The Loving Testament of Saint John of Rila (vegan), Part 2 of 2

We will now continue with the second part of the profound insights passed down through the Testament (Zavet) of Saint John of Rila, as a caring legacy for his followers, written shortly before his death. His message is one of unity, kept by the peace of God, in Whom one finds the source of all wisdom and enlightenment. “The spirit-speaking Prophet David glorified it saying: ‘See now what is so good and so pleasant as for brethren to dwell together in unity!’” “But also our good Master Lord God Jesus Christ, does He not say to us Himself, by His immaculate lips: ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them’?” “That is why, children, as the Holy Spirit through the mouth of the Prophet glorifies the communal life, do you not neglect it either, but on the contrary, confirm it and be like ‘one body in the Lord,’ which has different members. Some of them form, however, the head which governs, others the feet which toil and bear, so that there is formed from all a single spiritual body in the Lord, created with a single mind and logical spirit, and directed by spiritual reasoning, in no wise having divisions. When such a dwelling and life in God is arranged, then He Himself will be in the midst of you, governing you invisibly.” “Do not seek the first place and authority, but remember those who have said: ‘If one would be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all.’” “For He prays to God the Father for His holy disciples to be united, that is, of one mind — they themselves and everybody who believes in Him through them, and says as follows: ‘Holy Father, keep them in Thy name that they may be one, as we are.’” “For He said to His disciples, ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.’ For such is this peace of Christ, children, that again He speaks, saying, ‘Not as the world gives, do I give to you.’ But this peace of Christ surpasses every mind. This is the peace, about which the Prophet talks: ‘And His peace has no bounds.’” “Living together for the Lord’s sake and bearing the burdens of one another, do not neglect those who live in solitude and ‘wandering over deserts and in mountains, and in dens, and in caves of the earth, of whom the world was not worthy,’ but supply them as much as you can, in order to hold them as your petitioners before God, for the prayer of the pious may achieve much.”