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Chapter 30FeofanPisma.1.30

Письмо 30

The Call to the Cross

Reflecting on the Passion of Christ, the author calls the reader to embrace the narrow path of self-denial.

The Passion services are over.1 The Lord's Cross was necessary to restrain all our weaknesses, sins, and lawlessness.✦2 Lord, have mercy, and draw us to Your Cross. Sometimes the Lord leaves us to walk in the desires of our hearts for a time.✦ Go ahead and wander—wander as you like.3 But Lord, do grant us also the grace of contrition.4 Knock us on the head so the mind comes to its senses and sobers a little. But what is there to say? Nobody likes the narrow path. Do pressures come from outside?5 Grumbling. But we don't want to put pressure on ourselves. We look for ease.6 How much the Lord suffered—and what was left in Him that didn’t suffer, and what wasn’t given up for us? He is wholly spent—love without restraint.7 . .

The Necessity of Obedience

The author emphasizes that true spiritual life is found in conforming one's will to God's commandments.

That was fitting. There you have exact conformity with the will of the Trihypostatic Godhead.8 And for us it is a commandment given by deed.9 To everything, we must say: it is fitting. That puts an end to every thought and every objection. It is said, "Deny yourself"—so it is fitting. It is said, "Fear God"—so it is fitting. It is said, "Our life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).✦10 3:3)—so it’s fitting. It’s said: “Gird up the loins of your thoughts” (1 Pet. 1:13), “Be sober, keep watch” (1 Pet.✦ 5:8)—so it’s fitting.✦ —And the main thing: what is fitting? —If you’re going to take the work on, take it on fully; you won’t get anywhere by doing it in fits and starts.11 When they dam a pond, how do they do it? They hurry to block the passage immediately.12

Guarding the Heart

Using the metaphor of damming a stream, the author urges the reader to guard their thoughts and avoid idle talk.

But if you set down a clod of earth and leave the work, the water will wash it away. Set down another clod and leave it, and the water will wash that away too. It’s an endless cycle of labor, and we never actually build the pond. Apply this to the soul. The stream of thoughts, like a river, pours swiftly from the head and the heart. All at once you have to seal the openings — and not let go.13 If you hold them only for a moment and then let go, it won't do any good. That’s the same as building something only to tear it down. Remember, I believe I've already written to you: as soon as you notice anything that ruins your good beginning, don't allow yourself to give in to it in any way. That's the law. For the Lord's sake, overcome yourselves in many things. Avoid being talkative and listening to jokes and laughter; the greatest evil lies in them.14 You can see this for yourselves. Can you really laugh and talk empty nonsense before the face of the Lord? You forgot that you are before Him, and everything went wrong. Casting yourself at the Lord's feet is the most essential work.

Patience and Divine Grace

The author encourages patient, steady work, promising that God will grant the grace of inner stillness and resurrection of the soul.

Keep this good disposition, this practice of the soul.15 I believe that because of this, the Lord won't leave you to be tossed about by every wind of thought, and He will pour power from Himself into you—and the stream of thoughts will settle!16 And then the light will be seen as well. It will become clear, just like on Christ's bright Resurrection. For that is the resurrection of the soul, or the seed of this resurrection. Patience is needed everywhere. For without it, what can we do? Every little thing requires it. But the most merciful Lord also gives His blessing to patient and steadily conscientious work—while from laziness and negligence He turns His eyes away. Even a small exertion of strength, when done for the glory of God, is fruitful; at the very least it lays the beginnings of a habit—and a habit of doing good is a great thing.17 I’ll pass on to you, as it were, words of the Lord from the Cross. He says: "I am pouring Myself out like this—and you are asleep."18 So then, may tender-hearted zeal take hold of us, too.19 Pray to God for me. I wish you all the best.

Read the original Russian

Кончился чин страстей! Нужен был Крест Господень, чтоб сдержал все наши немощи, грехи и беззакония. Господи помилуй и привлеки нас ко кресту Твоему! – Иногда Господь оставляет нас ходить в волях сердца до времени. Гуляйте себе – гуляйте. Но Господи, даруй же и благодать сокрушения. Стукни в голову, чтоб опомнился и отрезвился ум немного. Но что и говорить?

Тесный путь никому не нравится. – Придут утеснения со вне? – Ропот. – А самим себя утеснить не хочется. – Приволья ищем. Сколько Господь страдал, и что осталось в Нем не страждущим, и что не предано ради нас, – весь истощен, – любовь неудержима. . .

тако подобаше. Вот точность сообразности с волею Триипостаснаго Божества. И нам заповедь, делом данная. На все надо говорить: так подобает. И конец всем помышлениям и всем возражениям. Сказано: «отвергнись себя», так и подобает. Сказано: «Бога бойся», так и подобает. Сказано: «живот наш сокровен есть со Христом в Боге» (Кол.

3:3), так и подобает. Сказано: «препояшьте чресла помышлений» (1Пет. 1:13), «трезвитеся, бодрствуйте» (1Пет. 5:8), так и подобает. – А главное, что подобает? – Уж браться за дело, так браться, а урывочками, ничего не будет. Когда запружают пруд, – как делают? Вдруг спешат завалить проход.

А если положить ком земли и бросить дело, то вода разнесет его. Опять положить ком и оставить – опять вода разнесет. И так – труд без конца, – а пруда все таки не состроим. Примените это к душе. Ток помышлений, как река, быстро льется из головы и сердца. Вдруг надобно зажать проходы, – и уж не отпускать. А если не много подержать и отпустить – ничего проку не будет. Это тоже, что строить, да разорять.

– Припомните, что, кажется, я уже писал вам: что коль скоро заметите что-нибудь такое, что разоряет ваше доброе начинание, ни как не позволяйте себе поддаваться тому. Таков закон. – Господа ради, преодолевайте себя во многом. Многоглаголания, слышания шуток и смехов бегайте; в них самое большое зло. Вы сами сие видите. Разве можно смеяться и пустословить пред лицем Господа? – Забыли, что вы пред Ним и пошло все не так. У ног Господа повергаться – самое существенное дело.

Храните сие доброе чувство или делание души. Верую, что ради сего Господь не оставит вас влаяться всяким ветром помышлений и испустит из Себя силу в вас, – и станет ток помыслов! А тогда и свет узрится. Ясно станет, как в светлое Христово Воскресение. – Ибо, то и есть воскресение души, или зародыш сего воскресения. Всюду нужно терпение. – Ибо без него, что сделаем?

Всякая малость требует его. Но и Господь многомилостивый терпеливому и постоянно добросовестному труду благословение дает, – а от лености и нерадения отвращает очи Свои. Напряжение сил, даже малое, во славу Божию производимое, плодовито; по крайней мере – следы навыка полагает: а навык в добром великое дело. Передам вам как бы слова Господа со Креста. Он говорит: «Я так истощаю Себя; а вы спите». – Да возьмет же и нас утробоязвительная ревность.

Молите Бога о мне. Желаю вам всего добраго!

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Gal.6.14;Col.2.14 — But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Col.2.14 — having canceled the written code, the regulations that were against us and stood opposed to us, he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.
  2. ↩Ps.81.12;Jer.7.24 — But my people did not listen to my voice, and Israel would not have me. Jer.7.24 — But they did not listen, nor did they incline their ear; they walked in the counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and they went backward and not forward.
  3. ↩Col.3.3 — For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
  4. ↩1Pet.1.13 — Therefore, preparing your minds for action, be sober-minded and set your hope fully on the grace being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
  5. ↩1Pet.5.8 — Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩чин страстей: the liturgical order/services of the Passion (Holy Week); rendered as 'Passion services' rather than a bare 'Passions' or abstract 'sufferings'.
  2. 2 ↩сдержал can mean restrain/hold back or contain/bear; purpose clause with чтоб favors 'hold back / keep in check' rather than merely 'endure'.
  3. 3 ↩Гуляйте себе is colloquial-permissive ('go ahead and roam'); kept informal to match Feofan's spoken letter tone without slang.
  4. 4 ↩сокрушение = contrition / heart-brokenness for sin (close to protected 'compunction'); rendered 'contrition' as the closer default; 'compunction' is also faithful.
  5. 5 ↩«утеснения» can mean pressures, constraints, or afflictions; rendered as pressures to keep the tight/narrow path imagery of the preceding sentence.
  6. 6 ↩«Приволье» suggests free rein, roomy ease, unhindered comfort; 'ease' keeps the plain modern register without losing the contrast to constraint.
  7. 7 ↩«весь истощен» is rendered 'wholly spent' (poured out / exhausted), preserving the sense of total self-emptying without forcing a technical kenosis gloss.
  8. 8 ↩Триипостаснаго Божества kept as 'Trihypostatic Godhead' (standard Orthodox English for the three-hypostases Godhead); 'Triune God' would be more idiomatic but less term-specific.
  9. 9 ↩делом = by deed / in act / by example (command shown in practice, not only spoken).
  10. 10 ↩Citation and closing are split across sections; next section resumes with '3:3), so it is fitting.'
  11. 11 ↩урывочками = by snatches / in bits and pieces / fitfully; rendered as 'by fits and starts' for natural contemporary force.
  12. 12 ↩Вдруг here is adverbial 'at once / all of a sudden' rather than a narrative 'suddenly something happened'; paired with спешат, it stresses immediate, unbroken action.
  13. 13 ↩Вдруг continues the pond-damming image from the previous section (вдруг спешат завалить проход): not merely 'suddenly,' but a decisive, concentrated act of shutting the outlets at once.
  14. 14 ↩Многоглаголание can mean talkativeness, wordiness, or idle chatter; rendered as talkativeness to keep the ascetical force without archaic church diction.
  15. 15 ↩Russian «чувство или делание души» pairs interior disposition with active spiritual practice (делание), not mere emotion.
  16. 16 ↩«станет ток помыслов» is taken as the restless current of thoughts coming to rest/order under grace; «ток» may also be read as an ordered flow rather than cessation.
  17. 17 ↩«следы навыка полагает» rendered as 'lays the beginnings of a habit' (lit. 'lays the traces/tracks of habit'); the sense is that small effort at least starts to form a settled practice.
  18. 18 ↩«истощаю Себя» carries kenotic self-emptying/exhaustion (cf. Phil 2:7 «ἐκένωσεν»); rendered as 'pouring Myself out' to keep Cross gravity without archaic diction.
  19. 19 ↩«утробоязвительная ревность» is Church-Slavic in tone: zeal that is tender from the 'bowels' (deep compassionate feeling). Rendered 'tender-hearted zeal' rather than a wooden 'visceral zeal'.

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