The Necessity of Virtue and Prayer

To the heart. He who has not acquired pure prayer has no weapon for war. He who is adorned and equipped by the virtues of God will be a dwelling-place for demons.

Just as a king cannot dwell in the house of a poor man, so Christ will not dwell in a soul defiled by sin. Just as a barren place is made fruitful through diligent care, so a soul made wild by sins is made fruitful if it lives by the law of God. Just as a rock in the sea remains firm and unshaken, even when struck by waves, so also the one having perfected the virtues, and having been strengthened by them entirely, will never be shaken by the devil. Just as a physician devises a remedy for the treatment of a disease, so also the knowledge of God, being preserved, teaches the one participating in it so that he might be kept safe and proceed to greater things. Just as a precipice creates its own passage, so also sin having been received works the destruction of what it has acquired. Just as a deer that has fallen into a pit cannot easily escape, so also the one performing desires and turning about in this world will never flee sin; for desires are evil, and pleasures are ill-fated chains. Just as a vine, not producing good fruits, is cut off so that it does not waste the place, so also every one will be uprooted from the Lord.