Письмо 23
The Danger of Spiritual Abandonment
The author warns against the spiritual ruin that follows when one abandons a established rule of life.
I reread your letter and kept wondering what on earth had been going on with you. But now that it has passed, let's pray that it doesn't come back. I'm very glad you've fallen back again into the old way.1 Please remember: for someone who has never begun a rule of spiritual life, interior ruin — not walking by that rule — is not shattering.2 But for someone who has begun and then drops it, it is truly ruinous. A seed that hasn't sprouted in the frost doesn't die—its life force remains; but a frostbitten flower, where the life within has already opened, either dies or is damaged depending on the severity of the frost.3 It’s the same here. For anyone in whom life has already begun to show, it is extremely harmful to drop it. Take note of this. After each abandonment, the powers grow weaker and weaker, and eventually they completely fail: only the name remains—an outward order of life with no inner correspondence to it.4 God deliver us from this. . . May the Lord keep you from treating spiritual things lightly. Have you begun? Don't give it up!
Lessons from the Parable of the Empty House
Using patristic wisdom and the Gospel, the author illustrates the peril of spiritual negligence and calls for constant vigilance.
Even if it's just a little at a time, you still have to keep going. This is what the words of Abba Dorotheos that you copied mean. He’s talking about inner destruction.5 The Savior's parable conveys the same message. . . In a dirty house, there’s one demon.6 . . But seven demons return to a house that has been cleansed, yet left empty through negligence. Your conclusion isn't right: when we do something good, we aren't doing God a favor—we're simply doing our duty. . . And what better proof could you want? Your condition over those twenty days—what it was like, and what it resembles! So keep moving forward: "Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation" (Mt).7 26:41).
Read the original Russian
Пересмотрел ваше письмо, и дивился все, что такое было с вами? Но, когда прошло, будем молиться, чтоб не возвращалось. Очень рад, что вы напали опять на старый лад. Запомните пожалуйста, что кто не начинал порядка жизни духовной, для того разорение внутреннее, нехождение по нем, непотрясательно. Но кто начал и бросает, для того это очень пагубно. Зерно, не прозябшее на морозе, не гибнет, – сила жизни хранится в нем; но подмерзший цветок – семя жизни разкрывшееся гибнет или повреждается по мере мороза. Так и здесь. У кого уже жизнь начала являться, весьма пагубно бросать.
Заметьте сие. После каждаго бросания силы все будут слабее и слабее, и совсем наконец расслабнут, останется одно имя, внешний порядок жизни без внутренняго соответствования ему. Боже избави от сего. . . Избави вас Господи легкомысленно обходиться с вещами духовными. Начали? не бросайте!
Хоть понемногу, а все надо. И вот что значат слова Аввы Дорофея выписанные вами. Он имеет в виду внутреннее разорение. И притча Спасителя тоже значит. . . в нечистом доме один бес. .
. а в очищенный, но оставленный по нерадению, возвращаются уже семь бесов. Тот же вывод, что у вас, – не верен: ибо делая что хорошее, не благодеяние оказываем Богу, а свой долг исполняем. . . Да на что лучше доказательства? Ваше состояние в двадцать дней – каково было, и на что оно похоже! Так вперед «бдите и молитеся, да не внидете в напасть» (Мф.
26:41).
Notes
- 1 ↩«на старый лад» is idiomatic: the former settled manner/habit of life, here the earlier ordered spiritual practice, not mere nostalgia.
- 2 ↩«порядок жизни духовной» rendered as 'rule of spiritual life' (ordered spiritual discipline). «непотрясательно» means not devastating/not earth-shaking — the lack of a rule does not hit hard those who never took one up.
- 3 ↩Source «разкрывшееся» is older orthography for «раскрывшееся» (opened/unfolded); rendered as 'once opened'.
- 4 ↩«бросания» continues the previous section's sense of abandoning a begun spiritual rule of life; rendered as abandonment rather than a more casual drop.
- 5 ↩внутреннее разорение: interior devastation/ruin of the soul, not merely outer disorder; rendered as 'interior ruin' to keep the force of spiritual wreckage.
- 6 ↩Source begins lowercase and is a fragment; neighboring section continues: into a cleansed but neglected house seven demons return.
- 7 ↩Citation is split across sections; next section continues with 26:41). The quoted span is Church Slavonic wording of Matthew 26:41.
Letters on the Christian Life companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit