Philokalia

THE PHILOCALY OF THE NEPTIC FATHERS[1] COLLECTED BY OUR SAINT AND THEOPHORUS FATHER, THROUGH WHICH, THROUGH THE PHILOSOPHY OF ASCETIC PRACTICE AND CONTEMPLATION, THE INTELLECT IS PURIFIED, ILLUMINATED AND MADE PERFECT.

[1] Neptic Fathers, those who possess Nepsis (from the Greek νῆψις): Nepsis is a state of perpetual attention, awareness and perfect sobriety.

☩ ORGANIZER NOTES

The index can be found on the last pages. The Greek Filocalia texts translated into Portuguese compiled here were taken from the blog precedentjesus.blogspot.com.br and precedentjesus1.blogspot.com.br , by Tito Kehl.

PREFACE OF NICODEMO THE HAGIORITE

God, the benevolent Nature, the more than perfect perfection, the best and most beautiful Origin, creator of all that is good and beautiful, having decided for all eternity, in his thearchic principle, to deify man, and, having placed previously, from the beginning, this goal in itself, created man in the time he considered good. He took from matter to make the body, and from his own nature to place a soul in it. In this small world of the body, he placed it as a great world due to the number of powers and its eminence. Thus he made him a keeper of the sensible creation and an initiate of the intelligible creation, according to Gregory the great theologian. Indeed, who was the man? In fact, nothing more than an image and an icon full of all graces, created by God. God having next given him the law of his order, as a proof of his freedom, he knew that he must henceforth retire in the presence of this law. As Ecclesiasticus [1] says, he was left to his own discretion, free to choose whatever was presented to him as he thought was good. If he maintained order, he should receive as a reward the annipostatic grace of deification, become God and radiate the purest light, in eternity.

But – oh perversity of jealousy! – he who introduced evil from the beginning could not stand the deification being set in motion. He conceived jealousy against the Creator and against the creature, as Saint Maximus says. Against the Creator, so that the celebrated power of goodness that, with its energy, deifies man, would not be recognized. Against the creature, so that it would not be possible for him to participate, through deification, in such supernatural glory. The evil one, in his intrigues, deceived the unfortunate man. Through apparently precious suggestions, he caused man to transgress the divine order. By detaching him from the glory of God, apparently the rebel won as he wanted, since he managed to avoid fulfilling God's eternal recommendations.

But according to the divine oracle, God's advice regarding the deification of human nature remains in eternity, and the thoughts of his heart pass from generation to generation [2]. The reasons of Providence and, therefore, the reasons of Judgment, which tend towards this objective, have always immutably accompanied the present century, as well as the future century, as Saint Maximus explains. At the end of the days, in the depths of his mercy, he asked the Word of the Father, the divine Origin, to nullify the recommendations of the prince of darkness, and to go further to put into practice the ancient and true recommendation, which he had established in the principle. Thus having become incarnate through the blessedness of the Father and the synergy of the Holy Spirit, he took within himself all nature and deified it. Then, having entrusted to us the divine work of his salutary commandments, and having granted us through baptism the perfect grace of the Holy Spirit, he sowed in our hearts as if a divine seed. According to the Evangelist, to us who lead our lives according to his life-giving commandments and the spiritual passages from one age to another, to us who through this exercise keep the inextinguishable grace, he allowed us to finally bear the fruits, to become, through this grace children of God [3], and be deified, reaching the perfect man, in the measure of the fullness of Christ [4].

2 [1] Ecclesiastes XV, 14.
3 [2] Psalm XXXIII, 11.
4 [3] Cf. John I, 12.
5 [4] Cf. Ephesians IV, 13.

Such, in a word, was the end, the conclusion of the entire economy of the Word concerning us. But here we have reason to groan bitterly, as John Chrysostom says. Because we would have enjoyed such grace, we would have been worthy of such nobility, that our soul, purified by the Spirit in baptism, would shine brighter than the sun, for we would have received as children this God-like splendor. Now, blind as we were by ignorance, but above all by the dark night of the worries of existence, we so erased the grace beneath the passions, that we were on the point of completely extinguishing the Spirit of God within us, almost like those who responded to Paul that they had not even heard that there was a Holy Spirit [5], and that we were as if at departure, when our grace had not yet begun. Now, 6 how weak we are, incapable of making malice and our untimely tendency towards the sensitive disappear! The amazing thing is that when we hear that grace works in others, we become jealous, and we do not believe that the energy of grace is capable of operating in the present century.

What happens to them? First the Spirit, who filled the Fathers with wisdom and, as a consequence of nepsis – sobriety and vigilance – attention to everything and guarding the intellect, revealed to them how to discover grace, as a wonder, in truth, in the heart itself. of science. On the other hand, continuous prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ Son of God [6], I must say, not only with the intellect, nor only with the lips (which, in fact, normally occurs spontaneously in all who choose perform an act of piety, which anyone is easily capable of). This prayer is granted to those who have turned their intellect entirely to the interiority of man. And it's stunning. Thus, within, in the very depths of their hearts, they invoked the holy name of the Lord hoping for his piety, attentive to the raw words of prayer and only to them, perceiving nothing else, neither external nor internal, to maintain the intellect entirely formless and colorless. The reasons for this work, and its material, if we can say so, come from the teaching of the Lord, who both said: “The Kingdom of heaven is in you [7]”, and said: “You hypocrite, first purify the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will also be pure [8].” This should not be taken in the sensible order, but applies to our inner man.

As the apostle Paul rightly writes to the Ephesians: “This is why I bow the knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that he may grant them to be strengthened in power by his Spirit in their inner man, and that he makes Christ dwell in their hearts. [9]” Can we find clearer testimony? Elsewhere: “Singing, he said, and celebrating the Lord in his hearts. [10]” Are you listening? He said: “in the heart”. Which is confirmed by the apostles' Coryphaeus: “Until the day shines, he said, and the morning star rises in their hearts [11].” And this, which is necessary for every man devoted to piety, is also taught by the Holy Spirit in many pages of the New Testament, as those who pore over and reflect on them can see.

Thanks to this work dedicated to the Spirit and science, linked as much as possible to the work of the commandments and the action of the other ethical virtues, thanks to the heat aroused in the heart by the invocation of the holy name and the spiritual energy that arises from this invocation, the passions are consumed. “For our God is a fire that consumes evil.” Little by little the intellect and the heart are purified and unite with each other. Now, when they are purified and united, it is easier to behave according to the salutary commandments. Soon the fruits of the Spirit appear in the soul, and good things abound. In a word, we are allowed to quickly return to the perfect grace of the Spirit, which was given to us in baptism, which is in us, but which was mixed with the passions, like an ember in the midst of ashes, and which burns with all its splendor. in the soul, so that it is recognized, its intelligence is illuminated and, therefore, it is finished and deified.

6 [5] Cf. Acts XIX, 2.
7 [6] Cf. I Thessalonians V, 17.
8 [7] Luke XVII, 21.
9 [8] Matthew XXIII, 26.
10 [9] Ephesians III, 14-17.
11 [10] Ephesians V, 19.
12 [11] II Peter I, 19.

Most of the Fathers mention this work here and there in their writings. They do it for those who know reason. But no doubt some of them predicted that our generation would ignore and neglect this salutary study. Having precisely explained the practical mode of study by certain natural methods, they did not hesitate to transmit it to us, their own children, as a paternal inheritance. They honored this study with different names. They called it the beginning of all work that pleases God, an abundance of goods, a most pure sign of repentance, an action that approaches true contemplation by the intellect. And they all urge us to really dedicate ourselves to this work. But I regret what happens here, and suffering cuts off my words. For these books, and many others still, which deal with attention and nepsis and which are called neptics, in fact signify, in the love of wisdom, the work of purification, illumination and perfection, to speak like the Areopagite. All, in the same way, like so many other necessary means and organs, go in the same direction and have as their sole objective the deification of man. But, both because of their antiquity and their rarity, they were missed. Let me say that they have never been edited. And if some survived, they were eaten by worms and deteriorated in every way. They are mentioned almost as if they never existed. I will add that the majority of our people have fallen into negligence, and are occupied with many things, I mean, with the bodily virtues, with the active virtues, or, in other words, only with the instruments of the virtues, and spend their whole lives in this. The only necessary thing, the guard of the intellect and pure prayer, they do not even know that they neglect, outside of all science.

The risk is there, that the conciseness and sweetness of such work will be totally lacking, that grace will be overshadowed and extinguished, and that with it the work that unites us with our God will be taken away. (As we said, this union was the previous will of God, in his benevolence, from the beginning. As for the end, which is the supreme objective – creation in view of being, and the economy of the Word that leads us to being-in -good, and to being-in-eternal good – this is simply what God did in both the old and new Testaments).

Where, in the past, many of those who lived in the world, the kings themselves and all those who spent their time in palaces, every day taken over by a multitude of responsibilities and concerns inherent to their positions, pursued only one work, that of praying continually in their hearts (as we find so many in the Chronicles), now, through neglect and ignorance, it has become rare – and what a shame! – and it is very difficult to find such men, not only among those who live in the world, but even among monks and those who live in solitude. Since they are deprived of this work, and although they carry on the fight, each one as best they can, each one striving for virtue, they will not reap any fruit. For without the continuous remembrance of the Lord, without the heart pregnant with this remembrance, without the intellect purified from all evil, it is impossible to bear fruit. For it was said, “Apart from me you can do nothing,” and also, “He who abides in me will bear much fruit.”

I recognize it then. For the fact that there is a lack of those who are distinguished by holiness and who live even after death, for the fact that so few are saved in these times, there is no other reason than this: we neglect this work that leads to deification . If his intelligence is not deified, says a Priest, it is impossible for man to be sanctified, or even saved. What the Sage of God reveals here is terrible, even to be heard: being saved and being deified are one and the same thing. But the most serious thing is that we are deprived of even the books that could take us there. Well, without them, it is almost impossible to reach the end.

But here comes John Mavrogordatos, this good man, lover of Christ, fully endowed with all the most important qualities that lead to generosity, love for the poor, hospitality and all the virtues, continually burning with zeal for the common good.

It was he who, inspired by the grace of Christ, who wants to save and deify all men, transformed our lamentations into joy and resolved the insurmountable. In fact, by proposing to each one the means for deification, he made himself, so to speak, hands and feet in order to contribute through this work to the eternal counsel of God, as he said. What glory and what greatness! Well here is what has never been published before. This is what was hidden, destined for obscurity and abandonment, these forgotten texts, eaten by worms, thrown and dispersed around. Here they are, they who, through science, lead to purity of the heart, sobriety and awakening of the intellect, to the remembrance of the grace that is within us, and we can add: to deification. Bringing them together in the same book, João Mavrogordatos edits them in broad daylight. And it was necessary. It was necessary for someone to expose everything that refers to divine illumination, and to do so in the light of an edition. With this, on the one hand he relieves those who know how much pain it takes to transcribe manuscripts and, on the other, he simultaneously awakens the love for their acquisition, I mean the love for the act itself, in those who do not know. You therefore have in your hands, dear reader, thanks to him, without difficulty and easily, the present spiritual book, this book that is the treasure of nepsis, the guardian of the intellect, the mystical teaching of the noera proseuchè – the spiritual prayer – this book which is an admirable exposition of praktiké – active virtue –, a guide to infallible contemplation, the Paradise of the Fathers, the golden catena of virtues, this book that is a permanent conversation with Jesus, the trumpet that announces grace, in a word the very organ of deification, the good, desired a thousand times above all others, meditated on and sought for many years, but unfindable. That is why you, reader, must feel obliged by necessity and by all justice, to pray to the divine with a burning heart for your benefactor and his collaborators, so that they too, who have given themselves to the work, achieve the fair measure of deification, and be the first to taste its fruits.

But here someone might object that the testimonies in this book should not be published, since they are foreign to the understanding of most people, and that these things are not without dangers.

We will answer in two words. We too, dear friend, did not enter this company based on our own ideas, but based on the example of others. On the one hand, we have the example of Holy Scripture, which asks all the faithful, without distinction, to pray continually and to always have the Lord before their eyes: it would therefore be impious to say that there is an impediment, or that it is impossible to follow the commandments of the Spirit, according to the great Basil. On the other hand, we have the example of the written tradition of the Fathers: in fact, Gregory the Theologian asks all those he was in charge of to remember God more than to breathe. John Chrysostom devoted three entire sermons to the continuous prayer of the intellect, and in numerous speeches he exhorts everyone to always pray. In the same way Gregory the Sinaite, wherever he went, taught this salutary work. And God himself, by miraculously sending an angel from above, sealed this truth, closing the mouth of the monk who objected, as we will see at the end of this book. And what more to say, when even those who live in the world, who spend their time in imperial palaces, and who, as we said, have this meditation as an incessant work, what to say when they confirm the fact, being capable by themselves of closing the mouths of contradictors? And if some have strayed a little, what's so surprising about that? Most of the time, it was through presumption that they lost their way, as Gregory the Sinaite says. As for me, I think that the cause of this derivation is the following: they did not follow strictly and in everything the teaching of the Fathers on this work. But the cause would not be in the work itself, far from it. For this work is holy, and it is basically through it that we should be freed from all error. In fact, says Paul, God's commandments that lead to life, applied according to the law, led some to death. But this did not happen because of the commandment. But how then? Why is the commandment holy, just and true? Due to the perversity of evil plots? So why?

Should we accuse the divine command because of the sin of some? Shall we also neglect this salutary work, because some have gone astray? Absolutely. Neither. But, first of all, let us have confidence in the One who said: “I am the way and the truth”, and let us get to work, with all humility and in a state of mourning. In fact, if someone freed himself from his presumption and desire to please men, even if he were attacked by a whole phalanx of demons, they would not be able to approach him, according to the teaching of the Fathers.

Things being like this, and as this book exposes the irreproachable, in everything and everywhere, and on all sides, as was said, this invitation from Wisdom will be very opportune from now on: take it in your hands, and proclaim it loudly The appeal that this book invites everyone to the spiritual table is well worth it. You who do not disdain God's feast, you who do not seek an excuse by claiming the harvest, the animals and the women, like those who refused the invitation in the Gospel, come, come. Eat in this book the Gnostic bread of Wisdom, and drink the wine that gladdens the heart with all intelligence and that separates it from everything sensitive and from everything intelligible, through deification in ecstasy. Get drunk on the intoxication that true sobriety gives. Come, all you who take part in the Orthodox vocation, laymen and monks, you who strive to find the Kingdom of God in yourselves, as well as the treasure hidden in the field of the heart, Jesus Christ, sweet and humble, in order to, with your intellect freed from its inferior captivity and perdition, and with your heart purified from the passions by the continual invocation of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the other auxiliary virtues that are taught in this book, you are united with yourselves and through yourselves to God, in accordance with the Lord's prayer to the Father, when he said: "That they may all be one as we are one", and that, thus united to Him and entirely transformed by the possession and ecstasy of the divine Eros, you may be fully deified in the noera aisthesis – the sense of the intellect – in plerophoria – the full undoubted certainty – and may you reach the ultimate goal of God, glorifying the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the unique Divinity in its divine Origin, to it all the glory , honor and adoration for ever and ever. Amen.

TOME I, VOLUME I

ANTONY THE GREAT († 356)

Anthony the Great, our Father, the Coriphaeus of the choir of ascetics, lived in the reign of Constantine, around the year 330.

He was a contemporary of Athanasius, who wrote the story of his life. He took virtue and impassivity to the extreme. Although he was a simple and uneducated man, it was granted to him from above to teach the wisdom of the Spirit, which instructs sinners and children. With his intellect illuminated by the grace of this wisdom, he explained diverse and numerous spiritual principles, and to those who questioned him he gave very wise answers, to the great benefit of the soul, as we can see in the writings of the Desert Fathers. In addition to these testimonies, he left us 170 chapters that are reported in this book. That he is the true author of these thoughts, João Damasceno and others confirm. The texture of the sentences excludes doubt. However, it allows interpretations to those who examine it closely. Be that as it may, the thoughts are contemporary with a holy antiquity.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the expressions come from the simplest, archaic and unresearched writing. The amazing thing is that such simplicity puts the reader on the path of salvation and so much good, to the point that conviction blossoms in him, to the point of instilling joy in him. Straight to the point where the sweetness and certainty of evangelical life shines. Those who taste this honey in their intellect will certainly achieve this pleasure.

* These 170 chapters, attributed to Saint Anthony, and which constitute the initial text of the great Greek Philokalia, are at once a paradox and a symbol.

The Paradox is evident. The text, the oldest in the anthology, has a whole formula. He announces the data and scope of spiritual combat. But it is somewhat alien to the biblical and ecclesiastical support of the philochalic corpus: no direct quotations from Scripture, no mention of the name of Christ, no references to the Christian community. We only find, in chapter 141, and as a brief interpolation, a confession of the persons of the Trinity.

But the symbol is no less clear. There is something like a double rooting of the Hesychast tradition in the name of Saint Anthony and in his “exhortations” which, for modern critics, are nothing more than a compilation of late Stoic writings revised by a Christian monk. Or it is the direct writing of a Christian treatise that uses Stoic premises of what the Fathers would later call “practical philosophy”. In any case, osmosis is total. Christian hope rests entirely on “virtuous conduct.” Simply God, immortality, eternal life, salvation, the Kingdom of Heaven, constantly invoked, but as if separated from the Gospel, replace ataraxia here. Thus, salvation depends less on redemption than on the principle of causality. Man is immortal because he is endowed with intellect and reason, not because he has been redeemed by the incarnation of the Son of God. An abyss. But a fertile abyss, full of key words from the Hesychast vocabulary (logos and nous, reason and intellect) which, for the Fathers, are the very mediations that unite God and man, since reason becomes flesh in Christ and that the intellect resolves itself into prayer of the heart and luminous deification. Total osmosis is therefore not free.

But under these conditions, the attribution of the text to Saint Anthony could only be symbolic. Only the dates roughly coincide: from the 1st to the 4th century of our era for the 170 chapters, and the II and IV for Saint Anthony, who was in the deserts of Egypt the Father of Christian monasticism: thus, Anthony and his exhortations only have in common the fact that they were the first testimonies of what would follow later.

The place of the 170 chapters at the head of the philochalic anthology, however paradoxical it may be, is therefore exemplary.

These chapters mean at the very least that Stoicism, this closed sphere in which ancient philosophy was refined and petrified at the same time, ended up opening up to Christian hope, or, in any case, serving as its support. It will reach the monks, over the centuries, through the exercise of evangelical humility and compassion, attributing “practical philosophy” solely to the prayer of the heart, therefore to the pure expectation of grace. But the symbol is preserved. In the long history of Christian monasticism, this text, in its own way, corresponds exactly to what was Saint Anthony's decisive experience: a pregnancy.

TI, VI – ANTHONY THE GREAT

EXHORTATIONS ON MEN'S BEHAVIOR AND VIRTUOUS LIFE

1. It is abusive to say that men are endowed with reason. Those who allow themselves to be taught by the words and books of ancient wise men are not rational. But those whose soul is endowed with reason and who are capable of discerning what is good and what is evil are rational. Fleeing from everything that is bad and harmful, they devote themselves to the study of what is good and useful. It is they, and only they, that we can truly call men endowed with reason.

2. The man endowed with reason in truth has but one thing in his heart: to obey and please the God of the universe, and to conform his soul with the sole concern of being pleasing to him, giving him thanks for the reality and strength of his providence through which he directs all things, whatever happens to him during his life. In fact, it would be out of place to thank doctors for the health of the body who prescribe bitter and unpleasant medicines, while we refuse to thank God for things that seem painful to us, as if we did not know that everything that happens is as it should be, and for our good, by the care of providence. For the knowledge of God and faith in him are the salvation and perfection of the soul.

3. Temperance, resignation, chastity, perseverance, patience and the like are the corresponding considerable virtuous powers that we receive from God to resist the difficulties of the moment, face them and help us. If we exercise and maintain these powers, we will realize that from then on nothing difficult, painful and intolerable happens to us, with the thought that everything is human and can be dominated by the virtues that are within us. Those who do not have the intelligence of the soul do not think this way, because they do not understand that everything happens for the good and as it should, for our benefit, so that virtues shine, and that we are crowned by God.

4. If you think that having money and showing opulence are nothing more than an illusory and fleeting appearance, if you know that the virtuous life that pleases God rescues you from riches, and if you seriously reflect on this and remember it, you will no longer groan , nor will you lament, you will not accuse anyone, but in everything you will give thanks to God, seeing those who are worse than you rely on eloquence and money. For this is as serious an evil for the soul as greed, ambition and ignorance.

5. It is by examining himself that the man endowed with reason experiences what suits him and is useful to him, what is appropriate to the soul and is advantageous to him, and what is strange to him. And this is how he avoids the evil that is harmful to the soul, because it is foreign to it and separates it from immortality.

6. The more modestly a person lives, the happier he is, because he has few worries. She does not need to worry about servants and workers, she does not seek to own animals. For those who allow themselves to be harassed by worries and fall in the face of the difficulties they cause end up disliking God. But then this jealousy that is only in us irrigates death, and we are left wandering in the darkness of a life of sin, without knowing ourselves.

7. It should not be said that it is impossible for man to achieve a virtuous life, but rather that this is not easy.

This life is not available to everyone. But those among men who consecrate themselves to piety and whose intellect is loved by God share in the virtuous life. Because the common intellect is turned towards the world, it is mutant, it nourishes both good and bad thoughts, it changes by nature and is directed towards matter. But the intellect loved by God knows how to protect itself from the evil that negligence causes in man.

8. Uneducated and ignorant men turn the words of others into mockery and refuse to listen to them when their ignorance is rebuked; they want everyone to be like them. In the same way, men who are depraved in their lives and their behavior arrange themselves so that the whole world is worse than they are; They imagine that, among so many vagabonds, they will be considered irreproachable. The careless soul becomes lost and soiled in the malice presented to it by debauchery, pride, greed, anger, aggressiveness, fury, brutality, complaints, envy, cupidity, rapacity, pain, lie, pleasure, irresponsibility, sadness, laziness, illness, anger, shame, weakness, error, ignorance, lies, forgetfulness of God. It is for these evils, and for others like them, that the poor soul that has separated itself from God is punished.

9. Those who wish to lead a virtuous, pious and praiseworthy life should not be judged by their behavior, which can be simulated, nor by their conduct, which can be deceptive. But like artists, painters and sculptors, it is through their works that they reveal their virtuous and God-loved conduct, and that they reject all evil pleasures as snares.

10. In the eyes of those who have sound judgment, being rich and well born, but having an uneducated soul and a life devoid of all virtue, is equivalent to being unhappy, just as he is happy who was born poor and a slave by luck, but whose life is adorned with virtues. Just as foreigners get lost along the way, those who have no care for a virtuous life get lost, allowing themselves to be deceived by illusions.

11. We must call “creator of men” someone who is capable of taming uneducated natures to the point of making them love education and culture. In the same way, those who transform the deviant by inspiring them with virtuous conduct that pleases God, should also be called “men-makers”, as they remodel men. For sweetness and temperance are to human souls a happiness and a good hope.

12. Men must behave in truth as is appropriate to their behavior and conduct.

Once this redirection operates, it becomes easy to know the things of God. In fact, he who venerates God with all his heart and with all his faith, receives from divine providence the possibility of controlling anger and greed. Now, greed and anger are the source of all evil.

13. Let the name of man be he who is endowed with reason or he who agrees to correct himself. Whoever does not correct himself is called unworthy of the name of man: this is characteristic of inhuman beings. We must flee from these, as it is impossible for those who live in evil to be counted among the immortals.

14. If reason truly accompanies us, it makes us worthy of being called men.

But if we abandon reason, it is only by the conformation of our limbs and our voice that we differ from animals without reason. Let the intelligent man thus recognize that he himself is immortal, and he will have an aversion to all unruly greed, which is the cause of death for men.

15. Each of the arts, organizing its own matter, reveals its virtue. One works wood, another bronze, another gold and silver. In the same way, we who hear about the happy and virtuous conduct that pleases God, must show in truth that we are men endowed with reason by our soul, and not only by the conformation of the body. Now, the soul that is truly endowed with reason and loved by God directly knows all things in life. She prays to God with all her love and gives thanks to him in truth, directing all her desires and all her thoughts to him.

16. Just as pilots have a watchman to direct the ship and not throw it against some underwater bank or rock, so those who aspire to a virtuous life must carefully examine what to do and what to avoid. May they consider that their good lies in the true laws, the divine laws, nipping the harmful ambitions of the soul in the bud.

17. Just as pilots and car drivers, through attention and care, get where they want, so those who cultivate a straight and virtuous life must be careful to lead a life that suits and pleases God. For he who wants, and who understands that he can believe, takes the path to immortality.

18. Consider that they are free, not those who luck has made free, but those who are free by their life and their behavior. For we should not call princes who live in evil and debauchery truly free: they are slaves to the passions of matter. Freedom and happiness of the soul consist in faithful purity and disdain for what happens.

19. Remember that you must constantly bear witness in the eyes of others, but by your virtuous conduct and by your own works. It is in this way, not through words but through actions, that patients discover and recognize, in their doctors, benefactors and saviors.

20. The mark of a soul endowed with reason and virtuous is in the look, in the walk, in the voice, in the laughter, in the occupations and in the conversations. Because everything transforms and readapts to become more noble. The intellect loved by God guards its doors, vigilant and sober, prohibiting entry to the infamy of evil thoughts.

21. Reflect for yourself, and recognize that magistrates and authorities have power only over bodies, but not over the soul. Always keep this conviction with you. If they order violence, or an absurdity, or an injustice harmful to the soul, they must not be obeyed, even if they mistreat their body, because God created the soul free and capable of deciding for itself whether it does good or evil.

22. The soul endowed with reason dedicates itself to freeing itself from ambition, pride, arrogance, falsehood, jealousy, rapacity and the vices that resemble them. All these vices are the work of demons and an evil will. But persevering effort and care corrects all this in the man whose desire is not oriented towards easy pleasures.

23. Those who live with little and do not seek to obtain everything, escape dangers and do not need to be watched. As for those who have mastered greed in all things, they easily find the path that leads to God.

24. It is not necessary for men endowed with reason to have many relationships. They only need useful relationships, directed by the will of God. This is how men return to light and eternal life.

25. Those who aspire to a virtuous life loved by God must turn away from pride and all false and vain glory, and strive to straighten out their lives and their thoughts. For the intellect loved by God and always equal is the path that elevates us to God.

26. There is no point in knowing how to speak if you lack the conduct of your soul that is pleasing and pleasing to God. But the source of all evil is God's error, lies and ignorance.

27. It is the care for the most beautiful life and the soul that makes men good and loved by God. For he who seeks God finds him: he rules over all covetousness and is not separated from prayer. This man does not fear demons.

28. Those who have lost themselves because of the hopes of this life and only know how to lead the most beautiful life in words, are a bit like patients who look for medicines and medical instruments, but who do not know how to use them nor are they worried with this. That is why, when we are at fault, we should never accuse our parents or anyone else, but only ourselves. For if the soul abandons itself to negligence, it becomes impossible for it to win.

29. For those who do not know how to discern what is good from what is bad, it is impossible to judge who is good and who is bad.

For man is good if he knows God; but if he is not good, he knows nothing and will never have this knowledge. For good is the way of knowing God.

30. Good men and those loved by God do not denounce the evil of others except in their presence, and face to face. They never reproach those who are absent. And they do not accept listening to those who accuse others in this way.

31. May all duration be banned in your conversations. For modesty and reserve adorn a man endowed with reason, even more than virgins. The intellect loved by God is the light that illuminates the soul, as the sun illuminates the body.

32. In all the trials that fall to your soul, remember that in the eyes of those who have the right care and the will to keep what belongs to them in order and safety, it is not the perishable possession of riches that is considered pleasant, but the right and true doctrines: these are what make them happy.

For the rich can be dispossessed and plundered by those who are more powerful than him. But the virtue of the soul is the only safe and inviolable good, the only one that, after death, saves whoever possesses it. Those who think like this will not be carried away by the ghosts of wealth and pleasures.

33. It is not appropriate for unstable and uneducated men to consider themselves eminent. An eminent man is one who pleases God, who is silent most of the time, or who speaks little and says only what is necessary and pleasing to God.

34. Those who aspire to live in the virtue and love of God, care for the virtues of the soul as their own good, as their own eternal delights. As for the things that pass away, they enjoy them as far as possible, and according to what God gives and wants. They use everything with joy and gratitude, even if these things are rationed to them. Because eating well and enough nourishes the body and its matter.

But the knowledge of God, temperance, goodness, blessedness, piety and sweetness deify the soul.

35. Those who, among the powerful, force misplaced and harmful actions to be carried out, while the soul was created free, are therefore not masters. They can imprison the body, but not the will, because the man endowed with reason is his master by God his Creator, who is stronger than any power, any imposition and any potency.

36. Those who consider the loss of money, children, servants or any other good as unfortunate, know that we must first of all be content with what God gives, and give back to him with enthusiasm and gratitude, when necessary , without being affected by this deprivation, or rather by this restitution, since those who use what does not belong to them never stop giving back.

37. It is the work of a righteous man not to sell his freedom in exchange for goods offered to him, even if they are many. For the things of earth are like a dream, and wealth is but an uncertain and ephemeral illusion.

38. May those who are truly worthy of being called men dedicate themselves to leading their lives in love for God and virtue so that their virtuous life shines among other men. Just as purple, however little it may be, sprinkled on the whiteness of a garment, adorns it with beauty and makes it distinguish and recognize, so these men will more safely maintain care for the virtues of the soul.

39. Wise men devote themselves to carefully examining their strength and the resources of virtue they bring in their souls, if they want to be ready to oppose all passions, to the extent of their possibilities, which are naturally given to them by God. Its resources are temperance in the face of the seductions of beauty and all greed harmful to the soul, perseverance in the face of pain and deprivation, patience in the face of insult and anger, in addition to the corresponding virtues.

40. It is impossible for a man to suddenly become wise and good. It takes assiduous study, perseverance, experience, time, asceticism, and the desire for a good work. The good man and loved by God, the one who truly knows God, never ceases to do in abundance everything that pleases God. But these men are rare.

41. It is not appropriate for the least gifted of men, those who despair of themselves, to treat with neglect and disdain the virtuous conduct loved by God, under the pretext that it is inaccessible to them and out of reach. On the contrary, they must put all their strength into this and take care of themselves, because even if they cannot reach the heights of virtue and salvation, nevertheless, through their effort and their desire, they either become better, or at least they do not become better. they make it worse, which is no small benefit to the soul.

42. By his rational nature, man is linked to this mysterious and divine faculty of reason. But due to his corporeal nature, he is similar to animals. Some, few in number, truly men and truly endowed with reason, with all their heart direct their thoughts and affinities to their God and Lord, and manifest this through their actions and a virtuous life. But the majority of men, who do not have the intelligence of the soul, despise this divine and immortal filiation, to return to the affinity with the body, a dead, unhappy and temporary affinity, and only think about things of the flesh, such as animals without reason, attaching itself to pleasures. Thus they separate themselves from God and, by the effect of their will, separate the soul from the heavens and drag it into the abyss.

43. The man endowed with reason, remembering that he participates in the divine and that he is united with it, will never fall in love with anything earthly and vile. He keeps his intellect focused on what is heavenly and eternal. And he knows that the will of God is the salvation of man, since God is for men the cause of all good things and the source of eternal beatitude.

44. When you have to deal with someone who disputes and fights the truth and evidence, immediately cut off the dispute and move away from this man whose intelligence is petrified. In the same way, in fact, that bad water spoils the best wines, so meaningless conversations corrupt those who consecrate their lives and thoughts to virtue.

45. If we strive by all means to escape the death of the body, we should do much more to escape the death of the soul. Before anyone who wants to be saved, there is, in fact, no other obstacle than the negligence and irresponsibility of the soul.

46. ​​Those who have difficulty understanding what is advantageous to them and what they are told about good are considered sick. But when those who understand the truth argue recklessly, it is reason that is dead and their behavior is savage. They do not know God and their souls are not enlightened.

47. God, with his word, destined animal species to different successive uses. Some should be eaten, others should serve. And he created man to contemplate his lives and his works and to recognize and interpret them. Let men strive, therefore, not to die without first contemplating and understanding God and his works, like animals devoid of reason. Man must know that God can do everything, and that nothing opposes Him who can do everything. From nothing he made, and did everything he wanted with his simple word, for the salvation of men.

48. What is in heaven is immortal, because of the goodness inherent in what is heavenly. But what is on earth has become mortal because of the inherent earthly evil that is in it. And this evil, through negligence and ignorance about God, affects those who lack intelligence.

49. Death, if man knows how to understand it, is immortality. But for the ignorant, who do not understand it, it is truly death. It is not this death that we should fear, but the perdition of the soul that is in ignorance of God. It is this, for the soul, that is fearful.

50. Evil is an affection of matter. Therefore, it is not possible for the body to remain foreign to evil. The soul endowed with reason, which understands this, attacks this weight of matter which is evil. Refusing to carry such a burden, it turns to the knowledge of the God of the universe, henceforth considers the body as an enemy and an adversary who cannot be trusted. This is how the soul receives the crown of God, by overcoming the trials of evil and matter.

51. If the soul discerns evil, it abhors it like a foul-smelling animal. But if evil is ignored, it is loved by those who ignore it, and then it captures this one. For evil subjects those who love it.

Then the poor unfortunate does not see or understand where his good lies, but thinks that evil adorns him with beauties, and then he rejoices in this.

52. The pure soul, which is good, receives light and splendor from God. Then the intellect understands what is good and raises words loved by God. But when the soul is soiled by the mud of evil, God moves away from it, or rather, it separates itself from God. The evil demons then penetrate your thoughts, and begin to suggest impious actions, adulteries, violence, theft, sacrileges and other evil deeds, which are all the works of the devil.

53. Those who know God are filled with all the blessedness of goodness. Aspiring to the things of heaven, they disdain the things of this life. Such men do not please the majority, nor do they try to please them. Thus, many among those who understand nothing not only detest them, but also mock them. In their poverty, they accept to endure all this, knowing that what seems evil to most is good in their eyes. For he whose intellect is open to heavenly things, believes in God and understands that all things are creations of his will, while he whose intellect is not open, will never believe that this world is the work of God and that it was made for the salvation of man.

54. Those who are full of evil and drunk with ignorance do not know God, for their souls are neither sober nor vigilant. Now, God is intelligible. He is not visible in himself, but he manifests himself fully in the visible, like the soul in the body. It is impossible for the body to maintain itself without the soul, just as it is impossible for everything visible, everything that is, to maintain itself without God.

55. Why does man come into existence? So that, meditating on the works of God, he may contemplate and glorify Him who did them for the good of man. But it is intelligence that receives God's love. It is the invisible good, which God grants to those who are worthy of it, for their virtuous conduct.

56. Free is he who is not subject to pleasures, but dominates the body through wisdom and chastity, and is content, with all gratitude, with the goods given to him, even if they are very rationed. For the intellect loved by God and the soul, when they are in agreement, pacify the entire body, even despite its will. If the soul wants it, all the body's revolt is reabsorbed.

57. Those who are not satisfied with what they currently have to live on, but always want more, subject themselves to passions that disturb the soul and impose thoughts and imaginations on it. Because having more is an evil in itself. Just as a tunic that is too big hinders those who run in a race, so the desire to increase wealth prevents the soul from fighting and being saved.

58. The conditions in which we find ourselves despite ourselves and without wanting to are a prison and a punishment. So, love what you currently have. For if you take it on unwillingly, you will be punishing yourself at your own expense. In fact, there is only one path: contempt for the things of the world.

59. Just as we received vision from God so that we can distinguish, among the things before our eyes, what is white from what is black, so also reason was given to us by God to enable us to discern what is good for the soul. But greed, separating itself from reason, engenders pleasure and does not allow the soul to be saved or to unite with God.

60. What is in accordance with nature is not sin. Sin is the choice of evil. Eating is not a sin. Sin is eating without giving thanks, without decency or temperance. For it is advisable to keep the body alive outside of all perverse imagination. The look, if it is pure, is not a sin either. The sin is looking with envy, pride or indiscretion. It is not listening peacefully, but with hostility. It's not saving your tongue for thanksgiving and prayer, but letting it say no matter what. It means not using your hands to help others, but using them to kill and steal. In this way, each of our members sins on their own, doing evil instead of good, against the will of God.

61. If you doubt that each of your actions is seen by God, consider that you, who are man and dust, are capable of observing and knowing all sorts of places in an instant. With stronger reason can God, he who sees the universe as a mustard seed, and who created and nurtured all things as he pleased.

62. When you close the door of your house and are alone, know that an angel assigned by God to each man will be with you. It is this angel that the Greeks call the inner daimon. He never sleeps. It's impossible to fool him. He is always with you, he sees everything and the darkness does not hinder him. With him, God is everywhere. For there is no place or matter where God is not, since he is greater than everything and has all beings in his hands.

63. If the soldiers are faithful to Caesar because Caesar guarantees them food, with much more reason we should apply ourselves to giving thanks with our mouths, without ever being silent, and thanking God who created everything for man.

64. Gratitude and virtuous conduct are the fruits of man that most please God. Now, the fruits of the earth don't ripen in an hour: they need time, rain, care. In the same way, man's fruits only shine through asceticism, study, time, perseverance, obstinacy and patience. But even if, seeing these fruits in you, some consider you a pious man, always distrust yourself while you live in a body, and consider that nothing that comes from you pleases God.

Know that, in fact, it is not easy for a man to remain pure from all fault until the end.

65. Nothing among men is more precious than the word. This is how the word allows us to serve God by giving Him thanks. But if we use it to say evil and blaspheme, we condemn our soul.

Invoking your birth or any other reason, when you are at fault, is the work of a foolish man; it was freely and of his own accord that he permitted a bad word or a bad deed.

66. If we strive to take care of the passions of the body to avoid mockery from those we meet, all the more reason should we strive to cure the passions of the soul, since we will be judged in the presence of God, so that we will not be subjected to dishonor and to ridicule. For we are free. Thus, even when we feel within ourselves the desire for bad actions, not wanting to do them is possible, it is within our power to lead a life that pleases God. No one can ever force us to do something bad if we don't want to. Fighting like this, we will indeed be men worthy of God, and we will live like angels in heaven.

67. If you want, you will be a slave to passions. If you want, and you are free, you will not be subject to passions. For God created him free. And he who overcomes the passions of the flesh receives the crown of incorruptibility. For if there were no passions there would be no virtues, nor the crowns given by God to men who are worthy of them.

68. Those who do not see where their benefit is and do not know where the good is, are blind in soul. His discernment was extinguished. It is better not to connect with these, so as not to inevitably fall into the same blind and reckless mistakes.

69. We should not get angry with those who are at fault, even if what they have done is reprehensible and deserves punishment. But we must straighten those who fall, in the name of justice itself. Sometimes it is necessary to punish them, in person or in another way. But we must not get angry or let ourselves be carried away in this way, for anger acts only out of passion, and not in a judicious and just manner. We should not approve of those who allow themselves to be unduly carried away by piety. But it is for the sake of good and justice that it is necessary to punish those who do evil, never out of the passion of anger.

70. Only the goods of the soul are safe and inviolable. It is virtuous conduct and knowledge, and the exercise of good works, that please God. For wealth is a blind guide and an unintelligent counselor. He who uses his wealth for pleasure loses his insensitive soul.

71. Men should not acquire anything extra. If they happen to have a lot, it will be good for them to know that everything in this life is, by nature, corruptible, everything disappears easily, degrades and destroys itself.

So, they should not worry about whatever happens.

72. Know that physical pain is natural to the body, since it is corruptible and material. Faced with such suffering, the educated soul must arm itself with perseverance and patience, and not reproach God for having created the body.

73. Those who participate in the Olympic Games do not receive the crown for beating one, two or three opponents, but after defeating everyone they faced. The same happens with the man who wants to be crowned by God. His soul must dedicate itself to wisdom, not only in the things of the body, but in everything that refers to losses and gains, envy, food, vainglory, insults, death and similar affections.

74. Let us not seek good conduct loved by God, for the praise of men. We must choose the virtuous life for the salvation of the soul. For death is present before our eyes every day, and human things are full of uncertainties.

75. It is in our power to live wisely, but it is not in our power to get rich. Why then is it necessary to condemn the soul, when it dreams for a moment of wealth that we have no means of acquiring? But if we desire nothing but wealth, why do we run without intelligence, ignoring that humility precedes all virtues, in the same way that gluttony and greed for the things of this life precede all passions?

76. The wise must continually remember: if in this life we ​​endure small, temporary pains, we men will enjoy immense pleasure and eternal delights after death. First of all, he who fights passions and who wants to be crowned by God, if he falls, must not be discouraged, nor remain in his fall despairing of himself. But he needs to get up, resume the fight, and seek the crown again. Until your last breath you have to remember this fall that happened to you. For the blows that the body receives are the armor of virtues and ensure the salvation of the soul.

77. The difficulties of life allow worthy men, those who carry on the fight, to be crowned by God. It is necessary that, throughout their lives, they make all the things in the world die. For a dead man will no longer worry about these things.

78. It is not appropriate for the soul that is endowed with reason and that fights, to allow itself to become easily apprehensive and fearful in the face of the trials that befall it, if it does not want to be ridiculed for its laziness. For the soul disturbed by the imagination of the things of the world forgets what it owes to itself. It is the virtues of the soul that open the way to eternal goods. The cause of punishments lies in the evil that men do to themselves.

79. The man endowed with reason is fought by the senses of his rational nature, through the passions of the soul. Now, there are five senses in the body: sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. The unfortunate soul is captured by the five senses when it submits to the four passions that correspond to them.

These four passions are vainglory, senseless madness, anger and lassitude. Therefore, from the moment that, with prudence and reflection, man successfully concluded the fight and dominated his passions, he is no longer fought. His soul is at peace, and he receives God's crown for his victory.

80. Among those who are in a hostel, some receive a bed, others do not get one and lie on the floor, where they snore as much as those who sleep in their bed. After spending the night and leaving their beds in the morning, they leave together, each taking only what they have. The same happens with everyone who comes into this world. Both those who lived poorly and those who spent their lives between glory and riches all leave life as if they were out of a hostel. They take with them none of that which made the world rich and delightful. They only take with them their own works, good or bad: what they did during their lives.

81. Just because you have great power is no reason to threaten someone with death over anything. Know that, by nature, you too are subject to death, and that the soul takes off the body like its last tunic. Acknowledge this clearly. Be sweet, do good, and continually give thanks to God. For he who is not complacent does not have virtue within him.

82. It is impossible and inconceivable to escape death. Men truly endowed with reason, dedicated to the virtues and thoughts loved by God, know this well. They receive death without groans, without fear and without mourning, remembering that it is inexorable and that it frees them from the evils of this life.

83. We should not hate those who neglect the virtuous conduct that pleases God and do not care about the righteous doctrine loved by him, but we should mourn them, for they are deprived of judgment, blind in heart and in reflection. They take evil for good, and this ignorance causes them to go astray. With their unintelligent souls, these unfortunate people do not know God.

84. Refuse to talk about piety and virtuous living with many people. I don't say it out of malice, but because, I think, you risk being ridiculed by irrational people. For like unites with like. Now, those who are willing to listen to these conversations are few. In fact, they are very rare. Therefore, it is better not to talk about anything other than what God wants for the salvation of men.

85. The soul pities the body, but the body does not pity the soul. Thus, when the body is dying, the soul suffers with it. And when the body is vigorous and feels good, the soul experiences the same joy. But when the soul begins to reflect, the body does not follow this reflection. He remains left to himself. For reflection is a state of the soul, just like ignorance, pride, perfidy, cupidity, hatred, envy, anger, disdain, vainglory, esteem, discord, the sense of good. All of this is raised by the soul.

86. Conceive the things of God. Be pious, without envy, good, chaste, sweet, contented as much as possible, affable, oblivious to disputes. He possesses these virtues and those that are similar to them. For this is the inviolable fortune of the soul: to please God through the exercise of these virtues, not to judge anyone, not to say of anyone: “So-and-so is bad, he has sinned”. We had better mind our own troubles and examine whether our own conduct is pleasing to God. Because after all, what sense does it make to worry if the other person is bad?

87. A man truly worthy of the name dedicates himself to piety. Now he is pious who does not desire for himself what does not belong to him. But all created things are alien to man. So despise them, because you are the image of God; and man is the image of God when his conduct is right and pleasing to God. But it is impossible for man to become such if he does not renounce the things of this life. He who possesses an intellect loved by God knows that all good of the soul and all piety come from it. The man loved by God does not rely on anyone when he himself is at fault. This is the mark of the soul that has been saved.

88. Those who seek to acquire temporary goods by force, those who cherish the desire for works of evil, ignoring the death and perdition of their souls, and who, unhappy, refuse to see where their benefit lies, these do not they give an account of what men must suffer for the evil they caused, after their death.

89. Evil is an affection of matter. God is not concerned. He gave men knowledge, knowledge, discernment of good and evil, and freedom. It is the negligence and irresponsibility of men that engender the passions of evil. Therefore, God is not his cause. The demons fell into evil after a deliberate choice. The same happens with most men.

90. He who makes piety the companion of his life does not allow evil to enter his soul. And if evil does not penetrate it, the soul remains safe from danger and unhappiness. Neither the deceptions of the devil nor the strokes of luck will prevail in these men. For God delivers them from evil. They live under his guard, far from all unhappiness, similar to him. If they praise them, they will laugh at those who praise them; if they offend them, they will not respond to the insults. For they are not moved by what is said or not said about them.

91. Evil goes hand in hand with nature, like rust with iron, or excretions with the body. But it wasn't the blacksmith who made the rust, nor the parents who made the excretion. Likewise, God did not create evil. On the contrary, he gave man knowledge and discernment, so that he could flee from evil, knowing that it is harmful and condemnable. So, when you see someone happy to be rich and powerful, be careful not to envy them. It is the devil who creates this illusion. But immediately have death before your eyes, and you will never covet either evil or the things of this world.

92. Our God gave immortality to the things of heaven and made the things of earth changeable. He put life and movement into the universe. He created everything for man. Therefore, do not let yourself be captivated by the images of this world that come to you through the devil, when he introduces bad thoughts into your soul. But immediately seek heavenly goods, and say to yourself: “If I wish, I have within me the power to repel this attack of passion as well. But if I don’t, it’s because I want to satisfy my desire.” Continue this fight, which can save your soul.

93. Life is the union and connection of the intellect, soul and body. Death does not destroy what was united, but dissolves its knowledge. For everything is saved by God, even after dissolution.

94. The intellect is not the soul, but a gift from God to save the soul. The intellect that pleases God surpasses and advises the soul. He encourages him to disdain everything that is ephemeral, material and corruptible, and to cling to eternal, incorruptible and immaterial goods, to walk as a man in a body, observing and contemplating through it the heavenly things, the things of God, and all things like that.

The intellect loved by God is thus the benefactor and savior of the human soul.

95. Through pain and pleasure, the soul that is in the body is immediately exposed to darkness and perdition.

Pain and pleasure are like humors of the body. To face them, the intellect loved by God afflicts the body and saves the soul, like a doctor who cuts and cauterizes.

96. Souls that are not led by the reins of reason nor governed by the intelligence capable of pressing, attacking and overcoming their passions, that is, pain and pleasure, like irrational animals, these souls are lost, from the moment in which reason is dragged down by passions, just as the driver of a chariot is thrown down by horses.

97. Not knowing God, who created the universe for man and who gave him the gift of intelligence and reason, so that man gains wings to unite with God, conceive him and glorify him, is a serious illness , is the ruin and perdition of the soul.

98. The soul is in the body. Intelligence is in the soul. And the reason is in intelligence. When he is conceived and glorified by her, God immortalizes the soul by attributing to it incorruptibility and eternal delights, he who, through his simple goodness, brought all creatures into being.

99. In his benevolence and kindness, God created man free and gave him the power to please him if he wanted. Now, man pleases God as long as there is no evil in him. And if men praise the beautiful
works and virtues of a holy soul loved by God, and infamy and evil actions are condemned, let alone God, who wants man to be saved.

100. Man receives goods from the goodness of God. For this he was created by God. But evil is what man attracts to himself. It is from him that the malice that is in him, the greed and insensitivity, comes from.

101. The soul that has lost its reason, although immortal and master of the body, is subject to pleasures, without understanding that the delights of the body are harmful to it. But, insensitive in her madness, she only thinks about these delights.

102. God is good, man is bad. Nothing is bad in heaven, nothing is good on earth. But the man endowed with reason chooses the best. He recognizes the God of the universe. He gives thanks and celebrates him. In the face of death, he has an aversion to his body, he does not let his senses speak, knowing that they work towards his destruction.

103. An evil man always wants to have more, and despises justice. He does not consider that life is uncertain, unstable and fleeting, and that death is inflexible and inexorable. But, devoid of grace and without intelligence, the old man, like rotten wood, is no longer good for anything.

104. It is through experiencing what saddens us that we become sensitive to pleasures and joy. Those who are not thirsty do not feel pleasure in drinking. Those who are not sleepy do not enjoy sleeping. Those who have never had sadness do not know the meaning of joy. In the same way, we will not enjoy eternal goods if we do not disdain temporary goods.

105. The word is the servant of the intellect. What intelligence wants, the word interprets.

106. The intellect sees everything, even what is in the heavens. Nothing shadows him but sin. But if he is pure, nothing is inaccessible to him. The same happens with the word: nothing is unspeakable to it.

107. By body, man is mortal. But by intellect and speech he is immortal. Even if you are silent, you think. And if you think you speak. For it is in silence that intelligence engenders the word. And the word of recognition addressed to God is man's salvation.

108. Whoever speaks words devoid of reason has no intelligence, because he speaks without understanding. Then consider what is important to do for the salvation of your soul.

109. The word endowed with intelligence and that supports the soul is a gift from God. In the same way, speeches full of verbosity, which seek the dimensions of heaven and earth, or the magnitudes of the sun and stars, are an invention of man who wastes his effort. The well-spoken man seeks in his vain oratory what is of no use. It's like pouring water through a sieve. For such men could never find what is at stake here.

110. No one can see heaven or understand what is in it except the man who is careful to maintain a virtuous life, who knows and glorifies Him who created this heaven for our salvation and our life. For this man loved by God knows that nothing exists without God. God is in everything and everywhere, since he is infinite.

111. Just as a man leaves his mother's breast naked, so the soul leaves the body naked. One leaves you pure and luminous. Another covered in marks for his mistakes. Another leaves him black for all his falls.

In this way, the soul endowed with reason and loved by God, remembering the evils that follow death, leads a life of piety, in order not to be condemned for its faults. As for those who do not believe, they live in impiety and sin, and despise the things that are beyond: their soul is devoid of intelligence.

112. Just as, when you leave the mother's breast naked, you do not remember what this breast was, so when you leave the body, you will not remember what it was like.

113. Just as after leaving the mother's womb you became stronger and greater in your body, so when you leave the body, pure and without blemish, you will become stronger, you will be incorruptible, for you will live in the heavens.

114. Just as the body is born when its gestation ends in the mother's womb, it is also necessary for the soul to leave the body when it reaches the limit assigned to it by God in that body.

115. What you did with your soul when it was in your body, it will do with you when it leaves your body.

For whoever, here below, created the joy and delights of the body, built his own unhappiness after death. He condemned his soul for lack of intelligence.

116. Just as the body cannot survive if it leaves the mother's breast imperfectly, neither can the soul, if it leaves the body without having attained the knowledge of God through virtuous conduct, be saved and unite with God.

117. The body united to the soul passes from the darkness of the mother's womb to the light of day. But the soul united to the body remains linked to the darkness of the body. Therefore, it is advisable to have aversion and straighten the body, as it proves to be the adversary and enemy of the soul. The abundance and pleasure of food awaken evil passions in man. But temperance reabsorbs the passions and saves the soul.

118. For the body, vision is the eyes. For the soul, vision is intelligence. Just as the body without eyes is blind, it does not see the sun illuminate the land and the sea, and cannot enjoy the light, so the soul that does not have good intelligence and virtuous conduct is blind: it does not know or glorify God creator and benefactor of the universe, and he cannot enjoy his incorruptibility and his eternal goods.

119. Ignorance of God is an anesthesia and madness of the soul. For evil is born from ignorance. But the good in men comes from the knowledge of God and saves the soul. Therefore, if you are dedicated to not fulfilling your desires, if you are sober and vigilant, and if you know God, you will bring your intelligence to the virtues. But if you apply yourself to satisfying perverse desires to seek nothing but pleasure, then, drunk with your own ignorance of God, you will be lost like animals without reason, because you do not think about the evils that await you after death.

120. Providence is what happens out of divine necessity, such as the fact that the sun rises every day, or the earth bears fruit. Thus it is also said that the law is that which happens by divine necessity. But everything is made for man.

121. Whatever God does in His goodness, He does for man. But whatever a man does, he does for himself, both good and evil. Don't be surprised by the happiness of criminals, because cities also feed their executioners without praising their evil tendencies, but using them to punish those who deserve it. In the same way, God allows bandits to oppress the world, in order through them to correct the wicked. But afterward, they too will be handed over to Judgment, because it was not to serve God, but to delight in their own malice, that they did evil to men.

122. Those who worship idols would not, unhappily, stray further and further from piety, if they could see and know with their hearts what they truly worship. But, contemplating the harmony, order and providence that preside over everything that God has done and always does, they would know the One who did all this for men.

123. In his dishonesty and his injustice, man can kill. But God never ceases to give life, even to those who are unworthy of it. Because he shared abundantly and because he was good by nature, he wanted the world to be, and the world existed. And he always exists, for man and for his salvation.

124. It is within man's power to understand what the body is, that is, that it is corruptible and ephemeral. And the same man will also understand what the soul is, namely, that it is divine and immortal, created by the breath of God, and united to the body to be tested and deified. Now, whoever understands what the soul is adopts the straight life that pleases God. He no longer obeys the body. But he sees God through his intelligence, and in it he contemplates the eternal goods that God has given to the soul.

125. God, who is good and always distributes in abundance, gave man the power to do good and evil, giving him a conscience so that, contemplating the world and what is in the world, he can know the One who He did everything for man. But the wicked may want to know, and not understand. For he is allowed not to believe, he is allowed to find nothing, he is allowed to conceive the opposite of the truth, to the same extent that man has the power to choose between good and evil.

126. This is God's order: when the flesh grows, the soul is filled with intelligence, so that between good and evil man can choose what he wants. But the soul that does not choose the good becomes devoid of intelligence. Thus, all bodies have a soul, but we cannot say that every soul has intellect. For the intellect loved by God belongs to wise, holy, just, pure, good, merciful, and pious men. And the presence of the intellect is a help to them on the path to God.

127. One thing is not possible for man: to become immortal. What is possible for him is to unite with God, if he understands that he can. If he wants it, in fact, if he conceives it, believes it, loves it, man, through virtuous conduct, becomes a companion of God.

128. The eye contemplates the visible, and the intellect conceives the invisible. For the intellect loved by God is the light of the soul. He whose intellect is loved by God has his heart flooded with light and sees God with his intelligence.

129. No one is bad if they are good. But whoever is not good is certainly given over to evil and loves the body.

Now, man's first virtue is disdain for the flesh. Separating ourselves from the ephemeral, the corruptible and the material, if it is of our own free will and not out of necessity, makes us the heirs of eternal and incorruptible goods.

130. Whoever possesses intelligence knows what it is, namely, that man is corruptible. Now he who knows himself knows that all things are creatures of God and were created for the salvation of man. For it is within man's power to have a just conception of all things and to have a just faith about them all. This man then knows with certainty that those who despise the things of the world do not need to make much effort, but receive eternal delights and rest from God after death.

131. Just as the body without the soul is dead, so the soul that is not endowed with intelligence is sterile and cannot be heir of God.

132. God only listens to man. It is only to man that God reveals himself. God loves man, to the point of making him a god. Only man is worthy of worshiping God. It is for man that God transfigures himself.

133. It is for man that God made the sky adorned with stars. For man he made the earth. And men cultivate it for themselves. Those who do not understand this providence of God have a soul devoid of intelligence.

134. Good is not visible, just like the things in heaven. But evil is visible, like the things of the earth. Good is what cannot be compared. Thus, the man who has intelligence chooses the best. For only to man are God and his creatures intelligible.

135. Intellect manifests itself in the soul, and nature in the body. Intelligence is the deification of the soul, but the nature of the body is dissolution. Thus, in every body there is a nature. But not every soul has intelligence, and that is why not every soul is saved.

136. The soul is in the world, as it was engendered. But the intellect is above the world, as it was not engendered. The soul that knows the world and wants to be saved constantly carries within itself an inviolable law. She becomes aware that the combat and the ordeal are happening now, that she is not allowed to reconcile in the Judgment and that she is lost or saved because of the slightest perverse pleasure.

137. God founded birth and death on the earth. And he founded providence and destiny in heaven. He has done everything for man and his salvation. Disposing of all goods, God created heaven, earth and their elements for men, through which he is enabled to enjoy these goods.

138. What is mortal is subordinate to what is immortal. But what is immortal is at the service of the mortal, that is, the elements of the world are at the service of man thanks to the love that, in his natural goodness, the creator God brings to man.

139. Those who are born poor and who do not have the power to harm anyone cannot be counted among those who translate piety into works. But he who has the power to harm and spontaneously refuses to use it to do evil, and who, on the contrary, treats the humblest with kindness out of love for God, will receive goods in return, immediately after death.

140. Thanks to the love that leads man to God who created us, there are numerous paths that lead man to salvation, which attract souls and elevate them to the heavens. For human souls receive rewards for virtue, and punishments for their faults.

141. The Son is in the Father, the Holy Spirit is in the Son, and the Father is in one and the other. It is by faith that man knows everything that is invisible and intelligible. Faith is the voluntary assent of the soul.

142. Those who are forced by necessity or circumstances to throw themselves into a raging river will be saved if they are sober and vigilant. For even if they are about to be lost, and even if the currents are violent, they will be able to save themselves by clinging to anything on the bank. But those who are drunk, even if they know how to swim perfectly, are overcome by wine and drown in the current and disappear from the world of the living. In the same way, the soul thrown into the whirlpools and eddies of the currents of this life, if it does not know itself when emerging from the evil of matter, if it, which is divine and immortal, does not know that it is not linked to ephemeral, fragile and mortal except with the intention of being tested there, and if in her perdition she allows herself to be carried away by the pleasures of the body, then, despising herself, drunk with ignorance, incapable of assuming herself, she becomes lost and is taken away from those who are saved. Like a river, in fact, the body often leads us to pleasures that have no place.

143. The soul endowed with reason, which firmly maintains its good resolution, drives ardor and desire like a horse, its passions deprived of reason. If she dominates them, pressures them, lords over them, she is crowned and judged worthy of life in heaven. She receives from God who created her the reward for her victory and her trials.

144. A soul truly endowed with reason, when it sees the happiness of criminals and the prosperity of the unworthy, is not disturbed by imagining what they enjoy in this life, like those who, among men, are devoid of reason. For she clearly knows the instability of fortune, the uncertainty of the present life, the brevity of existence and the integrity of Judgment. This soul believes that God will not forget it and will give it the food it needs.

145. The life of the body and the enjoyment of earthly goods obtained through riches and power are the death of the soul.

But suffering, patience, poverty assumed with thanksgiving, these are the life and eternal delights of the soul.

146. The soul endowed with reason can only conceive of disdain for material creation and this ephemeral life. She chooses the delights of heaven and eternal life, which she receives from God by her virtuous conduct.

147. Whoever wears clothes soiled with clay also soils the clothes of those who lean on them. In the same way, dishonest people whose intention and conduct are not right, when they lean on simple people and tell them what should not be said, dirty their souls like mud, with what they make them hear.

148. The beginning of sin is greed with which the soul endowed with reason is lost. But the beginning of salvation and the Kingdom of Heaven is the love that arises in the soul.

149. If iron is neglected and does not receive due maintenance, as a result of it always remaining abandoned without serving any purpose, it ends up being eaten by rust and is no longer useful or beautiful.

The same happens with the soul. If it remains inert, if it does not dedicate itself to living in virtue and turning to God, if it deprives itself of divine protection because of its evil actions, in its negligence it destroys itself under the effect of the evil that attacks the matter of the body like iron is destroyed by rust, and no longer possesses either beauty or usefulness in view of salvation.

150. God is good, impassible, unchanging. But if we consider it reasonable and true that God does not change, we may wonder how he rejoices with the good and is angry with the bad, how he is angry with sinners and is benevolent when honored. The answer is that God is neither happy nor angry, because being happy and sad are passions. Likewise, there is no way to honor him with gifts, as then he would be overwhelmed with pleasure. Now, it is impossible, from human things, to see good and evil in the divine. God is good, and he only does good to us, never evil, because in all this he always remains the same. We too, if, through our likeness, persevere in good, we too are united with God. But if, through dissension, we give ourselves over to evil, we separate ourselves from God. Living in virtue, we connect with God; but led to evil, we make it our enemy, whose irritation is not gratuitous, since sins prevent God from shining in us and cast us before the demons that punish us.

If, through prayers and the good we do, we obtain absolution from our faults, it is not because we have honored God or made him change, but because, curing our own evil with our actions and our return to the divine, we once again enjoy your kindness. This is equivalent to saying that God turns away from the dishonest, and that the sun hides from those who are deprived of vision.

151. The soul endowed with piety knows the God of the universe. For piety is nothing other than fulfilling God's will, that is, knowing him by being generous, wise, sweet, benevolent as much as possible, affable, agreeable, in short, doing everything that pleases his will.

152. The knowledge of God and the fear of God are the remedy for the passions of matter. Indeed, when the soul is inhabited by ignorance of God, the passions cannot be cured; they remain in it and corrupt it. It is like an inveterate wound eaten away by evil. But God is not the cause of this, he is the one who transmitted science and knowledge to man.

153. God has filled man with science and knowledge. For he is dedicated to purifying him from passions and voluntary evil, and he wants, in his goodness, to make the mortal achieve immortality.

154. In a pure soul captive of God, the intellect truly sees the God who was not engendered, the invisible and ineffable God, the only pure one for pure hearts.

155. The crown of incorruptibility, virtue, the salvation of man, consists in enduring adversities with courage and gratitude. Controlling anger, the tongue, the belly and pleasures is also a great help for the soul.

156. It is divine providence that directs the world. No place is deprived of it. Providence is the absolute reason that shaped matter to make the world out of it. She is the creator and craftsman of all that exists.

For it is impossible for matter to have been organized without the decisive power of reason, which is the image, intelligence, wisdom and providence of God.

157. Conscious greed is the root of the passions of those related to darkness. The soul that has this vision of greed does not know itself. It ignores having been formed by the breath of God. She is thus drawn into sin, without considering, due to lack of intelligence, the evils that will follow death.

158. The refusal of God and the love of vainglory are a serious and incurable disease of the soul, and its perdition.

For the desire for evil is the deprivation of good. Now, good consists in doing abundantly everything that is good and pleasing to the God of the universe.

159. Man is the only being capable of receiving God. He is the only one, among living beings, with whom God converses, at night through dreams, during the day through intelligence. Thus, continually, he announces and presents in advance to men who are worthy of this the goods that await them.

160. Nothing is difficult for those who believe and want to understand God. If you wish to contemplate it, observe the order of the world and the providence that governs through divine reason everything that was created and everything that exists. Note that everything was made for man.

161. He who is pure from all evil and all faults is called a saint. There being no evil in man is indeed a high degree of virtue, which pleases God.

162. The name designates the being among all others. It would be inconceivable that God, being one, had another name. For the name of God means: “He who had no beginning and who made everything for man”.

163. If you have bad deeds on your conscience, expel them from your soul, hoping for good. For God is just and loves man.

164. Man knows God and is known by God to the extent that he strives never to be separated from Him. And man does not separate himself from God when he is good and dominates all pleasure, not for lack of resources, but for will and temperance.

165. Do good to those who do you wrong, and you will have Allah's affection. Do not accuse your enemy to anyone. Practice charity, reserve, temperance, and similar virtues. For this is what knowledge of God consists of: following his example, through humility and the virtues of this order. However, these works are not available to anyone, but only to souls endowed with intelligence.

166. Because of those who, in their impiety, dare to say that there is a soul in natural and cultivated plants, I write this chapter addressed to the simplest. Plants have physical life, but no soul. Man is called an animal endowed with reason, because he has the intellect that is capable of receiving science. As for the other animals, which live on the earth and in the air, they are endowed with a voice, because they have a spirit and a soul. All beings that grow and decline are living beings, from the moment they live and grow, but not all of them have a soul. There are four species among living beings. Some are immortal and have a soul, like angels; others have an intellect, a soul and a spirit, like men; others have a spirit and a soul, like animals. And others only have life, like plants. In these, life is organized without soul, spirit, intellect, or immortality. But the other species could not exist without life. On the other hand, every soul, and even every human soul, is in permanent movement from one place to another.

167. When the idea of ​​pleasure takes hold of your imagination, be careful not to let it invade you.

Hurry to remember death and observe how much better it will be for you to know that you have overcome this loss of pleasure.

168. Just as passion is inherent in birth – for everything that comes to life is destined for corruption – so evil is inherent in passion. Therefore, do not say that God cannot eradicate evil: those who say this are nothing but senseless and foolish. For it would be necessary for God to suppress matter itself, because passions are made of matter. God suppressed evil among men by giving them intellect, science, knowledge, discernment of good, so that, knowing how harmful evil is to us, we can flee from it. But if man separates himself from his intellect, then he begins to follow evil and glorify himself in it, as if he were struggling in a net, unable to lift his head, and to see and know God, who created all things. for the salvation and deification of man.

169. Mortal beings refuse to know their death in advance. Immortality is given to the holy soul for the good it brings within itself. But the foolish and unhappy soul finds death because it harbors evil within itself.

170. When you retire to your cell giving thanks, remembering the blessings of God and all his Providence, you rejoice because you are full of good thoughts, and the sleep of your body is the vigilance of your soul. Closing your eyes is a true vision of God. And your silence, which is the gestation of good, making him hear the praise you raise to him, gives glory to the Lord of the universe. Indeed, when man separates himself from evil, his simple thanksgiving pleases God more than all the precious sacrifices. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

ISAIAH THE ANCHORITE

Our holy Father Isaiah the anchorite lived around the year 370. He was a contemporary of Abbot Macarius the Great. Night and day he meditated on the sacred Scriptures and, drinking from the sources of salvation the abundant water of spiritual wisdom, he wrote many beautiful texts that, in different aspects, always useful to the soul, constitute an entire book. Taking this small treatise aside, we propose it to those who wish to work on guarding their intellect. For he teaches in brief terms how to refute the suggestions of thoughts, how to have an irreproachable conscience, how to meditate in secret and maintain the three parts of the soul in perfect impassivity and knowledge of the facts.

Of all the Isaiahs mentioned in Egyptian monastic sources from the 4th and 5th centuries, the most famous is the author of ascetic treatises that spread throughout the Christian East. Unfortunately, we do not find much autobiographical information in these treatises. We only know that the abbot Isaiah began his monastic life in Egypt, probably in Sceta, where he was in contact with several characters mentioned in the Sentences of the Desert Fathers: John, Anoub, Poemius, Paphnutius, Amoun, Peter, Lot, Agathon, Abraham, Sisoes, Or, Atreus.

Perhaps he was a disciple of Ammoes and Aquilas. When he himself became an elder, he was already surrounded by disciples, among whom one by the name of Peter stood out, who carefully collected his teachings and in turn passed them on to his own disciples. From Egypt, where he was still in 431, Isaiah went to Palestine, dying in a monastery near Gaza on August 11, 491, without having joined the Council of Chalcedon [1]. 13 Isaiah's written work is presented in sections or chapters called logoi, the number and order of which vary greatly across manuscripts and editions. The content of each one also sometimes varies from one collection to another. This is because most logoi are compilations of disparate excerpts in which we recognize sentences, apophthegms, moral exhortations or letters addressed either to a disciple or to a group of monks. It is likely that the set we have was gathered and put in order by Pedro at the end of the master's life or shortly after his death.

R. Draguet pointed out several Copticisms in Isaiah's work, but if certain of the master's words were pronounced in Coptic, it is almost certain that the set of writings was written in Greek. In any case, the Coptic Asceticon that we know was surely translated from Greek, as was the Syriac Asceticon.

13 [1] This at least is the thesis proposed by G. Krüger and normally accepted today, despite the objections formulated by R. Draguet.

33 Closely linked and related to all apophthegmatic literature, the work of Isaiah is interesting, firstly because it brings us a faithful echo of the teaching of the great monks of Egypt, but with a more didactic and synthetic character. Through the elder's various recommendations, we perceive like a filigree the motive that inspires them and the essential concern of the anchorite of the desert: how to find and continually maintain hesychia, the blissful stillness indispensable to the monk? Struggle with thoughts, reading and meditation of the Scriptures, manual labor and austerities, all prescribed observances and occupations are regulated and measured in such a way as to assure the solitary the conditions most favorable to true freedom of the heart. Isaiah does not disdain to descend into the finer details of everyday life, but neither does he fear addressing the deeper realities of spiritual life. He constantly insists on interior dispositions: everything must be done “with science”, that is, with discernment, rectitude and purity of intentions. Humility, the first and fundamental virtue, is mentioned many times, but it is more frequently designated by its effects, especially the “non-esteem” of oneself and the distancing of one's own will.

All this was already contained in the teaching of the Desert Fathers, but we find it in Isaiah in an original form and with a personal touch that reveal a disciple who became an eminent master of spirituality. We can especially admire his discretion and balance, whether in the relationships between the corporal and the spiritual or in the respective demands of solitary life and community life.

Finally, we will note the central place occupied by Christ in asceticism, conceived as a faithful imitation of Jesus in his life, his passion and his death. The theme of “climbing the cross”, which seems to be a discovery by Isaiah, as we do not find it anywhere before him, is linked to Saint Paul's teaching on baptism that identifies us with the crucified Christ. All asceticism leads to a freedom from passions that, in Isaiah, has nothing stoic about it, as it is about the full blossoming of the life of the Spirit in those who love the Lord Jesus with “complete love”.

Isaiah's work is the fruit of a rich meditation on the Scriptures with frequent recourse to allegorical interpretations. In addition to the predominant influence of the Desert Fathers, we will also note that of Evagro, which is undeniable.

Isaiah certainly radiated powerfully throughout the Eastern Churches. When he was alive, he had friends both among those who had adhered to the Council of Chalcedon and among those who had not. For all Christians, he remains a teacher of authentic spirituality.

All the texts of Isaiah included in the Philokalia are in the Greek translation of Augustinos.

34 TI, VI – Isaiah the Anchorite

CHAPTERS ON THE GUARD OF INTELLECT

1. There is anger in the intellect according to nature (which is forgiven) against the passions. Without anger, there would be no purity in man, if he were not angry against everything that is sown in him by the Enemy. When Job experienced this, he reviled his enemies by telling them: “Infamous and despicable, destitute of all good, you whom I consider unworthy to mingle with the dogs of my flocks. [2] ”Whoever wishes to obtain 14 wrath according to nature, must remove all wills from him, until it is established in the natural state of the intellect.

2. If, as you are about to drive away the Enemy, you see him weaken and retreat, do not let your heart rejoice, for the malice of the demons comes after them. In fact, they prepare a war worse than the first: they leave it in the rear of the citadel, with orders not to move; if you stand up to march against them, they run away showing weakness. If at this moment your heart rejoices in having pursued them, and if you leave the citadel, some who were in the rear and others in front will rise up, and they will surround the poor soul with no possible escape [3]. The citadel is prayer. The 15 resistance, the response of Jesus Christ. The march is anger.

3. We must maintain ourselves, beloved, in the fear of God, guarding and observing the practice of virtues, without scandalizing our conscience, but watching ourselves in the fear of God, until our conscience itself is freed with us to realize the union between she and us; then it will become our guardian, showing us every point where we fail. If we do not obey it, it will turn away from us and abandon us, and we will fall into the hands of our enemies, who will no longer have mercy, as our Master teaches when he says: “Enter an agreement with your adversary while you are still on the way [4 ]", etc. It is said that conscience is an adversary, because it opposes man when he wants to satisfy the desires of the flesh, and if man does not listen to it, it hands him over to his enemies.

4. When God wants the intellect to submit to him with all its strength and for it to have no other sustenance than himself, he strengthens it, saying: “Fear not, Jacob, my son, little Israel [5]”, and also: 17 “Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name, you are mine. If you cross the rivers, I will be with you, and the waters will not overwhelm you. If you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, the flames will not consume you, for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, the One who saves. [6]” 18 5. If then the intellect hears these words of encouragement, it will challenge the Enemy, saying: “Who is this that fights me? Let him appear before me! Who is this who judges me? Come closer to me! Behold, the Lord is my help, who will harm me? For they will all wear out, like an old garment eaten by worms. [7]” 19 6. If your heart truly detests sin, it is a conqueror who has turned away from everything that gives birth to sin. Place the punishment before your eyes and know that your defender remains with you. If you do not grieve him, but weep in his presence saying, “You alone have the mercy to redeem me, Lord, for I am unable to escape from the hands of my enemies without your help,” and if you watch your heart, he will preserve it of all evil.

14 [2] Good XXX, 1.

15 [3] Cf. Joshua VIII.

16 [4] Matthew V, 25.

17 [5] Isaiah, XLI,

18 [6] Isaiah, XLIII, 1-3

19 [7] Isaiah, L, 8-9

35 TI, VI – Isaiah the Anchorite

Chapters on guarding the Intellect

7. The monk must close all the doors of his soul, that is, his senses, so as not to fall because of you. And when the intellect realizes that it is no longer under anyone's power, it prepares itself for immortality by uniting its senses and making them one body.

8. If the intellect frees itself from all hopes of the world of visible things, it is the sign that sin is dead in you.

9. If the intellect is freed, that which separates it from God disappears.

10. If the intellect is freed from all its enemies and celebrates the seventh day, it is in another world, thinking about new and incorruptible things. From then on, “wherever the body is, there the eagles will gather. [8]”

[9] They take possession of her, mercilessly humiliating her with all the sins for which forgiveness is 21 more difficult than those for which she initially prayed. Let us remain in the fear of God and watch our hearts, fulfilling our asceticism and guarding the virtues that hinder the malice of our enemies.

12. Our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing the great cruelty [of the devil] and full of pity for the race of men, commanded with firmness of heart: “Be ready at all times, for you do not know at what time the thief will come [10] , lest he find them asleep. [11]” And also: “Watch that your hearts do not become heavy with gluttony, drunkenness and the worries of life, and that the time does not come by surprise. [12]” Master your heart by watching your senses, and if your memory is at peace with you, you will capture the thieves who steal from you, for he who rigorously examines his thoughts recognizes those who want to enter only to dirty everything. In effect, they disturb the intellect to make it distracted and lazy. But those who understand their malice remain unperturbed, praying to the Lord.

13. If a man does not hate every activity in this world, he cannot serve God. This service is nothing other than having nothing strange in the intellect when we pray to him, no sensible pleasure when we praise him, no malice when we sing him, no hatred when we adore him, no evil envy that hinders us when we talk to him or when we remember him. For all this darkness forms a wall that surrounds the poor soul, preventing it from serving God with purity as long as it remains there. They hold her in the air and do not let her go to meet God to praise him in secret, praying in the softness of her heart in order to be enlightened by him. This is why the intellect becomes darkened and cannot progress according to God, because it has not been careful to rule out these things with knowledge.

14. When the intellect rescues the faculties of the soul from the desires of the flesh and makes them cross the sea, the pillar of divinity will separate the soul from the desires of the flesh; Then, if God allows the arrogance of the passions to attack the soul, trying to keep its faculties in sin, and if the intellect incessantly begs God in secret, he will send his help and dissipate everything in one fell swoop.

20 [8] Matthew, XXIV, 28.

21 [9] Lamentations, III, 51.

22 [10] Matthew, XXIV, 42-43 23 [11] Mark XIII, 36.

24 [12] Luke XXI, 34.

TI, VI – Isaiah the Anchorite. – Chapters on guarding the Intellect.

15. I beseech you, while you live in a body, do not relax your heart. For, just as the cultivator cannot trust the seed that grows in his field, as he does not know what will come of it before it has been harvested and stored, so man cannot relax his heart as long as there is a breath in his nostrils [13]. And just as a man does not know until his last breath whether any illness will afflict him, so it is impossible for him to relax his heart while he breathes; therefore, he must always ask God with great lamentations to obtain his help and his mercy.

16. Whoever does not find help at the time of combat cannot trust in peace.

17. When someone separates themselves from those on the left hand, they come to know exactly all the sins they committed against God, because no one sees their sins unless they are distanced from them by a painful separation. It is those who have reached this point who find tears, supplications and shame before God, remembering their perverse connection with passions. Let us fight, therefore, to the extent of our strength, brothers, and God will assist us according to the abundance of his mercy. And if we do not guard our hearts like our fathers, at least let us do our best to keep our bodies without sin, as God wants, and let us believe that, when hunger attacks us, he will have mercy on us as he had on his saints.

18. He who gives his heart to the true search for God in piety cannot think that he pleases God, for as long as his conscience disapproves of anything against nature, he will not have obtained freedom. In fact, as long as there is someone who disapproves, there will be someone who accuses, and as long as there is an accusation, there will be no freedom. If you finally realize that, while you pray, absolutely no malice accuses you, then you are truly freed and have entered the holy rest according to His will. If you see that the good fruit grows stronger and that the enemy's drunkenness no longer suffocates him,[14] that the adversaries have retreated - not of themselves, assured of their cleverness, 26 but because you no longer fight against the senses - , if the cloud has covered the tent [15] and the sun no longer burns you 27 during the day nor the moon at night [16], if you have within you everything necessary to erect and maintain the tent according to 28 God's will [ 17], then victory came to you from him. And from now on he will cover the 29 tent himself, because it belongs to him.

As long as the war lasts, man will remain in fear and trembling, victor or vanquished today, vanquished or victor tomorrow, because the fight squeezes the heart. On the contrary, impassivity no longer has anything to fight, because it has received the prize, and it no longer needs to worry about the fate of the three who are different, because they have made peace among themselves thanks to God. These three are the body, the soul and the spirit, according to the Apostle [18]. Thus, when the three become one by the operation of the Holy Spirit, they can no longer be separated. Do not think, therefore, that you are dead to sin while you continue to be assaulted by your enemies, whether in your waking hours or in your sleep. For as long as the poor man is in this state, he will never be sure of victory.

19. When the intellect becomes stronger and prepares to accompany the charity that extinguishes all the passions of the body [19] - of the soul and the body -, then it becomes patient and solicitous, it hates envy and pride, 31 it do not think about evil, for this is love. Anger becomes conformable to nature, within the heart, it does not 25 [13] Job, XXVII, 3.

26 [14] Matthew, XIII, 25.

27 [15] Numbers IX, 15.

28 [16] Psalm CXX, 6.

29 [17] Ezra II, 68.

30 [18] 1 Thessalonians VII, 14.

31 [19] Text by Augustinos.

It allows nothing against nature to oppress the spirit, and, with its strength, the intellect resists things that are against nature, until it manages to separate them from things that conform to nature.

20. Examine yourself every day, brother, observing your heart: what passions exist in it before God?

Reject all this from your heart, so that no harmful sentence falls upon you.

21. So watch your heart, brother, and beware of your enemies, for they are cunning in their malice. And in your heart be assured of these words: “It is impossible for a man to do good while he does evil, whereas a man can do evil under the pretense of doing good.” That is why our Savior taught us to watch, saying: “Narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few find it. [20]”32 22. Therefore, watch yourself, so that nothing of perdition turns you away from the love of God and dominates your heart.

Do not allow yourself to be discouraged, saying, “How can I keep it when I am a sinner?” For when a man abandons his sins and turns to God, his penance regenerates him and makes him entirely new.

23. Everywhere the divine Scripture, the old and the new, speaks of the guarding of the heart. First David the Psalmist exclaims: “Sons of men, how long will your hearts be so heavy? [21]”. And also: 33 “Your heart is vain. [22]” Of all those whose thoughts are vain, he says: “For he says in his 34 heart: I will never tremble! [23]” And again: “For he says in his heart: God forgets [24]”, and other 35 36 things like that. Indeed, the monk must consider the purpose of Scripture, to whom it speaks and when it speaks; he must continually sustain the combat of asceticism and beware of the Adversary's attacks. Like a pilot, he must sail on the waves led by grace, without straying from the straight path, paying attention only to the path and entertaining himself with God in the hesychia, with his unbreakable reason and his intellect freed from all confusion.

24. The weather, in fact, demands prayer from us, as if we were pilots in the face of the winds, the triple storm and the storms of spirits. For we are exposed to the attacks of the thoughts of virtue and vice, and it is said that the master of the passions is the pious and God-friendly thought. In fact, it is appropriate for the hesychasts that we are, to discern and separate with wisdom, sobriety and vigilance the virtues from the vices, to apply ourselves to this or that virtue in the presence of our brothers and priests, to work on one or the other when we are alone; It is appropriate to examine which virtue is the first, the second and the third; which passions are psychic, which corporeal; from which virtue pride strikes the intellect; which is accompanied by vainglory, which leads to anger and which engenders gluttony. We must destroy “the thoughts and every high power that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. [25]”

25. The first virtue is the absence of worries, that is, death before all men and before all things. Then the desire for God is born and this engenders anger in accordance with nature, which will oppose everything that the enemy sows. From then on, the fear of God finds a place of election in man, and through fear, charity is manifested.

26. It is necessary to reject the assaults of thought on the heart by a pious refusal at the time of prayer, so that we do not leave our lips busy talking to God while our hearts are dedicated to inconvenient things. For God does not accept a dirty and despicable prayer from a hesychast. Thus it is that 32 [20] Psalm IV, 3.

Scripture attests that we must supervise the senses of the soul. If the monk's will is subject to the law of God and if his intellect conducts everything in his power according to the law, that is, all the movements of the soul, especially anger and greed, subjecting them to reason, then we practice virtue and fulfill justice. Greed turns to God and his wills, anger is exercised against the devil and sin. What are we looking for? The secret meditation.

33 [21] Psalm V, 10.

34 [22] Psalm IX, 27.

35 [23] Psalm IX, 31.

36 [24] 2 Corinthians X, 5.

37 [25] Psalm 24, 1.

27. If obscenity is sown in your heart, stay in your cell and watch to resist the malice, so that it does not take hold of you. Make haste to remember God who sees you and before whom the thoughts of your heart are laid bare. Say to your soul: “If you fear that sinners like you will see your sins, how much more will God, who has his eyes on everything?”; From this reflection the fear of God will be born in your soul, and if you remain with him, you will remain good, undisturbed in the midst of passions, as it is written: “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion: he who dwells in Jerusalem will never will tremble.” In everything you do, remember that God sees everything you think and you will sin no more.

To him be the glory for all ages. Amen.

EVAGRO THE PONTICIAN

Evagro, this wise and admirable man lived around the year 350. He received the position of reader from the great Basil.

He was ordained deacon by Basil's brother Gregory of Nice. He was initiated into the sacred texts by Gregory the Theologian, who made him archdeacon when he received the administration of the Church of Constantinople, according to Nikephoras Calixtus. Then, having renounced the things of the world, he plunged into the solitary life. Endowed with a real subtlety of intelligence and a great ability to express his thoughts, he left numerous writings, such as the treatise addressed to the hesychasts and the chapters, of great value, on the discernment of passions and thoughts, which we chose to expose in this book.

Evagro, called the Pontic because he originated from the province of Pontus in Asia Minor, was born around 345 in Ibora, not far from Anesia where Basil and Gregory began their solitary life in 357. Ordained reader by Saint Basil, Evagro was then elevated to the diaconate by Saint Gregory of Nazianze, who took him with him to Constantinople in 380. But soon, in order to escape a violent passion he had for the wife of a high official, he expatriated himself and went to Jerusalem, where Melania the Elder convinced him to renounce the world and become a monk in Egypt. After spending two years in Nitria, Evagro retired to the desert of Kellia, where he lived until his death in 399. He was a disciple of Macarius of Alexandria and also had a relationship with the other Macarius, founder of Sceta. He was part of a group of literate monks who distinguished themselves by their fervent adherence to Origenist doctrines.

The written work he left testifies to this double heritage. The extracts provided by the Philokalia were taken mainly from ascetic treatises, in which we do not find any of the controversial opinions that led to the condemnation of the author of the Gnostic Centuries at the Council of Constantinople in 553.

Heading this anthology is the Outline or Hypotype, or, with another title, Bases for monastic life.

In fact, aimed at beginners, this treatise describes the specific features of the monastic state and its essential conditions: celibacy, renunciation of the world, poverty, solitude, manual labor and meditation on ultimate ends.

The next book, Chapters on the Discernment of Passions and Thoughts or On Diverse Thoughts, deals with spiritual combat. He exposes with subtlety and depth the strategy through which demons arouse bad thoughts in the monk and the way to detect and repel attacks. Under the title of Chapters 40 Neptics, the Philokalia then adds five extracts from the Practical Treatise or The Monk, two of which refer to the teachings of the desert elders, especially Macarius.

To this florilegium presented in the Greek Philokalia under the name of Evagro, it is worth adding the treatise On prayer, attributed to Saint Nilus by Greek tradition and which must be returned to Evagro, as I. Hausherr demonstrated decisively. This treatise constitutes one of Evagro's most extraordinary works, and in it we find the most valuable elements of his mystical teaching.

TI, VI – EVAGRO THE PONTICIAN

MONASTIC ESSAY THAT TEACHES HOW TO EXERCISE ASCESIS AND HESYCHIA

1. It is said in Jeremiah: “You, do not take a wife in this place, for this is what the Lord said about the sons and daughters begotten in this place: 'They will perish of mortal illness' [26]”. These words show that, 38 as the Apostle says, “a married man worries about the things of the world, about how to please his wife, and he is divided. A married woman also worries about the world and how to please her husband [27].” And it is clear that what the Prophet says: “They will perish of a mortal illness” 39 does not only refer to the sons and daughters born of married life, but also to the sons and daughters engendered in the heart, that is, the thoughts and desires carnal; they too will perish, as it were, in the sickly, infirm, and languid understanding of this world, and will not be reborn into the heavenly life.

“But he who is not married, says the Apostle, cares about the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord [28]”, and this will produce the perpetual and immortal fruits of eternal life.

2. This is how the monk is and this is how he should be: abstaining from wife, procreating neither sons nor daughters in this aforementioned place, above all a soldier of Christ, immaterial and without worries, free from all cares for business and activities of any kind, as the Apostle says: “When enlisting in the army, no one will allow himself to be involved in the issues of civil life, if he wants to satisfy those who enlisted him in the regiment [29]”.

May the monk walk like this, especially the one who has abandoned all matter in this world and runs towards the magnificent and splendid trophies of hesychia. How magnificent and splendid is the ascesis of Hesychia, yes, truly magnificent and splendid! For his yoke is sweet and his burden is light [30]. Life is sweet and practice is delightful.

3. Do you really want, beloved, to take up the monastic life as it is and seek the [splendid and magnificent] trophies of the hesychia? Leave behind the concerns of the world, the princes and powers that occupy it, that is, free yourself from matter and passions, without any concupiscence, so that, having become oblivious to this embarrassment, you can practice the hesychia. Because if we don't avoid all of this, we won't be able to live this life successfully.

Be content with frugal and cheap food, in small quantities and easy to find. And if, under the pretext of hospitality, more expensive food comes to mind, let him go and do not follow him, as with this the Adversary sets a trap to divert him from the hesychia. You know how the Lord Jesus condemns the soul that worries about these things – Martha – saying to her: “Why be troubled about so many things? Only one is necessary to him,” namely, he said, to listen to the divine word; and after that everything becomes easy. This is why he adds next: “For Mary chose the best part, that which cannot be taken away from her [31]”. You also have the example of the widow of Zarephath and the food she offered 43 to the Prophet [32]. If you only have bread, salt and water, you will be able to get the reward for your hospitality. And if you don't even have this, receive your guest with the best of dispositions and offer him 38 [26] Jeremiah XVI, 2-4.

39 [27] 1 Corinthians VII, 33-34.

40 [28] 1 Corinthians VII, 32.

41 [29] 2 Timothy II, 4.

42 [30] Cf. Matthew XI, 30.

43 [31] Luke X, 41-42.

44 [32] Cf. 1 Kings XVII, 10-11.

an uplifting word, in order to obtain the reward of hospitality. In fact, it has been said: “A word is better than what is given [33].” Here is what you should meditate on regarding almsgiving.

4. Be careful, therefore, not to want to have riches to distribute to the poor, as this is yet another trick of the Evil One, which often leads to vainglory and throws the intellect into a multitude of worries. In the Gospel you find the widow about whom the Lord Jesus testified that, with two coins, she surpassed the rich in terms of intention and value. Indeed, “these, said the Lord, took away some of her superfluous treasures, while she offered all her subsistence [34].” 46 As for clothes, do not wish to have too much. Stick to those that are sufficient for your body's needs.

“Cast all your worries on the Lord and he will do everything for you [35].” “Indeed, he takes care of us personally [36].” 48 If you are left without food or clothing, do not be ashamed to accept what others offer you, for this shame is a kind of pride. But if you have enough, give to those who lack. This is how God wants his children to be provided for. This is why the Apostle, writing to the Corinthians, said about the needy: “Let their superfluous help in their penury, so that their superfluous may remedy their penury and so that there may be equanimity, as it is written: 'He who There was a lot, there wasn't much, and what he had little he didn't run out of.' [37]” 49 Thus having what is necessary for the present, do not worry about the future, whether it be a day, a week or a month. When tomorrow comes, he himself will provide what is needed if you, above all, seek the Kingdom of heaven and the righteousness of God. Indeed, the Lord said: “Seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and everything else will be given to you in addition. [38]” 50 5. Do not have a servant, so that through him the Adversary does not cause a scandal and does not disturb your thoughts with expensive food, as you will no longer be able to take care of him alone. And if a thought occurs to you regarding bodily well-being, think about what is best for you, I mean spiritual well-being.

In fact, and in truth, spiritual well-being is worth more than bodily well-being. And even if the Adversary puts into your head the benefits that the boy could receive, don't obey him. In fact, it is not work for us, but for other holy Fathers who live in community. Take care only of your own benefit and preserve the condition of hesychia. Don't want to live with men who are tied to material things and tied up on all sides. Live alone, or with brothers who are free from the subject and who think like you. For whoever lives with men who are linked to material things and occupied by business will necessarily share in the embarrassments and slavery of human servitude, such as empty conversations and all other calamities: anger, sadness, the madness of things materials, fear and scandal.

Nor should you allow yourself to be tied down by family care or affection for others, but rather avoid frequenting them, so that they do not make you lose the hesychia of your cell and do not involve you in your own affairs. As the Lord says: “Let the dead bury their dead [39]; you, come and follow me.”

Even if your own cell is too accessible, run away and don't keep it, don't relax because you're attached to it. Do everything you can, always act so that you can practice hesychia and have free time to dedicate yourself to doing God's will and fighting against the invisible powers.

45 [33] Ecclesiasticus XVIII, 16.

46 [34] Mark XII, 44.

47 [35] Psalm LIV, 23.

48 [36] 1 Peter V, 7.

49 [37] 2 Corinthians VIII, 14-15, cit. Exodus XVI, 18.

50 [38] Matthew, VI, 33.

51 [39] Matthew VIII, 22.

6. If you cannot reach hesychia in your vicinity, direct your intention towards exile and hasten to fix your thoughts there. Do it like a good businessman, evaluating everything according to the hesychia and retaining mainly the things that are useful and coherent with it. As for the rest, I tell you, prefer exile. For he frees him from the inconveniences of his own homeland and takes advantage only of what benefits the hesychia. Avoid staying in cities and persevere in the desert. “Behold, says the holy king, I fled far away and remained in the desert [40].” As much as possible, never go to the city, 52 because you will not see anything there that suits you, nothing useful or useful for your way of life. “I saw, says the holy king, the iniquity and disputes in the city [41]”. Therefore, look for secluded and quiet places. Don't fear the echo. If you see the specters of demons, do not be afraid and do not abandon the state that is all our benefit. Persevere without fear and you will see “the wonders of God54[42]”, the help, the concern and all the other certainties of salvation. Indeed, it is the blessed man who says: “I waited for him who saved me from discouragement and storm55[43]”. May no desire for agitation overcome your purpose. For “fickleness with greed undermines an innocent spirit [44].” Hence 56 countless temptations arise. Fear the fall and remain sedentary in your cell.

7. If you have friends, avoid being with them constantly. Because by seeing them a few times, you will get more out of them. But if you find yourself hurting yourself for them, don't get any closer. In fact, your friends need to be useful to you and share your way of life. Avoid encounters with perverse or controversial friends and do not live with any of them. More than this, reject their bad projects, as they are not linked to God and do not remain with him. May your friends be peaceful men, spiritual brothers and holy Fathers. This is, in fact, what the Lord called them when He said: “My mother, my brothers and my parents are those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven [45]”. Do not frequent agitated people or go partying with them, so that they do not drag you into their illusions and divert you from the discipline of hesychia, as it is the passion that is found in them. Do not listen to their purposes and do not accept the thoughts of your heart, as they are truly disastrous. May your desire turn to the faithful of the earth and may your heart's desire be to envy their compunction. In fact, it has been said, “My eyes are fixed on the believers of the earth, to make them sit with me [46].” But if one of those who live according to the love of God invites you to eat with him, and if 58 you want, do so, but quickly return to your cell. As much as possible, never sleep outside of it, so that the grace of hesychia always remains with you, and you can thus, without hindrance, remain faithful to your purpose.

8. Do not be a lover of good dishes or the illusions of enjoyment, for, as the Apostle says, “whoever lives on enjoyment is dead [47]”. Do not fill your belly with food that is for the worldly, lest your lust defile you and make you desire your table. In fact, it has been said: “Do not waste yourself locupping your belly [48]”. And if you are constantly asked to leave your cell, refuse. For prolonged stay outside the cell is harmful, it undoes grace, obscures understanding, extinguishes fervor. See how a jug of wine that remains in its place for a long time, without being disturbed, makes the wine clear, decanted, fragrant. If, on the contrary, it is transported from one place to another, it will produce an opaque, mixed wine that shows all the disintegrations of the lees. Compare yourself to this jar and make this experience so useful, break relationships with most people so that your intellect is not distracted and so that your hesychia condition is not disturbed.

52 [40] Psalm LIV, 8.

53 [41] Psalm LIV, 10.

54 [42] Exodus XIV, 13 55 [43] Psalm LIV, 9.

56 [44] Wisdom IV, 12.

57 [45] Matthew XII, 50.

58 [46] Psalm C, 6.

59 [47] 1 Timothy V, 6.

60 [48] Proverbs XXIV, 15.

Be careful to work with your hands day and night, if possible, so as not to be a burden to anyone and even more so to distribute, as the holy apostle Paul [49] recommends, in order to triumph with this also 61 over the devil of acedia and to eliminate all other lusts of the enemy. For the demon of acedia is accompanied by idleness and is “in concupiscence”, as was said [50]. By doing commerce, 62 you will not avoid sin. Selling or buying, give in a little, to your own disadvantage, about the fair price, so that it does not happen that, carried away by the petty and minute negotiations that commercial greed inspires, you do not fall into causes of harm to the soul, into disputes, in false oaths, in perjury, and that, because of such actions, you do not dishonor yourself and do not cover the holy dignity of our profession with shame. Adopt this idea, avoid buying and selling by yourself. It is preferable, if possible, to assign this matter to someone else, to a trustworthy man, so that, with a calm spirit, you can enjoy beautiful and happy hopes.

9. Such are the advantages that the life of hesychia will bring you. I will now set out the series of things it contemplates. You, listen to me and do as I command you. Sitting in your cell, collect your intellect, remember the day of your death, see the corpse that will be your body, feel its pains, condemn the vanity of this world, fill yourself with care and zeal so that you can always remain within the same world. firm purpose of hesychia without wavering. Remember also the conditions present in hell, observe how the souls are down there, in what bitter silence, in what terrible groans, in what horror, in what agony, in what waiting, the endless torture and the tears of the soul that cannot can be dried. But also remember the day of resurrection and appearance before God. Imagine this terrifying and fearful judgment, evoke what is reserved for sinners: the shame before God and his Christ, the angels, the archangels, the powers and all men, all the tortures, the eternal fire, the worm that does not die, the tartar, the darkness, and, in addition to all this, the gnashing of teeth, the terrors and the torments. But also evoke the goods that are reserved for the righteous: security before God the father and his Christ, the angels, the archangels, the powers and all the people of the saints, the kingdom and its gifts, joy and happiness. From these two perspectives, keep in your memory: about the condemnation of sinners, weep, groan and put on mourning clothes, fearing that this will happen to you too. But as for the goods reserved for the righteous, rejoice, exult and be glad; strive to be able to enjoy them; as for the others, try to escape them. Watch that you never forget this, whether you are inside or outside your cell, do not separate your understanding from this memory so that, at the very least, you avoid inappropriate and harmful thoughts.

10. Fast as much as you can before the Lord. Fasting washes away transgressions and sins, beautifies the soul, sanctifies the understanding, puts demons to flight and predisposes to approaching God. Eating once a day, do not desire a second meal, so as not to be wasteful or disturb your understanding.

Thus you will have an abundance for works of bliss and will be able to mortify the passions of the body. But if brothers arrive and you find yourself forced to eat a second and a third time, take care not to groan or be distressed; rejoice and submit to reality, and, eating for the second or third time, give thanks to God for fulfilling the law of charity and for having God himself as administrator of our lives. It may happen that the body is sick and that it is necessary to eat two or three times or even frequently; [be ready for this eventuality] and do not grieve. We must not allow the bodily labors of our lifestyle to be maintained during illness, but we can give up some things to recover our health more quickly and resume the same labors of our life. Regarding abstinence from food, the divine word did not prohibit eating anything, but it says: “I gave them 61 [49] 1 Thessalonians II, 9; Ephesians IV, 28.

62 [50] Cf. Proverbs XIII, 4.

all things in the form of vegetables [51]”, “eat without distinction [52]” and “It is not what goes into the mouth that 63 64 makes a man dirty [53]”. Abstinence from food must be a work of our free will and our soul.

11. Joyfully endure vigil, sleep on a hard bed and all other austerities, considering the future glory that will be revealed to you with all the saints. It is said, in effect, that “the sufferings of this present time are nothing compared with the glory that will be revealed in us [54]”. If you are cast down, 66 pray, as it is written [55], but pray with fear and with trembling, with effort, sobriety, vigilance and attention.

67 This is how we should pray, especially because of the invisible, perverse and deceitful enemies, who always want to cause us harm. Every time they see us in prayer, they rush to suggest to our intellect what should not be thought or meditated on during prayer, in order to take our intellect captive and make demand and supplication vain, useless and ineffective. contained in the prayer. For vain and useless are prayers, demands and supplications that are not made as said, with fear, trembling, sobriety, vigilance and attention. Indeed, if we approach a mortal king, trembling, with fear and circumspection to present a request to him, would it not be appropriate for us to feel much more when we thus present ourselves to God, master of the universe, and to Christ, King of kings and Prince of God? princes [56], and also address our supplications and demands to him? Certainly, for all the multitude of angelic spirits who fear and adore him in chorus, who tremblingly glorify him, both to the beginningless Father and to the most holy and coeternal Spirit, now and forever, throughout all ages, also direct incessant hymns to him. Amen.

63 [51] Genesis IX, 3..

64 [52] 1 Corinthians X, 25-27.

65 [53] Matthew XV, 11.

66 [54] Romans VIII, 18.

67 [55] Cf. James V, 13.

68 [56] Cf. 1 Timothy VI, 15; Revelation XIX, 16.

CHAPTERS ON DISCERNMENT OF PASSIONS AND THOUGHTS [I] [57]

1. Among the demons that oppose the practice, the first to present themselves in combat are those in charge of the appetites of gluttony, those that suggest avarice to us and those that encourage us to seek human glory. All the others walk behind these, collecting those they have injured. In fact, it is not possible to fall into the hands of the spirit of fornication without first having succumbed to gluttony; it is not possible to stop the irascible part if we do not combat it through food, riches and glory; it is not possible to escape the demon of sadness if we feel deprived of all these things or if we cannot acquire them; Nor will we escape pride, the first sprout of the devil, if we do not banish “avarice, the root of all evil” because, as the wise Solomon said, “poverty humiliates man [58]”. In a nutshell, 70 it is not possible for someone to succumb to the devil without first having been injured by the assailants in the first row (protostátai). That is why these were the three thoughts that the devil once presented to the Savior, first inviting him to transform stones into bread, then promising him the whole world if he would prostrate himself to worship him, and thirdly saying him that, if he obeyed him, he would be glorified by not suffering any harm from such a fall [59]. Showing Himself superior to these 71 temptations, Our Lord ordered the devil to leave; With this he teaches us that it is not possible to drive away the devil without first despising these three thoughts.

[II] 2. All demonic thoughts introduce representations of sensitive objects into the soul: impressed by them, the intellect carries within itself the forms of these objects; and so, it is according to the object itself that he can recognize the demon that has approached. For example, if in my mind the face of someone who did me harm or dishonored me appears, it is proof that the thought of rancor and resentment paid me a visit; or even, if memories of riches or glory arise, it is clear that it will be from these objects that the one who torments us can be recognized. The same happens with other thoughts: starting from the objects you will discover who is present and makes these suggestions. This is not to say that all memories of such objects come from demons – since the intellect itself, being moved by man, has the natural faculty of remembering images of what exists – but only those that force the irascible parts against nature. and lustful. In fact, it is because of the disturbance of these powers that the intellect commits adultery and violence in spirit, becoming incapable of receiving the image of God who imposed his law on it, to the extent that this clarity manifests itself to the directing faculty [ of the soul] at the time of prayer with the suppression of all other representations linked to objects.

[III] 3. Man cannot free himself from passionate memories except by taking care of his concupiscent and irascible parts, exhausting the first through fasting, vigils and sleeping on hard beds, imprisoning the second through longsuffering, absence of resentment and alms. In fact, it is from these two passions that almost all demonic thoughts are formed that precipitate the intellect “into ruin and perdition”. Now, it is impossible for anyone to triumph over these passions if they do not completely disdain food, riches and glory, and even their own body, because of those who so often try to inflate it.

69 [57] Indications in brackets refer to the divisions of PG (Greek Patristics) LXXIX, 1199-1234.

70 [58] Proverbs X, 14.

71 [59] Cf. Matthew IV, 1-10.

It is therefore absolutely necessary to imitate someone who is in danger at sea and who throws the load overboard, due to the violence of the winds and the unrestrained waves. But be careful not to throw your cargo over the side in front of the men, making a spectacle of them; for they have already received their payment, and another shipwreck, more fearful than the first, will follow, with the demon of vainglory blowing the opposite wind. This is why Our Lord, in the Gospels, instructs the pilot, which is the intellect, in these terms: “Beware of doing your good works before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you will have no reward with your Father who is in heaven [60]”; and again: “When you pray, do not be like the 72 hypocrites, who love to pray standing in synagogues and on street corners, to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward [61]”; and he also says: “When you fast, do not look sad like the hypocrites, who show a dejected countenance to show men that they fast. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. [62]” 74 But it is the physician of souls that we must observe here: just as by alms he cures the irascible part, by prayer he purifies the intellect, and by fasting he exhausts the concupiscent part; in this way, “the new man is renewed in the image of his Creator [63]”, and in him, thanks to holy impassibility, “there is no longer man 75 nor woman”, in him “there is no longer Greek or Jew, nor circumcised or uncircumcised, nor barbarian, nor Scythian, nor slave, nor freeman, but only Christ, who will be all in all. [64]” 76 [IV] 4. It is necessary to look for how, in the imaginations of falling asleep, demons leave a mark and a figure in our directing faculty. For these things, it seems, are produced in the intellect, either through the eyes when it sees, or through the ears when it listens, or through any sense, or through memory, which leaves marks on the directing faculty, not through the body. , but putting into motion what she obtained through her body. Well, it seems to me that it is by setting memory in motion that demons leave marks on the directing faculty, since the organism remains inactive during sleep. But let's see now how they set memory in motion: wouldn't it be through passions? Yes, evidently, because those who are pure and impassive experience nothing of the sort. However, there is also a simple movement of memory, provoked by us or by the holy powers, thanks to which, during our sleep, we can meet the saints again, talk and eat with them. To do so, it is necessary to remember that the images that the soul receives through the body are set in motion by memory, without the body; The proof of this is in the fact that we often experience these things even while sleeping, while the body is at rest. Just as we can remember water whether we are thirsty or not, we can remember gold with or without greed, and likewise anything else. That the intellect encounters such or such varieties of images will be an indication of the pernicious work of those there. And we also need to know the following: demons also use external objects to produce an image, such as the noise of waves for a navigator.

5. When drawn against its nature, our irascibility provides enormous help to the demons in achieving their objective, and lends itself completely useful to their hateful machinations. That's why, day and night, none of them fail to disturb her for a moment; and when they see her embraced with sweetness, they rush to find fair pretexts to separate them as quickly as possible, so that, placing herself in readiness, she serves their fierce thoughts. It is also necessary not to provoke it under any pretext, fair or unfair, and not to throw a disastrous dagger at the authors of the suggestions.

I know many who act like this frequently and become more inflamed than necessary for the most futile reasons.

72 [60] Matthew VI, 1.

73 [61] Matthew VI, 5.

74 [62] Matthew VI, 16.

75 [63] Cf. Colossians III, 10.

76 [64] Cf. Galatians III, 28.

[V] Why, tell me, “you jump so quickly into an argument”, if it is true that you despised food, riches and glory? And why do you feed your dog if you make a profession of owning nothing?

If he barks and attacks people, it is clear that you have some possessions inside that he should guard. For my part, I am convinced that such a man is far from pure prayer, knowing that irascibility is a scourge to this prayer. And it is surprising that he thus forgets the saints, like David who cries: “Put an end to your wrath and renounce your irascibility [65]”, like Ecclesiastes who proclaims: 77 “Put away anger from your heart and malice from your flesh [66]”, and like the Apostle, who prescribes “raising 78 hands in every place without anger or disputes [67]”. Why not educate ourselves on the ancient custom of 79 men, which consisted of expelling dogs from the house at the time of prayer? This means in veiled terms that irascibility should not be present among those who pray. See also: “The wrath of dragons is their wine [68]”; Now, in this way the Nazirites abstained from wine. I add that a pagan sage 80 declared that the gallbladder and the lumbar part were inedible by the gods, without knowing, I think, what he was saying. For me, they are symbols, the first of anger and the second of unreasonable concupiscence.

As for the fact that we should not worry about clothing or food, I think it is superfluous to write about it, because the Savior himself, in the Gospels, pronounces this prohibition: “Do not worry about yourselves, what you will eat or drink. , or what you will wear [69].” For this is what pagans and unbelievers do who reject the Master's providence and deny the Creator, but this attitude is entirely strange to Christians, since they believe that even “the two sparrows that are sold for a penny ” are under the administration of the holy angels. However, demons also have the habit of sending impure thoughts of worry, so that Jesus moves away due to the multitude of representations that take the place of the spirit and so that his word becomes sterile, suffocated by the thorns of worry [70]. 82 [VI] Therefore, after we have freed ourselves from the thoughts that come from worries, “let us cast our worries on the Lord [71]”, being content with what we have in the present [72]; and, 83 84 adopting a poor way of life and clothing, let us expose the authors of the boast naked in broad daylight. If anyone thinks he lacks decency because of the poverty of his clothes, let him consider Saint Paul who “in the cold and naked [73]” achieved the crown of justice [74]. And as the Apostle called the world we live in [75] a theater and a stadium, let us see if it is possible, clothed with thoughts of concern, to run “for the prize 87 of the call from above brought by Christ [76]” or fight against “the principalities, powers and dominations 88 of this darkness [77]”. For my part I know nothing of this, since I have been instructed by what happens in 89 77 [65] Psalm XXXVI, 8.

78 [66] Ecclesiastes XI, 10.

79 [67] 1 Timothy II, 28.

80 [68] Deuteronomy XXXII, 33.

81 [69] Matthew VI, 25.

82 [70] Cf. Matthew XIII, 22.

83 [71] 1 Peter V, 7; cit. Psalm LIV, 22.

84 [72] Cf. Hebrews XIII, 5.

85 [73] Cf. 2 Corinthians I, 27.

86 [74] Cf. 2 Timothy IV, 8.

87 [75] Cf. 1 Corinthians IV, 9; 1 Corinthians IX, 24.

88 [76] Cf. Philippians III, 14.

89 [77] Cf. Ephesians VI, 12.

sensitive reality: in it, in fact, our fighter will find himself hindered by his tunic and will be easily beaten. This is what will also happen to the intellect, under the effects of preoccupied thoughts, if the word that says that the intellect is firmly linked to its treasure is true: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be [78]. 90 [VII] 6. Among thoughts, there are those that cut and there are those that are cut: the bad ones cut the good ones and are cut by them. Therefore, the Holy Spirit remains attentive to the thought that was first placed, and it is from there that he condemns or approves us. What I mean is this: I have a thought of hospitality and I have it because of the Lord, but it is cut off when the tempter comes and suggests that I be hospitable for the glory it brings. Another example: I have a thought of hospitality with a view to showing myself to men, but it is also cut off when a better thought is introduced that guides my virtue towards the Lord, forcing me not to act like that for the sake of men. If so, by our actions, from then on we remain with our first thoughts, even if put to the test by the second ones, we will receive payment for the thoughts we placed before, because, because we are men, and because we fight against demons, we do not have the strength to to keep a right thought unharmed nor, conversely, to keep a bad thought without temptation, because we have the seeds of virtue within us. But if one of the thoughts that cuts continues, it installs itself in the place of the one that was cut, and it will be according to this second thought that from then on man will receive the impulse that will make him act.

7. After long observation, we learn to know the difference between angelic thoughts, human thoughts and those that come from demons. Those of angels, to begin with, peer into the nature of things and seek their spiritual reasons. For example: because gold was created, because it is earthy and spread deep underground, and because it is only discovered with a lot of effort and pain; and how, once discovered, it is washed in water, placed in the fire, and thus placed in the hands of the craftsmen who will make the tent lampstand, the perfume burner, the censer, the cups [79] in which, by the grace of our Savior, is no longer a king of Babylon who drinks [80], but Cleopas, 91 92 who brings a heart burning with these mysteries [81]. Demonic thought neither knows nor wants to know any of this, but shamelessly suggests the simple acquisition of sensitive gold and predicts the enjoyment and glory that will result from this. As for human thought, it both aims at acquisition and scrutinizes the symbolism of gold, but it introduces into the spirit only the simple form of gold, outside of any passion of cupidity. The same goes for other objects, mentally exercising the same rule.

[VIII] 8. There is a demon that we call “tramp” and that approaches the brothers especially at the beginning of dawn; he wanders his intellect from city to city, from village to village, from house to house; He is thus taken to simple meetings, then he arrives at acquaintances, chatters at length, and in this way ruins, in the contact of these meetings, his own state, insensibly distancing himself from the knowledge of God and virtue, even forgetting his profession. It is therefore necessary for the anchorite to observe this demon: where he starts from and where he arrives, since it is not by chance or adventurously that he completes this long circuit, but it is with the intention of ruining the state of the anchorite that he acts in this way, so that the intellect, inflamed by all this and enraptured by these encounters, quickly falls under the demon of fornication, or under that of anger, or sadness, which most of all harm the clarity of its state. But we, who aim to know exactly the ingenuity of this demon, do not speak to him afterwards nor do we reveal to him what is happening: how he produces encounters in thought and how he insensibly drags the intellect to death, as he he will flee far away: he will not admit of being seen while he does these things; and thus we will not know anything of what we set out to learn. But let us let him, day after day, reach the end of his game, so that, after we have learned to know his machinations in detail, we put him on the run, unmasking him with a word.

90 [78] Matthew VI, 21.

91 [79] Cf. Exodus XXXV, 4 ff.

92 [80] Cf. Daniel V, 2-3.

93 [81] Cf. Luke XXIV, 32.

[IX] But, as it happens that at the moment of temptation the intellect finds itself confused and is unable to perceive precisely what is happening, here is what you should do after the demon has been removed: sit down and remember to yourself the events that happened, where you started from and where you arrived, at what point you were taken by the spirit of fornication, or of anger, or of sadness, and how, furthermore, what happened happened; observe these details and commit them to memory, in order to be able to unmask him when he approaches; reveal to him the secret place he keeps, and also that you will no longer follow him there. If you want to drive him mad with fury, unmask him as soon as he presents himself and, in a word, report the first place he entered, and the second, and the third: as he cannot bear humiliation, this will be especially painful for him.

The flight of thought away from you will be proof that you spoke the correct word to it, as it is impossible for this demon to remain after it has been openly unmasked. The removal of this demon is followed by a heavy sleep, a kind of death accompanied by a great cooling of the eyelids and endless yawning, a heavy and swollen back: all phenomena that, thanks to an intense prayer, the Holy Spirit will dispel.

[X] 9. The aversion we present to demons contributes in a special way to our salvation and favors the practice of virtue; but we do not have the strength to nourish it within us like a kind of good embryo, because spirits friendly to pleasure destroy it and invite the soul to return to its usual friendship; This friendship – or rather, this difficultly curable gangrene – the doctor of souls cures with moral solitude: in fact, he allows us to suffer a certain terror from this night and day, so that the soul quickly returns to the primitive aversion, learning from it. David to say to the Lord: “I hate them with a perfect loathing, they have become enemies to me. [82]” For he hated his enemies with perfect 94 aversion, that which sins neither in act nor in thought, and which is the greatest sign of the first impassibility.

[XI] 10. As for the demon that makes the soul insensitive, do I need to talk about him? For, for my part, I fear even to write of it: how the soul leaves its own state when it comes and rejects the fear of God and piety; it stops considering sin as sin, it no longer esteems transgression as transgression; eternal punishment and judgment are remembered by her as simple words and the soul “laughs”, truly, “at the schism that will burn everything”. She says she fears God, but ignores what he prescribes; you scratch her chest as she turns to sin, but she remains unmoved; you argue from the Scriptures, and it remains insensitive; you expose her to the guilt that comes from men, and she does not realize the shame it causes among her brothers; this soul is deprived of intelligence, like a blindfolded pig that destroys its pigsty. This demon is attracted to persistent thoughts of vainglory; it is of him that it was said: “If those days were not shortened, no creature would be saved [83].” 95 And, in fact, he is found among those who rarely visit their brothers, and the reason is evident: faced with the suffering of others who are beset by illnesses, or who vegetate in prisons, or succumb to a sudden death, this demon puts him to flight, as the soul is little by little penetrated by compunction and accesses compassion when the blindness caused by this demon dissipates. We lack all of this, because of the desert and because the sick are rare among us.

94 [82] Psalm 138, 22.

95 [83] Matthew XXIV, 22.

[XII] It was mainly this demon that the Lord wanted to put on the run in the Gospels, when he prescribed seeing the sick and visiting those in prison: “I was sick, he said, and you came to visit me, I was in prison and you came to me [84]”. But it is also necessary to know the following: if one of the anchorites 96 who fell before this demon did not conceive thoughts of fornication, or did not leave his home under the effects of acedia, it is because this man received chastity and perseverance from heaven; blessed is he for possessing such impassibility! As for those who take vows of piety and choose to dwell with secular people, let them beware of this demon. As for me, I blush before men just talking about him or writing about him from now on.

[XIII] 11. All demons teach the soul to enjoy pleasure: only the demon of sadness does not want to do so, and he even goes so far as to destroy the thoughts of others who are there, destroying and drying up all the pleasure of the soul for through sadness, if it is true that “the bones of a sad man dry up [85]”. And if he 97 fights moderately, he makes the anchorite experienced, for it convinces him not to approach the goods of this world and to avoid all pleasure; but if it implants itself from then on, it engenders thoughts that advise the soul to escape, or that force it to flee far away. This is what the holy Job suffered and meditated on, when he was tormented by this demon: “If I could, he said, lend a hand to myself, or at least ask someone else to do it for me [86].” This demon is symbolized by the viper, this animal 98 whose natural substance, administered in a bearable dose to man, destroys the poison of other animals, but if taken in its pure state, it destroys the living being itself. It is to this demon that Paul handed over the sinner of Corinth; That is why he hurried to write these words again to the Corinthians: “So now you must forgive him and console him so that he does not succumb to too much sadness. [87]” But he knew that this spirit that afflicts men can also bring them good repentance: this is the reason why Saint John the Baptist called those who are bitten by this demon and take refuge with God the “race of vipers”, saying to them: “But when he saw that many of the Pharisees and Sadducees were coming to his baptism, he said to them: You brood of vipers, who taught you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore, bear the fruits of true penance. Do not say within yourselves: We have Abraham as our father! For I tell you, God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. [88]” But every man who, like Abraham, left his land and 100 his family [89], becomes stronger than this demon.

[101] Thus the intellect of the anchorites becomes difficult to capture, when 102 flees across the plains of sweetness. For almost no virtue is so feared by demons as meekness; it is this that the great Moses possessed, he who was called “the meekest of men [91]”; and 103 holy David declared himself worthy of God's remembrance, when he said: “Remember David and all his gentleness. [92]” On the other hand, the Savior himself commanded us to be imitators of this sweetness, when he 104 said: “Take my yoke upon you and receive my teaching, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. . [93]” And if someone abstains from food and drink, but excites his 105 irascible part with evil thoughts, this is like a boat sailing out into the open with a devil as its pilot. So it is necessary to watch, as much as possible, the dog that lives within us and teach it to only attack wolves and not to devour sheep, showing all gentleness towards all men.

96 [84] Matthew XXV, 36.

97 [85] Cf. Proverbs XVII, 22.

98 [86] Good XXX, 24.

99 [87] 2 Corinthians II, 7-8.

100 [88] Matthew III, 7-9.

101 [89] Cf. Genesis XII, 1.

102 [90] Psalm XXIV, 9.

103 [91] Numbers XII, 3.

[XV] 13. Unique among thoughts, that of vainglory has a lot of matter; it encompasses almost the entire inhabited earth and opens its doors to all demons, as a mere traitor would to a city. He also particularly humiliates the anchorite's intellect, filling it with a multitude of words and objects and corrupting his prayers, thanks to which he strives to heal all the wounds of his soul. It is this thought that makes all the demons that had been destroyed grow, and it is thanks to it that they all find an access to the souls, truly making the “new state worse than the first [94]”. From this thought also arises that of pride, which precipitated from the heavens onto the earth “the seal of similarity and the crown of beauty”. "Let's go! Let us leave this place without delay [95]”, for fear that we will abandon our lives 107 to others and our existence to merciless people. This demon is driven away by intense prayer and the refusal to voluntarily do or say anything that might contribute to the accursed glory.

14. When the intellect of the anchorites has acquired a beginning of impassivity, then it acquires the horse of vainglory and quickly parades through the cities, filling itself with praise, pure wine brought by glory. By a providential design, the spirit of fornication that comes to meet him and throws him into some rubbish teaches him not to leave his bed before he has recovered perfect health, and not to imitate the undisciplined patients who, even carrying the sequelae of the disease, they take inappropriate walks and baths and have relapses. That is why, by remaining seated, we are more attentive to ourselves; thus, progressing in virtue, we will be difficult to be dragged into evil; renewing ourselves in science [96], we will on the other hand receive an abundance of varied contemplations; and also by lifting ourselves up by prayer, we will receive a clearer vision of the light of our Savior.

[XVI] 15. I cannot write about all the machinations of demons and I am ashamed to enumerate their stratagems, fearing for my eventual more simple-minded readers. However, listen to the ingenuity of the demon of fornication. When someone has acquired the impassivity of the concupiscent part and caused shameful thoughts to be a little cooled from now on, this demon introduces men and women who have fun together, and makes the anchorite a spectator of reprehensible actions and attitudes. But this temptation is not one that lasts the longest, as intense prayer and a strict regime combined with vigils and the exercise of spiritual contemplations expel it “like a cloud without water”. Sometimes he attacks the flesh and makes the anchorite give in to an animal heat. The evil demon also invents a thousand other stratagems that we do not need to publish and entrust to writing.

Against such thoughts, the boiling of the irascible part directed against the demon is extremely effective, a part that he fears most of all when it is disturbed by thoughts and destroys their representations. This is what it means: “Be angry and sin no more. [97]” Applied to the soul, it is a useful remedy in temptations. But the demon of anger also knows how to imitate this other: he also invents relatives, friends and acquaintances mistreated by criminals, and induces the irascible part of the anchorite against those who appear in his mind; It is necessary to be aware of this and quickly remove such images from the intellect, for fear that, by connecting to them, it does not become a “smoking brand” at the time of prayer. The irascible are victims of these temptations, as they are above all subject to the inflammations of anger; they are far from the pure prayer and knowledge of Christ our Savior.

104 [92] Psalm CXXXI, 1.

105 [93] Matthew XI, 29.

106 [94] Cf. Matthew XII, 45.

107 [95] Proverbs V, 9.

108 [96] Cf. Colossians III, 10.

109 [97] Psalm IV, 5.

[XVII] 16. The representations of this century were entrusted by the Lord to man as sheep to a good shepherd, for it was said: “He gave his heart to the world [98]”; To help him, he added to him the irascible part and the concupiscent part, so that by the first he drives away the representations that are wolves, and by the second he takes care of the sheep, even if the rains and the winds beat down. about it. He also gave him “a pasture,” so that the sheep could graze, “a place of green pastures and a spring of refreshing waters,” “a harp and a lyre,” “a staff and a staff,” to that he take food and clothing from the flock and that, with his flock, he “treads the ground upon the mountains”, for it was said: “Who feeds a flock and does not feed on its milk? [100]” It is therefore necessary for the anchorite 112 to guard this little flock night and day, for fear that one of the representations will become prey to wild beasts or fall into the hands of some thief, and, if anything similar happens in this “little flowery valley ”, he must without delay snatch it “from the throats of the lion and the bear [101]”. The representation concerning 113 a brother becomes prey to wild animals if we make him graze on us with dislike; that which concerns woman, if we nourish her with shameful lust; that of gold and silver, if it is guarded greedily; and the representations of the holy charisms, if we make them walk in the spirit in the company of vainglory. The same will happen with other representations, when they become victims of passions.

[XVIII] The anchorite must not only watch over them during the day, but also keep watch over them at night, as he can also lose his good in reprehensible and evil imaginations. This is what the holy Jacob said: “I did not present the torn animals to him, but I made up for them with my own. You asked me to account for what was stolen day and night. During the day, I was devoured by the heat, and at night by the cold, and I couldn't sleep. [102]” But if, under the effect of fatigue, a certain acedia comes upon us, let us take refuge for a moment on the rock of science, let us take up our harp and play with the virtues the strings of science; then let us return to tend our sheep at the foot of Mount Sinai, so that the God of our fathers may call us, too, from within the bush [103] and grant us, too, the grace of knowing the 115 reasons “of signs and wonders”.

17. By contemplating all the worlds, Christ returns to life the rational nature that sin had brought to death. But the soul of this nature dead through the death of Christ receives life from the Father through the knowledge of himself. This is what Saint Paul says: “If we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him [104]”. 116 110 [98] Jeremiah XXXI, 33.

111 [99] Cf. Psalm XXII, 2.

112 [100] 1 Corinthians IX, 7.

113 [101] Cf 1 Samuel XVII, 34 ff.

114 [102] Genesis XXXI, 39-40.

115 [103] Cf. Exodus III, 1-4.

116 [104] 2 Timothy II, 11.

18. When the intellect, after putting off the old man, puts on that of grace, then it will see its own state at the time of prayer similar to sapphire or a celestial color, that which the Scripture calls the Place of God , which was seen by the ancients on Mount Sinai [105]. 117 [XXI] 19. Among the impure demons, some tempt man as man, while others disturb man as an animal not endowed with reason. When they are the first to visit us, they throw at us representations of vainglory, pride, envy or slander, all things that do not affect beings devoid of reason. When the seconds approach, they drag our irascibility and our concupiscence into a movement contrary to their nature; for we have these passionate parts in common with animals without reason, although concealed by our rational nature. This is why the Holy Spirit says to those who succumb to human thoughts: “I declare: Although you are gods, and all children of the Most High, you will die like any man. You princes will fall like everyone else [106].” To those who are dragged along in an animal movement, what does he say? “Do not be like a horse or a donkey, which does not understand either bridle or bridle: you must advance to tame them, without which they will not approach you. [107]” If it is true that “the sinful soul will die [108]”, it is 119 120 evident that men who die like men will be buried by men, while those who die or fall like animals will be devoured by vultures or crows, whose children both “call upon the Lord [109]” and “delight in blood [110]”. “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear! [111]” 121 122 123 [XIX] 20. When one of the enemies visits you to harm you and you want, as it is written, “to turn your own sword against your heart [112]”, act in the following way. Share within you the thought he sent: what is he? How many elements is it composed of and among these which torments the intellect the most? This is what I mean: let us admit that he sent you a thought of avarice; divide it like this: the intellect that welcomed it, the representation of gold, gold itself and the passion of avarice; Ask yourself which of these elements is a sin. Is it the intellect? But how? He is the image of God. Wouldn't it be the representation of gold? What sensible man would dare say that? Wouldn't gold itself be the sin? But for what purpose was it created? It follows from this that the fourth element is the cause of sin, which is neither an object essentially subsisting, nor the representation of an object, much less the incorporeal intellect, but a pleasure inimical to man, engendered by free will, which it constrains the intellect to make bad use of God's creatures: it is this pleasure that God's law is responsible for circumcising. In the course of your investigation, the thought, reabsorbed in your own examination, will be destroyed, and the demonic will flee away from you, for your spirit will have been lifted on high by this science.

If you do not want to use the enemy's sword, but rather want to strike him down with your sling, throw a stone from your shepherd's bag [113] and do the following examination: consider how the angels and the 125 demons visit our world, but we do not visit their worlds, because we can neither unite the angels with God nor make the demons more impure; consider still how Lucifer, who rises before

117 [105] Cf. Exodus XXIV, 10.

118 [106] Psalm 81, 6-7.

119 [107] Psalm XXXI, 9.

120 [108] Ezekiel XVIII, 4.

121 [109] Cf. Psalm 146, 9

122 [110] Cf. Job 39, 30

123 [111] Matthew XI, 5.

124 [112] Psalm XXXVI, 15.

125 [113] Cf. 1 Samuel XVII, 40.48 ss.

of the dawn, fell to the earth [114] and how he “regards the sea as a bottle of perfume and the Tartarus of the 126 abyss as a prisoner, and makes the abyss boil as a cauldron [115]”, disturbing all beings 127 with his malice and trying to dominate everyone. The contemplation of these things seriously wounds the demon and defeats his entire camp. But this only happens to those who have reached a certain degree of purity and who begin to see the reasons for beings. As for the impure, they ignore the contemplation of these things, and even if they learn them from others and repeat them like an incantation, they will not make themselves heard, due to the thick dust and the tumult caused by the passions in this war. The camp of foreigners must necessarily be calm, so that Goliath can go out alone to meet our David [116]. Let us use both analysis and this form of warfare in the same way in relation to all 128 impure thoughts.

21. When certain impure thoughts are quickly driven away, let us look for the cause: where did they come from? Is it due to the rarity of the object, the fact that it is difficult to find the necessary material, or due to the impassivity present in us, that the enemy can do nothing? For example: if an anchorite who is tormented by a demon gets it into his head that he will be entrusted with the spiritual government of the capital, it is clear that he will not entertain this idea for a long time, and the reason for this is easy to see from what has already been done. we said. But if it is any city or village, and if he is still in the same frame of mind, happy will he be for his impassivity! In the same way, for other thoughts, we can find a method similar to the one we have just tried. It is necessary for our ardor and our strength to know these things, so that we may know whether we have crossed the Jordan and are near the city of palm trees [117] or whether we continue to live in the desert, exposed to the attacks of foreigners.

129 The demon of avarice seems to me to take on many forms and to be very skillful in deceiving [118]: 130 cornered by supreme renunciation, he pretends to be thrifty and a friend of the poor; he generously welcomes guests who are not so poor, sends aid to others who are abandoned, visits the city's prisons, rescues those who have been put up for sale; he does not let go of rich women and indicates to them those who should be treated well; to those who have a rich purse he exhorts them to abandon it. And so, after having little by little deceived the soul, he encloses it in thoughts of avarice and gives it over to the demon of vainglory.

[XXIII] The latter introduces a multitude of people who praise the Lord for such an administration and, insensibly, he also introduces some people who begin to talk among themselves about a prelature; then he predicts the death of the prelate and adds that the man will not escape [from gaining the prelature] after all the good he has done. Thus, the unfortunate intellect, caught up in these thoughts, rejects those who did not accept the idea and hurries to shower those who did with gifts, praising their common sense; To those who revolt, he sends the law and asks the judges to banish them from the city. Now that these thoughts come and go in him, behold, the demon of pride appears, staging uninterrupted flashes in the space of the cell and sending winged dragons until finally causing the loss of the spirit. As for us, after having asked in our prayers for these thoughts to disappear, let us live in poverty giving thanks: for “we evidently brought nothing into this world and we will take nothing from it; since we have food and clothing, let us be content with these [119]”, remembering Paul, who said that “covetousness is the root of all 131 evils [120]”.

126 [114] Cf. Isaiah XIV,

127 [115] Good XLI,23 128 [116] Cf. 1 Samuel XVII.

129 [117] Cf. Deuteronomy XXXIV, 3.

130 [118] Cf. PG: Eumèchanos.

22. All impure thoughts that persist in us because of passions cause the intellect to decline “until ruin and perdition”. For just as the representation of bread persists in the hungry because of hunger and the representation of thirst persists in the thirsty because of thirst, so the representations of riches and goods persist due to cupidity, and the representations of foods and reprehensible thoughts engendered by Food persists due to passions. The same evidence applies with regard to vainglorious thoughts and other representations. It is not possible for an intellect swollen by such representations to stand before God and gird itself with the crown of righteousness [121]. It is because it is pulled in all directions by these thoughts that this triply unfortunate intellect, in the Gospels, refuses the meal of the knowledge of God [122]; and again, he whose hands and feet were bound and 134 who was thrown into outer darkness [123], wore a garment woven with thoughts: he who had invited him 135 declared that he was unworthy of such a wedding, for the wedding garment is impassibility of the rational soul that renounced the ambitions of the world. The reason why persistent representations of sensible objects destroy science will be presented in the Chapters on prayer.

[XXIV] 23. Among the demons who oppose the practice, there are three first-class assailants, followed by the entire detachment of foreigners: they are the first to present themselves for combat and invite souls to evil through impure thoughts: They are those responsible for the appetites of gluttony, those who suggest avarice to us and those who push us to seek glory among men.

You who aspire to pure prayer, watch your irascibility and you who love continence, control your belly; do not feed your stomach with bread until satiety and ration water; watch during prayer and keep resentment away from you; May the words of the Holy Spirit not abandon you and knock on the doors of Scripture with virtues as your hands. Then the impassivity of the heart will arise for you and you will see in prayer your intellect like a star.

131 [119] 1 Timothy VI, 7.

132 [120] 1 Timothy VI, 10.

133 [121] Cf. 2 Timothy IV, 8.

134 [122] Cf. Luke XIV, 18 ff.

135 [123] Cf. Matthew XXII, 2-14.

NEPTIC CHAPTERS 1.

[124] [29] This is what our holy and practical master said: the monk must always be ready, as if he were going to die tomorrow, and, conversely, that he use his body as if he had to live with it for the rest of his life. countless years. This, in effect, he said, keeps thoughts away from acedia and makes the monk more zealous and, on the other hand, keeps his body in good health, and always maintains his abstinence.

2. [32] He who has attained science and reaped the pleasure it offers will no longer allow himself to be convinced by the demon of vainglory, even if he offers him all the pleasures in the world. Indeed, what can be promised greater than spiritual contemplation? But since we have not yet tried science, let us ardently practice it, showing God that our goal is to do everything in view of science.

3. [91] It is also necessary to consult the paths of the monks who preceded us in good things and to follow them. For we can find many beautiful things said or done by them, such as, for example, this: that a dry and regular diet combined with charity quickly leads the monk to impassibility.

4. [94] I went to visit the holy father Macarius in the middle of the day and, burning with thirst, I asked to drink some water. “Be content with the shadow, he told me, because many of those who now walk or sail do not even have this.” Then, as I told him about abstinence: “Take courage, young man!” he said. For twenty whole years I did not have enough of bread, water or sleep. In fact, I weighed the bread, measured the drinking water and, leaning against the wall, stole a small part of my sleep.” 5. [15] When the intellect wanders, reading, vigil and prayer fix it. When concupiscence flares up, hunger, trial and anchoresis extinguish it; when the irascible part is agitated, psalmody, patience and mercy calm it. All of this at a convenient time and extent; for what is immoderate and inopportune is short-lived, and what is short-lived is more harmful than useful.

136 [124] We indicate in brackets the corresponding chapter in the Practical Treatise.

NILE THE ASCETIC

Prologue

I was burning with the fever of impure passions when, as usual, contact with your pious letter restored me. You comforted my intellect that was prey to the greatest shames and you imitated the great Preceptor and Master with great happiness. This is not surprising, since his part was always excellent, like that of Jacob [125] the blessed 137 . In fact, after having worked for Rachel and receiving Leah, you also obtained the one you [126] desired, having fulfilled the agreed seven years 138 . As for me, I will not deny that, after having [127] toiled all night, I caught nothing. But at his words I cast down the net and caught a quantity of [128] fish, not very large, I think, but one hundred and fifty-three 140 in number, and I send them to you in the crown of charity, in other so many chapters, to carry out his orders.

I admire him and envy him the excellent purpose that made him desire these chapters on prayer. For you not only want those that are within reach and that exist, thanks to ink, on parchments, but those that charity and the absence of resentment fix in the intellect. As all things come in pairs, face to face, according to the wise Jesus [129], receive what I send you to the letter and also according to the spirit, since intelligence 141 always prevails over the letter; if the first one is missing, the second one does not even exist. Thus, prayer has two modes, one active and the other contemplative; As with numbers, there is what is tangible, quantity, and meaning, quality.

In fact, we have divided the treatise on prayer into one hundred and fifty-three chapters, offering a very evangelical 142 whole. You will find here the charm of a symbolic number, a triangular figure and a hexagonal figure, which represent at the same time the knowledge of the Trinity and the circumscription of the present world. The number one hundred, in itself, is square; fifty-three, triangular and spherical; twenty-eight, apart, is triangular, and twenty-five, spherical; for five times five is twenty-five. You have then in the number twenty-five not only the square figure for the quaternary of virtues, but also the circle for the true knowledge of this world, because of the circular course of time. For they unfold week after week, month after month, year after year, season after season, as we see from the movement of the sun and moon, spring, summer, and so on. The triangle can also mean knowledge of the Holy Trinity. According to another interpretation, if you take one hundred and fifty-three as a triangular of a multitude of numbers, you will see there practice, natural contemplation and theology; or even faith, hope and charity, gold, silver and precious stones.

137 [125] Cf. Genesis XXX, 43.

138 [126] Cf. Genesis XXIX, 20-30.

139 [127] Cf. Luke V, 5.

140 [128] Cf. John XXI, 11.

141 [129] Ecclesiasticus XLII, 24; This is Jesus, son of Sirach, author of the book of Ecclesiasticus (cf. LI, 30).

142 [130] Cf. John XXI, 11.

This is about the number. As for the chapters, you will not disdain them because of their humble appearance and you will know how to adapt yourself to both abundance and want [131], remembering the one who did not despise the widow's two pence and who 143 received them with more contentment than wealth of many others [132]. Recognizing in this way the fruit of blessedness and charity, you will keep them for your true brothers, begging them to pray for the sick person so that he may be cured and that, carrying his stretcher, he will walk from then on by grace. of Christ [our true God, to whom be glory for ever and ever]. Amen.

143 [131] Cf. Philippians IV, 21.

144 [132] Cf. Luke XXI, 3.

CHAPTERS ABOUT PRAYER

1. If we want to prepare a perfume with a good odor, we must mix in equal parts, according to the law [133], diaphanous incense, cinnamon, onyx and myrrh. This is the quaternary of virtues. If they are 145 complete and equal, the intellect will not be betrayed.

2. The soul purified by the fulfillment of the commandments [by the fullness of virtues] makes the attitude of the intellect unbreakable, and capable of receiving the desired stable state.

3. Prayer is a conversation between the intellect and God; How stable must the intelligence be to tend, without turning back, constantly towards the Lord and talk to him without any intermediary?

4. If Moses, when he tried to approach the burning bush, was stopped until he took off his sandals [134], how do you intend to see Him who is above all thought, without freeing himself from any passionate thought?

5. Pray first to receive the gift of tears, in order to soften through mourning the hardness inherent in your soul and so that, by confessing your iniquities against yourself to the Lord, you obtain his forgiveness.

6. Use tears to achieve success in all your demands, for your Lord rejoices when you pray with tears.

7. When you pour out fountains of tears in your prayer, do not place yourself on high, as if you were above the majority of your fellow men; what happened was simply that your prayer received help so that you could fervently confess your sins and please the Lord with your tears.

Don't turn passion into the antidote of passions if you don't want to start irritating the giver of grace.

8. Many of those who cried over their sins, forgetting the purpose of their tears, went crazy or lost their way.

9. Stand valiantly and pray energetically; Drive away any worries and thoughts that appear, as they disturb and agitate you to enervate your vigor.

10. When the demons see you full of ardor for true prayer, they then begin to suggest ideas to you about certain allegedly necessary objects; soon they excite the memories attached to them, forcing the intellect to seek them out; then, when he doesn't find them, he becomes sad and laments.

Then, at the moment of prayer, they remind him of the objects of his searches and of his memories, so that the intellect, led to dwell on them, misses the fruitful prayer.

145 [133] Exodus XXX, 34.

146 [134] Cf. Exodus III, 5.

11. Strive to make your intellect deaf and dumb at the time of prayer, and you will be able to pray.

12. If some provocation or contradiction befalls you and you feel irritated and you see your anger rising to retaliate or retort, remember the prayer and the judgment that awaits you in it, and soon the disorderly movement will calm down in you.

13. Everything you do to get revenge on a brother who did you wrong will become a stumbling block at the time of prayer.

14. Prayer is a sprout of sweetness and the absence of anger.

15. Prayer is the fruit of joy and thanksgiving.

16. Prayer is the exclusion of sadness and discouragement.

17. Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor [135]; then take up your cross and deny yourself 147 [136] so that you can pray without distraction.

148 18. If you want to pray worthily, deny yourself all the time; and if you endure all manner of noise and commotion, accept it wisely for prayer.

19. For every pain you bear wisely, you will reap the fruit at the time of prayer.

20. If you want to pray properly, don't make anyone sad, otherwise your race will be in vain.

21. Leave your offering, as was said, before the altar, and go first to be reconciled with your brother [137], so that 149 later, when you return, you can pray without disturbance. For anger blinds the reason of the one who prays and darkens his prayer.

22. Those who internally accumulate sorrows and grudges [and who think about praying] are similar to someone trying to fill a leaky bucket with water.

23. If you are persevering, you will always pray with joy.

24. While you are praying as you should, such things will come before you that you will consider it righteous to use anger. Now, there is no righteous anger against others, under any circumstances. If you look, you will see that it is always possible to fix things without anger. Therefore, use all means to avoid letting yourself explode with anger.

147 [135] Cf. Matthew XIX, 21.

148 [136] Cf. Matthew XVI, 24.

149 [137] Cf. Matthew V, 24.

25. Be careful that, under the pretext of healing someone, you do not become incurable yourself and do not deal a fatal blow to your prayer.

26. If you refrain from anger, you will obtain mercy; you will prove that you are too prudent to be deceived, and you may be numbered among those who truly pray.

27. Armed against anger, you will never admit concupiscence; for it is this which supplies the material for anger, and this disturbs the eye of the intellect, thus destroying the state of prayer.

28. Do not pray only in external attitudes, but place your intelligence in the feeling of spiritual prayer, with great fear.

29. Sometimes, as soon as you start praying, you will be praying well; Sometimes, on the contrary, despite all your efforts, you will not achieve this goal. It is so that you always look for more, because, after obtaining this result, you will have it protected from all predators.

30. When an angel appears, at the same moment all those who disturbed him disappear, and the intellect finds itself in a great calm in which it prays joyfully. Sometimes, on the contrary, the daily war harasses us; the intellect struggles without being able to look up. It is because he was affected by passions. But if he looks harder, he will find it; If you knock vigorously, it will be opened to you.

31. Do not pray for your wishes to be fulfilled, as they do not necessarily coincide with God's will. Before, according to the teaching, pray saying: May your will be fulfilled in me [138]; In the same way, in all things, pray that God's will be done, as he always wants what is good and what is most beneficial for your soul, and you do not always seek the same thing.

32. Many times, in my prayers, I asked for what I considered good for me to be fulfilled, and I was obstinate in my request, foolishly violating God's will, without going to him so that he could order that in this regard. that he knew how to be the most useful to me; However, upon receiving the thing, I was greatly disappointed for not having requested the fulfillment of God's will rather than the fulfillment of my desire, as nothing I received from my request was as I had imagined.

33. What is good if not God? Therefore, let us leave everything that concerns us to him and we will be fine. For whoever is good is necessarily a provider of excellent gifts.

150 [138] Cf. Matthew, VI, 10.

34. Do not grieve if you do not immediately receive from God what you ask for; it is that he wants your good even more, because of your perseverance in remaining with him in prayer. In fact, what is higher than talking to God and retreating into his intimacy?

35. Prayer without distraction is the highest understanding of the intellect.

36. Prayer is an ascent of the intellect to God.

37. If you want to pray, renounce everything to obtain the whole.

38. Pray first to be purified from passions. Then to be freed from ignorance and forgetfulness, and finally to be freed from all temptation and all spiritual abandonment.

39. In prayer, seek only justice and the kingdom, that is, virtue and gnosis, and everything else will be added to you [139].

151 40. It is right to pray not only for your salvation, but for the salvation of all your people, in order to imitate an angelic posture.

41. Check whether you are really present to God in your prayer, or whether you have been overcome by human praise and carried away by the desire to obtain it, under the pretext of the length of your prayer.

42. Whether you pray with your brothers or alone, make an effort to pray, not out of habit, but with feeling.

43. The feeling [the characteristic character] of prayer is a respectful gravity accompanied by compunction and pain of the soul in confessing faults, with secret groans.

44. If his intellect still wanders during the time of prayer, it is because he does not yet pray like a monk, but still remains in the world, busy decorating the outer tent.

45. When praying, watch your memory closely, so that, instead of suggesting memories, it leads you to awareness of its exercise, as the intellect has a terrible tendency to let itself be confused by memory at the time of prayer.

46. ​​When you pray, your memory will present you with images of old things, or of new subjects, or the face of someone who did you wrong.

47. The devil is extremely jealous of the man who prays and he uses all means to make him lose his objective. He never ceases to revive the thought of things in the memory and to awaken all the passions in the flesh, in order to hinder their beautiful course and their exodus to God.

151 [139] Cf. Matthew VI, 33.

48. When, after many groans, the wicked demon was unable to hinder the prayer of the righteous man, [140] 152 he then retreats a little, but soon takes revenge on the one who prays. He ignites his prayers to destroy the excellent state that has been established in him by prayer, or else he excites him to some unreasonable pleasure to outrage the intellect.

49. After you have prayed as is appropriate, wait for that which is not appropriate; stand manfully to watch the fruit of prayer. This is what you were predestined from the beginning: to work and watch [141]. After you have worked, therefore, do not leave your work unguarded, otherwise it will be of no use to you.

50. All the war waged between us and the impure demons has no other motivation than spiritual prayer. For it is hostile and hateful to them; but for us, it is wholesome and pleasant.

51. What do demons have in mind when they awaken in us greed, impurity, envy, anger, resentment and other passions? They want our intellect, disturbed by them, to not be able to pray as it should, because the passions of the irrational part take the lead and prevent it from moving according to reason; that is, according to the reasons of beings as an object of contemplation, which the intellect should use to reach the Reason (the Logos: the Word) of God.

52. We attain the virtues (first degree: active life) in view of the reasons of created beings (second degree: inferior contemplation), and these in view of the Word that established them (third degree: theology); as for the Lord, he usually appears in the state of prayer.

53. The state of prayer is an impassive habit that, through supreme love, transports the intelligence eager for spiritual wisdom to intellectual heights.

54. It is not only anger and concupiscence that must be mastered by those who aspire to truly pray; It is still necessary to get rid of all passionate thoughts.

55. He who loves God talks incessantly with Him as with a Father, stripping himself of all passionate thoughts.

56. It is not because we have reached apatheia (impassibility) that we will truly pray, as we can stick to simple thoughts and, even so, become distracted in our meditation, thus remaining far from God.

57. Let us say that the intellect does not stop at simple thoughts; This does not mean that he has reached the place of prayer, as he may find himself in the phase of contemplating objects, rambling about his motivations; Now, these motivations, even though they are simple expressions, leave, as considerations of objects, a mark on the intellect that takes it far away from God.

152 [140] Cf. James V, 16.

153 [141] Cf. Genesis II, 15.

58. Let us suppose that the intellect rises above the contemplation of corporeal nature. Even so, he will not have a complete vision of God, as he may still find himself subject to the science of intelligible things, participating in their multiplicity.

59. If you want to pray, you will need God, who gives prayer to the one who prays [142]. Invoke him, therefore, 154 saying: Hallowed be his name, his kingdom come [143], that is, the Holy Spirit and his only Son 155, for this is what he taught when he commanded to worship the Father in spirit and truth [144].

156 60. He who prays in spirit and in truth does not seek in creatures the praises he dedicates to the Creator: it is in God himself that he praises God.

61. If you are a theologian, you will truly pray; and if you truly pray, you will be a theologian.

62. When his intellect, filled with an ardent love for God, leaves, as it were, little by little, from his flesh, when he rejects all thoughts that come from the senses, memory or temperament, at the same time as is filled with respect and joy, then you can consider yourself close to the limits of prayer.

63. The Holy Spirit, sympathizing with our weakness, visits us even though we are not purified; If by chance he finds our intellect praying with all sincerity, he will arise in it and dispel the entire phalanx of reasoning and thoughts that besiege it and will transport it to the love of spiritual prayer.

64. While others use changes in the body to provide the intelligence with reasoning, concepts and reflections, he, the Lord, does the opposite: he addresses directly the intellect to place gnosis there according to his will; and, through the intellect, he calms the imbalance of the body.

65. Whoever aspires to true prayer but explodes in anger or holds a grudge shows signs of dementia.

He resembles someone who wants to have acute vision and to do so pierces his eyes.

66. Do not imagine that the divinity is within you when you are praying, nor allow your intellect to accept the impression in any way; Remain immaterial in the face of the Immaterial, and then you will understand.

67. Beware of the traps of your adversaries: it may happen that, while you are praying with purity and without disturbance, an unknown and strange form suddenly appears in front of you, in order to induce you to presume to locate God in it and make you you take for Divinity the quantitative object that suddenly appeared before your eyes; Now, Divinity has neither quantity nor image.

154 [142] Cf. 1 Samuel II, 9.

155 [143] Cf. Matthew VI, 9.

156 [144] Cf. John IV, 24.

68. When the envious demon fails in his attempt to disturb the memory during prayer, he tries to do violence to the body's constitution in order to awaken some unknown phantom in the intelligence and thus give it form. The intellect, accustomed to seeing everything conceptually, is thus easily subjugated: that which tends only to immaterial and formless knowledge, allows itself to be deluded and takes smoke for light.

69. Keep yourself on guard, defending your intellect from any and all concepts, at the time of prayer, so that it may be firm in its own tranquility (of its original nature). Then He who has compassion on the ignorant will come to your aid, and thus you will receive a glorious gift of prayer.

70. You cannot possess the purity of prayer if you are burdened with material things and troubled by continual worries, for prayer is the suppression of thoughts.

71. It is impossible to run while stuck. The intellect subjected to passions cannot find the place of spiritual prayer because it is drawn in all directions by passionate thought and cannot remain inflexible.

72. Once the intellect has reached pure prayer, unencumbered by passions, the demons no longer attack it from the left, but from the right. They represent to him an illusory vision of God in some image pleasing to the senses, so as to make him believe that he has completely obtained the object of prayer. Now, said an admirable Gnostic, this is the work of the passion of vainglory and of a demon whose touch makes the veins of the brain throb.

73. I think that the devil, upon touching the aforementioned place, configures the light around the intellect at will, and thus the passion of vainglory is put into a reasoning that the intellect begins to shape to locate, in a daze, the divine science and essential. And since at this point he is no longer attacked by carnal and impure passions, but truly prays with purity, he imagines that no enemy action will be exerted on him anymore. Thus, he is led to consider as divine the apparition produced in him by the devil through this fearsome stratagem which consists, as we said, in provoking certain reactions in the brain in the light that is present there, and thus presenting a form to the intellect.

74. The angel of God, arriving suddenly, expels from our interior, with a single word, every adverse action and returns the light of the intellect to an activity without deviations.

75. When the Apocalypse speaks of the angels taking incense to place it in the prayers of the saints [145], 157 I believe that it is about this grace operated by the angels. Indeed, they communicate the knowledge of true prayer, so that the intellect remains thereafter without deflection, discouragement or acedia.

76. The perfumes of the cups are considered as the prayers of the saints offered by the twenty-four elders [146].

77. As cups, we must understand the love of God, that is, the perfect and spiritual charity in which prayer is fulfilled in spirit and in truth.

157 [145] Cf. Revelation VIII, 3.

158 [146] Revelation V, 8.

78. If it seems to you that in your prayers you have no need of tears for your sins, consider how far you are from God when you should be with him without ceasing, and you will cry more warmly.

79. Certainly, if you are aware of your limits, compunction will be easier for you; you will call yourself wretched, like Isaiah [147], because, being unclean and having unclean lips, from among the 159 people, I mean from the enemy people, you will dare to present yourself to the Lord of hosts.

80. If you truly pray, you will reach great fulfillment, the angels will escort you like Daniel and enlighten you regarding the reasons for beings.

81. Know that the holy angels urge us to prayer and that then they stand at our side, happy and praying for us. Thus, if we are negligent and entertain strange thoughts, we greatly irritate them, because, while they fight bravely for us, we do not even plead with God for ourselves; despising their services, we abandon God our Lord to go to meet the impure demons.

82. Pray as you should and without disturbance; sing with attention [148] and harmony, and you will be like a little eagle soaring on high.

83. Psalmism calms the passions and appeases the intemperance of the body; prayer makes the intellect exercise its own activity.

84. Prayer is the activity that befits the dignity of the intellect; it is your most excellent, adequate, and complete habit.

85. Psalmody depends on manifold wisdom [149]; prayer is the prelude to immaterial and uniform knowledge (gnosis).

86. Knowledge (gnosis) is excellent, as it collaborates with prayer, awakening the intellectual power of the intellect to the contemplation of divine gnosis.

87. If you have not yet received the charisma of prayer and psalmody, persevere: you will receive it.

88. He told them a parable to show that one should always pray without relaxing [150]. Therefore, do not relax because you wait, do not be discouraged because you have not received; you will receive afterwards. And he concluded the parable like this: “Although I do not fear God nor care about men, at least because of the embarrassment this woman causes me, I will do justice to her. Thus, God will also give justice to those who cry out to him day and night, and promptly. [151]” Then, have courage and persevere valiantly in holy prayer.

159 [147] Cf. Isaiah VI, 5.

160 [148] Cf. Psalm XLVI, 8.

161 [149] Cf. Ephesians III, 10.

162 [150] Cf. Luke XVIII, 1-8.

163 89. Do not want what concerns you to be arranged according to your ideas, but according to God's pleasure; this way you will have no worries and will be full of gratitude in your prayers.

90. Even if you seem to be with God, beware of the demon of lust, as he is very deceitful and extremely jealous. It is almost faster than the movement, sobriety and vigilance of the intellect, to the point of dragging it away from God even as it stands beside the latter in respectful fear.

91. If you dedicate yourself to prayer, prepare yourself for the attacks of demons and bear their blows valiantly; for they will fall upon you like wild beasts and do all kinds of harm to your body.

92. Prepare yourself like an experienced fighter so as not to waver, even if you suddenly see a ghost; not to let yourself be disturbed, even when faced with the figure of a sword brandished at you or a bolt of lightning shot at your face; to not let your courage weaken in the slightest, even in the face of a fearful and bloody specter; stand firm and seek the beautiful profession of faith [152], and you will 164 bear with a light heart the sight of your enemies.

93. Whoever endures turmoil will also obtain consolation; and whoever is constant in unpleasant trances will not lack pleasant ones.

94. Take care lest the deceiving demons deceive you with some vision; be attentive, resort to prayer and invoke God, so that, if the representation comes from him, it will enlighten you by itself; if not, may he hasten to expel the seducer from you. Have confidence: the dogs will not be able to stay; If you give yourself up to ardent supplication, without turning back, invisibly and without showing yourself, the power of God will beat you and drive you far away.

95. It is good that you do not ignore the following trick: sometimes the demons divide, and if you seem to want to seek help [against some], the others enter the scene in angelic forms and expel the first, so that you deceive yourself thinking they were real angels.

96. Strive to acquire a lot of humility and a lot of courage, and the insults of the demons will not reach your soul; no scourge will come near his tent, for he will give commands on his behalf to his angels to guard him [153]; and the angels will invisibly drive away from you all 165 hostile undertakings.

163 [151] Luke XVIII, 4.

164 [152] Cf. 1 Timothy VI, 12.

165 [153] Cf. Psalm XC, 10-11.

97. Whoever dedicates himself to pure prayer will hear noises and commotions, voices and insults; but he will not weaken, nor lose his cool, saying to God, “I fear nothing, for the Lord is with me [154],” and 166 other things like that.

98. When you have temptations of this kind, resort to short, vehement prayer.

99. If demons threaten to suddenly appear in the air, overthrow you and plunder your intellect, do not be alarmed; Don't even pay attention to their threats. They frighten you to see if you still care about them, or if you have managed to completely despise them.

100. If it is in the presence of God, the Almighty, Creator and Providence, that you are during prayer, why do you bring to this presence the absurdity of bypassing him to go and be afraid of mosquitoes and grasshoppers? Have you not heard Him who said, “You shall fear the Lord your God” [155]? And also: “He, 167 before whose power everything trembles and fears” [156]? 168 101. The body has bread for food, the soul for virtue, the intellect for spiritual prayer.

102. Pray not like a Pharisee, but like a publican in the holy place of prayer, so that you too may be justified by God [157]. 169 103. Make every effort to say nothing against anyone during prayer; It will demolish everything you have built, and it will make your prayer abominable.

104. Let the debtor of a thousand talents be a lesson to you: if you do not make amends with your debtor, you will not obtain remission either, for it is written: “He handed him over to the torturers [158].”

170 105. Do not listen to the demands of your body during the exercise of prayer; Don't let the bite of a flea, a mosquito or a fly deprive you of the greatest benefit of prayer.

106. It happened to a holy man who was praying that the evil one fought so furiously that, as soon as he had raised his hands, the enemy disguised himself as a lion, which stood up on its paws in front of him and sank its claws into the athlete's legs. , without letting the prey lower its arms. But he did not lower them until he had finished all his usual prayers.

107. Something like this happened, as we know, with John the Little, or rather, the great monk who led a solitary life in a hole: due to his intimacy with God, he became unalterable as a demon, in the form of a dragon wrapped around his body, he tortured his flesh and belched in his face.

166 [154] Psalm XXII, 4 .

167 [155] Deuteronomy VI, 13 and X, 20.

168 [156] Cf. Daniel VI, 26-27.

169 [157] Cf. Luke XVIII, 10-14.

170 [158] Matthew XVIII, 24-35.

108. You have also certainly read the lives of the monks of Tabenesa, where, it is said, during the sermon that the abbot Theodore gave to his brothers, two vipers crawled over his feet; he then, without being disturbed, made an arch under his cloak with his legs to house them until he finished the talk. Then he showed them to everyone, telling them what had happened.

109. Regarding another spiritual brother, we read that he was attacked by a snake while exercising prayer. But he did not move until he had finished his usual prayers and suffered nothing for it, because he loved God more than himself.

110. Keep your eyes down during your prayer, renounce the flesh and soul, and live according to your intelligence.

111. Another saint who led a solitary life and prayed courageously, was attacked by demons who, for two weeks, played with him as if he were a ball and molested him by throwing him into the air and supporting him in a net. But not for an instant did they manage to make their intellect come down from their fiery prayer.

112. Another saint, full of the love of God and zeal for prayer, encountered, as he walked through the desert, two angels who flanked him and walked with him. However, he did not pay the slightest attention to them so as not to miss the best, because he remembered the words of the Apostle: “Neither angels, nor princes, nor powers will be able to separate us from the charity of Christ. [159]” 171 113. The monk becomes equal to the angels through true prayer.

114. You aspire to see the face of the Father who is in Heaven [160]: do not seek, for anything in this world, to see a 172 form or a figure at the time of prayer.

115. Do not wish to see the angels, nor the powers, nor Christ sensitively, lest you completely lose common sense and welcome the wolf instead of the shepherd, worshiping enemy demons.

116. The origin of the illusions of the intellect is vainglory; it is what encourages the intellect to try to circumscribe divinity in images and forms.

117. As for me, I will say a thought of mine that I have already expressed on other occasions: happy is the spirit that is disconnected in any way, at the time of prayer.

118. Happy is the intellect that, in prayer without distraction, always acquires new increases in love for God.

171 [159] Romans VIII, 38.

172 [160] Cf. Matthew XVIII, 10.

119. Blessed is the intellect that, at the moment of prayer, becomes immaterial and disconnected from everything.

120. Happy is the intellect that, during prayer, reaches perfect insensitivity.

121. Happy is the monk who takes all men for God after God.

122. Happy is the monk who sees everyone's salvation and progress as his own, with all joy.

123. Happy is the monk who considers himself “everyone’s reject [161]”.

173 124. A monk is one who is separated from everything and united with everyone.

125. A monk is one who feels one with everyone, seeing himself in each one.

126. He brings prayer to its perfection who makes all his primordial intelligence [that of its original state] bear fruit for God.

127. Avoid every lie and every oath if you want to pray like a monk; otherwise, it is in vain that you preach what does not suit you.

128. If you want to pray “in the spirit,” have no aversion to anyone, and you will not have clouds to obscure your view during prayer.

129. Leave the needs of the body in God's hands; It will be to show that in the same hands you will also leave those of the spirit.

130. If you come into possession of the promises, you will be a king; turn your gaze to them, and you will happily bear your present poverty.

131. Do not refuse poverty and affliction, food of prayer that does not weigh you down.

132. May the bodily virtues serve you to obtain those of the soul; let those of the soul serve those of the spirit; and these for immaterial and essential gnosis.

133. When you pray against a thought and it gives way easily, examine where it came from, so as not to fall into an ambush and betray yourself by error.

173 [161] 1 Corinthians IV, 13.

134. It may happen that demons suggest thoughts to you and, on the other hand, encourage you, as a righteous person, to pray against them and repel them; then they withdraw on their own so that, deceived, you are gullible, imagining that you have begun to overcome your thoughts and put the demons to flight.

135. If you pray against a passion or against an inopportune demon, remember him who said: “I pursued and overtook my enemies and did not stop until they confessed vanquished; I defeated them and they could not get up, and they fell under my feet... [162].” This is what you must say to arm yourself with humility against your adversaries.

136. Do not believe that you have acquired virtue until you fight for it until you bleed; for it is necessary to resist sin until death, as the divine Apostle says, like an irreproachable fighter [163].175 137. When you have been useful to someone, another will harm you, so that the feeling of injustice makes you say or do something reprehensible against your neighbor, and in this way you dissipate in unhappiness everything that you managed to gather in happiness. This is the goal of the demons; it is necessary to always monitor.

138. Always receive fearful assaults from demons, always trying to escape their servitude.

139. At night, demons call the spiritual master to disturb him; By day, they use men to surround them with vicissitudes, slander and dangers.

140. Do not refuse thorns, if they scratch your feet when walking and if they grow to sting; At least then your clothes will become brilliant white.

141. As long as you do not renounce the passions, as long as your intellect opposes virtue and truth, you will not smell the perfume of a good odor in your bosom.

142. Do you desire prayer? Emigrate here and take up residence in heaven from then on [164], not by mere words, but by angelic practice and divine gnosis.

143. If only in afflictions you remember the Judgment, how terrifying and incorruptible it is, you have not yet learned to serve the Lord with fear and to rejoice in Him with trembling [165]. Well, know 177 that even in spiritual awakenings and rests, it is even more necessary to pay him a cult full of piety and reverence.

144. Prudent is the man who, until he reaches perfect penance, does not separate himself from the painful memory of his own sins and the sanctions of the eternal fire that will punish them.

174 [162] Psalm XVII, 38-39.

175 [163] Cf. Ephesians VI, 11; Hebrews XII, 4.

176 [164] Cf. Philippians III, 20.

177 [165] Cf. Psalm II, 11.

145. He who, still full of sins, or fits of anger, impudently dares to come to the knowledge of the most divine things [to a more divine knowledge of things], or even to enter into immaterial prayer, let him receive the reprimand of the Apostle and understand that it is dangerous for one to pray with one's head uncovered, as it is said: such a soul must carry the sign of domination upon its head, because of the angels present [166]”, covering itself with appropriate modesty and humility.

146. Just as it is of no use to those who are sick with their eyes to stare insistently at the midday sun, when it is at its most scorching, it is also of no use to the passionate and impure intellect to imitate the fearsome and eminent prayer in spirit and in truth; on the contrary, he will provoke the indignation of divinity against himself.

147. If he who brings an offering to the altar is not received by the incorruptible master who needs nothing, until he is reconciled with his neighbor who is against him [167], consider how much sobriety, 179 vigilance and discernment are needed to offer the God a pleasant incense upon the immaterial altar.

148. Do not be friends with either verbosity or boasting, for then it will not be your back that will be plowed by sinners [168], but your face; you will serve as entertainment for them at the time of prayer, 180 they will seduce you and drag you into heteroclite thoughts.

149. Attention, in search of prayer, will find prayer, because if prayer aims at anything, it is precisely attention. Let's apply ourselves to this.

150. Sight is the best of all senses; prayer is the most divine of all virtues.

151. The excellence of prayer is not in simple quantity, but in quality, as the two who went up to the temple [169] testify, as well as the saying: “In your prayers, do not multiply the words. [170]” 181 182 152. As long as you still pay attention to what comes from the body, as long as your intelligence is focused on external attractions, you will not have yet glimpsed the place of prayer: you will be far from the blessed path that will lead you to she.

153. Because only when you achieve, with your prayers, a joy above all others, will you finally, truly have found prayer.

178 [166] 1 Corinthians XI, 10.

179 [167] Matthew V, 23.

180 [168] Cf. Psalm 128, 3

181 [169] Cf. Luke XVIII, 10.

182 [170] Matthew VI, 7.

JOHN CASSIAN THE ROMAN

Our holy Father Cassian the Roman lived during the reign of Theodosius, around the year 430. Among the works he wrote, we present here the treatise on the eight thoughts and the treatise on discernment, which exude help and grace. Photius mentions them in the following terms: “The second treatise is titled: “On the Eight Thoughts”. It deals with gluttony, prostitution, avarice, anger, sadness, acedia, vainglory and pride. More than any others, these texts come to the aid of those who have chosen to fight the battle of asceticism; I also read a third small treatise, in which the meaning of discernment is taught, that it is the greatest of virtues, where it comes from and how much it represents the highest gift from above.” The Church celebrates the memory of Saint Cassian on February 29, honoring him with many praises.

* Cassian was not a Roman by birth. Of a “Scythian nation”, according to Gennade of Marseilles, he was born around the year 360. Twenty years later, we find him in Palestine in a monastery in Bethlehem, from where he left for Egypt, attracted by the great renown of the Desert Fathers. With his friend Germanus, he visited the main monastic centers of Lower Egypt, especially Nitria and the Kellia, before settling for many years in the desert of Sceta.

Around the year 400, the Origenist controversies that disturbed the desert forced his departure to Constantinople, where he was ordained deacon by Saint John Chrysostom. In 404, when he was expelled from his chair, Cassian left for Rome to intercede on his behalf before Pope Innocent.

Arriving in Marseille in 415, Cassian founded the abbey of Saint-Victor and a convent of nuns there. It was for these communities and for all those in Provence that he set out to compose his two most famous works, the Coenobitic Institutions 76 and the Spiritual Conferences, in which he reports on the practices and teachings of the monks in Egypt. These works were a great success not only in the West but also in the East. We have reason to think that they were translated at least partially into Greek from the 5th century onwards, since, since the following century, the systematic compilation of the Apophtegma Patrum translated by Pelagius and John presents many extracts clearly translated from Greek. The extracts contained in the Philokalia come either from Books V to XII of the Institutions or from the first two Conferences. The Greek text sometimes summarizes the Latin original, sometimes translates it in full. It is this Greek text of the Philokalia that we follow here.

TI, VI – JOÃO CASSIANO, THE ROMAN.

FROM SAINT CASSIAN THE ROMAN TO BISHOP CASTOR ON THE EIGHT THOUGHTS OF MALICIA [1]

1. After having composed a first sermon on the observances present in cenobitic monasteries, we will now present, strengthened by the prayers of many of you, this text on the eight thoughts of evil, namely, gluttony, prostitution, the love of money, anger, sadness, acedia, vainglory and pride.

Continence of the belly We will first deal with continence of the belly, which is opposed to gluttony, the measure of fasting, the quality and quantity of food. And we will not speak for ourselves, but according to the tradition of the holy Fathers. These did not give us a single rule for fasting, nor a single way of eating, nor a uniform measure, as not everyone has the same vigor, nor the same age, nor the same health, nor the same physical constitution. However, the objective that was transmitted to everyone is the same: to avoid satiety and absolutely refuse to fill the belly. They considered that daily fasting was more beneficial and conducive to purity than a prolonged fast of three or four days or even a week. In fact, excessively prolonging fasting is often worse than overeating. Because following immoderate abstinence, the body is weakened and no longer attends spiritual liturgies, while the body weighed down by excess food causes the soul to become acedia and relaxed.

[5,2] On the other hand, they thought that it is not advisable for everyone to eat only green or dried vegetables and that not everyone can eat only dry bread. One, they said, eats two pounds of bread and is still hungry; another is satisfied with a pound or even just six ounces. Thus, to all, as was said, they transmitted a single rule of continence: not to be betrayed by the satiety of the belly [2], nor carried away 184 by the pleasure of the mouth. For it is not only the quality of the food, but also the quantity that usually stirs up the inflamed moods of prostitution.

[5,6] Indeed, whatever food the womb was filled with, it engenders a seed of prostitution. And it is not only the excess of wine that intoxicates the reason, but also the excess of water and the excess of any food make it heavy and drowsy. The ruin of the Sodomites was not caused by the drunkenness of wine and the excess of varied foods, but, according to the prophet, by the satiety of bread [3]. 185 183 [1] Cf. Coenobitic institutions, 5-12; PG 28, 872-905.

184 [2] Cf. Proverbs XXIV, 15.

185 [3] Ezekiel XVI, 49.

[5.7] Weakness of the body is no hindrance to the purity of the heart, when we give to the body what weakness demands, not what pleasure desires. We need to use food to the extent that it is useful for living and not to the point that we become prey to the assaults of concupiscence. Moderate and reasonable absorption of food, to maintain the health of the body, does not destroy purity.

[5,8] An exact measure and rule of temperance was transmitted to us by the Fathers: when we eat, we must stop while we still have an appetite, without waiting to be satiated. When the Apostle says that we should not worry about the flesh in the sense of satisfying lust186[4], he does not prohibit providing the necessities of life, but condemns the pursuit of pleasure.

[5,10] On the other hand, for perfect purity of the soul, abstinence from food alone is not enough, without the help of other virtues. Thus, humility, through the practice of obedience and the work that tames the body, brings us great benefits. Abstaining from greed, not just riches, but even the desire to acquire them, leads to purity of the soul. Abstinence from anger, sadness, vainglory and pride, all this produces universal purity of the soul. But for the specific purity of the soul which is obtained by chastity, abstinence and fasting have a remarkable efficacy. It is in fact impossible for anyone who fills their belly to combat the spirit of prostitution in their thoughts. This is why our first battle must be to dominate the belly and reduce the body to slavery, not only through fasting, but through vigils, prayer, reading and concentrating the heart on the fear of Gehenna and the desire for the Kingdom of Heaven.

From the spirit of prostitution and the lust of the flesh 2. [6,1] Our second combat is against the spirit of prostitution and the lust of the flesh, which begins to torment man from an early age. It's a huge and difficult fight, as it involves a double fight. While other vices are fought only in the soul, this one must be fought simultaneously in the soul and in the body: therefore, it is necessary to fight against it in a double way. In fact, bodily fasting is not enough to acquire perfect chastity and true purity, if there is not at the same time contrition of the heart, prayer addressed to God with perseverance, continuous meditation on the Scriptures, fatigue and work. manual, everything that can repress the fluctuating impulses of the soul and divert it from shameful imaginations. But, above all, humility of the soul is necessary, because, without it, it is not possible to master prostitution, as well as other vices.

[6,2] It is necessary, first of all, to guard the heart [5] from impure thoughts with the greatest care.

187 For, as the Lord said, “it is from the heart that come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication and all the rest [6]”. Indeed, fasting is not commanded to us only to torment the body, but 188 also to keep the intellect sober and vigilant; the latter, obscured by excess food, is incapable of supervising his thoughts. Certainly, one must show the greatest zeal in bodily fasting, but also 186 [4] Romans XIII, 14.

187 [5] Cf. Proverbs IV, 23.

188 [6] Matthew XV, 19.

in guarding thoughts and spiritual meditation; otherwise it is impossible to rise to the heights of chastity and purity. It is then necessary, as the Lord says, to first purify the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside becomes pure [7]. 189 [6,5] That is why, if we have in our hearts the determination, as the Apostle says, to fight according to the rules and be crowned [8] for having overcome the spirit of prostitution, let us not entrust it to our own 190 strength and to our asceticism, but to the help of God our Lord. For there will be no rest for the man attacked by this spirit until he truly believes that it will be neither through its application nor through its punishments, but through the protection and help of God, that he will be able to free himself from this disease and reach the height of chastity. .

[6,6] The thing is above nature and it is, in a way, about getting out of the flesh, rather than trampling the stings of the flesh and its pleasures under your feet. This is why, it is, so to speak, impossible for man to rise with his own wings to this summit and this heavenly reward, and become the imitator of the angels; God's grace must pull it out of the earth and mud. In fact, no other virtue, as much as chastity, makes angels and men linked to the flesh equal. Through this virtue, even though they live on earth, they have, according to the Apostle, “their citizenship in the heavens [9]”. 191 [6,10] The sign that you have acquired this virtue perfectly is that the soul no longer turns to any shameful image during the dream. Because, although this movement is not seen as a sin, it is considered a sign that the soul is still sick and has not freed itself from passions.

[6,11] This is why we must believe that the shameful representations that come to us during the dream are proofs of our past negligence and our illness: the illness hidden in the depths of the soul manifests itself in a discharge favored by the dream.

[6,12] That is why the doctor of our souls placed the medicine in the same depths of the soul, where, as he well knew, the causes of illness are found: “Whoever looks at a woman to desire her has committed adultery with her in his heart [10].” In speaking thus, he did not so much condemn the curious and lascivious eyes as the soul that, hidden within, misused the eyes given by God for good. That is why the Sage of Proverbs did not say: “Watch your eyes”, but “Watch your heart [11]”, 193 imposing the remedy on those who use their eyes at pleasure.

189 [7] Matthew XXIII, 26.

190 [8] Cf. 2 Timothy II, 5; IV,

191 [9] Philippians II,I 20.

192 [10] Matthew V, 28.

193 [11] Proverbs IV, 23.

[6,13] Here, therefore, is the first precaution that our hearts must take [the first care for our purification]: when, through the malice of the devil, the memory of a woman, be it a mother, a sister, is introduced into our thoughts. or of a pious woman, we must remove her from our hearts as soon as possible, because, if we delay just a little, the deceiving and evil devil will precipitate the spirit from above, from these images to disgraceful and shameful thoughts. This is why God gave us in the beginning the commandment to beware of the head of the serpent [12], that is, the emergence of evil thoughts, through which the devil seeks to slip into our souls. Otherwise, once the head has penetrated, that is, the first assault of thought, we end up accepting the rest of the serpent's body, namely, consent to pleasure, and from then on the spirit will be forced to do what it does not want. it's allowed. It is necessary, on the contrary, to put death “from the morning, as it is written, to all sinners who rise from the earth [13]”, that is, to discern in the light of science and exterminate from the earth of our hearts the 195 thoughts that they only lead to sin, according to the teaching of the Lord [14]. And, while they are still 196 little ones, it is necessary to exterminate the children of Babylon, I mean the perverse thoughts, and smash them against the rock [15] which is Christ. Because, if with our consent, they grow, we will only control them at the cost of many groans and pains.

[6.19] In addition to these words of divine Scripture, we can also mention the words of the holy Fathers. Saint Basil, bishop of Caesarea and Cappadocia, said one day: “I have never met a woman, and yet I am not a virgin [16].” He knew very well that the gift of chastity does not consist so much in depriving oneself of women, as in guarding the purity and chastity of the soul, which is normally accomplished through the fear of God.

[6.18] The Fathers also said the following: We cannot perfectly acquire the virtue of purity without first acquiring true humility in our hearts. Nor will we receive true science as long as we hide the passion of prostitution in the depths of the soul.

[6,16] And to also show through the Apostle's testimony the reward of chastity, we will end by quoting a single sentence: “Seek peace with everyone and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord [17]”. That it is about chastity, the sequence shows: “Let no one be impudent or a profaner 199 like Esau [18]”. And the more the advancement of holiness is celestial and angelic, the more it is the victim of 200 increasingly violent attacks from adversaries. This is why we must apply ourselves not only to continence of the body, but also to contrition of the heart and to frequent penances [prayers] with groanings, so that, through the dew of the presence of the Holy Spirit, we may quench the furnace of our flesh , which the king of Babylon fans every day with the torches of concupiscence [19].

194 [12] Genesis III, 15.

195 [13] Psalm C, 8.

196 [14] Cf. Matthew XV, 19.

197 [15] Cf. Psalm 136, 9

198 [16] This quotation is not found as it is in the works of Saint Basil. We find something close (“I escaped the act of fornication, but I stained my virginity in the thoughts of my heart”) in Letter XVII, 4; however, this letter appears not to be from Saint Basil, but from Saint Nilus.

199 [17] Hebrews XII, 14.

200 [18] Hebrews XII, 16.

201 [19] Cf. Daniel III, 19.49 ss.

[6.23] But above all, the great weapon that is at our disposal for combat is vigil with God. For just as the watchfulness of the day prepares the holiness of the night, so the night watchfulness with God prepares the soul for purity during the day.

From avarice 3. [7,1] Our third fight is against the spirit of avarice. It is manifestly foreign to our nature and, in a monk, it has its origin in lack of faith. In fact, the vices that excite the other passions, that is, anger and concupiscence, seem to have their origins in the body, they are in a certain way innate and begin at birth; That's why it takes a lot of time to beat them.

[7,2] The disease of avarice, which on the contrary comes from the outside, can be avoided more easily if we show concern, sobriety and vigilance. But, if we neglect it, it will become more dangerous than other passions and more difficult to reject, as it is “the root of all evil”, according to the Apostle [20]. 202 [7,3] Do we not, in fact, see the natural movements of the body, not only in children who do not yet have the discernment of good and evil, but even in the youngest who have not even been weaned? Without having the slightest trace of voluptuousness in them, they nevertheless show these natural movements in their flesh. In the same way, we can see the sting of anger in children when we see them angry at someone who has done them harm. I say this, not to accuse nature as the cause of sin, God forbid!, but to show that anger and concupiscence, even closely united to man by the Creator for his good, can, through negligence, transform in a certain way the natural movements of the body in acts against nature. In fact, the movement of the body was given by God for procreation and the prolongation of the race, not for prostitution. The excitement of anger can also be healthy, so that we can direct it against vices and not make us furious with our brothers.

[7.4] Not, of course, that nature is evil and that we can hold the Creator responsible; in the same way, if we give a piece of iron to someone for a necessary and useful use, he can also use it to commit a crime.

[7.5] We say all this to show that the passion of avarice does not derive its principle from the natural elements, but only from the evil and corrupted will.

202 [20] Cf. 1 Timothy VI, 10.

[7,7] In fact, this disease, when it finds the soul lukewarm and with little faith at the beginning of renunciation, suggests fair and apparently reasonable reasons for the person to keep some of what they have. Avarice presents the monk's spirit with long old age and bodily infirmities, alleging that what is given by the monastery is not enough, not to the sick, but even to those in good health, that no one there cares much about sick, that they end up being abandoned, and that if they don't have a little gold saved, they will die of poverty. Finally, she suggests to the monk that he will not be able to remain in the monastery for long, due to the burden of observances and the rigor of the superior. When she manages to disorient the spirit with these thoughts so that he saves at least a few cents, she still persuades the monk to learn, without the abbot knowing, some job with which he can increase his savings. Thus she diverts the unfortunate person towards uncertain hopes, suggesting to him the gains from his work, the rest and carelessness that he will derive from it. Completely given over to the idea of ​​winning, he sees nothing against it; nor the furious madness that will overtake him if a loss happens to him, nor the darkness of sadness if he finds himself deprived of the gains he counted on. For him, gold took the place of God, just as, for others, the belly [21]. Thus, the blessed Apostle, knowing this, 203 called this disease not only the “root of all evil [22]”, but “idolatry [23]”. We see from this 204 205 to what point of malice this disease drags man, until it throws him into idolatry.

[7,8] After the miser has turned his intellect from the love of God, he begins to worship the images of men engraved in gold. Blinded by these thoughts and progressing in evil, he can no longer remain obedient but becomes irritated, indignant and grumbles at any work, opposes it and, no longer having any respect for anyone, is dragged to the precipice like a horse. angry. Dissatisfied with his usual diet, he protests that he will no longer be able to bear this, that God is not just there, that his salvation is not linked just to that place and that he will be lost if he does not leave the monastery.

[7,9] Having money set aside to support his corrupted opinion, he is as if carried by his wings and begins to ruminate about his farewell to the monastery. From then on he responds with insolence and bitterness to all orders given to him and, behaving like a guest or a foreigner, neglects and despises everything that, in the monastery, needs to be rectified, and condemns everything that is done. . Then he begins to find reasons to be angry or sad, so as not to give the impression of leaving the monastery lightly and without reason. And he can ensure that, through deception, whispers and vain intentions, someone else accompanies him on his way out, so that he can obtain at least one accomplice in his downfall.

[7.10] Thus inflamed by the fire of his own riches, the miser can no longer be at peace in the monastery and live under one rule. Then the demon, like a wolf, takes him from the community, separates him from the troops and grabs him like prey that is easy to devour. He encourages him to neglect the work that takes place at fixed times in the monastery and to do it zealously in his own cell night and day. He no longer allows him to observe the usual prayers, nor the measure of fasting, nor the rule of vigils, having ensnared him with the passion of avarice, and persuades him to engage in manual labor.

203 [21] Cf. Philippians III, 19.

204 [22] 1 Timothy VI, 10.

205 [23] Colossians III, 5.

[7.14] This disease presents three forms that the divine Scriptures and the teachings of the Fathers disapprove of in the same way. The first leads the unfortunate to acquire and gather wealth that they did not previously possess in this world. The second brings repentance for the riches that were renounced and encourages us to recover what was offered to God. The third engages the monk from the beginning in a lack of faith and ardor, and prevents him from completely divesting himself of the goods of this world, making him fear deprivation and doubt God's providence. He thus shows himself unfaithful to the promises he made when renouncing the world.

We find examples of condemnation of these three forms of avarice in the Holy Scriptures. Giezi, intending to acquire riches that he did not possess before, was deprived of the gift of prophecy that his master intended to leave him as an inheritance, and, instead of the blessing, he inherited an eternal leprosy because of the prophet's curse [24]. Judas, who wanted to regain the goods he had renounced when following Christ, not only betrayed Christ and lost his position as an apostle, but also ended his physical life by a violent death [25]. Ananias and Sapphira, for having kept part of their possessions, were punished with 207 death by the words of the Apostle [26]. 208 [7,15] The great Moses gives this warning in Deuteronomy, in the spiritual sense, to those who want to renounce the world, but remain tied to earthly things through the fear that their lack of faith causes: “If a man is cowardly and he has a fearful heart, it is better that he does not go into combat; let him return to his home, so as not to frighten the hearts of his brothers. [27]” What could be clearer about 209 than this testimony? Do we not learn from these words that those who renounce the world must do so completely and thus present themselves for combat, so as not to divert others from evangelical perfection, inspiring fear in them with a weak and corrupt beginning?

[7,16] It is said in divine Scripture that “it is better to give than to receive [28]”, but the miser misunderstands the phrase and distorts the text with his maneuvers and the greed of his avarice, altering the meaning from the words and teaching of the Lord, who says: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then follow me [29].” They find it preferable to enjoy their riches and give what is superfluous to the poor. These men should know that they have not yet renounced the world nor embraced monastic perfection while they still blush to take on the Apostle's despoilment and to help the needy with the work of their hands. If they want to truly fulfill their monastic confession and, having distributed all their former wealth, glorify themselves with the Apostle “in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness [30]”, they will conduct, with Paul, the 212 “good combat [31]”. 213 [7,17] Indeed, if the same Apostle had found it necessary for perfection to maintain his ancient possessions, he would not have disdained his dignity, he who was of noble birth and a Roman citizen [32]. And those who, 214 in Jerusalem, were “owners of mansions and fields and who left their money at the feet of the apostles

206 [24] Cf. 2 Kings V, 27.

207 [25] Cf. Matthew XXVII, 5.

208 [26] Cf. Acts V, 5 and 10.

209 [27] Deuteronomy XX, 8.

210 [28] Acts XX, 35.

211 [29] Matthew XIX, 21.

212 [30] 2 Corinthians XI, 27.

213 [31] 2 Timothy IV, 7.

214 [32] Cf. Acts XXII, 25-28.

of the sale [33]”, they would not have acted like this if they had known that the apostles thought it better to subsist on their own resources than on the work of their hands and the donations of the citizens. The Apostle teaches this clearly when he writes to the Romans: “Now I leave for Jerusalem to serve the saints (in fact, he had asked, in Macedonia and Akkad, that a collection be made for the saints of Jerusalem, that is, for the poor ). He asked them and they are in his debt. [34]” 216 The Apostle himself, often imprisoned and captive or hampered by the inconveniences of travel, and, because of this, unable to provide his own subsistence with his own hands, as he was accustomed, declared that he had received this subsistence from his brothers who came from Macedonia: “For, he said, what I lacked was supplied by the brothers who came from Macedonia [35]”; and he wrote to the Philippians: “You also know, 217 Philippians, that when I left Macedonia, no church supported me in terms of pecuniary contribution, except yours; for when I was in Thessalonica, you twice sent me what I needed [36].” Would these Christians, in the opinion of the avaricious, have been happier than the Apostle, because they met their needs with their own goods? No one would be crazy enough to say so.

[7,18] That is why, if we want to follow the evangelical precept and imitate the entire Church founded from the beginning on the apostles, we must not rely on our own opinions nor misinterpret what has been expressed. Rejecting the lukewarm perspective and lack of faith, let us follow the Gospel exactly. This way we will be able to walk in the footsteps of the Fathers without ever distancing ourselves from the discipline of the monastery, and renounce the world in all truth.

[7.19] It is good to remember the words of a saint here. It is said that Saint Basil, bishop of Caesarea, addressed a senator who had renounced the world without fervor and reserved for himself some of his possessions in these terms: “You have lost the senator and have not acquired the monk [37].” . It is therefore necessary that, with the greatest care, we expel from our soul the root of all evil, that is, avarice, knowing that, if the root remains, the branches will grow easily.

[7.29] It is difficult to acquire this virtue without living in a community, because then we will be free from all worries about necessary things.

[7.30] Remembering the punishment of Ananias and Sapphira [38], we should fear keeping to ourselves whatever 220 we possess. Fearing the example of Gieze who, for his avarice, was punished with eternal leprosy [39], 221 215 [33] Acts IV, 34-35.

216 [34] Romans 15, 25-27.

217 [35] 2 Corinthians XI, 9.

218 [36] Philippians IV, 15-16.

219 [37] This sentence, with the passage from the Institutions which contains it, is given in the Sentences of the Desert Fathers, Cassian 7.

220 [38] Cf. Acts V, 5 ss.

221 [39] Cf. 2 Kings V, 27.

Let us avoid gathering riches that we did not have before in this world. Finally, thinking about the death of Judas by hanging [40], let us be careful never to try to recover something that we had already renounced. And above all, always keeping the prospect of death in our eyes, let us take care that our Lord does not come at the least expected hour and does not find our conscience contaminated by avarice. He will then be able to address to us the words spoken to the rich man in the Gospel: “You fool, this very night your soul will be taken; what you have reserved for yourself, what use will it be to you now? [41]” 223 On anger 4. [8,1] Our fourth battle is against the spirit of anger and it is necessary that, with God's help, we extirpate this deadly poison from the depths of our soul. For as long as it remains in our hearts and blinds the eyes of our hearts with dark disturbances, we will not be able to acquire the discernment of convenient things, nor find the understanding of spiritual science, nor possess the perfection of good counsel, nor participate in the life of God. true, and our intellect will not be able to contemplate the true divine light. In fact, it was said, “My eye was troubled with wrath [42].” It will not be possible for us to participate in divine wisdom, even if we are considered wise according to everyone's opinion, for it is written: “Anger rests in the bosom of fools [43]”. Nor will we be able to acquire the 225 salutary advice of discernment, even if men judge us prudent because it is also written: “The anger of man does not fulfill the justice of God [44]”. Nor will we be able to acquire the moderation and gravity so esteemed of men, for it is written: “An angry man is indecent [45]”. 227 [8.5] ​​Therefore, he who intends to achieve perfection and who wishes to carry out the fight according to the rules, must be alien to all anger and all wrath and listen to the recommendation of the vessel of election: “Let all anger, he said , fury, shouting and blasphemy be put away from you, as well as all malice [46].” When 228 he says “all,” he leaves no pretext of anger that could be necessary or reasonable. Therefore, whoever wants to correct his brother who has sinned or inflict punishment on him, must try by all means to remain imperturbable, so that it does not happen that, intending to cure the other, he does not contract the disease himself, and that it is not said of him, according to the Gospel: “Physician, cure yourself [47]”. And again: 229 “Why do you criticize the straw in your brother's eye and not notice the plank in your own eye? [48]” 230 [8,6] In fact, whatever the cause, the movement of anger, in its ebullition, blinds the eyes of the soul and prevents it from contemplating the sun of justice. Whoever puts sheets of gold or lead over their eyes is equally deprived of their sight, and the value of the metal has no relation to blindness. In the same way, whatever the cause, reasonable or not, when anger flares up, it obscures the view.

222 [40] Cf. Matthew XXVII, 5.

223 [41] Luke XII, 20.

224 [42] Psalm VI, 8.

225 [43] Ecclesiastes 7, 9.

226 [44] James I, 20.

227 [45] Proverbs XI, 25.

228 [46] Ephesians IV, 31.

229 [47] Luke IV, 23.

230 [48] Matthew VII, 3-5.

[8,7] We only use anger in accordance with nature when we rebel against passionate or voluptuous thoughts.

[8,8] This is what the Prophet teaches us, when he says: “Be angry and sin no more [49]”. 231 [8,9] This means: “Be angry with your own passions and perverse thoughts, and do not sin by carrying out their suggestions.” This meaning appears even more clearly in the following verse: “What you say in your hearts, take to your bed with sorrow [50]”, that is: when 232 perverse thoughts arise in your heart, after rejecting them by becoming angry against them, you will find great peace, as in a bed of rest; then feel the compunction of penance. The blessed apostle Paul agrees with this when, with testimony in this verse, he says: “Let not the sun go down on their wrath; do not open the door to the devil. [51]” In other words: do not force the sun of 233 justice, Christ, to lie down on your heart by irritating it by your connivance with evil thoughts, so that it does not happen to you that, with your departure, the devil find an access to you.

[8,10] It is about this sun that God speaks through the mouth of the Prophet: “For those who fear my name, the sun of justice will rise, healing with its rays [52]”. If we take the Apostle's verse literally, we could not, in fact, keep wrath until sunset.

[8,11] What then shall we say of those who, through the savagery and madness of passion, not content with conserving their anger until sunset, still prolong it for days on end, abstaining from speaking to others? They do not express their anger in words, but through their muteness towards others, they increase the poison of spite, to their own loss.

[8,12] They ignore that it is necessary to abstain from anger, not only in act, but also in thought, to prevent the intellect, blinded by the darkness of resentment, from losing the light of knowledge and discernment and being deprived of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

[8,13] It is for this reason, in fact, that the Lord, in the Gospel, orders him to leave the offering near the altar to go and reconcile with his brother [53]. Otherwise, it is impossible for the offering to be accepted if we are trapped by anger and resentment. On the other hand, the Apostle orders to pray without ceasing [54], and everywhere to raise pure hands, without anger or [evil] thoughts [55]; this is a lesson for us. It remains for us, therefore, either to no longer pray – but then we would sin against the Apostle's commandment – ​​or to hasten to follow this commandment and immediately cease anger and resentment.

231 [49] Psalm IV, 5.

232 [50] Psalm IV, 5.

233 [51] Ephesians IV, 26.

234 [52] Malachi IV, 2.

235 [53] Cf. Matthew V, 23-24.

236 [54] Cf. 1 Thessalonians V. 17.

[8.14] It often happens that we disdain suffering or troubled brothers, saying that their sadness was not caused by us. That is why the doctor of souls, wanting to extirpate the pretexts of the soul from the heart to the roots, orders us to leave the offering and go and be reconciled, not only if we were the ones offended by a brother, even if we have offended him, with or for no reason. First we must remedy the situation with excuses, and then we can make our offering.

[8,15] But we do not need to dwell any longer on the evangelical precepts, since the ancient law itself, which seems to be less rigorous, teaches us this when it says: “Do not hate your brother in your heart [56]”, and also: “The paths of one who holds a grudge lead to death [57].” The law prohibits not just the act, but the thought. That is why those who follow divine laws fight with all their strength against the spirit of anger and this disease that exists within us.

[8.16] Let those who are angry with their brothers not seek solitude and isolation, thinking that then no one will drive them to anger, and that the virtue of patience can be more easily acquired in solitude. It is out of pride, and because we do not want to accuse ourselves, nor recognize the cause of the disturbance in our carelessness, that we wish to separate ourselves from our brothers. But as long as we attribute the causes of our weakness to others, it will be impossible to achieve patience.

[8,17] The essence of our progress and our peace cannot come from the patience of others towards us, but from our longsuffering towards others.

[8,18] If we seek the desert and solitude to escape the struggle for patience, all the vices that we carry with us without having corrected them will remain hidden, but not suppressed. And, in fact, for someone who has not freed themselves from their passions, solitude and retreat can not only preserve them, but increase them, to the point that they end up not knowing which passion they are falling victim to. Loneliness, on the contrary, suggests to him the illusion of virtue and persuades him that he has acquired patience and humility, since there is no one there to provoke and test him. But it is enough for a circumstance to arise that shakes and excites him, and at the same time the passions that are within him and that were until then hidden, like horses without bridle that, leaving the stable after a period of rest and inactivity, drag the driver with more momentum and ferocity. Indeed, passions are more excited in us when we are not tested among men. And we lose this shadow of patience and longsuffering that we pretend to possess while not mixing with our brothers, due to the neglect caused by lack of exercise and loneliness.

237 [55] Cf. 1 Timothy II, 8.

238 [56] Leviticus XIX, 17.

239 [57] Proverbs XII, 28.

[8.19] Just as the most poisonous wild beasts, resting in the desert and in their dens, show all their fury against anyone who approaches, so men who are prey to passions, who are calm not by disposition but by the necessity of the desert. They release their venom every time they lay a hand on someone who approaches and provokes them. This is why those who seek the perfection of sweetness must take great care not to become angry with men, but also not to become angry with animals or things. I remember, in fact, that when I lived in the desert, I would get irritated against a writing quill that I considered too thick or too fine, against a piece of wood that I couldn't cut with the ease I imagined, or against flint. when I was in a hurry to light the fire and the spark was difficult to catch. This is how I vented my anger against sensitive things.

[8.20] Thus, if we want to obtain the beatitude of the Lord, we must, as has been said, avoid anger not only in act but also in thought. In fact, it is not as useful to control our tongue so as not to utter words of anger, as it is to purify our heart from resentment and not harbor evil thoughts against our brother. For evangelical teaching orders us to avoid the roots of sins rather than their fruits. If the root of anger is removed from the heart, neither hatred nor envy will be able to translate itself into actions. Indeed, he who hates his neighbor is called a “murderer” [58], because he condemns him to death by the disposition of anger that exists in his spirit. Men do not see him spilling blood with his sword, but God sees that he kills him in spirit through the anger he harbors within himself, and the Lord distributes to each one crowns and punishments not only for their actions, but also for their thoughts and thoughts. desires, as the Prophet says: “Behold, I have come to gather together your works and your thoughts [59]”. And the Apostle also says 241: “Their thoughts will sometimes accuse them, sometimes defend them, on the day when God judges the secrets of men [60]”.

242 [8,12] The Master himself teaches us to renounce all anger when he says in the Gospels: “Everyone who hates his brother must go to trial [61]”. It is in fact, the text that provides the most exact examples.

243 According to the context, the clause “without cause” appears to have been added. In fact, the Lord's plan is that we avoid, in every way, the root and spark of anger, without keeping within ourselves the slightest pretext of irritation, so that, because we get angry for a good reason, we do not fall to the ground. continue in furious and irrational anger. The perfect remedy against this disease is this: we must firmly believe that it is never permissible to be angry, whether over things that are just or over things that are unjust. As the spirit of wrath darkens the spirit, neither the light of discernment, nor the soundness of righteous counsel, nor the sense of justice will remain within us. It will be impossible for our soul to be the temple of the Holy Spirit if the spirit of wrath, having darkened our spirit, takes possession of us. Finally, above all, we need to guard ourselves against anger by always having before our eyes the uncertainty of the time of death. And let us also know that neither chastity, nor the renunciation of all possessions, nor fasting and vigils will serve us if we present ourselves to Judgment full of anger and resentment.

240 [58] Cf. 1 John III, 15.

241 [59] Isaiah LXVI, 18.

242 [60] Romans II, 15-16.

243 [61] Matthew V, 22.

Of sadness 5. [9,1] Our fifth fight is against the spirit of sadness that steals the light of spiritual contemplation from the soul and prevents it from carrying out good works. In fact, when this evil spirit takes over the soul, it completely obscures it, no longer allowing it to pray fervently or fruitfully dedicate itself to holy readings. He does not allow man to be sweet and conciliatory with his brothers; he inspires in him anger at all the works he must do and at the very life he has embraced. Sadness disturbs all the healthy desires of the soul and dissolves its vigor and constancy, making it soft and paralyzed, until it finally binds it to the thought of despair.

[9.2] That is why, if we want to sustain the spiritual combat and overcome the spirits of malice with the help of God, we must guard our hearts with the greatest care from the spirit of sadness, for, just like moths in clothes or Like termites in wood, sadness devours the soul of man, when it persuades him to avoid good encounters and does not allow him to receive advice from his best friends, nor give them a kind and peaceful response. It takes hold of the soul from all sides and fills it with bitterness and acidity. Finally, she encourages her to run away from men as if they were responsible for the disturbance she finds herself in. And it does not allow the soul to recognize that its illness does not come from outside, but is born within, something that, in fact, appears when temptations, arising unexpectedly through practice, make it come to light. In fact, a man is never harmed by another if he does not possess within himself the causes of passions.

[9,7] Also God, creator and physician of souls, the only one who knows exactly the wounds of the soul, does not order us to renounce frequenting others, but to extirpate the causes of evil in ourselves. He knows that the health of the soul is not obtained by separating ourselves from one another, but by living and exercising with virtuous men. When we abandon our brothers and sisters for supposedly good pretexts, we do not suppress the occasions of sadness, but we only alter them, as the evil is within us and will arise for other reasons.

[9,8] This is why all our combat must be against the passions that are within us. Once they are expelled from our hearts with the grace and help of God, we will live in tranquility, I no longer say among men, but even among wild animals, as the blessed Job says: “The wild animals will live in peace with you” [62]. 244 [9,9] It is then necessary to first fight against the spirit of sadness that throws the soul into despair, in order to remove it from our soul. It was this spirit, in fact, that prevented Cain from repenting after the murder of his brother [63], and also Judas, after having betrayed the Master. We can only maintain the sadness brought by 245 repentance for the sins we have committed, but which is accompanied by good hope. Of which the Apostle says: “Sorrow according to God causes lasting penance for salvation [64]”. In fact, the 246 sadness in accordance with God, which nourishes the soul with the hope of penance, is mixed with joy. It is by 244 [62] Job V, 23.

245 [63] Cf. Genesis IX, 4-16.

246 [64] 2 Corinthians VII, 10.

This is what makes a man full of ardor to submit to good works, affable, humble [65], sweet, 247 forgetting insults, patient to bear all pains and afflictions, everything that comes from God.

From this sadness the fruits of the Holy Spirit are finally born in man, namely, “joy, charity, peace, longsuffering, kindness, faith, temperance [66]”. Of the other sadness, on the contrary, we recognize the bad 248 fruits, which are acedia, impatience, anger, anger, contrariety, discouragement, negligence in prayer.

[9,12] Therefore, we must turn away from this sadness just as we do from prostitution, avarice, anger and other passions. She is cured by prayer, by hope in God, by meditation on divine words and by frequenting pious men.

Of acedia 6. [10,1] Our sixth fight will be against the spirit of acedia that walks and works together with the spirit of sadness. This terrible and oppressive demon is always at war with the monks.

[10.2] It is he who attacks the monk in the sixth hour, making him languid and numb, making him feel aversion for the place in which he lives, for the brothers who live with him, for his occupations and even for reading the divine Scriptures. He suggests that he change places, thinking that, if he doesn't leave for other places, he will be wasting his work and time.

[10.3] Firstly, around the sixth hour, it makes you feel hungry, as if you had gone three days without eating, walked a long way, or accomplished some heavy task. Then he suggests to him the thought that this illness could be treated if he continually went out to see his brothers, under the pretext of spiritual benefit or to visit the sick. If he cannot make the monk fall into his traps, this demon plunges him into a deep sleep, thus becoming stronger and more powerful against him, and then he can only be expelled by prayer, escape from chatter, meditation about divine words and patience in trials.

[10.6] In fact, when he does not find him equipped with these weapons, he takes the reins from the monk, making him unstable, wandering, negligent and idle, making him move from monastery to monastery without worrying about anything other than find food and drink. For the spirit of the monk who is prey to acedia cannot imagine anything other than distractions of this kind; and, from then on, acedia ties him to the things of the world and little by little throws him into his harmful occupations, until he completely declines from his monastic profession.

247 [65] There is a gap here in the text of PG 28, 897D.

248 [66] Galatians V, 22-23.

[10,7-8] The divine Apostle, knowing and desiring, as a good doctor, to eradicate this extremely serious illness from us, shows us in the first place the causes from which it arises: “We command you, brothers, in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, may you separate yourselves from any brother who lives in disorder and not in the tradition received from us. And you know, in fact, how necessary it is to imitate us, because we never lived idly among you, we never ate anyone's bread for free; on the contrary, we work night and day, struggling to the point of exhaustion, so as not to be a burden to anyone.” [10,10] “Not that we didn’t have this right, but we wanted to become a living example for you.” [10,11] “In the same way, while we were among you, we prescribed to you that if anyone does not work, he should not eat either! Now, we learn that some among you live idly, doing nothing but always appearing busy. To these, we ask and exhort in Jesus Christ to work calmly to eat bread that is yours. [67]” 249 250 [68] Let us see how the Apostle wisely shows us the causes of acedia. In fact, he calls those who do not work rebels; with a single word, he reveals all the great malice. For whoever is rebellious does not fear God, he is carried away by his own words and is always inclined to insults, being, therefore, incapable of recollection and becoming a slave to acedia. The Apostle commands us to separate ourselves from these, as we separate ourselves from a pestilential disease. By next saying that they do not walk “according to the tradition received from us,” he indicates that they are proud, contemptuous, and violators of apostolic traditions. And, he adds, “we never ate anyone’s bread for free; on the contrary, we work night and day, struggling to the point of exhaustion, so as not to be a burden to anyone.” [10,8] The doctor of the nations, the herald of the Gospel, the one who was elevated to the third heaven, the one who said that the Lord declared that those who preach the Gospel must live by the Gospel, he himself works night and day toil until exhaustion so as not to become a burden to anyone. What will we do then, who feel distaste for work and seek nothing but the well-being of the body? We do not receive the task of announcing the Gospel, nor of administering the Church, but only of taking care of our souls. Then, clearly showing the damage caused by idleness, he adds: “doing nothing and always looking busy”. Because from idleness comes interference in other people's affairs, hence disorder and from disorder all evils. After preparing the medicine, he continues: “We urge these to work calmly to eat bread that is yours.” And then he declares even more sternly: “If anyone does not work, let him not eat either!” [10.22] Instructed by these apostolic commandments, the holy Fathers of Egypt decreed that the monks should not be idle for a moment, especially the young. They knew that by persevering in work one can expel acedia, earn a living and come to the aid of the needy.

In fact, they not only worked for their own needs, but their work gave them enough to support foreigners, the poor and prisoners. They were persuaded that this 249 [67] 2 Thessalonians III, 6-12.

250 [68] Here the text resumes after the gap in PG 28.897D.

benevolence was a holy offering pleasing to God. And the Fathers said the following: whoever works fights against a demon and is tormented by it; but whoever is idle is subject to thousands of demons.

[10.25] On the other hand, it is good to remember the words that Abbot Moses, the most experienced among the Fathers, told me personally. At that time I had recently been in the desert and was overcome by acedia. I went to look for him to say that, the day before, I had been very tormented by acedia and, at the end of my strength, I only managed to free myself from it by looking for Abbot Paulo. Then Abbot Moses answered me: “In truth, you have not freed yourself, but you have enslaved yourself even more. Know then that this demon will attack you even more strongly as a deserter, unless you dedicate yourself to defeating him through perseverance, prayer and manual labor.” On vainglory 7. [11,1-3] Our seventh fight is against the spirit of vainglory, a passion that takes on different forms and is very subtle. Even the most experienced cannot easily master it. In fact, the attacks of other passions are more manifest and we can combat them with certain ease, as the soul recognizes the enemy and quickly drives him away through the reply of prayer. But the malice of vainglory, taking on numerous forms, as we said, is difficult to combat. In fact, it shows itself in all occupations, [in clothes, in the way of walking], in voice, in words, in silence, in action and in vigil, in fasting, in prayer, in reading, in reflection and in patience. . In all this, she strives to hurt the soldier of Christ.

[11.4] He whom vainglory cannot deceive with the sumptuousness of clothing, it seeks to tempt with a vile uniform. He whom she could not bring down with honors, she tries to push into the pride of bearing dishonor. The one she was unable to flatter through the art of words, she seeks to seduce with a silence that passes for recollection. Whoever she was unable to convince to glorify herself through a good diet, she attracts with a fast designed to be praised. In a word, any work, any occupation provides this evil demon with an occasion to attack.

[11,14] Furthermore, he also suggests that the monk imagine himself in high clerical ranks.

[11.6] I remember an old man when I lived in Sceta. Going to a brother's cell to visit him, as he approached the door, he heard someone talking inside. Thinking it was some passage from Scripture, he stopped to listen. He then realized that his brother was a prey to vainglory, that he imagined he was a deacon and had just dispatched some catechumens. After hearing this, he knocked on the door and entered. The brother came to meet him, greeted him according to custom and asked him if he had been standing at the door for a long time. The old man answered him calmly: “I arrived just as you were dispatching the catechumens.” Faced with these words, the brother fell at the old man's feet asking him to pray for him, so that he would be freed from the illusion.

[11.17] I remembered this event to demonstrate to what point of unconsciousness this demon can take man.

[11,19] He who wants to fight for perfection and win the crown of righteousness must strive by all means to overcome this multiform beast, always keeping in mind the words of David: “The Lord will reduce to dust the bones of those who seduce men [69]”. Let him do nothing out of the desire to be praised 251 by men, but seek his wages only before God and, always rejecting the flattering thoughts that arise in his heart, disdain himself in the presence of God. Thus he can, with the grace of God, be freed from the spirit of vainglory.

Of pride 8. [12,1] Our eighth fight will be against the spirit of pride. He is more terrible and cruel than all those before him, attacking above all the perfect and striving to overthrow those who are almost reaching the heights of virtue.

[12.3] Just as an infectious and fatal disease destroys not a limb but the entire body, so pride destroys not a part but the entire soul. Each of the other vices, even though they disturb the soul, only attack the virtue that is opposite to them, trying to overcome it; they do not target or disturb the soul as a whole. Only the vice of pride completely obscures it and leads it to complete ruin. To better understand what I mean, let us remember that gluttony is opposed to temperance, prostitution to chastity, avarice to stripping, anger to meekness, and other types of malice to their contrary virtues. But the malice of pride, when it takes possession of the unhappy soul, like the fiercest of tyrants taking a great elevated city, destroys it entirely and razes it to its foundations.

[12.4] Testimony to this is this angel who fell from heaven through his pride: he, who had been created by God and endowed with all virtue and wisdom, did not want to attribute grace to the Lord, but to his own nature. That's why he considered himself equal to God. It is this pretension that the Prophet reproves when he declares: “You have said in your heart, 'I will sit on a high mountain, I will set my throne in the clouds, and I will be like the Most High.' But you are a man, not a God. [70]” Another prophet said: “Why 252 do you glory in evil? [71],” and the rest of the Psalm: “You are all day long plotting snares; his tongue is a sharp razor, author of frauds. You prefer evil rather than good, lies rather than frankness. You like corrosive words, oh deceitful tongue. Therefore God will destroy you forever, he will cast you down and sweep you away from your tent; will pull its roots out of the fertile soil. The righteous will see this and be afraid, and will laugh at his expense, saying, Behold the man who has not made God his fortress. He trusted in his great wealth and strengthened himself through snares! [72]”

251 [69] Psalm LII, 5.

252 [70] Isaiah XIV,

253 [71] Psalm LI, 3.

254 [72] Psalm LI, 4-9.

[12,9] Knowing this, let us be filled with fear and with all vigilance let us keep our hearts free from the fatal spirit of pride, always repeating to ourselves the words of the Apostle, when we have acquired this virtue: “Not I, but the grace of God in me [73]”, and also the words of the Lord: “Without me you 255 can do nothing [74]”, as well as those of the Prophet: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the 256 builders labor in vain [75 ]”, and: “This does not depend on the will or effort of man, but on the mercy of 257 God258[76]”.

[12,10] Indeed, whatever the fervor of his zeal and the ardor of his desire, he who is linked to flesh and blood will not be able to reach perfection except through the mercy and grace of Christ. As Saint James says, “every excellent gift comes from above [77]”, and the apostle Paul: “What do you have that you have not received? And if you have received, why glorify yourself as if you had not received [78],” and boast of the 260 gifts of another as if they were your own?

[12,11] That salvation comes to us through the grace and mercy of God [79], this fighter testifies who 261 did not receive the kingdom of heaven as a reward for virtue, but for the grace and mercy of God.

[See 12,31-33] Knowing this, our Fathers transmitted this dictate to us, that it is not possible to reach the perfection of virtue in any other way than humility, which naturally arises from faith, the fear of God, sweetness and total stripping. Perfect charity is thus obtained through the grace and goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ, glory be to Him for all ages. Amen.

255 [73] 1 Corinthians XV, 10.

256 [74] John XV, 5.

257 [75] Psalm 266, 1.

258 [76] Romans IX, 16.

259 [77] James I, 17.

260 [78] 1 Corinthians IV, 7.

261 [79] Cf. Luke XXIII, 43.

TI, VI – JOÃO CASSIANO, THE ROMAN

DISCOURSE FULL OF SPIRITUAL BENEFITS ON THE SCETIC PRIESTS AND DISCERNMENT

[Pref.] I have now decided to fulfill the promise made to the blessed Bishop Castor regarding the lives of the holy Fathers and their teachings, which I already partially paid off when I wrote to him and sent him, O Saint Leontius, something regarding the form of life cenobitic and the eight main vicious thoughts. Having heard that this blessed pontiff has left us to go to Christ, I thought of addressing to you, who inherited his virtue and the care of his monastery, the remainder of my account.

[1,1] We headed to the desert of Sceta where the most renowned Fathers met, me and the holy abbot Germanus, with whom I had a friendship that stemmed from school, the militia and monastic life. There we found Abbot Moses, a holy man, who was distinguished not only for his ascetic virtues, but also for his contemplation. We asked him with tears for an edifying sermon through which we could reach perfection. After many prayers, he said: [1,2] “My children, all virtues and occupations have one objective: those who keep their eyes fixed on this objective, in everything conforming to it, will obtain the desired end. The worker, for example, enduring both the heat of the sun and the cold of winter, works the land with zeal; he wants to clear the land of thorns and weeds, but the end he pursues is the harvest of fruits. In the same way, he who dedicates himself to commerce, facing dangers at sea and on land, dedicates himself with ardor to his business, with a view to the gain he will obtain; the end, for him, will be to enjoy this gain. And the soldier also fears neither the dangers of combat nor the miseries of exile, aiming to climb the career ladder driven by his courage; His end is the honors he will receive.” Our profession also has its objective and its specific purpose, for which we voluntarily endure all the work and fatigue. This is why the hunger of fasting does not tire us; the fatigue of vigils becomes a pleasure; Reading and meditating on the Scriptures is done with a good heart. The pains of work, obedience, deprivation of all earthly things and life in this desert are easily assumed. You yourselves, you despised homeland, family and all the pleasures of the world to go far away and come to us who are nothing more than rustics and ignorant. Tell me: what is your goal? What end do you pursue by doing this?

[1,3] We answered him: “By the kingdom of heaven.”

[1,4] Then Abbot Moses said: “Very well, you have shown me the end. But the goal that we must have in view, without departing from the straight path, to obtain the kingdom of heaven, you did not say this.” After we confessed our ignorance, the old man resumed speaking: “The end of our profession is, indeed, as you said, the kingdom of God; but the objective is purity of heart, without which it is impossible to achieve this end. So, may our intellect always be oriented towards this goal. Even if it sometimes happens that the heart strays from the right path, it is necessary to immediately bring it back, guiding us towards this objective through a rule.” [1,5] Knowing this, the blessed apostle Paul said: “Forgetting what lies behind I move forward to what lies ahead. I launch myself towards the goal, in view of the prize from above, which God calls us to receive in Jesus Christ [80]”. It is with this objective in mind that we too must do everything. It is in view of this goal that we disdain everything, country, family, riches and the entire world, in order to acquire purity of heart. And, if we forget this objective, it is inevitable that, walking in the dark and leaving the road straight, we will make countless turns and detours.

[1,6] This is what happened to many who, at the beginning of their renunciation, despised wealth, possessions and the entire world, but allowed themselves to be overcome by anger and fury over a sickle, a needle, a pen or a book . They would not need to go through this, if they remembered the purpose for which they despised those things. It is in fact out of love for our neighbors that we despise wealth, so as not to get into arguments about it and lose charity, giving way to anger. So, if for trifles we express irritation against a brother, we move away from the objective and do not derive any benefit from our renunciation. That is why the Apostle said: “Even if I throw my body into the fire, if it is not for love, it will be of no use [81]”. 263 We thus learn that perfection is not achieved all at once through stripping and renunciation of things, but through the growth of love, whose characteristics the Apostle describes: “Love, he says, is not envious, is not filled with pride, He is not irritated, he does not denigrate, he does nothing frivolous, he never thinks evil [82].” All this ensures the purity of the heart.

264 [1,7] It is for her that everything must be done: despising earthly goods, suffering fasts easily, dedicating oneself to reading and psalmody. It does not mean that we neglect it if, due to any necessity or some matter of God, we are prevented from fasting and reading regularly. Because less is gained from fasting than is lost from anger, and the benefit of reading does not equal the harm caused if we despise or grieve our brothers. Indeed, as I said, neither fasting, nor vigils, nor meditation on the Scriptures, nor the stripping of riches, nor renunciation of the world constitute perfection, but instruments of perfection. And as perfection is not found in these practices, but comes through them, it is in vain that we glorify fasting, vigil, poverty and reading the Scriptures if we do not observe love for God and neighbor. For whoever has love has God in him, and his intellect will always be with God.

[1,12] Faced with these words, Germanus said: “What man, linked to this flesh, can have his intellect always in God, without ever thinking about anything else? Are there no patients to visit? Receiving guests?

262 [80] Philippians III, 13-14.

263 [81] 1 Corinthians XIII, 3.

264 [82] 1 Corinthians XIII, 4-5.

What about manual work and other essential needs that the body requires? Finally, how can man's reason always see this invisible and incomprehensible God and never turn away from him?” [1,13] Moses replied: “Always see God and never turn away from Him, as you say, yes, this is impossible for a man clothed in flesh and linked to frailty. But in another way, it is possible to see God.” [1.15] Indeed, the contemplation of God can be understood and viewed in many ways. For God cannot be known only in his blissful and incomprehensible essence, which is reserved for the saints of the future century, but he can also be known from the greatness and beauty of his creatures, his government and his providence which are exercised every day, of his justice and of his wonders that he reveals to the saints from generation to generation. When we think about the immensity of his power and the continuity of his gaze from which the secrets of the heart or no other can be hidden, like the heart full of fear, we admire and adore him. When we imagine that he knows the number of drops of water and grains of sand in the sea [83], and of the stars in the sky, we are astonished at the 265 greatness of his nature and his wisdom. When we reflect on his ineffable and indescribable wisdom, on the kindness and tireless patience with which he bears the countless faults of sinners, we give him thanks. When we think about the great love he shows us, without any merit on our part, by becoming man, he who was God, to save us from our perdition, we are led to aspire for him. When we consider that after having defeated our adversary the devil in us, as a reward for the simple assent of our good will, he gratifies us with eternal life, we prostrate ourselves before him. And there are still innumerable considerations that arise in us according to the measure of our conduct and according to the degree of our purity, by which God can be seen and known.

[1,16] Then Germano posed a new question: “How is it possible that often, against our will, many ideas and bad thoughts assail us and deceive us almost without us noticing, sneaking into us discreetly and stealthily, in such a way that that it is very difficult, not only to prevent their entry, but even to recognize them? We also want to know if it is possible for our thinking to be completely freed and no longer disturbed?” [1.17] “It is impossible, replied Moses, that thought should not be disturbed by such ideas, but it is permissible for anyone to welcome them and dwell on them or reject them. For their arrival does not depend on us, but it is in our power to drive them away, and the rectification of our thinking depends on our will and our zeal. If we meditate attentively and continually on the law of God, if we dedicate ourselves to singing psalms and hymns, if we do not cease to practice fasts and vigils, if we constantly remember the kingdom of heaven, Gehenna of fire and all works of God, evil thoughts will give way and will not find a place in us. But if, on the contrary, we dedicate ourselves to the things of the world and to carnal things, if we dedicate ourselves to frivolous and useless purposes, low thoughts will multiply in us.” 265 [83] Job, XXXVI, 27.

[1.18] Just as a water mill cannot be stopped, but it is in the power of the miller to grind wheat or barley, so our thought, being mobile, cannot remain empty of ideas, but it is up to us to provide it with a meditation spiritual or a carnal occupation.

[1,23] The old man, seeing us full of admiration and animated by an insatiable ardor for his words, fell silent for a moment, then resumed: “As your thirst made me prolong this speech and yet you remain eager for the doctrine of perfection, I will tell you about the excellence of the virtue of discernment which, among all, is the citadel and the queen. And I will show them their pre-eminence, their greatness and their usefulness not only by words, but by the ancient oracles of the Fathers, with the grace of the Lord who inspires those who speak according to the merit and desire of those who listen.” [2,1] In fact, the virtue of discernment is not small, on the contrary, it is counted among the noblest charisms of the Holy Spirit, of which the Apostle says: “To one is given by the Spirit a word of wisdom; to another, a word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to a third, faith, in the same Spirit; to another, the charisma of healing; to a fifth, the discernment of spirits. [84]” Then, after finishing the list of 266 charismas, he adds: “All of this is produced by one and the same Spirit [85]”. 267 As you see, the gift of discernment is neither earthly nor small, but a great gift of divine grace. If the monk does not put all his efforts and zeal into obtaining and acquiring the safe discernment of the spirits that come upon him, it necessarily follows that, like someone lost in the night, not only will he fall into the horrible precipices, but he will even stumble along the paths. straight and flat.

[2,2] This reminds me of when in my younger years. I was in the region of Thebaid, where the blessed Anthony lived. Some elders, gathered with him, wondered which would be the most perfect virtue, which among all could best protect the monk from the devil's traps and illusions. Each person expressed their opinion, according to the conception of their thoughts. Some said it was fasting and vigil, because, through observation, thought, made lighter and purer, can approach God more easily. Others thought it was the detachment and contempt for all personal things, to the extent that thought, freed from the multiple bonds of worldly concerns, could approach God more comfortably. Still others thought it was the virtue of almsgiving, because the Lord said in the Gospel: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, enter into the possession of the kingdom reserved for you since the beginning of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food [86]”, etc.

266 [84] 1 Corinthians XII, 8-9.

267 [85] 1 Corinthians XII, 10.

268 [86] Matthew XXV, 34-35.

This is how each person gave their opinion on the different virtues through which man could get closer and closer to God, and most of the night was spent in this research. The last of them all, the blessed Anthony, took the floor: “All these practices that you spoke of are certainly necessary and useful to those who seek God and aspire to reach Him. But I don't think we should give first prize to these virtues, since we all know many who exhausted themselves in fasts and vigils, who retired to the desert, who became destitute to the point of not even saving their daily food, who practiced alms until they distributed everything they had and, after all that, they fell miserably from virtue and slipped into evil. What made them stray from the straight path? It was nothing else, according to my feeling and my opinion, than a lack of discernment. For it is discernment that teaches man to walk the royal path, keeping a distance from two excesses: it prevents him from straying to the right through exaggerated temperance and from allowing himself to be led to the left by negligence and relaxation.” Discernment is, in effect, like the eye and the lamp of the soul, according to these words from the Gospel: “The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is pure, your whole body will be luminous; but if his eye is dark, his whole body will be dark [87].” Discernment examines all man's ideas and actions, rejects and dismisses what is evil and what displeases God, thus protecting us from perdition.

[2,3] We can also learn these things from the accounts of the Holy Scriptures. For Saul, the first to receive royalty in Israel, did not have the eye of discernment, and therefore his thinking was clouded and he could not discern whether it was more pleasing to God to offer a sacrifice or obey the commandment of the prophet Samuel. When he thought he was honoring God, he actually offended Him and lost his kingship [88]. 270 It is also discernment that the Apostle calls “sun” when he says: “Let not the sun go down on his wrath.” We can also see it as the rudder of our lives, according to what is written: “Those who have no direction fall like leaves [89]”. The Scripture also designates it as prudence, without which 271 we are prohibited from doing anything, even drinking the spiritual wine that gladdens the heart of man [90], according to the words: “Drink wine with prudence [91 ]”. And it is also said: “A citadel 272 273 with its walls torn down and without defense, such is the man who does anything without prudence. [92]” 274 Wisdom, intellect and judgment grow in discernment, without which we cannot build our inner dwelling nor gather spiritual riches, according to the words: “It is by wisdom that a house rises and by intellect that it becomes firm, by the judgment that his coffers are filled with riches. [93]” She 275 is the solid food of grown men, whose sense is exercised by the habit of discerning good from evil [94]. 276 All these texts clearly show that, without the charisma of discernment, a virtue cannot establish itself or remain firm until the end, since it is discernment that engenders and protects all virtues.

269 ​​[87] Matthew VI, 22-23.

270 [88] Cf. 1 Samuel XV, 17-23.

271 [89] Proverbs XI, 14.

272 [90] Cf. Psalm 131:15

273 [91] Proverbs XXXI, 3.

274 [92] Proverbs XXV, 28.

275 [93] Proverbs XXIV, 3-4.

276 [94] Hebrews V, 14.

[2,5] All the Fathers agreed with this opinion and this judgment of Antony. And we can confirm Saint Anthony's sentence by recent examples that have occurred in our time. You remember the miserable fall of old Heron, which happened a few days before our eyes: how, through the illusion of the devil, he threw himself from the height of his virtuous practice into the maw of death. We remember, indeed, that he spent fifty years in the desert near here, living in great austerity and severe temperance, seeking and seeking more than all the most deserted and lonely places. And after so many pains and struggles, becoming the devil's plaything, he let himself slip into the abyss and threw all the Fathers and brothers of this desert into inconsolable mourning. He would not have suffered this if he had observed the virtue of discernment, he who had learned not to trust in his own judgment, but in the advice of his Fathers and brothers. For it was following his own judgment that he prolonged his fasting and his isolation even during the festivities of Holy Easter, not accepting to meet the Fathers and brothers in the church to eat with them, as he would be forced to take his share of vegetables or some other food presented at the table and thus would seem to have renounced its purpose and its rule. For a long time separated from others by his own will, he received the angel of Satan and venerated him as if he were an angel of light [95]. He ordered him to throw himself in the middle of the night into a deep well so that he would know from his own experience that from then on he was protected from all dangers by his great virtue and his persevering work for God. No longer discerning in his thoughts the inspirer of this design, with a darkened spirit, he threw himself into the well in the middle of the night. Shortly after, the brothers realized what had happened and rescued him with a lot of work, already half dead. Two days later he expired, leaving his brothers and Abbot Paphnúcio in inconsolable mourning.

This man, moved by his great kindness and remembering the numerous works and so many years that the old man had spent in the desert, did not separate him from the memory and the offering that we make for all the deceased, so that he would not be counted among the suicides.

[2,6] And what about these two brothers who lived beyond the desert of Thebaid, where the blessed Anthony had resided, and who, driven by lack of discernment, decided to march into the interior of the desert, immense and sterile, without receiving food from men, but contenting themselves only with what the Lord miraculously provided them? Lost in the desert and starving, they were seen from afar by the Maziques. These people are the most savage and cruel of all that exist. But changing, by divine providence, their savagery and cruelty into benevolence, they went to meet the brothers with bread. One of them, inspired by discernment, received the loaves with joy and gratitude, saying to himself that if men so cruel and savage, who took pleasure in shedding blood, were moved by compassion in the face of their exhaustion and gave them food, this could only be by divine impulse. But the other, refusing the food offered by men and remaining discerning, died of hunger. All of them had initially made an erroneous decision, based on an irrational and disastrous opinion. However, the first, remembering discernment, did well to renounce his rash and imprudent purpose. The second, on the contrary, obstinate in his foolish presumption and lack of discernment, gave himself up to the death from which God had tried to divert him.

[2,7] What about this other one, whom I will not name because he is still alive? He welcomed the devil countless times as if he were an angel, receiving revelations from him and seeing the light of a lamp continually shine in his cell. Finally, he received from the angel the order to sacrifice to God his son who lived with him in the same monastery, to share Abraham's merit. This suggestion so deluded him that he would have killed his own son if the latter, seeing him sharpen his cleaver in an unusual way and prepare the ropes with which he would tie him as a victim, had not ensured his salvation by escape.

277 [95] Cf. 2 Corinthians XI, 14.

[2,8] To finish, I will also tell the illusion of that Mesopotamian monk who practiced extreme temperance, confined for years on end in his cell, and who, finally, deceived by revelations and diabolical dreams that, after years of work and virtues that had elevated him above all the monks in the region, he converted to Judaism and had himself circumcised. To deceive him, the devil showed him true visions on several occasions, in order to make him more willing to believe the falsehoods he would present to him. He then showed him, one night, on one side the Christian people with the apostles and the martyrs as dark and full of shame, immersed in sadness and mourning; and on the other hand, the Jewish people, with Moses and the prophets, radiating a dazzling light and living in joy and happiness. The seducer proposed to him, if he wanted to share the joy and beatitude of the Jewish people, that he should be circumcised. And thus deluded, the monk circumcised himself. It is evident that, of all these monks, none would have succumbed so sadly and miserably to illusion, if they had possessed the charisma of discernment.

[2,9] At this point, Germanus said: “Both recent examples and the sentences of the ancient Fathers sufficiently show that discernment is the source, the root, the head and the connection of all virtues.

But how can we acquire it, is what we want to know: how to recognize the true discernment that comes from God from that which is false, deceitful and diabolical?” [2,10] Then Abbot Moses replied: “True discernment is only given, at the price of true humility, to those who reveal to the Fathers not only their actions, but also their thoughts, and who never trust their own sense, but he follows the words of the ancients in everything, only considering as good what was approved by them. This practice not only allows the monk to remain unharmed on the straight path through true discernment, but it protects him from all the devil's traps. In fact, it is impossible for someone who has governed his life based on the advice and opinion of those who preceded him, to fall into the illusion of demons. Because even before obtaining the charisma of discernment, the fact of manifesting and confessing bad thoughts to the Fathers causes them to become consummated and lose all strength. Just as a serpent that is led from the depths of its dark den to the light hastens to flee and disappear, so perverse thoughts, brought to light by the excellent recognition of confession, hasten to depart from man. In order for you to learn this virtue more easily by example, I will tell you a fact that Abbot Serapião himself told those who came to see him, to put them on their guard.” [2.11] Here is what he said: When I was young, I lived with my abbot. When we got up from the table after the meal, through the action of the devil, I stole a loaf of bread to eat later, without the abbot knowing. Having done this for a long time, there came a time when I no longer controlled this passion; my conscience condemned me, but I was ashamed to tell the old man. By a disposition of God's kindness, it happened that some brethren came to see the elder for his edification and they questioned him about his thoughts. The old man answered them: Nothing harms monks more, nothing makes demons more happy, than hiding one's thoughts from one's spiritual fathers. And he spoke to them about temperance. Upon hearing these words, I came to my senses and thought that God had revealed my faults to the old man; Moved by compunction, I began to cry and took out of my pocket the bread that I had stolen according to my bad habit. Throwing myself to the ground, I asked forgiveness from those around me and asked for their prayers so I wouldn't fall again in the future. Then the old man said: “Without me having said a single word, your confession freed you, and you strangled this demon that hurt you thanks to your silence in revealing the secrets of your heart. Until now, you had made him your master, by not opposing him or denouncing him; now he will no longer have a place in you, because you cast him out of your heart in broad daylight.” He had barely finished speaking when the demonic power appeared like a lamp of fire coming out of my chest and filling the room with an infectious odor, so much so that those present thought that what was burning was a portion of sulfur.

Then the old man resumed speaking: “Now the Lord has demonstrated with this sign the truth of my words and of his deliverance.” It was in this way that the confession expelled from me the vice of gluttony and this diabolical action, to the point that I was never again complacent towards this desire.

From these words of Abbot Serapião, we learn that we will not obtain the charisma of discernment unless we rely not on the criteria of our own thinking, but on the teaching and example of the Fathers.

For there is no easier way for the devil to plunge the monk into the abyss than by persuading him to reject the lessons of the Fathers and to trust his own judgment and his own will. If we consider the example of the arts and human sciences, we really see that it is impossible to acquire them by ourselves, using only our hands, eyes and ears: we need a master and a rule. How crazy, then, to imagine that we don't need a master to master the spiritual art, which is the most difficult of all! It is, in effect, invisible, hidden and perceived only by the purity of the heart, and in this art failure leads not only to temporary damage, but to the loss of the soul and eternal death.

[2,12] “It seems to me, said Germanus, that usually a cause of shame and a pretext for harmful piety comes from the fact that often certain Fathers who hear the thoughts of their brothers not only do not cure them, but even condemn them and drive them to despair, a fact that happened in Syria, as we all know. A brother went to reveal his thoughts to an elder there with all simplicity and truth, revealing without false shame the secrets of his heart; The elder, upon hearing him, began to be indignant and to rise up against him, reprimanding him for having had such evil thoughts, to the point that the brother, having heard everything, stopped expressing his thoughts to the elders.” [2.13] Abbot Moses then replied: “It is good, as I said, not to hide the thoughts of the Fathers, but not to just anyone. It is necessary to reveal them to spiritual elders who have discernment, not to those whose hair has turned gray over time. Indeed, many, deluded by age and revealing their thoughts, fell into despair because of the inexperience of those who heard them.” There was, in fact, a very fervent brother who was violently tormented by the demon of prostitution. He went to see an elder and revealed his thoughts to him. This one, who was inexperienced, 103 TI, VI – JOHN CASSIAN, THE ROMAN – Discourse on the priests of Sceta and discernment.

He was indignant listening to him and treated him as a wretch and unworthy of the monastic habit for having had such thoughts. Upon hearing these things, the brother fell into despair, and, leaving his cell, returned to the world. But, by divine providence, Abbot Apollo, the most experienced of the elders, found him and, seeing him troubled and dejected, asked him: “My son, what is the cause of such sadness?” At first the brother did not respond, such was his discouragement. Prompted at length by the old man, he ended up saying what it was: “Certain thoughts frequently tormented me and I went to confess them to that old man, and from what he told me, I no longer have hope of salvation. Discouraged, I preferred to return to the world.” Upon hearing this, Father Apolo consoled and encouraged him, saying: “Do not be upset, my son, nor lose hope. Because even I, at my age and with my gray hair, am still very tormented by these thoughts. Do not worry about this fever, it will not be so much human effort that will cure it, but the goodness of God. Just give me a day and return to your cell.” And so the brother did.

After leaving him, Abbot Apollo went to the cell of the old man to whom his brother had made his confession and, standing outside, asked God with tears: “Lord, who sends temptations for the benefit of each one, let that brother's battle pass on to this old man, so that he may learn from experience, in his old age, what he did not learn in so many years of life: to be compassionate towards those who have something to fight against.” He had barely finished his prayer when he saw a hideous Ethiopian near the cell, hurling lightning at the old man. Having been hit, he soon began walking hurriedly in all directions like a drunken man.

Unable to remain in place, he left his cell and headed out into the world along the same path as his brother. Seeing what was happening, Abbot Apollo went to meet him and said to him: “Where are you going like this?

What is the cause of the disorder that has taken him?” Realizing that his condition was known to the saint, he was filled with shame and said nothing. Then Abbot Apollo said to him: “Go back to your cell and from now on recognize his weakness; recognize that if until now you have been ignored or disdained by the devil, it is because you were not worthy of fighting against him. More than that: you were unable to sustain your assault for even one day. This happened because, upon receiving a young brother attacked by the common enemy, instead of encouraging him to fight, you threw him into despair without taking into account the Sage's consideration: “Free those condemned to death and rescue those who are taken to torture [96]”. Nor have you 278 remembered the words of our Savior, “not to crush the bruised reed, nor to quench the smoking flax [97].” For no one is able to sustain the attacks or extinguish the ardors of nature, if the grace of God does not protect him from human weakness. Convinced therefore of the salutary providence that watches over us, let us join our prayers to God so that he may release you from the punishment that has been sent to you. For “he who afflicts is the same who restores, he wounds but his hands heal [98]”; “he lowers and 280 he raises; he makes people die and makes people live; he leads to hell and rescues him from there [99]”. By pronouncing these 281 words, he immediately freed the old man from the struggle he had to suffer, and exhorted him to ask God for a tongue that knew how to say the right word at the right time.

From all this, we learn that there is no other way of salvation than to reveal your thoughts to the Fathers who have more discernment and receive from them the rule of virtue, before following your own judgment and your own sense. And if we happen, by chance, to fall into the hands of an old man who is too simple and without much experience, this is not a reason for us to refrain from revealing our thoughts to the most experienced among the Fathers and from despising the tradition of the ancients. For it was not of their own initiative, but it was from God and the holy Scriptures that they transmitted to those who came after them the practice of interrogating their predecessors.

278 [96] Proverbs XXIV, 11.

279 [97] Matthew XII, 20.

280 [98] Isaiah l,

281 [99] 1 Samuel II, 6-7.

[2.14] We can learn this from many other passages of inspired Scripture, especially the story of Samuel [100]. Consecrated to God by his mother since his childhood and admitted to talk to God, Samuel never trusted his own judgment, but, called by God once and twice, he ran to old Eli and with his instructions he was able to respond to God. appropriately. He who God considered worthy of being called by him, God also wanted to be guided by the example and orders of the elder, so that he would be led to humility.

[2.15] And Christ, who had called Paul and spoken to him, could have opened his eyes immediately and shown him the way of salvation. But he sent him to Ananias and expressly ordered him to learn from him the way of truth: “Get up, enter the city and there you will be told what to do [101].” 283 Thus he teaches us to allow ourselves to be guided by those who preceded us, so that the things said by Paul are not misinterpreted and so that they do not become an example of presumption for his descendants, each one claiming to be led directly to the truth by God , almost like Saint Paul, and not through the Fathers. We see this clearly, not only from what was said, but from what the Apostle himself writes: “I returned to Jerusalem (...) I explained to them the Gospel that I preached to the pagans, but I explained it privately to the most notable people, so as not to risk running or having run in vain [102]”. And yet the grace of the Holy Spirit walked alongside him, through the power of the miracles he performed.

Who will be so proud and so pretentious as to dare to rely on his own sense and judgment, when this vessel of election testifies to having needed the advice of those who were apostles before him? This clearly proves that the Lord does not reveal the path to perfection to anyone if it is not through the spiritual Fathers who march along the path. It is as the Prophet said: “Question your father, and he will teach you; to the elders, and they will tell you. [103]” 285 [2,16] Let us strive, therefore, with all our strength and all our ardor to acquire for ourselves the charisma of discernment, which can keep us immune to the two opposite excesses. In fact, as the Fathers say, in both senses, excesses are harmful: both excessive fasting and satiety; the immoderate vigils and the exaggeration of sleep, and so on all other excesses. We know some who were not overcome by gluttony, but who fell as a result of excessive fasting, having then been drawn into the same gluttony due to the weakness caused by excessive fasting.

282 [100] Cf. 1 Samuel, 3.

283 [101] Acts IX, 6.

284 [102] Galatians II, 2.

285 [103] Deuteronomy XXXII, 7.

[2,17] I also remember, for my part, having practiced such abstinence that I no longer even remembered the desire to eat, and after having spent two or three days without eating, not even thinking about food, unless I some other monk would bring me. It also happened to me that, at the instigation of the devil, the sleep left my eyes, to the point that for nights on end I had to beg the Lord to grant me a little sleep. Thus it was that I exposed myself to much greater danger through excessive deprivation of food and sleep than through gluttony and excess sleep.

With these teachings and many others, Abbot Moses filled us with joy, so that we were able to glorify the Lord who gave such wisdom to those who fear. To him be honor and power forever and ever. Amen.

106 MARK THE ASCETIC Our blessed Father Mark the Ascetic lived around the year 430. According to Nikephoros Callistus, he was a disciple of John Chrysostom, and a contemporary of Saint Nilus and Isidore of Pelusia, renowned ascetics. Dedicated to asceticism and meditation on holy Scripture, he wrote numerous treatises, instructive and of great help.

Nicephorus Callixtus mentions thirty-two treatises, which teach all the paths of the ascetic life. However, only eight were preserved, mentioned by Callisto and Photius.

The first is the treatise on spiritual law. The third is the treatise on those who think they are justified by works, and the eighth is the letter to the monk Nicolas. They have been inserted here insofar as they are more useful than the others and insofar as they are linked to spiritual law. Peter Damascene, Gregory of Thessalonica, Gregory the Sinaite, Callixtus the Patriarch, Paul Evergetinos and many other Fathers mention these texts. They read them and invite us to read them.

The holy Church of Christ honors and celebrates the memory of Mark the Ascetic on March 5, remembering his ascetic struggles, the wisdom of his writings and the grace of the miracles he received from above.

* We know nothing about Marcos the Ascetic except from the indications contained in his work. His own name varies: Marcos the Monk in the oldest manuscripts, then Marcos the Hermit in the West, finally Marcos the Ascetic in the philochalic anthology, a name that in a certain way corresponds to the very meaning of his work. Mark lived in the 5th and 6th centuries. But where? Perhaps towards Asia Minor. It is like? Was he a hermit, was he a hygoumeno? Without a doubt one and the other, successively; in any case, his texts show that he had experience in both states. But the essential remains his place in the transmission of the Hesychast testimony, which is truly fundamental. Like Diadocus of Photicéia, who is close to him due to his role as mediator between Egyptian sources and the expansion of monasticism in Asia and Europe. Marcos the Ascetic defends and illustrates the narrow path of evangelical radicalism. The Greek Philokalia adopted three of his works, precisely those that signify the condition and 107 maintenance of radical asceticism: the 200 chapters “on the spiritual law”, the 226 chapters “on those who think they are justified by works” and the letter to Nicolas.

The spiritual law is for Mark a law of freedom. It implies knowledge of the Scriptures and the practice of virtues, but it could not be achieved through spiritual works alone. Even good, works cannot lead to anything other than humility. And humility demands the compassion of Christ. Salvation ultimately depends on grace. Thus, the monk becomes free, but with one condition, that of asceticism: refusing the three cardinal passions (the love of money, vainglory and pleasures), never considering anything other than the Kingdom of Heaven and the age to come. , continually remaining at the lowest level, and never caring the slightest about the importance of the works.

For if the condition of asceticism is not fulfilled, its importance is null, or illusory. Here only the condition of asceticism matters. Before opening to salvation, the spiritual law leads to repentance and allows free access to its threshold: the remembrance of God and pure prayer. Marcos doesn't go any further.

The 226 chapters “on those who think they are justified by works” stop at the same threshold. Asceticism is necessary. But alone it would not be enough to comply with the law. The server is always useless. The Kingdom of Heaven is a grace, says Mark, it is not wages for works. Initially we received nothing more from God than freedom and responsibility. Neither the testimony of works, nor even the experience of grace, places someone above others – quite the opposite. Respect for others, therefore love for others, whether ignorant, unbelieving, unjust, is the human face of God's love. Asceticism cannot be more than the continuous and free exercise of humility and love. Only a loving humility allows the state of prayer. And only this allows the state of grace, which Mark defines as: “Having in the heart the work of the Holy Spirit”. And he emphasizes: “He who wants to do good and expects a reward from it, does not serve God but his own will”. Marcos preaches naked trust.

The letter to Nicolas illustrates precisely the delicate and rigorous way in which trust in the monastic path is transmitted: from heart to heart. The deepest solitude (Marcos even claims to be in the desert when writing the letter) is combined with the highest fraternity. The principle of the monastic vocation, and hence of all Christian life, is gratitude. We receive everything from God by pure grace, and we return everything to Him in thanksgiving, so that from then on we can live freely, guarding ourselves from ignorance, forgetfulness and negligence, and then descend with Christ – “observing his humility”, says Mark . And he adds: “Whoever does not put himself below everyone else cannot become a true Christian.” Marcos doesn't impose anything: he recommends, he advises. He tells Nicolas, “We leave it up to you to do what you want.” No power exists except that of love: the golden rule of Hesychast transmission.

Marcos is here a testimony of the narrow way. He fights on two fronts: on the left, all the faults that disintegrate and disarticulate the union between the soul and the body; and on the right, the ostentation. Above all, like Diadochus, he warns against the overflow of a testimony that, if it sought and preached the end before the beginning, the vault key before the foundations, or, as he himself says, “the energies of the Holy Spirit before the observation of the commandments”, he would risk getting lost. The glory of God – the uncreated light – cannot be, above all, other than the hope and the medicine of the broken heart. The meditation of Mark the Ascetic is truly fundamental.

TWO HUNDRED CHAPTERS ON SPIRITUAL LAW

1. As you have so often desired to know in what sense the law is spiritual, as the Apostle says, and what are the knowledge and practice of those who want to observe it, so I will tell you, as far as it is within my power.

2. First of all, we know that God is the beginning, the middle and the end of all good. As for the good itself, it is impossible to do or receive it if it is not through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

3. Every good thing is given to us by the Lord as by a good steward, and He who entrusts it to us in this way will not let it perish.

4. The steadfastness of faith is a solid tower. For those who believe, Christ is everything.

5. Be the source of your desires He who is the source of all good, so that your projects come true in accordance with God.

6. He who is humble and who carries out spiritual work dedicates himself entirely to himself when he reads the divine Scriptures.

7. Ask God to open the eyes of your heart, so that you can see, from your own experience, the usefulness of prayer and reading.

8. He who enjoys a spiritual charisma and sympathizes with those who do not have it, protects the gift through compassion. But whoever boasts will lose it, assailed by thoughts that come from boasting.

9. The mouth of the humble speaks the truth. But he who contradicts the truth is like a guard who slapped the face of the Lord [1]. 286 286 [1] Cf. John XVIII, 22.

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10. Do not become a disciple of one who praises himself, lest you learn pride instead of humility.

11. Do not be proud of your knowledge of the Scriptures, lest you fall under the spirit of blasphemy.

12. Do not try to face a tortuous issue by contestation, but by the means indicated by spiritual law: patience, prayer, simple hope.

13. The blind man cried out, “Son of David, have mercy on me [2].” His prayer was corporal. He did not yet have 287 spiritual knowledge.

14. He who a second before was still blind raised his eyes and, seeing the Lord, no longer proclaimed him the son of David, but the Son of God, and fell down to worship him [3].

288 15. Do not be proud of the tears you shed during your prayers. For it was Christ who touched your eyes, and from then on you will see with his intellect.

16. Whoever, like the blind man, throws off his cloak and approaches the Lord, follows him and becomes a messenger of the most perfect teachings.

17. Malice entertained by thoughts hardens the heart. But driven away by hope and temperance, she breaks it.

18. There is an affliction of the heart, sweet and beneficent, which leads to compunction. And there is another, violent and dangerous, that tends to destroy him.

19. Vigils, prayer, patience in the face of events break the heart without hurting it and do it a lot of good, with the only condition that their help is not refused by the spirit of concupiscence. Whoever perseveres in them will be helped in everything else; but whoever neglects them and disperses himself will experience, upon leaving this world, intolerable suffering.

287 [2] Luke XVIII, 38.

288 [3] Cf. John IX, 38.

20. A heart that loves pleasure is a prison and a chain for the soul at the hour of death. But the heart that loves suffering is an open door.

21. A hard heart is an iron gate that blocks the city. But before the one who has been tested and dedicated, the door will open by itself, as before Peter [4]. 289 22. There are numerous and very different modes of prayer. But none of them are harmful, otherwise it would not be a prayer, but a work of Satan.

23. A man, who intended to do something wrong, began to pray in his heart, as usual.

Providentially an obstacle came upon him, and in the end he had to give thanks.

24. David had resolved to kill Nabal of Carmel; but, remembering that retribution is the work of God, he renounced his design and gave thanks [5]. On the contrary, we also know what he did when he forgot God: he persevered until Nathan the prophet brought him back to the memory of God [6]. 291 25. The moment you remember God, pray immediately, so that the Lord will manifest himself to his remembrance when you forget him.

26. When you read the holy Scriptures, consider what is hidden in them. For it is said that what was written before us was written for our instruction [7]. 292 27. The Scripture says that faith is the foundation of what is hoped for [8], and it calls those who 293 do not recognize that the Christ resides in us disapproved [9]. 294 28. Just as thought is manifested by works and words, so future retribution is manifested by good deeds of the heart.

289 [4] Cf. Acts XII, 10.

290 [5] Cf. 1 Samuel, XXV.

291 [6] Cf. 2 Samuel, XII, 292 [7] Cf. Romans XV, 4.

293 [8] Cf. Hebrews XI, 1.

294 [9] Cf. 2 Corinthians XIII, 5.

29. It is evident that mercy will be shown to the merciful heart; but the opposite will call for a contrary response.

30. The law of freedom teaches us all truth. Most discover it as knowledge. Few understand it based on their practice of the commandments.

31. Do not look for the perfection of the law of freedom in human virtues; no one is that perfect. The perfection of these virtues is hidden in the cross of Christ.

32. The law of freedom is discovered through true knowledge. But it is only understood through the practice of the commandments, and it is fulfilled through the compassions of Christ.

33. When our conscience forces us to orient ourselves according to all of God's commandments, then we will understand that the law of the Lord is irreproachable [10]: it acts in what we do well, but it could not be fulfilled among men without the compassions of God.

34. Those who think they have no obligation to all of Christ's commandments make a carnal reading of God's law. They understand neither what they say nor what they assert [11]. This is why they 296 imagine fulfilling the law by works.

35. Any action is done with every appearance of good, but the intention with which it is done is not directed towards good. Another appears to be evil, but the intention of the one who practices it is directed towards good. And this does not only concern the actions that people carry out, but also the words they speak. Some, in fact, distort the meaning of their action due to inexperience or ignorance; others have the desire to do evil.

Finally, there are others who are moved by pity.

36. The simple have difficulty seeing what he is like who, behind his praises, hides slander and shame, as well as the one who hides vainglory under a humble appearance. But those who spend most of their time transforming the truth into a lie with their sophisms will sooner or later be denounced and refuted for their actions.

37. Someone who does an apparently good deed offends his neighbor. Another, by refraining from doing such an action, receives an even greater good into his heart.

295 [10] CF. Psalms XIX, 8.

296 [11] Cf. 1 Timothy I, 7.

38. There are reprimands inspired by falsehood and revenge. And there are others inspired by the fear of God and the truth.

39. Stop blaming someone who has renounced sin and now repents. And if you say that you rebuke him according to God, begin by confessing your own faults.

40. God is at the origin of all virtues, as the sun is at the origin of daylight.

41. If you intend to work on virtue, remember Him who said: “Without me you can do nothing” [12]. 297 42. Goods come to men through afflictions [13]; in the same way, evil comes to them through vainglory and pleasure.

298 43. Whoever is a victim of the injustice of men escapes sin; and he will find a help equal to his affliction.

44. He who turns to Christ for retribution courageously endures all injustices, to the extent of his faith.

45. He who prays for men who have done him harm casts out demons; but whoever opposes the former will be killed by the latter.

46. ​​Better the offense of men than that of demons. But whoever pleases the Lord rules over one over the other.

47. All good comes from the Lord according to his providence; mysteriously she avoids the ungrateful, the unconscious and the lazy.

48. Every vice leads to forbidden pleasure, but every virtue leads to spiritual consolation. If you are led by the first, he will always stimulate what is his own; if you are led by the latter, it will also develop in you what is natural to you.

297 [12] John XV, 5.

298 [13] Cf. Acts XIV, 22.

49. The outrages of men stir up affliction in the heart, but they purify those who endure them.

50. Ignorance leads to opposing what is useful; and, in her insolence, she aggravates the dimension of evil.

51. If you experience no harm, wait for afflictions. And, as you must give an account [14], avoid 299 cupidity.

52. If you have sinned in secret, don't try to hide it. For everything is naked in the eyes of the Lord [15], to whom 300 we must give an account.

53. Show yourself to the Master by revealing your thoughts to him. For men look at the face, but God looks at the heart [16].

301 54. Do not do or think anything without having God as your objective. For whoever travels without purpose loses his effort.

55. He who sins without need will have evil to repent of, for nothing escapes God's justice.

56. To the same extent that a painful event awakens in a sensible man the memory of God, it oppresses the one who forgets God.

57. May every involuntary suffering teach you to remember, and you will always have a reason to repent.

58. Forgetfulness has no power in itself, but it draws its strength from our negligence.

59. Don't say: “What to do? What I didn’t want happens to me.” But remember that you failed in your duty.

299 [14] Cf. Hebrews XIII, 17.

300 [15] Cf. Hebrews IV, 13.

301 [16] Cf. 1 Samuel XVI, 7.

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60. Remember to do the good that you remember, and you will discover the good that you forgot. Do not abandon your thoughts to confusion and oblivion.

61. The Scripture says: “Hell and perdition are laid bare before the Lord” [17]; it refers to 302 ignorance and forgetfulness of the heart.

62. Indeed, hell is ignorance, for both are invisible. And perdition is oblivion, as both escape what exists.

63. Occupy yourself with your faults, not with those of others. This way you won't move away from the place where you work on your intelligence.

64. Negligence could never lend itself to the good we can do; but alms and prayer revive the negligent.

65. Every affliction endured according to God is fundamentally a work of piety. For love is proven in adversity.

66. Do not say that virtue can be acquired without suffering, as it is not proven through ease.

67. Search the way out of every involuntary affliction, and you will see the disappearance of sin.

68. Advice from others is often useful. But nothing suits a man so much as his own discernment.

69. If you intend to heal, be aware of your conscience. Do whatever she tells you, and there you will find your good.

302 [17] Proverbs XV, 11.

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70. God knows everyone's secrets, and so does conscience. May each one correct themselves thanks to both.

71. Man does what he wants, according to his will. But it is God who provides the solutions, according to what is fair.

72. If you want to be praised by men with all justice, first want to be condemned for your faults.

73. The outrages we endured for the truth of Christ will be repaid a hundredfold when we are glorified by the multitudes. But it is better to do good works with an eye to the future century.

74. If a man comes to the aid of another with words or actions, both must recognize that it is thanks to God who is acting there. Whoever does not understand this will be overtaken by those who understand.

75. Whoever praises his neighbor hypocritically will insult him the next moment, and then he will be covered with shame.

76. Whoever ignores the enemy's traps is sacrificed without difficulty. Those who do not know the causes of passions easily fall into them.

77. From the love of pleasure comes negligence, and from negligence forgetfulness. For God has given to everyone the knowledge of what is good for us.

78. A man advises his neighbor according to his knowledge. But God works with those who listen to Him, according to their faith.

79. I have seen ignorant people who became truly humble, and thus became wiser than the wise 80. Another ignorant person, hearing them praised, did not imitate their humility; on the contrary, glorying in his ignorance, he covered himself with pride.

81. Whoever despises the intellect and boasts that he knows nothing is not only ignorant in his words, but also in his judgment [18]. 303 82. Just as eloquence is one thing and intelligence is another, so simplicity of speech is one thing and stupidity is another.

83. Ignorance of words will not be harmful to the truly pious, and eloquence will not be harmful to the humble.

84. Don't say, “Since I don't know what I should do, I can't be blamed for not doing it.” Because if you do everything you already know is right, the rest will be revealed to you later. You will understand things one by one, like someone passing from one room to another. Before getting to work, don’t worry about what’s to come.

Because science inflates when it does nothing, but love builds, because it supports everything [19]. 304 85. Understand your actions directly from the words of sacred Scripture, and do not spread vain speeches, inflated only by your own thoughts.

86. He who abandons practice and intends to rely solely on knowledge takes a branch of reed for a double-edged sword. At the time of combat, the reed will cut and penetrate your hand, says the Scripture, injecting its natural poison there, instead of being thrown against the enemies [20]. 305 87. It is in the presence of God that every thought has its measure and its weight. The thought, whether passionate or simple, is always the same.

88. Whoever fulfills a commandment must wait for the proof that is attached to it. Indeed, love for Christ is proven in adversity.

89. Never presume to neglect your thoughts, for no thought escapes God.

303 [18] Cf. 2 Corinthians XI, 6.

304 [19] Cf. 2 Corinthians VIII, 1 and XIII, 7.

305 [20] Cf. 1 Timothy VI, 10.

90. When you see a thought inspire human glory, know clearly that it prepares you for disturbance.

91. The enemy knows very well the justice of the spiritual law, and he only seeks the consent of the intellect.

In this way, either he will subject to the harsh penalties of repentance those who are in his power, or he will torment with his attacks, to force him, those who do not repent. Sometimes he makes him resist the attacks, to increase his suffering and cause, at the time of death, through loss of patience, a lack of faith.

92. In the face of events, many resist with all their strength. But outside of prayer and repentance, no one escapes danger.

93. Evils reinforce each other. In the same way, goods stimulate each other's growth, and take those who share them further and further.

94. The devil leads us to neglect small faults. Otherwise, it would be impossible to lead to greater evil.

95. The root of evil desires is in the praises of men. Likewise, the root of chastity is the shame of malice, not only when we hear it, but also when we consent to it.

96. There is no point in renouncing everything and throwing yourself into pleasure. It is equivalent to continuing to do, now that you have nothing, the same thing you did when you had wealth.

97. Conversely, the ascetic, when he acquires his riches, is his brother, but in spirit. They have the same mother, which is the pleasure experienced by the intellect. But the father is different, because of the transformation of passion.

98. Someone who uproots a passion only to indulge in even greater pleasure is glorified by those who ignore their goal. And without a doubt he is also unaware that what he does is of no use to him.

99. The source of all malice is vainglory and pleasure. Whoever does not detest them will not reach the end of passions.

100. It has been said that the root of all evil is the love of money [21]. But it is also clear that this exists for 306 those.

101. The intellect is blinded by these three passions, namely, the love of money, the love of vainglory and pleasure.

102. These passions are the three daughters of the leech spoken of in Scripture, who are tenderly loved by their mother, madness [22]. 307 103. Knowledge and faith, which accompany our nature, are not blunted by anything other than these three passions.

104. It is through these three passions that fury and anger, wars, murders and other evils dominated everything among men.

105. Therefore, we should hate the love of money, the love of vainglory and pleasure, as mothers of vices and stepmothers of virtues.

106. It is because of them that we are commanded not to love the world or what is in the world, [23] not 308 to hate God's creatures without discernment, but to cut close to the causes of these three passions.

107. It has been said that no one goes into battle without first disentangling themselves from their day-to-day affairs [24]. Anyone who, under such embarrassment, intends to overcome their passions is similar to someone who intends to extinguish a fire with a straw.

108. He who, for the sake of money, glory or pleasure, rises up against his neighbor, is far from understanding that God directs things with justice.

109. When you hear the Lord say, “Unless anyone renounces everything he has, he is not worthy of me” [25], understand that he is not just talking about money, but about everything that leads to evil.

310 306 [21] Cf. 1 Timothy VI, 10.

307 [22] Cf. Proverbs XXX, 15-16.

308 [23] Cf. 1 John II, 15.

309 [24] Cf. 2 Timothy II, 4.

310 [25] Luke XIV, 33.

110. Whoever does not know the truth will not be able to truly believe either, because knowledge naturally precedes faith.

111. Just as God marked out what is proper to each visible thing, so he also marked out what is proper to human thoughts, whether we like it or not.

112. If a man, who lives openly in sin and who does not convert, without suffering anything until the hour of death, rest assured that the Judgment will be merciless towards him.

113. Whoever prays with all conscience endures whatever comes. But whoever keeps the memory of evil ignores pure prayer.

114. When you are injured, contradicted, expelled by someone, do not consider the present, but turn to the future, and you will discover that this man has been the source of countless good things for you, not only in the present century, but in the future .

115. Just as bitter wormwood is good for those who have no appetite, so it is good for those who behave badly who know a little suffering. These remedies help some to behave and others to repent.

116. If you do not want to suffer evil, renounce doing so, for one thing never comes without the other. Each one will reap what he sowed [26]. 311 117. We who sow our own evil and who reap what we do not want, should marvel at God's justice.

118. Just as there is a time between the sowing and the harvest, we also wait in uncertainty for the retribution.

119. When you sin, do not blame the act, but the thought. For if the intellect had not gone ahead, the body would not have followed there.

311 [26] Cf. Galatians VI, 7.

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120. Whoever hides to do evil is even worse than he who does wrong openly. For this he will be punished more harshly.

121. He who plots intrigues and hides to do evil is, according to Scripture, a serpent who stands by the roadside to bite the heels of horses [27]. 312 122. Whoever at the same time praises his neighbor in front of some and criticizes him in front of others, is under the control of vainglory and envy. With compliments, he tries to disguise his envy; and through criticism, he tries to be more considered than the other.

123. Just as it is impossible to feed lambs and wolves together, [28] so he who deceives his 313 neighbor cannot know compassion.

124. He who secretly mixes his own wills with the order received becomes an adulterer, as Wisdom shows [29], and through irrationality he exposes himself to suffering and dishonor.

314 125. Just as uniting water and fire is a contradiction, self-justification and humility are also contradictory.

126. Whoever seeks forgiveness for his sins loves humility. But whoever condemns another reaffirms his own faults.

127. Do not leave even the smallest faults unerased, so that they do not later drag you into greater evils.

128. If you want to be saved, love the true word, and never reject a little reproof.

129. It was the true word that converted the race of vipers, and showed them the wrath that awaited them [30].

312 [27] Cf. Genesis XLIX, 17.

313 [28] Cf. Ecclesiasticus XIII, 17.

314 [29] Cf, Proverbs VI, 32.

315 [30] Cf. Matthew III, 7.

130. Whoever receives words of truth receives God the Word, for it was said: “He who receives you receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me” [31]. 316 131. The paralytic who was lowered from the ceiling [32] represents the sinner whom the faithful recover in the name of God, and 317 who, thanks to their faith, receives forgiveness.

132. It is better to pray with pity for others than to condemn each person for their faults.

133. Whoever truly repents is a source of laughter for the foolish; for him, this is proof that his repentance pleases God.

134. He who keeps up the fight has self-control in everything, and it will not cease until the Lord has exterminated the entire race of Babylon [33]. 318 135. Remember that there are twelve passions of infamy. If you voluntarily acquire one of them, it will easily take the place of the other eleven.

136. Sin is a burning fire: if you deprive it of wood, it will go out; if you feed it, it will burn.

137. If you are carried away by praise, you will also receive dishonor. For it was said: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled” [34].

319 138. When we reject all voluntary malice from the intellect, then we must combat, in addition to the passions, also our tendencies.

139. The tendency is an involuntary reminiscence of past faults. Those who fight it prevent it from becoming a passion. Those who master it reject even the simple suggestion.

316 [31] Matthew X, 40.

317 [32] Cf. Luke V, 19.

318 [33] Cf. Isaiah XIV, 22 and XXVII, 16.

319 [34] Luke XIV, 11.

140. Suggestion is a movement of the heart independent of any image. Those who have this experience avoid it in advance, like the side of a mountain.

141. When images follow a thought, this is consent. For a movement independent of any image is a suggestion that is not imputable; There are those who escape it like an ember taken from the fire [35], but there are those who do not deviate until they are completely burned.

320 142. Don't say: “I didn't want to, but things happened”, because even if you didn't want them to happen you appreciated their causes.

143. He who seeks praise loves passion; He who deplores the affliction that assails him loves pleasure.

144. The thoughts of those who give themselves over to pleasure fluctuate like the scales. He either cries and laments because of his sins, or attacks and opposes others to defend his own pleasures.

145. He who has tried everything and retained only what is good [36] thus avoids all evil.

321 146. The patient man is full of intelligence, just like the one who listens to wise words.

147. Without the remembrance of God, there is no true knowledge. Because, without the first, the second is a bastard.

148. The hardened heart can benefit from a speech linked to knowledge. For, fear being strange to him, he does not accept the penalties of repentance.

149. The humble man asks for a speech of confidence. For he does not put God's patience to the test, nor does he expose himself to frequent transgressions.

150. Do not blame the mighty man for boasting, but show him the dishonor that awaits him in the age to come; if he is prudent, he will allow himself to be rebuked.

320 [35] Cf. Zechariah III, 2.

321 [36] Cf. 1 Thessalonians V, 21.

151. Whoever hates being admonished deliberately pursues passion. But he who accepts the admonition shows that he has been carried away by the trend.

152. Don't listen when people tell you about the bad deeds of others. If you do, these bad deeds will leave traces on you.

153. IF you are compelled to listen to lies, stick to yourself only, and not to him who spoke to you.

When what is heard is bad, whoever records it becomes bad too.

154. If you meet men who talk a lot without saying anything, consider that you are responsible for their words. Even if you are not responsible in the case, you become the debtor of an old debt.

155. If you see someone who praises you hypocritically, wait, because at any moment you will be slandered by him.

156. Keep present afflictions and future blessings always before your eyes. Therefore, negligence will never make you relax in combat.

157. If you praise someone who has done you material service, and call him good without reference to Allah, the same man will appear bad to you later.

158. All good comes providentially from the Lord. And those who bring the goods are his servants.

159. Receive a mixture of good and evil from a similar soul, and Allah will correct the balance of things.

160. The instability of thoughts transforms what belongs to us. For God naturally attributes what does not depend on us to what comes from our will.

161. Sensible reality is the daughter of intellectual activity. It brings what we need, in the way God decided.

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162. The thoughts and words of a heart drawn to pleasures spread like the plague. You can recognize the wood by the smoke that comes out.

163. Remain in your reflection, and you will not lose your effort in temptations; but if you leave it, bear what will happen.

164. Pray lest temptation come upon you [37]. But if it comes, receive it as yours, not as a stranger to you.

165. Remove all lust from your thoughts, and then you will be able to see the devices of the devil.

166. Whoever claims to know all the devil's devices imagines himself to be perfect without knowing it.

167. The more the intellect moves away from the needs of the body, the more it distinguishes the lies of its enemies.

168. Whoever allows himself to be carried away by thoughts is blinded by them; he sees the works of sin, but cannot see its causes.

169. There are some who apparently observe a commandment, while they are subject to passion, and who waste a good deed on evil thoughts.

170. When you approach the threshold of sin, do not say, “He will not overcome me.” Because the closer you get, the more you will be defeated by him.

171. Everything that exists begins small and, gradually nourishing itself, becomes large.

322 [37] Cf. Matthew VI, 13.

172. The lies of malice are like a net with thousands of meshes: whoever allows himself to be caught a little, if he does not pay attention, will be completely ensnared.

173. Do not try to listen to the report of the misfortunes of men who are your enemies. Whoever listens to these words reaps the fruits of their own disposition.

174. Do not think that all afflictions come to men through sin, for there are some who please God and who are tested. For it is written: “The wicked and the lawless shall be cast out [38]”; but it is also 323 written: “Those who want to live godly in Christ will be persecuted [39].” 324 175. When you are afflicted, beware the suggestion of pleasure, for we are inclined to accept it easily, since it console us from affliction.

176. Some say that those who know how to discern sensitive things are wise. However, wiser are those who control their own wills.

177. Do not listen to your heart until you have removed the evil from it. Because he defends the interests of everything we entrust to him.

178. Just as there are snakes that we find in the forest and others that hide in houses, there are also passions that are formed in reason and others that are set in motion in action, even if they pass from one form to another.

179. When you perceive hidden impulses acting within you, attracting the intellect in a state of hesychia to the passions, know that it was the intellect itself that one day aroused them, set them in motion and kept them in the heart.

180. A cloud cannot form without the blowing of the wind, and passion cannot be born without thought.

181. If we no longer fulfill the desires of the flesh, as the Scripture says [40], the impulses hidden deep within us will easily cease in the Lord.

323 [38] Psalms XXXVII, 28.

324 [39] 1 Timothy III, 12.

325 [40] Ephesians II, 3.

182. Images born fundamentally from the intellect are more harmful and more resistant; but images arising from reason raise and precede them.

183. There is a malice that penetrates the heart when the tendency has existed in us for a long time. And there is a malice that fights us at the level of reason, in everyday things.

184. God judges actions according to intentions. In fact, it was said: “May the Lord give you according to your heart [41].”

326 185. Whoever does not persevere in examining his conscience will not accept the pains of the body with pity.

186. Conscience is the book of nature; whoever reads it assiduously receives the experience of divine help.

187. Whoever does not choose to suffer voluntarily for the truth will be instructed more harshly by sufferings he did not ask for.

188. Whoever knows God's will and fulfills it to the best of his ability will escape great sufferings through small sufferings.

189. Whoever intends to overcome temptations without prayer and patience will not be able to expel them, but will rather be destroyed by them.

190. The Lord is hidden in his own commandments. It is to the extent of its observance that those who seek it find it.

191. Do not say, “I observed the commandments, but I did not find the Lord.” For the Scripture says, “Often you have found knowledge with righteousness. And those who seek the Lord in righteousness will find peace [42].”

327 326 [41] Psalms XX, 5.

327 [42] Proverbs XVI, 8.

192. Peace is freedom from passions. It cannot be found without the energy of the Holy Spirit.

193. The practice of the commandments is one thing, virtue is another, but they derive from each other the origin of their goods.

194. It has been said that the practice of the commandments consists of doing what was commanded, and that virtue is present when what is done is in accordance with the truth.

195. Just as material wealth is one, but is divided into multiple possessions, so virtue is one, but its works take numerous forms.

196. Whoever reasons without deeds, and does nothing but talk, is rich in iniquity. The fruits of their pains, says the Scripture, will go to unknown homes [43]. 328 197. It has been said that everything obeys gold [44], and that everything that is conceived by the intellect is governed by the grace of 329 God.

198. A good conscience is obtained by prayer, and pure prayer by conscience; one, in fact, is naturally linked to the other.

199. Jacob ordered a coat of all colors to be made for Joseph [45]. Thus the Lord gives the gentle man the 330 knowledge of the truth, as it is written: “The Lord will teach gentle men his ways [46].” 331 200. Always do as much good as you can, and when you can do more, do not do less. It has been said, in fact, that he who looks back is not worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven [47]. 332 328 [43] Cf. Proverbs V, 10.

329 [44] Cf. Ecclesiastes X, 19.

330 [45] Cf. Genesis XXXVII, 3.

331 [46] Psalms XXV, 9.

332 [47] Cf. Luke IX, 2.

TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX CHAPTERS ABOUT THOSE WHO THINK THEY ARE JUSTIFIED BY THEIR WORKS

1. In the following writings, the bad faith of those outside will be refuted by those whose faith is secure and who recognize the truth.

2. Wanting to demonstrate that we are obliged to observe the commandments, but that adoptive sonship is a grace granted to men by the shedding of their own blood, the Lord said: “When you have done everything that you were commanded, say: We are useless servants, we only did what we were supposed to do [48].” 333 Thus the Kingdom of Heaven is not the wages of works, but a grace from the Master prepared for faithful servants.

3. The servant does not demand freedom as a salary: he wants to be a debtor, and so he receives it as a grace.

4. Christ, says the Scripture, died for our sins [49], and he grants freedom to those who serve him well.

334 In effect, he says: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over little things, and I will establish you over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord [50].” 335 5. The faithful servant is not the one who maintains himself in simple knowledge, but rather the one who, through obedience, gives himself to Christ who gives knowledge.

6. Whoever honors his master does what he ordered; but he also assumes responsibility for what happens to him, if he fails or disobeys.

7. If you love study, also love suffering; because simple knowledge inflates man [51]. 336 8. Trials that happen to us unexpectedly providentially teach us to love punishments and, even if we don't want to, lead us to repentance.

333 [48] Luke XVII, 10.

334 [49] Cf. 1 Corinthians XV, 3.

335 [50] Matthew XXV, 21.

336 [51] Cf. 1 Corinthians VIII, 1.

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9. The afflictions that befall us are of the same generation as our own faults. If we support them through prayer, we will find in return a multitude of goods.

10. Some take pleasure in praise dedicated to their virtue and find great consolation in the pleasure of their boasting. Others, condemned for their sins, suffer and consider this suffering to be the work of evil.

11. Those who, on the authority of their own battles, accuse the negligent, think themselves justified by their bodily works. And we who, relying on our simple knowledge, despise the ignorant, are even more foolish than they.

12. Regardless of your works, knowledge is not yet certain and safe, although true. So in all things it is the work that is the confirmation.

13. Often when practice is neglected, knowledge also becomes obscured. Because even the memory of what we stopped doing will gradually fade away.

14. This is why the Scripture teaches us to see God by knowledge, so that we may serve Him aright by works.

15. When we openly fulfill the commandments, we receive from the Lord what is good for us, in the measure of our works. But the good we derive from this depends on the goal we have in view.

16. He who wants to do something and does not do it is as if he had done it, in the eyes of God who knows the hearts.

17. Without the body, the intellect performs many good and bad things. But without the intellect the body cannot perform these things. That is why the law of freedom manifests itself before our actions.

18. Some, who do not follow the commandments, imagine that they have a righteous faith. Others, who follow them, await the Kingdom as a wage due them. Both some and others move away from the truth.

19. The master does not owe his servants a salary; but those who do not serve him correctly will not obtain freedom either.

20. If Christ died for us, according to the Scriptures [52], and if we live, not for ourselves, but for Christ 337 who died and rose for us [53], it is clear that we must serve him until death. Therefore, how can we 338 think that an adoptive sonship is owed to us?

21. Christ is our Master in essence and our master in the administration of salvation. For we were not, and he made us; we were dead and he redeemed us with his own blood. To those who so believe, he has given the gift of his grace.

22. When you hear the Scripture say that he will repay each one according to his works, [54] we should not understand by this the works that deserve Gehenna or the Kingdom, but rather that Christ will repay each one according to his works of unbelief or faith, not as establishing an exchange, but as our Creator and Redeemer God.

23. We who have been deemed worthy of the bath of new birth, let us add good works to it, not to promote an exchange, but to maintain the purity that has been given to us.

24. Every good work that we do through our nature keeps us away from contrary evil, but without grace it cannot bring about the increase of sanctification.

25. Whoever has temperance guards against gluttony. Whoever renounces possessions avoids cupidity. Those who live in Hesychia are careful not to talk. Whoever is pure protects himself from the love of pleasure. Whoever is chaste keeps himself from prostitution. Those who are sweet keep themselves from disturbance. Whoever is humble, from vainglory. He who obeys avoids contestation, and he who examines guards himself from hypocrisy. In the same way, those who pray protect themselves from despair, and those who are poor, from excess possessions. Whoever confesses keeps himself from remorse. Do you see that every virtue practiced until death is nothing more than abstaining from sin? Now, abstaining from sin is the work of nature, not a bargaining chip for the Kingdom.

26. Man considers the duties of his nature painful. It is Christ who, through the cross, grants him the grace of adoptive sonship.

337 [52] Cf. Romans V, 8.

338 [53] Cf. 2 Corinthians V, 15.

339 [54] Cf. Matthew XVI, 27.

27. There is a relative commandment and an absolute commandment. The relative commandment says that we must give to those who do not have [55]; the other orders us to renounce everything we possess [56].

340 341 28. There is an energy of grace that the novice ignores. And there is another energy, evil, that is confused with the truth. It is better not to examine these energies, because of error, nor to reject them, because of the truth. But we must return everything to God with hope. In fact, he knows the usefulness of both.

29. Whoever wants to cross the sea of ​​hesychia will need constancy, humility, vigils and temperance. If he tries to cross without these virtues, he will disturb his heart, but he will not cross.

30. Hesychia is a retreat that cuts and separates oneself from evil. Adding the four virtues to prayer, there is no faster way to obtain impassibility.

31. It is impossible for the intellect to know hesychia without the body, as well as to destroy the wall that separates them without hesychia and prayer.

32. The desires of the flesh are opposed to the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are opposed to the flesh [57]. Thus, those who walk 342 according to the spirit do not follow the desires of the flesh [58]. 343 33. There is no perfect prayer without the invocation of the intellect. The Lord listens to the intellect that never stops calling.

34. The intellect that continually prays grieves the heart. Now, God does not despise a broken and humiliated heart [59].

35. Prayer is also called virtue, although it is rather the mother of virtue. For it is she who generates them, through her union with Christ.

340 [55] Cf. Luke III, 11.

341 [56] Cf. Luke XIV, 33.

342 [57] Galatians V, 17.

343 [58] Cf. Galatians V, 16.

344 [59] Cf. Psalms LI, 19.

36. What we do without prayer and without good hope will soon prove harmful and imperfect.

37. When you hear that the last will be first and that the first will be last [60], understand that345 it is about those who share virtues and love. Love, in fact, is the last of the virtues in order, but the first in dignity, thus showing that the virtues that precede it are the last.

38. If you experience acedia during prayer, if you are afflicted in every way by evil, remember death and harsh punishments. But it is better to cling to God by prayer and hope [61] than to have 346 strange thoughts, however useful they may be.

39. No virtue is capable of opening the doors of our nature, if all the others do not follow, supporting each other.

40. Whoever feeds on thoughts does not have temperance. However useful they are, they are no more useful than hope.

41. Every sin is mortal if it is not followed by repentance. Even if a saint prayed for another, he would not be answered.

42. Whoever repents correctly does not try to redeem past sins with his punishments. But, with his suffering he begs God's compassion.

43. If we must do every day the maximum good that our nature is capable of, how much do we owe to God for all the evil we have already done?

44. No matter how high the degree of virtue we reach today, it is nothing more than the sentence of our past negligence, it is not compensation.

45. He who is afflicted in the intellect and takes refuge in the body is similar to one who is afflicted in the body but has a scattered intellect.

345 [60] Cf. Matthew XIX, 30.

346 [61] Cf. Psalms 73, 28

46. ​​Conforming to this or that affliction will bring a remedy to the other. The affliction of the intellect remedies that of the body, and the affliction of the body remedies that of the intellect. The most painful thing is when they coincide.

47. It is a great virtue to bear what happens to us, and to love our neighbors who hate us, according to the word of the Lord [62].

347 48. Forgiving injustices is a sign of true love. This is how the Lord loved the world.

49. It is impossible to forgive someone's faults from the bottom of your heart, without true knowledge. He shows, in fact, to each one, that what happens to them is what is up to them.

50. You will not lose anything that you gave up for the Lord; for, in due time, everything will be repaid to you a hundredfold.

51. When the intellect loses sight of the aim of piety, then the apparent work of virtue is vain.

52. If wickedness is harmful to any man, doing evil harms even more those who have neglected rigor.

53. Philosophize through practice about man's will and God's retribution. For the word is not wiser nor more useful than works.

54. After the pains endured by pity comes help. But this must be known through divine law and conscience.

55. A man receives a thought and accepts it without examining it. Another receives the same thought, and confronts it with the truth. One has to wonder which of the two was better inspired by piety.

347 [62] Cf. Matthew V, 44.

56. True knowledge consists in being patient in afflictions, and not holding men responsible for their own misfortunes.

57. Whoever does good hoping for a reward does not serve God, but his own will.

58. It is impossible for anyone who sins to escape retribution, except through repentance proportionate to their fault.

59. Some say: “We could not do good if we did not receive, with its own energy, the grace of the Spirit.”

60. Those who deliberately throw themselves into pleasures refuse to do what they could, as if they had no help.

61. Grace was given secretly to those who were baptized into Christ. But it only acts to the extent that we fulfill the commandments. She never stops helping us in secret, but it is up to us to do as much good as we can.

62. Grace begins by divinely awakening the conscience. Even those who have done evil and repented please God.

63. But grace is also hidden in what our neighbors teach us. Sometimes even, while reading, it assists reflection and, by a natural consequence, teaches its own truth to the intellect. If we do not bury the aptitude for this progression, we will effectively enter into the beatitude of the Lord [63]. 348 64. Whoever seeks the energies of the Spirit even before implementing the commandments is similar to a slave bought for money who, at the time of purchase, demands that his acceptance and manumission be written to him.

65. Whoever discovers that the misfortunes that come to us from outside derive from God's justice, finds knowledge and justice at once, seeking God [64]. 349 348 [63] Cf. Matthew XXV, 14-30.

349 [64] Cf. Proverbs XVI, 8.

66. If you consider, according to the Scripture, that the judgments of the Lord cover the whole earth, [65] every 350 event will teach you the knowledge of God.

67. Everyone faces his duty according to his own intelligence. Only God knows the diversity of harmonious convergence.

68. When you suffer from the contempt of men, consider rather the glory that will come to you from God. This way you will not be sad or disturbed by contempt, and you will remain faithful and irreproachable before glory when it comes.

69. If divine blessedness allows the crowd to praise him, the Lord does not mix any ostentation with providence, lest a reversal throw him to the opposite side.

70. The seed cannot grow without land and water. Man will also not find what is useful to him without accepting his sufferings and without divine help.

71. Rain doesn't fall if there are no clouds. Likewise, it is impossible to please God without a good conscience.

72. Never refuse to learn, no matter how wise you are. For God's providence is more useful than our wisdom.

73. When, in order to indulge in pleasure, the heart stops loving suffering, controlling it is more difficult than stopping a rock from rolling down a slope.

74. The little inexperienced steer that runs across the prairies suddenly ends up in a place full of cliffs. The same happens with the soul that gradually lets itself be carried away by thoughts.

75. When the intellect consolidated in the Lord struggles to uproot an old habit, the heart is as if tortured by two executioners, intellect and reason, who pull it from one side to the other.

350 [65] Psalms CV, 7.

76. Just as the eyes of those who earn their living at sea endure the heat of the sun without complaint, so those who hate evil love pain. That's why some face the winds and others, the passions.

77. Fleeing in winter or on the Sabbath [66] is suffering for the body and desecration for the soul; the same 351 happens with the irruption of passions in an aged body and a consecrated soul.

78. No one is as good and forgiving as the Lord; even so, even he does not forgive those who do not repent.

79. We are many to grieve for our sins. But we gladly accept their causes.

80. Digging under the earth and blind, the mole is not able to see the stars. Also, he who does not trust God in the things of time will not be able to trust him when it comes to eternity.

81.Grace prior to grace, true knowledge was given to men by God. Above all, to those who received and shared it, it teaches them to entrust themselves to the One who gave it.

82. When a soul in sin does not accept the afflictions that come to it, the angels say of it: “We healed Babylon, but she was not healed [67]”. 352 83. The intellect that loses sight of true knowledge fights with men for what is harmful to it, as if it were useful.

84. Just as fire cannot remain in water, shameful thoughts cannot remain in a heart that loves God. For every man who loves God also loves suffering, and assumed suffering is by nature the enemy of pleasure.

85. A passion that, by will, has done its work and taken over a field, will soon unleash violence, even if the one who received and welcomed it does not want it.

351 [66] Cf. Matthew XXIV, 20.

352 [67] Jeremiah 28:9

86. We love the causes of involuntary thoughts, and that is why they come to us. As for voluntary thoughts, it is clear that we also love their consequences.

87. Presumption and arrogance are the causes of blasphemy. The love of money and vainglory are the causes of merciless hardness and hypocrisy.

88. When the devil realizes that the intellect prays from the bottom of the heart, he assaults it with temptations full of violence and lies. As for small virtues, it is not with great attacks that he tries to destroy them.

89. A persistent thought betrays a tendency in man. But a thought quickly destroyed means combat and opposition.

90. In its evolution, the intellect passes through three stages: according to nature, above nature and against nature. When she goes through the internship, she discovers herself responsible for her bad thoughts and confesses her sins to God, recognizing the causes of her passions. When he finds himself in the stage contrary to nature, he forgets God's justice and fights men as if they were harmful. Finally, when he is taken to the state above nature, he finds the fruits of the Holy Spirit of which the Apostle speaks: love, joy, peace, and so on [68]. Then he realizes that if he prefers the care of his body, he cannot remain there. If he leaves this place he will fall into sin and its terrible consequences, if not immediately, at least over time, as God's justice wants.

91. True knowledge is found in each one of us, to the extent that sweetness, humility and love confirm it.

92. Every man baptized into the Orthodox faith has mysteriously received all grace. But he will not immediately obtain full certainty unless he fulfills the commandments.

93. When consciously fulfilled, Christ's commandment brings consolation proportionate to the numerous afflictions of the heart. However, for each of them, consolation only comes in its own time.

94. In all things, pray continually. For you cannot do anything without God's help.

353 [68] Cf. Galatians V, 22.

95. Nothing is more powerful than prayer to give us divine energy. And nothing is more useful than it for us to obtain God's blessedness.

96. All the practice of the commandments is in prayer. For there is nothing higher than the love of God.

97. Prayer without distraction is a sign of God's love for those who persevere. But negligence and distraction during prayer betray the love of pleasure.

98. He who watches, perseveres and prays without effort visibly receives and shares the Holy Spirit. But those who suffer from all this and maintain their resolve also quickly receive help.

99. One commandment differs from another. This is also why one faith can be more consolidated than another.

100. There is a faith that comes from what we hear [69], as the Apostle says, and there is a faith that is the foundation of what we hope for [70].

101. It is good to say useful words to those who are learning. But even better is to come to their aid with prayers and virtue. For whoever offers himself to God through them helps his neighbor with the help he himself receives.

102. If you want, in a few words, to do a service to the one who wants to learn, show him prayer, righteous faith, patience in trials. It is through these three virtues that all the others are obtained.

103. Where you wait for God, you no longer fight your neighbor.

104. If everything that is involuntary has its source in what we desire, as the Scripture [71] says, no one is 356 so much an enemy of man as he himself.

354 [69] Cf. Romans I, 17.

355 [70] Cf. Hebrews XI, 1.

356 [71] Perhaps reference to Romans VII, 14-20.

105. Ignorance is at the head of all evils, and next comes lack of faith.

106. Escape temptations through patience and prayer. If you intend to fight them without these virtues, they will attack you more and more.

107. Whoever is meek according to God is wiser than the wise, and whoever is humble in heart is mightier than the mighty, for they bear the yoke of Christ knowingly.

108. Everything we can say or do without prayer will later prove dangerous or useless, and we will be condemned against our will by the facts.

109. It is by his deeds, thoughts and words that everyone is righteous. But it is through faith, grace and repentance that many find justice.

110. Just as pride is foreign to the one who repents, so it is impossible for the one who deliberately sins to be humble.

111. Humility is not a condemnation that conscience carries, but the recognition of God's grace and his compassion.

112. The intellect endowed with reason is to divine grace what a material house is to the space that surrounds it. The more matter you remove from it, the more it will go away; The more you bring in, the more will come.

113. The material of the house is furniture and food; the matter of the intellect is vainglory and pleasure.

114. What expands the heart is hope in God. What oppresses is the care of the body.

115. One and immutable is the grace of the Spirit, but he acts on each one as he pleases [72]. 357 357 [72] Cf. 1 Corinthians XII, 11.

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116. Just as the rain that falls on the earth gives plants their natural property, sweetness to sweet ones and bitterness to bitter ones, so grace, spreading, always the same, in the hearts of the faithful, gives them the energies that match your virtues.

117. Grace becomes food for those who are hungry for the love of Christ, a sweet drink for those who are thirsty, clothing for those who are cold, rest for those who suffer, complete certainty for those who pray, consolation for those who weep.

118. When you hear the Scripture say that the Holy Spirit rested on each of the apostles [73], that 358 he descended on the prophet [74], or that he acts [75], or that he grieves [76], or that he is extinguished [77], or that 359 360 361 362 he becomes angry, or even that some receive the firstfruits of him [78] and that others are filled with him [79], do not think 363 364 that the Spirit is divided, change or alter, but believe, as we said, that he is immutable, invariable and all-powerful. That is why, in his energies, he remains what he is, and he divinely assures each one of what is needed. Indeed, like the sun, it spreads fully over those who are baptized. But each of us will be enlightened to the extent that we detest and dispel the passions that darken us. But to the extent that he loves them and attaches himself to them, man will remain in darkness.

119. Whoever hates passions takes care to suppress their causes. But whoever remains linked to the causes will be attacked by passions even against their will.

120. When we are subjected to evil thoughts, let us attribute it to ourselves, and not to the sin of our first father.

121. The roots of thoughts are manifest vices. Let us not stop defending ourselves against them, with our feet, our hands and our mouths.

122. It is impossible to think about a passion without loving its causes.

358 [73] Cf. Acts II, 3.

359 [74] Cf. 1 Samuel XI, 6 and XVI, 13.

360 [75] Cf. 1 Corinthians XII, 11.

361 [76] Cf. Ephesians IV, 30.

362 [77] Cf. 1 Thessalonians V, 19.

363 [78] Cf. Romans VIII, 23.

364 [79] Cf. Cf. Acts II, 4 or IV, 8 or VI, 3 etc.

123. Who attaches himself to boasting, disdains shame? Who is disturbed by dishonor, if he loves to be considered as nothing? Who welcomes the pleasure of the flesh if his heart is broken and humiliated? Who worries about the struggle of passing things, if he believes in Christ?

124. He who has been offended and has not disputed with the offender either in word or thought possesses true knowledge and gives evidence of sure faith in the Master.

125. The sons of men are the lies upon the scales of justice [80]. It is God who dispenses to each person what is fair.

126. If he who commits an injustice is no more, and he who suffers it is no less, man passes away like a shadow and he worries in vain [81]. 366 127. If you see someone who is grieved by the numerous outrages he has received, know that he is full of vainglorious thoughts, and that he reaps without joy what he has sown in his heart.

128. Whoever enjoys the pleasures of the body too much will pay for his excesses with a hundredfold punishment.

129 The master must not tell the disciple what he should do, nor show him his faults, if he does not listen to him.

130. He who has been offended by someone and does not demand an apology from the offender, therefore refers himself to Christ. He will receive a hundredfold in the present age, and will inherit eternal life [82]. 367 131. The remembrance of God is the penalty that the heart bestows on oneself for piety. But those who forget God give themselves over to pleasures and become insensitive.

132. Do not say that the impassible cannot be afflicted. For if he is not afflicted for himself, it will be for his neighbor.

365 [80] Cf. Psalms LXII, 10.

366 [81] Cf. Psalms XXXIX, 7.

367 [82] Cf. Mark X, 30.

133. When the enemy keeps numerous writings in which the one who has forgotten his sins acknowledges his debts, he forces his debtor to commit them in memory, normally taking advantage of the law of sin.

134. If you want to continually remember Allah, do not reject trials as if they were unjust, but bear them as if they were righteous to have been sent to you. For patience in all events awakens remembrance. But refusal diminishes the intelligent memory of the heart and, through relaxation, causes forgetfulness.

135. If you want your sins to remain hidden before the Lord [83], do not expose your virtues before 368 men, if you have them. For what we do with our virtues, God will do with our sins.

136. If you hide your virtues, do not be proud, as if you fulfilled justice. For justice does not consist merely in hiding the good, but rather in never even conceiving what is forbidden.

137. Rejoice not when you do good to someone, but when you bear without resentment the hostility that will come. As night follows day, so evil follows goodness.

138. Vainglory, the love of money and pleasure never leave benevolence unstained, if they are not previously destroyed by the fear of God.

139. God's mercy is hidden in involuntary suffering. It leads those who endure them to repentance, and preserves them from eternal punishment.

140. Among those who observe the commandments, some hope that the balance will balance their sins, while others hope to obtain forgiveness from Him who died for our sins. We need to see which of them are right.

141. The fear of Gehenna and the desire for the Kingdom release patience in afflictions. Not in itself, but by the grace of Him who knows our thoughts [84]. 369 368 [83] Cf. Psalms XXXII, 1.

369 [84] Cf. Matthew V, 22.

142. Whoever believes in the future century alone abstains from the pleasures of the present century. But those who don't believe give themselves over to pleasure and become insensitive.

143. Do not say: “How can a poor man indulge in pleasures if he does not have the means to do so?” For it is possible to indulge in pleasures in thought, and in the most miserable way.

144. One thing is the knowledge of things and another is the recognition of the truth. As much as the sun differs from the moon, both the latter is more useful than the former.

145. Knowledge of things is acquired to the extent that one observes the commandments. But the recognition of the truth is obtained in the measure of our hope in Christ.

146. If you want to be saved and attain to the knowledge of the truth [85], strive without ceasing to 370 surpass the sensible and cling to God with your hope alone. For when you are led astray against your will, you will find the potencies and powers that will combat you with their suggestions. But you will overcome them by prayer, you will maintain good hope, and you will receive the grace of God, which will save you from the wrath to come.

147. Whoever understands the mystical meaning of Saint Paul's words, when he says that the fight is carried out against the spirits of evil [86], will also understand the parable in which the Lord states that it is necessary to pray 371 continuously and never relax [87 ]. 372 148. The law symbolically orders to work six days and rest on the seventh [88]. This is why the work of the soul 373 involves riches, that is, the very enjoyment of things. But leisure and rest of the soul consist in selling everything and giving to the poor, according to the word of the Lord [89], and then, once rest has been achieved, 374 dedicating oneself to spiritual hope. It is also this rest that Saint Paul insistently exhorts us to enter, when he says: “Strive to enter into rest [90]”. 375 149. But we do not say this to exclude the future century, nor to limit universal retribution to the present century, but because it is necessary first of all to possess the grace of the Holy Spirit in the work of the heart, so that 370 [85] Cf. 1 Timothy II, 4.

371 [86] Cf. Ephesians VI, 12.

372 [87] Cf. Luke XVIII, 21.

373 [88] Cf. Exodus XX, 9.

374 [89] Cf. Matthew XVIII, 21.

375 [90] Hebrews IV, 11.

enter the Kingdom of Heaven. This is what the Lord clearly showed when he said: “The Kingdom of heaven is within you [91]”. And the Apostle also says: “Faith is the foundation of what is hoped for [92]”; and further: “Run 376 377 in order to win the prize [93]”; and: “Test yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Do you not recognize that 378 Jesus Christ resides within you? Unless they fail [94].” 379 150. Whoever has recognized the truth does not rebel against the misfortunes that may afflict him, as he knows that they lead man to God.

151. Past faults, when remembered in detail, harm those who have good hope, as they arouse sadness and weaken hope. And if they allow themselves to be represented without sadness, they bring back the impurities.

152. When the intellect, through renunciation of itself, binds itself to the only hope, then the enemy, under the pretext of confession, presents to it past faults, with the aim of reviving in it the passions that the grace of God had made it forget , in order to harm man against his will. Although luminous and averse to passions, the intellect is then necessarily enveloped in darkness, and once again mixed with its past errors.

Lost amidst the mists and the love of pleasure, the intellect retreats and passionately surrenders to the passions, in such a way that memory proves to be a tendency, and not a confession.

153. If you want to offer God an irreproachable confession, do not relive your failures in memory, but courageously resist his attacks.

154. Proofs come to us from past faults; they bring us that which naturally results from every offense.

155. The Gnostic, the one who knows the truth, confesses himself before God not by remembering what he did, but by being patient in what happens to him.

156. If you reject punishments and dishonor, do not announce that you will repent through other virtues. For vainglory and insensitivity naturally lead to slavery to sin, even along straight paths.

376 [91] Luke XVII, 1.

377 [92] Hebrews XI, 1.

378 [93] 1 Corinthians IX, 24.

379 [94] 2 Corinthians XIII, 5.

157. In fact, just as punishment and dishonor usually engender virtues, pleasure and vainglory engender vices.

158. All pleasure in the body comes from inner relaxation. The lack of faith is what engenders this relaxation.

159. Whoever is subject to sin is incapable of overcoming the needs of the body on his own. For this reason he never ceases to be excited in his limbs.

160. When we are trapped by passion, we need to pray and get to know ourselves. It is difficult, but possible, with help, to combat trends.

161. He who, through obedience and prayer, fights against his own will, is a competent athlete. By his renunciation of the sensible, he clearly exposes his spiritual combat.

162. Whoever does not trust God with his will fails in what he does and falls into the power of his adversaries.

163. When you see friendship between two evildoers, know that they agree with each other on what to satisfy their desires.

164. The proud and the vain agree willingly. One praises the vain, who submits slavishly.

The other praises the proud, who never stops praising him.

165. The disciple who loves God has benefits in both directions. Approved in what he does well, he becomes even more fervent. Condemned for what he does wrong, he forces himself to repent. We need to orient our lives in the direction of our progress. And we must offer prayers to God for the meaning of our lives.

166. It is good to dwell on the first commandment, to have no particular need, not to pray for any particular intention, to seek nothing but the Kingdom of Heaven and the word of God [95]. If we are concerned about each of our needs, we must also pray for them. For he who acts, worries but does not pray, misses the good path to achieving his goal. This is what the Lord says: “Without me you can do nothing [96]”. 381 167. The most unusual disobediences await those who are mistaken about the commandment of prayer; one thing drags the other as if by a noose.

380 380 [95] Cf. Matthew VI, 33.

168. Whoever accepts the present afflictions with a view to the age to come has found the knowledge of the truth.

He will easily get rid of anger and sadness.

169. Whoever, out of love for the truth, chooses a hard life and dishonors it, walks the apostolic path, takes up his cross and carries his chains [97]. But he who, not adhering to this choice, tries to guard his heart, becomes 382 lost in intellect and falls into the temptations and traps of the devil [98]. 383 170. It is impossible for anyone who fights to overcome bad thoughts without attacking their causes, and to overcome the causes without attacking the thoughts. For when we reject one separately, we are soon captured by the other in turn.

171. Whoever attacks other people out of fear of suffering and insults, will either suffer here below because of their evils, or will be mercilessly punished in the age to come.

172. Whoever wants to avoid all evil aggression must, through prayer, entrust everything he does to God, keep his intellect in his hope and, as far as possible, disconnect himself from all care for the sensitive.

173. When the devil finds someone occupied needlessly with the things of the body, first he strips him of his knowledge, then he cuts off, as if it were the head, his hope in God.

174. If one day you reach the fortified place of pure prayer, avoid at this moment accepting the knowledge of the things raised by the enemy, so as not to miss the most important thing. It is better to pierce him with the arrows of prayer, while he is as if locked beneath us, than to be entertained by him, who comes to offer us his lies and who tries, with his cunning, to separate us from the prayer that keeps us away. from him.

381 [96]John XV, 5.

382 [97] Cf. Matthew XVI, 24 and Acts XXVIII, 20.

383 [98] Cf. 1 Timothy II, 7 and VI,

175. Knowledge of things helps man in times of temptation and acedia. But normally it is harmful at the time of prayer.

176. If you are charged with teaching in the Lord and they do not listen to you, be troubled in spirit, but do not be troubled openly. Afflicted, you will not be condemned together with the one who does not listen to you. But if you allow yourself to be disturbed, you will be tempted into your own disturbance.

177. When you teach, do not hide from those who listen to you what they should do. Clearly explain what is easiest, but what is most difficult, put it in riddles.

178. Do not reprove in front of him anyone who is not bound to you by obedience, for this has more to do with authority than with advice.

179. What is repeated many times becomes useful to everyone, and each one will retain in his conscience what concerns him.

180. He who speaks righteously should receive his own words as coming from Allah. For the truth does not belong to the speaker, but to God who acts in him.

181. Do not argue with those who oppose the truth and who are not bound to you by obedience, so as not to arouse their hatred, as the Scripture says [99].384 182. Whoever yields to his disciple in what he should not disorients the issue and prepares him to transgress the rules of obedience.

183. Whoever warns or corrects the sinner in the fear of God acquires the opposite virtue of fault. But whoever holds a grudge and censures with slander falls into the same passion, according to spiritual law.

184. Whoever knows the law well fears the Lawgiver, and whoever fears the Lawgiver shuns evil [100]. 385 384 [99] Cf. Proverbs IX, 8.

385 [100] Cf. Proverbs XV, 27.

185. Do not speak two languages: do not show one in your words and the other in your conscience. Scripture fills such a person with curses [101]. 386 186. There are those who tell the truth and are victims of the anger of fools, as the Apostle says [102]. And 387 there are those who hide it, and who are loved for that very reason. But retribution, in both cases, will not take long, as the Lord gives each person what is due to them.

187. Whoever wants to escape future punishments must willingly endure present sufferings. By exchanging one thing for another in spirit in this way, through small sufferings you will avoid great punishments.

188. Avoid ostentation in speech and presumption in thought, so as not to give in and do the opposite of good. For it is not man alone who does good, but God who sees everything.

189. God, who sees everything, grants worthy fruits to our works, our intentions and our voluntary thoughts.

190. Involuntary thoughts are born from a previous sin, but voluntary thoughts are born from a free will. Hence the second cause of the first 191. Bad thoughts that come against our intentions are followed by sadness; so they fade quickly. But thoughts that go in the same direction as our intentions are followed by joy; thus, they do not allow themselves to dissipate easily.

192. He who loves pleasure suffers amidst condemnation and misery. But those who love God suffer in the midst of praise and success.

193. Whoever does not know the judgments of God follows in spirit a path bordered by precipices, and the slightest breeze is enough to unbalance him. Praised, he is proud. Censored, he laments. Spoiled, he becomes impudent. Distressed, he prostrates himself. If he understands, he boasts. If he doesn't understand, he pretends. Rich, he glorifies himself.

Poor thing, it hides. If he is sated, he becomes arrogant. If you fast, you make it a reason for vanity. Argue with those who censure you. And he considers those who forgive him foolish.

386 [101] Cf. Ecclesiasticus XXVIII, 13.

387 [102] This phrase is not found in the apostolic writings.

194. Thus, if we do not acquire the knowledge of the truth and the fear of God through the grace of Christ, we will be severely mortified, not only by passions, but also by events.

195. When you want to correct a complicated personal matter, look for what pleases God in the case and you will find the most helpful solution.

196. All creation contributes to the work that pleases God, but resists the work from which God deviates.

197. Whoever opposes painful events fights against God's commands without knowing it. But whoever accepts them, because he has true knowledge, according to the Scripture, waits for the Lord [103]. 388 198. When a trial occurs, do not ask why, or by whom, it happened; Just look for a way to bear it by giving thanks, without sadness and without resentment.

199. The evil that others do to us does not impose any sin on us, if we accept it without bad thoughts.

200. If it is difficult for us to find someone who pleases God without having been tested, we should give thanks to God for all the painful events.

201. If Peter had not missed the night fishing [104], he would not have been successful in the daytime fishing. If Paul had not been blinded in his senses [105], he would not have recovered the sight of his intellect. And if Stephen 390 had not been slanderously accused of blasphemy, the heavens would not have been opened to him, and he would not have seen God [106].

202. Just as acting according to God is called virtue, so an unforeseen affliction is called a trial.

388 [103] Cf. Psalms XXVII, 14.

389 [104] Luke V, 5.

390 [105] Cf. Acts IX, 8.

391 [106] Cf. Acts VI, 15.

203. God tested Abraham [107], that is, he afflicted him for his own good, not to know what he was like (for 392 he knew it, he who knows all things before they happen), but to enable him achieve perfect faith.

204. Every affliction indicates which way the will leans, whether to the right or to the left. This is why unforeseen affliction is called trial. It reveals the hidden desires of those who receive and embrace it.

205. The fear of God forces us to fight evil. And when we fight it, God's grace fights it together.

206. Wisdom consists not only in knowing the truth in its natural consequences, but also in bearing for our own good the dishonesty of those who commit injustice. Those who are content with the first degree grow in pride; those who reach the second, acquire humility.

207. If you do not want to be dominated by evil thoughts, accept being humbled in your soul and afflicted in your flesh. And this, not eventually, but at all times, all places, all things.

208. Whoever allows himself to be voluntarily instructed by afflictions will not be dominated by involuntary thoughts. But whoever does not accept those will be their captives, even against their will.

209. When, under the impact of injustice, your insides and your heart harden, do not grieve.

Because this emotion, which reveals what you had inside you, is providential. Joyfully divert the thoughts that arise, knowing that if they are destroyed at birth, the evil will be destroyed naturally with them, before the emotion arises. But if the thoughts persist, it is normal for the evil to continue to grow.

210. Without contrition of the heart it is impossible to escape evil. Now, what breaks the heart is the triple abstinence, that is, the abstinence of sleep, food and bodily relaxation. An excess of these three things leads, in effect, to the love of pleasure. And the love of pleasure welcomes evil thoughts: it opposes prayer and the service that is imputed to us.

392 [107] Cf. Genesis XXII, 1 and ff.

211. If you happen to be entrusted with commanding your brothers, take up your position and do not remain silent, because of your adversaries, about what must be done. In those who obey him will be their reward, for their virtue. As for those who do not listen to you, forgive them in the same way, and you will receive forgiveness from Him who said: “Forgive and you will be forgiven [108]”. 393 212. Every event is like a market: whoever knows how to negotiate will win a lot; whoever doesn't know will lose.

213. Do not force someone who does not obey from the beginning, and do not argue with him, but take for yourself the gain he rejected. You will gain more by being patient than by correcting him.

214. When the harm suffered by one falls on many, then it is no longer necessary to have patience, nor to seek one's own good, but the good of all, so that all may be saved. This is why a multiple virtue is more useful than a singular virtue.

215. If we fall into a sin, whatever it may be, and do not grieve in the corresponding measure, we will easily fall into the same trap again.

216. Just as a lioness does not approach a heifer affectionately, impudence is also unable to welcome sorrow according to God with joy.

217. Just as the sheep does not mate with the wolf to have lambs, the feathers of the heart cannot unite with satiety to engender virtues.

218. No one can experience sorrow and sadness according to God if they do not first love what causes them.

219. The fear of God and condemnation incline us to sadness. Temperance and vigils combine with suffering.

393 [108] Matthew VI, 14.

220. He who does not allow himself to be corrected by the commandments and exhortations of Scripture will be led with the whip of the horse and the spur of the mule [109]. And if he refuses them he will be led by the reins and with the bits on his 394 jaws [110].

395 221. Whoever easily succumbs to small temptations will be easily subjected to large ones. But whoever resists the small ones will resist the big ones, with the help of the Lord.

222. Do not try, by reproaching him, to be useful to the one who glorifies himself in his virtues. For the same man cannot love ostentation and truth at the same time.

223. Every word of Christ manifests the mercy, justice and wisdom of God. Those who rejoice in hearing receive its power. That is why those who are deprived of His mercy and His justice and who have no pleasure in listening, could not understand the wisdom of God and ended up crucifying the One who taught it to them. Let us also examine whether we rejoice in listening to him [111]. For he himself said: “Whoever loves me will keep my commandments; my Father will love him, and 396 I will also love him and reveal myself to him [112].” We can see how he hid his revelation in the 397 commandments. The most fundamental of the commandments is the love of God and neighbor, which is aroused by abstaining from material things and by hesychia of thoughts.

224. The Lord, knowing this, commanded us: “Do not worry about tomorrow [113]”, and rightly so. For how is it possible for someone who has not freed themselves from material things and the worries they bring to free themselves from bad thoughts? How can someone who is trapped by thoughts see the sin they cover?

This sin is darkness and mist in the soul, and has its origin in thoughts and bad actions. In effect, the devil tempts man through suggestions, without violence, allowing him to glimpse the origin of sin. And man lets himself be trapped with complacency, for the love of pleasure and vainglory. For even if, by discernment, he does not want it, he will throw himself into pleasure and consent to it. As for the one who does not see the sin that surrounds him, how can he pray to be cleansed? And if he is not purified, how will he find the place of pure nature? And if he does not find it, how will he be able to see the inner mansion of Christ, even though we are the dwelling place of God, as the prophets, evangelists and apostles say [114]? 399 225. It is necessary, therefore, to seek the address in question, and persevere through prayer in knocking on its door [115], so that then, or when we die, the Master opens it to us, and does not tell us, as to those who are negligent: “I don’t know where you are from [116].” And we must not only ask and receive [117] but also keep what has been given to us. For there are those who lose after having received. Those who were learned late and the novices have no more than a simple knowledge or even an accidental experience of the things we deal with. As for assiduous and patient practice, even elders full of piety and experience have it with difficulty. Many lost it through negligence, looked for it again, tried hard and found it again. This is what we, too, must never stop doing, until we have obtained it indefectibly.

394 [109] Cf. Proverbs XXVI, 3.

395 [110] Cf. Psalms XXXI, 9.

396 [111] Cf. Mark XII, 37 397 [112] John XIV, 21.

398 [113] Matthew VI, 34.

399 [114] Cf. Hebrews 3:6

400 [115] Cf. Matthew VII, 7.

401 [116] Luke XIII, 25.

226. These are, among many others, some of the precepts of the spiritual law that we have learned, these precepts that the great Psalmist never tires of teaching [118], so that those who continually sing to the 403 Lord may keep and follow them. To Him be the glory, power and worship, now and for all ages. Amen.

402 [117] Cf. Matthew VII, 8.

403 [118] Cf. Psalms I, 2; CXIX, 16, 23, 71, 112 etc.

LETTER TO MONK NICOLAS

Some time ago, worried about your salvation and zealous about the way in which you should lead your life according to God, you came to see us to confide in us about your condition and to ask us what hardships you would have to go through in order to cling to the Lord with a fervent heart, with all the rigor of conduct and temperance, as in all asceticism, and conducting the combat with frequent vigils and ardent prayer. You told us what wars and swarms of passions of the flesh rose up in your bodily nature, directed against the soul, the law of sin being always contrary to the law of our intellect [119]. And you deplored 404 still being troubled by the passions of anger and lust. You were looking for a method and advice to discover through what pains and what struggles you would be able to overcome these mortal passions.

At that moment, with a loud voice, we exhorted him to charity, and gave him advice and rules of wisdom for the good of his soul, showing him through what pains and what ascetic efforts aimed at discernment and the light of the spiritual knowledge, the soul that conducts itself in accordance with the Gospels can, through faith and with the help of grace, overcome the vices of evil that are born in the heart, and specifically the passions of which we speak.

For against the passions the soul must wage a struggle that is all the more ardent and constant as they try to manage it through their tendencies and habits, and try to drag it more and more, until it submits to carnal and spiritual energies. irrational energies of malice, to which it will henceforth obey, energies that will seize and capture it by the continuous remembrance of thoughts and by the meditation of evil, once the soul consents to the entry of these thoughts into the heart.

Since, for some time now, we have been distant from you, separated in body but not in heart [120], and we have left for the desert, among true workers and athletes of Christ, in order to 405 fight, we too, however little it may be, and fight together with our brothers who face opposing powers and who courageously resist passions, let us put away laziness, let us reject all negligence far from us, and let us clothe ourselves with fervor and solicitude, desirous of pleasing God. It is thus that we have decided to outline in writing and send to your nobility some brief advice and recommendations, for the good of your soul, in order that, regarding the matters of which I have already spoken to you face to face, if you carefully read the little that we wrote in our exhortation, may you bear the spiritual fruits, as if we were present.

Here, my son, is what you must do to begin what will be useful to you in living according to God. It is necessary, without ever forgetting them and always remembering them, to remember through continuous meditation the providential gifts and blessings that God, in his love for man, has granted and grants to him for the salvation of his soul. Do not forget, covering yourself with the veil of malice, so many blessings, and do not lose your memory through negligence, otherwise you will spend the time you have left living deprived of all privileges and all recognition.

404 [119] Cf. Romans VII, 23.

405 [120] Cf. 1 Thessalonians II, 17.

These incessant memories, pricking the heart like a sting, will continually lead him to confession, to humility, to the thanksgiving of a broken soul, to every good fervor and to the response that he must give in return to the Lord through his behaviors and actions. conduct, and through all the virtues worthy of God, without ever ceasing to meditate with all conscience on the words of the prophet: “What will I repay the Lord for all that he has given me? [121]”406 Indeed, when the soul remembers the blessings with which it has been showered by God who loves men since its birth, or all the dangers from which it has so often been preserved, or all the evils in which it fell, or of the voluntary faults in which she allowed herself to be carried away so many times, she remembers that she was not abandoned to malefactor spirits, as would be done by justice, to her perdition and death, but that, on the contrary, with his patience, the Master who love that men guarded her, overlooking her faults, welcoming her return, and that he himself fed her, protecting her and foreseeing everything, even when, linked to passion, she voluntarily put herself at the service of her enemies, the evil spirits. And she remembers that in the end, by a decision of his kindness, he led her on the path of salvation, placed in her heart the charm of the ascetic life, gave her the strength to abandon the world and the illusions of pleasure and the flesh. with joy, he clothed her with the angelic habit of the order of ascetics, and allowed her to be received by the holy men into the communion of their brotherhood. Who, remembering these blessings in the purity of their conscience, would not constantly have a broken heart? Forewarned by the guarantees of so many blessings, without having done anything good in advance, won't he always maintain firm hope?

I say to myself that if, without having done anything good myself, but on the contrary having committed numerous sins before him and lived in the midst of the impurities of the flesh and many other evils, he did not see me according to my faults nor treated me according to my iniquities [122], but, in view of 407 salvation, he endowed me with such great gifts and such great graces, if I henceforth consecrate myself entirely to serving him with all the purity of conversion and all the righteousness of the virtues, of how many other goods and spiritual graces will he not judge me worthy, giving me the strength to carry out the good work on this path along which he leads me?

That is why whoever always keeps this thought within himself and never forgets God's blessings, distrusts himself, corrects himself and engages with ardor in all the good asceses of virtue and in all works of justice, always willing, always ready to do God's will.

406 [121] Psalms CXVI, 3.

407 [122] Psalms CIII, 10.

Beloved son, who by the grace of God was endowed with natural understanding, always keep this meditation and this good study within yourself. Don't let yourself be overshadowed by evil oblivion. Don't allow distraction to empty your intellect and distract you from life. Don't let ignorance, the cause of all evil, cloud your thinking. Refuse to be seduced by carelessness, carried away by the pleasure of the flesh and overcome by gluttony. Do not let concupiscence capture his intellect, nor let his consent to thoughts of prostitution soil him, nor allow himself to be overcome by the anger that generates hatred towards his brother. And do not, under some miserable and pitiful pretext, sadden others or yourself, cultivate the memory of evil thoughts against your neighbor, deviate from the pure prayer dedicated to God, reduce your intellect to servitude, and suspect the neighbor who has a soul like yours. Do not chain your conscience to the irrational expressions of the cares of the flesh. Do not throw yourself into the evil spirits to which you have given in so that they could instruct you until, devoid of all certainty, devastated by sadness and negligence, unable to progress in God due to previous faults, the intellect sets out again to seek, in deep humility, the beginning of the path to salvation. Thus, accepting the many sufferings of prayers and night vigils, erasing his faults by confession before God and his neighbors, he will rediscover sobriety and vigilance and, by God's grace, the flash of the illuminations of evangelical knowledge, knowing that whoever does not who gives himself entirely to the cross, with a feeling of humility and self-denial, who does not place himself below all others to be trampled on, disdained, despised, insulted, offended, abandoned, enduring everything with joy in love for the Lord, who does not seek Never human things, nor glory, nor honors, nor praise, nor the pleasures of food, drink and clothing, he cannot become a true Christian.

Once we set ourselves to these combats, fights and crowns, how long, under the cover of formal piety, will we laugh at the world, letting it believe that we are in the service of the Lord, we who are not judged by men of the same How do we appear in the eyes of Him who knows the secrets of hearts? For many consider us saints, while even now we behave like savages.

Indeed, we have the appearance of godliness, but before God we have not yet acquired that which gives it strength [123]. Many consider us virgins and pure, when for He who knows the secrets of hearts 408 we are internally soiled with the impurities of consent to thoughts of prostitution, immersed in the mire where passions are activated, and because of our always formal asceticism, the blind intellect , we are further dragged back by the praise of men.

How long will we walk in the vanity of the intellect without taking upon ourselves evangelical wisdom, without recognizing where conscious conduct lies, in order to seek it with fervor and discover the freedom that this consciousness gives? But we still remain in what we believe to be the only righteousness of the outer man. In the absence of true knowledge, we deceive ourselves by following observations that are nothing more than external, intending to please men and pursuing the glory of their honors and praise.

408 [123] Cf. 2 Timothy III, 5.

409 [124] Cf. Galatians VI, 3.

But he will certainly come, the One who reveals the secrets of darkness and reveals the intentions of the hearts, the Judge whom no one deceives, the One who is not carried away either by fear before the rich or by pity before the poor, He who raises the habit exterior and shows the truth hidden within, He who together with his Father, in the presence of the angels, crowns true fighters and true athletes, who behave according to their conscience. But those who wear the habit but clothe themselves with formal piety, those who display a purely apparent conduct before men, who thus maintain themselves vainly and deceive themselves,[124] these he will take captive before the Church above, to Church of the saints, and of the entire heavenly assembly. And he will return them thus, covered with shame, to outer darkness, like foolish virgins [125]. These 410 had kept their external virginity, but that is not why they were found guilty. They also had some oil in their vessels, that is, they had also jointly received some virtues, some correct external actions and some graces. That is why their lamps remained lit for some time. But through negligence, ignorance, carelessness, they lacked prudence and did not accurately recognize the swarm of passions hidden within and directed by evil spirits. They let their reflections become corrupted under opposing energies. They soiled themselves by consenting to thoughts, secretly seduced and overcome by the worst envy, by jealousy that is inimical to good, discord, disputes, anger, anger, bitterness, resentment, hypocrisy, irritation, pride, vainglory, the concern to please men, self-sufficiency, the love of money, acedia, the desires of the flesh that arouse pleasure in thought, treachery, presumption, discouragement, sadness, laziness, sleepiness, ostentation, pretension, insolence, self-praise, greed, debauchery, cupidity, the harshest despair of all, and even the smallest effects of evil. As for their good works and their chaste conduct, there too they did everything to appear before men and collect their praise. If they had shared certain graces, they would have sold them to the spirits of vainglory and the desire to please and, giving themselves over to other passions, they would have mixed their good habits with the bad thoughts of the flesh. That is why what they did was unacceptable and unclean, like the sacrifice of Cain [126]. They were deprived of the joy of the Bridegroom and 411 excluded from the heavenly place of the wedding.

This is, therefore, what we need to consider, discern, experience, to know and understand what state we are in, and correct ourselves while we still have time for repentance and conversion. Also our good works, performed in all purity, will be true and clear, and will not be mixed with the things of the flesh, so that they will not be rejected as a defective sacrifice, due to disrespect for God, negligence and lack of true knowledge. After having endured the punishments of virginity, temperance, vigils, fasting and hospitality, when we end our days, we will avoid in this way that, because of the passions of which we speak, what we considered as works of justice do not prove to be a sacrifice defective that will not be received by Christ, the priest higher than heaven.

It is therefore necessary, my son, that whoever wants to take up the cross and follow Christ must first watch to acquire knowledge and intelligence, continually probing his thoughts within himself, always thinking about salvation, cultivating conscience, striving for go towards God, interrogating God's servants who are with him heart and soul and who carry on the same fight, if you don't want to, ignoring where you are going, walk through darkness without the light of the lamp. For whoever lives as he wants, in the idiorhythm [127], without evangelical knowledge, and goes along the path without anyone to guide him, will encounter many obstacles, will fall into many caves and traps of the evil one, will often get lost, will run into multiple dangers, and You won't know what end awaits you. There are numerous, in fact, those who have gone through many hardships and hardships, who have endured a hard life and many afflictions for God, but who, through idiorrhythmia, the lack of discernment, the refusal to help others, have seen so many nullified and rendered useless. sufferings.

410 [125] Cf. Matthew XXV, 1-12.

411 [126] Cf. Genesis IV, 5.

412 [127] Idiorhythmia: designates the irresponsible independence of the monk who has no other measure than his own convenience.

Therefore, you, beloved son, as I told you at the beginning of this exhortation, do not, led by the deceptions of malice and negligence, forget the blessings with which the adored God who loves men has showered you. But the benefits you have received from your birth until now, whether bodily or spiritual, keep them before your eyes, meditate on them, review them in your memory, as it has been said: “Do not forget any of their benefits [128].” , so that your heart may be calmly led to fear and love God, 413 responding to him, as much as possible, with a strict life, virtuous conduct, a pious conscience, kind words, a right faith, a humble heart , in a word, consecrating himself entirely to him, full of modesty in memory of the goods entrusted to him by the good Master who loves men. Then, on his own, or rather with the help and encouragement from above, your heart will open to the wound of love and desire [129], because the 414 wonders that he did not do for others much better than you, he did. made for you in his ineffable love for man.

Therefore, strive to always keep in memory these goods that were granted to you by God. In particular, always remember this great and wonderful grace and this benefit that he gave you, as you told us, when, together with your mother, you were traveling through the Holy Places on the way to Constantinople, and a terrible and irresistible storm rose in the middle of the night, unleashing enormous waves, and all the passengers, the sailors and even your own mother perished in the abyss, while, by the incomprehensible divine power, only you, along with two others, were thrown to the beach and saved. Remember how providence allowed you to go to Ancora, where you were received by a free man with fatherly love, who united you in the same affection with Epiphanius, his pious son, in such a way that, led both of you by a holy man, you reached the path of salvation and were welcomed by the holy servants of God like noble children.

To all these blessings that came to you from God, what are you worthy of to respond to the One who attracted your soul to eternal life? For from now on, what is right is that you no longer live for yourself, but for Christ who died and rose again for you,[130] striving to attain all the virtues of 415 righteousness, the observance of the commandments, always seeking God's will, what is good, what pleases him, what is perfect [131], with all his strength.

416 My son, only submit your youth to the word of God, as it asks you to do. Offer your body as a living, holy sacrifice that pleases God, like spiritual worship [132]. By moderating your needs, 417 drinking little, spending your nights in vigil, you will cool and dry up the moisture of the desires of the flesh, so that you too can say, “I have become like ice, I have not forgotten your commandments [133].”

413 [128] Psalms CIII, 2.

414 [129] Desire: translation of epithymia, the first of the three parts of the soul. It is about the tension that generates the love of the created for the uncreated, or of the created for itself.

415 [130] Cf. 2 Corinthians V, 15.

416 [131] Cf. Romans XII, 2.

417 [132] Cf. Romans XII, 1.

418 [133] Psalms CXIX, 83.

Knowing that you are Christ's, crucify your flesh, as the Apostle says, together with your passions and desires [134], and mortify your members that are upon the earth [135], not only the act of prostitution, but 419 420 all impurity that acts in the flesh under the impulse of evil spirits. For it is not only until then that he who wants to receive true virginity, pure and perfect, must wage his battle. For, according to the teaching of the Apostle, he must strive to destroy even the mark and movement of passion itself. And even so, he still won't have the full certainty of receiving pure and angelic virginity into his bodily home, through the strength of his love. Let him pray that even the memory of the simple desire of thought disappears, a memory that, independent of the movement and bodily energy of passion, comes like a breath to disturb the intellect. But it is not possible to get there unless with help from above, the power and gifts of the Spirit, and at the very least by being judged worthy of receiving such graces.

This is how he who has received the crown of pure and immaterial virginity crucifies his flesh through the pains of asceticism and mortifies his limbs that are on earth through the tension and patience of temperance. It destroys the outer man, it thins and exhausts it, it dries it up, so that, through faith, through struggles and through the energy of grace, the inner man is renewed every day [136], progresses towards the better, grows in love and clothed with sweetness, happy 421 by the exultation of the Spirit, rewarded by the peace of Christ, led by obligation, guarded by goodness, surrounded by the fear of God, enlightened by conscience and knowledge, enlightened by wisdom, guided by humility. Renewed through such virtues, the intellect, under the action of the Spirit, discovers in itself the mark of the divine image, understands the ineffable spiritual beauty of its likeness to the Master, and makes its own the richness of the wisdom of the inner law, which instructs and teaches itself.

Therefore, my son, thin this meat while it is still young. Feed the immortal soul, as we said. And through the virtues we speak of, renew the intellect in the synergy of the Spirit. For the flesh soaked in its youth by food and wine is like a suckling pig ready to be sacrificed. The soul is also immolated by the fire of the pleasures of the body. And the intellect, unable to resist the pleasures of the flesh, becomes captive to the heat of evil desires. For the influx of blood causes the reflux of the Spirit. Above all, it is necessary that youth not touch the wine, that they ignore even its odor. Otherwise, by the double fire, caused from within by the energy of passion and from without by spilled and consumed wine, the pleasure of the flesh will drive away the spiritual pleasure provided by punishment and compunction, and will bring disturbance and hardness to the heart. Furthermore, due to spiritual desire, youth refuse to drink water until satiety. Because deprivation of water greatly helps to maintain chastity. Try this in practice. It is through experience itself that you will receive full certainty.

For we are not giving you these laws and rules because we want to impose on you the yoke of constraint, but we affectionately recommend and advise them, as a good project and a good method for achieving true virginity and strict chastity. We leave you the freedom to do whatever you want.

419 [134] Cf. Galatians V, 24.

420 [135] Cf. Colossians III, 5.

421 [136] Cf. 2 Corinthians IV, 16.

And now let us talk a little about this irrational passion of anger, which devastates the entire soul, places it in confusion and darkness, and which, when it arises and shows itself, makes man, especially those who allow themselves to be easily carried away, similar to to the beasts. Singularly, it is in pride that this passion is rooted, reconstituted and strengthened. As the diabolical tree of resentment, anger and fury is watered by the pernicious water of pride, it blossoms, grows and bears in abundance the fruits of iniquity. Thus the ineffable dwelling of the evil one is built in the soul, which finds its support and strength in the foundations of pride. So, if you notice that the tree of iniquity – I mean, the passion of resentment, anger and fury – dries up in you and becomes sterile, so that the ax of the Spirit comes to cut it down and throw it to the ground. fire, according to the words of the Gospel [137], and destroy it together with all evil; If you want the house of iniquity to be destroyed, which the evil one has maliciously built in your soul, bringing into it, for whatever reason, through our actions and words, in our thoughts, different rational and irrational pretexts that are so many stones, thus preparing in the soul its abode of malice, substantiating and consolidating it through thoughts of pride; if, I say, you want this house to be destroyed and ruined, have constantly, without ever forgetting it, the humility of the Lord in your heart: who he is, what he has become for us, from what heights he has descended, these heights of divine light as much as possible revealed to the essences above and glorified in the heavens by all spiritual natures, angels, archangels, thrones, dominations, principalities, powers, cherubim and seraphim, and other ineffable intellectual powers whose names have not reached us , according to the Apostle’s riddle [138]. Remember into what an abyss of humiliation of men he descended by his unspeakable goodness, in every way making himself like us who were in darkness and in the shadow of death [139], captives since the transgression of Adam, and subjected to the dominion of the enemy through the 424 effect of passions.

While we were unhappy in such captivity, under the bitter empire of death which we could not see, the Master of all visible and invisible creation had no reproach. He humiliated himself, assuming man subjected to the passions of infamy and concupiscence and condemned by the Master's sentence. In everything he became like us, but without sin [140], that is, without the passions of infamy. For the penalties inflicted on man by the Master's sentence after the sin of transgression - death, suffering, hunger, thirst and the rest - he took all upon himself, becoming what we are, so that we may become what he is. The Word became flesh [141], so that the flesh became the Word. From being rich he became poor, to enrich us 426 with his poverty [142]. In his great love for man, he made himself like us, so that we might be like him in all virtues. In fact, after Christ was among us, man created in the image and likeness was truly renewed, by the grace and power of the Spirit, finally reaching the measure of perfect love, which casts out all fear [143] and which can no longer be subjected to the blow of the fall, because love never falls [144]. “God is love, said John, and he who abides in love abides 429 in God [145].” The apostles were considered worthy of this measure of love, as were also 430 those who dedicated themselves to virtues and who were brought before the Lord to perfection, following Christ throughout their lives in perfect desire.

422 [137] Cf. Matthew III, 10.

423 [138] Cf. Ephesians I, 21.

424 [139] Cf. Isaiah IX,

425 [140] Cf. Hebrews IV, 15.

426 [141] John I, 14.

427 [142] 2 Corinthians VIII, 9.

428 [143] Cf. 1 John IV, 18.

429 [144] Cf. 1 Corinthians XIII, 8.

430 [145] 1 John IV, 16.

It is then necessary for you to continually recapitulate, without forgetting anything, the enormous humiliation that the Lord assumed in his affection for us, in his love for man: the dwelling of the Word in the bosom of God, his assumption as man, his birth from a woman, the progressive growth of her body, the reprimands, the outrages, the insults, the mockery, the insults, the whip, the spitting, the spiritual abandonment, the irony, the purple cloak, the crown of thorns, the sentence of the authorities against him, the cries of the wicked Jews, the men of his race: “Take him, take him, crucify him [146]”, the cross, the nails, the spear, the 431 drink of vinegar with gall, the triumph of the pagans, the irony of those who passed by saying, “If you are a son of God, come down from the cross and we will believe in you [147],” and all the other sufferings he endured for us: the 432 crucifixion, the death, the burial for three days in a tomb, the descent into hell. And then the fruits of these sufferings, and what fruits! The resurrection from the dead, hell and death abandoned by the souls who returned with the Lord, the ascension to heaven, the seat at the right hand of the Father, the honor and glory above all authority, all power, and every name that be possible to pronounce [148], the adoration of all the angels to the 433 first born from the dead [149], because of his sufferings, according to the words of the Apostle: 434 “Let there be in you the same feelings as in Jesus Christ , he who, although of divine status, did not keep for himself what made him equal to God, but stripped himself of everything to assume the condition of a slave.

He became equal to men and behaved like a man. Then he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, and death on the cross. That is why God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow, in heaven, on earth and in hell [150].”

435 This is, according to divine justice, to what glory and to what height the reasons we mentioned led the God-Man. Therefore, if in your desire and in your dispositions, you keep these memories in your heart without ever forgetting them, you will not be dominated by the passion of resentment, anger and fury. From the moment that the foundations of the passion of pride have been transformed by the humility of Christ that you recapitulate in yourself, the entire edifice of iniquity, fury, anger and sadness will collapse without difficulty, as if by itself. For what heart of stone, however hard it may be, will not be broken, pierced, humiliated, if it constantly keeps in its intellect this humiliation that the divinity of the only Son assumed for us all, and the memory of the sufferings of which we speak? Will he not make himself earth and ashes [151], will he not allow himself to be trampled by all men, as the Scripture says [152]? And if the soul is humiliated and forced to consider the humility of Christ in this way, what fury can dominate it, what anger, what resentment can carry it?

But naturally the forgetfulness of those thoughts that assist and vivify us, its sister negligence and its assistant and equal to ignorance, these deeper and more interior passions of the soul, more difficult to discover and correct, which veil and darken the soul under a dangerous inconsistency, prepare the passions of evil to operate and hide in the soul, bringing into it the disrespect and neglect of good, and allowing each passion to enter and exercise itself without danger and without difficulty. In fact, once the soul has been covered by bad forgetfulness, by fatal negligence and by ignorance, the mother and nurse of all evils, the unfortunate, blinded intellect is easily chained to everything it sees, thinks and hears. If, for example, he sees the beauty of a woman, he is immediately struck by the lust of the flesh. And if after this he recalls what he saw, heard or touched with passion or pleasure, the memories will record images in him, due to the impression that thoughts and bad meditation leave there. In this way they soil, under the influence of the spirit of prostitution, the poor intellect that is the victim of passion.

431 [146] Matthew XXVII, 39-40.

432 [147] Matthew XXVII, 39-40.

433 [148] Cf. Ephesians I, 21.

434 [149] Cf. Hebrews II, 6-10.

435 [150] Philippians II, 6-10.

436 [151] Cf. Genesis XVIII, 27; Job XLII, 6; Ecclesiasticus XVII, 32.

437 [152] Cf. 2 Kings XIX, 26.

From the moment that the flesh, if it is full of health, of youth, of sap, is quickly led to passion by such memories, and, stimulated by lust, does its work, whether in dreams or awake, man becomes throws at impurity, even if apparently he had no relationship with a woman.

Such a man may be considered by many as chaste, virgin and pure, and even considered holy, but for He who sees the secrets of the heart, he is considered impure, debauched, adulterous. And it will be justly that he will be condemned on this day, if he does not mourn, does not mourn, does not dry out his flesh by fasting, vigils and constant prayers, and if, healing and correcting the intellect with holy memories and the meditation of the divine word, he does not offer a just repentance to God, before whom he thought and accomplished evil. For the word never dies: “Truly I tell you, every man who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart [153]”. That is why it is advisable, especially for young people, if possible, never to have fun with women, even if they are considered saints. If it is also possible to live separately from men, he who can live in this way will carry on a lighter fight and will feel his own progress more clearly, especially if he is rigorously attentive to himself, if he moderates his needs, if he is content with drinking only water, and little, if you pay a lot of attention and devote yourself to prayer, dedicating yourself entirely to the fight, making an effort to visit experienced spiritual parents, living and allowing yourself to be guided by them.

For it is dangerous to live in isolation, in idiorhythm, without witnesses, and with men without experience in spiritual combat. These men are dedicated to another kind of combat. For the deceptions and hidden deceptions of evil are numerous, and the traps set on all sides by the enemy are varied. So, you have to make an effort and force yourself to live, if possible, with men of knowledge, or at least to meet them regularly. So, even if you do not have the lamp of true knowledge within you, because you are still a child and have not reached the perfection of spiritual age, if you walk the path with someone who has the lamp, you will not walk in darkness, you will not he will be exposed to the danger of nets and traps, and he will not fall before the spiritual beasts that, hidden in the pastures of darkness, assault and despoil those who walk in the dark, without the spiritual lamp of the divine word.

If then, my son, you want to acquire your own lamp of spiritual light and knowledge, so that you can advance without stumbling in the deep night of this century, and obtain from the Lord that he direct your march, to possess the firm will to follow the path of Gospel, according to the words of the prophet [154], that is, to embrace with ardent faith the most perfect evangelical precepts, and to share in the Lord's sufferings through desire and prayer, I will show you a wonderful method and a spiritual path that It requires neither pains nor corporal combat, but only demands the pains of the soul, the attention of the intellect, continuous reflection, with the assistance of fear and love of God. By following this path, you will be able to easily put the phalanx of your enemies to flight, following the example of the blessed David who, through faith and trust in God, went to meet a foreign giant [155] and thus easily defeated him, together with his 440 own people, the multitude of enemies.

438 [153] Matthew V, 28.

439 [154] Cf. Psalm XXXVII, 23.

440 [155] Cf. 1 Samuel XVII, 45.

This is the fundamental theme of our speech: imagine that there are three foreign giants, powerful and strong. It is upon them that the hostile power of the spiritual Holofernes rests. And it will be after his destruction and death that all the power of the evil spirits will finally sink. Those considered as these three giants of the evil one are ignorance, the mother of all evils, forgetfulness, his brother, assistant and associate, and finally negligence, which weaves within the soul a dark veil of black clouds, which it consolidates and strengthens the two others, giving them consistency and rooting and keeping evil in the increasingly careless soul. It is under the effect of negligence, forgetfulness and ignorance that what sustains other passions strengthens and grows. For the three help each other and are not able to sustain themselves without each other. They arise as well as the strength of opposing powers and the vigor of the princes of the evil one. It is through them, in fact, that the entire armada of evil spirits insinuates itself, settles down and sets out to carry out its designs. But without them, nothing we mentioned can be maintained.

If then you intend to obtain victory against the passions we speak of, and expel the phalanx of spiritual foreigners, by prayer and with the help of God, penetrate into yourself, delve into the depths of your heart and follow in the footsteps of these three powerful giants of the devil, forgetfulness, negligence and ignorance, which sustain spiritual foreigners, and through which other passions insinuate themselves, act, live and strengthen themselves in ignorant souls and hearts that love pleasure. These evils, which most people ignore even their very existence, and which are however more dangerous than the others, you will now discover by increased attention, by the application of your intellect, by grace from above and by the weapons of justice that are oppose evil, that is, good memory, the cause of all good things, enlightened knowledge, through which the awakened soul expels the darkness of ignorance, and finally, through the noblest desire, the desire for salvation that prepares and accelerates the soul.

It is clothed with these weapons of virtue, and with the power of the Holy Spirit, that, with all prayers and supplications, nobly and courageously, you will win the combat against the three giants of spiritual foreigners. By the most good memory of God, continually considering what is true, what is noble, what is just, what is pure, all that is good in virtue and praise, [156] you will drive away forgetfulness from you. which is at the bottom of all evil. By enlightened heavenly knowledge you will nullify the pernicious ignorance that underlies darkness. Finally, through the full desire for virtue and beauty, you will expel the atheistic negligence that roots evil in the soul. However, you will not acquire these three virtues through the effort of pure and simple will, but through the power of God and the synergy of the Holy Spirit, thanks to strong concentration and prayer. This way you will be able to escape the three powerful evil giants that we mentioned.

In fact, it is through the active grace that forces it to remain in the soul and guard it attentively, that the harmony of true knowledge, the remembrance of God's words and good desire will erase from the soul and reduce to nothing the traces of forgetfulness, ignorance and negligence. From then on, grace will reign in her, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

441 [156] Cf. Philippians IV, 8.