BIC GENEVA — Some 200 Iranian government agents destroyed six homes and confiscated over 20 hectares of land belonging to Bahá’ís in the village of Roushankouh, in Mazandaran province, the News Service has learned.
The government agents used pepper spray to disperse people and gunshots were heard during the operation.
This latest move follows weeks of intensifying persecution of the Baháʼís: over 100 have been either raided or arrested in recent days and dozens others have been targeted since June.
“Given the Iranian government policy documents about persecuting Bahá’ís, the international community must act immediately before it is too late,” said Diane Ala’i, representative of the Bahá’í International Community (BIC) to the United Nations in Geneva.
View of the destruction of some of the Bahá’í homes in the village of Roushankouh, in Mazandaran province, by Iranian government agents.
Background
The Bahá’í Faith was born in 19th century Persia with the appearance of two prophetic figures—the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. The Báb’s mission was to prepare the way for the coming of a Promised One foretold in all the world’s religions.
Among those teachings are the oneness of the entire human race; the independent search after truth; the abolition of all forms of prejudice; the harmony which must exist between religion and science; and the equality of men and women. For more information about the Bahá’í Faith visit the official website.
The Early Period
The teachings of the Báb — and their popular appeal — were seen by Iran’s religious establishment and the Qajar Kings as a threat to their power and authority. Thousands of early followers of the Báb were killed at the urging of religious leaders, and the Báb was executed by the government in 1850.
The Iranian religious orthodoxy subsequently responded to the message of Bahá’u’lláh, as it spread within and outside of Iran, with a renewed determination to extinguish the new religion and force its followers back to Islam. Bahá’u’lláh was exiled, sent to the prison city of Akka in what was then Ottoman Palestine, while His followers in Iran continued to face successive outbreaks of persecution. In 1903, for example, 101 Bahá’ís were killed in the city of Yazd after the populace was incited by hostile mullahs.
During the early years of the Pahlavi dynasty (1925 to 1979), the government formalized a policy of discrimination against the Bahá’ís as a concession to the clergy. Beginning in 1933, Bahá’í literature was banned, Bahá’í marriages were not recognized, and Bahá’ís in public service were demoted or fired. Bahá’í schools – of which there were some 50 in the country and which were open to all irrespective of background – were forced to close.
The persecution of the Bahá’ís intensified significantly since the 1979 Islamic revolution, as a result of official government policy. When the new Republic’s constitution was drawn up in April 1979, certain rights of the Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian minorities in Iran were specifically mentioned and protected. However, no mention whatsoever was made of the rights of the Bahá’í community, Iran’s largest religious minority.
Under Iran’s Islamic government, this exclusion has come to mean that Bahá’ís enjoy no rights of any sort and that they can be attacked and persecuted with impunity. Courts in the Republic have denied Bahá’ís the right of redress or protection against assault, killings or other forms of persecution — and have ruled that Iranian citizens who kill or injure Bahá’ís are not liable for damages because their victims are “unprotected infidels.”
In this last decade, the persecution of Iranian Bahá’ís is marked by a sustained and concealed effort on all fronts — despite the promises of the new president, Hassan Rouhani, to end religious discrimination. Bahá’ís continue to be regularly arrested, detained, and imprisoned. Young Bahá’ís continue to be denied access to higher education through a variety of ploys. And economic policies target small shops and businesses — one of the few remaining sources of subsistence for Bahá’ís and their families.
The war in Ukraine is increasing the risks of premature births and causing babies to need more oxygen, the spokesperson for a UN-backed global health initiative told the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday in Geneva.
“The war increases levels of stress in pregnant women, which leads to an increase in the number of premature births reported,” Herve Verhoosel, Spokesperson for global health agency Unitaid, told journalists at a regular WHO press briefing.
The war in #Ukraine has increased the number of premature births. Premature babies are more likely to suffer from complications that require oxygen for treatment. Health agency @UNITAID has provided hundreds of life-saving devices to hospitals across Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/nGyHsZiyTb
“Babies born prematurely are more likely to develop respiratory, neurological or digestive complications, conditions that often require oxygen for treatment”.
Along with partner, Vayu Global Health, Unitaid has provided 220 ultra-low cost, portable, electricity-free devices (bCPAP) and 125 oxygen blender systems.
The bCPAP device is a non-invasive way of ventilating newborns who are struggling to breathe. It allows for precise delivery of oxygen concentration, flow, and pressure, which can dramatically improve the chances of survival of newborns and infants.
Along with oxygen blender systems they prevent eye, lung and brain damages associated with giving babies pure oxygen provision.
“Together they supply infants with the breathing support and oxygen therapy they need,” Mr. Verhoosel explained.
The device was granted FDA emergency use authorization to help in the fight against COVID-19.
While the devices can be used globally, they are particularly well suited for humanitarian crises or low-resource settings.
Life-saving electricity-free devices
Unitaid funding enabled FDA approval of the Vayu bCPAP system, its engineering and manufacturing in Kenya as well as specific support for Ukraine.
According to Mr. Verhoosel, to date 25 referral facilities across Ukraine have received the life-saving devices, 17 of which are perinatal centres.
The global health agency also organized initial in-person intensive training in Krakow, Poland, to support Ukrainian neonatologists and pediatricians who came from Lviv and provided 40 Vayu bCPAP systems for training and support in seven other hospitals throughout that region.
Building on the work in pediatric oxygen delivery that Vayu Global Health has carried out since September 2020, access has been widened in poor-resource settings.
The system is also used in several African countries as well as Belgium and the United States.
UNITAID/Vayu Global Health
Funding needed
The ongoing work complements Unitaid’s initial $43 million investment to enhance access to pulse oximetry in primary care centres across nine low and middle-income countries.
The devices are a vital diagnostic tool in helping identify children in need of lifesaving care, including oxygen therapy.
However, Mr.Verhoosel informed the press that more funding is needed to scale up its manufacturing to the largest degree.
WHO epidemiologist Margaret Harris backed Unitaid’s call for more investments in these critical health innovations.
“Every time there is an attack, one of the things that happens is the electricity doesn’t work,” she said.
The WHO official described a recent visit to a pediatric hospital very close to the active fighting line in Zaporizhzhia.
“Every night they sleep in the basement. And the kids that they’ve got on ventilation, they have to try to move them. So having very portable devices that can function offline is absolutely critical”.
Not since Kenya’s forefathers gained the country’s independence out of colonial rule six decades ago has there been a more important event in the East African nation than the Kenyan presidential election on August 9. This is true for the nation’s citizenry, the Kenyan diaspora, and the international community.
By Duggan Flanakin*
The eyes of the world will watch with anticipation as voters cast ballots not just for president and deputy president, but also for members of the National Assembly and Senate, county governors, and the country’s 47 county assemblies.
I will personally be watching with bated breath and with hope for a peaceful transition.
This moment of opportunity and of peaceful transition has not always been the case for Kenya. Yet, as Kenyans suffered through the COVID-19 pandemic, two-term president Uhuru Kenyatta and former longtime rival, Raila Odinga, decided it was time to unite politically in order to lead the country’s people toward a brighter tomorrow.
That tomorrow will require steadfast leaders willing to put the country first and before themselves. Post-election, the country’s future depends largely upon how it addresses the key interrelated problems that only experience can impart.
The promise of this election is the possibility that its outcome will set the stage for national stability and for lasting, positive change. Kenya’s economic forecast is one ripe for expansion as the new leadership navigates out of the current global economic crisis. The fledgling African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) further provides a strong framework for economic growth across the entire continent, and if managed wisely, Kenya can be stewards in its progress.
As evidence of AfCFTA’s potential, the World Bank has predicted that trade between African nations could expand by over 80 percent by 2035, boosting output by roughly US$450 billion and raising wages for men and women by up to 10 percent in the process.
Thus, the country’s commitment to the development of Kenya’s infrastructure and manufacturing sectors for intra-African trade provides an opportunity to convert the continent’s gaps in these sectors into meaningful prospects for investment. Growth can come autonomously through “Made In Kenya” or at least “Made In Africa” as well as through public-private partnerships with institutional investors from abroad.
The country’s agricultural prowess and its textile strength, along with its potential to serve as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) resource, can also help Europe through the tragic consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Kenya should be a conduit for continued export throughout Africa and the world. Fulfilling that promise has the potential to bring new prosperity across the nation.
Yes, perhaps Kenya’s time has finally come.
But for Kenya to maximize the benefits of this newfound environment, the nation needs leaders committed to lending continued focus on the creation of localized manufacturing centers that can produce desirable and sustainable and high-skills jobs.
Localized manufacturing has ultimately been proven to unlock sustainable, high-skills development that will hasten Kenya’s forward trajectory within an oft-destabilized global marketplace.
There is also, no question, an elephant in the room. One of the country’s chief goals has to be to end the systemic corruption that has interfered with infrastructure development in years prior, development that is just now bringing jobs and new business ventures to local communities.
New roads and expanding ports host the potential to pave the way for shipping more Kenya-made products to foreign markets, but only if an accountable infrastructure is in place to ensure no cracks are in the system where corruption has been proven to fester.
Kenya’s vast youth demographic, its emerging start-up and digital generation, understands the significance of 2022-era notions such as rooting out corruption and ensuring equitable market inclusion. Kenyan youth are perhaps the world’s most eager and creative entrepreneurs, but for them to succeed, there must be ready access to capital and the disruption of needless regulatory barriers that have allowed for misappropriation, frustrated entrepreneurship, devastated job creation potential, and created a tragic brain drain which must be lifted.
Kenya has to spread the word that all who seek to prosper in the country have the opportunity to do so. This means promoting good labor-management relations, emboldening worker protections, and also listening to those who protest and bringing them into dialogue. Only then will a “Made in Kenya” mentality produce palpable growth and foster diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in today’s globalizing economy.
During this electoral process and thereafter, it is important to recognize that campaign promises should not be viewed as static social contracts with the people. Seasoned veteran politicians, like the grandfatherly Raila Odinga, who have sacrificed their personal well-being and at times their careers for the common good, would understand that such contracts are organic, ever-changing, and evolutionary.
To reinforce his commitment to integrity, gender parity, and equality, I’m pleased to see that the venerable Odinga, whom polls say will win the presidency on his fifth try, has welcomed Martha Wangari Karua to be his running mate for deputy president. She serves well in reinforcing his campaign’s commitment to female empowerment, fighting corruption, and the preservation of national dignity.
And critically, to keep youthful talent at home in Kenya.
After six decades of independence and through an arduous struggle to achieve the economic prosperity Kenyans see before them, at this moment, Kenya is emerging as a mature nation ready to take a leadership role in Africa’s – and the world’s – future.
*Duggan Flanakin is the Director of Policy Research at the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow. A former Senior Fellow with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Mr. Flanakin authored definitive works on the creation of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and on environmental education in Texas. A brief history of his multifaceted career appears in his book, “Infinite Galaxies: Poems from the Dugout.”
Canary Islands (Spain), 9 August 2022 – In the final months of 2020, when the world was still reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of smuggled people arrived on the Canary Islands of Spain, in numbers not seen on the islands for over a decade.
A crackdown on migrant smuggling on certain sea routes can lead to increased use of alternative routes, worsening the risks for people who are smuggled by sea. New research by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Observatory on Smuggling of Migrants shows that an increasing number of West and North African people are smuggled by sea from the Northwest African coast – Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania, Morocco, and the Disputed Territories of Western Sahara – to the Canary Islands. The research links this increase to a decrease in smuggling from northern Morocco to mainland Spain on the Western Mediterranean Route.
Data and information on the routes, financial aspects, drivers, and impacts of migrant smuggling can equip states to better respond to prevent and combat migrant smuggling and protect the rights of smuggled people. The UNODC Observatory on Smuggling of Migrants is designed to provide such up-to-date evidence.
The Observatory research indicates that, while Spanish authorities subsume girls, boys, and women smuggled on this route under one category for data collection purposes, women and children generally do not travel together. Their experiences also differ significantly from those of adult men, as described in one instance by a West African man: “We had to lift ourselves up into the boat. It was really high, over my head. I managed to climb in, but it was hard. The two young women in our group couldn’t get on; it was too hard for them to climb in. We left them behind.”
An effective way to prevent smuggling of migrants would be to increase regular migration options, as recommended by the UN Working Group on the Smuggling of Migrants last year. Many people try and fail to migrate regularly before resorting to migrant smugglers. A West African woman smuggled to the Canaries described: “I applied for a visa four times, but it was refused each time. […] I even paid an intermediary […], because I was told that you need to know someone at the Embassy to be granted the visa, but it did not work. There is so much corruption. After these rejections, I decided the next-best option would be to go to Morocco and try to reach Europe from there.”
Criminal justice responses to smuggling on this route are not having the desired effect. Investigations and prosecutions on the Canaries are often aimed at boat drivers, who navigate the boat in return for a free or discounted passage. Last year, for instance, around 150 boat drivers were arrested and investigated for smuggling of migrants and related charges on Gran Canaria, Spain. Yet the members of crime groups on the Northwest African coast that organize smuggling of migrants along this route are rarely targeted by law enforcement activity.
Responding to the research, Mr. David Martínez Ibort, Chief of Section, Provincial Brigade for Immigration and Borders, Gran Canaria, Spain, commented: “Such research is always useful for our daily work fighting against migrant smuggling. It is a much harder task to prosecute organizers, because they are normally in a third country rather than in Spain. But sometimes we are successful. For instance, two organizers in Morocco are now being prosecuted in the Court of Las Palmas. Another point to debate in this research is regarding the skippers. It is true that some of them are not affiliated or fully engaged in a criminal network, especially concerning West Africans, but it is not always the case for North Africans.”
To avoid interception on the shorter journey from Morocco and Western Sahara, people are smuggled from Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania. Boats navigate southwards, outside of search and rescue zones and cell phone networks, and sometimes get caught in strong currents towards the Caribbean Sea. The true number of people who die during the journey is likely higher than recorded figures of between 1,176 (according to the International Organization for Migration) and 4,016 (according to the non-governmental organization Caminando Fronteras) people dead or missing on this route during 2021. Many deaths go unrecorded due to limited capacities to retrieve and identify the bodies of people who lose their lives off the Northwest African coast and the Canaries, in international waters and in the Caribbean.
The UNODC Observatory on Smuggling of Migrants regularly updates its analysis to provide real-time information and to allow for longitudinal assessment. The Observatory will launch more new research next month, focusing on migrant smuggling from Nigeria. UNODC hopes that this research will be used to prevent and combat migrant smuggling, while protecting the rights of people who are smuggled.
Further information on UNODC’s work related to combat smuggling of migrants
For additional details on smuggling demand; key routes and hubs; smugglers’ profiles; smugglers’ fees; and abuses suffered in the context of smuggling, visit the Observatory here.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for amplifying the voices of Indigenous women, which is critical to achieving a just future for all people.
“Indigenous women are knowledge keepers of traditional food systems and medicines. They are champions of Indigenous languages and cultures. They defend the environment and Indigenous peoples’ human rights,” said Mr. Guterres.
“To build an equitable and sustainable future that leaves no one behind, we must amplify the voices of Indigenous women”.
Indigenous traditional knowledge can offer solutions to many common global challenges, said the UN chief, recalling his recent visit to Suriname, where he learned how communities are protecting the rainforest and its rich biodiversity.
Agronomist Deborah Suc, a member of the Poqomchi community, works for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Guatemala.
‘We are the same’
In connection with the International Day, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been highlighting the contributions of some of its staff who are from indigenous communities.
Deborah Suc, an agronomist in Guatemala, is the first woman from the Poqomchi ethnic group to graduate from university.
Ms. Suc works as a WFP field technician in the San Cristóbal municipality, which is located in Alta Verapaz department in north central Guatemala.
She supports the implementation of resilience activities in Poqomchi and Q’eqchi’ indigenous communities towards reducing poverty and hunger. Her job involves hosting workshops, leading meetings, or visiting families in their homes.
“When the women see me driving the car and I get out dressed in my suit, they are surprised and say, ‘We knew you spoke Poqomchí, but we didn’t know you were one of us.’ I tell them that we are the same and that we can all do different things”.
The way Ms. Suc is treated in San Cristóbal is light years away from her experience at university, where some people would make crude jokes at her expense.
Pride and prejudice
Unfortunately, the discrimination did not end when she received her master’s degree.
“When I get to some places in my suit, they stare at me with contemptuous expressions. On one occasion, while I was waiting to start a workshop at a government institution related to education, a person approached me to hand me the dirty dishes because he thought I was the cleaning person. He was very surprised when he found out that I was going to facilitate the workshop,” she recalled.
“Before, I was very affected by the way they saw me, but now I don’t take the time to pay attention to it because I feel very proud of who I am, of the mum and dad I have, of the person I am now”.
WFP/Nelson Pacheco
Guatemala. WFP Staff Deborah Suc International Day of the World’s Indigenous People
Respect for all
Ms, Suc had always worked outside her municipality, but now that she has returned to San Cristóbal she said “it is a satisfaction to work for my people”. She also is proud to be an inspiration to her community.
“Nothing makes me happier than knowing that I can inspire other people and say, ‘Look, if we didn’t have a chance to study, now with these trainings you’re going to have other skills, you’re going to learn other things,” she said.
WFP asked Ms. Suc what would she like her colleagues to learn on the International Day.
She said she wanted them to know that indigenous peoples have principles and values, and that they have great respect for nature, which in turn means respect for people.
“I would like them to learn that we have a lot of respect for the value of the word, we have many cultural values, and we are people who like to get ahead,” she responded.
“In addition, many of the negative things that are said about indigenous peoples are not true. The thing is, we haven’t had the opportunities, but when we’ve had them, we were able to do a lot of things.”
Word one: Life in Christ is realized through the sacraments of divine baptism, holy anointing and communion
36. Since before the Cross it was impossible to find forgiveness of sins and deliverance from punishment, what righteousness can be thought of at all? It is inconsistent, I think, that before they are reconciled, they should fall into the place of friends, and while still in fetters, should be proclaimed victors.[8] After all, if that lamb[9] had finished everything, what was the point of what happened next? Since those types and images [τῶν γὰρ τυπό καὶ τῶν εἰκόνων] were able to bring about the blessedness thus sought [εὐδαιμονίαν], therefore already truth and works are in vain. However, until the enmity is destroyed by Christ’s death and the middle ground is overthrown [τὸ μεσότοιχον], and until peace and righteousness dawn in the Savior’s times, and in general until all these things take place, what place will they have before that sacrifice, if not the place of God’s friends and righteous?
37. The proof of this is this: then we were united to God by the law, and now by faith and grace, and if there is anything else connected with them. It is clear from this that then it was slavery, but now adoption and devotion achieve the communion of men with God, because the law is for slaves, and for friends and sons – grace, faith and boldness.
38. From all this it became clear that the Savior is the firstborn from the dead [πρωτότοκος τῶν νεκρῶν] and none of the dead can live to immortal life until He rises. Likewise, the sanctification and justification of men depended on Him alone. This, therefore, was also pointed out by Paul, writing: the forerunner for us entered the holy [εἰς τὰ ἅγια] Christ[10] (Heb. 6:20).
39. For He entered into the holy place, offering Himself to the Father, and brought in those who wished, joining His tomb, not dying like Him, but at the holy table, anointed and fragrant, in an unspeakable way they announce Him Himself as having died and resurrected. And so, bringing them through these gates, He leads them to His Kingdom and to a coronation.
40. These gates are far more exalted and more perfect [λυσιτελέστεραι] than the heavenly gates. They would not open to anyone who had not previously entered through those doors, and these are open even when those are closed. Those can bring out those who are inside, but these only bring in, they don’t take anyone out. It is possible for them to be both locked and finally unlocked, and through these the curtain and the middle were completely destroyed and destroyed.
41. It is no longer possible to rebuild the fence and erect gates that would divide the worlds from each other by a wall. At this the door was not merely opened, but the heavens were also opened,[11] says the marvelous Mark, showing that there was no longer any door, nor walls, nor curtains of any kind left. For He Who reconciles, unites and reconciles the upper world with the lower [τὸν ἄνω κόσμον τοῖς ἐπάν], by destroying the middle of the fence, cannot deny Himself, says the blessed Paul.[12] Because those doors that were opened because of Adam, when he didn’t stay where he was supposed to stay, of course it was clear that they were going to close. They were precisely opened by Christ Himself, Who had not committed sin, nor could he sin, because His righteousness – it is said – abides forever. Whence it necessarily follows that they were to remain open and lead to life, and from life there should be no way out for anyone. For I have come, says the Savior, that they may have life (John 10:10).
42. This is precisely the life which the Lord brings: that those who come through these sacraments participate in His death and become partakers of His sufferings, and without this no one can escape death. For it is impossible for one who is not baptized with water and the Spirit to enter into life, neither can those who do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood have life in them. We will look at this further.
43. What is the reason why only the sacraments can put life in Christ in our souls. To live in God is impossible for those who have not died to their sins, and to kill sin they could only with God’s help. Men are bound to do this: after we have become righteous and voluntarily suffered defeat, it is utterly impossible and far from our ability to renew the struggle when we have become slaves to sin. How could we become stronger after being enslaved? Even if we become stronger, no slave is above his master. Since, therefore, he who was to reject this debt and retain this victory, being righteous, was a slave to those over whom he should have prevailed in the struggle, and God, who is mighty to do so, was under no obligation to anyone, therefore no one took up the fight, and sin lived, and the true life was impossible to shine upon us – the victorious reward on the one hand is for him who has to pay the debt, and on the other it is for him who has the power – therefore there had to be one, and the other to join together, so that they both have the same nature – of the one who goes to the battle and of the one who can conquer.
44. So it happened. God appropriated the struggle for men by becoming man. Man overcomes sin, being clean from all sin because he was God. Thus nature is freed from shame and crowned with a victorious crown, for sin is broken.
45. Although of the people none had conquered and none had fought, yet they were freed from the fetters. This was done by the Savior Himself for those to whom He made it available, giving each person the power to kill sin and become partakers of His feat.
46. Since after that victory, instead of being crowned and triumphed, He suffered beatings, death, and the like to the end, as Paul says, for the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross, despising the shame (Heb. 12:2), what happened ?
47. He did no wrong, but received such a sentence. He committed no sin, and had nothing to call a slanderer too shameless. And wounds, suffering, and death were from the beginning designed for sin. How did the Bishop allow this, being philanthropic? It is not fitting, then, for goodness to console itself with ruin and death. Therefore, immediately after the fall, God allowed death and suffering not so much as a punishment for the sinner, but as a cure for the sick.
48. Since for what Christ had done no such punishment should have been awarded, and the Savior had not in Himself any trace of infirmity to be taken away in order to receive any medicine, the power of that cup is directed to us, for to put sin to death in us, and the wounds of the Innocent One become the punishment of those who have sinned in many things.
49. Since the punishment was wonderful and far greater than the equivalent of human evils, this punishment not only freed from the accusation, but provided such an abundance of goods that it led to an ascent to heaven itself and communion with the Kingdom of God there. It includes those of the earth, the hostile, the chained, the enslaved, the vanquished. That death was dear, therefore, and it is impossible for men to fathom how much, although, on the Saviour’s assumption, it was bought by the murderers for too little to cover His poverty and dishonor.
50. Suffering what belongs to slaves, to be sold, he earns dishonor, because the gain honored dishonor upon us [κέρδος γὰρ ἡγεῖτο τὴν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀτιμίαν], and that for so little means that he accepted to die gratuitously and for nothing. for the world; willingly died without committing any injustice, neither against life nor against any state, preparing for His murderers also gifts far greater than desires and hopes.
50. But why do I say this? God died. God’s blood was shed on the Cross. What could be dearer than this death? What’s more shocking? What did human nature so sin that it was awarded such a ransom? What could this wound be that needed the power of such a medicine to cure it?
51. It is clear, therefore, that sin is atoned for by some punishment, and that of those who have sinned against God, those who suffer a worthy punishment will be freed from condemnation. The subject of punishment, however, could not be called upon for that for which he deserves a sentence. There is no man who, being perfectly pure, would himself suffer for others, so that no one could bear the corresponding punishment either for himself or for the whole human race, even if it were possible for him to die a thousandfold. For what does this most shameless slave deserve to suffer, who has ruined the king’s countenance, and shown such audacity against his majesty?
52. That is why the sinless Lord, having suffered much, died. He bears the wound by taking upon Himself the protection of men, being human. He frees the human race from punishments and gives freedom to those who are chained, because He Himself does not need it, being God and Lord. And why true life enters us through the death of the Saviour, that is what we are about to say.
53. On the one hand, the way in which we draw him into our souls is this: initiation into the sacraments [τὸ τελεσθῆναι τὰ μυστήρια], washing, anointing, enjoying the holy table. In those who do this, Christ indwells and dwells, unites, joins [προσφύεται] and banishes sin from us, invests His life and nobility [ἀριστειαν] and makes us partakers of His victory. Goodness of goodness! Those who wash are girded and those who partake of the dinner glorify.
54. Why does Christ crown those who wash, those who are anointed with oil and those who participate in the supper. Why and for what reason are the victory and the crown at the font, the ointment and the table, which are the fruit of labor and sweat? For though we do not fight or toil, in doing these things we glorify that feat, admire the victory, and bow down before the trophy of victory, and for that decisive feat [τὸν ἀριστέα σφοδρόν] we show unspeakable gratitude [φίλτρον]. Those wounds and paint and death we appropriate for ourselves, and as far as possible we draw them to ourselves by tasting of the very flesh of the Dead and Risen One. Because of this, of course, we also enjoy those goods that correspond to death and exploits.
55. If anyone, surrounding a captured and awaiting punishment tyrant, praises and crowns him, honors tyranny and himself prefers to die after his fall, speaks against the laws and complains against justice, does this without shame and without hiding his malice, but speaks boldly, testifies and proves it, what judgment shall we pass on such a one? Shall we not render him the same as the tyrant? It is absolutely certain.
56. Contrary to all this, if one admires the noble, rejoices in the victor and weaves wreaths for him, raises shouts of victory and shakes the theater, faints with pleasure before the triumphant, gently embraces his head, kisses his right hand, and thus greatly exults from the general, and from the victory he has brought, that as if he himself should have crowned his head, will he not receive a share of the victor’s rewards, judged by prudent judges, as he – I think – will join in the punishment of the tyrant? If we reserve to the bad what is due, by exacting punishment for their intent and thoughts, it is not quite right to deprive the good of what they deserve.
57. If we add to this that he who won that victory does not himself need the gifts of victory, but rather prefers to see the splendor of the theater around his supporter, and considers it the reward of his struggle that his friend should be crowned, how is it not is it fair and not acceptable that he should adorn himself with a wreath, though he has not shed the sweat and endured the hardships of war?
58. This is exactly what the baptismal font, the supper, and the judicious enjoyment of the ointment can do for us. Consecrating ourselves [μυούμενοι], therefore, we punish the tyrant, despise him, and deny him, and the victor we praise, admire, worship him, and love him with all our souls, so that with the love that surrounds us like bread we are satisfied , like ointment – we anoint ourselves and like water – we pour ourselves over.
59. It is evident that if he entered into this war for our sake, and that we might conquer, Sam suffered death, so that there is nothing inconsistent and nothing disagreeable about the crowns of victory being reached by these sacraments. For we show the possible disposition [τὴν δυντὴν ἐπιδεικενμεθα προθυμίαν], and hearing of this water, that it has the power of Christ’s death and burial, we strongly believe, willingly come forward, and immerse ourselves. He – because he does not give little and what he honors us with is not little – welcomes those who come after death and burial, not giving a crown, not by giving glory, but with the Victor Himself, with Himself crowned.
60. Coming out of the water, we carry the Savior Himself in our souls, in the head, in the eyes, in the very entrails, in all the members, pure from transgression, freed from all corruption, as he rose, as he appeared to his disciples, and as he ascended , as he will come again, demanding this treasure back.
61. Thus, after we are born and sealed with Christ, He himself guards the entrances of life, lest we bring in any foreign species. By means of that by which, by taking in air and food, we maintain the life of the body, by this He penetrates into our souls and joins to Himself these two doors: the one as myrrh and fragrance, and the other as food. Because we inhale Him at the same time, but He also becomes food for us. And so, mixing and combining himself fully with us in every way, He makes us His body, and becomes to us what the head is to the other members. Therefore and through Him we participate in all good things, because He is the head, and from the head they necessarily go to the body.
62. This is precisely what we should admire, because we do not share with Him either in the wounds or in the death, but He Himself took them, but then, at the crowning, then He makes us His partakers.
63. This, therefore, is indeed a work of unspoken philanthropy, which is not far from reason and expediency [τῆς γινομένης ἀκολουθίας]. Because after the Cross we are united with Christ. Until He suffered, we had nothing to do with Him. Because He is Son and Beloved, and we are defiled, and slaves, and enemies in consciousness [τῇ διανοίᾳ]. After he died and the ransom was given to us, and the devil’s prison was destroyed, we entered into such liberty and adoption, and became members of that blessed Head. Hence, whatever belongs to the Head belongs to us.
64. Now, therefore, through this water we become sinless, we join His gifts through the ointment, and through this table we live one and the same life with Him. In the future we shall be gods with God [θεοὶ περὶ Θεόν], heirs of the same with Him, we shall reign with Him in the same kingdom, if only we do not voluntarily blind ourselves and tear the king’s tunic in this life. We must only strive for this in this life, so that we preserve the gifts [τὰς δωρεὰς ὑπομεῖναι], preserve the charisms [τῷν χαρίτων ἀνασχέσθαι] and not tear down the crown that God has woven for us with much sweat and labor.
65. This is the life in Christ which is contained in the sacraments. It seems to me that it is clear what human zeal can do for him. Therefore, he who wishes to speak about this should first consider each of the sacraments separately, and then it would be consistent to consider each action according to virtue [τῆς κατ’ ἀρετὴν ἐργασίας].
________________________________________
[8] Literally, “crowned” (note trans.).
[9] That is, the lamb from the Old Testament Passover (note trans.).
Reading the lower lines, one can hardly imagine that centuries separate us from the author. Some readers might exclaim, “Well, so nothing new under the sun! There have always been wicked bishops, always troubled times. And the Church has survived, so let’s not worry.” Yes, God is faithful, but we must realize that the “golden age” was called so not because of its tranquility and because the “spirit of apostasy” did not operate in it, but because there were pastors like St. Gregory the Theologian, St. .Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom, and dozens of others whose voices rang out loud and clear and who called things by their true names. It was their unequivocal words “Yes, yes” and “No, no” to everything that happens in the Church that created the criteria of the church people so that they could distinguish the “spirit of the antichrist” and keep their conscience undefiled.
The coordinates of the text in Patrologia graeca are: 37:1166-1227.
225. But I will deny you, even if
you will hide behind your outward piety.
All this is just a trap, a trap.
You are like the artist who paints beautiful things
forms that are covered with torn, leprous-damaged skin.
Either portray beauty or do nothing!
230. But tell me this too, can we call ignorant people,
who left such important teachings and writings,
in which we hardly reach at least a small part of their deep meaning,
(although we have been taught the art of words since childhood),
for the explanation of which, in turn, so many books have been written and so much labor has been expended,
235. abundance of brilliant works,
which are the result of precise work written in all languages and
distinguished by scientific talent and lofty interpretation.
How were the apostles able to persuade the cities, the kings, and the congregations,
who possessed the great power of eloquence,
240. when they were before the judges or in the theatres?
How were they able to convince the sages, the jurists, the haughty Greeks
(experienced in public speaking and skilled in eloquence)
and managed to expose them publicly,
if they were not sympathetic to this culture that you are not giving them knowledge of?
245. Perhaps you mean the power of the Spirit,
and that will be fair, but pay attention to what follows:
are you not yourself a partaker of the Spirit, and of course
you are proud of it. Why do you deprive those,
who seek to advance in it? But you, of course, to no avail
250. you attribute this negation to the nature of the Spirit and to the righteous.
It is the property of the First to breathe the Word,
thus the righteous are inspired
and therefore they are wise. In this way you are mistaken in your own words,
oh you, diligent talker namely
255. that which must be kept silent, that which we must hide within ourselves.
I know that the spirit of enemies is silent.[9]
It is better for him to be silent than to speak bad things.
Open the mouth for the Word of God to those
who speak rightly and shut the mouths of those who
260. which erupt with a wheezing snake hiss
and pour out fratricidal poison.
That’s how you are: what more can we add about ignorance?
In short, I will tell the truth
which way is better to look at things.
265. Once upon a time there were people remarkable like no other,
but not at all proficient in fine literature.
The idea is that each of our speech is double,
it consists of words and meaning, words resemble outer garments,
and the sense is like the body clothed in this garment.
270. As, moreover, in one case both components are good, in the other – only one,
and it also happens that both ingredients are useless: both the education and the talent of the orator.
We don’t pay much attention
on the outside of the speech, but we carefully monitor its content.
Well, this is our salvation, in the inner sense.
275. However, when clearly and openly set forth.
What is the use of the spring if
it is obstructed, or from the sun’s ray, if it is obscured by clouds.
Likewise the wise thought, when unspoken,
resembles an unbloomed rose,
280. she shows her
beauty then, when it feels the breeze of the wind, reveals its flower.
If beauty were always hidden,
then we would never be able to feel the charm of spring.
We seem most inclined to deliver our speech like this,
285. as did those who thought themselves unskilled in speech.
But can you really by your talent speak as inspired [as they]?
[If so, then] I would very much like to receive at least a little of your light.
Indeed, if Scripture is nothing,
so why did i waste so much of my time?
290. Why did I try in vain to “count the sand of the sea”,
joining in his labor days and nights,
that I may understand the meaning [of the Scriptures] at least at the end of my life.
If the Scriptures are good in themselves, then do not allow the works of the righteous
to be covered in cobwebs.
295. Use the simple speech of shepherds,
I have nothing against it: moreover,
i can talk too
I often enjoy a plain lunch more than a chef-made one.
In the same way I like plain clothes and external beauty,
300. not the artificial one, but the one given by nature.
“Let the mind soar,” and with that we shall be content.
No finesse – we’ll leave that to those who aspire to it.
Do not give me the arguments of [skeptics] Sextus and Pyrrho.
Out [to the Stoic] Chrysippus! Farther than Stagyrite.[10]
305. Do not get carried away by Plato’s sweet words.
Reject the beauty [of these sages], whose teachings you should abhor!
Express your philosophy through the simplicity of words.
You can be nice to us, even if you talk simply.
Teach us if you want, but really teach us!
310. [Say:] What is the Trinity to us? How does God unite and how, on the contrary, separates? Like at the same time
is one His holiness, nature, how He is One and Trinity. What is the nature of angels.
What is the nature of the dual world[11]
and true “foreknowledge”,
even if much of it does not seem right to most people.
315. What is the origin of the soul and the body,
of the laws, of the Old and the New [Testament]?
What is the meaning of the Incarnation of the One Who far surpasses the conceivable.
What is the coming together of unequal natures[12] for the sake of one glory?
What is the death of Christ to the resurrection and to heaven itself?
320. What is the resurrection of the dead and what is the Judgment?
What kind of life awaits the righteous and what kind of life awaits the sinners?
Tell me why “everything flows” and where does it stop?
If your Spirit has discovered any of this—
is it all, is it half
325. or only what the purity of reason allows you to know –
do not deprive [me too] of this.
But if you are completely blind, then why do you show the way when you yourself are deprived of sight.
O darkness of those who have a blind man for their teacher,
to fall with him into the pit of ignorance!
330. These [bishops] are such (and they are the least evil,
for though ignorance is evil, it is the lesser evil)
But what if we remember the bad ones,
because there are some even worse.
The ill-fated, despised dice for the game of life;
335. ambiguous in works of faith; respecting the laws of short-term gain,
not the eternal divine laws. Their words are similar to Euripus[13]
or of the lithe branches swaying back and forth.
They are a temptation to women, they are a poison that is pleasant to the taste;
they are lions in their attitude towards
the weaker, but they are a dog before those in power.
340. They are predators with a wonderful sense of smell for any feast,
they rub the thresholds at the doors of the powerful, not the thresholds of the wise.
They think only of their benefit, not of society’s benefit,
to do evil to their fellows.
If you allow me, I can also tell about their so-called “wise” deeds.
345. Some boast of their noble origin, others of their eloquence,
third with his wealth, fourth with his family.
And those who have nothing to brag about,
rise to fame thanks to their depravity.
But here is also what they present as “wisdom”: not possessing eloquence,
350. they bind by means of the law the tongues of those who are more eloquent than they.
And if there was any physical combat, just using your eyes and hands
you “wise men” would also drive out those who struggle.
Is this not obvious violence and obvious harm?
Who will endure all this? A riddle.
355. At the same time when already almost the entire universe
has received from God such a great salvation,
how many unworthy leaders we have [in the Church]!
I will shout the truth, even if it is extremely unpleasant.
I think there is a wonderful theater play going on:
360. now [we see] masks, but in time [we will see the real] faces.
I’m ashamed to say how things are, but I’ll say it anyway.
Though we are appointed teachers of goodness,
we are a workshop for all evils
and our silence screams (even if it seems to us that we are not speaking).
365. “Cunning is at the head – let no one worry about it!
Be one of the bad guys – that’s the easiest and it’s better.” The practice
becomes law.
Well, if someone, even under the influence of the teachers, can with difficulty turn to the good,
then when in front of him
370. there is a bad example, he is captured; it becomes like a stream running down a slope.
Here is the reason for it: some say that the [sea] eagle, using the rays of the sun
wisely judges the eyesight of her newborn chicks.
In this way, he understands which of them is real and which is not.
One throws out, admitting itself to be the parent of the other.
375. We easily put everyone on the chair
as long as they desire it, we make them chiefs of the people,
and at the same time we pay no attention to either the present or the past,
neither of their activity, nor of their preparation, nor of the circle of their acquaintances—
even to the extent that the “ring of these coins” can be recognized
380. and whether they have been purified by the fire of time –
but we hastily elevate those who seem to us worthy of this throne.
Indeed, if we know that in most
sometimes power makes the elected worse,
he which prudent man will offer him whom he knoweth not.
385. And if I, with such great effort, can only care for my soul
in the storms of life, how can you trust anyone
meet the helm of power
of such a great people, if you don’t want to sink the ship.
And at the same time when precious stones are hard to find
390. and healing herbs do not grow everywhere on earth,
and then when kranti is abundant everywhere,
and thoroughbred horses are bred in the homes of the rich –
why the superiors find them with such ease,
even more beginners who haven’t even put in the effort [at least a little].
395. Oh, quick change of manners! Oh, the random twists of the game!
O work of God entrusted to the dice!
Or: oh, comedian’s mask, unexpected
put to one of the most depraved and worthless of men:
and here before you stands a new watchman of godliness.
400. Truly great is the grace of the Spirit,
since the precious Saul is among the prophets!
Until yesterday you were among the mimes in the theaters (what happened,
besides the theaters, let someone else learn)
and now you yourself are an extraordinary sight to us.
405. Formerly you were a passionate lover of horses and threw ashes [out of anger] up to God,
as one utters prayers and pious thoughts.
The reason for this was either a fallen jockey,
or a horse that came second to the finish;
you were intoxicated by [even the faintest] smell of the horses
410. and you became like a madman and raging.
Now you are important, your look is full of meekness,
(aside from being secretly devoted to your old passions,
like, I think, the crooked twig that slips away
from the hand trying to straighten it and returns to the original position).
415. Dovchera through oratory sold you trials,
turning now to one side and to the other all that pertains to the laws.
By means of this you destroyed those whom justice should have saved,
and the criterion for you was the great reward.
Now you suddenly became a judge, like a second Daniel.
420. Yesterday, when he judged me with drawn sword,
you have turned the court into a lawful haunt of robbers,
he stole, doing violence mostly against the laws.
And how meek you are today! No one
you don’t change your clothes as easily as you change your manners.
425. Your daughter-in-law was among the effeminate dancers,
together with the Lydian women participated in obscene dances,[14]
he sang songs and was proud of his orgies.
Now you present yourself as the guardian of the chastity of virgins and married women.
How suspicious is your goodness, given your past habits.
430. Yesterday – Simon the Wise, today – Simon Peter.
Ah, what speed: instead of a fox – a lion.
Tell me, dear, how it came to be that you
who was formerly a publican or left some position in the army,
how you, who were once poor, afterwards surpassed Cyrus in wealth
435. Median, or Croesus or Midas
(having become the ruler of the house full of tears),
[how] he penetrated the Sanctuary and seized the throne.
How then did you manage to take everything by force,
and now you own it?
How, in the end, you conquered by force even the divine Mysteries themselves…
[9] See Matt. 9:32: “After the madness was cast out, the mute spoke” (trans. note).
[10] The City of Aristotle (note trans.).
[11] On speculative and material entities (ed. note).
[12] In Godman (note trans.).
[13] Strait with the unsteady waters (trans. note).
[14] The Lydian women had the reputation of being light women who, according to Herodotus, saved their dowry themselves through prostitution (note trans.).
Every day you encounter plant-based beverages (milk) — with different tastes and aromas — and with a variety of uses. Oats, soy, almonds and others – the choice is huge and can satisfy every taste and preference. Whether you pour it over your breakfast in the morning, add it to your coffee or make a smoothie with it – there are options suitable for every purpose. What they all have in common is that they do not contain lactose, casein and other milk proteins.
Although we continue to refer to plant-based beverages colloquially as “oat milk” or “soy milk,” the legally correct name is drink. Here are which drinks are most suitable for which purpose, what advantages the individual variants hide and how to distinguish them:
Soy
The application of soy drinks is probably the most diverse, because they can be added to any dish or drink. They also come in different flavors (vanilla or chocolate). Since soy is a legume, its drink contains as much protein as cow’s milk, but less fat. The complete vegetable protein ensures a thick creamy foam in your favorite coffee or for anything else – the soy drink is universal.
Oats
It has a sweetish, slightly grainy taste, which arises during its production, and more precisely during the fermentation of the starch contained in the oats. In case of gluten intolerance, however, make sure that the drink does not contain gluten. It is suitable for cooking and baking and especially for topping cereals. The oat drink does not foam much because it is poorer in proteins. If you’re craving an oat latte, it’s best to make it with an oat drink barista.
Almond
With its mild nutty taste, the almond drink is very popular because it goes well with any cereal breakfast. It can also be added to delicious smoothies or coffee. Almonds contain complete plant proteins, which is why almond drinks foam up wonderfully. That is why you can easily prepare a creamy macchiato or cappuccino with them. The nutty note enriches recipes for bread or sweets. A bonus to this is that almonds are gluten-free.
Japan, like many countries around the world, has been hit by a series of heat waves this summer. To help dogs, who, like humans, suffer from the heat, a clothing manufacturer from Tokyo has joined forces and knowledge with veterinarians to create a “wearable” fan for pets.
It is a battery powered fan weighing only 80 grams. It is attached to a special mesh clothing that blows cool air that circulates around the animal’s body. The gowns are available in five different sizes and are priced at $74.
Rei Uzawa, who owns a major clothing company, said she was motivated to create the device after seeing how exhausted her dog was in the scorching summer heat. This year, Tokyo’s rainy season came to an abrupt end in late June – something that hasn’t happened since 1951, leaving the Japanese capital in the longest heat wave in its history. Temperatures even stayed at 35 degrees Celsius for nine days.
“Woe to you, because you shut up the kingdom of heaven from men” (Matt. 23:13). This is said to the bishops, who neither themselves teach the people the way of salvation, nor urge the priests to do so; it was also said to the priests, who leave the people in ignorance and do not care to explain to them what is necessary for the salvation of their souls. Because of this, the people sink into spiritual blindness, and one part of the people remains convinced that they are walking rightly, and others, although they see that they are not on the right path, do not take the right direction, because they do not know how and where they should go .
Because of this, various senseless and stupid judgments appear among the people, and because of this, every evil teaching easily finds access to it. The priest usually thinks that everything is fine in his parish, and takes action only when this evil is already growing and coming out. But then nothing can be done. As a fundamental duty of his conscience, the priest must accept the improvement of adults in the knowledge of the Christian faith, and prepare the young generation from their first conscious years, explaining what they need and what they should know.
St. Theophanes Prisoner
* * *
How can the shepherds preserve unharmed the Body of Christ, which wrestles not against the flesh, but against invisible forces, if they do not possess a virtue far superior to that of other men, and do not know every treatment useful for the soul?
St. John Chrysostom
* * *
Why do you hold on to evil so stubbornly? Why do you with all your might insult virtue? Why do you desecrate the temple? Why do you not tremble, blaspheming the divine ordinances? Why do you make people who pay attention to your life think that they are harmed in the sacraments themselves? If you don’t fear God, who shows long-suffering towards you, at least respect people! If you are not afraid of the Court, then at least try to keep a good opinion of yourself! If you think that nothing will reach you after leaving this world (this is what your actions say), then be afraid of the chorus of ridicule! If you consider this to be nothing, be afraid of the overthrow! People, seeing how you touch the holy Sacraments with impure hands, will all flee from you and decide to stay away from the Sacraments rather than accept from impure and filthy hands the Pure Gifts… What shall we call you if we have to tell the truth? And what can we tell you to save you from this madness? What should we write to you to make you stop this unnecessary and sinful work? Either stop committing iniquities, or remove yourself from the Holy Table, so that the graduates of the Church can approach the Divine Mysteries without fear, without which it is not possible to be saved!
St. Isidore of Pelusia
How will you, the defiled one, sanctify others? How will you, the unclean, cleanse? First you must cleanse yourself and then cleanse. First you must stop blasphemy and then you will be a priest. Stop ruining not only your soul, but many others for whom Christ died!
St. Isidore of Pelusia
* * *
Woe to the shepherd if he, with his temptations, opens the way to iniquities for his sheep.
St. Tikhon Zadonsky
* * *
If the pastor or any other teacher falls into a great sin, his fall will be heard far and wide, and it will seduce many people. It is not possible, indeed not possible, to hide the downfalls of the pastor and the teacher, however much they try to hide them.
St. Tikhon Zadonsky
* * *
Fear God, not man. If you fear man, you will be humiliated by God. And if you fear God, you will be honored by people.
St. John Chrysostom
* * *
If, professing that there is a God, you act as one who thinks that there is no God, do not your deeds bear the condemnation of your words, and do not your morals and morals refute your assertions? Therefore, confirm with your deeds that there is a God, so that both your words and your morals preach this. Only then will the listeners believe your words. If you talk and don’t act, no one will believe your words.
St. Isidore of Pelusia
* * *
Until my flesh is conquered by me according to my efforts, until my mind is purified, until I am nearer to God than others, I consider it unsafe to take upon myself the care of souls and the mediation between God and men , which is actually the priest’s duty.
St. Gregory the Theologian
* * *
My child, know that in the last days, as the apostle says, hard times will come. And here, as a result of the impoverishment of piety, heresies and schisms will appear in the churches, and then, according to the predictions of the holy fathers, there will be no people experienced and skilled in the spiritual life on the holy thrones and in the monasteries. Because of this, heresies will spread everywhere and deceive many. The enemy of the human race will work cunningly to lead to heresy, if possible, even the elect. He will not start rudely rejecting the dogmas about the Holy Trinity, about the Divine dignity of Jesus Christ, about the Holy Mother of God, but he will imperceptibly start to distort the Tradition given by the Holy Spirit to the Holy Fathers – the teaching of the Church itself. The insidious designs of the enemy and his devices will be noticed by few, the most skilled in the spiritual life. Heretics will take power over the Church, they will place their servants everywhere, and piety will be neglected. But God will not leave His servants without protection and in ignorance. He said, “By their fruits you shall know them.” Here you too, by their fruits, by their heretical actions, try to distinguish them from the true shepherds. These spiritual thieves squander the spiritual flock “and they enter the sheepfold and jump over from somewhere else”, as the Lord says, that is, they will enter by an unlawful path, violently exterminating the Divine statutes. God calls them robbers.
Indeed, first they will persecute the true shepherds and send them into exile, because otherwise they will not be able to scatter the sheep. Therefore, my son, when you see an insult to the Divine order in the Church, to the patristic Tradition and the order established by God, know that heretics have already appeared, although perhaps for a while they will hide their wickedness or pervert the divine faith unnoticed , so that they can even more successfully seduce and entice the inexperienced. Persecution will be not only against pastors, but also against God’s servants, because the devil who leads the heresy does not tolerate piety. Recognize them as wolves in sheep’s clothing – by their proud nature, lust, lust for power. These will be slanderers, traitors, sowing enmity and malice everywhere, that is why the Lord said: “by their fruits you will know them”. True servants of God are humble, brotherly and obedient to the Church.
There will be great concern from the heretics towards the monks, and the monastic life will then be in contempt. Abodes will become scarce, monks will decrease, and those who remain will suffer violence. Those haters of the monastic life, who have only an apparent piety, will try to sway the monks to their side by promising them patronage and life’s benefits, and will threaten the disobedient with exile. From these threats to the faint-hearted then there is great humiliation.
If you live to those times, my son, then rejoice, because then for the believers, who have not acquired other virtues, crowns will be prepared solely because of their standing in the faith, according to the words of the Lord; “Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Heavenly Father.”
Fear, my son, lest you offend the Lord your God! Fear not to lose the crown prepared by the Lord! Fear not to be rejected by Christ in outer darkness and eternal torment! Manfully stand in the faith and, if need be, gladly suffer exile and other sorrows, for with you will be the Lord and the holy martyrs; they will happily watch your feat. But woe in those days to those monks who have attached themselves to property and wealth, and who for their love of peace will be ready to submit to heretics. They will lull their conscience, saying: “We will preserve or save the abode.”
With heresy, the devil will also enter the monastery. Then the abode will lose its sanctity and be mere walls, suddenly grace will completely depart from it Until the end of the world. Then they will choose secluded and desert places.
Do not be afraid of sorrows, but be afraid of the insolence of the heretics who seek to separate man from Christ. That is why Christ commanded us to consider them pagans and publicans.
And so, my son, strengthen yourself through the grace of Jesus Christ! With joy rush to the feats of confession and suffer the sufferings as a good soldier of Christ, who says: “Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown, and I will reveal life to you.” To Him be power and glory together with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
