Письмо 44
The Danger of Human Praise
The author warns against the subtle, corrosive effects of vanity and praise, urging the reader to cultivate humility through self-abasement and reliance on God.
They're praising you. What's so remarkable about that? When there's no fish, even a crayfish is a fish, as Father O. used to say.1 Parfeny.2 Still, this speaks well of our society: it has sympathy even for a shadow of good. . . Meanwhile, for you this is very much not to your advantage. A drop wears through a stone by falling again and again. Bit by bit, something from every bit of praise falls on the worm of self-love and vanity and feeds it; it grows without your noticing, and it still allows humble feelings until it has grown strong. And once it matures, it will devour everything at once.3 Dangerous! And what else? Praise tickles the heart, checks your zeal, and makes you soft.4 It’s like tripping a runner. A standstill in the spiritual life is already a step backward. And that's a bad thing. So, what should we do? Humble yourselves, and crush the pride of your mind and heart with every humble feeling about yourselves. Then, when sweet words hit your ears like stones, go deep into your heart and humble yourself in every way before the Lord and His saints.5 What struggles they undertook to please the Lord!6 And what about us? We go to church once, make five prostrations at home, read a page of some saving little book—and we've made it among the saints. How true that is!7 Humbling bodily labor helps a great deal. Servants are also good teachers of humility. Welcome insults—especially the unjust ones; at the very least, treat them as a healing balm the Lord applies to the wound of vanity. But don't think you can do anything on your own. Run to the Lord, who humbled Himself to the form of a servant.✦ He will teach you. Just don't neglect this condition.8 Praise will freeze you, and you'll become a marble statue—not unattractive on the outside, but lifeless. May the Mother of God deliver you from that! It's better to wallow in the mud and be trampled by everyone than to be like that.
The Gift of Prayer and the Call to Diligence
The author interprets the reader's experience of prayer in sleep as a divine invitation to greater diligence in waking life, warning against the danger of neglecting grace.
You write: "In my sleep, I pray hard and fervently, but when I'm awake, I'm lazy about it." Glory to You, Lord! It's good that the soul prays in sleep when we don't give it enough freedom to pray during the day. Still—this is a good reminder! It's being made known so you'll commit to prayer and pray without being lazy.9 . . It was good for you in sleep when you prayed, and by day when you got up. . . Through this experience it's as if you're being told: "Look—here is where sweetness and blessedness are; this is the fruit of prayer! So don't be lazy." Will you listen? — then it will be well with you. If you don't? It may be repeated again and again, and then they'll leave you alone.10 "With her," they'll say, "you're not going to get anywhere." She's clearly been allowed to feel how good it is to pray, yet she doesn't want to. Well then, leave her to it, to do as she sees fit."11 That's only right. God is not mocked. He is very patient with our weaknesses, but He cannot tolerate disobedience. But for everything, glory to God. Give thanks for everything! The Lord is your helper.✦
Read the original Russian
Вас хвалят. Что ж тут дивнаго? На безрыбье и рак рыба, как говаривал батюшка о. Парфений. Это однако ж очень рекомендует наше общество, что в нем есть сочувствие даже к тени добра. . . Между тем для вас это очень невыгодно.
Капля пробивает камень частым падением. По частичке от каждой похвалы падает на червяка самолюбия и тщеславия и питает его; он растет незаметно для вас, позволяет быть и смиренным чувствам, пока не окреп. А когда созреет, все подест зараз. Опасно! И еще что? Похвала щекочет сердце, останавливает ревность и расслабляет. Это тоже, что бегущему подставить ногу. Остановка в духовной жизни есть уже движение назад.
И это худо! Что же делать? Смиряйте сами себя и подавляйте возношение мысли и сердца всякими смиренными о себе чувствами. Тогда же, как в уши бьют камнями сладких речей, сходите в сердце и уничижайте себя всячески пред Господом и святыми Его. Какие подъяли они подвиги, чтобы угодить Господу! А у нас что? Сходим однажды в церковь, положим дома пять поклонов, прочитаем страницу спасительной книжки – и попали в святые. Куда как верно!
Уничиженный труд телесный много помогает. Слуги также хорошие учители смирения. Желайте оскорблений и паче – неправых; по крайней мере, встречайте их, как спасительный пластырь, Господом прилагаемый на рану тщеславия. Но не думайте сами собою что-нибудь сделать. Прибегайте к Господу, смирившему Себя до рабия зрака. Он научит. Не нерадите только о сем состоянии. Похвалы заморозят вас, и выйдет из вас мраморное изваяние, не некрасивое наружно, но безжизненное.
Избави вас, Матерь Божия, от сего! Лучше валяться в грязи и быть попираему всеми, нежели быть так.
Пишете: «во сне молюсь усердно и горячо, а на яву лениво». Слава Тебе, Господи! Хорошо, что душа молится во сне, когда не даем ей свободы молиться вдоволь днем. Однако же – это доброе напоминание! Дается знать, чтоб вы прилежали к молитве и молились, не ленясь. . . Хорошо вам было во сне, когда молились, и днем, когда встали.
. . Сим опытом вам как бы говорится: «смотри, вот где сладость и блаженство, вот плод молитвы! Так не ленись». Послушаетесь? – благо вам. Не послушаетесь? еще, может быть, повторится и еще, а потом и бросят.
«С нею», скажут, «ничего не сделаешь. Ясно дается ощутить, как хорошо молиться, и не хочет. Пусть же ее, как знает». Право так. Бог поругаем не бывает. К немощам нашим весьма снисходителен, а непокорства терпеть не может. Но за все слава Богу. О всем благодарите!
Господь вам Помощник.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Phil.2.7 — but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and appearing as a human being.
- ↩Ps.118.7;Heb.13.6 — The LORD is with me as my helper; therefore I will look in triumph on those who hate me. Heb.13.6 — So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?'
Notes
- 1 ↩Russian proverb: на безрыбье и рак рыба — when better options are lacking, people settle for whatever they can get. 'батюшка о.' is the Orthodox abbreviation for Father (о. = отец), completed by the next sentence's name.
- 2 ↩Completes the previous sentence: Father O. Parfeny (батюшка о. Парфений).
- 3 ↩Source «подест» is read as dialectal/older «поест» ('will eat up/devour'); sense is clear from context.
- 4 ↩«Ревность» rendered as spiritual zeal/fervor, not jealousy; «расслабляет» as enervating softness of will, not mere physical relaxation.
- 5 ↩камнями сладких речей is figurative: flattering praise strikes the ears like stones. Rendering keeps the stone-metaphor rather than flattening to mere 'flattery'.
- 6 ↩подвиги in Orthodox ascetic usage means spiritual/ascetic labors or feats; rendered as 'struggles' for plain contemporary force without losing the ascetic sense.
- 7 ↩Куда как верно! is sharply ironic/sarcastic after the preceding claim; English 'How very true!' carries the same scornful agreement.
- 8 ↩«сем состоянии» is terse: in context it points to the humble, watchful state under praise and insult, not a formal monastic 'state' in the canonical sense.
- 9 ↩«Дается знать» is impersonal: the dream is treated as a given sign or instruction, not mere self-reflection.
- 10 ↩бросят has no explicit object; context (next section: leave the unwilling soul alone) supports 'they'll leave you alone / give up on the promptings' rather than a physical throwing.
- 11 ↩«Пусть же ее, как знает» is elliptical colloquial Russian: a resigned dismissal—leave her alone / let her go her own way as she thinks best.
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