ASCETICA OF THE HOLY FATHER PHILOTHEUS, MONK OF THE MONASTERY OF THE MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS OF THE BUSH
A "As many of us as have been baptized into Christ," according to the divine Apostle, "have put on Christ," that is, from the day and hour of the divine baptism. God, he says, "sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father"; and he also says, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." If, therefore, as the herald of God said, we have put on Christ through baptism, and Christ Jesus dwells within us, and we have received the earnest of the Holy Spirit for the future eternal life, and have become, as he said, a house of the adorable and holy Trinity, what must we do? And how are we to work out our own salvation in fear and trembling, so that we may not, instead of a house of God, become once again a house of the devil? B What else, but to imitate Him and follow Him in our life in Christ? What, then, shall we say? That he who intends to walk behind Christ must withdraw from and renounce this world. Behold, you have already made a start in doing this. Shall we say that one ought to become a stranger to his own country, and friends, and parents for the sake of Christ? Behold, each one of us has done this too. Shall we remind you of perseverance in prayer and of exercise in the holy Scriptures? Behold, by the grace of Christ you occupy yourselves with these things. And do you not exercise brotherly love and subjection to Christ by obeying and submitting yourselves in humility, just as one who succeeds Him, to the one who is over you?
C But alongside our other noble deeds in Christ, we must also be careful not to allow the wickedness of evil and shameful thoughts to mingle secretly. For there is within us a spiritual war, more severe than the sensible one; if you succeed in this by the struggles of your obedience and by the blood of your resolve, you will shine as lights, holding fast the word of life, obtaining the testimony of conscience. For just as with medical remedies, there are some that support the body in a recent affliction, while others often preserve good health for it until the end, so too must one conceive of the ascetic exercises of piety, whether they concern the inner recesses of the soul or the body. D And truly, a certain ascetic said to me that just as the holy Scripture bids us hope, so too ought the cultivator of piety to run, in such a way that his mind is perpetually fixed upon the goal, to treasure the memory of God in the heart like a pearl or a precious stone; and one must set before oneself everything