A XI. The blind man is crying out and saying: "Son of David, have mercy on me," praying corporally, for he was not yet instructed in spiritual knowledge. The same man, having received his sight and having seen the Lord, no longer confessed Him as the son of David, but as the Son of God, and worshipped Him.
XII. Do not be puffed up if you shed tears while praying; for Christ has touched the eyes of your heart, B and you have already received intellectual sight.
XIII. Whoever, imitating the blind man, has cast aside his garments and approached the Lord, follows Him and becomes a herald of more perfect doctrines.
XIV. Malice pondered in one's thoughts hardens the heart; but when it is removed by temperance and hope, it softens it.
XV. There is a contrition of heart that is straight and useful, tending toward its illumination; and there is another that is perverse and harmful, tending toward its affliction.
XVI. Vigil, and prayer, and the endurance of the things which befall us are an unoffending contrition and are useful to the heart, provided that we do not sever their connection for the sake of any gain. For he who perseveres constantly in these will receive help in other matters as well; but he who is negligent and scatters himself rashly will feel unbearable pains at the time of his departure.
XVII. A heart that loves pleasure is a prison and a chain for the soul at the time of its departure; but the same heart, if it is zealous for labor, is an open door.
XVIII. A heart of iron leading to the city is a hard heart. But for one who is suffering misfortunes and is tossed by tribulations, it will open of its own accord, just as it did for the blessed Peter.
C XIX. There are many ways of praying, yet one is more excellent than another. Nevertheless, no way of prayer is harmful, unless it is not prayer at all, but some diabolical operation.
XX. A man wishing to perform an evil deed prayed first according to custom; and being prevented by divine dispensation from doing evil, he later gave thanks.
XXI. When David had resolved in his mind to put Nabal the Carmelite to death, once a reminder of divine retribution had entered his mind, he was drawn away from his purpose and gave great thanks to God.
XXII. Nor, on the other hand, are we ignorant of what he did when he forgot God; and he did not cease from that matter until the prophet Nathan recalled God the Avenger to his memory.
XXIII. At the time when the memory of God comes into your mind, D consider that you must occupy yourself with prayer in every way, so that if by chance you should forget Him, He may remind you of Himself.
XXIV. While reading the Holy Scriptures, understand the mysteries. For whatever things were written beforehand, he says, were written for our instruction.
XXV. The Scripture calls faith the substance of things hoped for; and those who have no knowledge of the indwelling of Christ in us, it has declared to be reprobate.
XXVI. Just as [it is] by works and words [that the...]
future retribution for the operations of the heart is manifested.
XXVII. A merciful heart, it is clear, shall find mercy; and the compassionate shall likewise be shown compassion. And for those who are the opposite, the sequence [of things] has returned a response in kind.
XXVIII. The law of liberty teaches all truth; and while many read it according to knowledge, few understand it according to the proportion of the practice of the commandments.
XXIX. Do not seek its perfection in human virtues, for no one is found perfect in them. For its perfection B is hidden in the cross of Christ.
XXX. The law of liberty is read by the knowledge of truth; it is understood by the practice of the commandments; and it is fulfilled through the mercies of our Lord Jesus Christ.
XXXI. When we are constrained to have our conscience amended according to all the commandments of God, then we shall understand that the law of the Lord is blameless; it is exercised in our good works, but without the mercies of God it cannot be fulfilled C by men.
XXXII. Those who have not reckoned themselves to be debtors to every commandment of Christ, they read the law of God only corporally, not understanding what they say nor of what they assert. Therefore, they think that they can fulfill it by works alone.
XXXIII. There is a thing which is overtly performed as good, but the intention of the one performing it is toward evil; and there is another [thing] which is like evil, but the intention of the one performing it tends toward good.
XXXIV. Not only do people do works, but they also speak words, in the manner we have previously described. For some change things because of inexperience or ignorance; others change them out of a purpose of malice; others, however, according to a goal of piety.
XXXV. He who masks slander with the pretext of praise is difficult to detect for the simpler ones; similar to him is the one who, clothed in humble attire, is D ambitiously arrogant.
XXXVI. Those who for a long time have fraudulently obscured the truth with lies, when they have eventually withdrawn, are confuted by their very deeds as liars.
XXXVII. There is one who does a thing which appears good, but by it causes harm to his neighbor; and there is another who, by not doing it, is useful to his neighbor according to the intention of his mind.
XXXVIII. There is a rebuke that happens out of malice and for the sake of vengeance; and there is another [rebuke] that happens in the fear of God and according to truth.
XXXIX. Him who has ceased from sinning and is repenting, no longer
rebuke. But if you say that you are rebuking according to God, first make your own wickedness manifest. A
XL. God is the beginning and author of all virtue, just as the sun is of daily light.
XLI. As often as you do some good work, remember Him who said: "Without me you can do nothing."
XLII. Through tribulations and afflictions good things are prepared for men, just as evil things are through vainglory and the pursuit of pleasure.
XLIII. Whoever is treated injuriously by men is accustomed to escape from sin, and finds help equal to the tribulation.
XLIV. He who does not believe in Christ regarding retribution endures every injustice according to the proportion of his faith. B
XLV. He who prays for those who inflict injury upon men curses the demons; but he who resists the former is wounded by the latter.
XLVI. Injury inflicted by men is better than that from demons; however, he who has pleased the Lord has overcome both.
XLVII. Every good thing proceeds from God, dispensed according to His will; but He secretly drives away the stupid, the ungrateful, and the slothful.
XLVIII. Every vice ends in forbidden pleasure, and every virtue in spiritual consolation. And the former, prevailing, rouses what is proper to it; the latter likewise what is akin to it.
XLIX. A reproach cast by men brings tribulation to the heart; but for one who endures it, it becomes a cause of sancity and purity. C
L. Ignorance becomes an occasion for contradicting what is beneficial; and when emboldened, it increases the purpose of vices.
LI. While inflicting no injury, accept what is troublesome and afflicting, and as one who is about to give an account, cast away avarice from yourself.
LII. If you have sinned secretly or in hiding, do not try to conceal it or keep it hidden. For all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him, to whom we must give account.
LIII. Even what pertains to the mind and thoughts, show yourself to the Lord God. For man looks upon the face, but God looks upon the heart.
LIV. Do not think or do anything without a goal pleasing to God. For he who travels without a goal labors in vain. D
LV. He who sins without being forced by necessity is difficultly led to repentance, because the justice of God cannot be deceived.
LVI. A troublesome event bringing pain provides a reminder of God to a person who is refined in understanding; in the same way, it afflicts him who forgets the Lord.
LVII. Let every labor that you perform unwillingly be for you a teacher to remember God; thus it will come about that an occasion for repentance will never be lacking for you.
LVIII. Forgetfulness in itself has no power, but
it is strengthened in proportion to our own neglect. A
LIX. Do not say: "What am I to do, since what I do not will, comes to pass?" For being mindful, you have disregarded what is due. B
LX. Do what you are mindful of; and those things of which you are not mindful, will be revealed to you; and do not deliver your thought to forgetfulness without judgment.
LXI. The Scripture says: "Hell and destruction are manifest before the Lord." (Prov. xv, 11). These things are said concerning the ignorance and forgetfulness of the heart.
LXII. Hell is ignorance; destruction, however, is forgetfulness. Both are obscure; therefore, they are also harmful.
LXIII. Be busy with your own evils, and not those of your neighbor; that the focus of your mind may not be lost.
LXIV. Nothing distracts more from every kind of good than neglect; but mercy and prayer recall those who have been negligent.
LXV. Every affliction according to God is a most certain work of piety; for true love is proven in adversities. C
LXVI. Do not say that you possess virtue without affliction; for it cannot be proven because of rest and the quiet of tranquility.
LXVII. Consider the outcome of every voluntary affliction, and you will find in it the destruction of sin.
LXVIII. Many are the counsels of a neighbor for one’s advantage; yet to each person, nothing is more suitable than his own judgment.
LXIX. Seeking a remedy, take care of your conscience; and whatever it says, do it; and thus you will find the benefit.
LXX. God knows the hidden things of each person, and conscience does as well; and through these very things let a man receive correction.
LXXI. He who toils without counsel is altogether a beggar. But he who runs with hope is very rich.
LXXII. A man does whatever he is able according to his will; but God brings about the outcomes of these things, as is just.
LXXIII. If you wish to receive praise from men without judgment against you, first embrace correction for your sins. D
LXXIV. However much shame someone may endure for the truth of Christ, he will be glorified a hundredfold more by the multitude.
LXXV. It is better, however, to perform every good deed for the sake of things to come.
LXXVI. Whenever a man benefits a man in words or in deeds, let both acknowledge that the grace is of God. But he who does not understand this will be overcome by him who does understand.
LXXVII. He who praises a neighbor with a certain simulation and feigned praise, in the course of time will afflict him with disgrace, and he himself will again be suffused with shame.
LXXVIII. He who does not know the snares of the enemies is easily slaughtered.
A And he who does not know the causes of the passions falls easily.
LXXIX. From the love of pleasure comes negligence, and from negligence comes forgetfulness. For God has granted the knowledge of beneficial things to all.
LXXX. A man gives counsel to a neighbor as he understands it; but God works in the one who hears, according to what he has believed.
LXXXI. I have seen simple men who were humble in their deeds, and they became wiser than the wise. Another simple man, having heard that man praised, did not imitate his humility; but in his private condition, puffing himself up ambitiously and arrogantly, he laid hold of pride.
LXXXII. A mind that rejects prudence and turns itself toward ignorance is not only simple in speech, but also in knowledge.
LXXXIII. Just as the wisdom of speech is one thing, and understanding another; so the ignorance of speech is one thing, and lack of wisdom another.
LXXXIV. Just as the ignorance of how to speak does not harm a pious man, so too eloquence does not harm the humble.
LXXXV. Do not say: "I do not know what I ought to do, and for that reason I am without blame if I do not do it." For if you do all the good things you know, the rest will subsequently be revealed to you, and you will understand one thing from another in a specific way.
LXXXVI. It does not profit you to know the later things before you have fulfilled the earlier ones; C for knowledge puffs up, producing no work, but charity edifies by enduring all things.
LXXXVII. Read the words of the holy Scripture through your deeds; and do not speak at length, vanity puffing you up over mere concepts.
LXXXVIII. He who abandons the effort of acting and clings only to knowledge holds a reed staff instead of a two-edged sword; which in time of war, as the Scripture says, will pierce and enter his hand, and in the sight of the enemies will inject its natural poison.
LXXXIX. God measures and weighs every thought. For it is possible for the same thing to be thought of either with passion or with moderation.
XC. Let him who performs a commandment not doubt that he will suffer temptation for it; for love toward Christ is tested through contraries.
XCI. Never neglect the care of your thoughts; for no conception can be hidden from God.
XCII. When you perceive a thought promising you human glory, know clearly that it is preparing shame for you.
XCIII. The enemy knows the justice of the spiritual law, and strives only to occupy the disposition of the intellect. For in this way he will either render captive to himself one who is repentant, or afflict with grave calamities one who is not repenting.
XCIV. Sometimes he will provoke one to resist afflictions, in order that he may thus multiply the sorrows; and
prove the man to be faithless.
XCV. Against imminent misfortune many have opposed many things; but without prayer and repentance, no one has been able to escape his fate.
XCVI. The things that are evil receive their strength by degrees and little by little; and likewise, the things that are good increase through one another; and they urge their participant ever forward toward greater things.
XCVII. The devil makes light of small sins; for otherwise he could not lead a man to a greater evil or vice.
XCVIII. The root of shameful desire is human praise; just as also the proof of vice is not when we hear of it, but when we accept it without reluctance. B
XCIX. He who has renounced his goods but indulges in pleasures has gained nothing; for what he was doing while possessing wealth, he practices also when possessing nothing.
C. Again, if a temperate man possesses wealth, he is the brother of the former in his inward perception; he is of the same mother because of the spiritual pleasure, but of a different father because of the change of his passion.
CI. There is one who cuts off a passion for the sake of obtaining a greater pleasure; and thus, by those ignorant of his goal, he is praised. Perhaps, however, he is ignorant of himself, in that he perturbs himself with useless labor. C
CII. The cause of all wickedness is vainglory and pleasure; and he who has not hated these will never cast off his passion.
CIII. Avarice has been called the root of all evils; but even this clearly consists through those things. For the mind is blinded by these three passions, I mean: avarice, vainglory, and pleasure.
CIV. I say [these are] the three daughters of the leech; they are, according to the divine Scripture, loved with the highest love by their mother, folly.
CV. Knowledge and faith, the foster-sisters of our nature, have been blunted by nothing else than by these.
CVI. Fury and wrath, and war and murders, and the rest of the catalogue of vices, have strongly prevailed among men because of these.
CVII. D Thus should avarice, vainglory, and pleasure be hated, as the mothers of vices and the stepmothers of virtues.
CVIII. For this reason we are commanded not to love the world, nor the things that are in the world; and this is said, not that we should mindlessly hate the things created by God, but that we should prune away the occasions for those three passions.
CIX. No one, says the Apostle, serving as a soldier for God, entangles himself with the affairs of this life; for he who wishes to overcome the passions while entangled in these is like one trying to extinguish a fire with straw.
CX. He who is angered for the sake of wealth, or glory, or pleasure
A toward his neighbor, has not yet recognized that God administers worldly affairs with justice.
CXI. When you hear the Lord saying, "Whoever does not renounce all that he possesses is not worthy of me," do not interpret this saying as applying only to the abandonment of wealth, but also to all deeds of vice and wickedness.
CXII. He who does not know the truth cannot truly believe. For knowledge, by nature, precedes faith.
CXIII. Just as God has assigned to each of the things that are seen what is natural to it, so too has He done for human thoughts, whether we will it or not.
CXIV. If someone who sins openly and obstinately, and does not repent, suffers nothing until the end of his life, do not doubt that upon him will come judgment without mercy.
CXV. He who prays with a sound heart endures what is brought upon him; but he who harbors grudges has not yet prayed purely. B
CXVI. If you suffer a loss, or are insulted, or are persecuted by someone, do not dwell on the present, but wait for the future; you will find that he has become the cause of many goods for you, not only in the present, but also in the age to come.
CXVII. Just as bitter wormwood is beneficial to those with raw and indigestible stomachs, so it is useful for those of evil conduct to endure evils. For these medicines lead the former to obtain good health, and the latter to embrace repentance.
CXVIII. But if you do not wish to suffer evils, do not wish to do evil; for the latter is inseparably accustomed to accompany the former. For whatever each man sows, that he will also reap.
CXIX. Since we sow evils willfully but reap them involuntarily, we ought to marvel at the justice of God. Because a certain time has been set between seedtime and harvest, we are C faithless regarding the retribution.
CXX. If you have committed some shameful sin, do not blame the deed itself, but rather the intention of your mind. For if the mind had not run ahead, the body would never have followed.
CXXI. The secret evildoer is much more wicked than those who sin openly; therefore, he will also be punished with a more severe penalty.
CXXII. He who weaves deceits through guile and secretly harms his neighbor is a serpent, according to the Scripture, which lies in wait on the path and bites the horse's heel.
CXXIII. He who for the same reason praises his neighbor to one person while disparaging him to another is clearly mastered by vainglory and envy; by his praise he tries to hide his envy, and by his disparagement he tries to show himself to be more excellent than the other. D
A CXXIV. Just as it is not possible to pasture sheep and wolves together, so it is in no way possible for one who deals deceitfully with his neighbor to obtain mercy.
CXXV. He who surreptitiously mixes his own will with a command enjoined upon him is an adulterer, as is made clear in Wisdom, and because of his lack of understanding, he incurs pain and ignominy.
CXXVI. Just as the association of water and fire is contrary, so justice for oneself and humility are contrary to one another.
CXXVII. Let him who seeks the forgiveness of sins love humility; but he who condemns another seals his own evils.
CXXVIII. Do not leave a sin unwashed away, even if it happens to be very small, so that it may not later drag you down into a greater evil.
CXXIX. If you desire to be saved, love the true word, and never rashly turn away from a rebuke.
CXXX. A true word altered the brood of vipers and showed them how to flee from the wrath to come.
CXXXI. He who receives the words of truth will receive the Word of God; for the Lord says: He who receives you, receives me.
CXXXII. The paralytic who was let down through the roof is the sinner who is rebuked by the faithful according to God, and who receives forgiveness because of their faith.
CXXXIII. It is better to pray for one's neighbor with fear than to rebuke him in every matter.
CXXXIV. He who truly repents is mocked by the foolish. But this is for him a proof of his pleasing of God.
CXXXV. He who strives exercises self-control in all things, and will not cease until the Lord destroys the seed from Babylon.
CXXXVI. Consider the passions of sin to be eleven; if you willingly love one of them, it will occupy the place of all eleven.
CXXXVII. Sin is a burning fire. As much as you cut away the fuel, so much will it be extinguished; and as much as you add to it, so much will it be inflamed.
CXXXVIII. If you are puffed up by praise, expect dishonor. For it says: He who exalts himself shall be humbled.
CXXXIX. When we have cast out all voluntary malice from the mind, then we shall fight against the passions that anticipate the mind.
CXL. Preoccupation of the mind is the involuntary memory of former evils or vices, which is prevented by the struggler from breaking out into a passion, and is overturned by the victor even before the onset.
CXLI. An onset is an imageless movement of the heart, a hidden judgment holding fast in those who are experienced.
CXLII. Where there are images of thoughts, there has been B C D
A assensio; for it is a movement free of images, an onset without cause. There is also he who flees from these, as a log or ember from a fire; and there is, again, he who does not return until the flame has been consumed and has subsided.
CXLIII. Do not say: "That which I do not want happens." For in every way, even if you did not at all want it, it is likely that you love the causes of the thing that has happened. B CXLIV. He who hunts for praise falls into passions; and while bewailing the tribulation that has come upon him, he loves rest.
CXLV. As if on a balance, the thought of one who seeks pleasures fluctuates; sometimes he weeps and bewails his sins, but soon he fights and contradicts his neighbor, excusing and defending his pleasures.
CXLVI. He who proves all things and holds fast to what is good will consequently abstain from every form of evil.
CXLVII. A long-suffering man is endowed with much wisdom; likewise he who lends his ear to the words of wisdom.
CXLVIII. Without the remembrance or memory of God, true knowledge C cannot subsist. For without the former, the latter is spurious and illegitimate.
CXLIX. A word of more subtle and acute knowledge does not benefit a man endowed with a heavy heart, because, on account of pride, he cannot undergo the labor of repentance.
CL. Credulity is beneficial to a meek man, in that he does not test the long-suffering of God and is not struck down by frequent transgression.
CLI. Do not rebuke a powerful man for ambition and vain glory, but rather show him the ignominy of future damnation; for in this way an intelligent and prudent man is rebuked without difficulty.
CLII. He who hates rebuke is still subject to the passions in his intention. But he who loves it is, clearly, carried away by a preoccupation of the mind. D
CLIII. Do not wish to hear the wicked deeds of others; for by such a desire to hear, the characters of these wicked acts are also nourished.
CLIV. If you hear slanderous speech, be angry with yourself, not with him who spoke; for the auditor of wicked things becomes a wicked messenger.
CLV. If anyone happens upon talkative men, he should deem himself responsible for such words, even if not from a recent conversation, but from an ancient debt.
CLVI. If you see someone praising you with simulation and hypocrisy, expect also to receive from him, in due time, vituperation.
CLVII. Exchange present tribulations for future goods, and thus no difficulty will ever frustrate your struggle.
CLVIII. When, on account of some external—that is, bodily—largesse, you praise a man as a good person apart from God, later he will appear wicked to you.
CLIX. Every good thing comes from the Lord in accordance with His dispensation.
CLX. Accept the common entanglements of good and evil things with an equable mind; and in this way God averts the occasions of inequality. CLXI. The inequality of thoughts brings about the improper change of one's own affairs; for God distributes involuntary things in accordance with voluntary ones in a fitting manner. B CLXII. External works proceed from intelligible ones, and according to the divine decree, they provide what is necessary. CLXIII. To a heart indulging in delights, pestilential thoughts spring up; and in the smoke we recognize the underlying fuel. CLXIV. Remain constant in the soul, and you will feel no trouble in temptations; but departing thence, you will suffer what comes upon you. CLXV. Pray to God that temptation may not come upon you; but if it should come, accept it as your own, and not as another's. CLXVI. Remove your thought from all covetousness, and you will then be able to see the wiles of the devil. CLXVII. He who says that he knows all the wiles of the devil does not know that he himself is rendering himself perfect. CLXVIII. When the mind has departed from bodily cares, it sees according to their proportion the deceits of the enemies. CLXIX. He who is led by thoughts is blinded by them; and he certainly sees the operations of sins, but he cannot see their causes. C CLXX. There is one who openly performs a commandment while serving a passion, and through wicked thoughts eclipses the good work. CLXXI. While you are involved in the beginning of an evil, do not say: "It will not conquer me." For insofar as you are involved in it, to that extent you have already been conquered. CLXXII. Each of the things that happen begins from small origins; and so, being nourished little by little, it receives its growth. CLXXIII. The method of wickedness is a complex net; he who is partially entangled in it, if he is negligent, is at length constrained in all his members. CLXXIV. Do not wish to hear of the misfortunes of enemy men. For those who gladly listen to words of this kind reap the fruits of their own intent. CLXXV. Do not think that every affliction or tribulation happens to men because of sin; for there are some who please God and are yet tested by temptations. For it is written: "The ungodly and the wicked shall be persecuted." Similarly it is written: D "All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (II Tim. III, 12). CLXXVI. In the time of tribulation, look at the onset of the tribulation; for if the addition consoles the tribulation, the tribulation becomes sweet and easy. CLXXVII. Some call those prudent who are discerning.
But they are truly prudent who are masters of their own wills.
CLXXVIII. Before the removal of vices, beware of obeying your heart. For as are the suggestions it harbors, such are the additions it seeks.
CLXXIX. Just as there are serpents encountered in the woods, and others lurking in houses, so there are passions formed within the mind, and others latent in deeds, even if they are often transmuted from one form into another.
CLXXX. When you see evil desires moving with certainty, and the mind which was at rest being provoked by them into passion, know then that the mind had previously been their leader, and had brought them into action, and had placed them into the heart.
CLXXXI. A cloud is not formed without the spirit of the wind, nor is any passion generated without a thought.
CLXXXII. If we no longer do the will of the flesh, according to the Scripture, the desires conceived in the mind will easily cease in the Lord.
CLXXXIII. The substantial images A of the mind are worse and stronger; furthermore, the rational ones are their causes and leaders.
CLXXXIV. There is a vice by which the heart is held fast on account of long-standing preoccupation of the mind. Again, there is another that attacks the mind through daily actions.
CLXXXV. God estimates actions according to the purpose. For *may the Lord grant you*, he says, *according to your heart*. [Ps. XIX, 5]
CLXXXVI. He who does not persevere constantly in the contemplation of conscience, neither does he accept corporal labors to be endured for the sake of piety. llbracketC
CLXXXVII. Conscience is a natural book. Whoever reads it strenuously and seriously will receive the experience of divine assistance.
CLXXXVIII. Whoever does not spontaneously undertake labors to defend the truth, will be punished by much heavier and more bitter things, even against his will.
CLXXXIX. He who has perceived the will of God, and has performed it to the best of his ability, will escape the greatest difficulties through modest labors.
CXC. He who wishes to overcome temptations without prayer and patience will by no means deflect them from himself, but will be more entangled in them. llbracketD
CXCI. The Lord lies hidden within His own commandments; He is found by those who seek Him to the extent that He is sought by them.
CXCII. Do not say, "I have satisfied the commandments, and yet I have not found the Lord." For you have frequently found knowledge accompanied by righteousness. But those who seek Him rightly will find peace.
CXCIII. Moreover, peace is the liberation of the passions. This, however, as the blessed Apostle says, is not found without the cooperation of the Holy Ghost. [I Cor. XII, 11]
CXCIV. One thing is the execution of a commandment, and another is virtue, even if
and that they may all take from one another the occasions for good things. A
CXCV. The execution of a command is said to be that which has been ordained to be done by the work itself; but virtue consists in this, that what has been done should please the Truth.
CXCVI. Just as riches are one thing in their sensible nature but manifold in their possession, so too is virtue one, having diverse actions by which it is perfected.
CXCVII. Whoever prospers from iniquity without toil, by deceiving others and pouring forth words, shall find his own labors, according to Scripture, migrating into the houses of others.
CXCVIII. All things obey gold, he says, and by the grace of B God are the things of the mind governed.
CXCIX. A good conscience is found through prayer, and pure prayer through a conscience; for by nature the one has need of the other.
CC. Jacob prepared a variegated tunic for his son Joseph, and the Lord grants to the meek the knowledge of truth, as it is written: He will teach the meek his ways (Ps. xxiv, 9).
CCI. Always work the good to the best of your ability, and in time of a greater task, do not turn yourself back toward what is less. For he who turns back, says Christ, is not fit for the kingdom of heaven (Luke ix, 62).
OPUSCULE II
C De his qui putant se ex operibus justificari. (On those who think they are justified by works.)
I. The misbelief regarding external things, in those written below, is refuted by those who firmly believe and have known the truth.
II. The Lord, wishing to show that we are debtors to the entire law, and that the adoption of sons was given freely to men by his own blood, says: When you have done all that has been commanded you, say: We are useless servants, and we have done what we ought to have done (Luke xvii, 10). Therefore the kingdom of heaven is not a wage for D works, but the grace of the Master, prepared for faithful servants.
III. A servant does not demand freedom as if it were a wage due to him, but acquiesces as a debtor, perceiving the kindness of the master and receiving it out of grace.
IV. He who died for our sins according to the Scriptures also freely bestows freedom upon those who serve him faithfully and uprightly. For he says: Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many; enter into the joy of your Lord (Matt. xxv, 21–23).
Treatise II
V. A servant is not yet to be called faithful who relies solely on knowledge; but he who in faith adheres to Christ, who gives the commandment, through obedience. A VI. He who honors his master, performs the things commanded: but he who strays or is disobedient, endures what comes to him as his own doing. VII. Being a lover of learning, become also a lover of labor; for bare knowledge is wont to puff up a man. VIII. Temptations which happen to us unexpectedly instruct us in a providential way to be lovers of labor, and draw us even against our will to repentance. IX. Tribulations which happen to men are born from their own vices; but if we endure them through prayer, we shall again find a supply of good things. X. Some, being praised for the brightness and excellence of their virtue, have exulted with joy, and have deemed the pleasure of their own ambition to be an encouragement. Others, having been rebuked for sins, have grieved or suffered, and have reckoned the useful sorrow or labor to be an operation B of wickedness. XI. Whoever, on the occasion of struggles, insolently exalt themselves against men of lower condition, they imagine that they will obtain justification from bodily and external works. But as many as, leaning only on bare knowledge, despise the ignorant, these are to be considered far more foolish than the former. XII. Apart from the works of virtue, knowledge is not yet firm, even if it happens to be true. Wherefore, for every thing, work is the confirmation. XIII. Not infrequently, through the negligence which is committed regarding the operation of any thing, knowledge also Is darkened. For of those things whose operations have been altogether neglected, the memory of these also will fade away gradually and bit by bit. C The Scripture therefore suggests that we should know and understand God, in order that we may rightly serve Him through works. XIV. When we openly fulfill the commandments, we receive special things from the Lord, according to His dispensation; but we are aided according to the aim of our purpose. XV. He who has a mind to do something, but cannot, is accounted as having done it before God, the knower of hearts. This is to be understood both in regard to good and evil things. XVI. The human mind, without the body, performs many good and evil things; but the body, without the mind, can perform nothing of these. Wherefore the law of liberty is known D before the work. XVII. Some, not doing the commandments, yet imagine that they believe rightly. Again, there are some who do them, and who hope to receive the kingdom of heaven as a due reward: both of these shall be frustrated and fall short of the possession of the heavenly kingdom.
A XVIII. No reward is owed to servants by a master; nor, again, do they obtain liberty and manumission unless they serve rightly.
XIX. If Christ died for us, according to the Scriptures, and we do not live for ourselves, but for him who died and rose again for us, it is evident that we owe him our service even unto death. How, then, shall we think that the adoption of sons is owed to us?
XX. Christ is Lord both by essence and by economy, because he created us when we were not, and redeemed us with his own blood when we were dead in sin, and to those who believe in this way, he has freely given his grace.
XXI. When you hear the Scripture saying that he will render to each according to his works, it does not speak of works worthy of hell or of the kingdom; but Christ renders to each the works of his own unbelief or faith—not as a dealer in commodities, but as God, our Creator and Redeemer.
XXII. Whoever among us have been deemed worthy of the laver of regeneration, we do not offer good works for the sake of retribution, but for the preservation of the purity and cleanliness granted to us.
XXIII. Every good work which we perform through our own nature merely serves to make us abstain from the contrary evil or vice. But beyond grace, it cannot provide us with an increase of sanctification.
XXIV. He who possesses temperance abstains from gluttony; he who is detached from wealth, from avarice; the quiet person, B from talkativeness; the pure, from pleasures; the modest, from fornication; the self-sufficient, from the love of money; the gentle, from turmoil; the humble-minded, from vainglory; the submissive, from contention; he who reproves, from hypocrisy. Similarly, he who prays abstains from unbelief and doubt; the poor man, from the love of money; the confessor, from denial; the martyr, from idolatry. Do you see how all virtue performed even until death is nothing other than an abstinence from sin? And abstinence from sin is a work of nature, not an equivalent for the kingdom: man can scarcely preserve the things of his own nature, but Christ, through the cross, bestows the adoption of sons. C
XXV. There is a particular commandment, and there is another that is general. The former commands in part that one should share with the one who has not; the latter commands that one should renounce all present possessions.
XXVI. There is an operation of grace unknown to the foolish. And there is another of vice, which is assimilated to the truth. It is good, however, not to judge such things, for the sake of error, nor again to condemn them, for the sake of truth; but all things should be offered to God in hope. For he himself knows the usefulness of both.
A XXVII. He who wishes to cross the intellectual sea is long-suffering, humble, vigilant, and temperate. If he attempts to enter it without these four, he throws his heart into turmoil but cannot make the crossing.
XXVIII. Quiet is profitable, as it brings rest from vices. But if one also takes the four virtues as a helper in prayer, there is nothing more expeditious for this than attaining total dispassion.
XXIX. It is impossible to pacify the mind without the body, nor to break down the middle wall of partition between them without quiet and prayers.
XXX. *The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.* But those who walk in the Spirit do not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
XXXI. There is no perfect prayer without invocation proceeding from the soul; the Lord hears the mind that cries out incessantly.
XXXII. The mind that is incessantly devoted to prayers afflicts and breaks the heart: *A broken and humbled heart, God will not despise.*
XXXIII. Prayer is also called a virtue, even though it is the mother of them; for it generates them through the connection with Christ.
XXXIV. If we work without prayer and good hope, it turns out later to be harmful and imperfect.
XXXV. When you hear: *The last will be first, and the first last,* understand it as referring to participants in virtues and participants in love. For love is the last of the virtues in the order of generation, but it is found to be the first of all in dignity, showing those that were born before it to be last.
XXXVI. If you become torpid from sloth, and are vexed in manifold ways by vices, remember your departure [from this life] and the bitter punishments.
XXXVII. It is better to cling to God through prayer and hope than to harbor memories of external things, even if they should be good and useful.
XXXVIII. No virtue, by itself alone, opens our natural door, unless all [virtues] are consecutively dependent upon one another.
XXXIX. He is not temperate who is nourished by thoughts; for even if they are useful, they are not more profitable than hope. (Note: The Latin text here says *præstantiores*—better/more excellent—than hope).
D XL. Every sin that is foreign to repentance is subject to death, regarding which, even if a saint intercedes for another, he will not be heard.
XLI. He who truly repents does not consider his labor to be equal to his former sins, but always conciliates God by means of himself.
XLII. If we were obliged daily to accomplish whatever good things our nature possesses, what remains for us to render to God for our past vices?
XLIII. Whatever increase of virtue we have made today is a proof of past negligence, not a compensation.
XLIV. He who is afflicted in mind and rests in body is like him who is afflicted in body and rejoices in mind, and
the A voluntary affliction, whether it comes from one or the other, contributes to the other—that of the mind to the fleshly, and that of the flesh to the mind; for their separation only makes them worse.
XLV. It is a great virtue to endure what happens and to love those who hate us, according to the word of the Lord. And the forgiveness of injuries is a sign of unfeigned love, which knows not how to pretend.
XLVI. It is impossible to forgive someone their faults from the heart without true knowledge; for this shows what happens to each person.
XLVII. You shall suffer no loss of any thing that you have left for the Lord’s sake; for it will return to you at its proper time with manifold interest.
XLVIII. Whenever the human mind forgets the goal of piety, then the manifest work of virtue is rendered useless.
XLIX. If rashness without counsel turns out unhappily for every man, it does so much more for those who remove the diligence of careful investigation from their midst.
L. Philosophize in deed concerning the counsel of man and the retribution of God; for no discourse or argument is wiser than action.
LI. Retribution follows labors undertaken for piety. B This, however, is to be known through divine law and conscience.
LII. One has received prudence and has conquered thoughtlessly; another has received it and judged with truth. We must seek which of them has acted more religiously.
LIII. The sign of true knowledge is the endurance of afflictive things, and not to assign the blame for one's own calamities to men.
LIV. He who does good and seeks a reward does not serve God, but his own will. Nor is it possible for one who has sinned to escape retribution, unless through a repentance suitable and appropriate to the fault.
LV. Some say: "We cannot do good unless we have clearly received the grace of the Holy Spirit." But such people, always intent on pleasures by the disposition of their minds, C excuse themselves from doing what they can, as if they were destitute of all help.
LVI. Grace has indeed been given in a mysterious and hidden way to those who have been baptized in Christ; but it works according to the proportion of the performance of the commandments. And the grace does not cease to help us secretly, but it lies with us to do or not to do good according to our ability. First, it divinely excites the conscience. Whence even evildoers, having changed their life for the better through repentance, have become acceptable to God. Again, it is hidden in the instruction of one's neighbor. There are also times when it follows our thought in the reading of the sacred Scriptures, D and through this natural order it teaches the mind its own truth. If, therefore, we do not bury the talent of this partial order, we shall manifestly enter into the joy of the Lord.
A LVII. He who seeks the help or efficacy of the Spirit before following the commandments is like a slave bought for money, who, as soon as he is purchased, seeks a certificate of freedom along with the price of his purchase.
LVIII. He who finds external condemnation coming from the justice of God, that person, in seeking the Lord, has found knowledge after justification.
LIX. If you understand, according to Scripture, that the judgments of the Lord are in all the earth, whatever happens to you will teach you divine knowledge.
LX. To each person, according to their capacity of mind, there occurs what they ought to do; but the variety of appropriate success only God knows.
LXI. When you suffer some ignominy from men, immediately consider the recompense of the glory that is from God; and thus, that ignominy cast upon you by men will bring you no sadness or perturbation; but because of that glory you will be found faithful and irreprehensible when it arrives.
LXII. When you are praised by a multitude according to the will of God, take care that you do not mix any ostentation into the Lord’s dispensation, lest, a change having occurred, you again fall into the contrary.
LXIII. Seed will not grow to reach its increase without earth and rain; nor will a person gain any benefit without voluntary labors and divine help.
LXIV. Rain is not poured out without clouds, nor is it possible to please God without a good conscience.
B LXV. Do not refuse to learn, even if you are exceedingly prudent; for the dispensation of God is more useful than our prudence.
LXVI. When the heart has been moved by the titillation of pleasure from the place of voluntary labor, then, like a very heavy stone running down a slippery place, it can be held with difficulty.
LXVII. Just as an inexperienced calf running in the grass is carried to a precipice: so is the soul found that has been gradually agitated or fed by thoughts.
LXVIII. When the mind, having grown virile in the Lord, has withdrawn the soul from temporal occupation, then the heart is tormented as if by torturers, as the mind and the affections pull it this way and that.
LXIX. Just as those who sail on the sea willingly endure the heat of the sun: so those to whom vices are hateful love reproof. For the one contends against the winds, but the other against the affections.
C LXX. Just as flight in winter or on the Sabbath is a pain to the body and a profanation to the soul: so is the resuscitation of the affections to an aging body and a sanctified soul.
LXXI. No one is of such goodness and mercy as God; but to one who is unwilling to repent, He himself does not grant forgiveness.
LXXII. There are many of us to whom sins bring sadness; yet we willingly embrace their causes. D
A LXXIII. The mole crawling under the earth, being blind, cannot see the stars; and he who has no faith in God regarding temporal things cannot believe in eternal ones.
LXXIV. Grace for grace, true knowledge has been given to men by God, teaching those who participate in it to believe, above all else, in the Giver.
LXXV. When a soul is subject to sins and does not accept the tribulations that befall it, then the angels say concerning it: We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed.
LXXVI. A mind that forgets true knowledge engages in conflict with men over things that are contrary to it, as if they were beneficial.
LXXVII. Just as fire cannot last in water, so neither can an impure thought last in a heart that loves God, for everyone who is a lover of God is also a lover of labor; for voluntary labor is by nature an enemy to pleasure. B
LXXVIII. A passion that has gained a foothold through the will comes to be aroused violently afterward, even against the will of the one who partakes of it.
LXXIX. We love the causes of the thoughts that arise in us against our will, and for this reason, the events themselves also follow, clearly through our own volition.
LXXX. Self-conceit and arrogance are the causes of blasphemy; avarice and vainglory are the causes of unmercifulness and hypocrisy.
LXXXI. When the devil sees that the mind has prayed from the heart, then he brings against it great and cunning thoughts. For he does not endure that small acts of virtue should overthrow his great assaults. C
LXXXII. A thought that lingers signifies the disposition of the man; but one that is quickly dispelled signifies war and resistance.
LXXXIII. There are three intellectual places into which the mind enters through change: according to nature, contrary to nature, and above nature. And when it enters into that which is according to nature, it finds itself to be the cause and author of evil thoughts, and it confesses its sins to God, recognizing the causes of the passions. But when it becomes one that is contrary to nature, it forgets the justice of God and struggles against men as if they were doing it an injury. But when it is introduced into that which is above nature, it finds the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which the Apostle mentioned: love, joy, peace, and the rest. And it knows that if it prefers the cares of the body, it cannot remain there. And departing from that place, it falls into sin and into the terrible consequences that follow it, if not immediately, then in His own time, as the justice of God knows. D
LXXXIV. Such is the true knowledge of each person, to the extent that gentleness, humility, and love have made it firm.
A LXXXV. Everyone who is baptized in an orthodox manner has received all grace mystically; he comes to the full assurance of this, however, subsequently through the doing of the commandments. LXXXVI. A commandment of Christ performed according to conscience grants consolation in proportion to the multitude of the sorrows of the heart. Nevertheless, each of these is brought to pass in its own time. LXXXVII. Maintain constant prayer in every matter, as one who is unable to accomplish anything apart from divine help. LXXXVIII. There is nothing more effective or powerful than prayer for securing the help of God, and nothing more useful for attaining His good pleasure. LXXXIX. Every execution of the commandments is enclosed within prayer. For there is nothing spoken of as higher than the love for God. XC. Attentive prayer is a sign of love for God that persists. But negligence and a distracted state of mind in regard to it are proofs of a love for pleasure. XCI. He who keeps vigil without pain and struggle, is long-suffering, and is free for prayers, clearly is a partaker of the Holy Spirit. But he who is afflicted in these things, yet persists constantly in his will, shall quickly obtain help in that way as well. XCII. One commandment is shown to be more excellent than another; therefore, faith is also found to be firmer than faith. There is faith from hearing, according to the Apostle, and there is faith that is the substance of things hoped for. XCIII. It is good to benefit those who ask by means of words, but it is far better to cooperate with them through virtue and prayer; for he who offers himself to God through these things helps his neighbor through his own assistance. XCIV. But if you wish to assist one who desires to learn with a brief word, show him prayer, and correct faith, and the endurance of things that befall one; for all the other good things are found through these. XCV. As for the things for which someone has hoped in God, by reason of these he no longer contends with his neighbor. XCVI. If every involuntary occurrence has its cause and origin from voluntary things, according to Scripture, no one is so hostile to a man as he is to himself. He calls the thought "voluntary," but the occurrence "involuntary." XCVII. Of all evils, ignorance is the leader, and second after it is unbelief. XCVIII. Temptation is to be fled by means of patience and prayer; but if you oppose it apart from these, it will attack you all the more violently. XCIX. He who, according to the doctrine of Christ, is gentle, is wiser than the wise, and he who is humble in heart is more powerful than the powerful, because such as these bear the yoke of Christ according to knowledge.
C Whatever we either say or do apart from prayer proves afterwards to be either erroneous or harmful, and argues that we are divorced from all knowledge of reality.
CI. Justification comes through works, and words, and thought; but from faith, and grace, and repentance, many treasures proceed.
CII. Just as it is alien to one who is repenting to be proud in heart, so it is impossible for one who sins of his own will to be humble.
CIII. Humility is not the condemnation of the conscience, but the recognition of the grace of God and of a sympathetic disposition.
CIV. What the sensible house is to the common air, that the rational mind is to the divine grace.
CV. As much matter as you cast out, so much will retreat; and as much as you throw in, so much will take its place.
CVI. The matter of a house is furniture and food; but the matter of the mind is pleasure and the desire for empty glory.
CVII. The capacity of the heart is hope in God; but its constriction is the care of bodily things.
CVIII. The grace of the Spirit is one and immutable; yet it works in each according to how it wills.
CIX. Just as rain, when poured upon the earth, provides a quality appropriate to the plants—sweet to the sweet, and bitter to the bitter—so also grace, descending upon the hearts of the faithful and B continually flowing into them, bestows actions that are fitting to their virtues. To him who hungers for Christ’s sake it becomes food, and to him who thirsts, a most delightful drink; to him who is cold, a garment; to him who is weary, rest; to him who prays, hope of the heart; and to him who mourns, consolation.
CX. When therefore you hear the holy Scripture saying about the holy Spirit that he sat upon each one of the apostles, or that he leaped upon the prophet, or that he works, or is grieved, or is quenched, or is exasperated; and again, that some have the first fruits of the Spirit, while others are full of the holy Spirit—do not think of any section, or twisting, or change in the holy Spirit in your mind; but believe as we have said before, that he is immutable, immovable, and omnipotent. C For this reason he also remains and is active in actions, and preserves what is proper to each one in a divine manner. For he, like the sun, has been shed perfectly upon the baptized. Yet each one of us is illuminated in proportion as he has hated the darkening passions and taken them out of the way. But as much as he loves them and turns them over in his mind, by so much is he darkened.
CXI. He who has hated the passions removes and cuts off their causes. But he who occupies himself with the causes is, even against his will, warred upon by the passions.
CXII. When we are irritated or... by evil thoughts.
provoked, let us accuse ourselves, and not some ancestral sin. A
CXIII. The roots of evil thoughts are open vices, which each of us casts forth with hands, feet, and mouth.
CXIV. It is not permissible to engage in conversation with the passions by design, unless we have discerned their causes and occasions. For who, despising baseness, embraces the cultivation of vain glory? Or who, loving contempt, would be troubled on account of an indignity received? Who, moreover, having a heart contrite and humbled, would accept carnal pleasure? Or who, clinging to Christ with perfect and sincere faith, is anxious about temporal things, or fights contentiously for them?
CXV. He who is spurned by someone, and yet does not contend with the one who spurns him, neither by word nor in thought, possesses true knowledge and shows steadfast faith to the Lord. B
CXVI. The sons of men are liars in the balances, so that they may deceive, when nevertheless God preserves what is just for each.
CXVII. If no abundance increases for the deceiver, nor any scarcity for the one who is deceived, man walks about as an image, yet he is troubled in vain.
CXVIII. When you see someone grieving in much indignity, know that he is filled with thoughts of ambition, and is willingly reaping the sheaves of his heart’s sowing.
CXIX. He who enjoys bodily pleasures beyond what is proper will compensate for the excess with centuple labors.
CXX. He who is in authority should tell his subordinate his required duty; but if he is not listened to, he should announce the punishment for his evils.
CXXI. He who is harmed by someone, and yet does not seek the debt of vengeance from the one who harmed him, in that respect believes in Christ, and receives a hundredfold in this age, and will inherit eternal life. C
CXXII. The memory of God is a labor of the heart undertaken for piety. But everyone who forgets God becomes a lover of pleasure and devoid of all mercy.
CXXIII. Do not say that one who is free from the passions cannot be afflicted or grieve; for even if he need not do so for himself, he is nonetheless obligated to do so for his neighbor. D
CXXIV. When the enemy of sins has obtained many chirographs of those things that have been consigned to oblivion, then he compels the debtor to recall them even in his mind, reasonably abusing the account of the sin.
CXXV. If you wish to be mindful of God incessantly, do not turn away from his corrections and punishments as though they were unjust, but endure them as coming justly. For endurance in every untoward occurrence renovates and refreshes the memory. On the other hand, rejection and complaint diminish the cheerful labor of the heart, and thus, through relaxation, induce and beget forgetfulness.
[CXXXVI.] CXXVI. If you wish your sins to be covered by the Lord, do not make your own virtues manifest to men. For whatever we do in these matters, God will also do in those.
[CXXXVII.] CXXVII. While hiding a virtue, do not exalt yourself as if you had performed an act of justice. For justice is not only to hide what is good, but also not to conceive in one’s mind anything of those things which one has renounced.
[CXXXVIII.] CXXVIII. Do not rejoice when you have done a kindness to someone, but when you have borne the ensuing adversity without remembering the injuries received. For just as nights succeed days, so do vices succeed virtues.
[CXXXIX.] CXXIX. The pursuit of glory, avarice, and pleasure does not allow the offering of good works to remain immaculate, unless these are first cast down and destroyed by the fear of God.
[CXL.] CXXX. In involuntary pains, the mercy of God is hidden in a wonderful way, drawing the one who suffers to repentance and delivering him from eternal punishments.
[CXLI.] CXXXI. Some, while obeying the commandments, expect that they will outweigh their sins in the balance; others, however, through Him who died for our sins, insinuate themselves into the benevolence of God. It is to be questioned which of them holds the right opinion.
[CXLII.] CXXXII. The fear of Gehenna and the desire for Paradise provide patience in afflictions; and this is not from themselves, but from Him who knows our secret thoughts.
[CXLIII.] CXXXIII. He who has faith regarding future things abstains from the sweet and voluptuous things of this world, without anyone teaching him; but he who does not believe becomes a lover of pleasure and devoid of all mercy.
[CXLIV.] CXXXIV. Do not say: "How can a poor man indulge in pleasures, not having the occasion or means to serve them?" For someone can be most miserably addicted to the allurements of pleasure even by the thoughts of the heart alone.
[CXLV.] CXXXV. It is one thing to have knowledge of things, and another to have knowledge of the Truth. For as much as the sun is more excellent than the moon, by so much is the second more profitable than the first. The knowledge of things comes about in proportion to the execution of the commandments; but the knowledge of the Truth is in accordance with the measure of one's hope in Christ. If, therefore, you wish to be saved and to arrive at a knowledge of the Truth, strive always to transcend sensible things, and to cleave to God through hope alone. For thus, being warned far in advance as you go along, you will encounter principalities and powers, waging war against you through suggestions; but you will overcome these by prayer, and will persevere in the good hope of the grace of God, which will deliver you from the wrath to come.
[CXLVI.] CXXXVI. He who understands what is mystically said by saint Paul, asserting that our struggle is against the spiritual forces of wickedness, will also understand the parable of the Lord, which teaches that one ought always to pray and not lose heart.
[CXXXVII] The law commands to work for six days in a figurative sense, but on the seventh to rest; because the work of the soul is to benefit the needy with one's wealth, but its rest and Sabbath is to sell all things and give to the poor, according to the word of the Lord; and thus, through dispossession, to rest and repose in intellectual hope. To this rest, our Paul also earnestly urges us, saying: "Let us make every effort to enter that rest." We have said these things, not to exclude future rewards, nor to declare that the full retribution is here; but because it is necessary first to have the grace of the Holy Spirit working in the heart, and thus, according to one's capacity, to enter into the kingdom of heaven. The Lord, manifesting this, said: "The kingdom of heaven is within you." This also the Apostle said: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for"; and again: "So run, that you may obtain"; and again: "Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith. Do you not know that Christ Jesus is in you? Unless you are reprobates."
[CXXXVIII] He who has attained the knowledge of the truth does not struggle against afflictive visitations; for he knows that they lead a man to the fear of God.
[CXXXIX] Past sins, when recalled by their specific kind, harm a man established in good hope; for when they appear with sadness, they draw one away from hope; but when they are pictured without sadness, they defile the man with an old stain conceived in the mind.
[CXL] When the mind, through the renunciation and denial of vices, has grasped that hope is to be the sole object of contemplation, then the enemy, under the pretext of confession, depicts before the mind previously ingrained vices, in order to reawaken the passions that had been forgotten by the grace of God and secretly to harm the man. For then, even if he be clear and hostile to the passions, he will necessarily be darkened, held fast and confused by his past deeds. And if he be still clouded and a lover of pleasures, he will surely continue in that state and emotionally associate with the oncoming impressions, so that such a memory is found to be a preoccupation, not a confession. If you wish to offer to God an irreproachable confession, do not remember your transgressions by their specific kind (for you would greatly defile your mind), but bravely endure the assaults that come from them.
[CXLI] Those things which, from the habit of past sins, have introduced a certain nature, can by no means be cured.
[CXLII] One who is endowed with knowledge and knows the truth, confesses to God not by the memory of things done, but by the patience of things coming upon him.
[CXLIII] When you have cast away labor and ignominy, do not promise repentance through other virtues; for vainglory and
A sloth in prosperous circumstances are wont to serve sin.
CXLIV. Just as virtues are wont to be brought forth by labors and ignominy, so also are vices by pleasures and glory.
CXLV. Every bodily pleasure proceeds from a presumptuous license; and further, unbelief begets license.
CXLVI. He who is established in sins cannot alone overcome carnal pleasure. Wherefore he has an unrestless provocateur, one who presses upon his affections.
CXLVII. For those who are urged by affections, prayer and submission—or humiliation—is necessary; for scarce is it possible, even with the aid of the mind, to struggle against prior impressions.
B CXLVIII. He who struggles against the will with subjection and prayer is a very industrious and skillful athlete, who clearly demonstrates the struggle of the mind through abstinence from sensible things.
CXLIX. He who does not reconcile his own will to God is tripped up and overturned by his own exercises, and is overcome by his adversaries.
CL. When you see two wicked men joined together by mutual benevolence, know that the one cooperates with the will of the other.
CLI. The proud and the ambitious readily enter into familiarity with one another; for the former praises the ambitiously submissive like a slave, while the latter incessantly elevates the one who praises the proud.
C CLII. A hearer who loves the truth gains truth from both sides. For when he is borne witness to in good deeds, he becomes prompt and better; but in evil deeds, while he is rebuked, he is driven to repentance.
CLIII. It behooves us to order our life according to our progress, and according to that life we ought to offer prayers to God.
CLIV. It is indeed beautiful that we should grasp that most summary commandment, and be not anxious about anything in particular, nor pray for anything in particular, but seek only the kingdom of God, according to the Lord's word. If, however, we should think anxiously about every necessary thing, we must also pour out prayers to God for the attainment of each. For whoever does or thinks about anything without prayer will not meet with success in the end of the matter. And this is what the Lord said: Without me you can do nothing.
D CLV. For him who circumvents the commandment concerning prayer, more absurd acts of disobedience follow, one delivering the other to the next like a prisoner.
CLVI. He who welcomes the present troubles of this life in the expectation of future goods has found the knowledge of truth, and shall be quickly delivered from anger and sadness.
CLVII. He who chooses hardship and ignominy for the sake of the truth walks the apostolic path, having lifted upon his shoulders the cross.
and bound himself with the chain. But he who, without these two, attempts to govern his heart, wanders astray in his mind and falls into the temptations and snares of the devil.
CLVIII. Neither he who fights against evil thoughts without their causes, nor he who fights against causes without thoughts, ever conquers. For when we cast away one only, not long after, through the other, we are carried into both.
CLIX. He who fights with men out of fear of vexation and contempt will either be more abundantly vexed by pressures in this life, or will be pitilessly punished in the age to come.
CLX. He who desires to exclude the onset and impression of all evils ought to commend his affairs to God through prayers, and mentally grasp the hope which is in Him, while despising as much as he can the care of sensible things.
CLXI. When the devil finds a man occupied with bodily business without necessity, he first carries off the spoils of his knowledge, then he cuts off, as if it were the head, the hope which he has in God. B
CLXII. If ever you find a safe place of pure prayer, beware of accepting the knowledge of matters that the enemy suggests to you at that time, lest you lose that which is greater. For it is better to strike him with the darts of prayer in a closed-off place than to hold dialogue with him as he brings spoils, and is scheming to draw us away from the devotion of prayer which is directed against him. C
CLXIII. A place of affairs or business helps a man during a time of temptation and sloth; but during a time of pure prayer, it is wont to do harm.
CLXIV. If you have obtained the office of teaching in the Lord, and you are neglected by the one who is being taught, be afflicted in your mind, but do not be openly troubled. For while you are afflicted, you shall by no means be condemned with the one who does not obey; furthermore, if you become troubled, you will be tempted in the same matter.
CLXV. At the time when you have something to explain, do not wish to keep secret from those present things which are suitable to be said and heard. And as for the things which are honest and becoming, explain these more clearly, whereas those which are hard and obscure, explain enigmatically.
CLXVI. Do not reproach to his face one who is not subject to you for his error. For this would be a proof of power rather than of counsel. D
CLXVII. Things that are done in common for the many become useful to all. Individual things appear to each person according to [his] conscience.
CLXVIII. He who speaks rightly ought himself also to give thanks, as one who has received words from God. For the truth is not of the speaker, but of God who works.
CLXIX. Toward those from whom you do not have a confession of obedience, do not contend contentiously, resisting the truth, lest by your importunity you stir up hatred against the holy Scripture.
CLXX. He who [corrects] a subject who contradicts, where it is not [fitting to contradict]...
seduces himself in that matter, and casts contempt upon the covenants of obedience.
CLXXI. He who establishes the law through the fear of God, or chastises one who sins, secures and procures for himself the virtue contrary to the error. But he who is mindful of injuries and maliciously reproaches, falls into the same passion, according to the spiritual law.
CLXXII. He who has learned the law well, fears the Lawgiver; and hoping in Him, he turns away from every evil.
CLXXIII. Do not be double-tongued, showing yourself one way in speech, and another in conscience: for the Scripture places such a man under a curse.
CLXXIV. There is one who speaks the truth and is hated by the foolish, according to the Apostle; and there is one who dissembles, and is loved for this. Yet neither of these recompenses is long-lasting, because the Lord, in His own time, will recompense each according to what is fitting.
CLXXV. He who wishes to remove future tribulations ought to endure present ones gladly and willingly; for in this way, by B mentally accustoming himself to the matter, he will escape great things through small pains.
CLXXVI. See that you fortify your tongue against boasting, and your thought against conceit, lest, if you are left to yourself, you do the opposite. For good is not brought to perfection by man alone, but by the all-seeing God.
CLXXVII. The all-seeing God, just as He bestows worthy increases upon our works, so He does likewise for our thoughts and voluntary intentions.
CLXXVIII. Involuntary thoughts arise from a preceding sin; but voluntary ones arise from the C free and spontaneous will: whence it is found that the latter are the causes of the former.
CLXXIX. Sadness follows bad thoughts that occur against one’s intention; wherefore they also vanish in a brief moment. But those that occur according to one’s intention bring joy; whence it is that they can even be repelled with difficulty.
CLXXX. The lover of pleasure is afflicted with sadness in reproofs and vexations, but the man who loves God finds it in praises and abundance.
CLXXXI. He who does not know the judgments of God walks a path D that is precipitous on all sides according to his own mind, and is easily moved and driven by every wind; if he is praised, he grows proud and insolent; if he is reproved, he is provoked; if he is feasting, he acts lasciviously; if he is afflicted by evils, he laments; if he understands, he is carried away by ostentation; if he does not understand, he dissembles; if he abounds in wealth, he behaves arrogantly; if he is in poverty, he pretends to have riches at home; if he is satiated, he becomes fierce; if he fasts, he is a slave to vainglory; he contends with those who rebuke him; and he is insolently abusive to those who grant him pardon, as if they were fools. Therefore, if he does not seek through the grace of Christ the knowledge of the truth and the fear of God, he is grievously wounded not only by his passions, but also by outward circumstances.
A CLXXXII. When you have resolved in your mind to resolve some complicated cause or business, first see that you seek what is pleasing to God in it, and thus you will find a beneficial solution to that business.
CLXXXIII. In those things in which God is well-pleased, every creature also renders service; but in those which He turns away from, in like manner every creature also struggles against.
CLXXXIV. He who resists, opposing himself to sad adversities, unknowingly resists the command of God; but he who accepts them with true knowledge, he, according to Scripture, endures the Lord.
CLXXXV. When temptation comes, do not ask why or by whom it has come; but remember to endure it gratefully and without memory of injuries.
CLXXXVI. Another’s evil does not add sin, provided we do not receive it with evil thoughts.
CLXXXVII. If it is not easy to find one who has pleased God without temptations, thanks must be given to God in all things that happen to us.
CLXXXVIII. If Peter had not been frustrated in his nocturnal catch, he would never have attained the diurnal one; and if Paul had not been blinded corporally, he would never have received sight spiritually; and if Stephen had not been sycophantically accused as a blasphemer, he would by no means have seen the Lord with the heavens opened to him.
CLXXXIX. Just as activity according to God is called virtue, so an affliction contrary to expectation is called temptation.
CXC. God tempted Abraham, that is, He afflicted him for his own benefit, not that He might learn what kind of man he was (for He who knows all things knew him before he was born), B but that He might supply him with occasions for perfect faith.
CXCI. Every affliction proves the momentum or inclination of the will, whether it inclines to the right or to the left. Therefore, an accidental tribulation is called temptation, since it offers to the participant the experience of hidden wills.
CXCII. The fear of God compels us to fight against the depravity and malice of the soul; but when we engage in the fight, the Lord destroys it.
CXCIII. Wisdom is not only to know the truth through natural consequence, but to endure, C as if it were one’s own, the punishment of those who inflict injury. For those who remain in the former state are puffed up with pride; but those who have also reached the second state have attained humility.
CXCIV. But if you do not wish to be fatigued by evil thoughts, accept humility of soul and tribulation of the flesh. And this not just at times, but in every place, and time, and business.
CXCV. He who is chastened by afflictions with a voluntary mind is by no means seized by involuntary thoughts. But he who does not embrace the former is, even if unwilling, led captive by the latter.
ON THOSE WHO THINK THEY ARE JUSTIFIED BY WORKS
A CXCVI. When your heart and affections have hardened because you have been wronged, do not be grieved, because the matter at hand has been moved by divine disposition; but rather, rejoicing, turn away the burgeoning thoughts, knowing that once these have been removed at their very first impulse, those [affections] too are wont to be removed after the agitation. But if the thoughts persist, those [affections] are also accustomed to receive an increase.
CXCVII. Without a contrite heart, it is impossible to be completely freed from malice and vices. A tripartite temperance, however, crushes the heart—I mean as regards sleep, food, and bodily indulgence. But an excess of these produces pleasure, and pleasure introduces base thoughts. Moreover, it is opposed to prayer and proper service.
CXCVIII. When you have been given the task of instructing the brethren, guard your position; and take care, for the sake of those who contradict, not to pass over what is proper by silence. For in those matters where they obey, you will have a reward for their virtues; but in those where they disobey, you shall by all means forgive them, and you shall receive the like from Him who said: "Forgive, and it will be forgiven to you."
B CXCIX. Everything that happens to us is like a market. Whoever knows how to transact business gains much; but whoever does not know, suffers loss.
CC. Do not compel with contention someone who does not obey you at a single word, but rather secure for yourself the gain that he rejected. For your forbearance will be of more benefit than his correction.
CCI. When the harm of one person spreads and runs toward the many, then it is not time to be long-suffering, nor should one seek one’s own advantage, but that of the many, that we may be saved. For the virtue of the many is more powerful and excellent than the virtue of one.
CCII. If someone falls into any sin whatsoever, and is not grieved in proportion to the transgression, he will easily fall into the same net again.
CCIII. Just as a lioness does not approach a heifer with a friendly spirit, so does impudence not accept with favor the grief that is according to God.
CCIV. Just as a sheep contracts no association with a wolf for the sake of procreating offspring, so does heart-felt labor, when accompanied by gluttony, have no union for the sake of procreating virtues.
CCV. No one can possess labor and grief according to God unless he has first loved the causes of these.
CCVI. The fear of God and reproof admit grief; but temperance and wakefulness have an association with labor.
CCVII. Whoever is not taught or corrected by the commands and admonitions of Scripture shall be driven by the whip of a horse and the goad of an ass; but if he also resists these, his jaws shall be restrained with bit and bridle.
CCVIII. Whoever is easily overcome by small temptations is of necessity enslaved to the great ones; and whoever is of these...
contemptuous, resists even the greater things with the Lord’s help.
CCIX. Do not attempt to help by rebuking a man who is a boastful ostentator of his own virtues, for the reason that he cannot be patient of warnings or a lover of truth.
CCX. Every word of Christ reveals the mercy, justice, and wisdom of God, and instills the power of these virtues through hearing into those who listen gladly. Whence the unmerciful and unjust, not listening gladly, could not know the wisdom of God; nay, they even crucified those who spoke it. We must therefore see whether we listen to Him gladly. For He Himself said: "He who loves me will keep my commandments, and he will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." B You see how He has hidden the manifestation of Himself in the commandments?
CCXI. Of all the commandments, there is none that embraces more than the commandment of charity, which is toward God and one's neighbor. This consists and subsists in abstinence from material things and in the quiet of thoughts. Knowing this, the Lord commands us, saying: "Be not anxious for the morrow." And justly indeed; for he who is not freed from material things and anxiety over them, how shall he be freed from evil thoughts? C But he who is caught by thoughts, how can he see the certain sin lying hidden beneath them, or what are the darkness and fog of the soul, which occur through evil thoughts and words and deeds—partly by the devil tempting with a violent assault and showing the principle, and partly by man gladly conversing with it through love of pleasure and love of glory? For even if he did not desire it according to his judgment, yet according to his activity he was able to [perform it] and accepted it. But he who does not observe this sin, which spreads so widely, when at last will he pray to be cleansed from its contagion? D But, not yet cleansed from it, how will he find a place for the pure nature? Furthermore, he who has not found this, how can he perceive the inner house of Christ, if indeed we are the house of God according to the prophetic, and evangelical, and apostolic word? It behooves us, therefore, according to the consequence of the things premised, to seek this house, and by praying perseverantly to knock, so that either here or at our departure the master of the house may open to us, and may not say to the negligent: "I do not know you, whence you are." Moreover, we ought not only to ask and receive, but also to keep what has been given; for there are some who, even after receiving, lose it. Wherefore, a bare knowledge of the aforesaid things, or even a chance experience of them, perhaps even those who are slow in learning of intellect, and the young, apprehend and embrace; but the operation that persists with perseverance, scarcely even the pious and very experienced among the elders [attain it]; who not infrequently lost it through their own negligence, and through voluntary labors sought it again, and found it. Therefore let us not cease to do this same thing, until we possess it in such a way, just as they do, that it cannot be taken away from us again
We have thus known, from many, a few precepts of the spiritual law, which are also constantly recounted by the great Psalmist, so that they might be learned and practiced by those who sing the Psalms with some understanding in the Lord. To Him be glory unto the ages. Amen.
TREATISE III
B Concerning repentance, which is always necessary for all so that they may be able to work: which the faithful are wont to receive through the grace of baptism even before they work.A 1. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, providing for the salvation of all in founding the law of liberty with various kinds of dogmas, as was worthy of God, as He Himself knows, prescribed one aim convenient for all, saying: "Repent" (Matt. iv, 17); so that from this it is possible for us to recognize that all the variety of the commandments ends in one term of repentance, just as He also commanded the apostles in summary, saying: "Say to them: Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For He did not absolutely say this regarding the temporal nearness of the kingdom, as though it were impending over the world (for the Truth would not have laid down anything unsuitable to the circumstances; for those who were living at that time, and those after them, have fallen asleep without having experienced the universal consummation). But because the Lord knew that His own word held the power of both the kingdom and of repentance, He says, "Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For if this were not granted, how could it be said: C "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened" (Matt. xiii, 33)? Unless it be that the mind, having received the word of God, hides it in the tripartite hypostasis—I speak of body, spirit, and soul, according to the Apostle—and gathers all their subtlety, existing in the thoughts of the soul, like various flour, into one leaven of faith, expecting until it becomes altogether like the word that works in it. In this way, He likened the word of truth to a grain of mustard seed: which indeed is small while it is being sown in the heart of those hearing, but through its innate efficacy it grows, and as a great tree in an exalted place, so it becomes a house of refuge for minds that are troubled. This indeed truly came to pass when He said the apostles were clean because of the word which they had heard: inasmuch as they used the capacity D that refers the word to action, and because of this they became clean: "For the word of God is living and effectual" (Hebr. iv, 12). And for this reason, He condemned as unbelievers those who
were ignorant of Him, saying: "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin."
B II. We have said this, not as though we doubt the coming kingdom, which will surely come at its own proper times, though they are unknown to us; but because the word of the Lord contains within itself the same power of the kingdom, becoming to the faithful the substance of things hoped for, the earnest of the future inheritance, and the first-fruits of eternal goods; while to the unbelieving and profane, it is a substantial proof of their skepticism. Therefore He says: "Repent: the kingdom of heaven is at hand." If, then, the word shows those who only hear it to be debtors of action, by bringing into the heart the power of what is said, what shall we do, who have despised not only the force of words, but also of many and great benefits whose power has come upon us? We have hidden in the earth not only the one talent, but also the five and the two, carnaly abusing the benefits of the Lord. For even animals lacking reason, when they are treated well, obey the hand that leads them according to the capacity of their nature, so that the ferocity of wild beasts is converted into a disposition of obedience to their benefactor. How much more have we—who are adorned above all animals with free will—appeared more savage than the wild beasts themselves, and less rational than the irrational creatures? For they gladly engage in mutual interaction; whence, even while grazing, each is satisfied with what is nearby, and leaves what is at hand to another without envy. But we, who were ordered to preside over and rule the irrational creatures, have preferred the vice of our own nature; so that, even with no necessary cause compelling us, we conduct ourselves towards our own kind without mercy and with envy. Such, I believe, are the "serpents, a brood of vipers" that John called, urging those who had found repentance to flee from the wrath to come, and to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, commanding them to share one of their two tunics with him who has none, and to do likewise concerning food. Yet if He compared those who, before the faith, were ignorant of what they ought to do, to serpents because of their similar disposition and passions, would it not be an unpardonable evil to sin without fear after having received faith, knowledge, and gifts?
C III. Therefore, passing over the hidden things which each person can commit by their own decision, I shall rather recount those things which we commit while bearing a heavy spirit toward one another, especially toward those who seem to have offended us, not dealing with them with the humility or the greatness that is in accordance with God. For we openly exalt ourselves against the more obscure or the poorer ones, wishing to use them as if they were mercenaries or slaves, no longer vindicating our nobility in Christ, but in the flesh and in wealth. And when we see one of the more arrogant ones sinning, we are unable to rebuke him; but we say to those who happen by that it is written: "Judge not anything before the time, until the Lord comes." Yet, having found some small cause for complaint against those who are humbler, we immediately weigh upon them, seeking to show off and saying
A that it is written: "Rebuke the one who sins before all." And thus we perversely cover our own hypocrisy, or rather malice, with the testimonies of Scripture, while as for them, we act as if we were rebuking them according to God. This, then, is our behavior toward those of lower status. But toward those who are equal to us, we immediately turn away at some slight pretext, turning every stone in our mind to find a means of retaliation; and we do not become kindly disposed toward them until we have achieved our will against them. Having seized upon the same pretext, as if rejoicing in a good thing, we display our malice, and after we have taken our revenge, we then converse with them in a more friendly manner, laying as a foundation for a second friendship the victory of our previous malice. But it is entirely necessary that a work similar to the foundation should follow, and that we should again seek a quarrel, as if a friendship without strife could never last for one who wishes to win B, but rather that hatred must always follow victory, as the divine Scripture says: "Hatred stirs up strife." This sort of disease attaches itself to those who pursue the first places in honor and wealth, just as the chief among diseases is dysentery; which the blessed Paul also cures now, saying: "Outdoing one another in honor, preferring one another." Toward the humbler, or even our equals, this is how we are disposed. But the malice that is hidden and manifold toward those who are more powerful is not easy to express, nor even easy to comprehend. For we do not act toward those who are above us as if we were keeping a commandment, but we fawn upon those whom we cannot harm; and we look with an envious eye bitterly upon their successes, and we do not gladly C listen even to their happiness being proclaimed. Both in appearance and in words we peaceably flatter such people, while in our thoughts we are disposed toward them in the opposite way, so that what is said is fulfilled in us: "Those who speak peace with their neighbors, but evil is in their hearts."
IV. Regarding the Willful Sinner
IV. These things we have said concerning those who err involuntarily, wishing to show that those who sin willfully are different, and do not easily incline toward repentance. For how is it not willful, when they are unwilling to fulfill that of Daniel and find remission, when he says: "Redeem your sins with alms, and your iniquities with mercies for the poor"? But perhaps you will say: D "I do not have money; how shall I show mercy to the poor?" You do not have money, but you do have a will; renounce it [the money/the lack thereof], and do good with that. Are you unable to do good with a bodily hand? Do good with a right intention. When your brother sins against you, forgive him, according to the word of the Lord, and it will be alms for you. If we seek the remission of sins from God, we ought to do this same thing toward everyone, in the name of every transgression, so that there may come to pass that which was said: "Forgive, and it will be forgiven you." It is indeed a great thing for one who has money to distribute it to the poor; but in the case of sin...
it is A so much more excellent for obtaining forgiveness as the soul is by nature more precious than the body. But those who have asked for forgiveness from God have indeed received it many times, so that because of this they suffer no harm from it thereafter; yet we do not deign to share the same with our neighbors. We are like that wicked servant, who, having received a remission of ten thousand talents from his Lord, would not forgive his fellow servant a hundred denarii; whom the Lord, rightly rebuking, said: "O wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you besought me: should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, as I also had compassion on you?" And being angry, He says: "Deliver him to the torturers, until he should pay all the debt." And He adds, saying: "So will my heavenly Father also do to you, if you do not forgive, every one of you, his brother their trespasses from your hearts." Therefore, in another place also, He laments those who, although they have been enriched by Him with various benefits, yet possess a mind devoid of mercy and compassion, B with these words: "Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation." For in truth, the abundance of the various gifts bestowed upon us is indeed our wealth; but woe to us, because, having asked and many times obtained mercy, we ourselves, when asked, have had mercy on no one, but have received our consolation.
V. Yet while He spoke regarding the rich, He does not accuse all who are well-to-do. For there are among them those who truly know how to administer their resources according to the will of God who gave them, and who, as it is written, receive a hundredfold in this age; as blessed Abraham and righteous Job, who by performing almsgiving became even wealthier, both here and in the age to come. But, as we have said before, He rebukes those who are of a more avaricious mind, and who, whether in money or in various mercies, withhold the gifts of God and are unwilling to have compassion on their neighbor. For a C creature which proceeds from the Lord does not harm him who possesses it; but rather avarice, which flows from iniquity, and its mother, the lack of mercy—which those who have obtained a firm faith flee entirely, and have utterly renounced present goods; not because they hated God’s creation indiscriminately, but because they believed in Christ, who commanded them to do this, and from whom they received their daily sufficiency. Therefore, one can be rich even without money, provided one does not greedily withhold a word, or knowledge, or any other compassion which has been given freely to all in common. For one receives in order to share with him who has not. But those who are led by no mercy toward their neighbor receive that "woe," because they have received their consolation. Similar to these things, the holy Apostle James also says to such rich men: D "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you." And while he urges them to weep and howl, he exhorts us to repentance. And knowing that the passion is one that requires no small amount of correction,
A regarding it, he says: "Your riches have rotted," as if to say, they are useless if not shared with others—an abundance which many of us possess even apart from money, by burying avarice like gold in the chambers of the mind. Regarding this, the Prophet also speaks most clearly: "My wounds have putrefied and are corrupt," calling the loveless and greedy mind "wounds." By the words, "they have putrefied and are corrupt," he considers extreme negligence to be a stench and a putrefaction. For we prefer to hide our resources under the earth rather than share them with him who has none. Then, indeed, when the time of departure arrives, the soul shall behold such a wound, the cause of putrefaction and folly; and this eternal wound, attaching itself to the soul, does not allow it to enter into the heavenly kingdom of the firstborn, just as the law declares regarding those who are stained with a blemish.
D
VI.
But perhaps it is now the time to lay bare the more serious wounds and to show them to the physician of souls. For whereas the holy Paul says, "that their abundance may supply their need," we do the opposite, plundering the need of the poor and adding it to our own abundance. We perform this even apart from any theft of money; when we sin against a brother in some matter, not only do we leave him unhealed, but we even tyrannically extort from him the apology that we owe him, doing nothing else, as was said before, than adding their need to our own abundance, opposing, so to speak, the Scripture. Yet we must not despair on this account. God forbid! For we are not condemned for the multitude of our sins, but because we refuse to repent and to know the wondrous things of Christ, as the Truth herself testifies: C "Do you think," He says, "that those Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices were greater sinners than all the people upon the earth? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them—do you think that they were greater sinners than all the people who dwell in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." You see that it is because we turn away from repentance that we are condemned? Repentance, as I conceive it, is limited by neither times nor circumstances, but is practiced proportionately through the commandments of Christ. Some commandments are more comprehensive, containing many individual points within themselves and cutting off many particles of vice at once. For instance, it is written: "Give to everyone who begs from you, and of him who takes away your goods, do not ask them again," and, "Do not turn away him who wants to borrow from you." These are individual points; but what is comprehensive of these is this: "Sell what you have and give to the poor," and, "Take up the crossA calling the cross the endurance of the afflictions that befall us. Therefore, he who has distributed all things to the poor and has taken up his cross has performed all the aforementioned commandments at once and together. And again: "I desire," he says, "that men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands," and besides this: "Enter into your inner room, and pray to your Father who is in secret." And again, he who prays without ceasing embraces every kind of supplication. And once more he says: "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit murder," and all such things. And above these: "Destroying cogitations and every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God." Now, he who cuts off cogitations has excluded all the aforementioned vices. Wherefore, those who love God and are of firm faith are carried by a certain impulse toward those more general commandments; yet they do not neglect the particular ones when the occasion arises.
VII. Therefore, I consider the work of repentance to be woven together by these three commandments: cutting off cogitations, praying without ceasing, and enduring the afflictions that befall us. These require not only an exterior operation, but also a mental one, so that those who dwell in them may render themselves empty of passions. Since, therefore, the work of repentance can be perfected by the three above-mentioned virtues, as the discourse has demonstrated, consider repentance always appropriate for everyone—both for the just and for sinners—who desire to attain salvation; because there is no limit to perfection B that does not require an operation consonant with the aforementioned virtues. For instance, to novices, it is an introduction to piety; to those in the middle state, it is progress; and to the perfect, confirmation is attained through these. These are not curtailed by the length of time nor by an increase in merits, except in the case of someone who is ignorant or believes wrongly, and who therefore easily slips into pleasures and willingly pursues them under the pretext of despair. Such a person, embracing the opinion of the Novatians, rejects repentance, although he leans upon the Apostle, who, disputing with the Hebrews [and speaking] to those who sin voluntarily and who seek to repeat baptism daily, says: "Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms." He said this, indeed, not because he rejects repentance—far from it! as those men claim—but so that he might teach that in every operation of repentance, there is one foundation: baptism in Christ; that those who had believed from the circumcision might not be baptized daily. And he adds: "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, C and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, and [then] have fallen away, to renew them again unto repentance," so that he who knows that holy baptism is the renewal and the foundation laid in every repentance may not sin further. And a little later he adds: "For if we sin willfully after..." D
A having received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins."
VIII. Since matters stand thus, what is said there applies fittingly, not only to Jews, I say, but to all who sin willfully. The first of these are they who say that after baptism there is no repentance, and for this reason, being henceforth led away by their own choice, they work iniquity. The holy Apostle Paul, however, uttered these words in reverse order; and he did this, I suspect, by way of dispensation, so that the more diligent might find the meaning clearer through the searching of the Scriptures, while the more careless and contemptuous might find it more difficult, so that they might not sin fearlessly under the pretext of future repentance. Since, therefore, some are addicted to evil by design under the pretext of repentance, while others, not believing that there is repentance, have in despair delivered themselves to the devil; and since the wicked affection B of both is not easily cured, for this reason the Truth offers suitable help to all, saying: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This is so that neither those who are spiritual, nor those who are making progress, might neglect this commandment, considering themselves secure against such slight and small things; for He says: "He that despiseth small things, shall fall by little and little." Do not say, "How can a spiritual person fall?" As long as he remains such, he does not fall; but when he admits something of the contrary, and remains unrepentant in it, that very thing, once small, having grown with the passage of time—he can no longer dwell with it as a ward—but like a rope, through long friendship, it violently drags him, pulling him toward its own kindred. And even if he struggles through C prayer to cut it off, he nevertheless remains so far distant from the dispassion suited to him as he is from the particular evil toward which he has a passion. But if, by relaxing the labor of struggle and prayer, he is brought completely under the more intense dominance of the overriding passion, he is of necessity lured by other affections as well. And thus, being familiarized and led away little by little by each in succession, according to the extent of his abduction, he is severed from the divine assistance of God, and is subsequently carried off even to greater evils, perhaps even against his will, forced by the power of those which have previously taken hold of him.
IX. But you will surely say to me: "Could he not, when he was at the beginning of the evil, have entreated God not to fall into the extreme?" I tell you that he could have, but because of its ease, having embraced that small thing by his own will as if it were nothing, he no longer entreats God concerning it, being ignorant that that small thing becomes the introduction and cause of the greater—so it is with good, and so it is with evil. But when the passion has grown great and has gained a foothold through the will, then, even against the will, it rises up violently against him. Then, upon realizing this, he entreats God, warring against the enemy whom, in his ignorance, he formerly defended while fighting on its behalf against men. But it happens at times that when it is heard by the Lord, the...
A aid is not received, because He did not come in the manner he supposed, but as the Lord arranged for the benefit. For since He knows our indecency and disdain, He provides many aids to men through tribulation, so that we may not, having been delivered without affliction, practice the same sins again. Hence we say it is necessary to endure the things that come upon us, and [it is] most suitable for repentance.
X. But you will surely say to me: "Those who have truly pleased God and reached perfection, of what further repentance are they in need?" That such men have existed and do exist, I agree; but hear with understanding, and you will know how even such men are in need of it. God has said that a lie is from the devil, and He reckoned the looking at a woman to lust after her as adultery, and B He likened anger against one's neighbor to murder, and He made it clear that an account must be rendered for an idle word. Who then is untried by lying, and [is] uninitiated in every desire according to the sight, and has never become angry so as to quarrel with his neighbor, nor has been found a servant of an idle word, so as not to have need of repentance? For even if he is not such now, yet if he was once, he owes repentance until death. We assume, however, that even if some such persons were found, and were alien from every vice from birth (which is impossible, as the holy Paul says: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace"), yet even if they happened to be such, they are still C from Adam, and all have become subject to the sin of the transgression, and therefore were condemned to the death of the sentence, being unable to be saved outside of Christ. But when Christ was crucified, and by His own blood redeemed all, then they too are redeemed. Then the Redeemer Himself also sets one limit for all, encompassing all things, and says to the apostles: "Tell them: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near." At the same time, He laid down commandments which accomplish repentance, and He fixed the fulfillment of them until death, saying: "He who loses his soul for My sake and the D Gospel's, shall keep it for eternal life." And again, counseling one to renounce all things, He adds: "And even his own soul besides." And He seals it by saying: "Whoever shall break one of these least commandments shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven." If, therefore, He has defined repentance up to the time of death, as has been demonstrated, he who says that he has completed his repentance before death, while removing the limit of death, breaks the commandment.
XI. Therefore, repentance cannot be completed by either the small or the great until death, unless we also possess the operation up to that point. And so we must exercise ourselves diligently toward this end, lest, by breaking the commandment according to our intent,
A we be subjected to judgment, being called the least in the kingdom of heaven. Investigate those who have traversed this life from ages past, and you will find that, through repentance, the mystery of piety has been fulfilled in those who were pleasing to God. No one has been condemned unless he has despised this; and no one has been justified unless he has been diligent in it. Samson, and Saul, and Eli with his sons—although they had already in some part partaken of holiness—first lost this by neglecting repentance; and when the time of grace had passed, they fell finally into judgment of death. The devil does not cease warring against us, nor should repentance ever cease. The saints are compelled to offer it on behalf of their neighbors, since they cannot be perfected without an efficacious love. Learn how nature teaches us not to abandon it even unto death. The mind cannot be idle, but even if it be perfect, when it is in a right state, it works in the things on the right; if, however, by a pretext of perfection, it ceases from the working of good things, it surely inclines toward the left; but when it desists from the left, it is drawn back naturally to the right. And the work of the right, for beginners, and for those in the middle, and for the perfect, is prayer, and the cutting off of thoughts, and the endurance of coming afflictions, without which it is not possible to accomplish the other virtues, through which repentance becomes acceptable. If repentance is a petition for mercy, it is useful for him who possesses it, for one who takes care of it. For how does he who asks receive? If, therefore, he who shows mercy will find mercy, due to this, I think, the whole world consists, as one receives help from another, God so dispensing it. On account of this, God saved the Ninevites; but the Sodomites, having neglected it, He consumed with fire.
B XII. Even if we struggle, repenting until death, not even so have we fulfilled what is required. For nothing is worthy of the kingdom of heaven. Just as we naturally eat and drink and speak and hear, so also are we naturally indebted to repent. Once, he who was worthy was delivered to death according to the law; but he who lives is left for the sake of repentance, and not for the sake of license. But for the sin of transgression, we have been baptized and cleansed; and having been cleansed, we received commandments. He who does what is similar to the first, defiles the first, taking on forgetfulness of the purification of his former sins, in which no one is found who does not fail daily, nor one who has never missed any of the things commanded. For this reason, repentance would be necessary for all. This [repentance] demonstrates that what were once voluntary are now violent: that we should pursue the passions with hatred and abstain from the act. He who drives it away turns backward and renews his old transgressions. He who has true knowledge knows that he also has need of repentance; for each of these is guided by the others. Christ has pledged Himself for us in regard to repentance; he who rejects it, rejects Him who pledged Himself. Without repentance, by action, nothing
worthy of the kingdom of God can we perform: but we exercise immense mercy on account of the soul's desire. He who suffers violence until death, and remains master of it, even if he may have offended in some things, will be saved because of the violence; for this the Lord promised in the Gospels. He who says that he no longer needs it deems himself just, and is called an evil offspring by Scripture. He who is disposed as one who has already attained the pride of justice, as he does not know, is inversely wedded to pleasures, if indeed pride and arrogance are pleasures. He who has pride cannot be saved; for it is written: “The haughty and scorner, the arrogant man, shall accomplish nothing.” If humility does not harm the perfect man, neither should he abandon its cause, repentance. The faithful Abraham and the just Job called themselves earth and ash; and these words are evidence of humility. But he who is sated with repentance cannot be humble. The three youths, who were truly magnanimous and illustrious martyrs, from the midst of the burning flame confessed, saying that they had sinned and acted iniquitously; they repented for their past evils while being otherwise perfect; and almost their entire hymn contains the power of repentance. B
XIII. If therefore even they who were very pleasing to God and declared perfect by their deeds used this help until death, who hereafter, in the name of justice, would dare to trust in himself and despise repentance? I, for my part, believe that not even if some one were to be a saint according to Paul or Peter, would he even so choose to abandon the cause of humility. For this reason Peter, having indeed concealed from Cornelius what was proper to God in this matter, and having declared what was his own, said: “Arise; I myself also am a man,” having confessed that we have been taught by God to call nothing common or unclean. But Paul, since he supposed that he should never cease from exercising the grace given to him by Christ, spoke in this manner: “I press on, if I may lay hold of that for which I was also laid hold of by Christ,” C calling “laying hold of” the perseverance until the end; just as he writes to the faithful Timothy, revealing to him the nearness of his departure, saying: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith,” not because he measured for himself a station or a time limit, as if stopping the race in the name of perfection, so that he should no longer have to undergo the never-ceasing struggles upon earth for the body of Christ, which is the Church; but he called his departure from life the end of the race and the struggles. For he says: “For I am already being poured out, and the time of my departure is at hand.” You see that he did not say, “I am resting,” but, “I am already being poured out,” by such words and deeds showing to all that the term of repentance is owed until the dissolution and death to the heavenly King Christ; to whom D be glory forever. Amen.
TREATISE IV.
A Reply to those who doubt concerning divine Baptism.
Since some say that divine baptism is perfect, relying on the Scripture which says: "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins" (Acts xxii, 16); and that: "Wash you, make you clean" (Isa. i, 16). And again: "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified" (I Cor. vi, 11), and bearing witness to many other things of this kind; while others, on the other hand, say that the old sin is taken away through struggles, they themselves also bringing forward the testimony of Scripture which says: "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit" (II Cor. vii, 1), and at the same time finding within themselves the very efficacy of sin after baptism: what shall we say to these things, or whom shall we believe? B
Reply.
It behooves us indeed to place faith in the apostolic preaching, and to remain in its confessions, and not to tempt the power of God with human opinions, nor again to be held by the spontaneous yoke of slavery, but to possess freedom, through the carrying out of the commandments, through which in proportion all truth is found; and to know clearly that it is because of the lack of these that we are in proportion acted upon by sin. But because we have deemed the preaching vain, having more faith in curiosity than in the word of God, for this reason our faith also is vain, and for this reason we are still in our sins.
Interrogation.
We do not say that the preaching is vain, but we seek to learn the truth.
Reply.
If therefore we have the preaching as true, let us perform all the commandments, and then we shall see if we are worked upon by sin; for holy baptism is indeed perfect, C but it does not perfect him who does not perform the commandments. Let us not therefore believe human opinions, but rather the divine Scripture, that "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures" (I Cor. xv, 3); and that "we are buried with him by baptism" (Rom. vi, 4); and, "He that is dead is justified from sin"; and that "Sin shall not have dominion over us" if we perform his commandments; but if we do not perform them, we are infidels, and we are held by sin. For faith is not only to be baptized into Christ, D but also to perform his commandments. For that we were mystically buried with him through baptism, and he raised us up, and made us sit together in heavenly places, according to the Scripture, is clear; although he gave commandments, that
by performing these we might obtain the perfection given to us. But if we do not perform them, we shall voluntarily be seen as being energized by sin. If we say that sin is removed through works, then Christ died in vain, A and all that has been said is found to be false; and if baptism is not perfect, but they say that perfection is obtained from struggles, the law of liberty is vain among them, and the whole legislation of the New Testament is abolished. They also introduce an unjust Christ, one who commands works of liberty to those who have been baptized, while they are still—against their own will, as they say—enslaved to sin; and the grace of God is no longer grace, but the remuneration of our struggles. For if it is of works, it is no longer of grace; but if it is of grace, the work is not a work, but a commandment of him who has liberated us, and a work of liberty and of faith. Such things the holy Paul wrote economically to the Galatians, admonishing even them who were laboring under a similar lack of faith. But we do not so distrust the grace of God; God forbid! Nor do we deny faith on account of the preaching; but if even after baptism we are held fast by sin, it is not because baptism is imperfect, but because we neglect the commandments and are, by our own choice, addicted to pleasures, just as the divine Scripture rebukes us, saying: As a dog returning to its own vomit, B so is a man returning to his own sin by his own power of choice; for as to the will, and to baptism, neither God nor Satan forces it. Therefore, have they not heard that the commandments of Christ, given after baptism, are the law of liberty, as the Scripture says: So speak and so do, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty? And again the holy Peter: Supply in your faith virtue; and having said the things that follow, he adds, saying: For he to whom these things are not present is blind, short-sighted, having received forgetfulness of the purification of his former sins. Understand from what has been said that purification by baptism is indeed performed mystically, but it is effectively found through the observation of the commandments. For if, being baptized, we have not been liberated from ancestral sin, it is evident that we cannot perform the works of liberty either; but if we are able to do them, it is clear that we have been mystically delivered from the servitude of sin, according to that which is written: The law of the spirit of life has liberated me from the law of sin and of death; C but on account of the neglect of the commandments of him who purified us, we are mastered by sin. Therefore, either demonstrate to me that the baptized cannot execute the commandments of liberty, and that for this cause baptism is not perfect; or, if we demonstrate that they have received such an ability, let them confess that they are indeed liberated by the grace of Christ, but have delivered themselves to the servitude of vices because they do not fulfill all the commandments, and for this reason have again become subject. Let them take the reproof from their own testimonies: Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit. D Therefore, any servant of sin who is able to cleanse himself from
A all defilement of flesh and spirit, if he does not possess such liberty and power, but is held under the dominion of sin? But if you possess power over the passions, know that you are not ruled by authority, but by the fountain of your will. Therefore, whatever the divine Scripture discusses concerning purification, it speaks as if to those who have liberty; it exhorts as if to the free, that they should not remain in such thoughts, but should cherish liberty, having the power to incline toward whatever we wish, whether good or evil.
Question.
If we have been liberated in baptism, why do we not perceive the air of liberty, as those who B struggle perceive it?
Answer.
Spontaneous pleasures and neglect of the commandments, in which those others happily progress, overwhelm us in darkness. For we have said before that man is liberated by the gift of Christ. But according to his own will, he remains where he loves, even if he has been baptized, because of free will. When, therefore, He says: The violent take the kingdom of heaven by force, He is speaking then of one’s own will: that each of us ought to labor according to the rule of baptism, not turning toward evil, but persevering in that which leads to good. For if man were suffering violence from the powers, God could surely have liberated us, and could have made us immortal by force. But now it is not so; but through baptism He snatched us from violent slavery, having nullified sin through the cross, and He set down commandments of liberty. C But whether or not we remain in the commandments, He has left to our free will. Therefore, the commandments, insofar as they are observed, declare love toward Him who liberated us; but insofar as they are neglected or fail, they show a pleasant affection toward pleasures. Others fall into their own reasonings, saying: "We wish indeed to perform the commandments, but we cannot, because we are held under the empire of sin; therefore, it is necessary first to struggle and to wipe out sin, so that we might be able to fulfill the commandments of liberty," not understanding what they are saying, nor about what they affirm. For if you entirely lack liberty, and cannot fulfill the commandments, by what struggles do you say that you will wipe out sin? The struggles of the faithful are the commandments. You say, therefore: "I cannot perform the commandments unless I am first cleansed through struggles." Show me the struggles of which you speak, D outside of the commandments, and I will be persuaded by your opinion. For if you should speak of prayer, it is a commandment; if of fasting, or vigils, it is a commandment; if of almsgiving, or the renunciation of the soul, it is a commandment; if of the uprooting of thoughts, it is a commandment; if you should speak of death, and the cross, and any other work of virtue, all are commandments. Therefore, to those who have received the power of the commandments, He commands, as to the faithful, to contend
A that they might not turn back—not that through these they might blot out sin, but so that they might no longer turn back. And so, these commandments do not cut away sin (for this has been accomplished by the cross alone), but they guard the boundaries of the freedom given to us. For tell me, if you destroy the sin of Adam through works, how did Christ die for our sins, according to the Scriptures? But they cannot contradict these things; they merely pose questions that do not follow, always assenting to their own opinions but not obeying the truth of Scripture. For they say: “If sin is removed in baptism, why does it work again in the heart?” We have often stated the cause, that it is not because it was left behind that it works after baptism (for baptism gives full release); rather, that they bind themselves again through attachment to those things which were loosened through the performance of the commandments belongs to the free choice of our own will. For a thought that lingers for some time around some pleasure or anger is a proof, not of sin being left behind, but of a free attachment. Therefore, we have the power to destroy thoughts and every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, according to Scripture. B To those who destroy an evil thought within themselves, therefore, it is a sign of the love of God, not of sin; for the assault of a thought is not a sign of sin, but the mind’s friendly conversation with it. But if we do not love it, for what reason do we linger with it? For it is impossible for us, without our own wicked action, to converse at length in the mind with one whom we hate from the bottom of our heart. For this reason, if an hateful thought occupies the mind with its power (for it can happen so, nor do I deny it), this is not to be imputed to the remnants of the sin of Adam, but to the transgression committed after baptism. For as long as, after receiving holy baptism, we do not perform the commandments—the power to perform all of which we have obtained—so long we are occupied by sin even against our will, until, through repentance, we implore God, being diligent in all the commandments, and He blots out our sin of impiety. For there are two causes of perverse action, and both arise from us: one indeed exercises its power according to the proportion of the commandments that are lacking; the other rules most severely on account of the zeal for evil-doing after receiving baptism, which God alone removes when He is implored by almsgiving, prayer, and the endurance of things that befall us; C all of which the perfect grace given to us through baptism secretly provides to us as well.
Interrogatio. Does Paul, therefore, after receiving baptism, sin because he was moved spontaneously? For he says: “I see another law warring against the law of my mind.”
Responsio. In this manner, those who do not rightly understand the other Scriptures D
invert them and err. A Repete this chapter from what preceded, and you will find that the holy Paul is not speaking of himself after the receiving of baptism, but he takes on the person of the faithless Jews, persuading them that it is impossible that, without the grace of Christ which is given through baptism, sin can be overcome; by saying: “Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?” B After this he adds: “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord,” because the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and of death. On account of this he says: “The law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Whence also all things of the law, and of the temple, and of the sacrifices, are fulfilled in us who have received the grace of the Holy Spirit mystically through baptism. For He said that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, C and He exhorts us to offer spiritual sacrifices, calling us Jews in secret, and not in the manifest; and the circumcision of the heart in spirit, not in the letter. The heavenly lawgiver, Christ, also inscribed the spiritual law itself upon the faithful through the Holy Spirit; not on tablets of stone, but on the fleshy tablets of the heart. Just as, therefore, He said these things are in the secret, so also understand for me each of those things which have been said typically. But because we have not yet firmly believed in Christ, nor have we considered ourselves bound to all His commandments, nor have we denied ourselves according to His word: for this reason we are ignorant that we received the previously mentioned mysteries from baptism. But if it should happen that we neglect them on account of a meager faith, while nevertheless we sincerely believe in Him in all His commandments; then, when a trial of the things previously mentioned has been made in us, we shall truly confess that holy baptism is perfect, and that the grace of Christ lies hidden in it, D awaiting thereafter our obedience and the working of the commandments, the power of which we received through it beforehand. For this reason, whoever of us have not yet performed the commandments of freedom, have not yet arrived at the free Jerusalem (For the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother, regenerating us through the bath of regeneration), but we are still standing on the way of Cain, and we are wandering, walking through pathless places. For to contend while being ignorant, and to contradict the truth, are deviations of the way, and not straight paths. For this reason the blessed Paul also, seeing us progressing slowly toward perfection, says: “So run, that you may apprehend.” But if we have not yet arrived at the city, when shall we view the temple itself, and having entered in, attain to the approach of the altar? But why do I speak of faith, and of the temple, and of the altar, when we have not even passed by the wild beasts of the reed, for the rebuking of which the Prophet prayed to God, that the firstlings of the sacrifices which the Jew was commanded to offer in secret might not become from animals captured by a wild beast: if, indeed, in your opinion, the Jew is in
A the secret place, according to the word of Paul, but the temple has not yet been built by the son of David, nor has the propitiatory been constructed by him? For this cries out against those who say that the sin of Adam is to be taken away by struggles, and not by the grace of God, which is hidden within us through baptism: for that will then be seen when, having duly completed the way of the commandments, we offer the thoughts of our nature to the High Priest Christ as a sacrifice—the healthy ones, not those bitten by a wild beast. For most people fall under the power of beasts when they turn aside from the commandments—namely, from patience in adverse circumstances; and leaping away from the straight path, they walk in pathless places, blaming others rather than themselves for the causes of their state. B With difficulty, however, a few among them walk the straight path, and this they do by being protected through prayer, by being bound through hopes, and by being struck through temptations; and thus they reach the city and the temple, and offer a sacrifice. For the city is the beautiful and lawful discernment in Christ, which, when it manages affairs piously, remains tranquil and straight; but when it sins, it is delivered to its enemies for its own destruction. The temple is the God-created shrine of soul and body; the altar situated in this temple is the seat of hope, in which the first-born thought of all that happens is offered by the mind, and is sacrificed as if it were a first-born animal, for the propitiation of the one offering it, provided he offers it to Him unblemished.
This temple also has an inner part C of the veil, where the forerunner, Jesus, has entered for us, and he dwells in us, unless indeed you are rejectable; which is the most inward, hidden, and sincere place of the heart; and if this is not opened by the divine benefit and by rational and intellectual hope, it is not possible to know certainly the one who dwells within, nor to know whether our rational sacrifices have been accepted or not. For just as in the beginning, in the time of the Israelite people, fire consumed the remnants, so it happens here also. For when the faithful heart is opened by the aforementioned hope, the heavenly High Priest receives the first-born thoughts of the mind, and consumes them with divine fire, concerning which he said: "I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what do I wish if it has already been kindled?" D He termed as first-born thoughts those which have not arisen through a second consideration of the heart, but which, at the first assault and suggestion, are immediately offered to Christ. For the Scriptures named those which are offered to Him after being much agitated in the mind as lame, blind, and monstrous animals; and for this reason, they are not counted as tithes before the heavenly High Priest, Lord Christ. That we ourselves, even after baptism, are the authors of every evil thought has now been demonstrated by the testimonies of Scripture. But if it is necessary to make this clear also by natural consequence, it shall be said again: O man, you who assert that you are vexed by guilt because of the sin of Adam after receiving baptism, and who promise that you cut these off through struggles, know
A accurately that you have contradicted yourself and have fallen into your own words. For if you say that the evil thoughts are the sin of Adam, learn from the holy Paul that, having put on Christ through Baptism, you have the power and the arms to destroy them. For the arms, he says, of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down reasonings and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. But if, having the power against them, you do not destroy them from the first assault, clearly you take pleasure in them out of unbelief, and you consort with them; and you are the cause of such an operation, not Adam.
Question
How can one, through unbelief, take pleasure in or consort with thoughts, who has enclosed himself in a cell, and is fasting every day, practicing self-restraint, living in poverty and as a pilgrim, praying, and enduring many such afflictions?Answer
B You have spoken well, that the one who does such things endures many afflictions. For if we were performing the aforementioned manifest virtues with joy and diligence, we would not at all be lovers of pleasure in our mind. For it is impossible that the one who is suffering in bodily toils should not converse in proportion with the approaching thoughts, and seek comfort for the distaste arising from the toils. For if such a one did not wish this, he would not even be afflicted by the toils. But we suffer this because we do not endure hardship out of a desire for the future good things, but out of fear of the temptations that now come upon us. Whence, the evil action, we think, is indeed our own sin, but the thought preceding it, we say, is an operation from elsewhere. C And it is impossible for those who think that this operation is not their own, but is from elsewhere, to turn away from it. There is, indeed, a certain distasteful thought without consorting with it, and it is hated, as a robber attacking unexpectedly, forcibly holding the mind to itself. Nevertheless, learn accurately that this one, too, has the grounds from us; for if, after baptism, we have surrendered ourselves to some evil thought up to the point of action, and because of this we have become liable and have acted contrary to our will, or we have voluntarily held certain seeds of wickedness, and because of this the evil one has been fortified; and he, having taken possession of us through seeds, does not depart until we cast them out; whereas he who remains through the evil action is put to flight when we offer up to God worthy labors. D For this reason, I do not call even this the sin of Adam, but rather of him who commits the evil and who holds the seeds. But if the thoughts (for thoughts preceded both of these) and some robber is the cause of these, I also say to you that he who has the power to cleanse himself from the assault, and does not cleanse it, but holds converse with it up to the point of action—if indeed he was utterly unable to destroy it before the action because of the weakness of his mind, how, after the action...A has been completed, can he promise that he will amputate it? Understand also that, before you went forth to act, God would have brought you aid, had you wished it. When, therefore, you have sensed in your heart that aid is available to you, understand carefully that grace has not arrived by a transitional movement from without, but, having been given to you secretly through baptism, it now operates according to the manner in which you, having hated the thought, have turned away from it. For this cause Christ, while freeing us from all violence, did not restrain the insultation of thoughts from the mind, so that those which were held in hatred from the heart might be destroyed as quickly as possible, while those which were pleasing might remain as long as they were loved, so that the grace of God might be made manifest, and [the nature of] the will of man, as to what it loves: whether it loves labors for the sake of grace, or thoughts for the sake of pleasure.
And let it not seem strange to us that we are violently dragged not only by those things which we love, for just as the kinship of these things is perverse, so do the insultations of thoughts cooperate mutually with our concupiscence; and each one, having tarried with the person who operates it, afterwards hands him over to the next, so that he may perhaps be led away even against his own judgment by the second, by the force of the pull from the habit he has formed with the first. For who, being full of vain glory B, will be able to escape pride? Or who, enjoying delights, will not be detained by the thought of lechery? Or who, dedicated to avarice, will not be grasped by the affect of being devoid of mercy? But how does it happen that, when overcome by all these things beyond [their] expectation, they are not indignant and grievously agitated? Therefore we must understand that we are troubled by sin through our own fault, but we are liberated from violent servitude through the Spirit. For the law, he says, of the Spirit of life has freed me from the law of sin and death. And it is therefore up to us, who have heard and learned the commandments of the Spirit, to walk either according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. It is impossible, however, for those who have loved the praise of men or the relaxation of the body to walk according to the Spirit; and it is impossible for those who with their whole affect prefer future things to present ones to live according to the flesh. Wherefore we, who have been seduced in a wonderful way, must henceforth hate human praise and the relaxation of the body, whence perverse thoughts are reborn in us even when we are unwilling; and we must say to the Lord from the heart that saying of the Prophet: Do I not hate them that hate thee, O Lord, C and do I not pine away because of thy enemies? I have hated them with a perfect hatred, and they are become enemies to me.
And in truth, perverse thoughts are enemies of God, prohibiting His will from being done: since He wills that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth; but those [thoughts] seduce us through affection, and exclude us from salvation. Concerning these, the Lord also said that they do not proceed from Adam, but from the heart, and for that reason they defile a man. It is certain, however, that they do not arise from faith, but from vain glory. For how, He says D, can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and the glory which is from the one God you do not seek? When therefore...
we hate vain glory, and believe in Him concerning all things, grounding every thought of our heart and our undivided hope in Him; then, as at the beginning of the faith through baptism, the body of Christ became food for the believer A; so in intellectual hope and the renunciation of thoughts, the steadfast and pure mind becomes food for Jesus, who says: "My food is to do the will of my Father"—that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth, according to the word of Paul. By truth he means that of the intellectual faith according to hope that is found, as we have said before, which is believed no longer from hearing, but from the operation of the all-holy Spirit, which is the substance of things hoped for, according to the Scripture; for there is a faith from hearing, and there is a faith which is the substance of things hoped for. But the unbaptized, or the vain-glorious, cannot come to the knowledge of this truth. For first he shall be baptized in the Catholic Church, and through baptism grace is given mystically, and dwells within in secret. And then, according to the measure of the fulfillment of the commandments and of intellectual hope, it is revealed to those who so believe in the Lord, who said: "He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." This He said about the Spirit, which those believing in Him were about to receive. Wherefore we believe that through baptism we have received freedom and purification mystically, according to Him who says: "But you are washed, but you are justified, but you are sanctified." And he writes such things to the Corinthians, who were not yet cleansed according to intellectual hope through the renunciation of thoughts, and sanctified through the operation of the Spirit in the heart, but were still wicked, injuring and defrauding, and these things toward brothers; in order to show that those who are baptized, according to the gift of Christ, have indeed received purification mystically; but according to their own little faith, each one is acted upon, being drawn away and enticed by his own desire, as it is written: "Then desire, having conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death." Therefore, from one's own desire is the rational sin, and from this is the result of the action according to it, which the Scripture called death. That from baptism the grace of the Spirit is in us, teaching us all the truth, according to the word of the Lord, know again from the Scripture and from the facts. For what does the blessed Peter say to the multitude in the Acts? "Repent," he says, "and let each of you be baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." For insofar as anyone does not believe, he is immediately held fast by sin. Behold also at Ephesus how the Apostle rebukes the twelve men who were baptized without faith, and says: "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?"
They replied to him: "But we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." He said then to them: "Into what then were you baptized?" They said: "Into John's baptism." Paul said: "John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him," that is, in Jesus. Having heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came upon them. B Are you now persuaded that the Holy Spirit is given immediately from baptism to those who believe firmly, while to those who are faithless, or believe wrongly, and are not baptized, He is not given? But that it is we who grieve Him, and extinguish Him within ourselves, learn from the Apostle, who says: "Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophecies," and again: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." We bring forward these testimonies, not to say that every man who has been baptized and received grace is henceforth incapable of change and no longer in need of repentance, but that from baptism, through the beneficence of Christ, the perfect grace of God has been bestowed upon us for the fulfillment of all the commandments. C Furthermore, whoever has received it mystically, but does not fulfill the commandments by his deeds, is tormented by sin in proportion to his deficiency: an accountability that is not to be imputed to Adam, but to the negligent person, in that, having received the power to work, he does not perform the work. But this deficiency is born of unbelief; and unbelief is not another's sin, but that of the one who does not believe, which subsequently becomes the mother and usher of all sin. Therefore, whether we wish to reach perfection quickly or slowly, we are obligated to believe in Christ entirely, and to perform all His commandments, since we have received from Him the power for such work; and this does not mean that we are obligated to perform each one individually and particularly, but we must comprehend the particulars within the general ones, and in this way accomplish all things summarily. For there are more fundamental commandments, which contain within themselves a great multitude of the rest. D This, therefore, is the only struggle we are obligated to undertake: to fight against our own unbelief, and not to neglect the general commandments through which the grace given to us is clearly revealed. This is what the holy Paul prays may happen to us, saying: "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the Lord may grant you power to be strengthened through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith with all fullness and perception." And it would now be opportune, as we said before, to confirm this testimony through practical actions. For behold, in proportion as we work the commandments in faith, the Spirit also produces His own fruits in us.
A Now the fruits of the Spirit, according to the holy Paul, are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Who then after receiving baptism is entirely uninitiated in these effects, so as to dare deny that he has received the grace of the Holy Spirit from baptism? But, on the other hand, who—not yet having fulfilled the commandments—exercises himself daily and without intermission in these fruits, so as to be able to say, "I am perfect and immutable"? From which it is declared that just as the grace is indeed perfect, but we are imperfect because of our neglect of the commandments, so also the holy baptism is perfect toward us, but we remain imperfect toward it.
B You then, O man who has been baptized in Christ, only provide the action for which you have received the power, and prepare yourself for the manifestation of Him who dwells within. And thus the Lord, as He has promised, will manifest Himself to you spiritually, as He alone knows how. For the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And then you shall understand that which was said: "The kingdom of heaven is within you."
And it is also necessary to know this, that the particular commandments, which are called singular, are fulfilled by those who act according to them, and those who partially fulfill the commandments enter into the kingdom in proportion to that work. But those who desire to reach perfection must comprehensively keep all the commandments. C The comprehensive term for all the commandments is the renunciation of the soul, which is death. And just as one who lives in the flesh is lacking in this perfection of operation, so, because of the aforementioned deficiency, he cannot—until the departure—be free from the susceptibility to insulting passions.
If, therefore, any of the faithful, having lived rightly in the commandments, finds a certain spiritual operation in proportion to that measure, let him believe that he had already acquired the power of it, inasmuch as he received through baptism the grace of the Spirit—the cause of all good things; I say indeed, the provider not only of hidden and spiritual virtues, but also of manifest ones. And let no one among the virtuous imagine that he has done any good thing by his own power alone. For the good man, says the Word, does not bring forth what is good from himself, D but from the good treasury of the heart, calling the Holy Spirit the treasury hidden in the heart of the faithful. "For the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man finding, he hid, and going away he sold all that he had, and bought that field." For this has a very close affinity to what has been said. For he who understands accurately that, according to the Apostle, he has Christ hidden within himself from baptism, having cast away all the affairs of this world, remains within his own heart, guarding it with all vigilance, and seeking, according to the proverb,
A Adam’s sin, nor even his own sins committed after baptism, [could be cut away] except through Christ. For it is *he who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure* [Philipp. II, 13]. By adding "for his good pleasure," he shows that the willing of virtues is placed within our own power. And the saying, *Without me you can do nothing* [Joan. XV, 5]; and the saying, *You did not choose me, but I chose you* [ibid. 15], concur in the same meaning. Perhaps, too, even that passage should be understood in this way: *All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made* [Joan. I, 5]; since ours are among the number of all things; as also: *No one comes to the Father except through me* [Joan. XIV, 6]. For this reason also the Prophet did not say: From Jerusalem to your temple kings shall bring you gifts (which was likely, and used to happen), but the opposite: *From your temple to Jerusalem kings shall bring you gifts* [Psal. LXVII, 30]. For the mind of each person, especially a royal one, first takes honorable and good suggestions from the secret temple of his heart, which are suggested B by the indwelling Christ; these he also leads to a life full of virtues, which he named Jerusalem; and again, through a good intention, he offers them back to Christ himself, who bestowed them. We have said these things, not because we wish to exclude future things, but confessing that we have received the faculty for fulfilling the commandments, and have been released from the bonds of death. The rest consists of our obligation to work; and unless we carry out the commandments of God, the grace given to us cannot be manifested. For in what way, when we were dead in sin, could we have done anything good by ourselves, unless the Lord himself had enlivened us through the washing of regeneration and had bestowed upon us the grace of the Holy Spirit? Hence we recognize that the perfect grace of the Holy Spirit has been granted to us for the fulfillment of all the commandments, which provides for progress in Christ and confirms his laborers even unto death: *Until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ* [Ephes. IV, 13], according to the paternal sequence of which we spoke before.
Question.
The one who is baptized, therefore, whom does he mystically receive? Christ, or the Holy Spirit? For sometimes you have said that Christ dwells [within], and sometimes the Holy Spirit. CAnswer.
We receive the Holy Spirit through baptism. But because he is also called the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, for this reason, through the Spirit, we receive the Father and the Son.Question.
Is the Holy Spirit, therefore, the Trinity?Answer.
We do not say that the Trinity consists in one person in such a way,A but because the Holy Spirit is not separated from the Father and the Son; for this reason, we confess the Trinity in him according to his own divinity. For just as the Son and the Spirit are in the Father, and again the Father and the Spirit are in the Son, so the Father and the Son are in the Holy Spirit, not by a confusion of the three hypostases, but by the union of one and the same will and Divinity. Hence, we too, whether we name the Father individually, or the Son, or the Spirit, name the Trinity in the one name, according to the principle we have just stated.
Question. How does Scripture say that Jerusalem is heavenly, whereas you have said that it is in the heart?
Answer. We know that not only Jerusalem, but also the other good things B which the righteous are to receive in the resurrection, are above; but the pledges and firstfruits of these exert their power in a spiritual way even in this age, in the hearts of those who firmly believe, so that, having certain persuasion concerning the future, we may despise all present things and love God even unto death. For this reason, it did not say, "You have the power to approach," but, "You have approached Mount Zion, and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." For we have been made capable of these things from [the time of] baptism; but only those are deemed worthy to attain them who are firm in faith, who die daily for the love of Christ, that is, those who transcend every thought of this life C and keep nothing else in mind but only when they shall attain to the perfect love of Christ, which is an interior opening of the heart, into which Jesus has entered as forerunner. Saint Paul, seeking this beyond the beginning points, said: "I pursue, if I may also attain, that for which I was also attained"—that is, that I may love, for which I was also loved—"by Christ." And after attaining this love, he could no longer admit to think of anything else, neither the afflictions of this body, nor the wonders of the creation, but he rejected almost every thought, not enduring to be deprived even for an hour of the operation of the Spirit. He made manifest what he rejected for the sake of spiritual love, and says: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" and what follows; and again: "I am persuaded," he says, "that neither death, nor life," D and what follows; and again: "Neither shall any other creature be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord," inasmuch as he could not bear to think of any such thing, but only to remain there.
Question. How did you say a short while ago that the Holy Spirit dwells in us perfectly?
Answer. I said "firstfruits," not introducing any part of the whole, nor any sort of division of the Spirit; for neither does He divide
nor is He altered, but He shows our own capacity: which is unable to contain the whole energy of the Spirit, except through the perfect commandment, that is, through death. Since even the death undergone for the truth of Christ is a commandment of God. Just as the sun, being perfect, bestows its own light perfect, simple, and equal upon all, but each one, according to the extent that he has a cleansed eye, in that measure receives the light: so also the Holy Spirit, from the time of the baptism received, rendered believers capable of all His actions and gifts. He did not, however, grant to all the gifts to be exercised equally, but to each according to his worth, in proportion to the working of the commandments, as far as he has testified by good works and rendered manifest the measure of his faith in Christ. B Therefore, He says, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba, Father" (Gal. IV, 6); and, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom. VIII, 16). But that no one can cut away the sin of Adam from himself, but Christ alone, according to the proportion of faith in Him, hear the Apostle saying: "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. XV, 3); and again: "But God commends His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. V, 8, 9); and: "We were buried with Him through baptism, that just as Christ was raised from the dead, so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. VI, 4), and so on; and: "He who has died has been justified from sin" (Rom. VI, 9); and: "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephes. II, 8, 9); and again: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light" (Ephes. V, 8); and again: "We are not children of the slave woman, but of the free" (Gal. IV, 31); "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free" (Gal. V, 1); and again: "As free, and not as using liberty for a cloak of vice" (1 Pet. II, 16). C Do you see how the Scripture calls these the works of newness, of liberty, and of light, by the contest of which you say that sin is cut away? It also declares the conversions of free will, which you say are the sin of Adam. For that statement: "Using liberty as a cloak of vice" (1 Pet. II, 16); and, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit" (Ephes. IV, 30); and, "Doing the will of the flesh and of the thoughts" (Ephes. II, 3); and this: "Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" (Gal. III, 3); and, "We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh" (Rom. VIII, 12)—knowing these and similar things, the Scripture knows that to do them or not to do them is in our power; for this reason, D it does not blame Satan, nor the sin of Adam, but us. But if you wish to hear more intelligently, I will tell you a summary of all things. You assert that the thoughts and transformations of the soul are the sin of Adam; and see, the blessed Paul clearly and studiously, because of this wickedness of the mind, accuses us as the authors, and says:
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind." But if these things are not of our own will, but of the tyranny of Satan, and a remnant of Adam’s sin, why are we accused by Scripture, we who are involuntarily moved by sin and tyrannized by Satan? Are we also to be punished for no reason? Or perhaps God is unjust, commanding things that are above nature, and seeking from us things that are beyond our strength and contrary to nature? But this is not so; God forbid! For I will ask you, and you give me an answer: How much power for piety our nature possesses, are we bound to offer that to God daily, or not? You will certainly say to me, "Yes," since God has liberally granted this by nature, and has set commandments according to the measure of our strength. A Therefore, if the good that is offered to Him today is a debt of today, show me, then, what has been paid for your old sin, or Adam’s. I tell you, however, that not only are you unable to show this, but you cannot even pay the daily debt without any defect. And whence is this evident? From the fact that you are not always found persevering in the same virtues. For however much you add to virtue today, by that much are you convicted of falling short of the past, having made manifest the power of nature. For it was shown through today’s addition that the deficiency is not of nature, but an addition of the will, and for this reason we are destroyed by sin.
Question. Let it be granted that these things are so; yet one thing I know, that if Adam had not transgressed, I would not have experienced the assault of evil.
Answer. Neither have you said this rightly; for to be without the assault of evil belongs to a nature that is immutable, not to human nature, for we and Adam are of one nature. It was fitting that he should be as we are, and we as he. Therefore, let that very first man convince you that he was neither immutable, nor unilaterally prone to evil, and that he did not transgress the commandment by the necessity of nature, but by the good pleasure of his will. Just as he was capable of obeying the assault of Satan, but [also] had the power [to resist], so do we. B C
Question. Perhaps now I will bear with you, because you do not do away with the assault of Satan.
Answer. I, for my part, never did away with it in the things I said before. For I know also that Job was tempted by the devil, and that Scripture says: "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephes. VI, 11-12); and again: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (Jas. IV, 7); and in another place: "Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet. V, 8). But when we [say that] evil thoughts [come] not from ourselves, but... D
A from certain others, sometimes saying that they are the sin of Adam, sometimes the devil himself, sometimes the devil’s suggestion, for this reason we say that the sin of Adam is one thing, the devil another, the devil’s suggestion another, and our evil thoughts still another, even if they draw their occasions from the suggestion. For Satan is the very substance of the devil, who even attempted to tempt the Lord; the sin of the first Adam is the transgression of the commandment by the first man; the suggestion of Satan is a single-thought manifestation of an evil thing, which finds its way to approach our mind through our lack of faith. For when we have received the commandment to be anxious for nothing, but to keep our own heart with all vigilance, and to seek the kingdom of heaven which is within us, when the mind departs from the heart and the aforementioned seeking, it immediately gives place to the devil's suggestion and becomes receptive to the evil proposal. But not even then does the devil have the power to move our thoughts by authority, B since otherwise he would not have spared us, forcibly bringing every evil notion and allowing no good [thought] to be conceived; he has authority only to manifest the evil doctrines in a single-thought way in the primary movement, to tempt our inner disposition, so as to incline it toward his proposal or toward God's commandment; for these are opposed to each other. Whence we, in those things which we love, immediately stir up thoughts toward the example and converse passionately in our mind with the suggested thing; but in hateful things we cannot linger, but we hate the very suggestion itself. Yet the hated [suggestion], though it remains, does not persist by reason of a fresh disposition, but is fortified by an old preoccupation; wherefore it stands harmless in its place, and as a single-thought manifestation, is prevented by the heart's aversion from advancing into complex thought and passion. For the single-person manifestation, being hated, does not have the nature, C in one who keeps watch over himself, of forcibly dragging the mind into the passion of complex thought, unless through the heart's pleasure alone. So if we were to depart entirely from pleasures, not even the mere manifestation of the preoccupying imaginations could harm us further, nor condemn our conscience regarding the certainty of the future. For when the mind recognizes the vain conflict of the preoccupying thought, and confesses the old cause to God, this temptation is immediately destroyed. And again, the mind has the authority to pay heed to the heart, and to keep it with all vigilance, attempting to enter into its inner, undisturbed storehouses, where there are no winds of wicked thoughts, violently pushing the soul and body toward the precipices D of pleasure or casting them into pits of bitumen; nor is there any broad and spacious road, wounded by the words and habits of worldly wisdom, enticing those who follow it, even if they happen to be very prudent. But the pure inner storehouses of the soul, and
into the house of Christ, they do not admit anything nakedly brought in from this world, whether reasonable or unreasonable, except for these three things which the Apostle mentioned: faith, hope, and charity. Therefore, anyone who is a lover of truth and wishes to labor with his heart can, without being exhausted by presumptuous thoughts, follow the aforementioned sequence, pay attention to his heart, A make progress interiorly, and draw near to God alone, provided that the labors in that attention and perseverance do not disgust him. For the person who is attentive to mental distractions and fleshly pleasures cannot but grow weary in heart, daily circumscribing himself not only outwardly but also interiorly, within which his intellect and action are often overturned. Whence we know that the initial mental provocation is forced, since it persists even though it is unwelcome; but to contract a familiarity with the thoughts that are introduced is voluntary. This was demonstrated even by those B who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression, who indeed could not prevent the attack of thoughts, yet altogether rejected any familiarity or affection toward them.
Interrogation. Did we not necessarily inherit the transgression of Adam, which is the sin of our rational soul?
Response. The transgression of Adam is not a sin, but an index of everyone’s self-indulgence. But neither did we inherit the transgression; for by succession it would be necessary for all to be transgressors, and for them not to be blamed by God for transgressing by the necessity C of natural succession. But now it is not so; for we do not all transgress the commandment, nor do we all keep it. Whence it is clear that transgression does not have its origin from necessity, but from self-indulgence. But if you say that the Lord came for this reason, why did He not destroy it in baptism, but even now each one has the power to transgress or not to transgress? Therefore, since transgression is voluntary, as has been proven, no one inherited it by necessity. We did, however, inherit by necessity the death that follows from it, which is an D alienation from God. For since the first man died—that is, was alienated from God—we were unable to live in God. Therefore the Lord came, that by the laver of regeneration He might make us alive and reconcile us to God, which He also accomplished. Accordingly, we did not inherit the transgression, since that which reigned even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression would necessarily have dominated him [Adam] as well.
Interrogation. Let it be granted that Adam transgressed voluntarily, and that because we are of the same nature we also fall voluntarily—did he not also bear the provocation voluntarily?
A *Response*. Indeed, he bore the provocation by necessity. But the provocation is neither sin nor righteousness, but a test of our free will. Therefore, it was permitted to provoke us, so that it might demonstrate those who incline toward the commandment to be faithful, and those who are condemned by pleasure to be unfaithful. And this we must also know, that we are not judged as righteous or reprobate immediately upon every individual turning of ours; but when our whole life in the flesh has been tested through provocations—overcoming, being overcome; falling, rising again; wandering, prospering—then, on the day of departure, when all things have been reckoned, we shall be judged according to proportion.
Therefore, the provocation itself is not sin. God forbid! B For even if it shows things by necessity through a single thought, yet we have received from the Lord the power of spiritual labor, and it is in our power, from the first conception, to prove what is harmful and what is useful, and to reject or receive thoughts—not by necessity, but being multiplied by our disposition. But let us state, as you do, that these also arise by necessity and succession; why then does the divine Scripture condemn us for evil thoughts? Or how can we close the door against those who harass us by necessity and succession? But if you say to me: "We are able through the grace which we have received from baptism, according to the Scriptures," know then by this argument also that we are the authors, we who have received from God the power to exclude them from the first apprehension and submission. But if anyone posits another as the author of his own vices, he not only sins C boldly, but also blasphemes against God, as if He permits innocent men to be warred upon without cause.
*Interrogation*. Why then, I who am baptized, and who beseech God and implore His grace, and with all my will desire to be delivered and freed from evil thoughts, yet cannot? Is it not clear that this irrecusable inheritance was left to us from the transgression of Adam?
*Response*. We who are endowed with reason ought to know what we hear. But since the soul, darkened by the love of pleasure and vain glory, has fallen into the abyss of ignorance, it no longer hears the commandment of Scripture, nor the natural order, nor the instruction of the experienced; it pursues only its own conceptions. D For who, if he has faith in divine Scripture and performs the Lord's commandments, does not find that thoughts gradually cease in a similar manner, and is made certain that they do not rule by power, but because of the thinness of our faith and the defect of our commandments? Therefore, we are not all equal in our state, nor are we driven by the same conceptions, because the causes of the conceptions are discretionary. For if they flowed necessarily from Adam, we would all be moved alike, and we would be inescapably besieged, nor would we have need of admonition...
A nor of a will addicted to pleasure. But now it is not so. Heaven forbid! For behold, we observe that we are not all moved in the same way, nor at the same times, nor regarding the same things; but insofar as each has believed in the Lord regarding future goods, having scorned human glory and the passion for pleasure, to that extent he has excluded thoughts, and is more tranquil in soul than he who is affected by pleasures. Therefore, we differ one from another both in our conception of mind and in our life. Since, therefore, we sophisticate against the truth in this matter also, and we seek not from the faith of Jesus—that is, not through the working of his commandments, nor by extinguishing B thoughts through simplicity and humility of heart, but rather while being led by secret pleasure, I mean empty glory, and being a men-pleaser, and by opinion, and by the fantasy of victory, and by self-exaltation, and other such things, of which the failures multiply the appetitive thoughts—for this cause we are unable. What then, retaining the causes, do we attempt unjustly to cast away their natural operations? But if the argument is false, and we are moved by thoughts without any cause of our own, let us examine it accurately, as those confessing to God. Who does not know that we daily attract the aforementioned passions by deed, word, and mind, and we love those who assist them as benefactors, but we turn away from those who hinder them as enemies? If, however, we love the aforementioned passions C to such a degree that we even openly defend them, how shall we hate their initial assault which is merely in thought? When the primary conception has been accepted, how should the thoughts dependent upon it not follow?
Question. Even if we assume these things are so, thus did the Lord in the Gospels promise to perform the vindication of those crying out to him night and day.
Answer. The Lord does not speak the parable to those who lie in pleasures of their own accord, but to those who are fought merely by intrusions. Therefore, he promised that he would vindicate those who suffer injury from enemies; but he rebukes those who, as if they had cast off the helping commandment, say: Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? D Whom he also likens to a foolish man who builds his house upon the sand of his own wills. Do not, therefore, with an unsteady mind and irrational counsel, lean upon all your own suppositions as if they were true, sometimes saying, "I have been baptized, and I call upon God, and I draw upon his grace, desiring with my whole will to be delivered from evil thoughts, yet I cannot," as if you were held by thoughts without fault; and at other times waiting for the vindication of the Lord, which we have announced in the Gospels that he would perform, everywhere establishing yourself as blameless, which is a matter of great blasphemy. Nevertheless, I too will ask you regarding the meaning of this opinion, and you give me an answer. For I know that from the truth
A you will be constrained either to speak words of greater arrogance or to confess your own fault.
Interrogation. Why does the Lord, when He said, "He will speedily avenge them," not act speedily, but delays, and leaves you in evil thoughts, even though you pray with your whole heart and without doubting, as you have said?
Response. As for what He said, I consider that He delays for no other reason than for the sake of my patience; for the more anyone suffers while being attacked, the greater the glory with which he will be endowed. I indeed intended to offer a response only to the opinion which you have imbibed; but you have added blasphemy as well. For in order to attribute to yourself the name of a false patience, you have represented God as lying by your own word; and [you have represented] the evil thoughts, which proceed from the heart, according to the word of the Lord B, and which defile a man, no longer as the procurers of wickedness, of luxury, and of every sin, according to the divine Scripture, but as the causes of patience. But I have never found those who are held fast by evil thoughts to be praised by the divine Scripture, either in the Old or in the New Testament; but rather to be held as guilty and condemned: for God, just as He hates evil thoughts, so also does He hate the heart from which they are born. Wherefore we who nourish them ought to mourn, as lovers of sin, and not to be puffed up, C as if we were fighting against external vices. Know therefore, O man, that the Lord looks upon the hearts of all, and those who hate the primary conception of evil thoughts, He avenges forthwith, as He promised, and does not allow the swarm of manifold thoughts to rise up and defile their mind and conscience. But those who do not overturn the first sproutings through faith and hope, but as if by learning and testing them, take pleasure in them, He leaves—as being faithless and seeking help from themselves—to be struck also by the subsequent thoughts; which He therefore does not remove, because He sees that the attack upon us is loved by us and not pursued with hatred, when it first begins to appear vaguely. If anyone, however, after such a great and clear disputation, does not have faith in these things that have been said, let him by deed seek to learn the truth. If indeed he does not credit Scripture, nor by the deed itself wishes to make himself certain, he openly demonstrates that he loves and embraces his own opinion. For what is more delightful D than that which suggests that the sin of thoughts is something foreign to us, and causes us to glory and be puffed up as if we were innocent, rather than to confess and mourn over our evil conceits?
Interrogation. You said earlier that we did not inherit the transgression of Adam, but that we did inherit his death. Since, therefore, death is still vigorous, evil thoughts are also vigorous.
A O faithlessness! For what other reason did the Lord come in the flesh, if not clearly so that He might die for all according to the Scriptures, and destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil? But if you think that the death derived from Adam still reigns apart from our own evil faith, then you obviously reject the coming of Christ and have an imperfect baptism, if the baptized are still held by paternal death without their own fault. B Therefore, O man, how have you become a new Adam by the grace of Christ, and carry nothing of the old man from necessity, unless you had something of your own evil faith and transgression? The Lord came for our sake, He died for us, He freed us from paternal death, He cleanses us and renews us through baptism, He places us in the paradise of the Church, and He permits us to eat from every tree that is in the paradise—which is to say, to love every one baptized in the Church and to tolerate the one who errs, and not for one to rejoice in having found fault with another in his changes, loving him when things are deemed prosperous, but hating him when things are deemed adverse. This is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of which when the mind has tasted, it immediately falls into the same failures, and finds its own nakedness through wicked discovery regarding one's neighbor, which before it did not understand, being covered C by compassion. For this reason, a command is given to those set in the paradise of the Church, saying: *Judge not, that you be not judged; forgive, and it will be forgiven to you.* The summary of these things He states thus: *Whatever you want men to do to you, do you also to them likewise. For this is the law and the prophets.* In the manner that you have done, so shall it be for you. How often, then, have we profaned these commandments! How often have we condemned our neighbor without compassion! How often have we hated, or even injured those who have done us no wrong! But if these things are so, why do we still complain of Adam and accuse the sins of others? For indeed, we have both fallen into a similar death, and in like manner we have transgressed the commandment by our will, just as he did. D Three things, therefore, happened to Adam, and not as you suppose: namely, an assault by divine dispensation, a transgression according to his own faithlessness, and death according to the just judgment of God, which followed not less upon the assault by dispensation than upon the transgression from faithlessness. We, however, inherited from Adam only the death, because we could not be made living from the dead until the Lord came and brought all to life. But we have the first reception by dispensation just as he did; and we have the capacity to disobey or not to disobey by our own will, just as he did. They also persuade us that it is placed within our free will to transgress through our thoughts, those who have not sinned in the likeness of Adam's transgression, as the Apostle said. For if those who were born from Adam could not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression, then obviously we can do so too. Why, then, do we invent excuses in
of Adam, we certainly can as well. Why, therefore, A do we put forward excuses for our sins and speak unjustly of God, as though He allows us to be assailed by the vices of others unfairly? We ought, therefore, to know precisely that, since the entire cause of Adam has been abolished by the Lord, if anyone suffers some evil, whoever that may be, this happens to him because he has neglected, through his own faithlessness or through the love of pleasure, the perfection he received mystically in baptism. For even if a man does not yet know what he has received, being imperfect in faith and destitute in operation, God has nevertheless bestowed the perfect thing. For He says: *Every perfect gift is from above, descending from the Father of lights* (Jas. 1, 17). This perfect thing, however, is not attained by anyone lightly or rashly, even if he were to apply the intellect of the whole world, except through the carrying out of the divine commandments; and this is done in proportion, for according to the diversity of the operation, the gift is also revealed to us in a B diverse manner. Therefore, let no one restrain himself with words and outward appearances, if he does not possess that understanding. For He says: *Not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends* (II Cor. 10, 18). Moreover, he who receives recommendations from the Lord ought to use them rightly and prudently, and to know diligently that as much as one has struggled against his own faithlessness, and has advanced in faith, and has obtained some good—not by knowledge alone, but by acting—he does not attain, nor will he be able to attain, anything more than what he had already received mystically through baptism, which is Christ. *For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ* (Gal. 3, 27). And since Christ is perfect God, He has bestowed upon the baptized the perfect grace of the Holy Spirit; which receives no increase from us, but is revealed and manifests itself to us according to the measure of our C observance of the commandments; and it provides an increase of faith for us, *until we all come into the unity of the faith, into a perfect man, into the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ* (Eph. 4, 13). If, therefore, regenerated, we offer anything to Him, that was already hidden in us by Him, as it is written: *Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? or who has first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed to him again? For of Him and through Him and in Him are all things. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen* (Rom. 11, 34-36).
Little Work V
Admonitions for the welfare of the soul to Nicolaus.
1. Since I was formerly very solicitous for my own salvation, and having much concern for the life to be lived according to God, you met with us to recount your affairs, describing with what labors and with what fervent impulse of soul you were intending to cleave to the Lord by D an exact manner of life and continence, and every other affliction, watching—
A as one contending with frequent vigils and fervent prayer, you would lament that you were the more grievously disturbed by the passion of anger and desire, as to what wars and impulses of carnal affections were vibrating in the corporeal nature and being stirred up against the soul from the law of sin warring against the law of our mind; and you sought a certain method and words of exhortation, by what labors and struggles you might be able to become superior to the aforesaid destructive passions. And at that time, as much as was possible, we exhorted your love in person, proposing precepts of counsel and prudence salutary to the soul, demonstrating with what ascetic labors and strains of effort a soul, living reasonably according to the Gospel with prudence and enlightened knowledge, and aided by the grace of faith, is able to overcome the vices bubbling up within the heart, and especially the aforesaid passions. For the soul, having been more frequently disturbed and more quickly agitated by the occupation and familiarity of these passions, must undertake a more earnest and unceasing struggle against them, until it has brought into subjection the carnal and irrational workings of wickedness to which it was previously subjected and agitated, and by a continuous simulation of thoughts and evil meditation was led away captive through the inward consent of the mind. Since, therefore, we are separated from your body in a corporeal manner, but not in spirit, having come into the desert to the true laborers and athletes of Christ, so that we too, by struggling even a little B and striving together with the brothers who are contending against the opposing forces and manfully resisting the passions, might cast off all sloth, and having cast away from ourselves all negligence, we might eagerly resume all zeal and diligence for the fulfilling of the good pleasure of God. Wherefore, I determined to entrust to writing a small, soul-profiting admonition and exhortation for your sincerity, so that, just as if we were present, through those things which our brief exhortatory writing has comprised in moderate compass, you might bestow diligent effort and reap the spiritual fruit of those things concerning which I was discoursing with you in person.
II.
The beginning, therefore, O child, of your being admonished according to God, you ought to make from hence. You must, in unceasing meditation and with a memory that cannot be destroyed by any oblivion, C ponder all the dispensations and benefits of the inhuman-loving God that have been brought to pass for you for the sake of the salvation of your soul, lest through laziness and the forgetfulness of his many and great benefits, your memory be covered by the sloth of wickedness, and you spend the remaining time uselessly and ungratefully. For such unceasing memories, piercing the heart like a goad, stir it up at all times to confession, to humility, to thanksgiving with a contrite soul, to every good zeal, and to the requital of kind ways and characters, and of every virtue according to God, ever meditating with a good conscience that prophetic saying, "What shall we render unto the Lord for all that he hath rendered unto us?" DA For when the soul reckons up the benefits bestowed upon it by the philanthropic God from the time of its birth; or from how many perils it has often been snatched; or into what great evils it might have fallen, and yet, having frequently succumbed to transgressions and slipped, was not justly delivered up by the righteous judgment of God to the spirits that deceived it unto perdition and death—but rather, the philanthropic Lord long-sufferingly overlooked its transgressions and preserved it, awaiting its conversion; and how He Himself cherished and, providing for it in all things, nourished the soul that had voluntarily enslaved itself to the enemy and to wicked spirits through its passions, and finally guided it with a good spirit unto salvation; and how He instilled into its heart a love for the ascetic life, and gave it strength to abandon with joy the world and all its deception of carnal pleasures; and adorned it with the angelic habit of the angelic order, and caused it to be easily received by the holy Fathers into the assembly of the brotherhood. B Who, then, possessing a well-conscious mind, and considering these things, and having such pledges, would not always persist with a contrite heart, having received such benefits, though he himself had done no good before? Would he not always take up a firm hope, reckoning thus: "If, when I had done no good, but had sinned much before Him, and while I was caught in the impurity of the flesh and many other vices, He did not deal with me according to my sins, nor recompense me according to my iniquities, but provided such gifts and graces for my salvation; if, therefore, we surrender ourselves to serve Him for the future in all pure conduct and completion of virtues, C He will deem us worthy of all good and spiritual charisms, leading and strengthening us unto every good work." Therefore, he who maintains such a constant thought, and is not oblivious of such benefits, humbles himself, and directs his course, and urges himself toward every good exercise of virtue, and toward every operation of righteousness, always promptly and always readily to do the will of God.
III. Therefore, beloved son, you who by the grace of God possess natural understanding, keep this constant meditation and good exercise always within yourself, that you be not covered by pernicious forgetfulness, nor hindered by the sloth that makes the mind foolish and seduces it from life, nor have your thought darkened by ignorance—the cause of all evils—nor be enticed by utterly wicked negligence, nor shaken by the pleasure of the flesh, nor have your mind held captive by desire, and by the consent to unclean thoughts work defilement within yourself, nor be conquered by anger, which engenders hatred of the brethren, so that you torment your neighbor for some pitiable and wretched occasion, and, tormenting him, store up for yourself the memory of wicked thoughts, being left destitute of pure prayer toward God, and having your mind enslaved, and looking upon your like-minded brother with a bestial thought, and having your conscience bound by the irrational manner of the carnal mind.
A And being delivered for a time to the evil spirits to whom you had subjected yourself, for the purpose of instruction, until the mind—despoiled on every side, swallowed up by grief and sloth, and having lost the progress made according to God due to the aforementioned causes—begins again, through much humility, to take hold of the beginning of the way of salvation. And after laboring much in prayers and all-night vigils, having dissolved his faults through self-abasement and confession made to God, by this manner he begins to recover sobriety, and being illuminated by divine grace through the light of evangelical knowledge, he recognizes this: that he who does not surrender himself completely to the cross in a spirit of humility, and cast himself down to be trampled upon, despised, wronged, ridiculed, and mocked by all, and endures all these things with joy for the sake of the Lord, without claiming for himself any human things at all—such as glory, or honor, or praise, or the pleasure of food, drink, or clothing—cannot become a true Christian.
B IV. Therefore, since such contests, struggles, and crowns are set before us, until that time we serve the Lord under the guise of an assumed form of piety, while being thought one thing by men, but being known and revealed as something else in secret. For we are thought by many to be holy, yet in our behavior we are in truth still savage, having an outward form of piety but not possessing its power before God. We are thought by most to be virgins and pure, but before Him who knows hidden things, we are inwardly defiled by the consent to lustful thoughts and are muddied by the energies of the passions. And because of our feigned spiritual exercise, we are still puffed up by the praises of men and our C minds are blinded. How long, then, shall we walk in the vanity of the mind, not taking hold of the evangelical mindset, and failing to recognize the manner of life that is founded upon conscience, so that we might diligently pursue it in order to find the freedom of conscience? Instead, we still persist in the supposed justice of the outward man, and through a lack of true knowledge, we deceive ourselves solely through external observances, desiring to please men and hunting for the glory, honors, and praises that come from them.
The Lord will surely come, He who reveals the hidden things D of darkness and makes manifest the counsels of the hearts—the Judge who cannot be deceived, who neither shows favor to the rich nor has pity on the poor. He who strips away the outward form and brings to light the truth hidden within. He who crowns, in the presence of the angels and before His own Father, those true competitors and athletes who have lived according to conscience; and who brings to shame those who are feigned and clothed in the mere form of piety, who display to men only an outward manner of life and are fixed in it in vain, deceiving their own souls, and who, in the supernal calling of the saints and the entire heavenly host, triumphs over them [the hypocrites] as they are gravely put to shame, being judged by their outward appearance, like the foolish virgins, who kept their virginity in the external parts of their bodies, while [...]
A they were in no way accused regarding this. Yet they even possessed oil in their vessels in a partial manner—that is to say, they were indeed partakers of certain virtues and good deeds, and so their lamps burned for a time; but through negligence, ignorance, and sloth, they did not provide for their internal purity. Nor did they precisely discern the swarm of passions hidden within, agitated by evil thoughts and spirits, but rather they allowed their own intellect to be corrupted by these hostile affections as they moved themselves to grant consent to the thoughts. Being enticed in secret and overcome by most wicked envy, by zeal that hates the good, by strife, hatred, contentiousness, anger, bitterness, hypocrisy, wrath, pride, vainglory, the desire to please men, the love of money, carnal desire—which produces pleasure in thoughts—unbelief, fearlessness, cowardice, despondency, sorrow, contradiction, laxity, sleep, conceit, self-righteousness, haughtiness, arrogance, insatiable greed, luxury, avarice, and that which is more grievous than all of these, despair, and the other most subtle operations of wickedness. These virgins also appeared to men to be performing good works and living an excellent life, reaping praises from them; and although they were partakers of certain gifts, they bartered away divine graces for the spirits of vainglory and the desire to please men. Having communion with the rest of the passions, they mixed their honest pursuits with wicked and carnal thoughts; wherefore they produced works impure and unworthy to be received, like the sacrifice of Cain. For this reason, they attained a similar end: deprived of the joy of the bridegroom and shut out of the heavenly bridal chamber.
V. On the necessity of discernment in works
V. Weighing these things C therefore with reflection and discernment, let us know and understand who we are, so that while we still have time for repentance and conversion, we may correct ourselves. Thus, our good works, being performed purely, may be genuine and honest, and not mixed with the carnal mind, lest they become rejected, like a blemished sacrifice, on account of security, negligence, and the lack of true knowledge; and lest, in some way, after having exhausted the labors of virginity, continence, fasting, vigils, and affliction, and having spent our days in the aforementioned causes of the passions, these things we deem to be justifications be found to be like a blemished sacrifice—unworthy to be accepted D by the heavenly High Priest, Christ. In the first place, therefore, my son, he who desires to take up the cross and follow Christ must have a care for knowledge and understanding, through constant examination of his own thoughts, immoderate solicitude for his salvation, a great desire to reach God, much prudence, and the questioning of those who serve God with a harmonious and unanimous mind, and who struggle in the same struggle, so that he may not walk in the darkness, ignorant, and journey without light or lamp. For he who follows his own private inclination and walks without evangelical knowledge and guidance stumbles many times, falls into many pits and snares of the devil, lapses into many things, and meets with many dangers; and he does not
A know what end he reaches. For many have passed through many labors and exercises, and have endured many afflictions and toils as if for God; but their self-will, and their lack of discernment, and their simple-mindedness regarding the benefit of their neighbor, have made those very many labors and toils and hardships of theirs fruitless.
VI. B You therefore, beloved son, just as we said at the beginning of our exhortation, do not, led astray by theft and sloth, forget the benefits bestowed upon you by the man-loving God, but rather, keeping before your eyes the gifts granted from the beginning of your birth until the present time, both bodily and spiritual benefits, meditate upon them and exercise yourself in them continually, according to that which is said: "And do not forget all his rewards," so that they may promptly and easily lead you to the love of God. The soul is moved to render, according to its strength, a sincere life, a conversation dedicated to virtues, a religious conscience, a well-fitting speech, and to dedicate one's whole self to God, being prompted by the memory of so many good things which you have received from the good and man-loving Master, so that in a certain spontaneous way, or rather, with the help from above working with you, your heart may be wounded with love and desire by such a memory of benefits, because the things which in His supreme judgment He did not bestow upon others, He bestowed upon you by His own ineffable philanthropy.
Strive, then, always to keep in memory all the good things that have happened to you from God; and especially, remember unceasingly that marvelous grace and benefit which He granted you when you were sailing with your mother from the holy places to Constantinople, C just as you recounted to us, when that fearsome and irresistible tempest and great storm arose by night, and all of those who were in the ship, together with the sailors and your mother herself, perished in the deep, and by an unexpected divine power, you alone, along with two others, were cast out and saved; and how it was ordered that you should reach Ancyra, and, being received by a certain Eleutherius with paternal affection, were joined in spirit to the most devout son, Epiphanius, so that both of you might be led by a holy man to enter upon the path of salvation, and be received as genuine sons by the holy servants of God.
VII. D On account, then, of all these good things granted to you by God, what are you worthy to render to Him who called your soul to eternal life? For you no longer ought to live for yourself, as is just, but for Him who died and rose for you, for every virtue of righteousness, for every fulfillment of the commandments, always seeking what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God; and with all your strength strive and pursue this. Nevertheless, my son, so subject your youth to the word of God, as the word itself demands: Present your body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, your reasonable
service, and cool and dry every moisture of carnal desire by sparing food and drink and by the vigils of entire nights, so that you too may say from the heart: *I have become like a bottle in the frost, yet I have not forgotten your statutes.* And when you acknowledge that you are Christ’s, crucify your flesh according to the apostolic voice, with its passions and lusts, and mortify your members which are upon the earth, not only the practical act of fornication, but also that uncleanness which is worked in the flesh by evil spirits. B Nor does he who truly desires to receive the crown of undefiled, perfect, and entire virginity limit the struggle to this; but, following the apostolic teaching, he strives to kill even the alliance and movement of the passion itself. And not even then is he satisfied, simply awaiting the evangelical voice and undefiled virginity to dwell in his own body; but he prays that even that very conception of desire in the soul, which exists in thought alone—arising in a flickering of the mind without the movement and action of bodily passion—should be utterly extinguished. Yet this is possible only through help from above and the power and provision of the Holy Spirit. If, therefore, there are some who have been deemed worthy of this grace, this man who awaits the crown of pure and C immaculate virginity mortifies the members that are upon the earth, destroying the outer man by the intensity and persistence of self-control; he makes him lean and thin and emaciated, so that through faith and struggles and the working of grace, the inner man may be renewed, advancing from day to day for the better, growing in charity, increasing in hope, adorned with gentleness, rewarded with the peace of Christ, led by kindness, gladdened by the exultation of the Spirit, guarded by goodness, contained by the fear of God, illumined by understanding and thought, shining with wisdom, and guided by humility. Refreshed by these and similar virtues, the mind discerns within itself the character of the divine image, D understands the intelligible and ineffable beauty of the Lord’s likeness, and attains the wealth of that self-taught, self-learning wisdom and the interior law. Therefore, my son, make your useless flesh lean and fatten your immortal soul with the things that have been said, and renew your mind with the aforementioned virtues, with the Holy Spirit cooperating. For they say that youthful flesh, when fattened by various foods and the drinking of wine, is like a pig prepared for slaughter. Thus, by the heat of bodily pleasures, the soul is slaughtered, and by the fever of wicked desire, the mind is taken captive, unable to resist the pleasures of the flesh; for an increase of blood produces a decrease of spirit. Above all, let not youth even smell the intake of wine, lest a double flame be kindled—I mean the naturally inborn heat of the body and the wine-drinking poured in from without—and, taking up the torment of compunction from this, he drives away spiritual joy and [brings upon himself] confusion and scorching in the heart; but by...
for the sake of spiritual desire, let not youth forgo the sufficiency of water, for the lack of water contributes greatly to the fostering of temperance. And having tested this by the deed itself, you will receive the assurance by that very experience. For we do not command or ordain this as if wishing to impose a yoke of necessity upon you, but as a suggestion and a good method for the cooperation of true virginity and exact temperance, we advise you lovingly and consult you, leaving to your own free will that which pleases it.
B VIII. Come then, let us also discuss a little the irrational passion of anger, which lays waste the entire soul, confuses it, darkens it, and shows man to be like the beasts at the time of its movement and operation—especially him who slips easily and falls quickly into that passion. This is supported and confirmed above all by pride, and it becomes indissoluble as long as the devilish tree—I mean that of bitterness, anger, and wrath—is watered by the base water of pride; and, flourishing and thriving, it bears much fruit of iniquity; and thus the building of the Wicked One is made in the soul, having for its support and fortification this foundation of pride. If, therefore, you wish that the tree of iniquity—I mean the passion of bitterness, anger, and wrath—should dry up in you and become barren, so that the axe of the Spirit may come and cut it down and cast it into the fire, according to the Gospel voice, and remove it with all wickedness; and if you wish the house of iniquity, which the Wicked One C is always building in the soul—as stones, gathering various pretexts, rational or irrational, out of the material of affairs or words in the thoughts, and constructing a building of wickedness in the soul—to be broken down, [know that] he places the thoughts of pride as a support and fortification. If, therefore, you wish this house of theirs to be abolished and razed, keep the humility of the Lord unforgotten in your heart: who He is, what He has become for our sake, and from what height of the light of the Godhead, revealed according to the capacity of the beings above and glorified in the heavens by every rational nature—angels and archangels, thrones, lordships, principalities, powers, cherubim and seraphim, and the unnamable intellectual powers whose names have not reached us, D according to the enigma of the Apostle—into what a depth of human humility He descended, led by unspeakable goodness, and was made in all things like us who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, and are mastered by the enemy through the operation of the passions.
IX. Being, therefore, in such captivity and ruled by the invisible and wicked death, the Lord of every creature, both visible and invisible, was not ashamed, but humbled Himself and took up that which, under the passions of dishonor and...
A the judgment of condemnation, had been set against man, becoming in all things like us, sin excepted, that is, except for the passions of dishonor. For all the penal consequences of death, toil, hunger, thirst, and all such things, which had been brought upon man by the Lord’s voice because of the sin of the transgression, He took upon Himself, becoming what we are, that we might become what He is. The Word became flesh, that flesh might become Word. Being rich, He became poor for our sake, that we might become rich by His poverty. Through His love for mankind, He was made like us, that we might be made like Him in every virtue. For since Christ came, the new man according to the image and likeness is truly renewed through the grace and power of the Spirit, arriving at the measure of perfect love which casts out fear B and can no longer fall. For love never fails. For love, says John, is God; and he who abides in love abides in God. The apostles attained this very measure, as did those who practiced virtue in like manner to them, presenting themselves as perfect to the Lord, and following the Savior with full desire throughout their whole life. If you always ponder in your mind, without any forgetfulness, such great abasement, which Christ took upon Himself out of secret benevolence for the sake of His love toward us—that is, the indwelling of the Word of God in the womb, the assumption of man in the womb, the birth from a woman, the growth of the bodily stature by degrees, the dishonors, the insults, the reproaches, the revilings, the scourges, the spittings, the slaps upon the cheek, the mockery, the derision, the scarlet cloak, the crown of thorns, the sentence of the rulers against Him, the outcry against Him of the lawless Jews who were His own kin: "Away with him, away with him, crucify him," the cross, the nails, the spear, the reed, the drink of vinegar and gall, the triumph of the enemies, the mockery of those passing by, who said, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross, and we will believe you," and the rest of the sufferings which He endured for our sake, the crucifixion, the death, the three-day burial in the tomb, the descent into Hades; then also the fruits of the sufferings, what they are and of what kind, that is, the resurrection from the dead, the despoiling C of Hades and death, the [bringing up] of the souls that came with the Lord, the ascension into the heavens, the sitting at the right hand of the Father, the honor and glory; whose name is exalted above every principality, power, and every name, the adoration of all the angels toward the firstborn of the dead because of the sufferings He endured, as it is said by the apostolic voice: "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man; he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God D
A exalted him, and gave him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth. [5-10.] Behold the causes of the aforementioned things, according to the righteous judgment of God, to what glory and height they have raised the Lord’s humanity.
X. Therefore, if with desire and unforgetful affection you preserve these memorials in your heart, the passion of anger, bitterness, and wrath will not master you. For since the foundations of the passion of pride are overcome by the humility of Christ, which you ruminate upon, the whole edifice of iniquity, of wrath, and of anger is easily and spontaneously dissolved. For what hard and stony heart, B if it continually keeps in mind such great humility of the Godhead of the Only-Begotten for our sake, and the enumerated memory of the aforementioned sufferings, is not broken? Does it not willingly allow itself to be earth and ashes, and to be trodden upon by all men? But when the soul is thus humbled and broken, looking toward the humility of the Lord as its mark, what wrath will be able to take hold of it? What anger, what bitterness will be able to prevail? But, as it seems, the forgetfulness of these beneficial and life-giving thoughts, and the sister of this, sloth, and the helper and companion in character of these, ignorance—those deeper and more interior passions of the soul, those C elusive and difficult-to-correct curiosities, covering and darkening the soul—make the remaining passions of wickedness to work and lurk within it, as they instill a fearlessness and negligence of evils, and provide, boldly and easily, a path and activity for every passion. For when the soul is covered by the all-evil forgetfulness, and by the destructive sloth, and by ignorance, the mother and nurse of all evils, the wretched and blinded mind is easily bound to each of the things seen, or thought, or heard. As, for instance, if it sees the beauty of a woman, it is immediately wounded by carnal desire; and so, thereafter, the memories of those things seen with passion and pleasure, through the re-fashioning of ideas and wicked meditation, D paint the images within; and thus they defile the still passionate and wretched mind through the operation of the evil spirits.
XI. For what remains: even if the flesh is plump and youthful, or more moist, being stirred by such memories, it is quickly excited by the passion and, moved toward desire, it acts according to what it finds therein, working impurities sometimes in dreams, and sometimes while awake. For even if a man has had no external communion with a woman, and is thought to be and is held by men to be temperate, virgin, and pure, and even has the reputation of being a saint, yet before God, who judges 1046⟩ hidden things, he is judged to be polluted, a fornicator, and profligate; and he is justly condemned in that day, unless he laments and mourns, mortifying the flesh continually with fasts, and vigils, and incessant prayers.
A Having softened and healed his mind by holy memories and meditations on the word of God, and having amended himself, he may offer a worthy repentance to God, in whose sight he thought of or committed evils. For the living voice is true, which says: *But I say to you: Everyone who looks at a woman to desire her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart.* For this reason it helps the young especially, if it is possible, not to associate at all with women, even if they are thought to be holy. And if it is possible to live apart from people, the warfare remains lighter, and knowledge is much clearer; especially if one observes himself and the moderation of food and water diligently, and strives to spend his life in many vigils and prayers, and exerts himself to associate and be with skilled spiritual Fathers, and to be guided by them. For it is dangerous for one to live alone and self-willed and without a witness, and with those unskilled in spiritual warfare; for such people are ensnared by other methods of warfare, because the engines and hidden ambushes of vice are many, and various snares of the Enemy are fixed on every side. And for this reason one should strive and struggle to be with and associate continually with men powerful in knowledge; so that even if he does not have the lamp of true knowledge himself, due to his still imperfect and infant intellectual age, B by accompanying one who possesses it, he does not walk in darkness, does not risk danger from rocks and snares, and does not fall upon the intellectual beasts which feed in the darkness, and which snatch and destroy those who walk in it without the intellectual lamp of the divine word.
XII. If then you wish, my child, to acquire an inward lamp of the light of intellectual spiritual knowledge, you will be able to walk unhindered in the profound night of this age, and your steps will be directed by the Lord, so that you may strongly desire the way of the Gospel, according to the prophetic saying, that is, to hold fast by faith with burning zeal to the more perfect evangelical commandments, and to become a sharer in the sufferings of the Lord through desire and prayer. I show you an admirable and persistent method of spiritual reason, which has no need of bodily labor or struggle, C but requires the desire of the soul and an attentive intellectual mind, and which operates with the fear and love of God; through which design you will be able to easily put to flight the phalanx of the enemies, according to the blessed David, who by faith and the trust he had in God, killed one giant of the foreigners, and in this way easily put to flight many thousands of the enemy with his own people. And from the subject matter of our discourse, behold the three strong and mighty giants of the foreigners, upon whom all the power of the intellectual adversary who seeks to confound us rests; who being removed, all the power of the wicked spirits that tends toward our destruction will easily be broken. Furthermore, those who are named the strong giants of the wicked one are: first, the aforementioned ignorance, the mother of all evils; D
A forgetfulness, which is its sister, fellow-worker, and accomplice; and sloth, which weaves for the soul the dark covering and veil of a black cloud, supporting and strengthening both of them, providing them with a substrate, and causing the persistent evil to dwell in the most negligent soul. For under sloth, forgetfulness, and ignorance, the supports of the remaining passions are strengthened and magnified. For being helpers of one another, and unable to stand without one another, they are proven to be strong powers of the adversary, and the mighty princes of the Evil One, through whom the entire army of the spirits of wickedness creeps in, is propped up, and gains the power to execute its designs—without which the proposed evils cannot subsist.
B XIII. If, therefore, you wish to carry off the victory against the aforementioned passions and easily put to flight the phalanx of intelligible aliens, becoming established in yourself through prayer and the co-operation of God, and descending into the depths of your heart, search out these three mighty giants of the devil: I mean forgetfulness, sloth, and ignorance—the guard of the intelligible aliens, from which the remaining passions of wickedness creep in, live, and gain strength in the souls of those addicted to pleasure and vainglory. And when, through supreme attention and the earnestness of your mind, with the help of grace from above, you have discovered these vices that are unknown to most, yet more destructive than others, use the weapons of justice against them, answering them with the opposite: namely, that good memory, which is the source of all good things, and enlightened knowledge, by which the awakened soul drives off the darkness of ignorance from itself; and through the excellent eagerness that prepares for salvation and introduces into the soul those things that pertain to virtue, having put on the armor in the power of the Holy Spirit, you will bravely and manfully fight against and defeat the three aforementioned giants of the intelligible aliens. Through the excellent memory of God, C considering all things that are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise (Phil. iv, 8), you will drive out from yourself the most wicked forgetfulness; through enlightened and heavenly knowledge, you will cause the destructive ignorance of darkness to vanish; and through the all-virtuous and most noble eagerness, you will drive out the godless sloth that produces all evils in the soul. You will acquire these virtues—not merely by bare intent or choice, but by the power of God and the co-operation of the Holy Spirit—in much attention and earnest prayer. Thus, you will be able to be delivered from the strong giants of the Evil One mentioned above. For by the agreement of true knowledge, and the memory of the Word of God, and good eagerness, which is zealously sought and diligently guarded in the soul through grace active within it, the very trace of forgetfulness, ignorance, and sloth is erased from the soul, and reduced to nothing; D while grace reigns within it, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power unto the ages. Amen.
Reply of Nicolaus to Marcus the Ascetic
A Grace be to God, grace be to His boundless and ineffable gift, for He showed mercy to a soul held fast in grievous passions and entirely alienated from Him at the very peak of its decline. He visited it through a compassionate and godly intention—I mean your virtuous, holy, and God-adorned soul—through which you were sent to me as a flashing spark, full of divine light, and a hook containing spiritual bait. By means of the lamp of your words, produced with labor and desire from a mind united to God, He drew my wretched soul out of the most murky darkness and storm, and the excellent Master made my intellect recoil from and turn away from the three giants revealed to me. For truly they are great and fierce giants, never ceasing to wage war against the human race. And who on earth is held by them as savagely and severely as I, who still serve them poorly and by my own choice? But He who is moved by mercy, and who in no way delights in the destruction of the living, displayed His long-suffering and humanity; He moved that pious thought and awakened the intention immersed in deepest sleep, and made manifest and revealed to me the aforementioned giants. B I speak, first, of forgetfulness, which drove Adam from paradise. For had he not forgotten the commandment of the Master, he would never have fallen from such glory; second, of sloth, by which, becoming idle, he obeyed his spouse; and third, of ignorance, by which he was led to ignore who he was and what was taking place. The Lord Jesus made these three spirits manifest to me through the Holy Spirit dwelling in you; for He truly sent forth a sword with two edges, which is the Word of God, and it parted my mind in great peace. And it did not stop there, but He even infused a certain spiritual sweetness of your words into my intention. With how many mouths, therefore, and with how many tongues,1 could I worthily give thanks to the true Lord and God for the benefits reminded to me by you? And who could worthily praise the appropriate method of your letter, the intimate benevolence contained in your words, which incite one to seek the truth and keep the commandments of God, and which contribute greatly to one who desires to walk in the way of the Lord that leads to eternal life? C Nor did this benefit from your word accrue to me alone; rather, the intellect of all those who heard it was magnificently illuminated, and they reaped much fruit from your effectively delivered words. Without a doubt, they were treated as equivalent to the things themselves, and the words were heeded not as empty discourse, but as a manifest work set before our eyes. For the discourse immediately instilled great sobriety into our intentions. And because the word was active, it could not remain idle, but immediately brought forth ears of corn, and showed its ripe fruit; and it does not stop even at this, but has become insatiable—as God knows. For as often as…
[...of my] wretched soul does not reach satiety. Through the intercession of your holiness, therefore, may this gift be lasting, so that I may remain a celestial spark, having utterly destroyed the aforementioned giants unto the end, lest I forget and, through the betrayal of my free will, cast myself into the aforementioned evils and become fodder for my enemies. But I trust in my Lord Jesus Christ, who dwells within you, A that through your sanctity and those who likewise struggle with you, He will not despise me, nor will He deliver me into the mouths of the aforementioned giants; but that He will always, through His holy servants, remind me of His path, and make it known to me, unworthy as I am, through your holy prayers. I entreat and beseech your compassionate and holy soul, therefore, do not judge me for this, that, emboldened, I dared to write back to your holiness; but since I have seen your fatherly heart opened, I entreat and ask, even through these humble letters, that you remember me at all times [for the Lord always visits the one who sits beside Him and is an unceasing worshiper—I mean the mind of your blessed soul, properly purified], so that through your holiness I too may be delivered from my evils, and find a good path through the grace of Christ God, with whom to the Father be honor and power, with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.
TREATISE VI
Chapters on Temperance
A I. He who is faithful only according to the Gospel removes the mountain of wickedness from himself through faith, shaking off from himself by [this] unstable revolution the affection placed under sense, which previously resided in the sense. But he who is able to be a disciple, receiving from the Word into his hands the fragments of the bread that afford knowledge, feeds thousands, showing by this very act that the power of the Word is multiplied. C And to whom it is permitted to reach the rank of apostle, he heals every disease and every infirmity, casting out demons—that is, putting to flight the efficacy of the passions—healing the sick, bringing back to the habit of piety those who were deprived of it through hope, and bracing with the word of faith those whom he finds languishing through sloth. For he who has been commanded to trample upon serpents and scorpions destroys the tail of sin.
II. The Sabbath of Sabbaths is the psychic rest of the rational soul, which, having withdrawn its mind from all those things that are even of the divine words concerning beings, and having, through an amorous ecstasy, completely clothed itself in God alone, renders it, by the benefit of mystical theology, utterly inseparable from God. D
III. The Harvest of harvests is every inaccessible understanding of God, and that which, after the mystical contemplation of things, [is] concerning the unknown...
A is established by God, which he fittingly offers, who from visible and invisible creatures worthily venerates the Creator.
IV. He who, having first put to death the B primary movements of sin, evangelically conducts the sixth day, by the help of the virtues, apprehends a state devoid of all vice and free from the passions, resting the mind even from the bare imagination of the passions. But he who has crossed the Jordan migrates into the region of knowledge, by which the mind, mystically built up by peace, becomes a dwelling place of God in the spirit.
V. He who, with the exhibition of works and thoughts, has divinely completed the sixth day for himself, and with God’s favor has rightly accomplished his own works, has passed in understanding beyond every substance B that is under nature and time, and has been translated into the mystical contemplation of the ages and of eternal things, keeping Sabbath, in a way unknown to us, according to the mind, as regards the total passing away and transcendence of beings. And if, being deemed worthy also of the eighth day, he has risen from the dead (I mean from all things after God—sensible and intelligible, and logical concepts), he has lived the blessed life of God (since the law is truly and properly called life, and is life), having become, by such divine promotion, God himself.
VI. All things which lie under the eyes have need of the cross, under which the habit might contain the disposition of those things which are performed by sense; but all things which are perceived by the intellect require a tomb, in which there may be no movement of those things which revolve in the mind. For with the natural action and movement concerning all things being removed together with the habit, the naked reason, subsisting in itself as if awakened from the dead, emerges over all things which are circumscribed by it, since there is nothing at all that has familiarity with it through natural habit. For salvation of those who are saved proceeds from grace, not from nature.
VII. Until we have purely gone forth in our soul from the habit which we bear toward our own substance and that of all things inferior to God, we have not yet received immunity from aversion to virtue. For when this dignity has successfully come to us through charity, then we shall acknowledge the power of the divine promise: for those who are worthy must believe that D there is an immovable dwelling place, where the mind, having arrived beforehand, has fixed the roots of its own powers through charity. For he who has not gone forth from himself, and from all things that can in any way be understood by the mind, and has not been established in the silence that transcends understanding, cannot be free from the mutation of all things.
VIII. Every intellection, indeed, implies a plurality or at the very least a duality. For it is a relationship D of certain extremes to each other, connecting them: for it involves both that which is understood, which acts in the office of a subject, and that which understands; for neither can preserve simplicity in its nature at all, since it plainly has a faculty of understanding, which is simultaneously understood by...
itself. For no thing exists at all which is by itself a simple substance or an understanding, so as to be an indivisible unit. But God, whether He be called substance, possesses not by nature a faculty of understanding which is understood as one by Him, lest He be composite; or whether He be called an understanding, He does not naturally possess a subject substance capable of understanding. But in truth, God Himself according to substance is understanding, and is wholly understanding, and alone and wholly exceeding substance and understanding: and therefore He is an indivisible unit, simple and lacking parts. Hence, whoever is in any way endowed with understanding has not yet departed from the binary; but whoever has left this behind entirely has in some way arrived at the unity, having laid aside the power of understanding in a transcendent manner. B
IX. In many things, indeed, there is diversity, dissimilarity, and difference; but to say that God, who is properly one and alone, is devoid of this, is to run into the speculations of the many concerning God. And Moses declares that this is so, who, having fixed his tabernacle of the intellect outside the camp, conversed familiarly with God. For it is dangerous to attempt to utter the ineffable by means of spoken word, because the spoken word is dual and plural. But it is safer to contemplate that which is by the mind alone without voice, since it subsists in indivisible unity, and not in the many. For the high priest, who was commanded to enter inside the veil into the Holy of Holies only once a year, teaches that it is necessary for him alone who has crossed the courtyard and the holy places, and has arrived at the Holy of Holies—this is to say, one who has transcended the entire nature of sensible and intelligible things, and has been purified of every peculiar vice which he contracted from birth—to approach the visions concerning God with a naked and open mind. C
X. That great Moses, when he had fixed his own tabernacle outside the camp—that is, having established his mind and intellect outside of those things that are seen—began to worship God; and having entered into the dark cloud, the unseen and immaterial place of knowledge, he remains there, being initiated into the most sacred mysteries.
XI. He who fulfills the Law through life and conversation creates a void in respect of vicious entanglements alone, immolating to God the irrational operation of the passions; and this manner suffices for his salvation, on account of the smallness of his spirit.
XII. He who genuinely embraces the evangelical life has cut off the beginning and the end of vice from himself, and pursues every virtue in deed and word, offering a sacrifice of praise and confession, having been delivered from every disturbance which is generated from the vigor of the passions, and existing free from the conflict of the mind against them, nurturing the soul only with the insatiable pleasure that is in the hope of the goods to come.
XIII. The fear of Gehenna instructs novices to flee from vice; but the desire for the recompense of the goods received grants to those who are advancing an alacrity of spirit for the performance of those things which are good. But the mystery of charity raises the mind above all created things, ef-
A rendering it blind to everything that is after God. For the Lord makes wise only those who are blind to everything after God, showing them things more divine.
XIV. Let him who desires knowledge fix the foundations of his soul immovably near the Lord, as God said to Moses: *But stand here with me*. It should be known, however, that there is a distinction even among those who stand with the Lord, if what is read by students of learning is not read cursorily: *And there are some of those standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God coming in power*. For the Lord does not always appear glorious to all who stand with him, but he comes to the novices in the form of a servant; B yet to those who are able to follow him as he ascends the high mountain of his transfiguration, he appears in the form of God, in which he was before the world existed. It is possible, therefore, that the same Lord should appear at once to all who are established with him; yet to some in this way, and to others in another, according to the measure of faith in each—it being clear that the vision is multifarious.
XV. *The sun rises, and the sun sets*, the Scripture says. Therefore, the Word also is sometimes considered as being above, and sometimes below, according to the dignity, clearly, of both the word itself and the disposition of those who traverse virtue and are occupied with divine knowledge. But blessed is he who possesses an undying inner sanctuary within himself, after the manner of Jesus the son of Nave, the sun of justice; C who represents the whole measure of the day of the present life of wickedness, not circumscribed by evening and ignorance, so that he may lawfully put to flight the evil demons rising up against him.
XVI. He who pursues the philosophy dedicated to piety, and takes his stand in the battle line against the invisible powers, should pray that the natural discernment implanted in him, endowed with moderate light, and the illuminating grace of the Holy Spirit may remain with him. For the former tempers the flesh for the exercise of virtue; D while the latter illuminates the mind, so that it may prefer the conversation governed by wisdom before all things: by which the fortresses of vices and every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God are destroyed. This is made clear by Jesus the son of Nave, requesting in his prayers that the sun should stand still against the Gibeonites—that is, that that secret light of the knowledge of God should be preserved upon the mountain of the contemplation of the mind; and the moon in the valley—that is, that the natural discernment, situated in the weak flesh, should endure without alteration of virtue.
XVII. *Those who, for fear of the Jews, sit in the upper room in Galilee, having shut the doors*; that is, those who, for fear of the spirits of wickedness, live securely in the region of revelations, in the height of divine contemplations, having shut the senses like doors, receive the Word of God arriving in an unknown manner, appearing to them without the operation of the senses. This indeed, through the tranquility and distribution of the Holy Spirit, brings about an emptiness of the passions, conferring
strength against malignant spirits, and demonstrating the symbols of His mysteries. B
XVIII. The land of the Chaldeans is a life given over to the passions, in which idols of sins are fashioned and worshipped; Mesopotamia, however, is that which participates in both kinds of opposing ways; while the land of promise is a state filled with every kind of good. Whoever, therefore, after this habit, is moved like the ancient Israelites and seeks again the servitude of the passions, is deprived of the given liberation from the affections.
XIX. It must be noted that no one of the holy ones is seen to have gone down into Babylon; for it is neither right, nor does it accord with rational intelligence, for those who love God to choose worse things instead of good things. But if some of them were carried off thither by force along with the people, we understand by these, not those who have fallen by a dominant opinion, but those who, out of a certain circumstance of salvation, for the sake of those needing guidance, have set aside the higher discourse of knowledge, once the discipline of the passions has been passed through. On account of which the great Apostle judged it more useful to remain in the flesh, that is, in the instruction of morals, for the sake of his disciples; although in other respects he wholly desired to be released from moral instruction, and to be with Christ through a simple and supramundane contemplation of the soul.
XX. He journeys from the flesh who passes from the active life to the habit of knowledge, being snatched up, like the clouds, by higher concepts into the translucent air of mystical contemplation, that he may be able to be perpetually with the Lord. But he journeys from the Lord who cannot with a pure mind contemplate C according to his strength the conceptual truths without sensible operations, nor can he grasp the simple discourse about God without riddles.
XXI. How is it that we see in the volume of the Holy Scripture God, the Word of God, variously incorporated through riddles, yet we have not yet perceived with the mind the incorporeal, simple, unique, and sole Father, as in an incorporeal, unique, and sole Son, according to that: *He who sees me sees the Father* (John xiv, 9); and: *I am in the Father, and the Father is in me* (John xiv, 10)? Hence, most people are in need of knowledge, so that they may first pass through the coverings of the words placed around the Word of God; and then with a naked mind behold Him, the pure One who exists, who reveals Himself to men. Wherefore it is necessary that he who religiously seeks God should not be addicted to any one mode of expression, lest, when ignorant, he accept instead of God the things that are told about God—that is, lest in place of the Word of God, by dangerously clinging to the utterances of Scripture, while the Word of God itself escapes D the mind, he should hold Him who appears to be an incorporeal word by his garments, after the manner of the Egyptian woman, who did not grasp Joseph himself, but his garments; and by the example of the ancient men, who, having been taken only by the splendor of those things which underlie the eyes, ignorantly served the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. i, 25).
XXII. When the mind has many opinions regarding the words of truth...
then the clear word of truth appears to it, bestowing upon it the foundations of true knowledge, and shaking off its previous preconceptions as if they were scales from the visual powers, according to the inspired and great apostle Paul A. For opinions truly adhering only to the words of Scripture, and speculative visions of visible things given over to the passions, are scales placed upon the visual faculty of the soul, preventing it from arriving at the sincere word of truth.
XXIII. Whoever has struggled strenuously against the passions of the body, and, having successfully fought against the unclean spirits, has driven their counsels out of the region of his own soul, let him pray that a pure heart be given to him, and a right spirit be renewed in his inward parts B—that is, that he be completely emptied of wicked thoughts and filled with divine concepts through grace, so that he may become an intelligible world of God, bright and vast, consisting of moral, natural, and theological contemplations.
XXIV. A pure heart is that which presents to God a memory void of every appearance and form, prepared to be marked only by His own types, through which it is naturally fashioned to become luminous.
XXV. Some of those who are studious of disciplines ask C in what manner there will be that distinction of eternal mansions and promises: whether it is according to a local mode of subsistence, or according to an intellectual understanding, with the spiritual hypostasis having a peculiar quality and quantity in each of the mansions. And to some the former opinion is pleasing; to others, the latter. But he who knows what this is: *The kingdom of God is within you*, and also that: *In my Father's house there are many mansions*, will again favor the latter.
XXVI. He who, led by divine desire, has conquered the soul's affection toward the body, has become uncircumscribed, even though he dwells in the body. For God, who draws the appetite of the one who desires, is incomparably higher than all things; He does not allow the one who desires to fasten his desire upon anything that is after God. Therefore, let us desire God with all the strength of our appetition, and let us strive that the will may not be held by any bodily things D; let us be carried by affection above all things which are truly perceived by sense or intellect; and we shall suffer no harm at all to our soul from this natural life, such that we might be kept from being with God, who is in nature not at all circumscribed.
*Interrogation.* Does man always enter into such things?
*Response.* Grace indeed is present continuously, and is rooted and leavened from the earliest age, and it has become to him like something natural and concrete, never absent from him; and this as a single grace, which is managed in a diverse way according to the nod of His will, for the benefit of man: for sometimes it is kindled...
A and the fire burns more intensely; at other times it is gentler and softer. The light itself also, at certain times, is kindled more and shines; at other times it retreats and becomes gloomy. Yet the lamp is always burning and shining; but when it glows brighter, it is explored more in the participation of the love of God, imparting its light; although when it is joined, the light is duller. Nevertheless, the sign of the cross appeared to some through the light, and was fastened to the inward man. At another time, again, while praying, a man was as though in an ecstasy, and was found standing at an altar in a church, and there were offered to such a one three loaves, as if leavened with oil; and the more he ate of them, the more they increased and lengthened. At another time, again, it was like a certain light-bearing garment, such as is not on the earth in this age, nor could it be fashioned by human hands. In the way that the Lord, ascending the mountain with John and Peter, was transfigured B, and his garments shone like lightning; so was that garment; and the man wearing it was amazed. At another time, continually shining in the heart, it would open the inward, deeper, and hidden light; the new luminous world with the Lord, praising and glorifying, so that the whole man, swallowed up into that sweetness and contemplation, no longer possessed himself, but was as a fool and a barbarian to this world, because of the surpassing love and peculiarity, and because of the hidden mysteries; so that the man, at that time, having been liberated, reached the perfect measures, and was clean from sin.
But after these things, the C grace withdrew, and the veil of the opposing power came. It appears, however, in a way partially, and he stands at one degree lower than perfection. As, if we were to say, one must pass through twelve certain degrees, and reach perfection; and at a certain time, he attained to grasp that measure, and entered into perfection. Again, the grace gives way, and descends by one degree, and he stands at eleven. But if one is rich in grace, night and day he stands in the perfect measures, of which he is free and clean, always captive and suspended. And now, as has been shown, if those wondrous things D of which the man had experience were constantly with him, he could not bear the dispensation of the word, or the burden; neither would he endure to hear anything, or to concern himself even for the moment about himself, nor about the morrow, if not only to lie in one corner suspended and inebriated. So the perfect measure was not bound, so that he might be able to have leisure for the care of the brothers and for the ministry of the word. Again, the middle wall of the partition is dissolved. And things are thus. A certain cloudy power presses upon him; it covers him like a light, thin air, although the lamp is always burning and shining; just as a veil lies over that light. Whence such a one confesses that he is not perfect, nor entirely free from sin; so as to say both free and not free, and the partition is dissolved and broken
in part, but not entirely. Nor was prayer always equal. For sometimes grace more fully inflames, consoles, and composes a man; at other times it is withdrawn and diminishes, according to the proportion of its own dispensation and as much as is expedient for man. But who has ever attained that perfect degree, and tasted and experienced that age? For I have not yet seen any Christian who is perfect or free. Therefore, although one may rest in grace, and attain to mysteries and revelations, and finally to much sweetness of grace, nevertheless he still has sin within. Those who, on account of the superabundant grace and light within them, think themselves free and perfect—who indeed may possess the power of grace—are nevertheless deceived, as those who are not experienced. Furthermore, I have seen no one hitherto who is free: since I myself have sometimes to a certain extent attained to that degree, and by learning I have recognized that no man is perfect. B Interrogation. Tell us: What is the manner of your state? Response.
XXVII. Immediately after the sign of the cross, grace operates thus: it calms all the members, and the heart, so that the soul, from the height of joy, appears as an innocent and guileless child. And henceforth the man no longer condemns a Greek or a Jew C who is a sinner or dedicated to the world, but the inner man looks upon all as one with a pure eye, and rejoices equally over the whole world, and wishes that all, as well Greeks as Jews, may adore the Son of God as Father. At another hour, just as a king's son, he trusts in the Son of God as Father, and the doors are opened to him, through which he enters into many mansions; and the more he penetrates, again there are opened to him in proportion, beyond a hundred mansions, another hundred D mansions, and then he becomes enriched. And the more wealthy he becomes, again other more wondrous and novel things are shown to him. To him, as to a son and heir, are entrusted things which human nature cannot express, nor mouth or tongue utter. At another hour, finally, as an ambassador of God, from the great love which is borne toward Him, he begins to intercede for the world, that the world may be saved, which is the whole Adam; burning with charity, and wishing all to be saved, he teaches the word of life and the things that pertain to the kingdom, performing an embassy for Christ, explaining, as far as it is permitted to hear, the heavenly and divine things of the infinite and incomprehensible age. At another hour the whole man is armed, putting on the armor of God, and, having assumed a heavenly army, he begins to cut down the camps of the enemies, and there to commit many slaughters of many corpses. At another hour he cultivates the soul, and the Lord and the soul rejoice mutually with each other; and man enjoys great light and joy, as much toward the Lord as toward his brethren. Nevertheless, the lamp and the light burn by night and by day; but the whole is not altered by divine dispensation, and the entire
A human being is pure, and yet [he is] almost not as he ought to be, yet the dividing wall is broken down, and death is conquered. Sometimes the lamp burns more fervently, and is so brightened that the man cannot bear that brilliance and radiance, but feels as though he were undone. Again, at other times, the light, as if touched, becomes gloomy, and there settles upon it a kind of thin, dark air, as if upon the skin of the opposing power. For this reason such a man says: I am not fully free. Glory to the Lord for ever. Amen.
XXVIII. On Fasting and Vigilance
XXVIII. Fasting, vigils, and pilgrimage are good, but these still pertain to an honorable way of life. However, the condition of Christians is more internal than these, nor ought anyone to place their confidence in these things. It happens that there are some who are partakers of grace, yet vice, still existing within, plots and voluntarily gives way; without any [active] operation, it effectuates this alone: that it causes the man to think that his mind has been purified; and thereafter it carries the man off into an opinion B that he is a perfect Christian. And after this, when the man thinks, "I am free," and is without care, then vice approaches him in a predatory manner, making a hiding-place, and tempts him, and casts him down to the lowest parts of the earth. For if men of twenty years of age—be they robbers or soldiers—know how to use craft against their enemies, lying in wait and making an ambush, taking the enemy from the rear, and surrounding them on all sides, and killing them; how much more does vice, being of so many thousands of years and holding this as its work, destroy souls? It knows how to make a hiding-place in the heart and to remain quiet at certain times, so that it may exalt the soul into an opinion of perfection. C This is the foundation of the Christian. Whatever works of righteousness a man may do, let him not glorify himself in their name, nor think magnificently of himself, but let him be poor in spirit; and even if he becomes a partaker of grace, let him not think that he has attained anything, nor deem himself to be someone, nor begin to teach. But even if he is of an honorable way of life, fasting much, traveling, praying, D and being a partaker of grace, let him not hold his soul in any estimation. But then truly does the beginning of grace especially commence, when he has endured toil, hunger, and thirst, so that he is not satisfied, and does not hold himself to be righteous or rich in grace; but rather let him sorrow and weep, just as a mother might, who has an only son whom she has brought up, and when he becomes a man, it happens that he dies; and henceforth...
OPUSCULUM VII. Disputation with a certain advocate.
1. A certain man skilled in forensic causes, having approached an aged ascetic, said: "I beseech you, persuade me, for I desire to know, what has come into your mind, you who call yourselves monks, that you say those who inflict wrong should not be summoned to court? And what business are you conducting that you abstain from bodily labors? For these reasons we vehemently charge you, as if you were pursuing justice outside the laws, and idleness contrary to nature. But if you acknowledge that you do this for the sake of philosophy, without a doubt I myself will desist from the accusation and will emulate your virtue." A Then the ascetic, having first prayed to God in his mind, said these things: "O most eloquent one, it would have been fitting for you to inquire about these things from those who are well-versed, for we are still among those who are being taught. But since you, a learned man, have crossed over to the unlearned, as if you were going to have confidence in the things you have proposed, hear this: Monks do not follow a doctrine foreign to the Church, but strive to hold to the doctrine of Christ, according to the Apostle saying: 'Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross' (Phil. II, 5-8). B Know, therefore, that this is a gift of God, and the procurer of the great virtue, I mean humility. But the Lord Himself commanded the Church to perform this work, saying: 'Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting' (Joan. VI, 27)." C Then the advocate said: "Let us, I pray, also know what this work is." To whom the ascetic: "To seek through prayer the kingdom of God and His justice, which He said is within us (Luc. XVII, 21); and to those seeking it, He promised all things necessary for the body (Matth. VI, 33). Since therefore we have heard these things from the Lord, and having faith in Him we work according to our strength, how do you say that we act contrary to nature? But if it seems to you to be contrary to nature, see whom you are accusing: for it is God who has commanded it. Likewise, not to judge the guilty D is a commandment of God. How, therefore, do those who do these things transgress the law, when the Lord has said through the prophet: 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord' (Deut. XXXII, 35; Rom. XII, 19); and in the Gospels: 'Judge not, and ye shall not be judged' (Luc. VI, 37); and the Apostle: 'Judge not before the time' (1 Cor. IV, 5); and again: 'Not defending yourselves' (Rom. XII, 19); and again: 'Who art thou that judgest another man's servant?' (Rom. XIV, 4). Who, therefore, is this man to prescribe more just laws, and, as if he were sinless, wishes to judge the guilty before the time?"
A And, while himself trying to keep the law of God, he accuses others of transgression, calling forbearance malice?
II. When the scholastic heard these things, he said: "Do the magistrates, therefore, sin when they take vengeance upon those who do wrong, and ensure justice for the injured?" The elder answered: "The judges do not sin, but those who deliver them up and do not leave the matter to God; in the first place, because everything that happens to them is an appendix to their own sins, drawing them to repentance and not to vengeance; and in the second place, because even if they have suffered unjustly, they should remit whatever petty offense to the one who committed it, having heard the Lord saying: 'Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you'; and not, by means of human retribution, make their own sins unpardonable. But the rulers, according to the Apostle, are not a terror to good works, but to evil. For they do not force the faithful and pious to accuse those who have injured them, nor do they reproach those who are forbearing regarding evils, because they do not use the courts when they are wronged, but rather provide vindication to those who desire it. Those who are long-suffering for God’s sake, however, they honor and accept as being the more prudent. Just as, therefore, they do not drag in those who do not wish to come forward, so they do not sin when they provide vengeance to those who do accuse. Wherefore, O most learned man, it behooves you, after having received the discipline of secular arts and laws, to embrace henceforth also the spiritual law and to undertake labors for the sake of piety; and as you endure the harmful things that happen to you as if they were your own, without which no one can truly become wise."
B III. When the scholastic sought to know what those labors are which are to be undertaken for religion, the elder said that they are the commandments of Christ, the first and greatest of which is love, for 'it does not think evil, but bears all things, hopes all things, believes all things, endures all things,' according to the Scripture. While doing these things, it cannot call into judgment him who seems to offend it. In this matter we differ from one another, though we are in all things far inferior to its dignity. Yet, let us bear contentedly the fulfillment of our shortcomings through the grace of Christ, so that we may not neglect to work according to our strength. For God knows how many things we are unable to do because of infirmity, and how many we do not perform because of sloth, failing the work of charity. And because it is strengthened not only by voluntarily undertaken labors, but also by accidental afflictions, we have great need of patience and meekness from God; for this reason the Apostle says: 'If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool, that he may become wise.' C Such a man does not judge those who are above him in the will for perfect charity; rather, he extends himself toward their excellence, and when he overtakes them, he seeks others greater than himself, and having found them, he strives with them. And he never ceases from the race until he finds some who are leading him forward in charity. And if anyone of those who are not equal to their superiors nonetheless does not...
know himself, he condemns himself. For He says: "Do not judge, and you will not be judged" (Luke 6:37). A Hence, those who are wise only in words think that only those who commit injustice sin; but spiritual men—even when they are wronged—blame themselves when they do not bear injustices willingly and with joy. And this is not only for this reason, but also because their afflictions arise from their old guilt, even if one sin happens to be lighter than another. For he who avenges himself seems to condemn God, as if He were not acting with justice. But he who endures a calamity that befalls him as if it were his own acknowledges his own reception [of the event], for which, while enduring it, he suffers these hardships.
B IV. Agitated at these reproofs, the worldly man said: "If your spiritual law commands these things—by divine oracle, as you say—why do some monks fall, while holding to this law?" The elder replied: "Those who hold to it do not fall; rather, it is they who abandon it and neglect the things that are most fitting for it—I mean prayer and humility—who, led astray by the cares of this life and by vainglory, fall. Hence, the devil does not merely deter us from thinking about anything that pertains to life, but he distracts us from prayer and humility; for he knows that whatever is done apart from these two, even if it happens to be good, he will eventually at some time take away from the person. C But by prayer we do not mean that which is shown merely by some bodily gesture, but that which is also offered to God through an undistracted mind. For if one of these things is unseasonably distracted, not even the other, taken singly, is present to God, but is rather offered to one’s own will." The scholar asks: "Does the flesh have a will apart from that which is in the mind?" The ascetic answered: "It does, as the Apostle feels when he says: 'We were also once foolish, disobeying, serving fleshly desires' (Tit. 3:3), and again: 'The flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh' (Gal. 5:17). See, therefore, that it has both desire and will, which we are ignorant of because of our inattention and consent to our thoughts. Hence, not only those who neglect prayer, but also those who do not watch over their mind, are injured. We have said these things, however, not so that we may judge others, but so that we may confess our own defects. For the former is a sign of arrogance, D while the latter is a sign of humility. And 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble' (Jas. 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5), through which He leads us not only to the knowledge, but also to the habit of sacred virtue—I mean that of undistracted prayer—the neglect of which the blessed Paul in no way wishes us to allow, saying: 'Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks' (1 Thess. 5:17). At the same time, he also indicates the steadfastness of the mind, saying: 'Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God' (Rom. 12:2). For since God, because of the scarcity of our faith and our infirmity, has established various commands...
so that each according to his own strength might avoid punishment and attain salvation, for this cause the Apostle leads us to the perfect will of God, wishing us not to fall at all into condemnation. And knowing that prayer co-operates toward the right fulfillment of all the commands, he does not cease in manifold ways and manners to give instructions concerning it, saying: 'Praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this very end with all perseverance and supplication' (Eph. 6:18).
B V. Hence we perceive that one prayer is widely different from another. For it is one thing to implore God with a settled intellect and an untroubled mind, and another to be present in body while the mind wanders. And again, it is one thing to observe an opportune time and, having found leisure after the cares of the body, to pray; and another to prefer and anticipate prayer over worldly cares as much as is possible, according to the Apostle who says: 'The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication let your petitions be made known to God' (Phil. 4:5, 6). Just as the blessed Peter also said: 'Be therefore sound-minded and sober unto prayers, casting all your anxiety upon God' (1 Pet. 4:7; 5:7). But first the Lord Himself, knowing that all things are secured through prayer, says: 'Do not be anxious about what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, or what you shall put on, but seek only the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you' (Matt. 6:31-33). Perhaps also by this the Lord invites us to a C greater faith in Him. For who, having cast away the anxiety for things temporal, and having become in need of nothing, will not thenceforth believe Him also about eternal goods? Whence He Himself, making this manifest, said: 'He who is unrighteous in a little, is unrighteous also in much' (Luke 16:10). Nevertheless, in this too He dealt with us most humanely; for not being unaware that the daily care of the body cannot be avoided, He did not cut off the daily care, but having granted us the present day, He commands us not to be anxious about the morrow, as precisely befitted God and man. For it cannot be that we, who bear flesh and are human, should totally disregard those things that are necessary for bodily life. It is possible, indeed, that by means of prayer and temperance, many things may be contracted into few, but they cannot be altogether overlooked.
D VI. Wherefore, whoever wishes to attain, according to the Scripture, to a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13), you ought not to prefer all services rashly, nor to be constrained by them without necessity, nor, if they occur by some necessity and divine dispensation, to push them aside and reject them under the pretext of prayer. But the distinction must be recognized, and one must serve the divine dispensation, even without another decree. For he who does not think thus, does not believe, according to the Scripture, that one command is more excellent and comprehensive than another,
nor does he desire to be directed by divine dispensation in all the commands which occur. Since, therefore, necessary things are unavoidable and occur by divine dispensation, A one must set aside inopportune occupations, preferring prayer, especially those which draw us toward excess and the covetousness of money. For as much as one restrains these in the Lord and cuts off their superfluous material, by so much does he restrain the mind from aimless wanderings; and as much as he restrains the mind, by so much he provides space for pure prayer and demonstrates a sincere faith in Christ. But if anyone, because of little faith or some other weakness, cannot do this, at least let him acknowledge the truth, and strive according to his strength, while blaming his own infancy. For it is better to give an account for a shortcoming than for error and pride. B Let the parable of the Lord 17 persuade you, which introduces one Pharisee and another publican. Therefore, let us also strive with prayers and hope to expel every worldly care. But if we are unable to accomplish this without failing, let us at least offer to God the confession of our shortcomings, and not cease our effort regarding them; for it is better to be accused of a partial shortcoming than of total concealment.
Moreover, regarding prayer, we are obliged in all things, since each person when occupied with the need he loves most seems to be performing a debt of service, while being ignorant that it is more necessary to judge affairs by what is pleasing to God than by his own interests. But it is difficult to discern in these things that these necessary and unavoidable commands are not always the same, but one ought to be preferred to another in its own time, since service is not always required of everyone, but is performed at its own time. C But the liturgy of prayer is decreed for us without ceasing; for this reason, we ought to prefer it to necessary occupations. The apostles, teaching this difference to the multitude which wished to draw them into ministries, said: "It is not right that we should relinquish the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, look among you for seven men of good report, whom we may appoint over this need; but we will ourselves be instant in prayer and the ministry of the word." And the saying pleased all the multitude 18. From these things we learn that those who cannot persevere in prayer ought to be occupied with ministries, lest they be deprived of both; but those who are able, ought not to neglect that which is more excellent.
VII
The legal expert, having heard these things, spoke in this manner: "How does it happen that those who are wise according to the world, although they neglect the method of prayer, do not fall, D but preserve themselves by the help of philosophy?" Then the exercitant, sighing, used these words: "You spoke rightly, that they do not fall. For those who have once fallen into the huge and double fall—I mean pride and negligence—can neither rise again without prayer, nor do they have anywhere from which to fall."A There are some who are at one time victorious, and at another time defeated; falling and rising; afflicting and being afflicted; attacking and being attacked. And there are others who, due to profound ignorance, remain in their primary fall, not even knowing that they have fallen. With them the prophet converses in pity: "Shall he who falls not rise again? Or he who turns away not return?" And again: "Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon you." But to those who do not wish to undertake the labor of rising, and to persevere in prayer, and to be afflicted for the sake of piety on account of the kingdom to come, he says: "For your corruption, O Israel, who shall bring aid? There is no wound, nor bruise, nor festering sore, nor any of the evils that happen against one's will." This is the sin unto death, which is not cured even by the prayers of others. "We applied medicine to Babylon, and it was not healed," because the disease was self-chosen. No longer can a poultice, or oil, or bandages—the remedies brought by others—be applied. With these and similar words B the divine Scripture addresses those who disparage prayer, and who, due to necessity and weakness, confine it to specific hours and times, whereas the Lord has commanded it to be offered at all times, night and day, and the Apostle has enjoined that it be offered without ceasing to God the Almighty.
VIII.
See also how the Old Testament cuts down him C who confides in himself and is puffed up by his own wisdom, saying: "Be confident in the Lord with all your heart, and do not be puffed up by your own wisdom." These are not mere empty words, as some have supposed, who for this reason have acquired books; and having known the power of the things written, while performing none of them in deed, they are puffed up with naked concepts. By entangling themselves in arguments and questions, they attain great praise from those who are ignorant of wisdom, but because they do not touch upon diligent effort D nor mention the work itself, they carry away a great condemnation from God and from diligent and pious men. Because they have misused the introductory knowledge of the Scriptures, not for work but for display, they have been deprived of the grace that operates through the Holy Spirit. These are they who boast in appearance, and not in heart. Therefore, those who are inexperienced in the work ought to set their hand to it; for the things spoken by Scripture were said not only that we might understand them, but that we might also do them. Let us, therefore, begin the work; and thus, by advancing successively, we shall find that not only is hope in God produced, but also firm faith, and unfeigned love, and forgetfulness of wrongs, and brotherly love, and temperance, and patience, and deeper knowledge, and deliverance from temptations, and the gifts of charisms, and confession from the heart, and abundant tears through prayer, are granted to the faithful. Not only these, but also [the power to withstand] those things which come upon us,B the endurance of afflictions, the sincere forgiveness of one’s neighbor, the knowledge of the spiritual law, the discovery of the righteousness of God, the visitation of the Holy Spirit, the bestowal of spiritual treasures, and finally all things that God has promised to provide to faithful people, both here and in the age to come. And in a word, it is impossible for the soul to manifest the image of God unless, through the grace of God and faith, a man perseveres with the greatest humility and unhesitating prayer in his heart. How, then, do those who are deprived of such and so many goods through ignorance and neglect of prayer say, "We have not fallen"? And how do they attribute wisdom to themselves—they who do not even understand their own fall, miserable in their fall, miserable in their inexperience—gaining only this: that they cause us to believe more firmly in the Scripture, which says that the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God? But the wisdom that is from God is from above, descending from the Father of lights, of which humility is the proof. Those, therefore, who wish to please men, in place of the divine wisdom have accepted human wisdom, and being inflated and boasting in this, they have deceived many of the simpler folk, persuading them to philosophize not in the efforts of piety and prayer, but in the persuasive words of human wisdom; of which the Apostle constantly complains, calling it the emptying of the cross. For he says in the Epistle to the Corinthians: "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in wisdom of word, lest the cross of Christ should be emptied." And again: "The foolish things of the world God chose, that He might put to shame the wise; and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, God chose, and the things that are not, that He might bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence." If, therefore, God is not pleased with the words of Greek wisdom, but rather with the labors of prayer and humility, as it has also been demonstrated, why do they think vain thoughts, and having abandoned the first way of serving God, as if straying from the right path, refuse to be saved by the second or even by the third, and thus deceive the simpler folk?
D IX. Then, to the scholar who desired to learn what are the ways of serving God, the ascetic replied: The first is not to sin; the second, for one who has sinned, to endure the adversities that come upon him; the third way is, for one who does not endure [these], to mourn for his failures of patience, because those things [sins] not corrected here by the afflictions that naturally arise, of necessity bring upon us thereafter the judgment from that place, unless indeed God, seeing us mourning and humbled, as He knows how, by His almighty goodness and divine grace, blots out our sins. But if to the neglect of the aforementioned things there is added the omission of mourning and humility, and moreover we please ourselves with the words of worldly wisdom, so that we also exalt ourselves over the more pious by means of these, how shall we be spared hereafter...
we who work the works of compassion while we perform the opposites of mercy? O! by what reasoning will it be shown to be probable, with what difficulty the affection of human complacency is discovered, which lays hold even of the souls of the wise? For the operations of the other passions are clear to those who are participants in them, and for that reason they prepare those whom they have occupied for humility; but human complacency is so concealed by the words and habit of religion that those who are ensnared by it cannot easily perceive its diverticula.
X. The man of the world inquired: B "What are the diverticula of human complacency? Or rather, I prefer to learn beforehand what human complacency is, since I notice that you, following those who hunt for gain, do not speak things consistent with nature, but hold all suspected of the guilt of ignorance, and reject what is useful with inept arguments. Therefore, explain to me first the property of this denomination, and then we will believe that you have embraced its most general disadvantages." The exercitant [ascetic] said: "Human complacency is, as I think, pleasing men. I know this to be the property aimed at in acquiring gain." The legalist, having admired the statement as if it were something great, says: C "'You have spoken quite aptly. Why then, most religious sir, do you unjustly vituperate what is just? Do you think it equitable for each man to be granted the approval of his own works, or rather that the judgment of what is good should be permitted to others than to himself? For my part, I assert that not pleasing men, and not being praised by a neighbor, ought by no means to be called a virtue; for indeed I have heard Scripture saying: 'Let your neighbor praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.' And again: 'Let each one of you please his neighbor for the good, for edification.' D And again: 'Be without offense to Jews and to Gentiles and to the Church of God.' But who, if he does not please men, can be without offense? Why then did you delve so deeply in reproving human complacency? If, as your opinion is, those who do not please are to be accepted, then you can most opportunely hereafter praise thieves, murderers, robbers, and insidiators: for they please no man. But do not wonder that hitherto, while you held the preceding discourse, we remained silent, not as though we were ignorant of the Scriptures, or ignorant of what is just, but because we wished first to hear your discourse. We know how to grant pardon to those who falter in speaking, provided this does not proceed from a will which is the cause of ignorance, and which ascribes vice to approved denominations; which indeed, most religious sir, has happened to you contrary to your expectation; for you wished, as I think, to explain what was sui complacentia (self-complacency). Since, therefore, it has happened to you not from sloth but from ignorance, it would be just, once the denomination is explained, for the causes also—which you deemed so futile and difficult to discover that they impede even the minds of the wise—to be passed over in silence as false."
A XI. The Exercitor, however, when he saw that he was clearly becoming incensed at these arguments and was finding fault with what was to be said, paused a little, so that all the listeners surmised that he was pierced by the syllogisms and was about to abandon the dispute. Yet, opening his mouth, he began to speak: "Since we have come to this discussion not with the intention of winning, but in order to obtain some fruit; and you, as you have said, have remained silent until now, not because you were ignorant of what is more just, but because you desired first to hear our explanation: for this reason we implore your admirable greatness to fulfill your promise and to show how Divine Scripture (which you know well in its entirety, although you have wickedly kept silent about it until now) does not rebuke human complacency in its own person and by its own name, but under the name of another. For so it will come about that, when you narrate what Scripture says, we shall be led to believe not only on account of the things that were said, but also, in explaining very many matters, we shall gladly accept you as one who speaks more justly, even if, out of simplicity and ignorance, as you said, by interchanging names we have proposed virtue in place of passion." The secular man, having heard these things, replied: "I did not say that I know all of Scripture, but only in part. Do not, therefore, provoke me to speak, but do you yourself begin; and if you should happen to doubt concerning any argument, be silent and obtain pardon from us. But if you are able to demonstrate explicitly, as you know how, human complacency, speak; and of necessity, even if we are unwilling, we shall confess the truth." Then the Exercitor said: "Let these things be so; but where shall we place your unjust rebukes?" The secular man replied: "Under the law of long-suffering, which you taught us before." The elder further answered: "I praise you in the name of wisdom, not to say cunning, because you foresee that you will accept pardon for your ignorance. But let these things be set aside, and let us return to the matter at hand." B C XII. "Hear, therefore, Scripture announcing its complaints against human complacency, and first the Prophet saying: 'For God has scattered the bones of those who please men; they were put to shame, because God despised them'; and the Apostle: 'Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers'; and again: 'For do I seek to please men?' And further: 'If I were still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ.' And you will find many other things gathered from Divine Scripture." Then the secular man asked: "What then, since even those things which I cited are written, does Scripture contradict itself?" The Exercitor said: "It does not contradict itself at all, but we are blinded in the demonstration of the truth. For since not all men are impious, nor are we all pious, for this reason we ought not to please all, except the good; likewise, we ought not to displease all, except the evil. Whence it comes to pass that the Lord clearly says in the Gospel: 'Woe when all men speak well of you.' Nor is this only in these things, but also in those which
seem good, in which we are hindered from pleasing men, whenever we display good deeds to men not for the purpose of correction and imitation, but for the sake of praise and some reward. And rightly so. For if anyone wishes to please men for the sake of bodily retribution, he receives no spiritual gift from God, nor does he obtain the rewards there, receiving his reward in full, as the Lord also made clear in the Gospels, not once, but very often; and regarding prayer, and regarding fasting, and almsgiving, He commanded that they should be hidden from men.
B XIII. The scholastic, while these words were still being spoken, said in a loud voice: "It is enough; I am fully persuaded of this matter. It remains for you, not in an enigma or by conjecture, but clearly to say what the digressions of wickedness are, so that we may know exactly whether they are, as you have said, obscured by shadows and difficult to discover, such that they might, when they occur, even trap the prudent."
The exercitant said: "Hear attentively, and I will recount them to you by name; and you yourself observe whether you do not find all these to be intimately connected to that very passion. The first and mother of these digressions is unbelief. Following this, as offspring, come envy, hatred, jealousy, deceit, strife, hypocrisy, partiality, eye-service, slander, lying, a mask of piety and not of truth, and all such dark and shadowy passions. And what is worse than all, some, through the wisdom of speech, C establish them as good and cover over the harm in them. If you wish, I will also explain their craftiness in detail. The crafty man-pleaser, while counseling one person, lays a trap for another; if he praises one, he disparages another; while admonishing his neighbor, he establishes himself; he acts as an advocate in judgment, not that he may judge what is just, but that he may take revenge upon an enemy; he rebukes with flattery until, by reproaching, he may entrap his own enemy; he slanders anonymously so that he may hide his own backbiting; he adjures the destitute to profess what they lack, as though wanting to provide for them; and when they have spoken, he proclaims them abroad as beggars; he boasts before the ignorant and acts humbly before the experienced, hunting for praise from both sides. When virtuous men are being praised, he is annoyed, and by injecting another story, he deflects the praise; he disparages absent leaders, and those present he praises to their face; D he mocks the humble and scrutinizes the teachers; he reproaches simplicity so that he may show himself to be wise; he cavils at the virtues of all, but remembers their vices. And in a word, he hunts for opportunities and serves persons, in order to assure the most multifaceted passion of man-pleasing; he tries to hide his own evils by the questioning of others. But true monks are not of this sort; but on the contrary, they compassionately overlook the faults of others, while they reveal their own to God. Therefore they are also held in low esteem by ignorant men; for they are not so eager to please mortals as to please God.
rightfully pleasing them in some respects, while in others condemning themselves, yet on both counts they shall receive their reward from the Lord, who says: *Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled* A.
XIV. But the Scholasticus, wearied by the arguments, said: "I marvel, O ascetic, both at the thoughts of your mind and at your craftiness, of which you conceal yourself while accusing others. For, being destitute of the liberal arts, you have been reduced to that foolishness which is according to God, asserting that it is the greatest wisdom and pleasing to God, to which you have added prayer and labors undertaken for piety, so that you might cover over your manifest lack of education with obscure piety. But whether you are altogether a master of your explanations, we shall recognize when we meet again tomorrow." And saying this, he arose and departed. Then the elder, having dismissed him, turned and groaned. But the brethren begged him to explain the cause of his groaning; and he said: "I see some of you troubled. I conjecture this because you have received the words of the lawyer not for your profit, but to your detriment; and you have considered yourselves not helped B by what was said, but rather insulted. This is the cause of my sadness, that we speak the spiritual law to others, but we do not keep it ourselves. But if I have not ingenuously followed the will of those who are morose, who hold the law of God and believe, according to Scripture, that all adverse things do not happen unjustly, grant pardon to me, as an old man, for the feebleness of my intellect, so that you might at least believe that we are responsible for the troubles that happen to us, even if not recently or on account of present deeds, but from an ancient debt." Then one of the brethren, who trusted in his own self-control, and for that reason was ignorant of the truth, and was attempting to endure all adversities, yet thought that he was suffering unjustly like a martyr, answered boldly, saying: "Where has Scripture said that calamities befall men by the just judgment C of God, according to the fault of each one?" The elder, receiving what he had said with a very serene countenance, said: "In many chapters, beloved, if you inquire, you will find this, both in the Old and in the New Testament; and if you wish, we will set a few before your eyes: but once you have learned, cast aside arrogance and ask for the humility of Christ, who says: *Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you shall find rest for your souls* D."
XV. Furthermore, the subordinate, encroaching upon the discussion, said: "If each of us in this imitates the humility of Christ, in that he considers those things which happen as his own debt, as you have said, then surely Christ also, while He suffered, was paying a personal debt; whence I consider him to be blaspheming who says this." When the one who presided heard these things, he said: "I was indeed trying to solve your former question first; but since you have added another to this one, you have hidden the solutions as if by the confusion of a thousand questions."
A Yet we, through the Lord, shall provide satisfaction, using appropriate questions in return. Tell me, do they who contract a debt of their own bear the debt alone, or do those who stand surety for them as well? The subordinate answered: Clearly, those who stand surety for them as well. The elder then said to him: Know then precisely that Christ, when He took us upon Himself, made Himself a debtor according to the divine Scriptures: *the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world*; *who became a curse for us*; *who took upon Himself the death of all, and died for all*—did He not take you upon Himself alone? Confess this clearly, and we are defeated. The brother then, prostrating himself, said: Even if, like a child, I was mistaken through ignorance, I do not deny the Redeemer and Acceptor of our souls. For I know that no other hope of salvation is left to men, since the Apostle says that *all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace*.
XVI.
B Now that everyone had been restored by the acknowledgment and repentance of the brother, the elder said: It remains for us to demonstrate from Scripture that none of the painful things that happen to each person occurs unjustly, but all things happen according to the just judgment of God, whether those suffering for their own sins, or those suffering on behalf of their neighbors; all things fall into the bosom of the wicked. *But with the Lord all things are just;* and again: *All the works of God are with justice;* and *whatever a man sows, that he will also reap*; and, *If our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? I speak as a man. God forbid.* Behold, the three young men cast into the furnace teach us to hold this opinion, saying that they were thrown in for their own guilt and divine correction, even if they took on the person of another. The holy David, too, C when afflicted by Shimei, confesses that he is afflicted by the command of God and for his own faults. And Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and Daniel, and the remaining prophets, prophesied to the people and to the nations that the troubles to come would fall upon them according to the sin of each, declaring beforehand also the causes and the occasions. For he says: *Because they spoke this, and did that, this has come upon them.* And in the Psalm, the blessed David, making this manifest, said: *I knew, O Lord, that your judgments are righteousness, and in your truth you have humbled me.* And again: *You have given me as a reproach to the foolish; I was dumb, and I did not open my mouth, because it was you who did it.* And he gives thanks that He sent to him thoughts of the evil things hidden within us, D so that by carefully observing our thoughts, we may correct ourselves and not waver, ignorant of the multitude of our own vices. For it is the mark of a perfect man not to be sluggish regarding his own failings. But if manifest faults are difficult for us to know, how much more so are our thoughts? Therefore, let us acknowledge, as those endowed with reason, that these things...afflictions for our benefit and through them works many good things in us. First, there is the finding of the thoughts that secretly hold sway over us, and after finding them, He adds true and unfeigned humility, and then the revelation that commands us to be freed from vain self-conceit, according to that which is written: "All that work iniquity have looked out, that they may perish for ever and ever." Therefore, know this accurately, brothers, and understand that if we do not endure these visitations with faith and thanksgiving, we cannot find the wickedness that is hidden within. And if this is not clearly found, we can neither cast out the evil thoughts that are present, nor seek propitiation for past sins, nor receive assurance concerning those to come.
Question
XVII. If the things spoken of as a forensic judgment are indeed rebukes of our actions, why do we not perceive ourselves to be guilty in light of these reproofs?Answer
Visitings and chastisements are not identical to the evidence of our faults; yet, in regard to the spirit, they preserve the full equality of justice. We can know this even from the Holy Scripture: for did those who died under the tower of Siloam raise up another tower for others? And did those who were taken away as captives into Babylon for the space of seventy years capture others for repentance? The terms of chastisement are not like that. Rather, just as soldiers caught in a crime are indeed beaten, C yet they do not suffer the same punishments as those who committed other crimes, so also are we all corrected by what comes upon us, opportunely and fittingly, and for the sake of repentance, yet not in the same manner, nor at the same time, nor by the same events. And this is what leads many to not believe in the justice of God: namely, the postponement of time and the disparity of the things inflicted. Since, therefore, very many afflictions come upon us, D partly through envious men, flatterers, detractors, calumniators, sycophants, seducers, inept people, burglars, thieves, plunderers, authors of scandal, persecutors, despisers, haters, those ready to strike—ready to do harm—and whatever can happen to a man from man, as also from our own body when it is lustful, troublesome, and demanding rest; and among external accidents, the bites of dogs, of those casting the venom of serpents, or of flesh-eating beasts; furthermore, pestilences, earthquakes, frosts, heat, old age, poverty, abandonment, and things like these; and partly indeed through the works of those against whom the Apostle declared our struggle to be, namely, the spirits of wickedness, who observe our words and actions, and from which they conjecture by a certain sequence that our thoughts are similar—these things rightly come upon us. Because unless our mind, composed of free will, through infidelity...A stirs up thoughts, neither are words offered, nor are actions performed.
Interrogation. XVIII. You yourself have said that all calamities come upon each person reasonably according to the cause, and draw us to the knowledge of God’s justice. Reveal to us, then, the causes, so that we may believe in this way that we are responsible for the afflictions, and that we ought to endure the incoming sorrows, so that in judgment, not merely as sinners, but also as those who have refused the remedy, we may not suffer a heavier punishment.
Response. The cause of all occurrences is the thoughts of each person. I could have said that words and actions also are causes, but since these do not precede the conception, for this reason I would willingly attribute the whole to thoughts. B Since, therefore, thought takes the lead and dominates, the remaining words and actions provide us with the occasion for mutual fellowship. There are two modes of fellowship: one from love, and one from wickedness. Through fellowship, we take responsibility for those we do not know. To such assumption of responsibility, afflictions necessarily follow, as the Scripture says: *He who gives surety for his friend, delivers his own hand to an enemy*. Thus it comes about that everyone bears not only the things that come upon him personally, but also those for his neighbor, in which he has made himself surety for him.
Interrogation. XIX. We desire to learn the one mode of this assumption of responsibility—we mean the one that originates from wickedness. C
Response. The assumption of responsibility from wickedness is involuntary. It happens in this way: he who despoils receives into himself, according to his own will, the overflowing temptations of the despoiled; he who strives for avarice [receives] the temptations of the desired object; likewise the sycophant [receives those] of the one sycophantized; the tormentor, of the one he torments; the slanderer, of the one he slanders; the one who shows contempt, of the one he contemns; the calumniator, of the one who suffers calumny; and, that I may not speak of each one, whoever inflicts harm, in proportion, receives the temptations of him who is affected by the harm. D To these things the divine Scripture bears witness, saying: *The righteous is delivered out of distress, and the ungodly is given in his stead*; and again: *He who digs a pit, shall fall into it; and he who rolls a stone, rolls it upon himself*; and again: *All things return into the bosom for the unjust, but all things are righteous from the Lord*. If, therefore, our injustice commends God’s justice amongst one another, according to the Apostle, what shall we say? Is God unjust, who brings wrath upon those who are being chastened through these afflictions, but also toward those who are thoughtlessly enraged by their outcome?
Interrogation. XX. Having heard these things in order, we believe them to be so. It remains that you explain to us the assumption of responsibility which is from charity, that we may not be ignorant of this as well.
A Response. The assumption of responsibility proceeding from charity is that which the Lord Jesus has bestowed upon us in all things, first by healing the infirmities of our soul, then by curing every disease and every ailment; He who takes away the sin of the world, restoring a pure nature to those who believe firmly in Him; who grants redemption from death and the worship of God; who teaches piety and religion, showing us that afflictions are to be endured even unto death for the sake of charity, and who freely bestows upon us, for this purpose, the necessary patience through the communication of the Holy Spirit, as well as the future goods, which "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have they entered into the heart of man." For this reason, He also takes upon Himself the temptations that were for our sake, being mocked, insulted, bound, betrayed, struck with blows, given vinegar to drink mixed with gall, suffering calumny and persecution, and being even struck with the palm of the hand. B He, having in common with us flesh and spirit, and having taken upon Himself the sufferings in our name, once again handed down this very law to His own apostles, prophets, fathers, and patriarchs: those whom He instructed in the former time through the all-holy Spirit, and whose eyes He made subject to the sight of that same law through his unblemished body. Expressing this assumption of responsibility, He said: "Be of good courage, I have overcome the world"; and again: "I sanctify myself for them, that they also may be sanctified in the truth"; and again: "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Whence also the holy Apostle Paul, imitating the Lord, said: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, O Gentiles, and I fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the Church"; and by this he himself also signifies the assumption of responsibility undertaken out of charity. Do you wish to be made more clearly aware how all the Apostles entered into a fellowship with us in understanding, in speech, and in action itself, and by this fellowship accepted temptations on our behalf? In understanding, indeed, while they open the Scriptures to us, bringing forward prophecies, persuading us to believe in Christ as Redeemer, making it certain to us that we must serve Him as the Son of God by nature, praying for us with tears poured forth, and performing whatever is permitted to be done for the faithful through understanding. But through words, C while they exhort, admonish, rebuke, pierce through our incredulity, interpret the Scriptures, place the seasons before our eyes, confess that Christ Himself is the Word made man, and preach Him as crucified; declaring Him one, not two, even if he is understood from two as united without any division or confusion; in every matter, place, and time, they cut away evil faith, do not assent to a lie, do not mingle in conversation with those who glory according to the flesh, do not keep company with those given to vain glory, do not even look upon the arrogant, hold in low esteem those who act maliciously, embrace the lowly, contract familiarity with the pious and religious, and have taught us to do the same things. But through action, D while they were persecuted, imprisoned, subjected to evil treatment, mocked, in need, afflicted, and put to death, and by whatever such things they suffered for our sake. So indeed did they accept our temptations through this fellowship.
For, he says, "whether we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation," A having received the law from Christ, who says: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." And they themselves have handed down to us, saying: "If the Lord laid down His life for us, we ought also to lay down our lives for the brethren"; and again: "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." If, therefore, we have understood the two modes of mutual fellowship, and the necessity that follows upon the acceptance of burdens, and the temptations that occur in proportion to them, do not be over-curious as to how, or when, or through whom they come. For the task of knowing what is appropriate to each, and the unhindered speed of their arrival, and the cooperation of the whole of creation to this end, belongs to God alone. B We, for our part, ought only to believe in the justice of God, and to know that everything that befalls us against our will has come upon us either for love or because of wickedness; and for this reason, one should endure it and not push it away, so that we do not add sin upon our sins.
XXI. Before all else, brothers, I beseech you to attend accurately to what has been said, lest we also endure temptations for the sake of these words in vain, and you, led by sloth, consign what has been said to oblivion. For oblivion is the daughter of sloth, and both are granddaughters of unbelief. The brothers replied to this: "Be more prompt, Father, in your discourse; for we hold fast to what we have heard, being assured by the divine Scripture that says these things, that apart from the justice of God, nothing of what happens to men involuntarily occurs; even if, being men, we do not grasp the mystical and harmonious concurrence of events, and the appropriate speed, just as you also have said before." C Therefore, one of those who had become distracted by what was said, remarked: "Tell us then, what is the will of the flesh, and how it exists apart from the intellect? For the lawyer asked only if it is; but as to how, or what it is, he did not inquire." To this, the Exercitant D said: "The will of the flesh is the natural movement of the body with a subsequent heat that is devoid of reason; which indeed receives strength from sleep and the relaxation of the limbs. Concerning which the apostle Peter says: 'Beloved, do not be surprised at the burning among you, which is happening for your temptation, as though some strange thing were happening to you.' And the blessed Paul said concerning these: 'The flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.' Therefore, he also gives instructions, saying: 'Walk in the spirit, and you will never fulfill the lust of the flesh.' They said these things, wishing for us to be without alliance with such movements."
TREATISE VIII.
Consultation of the intellect with its own soul.
I. Listen, O rational soul, companion of my counsels; I desire to relate to you something mystical and common to both of us, by which I have perceived that you will not be entirely purged of the passions, but, through the grace of Christ, you will be slightly refreshed. I have clearly known, O soul, that both you and I, when we are driven against nature, go astray through ignorance, and for this reason we blame others for our own sins, saying that wickedness is outside of us; and sometimes we accuse Adam, sometimes Satan, and at other times we blame men. And in this, while we think we are making war on others, we are warring against ourselves; and while we think we are defending one another, I and you are fighting against each other; and while we imagine we are doing good to ourselves, we are tormenting ourselves, justly bearing useless labors and reproaches; in appearance, indeed, embracing the commandments, but through deception hating the causes of them. Whence I knew precisely that we are not unjustly drawn toward good or evil by any power, but from baptism, in the very initiation of things, to whomever we might serve at his nod, whether to God or to the devil, he, in return, justly drives us from then on toward his own side. B
II. But the beginnings of things are two unconsidered assaults: human praise and ease of body. These, as they approach spontaneously before our will, are neither vices nor virtues, but are tests of our own inclination, showing toward which side we lean. For since the Lord wishes us to endure reproaches and difficulties, while the devil wishes the opposites, when we are pleased with those objects, it is evident that, having disobeyed the Lord, we have delivered the inclination of our mind to the pleasure-loving spirit; but when we are distressed by the aforementioned assaults, it is clear that we have given our inclination to God, choosing the narrow way. For this reason, therefore, these two assaults have been permitted to attack men, so that those who love the commandment may give the momentum of their will to Christ; and He, having found an entrance, will lead the mind toward the truth. Understand for me in the same way the opposite case. For as many as love human glory and bodily ease have given an entrance to the devil; and he, finding his own entrance, suggests his own vices, which do not cease to grow as long as they think about what is pleasing to him, until they hate from the heart the objects we mentioned before. But we love them so much that we not only betray virtue for their sake, but we also exchange one for the other when the opportunity arises, sometimes undergoing ignominy for the sake of pleasure. But when we assent to them without pain, we subsequently desire the material that promotes them. D
A And yet the material of vainglory and pleasure is avarice, which, according to the divine Scripture, is the root of all evils.
III.
III. Verily, you will say to me, O beloved soul, that we neither hoard gold nor possess property. And I say to you that neither gold nor property causes harm, but, as I have said before, the impassioned misuse of them. Behold, for some have become rich without passion and pleased God, such as the holy Abraham, and Job, and David. Yet some of us, even without wealth, have nourished the passion of avarice in the most trivial matters; whence we are more wretched than those who possess much, because, having abandoned the gross wickedness after a crafty fashion, we indulge in pleasure as if hiding from God. B For while fleeing avarice, we do not flee the love of pleasure; we do not hoard gold, but we gather trivial items. We do not seek magistracies and rule, yet we hunt for their glory and praises by every means. We abandon possessions, yet we do not refuse their enjoyments; and when we seem to refuse them, it is not as those fleeing greed, but as those loathing the creatures of God: "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle."When you hear, O beloved soul, of the transgression of Adam and Eve, do not believe it merely as something that happened to them in the beginning, but now you will find that, as regards the intellect, it is committed by me and by you. For these things happened to them C as a type; but they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. For behold, having been reborn through baptism, we have transgressed the commandment of him who regenerated us; for since the Lord commanded that we love all those of the same faith, and that we eat the fruit coming forth from all by patience, according to what was said, to eat food from every tree in the paradise, we, having used the reasonings of the serpent, have loved some as good, and others we have hated as evil. This is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which, having tasted, we die in our soul; not that God created death, but that man hated his neighbor. For God did not make death, nor does He delight in the destruction of the living, nor is He moved by the passion of anger, nor does He contrive anything for vengeance, nor is He altered toward the worth of each individual; but He made all things in wisdom, having predetermined that they be judged under a spiritual law. D For this reason He does not say to Adam, "On the day you eat, I will put you to death," but, safeguarding the law of justice, He foretells and says, "On the day you eat, you shall die by death." And in general, He assigned what is fitting to follow each thing, be it good or evil, by nature and not by contrivance, as some think—those who are ignorant of the spiritual law. But we, who know this in part, ought to know that if we hate any of those who share our faith as evil, we ourselves, being evil, will be hated by God; and if as a sinner we cast him out of repentance, we ourselves, being sinners, will be cast out; and if we do not forgive our neighbor...
neither will the sins be forgiven to us. A The Lawgiver Christ, making this law manifest, said: "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; forgive, and it shall be forgiven you." Seeing this law, Paul, interpreting it, said: "For in that you judge another, you condemn yourself." And the Prophet, not being ignorant of this, said to God: "For thou shalt render to every man according to his works"; and another prophet, speaking from the person of God, says: "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord."
B IV. But why do I mention these things one by one? When both the Old and New Scripture, and most of all that great Psalmist, indicate this law to us all more clearly—that we should discover it as spiritual and mystically prescribed for our entire inclination—we should fear, and strive to love our brothers not merely outwardly, but even in the secrets of our minds. For it is not the Mosaic Law that is accustomed to judge only manifest things, but the spiritual one that corrects even hidden things. And that one, indeed, the same God legislated, being fitting for its own time; but this one He fulfilled through the grace of our Lord, who said: "I came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it." Wherefore (to speak of everything in summary) we must henceforth forgive him who appears to have offended anyone, whether the offense be just or unjust, knowing for certain that the virtue of forgiveness is superior to any virtue whatsoever. But because, hindered by the sin that takes hold of us, we cannot achieve this, we ought to entreat God with vigils and the mortification C of the flesh, until we obtain propitiation and acquire such power. To this end, O soul, we ought to have one goal in every time, place, and affair: that when we are unjustly treated in various ways by men, we should rejoice and not be grieved; and rejoice, not simply or aimlessly, but because we have found an opportunity both to forgive him who has sinned and to obtain remission of our own sins. For this is true knowledge of God, most comprehensive of all knowledge, through which we can call upon God and be heard; this is the fruitfulness of prayer; through it we can take up the cross and follow the Lord; it exists as the mother of the primary and greatest commandments. For through it we can love God with our whole heart, and our neighbor as ourselves. By its aid, we must give ourselves to fasts, vigils, and the mortification of the flesh, so that the heart and the inward parts may be opened to receive these things, and not repel them. For then it will come to pass that we will recognize the grace of holy baptism, secretly given to us, no longer obscurely, but D acting with all certainty and perception of sense, because we forgive our neighbor his sins.
V. Nevertheless, there are two vices that hinder this virtue: vainglory and pleasure, which it is necessary first to drive away from the mind, and so grasp virtue. Wherefore, O soul, having betrayed yourself by yielding to these two desires, blame no one, neither Adam, nor the
not accuse Adam, nor Satan, nor men, but contend with A your own will, and do not despise it; for the war is internal. It is not external, so that we should have to fight with the brethren who are with us; it is internal, and no man will assist us in this battle. We have one ally, Christ, who is mystically hidden within us through baptism, invincible and omniscient. He will fight at our side if we perform His commandments with all our power. The things that war against us, as we have said before, are pleasure commingled with the body, and vainglory, which possess both me and you. These two things deceived Eve and led Adam astray. Pleasure showed him the tree as being good for food and beautiful to behold; vainglory added: "You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Just as, therefore, the first-formed Adam and Eve were ashamed B before one another, so also do we, having cast off the vice of the eyes of the intellect and seeing ourselves naked, grow ashamed before one another in our conscience; and lo, we sew fig leaves for ourselves, clothing ourselves in external words, appearances, and justifications. But the Lord prepares for us the garment of skins, and says: "By your patience possess your souls." And He counsels what follows, saying: "He that findeth his soul," that is to say, in remembering offenses, "shall lose it; and he that loseth his soul for My sake, shall find it unto life eternal." To Him be glory unto the ages. Amen.
TREATISE IX.
[(9) Concerning Fasting]
D I. It is fitting that those who begin to engage in virtues should strenuously carry through what they have undertaken; and whether they be young or old, provided they are in good bodily health, and not in the least terrified by the fear of weakness or disease, they should with all zeal follow the law of fasting, which above all others [is of use].
(9) By fasting we mean abstinence from foods, from which we can abstain in four ways, and so a fourfold duty of Christian abstinence arises. Either we abstain from food for the rest of the day after taking it once; or, content with dry and simple foods, we abstain from richer and more elegant ones; or, having taken food only to a prescribed limit, we abstain from further food; or, finally, we abstain while still desiring food, and not yet sated by hunger and thirst. It would therefore be a matter of the highest praise, and as it were the ultimate pinnacle of fasting, to maintain this fourfold law of abstinence, one and the same everywhere and always applied in the kind and manner of food, as well as in the time of taking it, perpetually throughout all of life. This most absolute fasting is proposed and commended to all who strive for perfect virtue by the Holy Father above all other fasts; he solidly demonstrates how many aids and protections are prepared from it, and what inconveniences follow if there is any slackening; and what inconveniences and dangers there are on the other hand in choosing for oneself separate, unusual, and admirable methods of abstinence.
A To eat bread by weight, and to drink water by measure, from time to time; and so much that, when hungry and thirsty, we may rise from the meal, and the necessary service to God may not be hindered by the pleasure of food. For if we desire to be sated while eating, we shall quickly become weary and turn to another desire, and if we are filled by consuming this, we shall in like manner cast it aside again, as we rejected the first. And it is not for us, if we devise for ourselves a desire or a fast, to persist in [wishing to be] satisfied. For what is more luxurious than manna among foods? And yet Israel ate this and was filled, but when he had nothing better to desire, he desired something less—leeks and onions—so that the desire for something else is innate to satiety. If, therefore, when being sated to the full with bread, we desire another thing, let us not be sated while eating this, so that, desiring it, we may always desire to be sated; that we may both escape the harm that comes from desire and may carry away the righteousness that comes from temperance.
B B′. But perhaps one of those who are more slothful regarding fasting will say: "Is it a sin for a man to partake of food?" But we do not advise this as though it were a sin, but as a thing from which sin follows. And Israel did not 12 sin by desiring, but by speaking against God through his desire he acted impiously; for he said: "Will God be able to prepare a table in the wilderness?" And after it was prepared for them, then the anger of the Lord was kindled.
and A he restrained their chosen ones, so that those who remained might not again desire other food, and speak words against the Most High, and the rest of them be destroyed. It is the work of an unrestrained stomach; God is of those who are overcome by it, and it is impossible for him who endures its service to be acquitted. And it is not only the state of gluttony that is dangerous, but also that of starvation; for when many days pass in which we partake of nothing, despondency, having gained a place, will rise up and war against us, and will turn our watching by night into sleep, and our prayer by day into carnal thoughts, so that we derive no benefit from our sleep, and from our carnal thoughts derive the greatest harm. For we begin to think highly of ourselves as though we were practicing more than others, and to despise those who are smaller, which is more grievous than any transgression. For just as an unwise farmer, if he leaves his own land, after having worked it with much expense, unsown, has labored in vain; so also we, if after having enslaved our flesh with much produce, we do not pour forth the word of prayer, we have labored rather against ourselves.
III. But perhaps someone will say: C "If righteousness is in prayer, what need is there of fasting?" There is much need in every way. For just as one of the poor farmers, if he sows upon dry ground without having plowed the earth, will reap thorns instead of wheat; so also if we do not, by fasting, bruise our own flesh, B and pour forth the word of prayer, we shall reap sins instead of righteousness. For this flesh of ours exists from that (same) earth; and if it does not receive as much care as that (land), it will never sprout the fruit of righteousness. We say these things, not to deter those who wish to be helped by fasting, but to encourage those who, with discernment and the fear of God, seek to obtain the [(13)] impassibility of their own body, D moderate, I say, desiring it for the sake of uniquely relieving hunger, languor, and disgust; but he sinned because he was openly desiring it for pleasure, because, impatient of desire, he began to repent of the Egyptian migration to the land of Canaan, to spurn the food provided divinely, to demand new foods through new prodigies, and to assail God with detraction: this is, Israel did not sin simply by desiring, but by desiring unseasonably, anxiously, stubbornly, turbulently, impiously; which crimes the holy Father therefore separates from simple desire, in the manner of metaphysicians, so that, clinging to the proposed example of the Israelites, he may refute the argument directed at himself, and demonstrate that neither desiring, nor eating moderately of what we desire, is a sin, but that sinning follows thence.
A If, however, we wish to make our own body obedient, we must strengthen it for endurance; for fasts then only profit if they are established prudently and piously; but if they are practiced without reason and rashly, they even do harm. Wherefore, those who desire to obtain the benefits of fasting should studiously avoid those things which bring destruction, and the bread which we had intended to eat as soon as the days of abstinence were completed, we should distribute in such a way throughout the appointed days of abstinence that, by taking a small portion each day, we may daily curb the rising appetites of the flesh as if they were wild beasts by throwing them some fodder, and keep the mind, emptied of desires, for prayer—which is more excellent. And thus, with God helping us, may we pass all the days of our life immune from elation, in that humility without which no one has ever been pleasing to God.
B IV. Truly, if we were to insist zealously on humility itself, we would not need to be corrected; for all the troublesome and heavy things that happen to us happen because of our elation. If an angel of Satan was given to the Apostle so that he might not be exalted, how much more will that same Satan be given to us, who are exalted, to strike us until we have returned to humility? Our ancestors ruled over their households, possessed wealth, took care of their wives and children, and enjoyed familiar converse with God because of their simple humility; we, on the contrary, have renounced the world, rejected wealth, left our homes, and are being mocked by demons because of our elation. Whoever exalts himself is ignorant of himself; for he would certainly not be exalted if he recognized himself and the folly with which he lives. Furthermore, how can he who is ignorant of himself know God? If he is unable to perceive his own folly, how will he be able to grasp with his mind the wisdom of God, from which he is very far removed and of which he is entirely devoid? He who knows God perceives His majesty and holds himself in contempt, as did the blessed Job, C who says: *I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and am melted, and I count myself dust and ashes* (Job XLII, 5, 6). Therefore, those who imitate Job are the ones who see God; and those who see Him are the ones who know Him. If, therefore, we wish to see God, let us hold ourselves in contempt and be humbled, so that we may not only behold Him face to face, but also enjoy Him as He dwells and rests within us. For in this way our folly will be instructed by His wisdom, and our weakness will be strengthened by His power, which is able to perfect us to such a degree that He who deigns to bestow so many gifts D may be gloriously magnified in us, and may exceedingly put to shame our enemy, the devil.
The authority of the monk Marcus explicitly explodes the notion; I refer to Saint Isaac, not the one whom we read in the *Bibliotheca Patrum*—mutilated and wretchedly stuffed—but the one who still lies hidden in libraries, concerning whom the most illustrious Assemani writes much in his *Bibliotheca Orientalis*, whom, if the heavens permit, we shall one day edit in Greek and Latin. The term here is therefore free from suspicion: yet it does not denote the vacuity of wicked affections, as it is often used by ascetics, but it seems rather to denote in this place a certain faculty in man, and thus it seemed best to interpret it as firmness and constancy in enduring and in resisting the appetites of the flesh; in which sense there is no lack of examples of this term among approved authors.
for us, in the same Lord of ours Jesus Christ, to whom is due glory, majesty, and magnificence, unto ages of ages. Amen.
TREATISE X.
On Melchisedech.
A When the Lord had likened the world to a field and the preaching of the truth to seed, he said that wheat had been sown in the first instance, but afterwards weeds; so that from this it is possible for us to understand that opinions devised subsequently to the apostolic tradition are a troublesome and B diabolical kind of additional sowing. For whereas his holy disciples left behind no part of the truth, and the holy Paul, no less than those who were apostles beyond others, had sown the world with the word as if with wheat, certain heterodox individuals, having sprung up like weeds beyond the wheat, attempt to stretch themselves out further and, as they think, to teach things more mystical than the apostles. For those others did not preach that Melchisedech exists as God by nature, as these men say; nay, they even introduce notions of such a kind that the economies which have been enacted by the Lord for our sake are demeaned. For if they make a man out to be God—a man named in the Scripture, from a silence of the text, as without father and without mother C because his parents were passed over in silence—they demean Christ, who has a Father in the heavens and who, for our sake, took to himself a mother on earth; and if, because of that ungenealogied one, they deem him great, they would think Christ to be less, because he is genealogied. The promotion of such an opinion seems to drag the more foolish among them even to a denial of faith, which brings greater condemnation upon the author who led the way for such an opinion. And they suffer these things, as I suppose, because they pass over the foundational chapters of Holy Scripture, and seek out certain passages at will for their own purpose. Therefore, they assign the announcement interpreted concerning Christ to the man to whom it was announced, as if it were to God, and they call the man who was likened to the Lord according to the order of the priesthood by D nature...
the Son of God. For they say: If this man were not the Son of God, A how was he called King of Peace and King of Righteousness? They will know, if they wish. The Apostle does not call him King of Peace by nature, but by interpretation; for he says first, "being interpreted, King of Righteousness," and then also "King of Salem," which is King of Peace. They, however, ignore this word "being interpreted," and therefore they think that the interpretation of the name is the nature of the one to whom the prophecy was announced.
II. The same men say again, if God did not exist, how was he without father and without mother? And now, as it seems, they no longer call Melchisedech the Son, B but perhaps the Father. And they say: We do not call him the Father, but the Word of God before he became incarnate or was born of Mary. But how, O deluded men, is the Word of God without a father? Learn accurately that the blessed Paul says all those things were said concerning the one who became incarnate. For he says: "Concerning whom these things are said, he belonged to another tribe," for it is manifest that the Lord sprang from Judah. "But tell us," they say, "how, since Christ sprang from Judah, is he without father and without mother according to the order of Melchisedech?" They are ignorant of what they say. For Paul did not establish the order regarding the lack of a father, but solely regarding the priesthood. For this reason he does not say, "You are without father, without mother according to the order of Melchisedech," but only, "You are a priest according to the order of Melchisedech." C And what is "according to the order"? It is according to the likeness, and not according to anything else. For the tribe of Levi was appointed to the priesthood according to the law; but Melchisedech, not according to the law, but according to the order of prophecy, showing forth the things concerning Christ. Therefore he says: "You are a priest forever," not according to the order of Levi, nor according to the order of Aaron (who were of the same tribe), but according to the order of Melchisedech, who exercised the priesthood outside the law.
III. But those same men insist again: If Melchisedech is a man, how does he remain a priest forever? And they ask this from a truncated passage, omitting the D more important parts of the chapter, in which it is said: "Being made like unto the Son of God, he remains a priest forever." Furthermore, to be made like and to exist are not one and the same; for in the former an image resides, in the latter the truth. For just as the prophet Jonah was made like unto Christ according to the three-day burial, and he remains a prophet; and just as Moses was made like unto him in leading the people, and he remains a leader forever; in exactly the same way Melchisedech is made like unto him according to the priesthood of the Gentiles, and he remains a priest forever. Therefore he says: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech." "But let it be granted," they say, "that Melchisedech was a man made like unto Christ; now make it clear how he is without father and without mother, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, being made like unto the Son of God; in these things show the likeness."
A In posing this objection, they are not setting themselves against us, but against the holy Scripture. For it sufficed for them to believe the Apostle, who said that he was made like unto the Son of God. Therefore, in saying, "Show us the likeness in these titles so that we may believe," they appear to distrust what is said by Paul; as if, should we be at a loss for such a demonstration, they would straightway depart from the faith, or would depart in the future, just as they have already departed. Since, therefore, it is possible to find many titles in the holy Scripture whose explanation is difficult for the common people, shall the Church for this reason depart from the faith it has received and suffer itself to be led away by their suspicions? God forbid! Yet we shall not for this reason remain silent without judgment, but according to our power we will demonstrate the likeness in the aforementioned matters.
B IV. Paul calls Melchisedech "without father and without mother" according to the following statement, because he is "without genealogy." Since it is not recorded in the genealogy from what father or what mother he came, or when he was born, or when he died, for this reason he is said to have neither beginning of days nor end of life. For his ancestry could not be traced, coming as he did from the nations he had left behind in his migration, as the Scripture makes manifest from his dwelling. C But in this he is made like unto the Son of God, because the Lord Jesus Christ had no father on earth, and in heaven he had no mother. Because we have said that, according to the economy, it is not recorded in the holy Scripture when Melchisedech was born or when he died, and for this reason it says he has neither beginning of days nor end of life, they seek the likeness in this argument also, saying: "If you speak this concerning Melchisedech, speak it also concerning Christ, how he has neither beginning of days nor end of life, so that we may recognize the likeness in this, too." For we know that he who was born of Mary had both a beginning, and died, and rose again according to the Scriptures. D To these we reply: Do you believe the Gospel, that the Word became flesh, not converting himself into a man, but assuming man unto himself? They reply: "Indeed, we believe this." If, therefore, you believe, know that Christ is not, nor is he considered to be, a mere man, since he never subsisted as a single reality [as a separate human person] and was only later united. It is evident, rather, that the Word of God himself acted divinely beforehand, according to what is written: "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Hence we understand that Christ has neither beginning of days nor end of life. For if the Word, who is without beginning, became the beginning of the incarnation, it is clear that Christ is without beginning on account of the union from the womb. Thus also is Melchisedech, and in this too he is made like unto him, his birth and his end having been economically passed over in silence in order to foreshadow the mysteries of Christ.
A V. They continue to ask again: Did the Lord assume our body, or not? Certainly our own; but he did not assume it as something already separately existing; for he did not bring it about that it first existed, and then he united it to himself, but he took on an inseparable union from [the time of] the womb, as we have said before. And they immediately say: Why then do you count his years? They are counted not from his nature taken by itself, but from the generation of the man who was made. For the Scripture did not say that a mere man was born, as you say the God Word was, but Christ, who is God and man at once, an indivisible and inseparable Son of God. He had an beginning, therefore, of the economical generation, but he has no beginning of nature because of the union from the womb. For to what, tell me, will you assign a beginning? To a bare body? But the Lord’s body was never bare, according to the evangelical voice which says to Joseph: "Do not fear to take Mary your wife; for that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit." But will you assign a beginning to the Christ who was born? Behold, he is the Word himself made flesh, as has been demonstrated in the Gospels. You can therefore assign neither division nor beginning to Christ, as has been shown. Suppose, they say, that Christ has no beginning because of the union; does the union itself not have a beginning? It both has one and does not have one; because he himself, who has no beginning, became the beginning of the union, and that is why I said he both has and does not have one. B But it is more agreeable to piety to say that he does not have one, since those things which are united by way of substance, even if they are understood to consist of two, nevertheless that which is united to the nature of the more powerful is that which is understood and named. Just as a river formed by rain, when it has mingled with the sea, is no longer called a river, but the sea, having taken its beginning from there, and there having ended. For if the bodily power, as if it were superior, had acted upon the Word, and in this way a union had come about, it should also be thought to have a beginning according to the nature of the body. But if the God Word acted in a manner befitting God according to the Gospel, it is evident that the holy body was ennobled by that nature; because "in him the whole fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell bodily." C And if the whole fullness is evident, so that nothing of the Godhead is lacking which the holy body of Christ does not have, whether you speak of being without beginning, or Godhead, or immortality, or omnipotent power, or authority, or dominion, or immortal wisdom, it has everything; because "it was pleased to dwell in him, all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." For this reason, Paul says: "We henceforth know no one according to the flesh; and even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, but now we know him no longer." For we have known that "in him the whole fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell bodily, and we are filled in him." He did not say, "In them," but, "In him"; for he himself is the fullness of the one who is being filled all in All. D Thus, therefore, Christ is understood, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life.
A VI. They inquire, moreover, if Melchisedech is a man, how does he remain a priest forever? This must be understood in two ways: not only concerning him, but also concerning all the saints. First, because it is recorded in Scripture "forever," and because they abide with God forever. Isaias the prophet remains a prophet forever, both in Scripture and with God; in the same way, the apostles remain forever—or else, tell me, with what hope did they face death daily for Christ? And all who have performed the priestly office for Christ remain forever; so also the holy Melchisedech, having performed the priestly office for God, remains forever according to the word of the Lord, saying that "all live to him."
They take Melchisedech into their theology according to this word, assuming that it is appropriate to him as God, [saying]: "Consider how great this man is, to whom Abraham the patriarch gave the tenth of the spoils." And what is this in comparison to the dignity of the Godhead? Do you wish to see a greater instance of the humility of Abraham? When he received the cave for the burial of Sara, he bowed down to those who handed it over. Shall we therefore B deify them because the patriarch bowed down to them? God forbid! See how much they rave! From how small a thing they debate about God! How trivial! For He did not say, "Consider how great this man is," who founded the heaven, and the earth, and the sea; who knows the mind of men toward their own voluntary movements; who apportions what is necessary to all—not recently, but having ordered it to spring forth fittingly at its own time. Nor did He say, "He who has balanced the rainfall and the snowfall, the winter frosts, and the rays of the summer heat so that [the world] might not destroy the universe." C Nor did He say, "He who in mercies delivers from the punishments of justice, and is able to have mercy upon the sinner, judgment having been forgiven; who exists everywhere without division, and remains in the Father without confusion; the Creator of all goods, and the discerning judge of all; who in weakness bound the strong, and through the foolishness of the wise one, snatched the vessels; who brought life out of death, and made manifest things that were hidden." The Apostle said nothing of the sort about Melchisedech, but "Consider," he says, "how great this man is, to whom Abraham gave the tenth!" Surely, if he were God, would Paul be defining the incomprehensible power by [the term] magnitude, and this in a matter not at all wonderful, but in the tithes of Abraham, which even those who are priests according to the Law obtain? When, therefore, D you find in your reading anything written about Melchisedech, and when you hear from the Melchisedechites that he is called God, remember the apostolic [teaching] that he is of another race, that is to say, of the Canaanites.
A Remember the Apostle, concerning whom these things are said: "He partook of another tribe," and you will never go astray. For it is manifest that our Lord Jesus Christ drew his origin from the tribe of Judah. Follow the faith of Paul, and do not assign to the One who was announced what was announced regarding the prophets, nor again assign to the types themselves what was fulfilled in them in a typical manner. Of what tribe was Melchisedech, that you think the words spoken apply to him? If you are led astray in this way, surely you will also consider the lamb that was slaughtered in a typical manner to be God, saying: "If it were not God, how did its blood drive away the destroying angel?" Moreover, you will easily consider the bronze serpent to be God, speaking thus to yourself and saying: "If it were not God, how did it heal those bitten by the serpents?" B But we shall reply with the words of the Apostle: "Concerning whom these things are said, he partook of another tribe." For each of them did not perform the power through his own self, but through Christ who was interpreted in them. Thus also Melchisedech, even if he was called king of righteousness and king of peace, was not so by nature, but by interpretation according to the Scripture; for "concerning whom these things are said, he partook of another tribe."
VII. I would gladly inquire of such deluded men: for what reason did the prophets or the apostles not declare Him to be God Himself? If they were held back by envy or fear, how was it that neither envy nor fear kept them from preaching the Son of Mary? Perhaps they did not know? Were those men, then, infants compared to you, and are you more wise than they, such that what was hidden from them has been revealed to you? But what do these clever men dare to answer to this? Do not be surprised C if the apostles were ignorant of this mystery, when even to Paul it appeared difficult to be understood, as he says: "Of whom we have much to say, and it is hard to explain" (Heb. v, 11). O the arrogance! They think themselves wiser than the apostles, and neither understand what they say nor the matters about which they make assertions. For if they believe at all that there is "much speech" about Melchisedech and that it is "hard to explain," they should say in what respect it is hard to explain; is it on our side or on theirs? We say that the interpretation of Melchisedech refers to our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore we have indeed much to say about Melchisedech, and it is of difficult declaration, just as the Apostle also asserts; they, however, say that Melchisedech is God by nature. But if he is God by nature, how is there a "difficult explanation"? A true God is believed D without any interpretation, whereas types require interpretation. Therefore, let us see to whom the holy Paul gives witness, saying: "Of whom we have much to say, and it is hard of explanation." If indeed he spoke to them concerning Melchisedech as if concerning God, let them interpret their own God, considering him to be God by nature; but if not, we, in the Lord, will interpret the things regarding Melchisedech according to our ability as typical, in accordance with the hypothesis of the holy Paul, and let them cease from blaspheming. For first of all, Jerusalem was called Jebus, as Joshua mentions in more than one place.
A Afterwards, however, after the nations were expelled and the people had migrated, God allotted it to the priests, so that sacrifices might be offered there from every place of the Jews; whence also, after the cessation of wars, he renamed the city Salem, which is peace. Jerusalem, however, is interpreted as vision of peace. For this reason Melchisedech is interpreted by Paul and in the Scripture as king of peace; for he ruled in it previously, as one might say, king of Selge; and Selge is interpreted as chastity. Is not, therefore, the ruler of Selge, according to the name of the city, reasonably interpreted as the ruler of chastity? He is not, however, the ruler of chastity by nature, but according to the interpretation of the name. But Christ is the ruler of chastity by nature. Do they not then understand that Melchisedech also, according to the nominal interpretation, is called king of peace? If this Jerusalem were the heavenly one, where he reigned, let its ruler also be king of peace by nature; but if this was a type of the Jerusalem above, it is clear that he too was typically named king of peace, on account of the homonymy of the city. B And the King of righteousness is the interpretation of his own name, that is, Melchisedech, as we have learned from those who are well-versed, as one might say: Ambrose, that is, immortal. For since many men are called Ambrose, are they therefore naturally immortal? Not at all. How many are called Eugenius (noble-born), when they are slaves! How many are called Athanasius (immortal), while they are mortal! How many are called Polychronius (long-lived), and they become short-lived! How many are called Democrati (power of the people), yet they have no one subject to them! And it is found that such names are often inconsistent with the reality, C as words exist that do not signify the actual event, even though the realities themselves do not fulfill their names.
VIII.
Since, therefore, we have interpreted the names according to our ability, come, let us also interpret the events as far as we are able. Just as Abraham, with his three hundred and eighteen trained servants, D overcame the Gentiles, so 17 the eighteen fathers of the Nicene council, through the faith, overcame the heresies. See a fitting interpretation. (Ps. LXXV, 3); so it is plainly rendered by the Chaldean, Aquila, Theodotion, Symmachus, Jerome, and other interpreters, unless you except the Septuagint, and whoever follows them, that is, the Vulgate edition, which reports: "His place has been made in peace." This very Salem, then, and afterwards Jebus, eventually called Salem indeed, Melchisedech is interpreted to have reigned, as very many interpret, and the Fathers, Josephus, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Theophilus, and Eustathius of Antioch, and both Eusebius of Caesarea and Emessenus, Apollinaris, and Procopius report; nor is it surprising that Moses clearly calls it Salem (Gen. XIV, 18). For there is no other mention of Salem in the Sacred Books; for Salem, which is mentioned in Judith IV, 4; Jeremiah XLVIII, 5; John III, 23, is held by no one to be the city of the Hebrews; and the Chaldean interpreters, or those who have disregarded the faith of the ancient codices, have the same rendered as Salem; for Salem is considered to refer to Jerusalem (Gen. XXXIII, 17), the Samaritan and the Chaldean call it by an appellative name, not a proper one, as indeed Jerome also states in *Quaestiones Hebraicae*, where he furthermore identifies Salem with Jerusalem, not from his own, but from the opinion of his time in *Epist. ad Evagrium*, or if you prefer, he could argue that the Evangelist was speaking. And he asserts the same in the letter concerning the site of the remote, which he commodiously admits Abraham met on his return from the way, which indeed is light, but that the king of Sodom, who met him on the journey with Melchisedech, was to proceed even further.(17) This eighteen fathers, who, having been armed apostolically, routed the heresies in the Nicene council, by refuting the Catholic faith, which they had defended against Arius, and like Abraham, by routing the Gentiles—may they represent, through the aid of the three hundred and eighteen, the comparison very often demonstrated by the holy Fathers in the Church.
A Behold an apt interpretation. Then Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine, for the refreshment of those returning from the war. Thus also Christ, the great high priest, gives bread and consecrated wine to those returning to Him from spiritual war, saying: "Take, eat, all of you of it." And again, Abraham gives tithes of the spoils to the priest of God; and they who are rivals of his faith offer the spoils to Christ. For the five senses, being twice dedicated to Him—I speak intellectually and specifically—are certain tithes of the faculties of our nature, which was once taken captive by the aliens according to the aforementioned history. Therefore, through the things said, have you understood how expansive the discourse is, and difficult of interpretation, just as the holy apostle Paul has said? Do not, therefore, call the types the truth, nor, having heard "without father, and without mother" because his genealogy is not recorded, do you for this reason count Him Son of God by nature. Or have you not read what Holy Scripture recounts in the history concerning him about the types, concerning Lot the nephew of Abraham, concerning these kings, clearly declaring the names both of the men and of the places, and Melchizedek, and the city of Salem? Yet none of these things is interpreted B absolutely regarding the incarnation of the Lord. For if they are nature, the names are no longer interpretation; but if they are interpretation, they are no longer nature. How, then, is the discourse concerning such things expansive and difficult to interpret? But know what is written, that
these facts happened to them as types; but they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived.
IX. Furthermore, this must be asked of them: How did God the Word, not yet clothed in flesh, exercise the priesthood? And for whom did He exercise it? If you say it was for the world, I ask, where is the victim? For you have heard that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Who, moreover, are present as criers and witnesses of the sacrifice? If they say that He Himself is the victim, and that He was also a type of things to come, does it not follow, therefore, that He who is without flesh is found to be a type of Him who was about to be clothed with flesh, or rather, that He became a type of Himself? But where He Himself is present, it is not called a type, but truth. If, then, it was truth at that time, what shall we say concerning the incarnation? And how does the Scripture say that this mystery was not made known in other generations, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets? Yet at that time, neither prophets nor apostles proclaimed it. But what do they say again? "If He was not God, how was He a priest before the Law?" To them B we reply: The priesthood is so named because a man, while bearing flesh, offers sacrifices to God; but he who is without flesh is not called a priest. Just as Abel, therefore, sacrificed to God before the Law, and for this reason is shown to be a priest, and just as Jacob sacrificed to Him and is shown to be a priest—in the same way that all these men sacrificed before the Law, so, too, Melchisedech was a priest before the Law. But they say: "Divine Scripture does not call these men priests." Divine Scripture, however, does not use as many words as your contentious questioning requires. If, however, you seek the distinction of this matter, Melchisedech did not sacrifice, but was only called a priest. Therefore, those who have sacrificed C are much more truly priests than he who was called a priest in name only; for it belongs more to the priesthood to sacrifice than to utter a prophecy. We have offered this distinction to address their importunity, though we ourselves, in the Lord, acknowledge him, just as we do the others, as a priest of God.
X. I marvel, meanwhile, how they have not heard the blessed Peter clearly crying out regarding them and saying that there will be false teachers, who will bring in destructive sects. He spoke aptly in saying "they will bring in"; for these men indeed anxiously watch for opportunities to seduce, and meet them according to the extent to which they perceive others are affected toward their opinion, and they fashion their responses accordingly: sometimes they openly declare Him to be God, D and at other times they cunningly admit that we call Him the priest of God, just as the divine Scripture says. If they believe in the divine Scripture at all, let them state everything according to the Scripture. First, the divine Scripture does not call Him God; let them not do so either. Let them also confess this: that He has been made like the Son of God, yet He is not the Son of God by nature; and that by interpretation, not by nature, He is king of righteousness; and that he regarding whom these things are stated has participated in another tribe; and let them not...
A choose words of slanted meaning, so as to persuade the many by hypocrisy, and ensnare the more simple-minded. We, indeed, having received such a commandment in order from the Lord, are compelled to persuade those who are led astray through ignorance; but they, when they see those who were deceived by them wishing to repent, overcome them with more plausible sophistries, always saying thus: "Even if Melchisedech is not God by nature, we have committed no sin in deifying a man; for it is written: 'I said, You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High' (Ps. LXXXI, 6)." Not knowing that such inconsistency clearly renders the faith in Christ unstable, if they hold the Lord to be equal to all men in this way, and no longer as He is—Savior, and God, and Lord—and prepares them to worship the creature instead of the Creator.
Since, therefore, they coil themselves like serpents and hold fast those who wish to escape them, it is necessary for us, also having the commandment, "Be wise as serpents" (Matt. X, 16), to mimic their craftiness and, with sharp-witted reasoning, to loosen these windings of theirs, saying that even if Melchisedech were God, we would commit no sin in holding and naming him a man. For it is written that "there is no other name under heaven whereby we must all be saved, but the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts IV, 12), the fullness of Him who is filled with all things in all (Ephes. I, 23). Let them hear the Apostle commanding not to accept even other preachers of the Gospel. B For if he who comes, he says, preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive another Spirit whom you have not received, or another Gospel which you have not accepted, you bear with him well (II Cor. XI, 4). If, then, this one puts a seal on the preaching of the Gospel, what will become of those who introduce heresies, or those who believe them?
But what do they say to us? "How is it that not everyone teaches in the churches, just as you teach here today?" Let them know, however, that all who teach what is of the apostles, confirm it as something certain, and no one innovates as if it were something not yet preached; but if at any time someone is caught having been led astray involuntarily, he either returns after being admonished, or, having chosen falsehood, he will be reckoned among those outside, which in these matters it is likely will also happen. Indeed, in this it is possible to test the foolishness C D of their ways, as they turn out to be more wicked than any heresy. For, having been set apart by the holy... [index: entries preserved]
bishops and condemned, wherever they are unknown, they communicate in secret and gather together—that is to say what we have mentioned—because they dishonor both the mystery of Christ and the economy. And not only this, but even if they are at some point able to be received by bishops or by periodeutae—visitors—under the pretense of piety, they immediately traduce those who are truly faithful and orthodox, whispering that they are evil-minded, and they cause them to be hated or persecuted. But He who perceives the thoughts of men subverts their plotting, and having exposed them, permits them to fall into the pit which they have made, according to what is written.
XI. On the rejection of their errors
XI. But let us leave aside their covert attempts to bring about destruction and, urging our proposal, let us go on to refute their entirely perverse faith. For that name was never proclaimed by prophets, never taught by apostles, never confessed by martyrs; not one of the patriarchs declared Him to be God, and none of the holy Fathers has written of it. Therefore, B recover your senses, O man, and know that it was the devil who compelled you to think beyond measure, so that, having been afflicted with his disease of pride by your own will, you might thereafter collapse in the same ruin as he. For how was it not by your own will, when, having such a cloud of witnesses before your eyes to confirm the true faith, you chose and confessed what none of them confessed? If, therefore, those others obtained salvation outside of that belief and that confession, do you also strive to be saved by imitating them, and say, according to the holy Paul, that I decided to know nothing C except for Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
Note on Melchisedechians and the history of Abba Koprin
(22) Although rare mention of the "periodeutae" is found in ancient books, their office is in large part made clear by the name itself. That they existed as an order of the clergy is indicated by the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, act 4, where Alexander and Valentinus are called presbyters and, furthermore, periodeutae, as if they were titled with a more advanced and honorable name; Cabassutius also argues this in his notes on the canon of Laodicea, and from the Greek law of Justinian to Atarbius, prefect, ch. "On Bishops and Clergy," where they are listed immediately after the chorepiscopoi and before the priests. That they were also distinguished by their power is argued by Thomassinus, who, in *De disciplina ecclesiastica*, p. 1, bk. II, ch. 1, n. 3, and p. 1, bk. III, ch. 7, n. 9, equates them with the chorepiscopoi; this passage seems to prove this to a great degree, for it reveals that the judgment concerning the reception of foreigners, unknown persons, and those instructed without formal letters into communion was delegated to them. And we read that the office of the periodeutae existed of old among the Syrians in the *Life of St. James of Sarug*, written by an anonymous author, in the Vatican Codex XV. Concerning the contemporary periodeutae among the Greeks and Syrians, see both Goar in the *Euchologium* and the most illustrious Assemanus in *Bibliotheca Orientalis*, vol. IV, *Dissertatio de Syris et Nestorianis*, § 8, n. et seqq.
(23) I have no doubt that our holy Father here directed his pen against those who held sentiments about Melchizedek similar to theirs, as Photius recorded in his memory. Indeed, the phrase "O man" seems to be a way of addressing a person who is known, and all but calling him by name.
(24) A suitable example of this monastic wisdom presents itself from the ms. codex, inscribed thus: *Of the Collections of our holy Father Paul, bk. IV, in the Gerontikon*, where the following fragment is taken, meaning in the book in which the deeds of the elders are recounted; it reads: "The Fathers of Scetis once gathered to inquire concerning Melchizedek, and they forgot to call Abba Koprin. Later, having called him, they asked for his opinion. He, striking his own mouth three times, said: 'Woe to you, Kopri! Woe to you, Kopri! Woe to you, Kopri! For what God commanded you, you neglect; but what He does not seek from you, you strive to inquire into.' And having heard these things, the brothers immediately returned to their own cells."
But if you hold that those positioned outside this profession cannot attain salvation, you are already deciding within yourself that all the saints have not attained salvation at all. Although, for fear of men, you may not utter this in words, yet the consequence of the matter proclaims it in fact with a greater clamor than your voice could produce. Do you see into what monsters of blasphemy and absurdity you have plunged because of this perverse faith of yours? Or rather, I had better say, "no faith at all." A Recognize, if you please: Melchizedek performed no signs, gave no commandments, decreed no threats, did not die for us, and did not bestow upon us the infusion of the Holy Spirit. I am therefore at a loss to know what suitable guarantee you have to demonstrate your faith in him. If, however, you say that he provided all these things after assuming flesh for our sake, you prove yourself even more to be guilty of an insane faith. For in those matters by which the Lord has made Himself known to us through words and deeds, in those same things He has commanded us to have faith; for Scripture says that He appeared to Abraham, B speaking to him and giving him commandments, predicting things to come, and promising blessings in the land of the Chaldeans and at the oak of Mamre; and in many other words and deeds, the Scripture has by no means shown Melchizedek, nor has it manifested anything through Melchizedek, in an obscure way. For this reason your faith is devoid of foundation, your opinion is unverified, and this knowledge of God of yours is altogether insane. Therefore, since the orthodox faith has been declared by many witnesses, those who look elsewhere, and either well or ill name Melchizedek, or call him the natural Son of God, openly profess themselves to be Jews; C because Jesus Christ, born of Mary, He Himself is the Son of the living God, and nothing is lacking to Him, such that we should seek the fullness elsewhere; for in Him the whole fullness of deity was pleased to dwell bodily, and we are all filled in Him, we who believe in His words as those of the Son of God, by the good pleasure, power, and grace of God the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. To Him be the glory, and the power, and the kingdom, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
NOTICE REGARDING THE FOLLOWING HOMILY OF DIADOCHUS
(Mat. Spicil. Rom. IV, XLIII.)Diadochus, bishop of Photice in Epirus, was notable both for the ascetical works which survive, and also for his noble disciple Victor Vitensis, who at his encouragement wrote the *History* of the Vandal persecution in Africa and adorned his teacher with this panegyric in the proem: "Instructed by so great a pontiff, and praising in every kind of eulogy the blessed Diadochus, whose many monuments of Catholic dogma stand forth like shining stars." This short homily on the Ascension of the Lord, which we have brought forth from a Vatican codex, was known to Lucas Holstenius, as is evident from his epistle (ed. Boissonadii, pp. 209-210), although Holstenius was prevented from committing it to type, as he was with other homilies of various authors prepared for press, due to his occupations and imminent death. We have therefore considered it right to deposit this homily, being entirely genuine, and dogmatic at its end, into the public treasury of the Church, before it might perchance perish by some accident.
OF DIADOCHUS, BISHOP OF PHOTICE IN EPIRUS, A SERMON ON THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
A 1. I call upon you now, O Jewish priests, for it is the hour to sing of victory. Come hither, you who are a preacher and herald of Christ, speak and describe the matter to me with your powerful truth: how those men distributed money with evil intent to the soldiers, while imagining that they could cover the manifest truth with a lie; and how we, the servants of Christ, acknowledge Him as Lord who rose from the dead on the third day and ascended into the heavens, and we rejoice without ceasing. Him the heavens received as He ascended, not without a divine miracle; the earth, however, as it was sustained by His will, could no longer contain Him; Him a bright cloud took up, manifestly fulfilling the type of the prophecy; Him the angels accompanied with hymns even up to the paternal throne, ceaselessly shouting that He is the Lord of hosts and the King of glory. Foreseeing this return from earth to heaven in the Holy Spirit, the Psalmist sang thus: "God has gone up with a joyful shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet." For the inspired man also anticipated the hymn of the holy Gospels.
B 2. But those who boast of having the most faithful Abraham as their father refuse to believe that the Saviour of us all has risen from the dead; and those unhappy men imagine that by a baseless rumor they can sully the beauty of such great truth. "For this report," says the Evangelist, "has been spread among the Jews to this day." This report was known to the demons, yet those who profess to revere the commandments of God do not deem it worthy of any belief, even though the Prophet said, "O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth! For your magnificence is lifted up above the heavens." And again, "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and your glory over all the earth." These things the sophists of wickedness will never find a way to distort, however much they follow the lies of their father; for He who was lifted up and exalted above the heavens is altogether Lord, because having first descended to the earth, He has ascended into heaven.