he was such and such, and condemned him as such - and this is a grave sin. For it is another thing to say, "He is angry," and another thing to say, "He is angry," and, as I said, to pronounce in this way a sentence on his whole life.
So, no man can know the judgments of God, but He alone knows everything and can judge the sin of everyone, as He alone knows. Indeed, it happens that a brother sins out of simplicity, but has one good deed, which pleases God more than all his life: and you judge and condemn him, and burden your soul. But if he happened to stumble, how do you know how much he labored and how much he shed his blood before sinning? now his transgression appears before God, as if it were a work of righteousness? For God sees his work and sorrow, which, as I said, he took up before sinning, and has mercy on him. But you know only this sin, and while God has mercy on him, you condemn him and ruin your soul. How do you know how many tears he shed about this before God? You saw sin, but you did not see repentance.
Sometimes, however, we not only condemn, but also humiliate our neighbor, for it is different, as I said, to condemn and another to humiliate. Humiliation is when a person not only condemns another, but despises him, that is, he despises his neighbor and turns away from him as from some kind of abomination: this is worse than condemnation and much more pernicious. Those who want to be saved do not pay attention to the shortcomings of their neighbors, but always look at their own and succeed.

So, one should distinguish between censure, condemnation and humiliation. It is permissible to blame other people only as a last resort: only when their guilt is obvious and this person should be reined in or put in his place. You should never condemn other people, let alone humiliate them, as this is fraught with big problems in relationships with people.

From the teaching of the seventh. About reproaching yourself, not your neighbor

Whether someone does good to us or we suffer evil from someone, we must look at grief and thank God for everything that happens to us, always reproaching ourselves and saying, as the fathers said, that if something good happens to us, then this the work of God's providence, and if evil, then this is for our sins. For truly, whatever we endure, we endure for our sins.
In every case, we rush to our neighbor, censuring and reproaching him as negligent and not acting according to conscience. As soon as we hear at least one word, we immediately reinterpret it, saying: if he did not want to embarrass me, he would not have said this.

All the troubles in our lives should be taken as lessons through which we become more experienced, stronger and wiser. When you get into unpleasant situations, you should not condemn other people in your troubles, but, first of all, ask yourself questions:

• What actions did I take that led to this situation?
• What needs to be done to prevent situations like this from happening again?
• What lessons can I learn from this situation?

Thus, we take responsibility for our lives, and this is the main condition for changing our lives for the better.

From teaching the eighth. About rancor

Another vindictiveness, another anger, another irritability and another embarrassment; and that you may better understand this, I will give you an example. Whoever makes a fire, he first takes a small coal: this is the word of the brother who caused the insult. This is still only a small ember: for what is the word of your brother? If you endure it, then you extinguished the coal. If you think: “Why did he tell me this, and I will tell him this and that, and if he did not want to insult me, he would not say this, and I will certainly insult him,” so you put the splinter or something or something else, like one who kindles a fire, and produced smoke, which is confusion. Confusion is that very movement and agitation of thoughts that raises up and irritates the heart. Irritation is a vengeful uprising against the grieving, which turns into insolence.
If you had endured your brother's little word, you would have quenched that little coal before there was confusion; however, if you want, you can conveniently extinguish it, while it is still not great, by silence, prayer, one bow from the heart. If you continue to smoke, that is, irritate and excite the heart with the recollection: “Why did he tell me this,” I will tell him this and that, then from this very confluence and, so to speak, collision of thoughts, the heart warms and flares up, and happens inflammation of irritability, for irritability is the heat of the blood around the heart.
That's how irritability happens. It is also called acute gall (temper). If you like, you can also extinguish it before anger occurs. If you continue to embarrass and be embarrassed, then you become like a person putting wood on a fire and kindling it even more, which causes a lot of burning coal, and this is anger.
For if you had first reproached yourself, patiently endured the word of your brother, and would not have avenged him for yourself and said two or five words in one word and repaid evil for evil, then you would have got rid of all these evils. Therefore I say to you: always cut off the passions while they are still young, before they take root and take root in you and begin to oppress you, for then you will have to suffer a lot from them: because it is another thing to pull out a small blade of grass, and another thing to uproot a big tree. .

There will always be people who have caused you various troubles, big or small. And when we remember these people, we experience negativity, although it happens that many years have passed since then. It is necessary to free oneself from this burden of the past once and for all, forgiving one's offenders.

In order to prevent new feelings about insults, it is necessary, in the event of conflict situations, to deal with the offender on the spot and exhaust the situation, since the harm from the insult inflicted is much less than from further feelings about this.

From the teaching of the ninth. About what should not lie

There are three different kinds of lies: one lies with the thought, another lies with the word, and another lies with his very life. Thought is deceived by the one who accepts his assumptions as true, that is, empty suspicions of his neighbor; like when he sees that someone is talking with his brother, makes his guesses and says: he is talking about me. If the conversation is stopped, he again assumes that for his sake the conversation was stopped. If someone says a word, he suspects that it was said to offend him. In general, in every case, he constantly notices his neighbor in this way, saying: he did it for me, he said it for me, he did it for something. Such a one lies with thought, for he does not say anything true, but everything is based on mere suspicion, and from this come curiosity, slander, eavesdropping, enmity, and condemnation.
So, let us try never to believe our self-thinking. For truly, nothing removes a person from God and attention to his sins and prompts him to always be curious about what is not useful to him, like this passion: nothing good comes from this, but a lot of embarrassment; from this man never finds an opportunity to acquire the fear of God. But if, because of our wickedness, evil thoughts are sown in us, then we must immediately turn them into good ones, and they will not harm us; for if you believe your guesses, then there will be no end to them, and they will never allow the soul to be peaceful. This is the lie of thought.
And with a word, he lies who, for example, being too lazy to stand up for the vigil out of despondency, does not say: “Forgive me that I was too lazy to get up”; but he says: “I had a fever, I was extremely tired with work, I was unable to get up, I was unwell,” and he says ten false words in order not to make one bow and not humble himself. And if in such a case he does not reproach himself, he constantly changes his words and argues so as not to suffer reproach.
And just as every sin comes either from voluptuousness, or from the love of money, or from the love of glory, so lies also come from these three causes. A person lies either in order not to reproach himself and humble himself, or in order to fulfill his desire, or for the sake of gain, and does not stop making twists and tricks in words until he fulfills his desire. Such a person is never believed, but although he tells the truth, no one can give him faith, and his very truth turns out to be incredible.
He lies with his life who, being a fornicator, pretends to be temperate; or, being greedy, speaks of almsgiving and praises mercy, or, being arrogant, marvels at humility. It is not for any of the reasons mentioned that the liar is surprised at virtue; but either steals away the name of virtue to cover his shame, and speaks of it as if he himself were exactly like that, or often in order to harm someone and seduce him. For no malice, no heresy, nor the devil himself can deceive anyone except under the guise of virtue. The apostle says that the devil himself is transformed into an angel of light, therefore it is not surprising that his servants are also transformed into servants of righteousness.
So a deceitful person, either fearing shame, so as not to humble himself, or, as we said, wanting to seduce someone and harm him, speaks of virtues and praises them, and is surprised at them, as if he himself had acted in this way and knows them from experience. : such a one lies with his very life. This is not a simple person, but a dual one, for he is different inside and different outside, and his life is dual and deceitful.

Consider each type of lie.
Mental lies. The main thing here is to understand that there are your assumptions, but there is reality and that this is not the same thing. Therefore, when we act solely on our assumptions, we thereby make mistakes, and often cause harm to other people. Therefore, before acting, you need to check your assumptions.

To do this, we should talk to people who are affected by our assumptions in order to clarify their position, collect additional information, ask for advice from other people who are more experienced in the business that we want to do. As a rule, after that we realize how wrong our assumptions were and how much harm we could cause ourselves and other people if we acted on our assumptions.

Verbal lies. The one who lies with words loses the respect of the people around him. This is manifested in the fact that they can communicate with such people, but they do not conduct any serious business with them.

Life lies. This type of lie is harmful in that a person breaks away from reality and begins to believe that he is what he really is not. Staying in this state does not allow a person to admit his mistakes and change for the better, as he considers himself the best and most virtuous.

From the teaching of the tenth. About what should walk the path of God reasonably and attentively

We are in such disastrous laziness that we do not even know what we wanted then, and therefore not only do we not succeed, but we always grieve. This happens to us from the fact that we do not have attention in our hearts. And truly, if we wanted to struggle a little, then we would not grieve a lot and would not experience difficulties; for if someone first forces himself, then, continuing to strive, he gradually succeeds, and then with peace performs virtues; because God, seeing that he is forcing himself, gives him help. So, let us also force ourselves, let us make a good beginning, earnestly wish good; for although we have not yet reached perfection, this very desire is already the beginning of our salvation; From this desire we will begin, with the help of God, to struggle, and through achievement we receive help in acquiring virtues.
So, when a person has been deemed worthy to acquire these virtues, then he is pleasing before God, and although everyone sees that he eats, drinks and sleeps like other people, such a person is pleasing to God for the virtues that he has. And whoever does not heed himself and does not protect himself, he easily deviates from this path either to the right or to the left, that is, either to excess or to lack, and produces in himself an illness that is evil. This is the royal path that all the saints walked.
Fields (versts) are different dispensations, which everyone must always count and notice incessantly: where is he, to what verst he has reached, and in what dispensation is he?

If a person is lazy, then he cannot succeed anywhere and is disappointed in life. If a person, overcoming laziness, begins to gradually move towards his goals, then he gradually frees himself from laziness and begins to act more and more successfully, forms useful habits in himself.

When achieving any goals, a person must control himself by asking himself the following questions. What have I already achieved? What else needs to be done? What is my state of affairs?

From the teaching of the eleventh. About that one should try to cut off passions as soon as possible before they turn into an evil habit of the soul.

“This is how the passions are, brethren: while they are small, then, if we wish, we can easily cast them out; but if we neglect them as if they were small, then they are strengthened, and the more they are strengthened, the more labor they require from us; and when they are greatly strengthened in us, then even with difficulty we alone cannot pluck them out of ourselves, if we do not receive help from some saints who help us according to God.

We need to be aware of the habits we form with our actions. Ask yourself the question: “What habit am I forming by doing this or that thing?”. If you see that such a habit will be harmful to you, then you should stop it before it is finally formed. It is much more difficult and costly to fight already long-standing ingrained habits, and in some cases you will have to resort to the help of specialists.

From the teaching of the twelfth. About the fear of future torment and that he who wants to be saved should never be careless about his salvation

No one should grieve over what is happening, but lay everything on the providence of God and calm down. There are some people who are so exhausted by the occurrence of sorrows that they renounce life itself and consider death sweet, if only to get rid of sorrows: but this comes from cowardice and much unreason, for such people do not know the terrible need that meets us. upon the departure of the soul from the body.

All sorts of troubles often happen to people, but they should not be exaggerated. Not every bad situation is a problem. The worst thing is to let despair take over. Therefore, it should be remembered that there is a way out of any, even the most difficult, situation. Overcoming adversity is part of our life.

From the teaching of the thirteenth. About what should endure temptation with gratitude and without embarrassment

We should never grieve and not be cowardly about what happens to us, but accept everything that happens to us without embarrassment with humility and hope in God, believing that everything God does with us, He does by His goodness, loving us, and doing well, and that it cannot be otherwise good than only in this way.
We only sin in temptations because we are impatient and do not want to endure a small tribulation or suffer anything against our will, while God does not allow anything on us above our strength. But we do not have patience, we do not want to endure even a little, we do not try to accept anything with humility, and therefore we become burdened, and the more we try to avoid misfortunes, the more we suffer from them, we become exhausted and cannot free ourselves from them.
This is also the case with temptations: if someone endures temptation with patience and humility, it will pass without harm to him; if he becomes faint-hearted, embarrassed, accusing everyone, then he only burdens himself, bringing temptations upon himself, and does not receive any benefit at all, but only harms himself, while temptations bring great benefit to those who endure them without embarrassment. Even if passion disturbs us, then we should not be embarrassed by this; for to be embarrassed at a time when passion disturbs us is a matter of foolishness and pride, and comes from the fact that we do not know our spiritual disposition and avoid labor. Therefore, we do not succeed because we do not know our measure and do not have patience in the things we begin, but we want to acquire virtue without difficulty.
When a person strives with effort against sin and begins to fight against the passionate thoughts that arise in the soul, then he humbles himself, laments, strives and, being cleansed little by little by the sorrows of ascetic labors, comes to his natural state.
If the one tempted by passion is troubled, then this comes from foolishness and pride, but he should better know his faith with humility and patiently remain in prayer until God shows mercy to him. For if someone does not undergo temptations and does not experience sorrow from passions, he does not strive to be cleansed from them.

This is a continuation of the teaching of the twelfth. In case of any troubles, keep your presence of mind.

Do the same when you are tempted. We live in a world where everything is heard from all sides: do this, go there, eat this, etc. There is an abundance of everything around, but this has not only a positive side. You should be calm about the temptations of the modern world. This does not mean that you should avoid everything, it means that you do not need to throw yourself at every hook and be a consumer in the worst sense of the word. When we are offered something, but we refuse, we thereby strengthen the strength of our spirit.

From the teaching of the fourteenth. About the creation and completion of the spiritual house of virtues

Scripture speaks here of the house of the soul, which man builds for himself by keeping the commandments of God. Scripture teaches us that the fear of God impels the soul to keep the commandments, and by means of the commandments a spiritual home is built. Let us also, brethren, be attentive to ourselves, we will also fear God, and we will build houses for ourselves, in order to find protection during the winter, during the rains, lightning and thunder, because the one who has no home suffers a great disaster in winter. How is a spiritual home built? From the construction of a sensual house, we can exactly learn this business. For whoever wants to build such a house must strengthen it from everywhere and build a wall on four sides, and not take care of only one side, while leaving the others in neglect; because otherwise he will not receive any benefit, but will lose everything in vain: intention and costs, and labor. This also happens with regard to the soul: for a person who wants to create a soul house should not neglect any side of his building, but erect it evenly and according to it.
First, a foundation must be laid, that is, faith, and then on this foundation a person must build a building evenly: if obedience has happened, he must lay one stone of obedience; if there is grief from a brother, one stone of longsuffering should be placed; if an opportunity for abstinence presented itself, one stone of abstinence should be placed. So from every virtue for which an opportunity presents itself, one stone should be placed in the building and thus erected from all sides, placing either a stone of compassion, then a stone of cutting off one’s will, then a stone of meekness, etc. And with all this, one must take care of patience and courage: for they are the cornerstones, they bind the building and unite wall to wall, so they do not bend and separate from one another. Without patience and courage no one can accomplish a single virtue. For if anyone does not have courage in his soul, he will not have patience; and whoever has no patience can accomplish absolutely nothing.
The builder must also put lime on every stone; for if he puts a stone on a stone without lime, the stones will fall out and the house will collapse. Lime is humility, because it is taken from the earth and is under everyone's feet. And any virtue done without humility is not a virtue.
The house must also have so-called connections, which are the essence of reasoning: it establishes the structure, connects stone to stone and connects walls, and at the same time gives the house great beauty. The roof is love, which is the perfection of virtues, just as the roof is the top of the house. Then, after the roof, there was a railing around it. The railing is the essence of humility, because it encloses and guards all the virtues; and just as every virtue must be united with humility, just as we said that lime is put over every stone, so humility is necessary for the perfection of virtue; for even the saints, prospering, naturally come into humility, as I always tell you, that the more one draws near to God, the more he sees himself as a sinner.
Whoever wants to achieve such a good dispensation with the help of God should not say that the virtues are great and he cannot achieve them, for whoever says this either does not rely on God's help, or is lazy to devote himself to something good.
Imagine two ladders: one ascends to heaven, the other descends to hell, and you stand on the ground in the middle of both ladders. Do not think and do not say: how can I fly up from the earth and suddenly find myself at the height of the sky, that is, at the top of the stairs. This is impossible, and God does not require this of you; but beware at least not to go down. Do no harm to your neighbor, do not grieve him, do not slander, do not slander, do not humiliate, do not reproach, and in this way you will begin later, little by little, to do good to your brother, comforting him with words, compassion for him, or giving him something in what he needs; and thus, ascending from one step to another, you will reach, with the help of God, the top of the ladder. For, little by little, helping your neighbor, you will come to the point that you will begin to desire his benefit as your own, and his success as your own. This is what it means to love your neighbor as yourself.

This teaching is the best way to confirm what I wrote in my article about. Briefly reiterate the basic principles:

1. In any business, success can be achieved.
2. Achieving success comes with hard work.
3. By helping others you inspire yourself.

From the teaching of the fifteenth. About the Holy Forty Day

But we must not only observe the measure in food, but also refrain from any other sin, so that, as we fast with the belly, we fast with the tongue, refraining from slander, from lies, from idle talk, from humiliation, from anger and, in a word, from every sin committed by the tongue. You should also fast with your eyes, i.e. not to look at vain things, not to give freedom to the eyes, not to look at anyone shamelessly and without fear. Likewise, hands and feet must be restrained from every evil deed.

Whoever wants to fast should know that fasting is not only a measure of food, but also abstaining from watching TV, listening to music, reading entertainment literature. Lent is a time of reflection on the fate of the world and your own destiny. Fasting is a great opportunity to find answers to questions that are hidden by everyday fuss.

From the teaching of the sixteenth. To some Kelliots who asked the Monk Abba Dorotheus about the visit of the brethren

Suppose that someone happened to stand at a certain place at night. And here are three people walking past him. One thinks of him that he is waiting for someone to go and commit fornication; the other thinks he is a thief; and the third thinks that he has called a certain friend of his from a neighbor's house and is waiting to go with him somewhere to church to pray. Here are three who saw the same person, in the same place, but these three did not form the same thought about him; but one thought one thing, another another, a third still another, and it is obvious that each one was in accordance with his dispensation. For, just as black-choleous and emaciated bodies, every food that they take is converted into bad juices, even if the food is healthy, but the reason for this lies not in the food, but in the leanness of the body itself, which, of necessity, acts in this way and changes the food in accordance with its poor quality. : so the soul, having a bad habit, receives harm from every thing, and even if this thing was useful, the soul receives harm.

Thoughts about other people are a kind of catalyst for mental state of a person. In our thoughts, we should judge other people and their actions as positively as possible, because often the true motives of the actions and intentions of other people are hidden from us.

I hope that the work of Abba Dorotheus will help you become wiser and take a fresh look at some things.