The trial of Our faith ...

"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearance of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7).

Brethren, our faith is tried more often than is the reed rocked by the winds. Trials are like the winds: a weak faith they will uproot and a strong faith will be strengthened even more. Trials are also like the flame in which straw is burned and gold is purified.

Man's intellectual pursuits and suppositions also try our faith. These are very strong and bitter winds. But we can overcome them if we are willing to adhere to the words of God and if, in opposition to those intellectual pursuits, we are able to emphasize the teachings of the Faith of Christ.

Our faith is further tried by fear and shame: fear of men who persecute the Faith and shame of men who arrogantly despise the Faith. These also are strong winds which we must resist if we wish to remain alive. How will we resist them? By the fear of God which should always be greater in our soul than the fear of men and of shame before the apostles, saints and martyrs who were not ashamed of their faith before emperors, princes and sages of this world.

Our faith is further tried by suffering and misery. This is the fire in which our faith either has to be burned like straw or to be tempered as pure gold. We will resist these trials if we would but remember Christ crucified on the Cross for us and so many thousands of martyrs for the Faith who, in their patience, conquered all and emerged from the flames as gold and who for centuries glow among the angels and among men.

Our faith is also tried by death, the death of our relatives and friends and the death of mankind in general. This is the bitter fire in which the faith of many have been burned. Is death the end of everything? It is not, but rather believe that it is the beginning of everything; it is the beginning of a new and just life. Believe in the Resurrection of Christ, believe in life beyond the grave and believe in the general resurrection and the Dreadful Judgment.

O Good Lord, strengthen the faith in us and have mercy on us. To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

Eight types of knowledge

For men of spiritual and divine background, "Damaskin" numbers eight types of knowledge:

FIRST
The knowledge of sorrow and all temptations,

SECOND
The knowledge of the sum of one's transgressions,
one's transgressions and God's forgiveness.

THIRD
The knowledge of horror, pain and fear,
Before death, in death and after separation,
when before the righteous judgement, the soul stands.

FOURTH
The knowledge of Christ, the Savior,
His life and all the saints,
Of the saints; their deeds, patience and words,
Which, like a silver bell resounds throughout the ages.

FIFTH
The knowledge of natural attributes,
Of physical phenomenon; variation and change.

SIXTH
The knowledge of forms and things,
Natural phantoms and all sensory beings.

SEVENTH
The knowledge of the world; rational and spiritual
The angelic world and the world of Hades; both good and evil.

EIGHTH
The knowledge of God,
The One, Holy, Mighty and Immortal.

This knowledge is called Theology
To it, few are rarely elevated;
The greatest purity, a theologian needs
For the impure heart, to heaven does not reach,
Damaskin, the seven elementary knowledges appropriates
And to the eighth, to the knowledge of God he reached.

And the eighth is given by God and by God bestowed,
This is neither learned nor deserved