John Constantinople

The martyrs gave their own souls for the Name of God

Therefore will we exalt these salves and these medicines.

Let us heal our souls of the wounds of sin which we our own selves have caused.

let us bring as an offering (to Him) our life of self-denial.

Remember that some of the martyrs were laid upon coals of fire :

Let us ourselves say unto the True Physician, 'Heal me, O God, and I shall become whole and Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee'

let not, therefore, the matter seem to thee to be a hardship if thou hast to sleep upon the ground.

and the True Physician shall receive us to Himself. And He shall say, I, even I, am He Who blotteth out thy sin, and I will no more remember it'

Thou seest, then, the vast number of the medicines and salves, each of which is different from the other, which have been transmitted unto us in mercy by the Physician for use on various kinds of sores, and on divers cuts and bruises.

If thy mouth is wont to become foul and bitter through fasting, (remember that) He Who created the sweetness in the honey tasted gall for thy sake.

Although thou mayest weep occasionally for thy sins, thou hast not as yet done as Paul did, who wept for the salvation of others.

Choose thou from among these that which thou wishest for the healing of thy soul.

If now thou art not able to perform mercy like Nebuchadnezzar (βαλτασαρ), nor to grieve in thy heart over thy sins like Ahab, and if thou art not able to fast like the inhabitants of Nineveh,

Let us address each other in these words : 'Suffering endureth only for a short time, but the Resurrection (or, Rest) is for eternity.'

Vanquish suffering by means of hope.

and if thou canst not wash away thy sins by means of thy tears like the harlot, flee thou to the foot of the Merciful, and thou thyself shalt say, with David, 'Have mercy upon me, O God, according to the greatness of Thy mercy.'

It is not a viper which hath bitten me, or I would have fled to the feet of the man of enchantments, neither am I filthy with the mire, or I would have washed myself clean in water,

For the Scripture saith, ' Tribulation worketh patience, and patience hope, and hope giveth birth to shamefacedness.'

Consider, moreover, that pleasure (endureth) only for a short time, and that punishment lasteth for ever.

but it is the Devil who hath cast his venom upon me, and I have been penetrated by the mire of iniquity.

For this reason I am in need of the greatness of the mercy of Thy lovingkindness towards man.

Excuse thyself from the delight of pleasure, because of the tribulation of the punishment (thereof).

Thou must, in any case, go to Him, and thou must make supplication to Him,

Cause not the Devil to make use of our members us arrows (against us), and guard thyself and let him not transfix thee with the arrow of the appetite of the belly.

For thou knowest that, after the people (of Israel) had passed over the sea, without being drowned, Moses himself became master of the land through the appetite of the belly.

and He will graciously bestow upon thee the mercy of the Father, and the mercy which He spake saying, ' If the unrighteous man will turn from his evil way, I will no longer keep in remembrance all the iniquities which he hath committed.'

Nevertheless, thou must certainly shew Him thy wound, and thou shalt say, ' Have mercy upon me. Have mercy upon my body, and upon my soul.

Take good heed thyself to the sufferings of those who were there, and flee thou from their fall.

Have mercy upon me in this world, and in that which is to come.

If God did not give His people who were there [water] to drink, He will not give thee (water) to drink if thou practise carelessness.

If thou shalt strive in the contest with thy whole heart, in perfect faith, thou shalt be happy in joy and in gladness for ever.

Have mercy upon me because of the weakness of nature, and because of the sea of Thy goodness.'

Lay fast hold, therefore, at all times upon these teachings which are full of salvation, and keep thou them, and fulfil thou them, so that the Holy Trinity may be glorified through thee, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, henceforward, and always, for all ages of ages. Amen.

Do thou desire earnestly healing, and the Physician will be ready to heal thee at the earliest moment with His medicine.

Apa John, Archbishop

For He who seeketh after thy salvation is He who brought back the sheep which had gone astray.

And He it is Who sendeth forth His servant into the highways to invite both the wicked and the good to the marriage feast.

Behold, He Himself will sell unto thee the kingdom which is in the heavens.

If thou art not able to buy it for copper (money), buy it for thyself with a little piece of bread, for He will sell thee the kingdom which is in the heavens for this.

Behold, the prophet cried out saying, Who is the man who is wishing for life, and who would see the days that are good? ' that is to say, to receive for yourselves a fine external appearance and the service of servants.

Now he who seeketh after that which is sold may not have with him the means (or, possessions) to give in exchange for it.

If (thou hast) not (these things), then give the innocence of thy soul, give fastings, give tears.

If thou hast nothing else whatsoever to give, then give the cessation of thy tongue from that which is evil, and the cessation of thy lips from speaking guile

This shall be the beginning of the salvation of thy soul ; but take good heed unto thyself.

If thou dost fast, guard thyself lest thy heart become proud;

if thou doest acts of mercy watch thyself that thou doest them not for the approbation of men.

Nay, more (than this). If the day of fasting shall cause thee to be regarded (by men) with close attention, thou shalt consider what it is which thou hast acquired for thyself through the fasting, lest thou find thyself to be on a lower level than before thou didst fast.

Moreover, observe what kind of sin it is which thou hast abandoned, or for what purpose thou hast abandoned it,

and what kind of success it is which thou hast acquired for thyself,

or what manner of defect it is which thou hast corrected through thy fasting.

See if thou hast made wrath to cease in thee, and if thou hast driven anger forth from thee.

See if thou hast cured thyself of thinking scorn of thy brother, and of uttering calumnies concerning him, and of feelings of hatred towards thy neighbours.

See if thou hast cured thyself of cursing and swearing, and if thou hast laid aside words of obscenity, or words of ribaldry, or words of lewdness.

See what manner of good thing* it is which thou hast gotten for thyself.

If thou hast abandoned (the eating of) bread overmuch, and of other kinds of food, but hast not abandoned passion, nor hast gotten for thyself spiritual excellences, in what way then hast thou benefited by the fasting?

Thou shalt not say, 'Who is the man that will hold me up to contempt? I myself will hold him up to contempt.

Who is he that will destroy my reputation ?

I myself will destroy his reputation. Who is he that will do wrong unto me?

I myself will wreak my vengeance upon him.'

Do not this, but leave the matter to the True Judge Who shall reward to each man according to his works.

For all these things shall be made manifest, and they shall all be put to the proof in that theatre wherein the whole world shall be gathered together.

In that Other World one man shall not be able to give help to another, and no man shall be able to deliver himself from the decision of the Judge, wherefrom no escape may be obtained by supplication.

In that place of judgement neither Moses, nor Noah, nor Daniel, nor even Abraham himself, the lover of children, shall be able to protect one of his children from the punishment.

Let us keep in remembrance the fact that we are guilty of very many sins, both of those which are secret and of those which are manifest.

Now, he (i. e., David) saith, ' If thou shalt mark carefully every iniquity, who is there that shall stand?

And why need I speak of the sins which are hidden?

If He were to judge us only for those which are manifest, what chance of escape would there be for us?

If He were to enquire closely into our conduct, or if He were to investigate our remissnesses in prayer, and our faintheartedness, (what chance of escape would there be for us ?)

And when we stand in His presence, how do we place ourselves, and on what do we meditate?

Him the honour which servants pay to their masters, or the respect which soldiers pay to their captains, or the honour which friends pay to their friends.

Now when we talk with our friends we are in the habit of addressing them with the greatest respect and deference, but when we pray to God Himself for our sins we habitually do this with carelessness,

and although our knees are bent on the ground, our hearts themselves are imagining that they are occupied in the performance of worldly affairs.

If God were to enquire carefully into this matter, where should we be able to stand?

If, moreover, He were to bring forward (or, into the midst) the charges which we have uttered against each other, and the jealousy, and the hatred, what should we do?

If also He were to examine carefully in respect of looking (upon our neighbours) with evil intent (or, maliciously), what should we do? And if He were to search into us carefully in respect of our evil desires, and if He were to demand from us our words of abuse, would any of us be able to open our mouths?

Moreover, if He were to judge us for our love of the approbation of men which we have mingled with our prayers, and fastings, and acts of mercy,

should we ever be able to look boldly into heaven at all?

If He were to look closely into our behaviour in respect of the acts of deceit which we have done to each other, and of how, when our brother was present with us, we held converse with him as a friend,

but when he was absent we heaped abuse of every kind upon him as if he had been an enemy (what should we do?).

If He were to make a reckoning with us in respect of our false oaths, and our lies, and our wrath without cause against each other, and our malicious feelings,

and our emotions of grief when we saw any one of our friends held in honour by men, or praised more than ourselves, and our feelings of joy when certain folk fell into evil and calamity,

should we not be condemned to most severe punishment because of our behaviour in this respect.

If He were to exact punishment from us for our carelessness in our assemblies for the Holy Communion, wherein God Himself speaketh to us in the Scriptures,

but we pay no attention to Him, and we hold converse with our fellow-servants,

should we not then be condemned to a punishment of great severity, because of our behaviour in this respect?

For this reason let us set Gehenna before our eyes at all seasons.

And even if we had not been threatened definitely with Gehenna, it would have been meet for us to keep our sins in our memory at all times, (and seeing that) this Gehenna is ready for us, how much more are we bound to keep our sins in remembrance?

Remember thou the Judge.

For behold, he (i. e., the Book) spake unto thee aforetime concerning the punishment so that thou mightest make thy escape from the danger.

If He were to command thee saying, Fast thou thou couldst find an excuse for not doing so in thy weakness.

If He were to say unto thee, 'Give money in charity thou couldst find an excuse for not doing so in thy poverty.

If He were to say unto thee, Collect nothing in this world thou couldst find an excuse in the necessity for providing for thy son.

But if He were to say unto thee, ' Be not angry, bear no malice against, have no hatred for, treat not with contumely him that is thy neighbour,' what wouldst thou reply in respect of these things?

Since, therefore, there is no apology for thee whatsoever, and there is no means of escape from these things in this respect, how wilt thou be able to lift up thy hands to heaven seeing that these things are in thy soul?

Moreover, on many occasions thou hast said, 'They have treated me unjustly, they have defrauded me of my property, they have done me an injury, and they have spoken evil things against me ';

but thou hadst only to wait for the decision of the governor.

If a servant were to treat thee with insolence thou wouldst not thyself beat him, but wouldst make an accusation against him to his master.

How much more is it meet for thee to leave the matter unto Him Who said, 'Cast the judgement upon Me ; I will repay, saith God.'

Thou knowest, therefore, that it will be necessary for thee to take thy stand before the Awful Throne, where neither advocate nor possessions shall be able to assist thee,

and that thy soul shall come forth on the ' river of flame which floweth before the throne of Christ ',