Письмо 31
The Path of Interior Warmth
The Lord grants the gift of heart-warmth, which must be cultivated with patience and labor.
See how generous the Lord is! He has let you feel what you ought to seek, and what should always be on your heart. It is warmth, a burning of the heart, at the thought of the Lord who is present everywhere and sees all things—a thought accompanied by fear.1 Make it your priority to attain this. But don't dream of reaching it all at once. The holy2 elders say: what is quickly gained is just as quickly lost. What you attain through labor, sweat, and frequent sacrifice, you will prize highly and guard more carefully.
Guarding the Heart from Thoughts
One must vigilantly reject intrusive thoughts and prevent them from taking root in the soul.
Just don't lose heart—keep at your work, keep at it. Thoughts of every kind will come. Don't accept them; drive them out in the name of the Lord. Keep doing what you've been doing—turning to the Lord like a child. Don't dwell on them, and don't want to converse with them. It seems Hesychius explains it all: the suggestion is a thought, the first stage; then comes attention; the second stage is holding the thought in the soul and conversing with it.3 This is already bad, because then you're conversing even with the one who slips the thought in. Next comes taking delight in the thought. This is even worse. Next comes the consent or inclination of the will; then you're not far from the act that seals the fall.4 Whoever cuts off the thought puts an end to the whole thing; but whoever gets occupied with it runs the risk that everything will go further and further.
The Consensus of the Saints
The author directs the reader to the Philokalia and the writings of holy elders to confirm that the path of vigilance is universal.
But what is there to write? Read the Philokalia and you'll see it all. Have you read Hesychius? Read Philotheus, Theoleptus, and Nicephorus.5 But don't read everything in the Philokalia. The ones already mentioned are enough. I looked at the wall, and Father O.6 Seraphim is watching. That reminds me, just in time. Have you read his instructions? Read them, and you'll see that he says the exact same thing about it all. And here is a portrait of His Grace Innocent of Penza, the holy hierarch.7 .8 . Read his letters too, and you'll see that he says the same.9 No matter who you turn to, it's the same with them all. So there was no longer any reason to refuse. Just take up the work and keep at it until you reach the end.
A Blessing of Peace
The letter concludes with a prayer for the Lord's peace.
May our Lord send you His peace.
Read the original Russian
Видите, как Господь щедр! Он дал вам ощутить то, чего вы должны искать, и что постоянно должно быть у вас на сердце. – Это теплота, горение сердца, при мысли о Господе вездесущем и всевидящем, сопровождаемой страхом. – Попекитесь добиться сего. Но не мечтайте достигнуть вдруг. Говорят св. старцы: что скоро приобретается, то скоро и теряется. Чего достигнете с трудом, по́том и с частыми лишениями, то будете дорого ценить, и усерднее беречь.
– Только не робейте, а все свое, да свое. Будут мысли приходить разнаго рода. Не принимайте их, гоните именем Господа. Вот так, как делали, к Господу обращаясь детски. Не останавливайтесь на них и не желайте беседовать с ними. Кажется у Исихия все объяснено: прилог – это помысл, первая ступень; за тем внимание; вторая ступень – держание помысла в душе и разговор с ним. Это уже плохо: ибо тут есть разговор и с тем, кто подсовывает помысл. Далее услаждение помыслом.
Это еще хуже. Далее сложение или склонение воли: тут недалеко уже и до дела, которым решается падение. Кто отсечет помысл, всему конец положит; а кто займется им, есть опасность, что все далее и далее пойдет. Но что писать? Читайте в Добротолюбии и все увидите. Прочитали Исихия? Читайте Филофея, Феолипта, Никифора. Но не все в Добротолюбии читайте.
И тех довольно, что указаны. Взглянул на стену, и Батюшка О. Серафим смотрит. – Вот кстати и припомнил. Читали ли вы наставления его? Читайте, и увидите, что и он все про тоже говорит. Вот и портрет Преосвященнаго Иннокентия Пензенскаго, святитель"). .
. Прочитайте и его письма, и увидите, что и он тоже. К кому ни обратитесь, все тоже.
Так стало нечего и отказываться. А просто взяться за дело, и трудиться над ним, пока достигнете конца.
Мир свой да пошлет вам Господь наш!
Notes
- 1 ↩Russian «страх» here is the classic fear-of-God sense (reverent awe), not panic; rendered as plain «fear» to stay close to the source.
- 2 ↩Source sentence break splits «св. старцы» across s6–s7; «св.» is the usual abbreviation for «святые» (holy).
- 3 ↩Russian прилог is the hesychastic first assault/suggestion of a thought (Greek προσβολή). Rendered as "suggestion" for modern readability; "attention" here names the next engagement with that thought, not recollected prayer.
- 4 ↩«Сложение или склонение воли» is the hesychast stage of will-consent to a thought (cf. Hesychius’s ladder of logismoi), not mere liking of an idea.
- 5 ↩Standard Philokalia attributions: Philotheus of Sinai, Theoleptus of Philadelphia, Nicephorus the Solitary (or of Mount Athos).
- 6 ↩«Батюшка О.» is incomplete as printed; the next sentence supplies «Серафим». Rendered as the abbreviated form on the page; together they mean Father Seraphim (Seraphim of Sarov).
- 7 ↩Source ends with corrupted punctuation: «святитель").». Treated as a broken close-quote/parenthesis and dropped; sense is a simple apposition, «the holy hierarch».
- 8 ↩Source sentence is only a period («.»); no recoverable wording. Left empty rather than inventing text.
- 9 ↩Russian is elliptical: «что и он тоже» (“that he [does/says it] too”). In context after the portrait of Innocent of Penza and after Seraphim “saying the same,” the implied predicate is agreement in teaching; “says the same” is supplied from that force.
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