Saturday. [I Cor. 15:39-45; Luke 4:31-36]

   If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins (John 8:24). There is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). We must receive remission of sins, but there is no way to receive it other than by faith in the Son of God, crucified in the flesh for our sake, on the condition that we do not desire to indulge in sinful habits and deeds; for when we sin, we have only Him as an intercessor before the Father. He who gives his word to abstain from sins must accept the helping grace of the Most-Holy Spirit; but this grace descended to the earth after the Lord ascended to sit at the right hand of God the Father, and is only given to those who believe in this marvellous economy of our salvation, and who approach the Divine mysteries with this faith—mysteries which were established in the holy Church of the Lord through the Apostles. Thus, he who does not believe in the Lord as He is cannot be pure of sins. Because he has not been cleansed of sins he shall die in them, and shall be judged of them according to their weightiness. When you want to do someone good that is of eternal value, guide him in true faith in the Lord, not allowing philosophizing or wavering. Those who directly or indirectly disrupt faith in the Lord must be considered everlasting evil-doers, for they wreak an evil that nothing can correct, and its power stretches to all eternity. Their ignorance does not justify them, for how can they not know that truth which is known to the whole world? Their opposing beliefs do not justify them, for if you should only start strictly testing them you would immediately shake their strength; a person cannot rely on anything other than faith in the Lord. Those who do not properly examine the foundations, faith, and teachings to which they adhere go astray in the faith. An exact investigation of the conditions for salvation will lead to the conviction that they can only be met through God incarnate, who died on the cross, and who sent the Holy Spirit down to the earth. In this lies the essence of the Christian faith. He who sincerely believes this way will not die in his sins, for he bears within himself the power which brings forgiveness. The unbeliever is already condemned, for he bears this condemnation within himself.

Friday. [Eph. 6:18-24; Luke 4:22-30]

   The people of Nazareth marvelled at the word of the Lord, but nevertheless they did not believe: envy prevented them as the Lord Himself revealed. Every passion opposes truth and goodness, but envy most of all, because falsehood and spite make up its essence. This passion is the most unjust and poisonous both for the one who bears it and for the one against whom it is directed. It occurs on a small scale with everyone when someone equal or inferior gets the upper hand. Egoism gets irritated, and envy begins to gnaw away at the heart. This is still not so tormenting if the road is still open to you; but when it is blocked off, especially by the one you already envy, then its aggression is unstoppable, and peace is impossible. Envy demands the overthrow of one’s enemy from his place on the peak, and will not rest content until it somehow attains this, or until it ruins the envier. Good natured, well-wishing people, whose kindly sentiments prevail over egotistical ones, do not suffer from envy. This is also the way to extinguish envy for any person tormented by it. You must hasten to inspire good will, especially towards the one whom you envy, and manifest it in deed; then envy will immediately abate. If you repeat this several times, with God’s help it will entirely subside. But if you leave it the way it is, if you do not overcome yourself and force yourself to do good to the one you envy, it will torment you, dry you up, and send you to your grave.

Saturday. [I Cor. 14:20-25; Matt. 25:1-13]

   The parable of the ten virgins is read. Saint Macarius portrays the meaning of it thus: “The five wise virgins, in sobriety, hastening toward what was unusual to their nature, taking the oil in the vessel of their heart, that is the grace of the Spirit granted from above, could enter with the Bridegroom into the heavenly bridal chamber. The other foolish virgins, remaining in their own nature, did not become sober, did not try while they were still in the flesh to take in their vessels the oil of joy, but due to carelessness or self-conceit over their own righteousness, gave themselves over as if to sleep. Because of this they were not admitted into the bridal chamber of the kingdom, and were unable to please the heavenly Bridegroom. Restrained by earthly bonds and earthly so-called love, they did not dedicate all of their love and devotion to the heavenly Bridegroom, and did not bring oil. While the souls who have sought out the sacred gift of the Spirit unusual to their nature are attached to the Lord with all of their love, walk with Him, turn away from everything, concentrate their prayers and thoughts toward Him, and are made worthy to receive the oil of heavenly grace. The souls remaining in their nature creep with their thoughts along the earth, think about the earth, and their mind dwells on the earth. They think of themselves as belonging to the Bridegroom and are adorned with justifications of the flesh; but not having received the oil of joy, they have not been reborn through the Spirit from above (Discourse 4:6).”

Saturday. [I Cor. 10:23-28; Matt. 24:34-44]

   Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. To be vigilant does not mean to sit with your arms folded, but rather to keep in mind that the Lord will suddenly come, to behave and conduct your affairs so as to be ready to meet Him at any instant, not fearing reproach and condemnation. How is one to do this? Very simply. Walk in the commandments, not breaking a single one; and if it happens that you break one—immediately cleanse yourself through repentance and its proper fulfilment. Then everything in you will be clean. And do not leave sin on your soul for a minute; immediately repent, weep in your heart and run to your spiritual father to confess and receive absolution, and then again take on deeds according to God’s commandments. If you set out zealously to be proper in life—you will soon become proper; just don’t remain for long in a fall. Falls in such a case will become ever rarer, and eventually will completely cease, with the help of the all-healing grace of God. Then there will dwell in you the joyful assurance that you will not meet the Lord unprepared.

Friday. [Eph. 1:7-17; Mark 8:1-10]

   Having filled four thousand with seven loaves of bread, the Lord straightway entered into a ship, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha as if nothing particular was done. Such is the true doing of good—to do it continually, not paying attention to what has been done, and always forgetting what is past, to stretch towards what is ahead. This comes naturally for those who are filled with goodness. Just as a strong man lifts heavy weights without noticing while a weak man who has lifted up a small weight cannot seem to forget it, so one who is strong in goodness does every good without strain, whenever the occasion arises, while one who is poor in goodness cannot manage without straining. He remembers the good, and he keeps looking back and glancing at it. A good heart craves to do good, and is not satisfied until it has done good in abundance, as a man is not satisfied until he has eaten his fill. While hunger is felt, dinner is remembered, but when the hunger is satisfied, all is forgotten: so with a truly good person a good deed is remembered while it is not yet done; but once it is done, it is forgotten.