Treatise to Eulogius
Tractatus ad Eulogium
The Combat of Virtue§1
1Those who claim the heavenly place by labors do so not by the belly, nor by anxiety for perishable things; rather, like those who pray for profit, thinking piety is a means, but instead, through a spiritual vision, pure souls partake of the nourishing nature of the highest things, wrapped in the light of glory.
And you yourself (O initiate of virtues, Eulogius) while being nourished by the sacred substance of the highest ones, shedding the bulk of the flesh through the gatherings of thoughts, knowing that the matter of the flesh becomes the food of thoughts, just as having seized the methods by the center of labors, you prepare me to become a mouth for my works against them; and if it were not for the bold command of love, I would have refrained from such a seafaring of the vessel; but since it is necessary to obey rather than to oppose those of the same soul: let you be for me in matters of God, so that a word may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, and I shall be for you regarding the things of obedience, so that you may be given to not miss the fruits of the seed.
Exile is the first of the splendid contests, especially when, in addition to this, one is alone, athletically renouncing homeland, race, and existence, having stood before the splendid contests; if he thus begins according to God, walking the path of beginnings with fiery faith and divine Spirit, and saving this by the perfection of endurance, it shall be a wing of virtue, gilded, departing from the soul of familiar places and rushing to fly toward it, the heaven. But the generator of evil devises ways to cut off these wings of the lifestyle, namely the earth, from which the race has come forth, turning it away, especially in the incursions that occur through instability; and in the dwelling while in the hottest exile, one retreats for a little while until the soul, concerning the tribulations...
Like a storm-tossed ship, the night-owl, bringing on the night of thoughts, watches over the soul of the ray of the superiors. If he were stationed alone in the wrestling-ground of the desert, and by chance the body were struck by infirmity, it shows the soul's exile even more harshly.
It is not in a place, but in a manner that the one subjecting the soul to the virtues is established; and that having consolation at home from his kin, there he could have saved the contests of renunciation without pain; where there is also a ready service for weakness, and not as now, hardship and painful fainting; and especially where the zeal for hospitality is not lacking from brotherhood. Therefore, Apith, he says, you bring joy to your own kin and win glory for yourself, while you leave behind them an unendurable grief without sympathy; for many, not having fled their fatherland, have chosen virtue from the midst of their kin.
But he, having clothed himself in the purple of afflictions in the station of exile, and having the hopes of labors hemmed in by faith and the endurance of thanksgiving for these thoughts, shakes off the flakes from the outside; and however much they strive to turn the heart back, the more we should strike them down; 'Behold, I have become a long-distance fugitive, and I was desolate in the desert' (Psalm 101:7). For they reproach and they flatter in order that, having emptied the intention, they might cut off the thanksgiving in endurance, and thus thereafter widen the nets with much despair, and from the proper things.
Chapter 4. For this reason, he who begins to touch virtue, let him count also the war against it, so that, not being seen untrained as if unready, he might be seized. For courage is praiseworthy when virtue is in peace, but this manliness is more praiseworthy when war is standing by; for this is virtue, not only through which it works, but also through which it fights against evils, the one impassive through more wars...
Greek · §1
Tractatus ad Eulogium (sub nomine Nili Ancyrani) ΤΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΠΡΟΣ ΕΥΛΟΓΙΟΝ ΜΟΝΑΧΟΝ. 79.1093 ΚΕΦΑΛ. Αʹ. Οἱ τὸν οὐράνιον χῶρον νεμόμενοι τοῖς πόνοις, οὐ τῇ γαστρὶ, οὐδὲ τῇ μερίμνῃ τῶν φθαρτῶν ἀτενί79.1096 ζουσι· καθάπερ οἱ κέρδους ἕνεκα τὰς εὐχὰς ποιούμενοι νομίζοντες πορισμὸν εἶναι τὴν εὐσέβειαν, ἀλλὰ νοερᾷ ὁράσει τῆς τροφίμου τῶν ὑψηλῶν αὐτῆς μεταλαμβάνουσιν ἀκήρατοι θίασοι ἐκ τῆς δόξης τὸ φῶς περιλαμπόμενοι. Καὶ αὐτὸς (ὦ μύστα τῶν ἀρετῶν Εὐλόγιε) τῇ τῶν ὑπερτάτων λαμπηδόνι τὴν ἱερὰν οὐσίαν ἐκτρεφόμενος ταῖς συναγωγαῖς τῶν λογισμῶν τὸν ὄγκον τῆς σαρκὸς ἐπαποδύῃ, εἰδὼς ὅτι ὕλη σαρκὸς, τροφὴ λογισμῶν καθίσταται, ὥσπερ τὰς μεθοδείας τῷ κέντρῳ τῶν πόνων κατειληφὼς, ἐμὲ προχειρίζῃ στόμα σῶν ἔργων κατ' αὐτῶν γενέσθαι, καὶ εἰ μὴ τολμηρὸν ἀγάπης ἐπίταγμα διαῤῥῆξαι, παρητησάμην ἂν τὴν τοιαύτην τοῦ πλοὸς ποντοπορίαν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ πείθεσθαι δεῖ μᾶλλον τοῖς ὁμοψύχοις, οὐκ ἀντιτάσσεσθαι· ἔσο μοι σὺ τὰ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, ἵνα μοι δοθῇ λόγος ἐν ἀνοίξει τοῦ στόματός μου, κἀγώ σοι ἔσομαι τὰ τῆς ὑπακοῆς, ἵνα δοθῇ σοι τοῦ σπόρου τοὺς καρποὺς ἀμήσασθαι. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Βʹ. Πρώτη τῶν λαμπρῶν ἀγωνισμάτων ἐστὶ ξενιτεία, μάλιστα ὅταν πρὸς ταύτην, καὶ μόνος ἐκδημοίης, πατρίδα, γένος, ὕπαρξιν ἀθλητικῶς ἀποδυόμενος ἔμπροσθεν τῶν λαμπρῶν ἑστηκὼς ἀγώνων· ἂν οὕτως ἄρξῃ κατὰ Θεὸν εἰς ἀρχῆς ὁδὸν βαδίζων πίστει διαπύρῳ, καὶ Πνεύματι θεϊκῷ, καὶ τῷ τέλει τῆς ὑπομονῆς σώαν ταύτην ἀποσώζων, πτέρυξιν ἀρετῆς ἔσται περικεχρυσωμένη ψυχὴ τῶν οἰκείων τόπων ἀφισταμένη, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν πτῆναι τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐπειγομένη. Ἀλλὰ τῆσδε τὰ πτερὰ τῆς πολιτείας ὁ τῆς κακίας γεννητὴς μηχανᾶται περικόψαι, γῆς, ἀφ' ἧς ἐξελήλυθε τὸ γένος ἐσοπτρίζων, ἐν ταῖς κατ' ἀῤῥωστίαν μάλιστα ἐπισυμβαινούσαις εἰσβολαῖς· καὶ ἐν μὲν τῇ ἐνδημίᾳ τῆς θερμοτάτης ἐκδημίας ὑπαναχαιτίζει πρὸς ὀλίγον ἕως τὴν ψυχὴν περὶ τὰς θλίψεις καταμάθοι ναυτιῶσαν καὶ τότε τὴν τῶν λογισμῶν νύκτα ἐπιφερόμενος ὁ νυκτικόραξ ἐπισκοτεῖ τῇ ψυχῇ τῆς τῶν κρειττόνων ἀκτῖνος. Εἰ δὲ κατὰ μόνας παρατάττοιτο ἐν τῇ τῆς ἐρημίας παλαίστρᾳ, καὶ τύχῃ τὸ σῶμα ὑπὸ ἀῤῥωστίας τρωθῆναι τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον χαλεπὴν ἐπιδείκνυσι τῇ ψυχῇ τὴν ξενιτείαν. οὐκ ἐν τόπῳ, ἀλλ' ἐν τρόπῳ κατορθοῦσθαι τὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν ὑποβάλλων, καὶ ὅτι παράκλησιν ἔχων οἴκοι τὴν ἀπὸ γένους, ἐκεῖσε τὰ τῆς ἀποτάξεως ἆθλα ἀκόπως εἶχε διασώζειν· ἔνθα καὶ τῆς ἀσθενείας προσηνὴς ὑπηρεσία, καὶ οὐχ ὡς νῦν κακουχία, καὶ ἐπώδυνος λειποθυμία· ἐν τῷ καὶ μάλιστα ἐκ τῆς ἀδελφότητος σπανίσαι τὴν τῆς φιλοξενίας σπουδήν· διὸ καὶ μάλιστα, Ἄπιθι, φησὶ, χαρὰν τῷ σῷ γένει, καὶ δόξαν σαυτὸν ἀποκομίζων, οἷς καὶ τὸ πένθος ἀφόρητον καταλέλοιπας ἀσυμπαθῶς· οἱ πολλοὶ γὰρ, καὶ πατρίδα μὴ φυγόντες, ἐκ μέσου τοῦ γένους εἵλοντο τὴν ἀρετήν. Ἀλλ' ὁ τὴν πορφύραν τῶν θλίψεων ἐν τῇ παρατάξει τῆς ξενιτείας περιβεβλημένος, καὶ τῶν κόπων τὰς ἐλπίδας περιεστεμμένος πίστει, ὑπομονῇ 79.1097 τῆς εὐχαριστίας τῶνδε τῶν λογισμῶν τὰς νιφάδας ἐκ τῶν ἐκτὸς ἐκτινάσσει, καὶ ὅσῳπερ ὑποστρέφειν τὴν καρδίαν διορύττουσι, τοσοῦτον ἔτι μᾶλλον καταψάλλωμεν αὐτῶν· «Ἰδοὺ ἐμάκρυνα φυγαδεύων, καὶ ηὐλίσθην ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ·» καὶ γὰρ ὀνειδίζοντες θλίβουσι, καὶ τραπῆναι κολακεύουσιν, ἵνα τῆς προθέσεως 1 κενώσαντες, καὶ τῆς ἐν τῇ ὑπομονῇ εὐχαριστίας διακόψωσιν, καὶ οὕτω λοιπὸν τὰς πάγας μετὰ πολλῆς ἀδείας, καὶ ἐκ τῶν προσηκόντων εὐρύνωσι. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Γʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὁ ἀρχόμενος ἀρετῆς ἐφάπτεσθαι, ψηφιζέτω καὶ τὸν κατ' αὐτῆς ἐπιόντα πόλεμον, ἵνα μὴ ἀγύμναστος ὀφθεὶς ὡς ἀνέτοιμος κατασπασθῇ. Ἐπαινετὴ μὲν γὰρ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἡ ἀνδρεία καὶ εἰρήνης οὔσης, ὑπερεπαινετὴ δὲ ἡ ταύτης ἀνδραγαθία, καὶ πολέμου ἐπιστάντος· τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ ἀρετὴ, οὐ δι' ὧν ἐργάζεται μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ δι' ὧν πολεμεῖται δεινῶν, ἀπαθὴς ὁ διὰ πλείστων πολέμων τὸ
Silence and the Peace of the Triad§2
2Having conquered suffering, but being passion-driven, he calls virtue an invincible possession; for according to the arrangement of the strategy of virtuous labors, the vice of opposites is set in opposition. To be in virtue, the heart must not have war. For virtue is called a name of excellence in practice. Virtue does not seek the praises of men, for it is not delighted by honor, which is the mother of evils. The beginning of honor is people-pleasing, and its end is pride. For he who demands honor does not know that he exalts himself and brings himself to nothingness; the desire for honor is a fantasy, for he who loves it fantasizes about its inheritance.
Let honor to you be the labor of virtues, and let dishonor be the praise according to human will; do not seek glory from the flesh, he who destroys the sufferings of the flesh, but seek the better thing, and glory will be to you. He who wishes to be honored envies the one who succeeds. And by this, the one defeated by excessive honors accumulates hatred toward jealousy; he does not want anyone to be preferred over himself, but he snatches away the first things, lest he appear inferior; he does not bear the one who succeeds in honoring him away, but even in his own labors, he treats the low-aiming glory like a nurse, and insolence is a very sharp slaughter for the glory-seeker, and he does not entirely escape the wrath from this.
Chapter 4. Such a person serves a barbarian mistress and was sold to many masters; he will be lifted up by pride, and by envy, and by jealousy, and by the words previously spoken of the spirits; but he who, pouring out the spirit of honor, will humble the one speaking of demons, will utterly destroy the whole. He who, making himself a slave to all through humbling, will be conformed to the one who humbled himself, having received the form of a slave. If you measure yourself by the smallest measure, you will not measure yourself against a companion, and he who reveals the weakness of the soul through lamentations will not think much of those laboring over themselves.
Demons lead those with low minds toward ease and insolence, so that, not bearing their own nothingness, they flee from humility; but he who bravely bears dishonors through humbling is raised more to the height of philosophy through them. David, being insulted, did not retaliate, but even checked the vengeance of Abyssinia. And you, being insulted, do not respond with insolence, but let the one avenging you rightly restrain you; bear insolence, meaning your own progress, and with lips close the door of the mind; you will answer those who threaten.
Nor at all, so that by silence you may lull the smoking lips, who then threaten and insult when you put bridles on the jaws. For you, by being silent, will not be consumed by insult, but he is all the more bitten by your silence, if you long-sufferingly endure the insolence of the insolent; so as to gain the praise of men from the inner part of the secluded one, so that you may shake off the litigious thought before it. And being content also, especially in stillness, let no one magnify you beyond the insolent one, lest you dishonor him. Some of the brothers are insolent toward the pious, and having endured injustice, he departs divided between joy and grief: the one grief because, being wronged, he was insulted and was not provoked in return, and the other joy because the pious one was deceived and, having deceived, rejoiced. But consider for me also the deceiver, having suffered both: on the one hand, having been disturbed, he rejoiced at having disturbed, and on the other hand, having not been provoked in return, he was more grieved.
Chapter 5. When the demons see us in the same state, the insolence not having been exhausted, then, standing by in stillness, they stir up the ruling faculty, so that we, having made peace with those present, may depart by breaking it. Therefore, if you commit a dispute or an insult toward a brother, consider yourself having failed, so that you may not find a battle of thoughts in your heart while being still, one reproaching the manner of the insolent, and the other reproaching you as to how the terrible things happened and you did not respond to the insult. When a provocation embitters the brothers in the community, then the thoughts cast in the suggestion to bless only the one, so that, having emptied long-suffering and having separated love. But he who overturns anger with long-suffering, and grief with love, overturns two evil beasts with twofold manliness, fighting the passions; he who exhorts, and even falls on his knees, so that he may drive away the anger, drives away both the provoked one and the provocateur from himself, because he who makes peace with those who are angry wages war against the spirit of anger; but he who is of the same kind will be angered at him for being insolent, because he took the fight of his neighbor upon himself, the one bearing the impudence for the sake of peace, who is compelled to become a son of peace; but the bond of peace is to be sought not only toward men, but also in your body, and in your spirit, and in your soul.
Chapter 6. For when you unite the bond of this your triad to the...
Greek · §2
πάσχειν νικήσας, ἐμπαθὴς δὲ ὁ ἀρετὴν λέγων ἀπολέμητον κεκτῆσθαι· κατὰ τὴν παράταξιν γὰρ τῆς ἐναρέτου τῶν πόνων στρατηγίας, ἀντιπαρατάττεται καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐναντίων κακία· ἀφῄρηται τὸ εἶναι ἐν ἀρετῇ καρδία πόλεμον οὐκ ἔχουσα. Ἀρετὴ γὰρ ἐκ τῶν ἀριστείων πρακτικὸν ὄνομα κέκληται. Ἀρετὴ τὰς παρ' ἀνθρώπων εὐφημίας οὐ ζητεῖ, οὐ γὰρ τέρπεται τιμῇ, τῇ μητρὶ τῶν κακῶν. Ἀρχὴ γοῦν τιμῆς ἀνθρωπαρέσκεια, τὸ δὲ τέλος ταύτης, ὑπερηφανία. Ὁ γὰρ τιμὰς ἀπαιτῶν, ὑψοῖ ἑαυτὸν, καὶ ἐξουδένωσιν φέρειν ὁ τοιοῦτος οὐκ οἶδε· τιμῆς ὄρεξις φαντασία, ὁ γὰρ αὐτῆς ἐρῶν καὶ κλῆρον φαντάζεται. Ἔστω σοι τιμὴ ὁ πόνος τῶν ἀρετῶν, καὶ ἀτιμία ὁ κατὰ θέλησιν ἔπαινος, δόξαν ἀπὸ σαρκὸς μὴ ζήτει ὁ τὰ σαρκὸς πάθη καταλύων, τὸ δὲ κρεῖττον ἐπιζήτει, καὶ ἔσται σοι δόξα, ὁ τιμᾶσθαι θέλων τῷ παρευδοκιμοῦντι φθονεῖ. Καὶ τούτῳ τὸ μῖσος τῷ ζήλῳ σωρεύει ὁ ταῖς ἄγαν τιμαῖς ἡττηθεὶς, ἑαυτοῦ προτιμᾶσθαι οὐδένα θέλει, ἁρπάζει δὲ τὰ πρωτεῖα, μήπως ἥττων φανῇ, οὐ βαστάζει ἀπόντα τὸν εὐδοκιμοῦντα τιμᾷν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῦ πόνοις κομωδεῖ τὴν χαμαίζηλον δόξαν, ἡ ὕβρις τῷ φιλοδόξῳ ὀξυτάτη σφαγὴ, καὶ μῆνιν ἐκ ταύτης οὐ πάντως ἐκφεύγει. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ∆ʹ. Ὁ τοιοῦτος, βαρβάρῳ δεσποίνῃ δουλεύει καὶ πολλοῖς δεσπόταις μετεπράθη, ἐπάρσει, καὶ φθόνῳ, καὶ ζήλῳ καὶ ταῖς προῤῥηθείσαις τῶν πνευμάτων λογάσιν, ὁ δὲ τῆς τιμῆς τὸ πνεῦμα ταπεινώσει ῥάσσων, τὸν λεγεῶνα τῶν δαιμόνων ὅλον καθαιρήσει, ὁ τῇ ταπεινώσει δοῦλον ἑαυτὸν πᾶσι παρέχων, ἀφωμοιωμένος ἔσται τῷ ταπεινώσαντι ἑαυτὸν, καὶ μορφὴν 79.1100 δούλου λαβόντι. Ἐὰν μετρῇς τῷ ἐλαχίστῳ μέτρῳ σεαυτὸν, οὐκ ἀντιμετρήσῃς σεαυτὸν ἑταίρῳ, καὶ ὁ τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν ἀσθένειαν θρήνοις ἐκκαλύπτων, οὐ μέγα ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ πονουμένοις φρονήσει. ∆αίμονες εὐτέλειαν, καὶ ὕβριν τοῖς ταπεινοφρονοῦσιν ἐπάγουσιν, ἵνα τὴν ἐξουδένωσιν οὐ φέροντες, τὴν ταπεινοφροσύνην φύγωσιν, ὁ δὲ διὰ ταπεινώσεως τὰς ἀτιμίας γενναίως φέρων εἰς φιλοσοφίας ὕψος δι' ἐκείνων μᾶλλον ἀνωθεῖται. Ὁ ∆αβὶδ ὑβριζόμενος οὐκ ἀντέλεγεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν Ἀβεσσᾶ ἐκδικίαν κατέστελλε. Καὶ σὺ ὑβριζόμενος μὴ ἀνθύβριζε, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ἐκδικοῦντά σε ὀρθῶς καταπράϋνε· ὕβριν φέρε, τὴν σὴν προκοπὴν, καὶ χείλεσι σύγκλειε τοῦ θυμοῦ τὴν θύραν· ἀποκριθήσῃ τοῖς ἀπειλοῦσιν οὐδ' ὅλως, ἵνα τῇ σιγῇ κοιμίσῃς τὰ καπνίζοντα χείλη, ἀπειλοῦντας τότε καὶ ὑβριστὰς ὀδυνήσεις ὅταν χαλινοὺς σαῖς σιαγόσι ἐπιθήσῃς. Σὺ μὲν γὰρ σιγῶν, οὐ βρωθήσῃ τῇ ὕβρει, ὁ δὲ πολὺ μᾶλλον δάκνεται ὑπὸ τῆς σῆς σιωπῆς, ἐπὰν ὑβριστοῦ θάρσος μακροθύμως ὑπενέγκῃς· τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔπαινον ἐκ τῶν ἐντὸς ἀποσείου, ἵνα τὸν φιλενδείκτην λογισμὸν πρὸ αὐτοῦ ἐκτινάξῃς. Ἐπιτήρει δὲ καὶ τὸ αὐτάρεσκον μάλιστα καθ' ἡσυχίαν, μή ποτέ σε μεγαλύναν ὑπὲρ τὸν θρασυθέντα ἐξουδενώσῃς ἐκεῖνον. Τὶς τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὕβρισται παρὰ εὐλαβοῦς, καὶ ἀδικίαν ὑπομείνας ἀπῄει χαρᾷ τε μεριζόμενος, καὶ λύπῃ, τὸ μὲν ὅτι ἀδικούμενος ὑβρίσθη καὶ οὐκ ἀντεταράχθη, τὸ δὲ ὅτι ὁ εὐλαβὴς ἠπατήθη καὶ ἀπατήσας ἐχάρη. Νόει δέ μοι καὶ τὸν ἀπατεῶνα τὰ δύο πεπονθέναι ἐφ' ᾧ μὲν ἐτάραξε πάντως χαρέντα, ἐφ' ᾧ οὐκ ἀντεταράχθη, μᾶλλον λυπηθέντα. 2 ΚΕΦΑΛ. Εʹ. Ὅταν ἴδωσιν ἡμᾶς οἱ δαίμονες εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ ξέσμα τῶν ὕβρεων μὴ ἐξαφθέντας, τότε καθ' ἡσυχίαν ἐπιστάντες, ἀναμοχλεύουσι τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν, ἵνα οἷς παροῦσιν εἰρηνεύσαμεν, τούτοις ἀπιοῦσι διαθρασυνώμεθα. Ἐπὰν οὖν ἀντιλογίαν, ἢ ὕβριν πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἐκτελέσῃς, σεαυτὸν λογίζου σφαλέντα, ἵνα μὴ ἡσυχάζων μάχην λογισμῶν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου εὕρης, τοῦ μὲν ἐπονειδίζοντος τῶν ὕβρεων τὸν τρόπον, τοῦ δὲ ἀντονειδίζοντος ὡς τὰ δεινὰ καὶ σοῦ μὴ ἀνθυβρίσαντος. Ὁπόταν παροξυσμὸς ἐκπικράνῃ τοὺς ἐν κοινοβίῳ ἀδελφοὺς, τότε οἱ λογισμοὶ τὸν μόνον μακαρίζειν εἰσβάλλουσιν, ἵνα τῆς μακροθυμίας κενώσαντες, καὶ τῆς ἀγάπης ἀφορίσωσιν. Ὁ δὲ μακροθυμίᾳ τὴν ὀργὴν, καὶ ἀγάπῃ τὴν λύπην ἀνατρέπων, πονηροὺς δύο θῆρας διτταῖς ἀνδραγαθίαις ἀνατρέπει θυμομαχοῦντας· ὁ παρακαλῶν, καὶ γονυπετῶν, ἵνα τὴν ὀργὴν ἀπελάσῃ, τὸν παροξύναντα, τοὺς ἀμφοτέρους ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἀπελαύνει, ὅτι τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ὀργῆς ἐκπολεμεῖ ὁ τοὺς ὀργιζομένους εἰρηνεύων· μηνιάσει δὲ τούτῳ ὀργὴν ὁμογενῶν ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἐκθρασύνων, ὅτι τὴν τῶν πλησίον εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐδέξατο τὴν μάχην, ὁ 79.1101 τὸν θρασυκάρδιον βαστάζων ἕνεκεν εἰρήνης, οὗτος ἐκβιάζεται γενέσθαι τῆς εἰρήνης υἱός· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐπ' ἀνθρώπων μόνον ζητητέος ὁ τῆς εἰρήνης σύνδεσμος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ σώματί σου, καὶ ἐν τῷ πνεύματί σου, καὶ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ςʹ. Ὅταν γὰρ τῆς σῆς ταύτης τριάδος τὸν σύνδεσμον ἑνώσῃς τῇ
The Nature of Sorrow and Endurance§3
3In peace, then, as being united by the commandment of the Divine Trinity, you hear: 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God' (Matt 5:9). For if you bring the flesh, which is contrary to the desire of the spirit, into peace through labors, you shall gain glory among the beatitudes beyond this age, having conquered the war in your body that fights against the law of your mind and captures you by the law of sin in your members.
Great is the bond of peace, in which also the joy that enlightens the eye of the intellect for the contemplation of the higher powers is united; if, therefore, we might acquire the peaceful joy in the midst of labors, we would graciously repel the difficult things that come upon us through it, and we would not admit the demon of sorrow who, especially by mutilating in tribulations, falls upon the soul, and prepares a space of acedia so that it may darken the soul and at the same time stir up pains. Let the joy of peace, therefore, be a written law of our heart, subduing sorrow, driving out hatred, destroying anger, dissolving acedia, and compensating for grief. For it is a sea of virtues, being immersed in peaceful patience, in thanksgiving, and in endurance, subduing the opposition of the devil by the cross.
But consider for me a disturbed joy standing near, lest you be deceived into grasping one kind instead of another, being shadowed by it. For the demons also fashion themselves after spiritual gifts in order to wander the mind by overshadowing it and to turn it away from the faculties. For a spiritual joy stands near the heart when nothing is present, because it finds the leader of Godly sorrow suspended, but later, it delivers the soul to the Spirit of sorrow, because it has made this spiritual joy a captive.
say this, as the experience of those seeking has revealed to one of the brothers, that instead of rejoicing in the Lord (Phil 4:4), the deceiver opposes a domestic joy. And instead of Godly sorrow, he entices the mind toward the opposite, so that the soul may be darkened by anxieties concerning the shifting changes of the higher rays. Sorrows are twofold, being yoked to every work of evil, and...
One sorrow stands at the heart from an unseen cause, while another is born from being pushed by different causes; the sorrow according to God calls the soul back through tears, not accepting either joy or sorrow in opposition, and worrying about the approaching death and judgment; and I have experienced this somewhat while awaiting it.
Failed desires plant sorrows; but thanksgivings and gratitudes wither these; in the midst of anger, a middle sorrow trembles. Therefore, the first one having been overcome, if he rises from the passion and gives his hand to the other, he banishes the bitter sorrow through defense. Sorrow is a disease of the soul and happens to the flesh; it seizes the captive one and withers the one upon the place. From opposites sorrow is born, and from sorrow anger, and from these is born a small madness, reproach. If you wish to suffer sorrow and anger together, embrace the long-suffering of love and clothe yourself in the joy of acedia; let your own joy not be sorrow to another; he who rejoices in injustice will mourn in prosperity, and he who endures suffering unjustly will shine with exultation; for the things that are coming are contrary to the things present.
Chapter 8. In tribulations you will be most thankful, because through them you will more clearly perceive the grace of the taking hold. For thus, by cheerfully casting off the coming tribulations, you will not dim the most brilliant beauty of patience, even if a demon lashes you according to the flesh, so that you may be found worthy of a greatest reward, if you receive the wound under the hypothesis of thanksgiving. For thus he too will flee from you. And so that your reward may increase through endurance, let your endurance act as a general through the pursuit of courageous labors; for through every evil, and acedia counter-attacks you and spies upon all your labors, it weighs down and bends low him whom it does not find seized by endurance; but if the demon of acedia grows weak against the endurance of labors, the beast bites its own achievement again; if therefore you understand this, you will diminish it, and you will diminish the empty-glory spirit in him at the time of gathering. If the spirit of acedia falls upon you, as if it were a heavy weight, it makes the soul's psalmody heavy, it places sloth as an opponent to zeal, so that having tasted haste, it might relax the flesh by...
Greek · §3
εἰρήνῃ, τότε ὡς τῆς θείας Τριάδος ἐντολῇ ἑνωθεὶς ἀκούεις· «Μακάριοι οἱ εἰρηνοποιοὶ, ὅτι αὐτοὶ υἱοὶ Θεοῦ κληθήσονται.» Καὶ γὰρ ἂν τὴν ἀντεπίθυμον τοῦ πνεύματος σάρκα εἰρηνεύσης τοῖς πόνοις, κλέος ἕξεις τῶν μακαρισμῶν ἐπέκεινα αἰῶνος, νικήσας πόλεμον τὸν ἐν τῷ σώματί σου τὸν ἀντιστρατευόμενον τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ νοός σου, καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζοντά σε τῷ νόμῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τῷ ἐν τοῖς μέλεσί σου. Μέγας ὁ τῆς εἰρήνης σύνδεσμος ἐν ᾧπερ ἥνωται καὶ ἡ χαρὰ φωτίζουσα τὸ ὄμμα τῆς διανοίας εἰς τὴν τῶν κρειττόνων θεωρίαν, εἴπερ οὖν ἐπικτησώμεθα τὴν εἰρηνικὴν ἐν τοῖς πόνοις χαρὰν, τὰ ἐπιόντα χαλεπὰ εὐχαρίστως δι' αὐτῆς ἀποκρουσόμεθα, καὶ τὸν τῆς λύπης δαίμονα μυκώμενον οὐκ εἰσδεξόμεθα, ὅστις, ἀκρωτηριάζων ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσι μάλιστα, τῇ ψυχῇ ἐφάλλεται, καὶ τῷ πνεύματι τῆς ἀκηδίας χώραν ἑτοιμάζεται ὅπως τὴν ψυχὴν σκοτίσωσι, καὶ ἅμα τοὺς πόνους ἀναλέξωσιν. Ἔστω τοίνυν νόμος ἡμῶν τῆς καρδίας ἔγγραφος ἡ τῆς εἰρήνης χαρὰ, καὶ τὴν λύπην καταποντίζουσα καὶ τὸ μῖσος ἀπελαύνουσα, καὶ τὴν μῆνιν ἀφανίζουσα, καὶ τὴν ἀκηδίαν καταλύουσα, καὶ τὴν λύπην ἀμείβουσα. Ἐν γὰρ τῇ εἰρηνικῇ μακροθυμίᾳ ἐμφωλεύουσα, καὶ τῇ εὐχαριστίᾳ, καὶ τῇ ὑπομονῇ ἐλλιμνάζουσα, πέλαγός ἐστιν ἀρετῶν τὴν ἀντιπαράταξιν τοῦ διαβόλου τῷ σταυρῷ καταποντίζουσα. Νόει δέ μοι τὴν ἐναντίαν χαρὰν τεταραγμένην ἐφίστασθαι, μή πως ἄλλην ἀντ' ἄλλης σκιασθεὶς ἀπατηθῇς κατέχειν. Συσχηματίζονται γὰρ καὶ τοῖς πνευματικοῖς χαρίσμασιν οἱ δαίμονες ἵνα τῷ παρασκιάσματι τὸν νοῦν ἀποπλανήσαντες. τῶν φρενῶν ἀποστήσωσιν· ἐφίσταται γὰρ χαρὰ πνευματικὴ καρδίᾳ οὐδενὸς προκειμένου, ὅτι τὸν ἡγεμόνα τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν λύπης μετέωρον εὐρίσκει, ἔπειτα δὲ, καὶ τῷ Πνεύματι τῆς λύπης τὴν ψυχὴν παραδίδωσιν, ὅτι τῆς πνευματικῆς αὐτὴν χαρᾶς αἰχμάλωτον ἐποίησε. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Ζʹ. Φημὶ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο, ὡς ὑπηγόρευσέ τινι τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡ πεῖρα τῶν ζητουμένων, ὅτι ἀντὶ μὲν τοῦ χαίρειν ἐν Κυρίῳ, χαρὰν οἰκείαν ὁ ἀλάστωρ ἀντεισάγει. Ἀντὶ δὲ τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν λύπης, τὴν ἐναντίαν τῷ νῷ παραπειράζει, ἵνα ταῖς ἀντιστρόφοις μεταβολαῖς τῆς τῶν κρειττόνων ἀκτῖνος μερίμναις τὴν ψυχὴν 3 ἀμαυρώσῃ. ∆ιτταὶ τῆς κακίας αἱ λύπαι τυγχάνουσιν ἐν ἑκάστῃ ἐργασίᾳ ἐπιζευγμέναι, καὶ ἡ μὲν ἐφίσταται καρδίᾳ λυπηρᾶς αἰτίας οὐ βλεπομένης, ἡ δὲ τίκτεται ἐξ ἀλλοκότων αἰτιῶν ὠθουμένη, ἡ κατὰ Θεὸν 79.1104 λύπη τοῖς δάκρυσι τὴν ψυχὴν ἀνακαλεῖται, τὴν ἀπεναντίας χαράν τε καὶ λύπην μὴ παραδεχομένη, τὸν δὲ ἐπιόντα θάνατον μεριμνᾷ, καὶ κρίσιν· καὶ τοῦτο κατ' ὀλίγον κέχηνε προσδεχομένη. Ἐπιθυμίαι ἀποτυχοῦσαι φυτεύουσι λύπας· εὐχαὶ δὲ, καὶ εὐχαριστίαι μαραίνουσι ταύτας· μεταξὺ ὀργιζομένων μέση λύπη δονεῖται. Ὁ οὖν πρῶτος ἐκνήψας, ἐὰν τοῦ πάθους ἀναστῇ, καὶ τῷ ἑτέρῳ δώσῃ χεῖρα, ἀπολογίᾳ, τὴν πικρὰν λύπην ἀπελαύνει. Λύπη, ψυχῆς νόσος καὶ σαρκὸς τυγχάνει, καὶ τὴν μὲν αἰχμαλώτιδα αἵρει, τὴν δὲ ἐπὶ τόπῳ μαραίνει. Ἐξ ἐναντίων λύπη γεννᾶται, ἐκ δὲ λύπης μῆνις, τίκτεται δὲ ἐκ τούτων φρενῖτις, λοιδορία· λύπην καὶ μῆνιν εἰ θέλεις συμπατῆσαι, τὴν μακροθυμίαν τῆς ἀγάπης ἐναγκαλίζου, καὶ τὴν χαρὰν τῆς ἀκακίας περιβάλλου, ἡ σὴ χαρὰ ἑτέρῳ λύπη μὴ ἔστω· ἐπ' ἀδικίᾳ ὁ χαίρων ἐν εὐδοκίᾳ θρηνήσει, καὶ ὁ ὑποφέρων λύπας πάσχων ἀδίκως, λαμπρῶς ἀγαλλιάσεται· τὰ γὰρ μέλλοντα τοῖς παροῦσιν ἐναντία. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Ηʹ. Ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσιν εὐχάριστος ἔσο μάλιστα, ὅτι δι' αὐτῶν τῆς ἀντιλήψεως τὴν χάριν σαφέστερον αἰσθάνῃ. Οὕτω γὰρ τὰς ἐπιούσας θλίψεις εὐχαρίστως ἐκτινάσσων οὐκ ἀμαυρώσεις τῆς καρτερίας τὸ λαμπρότατον κάλλος, ἐπάν σοι μάστιγα κατὰ σαρκὸς δαίμων καταῤῥάξῃ, μεγίστου σοι μισθοῦ πρόξενος εὑρέθη, ἐὰν ὑπόθεσιν εὐχαριστίας τὴν πληγὴν καταδέξῃ. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸν ἐκ σοῦ φυγαδεύσεις, Ἵνα δὲ πλεῖον ὁ μισθός σου διὰ τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἐπομβρήσῃ, διόλων τῶν ἀνδρείων πόνων ἡ ὑπομονή σου στρατηγείτω, ὅτι διὰ πάσης κακίας, καὶ ἡ ἀκηδία ἀντιστρατηγεῖ σοι, καὶ κατασκοποῦσά σου τοὺς πόνους ἅπαντας πειράζει, ὃν δὲ μὴ εὕρῃ τῇ ὑπομονῇ ἐνηλωμένον, τοῦτον καταβαρύνει ὑφ' ἑαυτὴν, καὶ κατακάμπτει, ἐὰν δὲ δαίμων τῆς ἀκηδίας πρὸς τὴν ὑπομονὴν τῶν πόνων ἀτονήσῃ, ἀπονοίας πάλιν ὁ θὴρ τὸ κατόρθωμα δάκνει· εἰ οὖν συνέσει τῆς ἀσφαλείας τοῦτο ἐλάσεις, καὶ κενόδοξον πνεῦμα ἐν αὐτῷ ἐλάσεις ἐν καιρῷ συνάξεως. Ἐπάν σοι τὸ τῆς ἀκηδίας ἐπιπέσῃ πνεῦμα, ὡς φορτικὴν ἐπιψηφίζει τῇ ψυχῇ τὴν ψαλμῳδίαν, τὸν ὄκνον, ὡς ἀντίπαλον τῇ σπουδῇ παραβάλλει, ἵνα ψαύσας τῷ τάχει τὴν σάρκα ἀνακλίνῃ τῇ
The Meekness of the Combatant§4
4A memory, as if it had been exhausted for some reason. Therefore, since we have remained awake, let us not incline the night assembly toward acedia, so that the demons, standing by, do not gather the disturbances of the thoughts and simultaneously sow them in the heart; for when we destroy the singing of hymns, we then gather the assembly of thoughts. Having been awakened before the assembly, let us practice thoughts of light in the heart, so that, having been made tractable, we may stand at the psalmody with a watchful mind.
It is to be tested whether one recites the psalm in a rushing manner during sleep, or whether one is to be tested against being distracted in the psalmody; for according to the enemy's position, it is necessary that we also be transformed, because at times they propose to let the tongue run, the soul being held by acedia, and at times they provoke the words to be sung, just as the spiritual eye gains strength from the light. For he who stretches himself toward the vision of the high things will take a sharper eye, according to the pattern of Elisha (2 Kings 2:9).
When a thought comes to the heart as an enemy, do not seek other things in place of others through prayer, but whet the sword of tears against the enemy; for in this way, if we strike more fiercely in the battle, we will make him depart from us more readily. Be beautiful with the work of the hands, and especially the memory of prayer; for the one which is not always, and the one which is unceasing, has the means of the labor.
Do not hesitate to give the debt of prayer, hearing a thought through the pretext of works, and do not disturb in the work, tossing the body about, so that you do not also disturb the heart of prayer. Just as the man outside of us works with hands so as not to be burdened by anything, so let the one in the thoughts work, so as not to burden the mind. For the thoughts bring their own work to the soul when they catch it idle with the thoughts according to God.
Let the works of the hands be toward the philanthropic, and the mind of the rational toward the philosophical, so that the one may be a hospitality to strangers and a restraint of laziness, but the other, a general of contemplation and a curb of thoughts; let us strike the pleasures of the thoughts with boldness, turning all anger toward them, so that we do not, by receiving things from them through pleasure, become gentle toward them in return.
Chapter 10. Prepare yourself to be both meek and a combatant, the one toward your fellow-kind and the other toward the enemy; for in this is the use of passion, in opposing the serpent according to enmity; and in this is the reasonableness of meekness, in being long-suffering toward the brother according to love, and fighting against the thought. Let the meek man, therefore, be a combatant in the dividing of meekness from the deceitful thoughts, just as the battle is divided from those of the same nature; do not turn the use of passion toward the natural, so as to be angry toward the brother according to the likeness of the serpent, but to love the serpent according to the agreement of the thoughts. The meek man, even if he suffers terrible things, does not depart from love; for because of this he is long-suffering and endures, he serves and remains. For if to long-suffering belongs to love, to anger-fighting does not belong to love; for anger stirs up grief and wrath, but love diminishes these three things. If you have a firm foundation in love, attend more to this than to that which afflicts you; serve God in fear and in love, the one as Master and Judge, the other as Philanthropos, and He nourishes. He who has acquired the virtues of love takes captive the passions of the wicked, and he who possesses these three things—faith, hope, and love, from the Holy Trinity—will be a city fortified by a triple wall for the virtues. He will be revealed as loving not only in not receiving from another, but in giving ungrudgingly through renunciation, in giving as you struggle with the matter to cast pure seeds, so that instead of fire, chaff does not come forth to you. Remember God in those things in which you provide, both the giver and the receiver, so that He may reckon to you the wages of your renunciation along with praises.
Chapter 11. The unattached man has the pleasure of life without care, but the lover of possessions has the pain of anxiety for wealth throughout all things; then you will have driven the multitude of thoughts into captivity, when you do not give the heart to the cares of material things; then also you will carry the cross undistracted (Matt 16:24), when you deny the desire to acquire, but the thought of material things will predict old age to you, and diseases, so that your hope toward God may be divided by money. Let him who has preordained to practice renunciation be walled in by faith, and be strengthened by love, and be made firm by hope. For faith is...
Greek · §4
μνήμῃ, ὡς κοπωθεῖσαν δῆθεν ἔκ τινος αἰτίας. Ἐπὰν οὖν ἐγρηγορότες ὦμεν νυκτὸς μὴ τὴν σύναξιν τῇ ἀκηδίᾳ ἀνακλίνωμεν, ἵνα μὴ οἱ δαίμονες ἐπιστάντες τὰ ζιζάνια τῶν λογισμῶν συνάξωσι, καὶ ἅμα τῇ καρδίᾳ κατασπείρωσιν· ὅταν γὰρ τὴν σύνοδον τῶν ὕμνων ἀπολέσωμεν, τότε τὸν σύλλογον τῶν λογισμῶν ἐπισυνάγομεν· πρὸ συνάξεως διυπνισθέντες, λογισμοὺς φωτὸς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ προγυμνάζωμεν, ἵνα εὐτρεπισθέντες ἔχωμεν, γρηγορούσῃ διανοίᾳ, τῇ ψαλμωδίᾳ παρίστασθαι. 79.1105 ΚΕΦΑΛ. Θʹ. Πὴ μὲν ῥοίζῳ τὸν ψαλμὸν ἐν τῇ νήψει λεκτέον, πὴ δὲ ἀδολεσχεῖν ἐν τῇ ψαλμῳδίᾳ δοκιμαστέον· κατὰ γὰρ τὴν ἔνεδραν τοῦ ἐναντίου ἀνάγκη καὶ ἡμᾶς μεταμορφοῦσθαι, διότι ποτὲ μὲν ἐλαύνειν τὴν γλῶτταν ὑποτίθενται, τῆς ἀκηδίας τὴν ψυχὴν περιεχούσης, ποτὲ μελῳδεῖσθαι τὰς λέξεις ἐρεθίζουσι, τοῦ νοεροῦ ὄμματος καθάπερ ἰσχὺν τὴν τροφὴν ἐκ τοῦ φωτὸς λαμβάνοντος. Ὁ γὰρ τῇ ὀπτασίᾳ τῶν ὑψηλῶν ἐπεκτεινόμενος ὀξυδερκέστερον ὄμμα λήψεται, κατὰ τὸ ὑπόδειγμα Ἐλισσαιέ. Ὅταν λογισμός σου ἐπιστῇ καρδίᾳ πολέμιος, μὴ ἄλλα ἀντ' ἄλλων δι' εὐχῆς ἐπιζήτει, κατὰ δὲ τοῦ πολεμίου τὸ ξίφος τῶν δακρύων ἀκόνα· οὕτω γὰρ σφοδροτάτως ἂν τῇ μάχῃ προσρήξωμεν, θᾶττον αὐτὸν ἀφ' ἡμῶν ἀποστῆναι ποιήσομεν. Φιλοκάλει σὺν τῷ ἔργῳ τῶν χειρῶν, καὶ μάλα τῆς εὐχῆς τὴν μνήμην· τὸ μὲν γὰρ οὐ πάντοτε, τὸ δὲ ἀδιάλειπτον ἔχει τῆς ἐργασίας τὸν πόρον. Μὴ ἀναβάλλου δοῦναι τῆς εὐχῆς τὸ χρέος, λογισμοῦ ἀκούων διὰ πρόσβασιν ἔργων, καὶ μὴ θορυβοῦ 4 ἐν τῷ ἔργῳ ταράττων τὸ σῶμα, ἵνα μὴ συνταράξῃς καὶ εὐχῆς τὴν καρδίαν. Ὥσπερ ὁ ἐκτὸς ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος χερσὶν ἐργάζεται πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἐπιβαρῆσαί τινα, οὕτως ὁ ἐν ταῖς φρεσὶν ἐργαζέσθω, πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἐπιβαρηθῆναι τὸν νοῦν. Τότε γὰρ οἱ λογισμοὶ τὴν οἰκείαν ἐργασίαν τῇ ψυχῇ προσφέρουσιν, ὅταν αὐτὴν ταῖς κατὰ Θεὸν ἐννοίαις ἀργὴν καταλάβωσιν. Ἀροτρία, τὰ μὲν ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν εἰς τὸ φιλάνθρωπον, τὴν δὲ φρένα τοῦ λογιστικοῦ εἰς τὸ φιλόσοφον, ἵνα τὸ μὲν ᾖ ξένων ξενία, καὶ ὀκνηρίας ἐμπρησμὸς, τὸ δὲ, θεωρίας στρατηγὸς, καὶ λογισμῶν ἀποβρασμός· τῶν λογισμῶν ταῖς ἡδοναῖς μετὰ θάρσους ἐπιπλήξωμεν, ἅπασαν εἰς αὐτοὺς τὴν ὀργὴν περιτρέποντες, ἵνα μὴ, ἡδονῇ τὰ παρ' αὐτῶν δεχόμενοι, πρᾶοι πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀντιστρόφως γενώμεθα. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Ιʹ. Ἑτοίμαζε σεαυτὸν πρᾶον εἶναι, καὶ μαχητὴν, τὸ μὲν τῷ ὁμοφύλῳ, τὸ δὲ τῷ πολεμίῳ· ἐν τούτῳ γὰρ ἡ χρῆσις τοῦ θυμοῦ, ἐν τῷ κατὰ τὴν ἔχθραν ἀντιμάχεσθαι τῷ ὄφει· ἐν δὲ τούτῳ καὶ τοῦ πράου τὸ ἐπιεικὲς, ἐν τῷ κατὰ τὴν ἀγάπην μακροθυμεῖν τῷ ἀδελφῷ, καὶ πολεμεῖν τῷ λογισμῷ. Ὁ πρᾶος οὖν ἔστω μαχητὴς διαιρουμένης τῆς πραότητος ἐκ τῶν δολοφρόνων λογισμῶν, καθάπερ καὶ τῆς μάχης ἐκ τῶν τῆς φύσεως ὁμογενῶν· μὴ ἀντιστρέψῃς τοῦ θυμοῦ τὴν χρῆσιν εἰς τὴν παρὰ φύσιν, ὥστε θυμοῦσθαι μὲν τῷ ἀδελφῷ, κατὰ τὴν ὁμοίωσιν τοῦ ὄφεως, φιλιοῦσθαι δὲ τῷ ὄφει κατὰ τὴν συγκατάθεσιν τῶν λογισμῶν. Ὁ πραῢς, κἂν πάσχῃ τὰ δεινὰ, τῆς ἀγάπης οὐκ ἐξίσταται· εἵνεκεν γὰρ ταύτης μακροθυμεῖ καὶ στέγει, χρηστεύεται καὶ ὑπομένει. Εἰ γὰρ τῆς ἀγάπης τὸ μακροθυμεῖν, οὐ τῆς ἀγάπης τὸ θυμομαχεῖν· θυμὸς γὰρ λύπην διεγείρει, καὶ μῆνιν, ἀγάπη δὲ τὰ τρία μειοῖ. Εἰ παγίαν ἔχεις ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ τὴν βάσιν, μᾶλλον πρόσεχε ταύτῃ, ἤπερ τῷ πταίοντί σε· φόβῳ, καὶ ἀγάπῃ δούλευε τῷ Θεῷ τὸ μὲν ὡς ∆εσπότῃ καὶ κρι79.1108 τῇ, τὸ δὲ ὡς φιλανθρώπῳ, καὶ τροφεῖ· ὁ τῆς ἀγάπης ἀρετὰς κτησάμενος, τὰ πάθη τῶν φαύλων αἰχμαλωτίζει, καὶ ὁ παρὰ τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος ἔχων ταῦτα τὰ τρία, πίστιν, ἐλπίδα, ἀγάπην, τρίτειχος ἔσται πόλις ταῖς ἀρεταῖς πυργωθεῖσα. Οὐκ ἐν τῷ μὴ λαμβάνειν μόνον παρ' ἑτέρου ἀγαπητικὸς ἀναδειχθήσῃ, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ διδόναι ἀφειδῶς ἀποτακτικὸς ἐπιγνωσθήσῃ, ἐν τῷ διδόναι σε τὴν ὕλην ἀγωνίζου τὰ σπέρματα καθαρὰ βάλλειν, ἵνα μὴ ἀντὶ πυροῦ, ἐξέλθῃ σοι κνίδη. Θεοῦ ἐν οἷς παρέχεις μνημόνευε, καὶ δότου, καὶ λήπτορος, ὅπως σοι μετ' ἐγκωμίων λογίσηται τοὺς τῆς ἀποτάξεως μισθούς. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΑʹ. Ὁ ἀκτήμων ἀμέριμνον ἔχει τοῦ βίου τὴν ἡδονὴν, ὁ δὲ φιλοκτήμων μέριμναν ἔχει τὴν ὀδύνην τοῦ πλούτου διὰ παντός· τότε δῆμον λογισμῶν αἰχμάλωτον ἐλάσεις, ὅταν ταῖς φροντίσι τῶν ὑλῶν τὴν καρδίαν μὴ δῷς· τότε καὶ τὸν σταυρὸν ἀπερισπάστως βαστάσεις, ὅταν τοῦ κτᾶσθαι τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἀρνήσῃ, ἀλλ' ὁ τῆς ὕλης λογισμὸς γῆράς σοι μαντεύεται· καὶ νόσους, ἵνα σου τὴν εἰς Θεὸν ἐλπίδα τοῖς χρήμασι μερίσῃ. Ὁ τὴν ἀποταγὴν ἀσκεῖν προῃρημένος, πίστει τειχιζέσθω, καὶ ἀγάπῃ κραταιούσθω, καὶ ἐλπίδι βεβαιούσθω. Ἔστι γὰρ ἡ πίστις, οὐκ
On Stability and the Order of Senses§5
5Not an abandonment, but the substantiation of better things in the hope of endurance and the love of life. When you renounce all external matters, pay attention to the dark thoughts reproaching you for poverty, lack, insufficiency, and ignominy, bringing these to you so that the murderers might work deceitfully to undermine such bright virtue.
If, therefore, you attend to the discernment of the struggle, you will rather find that through those things by which they reproach you, the crown is being woven for you; for indeed, in renouncing, you renounce through them those very things of struggle by which they reproach you. Do not, therefore, give in to the struggle of the internal thoughts, for it is not at the beginning of the renunciation that the end is promised, but in the perfection of endurance the beginnings are crowned; nor are the contests composed in bodily gymnastics alone, but in the struggle of the thoughts, the crown is also sought.
Chapter 12. Judge the thoughts in the arena of the heart, so that the chief robber may be terrified when the robbers are being stripped away; for he who is a precise examiner of thoughts is also a lover of the truth of the commandments. Therefore, if a difficult thought comes to your heart, then kindle upon it more intense pains; for either it will flee, not being able to bear the heat as an opposite, or it will remain, being as one at home on the straight path.
And it happens when the demons, having presented a thought appearing good to the heart, and immediately transforming, oppose it, they do so so that from the opposition, you might think that they and the impulses of your heart are known; and not only that, but so that they might judge your conscience, as if the good had been defeated by the opposition of the evil; and it happens again when they flatter your own craftiness to you, so that you might seem wise to yourself. When thoughts turn me toward the place where they have cast us, they make us repent again so that they might make us unstable from every side, and un-
Therefore let us not throw ourselves from place to place, but rather let us bend ourselves toward stillness and labors, because from our idleness the thoughts derive their power. But he who knows the experience of the thought in which he was called, let him remain in that place before God; but he who does not know, still walks in struggle. Let the changing of places be toward spiritual things, and not toward things of rest; for endurance, and patience, and love, give thanks in tribulations; but acedia, and lightness, and self-love, rejoice in rests. The restless one, through the sensory perceptions regarding appearances, fights against the soul, but the lover of stillness, guarding the senses, fights the thoughts.
Chapter 13. Therefore, by the command of the law, let your leader gather the order of the senses together, so that you may not disturb your soul with the lashes of evils through sight and hearing; existing in two states, let him distribute the order, guarding each, so that one may excel and the other not fall behind, and let him not give the commands to the tyrant, because, once this is given to the fire, he will even surrender the last account. When you have turned the causes of the passions to counter-war, let no evil thought magnify you, lest, believing a spirit of error, you be struck out of your wits; but seek to reason about the excesses on which you labor, so that the ends of those things accomplished may not be stolen from within. Some, having been praised for accomplishments, grew indifferent to their labors over time, and the praise drove them away, and the labors were loosened. Some, being hardened by the weight of good things, were thought to be great, and the conscience of the soul was wounded, and the disease of praise was enlarged, while the thoughts of the wounds, wandering the soul, turned the labors away during the praises. How often the most wicked become rich through the honors of men; the demons, having prepared such things and infamies, bring them, so that, being from the honors, they may not bear the infamies.
Greek · §5
ἐγκατάλειψις, ἀλλὰ τῶν κρειττόνων ὑπόστασις ἐν ἐλπίδι τῆς ὑπομονῆς, καὶ τῇ ἀγάπῃ τῆς ζωῆς. Ὅταν ἀποτάξῃ ταῖς ἔξωθεν ὕλαις ἁπάσαις, πρόσεχε τοὺς ζοφεροὺς λογισμοὺς τὴν πενίαν ἐπονειδίζοντάς σοι, καὶ ἔνδειαν, καὶ εὐτέλειαν, καὶ ἀδοξίαν σοι προσφέροντας, ἵνα τῆς τοιαύτης λαμπρᾶς ἀρετῆς μετάγνωσιν οἱ φόνιοι δολοφρόνως ἐργάσωνται. Ἐὰν οὖν τῇ συνέσει τῆς ἀθλήσεως πρόσχῃς, μᾶλλον ἐκεῖνο εὑρήσεις, ὅτι δι' ὦν σε ὀνειδίζουσι, δι' αὐτῶν ὁ στέφανός σοι πλέκεται· καὶ γὰρ ἀποτασσόμενος, δι' ἐκείνους ἀποτάσσῃ δι' ὧν ἄθλων ὀνειδίζῃ. Μὴ οὖν τῇ πάλῃ τῶν ἐντὸς λογισμῶν ἐνδώσῃς, ὅτι οὐκ ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς ἀποταγῆς τὸ τέλος εὐφημεῖται, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ τέλει τῆς ὑπομονῆς αἱ ἀρχαὶ στεφανοῦνται, οὐδὲ ἐν τῇ σωματικῇ 5 γυμνασίᾳ μόνον οἱ ἀγῶνες συγκροτοῦνται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ τῶν λογισμῶν πάλῃ τὸ περὶ στεφάνου ζητεῖται. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΒʹ. ∆ίκαζε τοὺς λογισμοὺς ἐν τῷ βήματι τῆς καρδίας, ἵνα τῶν λῃστῶν ἀναιρουμένων, ὁ ἀρχιλῃστὴς φοβηθῇ· καὶ γὰρ ὁ ὢν ἀκριβὴς τῶν λογισμῶν ἐξεταστὴς, ἔστι καὶ ἀληθὴς τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐραστής. Ἐπὰν οὖν λογισμὸς ἐπιστῇ σου τῇ καρδίᾳ δυσεύρετος, τότε ἐπὶ πλεῖον συντόνους πόνους ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἐκπύρωσον· ἢ γὰρ τὴν θέρμην ὡς ἐναντίαν οὐ φέρων ἀποδρᾷ, ἢ ταύτην ὑπομένει ὡς οἰκεῖος ὢν τῆς εὐθείας ὁδοῦ. Ἔστι δ' ὅταν οἱ δαίμονες λογισμὸν δῆθεν καλὸν ὑποβάλλοντες τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ παρευθὺ μεταμορφούμενοι ἐναντιοῦσθαι τούτῳ προσποιοῦνται, ἵνα ἐκ τῆς ἐναντιώσεως, νομίσῃς αὐτοὺς καὶ τὰς ἐνθυμήσεις τῆς καρδίας σου εἰδέναι· οὐ μόνον δὲ, ἀλλ' ἴνα δικάζωνται 79.1109 τὴν συνείδησίν σου κρίνειν, ὡς τῇ ἐναντιώσει τοῦ κακοῦ ἡττηθέντος τῷ καλῷ· ἔστι δὲ πάλιν ὅτε τὴν οἰκείαν σκευωρίαν ὑπεμφαίνουσί σοι ἵνα παρὰ σεαυτῷ δόξῃς φρόνιμος εἶναι. Ὅταν λογισμοὶ μεταστήσωσί σε εἰς ὃν ὑπέβαλον ἐρᾷν ἡμᾶς τόπον, τότε μεταμελεῖσθαι πάλιν ποιοῦσιν ἵνα ἀστάτους ἡμᾶς ποιήσωσι πανταχόθεν, καὶ ἀκάρπους. ∆ιὸ μὴ πετάζωμεν ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ τόπων εἰς τόπους, ἀλλὰ καμπτώμεθα μᾶλλον εἰς ἡσυχίαν, καὶ κόπους, ὅτι ἐκ τῆς ἡμετέρας ῥᾳθυμίας λαμβάνουσιν καθ' ἡμῶν οἱ λογισμοὶ τὴν δύναμιν. Ὁ δὲ εἰδὼς λογισμοῦ πεῖραν ἐν ᾧ τόπῳ ἐκλήθη, ἐν τούτῳ μενέτω παρὰ Θεῷ, ὁ δὲ μὴ εἰδὼς, ἐν ἀγῶνι ἔτι βαδίζει. Ἡ τῶν τόπων μετάθεσις, ἤτω εἰς τὰ πνευματικώτερα, καὶ μὴ εἰς τὰ ἀναπαυστικώτερα· ὑπομονὴ γὰρ, καὶ μακροθυμία, καὶ ἀγάπη, ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσιν εὐχαριστεῖ· ἀκηδία δὲ, καὶ ἐλαφρία, καὶ φιλαυτία, ἐν ταῖς ἀναπαύσεσι χαίρει. Ἀνήσυχος διὰ τῶν περὶ τὰς ὄψεις αἰσθήσεων τὴν ψυχὴν πολεμεῖται, ὁ δὲ φιλήσυχος, τὰς αἰσθήσεις φυλάσσων, τοὺς λογισμοὺς πολεμεῖ. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΓʹ Τῷ οὖν διατάγματι τοῦ νόμου τῶν αἰσθήσεων τὴν τάξιν ὁ ἡγεμών σου συναγαγέτω, ἵνα μὴ βλέμματι, καὶ ἀκοῇ, μάστιγας κακῶν τῇ ψυχῇ σου ταράξῃς· ἐν δυσὶν οὐσίαις ὑπάρχων, ἑκάστῃ διανέμειν τὴν τάξιν φυλάττου, ἵνα ἡ μὲν ἀριστεύῃ, ἡ δὲ μὴ ἀντερῇ, καὶ τῷ τυράννῳ τὰ ἐπιτάγματα μὴ δίδου, ὅτι τῷ πυρὶ τούτου δοθέντος, καὶ τὸν ἔσχατον κοδράτην ἀποδώσεις. Ὅταν τὰ αἴτια τῶν παθῶ ἀντιπολεμῶν τροποῦσαι, μή σε λογισμὸς μεγαλυνέτω πονηρὸς, μή πως πνεύματι πλάνης πιστεύσας, καὶ τῶν φρενῶν ἐκπλαγῇς· ἐπιζήτει δὲ λογιστεύειν τὰς ἐφ' οἷς πονεῖς ὑπερβολὰς, ὅπως τὰ τέλη τῶν κατορθωμάτων διὰ τῶν ἔνδον μὴ κλαπῇς. Τινὲς ἐπὶ κατορθώμασιν εὐφημισθέντες, τῷ χρόνῳ τοὺς πόνους ἠκηδίασαν, καὶ ἡ μὲν εὐφημία διώδευσεν, οἱ δὲ πόνοι ἐλύθησαν. Τινὲς δι' ὄγκον καλῶν σκληρουχούμενοι, μεγάλοι ἐνομίσθησαν καὶ τῆς μὲν ψυχῆς τὸ συνειδὸς ἡλκοῦτο, τῆς δὲ εὐφημίας ἡ νόσος ἐνευρύνετο, οἱ δὲ λογισμοὶ τῶν τραυμάτων τὴν ψυχὴν ἀποπλανῶντες ἐν ταῖς εὐφημίαις τοὺς πόνους ἀπέφερον. Ὁπηνίκα ταῖς παρὰ ἀνθρώπων τιμαῖς οἱ πονικώτατοι πλουτήσουσι, τὸ τηνικαῦτα καὶ τὰς ἀτιμίας οἱ δαίμονες σκευάσαντες ἐπάγουσιν, ἵνα, ἀπὸ τῶν τιμῶν ὄντες, τὰς ἀτιμίας μὴ φέρωσι,
Gratitude and the Union of Practice and Knowledge§6
6and they may not endure the insults. When I give great repentance concerning sins, then the thoughts, enlarging the struggles of the labors, diminish the sins, and often they cover them in secrecy, or even signify that these are permitted to remain, so that one might be discouraged by the labors, not calculating that the laments cried out because of the stings should be more numerous.
Chapter 43. But he who, cutting off the passions that fall upon him, commands more soldiers, will lead a campaign in the battle. Do not forget having stumbled, even if you repent, but have remembrance of your sin, the grief toward your humility, so that, having been humbled, you may by necessity cut off pride. If anyone having done impious things would wish to live excellently, let him stand in alternation of better things against the contrary of his deeds; for indeed he who opposes the contrary deed with the virtue of each, shoots the dragon with the quiver of virtues, and vanity is the sharpest weapon against the beast, piercing the labors, which he, having anticipated through the secret strategies of works, has approached all the bringing of the head of the devil. Seal your fragrances of the labors with silence, so that being released by the tongue, glory may steal them away; hide your tongue in the manner of the practical aspect of asceticism; for indeed, by silencing, your faithful companions witness the labors of your life. He who, not having anything from the present labors to be witnessed, let him never witness to himself by tongue; for some, having exhausted themselves through the labors of hardness of heart, compare their deeds as a cover for the laziness of past times, providing uncertain witnesses not present through manifest works. Just as you hide your sins from men, so hide the labors from them; for indeed the counter-art of the secrets of the heart, folding up the hidden things, and the refreshments, stand against them; but if we hide the faults with safety, and the pains against them we uncertainly reveal, we are performing the opposites in both. But be ashamed of the publication of shameful things, lest they make a reproach and render the things of your soul useless. Fear also the display of the labors, lest he bring the destruction of the soul as a man-pleasing accusation; but if you manifest the shameful things to God alone...
Regarding faults, do not display the struggles against them as if they were human victories, so that they might not be thought to be crowns.
Chapter 14. Those receiving the power of labors from grace should not think they have this as an inherent strength; for the word of the commandments is the cause of all good things to us, just as the one who casts away is the cause of all evil. Therefore, whatever good thing you accomplish, offer thanksgiving to the cause of the good; but whatever evil flows through you, cast it toward the leader of these. To the end of every undertaking, we bring thanksgiving to the better, so that your offering, being legally presented, the evil might be put to shame. For he who has joined thanksgiving to his practice will have an unshakeable treasure of the heart, having doubled the wall against evil. This man is praiseworthy, who has joined the contemplative to the practical, so that the space of the soul might water itself toward virtue from both sources; for the contemplative gives wings to the spiritual essence through the contemplation of the superior ones, but the practical kills the members upon the earth: fornication, the passion of uncleanness, evil, and bad desire. Therefore, those being surrounded by the armor of both these things will easily overcome the remaining wickedness of the demons. The demons fight the soul through thoughts, but those fight back more fiercely through endurance, and, being cowardly, they approach the rest of the battle wearing the strong general of the struggle. If you wish to command against the phalanx of the demons, shut the gates of your soul with stillness, and touch also your ear with the words of the fatherhood, so that then, having learned the thorns of thoughts, you might strike them, upon hearing paternal instruction. Do not be a judge of works, but an examiner of words.
Chapter 15. For it is the habit of such thoughts to lead you toward the practical aspect of the one instructing you, so that, having made you a terrible critic of this, they might turn you away from beneficial instruction. Do not contradict the one instructing, even if you are a contemplative; for if the practical of the contemplative is severed, the need of the one joining the harmony of either of the virtues will be judged by a terrible judgment. He who spreads the paternal commandment from the ear, and will be obedient to the legal commandment, shall not only speak being delighted by the achievements of the Fathers, but also himself being a worker of these.
Greek · §6
καὶ τὰς ὕβρεις μὴ βαστάσωσιν. Ὅταν ἐφ' ἁμαρτίαις μεγάλην μετάνοιαν διδῷς, τότε οἱ λογισμοὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας τῶν πόνων μεγαλύνοντες ἁμαρτίας σμικρύνουσιν, καὶ πολλάκις τῇ λήθῃ καλύπτουσιν, ἢ καὶ συγκεχωρῆσθαι ταύτας σημαίνουσιν, ἵνα ὑπενδοὺς τοῖς πόνοις, μὴ ἀναλογίζῃ τῶν πταισμάτων τοὺς θρήνους τοὺς κατ' αὐτῶν ὠρύεσθαι πλειόνως. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Ι∆ʹ. Ὁ δὲ τὰ προσπεσόντα πάθη πυκτεύων ἐκκόψαι, 79.1112 πλείονας παθῶν ὁπλίτας ἐπιστρατηγήσει τῇ μάχῃ. Μὴ ἀμνημόνει πταίσας, κἂν μετανοήσῃς, 6 ἀλλὰ μνήμην ἔχε τῆς σῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸ πένθος πρὸς ταπείνωσίν σου, ὅπως, ταπεινωθεὶς, τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν ἀνάγκῃ ἐκκόψῃς. Εἴ τις τῶν ἄθεσμα δρασάντων βούλοιτο μεταβιῶσαι ἀρίστως, κατ' ἄντικρυς τῶν πράξεων στήτω ἐναλλαγῇ τῶν κρειττόνων· καὶ γὰρ ὁ τὴν ἄντικρυς πρᾶξιν τῇ ἑκάστῃ πονηρίᾳ ἀνθιστῶν, τῇ συνετῇ τῶν ἀρετῶν βελοθήκῃ τοξεύει τὸν δράκοντα, τοῦ δὲ θηρὸς ὀξύτατον ὅπλον ἐστὶν ἡ κενοδοξία, τοὺς πόνους κατατοξεύουσα, ἥνπερ ὁ ταῖς κρυπταῖς τῶν ἔργων στρατηγίαις προκαταλαβὼν, ἤγγισεν ἅπασαν τὴν τοῦ διαβόλου κατενέγκαι κεφαλήν. Τὰ ἀρώματά σου τῶν πόνων σφράγισον τῇ σιγῇ, ἵνα μὴ γλώττῃ λυθέντα ὑπὸ δόξης κλαπῶσι· κρύπτε σου τὴν γλῶτταν ἐν τῷ πρακτικῷ τῆς ἀσκήσεως τρόπῳ· καὶ γὰρ σιγῶν, μάρτυρας σχοίης τοῦ βίου τοὺς ἀξιοπίστους συμβιώτας σου πόνους. Ὁ μαρτυρεῖσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν παρόντων πόνων οὐκ ἔχων τίσι ποτὲ, ἑαυτῷ μὴ γλώττῃ μαρτυρείτω· τινὲς γὰρ τῶν πόνων τῆς σκληρουχίας ἑαυτοὺς ἐκδύσαντες ὡς προκάλυμμα τῆς ῥᾳθυμίας τῶν ἀπελθόντων χρόνω τὰς πράξεις παραβάλλουσι μάρτυρας ἐκδήλους ἔργοις οὐ παροῦσιν ἀβεβαίως παρέχοντες. Ὥσπερ ἐκ τῶν ἀνθρώπων κρύπτεις σου τὰς ἁμαρτίας, οὕτω καὶ τοὺς πόνους ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀπόκρυπτε· καὶ γὰρ τὸ ἀντίτεχνον τῶν κρυφίων τῆς καρδίας, σκελισμάτων τὰ κρυφῆ, καὶ τὰ ἀναπαλαίσματα, κατ' αὐτῶν ἀντιστηρίζουσι· εἰ δὲ τὰ μὲν πλημμελήματα μετὰ ἀσφαλείας ἀποκρύπτομεν, τὰ δὲ κατ' αὐτῶν πονήματα σφαλερῶς ἀνακαλύπτομεν, καὶ τοῖς ἀμφοτέροις τὰ ἐναντία ἀναπραττόμεθα. Ἀλλ' ἐπαισχύνῃ τῶν αἰσχρῶν τὴν δημοσίευσιν, μήπως ὄνειδος, καὶ ἐξουδένωσιν ποιήσῃ τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς σου σύμφορα. Φοβοῦ καὶ τῶν πόνων τὴν ἐπίδειξιν, μή πως ἔγκλημα ἀνθρωπάρεσκον κομίσῃ τὸν τῆς ψυχῆς ὄλεθρον· εἰ δὲ καὶ μόνῳ Θεῷ ἐκφαίνεις τὰ τῆς αἰσχύνης παραπτώματα, μὴ ἀνθρώποις ἔκφαινε τὰ κατ' αὐτῶν ἀνταγωνίσματα ἵνα μὴ νομισθῶσι, νίκης εἶναι στεφανώματα. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΕʹ. Οἱ τὴν δύναμιν τῶν πόνων ἀπὸ τῆς χάριτος λαμβάνοντες μὴ ὡς ἐξ οἰκείας ἰσχύος ἔχειν ταύτην νομιζέτωσαν· αἴτιος γὰρ ἁπάντων τῶν καλῶν ἡμῖν ἐστιν ὁ τῶν ἐντολῶν λόγος, ὥσπερ καὶ τῶν κακῶν ὁ ἀποβολῶν ἀπατηλός. Ἅπερ οὖν διαπράττῃ καλὰ, τὴν εὐχαριστίαν τῷ αἰτίῳ τῶν καλῶν πρόσφερε· ἃ δὲ διοχλεῖ σοι κακὰ, τῷ ἀρχηγέτῃ τούτων πρόσριπτε. Πάσης πραγματείας τὸ τέλος πρόσνεμε εὐχαριστίαν τῷ κρείττονι, ἵνα τῆς προσφορᾶς σου νομικῶς προσενεχθείσης ἡ κακία καταισχύνηται. Ὁ γὰρ τῇ πράξει τὴν εὐχαριστίαν συνάψας, ἀπόρθητον ἕξει τὸν θησαυρὸν τῆς καρδίας, διπλοῦν κατὰ τῆς κακίας πυργώσας τὸ τεῖχος. Ἐπαινετὸς οὗτος ἀνὴρ, ὁ τῇ πρακτικῇ τὴν γνωστικὴν συζεύξας, ἵνα ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων πηγῶν τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς χωρίον ἀρδεύοιτο πρὸς ἀρετήν· ἡ γὰρ γνωστικὴ πτεροῖ τὴν νοερὰν οὐσίαν 79.1113 τῇ τῶν κρειττόνων θεωρίᾳ, ἡ δὲ πρακτικὴ νεκροῖ τὰ μέλη τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, πορνείαν, ἀκαθαρσίαν πάθος, κακίαν, ἐπιθυμίαν κακήν· οἱ οὖν διὰ τῶν ἀμφοτέρων τούτων τῇ πανοπλίᾳ περιπεφραγμένοι, εὐκόλως κατεπιβήσονται λοιπὸν τῆς τῶν δαιμόνων πονηρίας. Οἱ δαίμονες διὰ τῶν λογισμῶν τῇ ψυχῇ πολεμοῦσι, κακεῖνοι χαλεπωτέρως διὰ τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἀντιπολεμοῦνται, καὶ δειλιῶντες προσίασι λοιπὸν τῇ μάχῃ κραταιὸν τὸν στρατηγὸν τῆς πυγμῆς ὑφορῶντες. Εἰ βούλει στρατηγῆσαι κατὰ τῆς φάλαγγος τῶν δαιμόνων, ἡσυχίᾳ φράττε τὰς τῆς ψυχῆς σου πύλας, θίγε δὲ καὶ τὸ οὖς σου τοῖς τῆς πατροσύνης λόγοις, ἵνα τότε μᾶλλον λογισμῶν ἀκάνθας μαθὼν ἐμπρήσῃς, ἐπὰν πατρικῆς νουθεσίας ἀκροᾶσαι. Μὴ τῶν ἔργων ἕσο δικαστὴς, ἀλλὰ τῶν ῥήσεων ἐξεταστής. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Ιςʹ. Ἔθος γὰρ τοῖς τοιούτοις λογισμοῖς εἰς τὸ πρακτικὸν τοῦ νουθετοῦντός σε ἀπάγειν, ἵνα δεινόν σε τούτου καταστήσαντες κριτὴν, τῆς 7 ἐπωφελοῦς νουθεσίας ἀποστήσωσι. Μὴ ἀπαναίνου νουθετούμενος, κἂν γνωστικὸς ὑπάρχῃς· ἐὰν γὰρ τὸ πρακτικὸν τῆς γνωστικῆς ἀποζευχθῇ, χρεία τοῦ ζευγνύντος τὴν ὁποτέρων τῶν ἀρετῶν ἁρμονίαν τῇ φρικτῇ τῆς κρίσεως δίκῃ. Ὁ τὴν πατρῴαν ἐντολὴν ἐκ τοῦ ὠτὸς ἐκτινάσσων, καὶ νομικῆς ἐντολῆς παρήκοος ἔσται, μὴ μόνον κατορθώματα Πατέρων τερπόμενος λάλει, ἀλλὰ καὶ σεαυτὸν ἐργάτην τούτων
Envy and the Deception of Satan§7
7A most wicked demand. He who seeks the worse thing finds a thought opposing him, bringing a struggle he is likely to face; a craftsman is found in wrestling against error, but in all your spiritual labors, if one should be lacking, the one who has seized this labor enters in its place.ember to preserve the heart by the mindfulness of labors, lest the forgetfulness of the superior care, having seized this, deliver you to the captivity of the thoughts; for the forgetfulness of captivity leaps upon evil, so that, once the mind is stolen by it, this evil might enter in ready, the mind being stolen from God and being distanced from memory, and through external sensations sinning indifferently; for such a one, hearing and tongue, is unable to instruct, because the filter of labors has been removed from the outside. He who loves to hear the one who slanders the fearful, two work with two complicit spirits; for the evil-minded person of the accusation becomes a partner, and they speak to one another for the sorrow of the heart.
Chapter 17. Seal up your ears from slanders, so that you may not sin double with them, oneself subjecting oneself to a terrible passion, and not ceasing to sting them with the tongue. The one who loves mockery plunders the soul of the superior ones, breaking through with a sharp hearing to the devils; but he who flees from the insulting tongue of the neighbor and avoids his own insults, providing pleasant ears to the mocker, ignores the venom of the beast to the ears. Let him not taste this bitter retaliation of that which is yours, lest perhaps you also mix such a thing with another; do not be deceived by slanders regarding that which is yours, so that, having suffered a passion, you may not serve through many sufferings; for finding one place of passion among the many in you, it contributes other things to the same pile; then the leader is enslaved by a multitude of evils, when, being joined to passion, he unzips the labors. He who, testing the thoughts of others, searches for them, does not search for his own actions in practice; do not mock the one passing away as if he lived carelessly, so that you may not become a bitter judge of the dead as if out of habit of the living. Do not allow those who stumble to exalt you with a vainglorious thought as a judge, but attend to yourself with a sober thought, and be a tester of your own actions. Groan, stumbling one, and do not blow while standing upright, being unmindful; do not magnify yourself, so that you may not clothe yourself in evil as if it were an ornament. For some, unable to be known out of reverence, hurried, even if...
So that evil may be known in this way: others, having increased in envy, use accusations as grazing animals, and they belittle those standing firm in virtues. Some, gossiping about trivialities around you, shroud a noble life, not so that they might mourn trivial faults with toil, but so that they might shadow the reputations of the vainglorious.
But do not be beautified by the one deceiving you, nor be delighted by being deceived; for if he touches upon the serious merely for a name, he works not for God, but for men. Do not speak with boldness to the one living only for appearance, even if he sends a great name for this. He is a friend for the sake of a face, and time becomes his accuser.
Chapter 18. Beware of acquiring a friend to spy, so that you may find a cover for your own faults, and hide the envy existing in you rather than the envier. When your own friend, being diminished by your praises regarding your labors, turns toward envy, as if to hurl words of vainglory against your labors to those around you, so that he might shadow the glory running about you with his own limbs, then do not be moved by his malice, so that you may not siphon a bitter venom into your soul. For this is the work of Satan, to set him on fire with envy and to consume you with bitterness.
Rather let us humble ourselves, and let us lead such people in honor by enduring them, and by the table the thought made savage by zeal. Do not reproach the friend with zeal as if from another person, so that, by reproaching him as if from a different mouth, you might make yourself appear innocent and exalt yourself as blameless. For this is a transformation of Satan, of one seemingly reproaching the Most High from a face, so that, by reproaching his own envy toward God as if from another mouth, he himself is considered faultless.
Do not desire to have the brother as a slave, seeking to catch the fault of this one, so that you may not be found a fellow-worker with Satan. He who has faulted, and says others are faulting, or says 'let him not fault if he is faulting,' does so so that he may not be the only one fallen into evil, which is, first of all, from the fall of the devil, this also a work. But let him be one repenting of the strange works he has done; recognizing the lamentation of sorrow over them, he shall also embrace the primary stillness of labors, which appears to him as the manifold contemplation of virtues. Let him who is still in tongue be manly according to the thoughts; for the courage of the soul is not...
Greek · §7
πονικώτατον ἀπαίτει. Ὁ πονικώτερον ἐπιζητῶν οἷός τε οἵῳ πόνῳ λογισμὸς ἀντίκειται, τεχνίτης ἐν πάλῃ κατὰ τῆς πλάνης εὑρίσκεται, ἐν ὅλοις δὲ τοῖς νοεροῖς σου πόνοις, οἷς ἐὰν ἐλλείψῃ, ὁ τοῦτον συλήσας ἀντ' αὐτοῦ παρεισδύει. Μνημόνευε τῇ συνέσει τῶν πόνων συντηρεῖν τὴν καρδίαν, μήπως ἡ λήθη τῆς τῶν κρειττόνων μερίμνης ταύτην συλήσασα τῇ τῶν λογισμῶν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ παραδῷ· ἡ γὰρ λήθη τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας προσπηδᾷ τῇ κακίᾳ, ἵνα ὑπ' ἐκείνης τοῦ νοῦ κλαπέντος, ἑτοίμως αὕτη παρεισέλθοι, νοῦς κλεπτόμενος ἀπὸ Θεοῦ, καὶ μνήμης μακρυνόμενος, καὶ διὰ τῶν ἐκτὸς αἰσθήσεων ἀδιαφόρως ἁμαρτάνει· ἀκοὴν γὰρ καὶ γλῶτταν ὁ τοιοῦτος ἀδυνατεῖ παιδαγωγῆσαι, ὅτι τὸ φίλτρον τῶν πόνων ἐκ τῶν ἐκτὸς ἐξαφῆκεν. Ὁ φιλῶν ἐξακούειν τοῦ ψέγοντος τὸν δεῖνα, δυσὶ συνεργοῖς πνεύμασι συνεργοῦσιν οἱ δύο· ἡ γὰρ κακηκοΐα τῆς κατηγορίας συνεργὸς τυγχάνει, καὶ ἐρῶσιν ἀλλήλων εἰς λύμην καρδίας. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΖʹ. Ἐκ τῶν καταλαλιῶν τὰ ὦτά σου φράξον, ἵνα μὴ διττῶς σὺν αὐτοῖς ἀνομήσῃς, σαυτὸν μὲν δεινῷ πάθει ἐθίζων, γλωσσαλγεῖν δὲ ἐκείνους οὐκ ἀνακόπτων. Ψυχὴν τῶν κρειττόνων ὁ φιλοσκώπτης λῃστεύει, σαθρὰν ἀκοὴν διαβολαῖς διορύττων· ὁ δὲ διαδρῶν τὴν τοῦ πέλας λοίδορον γλῶσσαν, καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν λοιδορίαν φυγαδεύει· ἡδεῖς ἀκοὰς ὁ τῷ λοιδόρῳ παρέχων, ἰὸν θηρὸς τοῖς ὠσὶν ἀμέλγει. Μὴ γευέσθω τὸ οὗς σου τῆς 79.1116 πικρᾶς ταύτης ἀντιδότου, μή πως τοιαύτην καὶ σὺ συγκεράσῃς ἑτέρῳ, μὴ γοητεύου καταλαλιαῖς τὸ οὗς σου, ἵνα μὴ πάθει πραθεὶς, πολυπαθείᾳ δουλεύσῃς· ἓν γὰρ τῶν πολλῶν πάθος τόπον ἐν σοὶ εὑρὼν, εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν σηκὸν καὶ ἄλλα συνεισφέρει· τότε πλήθει κακῶν ὁ ἡγεμὼν δουλοῦται, ὅταν πάθει ζευχθεὶς τοὺς πόνους ἀποζεύξῃ. Ὁ τὰς ἑτέρων σκέψεις πειρώμενος ἐρευνᾷν, τὰς ἑαυτοῦ πράξεις ἕργῳ οὐκ ἐρευνᾷ, μὴ ὡς ἀμελῶς ζήσαντα, τὸν ἀποβιώσαντα σκῶπτε, ἵνα μὴ ὡς ἐκ συνηθείας τῶν ζώντων, καὶ τοῦ νεκροῦ γένῃ πικρὸς δικαστής· μὴ τοῖς πταίουσιν ἔπεχε λογισμῷ ἀλαζόνι ἐπαίροντί σε ὡς δικαστὴν, ἀλλὰ σαυτῷ πρόσεχε λογισμῷ νήφοντι, καὶ τῶν σῶν πράξεων δοκιμαστῇ. Στένε πταίων, καὶ μὴ φυσῶ κατορθῶν ἀκαταφρόνητος εἶναι μὴ μεγαλαύχει, ὅπως μὴ ὡς κόσμον τὸ κακὸν ἐνδύσῃ. Τινὲς γὰρ ἀπὸ εὐλαβείας μὴ δυνάμενοι γνωσθῆναι, ἔσπευσαν, κἂν ἀπὸ κακίας οὕτω γνωσθῆναι· ἕτεροι δὲ αὐξηθέντες τῷ φθόνῳ, προφάσεις ἀκροβολοῦσι, τοὺς εὐσταθοῦντας ταῖς ἀρεταῖς ἐξουθενοῦσι. Τοῖς πέριξ τινὲς εἰς φαῦλα θρυλλούμενοι, βίον σεμνὸν ἀμφιέννυνται, οὐχ ἵνα τὰ φαῦλα πταίσματα τοῖς πόνοις θρηνήσωσιν, ἀλλ' ἵνα τῶν ψόγων τὰς φήμας σκιάσωσιν. Ἀλλὰ μὴ τῷ ἀπατῶντί σε καλλωπίζου, μηδὲ τῷ ἀπατᾶσθαι ἐναγάλλου· ἐὰν γὰρ δι' ὄνομα ψιλὸν τῶν σπουδαίων ἐφάπτῃ, οὐ Θεῷ, ἀλλὰ ἀνθρώποις ἐργάζῃ, μὴ παῤῥησίαν ἄγε τῷ ἀπόνως βιοῦντι, κἂν ὄνομα τούτῳ μέγα πομπεύῃ· ἔστι φίλος πρὸς προσώπου χάριν, καὶ χρόνος κατήγορος τούτου γίνεται. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΗʹ. ∆εδοικότα φίλον σκώπτην κτῆσαι, ἵνα σκέπην εὕρῃς τῶν σῶν πταισμάτων, τὸ δὲ φθονούμενον ἐν σοὶ κρύπτε μᾶλλον τοῦ φθονοῦντος. Ὅταν ὁ σὸς φίλος ταῖς σαῖς τῶν πόνων εὐφημίαις ἐλαττούμενος εἰς φθόνον ἐκτραπῇ, ὡς καὶ τοῖς πέριξ ῥήματα κενοδοξίας ἀκοντίζειν σου τοῖς πόνοις, ὅπως τὴν διατρέχουσαν περὶ σοῦ δόξαν συσκιάσῃ τοῖς σοῖς σκώμμασι, τότε μὴ τῇ ἐκείνου βασκανίᾳ 8 προσέχων δηχθῇς, ἵνα μὴ ἰὸν πικρὸν τῇ ψυχῇ σου σιφωνίσῃς. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἔργον τοῦ Σατανᾶ, ἵνα ἐκεῖνον μὲν τῷ φθόνῳ ἐκπυρώσῃ, σὲ δὲ πικρίᾳ ἀναλώσῃ. Ταπεινώμεθα δὲ μᾶλλον, καὶ τῇ τιμῇ τοὺς τοιούτους προηγώμεθα ἐξημεροῦντες αὐτῶν, καὶ διὰ τραπέζης τὸ ἀγριωθὲν τῷ ζήλῳ φρόνημα. Μὴ ὡς ἐξ ἑτέρου προσώπου ψέγε ζήλῳ τὸν φίλον, ἵνα ὡς ἐξ ἄλλου δῆθεν στόματος ψέγων ἐκεῖνον, σαυτὸν ὡς ἀθῶον ποιήσῃς, καὶ ὡς ἄψογον ὑψώσῃς. Τοῦτο γὰρ μετασχημάτισμα τοῦ Σατανᾶ, τοῦ ἐκ προσώπου ὄφεως τὸν Ὕψιστον ψέγοντος, ἵνα ὡς ἐξ ἑτέρου δῆθεν στόματος τὸν ἑαυτοῦ φθόνον τῷ Θεῷ προσάψας, αὐτὸς ὡς ἄφθονος νομίζηται. Μὴ ὡς ὑπόδουλον θέλων ἔχειν τὸν ἀδελφὸν, πειρῶ τούτου πταῖσμα καταλαβεῖν, ἵνα μὴ συνεργὸς εὑρεθῇς τοῦ Σατανᾶ. Ὁ πταίσας, καὶ ἑτέρους λέγειν, ἢ πταίειν μὴ ἐπιτηρείτω, ἵνα ὡς μὴ μόνος ᾖ συμπεσὼν 79.1117 τῷ κακῷ, ὅπερ τῆς ἐκπτώσεως τοῦ διαβόλου πρῶτον καὶ τοῦτο ἔργον ἐστίν. Ἔστω δὲ μεταμελούμενος ἐφ' οἷς ἀτόποις ἔπραξεν ἔργοις· τὸν τῆς λύπης θρῆνον κατ' αὐτῶν ἐπιγινώσκων, ἐπισπάσεται δὲ καὶ τὴν πρωτοστάτην τῶν πόνων ἡσυχίαν, φαίνουσαν αὐτῷ τὴν πολυόμματον τῶν ἀρετῶν θεωρίαν. Ὁ ἡσυχάζων τῇ γλώττῃ, κατὰ τῶν λογισμῶν ἀνδριζέσθω· ἡ γὰρ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀνδρεία οὐκ
On Avoiding Human Praise and Cultivating Scripture§8
8courage
to suffer with, and to suffer in soul. Chapter 4. Let those who make the appearance of virtue shine in their training cast away this thought, to come to the praise of men, and let them set it aside before the encounter. When you abstain from wine, and oil, and superfluous things for a period of time, then the thoughts count the time for you with praise, suggesting that you are enduring pains for the sake of those training the body. It is fitting, then, that you should answer back to those who look on you with ill intent and have assessed your merits, with whatever stands against the reversal of their foolishness. Which of the brothers, being praised inwardly for his pains against demons, sang: 'Let them turn away immediately, being ashamed, those saying to me: Well done! Well done!' (Matt 25:21). Let not the thought bring a many-year cycle upon you in your life of solitude, so that they might not hang your pains upon the years, nor might you be depicted as boasting in the endurance of the desert; but let it be remembered as the endurance of a worthless slave.
Because of old age, someone was forcing a certain venerable desert-dweller, a long-enduring one, to take him. And he to him said: 'Stop, he says, the violence, for the evildoer has not yet been sent away.' And while this man was seeking from me the word of instruction, he said: 'First, seek the fear that comes from experience, and then you will find within the experienced word, the man teaching knowledge.' And the same, being questioned also about fear, answered thus: 'He having the care of the memory of death, is led also into the fear of judgment.' Become a companion to the fear of the Divine Scriptures at every moment; for by by the company of these Scriptures, you will guide the conversation of thoughts. The one treasuring the Divine Scriptures by meditation in the heart, easily casts out the thoughts from this. While listening to the Divine Scriptures in nocturnal readings during vigils, let us not kill the ears with sleep, nor betray the soul to the captivity of thoughts, but let us nourish the heart with the essence of the Scriptures, so that by the moistening of care we may divide the opposite neglect.
Chapter 10. Some, I say, through reputation, and not through care of the soul, are loved by the pious, so that they may acquire for themselves a world only; but he who is burning through love by the memory of heavenly things, casts out the approval of earthly things from the intention...
Greek · §8
ἐν τῇ ἡσυχίᾳ δείκνυται μόνον τοῦ στόματος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ τῶν λογισμῶν ἀνδραγαθίᾳ, καὶ τῇ τῶν ὕβρεων, καὶ ἀδικιῶν εὐσταθείᾳ· ἐντεῦθεν γὰρ αἱ δειναὶ μάστιγες τοῦ διαβόλου περιτινάσσονται ἐν ταῖς συντυχίαις. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΘʹ. Μὴ στόμα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ καρδία τηρείσθω, τοτὲ γὰρ ἀμαυροῦται τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ ὄμμα τῷ τῆς ἀρεσκείας ὄμματι, τοῦ νοῦ παυσομένου. Ἔστω σου πηρὸς ὁ νοῦς περὶ τὰ αἴσχιστα, Κύριος γὰρ σοφοῖ τοὺς τοιούτους τυφλοὺς, διορατικὸς δὲ περὶ τὰ κάλλιστα, ἵνα ἐκτυφλώττῃ περὶ τὰ κάκιστα. Νόει δέ μοι, πορνείας εἶναι δύο ἐν διαιρέσει ἐζυγωμένας, τὴν τοῦ σώματος, καὶ τὴν τοῦ πνεύματος· ὅταν λογισμὸς πορνείας τῷ πνεύματί σου μίγνυται, τότε ἐκτυπώματι πλάνης ἡ ψυχή σου συγγίνεται. Προσώπῳ θηλείας σχηματίζεται δαίμων, ἵνα φαρμάξῃ τὴν ψυχὴν μετ' αὐτοῦ συμμιγῆναι· μορφῆς γλύμμα φορεῖ ἄσαρκος δαίμων ἵνα λογισμῷ ἀκολάστῳ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκπορνεύσῃ. Μὴ οὖν συγκαλύπτου εἰδωλείῳ ἀνυπάρκτῳ, ἵνα μὴ καὶ τῇ σαρκὶ τὸ ὅμοιον δράσῃς, πνεύματι πορνείας ἐπλανήθησαν οἱ τοιοῦτοι οἱ τὰς ἔνδον μοιχείας τῶν πνευμάτων τῳ σταυρῷ μὴ σοβοῦντες. Αἴκιζε τοὺς λογισμοὺς ἀσιτίᾳ βρωμάτων, ἵνα μὴ πορνείᾳ, ἀλλὰ πείνῃ λαλῶσιν· εὐχῆς ἀγρυπνίᾳ στῆσον δάκρυον, ἵνα βοήθειαν λάβῃς του παρόντος πολέμου. Ἐν καιρῷ τοῦ τῆς πορνείας πολέμου τὰς κλήσεις τῶν ἑστιατόρων παραίτησαι, καὶ τὸν μὲν ξένον ἐπιστάντα ὑπηρετῶν ἀναπαύσεις, σεαυτὸν δὲ περικεκαλυμμένως, ἀσιτίᾳ περιφράξεις. ∆ιπλοῦς ἔστω σοι τῶν ἀμφοτέρων ἔργων ὁ μισθὸς ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ τὸ πρακτικὸν δι' ἀρετὴν ἀπονέμοντι· μὴ ἕνεκεν γαστρὸς συνέσθιε τῷ ἀδελφῷ, ἀλλ' ἕνεκεν Χριστοῦ συναυλίζου τῇ ἀγάπῃ. Κόρος σιτίων λογισμοὺς σιτίζει, καὶ μέθυσος ὕπνον φαντασίας ποτίζει. Τέθνηκε μετὰ τὸν φάραγγα τῆς τρυφῆς ἡδονὴ καὶ πνεῖ ἐν τῷ τάφῳ τὰ τῆς γαστρὸς λαγνεύματα. Οἱ πόνοι τῆς κληρουχίας τελευτῶσιν εἰς ἀνάπαυσιν, οἱ δὲ τρόποι τῆς τρυφῆς τελευτῶσιν εἰς κατάκαυσιν. Ὁ τῆς σαρκὸς τὸ ἄνθος τῇ ἀσκήσει μαραίνων καθ' ἡμέραν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ μελετᾷ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τελευτήν. Καρδίας λογιστεία τὸ σῶμα συμμετρείτω, ἵνα μὴ τούτου πληγέντος, καὶ αὕτη κοπιάσῃ· ἀρκείσθω σὰρξ τὰ φυσικὰ περικόπτειν· ἡ σωματική σου γυμνασία ἐν τοῖς ἤθεσιν οἰκονομείσθω, ἵνα μάθῃς καρδίᾳ πονεῖν, καὶ ψυχῇ συμπονεῖν. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Κʹ. Οἱ τοῦ προσώπου τὴν ὠχρείαν ἐν τῇ ἀσκήσει λάμποντες τὸν παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔπαινον καὶ πρὶν 79.1120 ἐλθεῖν ῥιπτέτωσαν, τοῦτον τοῦ λογισμοῦ, καὶ πρὸ τῆς συντυχίας ἔνδον ἐμβάλλοντος. Ὅταν χρονίσῃς ἀπεχόμενος οἴνου, καὶ 9 ἐλαίου, καὶ τῶν περιττῶν, τότε οἱ λογισμοὶ τοὺς χρόνους σοι μετ' ἐγκωμίων ψηφίζουσιν ὑπενδοῦναί σε τοῖς πόνοις διὰ τὸ σῶμα γυμνάζουσι. Εἰκότως οὖν τοῖς κακογνώμοσιν ἀντιφθέγξῃ διαψηφισταῖς, ὅσα πρὸς ἀνατροπὴν τῆς ἐκείνων σκαιωρίας ἀντίκεινται. Τίς τῶν ἀδελφῶν τοὺς πόνους κατὰ δαιμόνων, ὑπὸ τῶν ἔνδον ἐπαινούμενος ἔψαλλεν. «Ἀποστραφήτωσαν παραυτίκα αἰσχυνόμενοι οἱ λέγοντές μοι· Εὖγε! εὖγε!» Μὴ τὸν λογισμὸν ἀνάσχῃ πολυετῆ σοι κύκλον ἐν τῷ μονήρει βίῳ φερόντων, ἵνα μή σου τοὺς πόνους τοῖς χρόνοις κρεμάσωσι, μηδὲ ἐν τῇ ὑπομονῇ τῆς ἐρημίας καυχήσει ζωγρηθῇς· ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ ὑπομονῇ τῆς εὐτελίας τοῦ δοῦλος ἀχρεῖος εἶναι μνήσθητι. ∆ιὰ γῆρας βαθύ τινα τῶν καρτερικῶν μονηρεμίτην πρεσβύτην ἐκ τῆς ἐρημίας αἵρειν ἐβιάζετό τις. Ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτόν· Παῦσαι, φησὶ, βίας, οὔπω γὰρ τῆς ἐξορίας ὁ κακοῦργος ἀνακέκλημαι. Ζητοῦντος δέ μου τοῦτον τῆς διδασκαλίας λόγον μαθεῖν, ἔφη· Ζήτει, πρῶτον ἐμπόνως τὸν ἔμφυτον φόβον, καὶ τότε ἔνδον εὑρήσεις τὸν ἔμπειρον λόγον, τὸν διδάσκοντα ἄνθρωπον γνῶσιν. Ὁ δ' αὐτὸς ἐπερωθεὶς καὶ περὶ φόβου, οὕτως ἀπεκρίνατο· Ὁ μέριμναν ἔχων τοῦ θανάτου τὴν μνήμην, ὁδηγεῖται καὶ εἰς τὸν τῆς κρίσεως φόβον. Φόβῳ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν καθ' ἑκάστην συνόμιλος γίνου· τῇ γὰρ τούτων συνουσίᾳ λογισμῶν ἐξοίσεις ὁμιλίας. Ὁ μελέτῃ τὰς θείας Γραφὰς θησαυρίζων ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ, τοὺς λογισμοὺς ἐκ ταύτης ῥᾳδίως ἐκβάλλει. Ἀναγνώσει νυκτερινῇ ἐν ταῖς ἀγρυπνίαις τῶν θείων ἀκροώμενοι, μὴ τὰς ἀκοὰς τῷ ὕπνῳ νεκρώσωμεν, μηδὲ τῇ τῶν λογισμῶν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ τὴν ψυχὴν προδώσωμεν, ἀλλὰ τῷ κέντρῳ τῶν Γραφῶν τὴν καρδίαν κατανύξωμεν, ὅπως τῇ τῆς ἐπιμελείας κατανύξει τὴν ἀντίζυγον ἀμέλειαν διχοτμήσωμεν. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΚΑʹ. Τινὲς διὰ φήμην, καὶ οὐκ ἐπιμέλειαν ψυχῆς, τοῖς εὐλαβέσι φιλιοῦνται, ἵνα ἑαυτοῖς κόσμον περιποιήσωσιν ἀπόνως· ὁ δὲ διὰ μνήμην τῶν ἐπουρανίων, δι' ἀγάπην πυρούμενος, τὴν ἀρέσκειαν τῶν ἐπιγείων ἐκ τῆς ἐννοίας
The Deception of Repentance§9
9It is being purged. That which testifies to you is the conscience, not allowing the thought that mocks, nor the one that speaks sweetly of the slip, nor the one that contends and does not share, so that you might not suffer a passion and, having fought for virtue, be defeated; it is the proud one who does not share with the thought that opposes toward a contrary spirit.
It is not praise through a tongue speaking haltingly, but through lips whose glory moves steadily. While listening to a word, ask your mind, and then, having discerned the verdict, you will give it; do not miscalculate your mind through the thoughtlessness of words, so that your fallen tongue might not be sunk. Let not a wordy spirit lead you astray, for in it the deceitful lie takes root.
He who is bitten by the slanders of others, and does not cast these toward the devil, incites the demon of his own thoughts against himself, and provokes it even more to prepare arrows for himself, in that he causes the soul, being mocked through such things, to fall apart. If you walk abroad for the sake of service, do not seek to be hospitable by all, but rather deem yourself unworthy of glory, so that in this way you may flee the thought of slander, even if one speaks the truth.
I think, however, that he who slanders the greatest things still shows love, nor is he acting unjustly, nor will he be malicious, but will bless. For he who is malicious toward demons does not act maliciously toward men; but he who is malicious toward his brother makes peace with demons. The wrath of contention is a burning of the heart, but the souls of the unresentful are cooled spiritually; sparks of fire-embers are being hunted, so also are the malicious souls that pursue evil thoughts; just as the sting of a scorpion has a most sharp pain, so also a malicious soul has a most bitter venom.
Chapter 22. He is malicious toward spirits of fornication and vainglory, two bitter demons opposed to one another; for one flees from faces, while the other greets faces. And the demon of debauchery, having suddenly struck the combatant of asceticism with its filth, falls quickly, as the heat of the endurance of passing through pains...
Not enduring, but the one having been flattered by the slight flattery of pleasures, converses a little with the heart, so that having perceived the evils, it may discourse with them and be captured, and bring the hatred of sin to an end.
But the deceiver of vainglory, becoming public-spirited, stands stealthily against the soul of the willing-minded, devouring the glory they work through their labors.
If anyone therefore wishes to overcome these with God, let him discipline the flesh against fornication, and let him humble the soul against vainglory.
For in this way we will easily cast out vain glory and please God, and we will blow away the impure fantasies and make the heart pure of pleasures.
It is most difficult a habit of pleasures to bury the heart, and much toil is needed to cut off the custom of evils to the extreme.
Therefore do not allow the thought to converse with pleasures; for in a gathering of evils a fire is kindled, for as they heat you, they make you reason that it is a labor to restrain the fire of nature, and that the life of self-control is great; and they also bring to you memories of those things which they present to you by night as shameful, shaping for you the fiery idols of delusion; then, having more fiercely kindled the fever in the flesh, they will testify to you within by the law of sin that you are not strong enough to restrain the violence of nature, even if today you sin through necessity, but tomorrow you will repent because of the commandment.
For the law is philanthropic, and forgiving sin to those who repent (Rom 2:4). And they bring forward some of those who, having stumbled in self-control, repented again, so that from these they may make their advice plausible: that by calling back the soul through turning-repentance, they might make the temple of temperance a place of fornication.
In this way the double-tongued ones drag down the thought like serpents in the moving workshop of the heart.
Chapter 23. But you, O man of self-control, do not let repentance appear again.
Greek · §9
ἐκκαθαίρεται. Τὸ διαμαρτυροῦν σοι συνειδὸς μὴ παραπέμπου λογισμῷ καταφρονοῦντι, καὶ γλυκολογοῦντι τὸ πταῖσμα, τῷ φιλονεικοῦντι μὴ συνδιατείνου, ἵνα μὴ πάθει πάθος στρατεύσας τῆς ἀρετῆς ἡττηθῇς, τῷ ὑπερηφάνῳ μὴ συνεπαίρου λογισμῷ ἀντιφυσῶντι εἰς ἀντάνεμον πνεῦμα. Οὐκ αἶνος γλώσσῃ τροχαλῶς φθεγγομένῃ, ἀλλὰ χείλεσι δόξα εὐσταθῶς κινουμένοις· ἀκροώμενος λόγων, ἐρώτα τὸν νοῦν σου καὶ τότε διακρίνας τὸ ψήφισμα δώσεις· μὴ παραλογίζου τὸν νοῦν σου ἀβουλίᾳ ῥημάτων, ἵνα μὴ κρημνησθείη ἡ χανανιτίς σου γλῶσσα. Μή σε πνεῦμα πολυῤῥῆμον πλανήσῃ, ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ φωλεύει τὸ δόλιον ψεῦδος. Ὁ ταῖς παρ' ἑτέρων λοιδορίαις 79.1121 δακνόμενος, καὶ μὴ ταύτας τῷ διαβόλῳ προσρίπτων. τὸν τῶν λογισμῶν αὐτοῦ δῆμον ἑαυτῷ ἐπεγείρει, καὶ εἰς ἑαυτὸν βέλη σκευάζειν ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐρεθίζει, ἐν τῷ τὴν ψυχὴν διὰ τῶν τοιούτων τιτρωσκομένην συμπίπτειν. Ἕνεκεν διακονίας ἐπ' ἀλλοδαπῆς ἐὰν βαδίσῃς, μὴ φιλοξενεῖσθαι παρὰ πάντων εὐτρεπίζου, ἀνάξιον σεαυτὸν τῆς δόξης καταλέγων ἵνα οὕτω τὸν τῆς λοιδορίας λογισμὸν φυγαδεύσῃς, κἂν λέγῃ τἀληθῆ. Νομίζω, ὡς, οὐκ οὔσης ἀγάπης, λοιδορούμενος τὰ μέγιστα, ἢ ἀδικούμενος, οὐ μνησικακήσεις, ἀλλ' εὐλογήσεις. Ὁ γὰρ δαίμοσι μνησικακῶν, ἀνθρώποις οὐ μνησικακεῖ· εἰρηνεύει δὲ μετὰ δαιμόνων, ὁ τῷ ἀδελφῷ μνησικακῶν. Ἐμπρησμὸς καρδίας μῆνις ἀντιλογίας, ψυχαὶ δὲ ἀμνησικάκων δροσίζονται πνευματικῶς· ἄνθρακες πυρὸς σπινθῆρας ἐρεύγονται, οὕτω καὶ μνησίκακοι ψυχαὶ λογισμοὺς πονηρούς· ὥσπερ πληγὴ σκορπίου δριμύτατον ἔχει τὸν πόνον, οὕτω καὶ μνησίκακος ψυχὴ πικρότατον ἔχει τὸν ἰόν. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΚΒʹ. Πνεύμασι πορνείας μνησικάκει καὶ κενοδοξίας, δυσὶ πικροῖς δαίμοσιν ἐναντίοις ἀλλήλων· ὁ μὲν γὰρ πρόσωπα φεύγει, ὁ δὲ προσώποις χαίρει. Καὶ 10 ὁ μὲν τῆς ἀσελγείας δαίμων τῷ τῆς ἀσκήσεως ἀγωνιστῇ τὰς ῥυπαρίας ἄφνω ἀκοντίσας ἐφάλλεται ὀξέως, τῆς διαπύρου τῶν πόνων δᾳδουχίας τὴν θέρμην μὴ φέρων, τῷ δὲ τῆς ἐγκρατείας χαυνωθέντι κολακείᾳ ἡδονῶν τὸ κατ' ὀλίγον ἐπιβατεύει συνομιλεῖν τῇ καρδίᾳ, ἵνα ἐξαφθεῖσα ταῖς κακίαις διαλεχθῇ καὶ αἰχμαλωτισθῇ, καὶ τὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας μῖσος εἰς πέρας ἀγάγῃ. Ὁ δὲ τῆς κενοδοξίας πλάνος δημοχαρὴς τυγχάνων παρεσκιασμένως ἐφίσταται τῇ ψυχῇ τῶν ἐθελοπόνων τὴν δι' ὧν πόνων ἐργάζονται δόξαν ἐν αὐτοῖς θηρώμενος. Εἴ τις οὗν βούλοιτο σὺν Θεῷ τούτων περιγενέσθαι, λεπτυνέτω τὴν σάρκα κατὰ τῆς πορνείας, ταπεινούτω δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν κατὰ τῆς κενοδοξίας. Οὕτω γὰρ ῥᾳδίως τοῦ μὲν τὴν ματαίαν δόξαν ἐξώσομεν, καὶ Θεῷ εὐαρεστήσομεν, τοῦ δὲ τὰς ἀκαθάρτους φαντασίας φυσήσομεν, καὶ καθαρὰν ἡδονῶν τὴν καρδίαν ποιήσομεν. Χαλεπώτατόν ἐστι συνηθείᾳ ἡδονῶν συνθάπτεσθαι τὴν καρδίαν, καὶ πολλῶν χρεία κόπων τὴν νομὴν κακῶν εἰς ἄκρον ἐκκόψαι. Μὴ οὖν ταῖς ἡδοναῖς τὸν λογισμὸν συνομιλεῖν ἐθίσῃς· ἐν γὰρ συλλόγῳ κακῶν ἐκκαίεται πῦρ οὕτω γὰρ ἐκθερμαίνοντές σε, λογίζεσθαι ποιοῦσι κόπον εἶναι τὴν πυρὰν τῆς φύσεως κρατῆσαι, καὶ ὅτι πολὺς ὁ τῆς ἐγκρατείας βίος, ἀναφέρουσι δέ σοι καὶ μνήμας ὧν σε νύκτωρ φαντάζουσιν αἰσχρῶν, μορφάζοντές σοι πυρωτικὰ τῆς πλάνης εἴδωλα, εἶτα καὶ σφοδρότερον ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ ἐξάψαντες τὸν πυρετὸν τῷ νόμῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας γνωμοδοτοῦσί σοι ἔνδον, ὅτι οὐκ ἰσχύεις κατασχεῖν τὴν τῆς φύσεως βίαν, κἂν σήμερον ἁμαρτήσῃς δι' ἀνάγκην, ἀλλ' αὔριον μετανοήσεις διὰ τὴν ἐντολήν. Φιλάνθρωπος γὰρ ὁ νόμος, καὶ συγχωρῶν ἁμαρτίαν τοῖς μετανοοῦσι. Καὶ φέρουσί τινας τῶν μετ' 79.1124 ἐγκρατείας πταισάντων, καὶ πάλιν μετανοησάντων· ἵνα ἐκ τούτων πιθανοποιήσωσι τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἀπάτης τὴν συμβουλήν· ὅπως τῇ ἀντιστρόφῳ μετανοίᾳ ψυχὴν ἀνακαλέσαντες, τὸν ναὸν τῆς σωφροσύνης πορνεῖον ποιήσωσιν. Οὕτως ὑποσυρίζουσιν οἱ δίγλωττοι τὸν λογισμὸν ὄφεις ἐν τῶ κινουμένῳ τῆς καρδίας ἐργαστηρίῳ. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΚΓʹ. Σὺ δὲ, ὦ τῆς ἐγκρατείας ἄνθρωπε, μὴ προφάσει πάλιν μετανοίας
On Appearance, Practicality, and Brotherly Love§10
10By deceiving with vague hopes, many having fallen were immediately uprooted, while others were not able to stand because of the habituation of pleasures as if bound by law. For what do you know, man, if you will live in order that you might also repent, that you are writing down periods of life for yourself?
And while stumbling there, you grant a favor to your flesh; it is better to grant yourself the memory of death and so that you might paint for your heart the terrible judgment of the court, if perhaps you might be able to extinguish the fever of the flesh with prudence. For you will not extinguish the passions any other way than by tempering the pains of their reconstruction in your flesh. Nor indeed the psychic passions, before you cause the fruits of love to overflow in the heart. The bodily passions take their beginning from the natural things of the flesh, through which also self-control exists, but the psychic ones have their origin from the psychic things, through which also love exists. Love is a kinship with apatheia, and an elimination of passions, bringing forth patience, and cooling the burning mind, putting forward humility, and carrying away pride. Love has nothing of its own except God; for this is God.
He who, becoming a new convert to the bright assembly of monks, let him push away the thoughts approaching him from the praises of his kin, so that he might seek not the praise from men, but the beatitude from the commandments. And let him cleanse himself from the demons entering his cowardice; for you did not receive a spirit of cowardice again into fear. Let him not strike himself with a spirit of cowardice, nor let him tremble at the nocturnal beats of the demons, when they do not even have authority over pigs. Therefore, when coming out of the cell in the night watches, let him not be terrified, but let him enter back without retreating as if fleeing from the demons, but rather, bending his knees in that place, let him pray in cowardice; for they will not fall upon you even if they terrify you thus. But when he rises, let him refresh the heart, let him call upon God with psalmody, 'You shall not fear (he says) from the fear of the night, from the arrow that flies by day, from the thing going about in darkness, from the happening, and from the demonic north wind' (Psalm 91:5). For having done this once and many times, he will drive away the demon of cowardice from himself. For being unable to harm by work, they make the soul timid through phantasms, so that the weak men...
that they may think themselves strong and powerful.
Chapter 43. Do not adorn yourself with fine garments, so that you do not clothe yourself more visibly with the demon of vainglory; for virtues are not carried in the beauty of garments, but in the beauty of the soul the labors bring forth gold. Rather, one should clothe himself with the fear of God through the scourges of judgment, so that he may clothe himself with the unquenchable heat of the fire, and through the bad skill of the thoughts be more subtle, for the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). He who announces the error of the thoughts through experience will not be known by all, except those in experience, for experience has become the way of the knowledgeable in this respect; for the cause of both is practical training, which, by possessing it more intensely, we come to know ourselves, and to know the thoughts, and to know God. Let him who, through the departure from practical training and the indwelling of the knowledgeable in the thoughts, mocks the unskilled through his skill, watch lest he struts in knowledge for the sake of a display of glory; but if the thought of these great things plunders, let him take for help the Greek Jethro, who gave to Moses the great prophet the wise counsel from grace through judgment (Exodus 18). Let the power of your thoughts be in works, for the practical things of the words are more philosophical, just as they are also more laborious; when action is present, it is as if the words flash with lightning, but when works are not present, the words of the works do not flash with lightning. The fault of the city is a younger word, and lips shaking somewhat with laughter; but he who agitates and is agitated in vain will be outside of calm, and though there is no storm, he is tossed by a blizzard.
Chapter 45. Do not store up the untimely tongue, so that you do not remain under that which you do not wish. Flee from wagging the tongue at your neighbor, so that you too may escape the wagging of the devil; flee from reproaching your brother for his stumble, so that you do not fall away from sympathy as a stranger. He who does not have kindness and love for the brother, how could he be a member of the Christ-bearing love? If a brother interrupts your concise fast, do not receive the listlessness of the thoughts by assuming for you a crowd in your stillness, and a disturbance in your fast, and they do this so that, seeing your brother, you may not see him as God himself. Let us not claim that the continuous oversight of brothers is a disturbance, but rather that it is an alliance; according to the...
Greek · §10
δελεάζου ἐλπίσιν ἀδήλοις, πολλοὶ γὰρ πεσόντες εὐθὺς ἀνηρπάγησαν, ἕτεροι δὲ ἀναστῆναι οὐκ ἴσχυσαν τῇ τῶν ἡδονῶν συνηθείᾳ ὡς ὑπὸ νόμον δεθέντες. Τί γὰρ οἶδας, ἄνθρωπε, εἰ ζήσεις, ἵνα καὶ μετανοήσῃς, ὅτι χρόνους ζωῆς ἑαυτῷ ὑπογράφεις; Κἀνταῦθα πταίων, τῇ σαρκί σου χαρίζῃ, δέον μᾶλλον χαρίσασθαι σεαυτῷ θανάτου τὴν μνήμην καὶ ἵνα ζωγραφῇ σου τῇ καρδίᾳ τὴν φοβερὰν τῆς κρίσεως δίκην, εἴ πως δυνηθείης τὸ πυρεταῖνον τῆς σαρκὸς φρόνημα κατασβέσαι· οὐ γὰρ ἄλλως κατασβέσεις τὰ πάθη, πρὶν ἢ τῇ σαρκί σου συγκεράσῃς τοὺς τῆς ἀνασκευῆς αὐτῶν πόνους. Οὔτε μὴν ψυχικὰ, πρὶν ἢ τῇ καρδίᾳ ἐξομβρήσεις τοὺς καρποὺς τῆς ἀγάπης. Τὰ μὲν σωματικὰ πάθη ἐκ τῶν φυσικῶν τῆς σαρκὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν λαμβάνει, καθ' ὧν καὶ ἡ ἐγκράτεια, τὰ δὲ ψυχικὰ ἐκ τῶν ψυχικῶν τὴν κύησιν ἔχει, καθ' ὧν καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη. Ἡ ἀγάπη ἀπαθείας ἐστὶ συνάφεια, παθῶν δὲ ἀπαλοιφὴ, τὴν μακροθυμίαν προφέρουσα, καὶ τὸν ζέοντα θυμὸν καταψύχουσα, τὴν ταπείνωσιν προβάλλουσα, καὶ τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν καταφέρουσα. Ἀγάπη ἔχει μὲν ἴδιον οὐδὲν πλὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ· αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Θεός. Ὁ εἰς τὴν φαιδρὰν τῶν μοναχῶν σύγκλητον νεοπαγὴς τυγχάνων, ἀπωθείσθω τοὺς λογισμοὺς τοὺς προσιόντας αὐτῷ εὐφημίας ἀπὸ τῆς συγγενείας, ἵνα μὴ τὸν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἔπαινον, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐκ τῶν ἐντολῶν μακαρισμὸν ἐπιζητοίη. Τῶν δὲ τὰς δειλίας εἰσβαλλόντων δαιμόνων καταθαρσείτω· οὐ γὰρ ἐλάβετε πνεῦμα δειλίας πάλιν εἰς φόβον· πνεύματι δειλίας ἑαυτὸν μὴ καταπτησσέτω, μήτε τοὺς νυκτερινοὺς κτύπους τῶν δαιμόνων τρεμέτω, ὁπόταν οὔτε κατὰ χοίρων ἔχωσιν ἐξουσίαν. Ἐν ταῖς ὀψιναῖς οὖν ἐξελθὼν τῆς κέλλης, μὴ θροείσθω, καὶ φεύγων ἀνόπιν εἰσπηδάτω, ὡς τῶν δαιμόνων δῆθεν κατατρεχόντων, ἀλλὰ κλίνας τὰ γόνατα 11 ἐν ᾧ τόπῳ δειλιᾷ εὐξάσθω, οὐ γάρ σοι ἐπιπεσοῦνται κἂν οὕτω σε θροήσωσιν· ἐπειδὰν δὲ ἀναστῇς θάῤῥυνε τὴν καρδίαν, παρακάλει τῇ ψαλμωδίᾳ, «Οὐ φοβηθήσῃ (λέγων) ἀπὸ φόβου νυκτερινοῦ, ἀπὸ βέλους πετομένου ἡμέρας, ἀπὸ πράγματος ἐν σκότει διαπορευομένου, ἀπὸ συμπτώματος, καὶ δαιμονίου μεσημβρινοῦ.» Οὕτω γὰρ ἅπαξ καὶ πολλοστὸν ποιήσας, τὸν δαίμονα τῆς δειλίας θᾶττον ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ ἀπελάσεις. Ἀδυνατοῦντες γὰρ ἔργῳ βλάπτειν, ταῖς φαντασίαις τὴν ψυχὴν δειλοκοποῦσιν, ἵνα οἱ 79.1125 ἄνθρωποι τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς, καὶ ἀδυνάτους, ἰσχυροὺς καὶ δυνατοὺς εἶναι νομίσωσι. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Κ∆ʹ. Καλλίστοις ἱματίοις μὴ σεαυτὸν περιστολίσῃς, ἵνα μὴ τὸν τῆς κενοδοξίας δαίμονα προφανέστερον ἐνδύσῃ· οὐ γὰρ ἐν κάλλει ἱματίων αἱ ἀρεταὶ φοροῦνται, ἀλλ' ἐν κάλλει ψυχῆς οἱ πόνοι χρυσοφοροῦνται· τὸν δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ φόβον ἐπενδύου τῶν τῆς κρίσεως κολαστηρίων, ὅπως φόβῳ πυρὸς ἀκατάσβεστον τὴν θέρμην ἐπενδύσῃ, καὶ κατὰ τῆς κακοτεχνίας θᾶττον τῶν λογισμῶν σοφισθήσῃ, ἀρχὴ γάρ ἐστιν ὁ φόβος τῆς σοφίας. Ὁ τῶν λογισμῶν τὴν πλάνην διὰ πείρας ἐξαγγέλλων, οὐ πᾶσιν εὔγνωστος ἔσται πλὴν τῶν ἐν πείρᾳ, ὁδὸς γὰρ τῆς ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μέρει γνωστικῆς ἡ πεῖρα καθέστηκεν· αἰτία γὰρ ἀμφοτέρων ἐστὶν ἡ πρακτικὴ, ἥνπερ πονικώτερον κατέχοντες, ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιγνωσόμεθα καὶ λογισμῶν καταγνωσόμεθα, καὶ Θεὸν ἐπιγνωσόμεθα. Ὁ ἐκ πρακτικῆς ἐκδημίας, καὶ γνωστικῆς ἐνδημίας τῶν λογισμῶν τῇ τέχνῃ τοὺς ἀφελεῖς ἀλείφων, βλεπέτω μὴ εἰς ἔνδειξιν δόξης τὴν γνωστικὴν κομπάζῃ· εἰ δὲ λογισμὸς τούτων μεγαλύνων λῃστεύει, εἰς βοήθειαν λαβέτω τὸν Ἕλληνα Ἰοθὸρ, Μωϋσῇ τῷ μεγάλῳ προφήτῃ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς χάριτος σοφὴν συμβουλίαν διὰ κρίσιν ἐκδόντα. Ἤτω σου τῶν λογισμῶν ἡ δύναμις τὰ ἔργα, τὰ γὰρ πρακτέα τῶν λεκτέων ἐστὶ φιλοσοφώτερα, καθάπερ, καὶ ἐπιπονώτερα· πράξεως παρούσης ὥσπερ οἱ λόγοι ἐξαστράπτουσιν, ἔργων δὲ μὴ παρόντων, οἱ λόγοι τῶν ἔργων δύναμιν οὐκ ἀστράπτουσι. Πολιῶν ἔγκλημα, λόγος νεώτερος, καὶ χείλη πέρπερα τινασσόμενα γέλωτι, ὁ δὲ ταράττων καὶ ταραττόμενος εἰκῆ, γαλήνης ἐκτὸς ἔσται, καὶ κλύδωνος οὐκ ὄντος, χειματίζεται. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΚΕʹ. Μὴ τὴν ἄκαιρον γλῶσσαν λεξιθήρει, ἵνα μὴ τὸ αὐτὸ ὑφ' ὧν οὐ θέλεις ὑπομείνῃς. Φεῦγε πτερνίσαι τοῦ πλησίον τὴν γλῶτταν, ἵνα καὶ σὺ τοῦ διαβόλου τὸν πτερνισμὸν διαφύγῃς· φεῦγε ὀνειδίσαι ἀδελφοῦ σου τὸ πταῖσμα, ἵνα μὴ τῆς συμπαθείας ὡς ἀλλόφυλος ἐκπέσῃς. Ὁ τὴν χρηστότητα, καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην εἰς τὸν ἀδελφὸν μὴ ἔχων, πῶς τῆς χριστοφόρου ἀγάπης μέλος ἂν εἵη; Ἐπὰν τῇ συντόνῳ σου νηστείᾳ ἀδελφὸς παραβάλῃ, μὴ τῶν λογισμῶν τὴν ἀηδίαν παραδέξῃ ὑποτιθεμένων σοι ὄχλησιν τῇ ἡσυχίᾳ, ἐγκοπὴν δὲ τῇ νηστείᾳ, ποιοῦσι δὲ τοῦτο ἵνα ἰδὼν τὸν ἀδελφόν σου μὴ ὡς Θεὸν αὐτὸν ἴδῃς. Τὰς συνεχεῖς τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐπιστασίας ὀχλήσεις εἶναι μὴ φάσκωμεν, συμμαχίαν δὲ μᾶλλον πέλειν· κατὰ τῆς
Humility and the Demon's Flight§11
11Let us entrust the phalanx of the opponent to their own guard. For thus, having been united by the filter of love, we will drive out malice, and we will transfer the works of the hands into the treasury of hospitality. Let us not receive these brothers as if we were merely providing a favor, but let us welcome them with supplication as being debtors, just as Lot showed (Gen 19:1-3). Some people praise themselves for the title of stranger and for being strangers, and when they call a stranger, they do not invite him at all, but they present the word of the invitation to the blind; and they reproach the one who declines as if through insolence; because of this, a great swelling arises from here. For the thoughts, piercing the eye of the soul, blind it, so that we might use the most beautiful of the commandments most poorly.
Chapter 64. When a thought strikes you, do not force the brother too much at the table; then it mocks you through him, so that you do not have an unbridled tongue toward the violence of love; for perhaps it suggests to you that one of the wanderers is a brother, and that having been satisfied with bread he should depart, but it suggests to him hospitality, that he has found nothing else beside you; for bearing the eye toward his practical change, it implants one into the other in the hearts, so that one might cut off hospitality and the other might sprout reproach. Abraham, sitting before the tent, if he saw anyone passing by, received him with work; living in impiety, he emptied the table, receiving barbarians, yet he did not fail to receive angels (Gen 18:1-8). Let those know the sweetness of hospitality who, having sojourned, were welcomed by it, when even a simple word prepares a sweet table for the heart. Therefore, with much diligence, let us practice hospitality, so that we might receive not only angels, but also God. 'For as much as you did to one of these least of my brothers, you did to me' (Matt 25:40), he says. Who of those sharing in virtue more knowingly answered thus? The diligence of hospitality is accustomed to make vanish the fantasies that echo the demons in the heart, and a bountiful service being made with readiness, if anyone has turned away at all from the material things; and these things happening with humility and the crushing of the heart, one is freed even more from the fantasies that weary. For the demons greatly condemn the humility...
Yes, knowing that this was a masterly commandment. Who among the tested ones moves a word concerning humility, and diminished this, saying: that a Father, he says, of the all-tested, being harassed by a demon and terribly shaking his jaw, immediately changed and provided the other one ready, but he who, as if struck by a lightning bolt of humility, was struck back and cried out, was instantly separated from the creature.
Chapter 27. The appearance of the holy bishop, and this is also the word. It happened, he says, that a son of a faithful widow having the demon Python, having lingered in the wound, did not undergo treatment. But the mother of this, being humbled by grief, froze the passion with thanksgiving, as if having hung the soul upon a cross, and drove away the demon of the child with prayers; for while the youth was wandering in the days around him and the mother was praying in the house, the demon, shouting this woman's name, was driven by torments. But she, hearing this very thing, did not rush to the matter, binding the battle of nature by humility, being led away involuntarily by others, and even then the demon remained fit to use the flight. But she, having approached and having enveloped the child with tears, put forward thanksgiving and humility against the demon, but having wept bitterly and having implored Christ and having marked the cross, before many lashes, the demon fled from the child more readily.
The demons envy those who flash with lightning in the submission to the Father, and their teeth chatter against them, because in submission they unhesitatingly yoked the departure, through which also, speaking precisely with pretexts, they stir up provocations, and in the occurring anger, they wrap up wrath; then they will also slightly raise up hatred toward the Father, as if they were being unjustly struck and were paying attention only outwardly; so that, having scattered the soul by various ways, they might scatter those of the paternal embraces. Therefore, he who exists in submission to the Father, let him be defeated by insult and let him conquer by humility, and let him be regulated by patience, and let him not endure the murmuring of thoughts toward severity and the insolence of brothers.
Chapter 28. And that freedom is not equal to strenuous slavery, for they throw in, even more than these, so that the one under authority might spontaneously...
Greek · §11
φάλαγγος τοῦ ἀντιπάλου τὴν αὐτῶν χοροστασίαν ἐμπιστεύσωμεν. Οὕτω γὰρ τῷ φίλτρῳ τῆς ἀγάπης ἑνωθέντες, τὴν κακίαν ἐξωθήσομεν, καὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν εἰς τὸν τῆς φιλοξενίας θησαυρὸν μετακομί79.1128 σομεν. Μὴ, ὡς χάριν παρέχοντες τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, τούτους δεξιωσώμεθα, ἀλλ' ὡς ὑπόχρεοι ὄντες τῷ δανείσματι μεθ' ἱκεσίας ξενίζωμεν, καθὼς ὑπέδειξε Λώτ. Τινὲς ἐπὶ ξένῳ ἀξιώματι καὶ ξένως ἐπαίρονται, καὶ ὅταν μὲν ξένον καλῶσιν οὐδόλως παρακαλοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν τῆς κλήσεως λόγον τῷ τύφῳ πλατύνουσι, τὸν δὲ παραιτούμενον ὡς ἐφ' ὑβρικότα μέμφονται· διὰ τοῦτο μέγα φύσημα ἐντεῦθεν ἀνακαίεται. Οἱ γὰρ λογισμοὶ τὸ ὄμμα τῆς ψυχῆς παρακεντοῦντες τυφλώττουσιν, ἵνα ταῖς καλλίσταις τῶν ἐντολῶν κακίστως χρησώμεθα. 12 ΚΕΦΑΛ. Κςʹ. Ὅταν λογισμὸς ἐγκόψῃ σε, μὴ ἄγαν βιάσασθαι τῇ τραπέζῃ τὸν ἀδελφὸν, τότε δι' αὐτοῦ κωμῳδεῖ σε, μὴ βεβιασμένην ἔχειν γλῶτταν εἰς τὴν βίαν τῆς ἀγάπης· σοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἴσως ὑποβάλλει τῶν κυκλευτῶν ἕνα τὸν ἀδελφὸν ὑπάρχειν, καὶ ὅτι ἄρτοις ἀρκεσθεὶς ἀφικέσθω, ἐκείνῳ δὲ ἐμβάλλει φιλοξενίαν παρὰ σοὶ τὸ παράπαν μὴ εὑρηκέναι· τῆς γὰρ πρακτικῆς αὐτοῦ μεταβολῆς τὸ ὄμμα βαστάζων, ἕνα τῷ ἑνὶ ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἐμβάλλει, ἵνα τοῦ μὲν τὴν φιλοξενίαν ὑπεκκόψῃ, τοῦ δὲ λοιδορίαν ἐκβλαστήσῃ. Ἀβραὰμ καθήμενος πρὸ τῆς σκηνῆς, εἰ που τινὰ τῶν παριόντων ἑώρα, ἔργῳ προσεδέχετο· ζῶσιν ἐν ἀσεβείᾳ ἐξήπλου τὴν τράπεζαν, βαρβάρους δεχόμενος, ἀγγέλων οὐκ ἀπέτυχεν. Ἴσασι τὴν τῆς φιλοξενίας γλυκύτητα ὅσοι ξενιτεύσαντες ὑπὸ ταύτην ἐξενίσθησαν, ὅτε καὶ λόγος προσηνὴς, γλυκεῖαν ἀρτύει τὴν τράπεζαν τῇ καρδίᾳ. Μετὰ πολλῆς οὖν σπουδῆς τὴν φιλοξενίαν χρηστοποιώμεθα, ἵνα μὴ μόνον ἀγγέλους, ἀλλὰ καὶ Θεὸν ὑποδεξώμεθα. «Ἐφ' ὅσον γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν ἐλαχίστων, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε.» Τὶς τῶν γνωστικώτερον τὴν ἀρετὴν μετιόντων οὕτως ἀπεκρίνατο· Τὰς ἐνηχούσας τῶν δαιμόνων ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ φαντασίας εἴωθεν ἐξαφανίζειν ἡ τῆς φιλοξενίας σπουδὴ, καὶ δαψιλὴς ὑπηρεσία προθύμως γινομένη, εἴπερ τις τῶν ὑλῶν ὁπωσδηποτοῦν ἀπήλλακται· ταῦτα δὲ γινόμενα μετὰ ταπεινώσεως, καὶ συντριβῆς καρδίας θᾶττον ἀπαλλάττειν τῶν φαντασιῶν τὸν κάμνοντα. Σφόδρα γὰρ δεδοίκασι τὴν ταπείνωσιν οἱ δαίμονες, εἰδότες ταύτην δεσποτικὴν γεγενῆσθαι ἐντολήν. Τίς τῶν δοκιμωτάτων περὶ ταπεινώσεως λόγον κινῶν, καὶ τοῦτο κατεμήνυσεν, ὅτι Πατὴρ, φησὶ, τῶν πάνυ δοκίμων ὑπὸ δαιμονῶντος, καὶ δεινῶς ἀφραίνοντος τὴν σιαγόνα κρουσθεὶς, εὐθὺς ἐναλλάξας, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἑτοίμην παρέθηκεν, ὁ δὲ ὡς ὑπὸ ἀστραπῆς τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἀντικρουσθεὶς, καὶ κραυγάσας, ἀθρόως τοῦ πλάσματος ἀφήλλατο. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΚΖʹ. Ἐπιφανίου τοῦ ἁγίου ἐπισκόπου καὶ οὗτος ὁ λόγος. Ἐγένετο ὅτι, φησὶ, χήρας πιστῆς υἱὸς ἕχων 79.1129 δαίμονα Πύθωνος, ἐν τῇ πληγῇ χρονίσας θραπείαν οὐχ ὑφίστατο. Τῆς δὲ τούτου μητρὸς ἐπιταπεινωθείσης τῷ πένθει, εὐχαριστία τὸ πάθος κατέψυξεν, ἤπερ ἐκ σταυροῦ τὴν ψυχὴν κρεμάσασα, τὸν δαίμονα τοῦ παιδὸς ταῖς εὐχαῖς ἀπέῤῥηξε· τοῦ γὰρ νέου ἐν τοῖς μέρεσι τοῖς πέριξ πλανωμένου καὶ τῆς μητρὸς οἴκοι εὐχομένης, τὸ ταύτης ὅνομα βοῶν ὁ δαίμων βασάνοις ἠλαύνετο· ἡ δὲ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἀκούουσα, οὐκ ἐπέδραμε τῷ πράγματι τὴν μάχην τῆς φύσεως τῇ ταπεινώσει δεσμεύουσα, ἑλκομένη δὲ παρ' ἄλλων ἀβουλήτως ἀπήγετο, ἐπέκεινα δὲ καὶ ὁ δαίμων χρῆσθαι τῇ φυγῇ ἐμαίνετο. Ἡ μὲν οὖν ἐπιστᾶσα, καὶ τοῖς δάκρυσι τὸν παῖδα περιπτυξαμένη, τὴν εὐχαριστίαν, καὶ ταπείνωσιν κατὰ τοῦ δαίμονος προὐβάλλετο, πικρῶς δὲ κλαυσάσης, καὶ Χριστὸν ἱκετευσάσης, καὶ τὸν σταυρὸν τυπωσάσης, πρὶν μαστίγων πολλῶν, θᾶττον τοῦ παιδὸς ὁ δαίμων ἀπέδρα. Ζηλοῦσιν οἱ δαίμονες τοὺς ἐν ὑποταγῇ Πατρὸς ἀστράπτοντας, καὶ τρίζουσι κατ' αὐτῶν τοὺς ὀδόντας, ὅτι ἐν τῇ ὑποταγῇ τὴν ἀποταγὴν ἀμερίμνως ἐζύγωσαν, καθ' ὧν καὶ προφάσεις ἀκριβολογοῦντες παροξυσμοὺς ἀρτύουσι, καὶ τῇ συμβαινούσῃ ὀργῇ, τὴν μῆνιν ἐγγλύφουσιν, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ μῖσος πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα κατ' ὀλίγον ἑψοῦσιν, ὡς ἅτε δῆθεν ἀδίκως ἐπιπλήττοντα, καὶ κατὰ πρόσωπον προσέχοντα· ἵνα ἐκ διαφόρων τρόπων τὴν ψυχὴν περιτινάξαντες, τῶν ἀγκαλῶν σκορπίσωσι τῶν πατρικῶν. Ὁ οὖν ἐν ὑποταγῇ Πατρὸς ὑπάρχων, ὕβρεσιν ἡττάσθω, καὶ ταπεινώσει νικάτω, καὶ μακροθυμίᾳ ῥυθμιζέσθω, καὶ μὴ τῶν λογισμῶν ὑπογογγυζόντων ἀνεχέσθω πρὸς αὐστηρότητα, καὶ ἀδελφῶν θρασύτητα. 13 ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΚΗʹ. Καὶ ὅτι μοχθηρᾶς δουλείας ἡ ἐλευθερία ἰσόζυγος οὐ τυγχάνει, εἰσβάλλουσι γὰρ μάλιστα, καὶ περαιτέρω τούτων, ἵνα αὐθάδη τὸν ὑπεξούσιον
The struggle of prayer against demonic terrors§12
12Having acted, they easily wander into the material things; for some they strive to separate from the fatherhood through these, and others through other means. Work, and acquire, and live as a guest, inwardly desiring to acquire a good reputation for oneself; for from the seemingly good things, the chaff of wickedness is sown in part, and from the beginning they allow him to be flattered by vainglory, and to be sober through continuous fasting, and to stand up zealously in prayers and in assemblies, so that he might consider that, being a person of such kind, he did not happen by chance; for there are insults, sorrows, and disturbances, but here is peace, tranquility, and joy; there is the severity, fear, and shock of the Father, but here is carefreeness, fearlessness, and being unshockable. And thus, stealing his mind in such things, they seize it; and suddenly, standing over excessive sleep, they drench the soul with fear, and they neglect the assemblies through carelessness and acedia, and they remind him that hospitality is a burden, and they bring all the tools of malice, so that, having thrown acedia upon him, and having worked hatred toward his life, they might thus stand him naked of virtues to be an example to the angels.
Sometimes the demons magnify the labors through thoughts, and sometimes they belittle these as being of no use, so that where they may plant thoughtlessness, there they may sow ignorance. For to those who do not bend, they weaken, magnifying the labors so that they may plant thoughtlessness; but to those who do not yield to thoughtlessness, they do nothing more, but rather they belittle the labors as being of no use, so that, having weakened, they may sow ignorance.
Chapter 29. Therefore, when the thoughts magnify the labors, casting these aside, let us belittle the soul; but when they again belittle the labors as being of no use, we, with whatever power, let us magnify the mercies of Christ; for the more you harden your body, the more your conscience searches you. Know yourself, being aware of the secret thefts of the thoughts, lest, being carried along unperceivingly regarding their secret robberies, we should be shaded by hardness of heart alone, reaping the virtues. For thus some, having been imagined, were scattered from their wits like a...
They are terrors, those demons who act as deceivers of imaginations and who carry away visions, and even when they snatch away the soul through cowardice. To one of the brothers, while he was wakeful at night, the demons were striking out fearful imaginations, not only to the outward eye, but also with the inward gaze, so that the mind, being agitated by anxiety concerning the coming night, was in danger of having the faculty of reason snatched away; and for many nights the war was attacking the soul, while the one in danger was struggling inwardly to hold onto the ruler of the faculties, by seeing for himself the actions of the stings being brought against him, while withholding the soul from the giver of prayer; furthermore, they terrified him by scattering the soul with the fire of judgment, so that, by compounding fear upon fear, he might repel cowardice, just as it has happened, as the one who suffered the war said. For while the demons were terrifying the soul in many ways, he who was weary was seeking God through prayer; but those who were scattering the soul with their imaginations, he, weighing the weight of those stings, was demonstrating his state to the God who sees all; and those who were again blinding the eye of prayer, he, repaying the fear of judgment, made the fear of the phantasms vanish; for the other part of the fear, having overcome the other, wandering with God occurred; for the soul, having been humbled by the memory of sins and having been awakened by the fear of judgment, fled from the terrors of the demons through the things within; and the whole thing has happened by grace from above, both to drive away the terrors of the demons and to support the soul that was falling. 'For the Lord supports all those who are falling, and raises up all those who are broken' (Celsus, Cap. 44).
There is a time when we strive to make prayer pure, and perhaps we are not able. And there is again a time when, without our striving, the soul approaches pure prayer, because our weakness and the grace from above being called upon bring us back to the purity of the soul, while at the same time, being disciplined through both, we do not give ourselves credit in praying, but recognize the one who gives. For what we should pray according to, we do not know. Therefore, when we strive to make the prayer pure and are not able, but are darkened, then by tears...
Greek · §12
ποιήσαντες, εὐχερῶς εἰς τὰς ὕλας περιπείρωσι· τοὺς μὲν γὰρ καὶ διὰ τούτων τῆς πατροσύνης χωρίσαι σπουδάζουσι, τοὺς δὲ καὶ δι' ἑτέρων. Ἔργασαι, καὶ κτῆσαι, καὶ ξένισαι, ἔνδον ἐπᾴδοντες, ὅπως ὄνομα καλὸν σεαυτῷ περιποιήσῃ· ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν δῆθεν καλῶν τὰ ζιζάνια τῆς πονηρίας τὸ κατὰ μέρος ἐνσπείρουσι, καὶ παρὰ μὲν τὰς ἀρχὰς ἀφιᾶσιν αὐτὸν τῇ κενοδοξίᾳ ἐγγλυκαίνεσθαι, καὶ νήφειν τῇ συνεχεῖ νηστείᾳ, καὶ προθύμως ἀνίστασθαι ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς, καὶ ἐν ταῖς συνάξεσιν, ὡς ἵνα λογίζηται, ὅτι Ὑπεξούσιος ὢν τοιοῦτος οὐκ ἐτύγχανον· ἐκεῖ γὰρ καὶ ὕβρεις, καὶ λύπαι, καὶ ταραχαὶ, ἐνταῦθα δὲ εἰρήνη, καὶ γαλήνη, καὶ χαρὰ, ἐκεῖ Πατρὸς αὐστηρία, καὶ φόβος, καὶ ἐπιπληξία, ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἀμεριμνία, καὶ ἀφοβία, καὶ ἀπληξία. Καὶ οὕτω ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις κλέψαντες αὐτοῦ τὸν νοῦν ὑφαρπάζουσιν· ἄφνω δὲ ἐπιστάντες ὕπνῳ ὑπερορίῳ τὴν ψυχὴν φόβῳ ῥαντίζουσι, καὶ τὰς συνάξεις ἀμελείᾳ καὶ ἀκηδίᾳ ὑπεκκόπτουσι, καὶ τὴν ξενοδοχίαν ὄχλησιν εἶναι ὑπομνηματίζουσι, καὶ πάντα μάγγανα τῆς κακίας ἐπάγουσιν, ἵνα τὴν ἀκηδίαν αὐτῷ προσρίψαντες, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν βίον μῖσος ἐργάσωνται, καὶ οὕτω γυμνὸν αὐτὸν τῶν 79.1132 ἀρετῶν στήσαντες τοῖς ἀγγέλοις δειγματίσωσι. Ποτὲ μὲν οἱ δαίμονες διὰ τῶν λογισμῶν τοὺς πόνους μεγαλύνουσι, ποτὲ δὲ τούτους εὐτελίζουσιν ὡς μηδὲν ἀνύοντας, ἵνα ὅπου μὲν ἀπόνοιαν ἐνθήσωσιν, ὅπου δὲ ἀπόγνωσιν ἐνσπείρωσι. Τοῖς γὰρ μὴ καμπτομένοις χαυνῶσαι, τοὺς πόνους μεγαλύνουσιν, ἵνα ἀπόνοιαν ἐνθήσωσι, τοῖς δὲ ἀπονοίᾳ κάμπτεσθαι μὴ πειθομένοις, οὐδὲν πλέον, ἀλλ' ἢ τοὺς πόνους ἐπᾴδουσιν ἀνύειν, ἵνα χαυνώσαντες, ἀπόγνωσιν ἐνσπείρωσιν. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΚΘʹ. Ὅταν οὖν οἱ λογισμοὶ τοὺς πόνους μεγαλύνωσι, τούτους ἀποπτύοντες, τὴν ψυχὴν εὐτελίζωμεν, ὅταν δὲ πάλιν τοὺς πόνους σμικρύνωσιν ὡς μηδὲν ἀνύοντας, ἡμεῖς, ὅση δύναμις, τὰ ἐλέη Χριστοῦ μεγαλύνωμεν· ὅσον γὰρ ἐπὶ πλεῖον σκληραγωγεῖς σου τὸ σῶμα, τοσοῦτον διερευνᾷς σου τὸ συνειδός. Ἐπίγνωθι σαυτὸν, ἐπαισθανόμενον τῶν ἐν κρυφῇ τῶν λογισμῶν διαρπαγῶν, μήπως ἀναισθήτως φερόμενοι περὶ τὰς κρυπτὰς αὐτῶν λῃστείας σκιασθῶμεν, μόνῃ τῇ σκληρουχίᾳ τρυγᾷν τὰς ἀρετάς. Οὕτω γάρ τινες φαντασθέντες, τῶν φρενῶν ἐξετινάχθησαν ὡσεὶ ἀκρίδες, τῶν δαιμόνων φαντασιοκοπούντων, καὶ τὰς ὁράσεις παραφερόντων, ἐσθ' ὅτε δὲ, καὶ δειλίᾳ τὴν ψυχὴν διαρπαζόντων. Τινὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐγρηγορότι νύκτωρ φοβερὰς φαντασίας ἐξετύπουν οἱ δαίμονες, οὐ μόνον τῷ ἔξωθεν ὄμματι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ ἔσωθεν βλέμματι, ὥστε μερίμνῃ τῆς ἐπιούσης νυκτὸς τὸν νοῦν ἀγωνιῶντα κινδυνεύειν τὴν τῶν φρενῶν διαρπαγὴν, καὶ ἐπὶ πλείους νύκτας ὁ πόλεμος τῇ ψυχῇ ἀφίπτατο, ὁ δὲ κινδυνεύων ἔνδον κατέχειν τὸν ἡγεμόνα τῶν φρενῶν ἐβιάζετο, τῷ τῆς εὐχῆς δοτῆρι τὴν ψυχὴν ἀποκρεμνῶν, καὶ τὰς πράξεις τῶν πταισμάτων καθ' ἑαυτοῦ προφέρων εἰσιδεῖν ἑαυτὸς ἠγωνίζετο· ἔπειτα καὶ τῇ πυρᾷ τῆς κρίσεως τὴν ψυχὴν περισπῶν ἐξεφόβει, ἵνα φόβῳ φόβον συγκρούσας τὴν δειλίαν ἀποκρούσηται, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ γέγονεν, ὡς ἔφησεν ὁ πεπονθὼς τὸν πόλεμον. Τῶν γὰρ δαιμόνων πολυτρόπως τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκφοβούντων, ὁ κάμνων τῇ εὐχῇ τὸν Θεὸν ἐπεζήτει, ἐκείνων δὲ ταῖς φαντασίαι; τὴν ψυχὴν περισπώντων, οὗτος τῶν πταισμάτων τὸν ὄγκον ἀναλέγων, τῷ παντεπόπτῃ Θεῷ ἐπεδείκνυε· τῶν δὲ πάλιν τῆς εὐχῆς τὸ ὄμμα κατασπώντων, ἐκεῖνος τὸν φόβον τῆς κρίσεως ἀνταμείψας, τὸν φόβον τῶν φαντασμάτων ἐξηφάνισε· τὸ γὰρ ἕτερον μέρος τοῦ φόβου πλεονάσαν τοῦ ἄλλου, τῆς πλάνης σὺν Θεῷ περιεγένετο· τῇ γὰρ μνήμῃ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἡ ψυχὴ ταπεινωθεῖσα καὶ τῷ φόβῳ τῆς κρίσεως διυπνισθεῖσα, τὰ φόβητρα τῶν δαιμόνων ἐκ τῶν ἐντὸς ἀπεφύσησε· τὸ δὲ πᾶν τῆς ἄνωθεν χάριτος γέγονε, τῶν μὲν δαιμόνων 14 ἀπελάσαι τὰ φόβητρα, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν καταπίπτουσαν ὑποστηρίξαι. «Ὑποστηρίζει γὰρ Κύριος πάντας τοὺς καταπίπτοντας, καὶ ἀνορθοῖ πάντας τοὺς κατεῤῥαγμένους.» 79.1133 ΚΕΦΑΛ. Λʹ. Ἔστιν ὅτε βιαζόμεθα καθαρὰν τὴν εὐχὴν ποιῆσαι, καὶ ἴσως οὐ δυνάμεθα. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ πάλιν ὅτε, οὐ βιαζομένων ἡμῶν, καθαρᾷ τῇ προσευχῇ ἡ ψυχὴ ἐγγίνεται, ὅτι τὸ μὲν τῆς ἡμῶν ἀσθενείας, τὸ δὲ τῆς ἄνωθεν χάριτος ἐκκαλουμένης ἡμᾶς ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς καθαρότητα, ἅμα δὲ καὶ δι' ἀμφοτέρων παιδευούσης ἡμᾶς μὴ ἑαυτοῖς ἀποδιδόναι ἐν τῷ προσεύχεσθαι, ἀλλ' ἐπιγινώσκειν τὸν δωρούμενον. Τὸ γὰρ τί προσευξόμεθα καθ' ὃ δεῖ, οὐκ οἴδαμεν. Ὅταν οὖν καθαρθῆναι τὴν εὐχὴν βιαζώμεθα, καὶ οὐ δυνάμεθα, ἀλλ' ἐσκοτίσμεθα, τότε δάκρυσι
The Dangers of Excessive Care for a Brother§13
13Having drenched the sides with tears, let us entreat God so that the night of the war may be dissolved and the light of the soul may be illuminated. Because of the service of a brother companion going abroad, according to the custom of prayers, renew the memory of this one; but do not imagine this beyond measure, lest the demons, having taken the beginning of care from you, sharpen this and extend it further, shadowing this for you in the singing of the psalms, and falling short in God of the care according to God, so that, striking back care with care, they may lead us captive from the superior ones, so that one does not consider the command: 'Cast your care upon the Lord' (Psalm 55:22). For they show, as if from the excessive care for the brother, that they also command griefs, overpowering the mind. Furthermore, they even reproach you for slowness, as if the brother had neglected the speed of the service, so that the much-caring longing might perhaps even turn into hatred. And it is a custom in the cares concerning the one away to do this also to the demons, in which they see him coming on the day, to mirror this one as a master, so that, as if from a passing dream, they may make us in the time of their absence into dream interpreters and again receive them, whom it is rather necessary to turn away and violently divert, lest from these they also lead the soul astray into other things.
CHAPTER 44. For these things indeed predict nothing, but they resent the things they see happening, and they imagine; indeed, often while we are being quiet, seeing a brother coming toward us, they mark us through thoughts, in which it is not right to believe, even if they think they are saying the truth; for by twisting truth they introduce deception, so that they might map out the pitfalls on the paths in front of us by parts. Just as idle gold, being cast into a furnace, becomes purer, so also a soft monk, being refined in communal life, is made bright by his endurance; for he works to learn obedience through the command of the brothers; and through the striking of trials, he prepares to have a nature of incense. When therefore he has endured insults with joy, and embraces lowliness with simplicity, having become superior to the things suffering against him, he strives to shine with virtues beyond, with the grace to him...
Greek · §13
τὰς παρειὰς καταβρέξαντες, Θεὸν ἱκετεύσωμεν ἐπὶ τῷ διαλυθῆναι τοῦ πολέμου τὴν νύκτα, καὶ ἐλλαμφθῆναι τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ φέγγος. Ἔνεκεν διακονίας ἐπὰν ὁ συμβιώτης ἀδελφὸς ἐκδημοίῃ, κατὰ τὸ ἔθος τῶν εὐχῶν, ἀνακαίνιζε τούτου τὴν μνήμην· πέρα δὲ τοῦ μέτρου τοῦτον μὴ φαντάζου, μήπως τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς μερίμνης ἀπὸ σοῦ λαβόντες οἱ δαίμονες, ταύτην ἀκονῶντες ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἐποξύνωσι, σκιάζοντές σοι τοῦτον ἐν τῇ τῶν ψαλμῶν ὑμνῳδίᾳ, καὶ ὑστεροῦντες ἐν Θεῷ τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν μερίμνης, ἵνα μερίμνῃ μέριμναν ἀντικρούσαντες αἰχμαλώτους ἡμᾶς τῶν κρειττόνων ἀπαγάγωσιν, εἰς τὸ μὴ λογίζεσθαι τὸ, «Ἐπίῤῥιψον ἐπὶ Κύριον τὴν μέριμνάν σου.» Ἴσασι γὰρ, ὡς ἐκ τῆς περιττῆς περὶ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ φροντίδος, ὅτι καὶ λύπας ἐντορνεύουσιν ὑποταράττοντες τὸ ἡγεμονικόν. Ἔτι δὲ καὶ μέμψεις βραδύτητος ὑφάπτουσιν, ὡς ὑπαμελήσαντος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ περὶ τῆς διακονίας σπουδὴν, ὅπως ὁ πολυμέριμνος πόθος ἴσως καὶ εἰς μῖσος ἐκτραπῇ. Ἔθος δὲ ἐν ταῖς περὶ τὸν ἀπόδημον μερίμναις καὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖν τοῖς δαίμοσιν, ἐν ᾗ ἴδωσιν αὐτὸν παραγενόμενον ἡμέρᾳ κατόναρ τοῦτον ἐσοπτρίζειν, ἵνα ὡς ἐκ τοῦ ἀποβάντος ἐνυπνίου ποιήσωσιν ἡμᾶς ἐν καιρῷ τῶν ἀποδήμων τοὺς προφήτας τῶν ἐνυπνίων καὶ πάλιν προσδέχεσθαι, οὓς ἀποστρέφεσθαι δεῖ μᾶλλον καὶ σφόδρα ἐκτρέπεσθαι, μήπως ἐκ τούτων καὶ εἰς ἕτερα τὴν ψυχὴν ἀποπλανήσωσιν. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΛΑʹ. Προΐσασι γὰρ οὗτοι μὲν οὐδὲν, ἃ δὲ βλέπουσι γινόμενα, ταῦτα μηνίουσι, καὶ φαντάζουσι· πολλάκις γοῦν καθ' ἡσυχίαν ὄντων ἡμῶν, θεασάμενοι πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀδελφὸν ἐρχόμενον, διὰ τῶν λογισμῶν προεσήμαναν, οἷς οὐ χρὴ πιστεύειν, κἂν λέγειν τ' ἀληθῆ νομίζωσι· διὰ γὰρ τῆς δῆθεν ἀληθείας τὸ ψεῦδος παρεισφέρουσιν, ἵνα ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ μέρος ταῖς ἔμπροσθεν ὁδοῖς τοὺς βρόχους ὑπογράφωσιν. Ὥσπερ ἀνέργαστος χρυσὸς, ἐν χωνευτηρίῳ βαλλόμενος, καθαρώτερος γίνεται, οὕτω καὶ νέηλυς μοναχὸς, ἐν κοινοβίῳ τὰ ἤθη ἀναχωνευόμενος, φαιδρὸς ταῖς καρτερίαις ἀποκαθίσταται· διὰ γὰρ τῆς ἐπιταγῆς τῶν ἀδελφῶν τὴν ὑπακοὴν μανθάνειν κατεργάζεται· διὰ δὲ τοῦ ἐπιπλήττοντος ἑτοιμάζεται τὴν φύσιν μακρο79.1136 θυμίαν ἔχειν. Ὅταν οὖν χαρᾷ τὰς ὕβρεις καταδέχηται, καὶ εὐτελείᾳ τὴν ταπείνωσιν ἀσπάζηται, ἀνώτερος τῶν ἄντικρυς παθῶν γενόμενος, ἐπέκεινα στίλβειν ταῖς ἀρεταῖς ἐπαγωνίζεται, τῆς χάριτος αὐτῷ
The Value of Labors and the Truth of Words§14
14When a greater power is being given. Just as those digging into the roots of the earth unearth gold, so those descending into humility bring up virtues. Then the mind feels rest, once having cut off the causes of the passions and being occupied with contemplation; but before this toil, it feels exhaustion and hardship, approaching weakly to the struggle of the opposites.
CHAPTER 28. The elders most gladly accept a withdrawal occurring by degrees, if anyone has come to this having completed the virtues in communal life; and if he is able to make progress in the withdrawal, let him test himself. But if, being unable, he is diminished in virtue, let him return to the communal life, lest he fall from his senses, being unable to encounter the mechanisms of the thoughts. Just as sons provide consolation to a grieving widow, so also to a soul having fallen, labors provide consolation, which scatter the recognition of the thoughts, and sow the faith of repentance, and proclaim the mercies of Christ, and denounce the committed sins.
We ought, therefore, not to perform labors merely out of habit, but also with a consciousness of thanksgiving, so that the soul might not be found empty of such a philosophy; for if I understand the one giving the ends of the labors in each instance, let us seal it with thanksgiving. Just as a dog sitting by a baby snatches bread, so is an evil thought from the heart lacking understanding. Let us not, therefore, be enticed by the works of the opposites using wickedness, so that we do not surrender our soul to them for destruction. Just as the dance of the stars, bearing light, beautifies the sky, so the truth of the words, bearing a torch, beautifies the man. Let us therefore speak only one kind of truth, for the Lord dwells in one way in a house (Psalm 132:1). Just as fierce lightning bolts, having leaped, foretell thunder, so also precise sayings, approaching, signal faith. Let us therefore strive to be faithful to the truth, so that also into the...
Greek · §14
ἐπὶ πλεῖον τὴν δύναμιν δωρουμένης. Ὥσπερ οἱ τὰς ῥίζας τῆς γῆς κατιόντες τὸν χρυσὸν ἀνορύττουσιν, οὕτως οἱ εἰς τὴν χρυσῖτιν ταπείνωσιν καταβαίνοντες ἀρετὰς ἀναφέρουσι. Τότε ὁ νοῦς ἀναπαύσεως αἰσθάνεται, ὁπότε τὰς τῶν παθῶν αἰτίας ἀποτεμὼν, περὶ θεωρίαν ἠσχόληται, πρὶν δὲ τῆς τούτων κοπῆς, κόπου, καὶ ταλαιπωρίας ἐπαισθάνεται, τῇ τῶν ἐναντίων μάχῃ ἀσθενῶς προσερχόμενος. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΛΒʹ. Βαθμῷ τὴν ἀναχώρησιν γινομένην οἱ γέροντες ἄγαν ἀποδέχονται, εἴπερ τις τὰς ἐν κοινοβίῳ τελέσας ἀρετὰς εἰς τοῦτο παρελήλυθε· καὶ εἰ μὲν δύναιτο ἐν τῇ 15 ἀναχωρήσει προκόπτειν, ἑαυτὸν δοκιμαζέτω. Εἰ δὲ ἀδυνάτως ἔχων τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐλαττοῦται, εἰς τὸ κοινόβιον ἀνακαμπτέτω, μήπως ταῖς μηχαναῖς τῶν λογισμῶν μὴ δυνηθεὶς ἀπαντῆσαι, τῶν φρενῶν ἀποπέσῃ. Ὥσπερ χήρας πενθούσης παραμύθιον οἱ υἱοὶ, οὕτω καὶ ψυχῆς πταισάσης παρηγορία πόνοι, οἵτινες τὴν ἀπόγνωσιν τῶν λογισμῶν σκορπίζουσι, καὶ τὴν πίστιν τῆς μετανοίας κατασπείρουσι, καὶ τὰ ἐλέη Χριστοῦ ἀνακηρύττουσι, καὶ τὰ πραχθέντα ἁμαρτήματα ἀποκηρύττουσιν. Οὐκ ὀφείλομεν οὖν ὡς ἐκ συνηθείας μόνον τοὺς πόνους ἐργάζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν συνέσει εὐχαριστίας, ἵνα μὴ γυμνὴ τῆς τοιαύτης φιλοσοφίας ἡ ψυχὴ εὑρίσκοιτο· ἐὰν γὰρ ἐφ' ἑκάστῃ πράξει σύνισμεν τὸν διδόντα τὰ τέλη τῶν πόνων, εὐχαριστίᾳ σφραγίζωμεν Ὥσπερ ἄρτον ἀπὸ βρέφους ἐνεδρεύει σκύλαξ ἐξαρπάσαι, οὕτω σύνεσιν ἀπὸ καρδίας λογισμὸς πονηρός. Μὴ οὖν ἐννεάζωμεν τῶν ἐναντίων ἔργων τῇ κακίᾳ χρώμενοι, ἵνα μὴ εἰς διαρπαγὴν τούτοις τὴν ψυχὴν προεκδώσωμεν. Ὥσπερ ἡ τῶν ἀστέρων χορεία δᾳδουχοῦσα φαιδρύνει τὸν οὐρανὸν, οὕτως ἡ τῶν ῥημάτων ἀλήθεια λαμπαδουχοῦσα φαιδρύνει τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ἕνα οὖν τῆς ἀληθείας τρόπον ἐπὶ γλώττης βαστάζωμεν, ὅτι Κύριος κατοικίζει μονοτρόπους ἐν οἴκῳ. Ὥσπερ ἀστραπαὶ σφοδραὶ προσπηδῶσαι, προμηνύουσι βροντὴν, οὕτω καὶ ῥήσεις ἀκριβεῖς προσιοῦσαι, προσημαίνουσι πίστιν. Πιστοὶ οὖν εἶναι τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σπουδάσωμεν, ἵνα καὶ εἰς τὴν
Love and the Danger of Glory§15
15Let us advance in love, the mother-city of virtues. Just as the sun smiles upon the whole earth with its golden rays, so love approaches the soul with all its light-giving operations; if we possess it, we have extinguished the passions and have shone into the heavens. You will perform all toil until you attain holy love, for in its absence, the benefit of present things is nothing. For indeed, anger becomes wild, and characters become harsh, and toils are rendered senseless when mixed with glory. Through the humbling of the soul, David trusted with mourning (Psalm 51:6), and let us also humble the soul through fasting.
Chapter 32. He who practices harshness through bodily toils should not work for praise, nor be puffed up by glory; for in these things the demons agitate the soul; and they strengthen the harshness and the asceticism of the body through glory, and they will pull him toward greater toils so that he may be even more puffed up. For they conspire from within through thoughts, casting these in, saying: Just as one has practiced strictly and has been greatly named, and even after dying he is still spoken of, so also you ascend to the highest height of asceticism, so that you may acquire glory for yourself and your name may become great, even to be spoken of exceedingly after death. Because of those thus deceived, they fight against you not only with bodily toils, but rather they call you into an alliance, because through them they rest in the more difficult toils, for they enthrone him and exalt him toward the teaching word, so that through this he might be praised as one of the first of the great-toilers and the knowers. And they also zealously envy and cast malice against those who are praised for their rectitude, whose practice and knowledge are more wonderful. Even when they painfully put to sleep the burning of his flesh, casting out the impure thoughts from within, so that the spirit of fornication might be thought to have conquered by inheritance, and to match the brightness of the saints, the heart...
Greek · §15
μητρόπολιν τῶν ἀρετῶν τὴν ἀγάπην προκόψωμεν. Ὡς ἥλιος ταῖς χρυσαυγέσιν ἀκτίσιν ἁπάσῃ προσμειδιᾷ τῇ γῇ, οὕτως ἀγάπη ταῖς φωταυγέσι πράξεσιν ἁπάσῃ προσχαίρει ψυχῇ· ἥνπερ ἐὰν κατάσχωμεν, τὰ πάθη ἐσβέσαμεν, καὶ εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἐλάμψαμεν. Ἅπαντα πόνον ποιήσεις ἕως τῆς ὁσίας ἀγάπης ἐπιτεύξῃ, ὅτι, ταύτης ἀπούσης, ὅφελος τῶν παρόντων οὐδέν. Καὶ γὰρ ὀργὴ ἀγριαίνεται, καὶ ἤθη χαλεπαίνεται, πόνοι ἀπονοούμενοι τῇ δόξῃ συμμίγνυνται. ∆ιὰ ψυχῆς ταπείνωσιν ∆αβὶδ μετὰ πένθους 79.1137 ἐνήστευσε, καὶ ἡμεῖς διὰ νηστείας τὴν ψυχὴν ταπεινώσωμεν. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΛΓʹ. Ὁ τοῖς σωματικοῖς πόνοις τραχυτέρως ἀσκούμενος, μηδὲ ἐπαίνῳ ἐργαζέσθω, μήτε δόξῃ ἐπαιρέσθω· εἰ γὰρ ἐν τούτοις οἱ δαίμονες ὀφρυώσουσι τὴν ψυχήν· καὶ τὴν τραχύτητα, καὶ τὴν ἄσκησιν τοῦ σώματος ἐνισχύσουσι τῇ δόξῃ, καὶ μειζόνων ἐφάπτεσθαι πόνων ἐφελκύσουσιν, ὡς ἵνα καὶ μειζόνως ἐπαίρηται· συλλαλοῦσι γὰρ ἔσωθεν διὰ τῶν λογισμῶν εἰσβάλλοντες ταῦτα, ὅτι Καθὼς ὁ δεῖνα ἀποσκλήρως ἀσκήσας, καὶ ὁ δεῖνα μεγάλως ὠνομάσθη, καὶ θανὼν ἔτι λαλεῖται, οὕτω καὶ αὐτὸς εἰς ἀκρότατον ἐπασκήσεως ἀνάβηθι ὕψος, ἵνα δόξαν σαυτῷ περιποιήσῃ, καὶ μέγα σου τὸ ὄνομα ἐξέλθῃ, ἐπὶ τῷ καὶ μετὰ θάνατον ὑπερβαλλόντως λαλεῖσθαι. ∆ιὰ δὴ τῶν οὕτως ἀπατηθέντων, οὐ μόνον τοῖς σωματικοῖς σου πολεμοῦσι πόνοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ μᾶλλον εἰς συμμαχίαν καλοῦσιν, ὅτι δι' αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς χαλεπωτέροις ψαύουσι τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ γὰρ ἐνθρονίζουσιν αὐτὸν, καὶ εἰς τὸν διδασκαλικὸν ἐξυψοῦσι λόγον, ἵνα ὡς ἐκ τούτου τὰ πρῶτα τῶν μεγαλοπόνων τε καὶ γνωστικῶν ἔχειν εὐφημισθῇ. Ζηλοῦν δὲ καὶ φθονεῖν εἰσβάλλουσι τοῖς ἐπὶ κατορθώμασιν εὐφημουμένοις, καὶ ὧν θαυμαστὴ μᾶλλον ἡ πρᾶξις, καὶ γνῶσις γειτνιᾷ. Ἔσθ' ὅτε δὲ καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ τὴν πύρωσιν ἀποκοιμίζουσι δολερῶς τοὺς ἀκαθάρτους λογισμοὺς ἐκ τῶν ἐντὸς ἐκτοπίζοντες, ὡς ἵνα νομισθῇ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πορνείας τῇ κληρουχίᾳ νενικηκέναι, καὶ κατὰ τὴν λαμπρότητα τῶν ἁγίων τὴν καρδίαν
The Danger of Spiritual Pride and Deception§16
16To have become pure, and to have ascended to the edge of holiness. Regarding these things—and the impurities from which he abstained, and the fasts he chose—they assign to him the times in which he ought to boast as an elite, and they diminish the brotherhood as something trivial. Thus, they narrate his struggles as if they were perfected by his own strength alone, saying, 'I did these things, and I practiced thus, and I was persecuted,' while even now cutting off the saying, 'Not I, but the help within me.' For they do not allow him to confess God as a helper in those things in which they make him magnify himself, so that, having completed all the struggles as if from his own inherent strength, he might fully demand the praise of his labors, so that he might sink into the abyss of blasphemy, unashamedly contradicting himself.
Chapter 44. Thus, indeed, when the heart is echoed by the glory of thoughts and does not oppose them, it will not be outside the possibility of a madness in the secret parts of the mind, with the ruling part of the mind being at risk of being cast out, or through believing in dreams, or being transformed in vigils, or being dazzled by a transformation of light. For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light to deceive us (2 Cor 11:14), perhaps showing gifts, so that having fallen you might worship, or proclaiming himself to take up the role as another Elijah, or promising to sanctify, some of whom, having received faith in these, missed the truth and became mentally deranged. You then, O suppliant of the Holy Trinity, knowing these things in which you labor, keep your heart with every guard, lest, attending only to external labors, you be bitterly drenched from within. My words, then, O child, are spoken to you, and let your heart keep my sayings; remember Christ who guards you, and let him not forget the worshiper and the consubstantial Trinity, to whom is the glory forever. Amen.
Greek · §16
ἡγνικέναι, καὶ εἰς τὴν τῆς ἀγιωσύνης ἁψῖδα ἀναβεβηκέναι. Περὶ δὲ ὧν τε, καὶ ὧν ἀπέσχετο βρωμάτων, καὶ συναπτῶν ἀσιτιῶν ἐπιψηφίζουσιν αὐτῷ τοὺς χρόνους ἐν οἷς ὀφείλει ὡς ἀριστεὺς ἐγκαυχᾶσθαι, καὶ τῆς ἀδελφότητος ὡς εὐτελοῦς κατεπαίρεσθαι· οὕτω δὲ ἐκδιηγεῖσθαι ποιοῦσιν αὐτὸν τοὺς ἀγῶνας ὡς ἐκ μόνης τῆς αὐτοῦ ἰσχύος κατορθωθέντας, ὅτι Ἐποίησα τάδε, καὶ ἤσκησα τοιῶσδε, καὶ 16 ἐκακουχήθην, ἀποστομοῦντες ἔτι τοῦτο λέγειν, Οὐκ ἐγὼ δὲ, ἀλλ' ἡ ἐν ἐμοὶ βοήθεια. Θεὸν γὰρ βοηθὸν ἐφ' οἷς μεγαλαυχεῖν αὐτὸν ποιοῦσιν ὁμολογεῖν οὐκ ἐῶσιν, ἵνα ὡς ἐξ οἰκείας δῆθεν ἰσχύος τὸ πᾶν τῶν ἀγώνων τελέσας, τοὺς ἐπαίνους τῶν ἄθλων ὁλοκλήρως ἀπαιτοίη, ὅπως καὶ εἰς τὸν τῆς βλασφημίας βυθὸν ποντωθείη, αὐτοβόηθον ἑαυτὸν ἀνεπαισθήτως παρεμφαίνων. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Λ∆ʹ. Οὕτω τοιγαροῦν τῆς καρδίας διὰ τῆς τῶν λογισμῶν δόξης ἐνηχουμένης, καὶ μὴ ἀντιταττομένης, οὐκ ἐκτὸς ἔσται τῆς ἐν ἀποκρύφῳ τῶν φρενῶν παραπληξίας, τοῦ ἡγεμόνος φρενῶν ἐκτιναχθῆναι κινδυνεύοντος, ἢ δι' ὀνειράτων πιστουμένων, ἢ ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις μεταμορφουμένων, ἢ ἐν μετασχηματισμῷ 79.1140 φωτὸς ὀπτανομένων. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ Σατανᾶς μετασχηματίζεται εἰς ἄγγελον φωτὸς πρὸς ἀπάτην ἡμετέραν, ἴσως χαρίσματα δώσειν ἐνδεικνύμενος, ὡς ἵνα πεσὼν προσκυνήσῃς, ἢ ἀναλαμβάνειν ὡς ἄλλον Ἠλίαν εὐαγγελιζόμενος, ἢ ἁγιάζειν ὑπισχνούμενος, ὧν τινες τὴν πίστιν δεξάμενοι περὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἠστόχησαν, καὶ φρενοβλαβεῖς ἐγενήθησαν. Σὺ οὖν, ὦ τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος ἱκέτα, εἰδὼς ταῦτα ἐν οἷς φιλοπονεῖς, πάσῃ φυλακῇ τήρει σὴν καρδίαν, μήπως τοῖς ἔξωθεν μόνον πόνοις προσέχων, τοῖς ἔσωθεν δολερῶς βροχισθῇς. Οἱ ἐμοὶ οὖν λόγοι, ὦ τέκνον, εἴρηνται πρὸς σὲ, τὰ δὲ ῥήματά μου τηρείτω σὴ καρδία· μέμνησο Χριστοῦ τοῦ φυλάσσοντός σε, καὶ μὴ ἐπιλάθῃ τῆς προσκυνητῆς καὶ ὁμοουσίου Τριάδος, ᾗ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν. 17