Four Books of Letters

it were permitted to one who has spent so long in more robust literature to pursue the trifles of the moderns. And I would say that, from a pun somehow diverted into an argument, this river of ours is not made more noble by the power of I know not what Bee—of which the other boasts—but rather by the bees which are visible in your coat of arms. But it would be impious to indulge in these ravings, even if your bees did not a little add to his glory. Yet it seemed right to append this: that I am most satisfied with this edition; for whether I look to the author of these letters or to the prince by whose help they are published, I foresee from the religion of both—the one who applauds not only my labor, of whatever sort it may be, but the glory of the true faith—a compendium. But I would have you understand that these things are said so that, as your age proceeds most happily, you may remember that two examples of piety were set before you while you were still a boy, from one of which you may learn more, and the other you may more imitate. Farewell.

NAMES OF THOSE to whom St. Nilus wrote.

The first number (Roman) indicates the book, the second (Arabic) indicates the letters.

^A Ablabius the notary, lib. II, epist. 253. Abramius the presbyter, I, 25, 47. Agathius the deacon, III, 162, 215, 216. Agathopus the monk, III, 173, 174. Agathon the Decemberate, II, 16, 17, 18, 219. Agathon the bishop, IV, 37. Agapetus the deacon, III, 257. Aglaïus the anti-cursor, I, 192, 193, 194. Aglaophon, III, 104. Aglaophon the curator, II, 222. Adolius the lawyer, II, 211. Adrian, III, 206. Adrian the presbyter, III, 81, 91. Adrian the monk, II, 60. Aetius the monk, II, 58, 267. Athanasius the deacon, IV, 48. Athanasius the advocate, I, 288, 317, 318. Athanasius the monk, II, 62. Athenogenes, I, 260. Athenogenes, or Theodotus the count, II, 1. Aelian the lector, I, 249. Aelian the bishop, I, 291. Aelian or Aulianus; see Aulianus, III, 76. Aemilian the protector, II, 231. Aeneas the philosopher, II, 281. Acacius the memorialis, I, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94. Aquila, IV, 33. Aquila, ex-consular, III, 62, 63. Aquilinus, III, 273. Albinus the monk, III, 223, 224. Alexander, III, 131, 281. Alexander the archimandrite, II, 87. Alexander the monk, I, 129; II, 120, 121, 122, 123. Alexander the monk, formerly a grammarian, II, 49. Alcibiades the scholastic, III, 107. Alcibiades or Alciphiades, III, 15. Alcidiades or Alcibiades the scholastic, III, 145. Amblichus the curator, II, 179. Ammonius the count, II, 283. Amphictyon the rhetor, I, 183. Amphilochius the younger count, I, 141, 142. Amphilochius the monk, II, 91, 92. Anastasia the virgin, II, 118. Anastasius, III, 275. To Anastasius the bishop, II, 294. Anastasius the monk, III, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211. Anastasius the presbyter, III, 242, 313. Anatolius the presbyter, III, 51, 60. Anaxagoras the grammarian, I, 195, 196. Andrew the presbyter, III, 52. Andromachus and accompanying monks, I, 78. Unaddressed letters, I, 77, 78, 211, 212, 276, 277, 282; II, 3, 4, 15, 48; III, 242, 268, 285, 291, 292, 293, 294, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333. Unaddressed letters, IV, 2, 3, 456. Anthemius the lawyer, II, 226. Antiochus, IV, 16. Antonius, I, 143. Antonius the scholastic, II, 14. Apollodorus the rhetor, I, 75. Apollophanes the symponus, II, 256. Araxes, IV, 28. Arcleius the primate, II, 254. Aristarchus the presbyter, II, 171. Aristarchus the tribune, II, 310. Aristinus the monk, II, 89, 90. Aristobulus the bishop, IV, 13. Aristocles the monk, II, 50. Aristocrates the eunuch, II, 255. Aristoteles the primate, I, 219, 220, 221. Aristophanes the candidatus, II, 220. Ariston the bishop, II, 315. Arcadius the emperor, II, 265, 279. Arcadius the rogator, II, 314. Arsacius or Ursacius the advocate, III, 150. Asclepiades, IV, 44. Asclepiades the count, II, 270. Asclepius or Asclepius, III, 24. Asclepiodotus, II, 38. Asterius the lector, II, 8, 9, 10, 11. Atticus the lector, I, 191. Augustinus the tribune, I, 225. Aulianus or Aelianus, III, 85, 86, 87, 88. Auxentius, I, 42. Auxentius the advocate, II, 309. Auxentius the illustris, II, 39, 40; IV, 42. Aurelian, I, 31. Aurelian the illustris from the Greeks, I, 54. Aphthonius, I, 69; III, 276. Aphthonius the abba or monk, III, 237, 238, 239. Aphthonius the monk, II, 135. Aphthonius the hegumen, III, 241. Aphthonius the deacon, I, 68. Aphthonius the Samaritan, I, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 173. Aphthonius the tabularius, II, 214. Aphrodisius the deacon, II, 23. Aphrodisius the scriniarius, II, 256. Aphrodisius the philosopher, II, 264.

^B Babylas the deacon, I, 95. Bacchus the prefect, II, 258. Ballerius the cubicularius, II, 180, 181, 182, 183. Ballerius or Eortasius the deacon, 187. Balchus the prefect, II, 5, 6, 7. Basilius the agent, II, 260. Bebianus the bishop, II, 256. Benjamin the Hebrew, I, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128. Benustus the monk, I, 295. Benustrus the primate, III, 178. Berenice the taxiota, III, 105. Berimus the primate, III, 135, 136. Bery or Berimus the monk, III, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57. Bibianus the illustris, III, 91, 92. Vincent the ascetic, II, 51.

NAMES OF THOSE TO WHOM SAINT NILUS WROTE

Γ Gainas, commander, I, 70, 79, 114, 115, 116, 203, 206, 286. Gallus, monk, II, 66. Ganymedes, ex-quaestor, II, 269. Gaudentius, deacon, II, 159. Gaudentius, cell-steward, II, 252. Gaudentius, silentiarius, III, 124; IV, 28. Gethlius, advocate, III, 336. Gelasius, monk, III, 46, 47, 48, 49. Gelasius, or Daburius, monk, III, 258. Genethlius, I, 132. Genethlius, advocate, II, 325. Germanus, cancellarius, II, 189. Gerontius, ex-quaestor, I, 130. Gerontius, monk, III, 253. Gerasimus, archon of the peace, II, 276. Gigantius, III, 96, 97, 248. Gigantius, deacon, I, 186, 187. Gigantius, church-advocate, II, 6. Glycadius, protector, I, 252. Gregorius, deacon, III, 94, 95. Gregorius, abbot, II, 64.

Δ Daburius, monk, III, 35. Daburius, or Gelasius, monk, III, 246. Daglaeus, I, 21. Damianus, official, II, 248. Damianus, monk, III, 154. Darius, scholasticus, III, 212. Decurion, I, 158, 159, 160, 161. Demarchus, illustrious, II, 244. Demetrius, IV, 35, 49. Demetrius, heretic, I, 253, 254. Demetrius, domesticus, II, 312. Demetrius, monk, III, 143, 152. Democritus, monk, II, 71, 72. Demosthenes, father of the city, II, 36. Deacon, II, 141. Didymus, reader, III, 244, 295. Diocletian, I, 257. Diomedes, steward, II, 250. Dionysius, IV, 55. Dionysius, monk, II, 93. Dionysiodorus, I, 283. Dioscoria, widow, II, 266. Dometianus, provincial, I, 233. Domninus, presbyter, III, 144, 145, 146. Domninus the younger, chief, III, 43. Dositheus, I, 47, 48, 49. Dracontius, monk, II, 94; III, 36. Dracontius, I, 314. Dracontius, vindex, II, 327. Drusianus, I, 289. Drusianus, ruler, II, 252. Drusillianus, I, 245.

E Irenaeus, deacon, III, 265. Irenaeus, monk, III, 240. Irenaeus, presbyter, III, 157. Irenaeus, or Irenarchus, chartulary, II, 105. Helena, illustrious, II, 170. Eleutherius, III, 16, 17. Eleutherius, bishop, III, 284. Eleutherius, Count of the East, II, 288. Eleutherius, monk, III, 50. Eleutherius, monk from the Numenenses, II, 67, 68, 69. Elpidius, monk, II, 128. Helladius, reader, I, 310. Elpidius, goldsmith, III, 10. Eortasius, deacon, II, 186; IV, 47. Epigonus, courier, I, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123. Epictetus, archimandrite, III, 125. Epinicus, La. Fa., III, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102. Epiphanius, reader, II, 241. Epiphanius, bishop, IV, 56. Epiphanius, monk, IV, 53. Hermolaus, monk, II, 25. Euandrius, I, 117. Eubulion, I, 315. Eugenius, deacon, I, 83. Eugenius, monk, III, 147, 175, 176, 182. Eugenius, prince, or monk, III, 41. Eugrammius, lawyer, I, 216, 217, 218. Eudaemon, scholasticus, III, 287. Eudaemon, scholasticus, or Panegyrius, deacon, III, 287. Boethius, tribune, I, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301. Euthalius, monk, III, 40. Euthius, provincial, III, 105. Euthymius, deacon, II, 41. Euthymius, bishop, III, 283; IV, 57, 58. Eulampius, I, 145, 146, 147. Eulampius, sophist, II, 145. Eulysius, monk, II, 124, 125, 126. Eumathius, monk, I, 103. Eunomius, presbyter, III, 30, 79, 80, 81, 82, 300. Eupithius, reader, II, 268. Euporus, deacon, III, 34. Eupraxius, deacon, III, 271. Eurycles, patrician, II, 221. Eurycles, presbyter, I, 273, 274; III, 121, 122. Eusebius, deacon, I, 235. Eusebius, dux, II, 261. Eusebius, monk, I, 136. Eusignius, IV, 56. Eusignius, satrap, or presbyter, III, 6. Eustathius, archimandrite, II, 102. Eustathius, decanus, II, 277. Eustathius, deacon, I, 228. Eustathius, cubicularius, I, 37. Eustochius, Count of largitiones, 304. Eutropius, 19, 40. Eutropius, monk, II, 98, 99. Eutychius, deacon, III, 148, 149. Euphemius, archimandrite, III, 201, 202, 203, 204. Euphemius, monk, II, 55, 104, 105, 137, 138, 139. Euphrasius, bishop, I, 246, 247. Eupsychius, vicarius, II, 162, 165. ^BZephyrianus, I, 250. ^CZenobius, legate, II, 246. Zeno, December [?], II, 299. Zenon, deacon, II, 194, 195. Zoilus, chartulary, II, 275. Zosas, ascetic, II, 75. Zosarius, tribune, I, 55, 56, 57, 58. Zosimianus, proconsul, II, 251. Zosimianus, monk, I, 107. Zosimus, IV, 46. Zosimus, warmer, II, 203. Zosimus, steward, I, 32, 33.

Η Elias, illustrious, II, 275. Hegesippus, monk, IV, 17. Heliodorus, I, 4. Heliodorus, monk, II, 46. Heliodorus, silentiarius, IV, 61. Helion, official, II, 205. Heraclius, subdeacon, goldsmith, I, 67. Heraclitus, scholasticus, I, 275. Herimus, count, I, 519. Herodotus, tribune, III, 112. Hesychius, proconsul, II, 292. Hephaestion, presbyter, III, 19, 20. Hephaestus, scholasticus, I, 6.

Θ Thalassius, I, 308. Thallianus, illustrious, I, 279. Thaumasius, or Thaumarius, monk, III, 33. Theognostus, I, 157. Theodosia, nun, II, 116. Theodosius, I, 133. Theodosius, reader, II, 202. Theodosius, deacon, III, 42. Theodosius, monk, II, 66. Theodotion, I, 63, 64, 65, 66. Theodotus, deacon, III, 26, 27, 28, 29. Theodotus, or Athenogenes, count, I, 326. Theodotus, presbyter, II, 307. Theodulus, bishop, II, 285. Theodulus, presbyter, III, 138. Theodoretus, monk, III, 90. Theodorianus, I, 50. Theodorus, monk, II, 65, 76, 111, 157, 158, 159, 160; IV, 25. Theodorus, I, 165, 166. Theodorus, presbyter, II, 272. Theodorus, tribune, II, 286. Theocles, IV, 51. Theocles, presbyter, III, 161, 162, 163. Theocles, scholasticus, II, 229. Theocleianus, I, 248. Theoctistus, referendarius, III, 1, 2, 3. Theopemptus, protector, I, 233. Theopompus, senator, I, 550. Therinus, chief, II, 174. Theosebius, II, 15. Theophanes, scholasticus, III, 188. Theophilus, Abactis, II, 207. Theophilus, cancellarius, I, 226. Theophilus, monk, II, 117. Theophron, deacon, III, 277. Therinus, monk, I, 222. Thessalius, deacon, I, 515. Thessalius, companion, II, 501, 502, 503. Theonas, citizen, I, 311, 312.

INDEX OF NAMES

Theon, monk, III, 72, 73, 74. Theoros, or Theodosius, monk, II, 67. Thymaros, archimandrite, III, 101, 102, 103. Thyrsus, monk, II, 29, 30. Thyrsus, poimikērios, II, 238. Thyrsus, scriniarius, I, 208, 209, 210. Thomas, logographos, III, 184, 185.

I Jason, bishop, III, 179, 180, 181. Ignatius, anthypatos, I, 212, 213, 214, 215. Hierius, presbyter, III, 13. Hierius, senator, I, 184. Jerome, domesticus, II, 278. Hilarius, bishop, II, 120. Hilarius, monk, I, 331, 332. Hilarius, monk, from the scholastici, II, 56. Hilarius, presbyter, I, 281. Innocent, monk, III, 314. Jordan, deacon, III, 127. Julia, countess, II, 213. Juliana, virgin, I, 163, 164. Julian, III, 269; IV, 52. Julian, reader, III, 169, 254. Julian, ecclesiastic, II, 240, 242. Julian, bishop, IV, 52. Julian, monk, III, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235. Julian, presbyter, III, 64, 65. Julian, or Julius, decemprimus, III, 19. Julius, decemprimus, III, 18. Julius, deacon, III, 282. Julius, monk, III, 123, 312. Julius and companion monks, II, 78. Julius, foederatus, I, 284. Hippasius, tribune, II, 28. Hipponicus, scriniarius, I, 327, 328. Issachar, Samaritan, II, 116. Isidore, reader, II, 21. Isidore, excubitor, II, 322. John, bishop, II, 187. John, illustrious, II, 320. John, monk, I, 175, 294; IV, 38. John, chief among the younger, II, 206. Jonas, monk, III, 265.

K Calandion, I, 62. Callimachus, memorialis, I, 264. Callinicus, monk, III, 38. Callinicus, goldsmith, II, 216. Calliopius, IV, 22. Callistianus, II, 37. Callistion, I, 201, 202. Calocyrus, I, 305, 306. Candidianus, stratelates, I, 24. Capito, deacon, I, 104, 105, 106. Capito, caretaker, II, 485. Carinus, palatinus, III, 68, 70. Carinus, or Marinus, provincial, I, 297. Carpoilion, I, 296. Carpion, heretic of the Valentinian heresy, I, 234. Casandrius, IV, 20. Castor, duke, II, 21, 22, 25.

INDEX EORUM. Cecropius, taxēōtēs, II, 271. Clearchus, numerarius, I, 130. Cleobulus, monk, II, 95. Cleonicus, scholasticus, II, 311. Colachadius, or Colacasius, II, 275. Colasius, deacon, II, 300. Colobarsius, III, 52. Colocasius, or Colachadius, deacon, II, 166. Comasius, monk from the rhetors, II, 73. Comatius, or Comasius, II, 257. Conon, illustrious, I, 144. Conon, citizen, IV, 39. Cornelius, I, 285. Cornelius, presbyter, I, 149. Crispus, from captivity, II, 267. Crispus, scholarius, I, 162. Quintus, subdeacon, fallen, III, 171, 172. Quintilius, cancellarius, II, 161. Cyprian, III, 202. Cyprian, deligator, II, 243. Cyriacus, III, 128, 261. Cyriacus, deacon, I, 323, 324, 325. Cyriacus, monk, II, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83; I, 59. Cyriacus, presbyter, II, 196, 323; III, 12. Cyril, or Macedonius, deacon, II, 195, 196, 197. Cyril, monk, II, 44, 45; III, 190, 191. Cyril, chief, I, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271. Cyrinius, monk, II, 140. Cyrinus, bishop, I, 203, 204. Cyrion, III, 129. Comasius, presbyter, II, 73. Constantine, count, II, 290.

L Lampadius, monk, II, 100, 101. Lamprotychus, archimandrite, III, 108. Laurentius, abbot to monks, III, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102. Lausus, primiscrinius, II, 153. Lesbius, IV, 43. Lesbius, deacon, III, 297; IV, 43. Leucadius, archdeacon, I, 188, 189, 190. Leonides, decemprimus, I, 228. Leonides, count, I, 278. Leonides, monk, II, 47. Leonides, rhetor, II, 291. Letorius, monk, IV, 18. Licinnius, the younger, I, 45. Licinnius, chief, II, 296. Limenius, monk, I, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182. Linnius, monk, I, 292. Lirianus, I, 11. Luke, deacon, II, 253. Lucianus, Christian sophist, II, 224. Lucius, tribune, II, 151. Lusias, or Lysias, presbyter, II, 109, 110. Lycurgus, illustrious, II, 147.

M To his own disciple, I, 1. Macedonius, or Cyril, deacon, III, 191, 195, 196. Macedonius, taxēōtēs, II, 257. Macedo, or Peter, monk, III, 197, 198. Maximian, I, 154. Maximus, presbyter, II, 293. Marianus, bishop, II, 227. Marianus, monk, IV, 7, 41. Marianus, subdeacon, I, 185. Marinus, deacon, II, 259. Marinus, monk, II, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113. Marinus, presbyter, III, 37. Marinus, presbyter, or Hermolaus, monk, II, 25. Marinus, or Maurianus, II, 54. Marinus, or Maurianus, monk, III, 58. Marinus, or Carinus, provincial, II, 298. Marion, silversmith, I, 42. Marcellinus, monk, I, 4, 5, 7. Marcian, I, 22, 23, 24. Marianus, or Marinus, subdeacon, I, 185. Martinianus, presbyter, II, 187, 188. Martinus, cancellarius, II, 316, 317, 318. Martinus, wealthy old man, lover of wine, III, 34. Martyrius, vindex, II, 282. Maron, count, II, 152. Maurianus, I, 329. Maurianus, monk, II, 53. Maurianus, or Marinus, monk, III, 58, 59, 60, 61. Methodius, cubicularius, II, 289. Meletius, cancellarius, I, 59, 60, 61. Melissus, candidatus, I, 207. Meliton, deacon, II, 195. Meliphthongus, deacon, III, 130, 154. Memnon, schoolmaster, II, 236. Menander, ascetic, I, 54. Menander, domesticus, II, 32. Merymus: see Berymus. Modestus, III, 274. To the monks living in Cilicia, I, 232. To monks, III, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333. Instruction to younger monks, III, 203. Musion, monk, III, 10.

N Naucratis, I, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263. Neadius and other monks, II, 78. Nilus, monk, III, 155, 255. Nilus, III, 170. Nilus, presbyter, III, 236, 256. Nilus, scholasticus, III, 153. Neophytus, monk, III, 501. Nero, master and ex-consul, II, 319. Nimetrius, defensor, II, 210. Nimetrius, monk, II, 129, 130, 131, 152. Nimetrius, silentiarius, II, 12, 13. Nicander, excubitor, II, 143.

TO WHOM SAINT NILUS WROTE

Nicander the Stylite, II, 114, 115. Nicaretus the silentiarius, II, 284. Nicaretus the scriniarius, I, 231. Nicodemus, II, 22. Nicotychus the deacon, II, 142. Nicotychus the scholasticus, II, 8. Nicon the archimandrite, III, 119. Neophytus the monk, III, 303. Numenius the primus, II, 198, 293.

Xanthippus the deacon, II, 154. Xenagoras the deacon, I, 58, 39, 40. Xenophon the deacon, II, 172, 173. Xenophon the presbyter, III, 156. Xenophon the scholasticus, II, 279. Xeno, I, 36. Xenodorus the decanus, II, 293.

Olympiodorus the eparch, IV, 61. Olympius the bishop, II, 191. Olympius the quaestor, II, 305, 306. Olympius and the other monks, II, 190. Olympius the scholasticus, I, 152, 153. Olydrius the presbyter, II, 191. Onesimus the monk, II, 84. Onesimus the primus, II, 177. Orestes the locksmith, II, 217. Oribasius, IV, 15. Valent or Valentinus the scriniarius, II, 204. Valerius or Hephaestion the presbyter, II, 313. Ulpianus the scholasticus, II, 219. Ursacius or Arsatius the defensor, III, 32.

Palladius the presbyter, III, 259. Palladius the monk, I, 133, 134. Palatinus the primus, II, 149. Pamphilus the deacon, II, 143, 144. Panegyrius the deacon or Eudaemon the scholasticus, III, 286. Panegyrius the monk, II, 52. Panolbius, I, 12. Pantonymus the satrap, II, 19. Papiscus the scorodulorum (dealer in garlic), II, 249. Paregorius the scriniarius, II, 350. Parnasius the fiscus (fiscal officer), IV, 24. Parnasius the advocate, III, 168. Paschasius the deacon, II, 508. Paulinus, III, 455. Paulinus the domesticus, III, 272. Paul the reader, III, 200. Paul the archimandrite, III, 66, 67, 68; IV, 31. Paul the decemvir, I, 265. Paul the bishop, III, 217, 218. Paul the monk, III, 165, 166, 167; IV, 45, 60. Paul the scholasticus, II, 239. Pelagius, I, 256. Pelagrius the presbyter, III, 250. Pergamenus the decemvir, II, 168, 169. Pergamus the reader, III, 271. Perius the count the younger, II, 368. Petronius, III, 115. Petronius or Petroninus, III, 116. Peter the reader, III, 78. Peter the monk, II, 164. Peter the monk or Macedonius the monk, II, 197, 198. Pesagius the count, II, 209. Pierius the count the younger, II, 167. Pierius the senator, I, 316. Pindarus the presbyter, II, 215. Pionius the illustris, III, 51. Pionius, III, 299. Pisimy the monk, II, 74. Plato the archimandrite, II, 57. Plutarch the distinguished one, III, 9. Plutarch the tanner, II, 212. Plutinus the ex-consul, I, 51, 52, 53. Polychronius the deacon, III, 11. Polychronius the presbyter, III, 112. Pompeius the deacon, I, 72, 73, 74. Ponius the illustris, III, 52. Pullio the diapsephistes (assessor), II, 199. Primus the subdeacon, IV, 19. Priscillian the deacon, I, 293. Priscus, III, 288, 289, 290. Priscus the politueomenus (civil servant), II, 298. Probatius the monk, III, 219, 220, 221, 222. Proclus the monk, III, 189. Proclus the politueomenus, I, 290. Proclus the presbyter, II, 26. Ptolemy, I, 272. Ptolemy the senator, I, 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.

Reginus the archimandrite, II, 119. Reginus the candidatus, I, 292. Reginus the scriniarius, II, 150. Rodomenus the presbyter, III, 213, 214. Rufinus, III, 263. Rufinus the scholasticus, I, 67. Rufinus the hesychast, IV, 54. Romanus the monk, III, 298.

Sabinus, IV, 27. Sabinus the magistrianus, I, 243, 244. Sabinus the presbyter, III, 7. Saburius the count, I, 258. Secundianus, I, 200. Secundus the castrisius (steward), II, 281. Seleucius the deacon, I, 223, 224. Serapion the presbyter, I, 154, 155, 156. Severus the ex-eparch, III, 199. Severus the primus, I, 303, 304. Silvanus the bishop, I, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102. Silvanus the coenobite, I, 507. Simon the cursur, I, 208. Sisinnius the spatharius, I, 277. Scriniarius, II, 252. Sozomenus, I, 147. Sophianus the scholaris, I, 236, 237, 238. Stephanis the countess, II, 218. Stephen the deacon, I, 159. Stratius the illustris, I, 229. Sulvanus the presbyter, II, 247. Symmachus the count, II, 44, 45. Symmachus the grain-merchant, II, 203. Symmachus the general, II, 165. Simplicius the exceptor, II, 197. Syrianus, IV, 50. Syrianus the monk, II, 63. Sozomenus, I, 148. Socrates the count, II, 200. Socrates the presbyter, I, 322. Socratius the exceptor, II, 54. Sosander the primiscrinius, I, 239, 240. Sosthenes the commentariensis, I, 305. Sosicles the scholasticus, III, 139, 140. Sosipater the tribune, II, 157. Soterichus, IV, 34. Soterichus the deacon, II, 215. Soterion, I, 96, 97. Sophronius, I, 46, 1; III, 260. Sophronius the monk, I, 54, 55. Sophronius the tribune, I, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172; II, 274.

Tapiscus the deacon, III, 75, 76, 77. Taurianus the ex-eparch, II, 178. Telesphorus the encaustus (painter/gilder), II, 192. Telesphorus the primus, I, 174. Terentius the deacon who fell away and duly repented over a long time, III, 228. Teucer the deacon, I, 250, 251. Teucer the candidatus, II, 186. Telemachus the primus, III, 225, 226, 227. Timothy the monk, IV, 59. Timothy the subdeacon, I, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. Timon the bishop, II, 2, 3, 4. Titus the deacon, III, 186. Trajan, III, 258. Trajan the adiutor, II, 287. Trajan the deacon, III, 141. Tryphon the architect, I, 197, 198. Tryphon the deacon, III, 249. Tumbon or Tryphon the deacon, III, 106. Tyron the presbyter, III, 15.

Hyacinthus the referendarius, III, 83, 84. Hydrosius, IV, 10. Hymettius the bishop, II, 176. Hypatius the ephor, II, 20. Hypahlos the deacon, I, 151.

Falcon the curator, II, 295. Pharetrius the engineer, II, 262. Pharismanimus the decemvir, III, 71. Pharismanius or Pharismanimus, ^A Faustianus, I, 45. Faustinianus, III, 14. Faustinus the cubicularius, II, 328. Faustinus the monk, II, 45. Faustus the monk, II, 85, 86, 97. Faustus and the other monk-bishops, III, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102. Faustus the primus, I, 255. Februarius the deacon, I, 280. Felix the presbyter, I, 502; III, 117. Felicius the deacon, III, 534, 352, 353. Philagrius the reader, I, 175, 176. Philagrius the bishop, III, 126. Philagrius the presbyter, I, 84, 85. Philagrius the primus, III, 89. Philemon the bishop, III, 251. Philippus, III, 185, 296. Philippus the scholasticus, I, 44. Philoxenus the archimandrite, II, 127. Philoxenus the chartophylax, II, 146. Philoromus the count, I, 287. Philumenius, III, 25. Philumenus the recluse, II, 86. Philumenus the monk, III, 267. Philochristus the bishop, III, 278. Philo, II, 230. Philo the bishop, II, 160.

Philo the Illustrious, I, 138. Philo the presbyter, III, 521. Firmillianus, I, 320, 321. Firminus the presbyter, II, 175. Firmus the scriniarius, I, 82. Flavianus, I, 108. Flavianus, I, 80, 81. Florentius the deacon, IV, 8, 9. Florion the monk, II, 61. Fortunatus, I, 99. Francus the cancellarius, II, 234. Fronto the archimandrite, II, 88. ^A Frumentius the ecclesiekdikos, 171. Frumentius the count, II, 27. Phocas the reader, III, 202. Photina and Dor., II, 51. ^B Chariclea, or Chariclitus the presbyter, III, 243. Charisius the bishop, II, 24. Chariton, III, 264. Chariton the monk, II, 59. Chimasius the monk, I, 333. Chimasius and his fellow monks, II, 77. ^C Chilon the domesticus, II, 158. Chionius the silentiarius, IV, 14. Chrysanthus the reader, III, 93. Chrysaphius the deacon, III, 111. Chryseros the sophist, II, 49. Chrysippus the curator, III, 177. Chrysogenes the clusuarius, I, 456. ^D Origen, III, 280. Orion the ekdikos, II, 164.

BEGINNINGS OF THE EPISTLES OF SAINT NILUS

A The madness of the demons is a mockery, lib. III, epist. 302. The demons are excessively envious, II, 140. The demons are ignorant, III, 194. Let us struggle not even for an instant, III, 297. There is need of much toil, and, III, 148. It is impossible to be saved otherwise, III, 280. Utterly godless, and impious, II, 299. The powers of the heavens, II, 34. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, I, 303. Praise Him, he says, with strings, I, 240. The ones by the prophet Zechariah, II, 15. The hands of Israel, he says, II, 262. The hands of Christ having been nailed, I, 328. He ought to know accurately, III, 329. I shall address as true, II, 127. Truly of great disgrace, III, 250. But even you were invisibly anointed, II, 92. But to us, says the Apostle, I, 248. Others every day in hardships, II, 90. Another has inclined to something else, II, 230. Some are unlearned, and lovers of the world, I, 50. For sin is not reckoned, I, 9. If anyone should revile a neighbor, II, 166. It is impossible without grief, III, 147. It is impossible without labors, III, 210. It is necessary to know that you are about to, III, 177. It is necessary for us, imitating, II, 93. Read, what to the Corinthians, I, 65. Remind me of the things of the Savior, I, 116. Being unworthy to believe, I, 22. Crucifying again, he says, the Son, I, 204. If you wish to rule the province, I, 161. Have you read in Ezekiel, III, 52. You have read often what he writes, I, 164. If from the depth of the heart, II, 81. We speak well, we glorify, I, 255. Men perhaps, IV, 37. Man I have not, III, 236. Man having become weak, and, I, 207. Man indeed according to the outward appearance, I, 171. If you toil a little to cleanse, II, 7. Senseless you, and unintelligent, I, 309. If having anticipated the mindset, II, 287. If you accustom yourself not to look, III, 97. They were born instead of the fathers, I, 320. Look upward to God, II, 25. From above the profit to us is God, I, 251. One must always look upward, III, 173. Things which you greedily gather, II, 177. Things which one desires, and loves, III, 8. The Son is said to have been sent, I, 219. Of one who has dared shamelessly, I, 234. Reveal to the Lord, III, 200. From the head of Sanir and Hermon, I, 331. A hidden storehouse of the soul, III, 64. I will destroy, he says, evil beasts, III, 181. God having turned away the sophists, I, 409. You say that it is obscure, II, 144. It would be absurd to [be] on a height, II, 115. It would be absurd to strike one's spouse, II, 209. You seem to be doing an absurd thing, I, 129. He himself through himself to you, I, 213. One must depart from servile behavior, IV, 57.

B You have wished also for the golden, I, 496. It is best now to utter to you, II, 47. Harmful is the word too much, I, 89. Look at those from the Hebrews, I, 93. See that it is not the first watch, III, 206. I see you, brother, that the scab, I, 29. A bleating someone, and irrational, II, 236. I wish you in the manner, II, 291.

Γ It is written that they gathered together, III, 201. You have written that if first, I, 269. You have written for what reason I do not cease, I, 301. You have written that they have been released from the soul, III, 102. You have written to me saying that, I, 28. You have written that the grain, I, 111. Know that however many [things] you suffer, III, 281. Glycadius the name, I, 252. Sweet is the sleep of the servant, he says, III, 178. Know that you have sinned, and, II, 303. Know yourself before all things, III, 314. You write, and how much time then, IV, 33. You write to me if it is most appropriate, IV, 61. You write to me to love greatly, III, 154. Let us exercise the mind toward, III, 293. You are a woman in body, II, 116.

Δ Daniel as a servant, I, 88. The young man must train, III, 503. The mind is master, the servant, I, 160. Come, says the prophet, II, 49. You say you are in doubt, who it might be, II, 238. Why out of much, and untimely, II, 60. Why do you toil much, I, 192. Why the heavenly rhetoricians, II, 324. Why the feet only, I, 80. Through Jeremiah the Lord has spoken, I, 131. For this reason the Hebrews once sinning, III, 88.

BEGINNINGS OF THE EPISTLES

^A For this reason, as if to certain harbors, I, 166. Through those things which are according to place and manner, IV, 61. You have been perplexed regarding what was written, III, 120. Righteousness is one thing, II, 279. You seem to be at odds with yourself, II, 50. One can previously through negligence, III, 25. One can from the right side, I, 257. One can even while in the body, II, 82. You will be able also in another way [to interpret] the saying, I, 521.

E If you always struggle against the demons, I, 500. If I want him to remain, II, 306. If you desire to enter, III, 285. If you have seen some [who are] more impure, III, 56. If we labor for ourselves tirelessly, II, 105. If we remain in stillness and in prayer, III, 58. If we wish through all things, I, 507. If you are able to perceive, I, 287. If you do good works, I, 251. If with weeping, I, 120. If no one — see "Even if no one," III, 74. If someone does not arm himself, II, 309. If you are meddlesome, and gladly so, II, 29. If before good deeds, III, 24. If regarding the present through various things, IV, 39. If your right eye causes you to stumble, III, 188. If you accustom yourself, III, 248. If constantly to the sign, II, 304. If we place the crown [upon ourselves], I, 61. If anything is written in the Old [Testament], II, 223. If a plant is able to bear fruit, II, 71. You have soaked your mind with, I, 106. Your garment has abhorred you, IV, 10. Draw near, he says, to God, III, 277. There came to be, says the blessed David, III, 255. I once knew a certain man, II, 217. I knew some brothers, III, 239. You knew some complaints, II, 146. But I, like the olive tree, III, 28. I marvel how [some] of the wise, II, 29. I would not revile, I, 130. I, he says, have come, II, 278. The Spirit sought you often, II, 129. You have a ready custom, I, 217. It is the custom for the saints to give thanks, I, 188. If you are unable [to do something] on your own behalf, III, 141. If [the physician] of a man, IV, 44. If a barking dog does harm, I, 315. If you wish to ascend to the altar, II, 98. If you wish to cause to vanish the [sins], III, 278. If you wish not to fall into every [sin], III, 55. If you wish neither here [nor there], II, 60. If we also wish, II, 310. I saw one being scourged, II, 245. If the devil [is disguised] as an angel of light, II, 295. If out of great joy, I, 58. If from the face of the Master, I, 293. If wealth is blind, I, 143. If [someone is] defrauding others, and according to, II, 302. If you marvel when viewing beauty, III, 313. If God forbade [doing something] not to do it, II, 205. If you speak according to Apollinarius, I, 272. Rightly you have marveled, I, 65. If also by the self-determination of the will [choice], I, 15. If we grieve God contemptuously, II, 122. If indeed you have your desire toward God, II, 161. If until the end of man, III, 270. If not for the sake of the murder of Christ, I, 56. If persecution had not come to be, III, 80. If [he brought] you from not being into being, IV, 39. If [He were] not the God of all, II, 233. If not of the blessed, and truly so, II, 36. If the reasoning of anger, II, 257. If the enemies of our life, III, 273. If you think you stand at all above [others], III, 6. If you think we [are] total outliers, III, 246. If you say absolutely that you are no longer able, II, 150. If he thinks God is [indifferent] at all, II, 84. If the most eloquent of Apollo, II, 42. If the smell of river fish, IV, 2. If new heavens and earth, II, 247. If all, as you say, are saved, I, 261. Say to your companion, I, 11. If a populace of souls, I, 189. If through a small something, and, III, 109. If we are about to eat, I, 55. If you say it is sea, II, 271. If [there is] an evil intent, III, 111. If we have persuaded our own [soul], I, 175. If you believe that Samson by faith, III, 255. If there are many mansions with the Father, II, 112. If often we have been benefited, III, 160. Keep your eye [guarded], II, 119. You have said that you are separated from virtue, IV, 17. You have said this often, I, 75. Some have said, having observed [the commandments], III, 241. You have said, after being too meddlesome, II, 183. You have said, after having dried [the sea] too much, III, 73. You have said [it] to me too much, II, 182. You have said that according to Scripture, III, 228. You have said the ashes of human [existence], I, 112. You have said [it] entirely in the days, III, 99. He shall enter, says the law, I, 208. He entered, says Moses, I, 216. There are some in the world who are worldly, III, 153. There are also recently [formed] rivers, II, 183. There are some states and habits, II, 83. One is the Only-begotten Son, II, 91. If sins with such [severity], III, 18. If he makes what is not, I, 236. If the wise bee [is to be followed], II, 208. If you honor God, honor [Him], III, 96. If anyone of the uneducated would want [to], I, 156. If anyone were able according to the soul, I, 175. If anyone [held] to an idol of shameful desire, III, 331. If anyone bore [it] with gratitude, I, 312. If anyone is not circumcised, he says, I, 15. If any of the sick of [the soul], II, 232. If anyone, he says, [is] a man, I, 276. If you disparage David [regarding] the ten [minas], II, 169. If having a diseased body, I, 245. If under the yoke of the all-praised [virtue], II, 65. If beyond the hairs of the intelligible, III, 291. If Christ is the Master of all, III, 127. If you censure the turning toward the worse, II, 26. The wretched man is accustomed, III, 292. Each one sinning is distanced, II, 186. They shall shine forth, he says, at that time, III, 212. From papyrus and glue, I, 44. From humility alone he has been saved, II, 203. From the [story] regarding Dinah, II, 68. From the bitter [tribes] of barbarians, II, 267. From what signs having perceived, II, 152. From the saying of the saint: "Who will give?", III, 271. From not fearing God, brother, I, 39. From not fearing God it comes to be, III, 136. From the Father was born the Son, II, 323. From many and indiscriminate [thoughts], III, 114. Let us hope in God, I, 39. I [have] the modest knowledge, III, 242. You imitated [him] in purity and in, I, 181. The front parts of the soul are to be understood, III, 184. Recently having departed from worldly matters, III, 223. Having crossed the hands, I, 91. It is possible to strip [away the old man], II, 242. The [nature] of beasts is in the general word, III, 131. You have been overcome often, and, III, 112. In a time of bodily sickness, III, 237. In the malice of [his] face, says Solomon, II, 231. In muzzle and bridle the jaws, I, 132. In the enlist-ments, IV, 4. In every nation he who fears [God], I, 154. In every time, but especially [now], III, 117.

^A In fullness, he says, of bread, III, 75. In Holy Spirit and fire, II, 235. In prayers toward the better [things], III, 125. In your endurance acquire [your souls], III, 68. In the time of fornication, I, 6. In Christ Jesus, says the Apostle, II, 232. Is it permitted for one having fallen into, I, 212. He brought out into light the shadow of death, II, 309. Habit is from custom, II, 259. It is cast out of the camp, III, 196. The governing part of the saints is like, I, 108. I praise you in regard to the soul, II, 13. I praise your roses, O God-beloved one, II, 88. When the serpent [lifts] its head, III, 130. You caused men to get upon, II, 79. Since you love exceedingly, II, 15. Since it is always accustomed to [arise] from seeing, II, 318. Since you have written for which reason, III, 286. Since [you are] my true friend, III, 31. Since you write to me very much, II, 4. Since you desire more things, III, 332. Since it is no small evil to those who [act] in vain, I, 277. Since not for the sake of humility, II, 58. Since with longing [I desire] the sacred [things], I, 60. Since with the laws, I, 76. Since four things exist, I, 223. Since of the unspeakable vainglory, III, 231. Since the divine words, I, 118. Since by three voices of denial, II, 269. Be persuaded by my letter, II, 245. My soul has longed, he says, III, 190. In every oppressive [thing], III, 118. The spirit longs, he says, I, 146. Having progressed far in age, III, 149. I will visit, says the prophecy, I, 285. I know all the traps, I, 196. It was said successfully, II, 221. In bodies there is one generation, I, 202. Demons do indeed bring, II, 214. The essential wisdom asked me, I, 288. You asked as God [does] those who despise, IV, 19. It would be profitable, I, 87. You ask me, why have I called [it] a dog, I, 299. You ask me through your letter, II, 210. You ask me, how it is possible, I, 173. There is a time when others also, I, 294. There is a time when a demon [assails] a demon, III, 94. There is a time when a nail has driven out a nail, III, 95. There is a time when a man who is about [to], III, 40. Different is the love according to God, II, 167. Others indeed on vineyards and, II, 41. Others indeed [prefer] commands more, I, 279. I will be well-pleasing, says David, II, 76. Well done to those of our [brothers] in the withdrawal, II, 96. Well knowing [it] to be of God, I, 225. Know well that those who [undergo] the greatest struggle, III, 276. It is good also to say this [about] the great one, I, 100. Too easily toward arrogance, I, 169. I will praise, he says, the Lord, III, 27. Very easily of those who have died, II, 200. Let us pray earnestly to be driven away, I, 246. Many are found according to you, III, 230. It is necessary to expand the [parts] of the soul, IV, 27. I praise you above the moon, II, 118. Some pray often, I, 527. I fenced in, he says, the sea, IV, 45. For insult and dishonor, I, 5. ^B H. Sin is in many ways, III, 261. Knowledge puffs up easily, III, 76. That woman of whom the Gospel [speaks], III, 275. Our Christ rejoices, I, 230. Christ rejoices when we do violence [to ourselves], III, 306. With pleasure indeed he works, II, 219. Christ very gladly [receives], III, 202. Pleasure is a hook, IV, 24. God could extinguish, III, 14. Hope in God, as he says, III, 179. Virtue in old age, would it not [be], I, 142. [That] in the time of the fornicator, III, 219. Your letter has such a form, I, 109. You wished to know, what then, I, 241. The best repentance and, I, 197. Virtue according to God [is better than] wealth, II, 194. Temperance performed according to Christ, II, 11. I have heard you often, III, 257. Elijah the Tishbite under a plant, I, 89. Your soul has been estranged from God, I, 43. We are the causes of our own, III, 308. We, sinning, [suffer] the punishments, III, 69. We, says holy Moses, I, 107. Sin indeed [passes] like smoke, I, 148. Sin indeed withers, I, 46. By day, he says, I cried out, IV, 25. Repentance gives life to those, I, 274. The mother of all virtues, III, 90. Being half-evil to me, II, 189. That [which is] among foolish Greeks, I, 278. The present now need, I, 38. My wound is stubborn, says Jeremiah, II, 407. The first suggestion of temptation, I, 275. You asked me, why first, I, 24. You asked me, whence to those around, I, 253. You asked me, what is vanity, I, 203. You asked me, for what sake, III, 19. You asked me, who then is, II, 162. You asked me, who is the old [man], I, 141. You asked, what might that which is written mean, IV, 51. You asked, what might [the thing] in the circle mean, IV, 49. Your God-loving nature asked me, III, 30. Your love asked me, II, 33. The union of the blind in Jericho, II, 243. Sorrow compatible with you, I, 105. The method of the virtues, I, 177. Obedience to the divine commandment, I, 241. The Lord touched the feet, I, 81. Our soul waits, III, 9. ^C Θ. You said you marveled, why not, II, 243. A gift of God no one would deny, III, 115. An altar of the Lord is called, III, 32. ^D I. A physician even if he punishes, III, 59. Behold I, and my children, I, 265. Behold after those who preceded, IV, 1. Behold the eyes of the Lord, I, 14. Behold by grace, and by power, II, 132. Behold, says the Lord, I have inclined, III, 191. Sufficient are worldly alien [things], III, 10. You yourselves are capable [of it], II, 160. That God may be all in all, I, 47. That you may learn that the wicked man, I, 218. Perhaps you are ignorant, brother, I, 157. Perhaps you are ignorant and [do] more, III, 518. Perhaps you have not read the Scripture, II, 250. John the greatest luminary, III, 279. John the Baptist, I, 41. ^D K. You are sleeping, and the time [passes] you by, III, 317. And you set a bow of bronze, II, 95. And you sat among them like a crow, I, 518. And yet the things are difficult, III, 235. And how could [one] those who are outside, III, 107. And how, you say, [can I pay] penalties, III, 61. And of the labor of the hands, III, 101. And the strange [thing is] every virtue, III, 51. And just to believe, I, 8. And grace, he says, for grace, II, 314. Wickedness drags wickedness, II, 125. Badly [you treat] the more well-to-do [of the things], III, 123. You speak very good [things], I, 95.

BEGINNINGS OF EPISTLES

^A It is good to be composed, I, 31. It would have been good not at all, III, 171. You act very well, II, 154. You need labor for the sake of conviction, III, 324. Even if we are in the winter of [those], I, 242. Even if no tyrant will govern, III, 74. Even if we have not yet acquired [the power] to depose, III, 199. Even if [the fruit] has not yet grown on the calf, I, 289. Even if you do not receive it quickly, II, 307. Even your own name, show reverence for, II, 285. Even in the multitude of temptations, III, 216. Even if, as you say, you are without freedom of speech, III, 135. Go down, he says, into the mystical [depths], IV, 28. Let us dare at some time, I, 25. You laugh at many of the orthodox, I, 117. In every time, to be sure, III, 283. They are themselves accusers of themselves, III, 284. A most beautiful mirror for the most venerable [woman], I, 463. Some prophet cries out, III, 158. Having obtained much profit, I, 183. Thieves, being of a warped character, I, 282. He shows a common face, I, 174. You exist as an ornament of an ornament, II, 119. Divine things are truly [like] eating of flesh, III, 15. All applaud your excellent [conduct], II, 320. With a hidden hand God fights, I, 525. Lord, he says, as weapons of good will, I, 221. The Lord is wise and by nature is alone, III, 514.

Λ Speed even of a horse escapes notice, III, 79. You do not notice yourself being ambushed, II, 198. You say that you have heard from a Greek, I, 198. You speak, even though you are unwilling, III, 260. You say that you are grieved not moderately, III, 189. You say that I once wished, IV, 11. You say that Moses has said, I, 127. You write to me that they are Levites, I, 94. I think myself very much a philosopher, II, 58. The saying applies to you very greatly, II, 213. Soft words of a monkey, I, 62.

M You are eager to learn what he says it is, I, 154. I congratulate you on [the nearness] to God, III, 11. Blessed are you for your great peace, I, 54. It is a sword of the devil, III, 82. It is a great help in time, III, 35. They are greatly damaged and a great [deal], III, 244. Great diseases of pride, II, 109. It is a great thing to be sober at all times, III, 288. It is a great thing never to [slip] into, III, 262. Prayer is great among, III, 319. It is possible to find [a great thing] in all, II, 227. It is a greatest good, I, 23. It happens to be a greatest good, I, 180. Some [liken] the prophets to bees, I, 262. You remember by all means Jacob, III, 167. Remember that the Lord has said, III, 208. Remember that the widow who [is] in the [temple], II, 201. After the Mosaic law, II, 17. Until they acquire [it], I, 121. Until you [are] with all, III, 272. Until we exist, III, 84. Do not ignore the Giver, II, 272. Do not be disheartened having grown weak, II, 61. Do not be disheartened, but be a man, I, 151. Do not be disheartened, for indeed, I, 73. Let us not be negligent and slothful, II, 317. Do not wish to be negligent, IV, 52. Do not [live] without care, nor without feeling, III, 187. Do not [be] without sensation and without feeling, III, 17. Let us not wait to be first, II, 512. Do not refuse to be ill, III, 321. Do not despair of being changed, IV, 43. Do not weary [in] praying, III, 221. Do not answer, says Solomon, I, 147. If fire were not kindled, it would not have appeared, III, 234. Do not wish for what contributes to you, III, 350. Do not wish to be without storms, III, 66. Do not wish [to look] toward your own purpose, II, 251. God forbid, he does not say concerning himself, I, 152. Do not become a judge of judges, II, 261. Do not grumble, O man, at what is another's, II, 45. By no means be displeased, nor [be], II, 106. By no means be troubled, when, III, 217. By no means let us be troubled in, III, 87. By no means let us find fault with one reproving, I, 5. By no means be afraid, nor, III, 98. May no one being wicked, II, 519. Nothing in the present visible [world], III, 326. Never give yourself rest, II, 12. Do not be distressed, for whose sake, III, 42. Let it not be for [the purpose of] receiving, II, 301. Let us never be exalted against, II, 290. Do not be harsh, lest, II, 190. Do not be confident in old age, II, 25. Do not wish to be quickly carefree, III, 205. Do not wish for your leader, I, 54. Do not accept [it] in those that have passed, I, 125. Do not wish to be like the foolish, I, 323. Do not despise [the] coincidence, II, 540. Let us not despise the true things, II, 270. Let us not delay, nor neglect, III, 295. Do not say to me that I cannot, II, 296. I shall not for the time being show to the leper, I, 140. Do not blame God, II, 148. Do not pose as a tyrant, IV, 55. Not only the [words] of the Scriptures, II, 155. Not only your foot, III, 139. Do not think that to the Sodomites, I, 69. Do not be surprised seeing your relative, III, 12. Do not be surprised having seen Maximus, II, 220. Do not be surprised how long ago, I, 125. Do not loiter every day, I, 165. Do not delay, and [create] unprofitable excuses, IV, 16. Do not hand me over, he says, to souls, I, 178. Do not be bold, O man, I, 6. If not having breathed in the sea, III, 158. Not before the completion of the virtues, III, 156. Do not fear a passion of the soul, III, 282. Let not the Jew deceive you, I, 57. Let not the [lust] of the flesh frighten you, III, 165. Let not your enemies [steal] your zeal, III, 154. Do not sow upon thorns, II, 5. Do not be in a hurry to become a ruler, I, 82. Do not communicate, says the Apostle, I, 150. Neither having brothers, nor children, II, 133. Do not [seek] the riches of life, I, 280. Do not love your hands praising [them], II, 185. Not as it happened and without examination, II, 117. Let us not approach as if it were common bread, III, 59. Of small [account] is God to us, II, 526. Having been a little negligent toward sin, II, 172. You almost astonished us [a little], I, 296. Imitate the great Job, IV, 13. Remembering the undefiled, II, 51. Remember, he says, you who are far off, IV, 50. Hardly ever to imitate, II, 56. A monk ought not even in a dream, III, 150. Only-begotten Son and Word, II, 93. With countless benefits from, II, 345. We are indeed blessed ten thousand times, I, 27. Moses the hierophant, I, 80. Moses the great hierophant, II, 64.

N You are the temple of God, II, 69. Sailors, to be sure, and pilots, I, 71. Mortify for me, I beg, the, III, 126. Intelligibly read the "If," IV, 5. Consider for me the wisdom of God, I, 126. Consider for me a cave to exist, III, 21. We have received a law of liberty, II, 276. A most grievous disease, and darkness, I, 182.

^A Now it is timely to say some of the things, I, 77. Now to the devil, and to the, IV, 53. A certain slothful man existing, IV, 60.

0 He who sings to the ear of the deaf, II, 255. He who goes up into theaters, II, 284. He who neglects work, III, 52. The same also in the highest, III, 92. A mountainous garrison zealously, II, 102. He who loves, he says, diligently, III, 104. He who strikes because of sins, III, 129. He who for the fear of God, II, 101. The righteous Noah, Christ, I, 84. The righteous one is called many times, I, 201. He who is in the present things of those, I, 40. He who in the time of the fornicator, III, 106. He who at the time of birth opened, I, 270. He who has fallen into sin, I, 220. He who has found his soul, III, 183. He who has seen me has seen, I, 191. The charioteer mind, the one, III, 268. Our God loves, I, 56. God, my God, attend, I, 102. He who oppresses you is an evil demon, I, 227. The heretical wolves those from the, I, 315. The unholy, and godless, and wicked, I, 35. The physician even if he inflicts pains, IV, 7. The invisible Madianite demons, II, 142. I know that you believe the Master, II, 248. I know, he says, I am not ignorant, III, 203. He who knows accurately, and sees, III, 174. Our Master knows, III, 300. Those from all one's mind, the all-seeing, I, 139. Those who have chosen to live piously, II, 67. The divine laws command, II, 212. Economically it was not given to you, nor, I, 290. A house you, and a temple of the holy, II, 286. A house of the soul and of each person, II, 173. The leaders of ours, II, 57. The demons through various, I, 137. Those who not lawfully, and according to, II, 252. New wine is a friend to the young, III, 219. Those beyond the Jordan, I, 51. The wicked and sin-loving, III, 259. Those who their souls, I, 99. Those who in justice much, II, 1. Their sons as newly planted, III, 4. Those under the divine Moses, I, 59. The world passes away, and, II, 171. The Lord declared that to those, I, 150. Our Lord Jesus Christ with, II, 78. Our Lord Jesus Christ all, I, 170. Our Lord Jesus Christ by, I, 258. He who says that because of this, III, 73. The whole mind toward, I, 271. The whole day of life, I, 37. Small is he who is in this life, IV, 20. The lamp, he says, of the body, I, 135. The blessed Peter instead of the, II, 75. The blessed Peter writing, I, 192. Adam was fashioned, I, 208. The enemy of ours, II, 165. The base man very quickly, I, 52. He who passes from places to, I, 295. He who does not run through eagerly, III, 31. He who does not expect retribution, I, 237. He who does not deliberate with thoughts, III, 81. The adulterer all men, I, 3. Similar you are to him who says, I, 517. They confessed to God their own, II, 48. The only-begotten Son, and Word of God, II, 40. Whomsoever God wishes to save, III, 102. As if someone of a king's image, I, 247. As iron untouched, III, 155. The all-seeing God said, II, 260. The almighty God, I, 113. ^B

The fifty-fourth Psalm, II, 104. What Sirach says concerning a daughter, III, 193. Which would not happen while one prevents, II, 328. He who does, he says, everything, and, I, 12. Where the commandment of God is, there, II, 193. Where your treasure is, he says, I, 154. He who formerly spoke to God, III, 2. The formerly beloved and exceedingly, III, 119. Lest you be rejected by him, I, 186. Mountains the high to the deer, III, 38. Rise early, he says, and stand, III, 204. Those who by the love of God, and purpose, I, 68. Those who blameless, and untouched, III, 298. Those who to unreachable themselves, IV, 48. Those who indeed with many labors, II, 46. Those who do not wish through the discourse, III, 304. Those of the servants genuinely, II, 249. As much as you think to discipline the body, II, 51. As much as the demon of fornication, III, 224. The most wise Solomon says, III, 137. The cross of Christ the most philanthropic, I, 92. The more one in more works, III, 50. When having done good, or by the divine, III, 41. When we hear of the divine, IV, 25. When the reef emits a stench, III, 207. When the lower belly is weak, II, 244. When you see him who hates you, II, 315. When also all things are subjected to him, II, 297. When we have struggled properly, III, 198. When you are able to for two months, I, 281. When through patience, and prayer, I, 187. When you ascend to higher degrees, III, 175. When things are among the naturally brilliant, II, 199. When the disposition irritates you, II, 234. When you see a man unbelieving, II, 141. When finally a man gazes, II, 222. When anything grievous or rough, II, 555. When you are about to proceed, III, 287. When after that toward the worse, I, 9. When you do not show treaties, I, 297. When the demons praise you, III, 235. When ever you are able to root out, II, 89. When ever having come into awareness, III, 274. When to you memory comes, IV, 47. When some of the brothers, II, 105. When some man is righteous, III, 218. When there failed the necessities, I, 7. When of those guiding, III, 108. That which is added to the mind, III, 240. He of the great Byzantium, II, 294. The mode of piety is of two, II, 165. The demon of fornication, II, 159. The house of your soul of dung, II, 6. That it is possible, and with temperance, III, 54. That idleness is the beginning of wickedness, I, 310. That the unclean also will be able, I, 200. That great is the help of prayer, II, 308. That Christ is about to by the, II, 197. That indeed a king and a subject, III, 23. That those presiding having kept silent, III, 115. That those who praise the righteous man, II, 207. That it is not necessary before the time of the divine, III, 146. That every man by the, IV, 29. That of much contemplation and, I, 122. That toward the inclination each, I, 210. That those who are being perverted, II, 268. That it is necessary to wait, and to watch, III, 145. That it is necessary for him who desires the good, I, 155. He who has given money to the poor, II, 293. The place called Aenon, I, 275. The Son of God Jesus Christ, I, 329. Woe to you, most wretched man, II, 104. Woe to your soul, and to the life, II, 178. Do you not see yoked to, III, 278. I do not wish, you say, to be beside myself, II, 32. I do not wish you with arrogance, II, 8. Nowhere did the Scripture say, II, 191.

^A By no means is Christ the [Lord] of all, II, 289. One must not despise small things, III, 501. No one comes to me, he says, II, 228. No one who has stumbled against God, I, 190. No one is more humble than the sinner, III, 256. There is no need for a longer time, I, 66. Nothing so dismays those who encroach, II, 195. Nothing so [leads] to punishment, II, 176. Nothing [brings] gladness and, III, 122. Nothing at all will harm, I, 55. Of nothing so much as time, IV, 18. One must never be idle, III, 164. It is not just [to subject] the powers of the soul, III, 215. You are not ignorant of what is in Ezekiel, I, 64. It would not be necessary, I, 283. Man is not merely common, II, 150. Not according to the worth of the Gospel, I, 54. One must not despair of being saved, III, 172. I do not accept you until you have cut, II, 67. Not moved of his own accord, I, 79. Not in vain do they cry out against the churches, III, 70. Not in [the fact] that it was once done, III, 267. God is no longer unaware, III, 311. Sin is not that which is for a short time, II, 59. It is not reasonable to laugh and play, III, 323. There is no misfortune in struggling, IV, 36. It is not a means of recreation as, II, 290. Have you not heard of the beloved, III, 211. He who [raised/found] Lazarus was not another, II, 292. Not for a short time [does] the devil, III, 214. We ought not at all to calculate, III, 289. One must not impart boldness, III, 192. Not moderately, but very much, I, 232. Not small is that which is beside the small, II, 288. Not only does it provide pain, III, 121. Not only sinful men, II, 108. Not only to be a glutton, III, 46. Not only foul-smelling and fruitless, I, 176. Not only did Judas [betray] the Lord, II, 100. Not only those who [suffer] tribulations, and, III, 222. Not only concerning an idle word, III, 155. Not only the things brought from outside, III, 500. Not only [that] virtue, II, 277. Not a bastard graft, but most excellent, II, 54. Not yet five and tenth year, III, 176. We are not constrained in the [things] of God, II, 80. Neither did he breathe a whole breath of air, I, 158. Neither irrationally, nor rationally, II, 505. Neither in pleasantries does one rave, II, 146. Neither is virtue a substance, III, 22. Neither virtue, nor vice, II, 124. Nor is it necessary to be bold, I, 230. Nor a wolf to a sheep, I, 298. Nor can one touch a carcass, II, 216. This, he says, is the sick man [cured] with honey, II, 111. Not the source of ordinary evils, IV, 58. This, he says, is the enjoyment of virtues, II, 113. You will not fear, he says, from fear, I, 96. Not simply to those who happen by, III, 320. He who commends himself is not, II, 114. Not the one who is anxious and faithless, III, 110. Not that he [will save] all who have died, II, 20. Not the first [one] who happened by was hanged, I, 128. No lover is so mad, III, 169. One must not see [them] at the same time, III, 294. One must not despair, nor, III, 63. One must not be distressed at these things, III, 157. One must not be surprised at what happens, III, 26. One must not give an opening, II, 224. One must not be of those who seem common, III, 258. He ought to give thanks to God, II, 22. The most philanthropic [One], I, 316. The [most] covetous inventor of fornication, III, 145. He who is the effulgence of [the] glory, I, 286. ^B II. We must train [the] tongue, IV, 41. Again the great [man] has come to us, I, 114. Every kind of impurity, II, 282. Every creature through the Word and wisdom, I, 205. Everything, he says, is pure to the pure, II, 128. From everywhere [is the] material to the soul, III, 252. Every [thing] worthy of salvation, I, 260. Everything that comes upon you, III, 128. Everything with great toil, I, 49. Men greatly hate, III, 77. You seem to me to entirely [understand] the divine, III, 243. You have entreated me also through letters, III, 112. By some, he says, [is] your mercy, II, 86. Every true virtue both is, III, 48. Every head [is] for pain, he says, I, 55. To circle all the heavenly [realm], I, 292. Everyone who is fought by the [devil], II, 100. Paul being a persecutor, I, 215. The hungry he filled with good things, II, 181. Trial indeed is called, IV, 50. Cease now from distressing [others], I, 132. I am persuaded and fully assured, I, 131. A golden veil exists, III, 321. A muzzle, he says, let him put on, III, 495. Concerning the intelligible Jerusalem, I, 258. Concerning the four-formed power, I, 124. Circumcision is nothing, II, 27. Concerning the false prophet Luke, III, 1. Concerning those who have begun, and not, I, 333. Concerning [the things] about which you asked me recently, III, 43. Concerning [the things] about which you have written to me, III, 120. Peter the leader of the apostles, II, 21. You seem to be faithful, II, 170. May the Lord enlarge to Japheth, III, 7. Oaths are more than words, I, 42. More than the wild winds, IV, 3. You have very many [things] concerning yourself from God, III, 152. Having begged many times, and failing, III, 208. You have entreated many times, III, 86. You are unjustly rich [in] others, I, 144. Wealth [is] that which is with Moses, II, 12. You desire to know of [those things], I, 90. What good will therefore accrue to you, II, 264. Many even of inanimate things, I, 70. Many times [to] write to you, I, 2. I have told you many times, and now, II, 148. Much [does] God secretly, I, 235. Many in the hospital of [the] Lord, II, 110. Many trusting in themselves, III, 55. Many of those in the sea, II, 246. Many of the base [things] in the heart, II, 18. I know many who have not been able, I, 135. Stand far from [the] sin of fornication, II, 226. How many do you think call themselves blessed, I, 184. How many times [do you think] men [are like] crows, II, 151. When, therefore, will you rise from sleep, III, 168. Sometimes they are hidden within, II, 139. Toward that which is terrible, V, 525. While the Master Jesus was praying, II, 74. Being attentive to the monastic [life], II, 63. The law of Moses commands, III, 34. Some time ago man, II, 529. Consider the face of Moses to be, I, 119. The face of the soul, III, 185. Before the Lord's day, III, 62. Before I was humbled, II, 522. Your honor asks me, II, 24. You ask me what is the writing, I, 265. You ask me what the prophet says, I, 504. You ask what they might signify, I, 78. How he has supported this, I, 19. How you desire the city of Constantine, II, 208. How do you say [it] is small, II, 44. How is the Master Christ without mother, I, 195. How he does not cover [the] self-controlled, III, 16. How [is] a prophet with Isaiah, II, 180. How some of the sorcerers [are], I, 508. How [do] you dare [call] the Holy Spirit, I, 211.

P "Ral," expansion is interpreted, I, 53. It is easy to understand, I, 153. Σ "Let the foundations be shaken," he says, II, 97. Understand Samaria in the Scripture, III, 83. "Flesh and blood," he says, [inherit] the kingdom, I, 172. "Iron," says the Psalm, I, 228. To exist as vessels of dishonor, II, 260. Consider, lest you yourself [also fall], III, 65. Abraham, having set before himself a goal, III, 20. To you, indeed, being perfectly cleansed, II, 134. Wisdom is praised in the exits, I, 97. "Narrow is the gate and afflicted [is the way]," I, 159. You shall receive a crown of graces, I, 195. Set first that which is not intelligible, I, 254. Of robust and rigid things it consists, I, 502. You indeed seek and search out, III, 37. Desire only to be at rest, II, 136. "Gathering," he says, as if, III, 124. They contend together at nine and a half, I, 52. You say more frequently: "How can I?" II, 149. Saving, save your own [soul], II, 120. T "The works of the flesh are fornication," III, 89. "Wretched man that I am!" I, 249. The other things of sins, I, 3. Things not eaten according to the Law, II, 263. The pretexts for enmity, III, 93. The excesses and the deficiencies, III, 47. Those things contained in the Scripture, I, 332. The things of the senseless and apart, II, 155. The passionate things of the demons, III, 74. Perhaps not only by the one who has conquered, I, 20. Return quickly to the monastery, II, 62. Having encountered the Scripture, II, 184. By prayer and by that of the hands, I, 4. To one already pre-occupied by enmity, III, 307. Walking in divine knowledge, II, 157. To be baptized by the divine decree, II, 14. Standing on the Lord’s day, III, 132. God by his own goodness, I, 322. The lightless night of human [nature], II, 87. The incarnate [mystery] of the economy, I, 259. The flattery of sin, III, 105. The pestilential companionship, I, 45. That of the intellectual Egyptians, II, 94. The meaning of the three, I, 243. The pleasure beyond measure, I, 167. Of the insufferable grief, and the great [amount], II, 53. Regarding kinship according to the flesh, III, 290. Of that which is called, but not in fact existing, I, 349. The leaping of the flesh, I, 168. Of the petition beyond what is fitting, I, 284. For what does [he] not contrive, III, 197. For what did you hope, choosing [to do so], II, 137. For what did you hope? III, 33. What might I grant you? II, 218. Why do you fatten more lavishly? I, 185. Why do you think [to] escape our notice? II, 156. What is beyond [it], and longer, IV, 12. What is [it]: "But we have the mind of Christ," I, 17. What is it that the Prophet says? II, 188. What is it that the Apostle says? I, 149. Why do you marvel at meat? I, 101. Why do you marvel, and at them [too]? III, 161. Why are you troubled, why are you anxious? II, 43. "Honor your father," and your, II, 206. Why do you offer me the [things] of, II, 145. Why do you labor, man, and toil, II, 179. Some I have known myself, I, 214. Some of a perfect and pure [life], III, 254. Some not having [enough] from the life, III, 85. Some in the summer from the harbors, I, 10. Some of the brothers with difficulty, III, 238. Some beyond what is fitting in thought, I, 162.

80 For what reason [are] the spiritual [ones]? II, 257. Why are you startled, seeing what is most wicked in you? I, 74. What will you do, what will you act, when? IV, 14. Why are you terrified by the spirit? II, 91. Who then of those of sound mind? II, 26. Who gave wisdom to women? I, 267. Who is the thorn that has been given? II, 255. To some of men towards, I, 25. To some not willing, in regard to, III, 170. What [is it] to you and to men? II, 259. Who knows if the spirit, III, 227. Who knows? Solomon wrote [it], III, 227. What profit to you [from] the life of a foreigner? I, 66. What profit to you from servants? II, 58. Who would not laugh at you? II, 147. The holy and life-giving Spirit, II, 204. The unstable and unsettled [thing], II, 158. To grieve inconsolably, I, 311. The ox and the bear and also the lion, II, 275. "He made darkness his hiding place," I, 25. The saying the Apostle, "I beseech," I, 324. The saying spoken by the Apostle, I, 15. The [giving] at intervals to a friend, III, 140. Intercession [is] not as, I, 115. That in the time of temptations, III, 251. Such things you were praying to the Lord, II, 121. To those clearer and purer, III, 57. To those who have loved his appearing, I, 254. [On] the words of John of Constantinople, II, 295. To those who are to be the sheep, II, 187. To please the destructive demons, II, 280. The saying of Jacob: "If he gives me," I, 179. The saying of Solomon: "The heart," II, 143. Dare to approach with, II, 327. Bathing with women, II, 211. The being blessed [by] them, III, 335. The manna, he says, of the one being offered, III, 186. Having seen your magnanimity, II, 274. That which is gained by labor, I, 48. The end of those who are struggling, I, 138. The ant-lion perished by the, III, 265. Do you marvel at Aaron being shown? I, 291. The divine [ones] their Master, I, 326. The past time, III, 209. The one coveting the greatest, III, 263. The Christian man and, I, 103. The painful [thing] that is by betrayal, II, 285. Neglect, O beloved, IV, 40. To be quickly scandalized, I, 199. "Him who comes after me," II, 316. The "Woe" exists as a lament, I, 77. The cutting off through hardship, II, 256. The multitude of those among us, II, 120. We have received the spirit, as he says, I, 18. You received the Spirit that searches, I, 18. That which [is] gently and with philosophy, II, 305. That these formerly were foreign, II, 273. Such grace God [gives], I, 1. So much avails a most beautiful repentance, II, 229. Then you shall be deemed faithful, when not, III, 269. The spirit of blasphemy, II, 152. The ragged garment needs, II, 85. Of the people of the unbelieving Jews, I, 85. Those who are ventriloquists, and the, I, 256. Those knowing the presence [of a matter], III, 316. Not being stout-hearted [toward] the Jews, II, 19. The word-hunters and the, II, 215. Those who killed the [men] of Jebosthe, II, 16. The carriers and the ashes, II, 73. We have been separated from the unbelievers [in this], I, 29. Typically the first life of Eve, I, 266. Typically, or rather prophetically, I, 550. Tyre is interpreted [as] "strait," III, 182. It was said to the second thief, III, 45. Of those caring for hope, I, 174. By the cloud often of the devil, III, 247. Those commonly put forward, III, 49.

Waters, often, I, 305. I will protect, says God, II, 2. One who is subordinate, speaking to the brotherhood, I, 46. Be subordinate to the Lord, and beseech him, III, 3.

Eat your bread, III, 180. Some say after the flood, II, 311. Some say formerly the Athenians, III, 9. The blessed one says every day, III, 166. You say you are ignorant of what is required, IV, 34. You say you learned from Solomon, II, 325. You say in many places Jesus, I, 124. You say you are distressed greatly, III, 312. You say: What benefit will there be for me, II, 330. Let us flee from those things that are useless, III, 328. We must flee from man-pleasing, I, 244. The prophecy says: The water, II, 123. Jeremiah the prophet says, I, 104. The inspired Isaiah says, I, 9. The blessed Peter says that, II, 300. The law says: Their groves, III, 225. He speaks about some needy persons, III, 44. Some, struck by envy, III, 199. A handiwork existing of God, IV, 42. Let the lordship frighten you, II, 99. I fear, says Job, I, 314. Are you raging at the reading, I, 83. He says to dwell in unapproachable light, I, 206.

Hebron is interpreted as alliance, I, 72. It is necessary rather for brothers, III, 72. You must compel yourself and love, I, 105. It is useful not to procrastinate, IV, 21. ^A It is necessary with the bond of love, and with a bridle, III, 397. Christ is God and Master, I, 306.

False are the sons of men, III, 5. Mere is the letter of the God-inspired, I, 264. A soul abandoned by God, IV, 8.

How many will you blame, and, I, 213. As much as possible calm, IV, 56. As Jonathan seems to have done according to, II, 135. How graceful is the man of wide experience, III, 163. As beautiful, and wonderful, IV, 22. As we breathe incessantly, I, 239. As because of virtue Abraham, III, 118. As if I should not share, II, 30. As in the case of Joseph, indeed, III, 29. As in the gymnastic contests, II, 70. As there is a fast of foods, II, 28. As circumcision is for uncircumcision, II, 10. As of a rising sea, I, 231. As we hating them, II, 281. As those entering into, III, 525. As those upon the sea, I, 222. As those suffering from fever think, I, 194. As smoke carried up, III, 264. As desiring to eat of life, II, 37. As not all that he was able, I, 226. As a noble soldier, I, 67. As breathing never, III, 159. As that which has already dried up from drought, II, 202. As to the great Abraham, I, 110. As it is necessary for the living through everything, I, 30. As a door turns upon its hinge, II, 225. O what I shall say to you, I will be able to, III, 151. It will be useful to you, and very much so, I, 233.

S. NILI EPISTOLAE. BOOK ONE.

^A I. — TO PTOLEMY THE SENATOR. God has granted such grace to the monks even before the age to come, that they not only do not desire human glory, nor covet the various ranks that are in the world, but often take pains to hide themselves and prefer to remain unknown to men, by voluntarily mingling themselves with the humble and despised among the brothers. On the other hand, many dignitaries and all those conspicuous for worldly rank, whether voluntarily or by necessity, due to some circumstances, flee to the humble monks to avoid lethal dangers that threaten them, and to obtain safety, both temporal and eternal. For divine providence compels the mighty, whether they wish it ^B or not, to take refuge in the protection of the least, and through them to obtain salvation.

II. — To the same. You often prepare to write to me, beseeching...

^A me, and you extort it; for I am myself neither sluggish nor negligent in writing. Someone before us, therefore, has said that a certain account is preserved in the oral tradition of the Church: namely, that Judea was the first land inhabited by man, since the first-formed Adam, after being cast out of paradise, settled there for the consolation of the things of which he had been deprived. Palestine, therefore, was the first to receive the dead body of a man, as Adam paid there the penalty for his sin. Since it seemed new and strange to the men of that time to behold the skull of a head stripped of its flesh, they deposited it in that place and named it the Place of a Skull (Calvary); and it is likely that Noah, the progenitor of all mankind, was not ignorant of the tomb, and that after the flood the flock was preserved by him. Therefore, He who more deeply investigated the origins of human death underwent His sufferings in the place of Calgary, so that in the very place where the corruption of men had its beginning, there the life of the kingdom might commence; and just as death prevailed in Adam, so it might grow weak in the death of Christ. For this reason, the prophet Isaiah said: “In a ^B horn, in a fertile place”; by the horn, as having the cross of the Lord against death as a fortification; and by “fertile,” as one that, after paradise, was deemed worthy of primacy over all the earth under the sun.

III. — To the same.

Some sins are indeed grievous, and are also considered to be so. Such are murder and adultery, for they are grievous and are judged by the opinion of men to be grievous. But an oath is indeed grievous, yet it is not considered to be grievous. Therefore, we ought to be more diligent in guarding against it; whether one swears justly or unjustly, we must beware lest, having been cast headlong into it, we be banished from eternal life.

IV. — To Marcellinus the Monk. ^C

By prayer and the extension of his hands, Moses put the Amalekites to flight. If, therefore, you bear no malice against your brother, and you pour forth prayers to God for your neighbor who is afflicting and suffocating you, it is manifest that your hands are already extended to heaven, and help will not be wanting to you when you are afflicted and oppressed by the devil. But if you harbor anger against your neighbor, and you accuse, vituperate, and defame the man, the hands of your inner man hang down to the ground, even if you appear to stretch forth your hands and your gaze toward God; and your vows will not be heard, for: “Your hands,” says God, “are full of brotherly blood.” For what is more destructive than the memory of injuries? Let ^D us, therefore, believe Him who says: “Wash yourselves by repentance, and be purified from your wickednesses by pure prayer.”

[V.] To the same. ^A The demons desire to be established at all times in opprobrium, and infamy, and in machinations against us; nevertheless, as the Prophet says, those who are against us shall be put to shame in their opprobrium and proud heart, and they shall be humbled. But for us there shall be the crown of life, and glory, and incorruptibility, woven for those who wait for the Lord.

VI. — To Hephaestus the Scholastic. You swell and puff yourself up in vain, my man: rather, it should be a source of shame for you in every endeavor, since you extol the adulteries and boy-defilements of your gods, and you worship the ruinous passions of lewdness, and nothing whatsoever occurs to you that is superior to the body.

VII. — To Marcellinus the Monk. When the necessities of life failed in Samaria, while Joram son of Ahab was reigning, because the King of the Assyrians had brought war upon them, and the head of an ass was sold for fifty shekels, ^B and a fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five silver shekels, so that the most terrible death hung over everyone’s expectation, such an abundance of all things and such fertility of the fields prevailed, beyond everyone's expectation, that a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and a measure of barley likewise for a shekel. ^C For “the Lord scatters the counsels of nations and of princes; but the counsel of the Lord remains forever.” Let us not, therefore, lose heart, but let us await abundance from want, and relief from tribulation.

VIII. — To Ptolemy the Senator. Even to believe in Christ the Savior is righteousness; but to confess Him with the mouth is absolute salvation.

IX. — To the same. The divine Isaiah says: “That they may say: There is no word like this word, for which gifts cannot be given.” For nothing can be found equivalent to the profession of the Lord’s name and to the blessed and holy knowledge handed down to us. Wherefore, it is right on this account to recite the Davidic saying: ^D “What shall I render to the Lord for all that He has rendered to me?”—having received faith, and having rendered heavenly knowledge. For holy knowledge is inclusive of innumerable good things.

X. — To the same. Some, setting out from harbor in summer, have been shipwrecked; others, sailing in winter, have been saved without danger. And how many athletes, expecting an undoubted victory, have been defeated? While others, even despairing of second prizes, have carried off the first palm of victory? Let us not, therefore, be negligent, nor let us lose heart, but in all matters let us cling to prayer.

XI. — To the same. Tell your friend that unbridled heat and passion brings the greatest misfortunes to mortals.

^A XII. — To the same. He who makes all things, he says, and changes them, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and darkens the night into day: for it is He who changes states, and times, and things. God therefore turns the shadow of death, that is, into virtue, and consolation; and He transforms the sinful and darkened state into splendor. He also reserves to Himself the power to darken the day like the night; that is, to transform the joyful and bright things into those more sorrowful and unpleasant.

XIII. — To the same. "Whoever," he says, "is not circumcised on the eighth day shall be cut off." Is it the innocent and unthinking infant who is punished for not being circumcised? For it were rather the parents ^B who should be punished. But He punishes you, O man, if you do not, through faith and prayer, circumcise yourself of vice; for the Apostle bids us be infants in malice. Let us therefore circumcise ourselves with the sword of the Spirit, looking towards the eighth day, that is, towards the age that is to come. Let us circumcise every carnal thought, and word, and lawless work, so that we may not be cut off and alienated from the midst of that people which is saved through Christ.

XIV. — To the same. "Behold, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him, those who hope in His mercy." He who does not expect to attain righteousness from his works centers his hope of salvation solely in the mercies of God. For when he hears that God will reward each one according to his works, and he weighs his own sinful deeds within himself, he indeed fears the punishment and cowers before the threatened judgments. But so that he not be stifled by sorrow, he is full of hope, looking toward the mercies of God and His ^C love for mankind.

XV. — To the same. That saying of the Apostle: "In a moment," means the same as if someone were to say, an indivisible particle of time.

XVI. — To the same. You have received the Spirit, who searches the deep things of God, not so that you might comprehend the nature of God, as the demented Eunomius asserted, but that you might glorify the Lord deeply and wisely; for the Apostle says, "I do not consider myself to have attained it, but I pursue, if indeed I may attain."

XVII. — To the same. What is this: "We have the mind of Christ"? It means, having my ruling faculty purified, I reflect clearly and loftily, and I live ^D brilliantly.

XVIII. — To the same. We have received the Spirit, confesses the Apostle, not so that we might learn precisely what the nature of God is, but so that we might understand the infinite good gifts bestowed upon us by God, which we also discuss with those who are being instructed.

XIX. – To the Same.

XX. – To the Same.

XXI. – To the Same.

XXII. – To Marcian.

XXIII. – To the Same.

XXIV. – To the Same.

^A need this laver, since we are continuously defiled by many stains from the neglect and sloth that arise within us, and which must be wiped away, scraped off, and cast far from us almost every hour, as we occupy ourselves with intelligible and sensible faults, both voluntary and involuntary. For I believe it is in our stead that Job has said, ^B "If I should wash myself with snow, and be purified with clean hands, yet thou hast plunged me in mire." Just as, therefore, we eat and drink throughout the whole course of our life, so also must we ceaselessly be cleansed, since it is not possible for any man to be found entirely blameless and undefiled. Therefore, put faith in the Prophet who cries out, "Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow," and in the Apostle Paul writing, "Let us draw near to God with a true heart, having our minds sprinkled from an evil conscience," and so forth.

XXV. TO ABRAMIUS THE PRESBYTER.

XXVI. TO TIMOTHY THE SUBDEACON.

^A to have buried the span of your whole life in sleep, and no longer to be called a living man, but a sepulchre of the dead, burying a dead soul within a living body of perdition; nor to behold the light of men, but like an abortion to pass from darkness into darkness. And truly, according to what is written, "man, being honoured with the image of God, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts, and became like to them" (Ps. xlviii, 13). But if you wish to know the benefits of the vigil, inquire diligently what he who watered his bed with tears every night used to say: "I prevented the dawning of the morning and cried out," confessing and praising Thee. "At midnight I arose" (Ps. cxviii, 147; cxviii, 62), not spurred on by another, and dragged by force to shake off sleep, but of my own accord, eagerly rousing myself to the glorification of my Creator. For these things are accounted by me sweeter than sleep itself, since abundant profit is perceived from them, and they are revealed as the source of many eternal goods to those who keep vigil. For in the first place, by laying bare to God the sins that have happened to us during the preceding day, whether in deeds or words, we are lightened of the burden of them, inasmuch as they lie upon the shoulders of the soul like a heavy load, and we turn them into ashes with the fire of the vigil, as if burning up the riches of the devil like thorns. For that one grows rich daily by our lapses. Therefore the devil is henceforth distressed, and roars against us when he sees us engaging in the vigil, and applying our minds to it eagerly and industriously; for we cast him into great loss and turmoil by rendering him naked and destitute daily, through the removal of our sins by which he himself becomes opulent. ^B Second, the wakeful prayer curbs and fetters that many-headed and most wicked beast which leaps upon us invisibly and seeks to tear or swallow us up, and it loosens the sinews of his malice; and it brings it about that we attain to heavenly honours, with grace gushing forth for us above the fountains and flowing more abundantly than the sea for our benefit. Furthermore, we ourselves become more sluggish in the future about sinning, while the vigil imprints in us thoughts of divine love, and induces an aversion to the vanity of the world, and teaches us to thrust away harmful things. For the vigil according to God, taking us up by night when we are alone, and deprived of the confusion of the crowds, and the eagerness of business, and the meeting of friends, finds an occasion, like a fond mother, in a place without noise, and filled with quiet, and sobriety, and calm, and abundant peace; and having attached us to herself, she opens her own treasures of wisdom, and of venerable exhortations, and of divine illuminations. ^C And she secretly fills the bosoms of our soul; and if we guard all the things given to us with sobriety, we are blessed, and thrice-blessed. And a myriad times do they know what I am saying, if they be initiates and nurslings of the good vigil, who strike the harp of David with the plectrum of their own tongue ^D

^A in their own throat, as the Prophet says, singing the praises of God. Does not my throat meditate on wisdom? And just as I show the darkness, so too do I show the light, illuminating by psalms and turning the gloom of the night into radiance, and my eyes anticipate the dawn to meditate on the oracles of the Lord; and, adorned with the scarlet of burning thoughts, I urge the wisdom from above to come to me. For the grace of the Lord ineffably creeps into us who spend sleepless nights, and appears beyond words; and it stretches the holy minds—insofar as it is possible and becoming for holy men—toward the contemplation of itself, and towards assimilation to it.

XXVII. — To the same.

^B We are most blessed if we keep everything we have embraced through our sleeplessness. But if it happens that we lose a small or even a huge part of them, those that remain are abundantly sufficient for the salvation of those who are children in mind. For a bird-catcher often having hunted a hundred turtledoves in a field, if he has happily enclosed them, but subsequently through negligence loses a third or even double the amount—because those birds, crying out, have escaped in flight—he diminishes his grief for the rest, and consoles his own heart, because he does not return home with empty hands; but, although he does not bring back the whole catch, he brings back a portion and, having learned his lesson, he learns for the future to keep more cautiously what has been caught in the hunt.

XXVIII. — To the same.

^C That vigil is good and most auspicious for those who resolve to shake off the sleep of death that clings to the mind, and it is the greater, in that the Lord Himself practiced it and made it familiar to Himself in the dispensation according to the flesh, as Luke transmits, saying: "Jesus was spending the night in prayer to God," teaching us by the very act to follow the footsteps of the Master. Therefore he also said: "Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation." But those around Paul and Silas, recognizing the benefit of the vigil, were praising God about midnight. And David says: "I have been vigilant, and I have become like a sparrow alone upon the roof," ^D indeed excelling in wings, not crawling upon the earth, but dwelling upon the roof and at the summit of virtue. For with my tongue as a suppliant in place of my hands, I was folding myself around the feet of the most humane God, weeping; and my muddy heart has become a silver or golden treasure, and I, a humble man, have been made an altar of the Lord again, as grace digs up the coals of knowledge within me and brings forth a fragrant sacrifice to God.

XXIX. — To the same.

I see you, my brother, that you are covered with much mange according to the inner man from head to foot, from which you would never be able to be cleansed, unless your spirit watches by night toward God, instructing us by the divine precepts

and vivifying those who are deadened in negligence, and providing the dew of wisdom from on high, which heals every disease of the soul and every infirmity. "For the dew from you," says Scripture, "is medicine for them." And again God says, "And I shall be to him as dew, and he shall blossom as the lily." ^A This dew, therefore, having now come upon your heart which is burning from love of pleasure, and blowing with a calm spirit and a peaceful, gentle breeze, will scatter your flame just as it did the furnace of Babylon once, and will refresh you, and will save you, making you a true philosopher and persuading you no longer to sleep much but to watch eagerly.

XXX. — To the same. Just as it is necessary for him who lives to breathe continuously, so it is necessary continuously to undertake and carry out good vigils, and to emulate with psalms and hymns the wakefulness of the honey-voiced nightingale, when she sings throughout the whole night, not ceasing from her song. For when you do this, the enemy will not endure to lie in wait for you for long, seeing himself oppressed and despised by you, and wounded every night by the goadings of your wakeful prayer.

XXXI. — To the same. It is good to persevere steadily and without distraction in nocturnal prayer. If, however, on account of some temptation it happens that you are interrupted by some shameful thoughts, do not by any means cease from the good undertaking of the vigil, but persist, and grow old in such a work, and in the proper time you will certainly reap the fruits of wisdom. But if anyone wishes to live in luxury and idleness, and to get drunk, and to soothe his own bed with sleep and not with God, let him consider the plagues and filthy thoughts that rise up in his heart from such grossness, and let him henceforth dream, and look forward to his own fall and destruction. For as for me, I will say nothing else now but the truth: that all those who are carnal in their ways will be cast out of the kingdom.

XXXII. — To Zosimos the Oeconomos. The wicked man would judge the good man very quickly; but the good man does not judge even the wicked man easily. For that which is not prone to wickedness does not easily fall into suspicion.

XXXIII. — To the same. The adulterer suspects all mortals to be adulterers, and the thief likewise thinks that all are thieves; but the prudent, holy, and God-fearing man considers all men to be holy and just. You, however, having been infamous for wickedness for many years, think that everyone is evil and most base, and you slander everyone to everyone every day as foolish, inept, and most wicked. ^D

XXXIV. — To Sophronios the Monk. Do not desire your superior to be wise in word—

^A for not everyone wise in word is pleasing to God; but seek rather to be subject until the end to the man who is unlearned, even though you appear wise in the wisdom of the world, that you may bind around you the precious crown of humility and most genuine subjection.

XXXV. — To the same. The ignorance of your abba in spoken discourse will not in the least be a detriment to your subjection and peace of mind.

XXXVI. — To the same. ^B "Our God loves mercy and judgment," as David says, so that mercy may not make us sluggish, nor judgment alone produce despair. "For if," he says, "God should mark iniquities, who shall stand?" The Judge wishes to show you mercy and to impart his own compassion, if he finds you humbled after the transgression, and if the Lord sees you so disposed that, moved by the mercy of God's servants, they take up the toil with you for the salvation of your sinful soul, he will abundantly provide his own mercy to you. But if he beholds a heart swollen with pride, faithless, and unrepentant, and in no way fearing the future judgment, then indeed, then God loves judgment, just as a physician wishes to calm a tumor with liquid fomentations and tender ointments. But when he sees the swelling resist stubbornly and obstinately against the medicines, having put aside commiseration and the gentle method ^C of treatment, he chooses thereafter the use of the knife. Therefore, the Lord loves mercy and judgment: mercy upon those who repent, but judgment upon the stubborn and unyielding.

XXXVII. — To Eustathios the Cubicularius. The righteous man is plagued all the day of this life with straits and pains, and is weighed down by reproaches, as well as by many labors as though by lashes. Therefore, do not be surprised when you see a good man struggling with various and diverse troubles and fainting under the toil. "For whom the Lord loves, he corrects, and scourges every son whom he receives." And, "I have been scourged," he says, "all the day, and my reproach is in the morning." ^D For the reproach did not wait for the sun to be at its height. I reproved myself, confessing if I had in any way transgressed, and making my sins manifest without witnesses.

XXXVIII. — To Xenagoras the Deacon. The current lack of necessary things which harasses us, and the fact that we do not obtain them easily or quickly, and that it is not known when or in what manner our petitions will have an end—all these things are exercises for hope; for hope must be fixed in God, who is able to provide good things when we are destitute of them and have no supply of them.

XXXIX. — To the same. Let us hope in God, brother, let us hope, even if

he does not clearly foresee, nor easily perceive, the fulfillment of our petitions, nor do we know what shall happen to us. For God wishes us to hope in Him always, who has even so ordered things, that the enjoyment of the things requested, whether temporal or eternal blessings, may come to us after we have first hoped for them.

XL. — To the same.

He who, by necessity and under constraint, has hoped for and obtained what he asked from God, is also taught to place his hope regarding future things, of which human nature has need, in God, who promised that He would provide them. Therefore, even now, before events occur, and many years in advance, He makes promises, and frequently fulfills these promises. For thus, the experience of divine truth, frequently attained, confirms our hope for those future things that are truly promised. Just as, therefore, you have asked and obtained many things, and have received experience of divine compassion, condescension, and great generosity, so even if you are not heard quickly, be strengthened now by a good expectation; and hope and endure with patience and long-suffering, knocking ^C through prayer, until God wills to arise and provide you with as much as you need, or even more than you need. For God is able and willing to bestow upon us in abundance beyond what we ask or think.

XLI. — To Heliodorus.

John the Baptist, fearing some harm might befall him as a man, avoided the cities and dwelt in the desert. But Jesus, who is God and Lord of all, went about the cities and dined with sinners, since He is the Sun of righteousness. The rays of the sun, even when they touch all manner of mire, dry up whatever is foul-smelling within it, while they themselves remain pure and undefiled. But the envious Pharisees say, "Why does Jesus eat with sinners and tax collectors?" O envious and senseless men, blind in heart! Do you not know that a doctor must reside not elsewhere, but near the sick themselves? ^D Wherever there are sinners, there also is surely placed the propitiatory. For Christ came to call sinners, not the righteous, to repentance. Jesus Christ dwells with sinners by way of divine dispensation, so that sinners, having repented, may dwell with the righteous, and rejoice together in the kingdom of heaven.

XLII. — To Marion the silversmith.

You, who boldly have oaths in your mouth more than words—be ashamed.

XLIII. — To Faustianus.

Your soul is very far removed from God; by what reasoning, then, do you urge me to send you any useful word, you who are accustomed to make a mockery of divine things, just as you do of profane things? For how could I speak to one dead and deaf to such matters? "How shall I sing the song of the Lord in a foreign land," where hedgehogs, and weasels, and night-owls

have made their nest, according to what is written? Since there, onocentaurs and demons dance perpetually, and ravens cry aloud.

XLIV. — TO PHILIPPUS THE SCHOLASTIC.

XLV. — TO LICINNIUS THE YOUNGER.

XLVI. — TO SOPHRONIUS.

XLVII. — TO DOSITHEUS.

XLVIII. — TO THE SAME.

XLIX. — TO THE SAME.

L. — TO THEODORIANUS.

^A required of us, as he says, we do not know, they immediately murmur, taking it ill and feeling indignant at the refusal; and although they are very often wicked and impious persons, they nonetheless desire to be heard immediately. Should you not give thanks because you were counted worthy, rising in the morning, to approach the Creator of all and to converse with Him in prayer? And if you do not even wish to give thanks, do you, O clay, reproach your Creator? But at least now, having tested yourself, O man, know your own measure.

LI. — TO PLUTINUS THE CONSUL

Those who received their lot beyond the Jordan from Moses, the great lawgiver, were Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. They represented those justified through the law; but the other nine and a half tribes, who inherited on this side of the Jordan, correspond to those from the nations who believe in ^B Christ and have attained perfection through the grace of the Holy Spirit. It must be noted, however, that before the river—that is, the Christian baptism—a somewhat imperfect and childish knowledge and way of life are indicated; for the writing of Moses confirmed by its testimony that infants, and many animals, and women were there.

LII. — TO THE SAME

The two and a half tribes strive together with the nine and a half tribes for the inheritance; for just as we wage war by faith, and prayer, and holier works (for the weapons of our warfare, as the Apostle says, are not carnal, but spiritual and mighty), ^C just so do those who formerly pleased God through the Law wage war and strive together with us in their desire and good hopes. For the mystical things, and the words of Moses, and the prophets converge with the evangelical preaching, and the achievement becomes common to both. Therefore, the Israelites say to Joshua, the son of Nave, when he was about to cross the Jordan with the whole army: "As we heard Moses, so will we hear you." Now Joshua, the son of Nave, was a type of Christ Jesus, the Lord of all. Wherefore, Moses, the all-wise, foreseeing future events ^D with the eyes of his soul, named him Jesus, though he was first called Ausin, in order to signify the true Jesus, the Son of God, who began from baptism to preach the kingdom of the heavens, and to grant us the heavenly inheritance, subject to no sorrow and no end.

LIII. — TO THE SAME

Raab is interpreted as "breadth," for she who was first a harlot, but is now a chaste and modest Church, is dilated through faith by contemplations and divine intellections. Therefore, the great Apostle writes to the Corinthians: "Do not be constricted; but rather be dilated, just as my heart has been dilated."

LIV. — TO AURELIANUS THE ILLUSTRIOUS, FROM THE GENTILES

You walk in a manner unworthy of the elegance of the Gospel.

^A, not grasping with your mind that not long after, the judgment of all things—things that everyone, while he lived, has perpetrated—will be present, bringing with it due punishments, with every intercessor removed. Therefore, you ought not to take it ill when things to the contrary are said to you; rather, you must enter upon that way, choosing things that are sacred instead of things that are profane, and banishing those wicked desires which you have contracted through habit.

LV. — TO ZOSARIUS THE TRIBUNE "Every head is in pain," says Isaiah, "and every heart is in sorrow from the feet even to the head." And a few things later: "Your land is desolate; strangers eat up your region in your sight." By the feet, he implies the subjects; by the head, the leaders, filled with all wickedness. "For every head is in pain," indeed, and their feet also "run to wickedness," just as in another place the Prophet said. Understand, therefore, that "pain" means wickedness, just as David says concerning a profane soul, that "you have conceived pain and brought forth iniquity." For wickedness is of such a nature that it brings forth iniquity. Since, therefore, through contempt and the love of evil things, sad and sorrowful events follow frequently by the judgment of God, pushing those who sin toward amendment, for this reason he said: "And every heart is in sorrow." For the Jews are thrown into mourning by God, while they are punished and oppressed by a human hand.

LVI. — To the same. If all Judea has not been laid waste by the Romans on account of the killing of Christ, and if strangers are not eating and enjoying the fruits of the Hebrews, let the Prophet be cast out as a liar, who predicted this a thousand years ago.

LVII. — To the same. Let not the Jew deceive you by asserting that he was despoiled of Palestine on account of other crimes. For it was not because of other stains and wounds of conscience that they suffered those incurable things, but on account of the killing of the Lord. For before those times, while they were worshipping idols, killing the prophets, and sacrificing their daughters and sons to demons, they were delivered by God into captivity to aliens, and a few years later, with God assenting, they were led back to the land of promise. But since the time they dared this incurable crime, laying hands on the Son of God, they have been delivered up to eternal and utter destruction. Behold, therefore, it is the five-hundredth year; and nowhere is there any divine visitation, no help, no consolation, no prophet instructing and confirming them, as Ezekiel and Daniel and others were in the city of Babylon. For God, abhorring them, no longer wishes to speak with them.

LVIII. — To the same. If after great joy, sorrowful things have happened to you, trust entirely that this great sadness

or God, abhorring them, no longer wishes to speak with them. ^A

LIX. — TO MELETIUS THE CANCELLARIUS. The spies who were sent by Moses, the divine high priest, into Palestine, seem to me to signify the heavenly angels, who behold the whole world and take care of earthly things. For there is nothing among men that does not lie under Providence. And may that angel persuade you who, in the form of a Macedonian man, exhorted the apostle Paul to come to their aid for the salvation of men, by saying unto him: "Come over into Macedonia and help us."

LX. — To the same. ^B Since you eagerly read the venerable Scriptures, you must surely know the commandment which orders and enjoins everyone to prepare a crown for the roof of the intellectual house, that is, for the conduct of life which is according to God. For one must not only begin with virtue, but must also apply the finishing touch and end, lest we be condemned, just like the man in the Gospels who left his tower unfinished.

LXI. — To the same. If we place the crown upon the roof of a good life, we shall all be able, after the example of the most faithful Rahab, to receive and entertain the angels of Jesus, not in any lower place, but rather in a higher one; or, to speak more truly, we shall be able to entertain Jesus Christ Himself, the Lord of the angels. ^C

LXII. — TO CALANDION. "The words of monkeys are soft, but they fall into the chambers of the belly." Solomon calls those "monkeys" who act like foxes and weave deceits against others. Therefore David says: "Do not destroy me, O God, with the men who speak peace to their neighbor, but have evil in their hearts." And: "Their words have been softened more than oil, and yet they are darts that wound."

LXIII. — TO THEODOTION. You rightly marvel and wonder how sensible stones could have been able to contain the whole of the written Deuteronomy. Let us therefore understand that the Gospel of Christ was mystically ^D foretold as Deuteronomy, since it was written after the Mosaic Law; and that the "stones" are those who formerly had a stony heart, but were later softened by faith and submitted themselves to the Scripture of the Spirit as their instructor.

LXIV. — To the same. You are not unaware of what is said in Ezekiel: "I will take away from you the heart of stone, and I will give you a heart of flesh, obedient to God, so that it may no longer go astray."

LXV. — To the same. Read what the blessed Paul writes to the Corinthians: "You are our letter, written not

heart of those whose stones are whole in piety. For as soon as the preaching is received, ^B there is nothing else to be said, other than that you have carried within your inner tablets the law of grace—which is not heavy, but desirable—before the children of Israel, that is to say, before the divine and incorporeal powers, on stones no longer mutilated and broken by unbelief, but whole in soul and in hearing. For "He who has ears to hear," He says, (with faith and with quick-wittedness), "let him hear."

LXVII. — To Heraclius, Subdeacon and Goldsmith. Just as a noble soldier, fighting for the king, if he sustains pains having been pierced by the missiles of the enemy, and does not yield to faint-heartedness, obtaining care and being healed, will have the scars of his wounds as a boast of bravery; in the same way, those who have been wounded by the enemy, if they do not neglect the labors of repentance, will undoubtedly be saved and will boast on the day of judgment; for a brave and great soul, even if covered in wounds, while fighting with a body violated by wounds, will certainly overthrow others.

LXVIII. — To Aphthonius, Deacon. Whoever leads their life with the love of God and with a dedication to blessings, these are said ^C to stand near the mountain called Garizim; but those who do not do good works for the sake of blessing, friendship, and the praise of God, but because of the fear of the punishments decreed, these are said to remain near Mount Ebal, where the curses were given—not so that the one who stood by Ebal should be under a curse, but so that, by looking upon those terrible curses, he might with all his might beware of falling into them.

LXIX. — To Aphthonius. Do not think that the prophet Isaiah’s word is directed toward the Sodomites, saying, "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom." For this word is directed toward the rulers of the Jews, who were imitating in their deeds the shameful acts of the Sodomites, along with their subordinates; for he immediately adds: "Attend to the law of God, you people of Gomorrah. What is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? says the Lord." ^D It is evident, however, that not the Sodomites, and much less the Gomorrahites, offered sacrifices to God, but rather the Israelites did so.

LXX. — To Gainas, Commander of the Forces. The divinely inspired Scripture knows how to personify many inanimate things, as in the saying: "The sea said these things, and the abyss said: It is not in me." And again: "The heavens declare the glory of God." And the Lord commands the sword to fill itself with flesh and blood; and that mountains and hills should skip.

deposcuntur ^A. If, "what ailed you, O sea, that you fled? And you, O Jordan, that you turned back?" If, therefore, these things are so, why do you propose to me what is said in the Proverbs, that "The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works"? Solomon has called the composition of his own book "Parables" and "dark speech." For it is one thing for an idea to be expressed through parables and enveloped in shadows, admitting of many interpretations, and another for it to be proclaimed clearly, openly, plainly, and without any covering. But you, turning away from the lucid teaching of the Apostle because the sight of your soul is impaired, pay attention to dark enigmas. And what excuse, pray, could you have for this? I indeed intended to resolve for you the proposition from the proverb, but since you have been stupefied by the irrational prejudice of the Arian madness, I have checked the motion of my pen, exhorting you only to this—if you could even bear it—that now, at least, you should obey the evangelists and apostles, who preach better than the Arians, who are more wretched than venomous serpents. Nevertheless, I am firmly convinced that it will be of no use to anyone to pour words into dead ears.

LXXI. — TO FRUMENTIUS, DEFENDER OF THE CHURCH. Sailors and helmsmen indeed direct all their efforts to crossing the sea and bringing themselves into port. But you, in the open sea, are always laboring in the waves of human affairs with the utmost contention, wandering often in the marketplace and the courts ^C, under the pretext of providing for ecclesiastical matters, while in truth it is for the sake of an insatiable greed for more and for unjust extortion.

LXXII. — TO POMPEIUS THE DEACON. Hebron is interpreted as "conjunction." But for what reason was the place so named? Because there, in conjunction, lie Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. Rightly, therefore, did the God-beloved Caleb, with much zeal, labor, and sweat, take possession of the memorial of the illustrious patriarchs, which was the metropolis of the Enakim, having slaughtered the impious and base descendants of the arrogant giants; and all that land in which the tombs of those blessed ones chanced to be became the lot of Caleb.

LXXIII. — TO THE SAME. Do not be disheartened; for to you also, who have believed in Christ, born from the seed of Abraham, an intellectual lot has been given. For the God of the ever-memorable patriarchs has become your God.

LXXIV. — TO THE SAME. Why are you astonished, and why do you marvel, as at something new and strange, when you see a most wicked and unholy man nefariously exalted with praises, and enriched with glory, and standing infinitely above others in the eyes of those in power? Remember the Scripture calling out: "The ungodly is placed in great heights"—that is, he has been permitted to be exalted in this world. And he has been permitted...

not without judgment, so that having been raised on high, and having fallen headlong from there, he might suffer incurable destruction.

LXXV. — TO APOLLODORUS THE RHETOR

LXXVI. — TO RUFFINUS THE SCHOLASTIC

LXXVII.

LXXVIII. — TO THE SAME

^A LXXIX. — TO GAINAS, COMMANDER OF THE FORCES. You have written to me not being moved by your own accord, but compelled by others: How can the Son be of the same essence and power as the Father, when He asks the Father to subject all things to Him, and after this, as the Apostle writes, subjects Himself to the Father who had subjected all creation to Him? What are you saying, O man? Does Christ lack anything, such that He needs to be subjected to God, being God Himself? For is He some robber, or arrogant, or an adversary of God, that He should ever need to be subjected? How then is it said that the Son Himself, after the subjection of His enemies, will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him? Just as He who dissolves my curse through the mystery of the incarnation is called a curse for my sake, and He who alone is sinless and the immaculate Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, is called sin, and has become a new Adam in place of the old; so too does He take upon Himself the unsubmissiveness of men, which knows not how to be subject, as the head of the whole. Therefore, as long as I am unsubmissive and rebellious in my denial of God and my passions, Christ is said to be unsubmissive for my sake; but when all things are subjected to Him, then He also fulfills the subjection, offering to the Father me, who have been saved. But by what reasoning Christ is of the same essence as the Father according to divinity, and of equal power and likeness, I consider it superfluous to write to one who does not accept it.

^B LXXX. — TO FLAVIANUS. Why did the Lord wash only the feet, and not another part of the body of the disciples? Because the Savior was not clearing away mere filth, as you imagine, but was bestowing a certain divine strength upon the heels of the apostles. For since it was said to the serpent, "You shall watch the man’s heel," that is, the whole course of his life, for this reason the feet of the disciples were washed, in order to designate the feet which are understood intellectually: "I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the invisible enemy." And Isaiah says: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good tidings of peace and good things!" For indeed the apostles of Christ destroyed the war of the devil, having traversed the whole world, and they dispensed peace to all, and brought us the good tidings of heavenly things.

^D LXXXI. — To the same. The Lord touched [their] feet, so that He might strengthen feet that were earthly and weak, which were about to traverse the whole world beneath the sun; He takes hold of the part of the heel, against which the sentence was pronounced in the beginning, so that, with the great Physician placing His hand upon it, the venom of the intellectual serpent might no longer take effect. The heel, therefore, having been strengthened by the hand of the Master who touched it, has trodden upon Satan, who formerly deceived the first-created, and thus is fulfilled what was [spoken] by the prophetess Deborah in the songs: "She shall tread upon my enemies, the..."

my soul has been strengthened." David also cries out, chanting a song of victory: "They shall fall beneath my feet who rise up against me, and I shall scatter my enemies like the mire of the streets." For the Lord has said, "Behold, I have given you authority to tread, and not to be trodden upon, nor to be deceived by the destroyer."

[LXXXII] FIRMUM THE SCRINIARIUS. Do not endeavor to obtain authority over a province through the patronage of that man, lest you yourself be ruled, and fall, and be exceedingly humbled, and vanish beyond all hope.

[LXXXIII] EUGENIUS THE DEACON. You grow arrogant in the reading of the Scriptures, and with an elated mind you boast magnificently and make a show of yourself in speculations, rejoicing in bare leaves instead of fruits, and mocking those who lack such knowledge. But even stage-performers will often be able to do this. You, however, strive rather to adorn and decorate your soul with works well-pleasing to God. For, He says, "Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees who act the hypocrite regarding the teaching of the divine words, for they say what is good and do not do it." Therefore, first perform [them], and after that teach.

[LXXXIV] PHILAGRIUS THE PRESBYTER. The just Noah characterizes Christ, who says in the Gospels, "Come unto me, all you who are burdened with many sins, and I will give you rest," in the ark of the Church, having been delivered from a most evil and accursed practice. For when Noah was born, it was said in figure and prophecy, "He shall give us rest from our works, and from the earth which the Lord our God has cursed."

[LXXXV] To the same. Canaan bears the likeness of the people of the unbelieving Jews, he who mocked Christ when He was stripped, and scourged Him through Pilate, and insulted Him, and so on. But Shem and Japheth all but point with their fingers at the companions of Joseph, who wrapped the body of the Savior and laid it in a new tomb. Furthermore, they also hint at Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel, and the others who strove to attend to the most holy body and to treat it with honor.

[LXXXVI] ACACIUS THE MEMORIALIS. Moses, the initiate of sacred things, holding his staff obliquely in his two hands in imitation of Christ, who stretched out His hands upon the cross, put Amalek to flight. Therefore we too, by stretching out our hands in prayer, defeat Satan. If the holy Moses held his staff upright and not obliquely, for what reason was he burdened in his hands, and why did he need the help of Aaron and Hur to support his hands on either side?

LXXXVII. TO THE SAME.

LXXXVIII. TO THE SAME.

LXXXIX. TO THE SAME.

XC. TO THE SAME.

XCI. TO THE SAME.

XCII. TO THE SAME.

^A the Apostle says to the Jews: "It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, who are of the seed of the great Abraham; but because you reject the divine utterances, and have made yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, henceforward we turn to the Gentiles; that it may be fulfilled which was spoken by the Father to the Son in the book of Isaiah: 'I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.'"

XCIII. ^B — To the Same. Observe for me those among the Hebrews who have believed, how they approach the preaching of the apostles; and you will understand how the first are proved to be second, so that the word of Moses may be fulfilled, who prophesied to the descendants of Abraham and said: "The proselyte who is in thee shall be above, above; but thou shalt be below, below; he shall rule over thee, but thou shalt be under his dominion; he shall become the head, and thou the tail." By "proselyte," he means the people from the Gentiles who have believed in Christ.

XCIV. — To the Same. You write to me that monks are Levites, being close and joined to God; and if you hold this, you will have availed yourself of a very great benefit.

XCV. — To Babylas the Deacon. You speak with truly verbose eloquence, but you perform very wicked deeds; for while you deceive the simple with the outward appearance and much talk of probity and moral honesty, and conceal your own malice, ^C among men of sound mind you are easily and manifestly detected—not by what you say and feign, but by what you do.

XCVI. — To Soterion. "Thou shalt not be afraid," it says, "for the terror by night," that is, of human and demonic [terror]; for the divine fear, which comforts the heart, is called "matutinal" and "luminous."

XCVII. — To the Same. "Wisdom is praised in the exits." What "exits," then, does Solomon call these? It is clear that he means those that proceed from the mouth of the right teachers of the Church.

XCVIII. — To Silvanus the Bishop. Elias the Thesbite, having slept under a plant, ^D and having awakened, sees at his head a cake baked in the ashes and a cruse of water. Who, then, is such a one as to find a cake baked in the ashes lying next to his head—in which head, as Solomon says, are the intellectual eyes of the wise man? Or, [who is he] who, through pious seeking and legitimate petition, finds the spiritual bread that nourishes the soul and the water springing up into life eternal?

XCIX. — To the Same. Those who strive to purify their own souls will abound not only in intellectual bread and water, but also in flesh

^A For solid food is something perfect, as the Apostle says. And Moses foretells this to the people, saying: "Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat flesh" (Num. xi, 18), understanding by "flesh" the divine body, which the faithful eat in the Church, and the most blessed knowledge of Christians, which is superior

^A to the Son when all things were created, but God is called the Father of the Son according to the economy of the Incarnation. As I have said before, Christ typifies our condition within Himself. For we were those who were formerly abandoned, but are now received and saved by the sufferings of the dispassionate Christ. Just as He also takes our foolishness and failings upon Himself, He speaks of these through the psalm, since the twenty-first psalm is clearly referred to Christ. It constitutes the same contemplation to learn also of His obedience from what He suffered, just as the Apostle says; the cry, and the tears, and the prayers, and the being heard, and the reverence, which are performed as a drama and woven together for our sake. For as the Word, He was neither obedient nor disobedient; for these belong to those who are under another’s authority and occupy a secondary position; the former is the mark of a sounder human mind, the latter of those who are deserving of punishment. But as the form of a servant, He descends to His fellow-servants, and ^B to servants, and adopts another’s state, bearing me entirely within Himself with my own affairs, so that He might consume the worse part within Himself, like fire upon wax, or the sun upon the vapors of the earth, and that I, through this commingling, might share in what is His. For this reason, He honors obedience in deed, and attempts to gain experience of it through suffering. For mere intention is not sufficient—just as it is not for us—unless we advance through deeds. For work is the demonstration of the disposition.

CIII. TO EUTHIUS THE PROVINCIAL

CIV. TO CAPITO THE DEACON

CV. TO THE SAME

CVI. TO THE SAME

^A CVII. — TO SOSIMIANUS THE MONK. "But we," says the holy Moses, "know not what we shall offer to the Lord, until we have traveled a three days' journey into the desert" (Exod. v, 5). With us, prayer is considered a sacrifice, and the desert is a certain state despoiled of irrational passions, which we define as perfection. Such a thing will be true of us, says the Apostle; for that which he says, "We know not what we should pray for as we ought" (Rom. viii, 26), continues until that impassive and pure state is reached. For at that time we shall certainly not have such prayers or thoughts as we have now, being troubled by the adversaries.

CVIII. — TO FLAVIANUS. The governing principle of the saints is like a writing tablet or a scroll, in which God records what needs to be told to His people. Accordingly, it is said to the prophet Habakkuk: "Write the vision upon a tablet" (Hab. ii, 2). For the saint, by looking into his own mind and gazing upon himself, and being entirely turned within, as it were encounters those things inscribed by God upon his own mind, and thus declares them to the people.

CIX. — TO APHTHONIUS THE SAMARITAN. Your letter is formulated in this way: "If the grain sown in the earth did not putrefy, the human body would indeed have some hope of resurrection. But if grain, or any other seed cast into the earth, putrefies, and the body of man has turned to ash and dust, why do you with all assertion promise me that a resurrection of human bodies will follow?" ^C To this I reply: Run through the beginning of Genesis: "And God took dust from the earth, and fashioned man" (Gen. ii, 7). What difference, then, is there between dust from the earth, and ash and dust? Therefore, just as at the beginning the body was fashioned out of earth-dust, and received spirit from God, and man stood upon his own feet, so again out of the dust and ash at the end of the present age, by the command and power of God, human bodies shall rise, receiving back their own souls, and shall stand on their own feet to the glory and praise of Him who works all wonders, the Creator of all.

CX. — TO THE SAME. As to great Abraham faith was reckoned unto righteousness, so also to you, if you believe in the resurrection of the dead—if indeed you ever believe—a great righteousness shall be reckoned before God.

CXI. — TO THE SAME. You have written: "I will grind the grain of wheat, and make flour. Even if I sow it into the ground a thousand times, it no longer comes to life, nor does it rise again, nor will it ever sprout, nor will it bear fruit; in the same way, the body also, having become ashes and dust, could not ever rise again, or live at all." But I would again bring back to you now, with mildness, the same words which I have sent you before, that...

^A just as at the beginning man was brought forth from the dust by the power and skill of the all-wise and all-powerful Lord, so too at the end of the present age shall the resurrection of the corrupted body come to pass from the ashes; and man shall arise, made alive and ensouled, having cast off the former corruption and put on divine incorruptibility.

CXII. To the same.

CXIII. To the same.

CXIV. To Gainas, the commander of troops.

CXV. To the same.

^A to seek vengeance, has a place (for this in a way belongs also to humility), but to act as an envoy for us through the word of mediation, just as the Spirit also is said to intercede for us. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." For even now He is said to intercede as man for my salvation, because He is with the body which He assumed, until He makes me a god by the power of the incarnation, even if He is no longer known according to the flesh—I mean the fleshly passions, and our affections, with the exception of sin. But in this way also we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus, not as one rolling before the Father on our behalf and falling down like a servant—away with ^B that truly servile and unworthy suspicion. For it is neither right for the Father to seek this, nor for the Son to suffer it, nor for us to think such things concerning God. But Jesus suffered as man, and He persuades us to endure as the Word and Exhorter. For this is how you ought to understand the intercession.

CXVI. — To the same. Remind me of the words of the Savior saying, "All things that the Father hath are mine"; and, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father"; and, "To thee, Peter, I give with authority the keys of the kingdom of heaven, because thou hast not called me a servant, nor a helper, nor a minister, nor even a subordinate, or one alien to the substance ^C of the Father, but hast confessed me to be the genuine Son of the living God by the revelation of the heavenly Father." And again the evangelist said that for this cause the Jews pursued Jesus, not only because He broke the Sabbath, but because He also showed Himself to be the genuine Son of God, and equal in all things to the heavenly Father.

CXVII. — TO EVANDRIUS. You make many of the orthodox laugh at you, calling fables "mysteries." Nevertheless, every heresy that wanders outside the Church of Christ calls its own follies "mysteries." By the same reasoning, the Manichaeans call their books of impiety and lawlessness "mysteries" and a "good treasure"; for already the mystery of perdition is at work. ^D

CXVIII. — TO EPIGONUS THE CURSOR. Since holy Moses covered the divine words in obscurity, so that the foolish and senseless Hebrews of that time, and those now, and those who will be hereafter, might not understand them, as he himself testified in the great canticle, saying, "This is a foolish people and not wise, a perverse generation, children who have no faith in themselves, they tempt and provoke the Lord"—for this cause he used to place a veil upon his own

^A face shining with radiance, and in this way he conversed with those who were intelligent and who vied with the Egyptians in wisdom.

CXIX. — To the same. Consider the face of Moses to be the light of the Pentateuch, and the veil to be the obscurity of the blessed words, and that which is expressed by parables, or symbols, or even by riddles. And the holy Moses speaks of the well, from which all have drunk, relating some things by way of a parable; afterwards he adds: "Therefore those who argue captiously and perplexedly will say this and that."

CXX. — To the same. If the Hebrew turns to Christ with tears, acting as an infant after the child called Ishmael, he removes the veil of the eyes of his mind which is called Hagar, and nearby he finds the living water of the divine Scripture, interpreted as it ought to be, drinkable and clear, and setting him free from the death of unbelief.

CXXI. — To the same. As long as the Hebrews do not possess the faith of the blessed Sarah, it is necessary that the name of the slave Hagar be affixed to their mind.

CXXII. — To the same. Let the mystical designation of the well of vision persuade you ^B that the Mosaic writing requires much contemplation and intelligence, and profound searching.

CXXIII. — To the same. Do not suffer yourself in the misfortunes that oppress you to cast away good hope, nor relax the horn of divine expectation. For it is easy for God, provided He so wishes, to turn sad things into happy and pleasant ones.

CXXIV. — To Benjamin the Hebrew. You say that you praise Jesus in many things, but that you bear with a very unjust spirit the fact that He neglected and abolished the Sabbath. Nevertheless, it is not fitting for a man to be a child for all time. For when someone, having arrived at man’s estate, would not bear it with an even spirit if he were fed with milk; and he who has made a step toward philosophical disciplines would not easily endure to linger still in the order of the alphabet. Therefore, before the coming of heavenly wisdom to men, the observance of the Sabbath was excellent and useful; but now, after the coming of Christ, it is not appropriate. For ^C the Christian understands things above days and times and the whole world.

CXXV. — To the same. Do not think it strange that God commanded the observance of the Sabbath of old, and now rejects such an observance. For you see both old and new constitutions of earthly emperors, having previously decreed this matter, afterwards at one time or another dissolving the law previously laid down. ^D

^A CXXVI. — To the same. Consider, I beseech you, the wisdom of God to be like a mother, now indeed offering her breasts to the infant and crying out, "Good, this is good," but afterward urging the child toward more solid food, and anointing her breasts with gall, and crying out repeatedly, "Putrid, this is putrid."

CXXVII. — To the same. You insist that Moses said in Deuteronomy: "A Prophet will the Lord your God raise up for you from among your brethren, like me" (Deut. xviii, 15). He said "Prophet," not "God." How then do you say that Jesus is God? Just as if to an infant, O Jew, the all-wise Moses lisps, not yet daring to show you the divinity of Christ too openly. When, therefore, you receive him, as Moses says, as a prophet, and king, and a meek and poor shepherd, then he himself, the greatest and chief of the prophets, will reveal to you that he is the true God, incorporeal, and ageless, begotten before all ages from the true God. And you have all the illustrious prophets, who are the interpreters of the law, witnessing to the divinity of Christ and to his dispensation.

^B CXXVIII. — To the same. No ordinary danger hangs over you in Deuteronomy, if you do not have faith in Christ, and worship him, and obey him, and submit to him accordingly in all things. For the lawgiver says: "And every soul, whoever will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from the divine people" (Deut. xviii, 19).

^C CXXIX. — To Alexander the monk. You seem to me to be doing an absurd thing, while in the midst of insults and rage you compel some to bring you fruit. This will not be called the receiving of fruit, but violence, and disgrace, and extreme importunity, and a bitterness more severe than that of public impositions and the heaviest exactions. But cease, I beseech you, from this indecency; rather, give your leisure to prayers and to much quietness of soul, and God will stir up those who are worthy of goodness to offer you with a petition whatever you may need. For some are worthy to return fruit to monks, but others are utterly unworthy and far from the will of the Lord.

^D CXXX. — To Clearchus the steward. I certainly would never revile a wolf for snatching, for the wolf has the propensity to snatch by nature; but I reprimand a man who possesses a wolfish mind contrary to his own nature.

CXXXI. — To Aurelian. Through Jeremiah the Lord has said: "Turn to me, and I will not be angry with you forever" (Jerem. iii, 12). You have indeed committed deeds worthy of eternal wrath, but since I am merciful, I do not measure my philanthropy by your wickedness, but by my own great goodness. Nevertheless, he says: "Even if I am good and humane, yet do not you forget those things which you have wickedly [contemplated...

^A performed and done; for know that you have acted impiously against the Lord your God, and pray, mourning throughout your whole life."

CXXXII. — TO GENETHLIUS

"You will restrain their jaws with bit and bridle, ^B like beasts, O God, those who turn their backs upon you," cried David, playing the cithara. For just as we tame a horse, even against its will, with a bridle—not out of hatred, but that we may establish a well-ordered course for it, restraining its unruliness with discipline, and transforming its disordered and untrained leaping into a measured path—so too does God, if He sees a soul behaving like a colt, kicking and wandering this way and that, lead it toward a more seemly state, even if it be unwilling.

CXXXIII. — TO THEODOSIUS

I myself have known many who could not become noble through glorious deeds, but who rather rendered themselves famous and terrible through iniquity and extreme wickedness.

CXXXIV. — TO SERAPION THE PRESBYTER

"For where your treasure is," He says, "there also will your heart be." For whatever one’s pursuits are, and wherever they are, such absolutely is one's disposition, and one’s memories, and one’s mind established. Therefore, one must prudently apply the soul primarily to the heavenly and incorruptible treasure.

CXXXV. — TO THE SAME

"The lamp," He says, "of the body is the eye." For the mind that contemplates things above is the eye of the soul, possessing firm and stable vision, and transmitting its own radiance into the ^C whole constitution. But if you turn your mind toward this rough and depraved state through drunkenness and useless concerns—which lead downward to the abyss of perdition—what good will it be able to understand, or what noble thing will it be able to declare to its own thoughts? Thus it is necessary that every habit be darkened and disturbed, held in uncertainty as in the night and in a difficult war.

CXXXVI. — TO THE SAME

The Lord has decreed: "To those saying to Me on that day that they know Me, I will reply: 'I do not know you,' inasmuch as you honored piety only with words, but practiced evil works."

CXXXVII. — TO JOHN THE MONK

Demons strive through various temptations to close our mouths, so that we may not sing, nor chant, nor give glory to the Creator. But we have hope, as the holy John says, that the Lord will open, and no one will be able to close.

CXXXVIII. — TO PHILO THE ILLUSTRIOUS

Cease from now on to oppress or strike with your fists the lowly and simple; for God is a sufficient and superabundant examiner of offenses, and no one who is a despiser of poverty ^D and a reckless injurer of the poor will escape the retribution of God.

CXXXIX. — TO STEPHANUS THE DEACON

CXL. — TO AMPHILOCHIUS, COMES JUNIOR

CXLI. — TO THE SAME

CXLII. — TO THE SAME

CXLIII. — TO ANTONIUS

CXLIV. — TO CONON THE ILLUSTRIOUS

CXLV. — TO EULAMPIUS

but most opportunely and with foresight, does the divine Scripture speak against envy; for every holy exhortation is accustomed to be set forth as a most powerful armor against every passion, but especially against the destructive [passion] of envy. ^A

CXLVI. — To the Same. "The spirit," it says, "which God has made to dwell in us, yearns." And what is it that the divine Spirit yearns for, seeks, and loves, if not the union, concord, and mutual love of the brethren? But love is born of humility and piety; while hatred and bitter jealousy arise from pride and boasting: wherefore it is said, "God resists the proud," ^B moving [His] camp against them because of their folly, as once He did against Satan, who was the first of all to be infected with the vice of pride. "But He gives grace to the humble"; that is to say, He bestows certain spiritual gifts upon those who strive to humble themselves for the sake of God.

CXLVII. — To the Same. "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you become like him. But answer a fool according to his folly, lest he appear wise in his own eyes." For he who consents to a fool speaking things contrary to the laws ^C of God, and who agrees with and praises him when he invites [others] to sin, has answered according to the folly of the fool and has become like him. But he who has opposed the one speaking wicked things, not having endured to have fellowship with the foul-mouthed man, is said to answer "according to his folly"—that is, he has been proven an excellent victor and trophy-bearer against that folly, having used the quiver of the arrows of truth and of heavenly wisdom against the folly and vain opinion of the wicked sophist. ^D

CXLVIII. — To Sozomenos. Sin is dissolved more quickly than smoke; but as for the debt of punishment and torment, how many ages does it extend? If you ponder this, you will be shaken with great fear and trembling.

CXLIX. — To Cornelius the Presbyter. What is the meaning of what the Apostle says: "Even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him no longer"? Since the Lord, for the sake of our salvation, became man and conversed with men, in order to show his incarnation to be true, He not only suckled as a babe, as was plainly seen, but also, when grown, ate and drank, labored and slept, was scourged and [D (continued)] crucified, and so forth. Yet after His resurrection from the dead, He is no longer subject to the infirmities of the body and its necessary needs. For this reason the Apostle says that we no longer know Christ as subject to passions, infirmities, and death. For the power of His divinity surpassed all human things. And although He exists now, and into the ages to come, in the holy body which was once crucified under Pilate and committed to the tomb...

previously crucified under Pilate, and buried, and rose again from the dead; nevertheless, He will no longer suffer human things, and has a body that is ageless, unharmable, and undefiled for the ages.

^A CL. — TO GERONTIUS THE EXCEPTOR. "Do not commune," says the Apostle, "with the unfruitful works of darkness." For what fruit did you have in the wages of intellectual death, for which you are now ashamed? Truly, evil works and every dark deed are unfruitful. When, however, the soul is able to sober up and arrive at consciousness, it blushes and is ashamed all the more for the things sinned in the drunkenness of vice, and finds a radiance of temperance.

^B CLI. — TO HYPAFLORUS THE DEACON. Do not lose heart, but stand firm with a noble mind. For the brave man, even if he should be covered in wounds, will surely conquer, even fighting while wounded.

CLII. — TO OLYMPIUS THE SCHOLASTIC. Far be it. The divine Apostle is not speaking about himself when he says, "I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin"; rather, he speaks in the person of those who are troubled by fleshly passions, yet oppose them, and for the most part conquer, though sometimes they are overcome by being caught off guard.

^C CLIII. — TO THE SAME. It is easy to perceive that the Apostle is using a mask—what is known as *ethopoeia*—when he says, "I was alive once without the law." For he was never able to take a breath without the Mosaic law; from early childhood, he had been taught the law precisely under Gamaliel. Therefore, he assumes the persona of those who lived outside the Mosaic law.

CLIV. — TO MAXIMIANUS. "In every nation, he who fears God and works righteousness is accepted by Him." It is evident that such a person is accepted by God and is not an outcast, for he flees at an opportune time to the reverence of the most blessed knowledge of God. For God will not abandon such a one to die in ignorance, but will lead him to the truth and enlighten him with the light of knowledge, just as ^D He did with Cornelius, regarding whom the blessed Peter spoke the words mentioned above.

CLV. — TO THESSALIUS THE DEACON. It is worthwhile that he who desires the good should demonstrate this labor not only in thought and word, but also in deed throughout his whole life, so that he may thus attain to heavenly rest and the kingdom, having harvested the fruits of manifold virtue. See what the patriarch Jacob says: "Issachar desired the good, resting between the portions; and seeing the land, that it was fat, he put his shoulder to labor, and became a tiller of the soil." And the prophet Jeremiah also says: "Give your

shoulder to your own work"; ^A that is, bring your good designs into action by becoming a doer.

CLVI. — TO CHRYSOGONUS CLESVALIUS. If any of the uninstructed should wish to slander all the best things, and to take their beginning from a lie, and to end continuously in a lie, tell me, to what end will he finish or be brought?

CLVII. — TO THEOGNOSTUS. Perhaps you do not know, brother, that the law of God, being observed, is wont both to guard and protect, and to cover those who strive to observe and protect it with sobriety.

CLVIII. — TO A DECURION. No one has ever breathed and exhaled the whole air, nor has the mind ever fully grasped, nor the voice ever comprehended, the essence of God; but by imaging forth ^B from those things which are about Him—which are, as it were, in His shadow—we fashion one weak and feeble conception after another.

CLIX. — TO THE SAME. "Narrow is the gate, and strait is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." If, therefore, those who find it are few, much fewer will be those who are able to enter; yet they do not enter because of their own negligence.

CLX. — TO THE SAME. The mind is the mistress, the little flesh is the servant. Do not, therefore, coddle the servant immoderately through gluttony, lest, forgetting its own measure, it should seize tyranny and dare to take up arms against its master. ^C For this reason Solomon, being by no means ignorant of the insolence of the body, said: "Delicacy is not fitting for a fool, even if a servant should insolently hold power over his own master."

CLXI. — TO THE SAME. If you desire to hold the leadership of a province, you will be dishonored; but if you humble yourself, you shall find mercy. For it is written: "God, pouring contempt upon princes, has saved the humble."

CLXII. — TO CRISPUS THE SCHOLAR. Some, having poured themselves out into speculations beyond what is right, imagining themselves able to grasp something greater, have fallen away from the true knowledge and have lapsed into a knowledge ^D wrapped in falsehoods; "and yet this is vanity," as Solomon says.

CLXIII. — TO JULIANA THE VIRGIN. For the most chaste and most beautiful virgin, fasting is an excellent mirror; for in it the virgin, according to her capacity, beholds God, and fashions a laver and a solid, unshaken, and immutable base, acquiring for herself thoughts not in the least subject to the passions.

CLXIV. — TO THE SAME VIRGIN. You have read often what the holy Moses writes concerning a certain excellent and most wise man, that he...

made a bronze laver, and its base similarly of bronze from the mirrors of the fasting women, who fasted at the doors of the Tabernacle of the Testimony.

CLXV. — TO THEODORE. Do not neglect, each day, before you set your hand to any work, to enter the house of prayer and there pay the debt of prayer to the Lord. ^B

CLXVI. — TO THE SAME. For this reason, God has established the Churches everywhere in the sea of this world like certain harbors, so that, as much as possible, fleeing the salt and the storm of worldly cares, we may put in there and enjoy a saving calm and great gladness.

CLXVII. — TO SOPHRONIUS THE TRIBUNE. Let us repress excessive pleasure and immoderate joy, and the insolence of the soul in times of prosperity, by a sorrowful countenance and timely silence.

CLXVIII. — TO THE SAME. Let us lash the leaping of the flesh and the shameful desire with the whip of fasting, and persuade it by reason to be at peace.

CLXIX. — TO THE SAME. The human race is very easily puffed up with arrogance; wherefore, many strong bridles are needed to tame such pride. You will find, if you search, much scattered throughout the divine Scriptures serving as bridles and muzzles for irrational passions. ^C

CLXX. — TO THE SAME. Our Lord Jesus Christ became everything for us that we are, save for one thing: sin. For “He committed no sin at all.” But He became everything else—that is, body, soul, and mind. Beware, therefore, of the delusions of the Manichaeans.

CLXXI. — TO THE SAME. The Savior Christ is indeed man, as object to the eyes, but He is the same God, as apprehended by the intellect; and He is the Son of Man because of Adam and the Virgin, from whom He took His origin—from the former as a forefather, from the latter in the manner of a mother, though not in the manner of birth. ^D

CLXXII. — TO THE SAME. “Flesh and blood,” he says, “shall not inherit the kingdom of God”; that is, those who are carnal in their behavior shall be cast out of the kingdom. “But you,” he says, “O faithful and spiritual ones, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit.”

CLXXIII. — TO APHTHONIUS THE SAMARITAN. You ask me how it is possible for a body subject to corruption to rise incorruptible. I ask you in return, by what reason did the manna, which was capable of melting and rotting, remain untainted when enclosed by Moses in the golden urn? It is clear that it was by the will and power of God. For by that same

faculty, Enoch, being mortal, was translated, and he is preserved immortal even until these times. ^A

CLXXIV. — TO TELESPHORUS THE PRIMATE. The Scripture shows the common person of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and one image, and the same likeness. For that statement, "Let us make man according to our image and likeness," signifies this. ^B

CLXXV. — TO PHILAGRIUS THE LECTOR. If anyone should be able to smell with his soul the most sweet fragrance of the Holy Spirit, he will revive in his habit, as if having risen from the dead; and he will himself marvel at what condition he has been changed into, and he will exclaim that word of Hezekiah: "You have raised up my life, and being comforted I lived, and you have cast all my sins behind me," so that I may no longer imagine the idols of my offenses, having acquired a pure heart for the future.

CLXXVI. — TO THE SAME. The works of iniquity should be called not only foul-smelling and fruitless, but also dead.

CLXXVII. — TO LIMENIUS THE MONK. The right disposition of virtues, which is in heaven, provides a blessedness which neither speech can express, nor mind comprehend, nor thought contain. ^C

CLXXVIII. — TO THE SAME. "Do not deliver me," he says, "into the souls of those oppressing me," for the souls of demons are the unholy passions, from which one must pray to be delivered.

CLXXIX. — TO THE SAME. That statement of Jacob: "If the Lord will give me bread to eat, and a garment to wrap myself," denotes the way of life of the monks.

CLXXX. — TO THE SAME. The greatest good is placidity, having attained which, Moses beheld God, as far as it is possible for a man to see. ^D

CLXXXI. — TO THE SAME. By your chastity and purity you have emulated admirable Elijah, who, having become the leader of all exercise, first showed us temperance and the angelic celibacy, on account of which he was also caught up in a fiery chariot.

CLXXXII. — TO THE SAME. Calling impiety a most grievous sickness and darkness, you do not stray from the truth.

CLXXXIII. — TO AMPHICTYON THE RHETOR. Having been enriched with great gain, and a bountiful table, and honored with more honors than is fitting, do not act like a Corybant in your insanity; rather, expecting the vicissitudes of things, restrain your insolence. For there is nothing weaker, nothing more feeble, nothing more miserable than human happiness.

CLXXXIV. — TO HIERIUS THE SENATOR. How many, do you think, deem themselves blessed because the divine

divinely inspired John, Bishop of Constantinople? You, being a fervent admirer and cultivator of these, will be praised exceedingly, and will be judged fortunate.

CLXXXV. — TO MARIANUS THE SUBDEACON.

CLXXXVI. — TO GIGANTIUS THE DEACON.

CLXXXVII. — TO THE SAME.

CLXXXVIII. — TO LEUCADIUS THE ARCHDEACON.

CLXXXIX. — TO THE SAME.

CXC. — TO THE SAME.

^A multiply, and obtain dominion over the entire world." How then, as you say, did Adam and his wife beforehand sin in the heavens?

CXCI. — TO ATTICUS THE LECTOR. "He who has seen me, has seen the Father," that is, whoever has been deemed worthy to grasp my divinity, it is manifest that he has also known the divinity of the Father; for there is one divinity, and glory of the Father and of the Son. For "I and the Father are one."

CXCII. — TO AGLAIUS THE ANTECESSOR. The blessed Peter, writing, says: "That all might indeed be judged in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." The phrase, "that they might be judged in the flesh," is spoken to those who assert that neither does the flesh rise from the dead, nor is the flesh judged; but the phrase, "that they might live according to God in the spirit," means this: no longer wandering in mind, so as to suspect many and various gods, but living and knowing the one and only God existing unto the ages. This statement of ours will be quite useful against those who cherish the views of Aristotle, and who contend that all the souls of men ^B will eventually be attenuated and migrate into that which is not.

CXCIII. — TO THE SAME. You desire to learn how Christ the Lord is "without mother, and without father, and without genealogy." According to what is above us, He is called "without mother," but as He is according to us, "without father," and according to that which pertains to things above, "without genealogy." For the prophet says: "Who shall recount His generation?" For Matthew has indeed recounted His generation according to the flesh, but how the Father begat the Son before the ages, no one at all, neither of men nor of angels, has been able to express or to know.

CXCIV. — TO THE SAME. Just as those who are seized by fever imagine honey to be bitter, due to the ruined faculties of their taste, so it is also for those whose soul’s faculty of tasting is damaged. And the prophet says: "Woe to those who call the sweet bitter."

CXCV. — TO ANAXAGORAS THE GRAMMARIAN. "You shall receive a crown of graces for your head," ^C Solomon said; for there is not one grace with which the crown perceived by the mind is woven, but very many graces; and the Apostle says: "May grace be multiplied to you."

CXCVI. — TO THE SAME. You also wish to know what is the golden chain which follows the crown. This would be the "sweet yoke" of Christ the Savior, which is placed upon the neck of the soul having believed in the truth.

CXCVII. — TO TRYPHON THE ARCHITECT. The most beautiful repentance, and continuous prayer, and supplication, provides a fragrance to the man withered by [evil] works; for the most humane Lord Christ accepts even a polluted prayer [brought forward in humility].

And let the speaking thief persuade you: "Remember me, Lord Jesus, when you come into your kingdom," and having immediately heard: "Today you shall be with me in paradise."

CXCVIII. To the same.

CXCIX. To Fortunatus.

CC. To Secundianus.

CCI. To Callistion.

CCII. To the same.

CCIII. To Cyrinus the Bishop.

CCIV. To the same.

^A rendering him an example. The heretics crucify him again, not only those who attempt to rebaptize perversely, but also those who dare to say that Christ will one day be crucified even for the demons.

CCV. — TO GAINAS THE COMMANDER. Every creature has had its being through the Word and Wisdom. But if God the Word is himself the essential Wisdom and the creator of every creature, both that which is perceived by the mind and that which falls under the senses, how could he be called a creature?

CCVI. — To the same. The blessed Paul says that the almighty God and Father dwells in inaccessible light. But this light, which is conceived only by the mind, subsists by its own nature, is incomprehensible, and is without any limits, is the adorable Son and Word and Lord of all. If, therefore, these things are altogether so, by what reasoning do those who are endowed with beastly habits, the destroyers of Christ's flock, the Arians, dare to instruct you that the only-begotten Son of God and Word is a creature and was generated from things that did not exist?

CCVII. — TO MELISSUS THE CANDIDATE. A man falling into sickness, and having his disposition changed by the disease, becomes more useless for work and more feeble; nevertheless, he desires what is harmful. So also the soul, turning away from the good and immersed in worse things, loses its strength for performing better actions, and covets what is destructive.

CCVIII. — TO THYRSUS THE SCRINIARIUS. "The law," it says, "shall go in unto the wife of his brother, and shall raise up seed." For every man, or rather every human soul having received an intellectual man from God, that is to say, the innate law, killed it and buried it through negligence. Hence, necessity called for his brother, that is to say, the written law, to enter unto the wife of the law of nature which had already died, so that it might raise up seed for the one who had died through great sloth.

CCIX. — To the same. God, having turned away from the sophists and the makers of vain discourses, and those full of every falsehood and error, entrusted his own saving and most splendid preaching of piety and justice to certain tanners and fishermen.

CCX. — To the same. Everyone is judged according to the inclination of his will, whether toward evil or toward the better. And let you be persuaded by Judas, who in a single night became an alien to life and betrayed his Master, and by the thief who in a moment of time was reconciled to life. For the iniquities of that man will not be remembered who has not completely apostatized from God and assumed a heart perverse with infidelity and stupidity. "For living he shall live," he says, "when he shall convert, and he shall not die."

CCXI. — TO BYRILLUS THE MACEDONIAN. How do you dare to call the Holy Spirit a servant?

^A to call, who through immaculate baptism delivers all who believe into liberty? For the Apostle says, "The law of the Spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death."

CCXII. — TO IGNATIUS THE PROCONSUL. It is within the power of one who falls into the mouth of the beast—the devil, I mean—to be set free through repentance, just as he who had consorted with his stepmother at Corinth was delivered and rescued from the jaws of the adversary, before he could be swallowed up by overmuch sorrow, and be plunged into the belly of the beast through the anguish of a faint heart and despair.

CCXIII. — TO THE SAME. The heavenly Physician comes to you of his own accord, though he be not seen by the eyes, even if you are unable to go to him due to your sickness and the languor of your mind.

CCXIV. — TO THE SAME. I myself have known some who, even when the Physician of souls approached them out of his love for mankind, were unwilling to receive him, because of their dullness and great wickedness.

CCXV. — TO THE SAME. Paul, while he was a persecutor of the Church of Christ, was blinded first by ^B evils and inexplicable cruelty, in order that he might recover the light of God and of justice. Not without reason, therefore, did the Lord say, "I came into the world, that those who do not see might see, and that those who see might become blind." For he hinted that he would put out the eyes that were addicted to base crimes and absurdities; but would open and heal the intellectual eyes, by which the beauty of the virtues and of the knowledge of God is perceived.

CCXVI. — TO EUGRAMMIUS THE LAWYER. "Moses," it says, "entered into the darkness." By the darkness around God is signified nothing other than the unintelligible and inscrutable nature of God; for the appearance of that darkness is naturally obscure and without light, hiding what is within it by means of its densest, shadow-like air, barring the eyes of those who look towards it, and furthermore, the curious ^C attempts of their own thoughts concerning God: "For darkness," he says, "is his hiding place, and he shall not be seen."

CCXVII. — TO THE SAME. You are accustomed to say readily that the devil is resourceful and cunning; I agree. But if we wish to be sober-minded, the devil will be cunning to himself and not to us. For the spirit of wickedness brings ruin only upon its possessors; but virtue, acting in the opposite way, is a benefit not only to its possessors, but also to their neighbors.

CCXVIII. — TO THE SAME. In order that you may learn that the evil man is evil only to himself, while the good man is good also to others, I shall provide you with a testimony from Proverbs: "For ^D my son," it says, "if you are evil,

^A you alone shall draw to yourself the evils; but if you are wise, you shall be wise for yourself and for your neighbor."

CCXIX. — TO ARISTOTLE THE PRIMATE.

The Son is said to be sent, not according to that sense in which God the Word is in the bosom of the Father, containing all things—"For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things," and "In Him we live, and move, and are"—but according to that sense in which God the Word takes upon Himself the affections of the body He has assumed.

CCXX. — TO THE SAME.

Mourning, which occurs for the sake of sins, claims for itself a sweet sorrow and sadness, and the bitter of those souls is found to be honey-like, seasoned by good and sweet hope; it therefore nourishes the soul, suffuses thought with pleasure, fattens the heart, and makes the concrete nature of the body to flourish and grow green. Wherefore David sang very well: "My tears have been my bread day and night."

CCXXI. — TO THE SAME.

"O Lord," he says, "as with a shield of good will Thou hast crowned us." The same thing, indeed, serves the just as both a shield and a crown, so that the one who has taken up the arms is also ^B crowned intellectually; for Solomon also has said: "A crown of delights shall defend you."

CCXXII. — TO THERINO THE MONK.

Just as in the sea a wicked and bold race of men, in places where there is a city, or a harbor, or a port, by no means make an attack upon those sailing—for that would be to put themselves in danger in vain—but if they should catch a small boat in the open sea, which is destitute of auxiliary aid, seizing the opportunity, they move and overturn everything, and do not cease until they either drown those sailing or suffer this fate themselves; so also the terrible temptation of pleasure, to one who has chosen virginity, brings on a great storm, and a harsh tempest, and unbearable whirlwinds of waves, overturning everything high and low, so that by force and by impetus it might drown the ship. ^C For it has heard that the monk has no authority to marry, and as it were to drop anchor in a harbor through the exercise of union; but he must struggle through everything and fight against the demons who irritate the soul with pleasures. Let us not, therefore, be astonished if we are warred against, nor let us lose heart in the battle; for we have a great defender and champion, the all-holy Spirit, through whom we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the devil—those, I mean, of obscene desires and of the inflaming of the flesh—with the greatest of ease. ^D

CCXXIII. — TO SELEUCIO THE DEACON.

Since four virtues hold the first place among other virtues—prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice—on this account the devil also uses four vices, which are most comprehensive, containing within themselves many other vices, for his own defense. And hear what the prophet Zechariah says, having beheld the power of Satan supported by four horns: "I lifted up my

eyes, and I saw four horns, which scattered Judah and Israel." ^A

CCXXIV. — To the Same. The fourfold power of the devil, Moses, the great lawgiver, in Leviticus, for those who are able to understand more diligently, describes as leprosy, like the head of a hydra, fourfold: white, and sky-colored, and green, and fiery-red. ^B

CCXXV. — To Augustine the Tribune. Knowing well that God is the giver of every good thing, you frequently impress upon those who meet you the saying of the patriarch Jacob: "God has had mercy on me, and I have all things." For not from works of righteousness, but from the mercy and great goodness of God, do you possess those things which you have; and from these, much good is done for the needy and the poor. And I approve of your doing good, and being well-considered ^C, and speaking humbly concerning yourself.

CCXXVI. — To Theophilus the Chancellor. Just as the Lord Jesus did not do all that He could do, but performed miracles as He willed, so He did not teach all that He knew, but spoke only those things which we were able to learn, measuring the word of His teaching to the weakness of our nature. For this reason, He says that He does not know the day, as the disciples were still imperfect.

CCXXVII. — To Sisinnius the Spatharius. The wicked demon who afflicts you makes you live soberly and flee more ardently to God, and from there to draw out aids and a defense. For he who sees the enemy standing over him runs and unites himself with the One who is able to help. Children do the same: when they see something fearful, they flee to their mother’s bosom, and, clinging to her garments, hold on tightly, even though many often try to pull them away, but in vain. But when nothing is present that disturbs them, even when the mother calls and pulls at them, they run away; nay, they despise her when she calls, and—even though she devises many things to pull them to her—they turn away, and despise even the table set before them. Understand now that the mother is the benevolent providence of God. ^D

CCXXVIII. — To Eustathius the Deacon. "Iron," says the psalm, "passed through the soul of Joseph." By iron, it seems to me, it enigmatically speaks of the sin to which the wife of Potiphar was urging the chaste youth. For sin, as it cuts and slays the soul, may not unreasonably be called iron.

CCXXIX. — To Stration the Illustrious. This is how we differ from the unbelievers: that we judge things in a different way than they do. The Gentile sees the heaven, and he venerates it, and he is struck with awe; for he thinks the heaven is God. The Gentile sees the earth and the waters, and he worships and serves things devoid of all sense. But we are not so; God forbid! But we see the heaven, and

we admire Him who made it. For we do not understand the heaven to be God, but an ^A effect of God. I see creation, and by it I am guided to its Creator. The Gentile sees riches and is struck with amazement; I see riches, and despising them, I have laughed. He sees poverty and shrinks away wailing; I see poverty and leap for joy, knowing that virtue is the true wealth. In a different way, then, do Christians view things, and in a different way do the witless Gentiles.

CCXXX. — TO ZEPHYRIANUS.

CCXXXI. — TO NICARETUS THE SCRINIARIUS.

CCXXXII. — TO THE MONKS DWELLING IN CILICIA.

CCXXXIII. — TO THEOPEMPTUS THE PROTECTOR.

CCXXXIV. — TO CARPIO, A FOLLOWER OF THE VALENTINIAN HERESY.

^A the liquid substance originated. As one of our brothers was passing by, he asked you whether all the waters, both the salt and the sweet, came into existence from the tears of Achamoth. You, being at a loss to answer, asked for time, and until now, lacking reason, you have not dared to proceed. But we, having let out a laugh, will utter a ridiculous falsehood to a liar, in order to relieve his perplexity. For you ought to have responded by saying that the bitter tears of the non-existent Achamoth produced the salt seas, as though poured out from pain and intense bitterness; but the sweat of that wretched woman brought forth springs, and rivers, and wells, and lakes, and the rest of the sweet waters. We say these things laughingly in response to your nonsense.

CCXXXV. — TO EUSEBIUS THE DEACON.

CCXXXVI. — TO SOPHIANUS THE SCHOLARIUS.

CCXXXVII. — TO THE SAME.

CCXXXVIII. — TO THE SAME.

CCXXXIX. — TO SOSANDRUS THE PRIMISCRINIUS.

CCXL. — TO THE SAME.

commandments of God and the dogmas concerning many things, contain no discord among themselves; but the organ comprising all these is the soul of the wise man that loves Christ. ^A CCXLI. Obedience to the divine command is naturally disposed to grant life and immortality, while disobedience is born for death and corruption. Since, therefore, Adam, having disobeyed God by eating what was forbidden, brought death upon himself, for this reason God clothed him in a tunic of skin, so that he might remember, and not fall into oblivion of his own error, and of the mortality and corruption he had brought upon himself of his own free will. For dead skins signify deadness and corruption. CCXLII. — TO THE SAME. ^B Even if we are tossed in the storm of many tribulations, we shall not for that reason be hindered from celebrating the feast of the dedication in Jerusalem, and singing to the Lord, as David says, a new song, which is to say, one pertaining to the Gospel. For let Jerusalem now be understood by me as the soul, in which we celebrate the feast of the knowledge of God and of every virtue, casting off the old man, and putting on the new man who is created according to the image and likeness of the Lord; "for thy youth shall be renewed as the eagle’s." "It was then," he says, "the feast of the dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter." CCXLIII. — TO SABINUS THE MAGISTRARIAN. ^C You desire to know the significance of the three daughters of Job. Since, therefore, Job, by the command of God, has been delivered from the night of afflictions and troubles, he has necessarily beheld the most brilliant day of exultation and of incessant and eternal rest and joy. For this reason he called the first daughter 'Day,' and the second 'Cassia'; for cassia has a sweet scent, because in place of the stench of the detestable sufferings which he had endured before this, he had obtained the sweet scent of grace from above. And as for the third daughter, who is named 'Amalthea's Horn,' it is interpreted in the Greek tongue as an abundance of goods. You are surely not ignorant of all the many good things which the Lord granted even from here, before the coming age, to the resolute and long-suffering ^D Job, because of his great endurance, and his most valid and celebrated exploit and trophy of fortitude. CCXLIV. — TO THE SAME. We must flee from the desire to please men and from anger; for the law has foretold that these are the whitening and reddening leprosy. We must drive away the simulation that bears the character of a fox and ignoble fear; for these are the glancing [pale/light-colored] leprosy. Furthermore, we must cast away from us irrational sorrow and the envy that wastes us away; for these are the green leprosy. CCXLV. — TO DRUSILLIANUS. If, having a body subject to sickness, you dare such beastly and inhuman deeds, what would you have dared if you had been firm and robust? Since the Lord was foreseeing your homicides, such as you were about to commit, He was preventing...

your unspeakable fury with bonds and by the necessity of a calamitous and multiform infirmity. ^A

CCXLVI. — TO BISHOP EUPHRASIUS.

Let us pray fervently that the psychic leprosy be driven away from the warp, and from the woof, and from the skin. By the warp, let the nervous part of Christ’s Church be understood—I mean the bishops, and all those who enjoy the honors of the Levitical dignity. By the woof, let the sanctified people who are instructed and fed by them be understood. By the skin, let those who have newly come to God, and who still hold the place of catechumens, be understood—those who have not yet put off the carcass of the old garments of sin through the regeneration of holy baptism. ^B

CCXLVII. — TO THE SAME.

Just as if someone, having dismantled the underlying human figure of a king’s image that had been artfully and diligently constructed out of precious stones by a wise craftsman, were to transfer those stones and rearrange them, and out of them form the shape of a dog or a fox, and then define and assert that this is that beautiful image of the king which the wise craftsman had once constructed—showing the stones nicely assembled by the first craftsman into the king’s image, but poorly carried over by the second into the shape of a dog, and by the artifice of the stones deceiving those who are more simple, who do not have a royal grasp of the form, and persuading them that this rotten idea of a fox is that beautiful image of the king—in the same way also the heresiarchs, after the manner of old women, patching together words and certain expressions, and tearing away some parables of the divine Scripture, struggle to apply the oracles of God to their own myths. But do not be ignorant of such as these. ^C

CCXLVIII. — TO THEOCLIANUS.

"But to us," says the Apostle, "there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him." How, therefore, will there be a plurality of gods and many principles? There exists, therefore, one Creator of all, and there are not many gods, as you say, nor many aeons, male and female. For the blessed Paul said, "If there are indeed those who are called many gods"—by the word "called," he declared that they do not exist. For the sun, the moon, the stars, and the remaining creatures are not gods. And it is the deluded who make them out to be gods. ^D

CCXLIX. — TO AELIANUS THE LECTOR.

"Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?" The divine Apostle does not judge the body to be death, but the law of sin which is in the members of the body, which, through the transgression that was in Adam, is lurking within us and driving the soul toward the death of unrighteousness.

^A CCL. — TO TEUCER, THE DEACON. Our Lord and Savior and Christ rejoices in our praiseworthy deeds, nurturing himself day and night. "I have food to eat," he said to the apostles, "which you do not know about now," but later you shall know; thereby prefiguring, to his own disciples, the salvation of those in the city of the Samaritans who believed at that time, and of the myriad nations who became Christians after them. For Isaiah also prophesied concerning Christ, that: "He shall eat butter and honey." He who in the beginning fashioned Adam, later appeared as an infant and as a man, Christ Jesus, God of heaven and earth and of all visible things. Through butter and honey, he indicates the nourishment of the soul, and the sweet and gentle nature of the excellent work of Christians.

CCLI. — To the same. If you do good works, and imitate the meekness of Jesus, you have fed him with butter and honey; but if you remain irascible and a worker of base deeds, Jesus will reasonably say of you also: "They gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."

CCLII. — TO GLYCADIO, THE PROTECTOR. You are named Glycadius [Sweet], but you have become acid and unpleasant in your character.

CCLIII. — TO DEMETRIUS, THE HERETIC. You asked me from where the skin tunics were found for Adam and his companion; I in turn ask you: from where was the heaven stretched out, expanded on high from things that did not exist? From where was the shining sun established? From where the moon, and the dance of the stars? From what substances were the mountains cleft? From where in Egypt did the supply of gnats and flies come to the great Moses? How was the wooden rod changed into a living, creeping serpent? From where was it given to the lawgiver's hand to become white as snow? Just so, then, at that time, when the Lord willed it, he made the skin tunics for those with Adam, without animals, without any human art, and without manifold workmanship, as he willed at the very moment he desired; just as from the beginning, when he willed it, both heaven and all things came into being.

CCLIV. — To the same. Establish first that which was said by Christ not intellectually, but perceptibly: "From the beginning, he who created made them male and female," and "What God has joined, let no man put asunder." And afterwards explain allegorically what the Apostle says: "This is a great mystery concerning Christ and the Church," for we are of his flesh and of his bones, because we are partakers of Christ, and are joined to him in faith, in knowledge, and in virtues.

^D CCLV. — TO FAUSTUS, THE PRIMATE. We proclaim, we glorify, we praise, we adore the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one

power, one divinity, one authority, one will, a consubstantial Trinity we glorify, and confess in one way and in three ways; in one way in one essence and divinity, and in three ways in three subsistences, or three persons. ^A

CCLVI. — TO PELAGIUS. Ventriloquists, and those who cry out from the earth, and those who utter vain words, as the Scripture says, are to be shunned; for every forbidden and false word is empty of truth. See what is said in the Gospel, that "Of his fullness have we all received." But the heretics who utter vain words possess no words from that fullness, but rather words empty of truth, and empty of divine power and wisdom. Those who cry out from their belly—for those who do not possess the truth, yet claim to possess it, it is manifest that they cry out from the belly, obeying their own belly, "whose god is the belly." For the source of the words of the gluttonous does not proceed from the Holy Spirit, not from the leading part of the soul, not from a heart that longs for Christ, but it gushes forth ^B from the belly.

CCLVII. — TO DIOCLETIAN. Anyone can easily be moved from the right side to the left, as the Apostle says: "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall"; for until the very last breath, human affairs are in uncertainty, swaying now this way, now that. And you have certainly seen with your own eyes Apollinaris growing old in a prudent and venerable life, honorable in his speech, and for a time persecuted by the Arians; and yet, such a man fell into heresy, deceived by the devil, and openly declared a dogma that the Son of God took on flesh from above without a soul or a mind, and he calls the divinity of the Word the divine animation; and this was the work of the devil, who envies all men; as it has been said by one of the wise, that envy is always an adversary to great success and good fortune. Thus, through men of great name, who were held in the highest admiration, he invents things in order to disturb the Church of God, to afflict it with sorrow, and to shake and confound it severely. ^C

CCLVIII. — TO SABURIUS THE COUNT. Concerning the intellectual Jerusalem, that is, the Church, it is written: "Whose participation is in the same." For we all who believe, being one body and one spirit, and one city in our way of life, coming together into the same, in the bond of peace and love, unanimously become partakers of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. ^D

CCLIX. — TO NAUCRATIUS. He calls the dispensation of the Incarnation a lamp; for the

wisdom of God, having lit the aforementioned lamp, found the lost drachma.

CCLX. — TO THE SAME. Everything worthy of salvation has been found, but that which is unworthy, on account of impenitence and stupefaction, is said not to be found. For even if they be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved, or what the Apostle calls the remnant according to the election of grace, which is saved through faith.

CCLXI. — TO THE SAME. If all, as you say, are saved, how have I become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some? And how shall I provoke my flesh to emulation, so that I might save some of them, and not all?

CCLXII. — TO THE SAME. Some call the prophets bees, and hold that their honey-production is the divine Scripture. It is therefore good to believe Solomon who says: "My son, eat honey, that your throat may be sweetened." He calls reading and the meditation upon the oracles of the Spirit sweet and honey-like food. ^B

CCLXIII. — TO THE SAME. You ask me what is meant by what is written: "Joseph knew her not until she had brought forth." That is to say, he did not know, nor did he understand, that Mary would be revealed as the Theotokos. But after the miraculous birth, the shepherds announced the words of the angels: "There is born into the world Christ the Lord in the city of David," and, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace," and so on.

CCLXIV. — TO CALLIMACHUS THE MEMORIALIST. The simple and naked letter of divinely inspired Scripture is not ill-called a honeycomb; but the sense hidden as a treasure beneath the letter will be figuratively termed honey.

CCLXV. — TO PAUL THE DECEMPRIMUS. "Behold I and my children," the Savior Christ cried out through Isaiah. For as it was fitting for ^C the Savior to speak to the holy children, as much as they were able to contain, and to minister to the others; indeed, in comparison to the perfection of Christ, all the saints are but children.

CCLXVI. — TO CYRILLUS THE PRIMATE. Figuratively, the first Eve was called "Life," ^D to signify the second, that is to say, the holy Mary, who brought forth the life of men, Christ the Lord of glory. For she is truly shown to be the mother of all who live according to the evangelical precepts, and who do not die in their souls through unbelief.

CCLXVII. — TO THE SAME. "Who has given to women the art of weaving?" the Lord asks Job. The first woman indeed had the wisdom to weave garments which are presented to the eyes, that we might thereby cover the manifest nakedness of our bodies. But the second, that is to say the Theotokos, with far...

-reaching wisdom and the art of embroidery, has shown us that she could clothe all the faithful in the garments of incorruptibility, from the wool of the Lamb born of her, and deliver them from the nakedness that is manifest to all. For every true assembly of Christians stands at the right hand of the supernal King, clothed in a golden robe, surrounded by variety, multicolored with infinite kinds of virtues. ^A

CCLXVIII. — To the Same. Adam was fashioned, and Eve was built, that God the Word might show that He had indeed fashioned for Himself an immaculate body from Mary, and from His side, pierced upon the cross, had built His bride, the Church.

CCLXIX. — To the Same. You have written, saying that if Joseph did not know the Virgin before she gave birth, he certainly knew her after the birth. How, then, did he know her? It is manifest that he knew her by showing honor and reverence to her who had been so highly honored by God as to remain a virgin before the birth, and a virgin again revealed after the birth. ^B

CCLXX. — To the Same. Our Lord Christ, who in His birth opened the immaculate womb, He Himself, even after He was born, sealed it by His own wisdom, power, and miraculous action, in no wise breaking the seals of virginity. ^C And whoever has a sane mind will confess this to be the work of God.

CCLXXI. — To the Same. You bend your whole mind toward carnal thoughts, and you say, "He knew her," if you mean by "knew," to hint at intercourse. But know, O most clever man, that Joseph was not a lover of pleasure, nor was he lustful, but he was most pious and just. When he heard from the angel speaking about the Virgin who was about to give birth, "that that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit, and she shall bring forth, and shall save his people, and shall reign unto the ages," he deemed it necessary to be on his guard before the face of the Lord, struck with awe at this truly astonishing and most paradoxical mystery. Wherefore, from then on, not as a suitor or husband, but as a worshiper and most constant minister of God, having bridled his own thoughts with continence, he served with all holiness, and great purity, and fear of God, her who was called—but was not—his wife, Mary. ^D

CCLXXII. — To Ptolemy. If you also speak according to Apollinarius, that God the Word took flesh from heaven and descended to earth, what is the need of the blessed Virgin? Therefore, most prudent man, know most accurately that the Lord, who in His divinity is uncreated, fashioned Himself according to His humanity from the Virgin without seed, and corruption, and without any stain. Where the presence of the Holy Spirit is, there no pollution at all is to be conceived.

CCLXXIII. — TO EURYCLUS THE PRESBYTER.

CCLXXIV. — TO THE SAME.

CCLXXV. — TO HERACLITUS THE SCHOLASTIC.

CCLXXVI.

CCLXXVII.

CCLXXVIII. — TO LEONIDAS THE COUNT.

CCLXXIX. — TO THALLIANUS THE ILLUSTRIOUS.

^A For they know that they are obeying God, and they give thanks to God, and they honor them as they ought to be honored by God because of their dignity. But you harass and burden those ascetics who dwell around your town as if they were slaves. And how shall I call you a lover of Christ?

CCLXXX. — TO FEBRARIUS THE DEACON. Do not greedily seek out for me the broad and relaxed ways of life; rather, resolve to pursue the narrow and afflicted path.

CCLXXXI. — TO HILARIUS THE PRESBYTER. When you are able to persevere in prayer and quiet for two months, then you might be able to grasp, if even by a fingernail or a small phantom in your mind, the burden of the laborious endurance and the sweat-drenched life of those who, throughout their whole life, are devoted to the monastic rule and to a quiet free from all clamor. ^B

CCLXXXII. Because they are thieves of perverse character, the wise men of the Gentiles, having received the most important of their dogmas from Moses and the prophets without gratitude, brew haughtiness and pride, insolently boasting of others' treasures as if they were their own.

CCLXXXIII. — TO DIONYSIODORUS. It would neither be necessary nor worthy of praise to readily believe those who bring accusations against certain persons, even if they seem venerable. For it is most useful to ^C await the defense of the accused party as well, and then, later, after hearing both sides, to deliver a judgment that is lawful, just, and as is fitting.

CCLXXXIV. — TO JULIUS THE FOEDERATUS. The limit of immoderate daily food—as is manifest—is punishment; often, it even bestows disease upon the body.

CCLXXXV. — TO CORNELIUS. "I will visit," says the prophecy, "upon those who are clothed in foreign garments." For he who does not possess virtue, but acts the hypocrite and makes a show of having it, is clearly clothing himself in a foreign garment. And those who are heterodox, pretending to teach what is good, are convicted by their base dogmas of being estranged from divine truth and justice; for they have clothed themselves in an alien attire, just as wolves do with the skins of sheep.

CCLXXXVI. — TO GAINAS THE GENERAL. "Who is the radiance of His glory." ^D The great Apostle employs an example in order to signify that He is not subject to passion, and that this radiance does not exist without a subsistence, as if it were from the Father having suffered loss or having been diminished, in such a way as it might have it in another. Do not, therefore, think this concerning the Word of God; for see what the Apostle immediately adds: "And the character of His substance." For just as the Father is subsistent, so also is the Son subsistent; the Son is not without beginning, for the Father is the cause of Him, insofar as He is Father, not insofar as He is Creator.

See ^A furthermore, how this splendor speaks in the Gospels: "I am the light of the world," light from light. A character is one thing, and that of which it is the character is another; yet not entirely another, but only according to ^B hypostasis.

CCLXXXVII. — TO PHILOROMUS THE COUNT

If you could comprehend the labor of the wars and the vigorous struggle of the monks—which they wage against the vicious demons, their continuous and hostile adversaries—and the unceasing and unrelenting concern and care for salvation, and the countless agonies of the soul, and the bitterness that arises from the various temptations of the opposing powers, then you would consider the table of the ascetics, which appears to you as abundant and generous as time progresses, a great evil, ^B a severe destitution, and an austere mode of life, when you compare and judge it against your own continuous and unrestrained luxuries and lavish banquets. Do not, therefore, condemn them, nor mock the monks who, when they occasionally provide some refreshment to a weary body through the participation of good food, do so with divine permission, with an honest liberty, and with good thoughts.

CCLXXXVIII. — TO ATHANASIUS THE ADVOCATE

You asked me: if Christ, the Lord of all, is essential Wisdom, and is alone full, perfect, and lacking nothing from the beginning, how does Luke write about Him: "He increased in stature, and wisdom, and grace"? It is not that He was perceived as receiving wisdom ^C from somewhere outside, which He possessed from within; for He was entirely wisdom, and incomprehensible knowledge, and grace, and a treasury of inexhaustible graces according to His divinity. Rather, it is that as the human maturity of the Savior progressed, the manifestation of His divine wisdom and grace was disclosed to men.

CCLXXXIX. — TO DRUSIANUS

Even if horns have not yet sprouted on the calf, it nevertheless knows that they will sprout; hence, it strikes with its head at what appears to be fighting it. So too did David know, even if the Savior Christ had not yet appeared to men according to the dispensation—he knew as a prophet from where the horn of salvation would sprout, that is, from the seed and ^D from the lineage of David. Therefore, David himself also said to the Lord Christ: "In thee will we push down our enemies," which means: through thee, and through thy power and might, we will mightily strike down our enemies, the demons. For we, of ourselves, are not able to overcome our invisible enemies.

CCXC. — TO PROCULUS THE STATESMAN

It was provided for you, with foresight, that you possess neither aptitude for speech, nor abundance and wealth of ideas, nor plenitude of money, nor health of body. For if, even when deprived of these, you kick against the goads with your thoughts and chatter unceasingly, pouring out things that are of no use with a wide mouth and ungoverned tongue, and

when you openly parade only your own vainglory and desire to please men, leading wretched little women into captivity, what would you yourself have contrived if you had attained those things of which you have been reasonably deprived ^A CCXCI. — TO ELIANUS THE BISHOP. You are an object of admiration to all, parading Aaron, wearing precious stones, and carrying well-sounding bells suspended from you. For of the clergy that are subject to you, some, by practicing silence, ring out more loudly than a trumpet; others, by instructing through the divine word and brilliant homilies, bring a blessed sound into the very ears of the mind, more harmoniously than those bells.

^B CCXCII. — TO LINNIUS THE MONK. You strive to run around the whole world under heaven with a distracted mind, fashioning infinite excuses and changing places from place to place. At least now cease from your wandering, steady your understanding, take up a settled mode of thought, cut down your instability with the sword of endurance, curb your disorderly impulses, put an end to this ineffable heat, and gather your whole self to Christ in soul and body.

CCXCIII. — TO PRISCILLIANUS THE DEACON. If you assert that the words put forward by you were spoken by Solomon in the *Panaretos* in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, why does the writer of that discourse say that he himself arose from pleasure and sleep? Confess, therefore, that you have missed the mark. For the conception of the Savior in the womb of the Virgin was entirely without pleasure, undefiled, unstained, immaculate, and it came to pass pure and incorrupt.

^C CCXCIV. — TO JOANNES THE MONK. There are times when demons perform various different Satanic ministries for the temptation and injury of men. And there are times when one demon contrives many evils. For just as it is possible for the one human to be a farmer, a builder, a smith, a tanner, a shoemaker, a painter, and so on, so too it is possible for one demon to induce anger, and fornication, and vainglory, and envy, and the rest. And observe how the same villainous and man-hating adversary proposed gluttony, and vainglory, and avarice ^D to Christ when He was being tempted according to His humanity.

CCXCV. — TO VENUSTUS THE MONK. A monk who moves from place to place without urgent necessity, because of his own faint-heartedness and impatience and certain weak, human thoughts, thinking that through his wandering he can diminish the reasonings of the soul, will certainly change his location, but he will in no way diminish or lessen the affliction of heart, his own constriction, and his temptation; rather, he will increase, nourish, and

^A strengthen, and cherish, and multiply it. Therefore, let us not pass our life sluggishly and carelessly. For we shall certainly give an account for our deeds.

^A CCXCVI. — TO CARPALION. You almost drove us into a stupor by bringing forward your fables, having become rich in your dreams with many worlds, and a multitude of ages, and an enumeration of boundaries and borderlands. But since there already exists a refutation and condemnation—composed many years ago by various persons—of such doctrines as are displayed on the page, procure for yourself honor through silence rather than anything else.

^B CCXCVII. — TO EVERTHIUS THE TRIBUNE. When you show me an alliance between a dog and a hyena, then I shall believe you when you say that a man who is never satisfied with riches can be refined toward humanity.

CCXCVIII. — TO THE SAME. Neither does a wolf ever associate lovingly with a sheep, nor does a merciless and insatiable thought-process endure to be friends with good will.

CCXCIX. — TO THE SAME. You ask me why I have called that affection ^C toward one's own kind a "dog." For it is a dog, rabidly tearing apart every inhumanity, and every wickedness, and hardness, and arrogance, and unyieldingness. The dog, therefore, is not worthy of blame, but rather the love and benevolence toward men is worthy of praise.

CCC. — TO THE SAME. If you constantly contend to bark at the demons and the passions, you will not bark at men.

CCCI. — TO THE SAME. You have written asking why I do not cease barking. But I have frequently indicated that it is for the sake of your faint-heartedness and narrow-mindedness. For you will strike me with admiration and astonishment if you enter into battle and conflict, even to the slightest degree, against your own misanthropy.

CCCII. — TO FELIX THE PRESBYTER. It is for robust and firm souls to traverse the path of the present age through many tribulations. For so the Lord employs the ^D vigorous soul.

CCCIII. — TO SEVERUS THE PRIMATE. An Ethiopian does not change his skin, nor a leopard its spots; but you will be able, if your will inclines to it, both to be freed from your dark opinion and to wash away the marks of your manifold wickedness.

CCCIV. — TO THE SAME. You ask me what God says through the prophet: "I will uncover your posterior before your face, and then all your dishonor will be seen." For in that divine and fearful judgment, everything—

^A that you have committed here will stand before your face, so that seeing and recognizing it, you may be brought to shame and fear and trembling.

CCCV. — TO CALOCYRUS. Men are frequently called waters: for the prophets say: "Behold, as many waters are many peoples." And: "The multitude of many nations shall roar like water." And: "Behold, I will bring upon you many waters, the king of the Assyrians."

CCCVI. — TO THE SAME. Christ God and Lord of all, clearly and openly in the Gospels, calls those who are burdened by every kind of wickedness, crying out: "Come to me, and I will give you rest." For this He asserted to be the cause of His descent from heaven: "For I have not come," He says, "to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." And: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." If, therefore, these things are so, by no means despair, but rather be strengthened by better hopes. ^B

CCCVII. — TO SILVANUS THE COENOBITE. If we truly intend to trample upon the demons, let us demonstrate humility in all things, casting our own will far away. And just as we joyfully accept fasting when commanded to do so by those who have gone before us in this life, so also, when we are advised by those who are well-versed in testing and judging matters to eat, or to drink, or to give rest to a weary body for a time, let us obey them readily and without hesitation. For the partaking of food done under obedience scourges the demons more effectively than fasting. ^C

CCCVIII. — TO THALASSIUS THE SILVERSMITH. How do some sorcerers, by placing a wandering man on a tomb, send him off to a strange land while darkness covers all? It is manifest that through wicked invocation and the power of natural things, a demon has taken up the man and transported him elsewhere. In the same way, therefore, sorcerers often appear to turn a man into a beast, not by changing the substance of the body, but by affixing the shape of a beast onto him. Therefore, even if the man is saddled as if he were an animal, he bears as much as he can as a man, and the demon carries the rest on its shoulders. ^D

CCCIX. — TO SUSTHENES THE COMMENTARESIENSIS. I perceive you to be foolish and senseless; for if you criticize the God-bearing man John, Bishop of Constantinople, as one given to anger and taking pleasure in insults because he reproves those who sin and harshly and severely rebukes those who are sick with torpor and insensibility, it is high time for you to accuse John the Baptist as well, for calling some "brood of vipers" because of their venomous behavior, and for accusing the Apostle 114 of being an abuser

seeing that he called the Galatians "senseless" on two occasions, and that he rendered the prophets liable to the charge of insolence, because they applied terms like "lustful mares," "sly biting dogs," "wolves," and "crows" to rational beings, in order to draw back the erring one toward correction through these rebukes. But what would you declare regarding the God of all, and the provider Christ, who is humble, and who by His own indulgence and meekness surpassed all meekness, when you hear Him calling sinners "fools," and "blind," and "sons of the devil," and "weeds," and "dogs," and "swine," and using other such biting reproofs?

CCCX. TO HELLADIUS THE READER.

CCCXI. TO THEONAS, A PUBLIC OFFICIAL.

CCCXII. TO THE SAME.

CCCXIII. TO THESSALIUS THE DEACON.

CCCXIV. TO DRACONTIUS.

CCCXV. TO EUBULIO.

CCCXVI. TO PIERIUS THE SENATOR.

^A CCCXVII. — TO ATHANASIUS THE DEFENDER.

You are like the one who says, "I would like to see rains inebriating the whole earth, but I do not want to become cold." Yet, how is it possible for you to obtain the rains without cold? How then do you desire and pray to be accounted worthy of some spiritual grace without toil and affliction? For everyone who wishes—whether a layman or a monk—to attain some heavenly gift, must endure many afflictions, and temptations, and sorrows, which all carry the character of a severe winter, and only then reap the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

^B CCCXVIII. — TO THE SAME.

"And you have sat for them like a crow," the prophet said; that is, having long forgotten God, you lingered laboriously in sins, and through these transgressions with unclean demons. For the crow lives for many years and is fond of its offspring. Every pleasure-seeker, therefore, and every follower of the world, loves and cherishes his own children, meaning his ruinous and loathsome deeds.

CCCXIX. — TO HERIMUS THE COUNT.

I hear that you are greedily desiring the so-called, though not truly, inaccessible and transcendent chair of the governors. Know, therefore, most illustrious man, that the glory offered to you by men—ridiculous and weighed down by disgrace—is small and cheap and short-lived, and in no way blooming longer ^C than spring flowers; but the shame that follows it is great and vast. If, therefore, you do not wish to be put to shame, do not desire that glory which easily slips away, is lost, and diminishes.

CCCXX. — TO FIRMILLIANUS.

"Instead of your fathers, sons have been born to you." For those who formerly worshipped God under the Mosaic law, and were pleasing to Him, showed themselves as second to the apostles in the Church; for the apostles were the sons of the synagoguge of the Hebrews; but when they were deemed worthy to become disciples of Christ, and in all things to imitate the Master, by their way of life and dignity, they showed that their own fathers, who had long ago been justified under the law, were now their sons.

^D CCCXXI. — TO THE SAME.

You may also understand the text in another way, just as we discussed a short time ago. "Instead of your fathers, sons have been born to you," means: the gift that you formerly requested from God many times during the time of your fathers, and often failed to receive, and were not heard, you have now attained in your advanced age, and you rejoice and are glad; for it says, "The Lord will give you a gift better than sons and daughters."

CCCXXII. — TO SOCRATES THE PRESBYTER.

God, having established all things by His own goodness, provides for all, not looking toward the worthiness of those for whom He provides, but toward the choice of His own

^A effectiveness and provision of every good thing. Therefore, He gives both food, mercy, and compassion to those who look to Him. And this would be what is sung by the Psalmist, that "The merciful and compassionate Lord gives food to those who fear Him."

CCCXXIII. TO CYRIACUS THE DEACON.

Do not, as the deranged are accustomed to do, cut off the generative parts of the body, but pray and beseech the Lord to emasculate the inner man by invisible power, so that you may no longer think of, nor contemplate, male and female.

CCCXXIV. To the same.

The saying of the Apostle, "Exhort one another as long as it is called today," and what is written in the book of Job, "And it came to pass, as this day," ^B signify the whole present age; for the human life is one day. Therefore, Satan is constantly and always making demands. It came to pass, then, he says, as this day, that is, such a thing happened then as frequently happens to us now to those tempted by the devil. So then, let us not be negligent, but with exhortation and the consolation of the Spirit, let us strengthen the mind, lest the adversary swallow us up through despair.

CCCXXV. To the same.

By an invisible hand, God wages war against Amalec, as Moses says. For our Master, escaping the sight of the eyes, fights against the devil on our behalf; but us, on account of His name and His own mercy, He benefits, fosters, builds up, and sets in order; and He ^C fences us in within and without, and watches over and saves us, the most merciful and philanthropic Lord.

CCCXXVI. TO THEODOTUS THE COUNT.

The divine angels, imitating their own Master, love humility. Whenever, therefore, a monk, growing arrogant from the sublimity of his way of life, embraces pride and is so fixed in it that he cannot be torn away, the angels desert that arrogant one and depart far away, no longer wishing to shelter, assist, guard, and protect him as before. And immediately the most wicked demons, rushing upon him and seizing him, now stripped of that blessed guard, cast the man puffed up with pride into fornication, or theft, or murder, or adultery, ^D or some other of the forbidden things. For the greatest of all offenses is pride, and through it the author of all wickedness was cast down from heaven to earth. These things have been said by me because you asked me why some of those who have chosen the ascetic life sometimes fall into impious acts and terrible downfalls. It is good, therefore, to embrace the good and to hold fast to it continually; but there is nothing more excellent than humility, which even Christ, the Lord of all, and God, and Master, when He was dwelling among men in the flesh, displayed to us all, and commanded us to imitate, saying: "Learn from

me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." ^A

CCCXXVII. — TO IPPONICOS THE SCRINIARIUS

CCCXXVIII. — To the same.

CCCXXIX. — TO MAURIANUS.

CCCXXX. — TO THEOPOMPOS THE SYNCLETICUS

CCCXXXI. — TO HILARIUS THE MONK.

CCCXXXII. — To the same.

CCCXXXIII. — TO CHIMASIOS.

The former things of it are the paradise of delight, and the things behind it are the field of destruction.

BOOK SECOND

I. — ATHENOGENES. Those who have labored much to acquire righteousness, even if they be broken for a short time by the whirlwind of temptations, do not crawl upon the ground, but rising up, they stand firm and steady, so as not to be tripped up. ^A

II. — TO TIMON THE BISHOP. "I will defend," says God, "this city, for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant." By the city, let us now understand the most faithful soul.

III. Let us never reject God when He reproves and scourges us, nor turn away from the Father of spirits, lest through some small negligence and faint-heartedness we fall away from that eternal and indelible inheritance prepared for us in heaven, and from that unceasing joy. ^B

IV. — TO THE SAME. Since you signify to me by your letters that my writings bring you much comfort and joy, have for yourself now also the holy David, instead of the gloom of the present age, announcing to you unceasing exultation: "Blessed is the man, he says, whom you instruct, O Lord! In all the days to come we shall rejoice, for the days in which you have humbled us, for the years in which we have seen evils." And: "You shall make us all drink of the torrent of your delight, who have placed our hope in the shelter of the wings of [your] providence." ^C

V. — TO BALCHUS THE PREFECT. "Do not sow upon thorns," says the prophetic word; that is, do not entrust the oracles of God to men who are busy with many anxieties and who pursue pleasures. For the divine laws call perverse pleasures and unprofitable cares for the soul "thorns."

VI. — TO THE SAME. The house of your soul is filled from the lowest floor to the very roof with dung, and oyster shells, and filthy rags, and the bones of the dead, and earth. How then do you exhort me to bring in the royal vessels of venerable precepts, and to store them in your mind, in which no place at all is found vacant within? ^D

VII. — TO THE SAME. If you expend a little labor in cleansing your heart, and decorating it as is fitting, I will readily show myself obedient to you, bringing soul-profiting words, and filling the intellectual house with divine treasures.

II. — TO ASTERIUS THE LECTOR.

IX. — TO THE SAME.

X. — TO THE SAME.

XI. — TO THE SAME.

XII. — TO NEMERTIUS THE SILENTIARY.

XIII. — TO THE SAME.

XIV. — TO ANTONIUS THE SCHOLASTIC.

XV. — TO THEOSESBIUS.

those who have believed in Christ, both from the Hebrews and from the nations, they represent in shadow; being formerly like chaff, they later, through faith and repentance, having obtained great mercy, have appeared as golden in mind.

XVI. — TO AGATHON IN DECEMBER. When the blessed David had killed those who had slaughtered Ishbosheth, and had cut off their hands and feet, he hung them by the pool and the water. He signifies by these things that those who are baptized into Christ are mutilated in their extremities and destroyed—those demons who, before we had faith, led us into captivity and slaughtered our souls.

XVII. — TO THE SAME. We have been taught that after the Mosaic law, a bringing-in of a better hope was shown, through which we are able to draw near to God. Therefore, "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you," as James says. But the people of the Jews did not wish to draw near through hope and faith, nor to be joined to the Lord; wherefore David said: "Wrath has ascended upon Israel, because he did not believe in God, nor did he hope in his salvation." And God himself again has said through Isaiah: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me."

^B XVIII. — TO THE SAME. Many of the wicked, desiring that the dark shadow in their heart remain concealed from other men, let out great laughter and appear to the people as if performing joy on a stage. But it is necessary to know that they are full of every sadness within, since righteous joy has turned away from them and abandoned them.

XIX. — TO SATRAPES. Why do you show yourself to be reluctantly providing food and clothing to the Jews of your household, as if you were squandering your resources on outsiders, stubborn, wicked, and foolish men?

XX. — TO HYPATIUS THE EPHOR. It is not because he thinks that all who have died have been made righteous that the apostle Paul writes, "He who has died has been justified from sin." For strictly speaking, all the impious and unrighteous would appear to have been made righteous once they have reached the end of life. But he means that every man who no longer commits sin, because he has ceased from evil operation, and has therefore died to wicked actions, is no longer a sinner but reasonably accounted righteous. And so, understand what is written in this way: He who has died to sin, since he no longer practices it, has been made righteous. ^D

XXI. — TO ISIDORE THE READER. Peter, the leader of the apostles, says: "If you are reviled in the name of Christ, you are blessed." And the Lord has said through Isaiah: "The reproach of men..."

^A do not fear. And He Himself cries out in the Gospel: "Blessed are you, when they shall revile you; rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for your reward is great in the heavens." And the Apostle Paul, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, greatly admired those who have a burning faith in the Savior Christ. If, therefore, these things are so, do not be despondent at all, nor feel dread when you are reviled for the sake of integrity, and goodness of character, and brilliant piety, by those who are mad, and impious, and execrable men. For it is true that adulterers mock the continent, and the impious slander the pious, and the wicked sneer at the good, and the blind claim for themselves that they see clearly, and the most base applaud and proclaim sins and the most shameful passions of dishonor, judging the bitter to be sweet. But we shall rather laugh at them, and shall condemn them, and ^B we shall mourn and lament the perdition of such people.

XXII. — NICODEMUS.

XXIII. — APHRODISIUS THE DEACON.

XXIV. — CHARISIUS THE BISHOP.

XXV. — HERMOLAUS THE MONK.

in a manner appropriate to ascetics, your work may be accomplished. "See then strictly how you walk, and how you conduct yourselves," cries the divine mandate.

XXVI. — TO PROCOPIUS THE PRESBYTER. If you censure conversion to the worse, avoid conversion to the worse. "For he who has turned," he says, "backwards, is not well-disposed toward the kingdom of heaven."

XXVII. — TO FRUMENTIUS THE COUNT. "Circumcision is nothing," says the Apostle, "and uncircumcision is nothing." For neither of the things mentioned contributes to the salvation of the soul and to a more divine knowledge. What, then, would be profitable, and what would bring gain to man? Clearly, it is the keeping of the commandments of God. ^B

XXVIII. — TO HIPPASIUS THE TRIBUNE. Just as there is a fast of foods, so also is there a fast from anger, and a fast from love of power, and from envy, and from boasting, and from avarice, and from irritability, and from drowsiness, and from sloth, and from curiosity, and from turbulence, and from those things that follow.

XXIX. — TO THYRUS THE MONK. If you are meddlesome and gladly pry into the affairs of those who behave insolently, you have forgotten your own heart, you do not recognize your own cell; you have wandered from the truth and are walking upon an impassable path; and observe to what kind of end you will come. ^C

XXX. — TO THE SAME. Just as I, if I should not share with others the grace given to me, shall render an account on the day of judgment, as having buried the spiritual talent in silence, so too will you be called to account if you do not grant to other capable persons the heavenly gift of knowledge entrusted to you. For I myself am a witness that much grace of God has been supplied to you, on account of the nobility of your character, the gravity of your life, and an industry vying with the most excellent of monks; which indeed is admirable to behold in a secular habit and public service.

XXXI. — TO PHOTINA AND DOR[OTHEA]. Recalling your undefiled life, we give glory to Christ, saying with David: "How beloved are your tabernacles and altars, ^D O Lord of hosts!" For truly, through virginity, you have shown yourselves to be tabernacles, and altars, and a temple, and offerings of God.

XXXII. — TO MENANDER THE DOMESTICUS. "I do not wish," you say, "to depart from my ancestral Hellenism; for I consider this to be worthy of blame." Tell me, then, O admirable man, if your father were a leader of brigands, or a drunkard, or an adulterer, or a usurer, or an audacious man, or a tomb-robber, would you not wish, in a sober frame of mind, to become better than your unjust and impious father?

^A

XXXIII. — TO CHRYSOGONUS THE PRESBYTER AND ABBOT.

You have asked me, my beloved, what is the meaning of that which Baruch says to God: "Thou art sitting in the ages, and we are perishing in the age"? Since God is unchangeable and unalterable forever, it is manifest that it is said that He sits in His own immutability throughout all time; but we, being mutable, easily perish, becoming different people at different times and frequently changing from one set of thoughts to another.

XXXIV. — TO SOCRATIUS THE EXCEPTOR.

^B "The powers of the heavens shall be shaken on that day of righteous judgment." That is to say, the angelic hosts, obeying the command of the Master, will be moved from gentleness to wrath, and will destroy all wicked men.

XXXV.

Perverse, impious, depraved, and lawless thoughts of Satan should not disturb you, nor frighten you, nor cause you to lose heart and let your good soul, which is illuminated by faith and fenced about by the cross of Christ, be undone.

XXXVI. — TO DEMOSTHENES, FATHER OF THE CITY.

Unless ^C you diligently desire the blessed and truly divine words of Scripture, you shall be likened to the senseless and irrational beasts.

XXXVII. — TO CALLISTIANUS.

Just as we are accustomed, when we desire life, to eat and drink and speak and hear, so also ought we to apply ourselves with an insatiable mind to the reading of the divine oracles.

XXXVIII. — TO ASCLEPIODOTUS.

What benefit is it to you to rule over servants, while you yourself serve your desires as if they were cruel masters?

XXXIX. — TO AUXENTIUS THE ILLUSTRIOUS.

The only-begotten Son and Word of the Father is a living Word, and the Word subsists in a hypostasis; He was begotten of the Father before all ages and times without any passion, only-begotten from the only one, light from light, true God from true God, ^D similar to His own Father in all things—in power, essence, goodness, authority, and every perfection—so that the Father contains Him, and He is contained by the Father; He is the Creator of all things that are subject to matter, together with the Father and the holy and consubstantial and adorable Spirit.

XL. — TO THE SAME.

The only-begotten Son and Word of God, even after the taking on of form—namely, the body—from the holy Virgin, did not degenerate, nor was He moved from the state of His own divinity; for even after the incarnation He remained God, God indeed true according to

what is not seen, and according to what is seen, true man. For He was not without mind and soul, as Apollinaris audaciously proclaimed. ^A

XLI. — TO EUTHYMIUS THE DEACON

Others indeed rejoice in vineyards, and olive groves, and beasts of burden, and a multitude of servants, and houses splendid with gold and silver, and earthly domains. But you, most illustrious servant of Christ, continually beholding with intellectual eyes the invisible King, and partaking of His sweetness, and bound to Him with a love that cannot be severed, nourishing your soul with hope in Him, and delighting yourself in love that does not wither, and applying yourself to continual prayers and the chanting of psalms, and embracing spiritual discourses, you cry out that saying of the prophets: "I remembered God and was glad; I shall exult in my Lord, I have not labored following my Lord." I will exult, therefore, most humane ^B Master, in your words, just as one who has found riches and much spoil. And therefore the Savior and Creator of all answers you: "Your joy and your exultation no one shall be able to steal away; for Mary has chosen the good part, the ever-flourishing portion of divine teachings." Since, therefore, my words dwell within you in memory, I will make mention of you in my kingdom. And: "Do not fear, for I will be with you always, delivering you from every tribulation, and snatching you from the hand of those who lay snares."

XLII. — TO CHRYSEROS THE SOPHIST

If the most talkative tripod of Apollo, when the Lord of all, Christ, came into the flesh, was bidden to be silent and was rendered speechless against the expectation of the Gentiles ^C (for so it was fitting), as all who are under heaven observe: why are you yourself not suffused with shame or blushing, while you take care of your foolish and most unfortunate gods, defending what is absurd and that which does not exist? Yet if you wish to trust me, and it were your intent to make your cause more reasonable, you would now most of all emulate the silence of the oracular tripod.

XLIII. — TO FAUSTINUS THE MONK

Why are you weighed down? Why are you tormented? Why do you persist in words, and cast forth incessant complaints from your mouth, O morose and querulous one? Why do you show yourself impatient and a man of small spirit, not bearing what happens to you? ^D Remember what he said in the exhortations: "My son, if you come to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for temptation; set your heart straight, and endure, and be not in haste in the time of trial." For know that without the judgment of God, nothing that afflicts anyone comes to pass. Wherefore, play the man, and let your heart be strengthened, and wait for the Lord, that He may show mercy upon you.

^A

XLIV. — TO CYRILLO THE MONK.

How can you say that a sin is small, on account of which God is cast off, and God is dishonored through the transgression of divine commands? For if anyone should murder a man, or kill an infant, he is in every way a murderer, and is judged as a murderer. By what reasoning, then, do you commit the crime for which you are excluded from the kingdom of heaven?

XLV. — TO THE SAME.

Do not murmur, O man; for murmuring is alien to a monk, even if it happens that you are in danger of death while performing what is commanded you by the brotherhood. "For he who hears you," He says, "hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me." And the Apostle also writes: "Do not murmur, as some of the Israelites murmured and perished by the destroyer." If, therefore, you wish not to perish, cease from murmurings. Or how will you be able to stretch out your hands to the Lord and pray, according to the tradition of the Apostle, "without anger and disputations"? For murmuring is the offspring of anger.

XLVI. — TO HELIODORUS THE MONK.

As for those who, through many toils, sweats, and a long period of struggling against pleasures, have at last attained the gift of impassibility, let us allow these to have associations with women who are ascetics. But as for those who, like you, are burdened by pleasure-loving passions, let them be kept away from such most dangerous conversations, lest they cast both their own souls and those of others into ^C an abyss. For without some unavoidable and necessary need, women—whether they lead a life under a rule or are secular—should not be seen. But to those secular men who invite us to their own homes, even urging us so that we might offer prayers on their behalf, we must respond in humility with the words of the Gospel: "I am not worthy in virtues to enter into your house"; but since you believe that you are benefited through the prayer of monks, "be it done for you as you have believed." And all the fathers and brothers who love our own lowliness shall be exhorted by me to pray sincerely on behalf of those seculars who have requested it.

XLVII. — TO LEONIDAS THE MONK.^D

It is best now, indeed, to apply to you that saying of Jeremiah: "O foolish and heartless people." For when you ought to be blushing for your base deeds, and for your vainglory, and for your loose talk, you then applaud with your hands, and you show off more than others through the arrogant things you do, and you take pleasure in these, and you boast before everyone, and you praise yourself, and you lavishly trumpet your own glory. But be ashamed, says the holy prophet in the person of God, and take up your reproach, so that at last, having come to an awareness, you might recognize yourself, and having condemned...

your own baseness, you may be illuminated. For the beginning of the soul’s salvation is the recognition and condemnation of sins. ^A

XLVIII.

XLIX. — TO ALEXANDER THE MONK, FORMERLY A GRAMMARIAN.

"Come," says the prophet, "and let us ascend to the mountain of the Lord." ^B Do not say, "Come, and let us cast ourselves headlong into the chasm of the adversary." For truly, there is nothing more profound, more depressed, or more lowly than worldly wisdom, even if it impudently boasts of flying high. Therefore the divine Apostle says: "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." For since the world did not know God through its own wisdom, God rendered the wisdom of the wise foolish, having subjected every nation and every tongue of Greeks and barbarians to the apostles, who were unskilled in rhetoric but possessed an unerring knowledge. Hence, everyone who embraces the preaching of piety exerts all his strength, obeying the rules of the apostles, to imitate their character with precision and in no way to deviate from their unblemished tradition. It would therefore be most absurd for us, ^C who have ascended to the mountain of the high philosophy in Christ—having renounced the deceptions of the Gentiles and hissed at [hissed away] their tumid style of speaking—to be thrust back again into the most darksome chasm of empty glory and vain pursuit; and for those already perfect in prudence to become children again, and like boys to value highly meters and iambics, which no one needed, neither the eloquent Apollos of Alexandria, presenting a drink to the disciples of Christ, nor Clement the Roman philosopher, nor countless other teachers of virtue and grammarians succeeding the apostles. This is lest [those who indulge in] meters and poems might empty the cross of the Lord of its power, and be caught, against the divine law, offering honey upon the altar. ^D "For honey drips from the lips of a harlot woman"—that is, from the rhetorical flourishes of the Greeks, which, by their highly persuasive speech, deceive the one who has been beguiled (as Solomon says), and bind him with the snares arising from her lips, thrusting him out of divine philosophy and precipitating him, miserable and captive, into that very snare and into the depths of hell. Do not, therefore, attend to meters, even if you are more inclined toward them and too attached to them, lest by destroying the divine character of the apostles, which you had previously desired to express with such great longing, you fall into the ultimate deformity and become known as one who cares little for your own salvation because of your zeal for poems; and lest you become a stumbling block, a pattern, and a snare to others who are unruly, vile, and...

^A sluggish, having no concern for virtue, but spending all the days of their life in prattle about these things, through an accursed and dragged-in vainglory, ostensibly choosing to praise the small bread of a few men, and behaving in a slavish and excessively childish manner, from which they will by no means nourish the soul, but will rather starve. For one ought to ask from the God of hosts the bread that is full of true glory and honor; but they do the opposite, thinking they are nourished by useless secular wisdom. The honor of a harlot is as one loaf of bread, full of dishonor and great weakness. But you, ^B continually ask for the bread of the powers on high; for man ate the bread of heaven and the bread of angels, and everyone who lives by the Spirit and walks by the Spirit, and follows the ecclesiastical laws, has partaken of the wisdom that comes down from above. Such a man eats the bread of heaven and the bread of angels, not the bread of a harlot. Many of the heretics have set down many things in their writings, but they profited nothing, because they had ears of corn corrupted by the wind, as the prophet says, a sheaf having no strength to make flour. If, however, you admire those who write epics, it is time for you also to admire the impious and innovative Apollinarius, who measured out very many things, wrote poetry, labored in vain, and wasted his whole life being worn away in senseless ^C words, and became swollen and inflamed in his thoughts with the uselessness of his verses, and hydropic in his reasonings, ‹and his tongue wandered over the earth,› as David said.

L. — TO ARISTOCLES THE MONK. You seem to be at odds with yourself, speaking what is good while doing what is evil, and raging like dogs, barking profusely and shamelessly at everyone. But now at least correct yourself, brother, so that your deeds may not conflict with your venerable profession.

LI. — TO VINCENT THE ASCETIC. By as much as you seem to treat your body harshly with difficult and rough diet, by so much the more humble your heart, thinking little of and despising yourself, ^D so that vainglory may not find a place in you, and you reap nettles instead of wheat, and your labors be wasted.

LII. — TO PANEGYRIUS THE MONK. Perceiving through certain signs that you have obtained rational blessing through good works, and have received grace from above, just as Jacob and all who have served God genuinely and truly, the hater of mankind, struck by that jealousy and wounded by envy, has kindled great temptations against you, wishing to crush your soul that is devoted to virtue, suggesting wicked thoughts, and hastening to drive you to harmful deeds. And there is nothing strange...

^A in this, O best of men; for it is written: “As we began to enter onto the holy and intellectual land of the divine promise, then the leaders of Edom and the princes of Moab hastened”—certain bitter dæmons, arrogant in their dominion—“to hinder us, desiring to turn us back from that blessed entry and to alienate us from eternal joy.” Nevertheless, remain free from all disturbance, O man, and be strengthened, crushing through patience and constant prayer those who desire to crush us, continually proclaiming that prophetic word: “Let not the foreigners rejoice, for the yoke of those who strike us is broken.” For Christ, the God who loves mankind, will be propitious to us, and the wicked followers of the intellectual Pharaoh, along with their king, will cease and be destroyed, and their strength will be crushed, so that they no longer force us into the straw, the clay, and the brickmaking of iniquity. For the more we draw near to God, the more the dæmons rage against us.

^B LIII. TO MAURIANO THE MONK. You will be able to blot out entirely the temptation of unbearable sorrow and immense sadness with abundant tears, with virtuous hope, and with longing for the sweetest Savior, Christ.

LIV. TO MENANDER THE ASCETIC. Since you are no illegitimate offshoot, but a most excellent and highly praiseworthy bud of the most famous abbot Minucianus, who was endowed with every virtue, you rightly and deservedly show forth in yourself the most illustrious mark of the man. For he was proved to be not only a disciple but also an imitator of this our Savior Christ, who loves mankind, and who demonstrated true philosophy by deed and word, both by undertaking a pure and undefiled manner of life, and by always lifting up his soul above the passions of the body.

LV. TO EUPHEMIUS THE MONK. I consider it unworthy of a philosopher for us to neglect our care for heavenly and eternal ^C things, and to spend our time and be consumed by occupations concerning things that crawl upon the ground, and to devise countless pretexts for the sake of temporary and foolish gain.

LVI. TO HILARIUS THE MONK, FORMERLY A SCHOLASTICUS. At last you have proposed to yourself to imitate the man of old, after you finally made an end to your wandering by coming to the Echinades. For as for roaming through every place and being always in motion, and being cast hither and thither without any necessary reason—and without a pause that you cannot evade—and changing place after place and bed after bed like hares, how could anyone who has wisdom approve of that? Sit down, therefore, in the monastery, firm and stable, practicing stillness and watching for death, as to when it will come, so that having been well released from these things, you may be comforted forever before the feet of Christ.

LVII. TO PLATO THE ARCHIMANDRITE. The founders of our order, being imitators ^D

^A of the apostles, were as lamps shining in the darkness, and as stars that do not wander, illuminating the lightless night of human life, and as breakwaters ^B of the harbors for those who are themselves without storm, pointing out to all an easy way to escape unhurt the assaults of the passions. But you, though having so many souls under your power, have banished virtue and driven it far away, and you gladly cover your own face with the darkness of wickedness and malice, and you cast the brethren into a state of sickness, and storm, and unceasing disturbances, and you hasten to destroy those who ought to be saved. And who, then, shall deliver you from eternal punishment? “For it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

LVIII. — TO AETIUS THE MONK. Since you take up reading not for the sake of humility, but for vainglory, for this reason the temptation of fornication persists in you; for luxury does not suit the foolish, nor does constant reading and the possession of sublime language suit one who is puffed up with pride. For knowledge puffs up ^C the vain-minded and the demented man to a great degree, and harms the arrogant one, just as wine harms one suffering from a fever. Therefore, so that the swelling of the soul may be emptied, the demon necessarily stands by, pressing and reproving the puffed-up man. But if you wish to see him withdraw more quickly, resolve to reach the unshakable tower of humility, and arming yourself with vigils, and many prayers, and the chanting of psalms, you will behold with your eyes the destruction of the enemy.

LIX. — TO CHARITON THE MONK. It is not a sin for a short time to approach one’s daily food at the appointed hour. But one must, after having humbled oneself ^D to the necessity of the body, again as quickly as possible send one’s mind aloft to heaven, drawing along with it nothing of earthly cares.

LX. — TO ADRIAN THE MONK. Why do you run the risk of falling into unbelief through excessive and untimely worry, expecting the abandonment of God and the lack of necessities? For you have even today some who minister to you and who come to your aid in this your grave illness, including among all others the glorious and illustrious Heron, who is exceedingly devoted to monks from his heart, and the nephew of the most holy bishop, who himself loves monks, and the most venerable deaconess of Christ, Theodula. And even if these should seem to die before you yourself pass from life, God, seeing the gentleness and quiet of your soul, as well as your tranquility, your lack of curiosity, and your good pursuit of better things, will unexpectedly send those who ought to minister to your need. For God is able from these stones to raise up [matth. III, 9] those who will gladly serve those who pursue the solitary life. For who, indeed, even with great entreaties, would not provide, not only...

^A for the needs, but even for what is beyond need, for those living piously and virtuously? For if barbarian men, who captured Jerusalem by the law of war, the Babylonians, revered the virtue of Jeremiah, and provided all bodily care most munificently—giving not only things pertaining to sustenance, but also the vessels with which it is customary to serve those who are feasting—how shall those of the same race not revere a life dedicated to virtue, purified in their judgment by discipline more than the barbarians themselves for the understanding of good things, and being emulators of virtue? For even if they cannot become its practitioners for certain reasons, yet they honor it, and gaze with intent eyes, admiring its athletes. Do not, therefore, torment yourself with many thoughts, but according to the exhortation of Peter and Paul, be vigilant, and be sober in prayers, casting all your care upon God. "For the Lord is near," and "Be anxious for nothing," he says, "but in everything by prayer and supplication let your ^B requests be made known to God," and He Himself will provide for you in all things. And again it is written in another place: "Look at the ancient generations. Who ever trusted in the Lord and was neglected by Him?" You have run through all these things; yet we bring this to your memory. Daniel in the city of Babylon, cast into a den of lions, having suffered nothing evil from them, was sitting and struggling with hunger; but the prophet Habakkuk, commanded by God and carried by an angel from Judea to Babylon, brings the meal into the very den of lions; and the greatest Daniel says, giving thanks: "For You have remembered me, O God, and have not forsaken those who seek You." Therefore, revolving these and similar things in your mind, flee incessantly in your thought to God, and to Him ^C alone.

LXI. TO FLORION THE MONK

LXII. TO ATHANASIUS THE MONK

LXIII. TO SYRIANO THE MONK

^A for whereas there the bodies of athletes, which are able to rise easily, are bent, here souls collapse, which, once overturned, it is difficult to raise up.

LXIV. — TO GREGORY THE ABBOT ^B Moses, that great hierophant, by pitching his tent outside the camp, signifies that a teacher must be far from the tumult of war, and must reside far from the contaminated army, having moved to a life that is peaceful and free from strife.

LXV. — TO THEODORE THE MONK ^C If you have bowed the neck of your soul to the yoke of most renowned obedience, do not be anxious or overly curious in examining the administration of your superior’s household affairs; only strive to perform eagerly whatever is commanded of you, even if it happens to be burdensome and laborious. For to pry into the teacher's arrangements and to wish to test the things commanded by him is an impediment to your progress. For not everything that seems plausible and reasonable to the inexperienced is truly reasonable; for the artisan judges the matters of his craft in one way, and the unskilled person in another. For the one uses knowledge as a rule, while the other uses what is merely plausible; and the plausible rarely hits the mark of truth, but for the most part misses it, having an affinity more for error than for rectitude.

LXVI. — TO GALLUS THE MONK ^D What use has your pilgrimage, and your laborious exercise, and your manifold affliction been, if your heart returns again to Egypt, and you converse with your relatives almost every day through letters, and you stray from perfection through your ardent desire for family ties? For perhaps you have not heard the Lord rebuking Mary when she sought him among her kinsfolk, and judging anyone who loves father or mother more than him as unworthy of himself, and through these words firmly suggesting the dissolution of the bonds of kinship! If, then, you have left Haran, which is interpreted as "den," and here signifies the senses, and you have gone out from the valley of Hebron, that is, from the lowly works of sin, and from the desert, in which wanderings occur, hasten to migrate, just as the patriarchs did, to Dothaim, that is, to the sufficient abandonment of fleshly longing; for Dothaim is interpreted as "sufficient abandonment," which all who yearn for the most blessed state of impassibility strive to attain.

LXVII. — TO ELEUTHERIUS THE MONK FROM NUMERIS I do not accept you ^A until you cut off the passions, for you use yourself in countless encounters, and you heap wound upon wound in your mind through the senses, and most of all because you have chosen to remove yourself from a neglected and impure life to the virtue of Christ. Therefore, heal your soul, but do not add to its sicknesses through imprudent associations. For the mind of those who have recently withdrawn from wickedness is like a body that has

just begun to recover from a long and heavy illness, where even a slight occasion suffices to cause a relapse into disease, since it has not yet gained solid strength. For the intellectual powers and vigor of such persons grow moist and are shaken, so that there is a fear lest the detestable evil, which is by its nature prone to stir up a harmful disturbance toward lasciviousness, might creep in again.

LXVIII. — To the same. From the history of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, learn that it is truly the mark of a girlish and womanish soul to attempt things that are beyond its own condition and power, and to be deceived by the opinion of oneself as being capable and suitable. For if the aforementioned Dinah had not promptly stripped herself for the contemplation of local affairs, as if she were able to be in no way rebuked by the pleasure of these things, the part of the soul that judges would not have been untimely abolished, having been torn from the image of sensible things, since it had not yet accustomed itself to a sound, noble, and manly manner of thinking.

^A LXIX. — To the same. "You are the temple of God," says the Apostle. Therefore, so that none of the unclean forms may creep into your mind, weave nets of thoughts concerning the future judgment around the doors of the body, fencing off the intellect from the images that enter through the senses. If, however, in the time of temptations you represent to yourself the terror of the divine judgment, you have subsided towards pleasure: and consider yourself to have suffered that of Ochoziah, who fell from the lattice and was weighed down by a most severe infirmity unto death. For nothing is more cruel or more pernicious than the infirmity that arises from sin.

LXX. — To Victor the Archimandrite. Just as in gymnastic contests, the anointed man easily dissolves what are called the knots or bonds (by them), but if he has been sprinkled with dust, he repels the hands of the adversary with difficulty: so too in this mass of cares, he who is not withered by cares is not so easily seized by the devil; but if he has burdened himself with cares, as if by dust irritating the lightness of the tranquility of the mind, he frees himself with difficulty from the hands of Satan. For consider the oil to be tranquility now, and the dust to be the various and manifold cares of the present age.

LXXI. — To Democritus the Monk. If a plant can produce fruit while being frequently transplanted, provided it is abundantly watered, you too will be able to bring forth fruit while moving here and there, following shadows and winds, and investigating every place without being stable in any.

LXXII. — To the same. The laver that is with Moses had a base; because the purification of the ascetic has need of stability, and endurance, and continuous standing, and an unshakeable manner of life.

LXXIII. — To Comasius, formerly a rhetorician, now a monk. The sewage, and the ash, and the immense [things] of the gentiles...

why do you gather them so zealously, after having renounced them, into the monastery without any benefit, nay rather, to your own harm? Answer us, O you collector of the flowery debris of this most vain and miserable folly.

^B LXXIV. — TO PISIMIUS THE MONK. When the Lord Jesus was praying on the mountain, his face shone, and his garments sparkled (Matt. xvii, 2); this is what is wont to happen to monks who strive to attend to prayer more laboriously and attentively. For then the face of the soul shines, and its invisible adornment sparkles, a thing which many are ignorant of.

LXXV. — TO ZOSAS THE ASCETIC. The blessed Peter, for that pile of coals in the courtyard of Caiphas, where he also underwent temptation (cf. John xviii, 15), found afterwards another, divine pile of coals at Tiberias: for since, because of his denial, he was naked—but do not, I pray you, think that I am rendering the history of the Gospels void, while I intermix what I conceive in my mind—for since the blessed Peter was naked, he girds himself with the tunic of hope in Christ, and casts himself into the sea of the mercies of God, and came to Jesus as if drawn by a certain chain of love. And since he had been exhausted at the time of the denial, and had labored, and had been embittered by weeping, and ^C had been deprived of the Lord by his grief, the Lord himself restored him with the wondrous bread and the miraculous fish (John xxi, 7, 15). And after the meal, the Savior speaks to him as he yearns to hear the blessed voice, and He gives him rest, and comforts him according to the multitude of the sorrows of Peter’s heart, and so, having sweetened him, He establishes him as the shepherd of the whole world.

LXXVI. — TO THEODORE THE MONK. "I will please," says David, "in the land of the living" (Ps. cxiv, 9); by the land of the living, he means the world to come, not the land of the dying. For the present life of men is destined to be completed by many deaths, not only in the change of ages, but also in the bodies of souls according to sin. But where there is no change of body or soul—for there is no turning of the mind, nor change of purpose, nor any circumstance disturbing the stability and tranquility of thoughts—there, in very truth, is the ^D land of the living, and of those who rejoice perpetually.

LXXVII. — TO NEADIUS, OLYMPIUS, ANDROMACHUS, JULIUS, AND CHIMASIUS, CONTENTIOUS MONKS. Now it would be timely to say to some man advanced in wisdom, who has discerned your contempt for the Divine, and the zeal of the soldiers who are related to you by birth regarding the worship of God, that the most pious soldiers have surpassed, by their singing of psalms, and by their prayers, and by their performance of their own duties, and by their vigilant and steadfast perseverance in the church, the savage, and hot-tempered, and most impious of monks, who have cast aside the quiet that is fitting them, and the [duty of] prayer, and...

and the ministry of the psalms, and have forgotten their sacred profession and habit, and have neglected the place where they practiced their discipline, and impudently interject themselves into the affairs of others, ^A and by constantly involving themselves in external judgments, they scatter infamous disturbances and tumults; to such a degree that even the public magistrates laugh at you and despise you because of this.

LXXVIII. — TO CYRIACUS THE MONK. "Our Lord Jesus Christ will transform," he says, "the body of our humiliation, conformed to the body of his glory." For now, the human body happens to exist in baseness and shame, being infested by the incursions of demons, and often sprinkled with the slaveries, marks, and stains of the soul itself, and often reduced to servitude, and much oppressed by sin; ^B even in the very act of dying and burial, it is dragged along the ground as cheap and dishonored, and buried in the greatest destitution. "For it is sown," he says, "in ignominy, it is raised in glory." Truly, at the time of the resurrection of the whole human race, our body, casting off corruption and contempt, rises again adorned with the glory and munificence of Christ the Savior, never again to slide down into sin and corruption, never to be humbled by mortality, vanity, and miseries, but to endure forever in ceaseless incorruption with Him who bestows immortality.

LXXIX. — To the Same. "You have set men over our heads." For there are times when God permits the demons to sit shamelessly upon our interior head, namely, the mind, and to draw the soul toward improper thoughts, with which we must wrestle and fight, neither approving them nor conspiring with them.

LXXX. — To the Same. "We are not straitened in the love of God," the Apostle writes to the Corinthians; "but you are straitened in your own affections," as you are unwilling through many virtues to widen your soul, and to receive and contain divine illuminations. Hence it befalls you what is said in Isaiah, that "in the distress and anguish which is of the adversary," ^C lions, and asps, and whatever other opposing power there may be (for by these and similar appellations the demons are indicated) "carried the riches of the asses and the camels." By asses are understood those who are more sluggish, and voluptuous, and wicked; camels are those who exercise pride and wrath. Therefore, loading the souls of men with the riches of base, shameful, and lawless thoughts, the demons drive them into operations and states void of virtues. But nothing is heavier than sin; wherefore, by the divine Fathers, it is likened to lead.

[LXXXI] — To the same.

If we groan to God from the depth of the heart, He will surely hear us, and He will show wonders to the sons of men, and He will make the camel a sheep. “This,” He says, “is the change of the right hand of the Most High.” And some of the titles of the psalms were written, “For those who are to be changed.” If, therefore, you strive to please the Savior through the virtues, He will unburden your intellectual ass, which carries a load for the demons, and having cast off the pack-saddle, He will put upon you the garments of the apostles, that is to say, the divine teachings and dogmas; and sitting upon your mind, just as He once did upon the ass, He enters even now into the holy city, glorified and praised by all the angels for the salvation of that which is devoid of reason—which has become rational through the humanity of the Creator, or rather, the Restorer—who changed and renewed through negligence and error the soul that had grown old, and had turned aside of its own accord. ^B

[LXXXII] — To the same.

Anyone, even while in the body, can be with Christ, as was handed down by the Apostle: “I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.” But much more so when he has departed from the body, as the same Apostle writes again: “I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ.” For the soul, being an intellectual substance, longs for intellectual things, as it is a divine breath and an admirable creature. Being weighed down, therefore, by the earthly body on account of mortality, it justly and deservedly desires now to be dissolved through death, so that it might be, sincerely, securely, and fearlessly, with the Lord, having been released from this mortal state into the immortal and immutable. After this dissolution, in the resurrection, having received back its own incorrupt and immortal body, vivified by the Holy Spirit, it thereafter continues together in indissoluble joy, and in beatitude, and in blameless innocence—things that cannot be lost—forever. For you must be restored to a pure, or rather a divine nature, and an age that does not grow old, painless, and a condition free from all care. ^C

[LXXXIII] — To the same.

There are certain conditions and habits among men that are pure, so that one holds the place of the sun, another of the moon, and another of a star. And you may truly see someone, even more glorious than Solomon himself, through heavenly wisdom, but later, because he has fallen into a doze and grown slack in his vigilance, abandoned by God, and stripped of piety and the fear of the Almighty, he has fallen into impiety and great sins, so that you might be able to say that the sun has turned, having fallen contrary to expectation into impious deeds. For such things very often happen even to those most devoted to virtue, who have subsequently been stripped of the guardianship of the Holy Spirit due to negligence, while Nebuchadnezzar ascends against them in war, and destroys the city through satanic machines, and blinds the king—by which I mean the mind—just as he did Zedekiah, and ^D

leads the children bound into the allegorical Babylon. He plunders the holy things of David, and of Solomon, and of the subsequent kings—that is, the things stored in the treasuries of the heart—and the rest of what had been acquired, gathered, and prepared over long periods of time and with much labor and zeal; he fires the temple of God, and arranges for it to be trodden by profane feet. And I heard the Psalmist crying out on account of this in his lamentations: “Have mercy on me, for many demons fight against me from on high, and they trample me ^A all the day long; for you have caused my enemies to ascend over my head.” And I heard Jeremiah lamenting that the soul, which formerly ruled through noble deeds, having now been captured by the law of war, has become subject to tribute, serving the devil in sins. Yet, if anyone who has fallen into such evils does not abandon himself to the end out of faint-heartedness, but, led by repentance, turns back to the Lord and makes his ancient, philosophical actions young again, the grace of the Master returns to him; and regarding this the prophetic word says: “I will return, and will rebuild the tabernacle of David which had fallen, and I will set right its undermined noble deeds and divine gifts and inward knowledge; and I will restore, and I will rebuild. And the latter glory shall be greater than the former, says the Lord Almighty.” I have written these things as a fitting answer to what was contained in your letter.

LXXXIV. — TO ONESIMUS THE MONK.

LXXXV. — TO FAUSTUS THE MONK.

LXXXVI. — TO THE SAME.

LXXXVII. — TO ALEXANDER THE ARCHIMANDRITE.

in this corruptible, vile, and mortal body with which you are clothed?

[LXXXVIII]—TO FRONTON THE ARCHIMANDRITE. I praise the roses of your God-pleasing words, even if you do plant in them the small thorns of opportune rebukes, spurring on our own—as one might say—and provoking the inextinguishable and unfading love toward your holy and ever-luminous soul.

[LXXXIX]—TO ARSINOUS THE MONK. When you are finally able to root out all destructive and frenzied passions, then and only then commit yourself to the contemplation of lofty thoughts. If, however, before you have battled against the enemy demons, you should dare to force your way up the mountain contrary to what the divine will intends, you will not find the help and defensive alliance of God, and the enemies will wound you just as bees do.

[XC]—TO THE SAME. Others subdue their hearts daily with labors and strive to waste them away through self-control; you, however, by overeating and drunkenness, are in danger of bursting your body.

[XCI]—TO AMPHILOCHIUS THE MONK. Why do you tremble in your soul, being pierced by the spirit of blasphemy? Remember that the blessed David, having been anointed with mystical oil, immediately found Saul and his plotter.

[XCII]—TO THE SAME. But you also were anointed invisibly, when you drew near to the venerable habit. For I call the grace of the Holy Spirit that comes upon you a divine anointing.

[XCIII]—TO DIONYSIUS THE MONK. It is necessary for us also, emulating Abraham, to offer to the Lord the tithe of the spoils, which would be the first one occupying the place among the ten commandments, from which the law and the prophets depend: namely, to love God with all your heart and with all your strength. For the divine Apostle defines love as the fulfillment of the law.

[XCIV]—TO DRACONTIUS THE MONK. You gaze upon the retreating army of intellectual Egyptians, and before you the sea of foaming and altogether-profane passions, yet you do not consider in your mind God who is defending you, and who with invisible hand and exalted arm is avenging you against the enemies and delivering you.

[XCV]—TO CLEOBULUS THE MONK. "And you have set a bronze bow for my arms"—not a bow of wax, bowing and yielding to the demons and the passions, immediately broken in the very first engagement of the fighting—but a bronze bow. For one must acquire from the Lord strong and unshakable weapons, which are able to stand against and resist the many incursions of the adversaries.

TO PHILUMENUS THE RECLUSE.

XCVII.—TO FAUSTUS THE MONK.

XCVIII.—TO EUTROPIUS THE MONK.

XCIX.—To the same.

your nakedness be revealed; and then, he says, they shall know where their material is.

^B C.—TO LAMPADIUS THE MONK. Not only did Judas betray the Lord by despising divine judgments, but also those Christians who do not fulfill the divine precepts are considered traitors, acting with contempt, behaving obstinately, and following their own wicked desires.

CI.—To the same. He who has surrendered himself in the fear of God to the service of those living in asceticism, if he later begins to grow callous, and to become arrogant, and to keep money for his own purposes, he has transgressed the divine laws and cast them aside, and has violated the covenants and the profession of his renunciation and submission, and is called a traitor; for he has betrayed the cause he had previously embraced.

CII.—TO EUSTATHIUS THE ARCHIMANDRITE. ^B You diligently cultivate a bulging purse and eagerly provide for the fat of the flesh, feeding yourself like fowls in the darkness of ignorance. And what freedom of speech will you find for yourself when He comes who judges all things?

CIII.—TO EUMATHIUS THE MONK. When some of the brethren, before completely laying aside their defilement and partaking of a more perfect state, attempt to teach, then the demons, not without laughter, indicate this to each other with nods, conversing as follows and saying: "This man at the opportune time will be our prey, since he dares to instruct others against the mind of the Lord." Wherefore, let us not be hasty, nor, being like a grape not yet ripe, ^C exhort and instruct others, lest we become a plaything of the demons.

CIV.—TO EUPHEMIUS THE MONK. The fifty-fourth [fifty-fourth, in the Hebrew reckoning the fifty-fifth] psalm mentions fear, trembling, and the darkness of sins: "And who will give me," he says, "wings like a dove, and I shall fly away, and I shall pass over these troublesome evils, and I shall attain to God, and I shall find rest in Him, and I shall rest with my own philanthropic Master?" For He is the rest of those who have been exhausted in the arduous sweat of sin. Whence He cries: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." ^D David, therefore, knowing what he had said throughout the whole psalm, and having enlightened the strugglers, and having prepared them never to despair, ends the psalm in good hope.

CV.—To the same. If we perform the spiritual work without sloth, and prudently attend to the duty of the service imposed upon us by the holy rule, it is manifest that God, caring for us all the more, excites most pious souls to all the things that are for the...

^A needs to be ministered to us. But if we grow sluggish and neglect those things that pertain to the spiritual work, how do we expect to be cared for?

CVI. TO MARINUS THE MONK

Do not consume yourself with sorrow, nor pine away, wretch, oppressed by the magnitude of temptations, nor be stupefied by the weight and dense incursion, and destruction, and pillaging by the intellectual barbarians. For we hope, if we endure with thanksgiving, to acquire salvation all the more from our enemies and those who hate us.

CVII. TO THE SAME

"My wound is grievous," says the prophet Jeremiah, weaving lamentations on our behalf; "why do they who grieve me prevail against me? You have cooked, and have not spared." For you have delivered me up to the chief cook, Nebuzaradan, and to those who were with him. And Habakkuk said to the Lord: "Why do you keep silent while you see that the impious man swallows up the just, and you endure it?"

CVIII. TO THE SAME

^B Not only sinners, but even those who strive to apply themselves most to good works are frequently abandoned, that they might learn patience and endurance, and avoid pride. And Scripture says: "They fall under the impious at the appointed time, and their intellectual houses are pillaged by the impious." And again: "The just man," it says, "is mocked by the impious." — "God, my God, attend to me, why have you abandoned me?" And again it is written: "I give thanks to you, O God, because you struck me, and turned your face away from me, and after these things you will show mercy to me." And again: "How many tribulations did you show me, many and evil, yet having turned you made me live, and brought me up from the abysses of the earth? You multiplied your greatness over me, and having turned you consoled me."

CIX. TO THE SAME

^C Great illnesses of contempt, and vanity, and self-esteem, and the like, hiding in our inner and secret chambers, evade most men and often even ourselves through lack of self-examination. But the great physician of our souls knows well how to bring aid to those things that are hidden. Let us not, therefore, take it ill, nor lose heart, nor despair on account of those things which the Lord, not inappropriately, brings upon us.

CX. TO THE SAME

Many in the infirmary of the present age lie sick, and others are afflicted by a slackening of the nerves. But the same medicine does not suit all, nor does one and the same diet benefit all: for the physician assigns to each a ^D proper medicine and a proper regimen of life.

CXI. TO THE SAME

This man, he says, is soothed more frequently by the sick man's honey...

If there are "many mansions with my Father," perhaps the human race also will be governed and disposed by many kinds of administrations.

CXIII. TO THE SAME This man, he says, let him pass his life in the enjoyment of virtues, rejoicing and being guided straight; and let the other, through the astringency and the severity of desertions, be constantly disciplined, and let him be drawn unto salvation while mourning. Let another be gladdened by his success in attaining continuously those things that are in accordance with his will and his purpose, traveling the road of this temporary life without hindrance; and let another expect with difficulty, after ten thousand stumbling blocks, afflictions, and sorrows, at last to find freedom and a most perfect release from evils. For I know what is advantageous for each one, as one who watches over hidden things, and let each one be governed fitly for the advantage of his soul.

CXIV. TO NICANDRO THE STYLITE "For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends." "For everyone who exalts himself," he says, "will be humbled." But you, who have accomplished nothing worthy of celebration or glory, but have exalted yourself upon a high pillar, and therefore pursue and angle for immense praises and acclaim; attend to yourself, lest you, having been immoderately praised here by corruptible men, be at the same time found by the incorruptible God, wretchedly and beyond expectation, to have been satiated here with human applause beyond your merits.

CXV. TO THE SAME It would be absurd, indeed, to stand in body upon a high column, conspicuous and glorious to all, but below to be dragged down in your thoughts, desiring to apprehend nothing worthy of heavenly matters, but only conversing sweetly with women in these days. For formerly you used to address men with readiness, but now you for the most part receive little women. Since, therefore, the Scripture condemns the serpent to crawl upon the earth and ever to "eat earth," beware lest you yourself fulfill that condemnation, creeping upon the ground in your thoughts, and forever eating earthly words. And indeed, there is nothing more earthly than low-creeping vainglory.

CXVI. TO THEODOSIA THE NUN A woman you are in body, whether you wish it or not. Cease, therefore, from teaching men in the church; for the Apostle has clearly declared this to be disgraceful, even if you say a thousand times that you are far removed from the feminine condition, and that you are yourself more steadfast than men, according to the firmness of your virginal way of thinking.

[CXXXII] [CXVII]. — TO THEOPHILUS THE MONK. Let us not, as chance may have it, and without prior examination, shift ourselves from place to place; but rather let us stand firm with patience, praying, as the holy Moses said to the Israelites: “Stand firm, be courageous, do not fear, and you shall see the help from the Lord, which He will perform for you.” 39

[CXVIII]. — TO ANASTASIA THE VIRGIN. I congratulate you, because your life is more luminous than the moon, and you think most humbly concerning yourself. For it is to be reckoned amongst the highest miracles that a soul within a terrestrial body should practice the manner of life of the incorporeal angels. I once suspected that it was this that was implied when it was said: “You founded the earth, and it remains. By Your arrangement the day remains.” 28 For by "day," he says, we must understand luminous virginity, established in the mortal body, and founded by the right hand of the Most High. But pray for me, O immaculate bride of King Christ, who, by long duration and unwearied labors, and temperance of character, and vigils, and tears flowing like rain, and ten thousand other virtuous deeds, have attained an ineffable boldness before the invisible, undefiled, and holy Groom.

[CXIX]. — TO RHEGINUS THE ARCHIMANDRITE. You are a world of the world; wherefore meditate upon the whole creation within yourself, as in a mirror, and consider all things by referring them to yourself. Do not gaze at what is outside, but turn your gaze within; gather the whole mind into the intellectual storehouse of the soul, and prepare the temple for the Lord, devoid of idols. [CXXXII]

[CXX]. — TO ALEXANDER THE MONK. While you save your own soul, keep it safe; do not turn your mind toward past evils, which you have well renounced. Ascend the mountain of dispassion, lest you be seized along with the sinful world into the everlasting fire.

[CXXI]. — To the same. Pray these things to the Lord: “Open, O Lord, Your rich hand for the supply of spiritual beneficence, and every most bitter and cruel soul, just like mine, will be filled with goodness, and the one that has become wild will be tamed.” For even if I were abandoned for a short time on account of my own sloth, yet You can, even after the abandonment, send forth again the Holy Spirit and renew my corrupt earth, in order that You might then rejoice in Your works, when sinners have failed from the earth—that is, the illusions of the demons from my heart. For we will find some such things said near the end of the one hundred and third psalm.

[CXXII]. — To the same. If we grieve God when we despise and neglect Him, let us rather strive to delight Him through diligence and good works.

[CXXXIII] ^A — To the same. The prophecy says, "The water of Neuriim will be desolate, and it will dry up, and all its grass will fail: for the dry grass shall not be." Neuriim is interpreted as "false opinion." Every heresy, therefore, should be readily understood as being laid waste and dried up through the teachings of those who rightly handle the word of truth. Yet sin, too, is a false opinion; for someone, thinking that which is not good to be good, pursues it. But when sin is abolished through repentance, it is manifest that the grass has been dried up; and when even this dry grass is removed from one's feet, the very memories of things done evilly perish.

[CXXIV] — To Eulysius the Monk. Neither virtue nor malice remains constant and immovable, since the human race is prone to change of its own accord. Therefore, regarding the brother whom you suppose to be most negligent, and whom you consider to be a sinner, you do not know whether he, perhaps sighing within himself and changing for the better, is being saved before God. But you, in your ^B ignorance, often treat such a person as nothing, and heap abuse upon him, and bitterly judge the man who is being saved even more than you are.

[CXXV] — To the same. Malice attracts malice, and passion is very often joined to passion; for evil things are of the same family and provide help to one another.

[CXXVI] — To the same. The abundance of things done by us in a sinful manner often draws the worst of all evils—boasting and pride—out of stupidity. But he who is abundantly adorned with all virtues will set himself apart from insane, foolish, and worn-out boasting and empty pride.

[CXXVII] — To Philoxenus the Archimandrite. I would ^C call him a true Israelite who, through the contemplation of all creatures, whether they are manifest to our sight or hidden in secret, beholds God as the Creator of all things.

[CXXVIII] — To Elpidius the Monk. "All things," he says, "are pure to the pure; but to the unfaithful and to those given to passionate affections, and those addicted to sin and defiled, all things appear impure and evil." Everything impels them toward sin: whether it be food, or drink, or clothing, or place, or time, or person, or deed, or conversation, or sight, ^D or touch, or smell, or hearing, or taste—to sum it up in a word, any thing, or form, or movement urges such people toward sin and invites them toward lawlessness. Just as, on the contrary, for the faithful, the pure, the devout, and those of sound mind, everything stirs them toward thanksgiving to God and unceasing hymn-singing, guides them toward all righteousness, and directs them toward perfect piety.

^A CXXIX. — TO NEMERTIUS THE MONK. The spirit of fear has sought you often, but did not find you, because you had not yet been handed over to it for training. But now it has found you, and it disturbs you all night and all day. Yet do not be disheartened; but wait for the Lord in prayer, expecting that He might snatch you away, as you are constantly found melting in tears before His eyes.

CXXX. — To the same. Since you assert that you are completely unable to live alone in your cell, being oppressed beyond expectation with an immense terror of the demon, after such a long time since your renunciation and your solitary stay in the desert, take to yourself now some God-loving and pious man, and let him dwell with you; let him pray with you, join in your chanting, and keep vigil with you until divine assistance arrives and the wicked demon departs. ^B

CXXXI. — To the same. I am certainly persuaded, and I am fully convinced, that the demon of fear will be driven out from you, put to flight by a holy angel. For the Lord will not allow the rod of the sinful demons to rage perpetually against the lot of righteous men. Therefore he says: "Waiting, I waited for the Lord, who brought upon me the temptation, and He paid heed to me, and heard my prayer."

CXXXII. — To the same. Behold, by the grace, and by the power, and by the philanthropy of Christ the most high God, an eight-month space has passed, and the wicked spirit has been driven away from you, and again with confidence you dwell in your cell alone. ^C

CXXXIII. — TO PALLADIUS THE MONK. As it seems, you emulate Jonathan, the son of Saul, in spirit. For he, as the history is handed down, said: "I tasted a little of honey with the tip of my rod, and my eyes have seen." But you, having become a participant in the intellectual honey of the divine words, which are sweeter than the honey itself, see with the eyes of the soul things that are not so easily discerned by the many. And so you begin to ask why Jacob worshipped at the tip of the staff.

CXXXIV. — To the same. For you, indeed, being perfectly purged and immune from every stain and the swelling of vainglory, it would be worth the labor to be exercised in the most subtle speculations; but those who are defiled, and have not yet washed away the disgraces and the stains of the old man in the baths, we do not ^D in any way permit to handle the most holy words even with their fingertips, until they become sound and are cleansed at last. For He says: "Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before the swine."

CXXXV. — TO APHTHONIUS THE MONK. Let not only the reading of the Scriptures be at hand, but also prayer, and the psalm, and continence, and vigil.

and sleeping on the ground, and quiet, and the work of the hands. ^A

CXXXVI. — TO EUSEBIUS THE MONK. Only be willing to keep quiet, in the way the monastic state demands, and God will raise up for you ministers from the trees, the winds, and these stones. But I perceive that you do not wish to be at rest at all; for you have acquired a bad habit, traveling around every place, and every region, and every village, and city, and street, never resting.

CXXXVII. — TO EUPHEMIUS THE MONK. For what, indeed, did you expect when you chose quiet and withdrawal? Was it not afflictions, and temptations, and the myriad assaults of cruel demons, and their ambushes and schemes? Why then are you now so restless, and annoyed, and troubled, being pricked in various ways by the spears of temptations, and by the saw-toothed wheels of the demons' chariot, which cut up your soul and grind it like chaff? But endure with thanksgiving and patience, with a steady mind, and frequent prayer, and vigorous vigil, and noble temperance, ^B attaching yourself to the Mightier One, and you shall see the end.

CXXXVIII. — To the same. The end of those who strive for Christ is salvation, but the end of the demons is a cruel destruction. For then those who now prick you shall be pricked, and you shall trample them underfoot, and they shall be as ashes beneath your feet, and they shall fear you whom you formerly feared, because of the counsel which the Lord has devised. ^C

CXXXIX. — To the same. Sometimes the demonic thoughts are hidden within us, but at other times they peer toward the outside, goading us into the sin that is committed by deed. But God, when called upon by us, scatters them and banishes them from us; and then, recovering our senses from that confusion, we gather ourselves together and grow warm again in spirit, as if rising from the dead; and being raised up to the height of dispassion which is according to nature, and being exposed to no perturbation, we walk, glorifying and praising the Lord, ending our life in a good and pleasing end before God. And this, I suppose, is what was said by the blessed David: *They have looked upon all workers of iniquity, that they may be destroyed*, and *my horn shall be exalted as that of a unicorn*—that is, the power of divine dispassion—and *my old age in rich oil*. ^D For the struggling man, who was previously oppressed and withered by the harassment of many passions, shall be anointed, he says, with the intellectual oil of the Mightier One.

CXL. — TO CYRINIUS THE MONK. The demons greatly envy those who embrace continence, and they cast evil and forbidden desires upon those who are struggling. But one must not be discouraged by this; for we are rather nerved against [the trouble wrought by our enemies; for we are]

they cause us, and more confirmed in the expectation of the good things promised, in that we are so greatly tempted by flesh-loving and filthy demons. For the enemies know that the Lord has promised us great goods, and they are exceedingly enraged against us and, spurred by envy, they set themselves against us through shameful and most base passions, and they grievously crush those who are hastening toward virtue. Therefore, even if desires grow inflamed and impure pleasures arise, even if the flesh is stirred up and leaps, and even if every device and devilish artifice tempts us, let us overcome all things through faith, and the singing of psalms, and reading, and humility, and other struggles, and above all through the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ, our most humane God and Savior. ^A For it is not possible for the hostile demons to prevail over us, unless we first set aside the fear of God through little faith, and neglect the things commanded us by the Lord. Therefore, there are some demons who cloak themselves in the human body, and, sucking out all the strength of the instrument, they bring on nearly total listlessness and weakness in the limbs, although no disease or beginning of an illness is present. Yet, in addition to these, they also cast the soul into great despondency and a lukewarm state of mind; having cast these out with a noble disposition of mind and a sober heart, let us cling to the all-seeing God through prayer, saying: “Deliver me from my enemies, O God, and redeem me from those who rise up against me;” ^B restore my soul from their wickedness. Just as it happened to Samson once, through love of pleasure, to fall into the hands of the Philistines and to suffer those things written of him, this same thing altogether happens now to an soul ensnared by wicked pleasures. For when the thoughts of a man have given place to the impulse of a filthy demon, the divine grace which keeps watch over the soul departs, and the demons, having seized the one who has been ensnared, dig out from him every virtuous thought; they bind him with the insoluble bonds of erotic titillations and shameful desire, and, leading him into the storehouse of malice, they train him by wicked habit to toil at the mill, and to serve the devil day and night in all things. ^C But if the soul that has been ensnared in sins, coming to its senses and looking about, groans toward God with pain of heart, and clings to the invisible feet of the Master through prayer and supplication, the Lord says to the angels, as did Elisha concerning the Shunammite: “Suffer her to come to me, and do not cast her away.” For even if she possesses no virtue, and no such confidence in her virtue toward me, nevertheless, seeing that her heart is thoroughly bitter and that she has prostrated herself before me without any regard for herself, with tears and affliction, I receive and save her. ^D We have need, indeed, of the power and grace of the all-powerful and all-wise Spirit, which we ought eagerly to seek. For in this way

^A the bow of the strong among the demons—who shoot at us with the thoughts of voluptuousness as if with fiery arrows—will grow weak, and the faithful who had formerly grown weak will afterwards be mightily strengthened for the destruction of their adversaries. And this, then, is what the most faithful mother of Samuel was prophesying when she said: "The bow of the mighty has grown weak, and the weak have girded themselves with strength."

The goal of the author and painter of wickedness, the demon, is to cast every person into heavy and inconsolable grief and to turn them away from faith, hope, and divine love, which are more essential and greater than piety toward Christ. For this reason, he often prepares some of the faithful, through an animal-like impulse, to emit semen even within the holy house itself, so that he may bring the soul of the one who has suffered into despair, despondency, and complete hopelessness. ^B For when someone has progressed in time and in deed, then the enemies of carnal pleasures and desires are let loose upon him for his training and testing. Then, being grieved and straitened, he is next compelled to be humbled, to mourn, and to condemn and blame only himself. And thus, having been tested through these temptations, he arrives at a discernment that is higher than all virtues.

Because many were not prepared in advance for these things, nor had acquired this discernment, some of them, being startled and having their minds disturbed through inattention and lack of judgment, have slaughtered themselves with a sword; others have thrown themselves down, gripped by unbearable grief and despair; and others, cutting off their reproductive organs, have, in their wretchedness, become their own murderers by their own choice, falling under the apostolic curse and mockery, regarding whom he says: "I wish that those who unsettle you would also even cut themselves off." ^C Others still have been taken and carried away by Satan, and these too have become accountable to the prophetic decree which says: "But those who turn aside into crooked paths, the Lord will lead away with those who work iniquity."

He, therefore, who wars against such a demon and opposes him—evidently by adapting himself to the deceitful goal—uses patience and long-suffering, and by prayer, unceasing fasting, faith, hope, and perfect love towards God, he will battle and overcome and effectively move this filthy and unclean demon through the help of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the name of Jesus Christ, the most high God, is sufficient for us for the defense against enemies. We have great need of prayer to God, so that we may not fall away from virtue. For that it is possible to fall from righteousness into sin and to be transformed from a state of passionlessness into what is subject to passion, the prophecy cries out to the Lord: ^D "We have become as we were from the beginning, when you did not rule over us, nor was your name called upon us," and we are unclean. But it is possible even after a fall has occurred to attain once again through repentance that original state of passionlessness,

^B and of strength. For everyone who seeks through repentance and prayer shall receive in due time power from on high, and passionlessness. Pay attention to the prophecy: "Awake, awake, O Jerusalem, and put on the strength of your arm, and awake as in the beginning of the day, because pain, sorrow, and groaning have fled from you." It is a great thing among evils, even the smallest good. For even if we have been hated by God because of our sins, nevertheless we shall be loved again through repentance. For that the all-merciful Master again receives us, and gladdens us with His love, see what He says to the intellectual Jerusalem, that is to say, to our soul: "And I will set you for an everlasting joy, and a gladness of generations of generations." Do not, therefore, call the measure into question. For when God wills to change things from a worse state to a better one, all opposing forces will yield to the command of God, and will be renewed. For the Lord is able easily and readily to transform humanity, just as He commanded the barkless and dried-up rod of Aaron to bear fruit more quickly than plants rooted deep in the earth; for if those bear fruit in the course of many years and seasons, this one brought forth all at once, in a single night, leaves, blossoms, and fruit. Let us not, therefore, wander aimlessly and without examination, fleeing from place to place to escape the disturbances and afflictions of our thoughts. Rather, let us stand with patience and pray, just as Moses said to Israel: "Stand fast, and be of good courage, do not fear, and you shall see the help from God, which God will bring to you this day." ^C

CXLI. — TO THE DEACON.

When you see a man who is faithless, and addicted to the world, priding himself on the vanity of temporal wisdom, and holding the divinely inspired Scripture in neglect because it does not put forth words in the Attic manner, consider him to be Naaman the Syrian, covered entirely in leprosy on account of his faithlessness, before he acknowledged the benefactor and God, the Lord of all; who, on the one hand, highly extolled the great rivers of Damascus, which were in no way able to heal a single leper of the mottled leprosy, while on the other hand, he despised the Jordan in the land of Israel. For we too, being intellectual Israelites, possess the Jordanic streams of the divine Scripture, which, when expressed merely by the utterance of speech, seem cheap and insignificant; ^D but according to the powers of the mysteries hidden in the teachings of Christ — as water leaping up into eternal life, healing, purging, and illuminating all who embrace the faith — they are supernatural, wonderful, glorious, and exalted above all ages.

CXLII. — TO NICOTYCHIUS THE DEACON.

The Midianite demons, who are not visible to the eyes, their own daughters…

perceives the things he has done wickedly, and remembers that terrible and everlasting punishment, heals himself through voluntary sorrow and repentance before he departs from this life. But when, he says, such a man rejoices, he is not mingled with insolence. For even if bodily gladness and luxury abound, he will never slip into pride. For this is called insolence by the wise.

^C CXLIV. — TO THE SAME. That saying, as you yourself say, is obscure: “Do not serve the food of the righteous to the impious.” Indeed, this saying has another meaning implied by the words, which you should now understand. The food, nourishment, and clothing of all the faithful is Christ the Savior; for in Him we were created, and we live, and move, and have our being. Since, therefore, both the Lord’s body and the blood of the Word of God are, through the incarnation of the Word, the nourishment of all Christians, and by this mystery they are both fed and given to drink, it would be absurd to make an impious and deceitful man a participant in the aforementioned mystery, just as with Simon Magus, who pretended to believe. Furthermore, do not offer a deeper interpretation of the holy oracles to a man who is uninitiated and evil. “For do not,” He says, “give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine.” Moreover, you asked me how one ought to understand that which is written likewise by Solomon: “Do not be deceived by the satiety of the belly.” For we do not, O friend of Christ, partake of that terrible and desirable table in the Church as we do of common bread and wine, for the filling of the belly; but a very small portion is offered to us by those who serve God, and we receive it while directing the eyes of the soul on high, in order that we may be cleansed of transgressions, and attain holiness and salvation. I also think it good that, at our common table in our own homes, we should not be deceived by the satiety of the belly—that is, that we should not exceed the limits of necessary need; for the best measure of the use of food or drink is the need of the body.

CXLV. — TO EULAMPIUS THE SOPHIST

Why do you hold up to me the wise men of the Greeks, heavy with their flowing beards, adorned with shoulder-cloaks, tumidly puffed up, and fishing for veneration for themselves with their staff and beard? For Paul, a maker of tent-cloths, a man of the road, and held in contempt by all, converted Greece and all the barbarian nations alike to God. But Plato, who is carried about by you and worn out by everyone’s hands—who sailed to Sicily for a third time—with the pride of those words of his and the splendid opinion he conceived of himself, did not even manage to win over a single tyrant; but he departed [this life] so miserably that he even lost his own liberty. Yet the maker of tent-cloths traversed not only Sicily, not only Italy, but the entire world with the preaching of piety.

CXLVI. — TO PHILOXENUS THE CENSOPHYLAX

We must neither go into a frenzied state and be puffed up with empty pride during favorable and prosperous times, nor, in adverse circumstances, lose heart like beasts and be swallowed up by grief. For this is the mark of a small and cowardly soul. This present life, which is subject to corruption, is like a stage play. Thus, neither being fortunate—should it happen to a person—nor its opposite will be found to be stable.

CXLVII. — TO LYCURGUS THE ILLUSTRIOUS

Who would not mock you? Who would not accuse you for this pursuit of yours, which is bound by no limits? Who would not condemn the foolish madness of one who never has enough of gathering wealth and thinks he possesses things that, when dying and dragged off to that world by fearful angels bound in chains, he will in no way be able to carry with him; nay rather, you fulfill the office of an enemy, when with inhumanity and a cruel, brutal intent you do the greatest harm to your own most unholy soul, and devote yourself to a young kinsman who is considered to be the heir of your great estate? But I bring you word of something bitter and most unwanted: your sweet heir, upon whom you have transferred all your interests in writing—while still living, and while sensible and in good health—will die shortly, and he will inherit but three solitary cubits for his burial. And you will be utterly astonished, seeing a youth, young by many years, handed over for burial before an old man. Or perhaps you will not be astonished at this, nor will you treat it as a new matter, having already observed that similar things happened to other Illustrious men, Aristophanes and Crescentius. But now, at least, coming to your senses as is fitting, put an end to your vast greed, and do not grieve for one who is about to die, but lament your own soul, which is given over to iniquities; ^D correct yourself, and embrace good works, before you depart from the stage of this present age and migrate thither, where in the future no room will be given to any of the dead to answer for their sins, and where neither friend, nor slave, nor kinsman will be able to defend or bring aid to one suffering punishment for eternity.

[CXLVIII] — TO NICANDER, THE EXCEPTOR. I have often told you, and I say it again now, that the wonders wrought by the magic of Apollonius of Tyana, since they contain absolutely no heavenly benefit, nor do they bring any gain to the soul, would seem to wise and pious men, who pant after those heavenly, incorruptible, and indissoluble goods, to be no different from a handful of barley. Do not, therefore, marvel at the works of sorcery, nor be troubled by them; rather, free yourself from such a foolish opinion and puerile way of thinking.

[CXLIX] — TO PALATINUS, THE PRIMATE. You keep repeating: "How can I be saved, teeming as I am with countless soul-ulcers, filled with evils that cannot be expressed in words, and constantly scorched by the flames of my own corrupt conscience?" Attend, my man, even a little, to the divinely inspired Scripture, and you will have no need of my exhortation. Consider what Solomon says: "By alms and by faithfulness are sins purged." See what the prophet Daniel counsels to Nebuchadnezzar: "Redeem your iniquities with alms, and your sins with mercies to the poor." Believe Sirach, who exhorts: "Water will quench a flaming fire, and alms will appease sins." For alms-giving rescues from death—I mean the death brought about by fearful and terrible judgment—and from the darkness thus imposed, as Tobias and Solomon believe. [CXXXII] [sic: 190]

[CL] — TO RHEGINUS, THE SCRINIARIUS. Christ, the common Savior and benefactor of all, is not a mere man, but rather God seen in human form; and in his own sinless and blameless flesh, he endured death for the sins of mankind of his own free will.

[CLI] — TO LUCIUS, THE TRIBUNE. How many times have men caught crows with snares and nets, and the crows that were caught did not know of their own hunting and capture? Yet you assert that crows foretell the future to you, and those that are not even present are considered by you as prophets and foretellers of things to come; yet they do not in any way recognize the snare prepared against themselves, nor do they perceive their own destruction. Beware, therefore, of augury. For some who have applied their minds to this, being not unworthy of such error, by observing the flights of crows—those flying toward them, those flying away, those circling over their heads, and those flying to the sides—are clearly seeing that evil demons fly along with the crows and direct the birds' flights to suit the imaginings of the deluded man. Likewise, by observing their calls, they have alienated themselves from faith in Christ the Savior, and have fallen into unavoidable dangers regarding their life and fortunes, and although they relied on high hopes because of the "excellent" prophecies noted for them by the crows, after countless losses and perils, they finally...

^A ended their life with a miserable and detestable outcome. For, as the Scripture says, the outcomes of an unjust generation are evil. If, therefore, it is your intention to escape the trapping of the demons, observe no divination whatsoever: neither flights, nor the voices of birds, nor the chance encounters of any animals, whether rational or irrational, nor recalls, nor retracing of steps, nor vain lots—in a word, observe nothing at all, except sin. For it is worth the effort to be on guard against that, and to repel it from oneself continuously. I also wish for you not to be unaware of this: that as for some men who have sought after those harmful things according to the custom of the Gentiles, it has happened to them quite often just as they had suspected, not through the power or prediction of the wretched crows, or pigs, or dogs, or human beings, but through the judgment of God, who punishes and mocks their infidelity. ^B "For may the Lord grant you according to your heart, and may it be done for you," He says, "just as you expected; and I will overwhelm you with calamities, and afflictions, and sorrows which, trusting in perverse divination, you feared": so that, having been deluded, they might finally at some point discern their own folly, and through the aid of sincere repentance, put an end to that execrable divination, and, committing their own affairs to divine providence for the future, return their soul to God from every side.

CLII. — TO MARO THE COUNT.

Do not in any way fear the spirit of blasphemy, which very often brings distress ^C to your God-loving and good soul; rather, rise up against it, striking it with prayers and acts of kindness, with assistance to the oppressed, and with patience, humility, and gentleness towards your servants. For these things, and such as these, are able to drive from your soul that destructive demon, which dares to suggest fierce and impious thoughts against you, and against God Himself, and against those things created, and against the holy and venerable mysteries.

CLIII. — TO LAUSUS THE PRIMISCRINIUS [COUNT OF THE IMPERIAL ARCHIVES].

Since you have neither brothers nor children, for whom, pray, are you insatiably amassing gold? ^D For the more opulent the treasures that are gathered for you, by so much more do greater and harsher punishments—namely, eternal torments—await you. And would that such a supply of money had reached pious and upright men at the opportune time, as it is written: "Some have gathered silver insatiably, from which they will not taste; and what they themselves have collected from much injustice, the just will eat." However, I do not believe that it will turn out thus for you; for you are unworthy. Indeed, you will find that a proverb common to the masses applies to you, which says: "The Rattle-bearers will devour the things of the Tantalists."

^A

154. TO XANTHIPPUS, DEACON.

155. TO ROMANUS, BISHOP.

156. TO APHRODISIUS, SCRINIARIUS.

157. TO SOSIPATER, TRIBUNE.

^A you, as a lover of God, will enter into the kingdom of heaven together with the monks without any hesitation, as a good follower and servant of theirs, and you will be called to inherit with them the ineffable goods for endless ages.

CLVIII. TO CHILO THE DOMESTIC

The unstable and unsettled state of your mind, which is perturbed and very easily swayed, Sirach indicates, saying: ^B "The heart of a fool is like a cart wheel." If you desire, moreover, to see the testimony of the aforesaid writer concerning your lack of discretion in keeping a secret, but instead your tendency to reveal it at once and to publish to all whatever has been entrusted to you, hear what follows immediately: "For a fool," he says, "heard a word and was in labor, as a woman in labor is with child." For there is nothing more foolish than to publish, and to broadcast here and there what has been entrusted to us by friends secretly and privately, and to manifest openly and indecently what was told in confidence. Since, therefore, these infirmities occupy you, renounce them; henceforth be wise, firm, and a keeper of mysteries until you reach the end of your life, placing before your own mouth and unrestrained lips strong doors and a most robust bar, and affixing the seal of excellent silence. For thus you will be able to be illuminated by the splendor of divine knowledge, and Holy Scripture will be a comfort to you when it says: "The wisdom of a man will illuminate his face." And again: "Have you heard a word? Let it die within you. Be of good cheer; the word will not burst you in the secret ^C mentioned to you."

CLIX. TO GAUDENTIUS THE DEACON

The demon of fornication is accustomed to stick to the one being tempted by him, like a gluttonous little puppy, yet not to exert force. It is therefore in your power and at your own discretion either to feed him through disgraceful conduct, or to put him to flight with anger through prayers, the chanting of psalms, fasts, vigils, and sleeping on the ground. "For resist the adversary," as the great James writes, "and he will flee from you."

CLX. TO PHILO THE BISHOP

You are yourselves sufficiently capable and instructed, those of you living in your monastery, to prescribe the manner of life as is proper in all things. But since, while writing, you have engaged in a discussion regarding the regimen of diet, asking me to signify my opinion on it, I deem that it should be arranged in this way. Since the temperature of bodies varies—with some being subject to poor health, and others to vigorous health—a varied regimen of diet, adapted to each individual, must be prescribed. Therefore, for those in good health, the use of legumes; for those in a different state, the relief of vegetables; and for those who have ^D passed beyond the infirmity and are weak, it is right to offer moderate help from meat.

CLXI. TO QUINTILIUS THE CHANCELLOR

If indeed you have your soul's devotion toward God, and diligent

You asked me: Who is that man noted in the Gospels as having entered into the wedding feast not having a wedding garment? Do not look outside yourself, but examine your own heart more attentively. For we all, as Christians, have been called to the divine wedding. If, therefore, we have entered wearing a mindset that is greedy, or lecherous, or envious, or the like, it is clear that we have dared to enter wearing a garment foreign to the radiant and immaculate wedding. But if, having changed that reprehensible intent, we clothe ourselves in our understanding with the inward affections of mercy and kindness, with goodness and pure love, and with gentleness and humility, and with things similar to these, it is manifest that we have put on garments worthy of the wedding. Let us, therefore, hasten to be clothed with the garment of salvation of the intellectual wedding. For it is within our power to clothe and to uncloth ourselves, and to change our garments—sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse—and to choose now this and now that, since man was created free and master of his own will. ^B

CLXIII. —To the same.

The devil, the enemy of our life, feigning mercy, arranges for it to be thought that there will be no judgment, nor any retribution for each man according to his works, and by these words he wickedly destroys those whom he has deceived, fattening them up for ruin. For the devil is the first of all sinners. But the Savior of all, Christ—who alone is truly pure and just—by testifying and rebuking, by chastening and instructing, and by foretelling the coming judgment, saves those who heed him. Consider this, therefore, to be what is written: «The just shall correct me in mercy, and shall reprove me; but let not the oil of the sinner anoint my head,» ^C that is to say, my governing part, or my faculty of reason.

CLXIV. —To Vorion the Ecdicus

Woe to you, thrice-wretched and thrice-unhappy man, because for the sake of a small pleasure—one that passes away the moment it is finished—you embrace eternal flames. Woe to you, ^D

^A senseless and foolish man, because by following the impulses of the flesh and by involving yourself through it in obscene passions and serving wicked works, you will be cast out from that immortal blessedness, and you will fall into the underworld to be lashed by the fiery scourges of the merciless angels. For some of the angels are gentle, and humane, and merciful, and compassionate; others, however, are austere and implacable, terrible and vehement, and cruel, and merciless.

CLXV. TO SYMMACHUS, COMMANDER OF THE TROOPS

CLXVI. TO COLOCASUS THE DEACON

CLXVII. TO PIERIUS THE COUNT THE YOUNGER

the demon approaches the genital members, abruptly kindles the flames of the flesh, and causes the limbs to seethe as if in a cauldron. Piercing the heart with the fiery arrows of the thoughts of illicit pleasure, he urges it toward the evil work, just as one might fiercely stoke the Babylonian furnace. Hence, the soul, having become depleted [of virtue] many times, and having grown weak in its intellectual vigor through these titillations, and having been rendered effeminate, finds it necessary to cry out the words of the Scripture: "Compassers, they compassed me about, and they burned up as fire among thorns" (Ps. CXVII, 12) through the burning of the body and through shameful movements, injecting into my loins the venom of the filthy serpent, without sparing; "and my loins are filled with illusions" (Ps. XXXVII, 8). "Behold, for the power of the dragon has wrought upon my loins." "I have become miserable, and I have been bowed down" (cf. Ps. XXXVII, 7). I am walled round by the wall of lewdness, and how, then, shall I be able to pass over this wall? "The demons have prepared a snare for my feet, and have bowed down my soul" (cf. Ps. LVI, 7). "For there is darkness in my eyes, but I hastened not to see" (cf. Ps. XXXIX, 15). For blindness is a cruel thing, and so is fornication, and, to speak briefly, all the fulfillment and desire of the flesh. I am caught like a lion for the slaughter, and am led like a dog to the chains, and like a bird into a snare, and I burn with the most violent fever of impurity.

^B Who, then, will entreat for me the Master, the lover of mankind, to come to my aid and to touch my hand, just as He once touched the mother-in-law of Peter, that the temptation may depart from me, that the cruel and loathsome lust which burns me may abandon me, and that I may be strong enough to be upright toward temperance and to serve my own Lord in sobriety? But, that I may not write at length to you now, I exhort you, O good shoot from a good root, to guard and protect yourself, as much as in you lies, from this pimp and wicked demon, by avoiding the company of Dionysodorus. Do not celebrate with him, nor go with him to public festivals, nor eat with him, nor drink with him, nor spend time with him, even if you are minded to travel together for a short while. But if there should at any place be a necessity to meet such a one, do not look at him directly, lest through your windows, that is, your eyes, as the prophet says, "death [of sin] climb up into your soul" (cf. Jer. IX, 21); but looking downward to the ground, give your answers with a stern eye and an austere face, not deigning to laugh or bathe with him. For it is necessary that we anticipate the fortifications and the engines of the filthy serpent, before he anticipates us with his various nets and snares through the desire for the aforementioned boy. For this young man does not possess a good reputation, and it is necessary to flee from suspicions of him. Since, therefore, the root of the action that takes place in the body is the flesh-loving mind,

^A pluck it out by the roots before it breaks forth, and the evil sprouts, and it becomes a trunk hereafter, so that one is compelled to seek after axes and to inquire diligently for fire, and to require much help for the destruction of the tree of profligacy. For a root remaining for a time makes even a wall, built most beautifully and firmly, decay, and breaks a stone. Flee, therefore, the hook of destruction, and escape the snares of the devil, and crush his traps, arming yourself with fasting, and with frequent prayer, and with genuflections, and with bodily labor, and with the hardship of piety, and with the other safeguards and aids which I have often eagerly desired to suggest to you; and sing together with blessed David to Christ, the most high Savior and our benefactor: ^B "Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, and from the stumbling blocks of those who work iniquity." And remember also the commands of which we are warned in the Gospel: "Let your loins be girded about with temperance, and your lights be burning, and you yourselves like men expecting their Lord, when he shall come from heaven, and shall find those who genuinely worship and love him watching, so that he may make them shine like the sun in the heavenly kingdom." And observe this also, that the enemy tempts some not only by those who are fair in appearance, but also by those who have ugly and deformed faces, whether they be men or women, suggesting a certain blind desire in the soul. For the demon who loves filth, being wily and various, tries ^C often to ensnare one in this or that form through an absurd and shameful appetite. Flee, therefore, the company of all unclean youths, both the beautiful and the ugly. But when at any time you feel, and you realize that you yourself are troubled by the foul passion, and are being carried toward a darkness of the soul and a muddy state, consider your mind to be King Saul being choked by an evil spirit of erotomania, and bringing the book of David into the midst, charm your heart, as one possessed by a demon, with the words of the holy Spirit, and it will be well with you when you sing to the Lord: "Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, and from the stumbling blocks of those ^D who work iniquity," and, "Deliver me from the hand of my enemies who pursue me." And the demon, terrified and humbled by the divine words and the most beneficial melody, will fly away from you. You, however, will be drawn out from the pit of misery by divine grace, and you will then see an atmosphere dedicated to chastity, and a state pure and immune from every perturbation and confusion, and a most clear serenity, rising from a certain misty and dark night, so that you may be able to say: "This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Open to me, therefore, O angels of God, the gates of righteousness.

^A Benedictus Deus, who has not removed my prayer, nor His mercy from me.

CLXVIII. — TO PERGAMIO

Do not complain against God, the most wise creator of the limbs, but against your own mind, which is inclined and prone to sin. For none of the limbs of man is evil, nor is any condemned. For our forefather Adam, together with Eve, when they were in paradise from the beginning, possessed these members of the body, and they were by no means rejected because of these limbs, but because they transgressed the divine commandment. Therefore, do not blame the limbs, but the choice.

CLXIX. — To the same.

If you bring a charge against David for having taken ten wives, know that he did not take them for the sake of sensual pleasure, but for the procreation of children. And let this be proof of it: that after the parricide Absalom had carnal knowledge of them, David would no longer approach them, nor any other woman. Finally, when the Shunamite slept with him, because he was frozen with extreme cold and was in need of warmth, he refused altogether to know her, which is a most certain proof that he was immune to every passion.

CLXX. — TO HELENA THE ILLUSTRIOUS

You seem to belong to our faith, yet you struggle and strive with all your might to play the same game as the Gentiles. For if you believe without doubt that there will be a resurrection of all the dead after the end of the present age, why do you grieve and cut yourself off ^B incessantly and inconsolably? For even if your excellent son Nicaretus, being your only child, has fallen asleep, you will nonetheless see him on that day more brilliant than the sun itself, standing with glory that cannot be expressed in words, and with joy, before the royal throne, and offering prayers for you to Christ, the most benevolent King of the ages. And then you will surely call yourself fortunate, seeing the son born from your womb dwelling in the heavenly palace and confidently conversing with God, the creator of all things; freed from the world and the complex sin that dwells within it, and enjoying a life that is incorrupt and unblemished, free from cares and corruption for all eternity. Put an end, therefore, to this reprehensible narrow-mindedness and unspeakable tears; and take up a blessed joy, and good expectations, and upright hope, lest you provoke your son, who has departed this life in a praiseworthy manner, by your mourning, and should cause God, who received him with such great love, to be angry with you. Call to mind the holy Apostle writing: ^C "I do not want you to be grieved concerning those who are asleep, just as the Gentiles who have no hope are grieved." And, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God."

^A

CLXXI. — TO ARISTARCHUS THE PRESBYTER.

"The world passeth away, and the lust thereof," says John, he whom Jesus loved for his purity and his mild and gentle character. If, therefore, lust passeth away—that is, it ceases and perishes—how is it, as you teach, that after death some men who were addicted to pleasures continue to desire the delights of this fleeting world after they have died?

CLXXII. — TO XENOPHON THE DEACON.

By relaxing your mind a little, you have committed a sin and obscured the glory of your continence; but, having quickly come to your senses and having changed your mind as was fitting, you have deemed it right to return to your former state, closing the door to the pestilential despair suggested to you by the devil. For he himself both compels one to sin and, after the sin has been committed, precipitates the one who has committed the deed into despair. To sin, therefore, is human; but to despair is satanic and utterly destructive. ^B Hence, the devil himself was cast into such ruin because of despair, since he would not repent. But be a man and take courage, and let your heart be strengthened, being invigorated by better hopes. For we trust that you will now show even greater toil, and with the diligence that will follow, will repair your former defeat, and will obtain a crown against the enemy who envied you. And we shall see you, in the place of a small bit of flea-bane and stubble, become a tall cypress, incorruptible and fragrant, or a palm tree fruitful in continence and the endurance of labors, all of which are so greatly desired by those who seek repentance, striking the devil who had struck you through sin. For voluntary affliction, and willing sorrow, and labors beautifully endured are far sweeter and more precious than rest and pleasure that are involuntary. Therefore, the glory of your intellectual house will be greater than the first, and you will inherit a throne of glory, as the prophets affirm. ^C

CLXXIII. — To the same.

The household of the soul is called the conduct and state of life of each individual. For there is a house of justice, and a house of fortitude, and a house of continence, and the like; and conversely, a house of injustice, and a house of cowardice, and a house of fornication, and the like. Therefore, "The darkened ones of the earth have been filled with houses of iniquity," that is, they have been filled with many and various passions, unholiness, and lawlessness. But that which says, "Truth has sprung from the earth, and justice has looked down from heaven," if you draw it to ^D matters of morality, signifies that the earth is the body putting forth the fruits of continence, just as that which says, "My flesh has blossomed with holiness," if the supplies are brought to the heart of man through prayer and hope. Truly, some have rightly defined fornication as a lie, and continence as truth and true delight; and justice has looked down from heaven—that is, from the mind—so, by God’s mercy, the...

distribution of Jesus. For "The Lord shall give goodness, and our land shall yield its fruit," the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, and the other things which the blessed Paul enumerated. ^A In the latter verse, "land" must be taken as the heart, as the Lord says: "And the seed that fell on good soil brought forth fruit, some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred."

204. TO THERINUS THE PRIMATE

205. TO FIRMINUS THE PRESBYTER

206. TO HYMETIUS THE BISHOP

207. TO ONESIMUS THE PRIMATE

and draw upon yourself the curse which is foretold by the prophet? For, he says, "Woe to him who gathers what is not his own," and "he who heavily weighs down his yoke," and who is about to lose his own substance, and who, because of his insatiable manner, provides for himself eternal punishment.

CLXXVIII. — TO TAURIANUS, FORMER PREFECT.

Woe to your soul and to your life, you merciless and senseless man! For you do not know that it is hard for you to kick against the goad, and that it is terrible to dare to raise a hand against God. For an injury committed against the saints is certainly reckoned as against God. For having dared, with intolerable violence, to seize the seekers [of refuge] who had fled to the sanctuary of the triumphant martyr Plato, and to cast them into the public prison, and [having done this] while roaring unbearably, puffing out your cheeks, and raising your eyebrows, and enslaving the free with your all-tyrannizing will—how do you not consider the future, you senseless one? How ^B do you not examine what will happen later, you dull-witted one? How are you not able to foresee the changes of affairs, you madman? And this especially, since the worst adviser and most detestable advocate of the treasury, Laurentius—a most impious man, wholly corrupt and a worthless scoundrel—is nearby, standing close to your desires. I wish for you to observe that this most holy martyr is not to be despised, and [I wish for you] to prepare yourself to receive the dire things that will come upon you: the wrath of the mortal emperor, out of fear for whom you indeed fled to those most venerable places ^C which were insulted and disgraced by you; then a heavy and grievous sickness, for yourself and for all those dear to you; and after all these things, the confiscation of the great wealth that is brought to you. And then finally, the father of Zeus, Saturn, will mourn for you shrilly and will lament you sweetly, because you, more than others, when you were prospering, worshipped him among the other gods, often comforting him with laments during the feast, as one pitiably mutilated of his genitals, and miserably bound by his own son, and ^D covered with a leather cloak, and dwelling perpetually in darkness.

CLXXIX. — TO AMBLICHUS, CURATOR.

Why do you toil, O man, and struggle in vain? Why do you cast yourself toward false vanities? This state of mind of yours is condemned, and not declared blessed by the divine Prophet. "For blessed," he says, "is the man whose hope is the name of the Lord, and who has not looked upon vanities and false madnesses." For are we ourselves the ones who accomplish the necessities of our life? It is God who disposes it; and human efforts, bereft of divine assistance, necessarily fail of their end; but the divine disposition, even when deprived of any human assistance, provides perfect goods. It would be good, therefore, to embrace the good. And what would that be, if not for us to be rooted with a firm and true faith, and

^A a strengthening by it, to cast all our care and anxiety upon the Lord?

CLXXX. — TO VALERIUS THE CUBICULARIUS

You have asked us by what reasoning the prophet in Isaiah calls Mary the Theotokos. Read in the Gospel that, "He has regarded the humility of His handmaid; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed." And if you do not see the holy Mary called blessed in every nation and in every tongue, because she carried in her womb and gave birth to God, incarnated from the Holy Spirit and from her, without corruption or any defilement of any kind, then do not believe Isaiah. But if she is called blessed throughout the whole world, and is extolled with praises, and is honored with proclamations and blessings—this soil ^B both seedless and untilled, and its most blessed and eternal fruit—why do you strive and demand to be shown that the prophet was speaking of Mary the Theotokos?

CLXXXI. — To the same.

"He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty." For those Gentiles who before the calling were hungry for the divine word, after they have believed, are fed to the full and become partakers of divine teachings; but the Hebrews, who abounded in the Law and the prophets, perish from famine because of their unbelief, and walk about as beggars, having lost the gifts that come from above. For as the prophets tell, their congregation, having received a bill of divorce, has been cast out of the house of God as an adulteress, and has become mad for strange men, that is to say, the demons. She has received, therefore, the bill of divorce, ^C and having been exiled from the sacred mysteries, for this reason she is in poverty. Whence it is possible now for our eyes to perceive what was written prophetically in the Book of Judges. For upon the whole earth and all that is under the sun, the dew of the knowledge of Christ has come and is coming; but upon the fleece of the Jews alone there is drought. For the grace that quickens and increases, bedews and nurtures souls, has flown away from them. But know this also: that those who repent from their sins and turn toward the better will surely be filled with the much-praised foodstuffs of varied virtue; but the demons who once grew wickedly rich from our sins will lose the wealth that they were carrying, as Isaiah says, on camels ^D and asses. For we scatter such wealth, and we cause the demons to wail and weep bitterly when we incline ourselves toward repentance.

CLXXXII. — To the same.

You have told me that you are overly curious about the things recorded historically (for these are easy to grasp), but you say that you prefer to examine eagerly the meaning of what has been written, and wish to interpret Scripture gladly according to intellectual expressions. Therefore, consider the horn of salvation to be dispassion...

and the house of David to be the Church. If, therefore, you also belong to the house of the understood David, practice dispassion and the perfection of the soul. For this can be achieved even in the midst of the world, just as it was in the case of Joseph and Daniel. ^A

CLXXXIII. — To the Same.

There are even now some rivers flowing with an indeficient course, filled with divine streams, rejoicing the city of God—I mean the Church—with their own impulses through incessant irrigation. I mean those who, by use and habit, live in close union with the God-beloved and truly blessed Philemon and Nicephorus. These men, possessing a truly most sublime dispassion and knowledge, and carrying most precious stones in their bosom, are set before all—I mean the carbuncle and the green stone. The green stone signifies that most venerable pallor which appears on the face from ascetic exercise, as well as the cooling and firming of the members of the body through the labor of the struggle. The carbuncle signifies the brilliant and fiery thoughts of spiritual contemplation, which indeed also set the heart of Cleopas ^B on fire. But greater than the aforementioned admirable men is the river flowing to the world from God, gifted as clear gold-bearing waters: John, the Bishop of Constantinople, whose praises many tongues of the wise share. For he is a carbuncle in the truest sense, swaddled from a tender age in the radiance of piety, nourished upon the divine grain of fiery thoughts, and, with a fire-blazing longing, raising the flame of the doctrine that benefits all mortals, step by step through progress and growth into the heights. He is separated from those who are outwardly refined—those who were formerly celebrated for virtue but are now blamed for sloth, even if they happen to be shepherds. It is these whom Jeremiah lamented, saying: "How have they been surrounded by dung of worldly and corruptible things, ^C who were once nurtured upon the grain of the heavenly and venerable life, and of the incorruptible and spiritual way of life."

CLXXXIV. — To Teucrus Candidatus.

As we run through the Scripture, nothing seems new to us when we see you execrating the righteous, and mocking and deriding their pious instruction. For it is written that "Ungodliness is an abomination to the sinner." And again it says: "A foolish and witless man heard a divine word, and cast it behind his back." And again it is said: "Every animal loves its like." For a wicked man loves and embraces another wicked man. ^D

CLXXXV. — To Capito the Steward.

Do not be moved by the love of your hands to exalt them, to heap them with praises and call yourself blessed, because through them you support your own house and many other scoundrels and infamous men. Rather, give thanks to God who also gave you the hands...

^A that exhibit and provide for you. But if, forgetting God, you venerate your hands, beware lest at some point because of a bad malady your hands become paralyzed or withered.

CLXXXVI. — TO HEORTASIUS THE DEACON. Whoever sins is lengthened and separated from God, not by place, but by mode; he reaches a foreign land, that is to say, a foreign way of life and one alien to the Divine; there, living luxuriously (as Luke 15:13 says), he is eventually destroyed by famine, dissipating through a perverse choice the natural goodness of his state. For where temperance does not appear, there is a strong famine. The citizens of that region are understood to be the demons, who possess only those pods of sin which appear sweet but irritate the throat of the one who eats them.

CLXXXVII. — TO MARTINIAN THE PRESBYTER. The law commanded the Israelites who were about to eat the lamb to eat its head with its feet (Exod. 12:9), that we, through the figure, might learn the truth of the Lord's economy, the head being understood as divinity, and the feet being taken to mean humanity. For the Evangelist (John 1:1) who said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," added by saying: ^B "And the Word became flesh." Let Him be worshipped, therefore, as God, and let it be believed that He also became man. For Christ was twofold: God, in that which is invisible; man, in that which is seen. Thus, it is neither profitable to speak of Him as man without divinity, nor is it salvific not to acknowledge His humanity along with His divinity. This, in few words, is in response to what you wrote to me.

CLXXXVIII. — TO THE SAME. What is it that the prophet says regarding the incorporeal powers, that "Their legs were straight, and their feet were winged" (Ezek. 1:7)? For indeed, those heavenly and holy powers do not stand in need of any of these corporeal things at all, nor do they have need of access to them; for this reason they are said to have straight legs. What else could winged feet indicate but ^C the swiftness of that nature, free from every lower subjection, toward more divine contemplations?

CLXXXIX. — TO GERMANUS THE CHANCELLOR. You seem to me to be half-perverse, but not entirely so. Hence, perceiving even small goods in you, I myself conceive good hope for you, and I pray to see your change for the better swiftly.

CXC. — TO OLYMPIUS THE BISHOP. Do not be harsh, lest at some point you experience divine indignation, even if you seem to be inflamed with a zeal for godliness. For the most blessed Jonas had the excessive heat of his zeal softened by the whale (Jon. 2:1). Watch out, therefore, lest you too, because you do not allow yourself to be entreated, be delivered to the whale—that is, to an unexpected and intolerable temptation. By "whale," I now refer to the devil. However, lest I seem to exceed the measure of a letter, I will briefly tell the story ^D

extricate the ancient history: and then perhaps you will persuade yourself to have mercy on those who are infirm in spirit. A certain bishop, Carpus, lived in the same age as the apostles. Under him, two youths, having turned away from the error of the nations and the outer cavils of doctrines, approached the Church of Christ and, by humble supplication of the bishop, obtained divine baptism. When those who were imbued with the same studies as them heard this, they immediately ^A became most impious and wicked. While he was relating this, a spectacle full of the greatest terror and wonder occurred. For Christ descended from heaven, and the fire-breathing dragons were put to flight; and, taking the young man with great kindness and much gentleness, He drew him from the abyss and set him upon the earth, by this demonstrating their salvation. For Christians, having truly been changed later on, have proved to be great. He also blames Carpus for his melancholy and severity, and further that he, being inexorable, had cursed them most dreadfully. Therefore, when you have learned these things, O bishop, do not ^B mercilessly cast your anathema, nor cast out from the Church in perpetuity the followers of Philemon and Sosandrus, who, circumvented by deceits, were led off into impiety. But rather, according to the judgment of the canons of the holy apostles, having excluded them from the Church for an appointed time, rebuke, instruct, exhort [a], constrain; pour out the mercy of Christ upon them, entreat, renew, confirm; wash them with their own tears and lamentations; adorn them with fasts; purify them with many vigils; clothe them ^C with prayers, those who, by the wickedness of the devil and the deceit of iniquitous men, have been despoiled of divine worship. Foster in them a good hope, as they ask, entreat, perform alms, and render propitious to themselves the one merciful and humane, and most compassionate Savior, our Christ.

CXCI. — TO OLIBRIUS THE PRESBYTER. Scripture nowhere says that the sun was created according to the image and likeness of God: by what reasoning, therefore, do you openly proclaim this in the eyes of all? For ^D although he, fixed in the heavens, ejaculates most lucid rays, he was made, however, by that law and command to serve men; and he is not fashioned by divine hands. Man alone is the admirable animal created by the hands of God, and adorned by fingers subject to no matter, and he possesses a soul endowed with reason, breathed into him by God.

CXCII. — TO TELESPHORUS THE ENCAUSTES. Why do you undertake diligent and empty labor? Why do you waste your effort in vain? Why do you expend your labor upon the wind [b], as Solomon said? For your study will be found foolish and in no way fruitful, since God holds the reins of all things, and directs and governs everything as it pleases Him. For you, acting unjustly, gather many things into a treasury, and you do not know for whom you gather them [c], as David said.

^A CXCIII. — TO MELITON THE DEACON. Where there is a divine command, there is absolutely both temptation and the snares of the enemy. Let Adam persuade you, who received a divine command in Paradise and was immediately plotted against and tripped up. But where there is affliction and great grief, there also will great joy arise in the proper time. "My soul is sorrowful even unto death," says the Lord. Yet that sorrow of His brought joy to the whole world. We, too, are pressed and afflicted by countless temptations, both from demons and from men, but our God is able to turn all our afflictions into joy and everlasting delight. Therefore, do not give way to excessive despondency and immeasurable grief; for "those who have mourned shall rejoice upon their beds" in the same place where they have been grieved. By "bed," understand here the habit and state of a soul afflicted for the sake of acquiring virtues. Where, then, there is sorrow for God's sake, it is clear that there also will be everlasting joy. For the women who were with Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, having been grieved beyond measure, heard from the Giver of all our joy, Christ, after the resurrection, saying: "Rejoice."

CXCIV. — TO ZENO THE DEACON. Virtue according to God is more precious than all riches, and a quiet and tranquil life is more illustrious than immense sums of money. It is good, therefore, to embrace what is good.

CXCV. — TO THE SAME. Nothing so disarms those who insult and reproach as the correction of the reproachful with gentleness and modesty. For the finest change of those who are reproached becomes a disgrace to those who reproach. ^B

CXCVI. — TO CYRIACUS THE PRESBYTER. All the trials and afflictions that have befallen you are known to me. Take up, therefore, the armor of prayer, crying out to the Lord without ceasing, and all the more so the more fiercely demons and men attack us, gnashing their teeth against us and thinking that we shall not be helped from on high. Even if we have no powerful men to help us, we shall certainly, through hope in God and thanksgiving, be partakers of that strong help. See, therefore, what the son of Sirach says, praying to God: "I will confess to Thee, O Lord, O King, and I will praise God my Savior. I will confess to Thy name, because Thou hast been a helper and protector to me, and hast delivered my body from destruction and from the snare of a slanderous tongue, and before those who stood around me Thou wast a helper to me; and Thou didst deliver me, according to the multitude of Thy mercy and Thy name, from the gnashing of those who hated me. I was exposed to being hunted by those who sought to afflict and destroy my soul, and I was pressed on all sides as if by a burning fire. For I was in the depth of the belly ^C of the intellectual Hades; I was surrounded by a tongue of thorns ^D

and a deceitful word. My soul drew near unto death; evils surrounded me on every side, and there was no one to help. I looked for the assistance of men, and there was none. Then I remembered Thy mercy, O Lord, and Thy work from the beginning of time, because Thou deliverest those who wait for Thee, and savest them from the hands of the enemy; and I lifted up from the earth my entreaty, and I prayed for deliverance from death. I called upon Thee, O Lord, do not forsake me in the day of tribulation. And in another place the same Sirach, exhorting, says: "Look at the ancient generations and see: who has trusted in the Lord and was ashamed? Or who has remained in His fear and was forsaken? Or who has called upon Him and was overlooked? For the Lord is merciful and compassionate, and forgives sins, and saves in the time of tribulation."

CXCVII. TO SIMPLICIUS THE RECEIVER

CXCVIII. TO NUMENIUS THE PRIMATE

CXCIX. TO PULLIO THE DIAPHESIST

and, clothed in skin garments of the passions, become heavy and coarse through sin. But if, on the other hand, having become sober, we refine through diligence the coarseness of our passionate garments, we become airborne, sprouting wings like eagles, and are called spiritual, as it is written that "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Thus the apostle Paul says to us: "But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit," because you have put off the old man, who is corrupt through various desires. For although you are encompassed by flesh, you do not war according to the flesh, but you ascend to heaven in your mind: "For your citizenship is in heaven."

^B CC. — TO SOCRATES, COUNT. With the greatest ease, Christ the Saviour will raise up the bodies of the dead more quickly than a sneeze. For tell me, pray, what is greater in a comparison of labors: to fashion a statue which did not exist before, or to restore one that had fallen and broken to its original form? Therefore, God, who created us from that which did not exist, is clearly able to raise us up as well after we have fallen.

CCI. — TO BUSIRIO, SHIPMASTER. Remember the widow mentioned in the Gospels, who for many years kept going to that unjust judge, saying: "Vindicate me from my adversary." But he was unwilling for a time, and delayed judgment. The adversary might be not only the demon, but also the carnal mind. Afterwards, the judge, compelled by the persistence of the widow, vindicated her. The Lord spoke this parable to us, strengthening us so that we do not lose heart in our praying and asking. For the most humane Lord himself knows the time when he wishes to grant a hearing and to answer the petition of the one who asks. And then, when he wills, he most quickly grants vindication to those who are oppressed and afflicted with reproaches, as it is written: "While it is said to me daily, 'Where is your God?'" This, indeed, was also cast in the teeth of the paralytic lying at the sheep-pool—who for many years was frustrated in his hope—by the demons, and it was said to him.

^C CCII. — TO THEODOSIUS, LECTOR. Just as a tree already dried up from lack of water puts forth shoots if liquid arrives, so too the soul that is dead through sin, if it repents and propitiates its own Master, is washed clean of its filth, and becoming a partaker of spiritual grace, and having its mind watered with abundant drops, brings forth fruits of all righteousness. ^D

CCIII. — TO ZOSIMUS, SHOEMAKER. The publican was saved by humility alone; and the Lord says: "Every one who humbles himself will be exalted." Wherefore, also, the holy David, instead of a defense, puts forward this, saying: "Attend to the prayer"

of my humiliation, since I was humbled exceedingly." And again he says: "Behold my humiliation and my labor, and forgive all my sins." Do not, therefore, be distressed out of season, saying: "I have no money to supply the poor continually." For if you have nothing, God will require nothing of you; but what you have, offer it readily to the Savior—namely, a contrite and humbled heart, and frequent prayers; and thus you will not be despised by Him who loves the humbled, and who does not disdain to console them, and [who does not disdain to] encourage those who are not arrogant.

226 CCIV. — TO VALENTIUS THE SCRIBE.

The holy and life-giving Spirit, who is worshiped and glorified together with the Father and the Son, although He is one, is nevertheless the author of many virtues. For He strengthens those who exercise themselves in self-control; He fortifies those who struggle in the confession of our Lord Jesus Christ; through one, He employs [his] tongue for wisdom, and illuminates the soul of another for prophecy; to one He grants power to drive away demons, and to another He gives the gift of explaining the divine Scriptures; He strengthens the continence of one, and stirs another to distribute his goods to the poor, and to this man He gives the gift of watching, and fasting, and despising all worldly things, and practicing poverty, and preferring to live for himself and to possess an intrepid heart; another, in times of persecution, He prepares to choose death over life for the sake of Christ; and thus He works in others in various ways, while He Himself remains by nature immutable and constant. He it is who long ago uttered the divine Scriptures through the prophets. He it is who, afterward, through disciples who were altogether despised and few, overcame the wise men of the Gentiles, who were otherwise invincible in eloquence. He it is who, to the faithful upon whom the apostles laid their hands, suddenly taught them to speak in all languages, which they had not previously known. Having Him, therefore, dwelling within you through much faith and good works, and possessing so great a leader, and guardian, and champion, and protector, fear nothing, neither demon nor wicked man who may intend to lay snares for your house, which is established by God.

227 CCV. — TO HELION THE MAGISTRATE.

If God has forbidden the doing of evil, and sends into the gehenna of fire those who perform such things, how would He cooperate with those who practice wickedness? Do not, therefore, say that God listens to the shameful, the wicked, and those already withered away by their own pursuits, and that He kills men but lames the horses running in the circuses. God forbid! These are not the works of God, but the operations of wicked demons. For the sorcerers, fashioning images of certain so-called saints, and binding "lamias" [witches] with certain curious arts, bury them in the back of the image; and when it pleases them to either force a woman to commit adultery, or to bring death upon a man, or to lame horses, they fast with an accursed and detestable fast, and keep vigil...

^A before that image, and lighting candles and lamps, they invoke demons until they obtain their apparition; and some things they accomplish, but in most they are frustrated. Beware, therefore, lest you fall into their snare.

CCVI. TO JOHN THE YOUNGER, THE PRIMATE.

CCVII. TO THEOPHILUS THE ABACTIS.

CCVIII. TO SIMON THE CURSOR.

CCIX. TO PEGASIUS THE COMES.

CCX. TO NEMERTIUS THE ECODICUS.

^A having been taught by the divine Fathers, and thus we confess the all-holy Spirit, the Paraclete, to be consubstantial with the Father and the Son, coeternal, sitting on the same throne, reigning together, glorified together with the Father and the Son unto endless ages of ages. Amen.

CCXI. — TO ADOLIUS THE JURIST. Christ’s disciples in no way permitted men to be washed with women, but they even turned away, detested the act, and forbade it as unbecoming and unprofitable for Christians, and they cast it off and spurned it.

CCXII. — TO PLUTARCHUS THE PURSE-MAKER. The divine laws command that one must abstain from swearing altogether. For whether one swears truly, or whether one swears falsely, one falls under punishment. Abstain, therefore, from swearing, whether it be just or unjust. ^B

CCXIII. — TO JULIA THE COUNTESS. The saying of Scripture truly fits you. "As a golden ring in a swine's nose," it says, "so is beauty to an ill-minded woman" (Prov. xi, 22). For who, provided he is in his right mind, would not lament you, who possess beauty by nature but abuse it, wandering about and given to luxury, aroused for every use of the body, raging after other men, heaping yourself with garments, gold, and precious stones, and assiduously adorning your foul-smelling little body with various luxuries, baths, and fragrant ointments; while you neglect your own soul as if it were a stranger's, ^C which is naked of every good work, destitute of any grace, wounded, an exile from the virtues, and which is always foul-smelling, starving, and corrupting itself with the filth of lechery?

CCXIV. — TO APHTHONIUS THE TABULARIUS. Demons indeed bring thoughts of distress and fear, yet the mind itself very often gives birth to certain disturbances, terrors, and agitations. The Savior cures both—He who heals every sickness and every ailment most easily, if only He is called upon by prayers, good works, the reading of the divine oracles, and the invocation of the precious name of Jesus with watchfulness. ^D

CCXV. — TO PINDARUS THE PRESBYTER. Those who hunt for words, and those who are boastful in speech, and all who criticize others, and those—so your holiness has acted—who solicit the applause of the people and are accustomed to mock the devout for their ignorance of vocabulary—those who are more devoted to God are accustomed to laugh at them.

CCXVI. — TO CALLINICUS THE GOLDSMITH. Neither the touching of the carcasses of animals, whether they be those endowed with reason or those without it, nor a marriage bed, nor dreams, nor anything else of that sort ever harms either a man or a woman. For faith in Christ has cleansed and always cleanses the alithinous believers, whereas for those who do not believe, nothing is clean, for they have been defiled by their own...

minds and consciences, and all things appear to them abominable and unclean.

232 CCXVII. — TO ORESTES THE KEYMAKER. I once knew a man who threw a stone directly at an enemy. The stone, glancing obliquely, struck and blinded the eye of the thrower's own child, who was standing quietly in a certain spot. For he who desired to harm another received the harm himself, by the righteous judgment of God who beholds all things. I have said this to you so that you may cease to send forth curses against one whom you consider an enemy, lest destruction overtake your own house. For we are bound by the commandment to pray for our enemies, not to assail them with curses.

CCXVIII. — TO STEPHANIS THE COUNTESS. What gift of praise could I offer you, when you already have it from Solomon? For he says: "Who shall find a brave woman?" For rarely is such a one found, and she is more precious than precious stones. Her husband becomes renowned because of her, and he himself is free from concern regarding his household, for she cares for everything diligently and constantly. By these things, then, and others like them, may you be preserved, along with your faith and your dignity.

CCXIX. — TO ULPIANUS THE SCHOLASTICUS. You commit wickedness with alacrity, yet you bear with an unequal mind the troublesome things that come upon you by the command of God. Therefore I exhort you: just as you do not abstain from committing evil deeds, so also do not let the evils that follow upon wicked actions displease you; for wages are decreed in proportion to a perverted mind and a base service.

233 CCXX. — TO ARISTOPHANES THE CANDIDATUS. Do not be astonished when you see before your eyes the vicar Maximus and his brother caught in their own clever schemes, and suffering the dangers and the extreme evils which they had endeavored to bring upon other persons. For see what the Scriptures say: "God bound the axles of their chariots and led them to what was due." And: "Their malice has returned upon their own heads." And: "In this snare which they hid, their foot has been caught." They are caught in the evil counsels which they devise: for whatever they invented for their own security, but for the fraud and harm of others, God turned this into their own affliction, and opprobrium, and inexplicable destruction, but into utility, and honor, and freedom, and no small gain for those who were plotted against. For indeed, Haman once, wishing to hang the just man Mordecai, and having prepared the timber, was himself suddenly overcome with shame, and contrary to all expectation, was hanged upon that very timber of his own, by the order of the king.

^A Mardochæus, however, who had fixed his mind continually upon God, was honored with the greatest honors by the king and all the chieftains, and appeared more illustrious now than ever before. Therefore, believe at all times those divine oracles which say: "That which you hate yourself, do not to another," and do not desire evils for others, lest evils overtake you, and you be condemned to eat alone the pot which you have seasoned for others. For he who digs a pit for others will fall into it himself unexpectedly.

CCXXI. — TO EURYCLUS THE PATRICIAN

CCXXII. — TO AGLAOPHON THE CURATOR

CCXXIII. — TO MAXIMUS THE PRESBYTER

For the Apostle says: "You are the temple of God," not one constructed of stone by Solomon; "For all things are yours, whether the world, or things present, or things to come." You are also the field, and the vineyard, and the flock, and the rest.

^A [CCXXIV.] — TO LUCIAN THE CHRISTIAN SOPHIST. No entrance should be given to the mind for the imaginations of thoughts that are apt to do harm, lest by our diligence we revive passions that have been deadened, and again lead a life full of struggle. For the mind easily inclines back toward passions cast off long ago, and weighs down the scale of pleasures ^B to the very ground. For such is the state of virtue: it is easily tipped, and if neglected, it oscillates very readily toward the opposite.

[CCXXV.] — TO SOTERICUS THE DEACON. "As a door turns on its hinge," says Solomon, "so does the slothful man on his bed." And Sirach compares the slothful man to a heap of dung. These things are said by me regarding your sloth.

[CCXXVI.] — TO ANTHEMIUS THE JURIST. Stand far off from the filth of fornication, and you shall not fall into the snare of distress.

[CCXXVII.] — TO MARIANUS THE BISHOP. ^C We can observe in all things the immense providence of the good Master toward His own servants, so that even those things which seem grievous, and which do not turn out precisely according to our will, are for the benefit of many, through the unsearchable wisdom of the Lord and His inscrutable judgments. But stand up against the temptations which now rush upon you like a storm, and be crowned, Father, praying on my behalf.

[CCXXVIII.] — TO LEONIDAS THE DEAN. "No one comes to me," says our Savior Christ, "unless it has been granted to him from above." For faith in Christ is no ordinary matter, since it requires an impulse from above; ^D for truly to believe is the mark of a noble soul. Such a soul, therefore, has need of that compunction which is from God in order to believe; yet the impulse from above also requires our own choice and will.

[CCXXIX.] — TO THEOCLUS THE SCHOLASTICUS. So great a power has excellent repentance that if anyone, even on his deathbed, makes use of it while he is in his final agony, he is freed from countless transgressions in a moment of time. For the narrowness of time does not constrict the divine philanthropy; for it is written in the prophetic scroll that "When you have turned away from your own very evil works and groaned from the depth of your heart, then you shall be saved." And let the humble publican persuade you...

offering a small prayer and immediately receiving the remission of ten thousand debts, and being declared righteous by divine calculation over the arrogant Pharisee, who was conspicuous for many excellent deeds.

[238 CCXXX.] — TO PHILO. One person inclines toward one thing of the vanities of this world, and another is wounded by something else that contributes nothing to his soul. But you are intent with all your desires upon that one thing: to expend your possessions insatiably for those who exert themselves for Christ. What rewards, therefore, you are about to receive for this, the grace of the Lord demonstrates to you before your death, which, foreseeing future things, exhorts you in a quiet voice to perform what is beneficial, and reveals the everlasting recompenses.

^B [CCXXXI.] — TO EMILIANUS THE PROTECTOR. “By sadness of countenance,” says Solomon, “the heart will be improved.” For if we become angry and turn bitter against ourselves, being moved because of that wicked action, our soul will certainly be improved, rejoicing and exulting in the beauty of the virtues.

[CCXXXII.] — TO THE SCRINIARIUS. “In Christ Jesus,” says the Apostle, “there is neither male nor female.” And yet all believers appear to be formed into male and female. But the great Paul is not speaking about things that fall under observation, but is hinting at that which is not seen; for in those who direct the sharpness of their mind toward God, both male passion and female perturbation have died away in intention, in faith, and in will.

^C [239 CCXXXIII.] — TO DOMETIANUS THE EPARCH. If Christ, the God of all and Benefactor to all, has not truly died and truly risen from the dead, then our faith is in vain; and in vain do we eat the mystical body and drink the blood for our own purification, so that we may proclaim not only the death and burial, but also the resurrection, the glory, and the never-ending kingdom of Christ.

[CCXXXIV.] — TO FRANK THE CHANCELLOR. When the thought of the flesh irritates you, conceive in your heart the horror of eternal punishments. You will lie, as Solomon says, in the heart of the sea, and like a pilot in an inexplicable storm. For if, at the time of the battle which you face with the sweet face that irritates you, you are able to be powerful, you will be able in a not dissimilar way to enter the struggle with the aforementioned everlasting ^D punishments; and just as he who is overwhelmed in the storm of the sea, so you, with no difficulty and with no labor, will be superior to every violent impulse that is urged upon you by the demons contending against you.

[CCXXXV.] — TO ARISTOCRATES THE EUNUCH. Know that the dominical baptism is in the Holy Spirit and in fire; through the designation of fire, understand the warmth and the vigor of grace and the consumption of sins.

CCXXXVI. — TO APOLLOPHANES, A FELLOW-LABORER

CCXXXVII. — TO MACEDONIUS, AN ATTENDANT TO THE GOVERNORS

CCXXXVIII. — TO THYRSUS, THE PRIMICERIUS

CCXXXIX. — TO PAUL, THE SCHOLASTICUS

Great, therefore, is the power of repentance, for it works upon us like snow and whitens us like wool, even if previous wickedness has for a long time damaged the soul miserably and transformed it. ^A

CCXL. TO JULIAN, DEFENDER OF THE CHURCHES.

The pair of blind men at Jericho cried out to the Savior: "Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David," for You exist as God, and the same one as man. "Have mercy on us; for we call upon You as helper; we invoke You from the midst of mist and night, Lord of light and darkness, who are able both to strike and to heal, who suffice to put to death and to bring to life. Do not pass us by, O philanthropic Master. ^B Have mercy on us, You who know how to show mercy." But the crowd, not wishing for Christ to be called Son of David, but rather son of a carpenter, were angry at the blind men and rebuked them so that they might be silent; but they cried out the same cry all the more. And the Master Jesus stood, hearing "Son of David." Jesus stood, He who had made the sea stand still, who had set a measure for the waves, who had placed boundaries for the winds. Jesus stood, He who established the heaven as a vault. ^C Joshua, son of Nun, once caused wonder, causing the sun to stand still through prayer. But what is that compared to these two blind men who caused Christ, the Sun of righteousness, to stand still, not by the command of necessity, but by supplication and entreaty? And the Lord says to them: "What do you want me to do for you?" Whatever you might wish, I will provide for you, as Lord of heaven and earth. Let the nations and the heretics be put to shame, who say that Christ cannot perform by deed whatever He wishes. "What do you want me to do for you?" If you ask me, the One who possesses nothing, for money, I provide a fountain of gold; for the Lord makes poor and makes rich, He who enriched Abraham, and Job, and David—those blessed men. ^D If you entreat for rain to fall, it will come immediately; if for fountains of bread to be granted to you, they are already at hand—you have the proof in the works themselves; if to change water into wine, the jars at the wedding in Cana are witnesses. But the blind men answered, saying: "Lord, that our eyes may be opened." You, Master, who struck, heal; have mercy on us now, You who were previously angered. Form the eyes again, You who are the maker of nature; open the rays of light, You who close the doors of darkness. "And Jesus, having compassion, touched their eyes, and immediately they saw." For where Jesus touches, everything is changed for the better. The blind men perceived, then, a double light: one of the common day, and the other of the heavenly physician who had healed them—and of both souls and bodies; and light shone within light. Whence, having recovered their sight, they follow Jesus, like Peter and Andrew, and coming to Bethphage, they see with new eyes the One born of David, welcomed by the auspicious acclamations of the children.

^A Him who ever works strange and paradoxical miracles.

CCXLI. — TO EPIPHANIUS THE LECTOR. You wish to learn what that skin, which Elijah threw down from on high to Elisha, signifies. Learn, then. That sheepskin was a destroyer of all earthly fantasy, and it stifled every innate movement of the members of Elisha, through which not only then, as was evident to the senses, but also now, as is conceived by the intellect, it sprinkles the salt of divine grace upon souls addicted to the flesh, as if they were filled with the mortal sins and impieties in the intelligible Jericho, and transforms all believers toward piety and the generation of virtues.

^B CCXLII. — TO JULIAN, DEFENDER OF THE CHURCHES. It is possible to strip away eyes addicted to fornication through prayer to God, so that we may no longer look upon profane pleasure, but receive from the grace of the Lord new eyes, through which we may hereafter behold the beauty of fragrant and holy continence, and, having been set at liberty, we may strike the faces of the demons who love filth.

CCXLIII. — TO CYPRIAN THE LEGATE. You say that you wonder why the honorable servant sent to Mesopotamia did not swear an oath over the head ^C of Abraham, but instead placed his hand under his thigh and thus provided the oath to his Master. Abraham knew, and already foresaw with the eyes of his soul, that Christ, the Creator of all things, was to come in His own time from the loins of Abraham—that is, from his seed according to the flesh—and he already confessed the future mystery so many generations beforehand. For He who is to be incarnate from my loins, he says, is God, the Lord and Master of heaven and earth. Therefore he says to the servant, "Put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth."

CCXLIV. — TO DEMARCHUS THE ILLUSTRIOUS. ^D When the trouble beneath the belly is weak, it is evident that it is failing due to the lack of the vessel placed above it, that is, the stomach; but when it is swollen and stirred, it certainly has the strength transmitted to it from excessive satiety.

CCXLV. — TO CANDIDIANUS, COMMANDER OF THE ARMY. By your letter you ask me for what reason monks, when they attire themselves, drape their garment over their left shoulder, leaving the whole left side bare, while those who are of the world, wearing a cloak, expose the right side of their body to all. Listen, then: monks, obeying the Lord who said, "What your right hand does, let not your left know," that is, acting so that the good deeds which you perform unceasingly may escape the pestilential vain glory and the desire to please men—for such a disposition is truly the left—rightly [hide their works].

and are accustomed to confess their own defects before everyone. But those who are given over to secular life, being vain and insolently boasting of their own affairs, forgetful of looking toward God, and crawling like serpents after earthly and transient things, hide their own myriad evil deeds. Assuming they have performed some single virtue—such as temperance, almsgiving, or abstinence—they make this manifest to almost everyone, boastfully declaring and trumpeting it with the bubbles of pride, crying out pompously everywhere, proclaiming it, and attributing greatness to a trivial matter. From men they receive the useless reward of slight praise and glory, but they fall away from heavenly rewards. And it is well said concerning such persons in the Gospels that ^B "they have received their reward." For they have been fully compensated here by being praised in vain.

CCXLVI. — TO ZENOBIO THE LEGATE. Many of those who are tossed by a storm at sea cast their cargo, along with the rest of their precious possessions, into the depths with their own hands, holding their transient and fleeting life of greater value, lest the ship, weighed down by the burden of the cargo, should fall into danger. Yet you, who declare blessed those who trade for an eternal and endless life, are unwilling to share any of your wealth with those in need, but rather choose to be lost along with the burden of your vast substance, rather than be saved by ridding yourself of even a small part of it. Why is it that the fear of God has no such power over you as the fear of the sea has?

CXLVII. — TO SILVANUS THE PRESBYTER. If we expect new heavens and a new earth, as Christ promised, in which unchanging righteousness dwells for endless ages, and if it shall be granted to us, once delivered from the hands of our enemies, to serve God fearlessly and unceasingly in holiness and righteousness, and with inexpressible joy and glory, ^C on what grounds do you yourself teach that there is once again to be a fear of men and demons there, and change, and a fall, and sin, and disturbance, and the like?

CCXLVIII. — TO DAMIANUS THE MAGISTRIANUS. I know that you believe you have a heavenly Master, and you are very anxious to be accounted worthy of His loving-kindness. If, therefore, you desire and wish for the Lord to be moved by your miseries, be you also merciful toward your own servants.

CXLIX. — TO PAPISCO AND THE OSCORODULI. Those servants who serve their masters according to the flesh with sincerity will receive their reward from God. But those who neglect them, and show contempt, and are arrogant, and are slothful in serving as is proper, it is clear that, far from receiving any good from God, ^D they will also be punished.

CCL. — TO DIOMEDES THE OECONOMUS

^A I do not know if you have perused the Scripture saying from the person of God: "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven," which the Apostle, explaining, said: "But the words, 'Yet once more,' indicate a change of the things that are shaken, as of something that has been made, so that the things that are not shaken may remain." Furthermore, the Prophet says: "For the Lord has established the earth, which shall not be shaken." If, therefore, these things are so, do not expect or imagine changes, turns, collapses, superstitions, human slaveries, and the like, after the unshaken age which is to come, but represent this to your own mind.

CCLI. — TO ZOSIMIANUS THE PROCONSUL

^B Since God, knowing what is beneficial for us from above, has divided human affairs into two lives, namely into this present one and into the future one, and since He wished to demonstrate that the present life is necessary for the acquisition of learning for those who are endowed with reason, He decreed that it should be filled with affliction, sorrow, and labor. For all learning and instruction contains within it attendant sorrows and pains, through which those who are being instructed become wiser and better than themselves. Experience of things clearly teaches us this, for when we all desire to rear our children diligently, we raise them with much breaking-in and many sufferings, so that when they have been tested in their studies and discipline, they may in due time be able to reap the fruits of their labors. The holy Paul also indicates this, saying: "Now no discipline at the time seems to be a cause of joy, but of sorrow, but afterwards it yields a peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been exercised by it." Instructing us also in these things, to endure sad and grievous things with joy, because they lead us to a good end, he writes: "My son, do not despise the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for whom the Lord loves, He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. Endure for discipline," and the rest.

CCLII. — TO DRUSENUS THE PRINCE

^D Those who rule over their subordinates lawfully and according to the word of justice with the fear of God are honored by the venerable Scripture, and they are blessed not only in this present life, but are also judged blessed in that which is to come. But as for those who live according to your irrationality, filled in the judgment of their own soul, yet having been entrusted with the rule of a nation—such men as these would be miserable, despite such an honor, and condemned by God, even if they seem to judge others. For the mind of such men no longer sits upon the throne of authority, created according to the image and likeness of God and ordained to rule, but rather, having been cast down from princely thrones, it is set in the order of the subjects, or rather, in the rank of those condemned.

CCLIII. — TO ABLABIUS THE NOTARY

He who sings into the ear of a deaf man sings in vain, and

who discusses with you—you who are filled with folly and, though your body is awake, are dozing—loses his words.

^A CCLIV. — TO ARICLIUS, THE PRIMATE. To those who love his appearing, Jesus, the God and Lord of all, has promised a crown of righteousness. What, then, is this crown that is spoken of, if not, in every way, perfect righteousness, holiness, and integrity, together with immutability, immortality, and everlasting joy?

CCLV. — TO LUCAS, DEACON. “What was the thorn given to the flesh of the Apostle, so that he might not be exalted by the greatness and multitude of the revelations?” ^B The daily afflictions that were brought upon him by the most wicked men who persecuted him are called “the thorn”; for the tribulations, the buffeting, and the manifold necessities, like a thorn pricking the blessed man, did not permit him to be exalted.

CCLVI. — TO BEBIANUS, BISHOP. To cut away through hardship and to render idle the goad and the pleasures that seethe in the body—this the divine Apostle calls “bodily exercise.” “But godliness is profitable for all things,” and it would be this: to be able, with God’s help, to utterly erase the memories liable to passions and, for the future, to secure for oneself a stable purity of mind.

CCLVII. — TO COMASIUS, PRESBYTER. If the thought of anger, or of base desire, or of avarice turns all the senses of the soul and body toward itself, ^C how much more will the love of the philosophy that is after Christ cause the mind to renounce not only sensible things, but the very senses themselves, snatching it up to high places and keeping it occupied with the contemplation of heavenly things?

CCLVIII. — TO BACCHIUS, EPARCH. Do you not see the thorn joined to the rose? Do not, then, be too troubled when you observe that the flower and the splendor which the magnificence of this life produces have as followers countless calamities, dangers, sorrows, griefs, and various internal and external snares; and the closer you are to royal houses, ^D the more you should suspect the climacterics and the thunderbolts of perils. For “he who is near heaven is near the lightning,” as the popular proverb says.

CCLIX. — TO MARINUS, DEACON. What have you to do with men who are subject to death, who can neither bestow rewards for things rightly done in life, nor often possess a sound judgment of the soul, and, overcome by envy, prefer to find fault with and condemn things well done, rather than praise them? Accustom yourself, therefore, to direct your intellectual eye toward things above. For the heavenly theater renders its judgments sincere and pure, with no respect of persons.

^A

CCLX. — TO BASIL THE MERCHANT

"Vessels of dishonor," it is said, are those who commit fornication, and those who collect taxes, and all who, to speak briefly, occupy themselves with any profanity. ^B Yet, once they have changed their base character for the better, they can become vessels of honor, useful for the service of the King of the ages.

CCLXI. — TO EUSEBIUS THE DUKE

Do not become a judge of judges; for you occupy the place of the feet in the Church, not of the head. Do not, therefore, reject the priests because they are not all pure. ^B It is not your duty to judge and to scrutinize the bishops of the Lord. For it is by divine providence that none of the incorporeal angels are entrusted with the reins of the priesthood, lest, being themselves without sin, they should use severity and immediately destroy men who fall, ^C but rather that men, subject to the same passions as we and woven from the same blood, should receive the dignity of the episcopacy, so that when they discover someone who has fallen into sins, being themselves oppressed by their own trespasses, they might show kindness toward those of their own race. And observe Peter, the first stone of the Church, the head of the choir of the apostles, who was established after his repentance, for he was not sinless. Therefore, do not demand that all those who preside over the Churches be blameless and free of any human stain or spot.

CCLXII. — TO PHARETRIUS THE MECHANIC

"The hands of Israel," the psalm says, "served in the basket." ^D If, then, it is your desire to learn, do not direct your mind toward the perceptible Egypt, nor contemplate the events that happened under Moses, but rather consider yourself. For the basket signifies manifold sin, Egypt signifies affliction, and the hands signify one’s activities. If, therefore, you find that you are serving the servitude of sin, sigh toward the Lord from your heart, out of the hidden storm and the evil oppression, and vindicate yourself toward the freedom of virtue.

CCLXIII. — TO SYMMACHUS THE LEGUME VENDOR

All things that are not to be eaten according to the Law signify the various and diverse species of vice, depicted as if in a painting through the creatures that live in the water, on the land, and in the air; but those things that may be eaten signify manifold and multiform virtue.

CCLXIV. — TO APHRODISIUS THE PHILOSOPHER

What benefit will there be to you, who neglect virtue placed in action, while professing, as you suppose, a rational philosophy, promising to know the measurements of the sun, the powers of the stars, and the size of the heaven, and often daring even to treat of divine things, where both truth is inaccessible and judgment is dangerous?

A conjecture that is perilous, and for one who lives in it, more ignominious than swine rolling in the mire. If, therefore, you should ever—being reproved by us—wish to advance to the practice of praiseworthy things, and yet having done so gain nothing at all, it is because you have not condescended to acknowledge the Lord of all, nor to expect rewards after death. ^B

CCLXV. — TO THE EMPEROR ARCADIUS.

CCLXVI. — TO THE WIDOW DIOSCORIA.

CCLXVII. — TO CRISPUS, RANSOMED FROM CAPTIVITY.

CCLXVIII. — TO EUPITHIUS THE READER.

^A to turn a man from injustice, and He has rescued his body from ruin, and has again reproved him in the softness upon his bed.

CCLIX. — TO GANYMEDES THE EXCEPTOR.

CCLXX. — TO ASCLEPIADES THE COMES.

CCLXXI. — TO CECROPIUS THE APPARITOR.

CCLXXII. — TO THEODORE THE PRESBYTER.

CCLXXIII. — TO ELIAS THE ILLUSTRIOUS.

CCLXXIV. — TO SOPHRONIUS THE TRIBUNE.

[CCLXXV] — TO ZOILUS THE CHARTULARY. The ox, and the bear together, and the lion, and so forth, feeding together in a bond of closer friendship, as Isaiah says 18, signifies the state of the Church, both of the popular leaders and of those subject to the dogmas of piety, who are at once governed by the canons and nurtured.

[CCLXXVI] — TO GERASIMUS THE IRENARCH. We believers have received the law of liberty, so that, with force removed, we might labor more abundantly as legitimate sons and by our own free will, differently from those servants who, in fear and by scourges, serve according to the prescription of the Mosaic law. Strive, therefore, with all your might to please God, and enter the contest in the Gospel with your own impulse; for this is called the law of liberty, that you might be called blessed.

[CCLXXVII] — TO EUSTATHIUS THE DEAN. To perform works of virtue does not only bestow noble crowns, but he also who praises those who practice virtue gains a reward that is not to be despised. For you glorify those who fear the Lord, you who are a lover of Christ.

[CCLXXVIII] — TO HIERONYMUS THE DOMESTICUS. "I have come," He says, "that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind." For upon the coming of the Lord in the flesh, those who were from the Gentiles, not seeing before, nor understanding the divine Scriptures, afterwards, having believed, saw intellectually and became wise. But as for those from the Hebrews who were worthy of error and darkness, they are blinded in the eye of the soul, so as not to understand the mysteries hidden within the divine laws, even though they profess to be intimately acquainted with the books of Moses and the prophets.

[CCLXXIX] — TO XENOPHON THE SCHOLASTICUS. Justice, that which is practiced among us, is the equal distribution of shares. And although we may not attain to it with precision, nevertheless, operating with a most upright mind, we do not stray from the goal. But the speculation regarding that Justice which is brought down from heaven by the just Judge, whether it corrects or whether it repays, is very difficult because of the sublimity of the dogmas contained in it, as David intimates: "Thy justice is as the mountains of God; Thy judgments are a great abyss 17."

[CCLXXX] — TO AENEAS THE PHILOSOPHER. Wishing to gratify destructive demons, you most willingly sacrifice calves and slaughter lambs upon an abominable altar, yet you do not wish to slaughter your own irrational fury, and boundless anger, and the other absurd and lawless impulses of the soul.

[CCLXXXI] — TO SECUNDUS THE CASTRENSIS. Just as when we are hateful to one another, and quarrel among ourselves, and plot enmities and snares against one another, and cast aside peace and forbearance, Satan leaps for joy and exults, and blossoms, and rejoices, and spreads himself out, resting upon our wicked deeds; so when we are peaceful and tran—

^Aquil and curb our madness, the wicked one is accustomed to be contracted and cast down, since he is an enemy of peace and love, an adversary of human concord, and an implacable foe.

CCLXXXII. — TO MARTYRIUS VINDEX

CCLXXXIII. — TO AMMONIUS THE COUNT

CCLXXXIV. — TO NICARETUS THE SILENTIARY

CCLXXXV. — TO THEODULUS THE BISHOP

CCLXXXVI. — TO THEODORUS THE TRIBUNE

CCLXXXVII. — TO TRAJANUS THE ADJUTOR

CCLXXXVIII. — TO ELEUTHERIUS, COUNT OF THE EAST

space of time, Judas had ^A entered into the kingdom of God: and a small space of time prevented that man, who had deserted at Sebaste, from being crowned with the other martyrs. Wherefore, neglecting perverse interpretations, let us hasten ourselves toward every good and steadfast action.

CCLXXXIX. — TO METHODIUS, CUBICULARIUS.

In no way did Christ, the Lord of all, fear the death which He had come to suffer for the salvation of men. When, therefore, you hear Him saying: "Father, if it be possible, let this cup of death pass from me," ^B understand that He does not speak such things out of cowardice or trembling, but by the lowliness of His words He was baiting the intellectual dragon, so that, supposing Him to be a simple man, fearful and trembling at His passion, he might bring about, through the Jews serving him, that which he had intended, and might accomplish against himself what the Lord had ordained for us. For the adversary was unaware of the cross which he had prepared for himself, that what is written in the Psalms might be fulfilled: " The sinner is snared in the works of his own hands," ^C and: "His wickedness shall return upon his head," having been led to destruction by the servile form and humble words of the Lord. For the devil, who was hunting us, was himself hunted, being called a whale and a dragon. For it is said in the book of Job concerning Christ, that "He is about to catch the great whale," and that He will hunt the dragon with the hook of the economy according to the flesh. But when again you hear the Lord crying out on the cross: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" do not be ignorant that He says these things in the person of all men who draw their origin from Adam, just as an advocate, having received no injury himself, nor having been despoiled of his possessions, cries out to the judge on behalf of his client: "We have suffered wrong, we have lost our property, we have been driven away." For had we not all, who are born of Adam, been forsaken by God, we would not have subjected ourselves to the reproaches of countless iniquities: we would not have worshipped ^D stones, and trees, and waters, and inanimate stars, and apes, and dogs, and wolves, and crocodiles, and wicked demons, and the devil himself, and offered sacrifices to them.

CCXC. — TO CONSTANTINUS, COUNT.

It is not a recreation of the soul, as you assert, to pass time in the theaters and hippodromes, but an utter destruction and a dire injury to the soul. But if it is truly in your mind to properly soothe your soul, hasten to the catholic church, fly to the hermitages of the monks, and you will truly find a great consolation of goods and a most excellent remedy for the pains of the heart. Then later examine yourself: who you are when departing from the church and monasteries, and who you are when departing from the theater and the hippodrome; and by comparing both days, you will have no need for another to admonish you. For the comparison of both days will suffice to show

^A you the mass of profit you have gained from your time in the church and the monasteries, and the harm that follows upon the circuses and theaters.

CCXCI. – TO LEONIDAS THE RHETOR

I wish for you to be direct in your manners and in your actions. For those who are corrupt in their manners might still be able to direct their speech with a matching and fitting composition, and avoid barbarisms. Cease, therefore, to rebuke those who do not speak with elegance, if indeed I am not mistaken in my belief that you are a Christian. For the structure of one's speech does not bestow the kingdom of heaven, but rather upright character, good action, and steady faith.

CCXCII. – TO HESYCHIUS THE PROCONSUL

It was not one person who raised Lazarus and another who inquired about him, but it was the same one, speaking according to the human manner: "Where does Lazarus lie?" ^B yet raising him according to the divine manner. In body, he himself was like a man spitting, yet according to the divine manner, he opened the eyes of him who was blind from birth; and in the flesh, he was suffering, as Peter says, yet according to the divine manner, he opened the tombs and raised the dead.

CCXCIII. – TO ZENODORUS THE DECAN

You read the sermons of John, bishop of Constantinople, with a glad heart; I shall therefore answer your request from them. "The Holy Spirit appeared, then, descending upon Jesus like a dove." ^C For in us, through baptism, there dwells a beginning and an earnest of the divinity, but in Christ is all the fullness of the divinity. And do not think that Christ received the Spirit as though He did not have Him; for He Himself, as God, was sending Him from above, and He Himself, as man, was receiving Him from below. From Himself, therefore, He descended into Himself, from the divinity of Himself into the humanity of Himself.

CCXCIV. – TO ANASTASIUS THE BISHOP

John, that admirable priest, the light of the great Church in Byzantium—or rather, of the whole world—being gifted with keen sight, often perceived that the house of the Lord is never, at almost any hour, lacking the attendance of angels, and especially not at the time of the divine and unbloody sacrifice. Filled, therefore, with amazement and joy, ^D he recounted the matter in private to his true spiritual friends. For he said that as soon as the priest begins the holy oblation, a great number of the blessed powers suddenly descend from heaven, clothed in most brilliant garments, with bare feet, with intent gaze, and with downcast faces, and they encompass the altar with reverence, great stillness, and silence, standing by until the completion of the terrible mystery; then, dispersing throughout the whole venerable house, here and there, they minister to, assist, and strengthen each of the bishops, and priests, and all the deacons who happen to be present, who are bestowing the provision of the body and the precious b

^A blood. I write these things so that, having learned the fearful nature of the divine liturgy, you may neither be found neglecting it yourself, nor become scattered by the fear of God, nor permit any others to converse or whisper during the oblation, nor to nod boldly, nor to stir from your solemn station, nor to glance this way and that, nor to wander about in a lazy and common fashion. For the Lord says to Moses, and through him to all the priests: "Make the children of Israel pious, and not contemptuous."

CCXCV. — TO FALCON THE CURATOR. If the devil transforms himself into an angel of light in order to deceive and destroy those who are deluded by him, why do you wonder when you hear that he very often clothes himself in the forms of wild beasts, cattle, and birds?

CCXCVI. — TO LICINNIUS THE PRIMATE ^B. Do not say, "I am unable to reconcile to myself a hostile man, since he is very wicked and admits of no remedy." For you can reconcile him to yourself, and make him well-disposed to you, if you only wish it with your whole heart. For what is more savage than a lion? And yet men tame it; art compels nature, and the lion becomes gentler than any sheep, and walks through the marketplace fearing no one. What excuse, then, will you have, or what defense will you offer, saying that a man cannot be tamed, when wild beasts are tamed? And yet, for the beast, gentleness is against nature, but for man, savageness is against nature. Therefore, choose at least for the present to soften him and make your neighbor a friend to you.

CCXCVII. — TO CARINUS THE EPARCH ^C. "When all things shall be subjected to Him," he says, "then the Son Himself also, for our sake, will be subjected to the Father on behalf of His own members." For "we are members of Christ, of His flesh and of His bones," as the Apostle says. Christ therefore made our submission—we who formerly refused to be subjected and to be persuaded—His own, since He is our guarantor.

CCXCVIII. — TO PRISCUS, A PUBLIC SERVANT. He who has given money to the poor, and does not plot against or curse the rapacious, covetous, and wicked man, it is manifest that both of them, acting out of the fear of God, shall obtain ^D similar heavenly rewards.

CCXCIX. — TO ZENO THE DECEMPRIMUS. It is entirely sacrilegious and impious to say that evils exist by nature and not by choice. For even if the Scripture says, "The imagination of man is prone to evil from his youth," you must nevertheless pay attention to the mode of the expression; it does not mean that man is applied to evil things by nature, nor that these are the natural desires instilled into our mind by God from the beginning—far be it! But it is written "from the youth of man" to show that we possess wicked things due to the suggestion of the devil, and that quite easily, rather than from

^A being charmed by the enemy, we incline toward evil. "For an enemy man has oversown the weeds," says the Lord in the Gospel.

CCC. — TO COLASIUS THE DEACON

CCCI. — TO THESSALIUS THE CO-WORKER

CCCII. — TO THE SAME

CCCIII. — TO THE SAME

CCCIV. — TO EUSTOCHIUS, COUNT OF THE LARGITIONES

CCCV. — TO OLYMPIUS THE QUAESTOR

CCCVI. — TO THE SAME

CCCVII. — TO THEODOTUS THE PRESBYTER

For once you have put away hatred toward your neighbor, you will be filled with the love that is pleasing to Christ, and the face that previously seemed hostile and unpleasant to you because of your ill-will will now appear desirable and gracious to you, now that your mind has been illuminated.

[CCCVIII.] — TO PASCHASIUS THE DEACON. The blessed David teaches that prayer provides great support, for he used prayer before the stone, and brought down the living tower that was Goliath, who had dared to reproach the power of God. Prayer, then, guided the stone as if by hand, struck terror into the barbarian, sapped the audacity of the enemy, and erected trophies against the foes.

[CCCIX.] — TO AUXENTIUS THE ECDICUS. "He brought the shadow of death into the light": this means that God brought into the open and made public the nature of sin, which had long been hidden. Yet when you hear "nature," do not imagine, as some have suspected, that sin is a kind of animate, rational being. For sin is by nature born in the choice of a human being and, in turn, dies away.

[CCCX.] — TO ARISTARCHUS THE TRIBUNE. Do not despise associating with holy men. For their very gaze alone is enough to heal your soul, which has been corrupted by transgressions, and their speech bestows the greatest gifts upon the believer. For the voice of the holy ones has dissolved wars, cast out demons, and settled the elements; just as Joshua, the son of Nun, called out: "Let the sun and the moon stand still," and immediately they stood still. So also Moses bound the sea and released it; so too did the three youths turn the flame into dew with their hymns and songs. In the same way, those who emulate them in life even now have the power, by their words alone, to extinguish the burning of sin, to dry up the fountains of pleasure, to soften anger, to put yearnings to flight, to weaken vainglory, to suppress the fire of avarice, to be set free from sadness and grief, and to restore deep tranquility to souls tossed by the storm.

[CCCXI.] — TO CLEONICUS THE SCHOLASTICUS. Some say that after the flood, when wine had been discovered, many who drank it immoderately and pure met their death. Then others, made wiser by experience, tempered their drink more by mixing it with water, and by using it in this way, they were saved. Those who had not yet drunk the dew of the vine for fear of death asked those who had already drunk whether they were still alive. And when they replied, "Yes, indeed, we are living," they applauded each of the men who had been saved, and congratulated those near them, saying: "May you live, may you live." Therefore, from that time until today, the custom has prevailed to say to those drinking: "May you live." And these things have been said by me in response to your question.

CCCXII. — TO DEMETRIUS THE DOMESTIC

CCCXIII. — TO VALERIUS THE PRIMATE

CCCXIV. — TO ARCADIUS THE ROGATOR

CCCXV. — TO BISHOP ARISTON

CCCXVI. — TO MARTIN THE CANCELLARIUS

destroy my seed after me": that is, after these things, after my departure from this life, do not extinguish my descendants.

[CCCXVII]. To the same. Let us not be negligent, nor slothful in caring for ourselves; for though we may be cast down into the very pits of malice, it is possible for us to recover ourselves and become better, and to cast off all wickedness; for evil is not immutable, as the Manichaeans assert.

[CCCXVIII]. To the same. Since love is accustomed to be born from sight, restrain your eyes from scrutinizing beautiful faces, lest from sight that is little considered you fall into disgraceful and obscene action. For if Eve had not looked upon the most beautiful tree, she would never have plucked and eaten the fruit from it, and would have been immediately stripped of divine temperance. Now understand Eve to be the senses, which, if they are overcome by visible things, eat of the injury first, and immediately share the deadly food with the husband, the invisible mind. Which I have also previously intimated to you.

[CCCXIX]. To Neron the Master and Ex-consul. No wicked man, he says, let him expect that he will be made innocent when he provokes the Lord to anger. Therefore, you too shall not escape punishment, nor shall you go unpunished, even if you think you have escaped it, even if you presume that God does not look upon your crimes and impieties. For even if you think you triumph over the overseer of all, you will surely be defeated, and will encounter an incurable ruin concerning the end of your life.

[CCCXX]. To John the Illustrious. All, both angels and men, applaud your upright spirit, because for the fear of God you provide for the children of living and dead enemies: for the living, that in this way you may reconcile their parents to yourself; for the departed, that you may extort great benevolence from the Lord, and be girded with numberless crowns, and possess many prayers from all, not only from those bound by benefits, but even from those who see them. For this, even at the time of judgment, will provide you with help, and although you may have been liable to many sins, you will be freed from all complaints, by showing the greatest mercy and humanity toward enemies, imitating the most humane Lord through these things.

[CCCXXI]. To Philo the Presbyter. The narrative of the holy Scriptures is a golden veil, with golden warp and golden weft. Do not weave webs of spiders, departing from what is fitting. By spider webs I assume the weakness of your thoughts, and the useless judgment, and empty demonstrations, and the sophisms of Greek wisdom, which you have dared to intrude into the venerable Church, just as once Manasses set up certain abominable idols in the temple of God.

^A Therefore, cease pretending that you are disseminating spiritual instruction, while you are in fact putting forward the fables of the Manichaeans to the Lord's people in the Church, which stands at the brink of destruction. For your folly has now become manifest to all, and, as divine Scripture transmits, the hidden things of Esau and the hidden things of the darkness of your distorted soul are laid bare.

CCCXXII. — TO ISIDORE THE EXCUBITOR

«Before I was humbled, I committed sin.» For since I was swarming with the fruits of many good deeds, I spoke to God more boastfully than was fitting, saying: «You have tested me, and no injustice was found in me»; and «I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved.» I was abandoned by You and fell into a terrible adultery and a most abominable murder. Then afterwards I was troubled and shaken, stripped of divine help, and I became fearful and fled from the face of my son Absalom. Being humbled, I went out of the city barefoot, with my head covered, feeling shame before everyone. Further, I was met with reproaches and was pelted with stones as I walked by the foolish and miserable Semei. Therefore I cried out to the righteous Judge: «I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteousness, and truth.» ^B «You have humbled me, who had previously sinned.» There is no greater transgression than arrogance and trusting in oneself. Wherefore I shall no longer speak words of arrogance, but I will be humbled and will lament my fallen state. «But I am a worm and not a man. Our soul has been humbled to the dust. Our belly has cleaved to the earth,» and I have been humbled exceedingly. «Give me life according to Your word,» and other things of the like.

CCCXXIII. — TO CYRIACUS THE PRESBYTER

The Son was born from the Father, the living Word, and He is God, and exists with God; He did not come into being before the ages, nor was He created afterwards. He is Son, not creature; Maker, not thing made; Creator, not a structure. «All things that the Father has, are mine.» For all things that are in the archetype truly belong also to the image. ^C The Son was not created by a command, but flashed forth from the essence of the Father indivisibly, joined to the Father without time, equal in goodness, equal in power. As for the things said thereafter, relating to the physical constitution, when He was arranging the salvation of the ages—which He manifested to us having appeared in the flesh—such as His saying that He is sent, and that He can do nothing of Himself, and that He received a commandment, and such things: let these not give you cause to diminish the divinity of the Only-begotten. For the condescension toward your weakness ^D ought not become a lessening of the dignity of the Almighty; but you must contemplate His nature as befits God, and understand the more humble expressions in accordance with the dispensation of the assumed flesh.

^A

CCCXXIV. — TO VITALIUS THE PROTECTOR.

CCCXXV. — TO GENETHLIUS THE ADVOCATE.

CCCXXVI. — TO MEMNON THE GRAMMARIAN.

CCCXXVII. — TO DRACONTIUS THE VINDICATOR.

CCCXXVIII. — TO FAUSTINUS THE CUBICULARIUS.

is customarily attributed by divinely inspired Scripture to Him, as if God permits those things to come to pass through the very means by which He operates through that permission. For He could have hindered even those who were unwilling, those who were performing what was worse, yet He does not hinder them with violence, so that He might not coerce the free will of man. Therefore, it is by his own will and by his own authority that a man is either crowned or punished. That saying, therefore, "God gave them up," the impure and wicked men, "unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting," means this: He allowed it, and with the power which He possesses, He did not intervene. ^B

CCCXXIX. — TO REGINO THE CANDIDATUS. Some time ago, men devoted to God, being pressed by a necessary matter, entreated a monk to offer prayers for them, so that they might receive assistance in the matter at hand, once a clear sky had been granted. But the monk, observing the air obscured by clouds and the rain-drops falling, declined to pray, fearing that he might be frustrated in his hope. They, however, continued to urge him: "Only grant us your prayers, and we believe that what we have believed will in no way be wanting to us." And so, when the prayer had been offered, they went out, being sprinkled by the drizzle, yet not in the least becoming dejected or discordant. Then the air cleared, and a most bright serenity ensued, and the winds were calmed; and as they went to their destinations, and again returned to their own homes, they had accomplished what they had striven for. I relate these things to you now, that you might understand, at least in part, what has been written: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for."

^C CCCXXX. — TO PAREGORIUS THE SCRINIARIUS. You say: "What profit will come to me if I weep and mourn over my iniquities?" It is the greatest profit, O man, and so great a one that even speech cannot express it. For in the case of earthly courts, no matter how many tears you shed, you will not escape the punishment after the sentence has been passed. But here, if you merely show sadness over your transgressions, you have annulled the verdict, and have obtained forgiveness. For this reason, in many places in the Scriptures, those who mourn are called blessed. Let us not, therefore, clamor and let ourselves go in empty laughter in the church; but rather let us groan, that through that groaning we may inherit the kingdom of heaven. ^D

CCCXXXI. — TO FELICISSIMUS THE DEACON. Do not desire that things should everywhere come to pass according to your own purpose, especially when you are stubborn, hard, and self-pleasing, and your confidence is not entirely pleasing to the Lord. Do not, therefore, wish that what is done should come to pass according to your own will, lest you fall into madness and unbearable derangement. But if you have any care for yourself, and value highly the peace that is dear to the Savior, rather accept that things happen as the Lord directs, and thus you shall be shown to be a lover of...

you will prove yourself a philosopher, and you will calm the storm of your heart. ^A

CCCXXXII. — To the same. He who gives thanks to God, best of all, for the confidence and acceptance of other men before God, as if for the own member of a brother, claims the brother’s gift as his own, and by his goodness seizes the neighbor’s crown and makes it his own. For the praise that is offered to one’s neighbor will bring you no harm; rather, it will gain you glory, provided you wish to be of sound mind. Therefore, even if your neighbor enters the houses of the rich and is honored, do not envy him, but rejoice; even if he is well-regarded by the powerful, be glad; and by doing this, you will be pleasing to the Savior of all.

CCCXXXIII. — To the same. When a spiritual father pours out upon you anything sad or harsh, receive it promptly, as becomes a philosopher and a magnanimous man; for he does not do this out of passion, but without any turbulence. But if, as you say, he should become faint-hearted and insult you, he does this not from his soul, but from small-mindedness, just as a mother, stirred to anger, curses her child; that she does not curse her son from her true intent is clear from the fact that, shortly after, the mother repents and mourns if the child is ill. ^B

BOOK THREE

I. — TO THEOCTISTUS THE REFERENDARY. ^C Concerning that false prophet, Luke writes: "And immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness; and he went about seeking someone to lead him by the hand." You, too, therefore, take care lest, upon becoming angry, you become a partaker of darkness and of the mist that obscures the mind, and you have need to seek out divine teachers who will lead you from irritable habits toward the meek and magnanimous ones that enlighten the mind.

II. — To the same. He who previously said to God, "I will cry out by day, and you will not hear," later says: "He did not neglect, nor did he hate my prayers; and when I cried out, he heard me." There is, therefore, a time of divine delay, when He foresees better things for us and wisely manages our affairs. Wherefore, He does not immediately grant what we ourselves seek. There is, then, a time of deafness and a time of hearing: "For it is the time to have mercy on it," the Scripture says, that is, on the soul looking toward God; for the time has come when He will perform better miracles. ^D

III. — To the same. "Be subject to the Lord, and pray," it is written in the thirty-sixth psalm, "and hope, and he shall bring forth"

[COL. 365] ^A ...shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and from the darkness of the afflictions that stifle the mind, suddenly, through a change, showing a stable noon, and a calm from the storm and the raging tempest. For even if I sit in darkness, says another prophet, he will bring me out into the light near the face of darkness, and the expected light from the gloom.

IV. — TO MARTIN THE RICH OLD MAN, A LOVER OF HARLOTS

^B “Their sons are as newly planted shoots, established in their youth.” Since, neglecting the history of the sayings, you urge me to present the contemplation of them to you, learn it even if you refuse: for perhaps even unwittingly you have provoked us, you who expected to receive a different interpretation, but not this one. The sons of the unclean demons are called the defiled thoughts, and all the wicked habits that lead men addicted to sins into evil actions. Just as newly planted shoots, these are established immovably in your youth, since, although you have grown old in body, you thrive in this filth, and you grow young in the cursed desire from your early age right up to deep old age, remaining insatiably with rabid prostitution. And the proverb is fulfilled in you, which says that: “A wicked passion of the soul never grows old.” If, therefore, you are put to shame at all now by these words, groan bitterly, and as one recovering from a long-standing drunkenness, beseech God, who is able to work all wonders in you, to shake up those wicked and blameworthy shoots, to trouble them, and to uproot them from their very foundations by divine power. So that henceforth, having ceased from fornication, and having rested, you may be able to say: “My state was troubled from below, therefore I shall rest, looking toward the end of my life.”

^C

V. — TO EUSIGNIUS THE SATRAP

“The sons of men are deceitful in the scales, so as to act unjustly.” By what scales? For do all men weigh things? Are all men wool-merchants, or do they deal in gold or silver? Or do they generally have concern for those materials which merchants are accustomed to exchange using scales and weights? But the race of manual laborers is vast, and needs no scales for its work; vast too is the number of sailors, and vast are those who spend their time about the courts and the archives, among whom neither is falsehood, nor is deceit practiced through scales. What, then, is it that he says, that in each of us there is a scale in the secret part, established by Him who created us, by which the nature of things can be discerned? The sons of men are therefore false, having the criteria of their soul corrupted, whom also the prophet laments, saying: “Woe to those who call bitter sweet, and sweet bitter,” those with twisted lips, and crooked in soul, who pervert that which is straight, and praise that which is wicked, and so forth. ^D “For me,” he says, “are the present things; but who knows the future?” You weigh poorly, choosing wicked things over good ones, and vain and false things [instead of the truth].

ceaseless joy and the everlasting. “The sons of men are therefore liars in the balances, so that they act wickedly.” They wrong first themselves, and then also their neighbors, becoming wicked counselors for themselves in their actions, and being an evil example to others. You cannot say on the day of judgment that you did not know the good. Your own scales are brought to you, providing a sufficient distinction between good and evil. For we judge the weights of the body by the inclinations of the balance, but we discern the choices of life by the free will of the soul, which is also called a balance, because it is able to receive an equal inclination to either side. ^B Do not, therefore, place your hope in injustice, nor be addicted to riches, nor choose vanity, nor carry around a corrupted judgment of the soul, knowing that God is both strong and merciful. Fear, therefore, His strength, and do not despair of His love for mankind; for against doing injury, fear is a good thing, but for the one who has slipped into sin, so that he does not cast himself away through hopelessness, the hope of mercy is good. Then finally, at the end of the psalm, the prophet says to the Lord: “For You will render to each according to his works.” “For with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you.” Have you afflicted your neighbor? Expect the same. Have you snatched the things of the weaker, beaten the poor with your fists, disgraced them with slanders, accused them falsely, lied about them, moved the boundaries of your fathers, encroached upon the possessions of orphans, oppressed widows, preferred the present pleasure ^C to the good things in the promises? Expect the measure for these things. “For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” And yet, if you have done any of the good things, expect from those, too, the manifold repayments. “For He will render to each according to his works.” Remembering this judgment throughout your whole life, you will be able to avoid many sins. Having written these things to you from those which the holy Fathers before us have already labored to record, because of your fellow countryman Anthony, who compelled me to do this, I think I have recalled to your memory matters of the highest profit.

VI. TO GIGANTIUS, DEFENDER OF THE CHURCHES.

If you seem to be completely superior to the pleasures of the flesh, and you feign to practice fasting, of what profit to you is the ancient gold accumulated and preserved by you from your ancestors with such careful diligence, unless you perhaps find some pleasure in it—like those dragons which we read of in fables—by watching over the treasures of gold that have been buried?

VII. TO SABINUS THE PRESBYTER.

It is written: “May the Lord enlarge Japheth,” and we, too, Man of the Lord, pray with our whole heart for the same thing for you. May the Lord enlarge, and increase, and brighten and...

make your house ^A joyful; may God make it splendid and fill it with myriads of goods, and make it manifest to all people, and cause it to be renowned. May the Lord dwell in your preparation, inasmuch as for the needy your affairs are more useful and profitable and become a support. Your fruit is good and excellent and eternal, and from it, indeed, our Savior Christ chooses to eat more often. For when His servants are in need and eating, the Lord Christ Himself is considered to be eating, laying claim to the works of His own servants as His own. Do not, therefore, be vexed or troubled when some outside people, ^B Christ-loving and God-fearing men and women, bring you matters to manage and provide for; for no harm is done, nor are you interrupted from your own rewards, by supplying your own goods to those in need, and distributing, with good cheer and readiness, the offerings of others along with your own resources. For you are multiplying them rather through these things; you do not diminish the divine recompense, and a brighter crown is woven for you. For the Lord, beholding your pure and guileless and blessed intention, convinces the worthy, while still living, to give to you, and, when they are about to die, to leave behind in abundance, so that they too may obtain mercy, and you yourself may be glorified and crowned, distributing your own resources along with the goods offered from outside.

VIII. TO NICOTYCHUS THE SCHOLASTIC.

Whatever a person desires and loves ^C unceasingly, these he is also compelled to speak of constantly, with an insatiable mind; just as your own vanity and conceit, though you have recently appeared to have departed from the mental blindness of the Greeks by being baptized with water—though not indeed with the Holy Spirit—have rekindled your former impiety. And you are silent indeed regarding the achievements of Christ and His disciples, but in your meetings you are always bringing into the midst the foolish philosophers of the Greeks, ^D and you grip them with an unceasing tongue, and crown them with inappropriate praises; but you find fault with, and revile, and incessantly slander the priests of the Christians, even if they are bright and transparent in their life, as if they were unskilled, mere nobodies, and commoners. And when someone among the Gentiles proposes to recite some Greek play while at the table or even in the marketplace, you praise and welcome it; but when another utters some Christian doctrine, you immediately either mock him or, turning away your face, you stop your mouth and become sullen. Yet almost everyone, through some divine economy, turns away from and loathes you and your Gentile-emulating words, but they listen to ecclesiastical discourses gladly and with great joy. For they deem it profitable for themselves, in the utterances of the venerable teachers, even if they be unrefined, that by applying themselves diligently and listening to them, they preserve an unblemished mind, rather than by lingering in the teachings of the Greeks and becoming maddened into impurity and licentiousness. For may it be far from all wickedness and malice—that the nonsense of Philistion should be spoken at home at the table, and publicly in the theaters, to the injury of those who hear, which...

you perform with such intensity, yet are not suffused with any shame, while the words of Scripture, by which we are led to heaven, you wrap in silence. But you have not escaped notice, you sorcerer; for I will declare to you what is babbled by the foolish, who imagine that by certain incantations the moon is stolen ^A when it turns blood-red or suffers an eclipse, and is moved from its proper state; and then men and women together cry out with one voice: "You have not escaped notice, you sorcerer." For you have not escaped us, Nicotyches, though you seemed to hide, dissembling and abusing the holy and most precious name of Christ. You have not escaped us, being formed a Greek, and intemperate, and fashioned by the vain teachings of the Greeks. ^B

IX. — TO PLUTARCH, A PRAISEWORTHY AND ILLUSTRIOUS MAN

Some say that the Athenians of the most ancient times used to pray to the Divinity that not one of their genuine friends should ever be seen promoted to office. For he who attains to rule is first puffed up with pride, and is compelled to forget both himself and his friends, and no longer masters his own thoughts, being pushed and driven this way and that, and pursuing what is of no benefit at all. Afterward, he is nearly universally hated, and is beset by plots, and is easily captured, and is set forth as a target for grievous dangers and dismissals, and falls into incurable ^C calamities. Wherefore I also now pray that you may not attain the office you are seeking, so that I may not lose my genuine, pleasant, and upright friend.

X. — TO ELPIDIUS THE GOLDSMITH

You zealously create abundant ornaments for others out of irrational gold, yet you do not wish to carve for yourself an ornament of virtues. For though you received from God a soul golden by nature, you have shown it to be stony through your negligence, and leaden, having cast it into the crucible of worthlessness and misery. Hence, it necessarily follows that you will be submerged in the sea of error and lost in the ocean of sin by your own choice; for your absurdities do not escape us. Yet even now, fear the song of Moses, by which he brands the Egyptians like you, who were suffocated ^D because of their own wickedness, because they would not correct their degraded ways, and reports them all to have perished together: "For the wicked Egyptians," he says, "sank like lead in the mighty water, and went down into the depths like a stone."

XI. — TO POLYCHRONIUS THE DEACON

I deem you fortunate because of your friendship toward God and your love that is subject to no corruption and is heavenly, in that you seek from us discourses concerning compunction of soul. Such a request is a sign of purity within the soul. For it is not possible that one who has not first been well cleansed and become superior to all worldly things...

should fall into a longing for similar discourses. And this is easy to perceive from those who are seized even for a short time by this love; they receive such a sudden transformation that they immediately pass to heaven and walk in the ether with a blessed mind. Whence I, having eagerly accepted the command of your sincere love, have composed and sent to you, and to the God-fearing friends residing with you, an entire book concerning compunction, beseeching and entreating you, since you have boldness before God, to repay us with holy prayers; for you can, as I well know, make the Supreme Being propitious to us.

XII. TO CYRIACUS THE PRESBYTER

^B Do not be surprised when you see your kinsman Pisimius, a most God-fearing man and one adorned with much virtue, suffering many tribulations and being tempted by the devil and by men who serve his will. For just as robbers do not keep watch and dig more diligently where there is grass, chaff, and reeds, but where there is gold and silver, so too the enemies of truth and justice attack and plot most of all against those who apply themselves to virtue and labor to shine in God.

XIII. TO HIERIUS THE PRESBYTER

Since you take excessive delight in the discourses of the venerable and God-bearing John, Bishop of Constantinople, I will write to you from his writings concerning those things which you have now requested. ^C Let us in no way be distressed at the temptations of good men, nor let us doubt, nor be troubled, but rather let us instruct our own souls and teach others these same things. Even if you see a virtuous man suffering ten thousand terrible things, do not be scandalized. For I know many who often inquire about this: “Such a one,” they say, “was setting off to the martyr’s shrine, bringing money to the poor, and he met with shipwreck and lost everything; and another, again, having done this very same thing, encountered robbers and barely saved his own life, departing from there naked.” What then should we say? That one ought not to be distressed ^D or perplexed by any of these things. For even if he met with shipwreck, he still possesses the fruit of his almsgiving in its completion. For he fulfilled everything that pertained to him; he collected the money, and having taken it, he was setting off to distribute it, and he had already embarked upon his journey. The shipwreck, therefore, occurred to him unexpectedly. But for what reason did God permit this? So that He might prove him. “But,” he says, “the poor were deprived of the money.” You do not have as much concern for the poor as God, who created them; even if they were deprived of these things, He can provide them with a source of greater abundance from elsewhere. Do not, therefore, demand from God an account of things that happen, but let us glorify Him in all things. For He does not permit such things to happen simply or without purpose; for often instead of the comfort of these riches, He provides for the poor another source of sustenance

But for the man who has suffered shipwreck, He renders him more proven, and prepares for him a more abundant reward. For it is far greater and more excellent to give thanks to God when one has fallen into such a misfortune, than it is to give alms. And it is not only what we give through alms, but also what we endure when despoiled by others, if we endure it nobly, that brings forth for us a rich fruit. And that you may learn that this is greater than the former, I shall make it manifest from the things that befell Job ^B. When he possessed wealth, he opened his house to the poor and distributed all he had. But he was not so renowned when he opened his house to the indigent, as he was when he heard it had collapsed and did not take it amiss. He was not as renowned when he clothed the naked from the shearing of his sheep, as he was renowned and manifest as proven when, having heard that fire had descended from heaven and consumed all his flocks, he gave thanks. Then he was a lover of men, now he has become a philosopher; then he had mercy on the poor, now he gives thanks to the Master. And he did not say to himself: "What is this? The flocks are consumed, by the help of which countless poor were nurtured. Even if I were unworthy to enjoy such affluence, yet for the sake of those who partook, it ought to have been spared." But he did not say any of these things, nor did he think them in his mind, but he recognized God as arranging all things for our profit. And that you may learn that He gave a greater blow to the devil later, in that he gave thanks when despoiled, than when he had pity while in possession: for when he possessed, the devil could have had some suspicion to utter, false though it was, yet he could still say: "Does Job worship God for naught?" But since He took everything, since He stripped him of all things, and he maintained the same affection toward God; then at last that shameless mouth was stopped, and there remained nothing more for him to say. For now the righteous man has become more renowned. For it is greater than the doing of alms while living in wealth, I say, to bear the being robbed of all things nobly and with thanksgiving, just as has been demonstrated in this singular work of the righteous man. Then there was great benevolence toward fellow-servants, now the greatest love toward the Master has been revealed.

XIV. — TO FAUSTINIANUS

^D God could have extinguished the flame of the Babylonian furnace, but He did not do this, in order to strike greater fear into the impious, to cause greater astonishment, and to dissolve all of Nebuchadnezzar's hardness of heart. But He wrought something greater and more paradoxical than the extinguishing of the flame; for by allowing it to be inflamed and to burn as much as he wished, He demonstrated His own power in this way, not by undoing the devices of the enemies, but by rendering them null while they stood. And lest anyone, seeing them standing superior to the flames, should think those flames were a vision or a specter, He allowed those who had thrown them in to be burnt, show-

showing that the fire was truly what it appeared to be; for otherwise it would not have consumed the vine-branches, nor the tow, nor so many other bodies. Yet nothing is stronger than His command; rather, the nature of all things will obey Him who brought it into being from that which was not, which was also manifested at that time. For the flame, having received corruptible bodies, held back from them as if they were incorruptible, and restored the deposit safe and sound to Him, and with much greater splendor. For just as kings emerge from a royal palace, so too did the three youths emerge from the furnace ^A. Then at last, since no one could bear the sight of the king with a steady mind, all, turning their eyes away from him, fixed them upon that wondrous spectacle; and neither the diadem, nor the purple robe, nor anything else of that royal majesty had so turned the crowds toward itself as the sight of those faithful ones, who had until then remained in the fire, and had come forth from it in such a way that it was not improbable that those who had passed through similar things in dreams had experienced the same. For even that which is the most fragile of all things in us, namely the nature of our hair, was at that time stronger than adamant. ^B

XV. — TO TURBON THE PRESBYTER. Divine thoughts are truly a diet of flesh: "For my flesh," He says, "is food indeed." Hence you, too, are always gladly partaking of solid food, as Paul says, and becoming a participant in it.

XVI. — TO ELEUTHERIUS. How do you not cover your face in shame, calling those around Diogenes, and Pythagoras, and Plato, continent and wise, who advanced to such a degree of folly that they even worshipped motionless and inanimate idols? ^C

XVII. — TO THE SAME. Do not spend your time in the sad events that have befallen your house without feeling or pain, and do not pile new sins upon your previous ones; but know that it is God who is scourging you in your arrogance, so that by coming to your senses, you may show a change for the better. But if you persist in becoming more hardened, and acting childishly, and mocking yourself, you will multiply the wounds sent by God, and will cause the misfortunes and the woes of your most impious house to increase all the more. ^D

XVIII. — TO JULIUS DECEMPRIMUS. If sins are examined with such precision that one even pays the penalty for words and thoughts, then much more will good deeds, whether they happen to be great or small, be reckoned to our account on that day of retribution. Do not, therefore, lose heart, and do not grow negligent, but rather, according to your strength, work that which is good.

XIX. — TO EPHESTION THE PRESBYTER. You asked me: For what reason do certain good men fall into certain miserable and dire circumstances, such as bodily pains...

^A unto death, or alienation of mind, as befell Callitychus the Silentiary; or fall into the hands of a demon that crushes and tortures them, as happened to Tagerius, the son of that proud rich man—a man who was, in truth, modest, contrite, and pious? Others have been captured by barbarians, others have been buried by the collapsing of their homes during an earthquake, others have been consumed by a raging fire, or have been ensnared by other unexpected disasters. Know, therefore, that such things happen to the just so that those who despise them might be struck with fear through these events, and might lower their eyebrows, and call to mind the Lord of all and Judge of everyone, and that those who do evil might cease from their wicked work, and run with haste to the remedy of repentance, and take care for virtue, which is most profitable to the soul. Furthermore, note this: that the sorrowful things which happen to the just do not at all harm the soul, but rather procure for them an addition of eternal rewards. ^B

XX. — TO THE SAME.

TO THE SAME.

XXI. — TO CASTOR THE DUKE.

TO CASTOR THE DUKE.

XXII. — TO THE SAME.

TO THE SAME.

XXIII. — TO THE SAME.

TO THE SAME.

with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the bull shall graze together. But that even for the simpler folk, and for those blessed and innocent men who prefer to be children in their malice, adverse powers easily become manageable through an uncurious and untroubled life and through unwavering prayer, the same prophet says this: “And an infant child shall put his hand into the hole of the asps, and into the nest of the young of the asps, and they shall not harm, nor shall they be able to injure anyone on my holy mountain” (Isa. XI, 6, 8, 9), understanding the mountain to be Christ's Church, on account of the loftiness of the faith.

XXIV. — TO ASCLEPIUS THE GRAMMARIAN

^B If, before we are rightfully at work, we spend our efforts investigating useless and unanswerable questions, we wander as if bereft of sense and are ensnared. For the time of each person is short, and we are judged for our works, not for our knowledge of ineffable things. Therefore, let us not cease to ask: “What must I do to obtain eternal life?” (Luc. X, 25). For if we expend our days in this present life, having preoccupied this brief time with difficult and useless questions, having been ensnared, we shall depart from here with empty hands, and the prophets will say of us in fitting time, bewailing our perdition: “Where are the grammarians? Where are the all-wise counselors and teachers? ^C How have they become a desolation?” For they have vanished and perished on account of their pride and their lawlessness, just as a dream of one waking from his bed. Before, therefore, such mournful things be said over you, having dismissed foolish questions, which befit only playing children, be persuaded by the great and true Teacher crying out: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matth. VI, 33). For each thing has its proper time: to do what is just, here; but to receive the recompense, in the life to come. That we may not, therefore, be ensnared, let us rather track down and perform justice; so that, like some most excellent travelers, having carried our provisions of good works, we may enter into the kingdom of God as if into ^D a city. For God, to those who are grateful, is made manifest by the world brought into being by Him, being attested to by all His creation. Therefore, let us not become forgetful of God and of His commandments and judgments, busying ourselves with some small questions and profitless words—things worth no consideration—as if they were great and ineffable, lest we be led astray and alienated from eternal life.

XXV. — TO PHILUMENUS

The soul that was formerly desolate and barren through negligence, now, if it is changed for the better, is able to be tamed, and to become a lover of beauty, and to be cultivated, and to be transformed into a better state. For it is written: “He turned a desert into pools and [dry land into water springs, and He settled the hungry there]” (Psal. CVII, 35—36).

^A That these things are said not concerning inanimate earth, but concerning rational souls, the end of the psalm makes manifest: “Whoever is wise, will observe these things, and they will understand the mercies of the Lord” (Psal. CVII, 43). Do not therefore despair of your soul, even if you lack all righteousness, provided you may wish to change your character. For the fact that Moses constructed the tabernacle of God in the desert symbolically indicates that it is possible for a soul that has become a desert to become receptive to the tabernacle of the Lord. “For forever shall the faithful rejoice, and the Lord shall dwell in them, and those who love your name shall boast in you” (Psal. V, 12), O Christ.

^B XXVI. — TO THEODOTUS THE DEACON.

You must not be disturbed by the novelty of things that happen. For temptations are everywhere yoked to those who are sober and chaste, [coming] from those near to them and from outsiders. For this reason, also the Apostle, beholding the snowstorms of perils that are being brought upon them, and fearing lest any of the disciples should be stirred up thereby, wrote saying: “I sent Timothy to you, so that no one might be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed for this” (I Thess. III, 2-3). ^C What he means is this: This is our life; this is the order of the apostolic way of life, to suffer myriads of evils. “For we are appointed for this,” he says; just as wares are exposed for this purpose, that they may be sold and bought, so too the apostolic life is exposed for this, that it may be reviled, that it may suffer ill, that it may have no respite. And as many as are sober, not only are they not harmed by this, but they even gain more greatly.

^D XXVII. — To the same.

“I will bless,” he says, “the Lord at all times; his praise shall ever be in my mouth” (Psal. XXXIII, 1). For it is shameful for us to bless God in more favorable circumstances, but to be silent in sadder matters; rather, it is necessary to give thanks even more then, when we suffer evils, knowing that “whom the Lord loves, He chastises; and He scourges every son whom He receives” (Hebr. XII, 6).

XXVIII. — To the same.

“But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of the Lord” (Psal. LI, 10), never stripped of blessed hope. Let us therefore become a fruitful olive tree, not anywhere else—not in Hellenism, not in the Jewish sect, not in an evil heresy—but in the house of God, that is, in faith and in piety. For the impious outside the Church bring forth fruit in vain.

XXIX. — To the same.

Just as in the case of Joseph, in the beginning [the circumstances] had difficulty, and the matters dragged on for a long time, seeming to be contrary to the promise, but afterwards they became greater than what had been expected; and even on the cross [it was] not immediately, nor in

the beginning or start of the deed, that the whole achievement shone forth, but the scandal grew, and a few signs were performed for the sake of a wonder and for the correction of those who had dared these things, and immediately everything passed away. For even if the veil of the temple was torn at that time, and the rocks were split, and the sun was darkened, yet these things happened in one day, and in the estimation of many they passed into oblivion. But after this, immediately, the apostles were in flight, in persecution, in wars, in plots, lying low, hiding, fearing—in this manner they preached the word; and while the multitude of the Jews were very powerful, leading them about, dragging them, and tearing apart those who believed, he who had been crucified endured seeing these things. But see how, after these things, the affair of the Church shone brighter than the sun and occupied the whole inhabited world. ^B

XXX. — TO EUNOMIUS THE PRESBYTER

You have asked me, most pious man, what is that which the Apostle writes to the Galatians, that he who is circumcised is bound to fulfill the whole Mosaic law. Since after the faith in Christ and the light of heavenly knowledge, the Galatians, persuaded by certain crafty and soul-destroying men out of simplicity and lightness of heart, had fallen into being circumcised, and were henceforth about to accept the whole of Judaism—("For a little leaven is wont to leaven the whole lump")—the blessed Paul, wishing not that they should be destroyed, but that they should be saved, pulls back those who had been deceived and detaches them from their harmful undertaking and unjust circumcision; as if saying: If you wish to be circumcised, then you must also keep the Sabbath, and sacrifice, and blow the trumpet, and observe the Feast of Tabernacles, and guard against the mouse and the weasel, and wash your bed along with all your belongings every day, and dig up your hearth, and bind yourself with all the remaining Mosaic ropes, and build up again for the worse what the Lord excellently destroyed, and renew the most heavy law which was given at a fitting time to those who were in their infancy of mind, which the Savior Christ abolished by the perfect and greatest dogmas of piety. ^C If therefore you desire circumcision, just as the most foolish and unthinking children desire knucklebones, and rattles, and balls, and nuts, you must clearly know this: that you have no part with Christ, since you are dissolving the will of Christ. And do not circumcise only the foreskin, but cut off all the members that serve for generation, which is what those who order circumcision are bound to do, and for this reason they stir up factions against the Church. For such is the meaning of what was said, "I would that those who unsettle you would even cut themselves off," and make those who have been liberated by Christ slaves once again. ^D

XXXI. — TO PIONIUS THE ILLUSTRIOUS

Since you are the son of my noble and most blessed friend Eucarpius, I am greatly concerned for your salvation and reputation

I write to you what may be of benefit to you. Lay aside, therefore, the golden rings and the two bracelets on your hands; rather, bestow these upon your future wife according to the law. And if she happens to be very venerable and prudent, she herself will not even accept them, as I suppose.

XXXII. — TO ANDREW THE PRESBYTER A monk is called the altar of the Lord, an altar in which and from which pure prayers are offered to the most high God; an altar spiritually established and founded "in the place, as David says, where the feet of the Lord have stood," ^B and they were never moved. "For our feet," he says, "were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem."

XXXIII. — TO THAUMASIUS THE MONK For what did you expect when you chose solitude and quiet? Surely afflictions, and temptations, and the countless assaults, snares, and machinations of the most wicked demons. Why, then, are you troubled, being tormented in various ways by the lances of temptations, and with your soul being crushed by the lightning-like wheels of the demonic chariot, and being threshed like chaff? But endure with thanksgiving, with a stout mind, with frequent prayer, with intense vigil, and with noble temperance, waiting for what is better; ^C and you shall see the end of those who struggle for Christ: for it is salvation; but the end of the demons is a grievous destruction. For then they shall be pricked who now crush you, and you shall trample them, and they shall be ash under your feet, and so forth. Sometimes demonic thoughts are hidden within us, and sometimes they leap forth, impelling us into sin, which is committed in act. But God, being entreated by us, scatters them and drives them away from us. And then, having recovered from the confusion, we collect ourselves, and are quickened in the spirit, as if rising from the dead, and being lifted to the height of dispassion which is according to nature, we glorify and praise the Lord, ending our life in a way that is good and well-pleasing to God. And this is that which is said by David: ^D "And all the workers of iniquity have leaped forth, that they might be destroyed for ever." For with the intellectual oil of the Most High, the man who struggles shall be made fat, he who was previously overcome and was seasoned by the infestation of many disturbances. We must not, therefore, be troubled by temptations if deliverance from them does not immediately follow. But let us rather leave it to God, the master of that deliverance; for he will render the reward with more abundant grace when he delays. Wherefore let us persist the more fervently in giving thanks and singing praises, when he defers our requests and God does not exhibit for a time what we ask; for he keeps the desired grace for greater gifts. For the afflictions that come upon us make our hopes in God flourish more and more.

^A For it is written: “Affliction upon affliction, and hope upon hope: for yet a little while, and he that is to come will come, and will not tarry.” “According to the multitude,” he says, “of the sorrows of my heart, thy comforts have gladdened my soul.” For in proportion to the measure of the painful things that happen to us, we find compensation from God. And when the soul is openly and secretly afflicted and humbled through various temptations, it is comforted by the intellectual priests, that is to say, the angels, who restore it with the most fervent sweetness of tears, with subtle thoughts, and with the strength of virtues. Behold, beloved, what the Lord says: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, O priests; speak to the ears of Jerusalem: ^B comfort her, for her humiliation is fulfilled, her iniquity is pardoned.” Therefore, in every event, we must give thanks to Christ the most high. “For I will bless the Lord at all times,” says the great David. For God accepts our thanksgiving in our afflictions in place of every kind of righteousness. It is necessary, therefore, that we, becoming emulators of Abraham, should offer the tithe of our spoils to the Lord. And this would be the greatest of the ten commandments, that is to say, to love God with all one’s soul and strength. For the divine Apostle defines love as the fulfillment of the law. There is a righteousness that is nurtured in us, which is the distribution of what is equal; even if we do not attain it with precision, yet by a most just intention in performing and accomplishing works, we do not miss the mark. ^C There is another [righteousness] which is brought down from heaven by the just Judge, which corrects morals and bestows rewards, and which is not so easily grasped, because of the depth of the dogmas contained within it, even as the divine David also says: “Thy righteousness is as the mountains, thy judgments are a great abyss.” Let us pray, therefore, that the Lord of all, God, may temper our souls and bodies toward the better. For nothing shall withstand the divine nod and will. Let us not, therefore, neglect or grow sluggish in our own care. For even if we should be carried down into the very chasms of wickedness, it is possible for us to recover ourselves, and to become better, and to cast off all baseness. For evil is not immovable, ^D as the Manichaeans say. And do not think it a small grace of God to condemn your misdeeds and to be grieved for them. For this is indeed a very great grace, bestowed through the Lord’s cross upon those who truly believe. For consider that the Hebrews, when previously reproved by the prophets for foul and forbidden deeds, did not deign to say even in a simple phrase, “We have sinned, and forgive us,” but on the contrary maintained that they had failed in no way, though they had impudently committed countless evils. But now, the light of Christ, the most high God, has shone upon us to such a degree,

^A that even if we do not sin in any way according to what is visible, yet if we but cherish wicked thoughts within our hearts, we immediately condemn ourselves, we feel pain and sigh, we accuse our own lives when no one else is there to convict us, we weep and lament, and we submit ourselves to bitter punishments. And the remembrance of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the lifting up of our eyes to Him, and constant prayer will be for you an incorporeal shield against an unseen enemy. For the Apostle writes: "In all things take up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one." For whether he attempts to shoot forth darts through impure desire, or through envy and the remembrance of wrongs, or if he wages war against the soul through every kind of wickedness, the enemy of our life will be completely overcome and rendered ineffective by the strength of faith and the invocation of the divine name of Christ.

The demons envy those who embrace temperance most vehemently, and they cast wicked and forbidden desires into those struggling against them. But one should not be discouraged by this; rather, we are strengthened against our enemies through this harassment. For we are confirmed all the more concerning the good things promised to us precisely when we are tempted more and more by the demons who crave the flesh. For the adversaries, knowing that the good things the Lord has promised us are great, are inflamed with intense anger against us and, led by envy, they attack through obscene and most filthy impulses of the mind, and they greatly enervate those who are striving toward virtue.

A mind that has withdrawn from the contemplation of God through its thoughts becomes either a demon or a beast. ^B For the human mind, departing from the contemplation of God, of necessity falls either into the demon of desire, which leads to licentiousness, or is overcome by the wicked, wrathful spirit. The experienced father called the licentious desire animalistic and the anger a demonic motion. Yet in whatever thought or activity the soul happens to be, provided it applies itself to pious meditation, it is altogether with God.

Therefore, he who desires to be conspicuous in the abundance of virtues must neither be greedy for glory, nor mix in the conversations of many, nor go out from his house frequently, nor provoke anyone to injury—even if the person provoked is worthy of being provoked—nor associate much with others, even if what is being said is excellent. For immoderate talkativeness delivers one into the hands of the demons of sorrow and wrath. One must instead occupy oneself with the observance of the holy commandments and with the profound remembrance of the glory of the Lord Jesus. "For he who," he says, "keeps the commandment, will not know a wicked word," ^C meaning that he will not turn aside into wicked and base speech. For not only doing what is evil fails to bring purity, but rather, one must, with the diligent care of good things, forcefully reject what is evil. For a habit is accustomed to be formed from custom, and from habit a nature is accustomed to be produced. ^D It is difficult and arduous to move or change

^A nature, but God is able, for nature does not resist God. “For if your sins are as crimson, I shall make them white as snow; and if they are as scarlet, I shall make them white as wool.” Therefore, one must not despair, for God who created us is stronger than the evil and blameworthy habit, as He who makes and transforms all things, as the prophet says. Even if you have arrived at the habit of wickedness, do not despair, but repent, and you shall be saved. For this reason, He took colors that are not fading, but almost inherent in the underlying subjects—I mean the crimson and the scarlet—and said that He would bring them into the opposite state, in order to offer good hopes to men. The power of repentance is therefore great, if it renders us like snow and makes us white like wool. Even if sin, having taken hold for a long time, has dyed the soul with base works and transformed it, the Lord says to those who repent of their own sins: “Stand with bare thoughts like those condemned, and in place of sadness I shall write confidence, and depart as righteous ones who have been crowned.” “For my mercies are over all my works.” Therefore we also say to God: “We are the works of your hands, O Lord. Do not destroy the works of your hands.” And it is written in the book of Job that “the Lord will save those with lowered eyes.” And: “Be saved in your pure hands.” That is to say, the Lord will also save the sinner who bows down in repentance and great humility, even as the tax collector, because of his lack of boldness, beating his breast [said]: “God, be merciful to me the sinner.” Hence also the Lord says to such sinners: “From the depths, bow your souls to me as those condemned, and you shall receive the same crowns as the righteous.” Thus he who bows down ^B is saved not through active virtue, nor through the working of divine matters, but through the philanthropy of God, and through confession performed with great humility and contrition of heart by him who confesses his own faults. Thus he is saved by the face of repentance and most profound compunction. But do you be saved in pure hands, that is, in virtues and virtuous actions. For Scripture is accustomed to call virtues “hands.” Be saved, crying toward God: “Keep my soul, Master Christ, lest the devil plunder me, having led me astray from justice, and I become like those who descend into the pit.” By pit He means Hades and the darkness of sin. Ceaselessly supplicate the Savior Christ, saying: “Save me your servant, Master, who hopes in you,” and who does not despair of attaining the imperishable and eternal gifts. It is written that our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the authorities, and against the spirits of wickedness, and against one’s own body, and the various pleasures ^C seething within it, and against the passions of the heart, and against the[se]

^A pestilent thoughts that arise from various causes. Therefore, even if desires grow inflamed, and shameful pleasures, and even if the flesh, having been aroused, leaps up, and even if every device and diabolical trick attacks us, we overcome everything through faith, and hope, and patience, and wakefulness, and prayer, and the chanting of psalms, and reading, and humility, and the other struggles, and above all through the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ, the most humane God and our Savior. For it is impossible for opposing demons to prevail against us, unless we ourselves first, out of unbelief, neglect the fear of God and disregard the things commanded to us by the Lord.

There are, therefore, certain demons that enter the human body, and while they diminish the entire strength of that instrument, and infuse weakness and dissolution into almost all the limbs, although no infirmity or bad health is present, they further infuse into the soul a great despair and tepid thoughts. These, casting them out with a noble mind and a sober heart, let us, through prayer, be joined to God, the inspector of all, saying: "Deliver me from my enemies, O God, and redeem me from those rising up against me; deliver my soul from their wickedness." For what once happened to Samson on account of pleasure—that he was delivered into the hands of ^B foreigners and suffered all those things that have been written about him—this same thing also happens now, completely, to the soul that is baited by pleasures. For when the aggression of an evil demon is followed by human thoughts, the divine grace that guards the soul departs; and those demons, taking hold of the one who has been captured, gouge out every temperate thought of his, bind him with the indissoluble chains of titillations and shameful desire, and, leading him into the storehouse of wickedness, cause him to grind for the devil, and to serve him all his days and all his nights.

But if the soul that has been entangled in sins returns to itself, ^C and takes up strength, and cries out to God with a sorrowful heart, and attaches its-self through prayer and supplication to the invisible feet of the Master, the Lord says to the angels, just as Elisha did concerning the Shunammite: "Let her come to me, and do not cast her out." For although she possesses no virtue, and no boldness before me, yet because her heart is sorrowful, and she unremittingly wallows before me with tears and affliction, I receive her, and I save her. We have ^D need of the power and grace of the almighty and all-wise Spirit, which we ought to seek zealously. For in this way the bow of the demons who are powerful in wickedness will grow weak—they who shoot at us with the thoughts of voluptuousness as if with fiery and kindled arrows—and those who were formerly weak in mind and faithless will later be greatly strengthened for the destruction of their adversaries.

and those who were faithful beforehand, even though they had languished in their spirits, will be strengthened in the end with restored powers for the slaughter of the enemy. And this, indeed, is what the most faithful mother of Samuel, Anna, said in prophecy: "The bow of the mighty has been weakened, and the weak have been girded with strength." ^A The devil does not know whether Christ, the Master of the house, is within your mind or not. When, therefore, he sees you getting angry, or swearing, or shouting, or speaking obscenities and vanities, then the enemy perceives that the One who guards you—God, who cares for you and fences in the inner and outer parts of your intellectual house—is not within your soul; and so, having entered like a harmful thief, as if there were no lamp in your heart, he plunders the dwelling of your soul. Nor are only sinful men thus abandoned; but even those who strive to hold fast to every virtue are often left to themselves, so that they may be taught patience and endurance for the overthrow of pride.

For pride, vanity, and conceit are great diseases, hiding in the secret storehouses of most men, and we often fail to notice them in ourselves ^B because we are not self-observant. But the great Physician of our souls knows how to take care of these hidden things. Let us not, therefore, be indignant, faint-hearted, or dejected at the things which the Lord rightly brings upon us. For many are sick and wounded in the hospital of this present age, and the same table does not suit everyone; for the physician offers different treatments and diets to different people. This sick man, he says, should be comforted with honey more often, another should be afflicted with the bitterness of wormwood, another should partake of the unpalatability of hellebore; and he deals with and heals each one differently. So too, God arranges what is beneficial for each of us. The aim of the author of malice, the pictorial demon, is ^C to throw every man into heavy and inconsolable grief and to estrange him from faith, hope, and divine love, which are the most important and excellent parts of piety toward God. For this reason, he often prepares even some of the faithful—through beastly agitation, and even within the holy house itself—to suffer an emission, so that he may bring the soul of the sufferer into hopelessness, dejection, and complete despair.

He, therefore, who opposes and marshals himself against such a demon—conforming himself, clearly, to the wiles of the deceptive target—will, by using patience and long-suffering, through unceasing prayer and fasting, and through faith, hope, and perfect love toward God, war against, overcome, and utterly defeat this filthy and unclean demon with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ. Nor should only the reading of the Scriptures be present, but also prayers, psalms, self-control, wakefulness, sleeping on the ground, silence, and the work of the hands. ^D "These," he says, "in chariots and horses," that is, in anger, wrath, vainglory, envy, and other passions, do the demons arm themselves against us; for these are called horses and chariots.

We, however, shall call upon the name of the Lord our God. For the name of Jesus Christ, the most high God, is sufficient for us to defend ourselves against our adversaries. ^A Much prayer to God is therefore necessary for us, so that we may not fall away from virtue. For that it is possible to fall from righteousness into sin, and to be transformed from a state of dispassion into a passionate one, the prophecy cries out to God: "We have become as we were from the beginning, when you did not rule over us, and your name was not called upon us, and we are unclean." Nevertheless, it is also possible, even after the fall that has occurred, to attain again through repentance the dispassion and strength of the beginning; for everyone who asks through repentance and prayer will receive again, at the appropriate time, power from on high and dispassion. Pay attention to the prophecy: "Awake, awake, O Jerusalem, put on the strength of your arm; awake as in the days of old, for pain, sorrow, and sighing have fled from you." It is indeed a great thing for even a little good to exist amidst evils. Even if we have been hated by God because of our sins, we shall again be loved through repentance. For that the most merciful Master takes us back again and gladdens us with His love, observe what He says to the intelligible Jerusalem, that is, to our soul: "And I will make you an eternal joy, and an exultation for generations of generations." Do not doubt how this is so; for when God wills to change things from a worse state to a better one, all opposing forces retreat at the commandment of God, since the Lord will be able ^B to transform human nature easily and readily, just as He commanded the bare and dry rod of Aaron, which lacked bark, to bear fruit more quickly than plants that have taken root in the earth; for while the latter bear fruit through the many changes of years and seasons, the former produced leaves, blossoms, and fruit all together in a single night. Therefore, it is possible for the stony and rock-like hearts of men to be changed, by partaking of spiritual instruction, into rich and fruitful soil. Let us not delay, then, but from this moment on let us turn to God with our whole heart. For if we care for our own salvation, we shall be of great benefit, not to another, but to ourselves. For each of us possesses a height that is according to nature, if we act rightly; but if we sin, we have fallen entirely from that natural height, and, having been cast down, we appear groveling upon the earth. But if we wish to incline toward the good again, it is clear that we are raised back up to our proper and kindred height. If we are endowed with reason and are noble by the Word, let us become obedient to the words of God, and let us turn our backs ^C on these fleeting things, which are pleasant only for a little while; but let us soberly and diligently urge ourselves toward the eternal, immovable goods that are commensurate with the infinite ages. ^D

LETTER XXXIII bis

LETTER XXXIV. TO EUPORUS THE DEACON

LETTER XXXV. TO DABURIUS THE MONK

^A. For the Lord says: "In your patience possess your souls" (Luc. xxi, 19). He did not say: "In your fasting, or your stillness, or your psalmody," although all these things contribute to the salvation of the soul; but rather, "In your patience." By patience, he means in every impending temptation and every affliction, whether it be an insult or a contempt, or a humiliation from any person whatsoever, be he small or great, or an infirmity of the body, or an onslaught of Satanic warfare, or any temptation at all, whether from men or from demons. "In your patience possess your souls"—not simply in your patience, but also with all thanksgiving, prayer, and humility, so that you may bless and offer up hymns to the God who is the Savior of all, the benefactor who adapts all things and brings them about as is expedient, whether they be good or otherwise. The Apostle also writes: "With patience we run the race that is set before us" (Hebr. xii, 1). For what is found to be more splendid than virtue? What is firmer or more powerful than patience—I mean that which is according to God—the queen of virtues, the foundation of noble deeds, the harbor without waves? ^B For this, this is peace in warfare, tranquility in a storm, security in snares and dangers; and it makes him who has achieved it firmer than adamant, whom no moving arms and arrows, nor army of camps fighting against him, nor brought-up engines, nor missiles, nor hurled spears, nor the army of demons itself, nor the dark phalanxes of opposing powers, nor the devil himself attacking with all his forces and engines, will be able to harm, being possessed of it in Christ.

XXXVI. TO DRACONTIUS THE MONK ^C Christ rejoices with gladness when we offer him violence, that he might remain with us (Luc. xxiv, 29). Since, therefore, the light of virtue has failed within us, let us offer him violence, just as Cleopas did, that he might remain with us, and reclining with our insignificance and our humility, he might break the divine bread and impart it to our soul. Moreover, there is nothing more violent than prayer, which often offers violence even to the times themselves. For prayer is omnipotent and cannot be overcome, from which the devil strains to move us by most grievous and burdensome temptations, so that, as if we derived no benefit from it, we might cast away the armor of the most profitable and saving prayer in Christ. ^D

XXXVII. TO MARINUS THE PRESBYTER You indeed demand and investigate through unbelief the fruit of the prayers of those who fear God, whether they serve in the clergy or are inscribed in the rank of monks, but you do not consider that God is seeking you, and demanding the fruit of His own commandments. You wish to be heard quickly while praying, yet you disregard the commandments of God. If you listen, you shall be heard. Receive God...

as one who prescribes laws, and He will receive you as one who prays. But if you disobey, showing contempt for the Master of all, you bring it about that even the righteous who pray for you are not heard.

XXXVIII. — TO CALLINICUS THE MONK

XXXIX. — TO CYRIACUS THE MONK

XL. — TO EUTHALIUS THE MONK

^A much assurance. These things happen in this way so that, by the previously-received consolation of the grace of God, and by the sweet visitation after the temptation, and by the most blessed comfort, and by the gushing forth of that perennial and eternal hope, the wickedness of Satan, having been compressed and subsequently defeated, may be shown to be empty by the providence of the Bestower.

XLI. – TO PRINCE EUGENIUS.

When, after having done something good, or having approached the divine communion, or having completed an intense prayer, or having performed some other very excellent work, you are attacked more violently by the devil, know that the enemy has been struck by you and is greatly pained, and therefore he attacks you more fiercely, roaring against you like a lion. ^B But you, make no end to striking him, piercing and wounding him with spiritual spears. For if we do not cease from continuing the fight with him, nor grow weary, nor retreat from the conflict and the various adversaries, we shall surely report a victory over the cohorts of the hostile demons.

XLII. – TO THEODOSIUS THE DEACON.

Do not be distressed, and for what reason, if even while you are being tested in such a severe illness, and your bodily strength has failed, the beast of pleasure struggles against you more impudently? For we have learned from many most pious men who have gained experience in this very thing, that because the demons who are the leaders of pleasures most willingly bring help and aid, these demons are established by the devil to bring griefs and pains; ^C just as, indeed, to the demons who bring sadness and pain upon us, the demon of pleasure lends aid, in order to overcome the man, and to tear him away from thanksgiving toward God, and from patience, and from long-suffering. For, he says, the demons aid one another, agreeing in the destruction of those who fall into their hands, perhaps [hoping] that the man might despair of his own salvation, his mind being confounded, and that he might suffer something of the things that are not desired, and cease from calling upon God for salvation. But you, having learned this, never cease calling upon the God who created you and who always cares for you.

XLIII. – TO DOMNINUS THE YOUNGER, THE PRIMATE.

Regarding those things which you have asked of me, hear now what I myself think, and engrave it upon your memory lest forgetfulness creep in. Nor should you now demand that I speak of rest from pleasure without any disturbance, concerning those who naturally possess immobility; ^D for I find few who are like certain inanimate stones, completely destitute of any sense toward the passion, and to such a degree that they do not even experience a discharge during sleep. This, however, is a gift of God, just as is the case for those who are born eunuchs from their mother's womb. But the reasons for such a bounty, God alone—who has bestowed it upon some who have neither struggled nor labored for it—has known. But regarding those things which are in thoughts and various titillations in the fiery [flux of desires...]

of the body, I will now discourse, my excellent son. Best of all, fortify your youth, binding it fast and bridling it with the fear of God and the expectation of eternal punishments. For if you strive to grow strong against sin and to struggle and box against the countless thoughts of filth that are suggested and against the burning impulses of the flesh, I know well that you will greatly praise yourself—and deservedly so—for this most noble manliness and temperate mind, and you will congratulate and commend yourself, and will pass through this human life in unspeakable joy and gladness of heart. But if, having become somewhat lax through the exhortations of brief and vain pleasure, you allow your mind to be taken captive and are overcome by the goad, know well that you will be sorrowful, rendered sad by the stings of conscience, and will heap countless reproaches and condemnations upon yourself. ^B The impure and multiform demon of fornication tempts one person in one way and another in another, and harasses them differently. To some of the young he presents it more quickly, to others more slowly; some he teaches corruption around their twelfth year, others he ensnares with the passion when they have reached their eighteenth, and others, who are over thirty years old, he has, contrary to all expectation, cast down into the abyss of obscenity.

But learn, and be astonished at, the way in which this cursed demon teaches those inexperienced in the passion of fornication the act itself. For often, when the boy is lying in bed at midday, the demon stands by him in complete silence, like a crafty and cunning serpent, and speaks to his soul through thoughts, as if from the person of some man or woman, and entreats him, zealously stirring him toward that abominable passion; ^C sometimes he even touches the boy’s head and drives away his sleep, so that, being awake and having nothing else to do, he might be occupied with thoughts of that filth, and through idling over those obscene designs, he might the more easily learn fornication.

If, however, the youth is overtaken by sleep, he again stands by him through dreams, accurately depicting the sin, and by touching his little body and casting fire into him, he fashions yet another image, that of some person—man or woman—indiscriminately and obscurely, suggesting nothing explicitly fornicatious, but ostensibly showing mere friendship and immoderate affection. Yet the goal of the demon in this phantom looks not to a good end, but to an evil one. To others, he craftily suggests that they fulfill the appetite of their heart in open action. ^D Another he leads toward pleasure through the company of young companions; another he tears away from divine purity through certain kinds of lawlessness of which it is not necessary to speak.

Since, therefore, others are being bound and hunted by the basest demon of fornication unto destruction, fortify yourself as much as you can with the hedges of purity, lest there happen to you that which the prophet says in the person of those who are caught: “I made haste, that I might not see, because impiety and misery..."

^A have been called upon me; rather.” For every man who does not hear the words of the Lord is drawn toward blindness to virtue, and to the darkness of the seductive passion, and to the misery of filth, being hurried along by the unclean demon who has persuaded him; for, in the majority of cases, man is prone to the will of the flesh and of the demon. Therefore, the word concerning chastity says in the Scriptures to those who are struggling: “The hour is coming that you shall be scattered and shall leave me alone.” For a man easily departs from a dignified and blessed life, and is entangled in shameful and base activity; and, descending from Jerusalem to Jericho, and falling among robbers—the soul-destroying demons—he is stripped of the garments of austerity and holiness, and, having received the scourges of impurity and terrible licentiousness, he is left half-dead before the Lord. For to remember repentance at all and a change for the better signifies half of eternal life. And he shall have time for a complete and perfect life. Now I call that life perfected which is fashioned through great diligence and with fruits worthy of firm repentance. But you do not ^B yourself have need of such great hardship—of sackcloth, and ashes, and lacerations, and bitter wailing and lamentation—which those who reap ^C and harvest the short time of repentance for the sake of pleasure must wretchedly endure. But you shall stand above the nets of the enemy, if you take care never to be outside the walls of Jerusalem. Now Jerusalem is interpreted as “mountain of peace,” which name, according to the literal understanding, signifies a well-pleasing and pure manner of life; for bodily pleasure is not a mountain of peace, but a mountain of strife, and war, and turbulence, and instability, and tumult, and storm, and of the surging, promiscuous waves of passion and sin, and of unproclaimed intent. For pleasure can never be at rest or calmed in those who are subject to it and have been defeated by it; but, just like some barbaric mistress, it tears at them with the lashes of lewdness, and exacts tribute without cessation from those who have been surrendered to it by their falls into sin, granting almost no time to those who are subject to it. For the divine oracle also states: “Your time is always present in readiness. But my time is not yet present.” And freedom does not easily appear, because men are more sweetly bound by corruption, and as lovers of the pernicious pleasure, they ^D strive to serve the evil one willingly at all times, by night and by day. Yet, at no time do the many sustain the desire to conceive or ponder in their minds the kingdom and sovereignty of virtue, having been driven mad by the goad of pleasure. But you, my child, flee the nets of the enemy; for, just as you draw from your lineage, so too, by the most excellent choice of your parents and ancestors, you derive an admirable temperance, striving to be continuously devoted to God, spurning the most beautiful [things] of life, fasting every day, and with prayers, and

^A illuminating yourself with alms, and preserving purity in the midst of myriad things capable of defiling it. And, what is worthy of admiration, even while you are handling public affairs, and giving answers to public assessors as necessity requires, you do not neglect the reading of ecclesiastical books; and you give so much to humility, that after completing your studies in the liberal arts, and your learning of philosophy, you are not ashamed to inquire often of monks and rustic people, and to receive from them willingly provisions for the salvation of your soul. Therefore, secure and defend yourself completely, as I have said before, from the machinations of the crafty demon. For not only in sleep does the demon form the impulse of the soul in a lascivious and excessively obscene manner, but often, even when a man is awake, he makes his mind perceive as if some were joining together for sin, ^B and men and women were commingling. And again, sometimes, when someone is praying in the Church, he stirs him up, inflaming the genitalia with temptation, and wounds the heart with absurd thoughts. There are times when, through voluptuousness, he causes the one being tempted to suffer an emission; and often, when an excessive amount of semen has collected in the loins, as the man urinates, the urine is carried out along with the semen itself, so that some, being terrified and astonished, have inclined toward despair and hopelessness. In some, indeed, especially during holy feasts, this dire and shameless demon attacks chastity more violently. These few things, then, out of many, I have brought into the open for you regarding the art ^C of the unclean demons. But if you dismiss the assessors and have leisure, come to me, and I will explain to you face to face more perfectly the matters concerning the battles of lust. But farewell in the Lord, most sweet of sons.

XLIV. — TO SYMMACHIUS THE COUNT

The most patient Job says of certain needy people, that because they had no shelter, they clothed themselves with a rock. Now "rock" is in many places the name given to Christ. Therefore, whoever does not possess good works, by fleeing to Christ in great humility and supplication, are clothed for salvation with the Lord’s glory.

XLV. — TO THE SAME

To the second thief it was said, and the name of paradise was promised. ^D For to the apostles the kingdom of heaven had been promised. Thus, the thief who was hanging on the cross receives paradise in place of the forefather Adam, the first thief.

XLVI. — TO GELASIUS THE MONK

The all-crafty demons suggest not only indulgence of the belly, but also urge one to perform harsh and excessive fasts, devising these two things: either that the one being baited should be puffed up with pride, thinking that he lives in a way superior to the rest of the brothers who are exercising with him, and that he flies equal to the vultures through his continence, or that the body should be destroyed, and

he no longer be of use either to himself or to another; and since the disease often receives a great intensification with time, the man is subsequently cast down into unbelief, despair, and blasphemy.

^A XLVII. — To the same. Guard yourself against excesses and deficiencies.

XLVIII. — To the same. Every true virtue both is, and is called, such.

XLIX. — To the same. Partake without any dissimulation of the lowly foods that are set before the brothers in common, so that by rejecting them—as if you were doing so for a higher reason—you may not, after no long time, by changing your manner of life due to grievous sickness, be caught hunting for every kind and species of luxurious foods that will not be available.

^B L. — TO ELEUTHERIUS THE MONK. As much as one is adorned with many good works, by so much is one afflicted by many, as many wicked spirits and unjust men rise up against him. Moreover, God permits the just man to be afflicted by many, providing an opportunity for eternal and most celebrated glory, which arises from overwhelming afflictions. When, therefore, the just man, as if doubting toward God, says: "Why, O my Lord, do all those who trouble me prevail against me? Why, O my Lord, dost thou stand afar off, and overlook me as I am afflicted and worn out beyond all measure? Why is my miserable life beaten all the day long?"—to the just man speaking these and similar things, God, who had spoken through the prophet, answers him, saying: "While you are yet speaking, behold, I am present"; He answers the just servant who looks sincerely toward Him, and says: "For this reason I allowed you to be afflicted for a long time, and to be subdued by misfortunes, that I might produce in you a weight of eternal glory." For this reason, many are said to be, and indeed are, the afflictions of the just.

^C LI. — TO ANATOLIUS THE PRESBYTER. And is it a wonder if, having embraced every virtue in your bosom, you have been surrendered to the spirit of fear for the sake of your exercise? "For thou hast set his strongholds as fear," it says, "and hast exalted the right hand of those who oppress him." But wait a little while, and you shall see the arms of the enemies that now trouble you crushed by a holy angel, and you shall look for the place of the demon of fear, and you shall not find him; and with your own eyes you shall see those who are pursuing you fleeing.

^D LII. — COLORBASIUS. He who despises the exercises of deeds nobly performed according to Christ, but instead covets elegant speech and diction, is like a man who fastidiously cherishes stone bread, from which he will not be nourished, but rather will break his own teeth.

LIII. — TO BERIMUS THE MONK. Many, due to certain virtues, trusting too much in themselves, and not suspecting those who assault them, nor expecting that there will enter into them the

demons who besiege the soul and plunder it, have grown arrogant. Nevertheless, changed contrary to their expectation for the worse, they have received proof of the enemies who, entering through the senses of the body, have laid the wretched soul waste. Wherefore it is also written: "The kings of the earth did not believe that the enemy would enter, pressing through the gates of Jerusalem." ^A

334 LIV. — To the same. That it is possible, even after continence, to be drawn through impure thoughts into bodily impurity, through our growing weak in virtue and becoming strong in malice, take this testimony; for it is said: "The watchers were moved in the exits, they were defiled in blood; because they were weak, they touched their own thoughts." ^B

LV. — To the same. If you do not wish to fall into every kind of sin, anticipate it, and dig it up from the very roots, and pluck out vain inflation.

LVI. — To the same. If you have seen someone more impure than all impure men, and more wicked than the wicked, do not desire to condemn him; and you will not be abandoned by God, nor will you become a captive.

LVII. — To the same. It is granted to the more manifest and pure among the shepherds to judge, ^C to those who have been entrusted with the keys of the kingdom, not to those who are shepherded and are stung by the stains of sins.

LVIII. — TO MAURIANUS THE MONK. If we live in quiet, and persevere in prayer and the singing of psalms in the monastery, and do not cause trouble to those of the world, God brings those very people to us, providing and caring for us, and compels them to fulfill our bodily needs with readiness. And God cares for us, since we also care for the spiritual work.

LIX. — To the same. A physician, even if he inflicts torture, tormenting the sick with pains, even if he warms them, even if he orders them to rest, he does everything according to science with care.

LX. — To the same. If you wish to pay the penalty neither here nor there, exact punishment upon yourself. For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. ^D

LXI. — To the same. And how, you say, might I exact the penalty from myself? I will say: Humble yourself, lament, and groan over your transgressions; for it is not a small punishment and torture for the soul to reflect upon and mourn its own faults, for that is a great pain, and a beating, and a punishment. For this reason also the prize

^A of righteousness God grants to the man who by confession rends himself. For it says: Declare your sins first, before another accuses you, so that you may become righteous.

LXII. — TO AQUILA EX-CONSUL. Before the day of the Lord, anticipate the heavenly judge: snatch yourself from Gehenna. If you desire to be pardoned by the Lord above for your ten thousand talents, forgive also yourself thy fellow-slave his hundred denarii; for I call thy servant a fellow-slave, since both you and he have one Lord in heaven.

LXIII. — To the same. One must not despair, nor succumb in spirit in any fall whatsoever, but the matter is to be judged and confessed. For those who cast themselves down and prostrate themselves are numbered together with the impious. ^B

LXIV. — TO JULIAN THE PRESBYTER. The heart is called the hidden treasury of the soul, in which many iniquities are perpetrated, which the ever-wakeful eye alone sees. Often, therefore, even presbyters work iniquity in their hearts.

LXV. — To the same. Take heed lest you yourself, within the hidden house of your mind, fashioning idols of the foulest passions, make them into gods for yourself and worship them. For the prophet says: ^C "I entered, and I saw, and behold, every likeness of creeping things and animals, vain abominations, and idols depicted round about."

LXVI. — TO PAUL THE ARCHIMANDRITE. Do not desire to pass the short days of this miserable life without any storm or turbulence. For a life of security, and gaiety, and total freedom from all trouble, is not for us who struggle in the stadium against the opposing demons, but for those who neglect and despise eternal life.

LXVII. — To the same. All those who have chosen to live piously eat the bread of knowledge with much pain, and drink the water of reason, being pricked ^D night and day by the lances of temptations, both in soul and body. Understand what is said: "A sorrowful man’s bones are dried up." And: "A worm of the bones is a sensible heart." And it is written in Ezekiel: "Son of man, you shall eat your bread with pain, and you shall drink your water with torture and affliction."

LXVIII. — To the same. "In your patience possess your souls," says the Savior. For through patience we shall find consolation from the things we did not expect; for God arranges and grants those things which no man expected to those who endure Him through faith and hope. For this reason Jeremiah says, that "Good is..."

the Lord to them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him."

^A LXIX. — TO CARINUS PALATINUS We pull down upon our own heads the punishments and chastisements of God through our own wicked deeds. Therefore the Lord says: "Behold, I will give upon this people infirmity, and the fathers and sons together shall be weakened in it." And if we persist even in this, piling sin upon sin, He will also inflict death upon us. Wherefore He immediately adds, that "His neighbor and his friend shall perish." Let us fear, therefore, and let us not be negligent.

LXX. — To the same. Not in vain do the prophets cry out in the churches, but so that, becoming wary of the divine wrath, we may put an end to our sinning. ^B "Since," He says, "you have stood against the Lord, and have not repented, He has opened His treasury and has brought forth all the vessels of His wrath, to destroy all those who despise the divine oracles."

LXXI. — TO PHARISMANIMUS DECAMBRIUS Even if no pagan tyrant is persecuting you, nevertheless, be ready for martyrdom, so that you may not be stripped of the desire for it. For even if a persecution does not exist as you might wish, things will be just as they are for you. Rather, a persecution is present throughout your whole life; anger is present, evil desire is present; the tyranny of despondency, of grief, and of listlessness is present; ^C an untimely fear stands near, envy sits beside you, and the prince of vainglory, gluttony, drunkenness, and the other harmful passions is not far off. For each of these pursues the human soul away from eternal life. Struggle, therefore, and act the man against them as a soldier of Christ.

LXXII. — TO THEON THE MONK He who undertakes the struggle and is trained for spiritual philosophy should rather dwell together with the brethren in the asceterion, and not choose solitude—as the occasion might suggest—rashly, audaciously, and according to self-will and pride, lest unexpectedly he lose his soul through the lurking spirits; ^D for the sword of the enemy has encircled him on every side.

LXXIII. — To the same. He who says, "I am becoming a recluse for this reason, so that I may have no one to provoke me to anger," is in no way different from an irrational beast. For we see the beasts resting peacefully and not becoming wild at all, unless some person provokes them into a temper. And for what reason, then, is it written: "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God"; and, "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another"; and, "Submit yourselves to every human creature for the Lord's sake, esteeming one another as better than yourselves, not regarding each one his own things, but also each one the things of others"?

^B ? If any one is wise and knowledgeable among you, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom; [LXXIV]. — To the same. The thoughts of demons, which are subject to the passions, are as prolific as hares. For an evil thought, when suggested to the soul, brings forth many other thoughts, one changing and transforming itself from another. And such, it seems, is that which is said in the Psalm: "The cattle of strangers," that is, the sons of the demons, "are prolific, multiplying in their goings forth."

[LXXV]. — To Tapisco the Deacon. "In the fullness," he says, "of bread, Sodom lived a voluptuous life, and was proud." For the soul that lives like Sodom, having been satiated with the bread of knowledge, kicks against it, and becomes unbearable.

[LXXVI]. — To the same. Knowledge easily puffs up a man. Therefore he says: "Lest I should be exalted overmuch, even as certain ones have been exalted, a thorn was given to me, guarding me, that I should not be exalted."

[LXXVII]. — To the same. Men pursue with great hatred those who seek to capture glory from them for themselves. Whoever, therefore, ambitiously seeks glory is like a harlot who pursues her lovers, and is more hated for this very reason, that she dotes upon them insanely.

[LXXVIII]. — To Peter the Reader. You have said that after having excessively dried up your body with fasting, you are heavily burdened by the appetite of the evil demon, who has penetrated to the very depths of your marrow and kindled a voluptuous flame, so that you are not a little troubled by this. But cast away these troubles: for such things often happen through the envy of the devil, and attend to the reading. For Ezekiel says, directing his word against the enemy of our life: "You have shattered all the loins," that is, you have dared to pollute and weaken those who are undergoing the struggle with ^C the desires of intercourse and improper movements. And Jeremiah, speaking of the Lord, who sometimes delivers us to the demons for exercise, and permits all our hidden things and all the secret storehouses of matter to be searched by them, says: "He has humbled me in the day of His wrath; He has sent fire into my ears, and has brought it down," that is, into the depths of the body, or as the interpreter Symmachus rendered it: "He has disciplined me, He has spread a net for my feet, He has turned me backward, He has left me abandoned, and in pain all the day." Therefore, one who is struggling must be heavily afflicted by the demons who hate virginity, and be tested, and ^D vexed, and darkened, and betrayed, and passed through water, and fire, and mist, and tempest; and only then, being brought forth into joy, and recreation, and the freedom of the air, be permitted to gaze upon the light of blessedness.

^ALXXIX. — TO EUNOMIUS THE PRESBYTER. If there be no contest, the speed of the horse lies hidden, and the strength of the athlete remains unknown if there be no antagonist; and gold is proven, just as Job, Joseph, and the rest of the saints were.

LXXX. — TO THE SAME. If there had been no persecution, the martyrs would not have been manifest; if Satan did not exist, tempting and afflicting us, it would not be evident who is ready, and who is reprobate and slothful.

^BLXXXI. — TO THE SAME. He who does not conspire with impure thoughts, nor consent, nor is driven by a multitude of absurdities, it is manifest that he will pass his time without any cares or toils, for himself alone. "For You, O Lord," he says, "in hope have made me dwell alone" (Ps. 4, 10). Therefore, the Lord says concerning such a one: "He shall dwell by himself, and shall not think, and the son of iniquity shall not add to harm him" (cf. 2 Reg. 7, 10); "and from the beginning, I will cause you to find rest from all your enemies" (cf. 2 Reg. 7, 11), "and the Lord will announce to you that you shall build a house for Him, and I will not take away My mercy from him, as I took it away from those from whom I took it away" (cf. 2 Reg. 7, 15).

LXXXII. — TO THE SAME. The sword of the devil is sometimes an evil suggestion, sometimes worldly affairs, sometimes actual sin, and sometimes the very members of the body, which, using them as weapons, he slaughters the soul, having first bewitched it with thought; ^C but even the demons themselves, ministering to him according to his will, are called a sword.

LXXXIII. — TO HYACINTHUS THE REFERENDARY. Understand Samaria in Scripture as false knowledge, and Sodom as that which through and through seeks after new doctrines, and proposes them to the mind, and flows away in temporary and perishable luxury, and because of the excess of intemperance and wantonness, casts its eyes askance, and in the male seeks the female.

LXXXIV. — TO THE SAME. As long as we are children in mind, the kingdom of heaven has not yet drawn near; but when we have advanced in spiritual wisdom and stature, and have become ready to receive the paternal wisdom of the fullness of times hidden in the pedagogue of the Law, being no longer under tutors who are set to nourish children, ^D then the Lord says: "I am a God drawing near, and not a God afar off" (Jer. 23, 23). To the holy man, however, who has been perfected both in virtue and in knowledge, the kingdom of heaven is already present. "For behold," He says, "the kingdom is within you" (Luc. 17, 21), and it dwells and abides in you, not only in faculty, but in operation.

LXXXV. — TO AULIANUS. Some, not possessing confidence because of their way of life, held fast and suffocated in the darkness of passions and sins, having only sighed, and having displayed their own misfortunes to God, move Him to compassion, and

so that even beyond their expectation they are delivered from evils and destruction. For it is the custom of the most philanthropic One to bring the dead back to life, to bring consolation to the dejected in spirit, and to exalt those who are humbled.

LXXXVI. — To the same. If, after asking frequently, you are frustrated in your expectation, do not lose heart, but hope that help will by all means arrive for you. For even if He should not grant the request at a certain time, the only wise God is by all means reserving it for greater goods in the future.

LXXXVII. — To the same. We should by no means be troubled in afflictions if the dissolution of our misfortunes does not follow immediately; rather, let us commit the care of the resolution all the more to the Lord. For He bestows rewards with greater joy when He causes delays. Let us persevere continually in giving thanks and lauding His compassion, ^B especially when He delays, as He is disposing things in a manner for our benefit that we are unable to express.

LXXXVIII. — To the same. For this reason the Hebrews, when they once sinned, were delivered to their enemies so that they might be afflicted; and being afflicted, they might cry out; and having cried out intensely, they might obtain help, so that the abandonment of God and the affliction were for their benefit and advantage.

LXXXIX. — To Philagrius the Primate. The works of the flesh—fornication, lasciviousness, and the like—being dead works, perish and vanish most rapidly. But if the fornicator, being changed, possesses temperance, the flesh is no longer called flesh; for it has been changed into spirit, and he is called a spiritual man. He who is joined to a harlot is called flesh; ^C he who is joined to the Lord is called spirit.

XC. — To Theodore the Monk. Prayer, the mother of all virtues, is not only able to purge and nourish, but it also illuminates, and like the sun, it is able to manifest those who genuinely devote themselves to it as shining.

XCI. — To Bibianus the Illustrious. One is the only-begotten Son of God, even after the flesh assumed from the Virgin; for one is the Lord Jesus Christ, one hypostasis, one person. "I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie." (Rom. ix, 1)

XCII. — To the same. The same Being was worshiped in the heights by the multitude of heavenly powers as God, equal in strength to the Father; the same Being also conversed upon earth with men according to His human nature, ^D and dined with sinners and publicans as a compassionate physician, not serving the belly, but correcting those who behaved insolently while dining, and seasoning the intercourse of those who reclined with Him with His glorious wisdom.

BOOK III OF LETTERS.

^A XCIII. — TO CHRYSANTHOS THE LECTOR. Banish the occasions of hostility, and behold, wild beasts shall live peacefully beside you, and you shall sleep under your vine, «when He shall give sleep to His beloved,» 11 some sleep that deadens impious perturbations, and there shall be none to strike terror.

XCIV. — TO GREGORY THE DEACON. There are times when a demon is thought to destroy a demon, just as the demon of fornication [is thought to destroy] that of vainglory—the one who is most subtle of all and obscure, struck with error, easily leaping up and irrationally soaring.

XCV. — To the same. Sometimes one nail drives out another, and a subsequent temptation expels the former one. Be humbled, therefore, and do not become impatiently indignant.

^B XCVI. — TO GIGANTIOS. If you honor God, honor also those who have begotten you. If you fear God, fear your father and mother throughout the whole course of your life. For the Lord says in the law, «Let every man fear his father and his mother.» 12

XCVII. — To the same. If you accustom yourself not to look upon the face of the person you desire, you will extinguish the flame of illicit love entirely, and you will heal the wound through prayer and fasting.

XCVIII. — TO LAURENTIOS, FAUSTOS, AND EPINICOS, MONKS. Do not fear, nor be terrified by the threats and the terrors of the wicked demons; not the voices, nor the shakings of the house, nor the lightnings, nor the innumerable sparks, nor the bites—or what seem to be such—of barbarians and camels and dragons, nor their sudden nocturnal assaults, and the noises and claps and hissing sounds, nor the disorderly ^C laughter and the dancings and the other methods of the impious and profane spirits. For each of you has written that you have suffered such things in the monastic communities where you dwell. You have all read those things written by me, and as I have said before, do not fear them at all, nor be terrified. For we have often endured these things, and more than these, and we have known others before us to have suffered them. Let not your heart therefore be broken by these things, nor let it be afraid, and let it not be cast down and despondent; for they are nothing, and they shall be reckoned as nothing. «Be men, and be strengthened in the Lord;» 13 take up strength and vigor; be sober, use faith, patience, prayer, psalms, genuflection, fasting, vigil, the accustomed sleeping on the ground, reading, gentleness, quiet, peace, ^D humility, and the seal of the cross, and you shall see your enemies vanishing like smoke.

XCIX. — To the same. You have said that in these days you have been excessively afflicted by blasphemous and beastly thoughts, which

the most wicked of all demons have injected into you. And this is no wonder: for having been defeated by you in their former machinations, they have now deigned to attack you in such a way, those who are condemned and destined to be punished by that ineffable fire, which is able to touch even the incorporeal nature; and they, in turn, will lament and be saddened when we rejoice, because of those things in which we have now been humbled and have coped with countless afflictions. For the demons, who hasten to vanish us from those who are being saved and to lay us waste, will themselves vanish and be laid waste. With power, therefore, let us say to them the prophetic words: ^B "Thus says the Lord: I have heard your blasphemies, saying, 'The mountains of Jerusalem are desolate, and they have been given to us for food,' and you have shouted words against me, and I have heard the things cried out in the heart. Therefore, as I live, says the Lord, I will do unto you in accordance with your enmity and your zeal, for having hated the monks and pursued the destitute, the poor, and those pricked in heart, in order to put them to death. You have loved a curse, and it shall come upon you; and you have not desired a blessing, and it shall be far from you. But I will touch the mountains, so that they may smoke, and I will flash forth an ineffable lightning, and you shall be scattered. Coals shall fall upon you" — upon the enemies who in their malice have reached up to the heaven and lifted their necks in pride; and cast down by the fire sent from God, you shall be miserable and shall not be able to stand. For I will utterly destroy your memory from the earth, and you shall know me, that I alone am the Lord the God of all. "Thus says the Lord: In the joy of the whole earth, I will make you desolate, because you rejoiced and were glad when my inheritance was humbled and lost by my children of Israel. Thus will I make Mount Seir a desert, which is understood as such, and all Idumea shall be consumed." By speaking these and similar utterances of holy Scripture against those who have us in hatred, we shall be comforted in our heart. ^C

C. — To the same.

Let everyone who is attacked by the devil take refuge with the Savior and Christ alone, where the enemy of our life, even if he pursues, cannot reach. "For you, O God," he says, "have been made for me a helper, and a strong place of salvation, and a tower of strength from the face of the enemy."

CI. — To the same.

And let us in no way neglect the work of our hands: for the illustrious Paul even boasted in labor, in toil, and in the work of his own hands.

CII. — To the same.

You have written that you have been delivered from the mental distress and relieved of the burden, having recounted to me everything you have undergone. And I did not know that you would find relief and be comforted by uncovering what has happened to a man who has been attacked countless times by the demons.

For when someone has been bitten by a viper, if he finds another person who has been bitten by a viper in the same way before him, he finds comfort if he speaks of what has happened.

[CIII]

TO BERENICUS THE TAXEOTES

The Christian man, and he who has attained to a better philosophy and knowledge, ought not to observe months, and years, and weeks, and thus celebrate; but he should spend his entire life as a splendid feast, being adorned with good works and being wealthy in a venerable manner of life. This man is considered by me to be more royal than kings, and he celebrates the feast of feasts at all times spiritually, and keeps festival.

[CIV]

TO AGLAOPHON

"He who loves," he says, "disciplines diligently; and God scourges every son whom He receives." And one of the saints has said in turn, "All the day of human life I have been scourged." Why, then, do you marvel at seeing holy men afflicted with various infirmities, and in need, and sorrowful, and scorned by all?

[CV]

TO IRENAEUS THE CHARTULARY

Consider the adulation of sin and its tickling (which is a self-inflicted slaughter and destruction) to be more bitter than death. For just as a poisonous snake enters with great quiet at first sight, yet when it gains strength, it bites. Therefore, it cries out against the heart, reproaching it: "Well done, well done; for I have succeeded."

[CVI]

TO TYMBON THE DEACON

He who in the time of the battle of fornication uses voracity and drunkenness, and mixes into the seasoning of his food—I speak of fish sauce and pepper—is certainly inciting madness and an implacable war for himself. Since, as the Scripture says, "such a man" has "fixed madness in the house of the Lord."

[CVII]

TO MUSION THE MONK

And how could he who cherishes and daintily feeds his internal enemies easily drive away the external ones?

[CVIII]

TO LAMPROTYCHUS THE ARCHIMANDRITE

When you obtained the leadership of the monks, you thought that you had also attained a name corresponding to such a position, and you rejoiced and took pleasure not a little. But now that some of the brothers have most providentially risen up in opposition to your disgrace (for all things occur and are reined in by the judgment of God), you grieve and grumble, and you complain about the steward, and cast reproaches upon our way of life. But cease behaving like a child in your manners, and slinking away from the divine and open path. For you have not yet been spat upon by those who have been saved and benefited by you; you have not yet been called impious and a criminal when you were doing what is just; you have not yet been given vinegar and gall to drink, nor have you been condemned to a shameful death, in order that you might imitate the righteous Jesus, the Lord of all, in such and so great things.

^A

CIX. — TO LUSIUS THE PRESBYTER.

To the same.

CXI. — TO CHRYSAPHIUS THE DEACON.

CXII. — TO HERODOTUS THE TRIBUNE.

CXIII. — TO ANASTASIUS THE PRESBYTER.

CXIV. — TO INNOCENT THE MONK.

CXV. — TO PETRONIUS.

[CVI]. — ISACHAR SAMARITA. Just as Abraham was named king on account of his virtue (for the foreigners say to him, "You are a king to us"), so too, the sons of Israel are called angels of God on account of their divine worship by Moses: "When He dispersed the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God." For since they happened to be seventy sons of Jacob, it is reasonably said that the nations of the whole earth were arranged according to their number. For some say that seventy languages are found in the world.

[CVII]. — FELICI PRESBYTERO. At all times, but especially when we stand for prayer and the singing of psalms to God, one must walk in the air of the spirit and with most holy thoughts, and hold no memory of any sensible object.

[CVIII]. — ADRIANO PRESBYTERO. In every affliction that comes upon us, it is most beneficial and entirely necessary to give thanks to God, the provider and judge of human life. For if we are found giving thanks in every one of our sorrows, we shall surely obtain the rewards prepared for trophy-bearing martyrs.

[CIX]. — NICONI ARCHIMANDRITÆ. The life of monks, which was formerly desirable and highly regarded by all, has now become loathsome, as you see. Consequently, all cities and villages are burdened by false monks, running about in vain and at random, in much vulgarity and indifference; and all householders are annoyed, and they are truly displeased even at the very sight, seeing them lingering at their doors more impudently than beggars. Hence, the judgment and manner of life of those who live righteously and according to virtue are now deemed a fraud and a mockery because of these men. And who now could appear as a new Jeremiah, able to lament our affairs appropriately and as they deserve? For I am ashamed to write anything further.

[CX]. — HILARIO EPISCOPO. You have expressed doubt regarding what is written: "After the resurrection, the Lord appearing to those with Cleopas, became invisible to them." You also read what Moses said concerning the sinners in Sodom, that they were worn out looking for the door of the blessed Lot. Now it is clear that the door of the righteous man was true, and not a phantom, but subsistent and real. If, therefore, the most true door was manifest and clear to others, yet invisible and

^A invisible to the Sodomites; consequently, Jesus Christ, the Lord of all, appeared to some after the resurrection, while to others He was invisible. The Lord truly rose from the dead, who died for our sins, His flesh having become—as is obvious—more subtle on account of His incorruption. This holy and precious body He would hide when He wished, and when He wished, He would make it manifest. For it is written that "He vanished out of their sight." Do not, therefore, understand "He vanished out of their sight" as meaning that He was deprived of substance, nor think that the resurrection is a mere phantom and a dream, as some have conjectured. For how else would He have said, "Handle Me, and see," etc.?

CXXI. — TO EURYCLUS THE PRESBYTER

CXXII. — TO THE SAME

CXXIII. — TO JULIUS THE MONK

CXXIV. — TO GAUDENTIUS THE SILENTIARY

^A that is, just as in a wineskin, so within the set boundaries God gathers together the sea, and holds the waters, not permitting them to pass beyond the most fragile sand and cover the face of the whole earth. For which reason, the holy Prophet, desiring to clarify this very point, adds, saying: "Setting in storehouses the abysses"; that is, containing immeasurable waters in vessels and receptacles. ^B

CXXV. — TO EPICTETUS THE ARCHIMANDRITE. In supplications and prayers that are offered to God, it is not worth the effort to cry out vehemently with the sensible mouth as the unlearned do, but rather to strive with the thoughts of the heart. To chant psalms with those who are of one mind is good, and it is sweet to praise the Lord, as David says; but at the time of prayer, for an ascetic to cry out immoderately, some who have prescribed rules for the order ^C of prayer do not deem to be reasonable or proper. For the Lord does not wait for the thoughts that exit from the lips, nor does He await the cries that the body pours forth, for He knows what we need even before the petition is brought forward through the fleshly tongue. But He attends to the undistracted state of the mind, and to the tongueless voice, and to the unspoken sighs of the heart; for if you call out thus, the Lord says: "Behold, I am here while you are still speaking," as is written in Isaiah. We also learn that Moses, ^D when he was hemmed in at the edge of the Red Sea, while his bodily lips were closed, was praying in his mind and was heard. "For why," He says, "do you cry out to me? Break through the sea." Let us not, therefore, cry out after the psalmody as if praying out of mere habit; but even if we pray with the body, let us be more zealous to pray with the mind, as the Apostle exhorts. "For the blessed Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel, prayed, and her lips moved, but her voice was not heard." And because she prayed from the heart, she was heard, and though she was barren, after so much time she became the mother of so many children. For all things are possible to him who believes and to him who prays in the manner that is fitting.

CXXVI. — TO PHILAGRIUS THE BISHOP. Mortify for me, I beseech you, the members of your body; consume them all, if it is possible, in the spirit. Do not neglect to walk the narrow path, which is passable only to a few. Be humble and sublime, mortal and immortal, earthly and heavenly, an heir of God, a co-heir of Christ. May there be present incessant prayer, beautiful and intense, concordant psalmody, meditation on the divine oracles, frequent bending of calloused knees, ^D watchfulness of both soul and body, with tears that wash away—as is fitting—the filth that enters in through the senses, protection of those who are oppressed, and care, and food, and clothing, and drink for the needy. For these things and things like them, if they are present in you, and if they increase and grow greater day by day, will not show you to be idle or fruitless

to Christ the God of all, on the day of retribution.

[CXXXVII.] — TO JORDAN THE DEACON. If Christ, the Master of all, wishing to instruct us to watch and pray, ^A spent the night in bodily prayer; and if Paul and Silas praised God at midnight; and if the Prophet says, "At midnight I would rise to praise you for the judgments of your righteousness;" how is it that you, sleeping and snoring the whole night, are not judged by your conscience? I am astonished. Therefore, even now, rouse yourself from sleep, which makes men like the dead, and apply yourself diligently to prayer and the chanting of psalms.

[CXXXVIII.] — TO CYRIACUS. Whatever happens to you that is sad or distressing, accept it without any murmuring complaint, while venerating the Divine. For apart from the judgment of the Lord, nothing grievous that is wont to weaken and cause sorrow will come upon us. "For with rebukes you have disciplined man for iniquity, and made his soul melt away like a spider." ^B

[CXXXIX.] — TO CYRION. He who beats upon his breast on account of his sins, this man might well be said to praise God with timbrel and dance; for he strikes his chest in compunction, and at the same time summons to supplication the choir of weeping thoughts, and, dipping the reed of repentance into the inkwell of tears gathered during the darkness of sadness and grief, and writing the petition upon the extended parchment of his own heart, and offering it to the Lord, he shall not be cast away by Jesus Christ, who died for sinners.

[CXL.] — TO MELIPHTHONGUS THE DEACON. Once the serpent has inserted its head into the joint where it enters, it is better to cut it off than to try to pull it out; for its extraction becomes difficult as the barbs of its scales resist. ^C

[CXLI.] — To the Same. The beast that exists in the universal sense is the passion that seeks pleasure. But the varied and manifold species of pleasures, once mingled with human life through the senses, are the scales surrounding the serpent, marked by the variety of the passions. If, therefore, you wish to avoid living with the intellectual beast, guard the head—that is to say, the first assault of evil.

[CXLII.] — TO URSACIUS THE ECDICUS. On the Lord's Day we stand while we pray, ^D portraying the stability of the coming age. On the other days we bend our knees, indicating the fall of the human race through sin. But as we rise from genuflection, we signify the resurrection given to us all through Christ, which was accomplished on the Lord's Day.

CXXXIII. — TO PAULINUS.

CXXXIV. — TO ALCIBIADES THE SCHOLASTIC.

CXXXV. — TO BERIMUS THE PRIMATE.

of immutability, and of ineffable joy, and of wearing the crown. ^A

CXXXVI. — To the same. Not to fear God begets hardness of heart and dullness of the senses; but to fear the Lord leads to sensitivity, and guides toward repentance. Wherefore it is written: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding."

CXXXVII. — To Irenaeus the Presbyter. The most wise Solomon says in a riddle, that every drunkard and whoremonger shall come to poverty, and "every sleepy one shall be clothed with rags and torn garments," calling the slothful and sluggish and idle person "sleepy" with regard to every useful task. For when someone has neglected the divine commandments, he abandons ^B the tunic of holy knowledge, which is seamless, as John the Evangelist writes, which is woven from above, and the garment of incorruptible light; and he is clothed with a patch-work quilt that is torn, and multi-stitched, and misshapen, of filthy and unprofitable questions, and of obscenity, and of perversity.

CXXXVIII. — To Theodulus the Presbyter. The prophet cries out, I know not who: "The naked shall flee in that day." For he who has been stripped of every vain care that is measured by time, undoubtedly escapes the grasp of his adversaries. The naked one, therefore, will both flee and pursue: he will flee the plots and machinations of the enemies, then afterward, ^C more strengthened by the help and assistance from above, he will rise up against the foes, and taking courage by the grace of God, he will in turn pursue those who previously pursued him, according to that which is written: You, whom you formerly feared, the demons will fear you, and they will flee by seven ways, driven away by you, they who before entered in a throng against you through one broad way, and were pillaging you.

CXXXIX. — To Sosicles the Scholasticus. Do not insert your own foot into your friend’s house only rarely—trusting in the wise Solomon—but also arrange it so that the friend, too, makes your foot rare in entering to see you, lest at some time, having had his fill of you, he should turn his mind away from you. ^D

CXL. — To the Same. I deem that your intimacy and meeting with a friend, when separated by intervals, is most safe. For it makes love more vivid, and causes what is said to be more useful and pleasant with the passing of days, and preserves the honor and reverence due to true friends eternally unshaken, and stable, and unoffended.

CXLI. — To Trajan the Deacon. If you are unable to answer to God for yourself, how do you seek to obtain the prefecture and care of the souls of others, O man?

CXLII. — TO POLYCHRONIUS THE PRESBYTER.

CXLIII. — TO DEMETRIUS THE MONK.

CXLIV. — TO DOMNINUS THE PRESBYTER.

CXLV. — TO THE SAME.

^A of the Acts where Luke says: "We were staying there for some days in the city of Philippi." And he says that even from small occasions and insignificant persons, great things are managed through the providence of God: "And sitting down outside the city to the place of prayer, we were speaking to the women who had gathered, and a certain seller of purple named Lydia, originating from the city of Thyatira, was listening to what was being said by us, whose heart the Lord opened to give heed accurately." Call to your memory the lowly Samaritan woman in the ^B Gospel, and the Canaanite woman, and the one suffering from a flow of blood, and Simon the leper. And furthermore, Simon the tanner later in the city of Joppa, who had hospitably received the great Peter, having become a small occasion for the divine preaching before the great Caesarea in Palestine, is honored with divine praises, although he opened the gate of salvation to the multitudes.

^C CXLVI. — TO THE SAME. That one ought not, before the time of the divine trial, force and hasten God to show forth marvelous things to all, but rather to wait and expect the good pleasure and will from above; attend to what the Lord Christ says to his own disciples: "Sit in the city of Jerusalem, and do not depart from there, but wait for the promise; and when you are made worthy of this, then you shall begin the teaching and the miracles." For the company of the holy apostle Paul was also prevented by the adorable Spirit at that time from speaking the word in Asia and in Bithynia.

^D CXLVII. — TO EUGENIO THE MONK. It is impossible to pass through the training of temptations without sorrow. Nevertheless, after the passing of the temptations and the withdrawal of the demons, such men are filled with great joy and sweet tears and divine thoughts, as many as have cultivated the profitable labor and the saving affliction in their hearts. "For according to the multitude," he says, "of the sorrows in my heart, the consolations of God and the fulfillments gladdened my soul."

CXLVIII. — TO EUTYCHIOS THE DEACON. Much struggle is needed, and sufficient care, and sober and untrembling prayer, in order to seek and find the undisturbed state of mind where the Lord is said to dwell, as the Apostle says: "Or do you not recognize that Jesus Christ dwells in you?" For there, in truth, one finds another heaven in the heart, illumined only by divine grace in a certain peace that is ineffable and beyond telling.

CXLIX. — TO THE SAME. Having advanced greatly in age, the divine David, giving great thanks to God who had chosen him, at the end of his blessing, […]

^A he says, regarding the final part of his blessing: "Now at last has thy servant found his heart to pray this prayer," signifying to us that blessedness, and that holy state, peaceful and shining, where no memory of any temporal or sensible creature appears.

CL. — TO BILILLUS THE MONK. A monk must not even in a dream behold the face of a woman, nor must he feast with them, nor gormandize, nor drink together, nor laugh, nor spend the night with women, nor fill all his senses with the infectious perception of what is seen.

CLI. — TO THE SAME. O what should I say to you, that I might have the power to turn you away from your intemperate frame of mind? What might I say that is useful and appropriate to you, by offering wholesome counsel, to deter you from evil? O what sort of bridle of instruction could I place upon your hard-mouthed horse ^B so as to be able to pull it back from pleasure? O what could I ever do for you, so as to release you from the frenzy for the female sex, and bind you with the bonds of chastity?

CLII. — TO DEMETRIUS THE MONK. You possess very many pledges of God's providence concerning you, having been benefited, cherished, and guarded by him with countless favors, and by the mantle of the monastic habit, even though at that time you were accomplishing no good work. Therefore, recalling those things with a grateful mind, cast down your arrogant opinion, shunning the company of those who, even after they have joined the roll of monks, serve pride, puffing out their cheeks, swelling their chests, sitting in the courts, always talking about worldly matters, and with the wickedness of their later actions hiding the evils they formerly committed, ^C and having drawn to themselves that evil spirit along with a hebdomad of even more wicked spirits, so that, according to the words of the Gospel, their last state might be shown to be worse than their first. Do you, therefore, crush your heart, as David says: "For I have become small before the Lord my God, and before men who have trusted in him." "For my heart was not exalted, nor did I walk in great things, nor in wonders above me; but I was cautious, lest I be compared to certain inexorable and ignorant men who forgot the works of God, and did not remember his benefits and the wonders which he showed and did for them in evil days."

CLIII. — TO NILUS THE SCHOLASTIC. There are some people in the world living in the secular life, according to your prudence, who have obtained the name of "the strictly just," and they fast continuously, ^D and do not bathe, and sleep on the ground, and are devoted to very many vigils and prayers, and to the defense of the oppressed in their perils, yet they have not experienced any temptation of demons at all; because they are not strictly...

^A taken care of by the devil, who instead sharpens and whets the two-edged sword of myriad temptations, so to speak, at every hour, against those who have chosen a solitary and quiet life. Therefore, they have not yet had experience of the demonic wars that are directed against us; they have not yet felt any skirmish of an intellectual battle line; they have not yet suffered an incursion of bodiless barbarians; the invisible pugilists have not yet approached them; the bitter, gloomy, and dark phalanxes of the adversaries have not yet drawn near to them; the Assyrian has not yet invaded them; they have not yet been tested, nor shaken, nor winnowed, nor darkened, nor overshadowed, as the Lord says to Job: *In the dragon, great trees are overshadowed* (Job XL, 16), which means that certain admirable men, full of virtue and ^B more divine knowledge, are clouded, confounded, winnowed, shaken, and tested by the devil, are bitten by his mouth, are struck on the face with his tail, endure myriad insults from him, are at a loss, are dizzy with the desire to depart from the tabernacle of the body, and pray to be separated from the little flesh through which our enemy strives to rule over us. What need is there to say many things? They have not yet even heard the name of virtue, which is full of dangers and trials, and yet they already imagine themselves to be consummate athletes, victors over all opposing powers, laborers for every evangelical ordinance, weavers of excellent practical deeds, and learned in every kind of spiritual wisdom, to such an extent that they no longer have any need of teachers at all. For this reason, they begin to accuse many, to revile those who preside over the Church, to sneer at and disparage the monks, and to delight in always conversing about the affairs of others. It is a great sin for one who is himself covered in many transgressions ^C not to examine his own sins, but to pry into the evils of others and speak of them. Furthermore, they are unpleasant to everyone, they despise all men—even the best of them—as they frequently do; they find fault with everyone, and meddle with everyone when they have not been asked. Some even attempt to teach others, having not yet learned themselves. Such people are therefore to be compared to little children who promise to slaughter all barbarians with a wooden sword, just as you have often said to some. Again, those who are just as immature as we are in their character seem to me to resemble a very simple child who boasts that he understands the art of agriculture with the greatest precision, who, having taken a very wide basin, threw countless grains into it, poured water over them, and, having watered them ^D liberally, observed not long after that those small seeds had sprouted and the basin, lying in the middle of the courtyard of his father's house, had become green; he immediately rejoices and is greatly delighted, and cries out to everyone with an oath and with laughter that "I am experienced in every sort of farming, and a perfect husbandman." But he does not know the labors of those who cultivate and plow the fields; he does not understand how birds plunder them; he does not know the distress of drought, and

the fires that often break out in the very winter, or, after the seeds have already sprouted and matured, the incursions of certain cattle, or onagers, or other animals, or the thefts of men, or the trampling of beasts, or the onset of hail, or the burning of the ears of corn. The infant does not yet know that one must watch in the field, away from the city, and keep sober, and guard one's own farm. He has no knowledge at all, but merely hears by hearsay of what a locust, a bruchus, a blight, or a caterpillar is. Moreover, such effeminate and senseless men must be compared to a little child who possesses a ship within a harbor, and travels for pleasure in a little boat near the shore, and boasts before those who have crossed the terrifying and dreadful seas just as if he had done the same. Having said this now, I consider that I have sufficiently and abundantly refuted the foolish and arrogant opinion of ourselves. ^A

TO DAMIANO THE MONK

CLV. — TO NILUS THE MONK

CLVI. — TO XENOPHON THE PRESBYTER

^A and insane person, then finally heal the wounds and pains of others.

CLVII. — TO THEODORE THE MONK.

Things that happen unexpectedly are not to be borne with difficulty, but it is better to be of good courage in many afflictions. Therefore He said ^B: "I afflicted you, and I choked you like hunger, that you might be filled with the manna of knowledge, and that in your final hours I might do you well."

CLVIII. — To the Same.

If some harsh wind does not blow at sea, waves will not rise; and if an unclean demon does not approach us, neither soul nor body will be disturbed in any way by execrable affections.

CLIX. — To the Same.

Just as breathing is never unseasonable, so too is asking for mystical petitions from the Lord until the last breath.

CLX. — To the Same.

If we have very often gained an advantage by conversing with a good man, how great must be the fruits we receive by addressing the Lord of all through prayer and the singing of psalms, day and night?

CLXI. — TO THEOCLES THE PRESBYTER.

Why do you wonder if you are insulted and excessively reviled by those who possess a soul similar to your own and were previously well-disposed towards you? Call to mind the unconquered Job; call to mind all the saints who walked through every affliction. Why do I say these things? Remember the Lord of all, Christ, who endured such ^C an ordeal from His own servants—as well as mockery, derision, and jeering, spittings, contempt, insults, slaps, countless outrages, and finally a dishonorable and inglorious death—and thus philosophized an ineffable philosophy; and put an end to your affliction of soul.

CLXII. — To the Same.

Whom God wishes to save, He will shake with fear, He will disturb, and He will vex in various ways, so that he does not have time to lift himself up in pride.

CLXIII. — To the Same.

How gracious is the manifold-learned Sirach, composing and writing beneficial words! "For he who loves his own son," he says, "frequently inflicts stripes upon him." But we are entirely, through sincere faith, the sons of the Most High God, and we are indeed chastised, but we are not handed over to death; and we are cast down, but we are not destroyed. For the bush that was being burned was never consumed.

CLXIV. — TO PETER THE MONK.

It is never fitting to be idle, nor to cease from the meditation of the Scriptures, from prayers and spiritual ^D songs, and from the illustrious exercise which is done according to justice, so that, by neglecting ourselves, we do not lose the fervor of grace through slackness.

loss. Therefore, the divine Apostle insists, crying: “Quench not the Spirit.” But you have also heard the ancient law frequently decreeing: “Fire shall be burned upon the altar,” ^A which means in the ruling part of the soul, “and it shall in no wise be quenched.”

CLXV. TO PAUL THE MONK.

CLXVI. TO THE SAME.

CLXVII. TO THE SAME.

CLXVIII. TO PARNASIUS THE ADVOCATE.

nor present your members as slaves to iniquity; but present yourselves to God as if alive from the dead in righteousness, and your members as slaves to holiness, to the Lord of all for eternal life.” ^A

CLXIX. — TO JULIAN THE LECTOR. Not so does a lover, raging with desire, pine for his beloved as God yearns for the soul that desires to repent. For He calls back even her who has committed fornication, through the prophet Jeremiah, and says to her who is stripped of all boldness: “Come to me, and make haste to return to your Lord and Savior. Come, and do not delay after so many evils. Come to me, humbled and disgraced, and I will set you free from every shame, and I will grant you the confidence of the righteous.” For I reject no one who returns to me with groaning and takes refuge in my mercy.

CLXX. — TO NILUS. ^B Upon some who refuse to be led to repentance for their own faults, the Lord inflicts affliction and bodily torment, so that by their correction, those who are mindful and more receptive may, before they undergo anything dire, come to reform themselves, and not linger in any shortcoming, even if it seems small.

CLXXI. — TO QUINTUS THE SUBDEACON, A DESERTER. It would have been good, indeed, never to have stained that unstained tunic at all. It would have been good not to have darkened the light. It would have been good to have remained unwounded and not to have needed a physician. It would have been good not to have defiled the heart, sprinkled with the ^C blood of God and blossoming like a rose, with lawless pleasure, like mud. But since you have been negligent for a little while and were overcome and defeated by a muddy and bitter sin, and, having been tripped up by the devil, you have been led away captive, even if you did not expect to suffer such a thing, do not despair: for there is a return to what is good through repentance. Flee to Christ, who is moved most of all by the miseries of others, and is most humane. He provides an easy access to Himself through an apology made by prayers, and fastings, and weeping, and confession, and vigils, and lying on the ground, and tears, and the like.

CLXXII. — TO THE SAME. ^D One must not despair of salvation through the mercy of Christ. Behold, even now it is intimated through the prophet: “I do not desire the death of the sinner, but his conversion.” Return to me after your iniquity. “Does he who falls not rise again?” Let us rise, therefore.

CLXXIII. — TO AGATHOPUS THE MONK. One must always look upward, and most especially when dire and sad things overwhelm us, and we must give thanks to God, who keeps us in training. For the blessed David says: “I will bless the Lord at all times.” And the holy Isaiah, taking on our person, cries out: “I will bless you and praise you, Lord, because you were angry with me, and turned your face

^A away from me, and after that, you had mercy on me, and helped me, and consoled me.”

CLXXIV. To the same. The Lord knows and observes precisely what evils the unclean demons bring upon us. For He says to Moses: “I know their pain and the affliction with which the Egyptians afflict them.” But He waits and is long-suffering for our own benefit. He waits in order to increase the reward of our patience; He waits so that His mercy upon us wretches may grow even more and be magnified, and He all the more cleverly devises our perseverance toward Him through prayers and supplications; so that we may learn not to turn away from Him, nor to be taken by forgetfulness of Him, even if at some time we have attained security and a peaceful and unwarlike state—so that through affliction we may reconcile the Benefactor to us, so that in our straits we may flee to Christ who is most humane, so that while we are being wearied we may draw near to Him, and being in need of help, we may accommodate ourselves to Him who is able to provide it. Therefore, we must flee to Him with all our heart and with intensity, not at all grumbling or murmuring, but in every affliction holding forth good hope. ^B

CLXXV. To Eugenius the Monk. When you attain higher ranks; when you are torn away from the earth; when you have completely loathed earthly things; when you have disregarded all things that come under sight; when the love of heavenly goods truly takes hold of you; when you are able to take up the wings of the intellectual eagles, and to delight in the well-fitted structure of the feathers that are lifted toward heaven with the greatest ease—then, indeed, then you will see fearsome temptations; then you will taste of dire battles, desiring and praying more to be set free from human life, and no longer enduring to contemplate the life of mortals. ^C

CLXXVI. To the same. You have not yet completed your fifteenth year, living the monastic life, and already you portray yourself as perfect. You have already presumed yourself to be superior to the elders who have exercised themselves well before you. Already the fledglings of vultures are flying to higher things; already you assume you have conquered all temptations, whereas you have not yet even seen the shadow of a single temptation at all; whereas you have not yet known what the struggle with demons is; whereas you have not yet begun to box against the devil; whereas you already dare to despise and condemn, without any judgment, brothers who are diligent and exercised in battles. ^D

CLXXVII. To Chrysippus the Curator. It is necessary to know that you are going to stand before a fearsome tribunal, where no one will appear who is able to provide aid or to pull you from the hand of the judge; where no cleverness, vehemence, or even sharpness of wit will have the power to avail for anything at all; where there is no one who will act as advocate or intercessor. Just as, therefore, through that fearsome and eternal

^A fire that is about to pass through your soul, do not be negligent, and do not despise it, but repent while you have time and the appointed ending of life. Come to the knowledge of the things wherein you have sinned; weep for yourself, as one already dead and buried in a tomb; send a dew down into that flame; release the fountains of tears; afflict yourself with a sorrow, but one that is good and salutary; let your tear be brought in proportion to the errors you have committed.

CLXXVIII. — TO VENUSTUS THE PRIMATE

^B “The sleep of a servant is sweet,” says the divine utterance. For it is truly sweet and most pleasant when the soul, which possesses the body, rests and keeps quiet in a certain manner, using food sufficiently and by measure, setting before itself the goal of nourishing and protecting it. Then, indeed, is sleep found sweet to the servant. But to him who wallows in luxury and harasses the body with the unbridled use of gluttony, sleep is not sweet nor natural; nay, it does not even allow the soul that possesses it, being its servant, to rest at all. For the excessive abundance of foods and drinks—and those of the most exquisite sort—hinders and recoils upon it, and once it is fully satiated, it seems to wander freely; and rebelling against its mistress, nature, it awakens a swarm of luxury, and without any shame sets forth the wrestling grounds of various pleasures and the palaestra of the worst passions, pursuing false crowns and prizes.

CLXXIX. — TO JASON THE BISHOP

^C “Hope in God,” as the blessed Paul says, “in no way defrauds him who truly hopes.” For at the opportune time, it brings to him who has placed his hope in God that which was hoped for, and brings from things that are not into those that are, and renders what was expected with faith, and bestows what a man had very often sought through prayer. Blessed, therefore, are they, he says, who wait for the Lord through prayer and hope. The Lord will have mercy at the voice of your cry, and will hear you when He heals the contrition of your soul. “Have mercy on us, O Lord,” cries the prophet Isaiah for us. “For in Thee have we hoped; for our salvation is with Thee in the day of tribulation. I will glorify, I will praise Thy name, for Thou hast done wonderful things.” Therefore the poor people praise Thee, and the cities of men oppressed by injuries, and those who fear Thee shall bless Thee. For Thou hast become a helper to every humble city, and a shelter to those who had despaired of their soul because of destitution; a shelter for men who are thirsty and afflicted by injury. As men small of spirit who are thirsty in Zion, from the men to whom Thou hast delivered us. Consider all these things, O bishop; for I, being one who understands, am writing to one who understands.

CLXXX. — TO THE SAME

“You shall eat your bread to the full,” says the Lord through Moses, “and you shall dwell with security in your land.” For you know who is the more divine bread, and what is the security. For [I have made] you secure...

he says, by My right hand, and I shall give peace on your land, naming as peace the freedom from execrable passions; and you shall sleep, and there shall be none to bring terror upon you, but rather one who destroys the effective causes of the evils that have prevailed. This is that sleep. For you have given, he says, not to my mouth, but into my heart, into my mind, [an] incorrupt and eternal joy, and because of this “I will lie down in peace and sleep,” and I shall sleep a sleep that kills every sin. “For when the Lord gives sleep to His beloved, behold, from there is the inheritance of the Lord, prepared for those who have struggled.”

^B CLXXXI. — To the Same. I will destroy, he says, the wicked beasts from your land, meaning the wild demons, and their manifold malicious plots against the souls of those who struggle, and you shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the slaughter of the sword, which is your boast; and five of you shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you shall pursue tens of thousands. For the five senses, being fortified by greatness of mind and by the power granted from God—a strength superior to human nature, which the human mind acquires having become victorious—drive out a hundred of the adversaries; and a hundred—that is, those of our most experienced and more perfect thoughts and good actions—take captive and subdue the ten thousand tyrants who are clothed in extreme wickedness. ^C

CLXXXII. — To Eugenius the Monk. Tyre is interpreted as confinement, or affliction. But after the confinement and the affliction brought upon us by the demons, when we bear it courageously, we shall see a noble condition born in us, granting us rest from the preceding labor, with God bestowing this from on high. I believe this is something like what is in the Psalms: “The daughter of Tyre shall bring gifts.” For perhaps we find many divine gifts conceived in the soul after the confinement and the affliction.

CLXXXVIII. — To Philip. “He who finds his soul shall lose it; and he who loses his soul shall find it.” ^D Do you not see in these words a most excellent loss and a good discovery? When, therefore, having examined your soul, you find it in some sin, hasten to put it to death from that wicked habit, so that it might be found again having returned to the ancient good, that is to say, to the virtuous life.

CLXXXIV. — To Thomas the Writer. The anterior parts of the soul are to be understood as the lamps of all the virtues; the posterior parts are every kind of vice.

CLXXXV. — To the Same. The face of the soul is the God-like form, that is to say...

says, “serving the will of the one tasting it, was turned to whatever each one desired.” For in the divine Word is the quality of every intellectual nutriment. To those reborn of water and Spirit, it becomes pure milk; to those who are ailing, it appears as garden herbs; but to those whose senses are exercised to discern, the Word imparts a different nourishment, and becomes all things to all men, that they might be saved and judged worthy of eternal life. ^B CLXXXVII. — To John the Bishop.

Do not perceive the things that befall you without care or understanding. For by reason of your negligence, the king of Egypt has marched up to your soul and seized the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the golden spears which David formerly—with many struggles and sweats, in the manner of war—had taken from the hand of the children of the foreigner Adraazar. And yet you delight in these things, rather than wishing to be aggrieved and downcast. CLXXXVIII. — To Theophanes the Scholastic. ^C

“If your right eye scandalize you, cast it out”; this is not unlike that which was said by Moses: “If your wife, who is in your bosom, or your friend, who is the equal of your soul, should at any time wish to turn you away from the Lord your God, do not spare them, nor have pity on them, nor embrace them.” CLXXXIX. — To Proclus the Monk.

You confess that you are grieving not moderately and are downcast, because you do not possess riches to distribute to every man in need. But I say that no such command is required of one who has no money. ^D However, I do exhort you to disperse and cast away with a ready mind those criminal vessels and faculties you have in your soul, which are: anger, contention, envy, contradiction, vainglory, perturbation, boasting, talkativeness, bitterness, headiness, curiosity, and disobedience. CXC. — To Cyril the Monk.

“My soul,” he says, “has longed for the courts of the Lord.” By divine courts, he calls the glorious and eminent virtues and actions, in which the Word of God dwells, as do those who continually choose to follow the Word. CXCI. — To the Same.

“Behold,” the Lord says, “I will incline toward those who have endured tribulations, as a river of peace, and as a torrent overflowing with the glory of the nations.” And Aquila...

interprets it, “from all kinds”; Symmachus says, “from sorrow”; and Theodotion, “from a multitude.” Consider these things, therefore, and console yourself. ^B

CXCII. — TO THYRSO THE ARCHIMANDRITE.

CXCIII. — TO THE SAME.

CXCIV. — TO MACEDONIO THE DEACON.

CXCV. — TO THE SAME.

CXCVI. — TO THE SAME.

CXCVII. — TO PETRO THE MONK.

And again, when a man frequently confesses ^A from his whole heart and praises the Good, the warring dragon immediately changes the hymn and doxology into blasphemy. However, we must not fear the audacity of the enemy, but rather take courage, and by the increase of prayers and the multiplication of divine hymnody, the nerves and strength of the opposing power must be cut away.

[CXCVIII]. — To the same. When we have struggled lawfully and have obtained the blessing of Jacob, then those masters who envy our way of life become weaker in casting their darts, and by force and necessity, as it is written, the obscene-vomiting arrows are broken, and the nerves of the arms of their hands are dissolved, and we shall compare our glory with the choir of those who are triumphant.

[CXCIX]. — To Severus, Ex-Consul. Driven by envy, certain bishops, on account of the exceeding virtue of John, the bishop of Constantinople, who was ^B truly a divine man and a light to the whole world, and who was commanded to prevail by the fear of God, set snares against him. They also caused the emperor, who was most pious and most simple, to yield to their plots and to banish this heavenly man. Since, therefore, these envious shepherds were plague-stricken in their ways, and the emperor consented through deception, the prophet rightly cried out: “He stretched forth his hand with a pestilent man” (cf. Os. VII, 5). Nevertheless, after the exile of the righteous man, the greater part of those who had conspired against him paid the penalty to God, and with weeping and crying ^C confessed that they had sinned greatly against that holy man.

[CC]. — To Paul, the Lector. “Reveal your way unto the Lord, and hope in him, and he shall bring it to pass” (Ps. XXXVI, 5). Show Him your life, which is teeming with reproaches; O leper, show the great High Priest the stigmata of your soul; and hope in Him, and He will make the unclean pure, and reveal the dog to be a genuine son, and the irascible man meek, and the impatient man enduring; and He will make your mind free from every defilement.

[CCI]. — To Euphemius, Archimandrite. It is written that there gathered unto David, ^D the most kind, all men who were in necessity, and those burdened by debt, and every soul afflicted with sadness, and David was a leader over them (1 Reg. XXII, 2). Whoever, therefore, are afflicted by the constraints of obscene thoughts, and are choked by the suggestions of the thoughts of envy, and of blasphemy, and of despondency, of hatred, and of irascibility, and of other innumerable evil and blasphemous thoughts, and whoever recognize themselves to have incurred a debt of many sins, and whoever are afflicted in their souls by shameful and base passions, and by the contacts of demons, and by sharp burning, and other things—all these, whether they be members of the clergy, or joined to the rank of the Nazarenes, or living in the world

^A let them flee to the intellectual David, that is, to Christ Jesus, the most benevolent, with weeping and prayers, so that they may be comforted.

CCII. — To the same. Most gladly does Christ, the King of all, God, offer Himself as a leader to those who look toward Him with pain, which is why He calls out: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. xi, 28). — "For you are my handiwork" (cf. Ps. cii, 14).

CCIII. — To the same. "I know," He says, "I am not ignorant of the sorrow of your heart, and the affliction with which the Egyptian demons afflict you; and your sighing has not been hidden from me."

CCIV. — To the same. "Rise up early," He says, "and stand against Pharaoh" (Exod. viii, 20). For those who serve God with intensity, always ^B existing in the light of the morning, definitely contend with and wage war against the intellectual Pharaoh.

CCV. — To Anastasius the Monk. Do not desire to be quickly freed from temptations and afflictions; persist and persevere until it is the will of Christ who provides for you, who wisely orders your affairs.

CCVI. — To the same. Observe that it was not in the first watch, nor the second, nor the third, but in the fourth watch of the night ^C that the Lord came to those who were being tormented by the storm, and the waves, and boundless fear (Matt. xiv, 25).

CCVII. — To the same. When a rock rises to climb into your ship, tranquility will immediately take its place, and peace, and joy, and gladness. Only do not abandon your fair expectation, do not let slack the horn of your looking toward Christ; do not let the onset and trial of temptations put your good hope to death, but hope on.

CCVIII. — To the same. Remember that the Lord said: “Come into a ^D desert place of temptations, and rest there a little” (Mark vi, 31), not for long. For after this, surely not into a desert, but into one full of temptations and afflictions

^A you shall be tested and worn down, being exercised and proved.

CCIX. — To the same. In time past you dwelt in the desert and enjoyed the tranquillity of life, nor were you vexed by anything unpleasant; for Providence did not yet exercise you in the contests of virtue. But now, having been cast into the midst of the stadium and the lists, you are disheartened, and troubled, and lament greatly.

CCX. — To the same. It is impossible for crowns to be woven without labors and sweat.

CCXI. — To the same. Have you not heard that the one beloved by God, Jerusalem—I mean your soul—is instructed by the prophet Jeremiah through labor and the scourge?

CCXII. — To Darius the Scholasticus. “Then,” he says, “shall the righteous shine forth as the sun of righteousness” (Matt. xiii, 43). And the prophets call the Church the moon, rising as the dawn.

CCXIII. — To Rodominus the Presbyter. O, how you will reproach and revile your own lack of judgment when you rise from the graves to pay the penalty for your life here! O, how you will tear yourself apart and weep, repenting to no avail, at that time when repentance for deeds done will not be accepted, since the appointed time has passed! How much you will weep and wail in vain when you behold the brightness of the righteous in the glorious distribution of heavenly gifts, ^C and the dejection of those who have sinned in that deepest darkness! When you say, with an aching heart and oppressed by the anguish of spirit: “Woe to the miserable man of little faith, and of folly, and of neglect! Woe to me, that I so willingly squandered the time allotted to me, now long since past! Woe to me, that I did not wish to contemplate such tribunals and judgments! Why did I prefer vainglory to all things? Why did I prefer gluttony and drunkenness to eternal life? Why did I embrace anger as a friend? Why did I serve fornication and wicked desires as if they were mistresses? Why did I stupidly love the clamor of useless gossip? Why did I fill all things with my own disturbances and commotions? Why did I hate the fragrance of divine prayers and psalms? Why did I not endure to bow my neck to the bishops? Why did I turn away from the sweetness of rest, the holiness, the dignity, the magnificence, the opportune tranquility of soul, the heavenly commerce, the true philosophy of the divine angels, and the ever-flourishing glory?” These things and such as these you will say on that day of retribution for the things we have done in this life, and there will be no one present to pity you or pour out mercy.

CCXIV. — To the same. You have lived for no small time by the nods of the devil. Live now at last according to the counsel of your Creator.

^A At length, serve the laws of Christ, the God most high. There is nothing that equals a rational soul; nothing is equal to the kingdom of heaven. How long shall we prefer corruptible things to incorruptible? How long shall we deem visible things to be more worthy and precious than invisible goods? How long shall we propose to give our labor to beastly error and fantasy? How long shall we cherish Satan, the enemy and destroyer of our souls? How long shall we listen to his suggestions, which lead us to destruction? No counselor is more worthy of faith than God, the lover of men; no one is wiser than the fountain of wisdom; no one is more akin and useful than the good Lord who fashioned us. But you, neglecting Him, have run to the apostate dragon, and you attend to the most wicked as if he were most excellent; you embrace a murderer as a friend, you deem the most foolish to be prudent, you conceive of the darkened one as if he were a light-bringer, you surmise that the most dire infirmity is the greatest health, and you think that poverty is great wealth; and, imitating Eve, you offer your ear to the whispers of the intellectual serpent, stopping your ears to divine precepts. What need is there to say much, especially to a man who carries the ear of his mind deadened? For what shall we profit by singing to one who, of his own will, lives with deaf ears to all that is most beautiful?

^B CCXV. — TO AGATHIUS THE DEACON. It would not be right to slacken the powers of the soul at the height of assaults, but rather to take courage all the more when you hear from God: ^C "Strengthen the relaxed hands and the paralyzed knees. Strengthen yourselves; do not be afraid." For "I am with you always, even to the end of the age," and "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you" when you are in danger.

CCXVI. — To the same. Although you may have been numbed in spirit by the multitude of temptations, nevertheless the word of the Lord again consoles you, saying: "Let there be consolation for the faint-hearted through providence; for I, the truthful Lord, promise that after such a calamity, and captivity, and destruction, the glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former."

CCXVII. — TO PAUL THE BISHOP. ^D By no means be troubled when, at the time of prayer, the most base demons, kindled with greater wrath, bring upon the soul a troop of absurd thoughts. For those most bitter serpents rage and are stirred up all the more when they perceive the incantation made against them; so great, and effective, and terrible against demons is sober prayer.

CCXVIII. — To the same. When a man who is pious and holy comes upon one vexed by a spirit, the demon is then more shaken. Thus, therefore, when we chant and pray, the demons who are tormented and suffer pain, just as if some righteous man and warrior were attacking them with that pious work, burn...

and grow more agitated, and rage even more then, and being able to do nothing further, they shoot at us the forbidden thoughts like fiery darts. Let us just not cease praying and chanting, and we shall see them, after not much time, vanishing from us like smoke.

CCXIX. — PROOF FOR A MONK.

CCXX. — To the same.

CCXXI. — To the same.

^A

CCXXII. — To the same.

Not only those who bring afflictions and pains upon the body are said to "touch the bones and the flesh," as it is written in Job, but also the sin-loving and unclean spirits, who are constantly contriving foul perturbations and pleasures in the members of the wretched man. And let the man of great experience persuade you of this, crying out, "There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, there is no peace in my bones because of my sins; for my iniquities have gone over my head, they have become foul and have rotted because of my great folly. Therefore I became wretched, and was bowed down to the worse, not for a few days, but for very many." ^B And again another, as if he were in a wilderness bereft of helping angels, cries out lamenting and wailing, and saying: "Who shall deliver me from the intellectual death that has surrounded me and overcome me? Wretched and miserable man that I am, tossed about by the myriad assaults of demons!" Yet another man, not unacquainted with such calamities and become inspired, offers no small comfort to those struggling for incorruptibility and exercising themselves spiritually. "For there shall be," he says, "healing in your flesh, and care for your bones," so that "all your bones may say: Lord, Lord, who is like You, delivering the poor from the hand of those stronger than he, and from those who snatch him away?" ^C

CCXXIII. — To Albinus the Monk.

Since you have recently departed from worldly tumults, you ought to maintain great stillness, and not reopen the wounds inflicted upon the mind through the senses by frequent going out; but avoid the impact of new things, and apply all your diligence to erasing and dimming the images that have already occupied you. ^D

CCXXIV. — To the same.

As heavily as the demon of fornication presses upon you, so much do you yourself enervate your soul with despondency and grief, not applying yourself to prayer or psalmody, but sleeping immoderately. In doing these things, you are unaware that you are giving joy to your enemies, and making them more violent, more burdensome, and more difficult to dislodge against yourself. For unclean demons are accustomed to harassing and tarrying longer with those who are relaxed by sloth and who neglect prayer and divine singing.

CCXXV. — To Telemachus the Prelate.

The law says: "You shall cut down their groves"; which is to say, you shall deliver the throngs of passions and pleasures to destruction through temperance and prayer.

CCXXVI. — To the same.

"Who knows," writes Solomon, "if the spirit of

man," that is, the righteous man, "ascends upward?" ^A For before the end of life, says Sirach, call no one blessed, because the human race is prone to slip, and easily falls from righteousness into lawlessness. Who knows, then, if he who practices virtue at the present time, remaining blameless and excellent until the very close of life, and without having completely extinguished the lamp of his wondrous manner of living, will hasten onward to the heavenly courts?

CCXXVII. — To the same. "Who knows if the spirit of the beast," that is, of the man who has become like a beast through sin, "goes downward entirely?" For the end of the wicked is likewise uncertain, lest perhaps, standing at the very gates of death, he may embrace repentance "and be rescued from the lowest Hades," as it is written. ^B And let that thief, of whom Luke makes mention, persuade you; at his very last breath, through his supplication, he became an inhabitant of paradise, teaching us to despair of no sinful man before death itself.

CCXXVIII. — TO TERENTIUS THE DEACON, WHO HAD FALLEN AND TURNED AWAY, BUT AFTERWARDS, AS WAS FITTING, REPENTED FOR A LONG TIME.

You have said that according to the Scripture I have perished, and have become an exile from virtue, and have been estranged by great foolishness from divine accomplishments, and therefore no conception of salvation, no hope, remains for me. These things, indeed, you speak well; but you do not wish to consider the remaining things, which are inscribed on the holy tablets for the correction of the oppressed and the consolation of the afflicted. ^C "For our feet," it says, "were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem," that is, in that state which is according to the nature of the soul the feet existed; but our steps were shaken through some negligence, and we were found outside the divine enclosure, and we voluntarily stripped ourselves of the dignity of the divine image, and of good thoughts, and were bereft of the help from above, and our thoughts were scattered into many things, and intellectual death, having grown strong, swallowed us, and we were likewise devoured by demons. ^D Nevertheless, after all these things, consider what the divine word cries out to us: "As I live, says the Lord, those who desolated you shall depart from you quickly. Lift up your eyes round about, and see your good thoughts, your children. Behold, they are gathered together, and have come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall put them all on like a robe, and shall clothe yourself with them like a bride with her adornment; and your desolate, scattered, and fallen places shall now be too narrow because of those who dwell in them, and those who swallow you shall be far from you. For your children, whom you lost, shall say into your ears: The place is too narrow for me to dwell in. And you shall say in your heart: Who has begotten these for me? I, however, am childless and a widow, and watched, and hated before, and cast out by the Lord my God. And these, then, who has reared for me? I"

am left alone, that is to say, the most wretched and sin-loving soul. But where were these of mine?" — "Behold," He says, "you have been sold for your sins." For you have sold yourselves by your own will and by your own desire. If, therefore, by your own will you have come under the hand of the devil, you will certainly be able also, by your own will, to depart from the tyranny of that most cruel master, and to flee for refuge to the true Lord and God of us, Jesus Christ, and to serve under Him, and to minister according to that which is written. "Nevertheless, be subject to God and Him alone, my soul, ^B for He is my God and my Savior and my great helper." Just as the holy James also writes in his Epistle, saying: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." — "For to me," says David, "it is good to cleave to God, to put my hope of salvation in the Lord," and not to despair.

CCXXIX. — TO JULIAN THE MONK

I truly wonder by what reasoning, when wise and learned monks speak rarely after they have been questioned, and altogether moderate their tongue because of humility, you—while no one is asking—use unlearned and rude petulance, having an unbridled tongue, and you utter countless words indiscriminately, and just as they come into your mouth, stringing them out in a long series, and babbling trifles, as some say.

CCXXX. — TO THE SAME

There are found, just as with you, many rustics and rude and vain men, at every hour, so to speak, not being asked, who speak to everyone indiscriminately, whether they know them or do not know them, because of vainglory and display, and to please men. But they are not praised; nay, rather they are held in derision and are bitten by the truth.

CCXXXI. — TO THE SAME

Since, filled with ineffable vainglory, you do not find time to look into the depths of your soul and to behold the serpent lurking within you through boasting, I will set forth a few things for you, if only you have ears to hear, and have not been deprived of the hearing of the mind, just as once the physical servant of the high priest at Jerusalem had his ear cut off. For you are an unprofitable servant of the intellectual high priest, not a son, and you are a youth because you wallow in petulance and chatter. Know, therefore, that there are certain demons hiding down in the darkness—since they are brothers and friends of darkness—and by divine permission, out of such wickedness and the ^D evil-counseling phalanx, there is something deceitful and artful

^A that is sent forth, like a precursor or a barbarian scout, and ascends into the soul through suggestion, like a terrible robber, or like a poisonous beast coiled around some tree. And this should be considered by us to be wrath, according to what is written: “And the wrath of God ascended upon them.” For if it does not find the one who is always looking toward God, nor the one resisting the deceitful and wandering thought, but rather [finding one] spilling himself out, roaming about, and managing his affairs with negligence, or delighting and stirring himself up with empty self-estimation and boasting, it surely creeps onto the tongue and lips of the man who has become puffed up with vainglory; and it has no need, nor does it labor at all, to inflict harm upon the man who flies in his mind like vultures. ^B For this avenging and murderous one returns to other demons, takes others with him, and thus, having gathered together, they launch an expedition against the wretched worker of vainglory, and they make his soul naked and desolate, having blown it out through pride and scattered all his fruits, which he had gathered over a long time with labor and sweat: so that watchfulness, fasting, almsgiving, sleeping on the ground, and other similar good things are destroyed through the filth of wordiness and arrogance; which that Pharisee once suffered, who deemed himself alone to be just and rose up against the Publican, who by reason of his humility was justified before him by the divine verdict. Therefore, the man who is hunted by vainglory as you are ^C is no longer able to live in peace either with himself or with his neighbors, for he immediately falls into despondency, rage, anger, madness, agitation, grief, and disgrace. I pass over the rest, lest I seem now to narrate everything in a tragic manner.

CCXXXII. To the same. If any of those who labor under the wicked disturbance of vainglory wish to escape the hands of the most malicious and worst phalanx of demons, let him place a bridle upon his own mouth. For the tongue has driven many who are given to vainglory to destruction.

CCXXXIII. To the same. Indeed, the things themselves cry out, even if I should be silent. By what reasoning, then, do you write to me that you are not subject at all to vainglory? ^D

CCXXXIV. To the same. If fire is not ignited, smoke does not appear. How then, when you are angry at the brothers if they do not honor and flatter you, do you say that neither guile, nor rotten glory, nor conceit dwells in the space of your heart?

CCXXXV. To the same. When the demons applaud you, insinuating through thoughts that you are wonderfully watchful, wonderfully abstinent, and wonderfully struggling, do not agree with them, nor rejoice with them, nor yield your assent to them, but rather be harsh

against them, and be angered toward them according to the Scripture: "Depart from me," O wolves and corruptors of souls; "withdraw from me," you who are the purveyors and authors of all malice and wickedness. Accursed shall you be forever, and detestable you shall be. Let Him who cursed the day of human-pleasing—the mother of all lawlessness and disorder—curse you. Let Him curse you at every time, and in every place, and in every matter. Accursed be also the offspring of your belly, that is to say, the fruits of vainglory. "And all the people shall say: So be it, so be it." ^A

CCXXXVI. TO NILO THE PRESBYTER. "I have no man," the paralytic lying by the Sheep Pool used to say to the Lord, "to cast me into the pool of healing when the angel stirs it." Since he had for many years contended bravely against his great infirmity through faith and patience, willingly and with most confident hope, and had persevered giving thanks and confessing his own failings, remembering those of old times as if they were recent, he found no man after so many years, but obtained God who became man—nay, rather, the most philanthropic pool of His own mercies—who released all the infirmity of his soul and body and guided him toward the supreme city. ^B

CCXXXVII. TO ABBA APHTHONIUS. In times of bodily infirmity, the demon plots to have some brethren advise the one who is ill to use for his recovery not only things that are easy to find, but also those that are impossible to find—as, for example, the fat of a bird, or the pit of a very fresh fig, or the spleen of an ant; and about these things he mocks and deceives the simple and easily-led brother, so that, having departed from hoping in the Lord, he may be poured out into dead anxieties and cares, and sorrows, and dream-fantasies. However, the demon does not do this to all who are ailing, nor always, but to those who are less experienced in what occurs, and at certain times. ^C

CCXXXVIII. TO THE SAME. Some of the brethren, finding the labor of prayer and psalmody to be difficult, frequent, and intense due to their innate sloth, bind themselves to a book alone, yawning and stretching themselves quite often, and dozing off in their chairs, violating the commandment that says one must first of all make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings, and afterward teach oneself psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. Therefore, he who constantly holds a book, how will he be able, through that one commandment, as if from a single stone, to complete and perfect the spiritual house? ^D

CCXXXIX. TO THE SAME. I have known some spiritual brethren who pray and chant psalms, and ask for certain gifts to be granted to them from heaven, and serve their neighbors, and are eager for manual labor.

Besides this, they do not neglect reading at appointed hours, and from every side they flourish and abound in various virtues.

^A CCXL. — TO IRENAEUS THE MONK. He who has dispelled the sadness approaching his mind through divine contemplation may aptly say: "In the morning you will hear my voice." For by morning we must also understand the resurrection of Christ, when the human race, naturally crying out with inexpressible groanings, was heard most effectively.

^B CCXLI. — TO APHTHONIUS THE ABBOT. Some observers have said that after a crane has acted as leader of the common flight for thirty days, it hands over the premier leadership of so many birds in the air to another crane. The second one in your spiritual fold, being rather ambitious and fond of show—as I have been informed—once the year of his customary service is completed, is unwilling to allow another to succeed to the duty of Canonarch. And what shall we say to this?

^C CCXLII. — ANONYMOUS. For my part, retirement into solitude has increased my moderate understanding. For he who is nurtured in the midst of turmoil and wishes to know heavenly things does not understand that what is sown among thorns is choked by them, and that he who has not found leisure cannot know God. Why, after choosing the narrow way and making covenants with God regarding it, do you travel the broad road that leads to destruction? For while we spare ourselves here, we invite upon ourselves the punishment that is there; but ^D affliction and the quieting of appetites prepare for the future communion of good things. A prudent monk must be a proven scale-master, not allowing the pans to tip to either side, nor conceding that fasting should lead to weakness and fainting, nor that gluttony should lead to indulgence; not eating as much as a glutton, nor clothing himself more than is required for decent covering, he prepares the body as a most beautiful vehicle for the soul, providing the pilot with easily handled rudders, the soldier with well-matched arms, and the musician with a well-tuned lyre. For he who fattens himself with luxury and adorns himself with garments causes it [the body] to leap and excites it toward absurd desires; he harms its good constitution and relaxes it with excessive softness, and prepares it as an enemy to the soul. Therefore, put an end to doing this and that. A life without words is naturally more useful than words without a life; for the former is beneficial even while silent, whereas the latter is annoying even while shouting. But if both word and life run together, they will form the image of all philosophy.

CCXLIII. — TO CHARICLES THE PRESBYTER, who treats those who sin severely and asserts that confession is not sufficient for repentance. You seem to me to be entirely ignorant of the divine Scripture,

^A in attaching your mind only to one part of it that shows the wrath of God, and in no way understanding the kindness of God diffused throughout almost the entire Scripture; and while pretending to be a shepherd, you perform the deeds of enemies, handing over the lambs to the most evil demons through despair, not wishing to take into your mind what was said by the prophet Ezekiel, that I will require the blood of the one who is lost from the hand of the shepherd 71. How then do you dare to destroy a man for whom Christ did not in any way refuse to give up His own soul? How do you strive to overwhelm Faustinus with excessive sorrow, when he had publicly confessed his faults with great humility, which the great Paul did not desire to do? For after the acknowledgment of the sin, he rather reconciled the one who had sinned to himself, and exhorted the Corinthians to establish an excellent and steadfast love toward him 72. Or, as it seems, you are sluggish and lazy regarding the planting of the vines of Christ, but regarding the cutting down of those already planted by Him, and casting them outside the vineyard of the Church, you have become quick and sober and diligent. Therefore, do not say, O man, that the Lord does not accept those who have sinned in deed, but who confess in words alone. For by saying these things, you are not far from the foolish Novatians, who are pure in words, but impure in practice; for they, by an excess of madness and useless pride—lest we say soul-destroying—deny all repentance after illumination. But you, you do not even deign to accept the repentance that is accomplished through words, and this especially when you have learned that that great Moses, not carelessly and negligently, but most studiously, ^B sought the goat for sin from the high priest Aaron 73; for he signified the confession of every soul, through which they also obtained forgiveness. It is truly best, and very appropriate for a strong soul, to conduct confession through works, such as fasting, and vigil, and lying on the ground, and sackcloth, and the sprinkling of ashes, and generous and joyful almsgiving, and the other fruits owed to accurate repentance. But if, due to oversight, or some circumstance, or weakness, or great negligence, one does not have the aforementioned aids at hand, he does not cast away the confession through the lips, nor does the Lord Jesus, who died for human sins and impieties and all kinds of defilement, turn away, but He receives even repentance through words as an offering eagerly desired by Him, just as Moses [received] the goat's hair, the most lowly of all things, along with fine linen, and gold, and the others 74. For by what toils and labors was the publican saved 75? Was it not by simple words of humility? And by what sweats and distresses was the thief removed from the cross ^C into paradise and life 76? Was it not by a small speech and a confession of the kingdom of Christ? Consider therefore, presbyter, not just severity and

^A the wrath proclaimed in the holy Books against God; but also his immeasurable and unsearchable philanthropy, just as Scripture says to the Lord on our behalf: "Your mercy is great upon me" (Ps. LXXXV, 13). For since we sin greatly, God pours out a great sea of his own compassion upon us as we repent, extinguishing the fire of our evils. Therefore, you ought to consider not the judgment alone, but also the philanthropy of Christ, who profitably disciplines the human race, and condescends, and suffers with us, so that we may not perish. For behold, even Nebuchadnezzar, having committed every kind of wickedness, inhumanity, and impiety, and having drenched the earth in blood, and never bringing forth any proper thought ^B in his mind, but even selling himself as a rebel against God—nevertheless, after he had assumed the form of a beast and cattle by divine judgment, he confessed by speech alone, and in a few words, he who had sinned in countless deeds; and having previously condemned the mercy of God, he later enjoyed it, and regained the royal throne, and was honored with a more august dignity, just as the Lord was saying: "If my wrath shall drip upon some who are being judged, I shall again heal them. For I will strike, and I will heal; I will be angry, and I will have compassion" (Deut. XXXII, 39; Mich. I, 11). Do not therefore say ignorantly that God does not accept mere words of repentance, since it is wicked for you to say that God accepts rich offerings, such as gold and silver and the like, as precious things, but by no means the two mites of the widow (Mark XII, 42; Luc. XXI, 2). And how would you persuade me that you possess knowledge of the divine Scriptures, having forgotten the Savior crying out in the Gospels: "It is not the will of my Father that one of these little ones should perish" (Matth. XVIII, 14)? ^C But perhaps you wish to rob many and great ones of salvation by saying: "God does not accept words alone." You teach things contrary to the Savior, O man. And in what place will you put the word of the Lord in the prophet Isaiah to the sinner: "Do you first tell your sins, that you may be justified" (Isa. XLIII, 26)? For our Creator accepts from those who desire salvation not only purity, and justice, and the struggle of martyrdom, and an excellent course of asceticism, but also a countenance cast down for one’s lapses, and the striking of the forehead, and the beating of the breast, and knees bent, and hands outstretched with pain of heart, and the kisses ^D of the harlot licking the feet of the Master, and a voice wailing over sins, and sighs from the depth of the heart, and the worship of the lips confessing the name of Jesus Christ, and the perfume of mourning, and the dripping of tears, and weeping thoughts, and a mind crying out with pain, and a genuine lifting of the eyes looking up to God, and those mourning both the very strong harassment and disturbance of the devil, and their own weakness; seeing that while some of men resist with great courage, others are not able to

and are easily captured by temptations, and are prone to a fall. Nevertheless, above all that I have said, the Lord even accepts the mouth of the one who says, according to David: "I have sinned before the Lord," having done evil in his sight.^A For there are many things in general that are done by those who have sinned, which seem to be small, but which provide great salvation to those who repent of their own sins. Look also upon the great Moses, or rather upon God legislating through him, not only commanding that oxen, and goats, and sheep, and lambs, and he-goats be offered to the Lord for sins—for these abound among the wealthy—but also, out of great providence for the salvation of those whose soul has grown faint in its powers, and sympathizing with the weakness of those who have suffered misfortune, and condescending to the humbled so that they might not despair, He has brought the law down even to the turtledove, and the pigeon, and a small measure of fine flour. Do you, therefore, O elder, not despise, but rather embrace and cherish a heart that is contrite and humbled, and recover and save it, not only demanding and seeking from those who have stumbled valuable fruits of virtuous deeds through ascetic labors, but also receiving the words of those who are pricked with remorse for their sin, and who confess to you their evil deeds with the greatest humility.

CCXLIV. — TO DIDYMUS THE READER.

Greatly do they suffer loss, and sustain much harm, those who chatter much uselessly and inopportunely, and who spend their time in verbiage, and by the great disturbance of their posturings scatter their most brilliant mind, and render rough the smoothness of prudence, and drive away the ineffable operations of grace; and instead of being occupied ^B with contemplation, they take upon themselves worldly affairs and varied kinds of temptations.

CCXLV. — TO IRENAEUS THE DEACON.

I once saw a boy being beaten quite severely by his master; and although the boy was in great terror of the blows because of his tender age, with each lash he would run with a pitiable voice to the one striking him, and would embrace the one striking him in anger. Perhaps, therefore, we too ought to act thus toward God who disciplines us through temptations and misfortunes, and rather flee to Him in our moment of gloomier state, and hold fast to the divine judgment and providence; for He knows better than we what is to our benefit. Let us therefore say the words of Scripture to Him: "Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us, for we have been filled with contempt for a long time, and we have been beaten all the day, for our soul has been filled with evils, and our life has drawn near to Hades. O Lord, in affliction we have been mindful of Thee; do not turn Thy face away from us, but have compassion on us, O Master, incline toward mercy. Incline Thine ear ^C to our prayer; awaken Thy mighty power, and come to save us..."

when Thou willest and as Thou willest, for Thou alone art powerful.

^A CCXLVI. — TO DABURIUS THE MONK. If the Lord has deigned to choose us from among so many others, that we may be near to Him in all things and serve Him, and observe His precepts and laws, let us not for a single moment of time be separated from Him, whether by prayer, or word, or deed; and above all, by sending up to Christ—who stands in need of nothing, and to God the Most High—the incense of a pure and faithful mind.

^B CCXLVII. — TO PAUL THE ARCHIMANDRITE. We are often darkened in our inner eyes by the cloud of diabolical malice, and we are not a little saddened by a perverse and murky way of life. When it would be best to execute what is written by James: "Weep," he says, "over your miseries that are coming upon you," and not to cease from lamentations and supplications to God until the very end of life. For it is said in the Lamentations: "Thou hast pursued in fury, and hast slain us, and hast not spared. Therefore my eye has brought down streams of water in my contritions." Since, therefore, we perceive the punishments of God and draw upon ourselves His chastisements, let us bring help to ourselves and not be negligent, lest death also be brought upon us.

^C CCXLVIII. — TO GIGANTIUS. If you accustom yourself not to look upon the face that you yourself pine for, you will utterly extinguish the flame of iniquitous love, and you will soothe mercy through prayer and fasting.

CCXLIX. — TO TRYPHON THE DEACON. He who, in the time of the harlot’s war, is gluttonous and given to drunkenness, and who mixes garum and pepper with many condiments, surely stirs up madness for himself, and a war that knows no truce.

CCL. — TO PELEGRINUS THE PRESBYTER. Truly, God is wont to inflict great disgraces and indignities upon the ostentatious after they have been honored. For while we make many indiscreet and rash associations, and are swept away by quickly passing delight, it happens more and more, through habit, that we are caught by the thoughts of anger, and sadness, and desire.

^D CCLI. — TO PHILEMON THE BISHOP. To grow soft and to spread oneself out in the time of the enemy’s assaults, and not to remember the fearful judgments of the Lord with an austere mind, but to yield to pleasures and to be cast down at the beckoning of the flesh—this would be to have fallen from the chancel, and to be troubled by a most grievous sickness of the soul, much more painful than bodily infirmity. "For," it says, "Ozias the king fell from the"

chancel and suffered a deadly sickness," that is to say, the most kingly mind has fallen into the intellectual death of practical sin. ^A

CCLII. — TO GAUDENTIUS THE SELARIOTE

In every way, those who love God with their whole soul find joy of heart, and they gather into their bosom the riches of thanksgiving toward the Lord and of glorification. When, therefore, you see that the year has been completed, give thanks to the Master that He has brought you to the span of the years. Pierce your own heart, consider the number of your life, ^B and say to yourself: "The days run on and pass away, the years are filled, we have traveled much of the way; has any good thing been accomplished by me? Lest perhaps I depart from here destitute of all righteousness and void?" The judgment seat is now prepared, ^C and my life is being hurried toward old age. Let us consider, therefore, O my soul, the world to come. Let us fear lest the Prophet also cry out against us, that "Their days have failed in vanity, and their years with haste and trouble" (Ps. LXXVII, 33). I have spoken these things to you desiring the benefit of the soul, not the body. For I well know that you never endure to celebrate a public festival, ^D nor are you eager for the amusements of demons, and the horse races, and the other myriad deceits of the eyes, but then most especially…

^A you take hold of houses of prayer, that you may see all the more senseless ones rushing off to the contests of horses, and wandering about to those theaters worthy of a curse, and to the soul-destroying pageants of the devil.

422 CCLIII. TO GERONTIUS THE MONK. ^B If you believe that Samson, through faith and prayer, brought forth a fountain from the jawbone of a dead donkey [*Judic. xv, 19]; believe, and pray. For our fathers also knew this, and they related it to us; and we have learned it by experience, and those who come after us shall know, that faith and supplication, with the utmost effort, can accomplish great things.

Sirmond, in the ninth chapter of his second *Antirrheticus*, recites the homily above, from which it appears that to "make little deer" (*cervulos facere*) is the same as to "make a little deer" (*cervulum facere*), that is, to simulate (*ὑποκρινεσθαι*), just as we are accustomed to say *faire le roi sur le théâtre*—to go upon the stage in royal apparel and sustain there the person of a king. For even among the Greeks, *ποιεῖν* and *ποιεῖσθαι* means to feign and to simulate, whence comes the name of poets and of poetry, which is a certain picture, an artful imitation and representation of the characters of others. This simulation, however, beyond the appearance and the observable habit whereby one would place a deer's head with horns upon a human body, consisted in a precipitate movement through the streets, incited by the emulation of the deer's agility. Wherefore the old Penitential, recited by Sirmond from the Andegavensian codex: "If anyone," it says, "on the Calends of January shall go about in the guise of a deer or an old woman, let him do penance for three years, because this is diabolical." Since the mention of this "old woman" (*vetula*) occurs again, I shall not defer my suspicion regarding this matter for long. I think—saving the respect due to a most eminent man who thinks otherwise—that it is not at all necessary to read *vitulam* (a heifer) instead of *vetulam* (an old woman), or to suppose that various authors have used this word with such consistency in one place alone. To me, they seem, if they were rendering the form of an animal by that word, to be intending to commemorate a calf rather than a heifer, so that I may omit other minor details which, if it were worth the effort to collect them, could have been brought to bear to persuade one that the discourse was not about a simulacrum of a heifer's calf-head, but about the person of an old woman, ridiculously simulating the wrinkles and the face of an animal. For there is a great complaint among the Fathers rebuking the Calends of January, through which they say that some have gone about masked not only with the faces of animals, but have also adapted for themselves the garments and countenances of women: which indeed they say is much more intolerable. Faustinus, praised a little earlier in no. 4: "But now, how shameful is that which occurs, that men born as such clothe themselves in women's tunics"; and a little later: "They display bearded faces and wish to be seen as women," etc., in the opinion which you see. Indeed, the same thing is urged by what St. Peter Chrysologus complains of severely in Sermon 155, that some Christians even assume for themselves the persons of false gods; for he speaks thus: ^D "Who can sufficiently mourn those who make themselves into idols? Have not these people lost the image of God, lost the likeness, and stripped off the garment of Christ, who have fashioned themselves into the forms of sacrilegious idols?" So far Chrysologus. But since he does not say which gods they were expressing with such large forms, his words provide cause to suspect the old woman goddess of Pessinus, the Mother of the Gods, whose festival, Herodian says, was accustomed to be celebrated at the beginning of spring, the proper rite of which was that everyone should walk about masked in whatever habit he wished. We recited the words above. But if, as is credible, the Gentiles were eager to cast before their eyes, by this rite, transformations of their gods as sung in their own fables, it becomes credible that many proceeded with an old woman's face to the transformations of Juno, Pallas, and other goddesses and gods into old women—as is often recited in their metamorphoses and other Greek and Latin poems of theirs—to submit them to view. While I am on this subject, I will not omit to divulge my conjecture concerning that final word in the sentence quoted above from the sermon of Eligius, while leaving the matter to the reader, who would rightly ask: What is it to "make *jocticos*"? Or what indeed are *jortici*? *Ἰονθος* in Suidas is "the first growth of the hairs," whence they are called *ἰονθάδες* in Homer, namely from the bristles with which they are covered. What if the word was formed from this, so that those who went about dressed in goat skins or otherwise hairy, in the form of satyrs, were called *Jonthici*? It is possible.

[alt-version omitted]

...take hold of. As those to whom Chrysostom offers congratulations in his 35th homily, delivered in Antioch on the day after the Calends, in volume V of the Anglican edition, page 220: "Yesterday, being a diabolical festival, you made it a spiritual festival, having received with much good will the words from us, and having spent the greater part of the day here." And that you may marvel at the consensus in the same pious pursuits of Churches far distant, just as in Asia, so in the Gauls, Christians were accustomed to spend that day—the first of the year—which was deformed by Satanic spectacles, in religious offices. Canon 17 of the Second Council of Tours teaches this, held in the basilica of St. Martin on the 15th before the Calends of December, in the year of Christ 567. For in that canon, while the days are prescribed on which, by ancient custom, monks were to fast, after he stated that from the Nativity of the Lord until the Epiphany meals are permitted out of reverence for the festivals, he adds an exception in these words: "Exception is made for that three-day period during which, for the purpose of trampling upon the customs of the Gentiles, our fathers determined that private Litanies should be held on the Calends of January, so that psalms may be sung in the churches, and at the eighth hour on the very Calends of the Circumcision, Mass may be celebrated with God's favor." So it is there. He calls them "private Litanies" in the same way we reported a little earlier that the circenses, which were given on the Calends of January on a day not their own, were called private, though they were viewed with no less frequency than public ones. Id.

without any distraction and wandering of mind, offered to Christ the God who beholds all things: and so much the more, inasmuch as we have known Him to raise the dead, to bring healing to all the perturbations of soul and body, to cast out demons, to dissolve the sorceries of magicians, to quench the irrational heat of the body, and the pulses of the flesh stirred up by demons; and to have healed suddenly and beyond all expectation those wounds which seemed incurable because they had become arid and hardened by long neglect and habit. ^A

CCLIV. — TO JULIAN THE LECTOR

Some strive eagerly to attain a perfect and pure repentance, but being hindered for a time by the spirits of iniquity, they grow listless, and becoming weary, they quickly withdraw from the struggle they have begun, and [lose] that small—and as one might say, scripturally "winking" ^B—repentance; and, as they do not understand, they are driven to perdition. Let us not, therefore, withdraw from Leah, who had weak eyes, and not long after we shall obtain the desired Rachel, fair of eyes. This, moreover, would be the most perfect, and pure, and unshaken virtue.

CCLV. — TO NILUS THE MONK

"My tears," says the blessed David, "have been to me bread day and night." For he who does not weep rashly or in vain, but uses lamentation with a laborious and God-loving disposition, that man is nourished by his own tears as if by bread, not only in glad and joyous and pleasant [times], which the holy man calls "day," but also in adverse and sorrowful [times], which the same saint symbolically calls "night." For "Blessed are they that mourn" ^C now and cultivate the saving sorrow, so that in the future they may greatly rejoice. For it is manifest that they who sow tears in the present life will reap in that day the sheaves of the joy that never ends. But upon those who do not wish to repent of their own faults, the Lord inflicts afflictions and bodily torment, so that through their punishment the negligent, and those who are more sensitive, before they undergo anything sad, may come to amendment and not delay in any shortcoming.

CCLVI. — TO NILUS THE PRESBYTER

No one is more humble than he who has sinned and is contrite in spirit, and who with tears beseeches the Lord through repentance. It is necessary, therefore, to prefer prayer to Christ ^D above all things, and to invoke the help and shelter of the Holy Spirit. For it is not possible in any other way to cast off the evil power of corruption, unless the divine power takes control over us. Therefore, employ such supplications and cries to the Lord: "Be Thou my helper, O Christ, Lord of all, and protect my soul's weakness. May I be delivered from the wicked and sinful corruption; may I be free from the impie-

^Aties and from its bonds; may the tyranny of vice not work in me; may the hostile demon not prevail over me, nor lead me away captive through licentiousness. May the kingdom of the divine and adorable Spirit come upon me, that the disturbances which now prevail over me and hold sway may withdraw, or rather be reduced to nothing, and that the passions which hold me in bondage may be dissolved.

CCLVII. — TO AGAPETUS THE DEACON.

I have often heard from you, as I do now, saying: "What shall I do? For I desire to weep and mourn over my sins, and I force myself to this, yet no tear comes to my eyes; and for this reason I sigh with an indolent heart. But if I see another in Christ weeping sweetly, I am stirred to envy of him." To this I respond as follows: It is entirely profitable to desire tears; for through that very longing, one who approaches God and seeks forgiveness and salvation is heard, according to what is written: "Thou hast heard the desire of the poor, O Lord" (Ps. IX, 34). And to the commanding faculty, that is, the kingly mind, it says: "Thou hast given him his heart's desire" (Ps. XX, 5). For just as "he who has looked upon a woman to desire her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matth. V, 28), so too, he who has desired anything, whether good or evil, has already completed it in his own thought. And it will be confessed to Thee, He says, ^B Thou who seest the inner things of the heart. "Confess, for the thought of man will confess to Thee," He says. And this desire of yours will be reckoned as a sacrifice, and God will place it as incense, and will say to the angels concerning the soul, when those who seek to pluck it away from the feet of the Savior, thinking it unworthy, contend: "Let her be, for her heart is afflicted and oppressed with sorrows" (cf. Ps. XXXIII, 19). Nor is it unlike what is written concerning the Israelites who were once rotting in Egyptian impieties; for God says to Moses: "I have seen the affliction with which the Egyptians afflict them" (Exod. III, 9), and their life is oppressed with pains, "and I have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them." Do you see that no other noble deed is attributed to them, except only that they were humbled and groaned, and for this cause alone they drew down the love of God from heaven? That it was not in cleanliness, but in humility that the Lord remembered us, and delivered us from the Egyptians and the most cruel Pharaoh. But Pharaoh now is the man-hating devil, who "from the beginning is a murderer" (cf. John VIII, 44); Egypt is wickedness and sin; the taskmasters are the demons; the affliction is iniquity. ^C And again the Prophet says: "The Lord is near to those who are broken in heart, and will save the humble in spirit" (Ps. XXXIII, 19). And again: "Upon whom shall I look, but upon him who is meek and quiet, and trembles at my words?" (Isa. LXVI, 2). There is, moreover, in some people a natural constitution that is stubborn toward shedding tears. What then must he do, who desires tears? Listen. If you cannot extract tears for yourself through your visible eyes, fashion in your thought...

^A that you are weeping, just as you have often seen yourself weeping in your sleep, and keep watch, weeping before God in your contemplation, and pouring out tears; and you will be able to be cleansed from your sins, regarding which the Psalmist also exhorts, saying: "Pour out your hearts before him" (Ps. LXI, 9). However, I know some who did not stop here, but through a certain faith and supplication, changed the intellectual rock into pools of water. For by the word of Christ our God, and by often pricking their hearts with the memory of the marvelous works of God, they caused, from within, the stream of tears to gush forth from stony eyes. But if you yourself are unable to obtain such a grace as those enjoyed, and you see another weeping during his prayers, give glory to the Lord for this, saying: "I thank thee, Lord my God, who hast deprived me of such a beneficial and cleansing gift, but hast graced my brother with it. Multiply your grace toward him, O Master, even to the end; for my brother is a member of me; and when one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it" (cf. I Cor. XII, 26). If you are thus disposed toward your brother, and you cheer your mind toward him, you will become a sharer with him in the grace which he has acquired, and the crown will be common to both, provided these things be done through Christ.

[CCLVIII] — TO TRAIANUS. Errors which are considered to be very small are not to be despised; for that tiny sin can compel a man into great iniquities and affect him with the greatest harms. Therefore, beware of small disturbances ^C of the soul, lest through sins deemed small according to the estimation of men, you be cast headlong into the very deep chasms of impiety.

[CCLIX] — TO PALLADIUS THE PRESBYTER. Evil and wicked thoughts separate a man from the Lord. But if God, being entreated, delivers to death and destroys the evil and unholy thoughts, then a man will be able to rise from the ground of sinfulness and take refuge in the good God. And hold that what is said means this: "I have risen, and I am still with thee," just as I was from the beginning, "if indeed thou wilt slay the wicked, O God" (cf. Ps. CXXXVIII, 18, 19).

[CCLX] — TO SOPHRONIUS. You say that even against your will, disbelief toward God is cast into you by the devil. But do not fear the one suggesting the disbelief of a corrupt heart; rather, with courage, show yourself to Christ ^D the great Physician, crying: "I believe, Master, help my unbelief" (cf. Mark IX, 23); and you will obtain healing.

[CCLXI] — TO CYRIACUS. Sin is mixed with human life in many ways and in many forms. The cause of this is that men do not take up the divine aid for the things that are at hand.

For if prayer precedes effort, sin, which is easily besetting and manifold, will not find a passage into the soul. ^A For when the memory of God is established in the heart, the machinations of the adversary remain ineffectual, as justice intercedes everywhere in doubtful matters. But every man who does not wish to unite himself to God through prayer is separated from God.

CCLXII. — TO CYPRIAN

CCLXIII. — TO RUFINUS

CCLXIV. — TO CHARITON

CCLXV. — TO JONAH THE MONK

CCLXVI. — TO ADRIAN

nor despair, but having renewed your petitions to God, approach the Master shamelessly; for in times of need, shamelessness is preferred before modesty. For because of his shamelessness, there will be given to him as much as he wishes, ^A even as the Lord said.

CCLXVII. — TO PHILUMENUS THE MONK

CCLXVIII.

CCLXIX. — TO JULIAN

CCLXX. — TO PERGAMUS THE LECTOR

CCLXXI. — TO EUPRAXIUS THE DEACON

to us spiritual wings, so that we may have the strength to soar above the harmful passions even now, and at the end of life over the demonic cohorts that attack us. Yet the Lord does not bestow this divine grace of spiritual gifts upon just anyone at random, but upon those who ask for it with pain and toil and sweat, night and day. Therefore, more than anything else, let us embrace the worship devoted to prayer.

^B CCLXXII. — TO PAULINUS THE DOMESTICUS As long as you look toward your own Master with all affection, fear, and reverence, He too looks benevolently and fondly toward you; and neither Satan, nor disturbance, nor misfortune, nor any sin will be able to prevail against you. But when you deprive yourself of the fear of the Lord and forget your own Savior, then He too turns His face from you, and subsequently you become subject to every evil. Knowing this, some holy one prayed, saying: "Do not turn thy face from me, and do not decline in wrath from thy servant."

CCLXXIII. — TO AQUILINUS The demons, the enemies of our life, never grow weary, nor do they cease to disturb, tempt, lay traps, and launch attacks; neither, therefore, ought we to grow slothful, negligent, weary, or cease to invoke the precious name of Christ for our aid, and thereby harass and hem in those who harass us. For prayer of the faithful is a great torment, ^C affliction, and terror to the evil spirits.

CCLXXIV. — TO MODESTUS When at some point you become conscious of the things you have done amiss and reprehensibly, and you heave a deep sigh from the bottom of your heart, then know that you have obtained divine protection and help. But since you say that you fear and tremble before the Judge who comes from above, I suggest to you that one must not despair, O best of men; rather, one must persevere all the more in worship devoted to prayers and supplications, and in vigils, and in firm hope, and one must expect to be saved. It is not, therefore, to be despaired of, as has been said; especially because that dire and execrable one is carried away with the greatest joy and gladness, and attacks with greater force and intensity those souls that incline toward despair.

^D CCLXXV. — TO ANASTASIUS That woman who is mentioned in the Gospel, who had defiled the ground with drops of unspeakable blood, is taken as the person of every unclean soul. For having exercised a faith beyond all measure, and having touched the hem of the Master’s garment, she immediately dried up the fountain of her blood. From this we are taught that to every man who fears on account of his iniquities, but who believes and invokes Christ the Son of God, the Sun of Righteousness rises, justifying the sinner and bestowing healing through pure wings.

[CCLXXVI.] — TO AFTHONIUS Know that one who is subject to desire and fleshly habit, but through the fear of God cuts off such strong bonds, should be esteemed no less than those who have engaged in the greatest struggles.

[CCLXXVII.] — TO THEOPHRONIUS THE DEACON «Draw near, he says, to God, and he will draw near to you.» It is, therefore, good to be united with God through a pure and undefiled heart. But if this cannot be achieved because of some sluggishness or infirmity of soul, strive, even through sighs, and lamentations, and good hope, to be entwined with the invisible and desirable feet of Jesus Christ, our most humane Lord and Master. For since God, the King of all, is compassionate, He does not turn away those who ^B long for Him and groan from the depths of their hearts, even if they happen to be burdened with many sins; rather, He welcomes and cleanses them, bestows the grace of adoption, and, as time goes on, reveals them to be workers of virtue.

[CCLXXVIII.] — TO PHILOCHRISTUS THE BISHOP If you wish to wipe away the evil memories left behind in the ruling part of the soul, and the multiform assaults of the enemy, arm yourself night and day with the remembrance of our Savior, and with the fervent invocation of His venerable name, signing your forehead and breast more frequently with the sign of the Master's cross. For whenever the name of our Savior Jesus Christ is named, and the seal of the Lord's cross is placed upon the heart, and forehead, and other members, the power of the enemy is undoubtedly dissolved, and the wicked demons take flight from us, struck with fear. In the same way, meditation on the utterances ^C of the Holy Spirit removes the fuel of evil thoughts from our midst, generating an intellectual fire, as it is written: «In my meditation a fire shall be kindled,» which fire, by warming the mind, prepares us to pray with intensity, and makes known our requests to God with understanding.

[CCLXXIX.] — TO ARCADIUS THE EMPEROR You have sent away John, the greatest luminary of the inhabited world, the president of Byzantium, into exile against all reason, persuaded by the great levity of mind of bishops who are not healthy in their thoughts. Having, therefore, deprived the Catholic Church of his blameless and unadulterated teaching, do not pass your life without sorrow.

[CCLXXX.] — TO ORIGEN It is impossible for a believer to be saved, and to receive forgiveness of trespasses, and to obtain the heavenly kingdom, in any other way than by partaking, with fear and love, of the mystical and immaculate body and blood of Christ our God.

^A CCLXXXI. — TO ALEXANDER. Know that the more your body is oppressed by infirmities, and the more the Lord afflicts and corrects you in various ways, the more He shows that He is extending His sincere friendship toward you.

CCLXXXII. — TO JULIUS THE DEACON. Do not fear the disturbance of the soul, shaped in various ways by the demons who are our enemies, even if it is greatly exacerbated. Rather, arm yourself above all with the worship of prayer and with psalmody. For those who hate us also struggle intensely, and their goal is, by the attack, the burden, and the harassment of any passion whatsoever, to persuade our heart and mind to withdraw from more frequent remembrance of God, as if it were of no profit. Since you are sufficiently aware of the goal of the adversaries, do not cast away your intellectual weapons; but be a man, be bold, take strength, and encourage yourself with all your might. ^B

CCLXXXIII. — TO EUTHYMIUS THE BISHOP. Satan continually presses on to tear the soul away from better things in every respect, but especially at the time of prayer does he construct many machines and suggest countless thoughts, distracting the mind from the task at hand, causing it to wander and be carried away, so that a man might depart from God for the sake of vain hopes. For the wicked one knows well that he who prays to God without distraction will be able to accomplish the greatest things; and for this reason he struggles to unsettle the mind by any plausible pretext. But we, knowing this, let us set our battle line against our enemy; and when we stand for prayer, or even bow our knees, let us not allow any thought to enter our heart—neither white nor black, neither right nor left, neither written nor unwritten, except for the supplication to God and the intent of the soul, and the illumination and sun-like rays sent down from heaven upon the ruling faculty. ^C Having therefore cast away every occasion, every negligence, listlessness, and specious pretext, let us apply ourselves soberly and ardently to the great work of prayer, which is the root of immortality.

CCLXXXIV. — TO ELEUTHERIUS THE BISHOP. We shall be our own accusers on the day of judgment, convicted by our own conscience. What apology, therefore, shall we find, or what help in that crisis, except solely for our faith in Christ, the most benevolent Lord? For that shall be a great apology, a great help, and a security, and boldness, and a mouth for those whose mouths were fouled by the unspeakable gathering of their sins. ^D For in the hour of our agony and of boundless fear, as a certain benevolent, peaceful, luminous, and gentle angel appearing in our midst, the remembrance of Christ, the beloved Master, and the rooted and unshakable faith in Him, dispelled our trembling and shame, and filled us with cheerfulness and joy, and brought the one who was once far off near to God.

to God. Consider then that this is what you wished to learn from the Apostle, ^A regarding the thoughts that accuse or even defend one another on the day when God will judge the hidden things of men.

CCLXXXV. If you desire to enter into the kingdom of heaven, embrace affliction; for he who is not afflicted shall in no wise enter, because the gate is narrow.

CCLXXXVI. — TO PANEGYRIUS THE DEACON. You have written to me asking the reason why many who often commit the same transgressions do not pay the same penalty. I reply: Since the Judge’s inquiry is great and exact, in sins not only is the kind of iniquity sought, but also the intention of the sinner, and the rank, ^B and the time, and the place, and the root; and whether, after the committed sin, he was affected by sorrow or joy, or remained stupefied; whether he persisted, or repented; whether it was out of necessity, or if he was carried away, or by fraud, or by design, or by ignorance, and many other things through which that inquiry proceeds; the difference of time is also examined, and his way of life and his standing. For it is not the case that he who sinned in the same way before the Law, after the Law was given, and after Grace, will pay the same penalty; but the one will receive lighter, the other more exact, and another ^C inexorable punishments. And all these things are explicitly proclaimed in the holy Scriptures.

CCLXXXVII. — TO EUDÆMON THE SCHOLASTIC. When you are about to go forth from your house, utter this word first as you stand at the threshold of the door: "I renounce thee, Satan, and thy pomp, and thy service, and I unite myself to thee, O Christ," and never go out of your house without these words having been uttered first. This shall be a staff to you, this an armor, this a tower that cannot be conquered. Along with these words, mark also the cross upon your forehead. ^D For thus, not only will no man who meets you be able to do you any harm, but not even the devil himself, when he sees you appearing on all sides with such weapons.

CCLXXXVIII. — TO PRISCUS. It is indeed a great thing to be sober at all times and not to be caught by any obscene desire. But if it ever happens that you suffer something human, because you have looked upon a beautiful face, immediately seek to cure the pain that has befallen you with a groan to God and with the beating of your breast, avoiding with your thoughts the image that has wounded you, by not meditating on anything annexed to it, nor examining its form; for more frequent recollections, by impressing deep marks, injure the soul and compel it, even against its will, to wickedness.

CCLXXXIX. — TO THE SAME. The virtues which we have already attained are by no means to be dwelt upon/recollected by the mind, but rather other virtues—those that are useful and worthy of praise—are to be regained each day, so that the talent given to us from the divine power may increase and multiply, while keeping it well until our very last breath.

^A

CCXC. To the same. Let the one who is struggling so consign to oblivion the consanguinity and affinity that is according to the flesh, that they may at no time ever be troubled by memories of them. Or do you not see that to be too much attached to kinsmen according to the flesh is a Satanic snare? If, therefore, you have died to the world, if you have renounced things subject to corruption, if you have been enrolled in the heavenly army, and order, and institute, you have nothing to do with these earthly things, so as to feel sympathy for your kin according to the flesh. If, however, as you say, they are in need of help, do good to them as you would to any poor strangers, if you are able; but do not sympathize with them in the manner of earthly men, lest you be found to be altogether carnal, and earthly, and ignorant of all things. ^B

CCXCI. If the Prophet has said that the intellectual enemies are more numerous than the hairs of the intellectual head, consider against how many enemies you have undertaken war.

CCXCII. The unhappy man is always driven toward all that is harmful, with countless demons continually forming a battle line against him and propelling him into evil. But let us overcome force with force. For he who is struggling must correct all obscene thoughts, and grow angry with himself, and call upon the Divine before the thought can lapse into softness and yield. Therefore, the fattened flesh must be thinned, because a thick belly does not know how to generate a subtle mind. ^C

CCXCIII. Let us exercise our mind toward piety, if corporeal exercise has been brought to perfection. For corporeal exercise is of little profit, being not at all unlike a childish discipline; but piety is profitable for all things, providing a good disposition of the soul to those who desire to gain victory against opposing passions. For just as it is fitting for athletes who are occupied with childish exercises to train the body and move their limbs frequently, but for men who are settled and have fulfilled all the parts and duties of their art, it is proper to take care of the strength of their struggle and to be anointed for the great contests; ^D so also in the matter of virtue, for those who are beginners in piety, it is good to take care to block [sinful] actions and to overcome those innate pleasures and afflictions by which they are driven, even against their will, so to speak. But for those who possess the active virtue by habit, it will be an absolute care also to consider and attend to the movements that occur according to thought, lest the thought, moved inordinately, be driven to some harm; and, to express myself clearly, while the study for the former is to direct bodily motions, for the latter it is to correct the impulses of the mind, so that they may be impelled only toward the true philosophical way of life, with no worldly fantasy distracting the mind.

^A For the desire of one who honors God must be stretched entirely toward the longed-for object, so that he finds absolutely no time for human thoughts to execute their own base passions. For if every passion, when it is stirred in one who is subject to it, holds the mind bound, why should not the zeal for virtue also hold the mind unoccupied by other things? For what sense does one who is grieving have of external things while he is fighting in his mind against the image of the person who caused him grief? The intemperate man, however, even while sitting among others, has destroyed his senses, and by imagining the form he desires, he converses with that, oblivious to the things present, and sits like a speechless pillar, knowing nothing of what happens or is said before his eyes, but inclining toward the things within, being entirely in the fantasies of the person he desires. But if these things thus master the mind on account of the effort of Satanic lust, and cause the senses to be idle, much more does the spiritual love of philosophy, by causing the mind to renounce both sensible things and the senses themselves, snatch it upward, and occupying it in the contemplation of intelligible things, unite it to God inseparably.

^B

CCXCIV.

CCXCV. DIDYMUS THE READER.

CCXCVI. TO PHILIP.

^D

CCXCVII. TO LESBIUS THE DEACON.

we find ourselves without the memory of God: ^A for the memory of God is the greatest good.

CCXCVIII. TO ROMANUS THE MONK. Whoever strives to preserve their own virginity undefiled and intact, and to present their own bodies as a living sacrifice to God, must repress not only desire, but also avarice, vainglory, gluttony, perfidy, discord, idleness, murmuring, drunkenness, and loquacity, along with every other vice. For I call that person a virgin who preserves virginity unharmed and whole in both soul and body. For when the Lord mentioned the ten virgins in the parable, He brought into the bridal chamber of the kingdom only five, who were undefiled in soul and body; but the other five He excluded, ^B because they were virgins only in body, but were defiled in their thoughts, deceiving themselves.

CCXCIX. TO PIONIUS. Even if we do not yet possess a pure heart, at least make your mouth pure; for a stain is born from perverse speech both in him who speaks and in him who listens. For it is written: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." For a slanderous tongue becomes the bed of the devil.

CCC. TO EUNOMIUS THE PRESBYTER. Christ our Lord is able to destroy not only the machines of forbidden pleasure brought against us from without by the demons, but also to render void the innate motions.

CCCI. TO NEOPHYTUS THE MONK. Commandments, even the smallest, are not to be despised; ^C but they are to be observed in deed along with the great ones. For just as when a hedge is removed, a place becomes exposed to traps, but while it stands, the vineyard and the garden are safe from injuries; so, while you keep the small commandments, the intellectual serpent will not be able to bite you. But if you tear down the hedge that guards the fruits within the field, the wicked serpent will easily lay snares for you.

CCCII. TO PHOCAS THE LECTOR. Our thoughts that are prone to sin, and the gathering of impure actions, are a source of exultation to the fury of the demons. Nevertheless, when we have made progress toward a better way of life and have returned to the most humane Christ, ^D immediately those enemies burst forth into lamentations, wailing, and intolerable grief. Hence Baruch says concerning their wickedness: "As he rejoiced and was glad at your destruction, so shall he be grieved at his own desolation; and I will take away the exultation of the great multitude, and I will turn his boasting into mourning."

CCCIII. INSTRUCTION TO YOUNGER MONKS. In tender age and in the prime flowering of youth, one must practice bodily rest, decorum of habit, voice that is measured and ordered, food and drink that are without [...]

turbulence and taken sparingly; before seniors ^A there should be silence, before the wiser attentive listening, toward one’s equals in age affection, and toward those who are lesser, friendly counsel; one should withdraw from the wicked, the carnal, and the meddlesome. Speak little, but think much; do not be bold in speech, do not indulge in excessive conversation, do not be quick to laughter, but be adorned with modesty; keep the eyes cast down, but the mind on high; avoid arguments; do not pursue the dignity of a teacher, and do not marvel at honors from men, especially from those who do not know what is truly honorable; seek rather the acceptance that comes from intelligent men, which is the finest praise of all, but as you progress, accustom yourself to seek only the praise that comes from God. And if you should attain the ability to teach and benefit others, do this for the sake of the reward that is laid up by God, and perform it as a work owed to God, expecting the recompense from Him in eternal gifts. ^B

CCIV. Whoever does not wish to be saved through obedience to the Word and through faith, these, according to some ineffable goodness of God, are brought to a better state of life through painful and grievous visitations.

CCV. To bear a heavy and unexpected calamity gently, and as becomes a philosopher, is greater than all noble achievements, and even than almsgiving itself.

CCVI. Our Master knows what we need, and sometimes, even at the very exit of life, He will rise up and open to the one knocking through prayer and hope, and will grant the spiritual petition of the heart. ^C

CCVII. If you do not quickly receive your petition, or even if you do not receive it at all, it does not matter: for perhaps that petition is not to the benefit of your soul. But tell me, how much dignity is there in merely standing in prayer and conversing with God, the Creator of all things?

CCVIII. We are the cause of our own destruction. But if we repent, even if we were like dogs licking the feet of the Master, we shall be preferred over negligent children. For what friendship does not accomplish, perseverance, lamentation, and continuous prayer do accomplish. ^D

CCIX. Unless one arms himself with the most excellent patience, he will become easy to capture by Satan; for he sets ten thousand snares here and there for monks. Hence the Lord exhorts us, saying: «In your patience possess your souls. For he that shall endure unto the end, he shall be saved.»

CCX. If we, too, desire that the Lord should come to us

^A as he came to the apostles when the doors were shut, let us strive to close the doors: the mouth with the best silence, the eye so as not to see with passion, the hearing by hindering it from listening to corrupting words, and by restraining both smell and touch from carnal pleasures.

CCCXI. God does not forget those who remember Him, but He is especially mindful of the person in whom the words of the Lord reside; for He says through Jeremiah: "Because these words of mine are in him, I will remember to remember him."

CCCXII. You say that you are greatly afflicted and hesitant ^B regarding all the iniquitous and godless thoughts cast into your soul by the devil. But shake off this distress and hesitation to the extent of your ability, and rejoice rather in the promise of the divine crowns, regaining your composure and strengthening yourself. For in no way will the Lord destroy all those who look to Him sincerely and continuously.

CCCXIII. If you marvel at the beauty of the present works of creation, marvel much more at those to come. If the works of creation are beautiful, the Lord who made them is infinitely more beautiful. If those things which are measured by time are such, what must the eternal ones be? Transfer your mind, therefore, from the visible things to the invisible.

CCCXIV. Above all, know yourself; for there is nothing more difficult, ^C nothing more laborious, nothing more hard to accomplish. But when you know yourself, then you will be able to know God also, and to contemplate the works of creation as is fitting.

CCCXV. God alone is wise by nature; angels and men possess wisdom by participation. Since, therefore, the Lord is wise, He knows whom He will hear quickly and to whom He will grant their requests more slowly. For we do not know ourselves as God, the Creator of all things, knows us; He grants what is desired to us quickly or slowly for our own benefit. ^D Therefore, let us in no way lose heart, nor be consumed by grief, but let us persevere, firm and steadfast, giving thanks, asking, awaiting, and hoping to receive. For by what reasoning, indeed, does he who asks receive, and he who seeks find better things, and to him who knocks will the gate of justice be opened?

CCCXVI. Those who are well aware of their innate weakness, when they discover that the demons attacking them are becoming more violent, must cast all their hope upon God and continuously beg Him to become their champion.

CCCXVII. You sleep, and time passes you by; you wake, and

you fill your heart with vain things; yet, even though your life is waning, you neither perceive it nor understand.

^A Perhaps you are unaware, though you have often read it, that a man of sound counsel should not sleep the whole night through. For he who is examined by divine counsels and awaits the Lord—when He shall come from the heavens to reckon our accounts—ought not to sleep all night like one dead. Consequently, because you do not know what you have read, you sleep insatiably from evening until the rising of the sun the next day, snoring and remaining unmoved. Therefore, at least from this moment on, cast off your sloth; hasten to shake off that beastly sleep, and taste the ambrosial sweetness of psalmody. Transfer yourself ^B toward a better outcome and a most excellent state. Resolve to overcome by the force of your zeal for God, and break the force of your negligence and that unspeakable laxity. For it is the nature of habit to be exchanged for habit. Do not confront me with the tyranny of custom. For if lukewarmness and sloth could become a nature, then by much better reasoning, zeal and sobriety will be able to become a nature again. Call upon God to help you, and He will certainly hear you; He will grant you the gift of strength and an unimpeded path toward the journey of virtue. For the Lord works wonders, and even beyond the limits of nature. Even if the sloth and weakness that have previously taken hold of you seem to be an entangled impediment, yet the strength that empowers you will appear more forceful.

^C CCCXIX. Prayer possesses great power and strength among those who have firm faith. Therefore, we must pray always, night and day. But if we are slothful in prayer, we will be subjected to many injuries and to the ultimate harm; we will accomplish nothing worthy of zeal, and we will be alienated from the Lord Himself, not wishing to be united to Him through prayer, hope, and the praised practice of persistence. CCCXX. The Lord grants divine grace, but only to those who seek it with labor, toil, and sweat, night and day. Therefore, let us engage more diligently in the ministry of prayer.

^D CCCXXI. Do not be unwilling to suffer the infirmities of the body and to be beset by various pains. “Do not reject my judgment,” as the Lord says to Job; rather, endure your pains with thanksgiving, so that through them all your sins may be wiped away. CCCXXII. Just as those who go into the bath strip off all their garments, in the same way, those who are

^A approaching the ascetic life, having stripped away all worldly business, enter into the wisdom of the divine institution.

CCCXXIII. It is not consistent with reason for one who has sinned to give himself over to laughter, play, and delight, and to indulge in the emptiness of words; rather, he ought to utter lamentation and mourn night and day, hearing the Word of the Prophet who says: "Rejoice not, O Israel, and do not exult as the peoples who do not know God; for you have played the harlot from the Lord your God, and you ought to mourn." ^B

CCCXXIV. You are preoccupied by evil, and you are in need of labor, of immense care, and of a great benefit; for this reason, you should take great refuge. There is need of patience for the one who approaches God, and it is necessary to cry out loudly day and night, and to seek the true physician who heals from the incurable, and the true liberator who has the power to rescue from the most bitter slavery. If you lose heart, you will not find it; but if you persevere, you will attain it. You do not have authority [of confidence] due to your conscience, but you can have prayer with patience; for our Savior says: "Ask, and it shall be given to you." ^C

CCCXXV. Before that awesome tribunal sits—where we shall give an account not only of deeds and words, but also of thoughts, to Him who sees the hidden things—it is necessary to anticipate His face in confession, and to call forth the mercies of the Lord through laborious diligence in our life, emulating such a Prophet and King.

CCCXXVI. Prefer nothing in this visible present world to the salvation of the soul which is according to God.

CCCXXVII. Boldly approach with weeping the heavenly chief of physicians, Jesus, and lay bare all the wounds of your soul; for there is no disorder that Christ, who is most philanthropic, cannot heal.

CCCXXVIII. Let us avoid the gatherings of useless men, committing our life to solitude; for the frequent association with intimates ^D is indeed pernicious and destroys quiet leisure. For just as those who are daily accustomed to living in pestilential air have their strength broken in every way, so those who live together with divers others are altogether infected by their wickedness.

CCCXXIX. Your own ineptitude, lacking all instruction, must learn most accurately that even if a man perform the signs of the apostles, the one who shows off and is puffed up by them, and who also stirs up strifes and

^A rages against God and men, is to be loathed as an evil omen. Let it not escape your notice, meanwhile, that many, though they may shine with the dignity of a bishop, will possess the furnace of fire as their inheritance.

CCCXXX. ^B Do not desire to recount your misfortunes and trials, which press upon you, excessively and boundlessly, to every casual acquaintance with a complaining voice. For not as you find pleasure in remembering what has happened to you, so too does it appear pleasant to those listening to hear of the troubles of others.

CCCXXXI. If anyone, wounded by the image of foul desire, begins to turn the sickness of the wound over within himself, and to ponder it, and to converse with the passion, he will be softened in every way, and will give his consent, and will become a slave to his governing principle, which has babbled and debased him with an unholy love, and he will suffer, and will be miserable, and will curse his own life. One must flee from filthy imaginations as from a serpent or some man-eating lion; for it truly befits a man who is a Christian to imagine only the flowering forms of the virtues of Christ.

CCCXXXII. ^C Since you desire to be a leader of many brethren, test yourself first, if you are able to teach what must be done by action rather than by word, placing your own life as an image of every virtue before those who are learning, so that they may not, by transcribing from there, dull the beauty of virtue through the sin of a falling. For know that you ought to struggle no less for those over whom you are set than for yourself; because, just as you will render an account for yourself, so too will you be required to do so for them, once you have taken upon yourself their salvation. For it has been the earnest concern of the saints not to abandon those who are being discipled to be changed from their own virtue. Thus, the Apostle made Onesimus a martyr from a runaway. The prophet Elijah made Elisha a prophet from a plowman; ^D Moses transitioned Joshua the son of Nun to something better; and the priest Eli proved Samuel to be even greater than himself. For even if the zeal of the students also cooperated with them towards the acquisition of virtue, yet the cause of their progress was the fact that they happened upon teachers capable of fanning the smoldering spark of zeal to a greater degree, and of inflaming the sparks of desire within them to higher things.

CCCXXXIII. That the persecuted are called blessed indicates that one should not understand this as being persecuted for the sake of justice solely by wicked men. For there are also invisible enemies who drive men away from the knowledge of God and from well-doing through...

the transgression of commandments that they treat as trivial. ^A For this reason, ears must not be lent to those who speak emptiness, and who are occupied almost entirely with backbiting and evil-speaking. Indeed, neither is it profitable for the soul to engage in laughter. For this is entirely a matter of vulgarity, a lapse of the spirit, and a sign of inner disharmony and slackness. For one ought, instead of laughing, rather to hymn and glorify the Divine; for to those who have their mouths open night and day for the hymnody of God, the treasury of heavenly goods stands readily open.

BOOK FOUR

^B

I. TO HIS OWN DISCIPLE

Behold, after the aforementioned letters, we write these also to you, knowing that you seek from our lowliness words of exhortation, since you desire to be saved and to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Do not surrender yourself, brother, to the distractions of cares and the anxieties of this soul-destroying life. What are you waiting for? Does time abound for you? "The days pass by like a shadow and a dream." And you live at ease and adorn lifeless walls. The Lord created and fashioned you subject to no cares; and do you waste yourself away on the administration of affairs? He withdrew occupations from you; and you have plunged yourself into a forge of troubles. ^C Of those things by which you are held in desire, there is no portion left that is profitable to the soul. Take heed, son, lest in pursuing human glory you be deprived of the glory of God. For it is not possible to attain glory in any other way than by fleeing from glory; for as long as we pursue it, it flees from us. If you wish to be glorious, do not desire glory; if you wish to be high, do not become high. Watch over yourself, son, and let not your mind be taken hostage by a desire for a rank in the priesthood or for an abbacy. I fear and tremble lest, while desiring to save others, you lose your own soul. He is holy and placed in the highest degree of dignity who saves his own soul. Therefore, listen to me, son, to your humble father who loves you in Christ and has pity on your lot. ^D Leave behind, son, designs that creep upon the ground, and withdrawing yourself into a cell, find rest, shutting it off on all sides, speaking to no one at all for one full year, except on Saturday and Sunday, and you will learn the finish of the soul, and other things besides, for you have to endure many tribulations, and many temptations, and many infirmities. But you are blessed if you endure. But if you do not do even this, depart from there to another place; and if you wish to arrive at compunction, read no Greek books, neither historical, nor rhetorical, nor touch the ancients at all. But read the New Testament,

[GREEK COLUMN] martyrdoms, and the lives of the Fathers, along with the Sayings of the Fathers, and you will reap much benefit. I do not say this to mean that the books of the Old Testament should be cast aside, or that you should not read them. For since they are acceptable, spoken by the Holy Spirit, and the Church would not subsist without them; but for those who are Hesychasts and Monks, they do not produce compunction. Pay attention to yourself, brother. The harvest is great; do not neglect it, or cast aside the wheat in exchange for stubble. The vintage is great. Do not fail to pluck the spiritual fruits, only to begin gleaning the grape-skins behind the harvesters. You, however, leave behind the earthly things, and devote yourself to the heavenly things. Reap and harvest the fruits of righteousness; and if you wish to find rest, acquire the Lord as your friend, and become dead to every man. Become the slave of one Master, since you have many who would enslave you. For he who fears the One will not dread the many; rather, the many will fear the One. My child, why do you turn aside from the path that says, "Who am I? Earth and ash." And do you wish to walk on that twisted path, which is full of tribulations and dangers? Where have you set aside my words, which are hidden with you night and day? Where have you been, and where do you see yourself holding sway? Where were you, and where do I want you to be; and where are you? Because you love the desire for authority, and because you have an unstable tongue, and let it loose without restraint. Where are my commandments to you, that they should be wept over? Mourn, lament; do not seek authority, and do not place yourself in any category. Draw your love toward another path; depart from the world. Finally, ascend the cross; be lightened from the earth; "Shake off the dust from your feet." Despise shame; hold every man to be superior to yourself; weep for your dead one; "Cast the beam out of your eye;" or build up your distorted house. Cry out, "Have mercy on me, Son of David, have mercy on me, that I may see again." Learn that every mouth will be stopped, and do not be sluggish in giving thanks at all times. Shut your door against the enemy; place your words in the scales, and bar your door with a bolt. Do not fall asleep in laziness, lest suddenly it comes to your ears: "Behold, the Bridegroom, come out to meet him." And what will you say then? "I am busy at an improper time." He gave you rest, and you wish to labor. The time to mourn, and lament, and weep for your sins does not wait for you. Remember that He said at the door, that "It will be shut." Make haste, that you may not remain outside with the foolish virgins. Depart in your mind from this vain life to another age. Leave the earthly things, and seek the heavenly. Abandon the corruptible, and you will find the incorruptible. Flee in your mind from things that are temporary, and you will encounter things eternal. Mortify the members of the flesh, so that you may seek things perfectly. You know how I speak to you. Understand what is said; labor, being precise in these things, and you will find those according to

^A treasures hidden by God; and do not put my gray hairs to shame before God, while I pray for you day and night. Do not say, brother, "I am like all the monks." I tell you, child, there are many plants on the mountains and hills, in thickets and plains, but only the fruit-bearing ones are worthy of the paradise; the fruitless ones are fuel for the fire. "For everyone," he says, "who commits sin is a slave of sin," even if he be a priest, even if he be a king, even if he be a monk, or wears ten thousand gem-encrusted crowns upon his head. "For there is no partiality with God." For he who was deemed worthy to put on the holy habit, but does not perform the works of the habit, is a tree having many leaves, but no fruit at all. Therefore, your saying, "I am just like all the monks," these words will not profit you in the hour when your soul is separated from your body, but will rather become for you an occasion of great condemnation and provision for punishment. Hence, brother, do not puff yourself up; "For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Watch, brother, lest because of the hope of repentance you gather a multitude of evils upon yourself and reap sin, but fail of forgiveness. "God is not mocked." Involuntary sins are blotted out by genuine repentance; but voluntary ones are deprived of every defense. Child, flee pleasure; understand that the fruit of it is repentance, and it shall be for you "bitterer than gall," and "sharper than a two-edged sword," for by whatever anyone is overcome, to that he is enslaved. If torments and judgments are to be undergone for an idle word, how much worse things will he suffer who is wallowing in pleasure? For it is written: "If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him." Shall you then make the members of Christ members of a harlot? God forbid, and especially when in a temple consecrated to Him. Flee pleasure, O child, the mother of destruction and death. Do not listen to her words, since she fawns like a wolf toward lambs; flee every distraction, and every luxury, idleness; wantonness is the beauty of the face, a slipping of the eyes; a sweet word is a dart of hearing, which provides limbs to the vice of pleasure. The soul of such a man is air for the evil spirits, and is a counselor ^B toward evil, and the body is a prison of unclean thoughts, which they hide within themselves and will be able to do against such a person. Brother, revere the angel who guards you; and do not grieve the holy angels, and gladden the demons. Remember the stench of women, and what gain is there from this, or rather, the unquenchable fire, and the undying worm, "and the gnashing of teeth." For pleasure is enmity toward God. Brother, bring to mind the unsleeping eye, because it sees your deeds, and explores the heart, searches for the thoughts, makes manifest the purposes, "being able to destroy both soul and body in the hell of fire." Examine yourself, who you are; know your own nature, that your body is indeed mortal, but the soul is immortal. Despise the flesh, for it passes away. Take care of the virtue of the spirit,

^A which is endowed with immortality. Great and grievous is sin. You have great need of confession, of bitter tears, of fervent prayer, of continuous wakefulness, and of uninterrupted fasting. Pay attention to yourself, my child. You are walking in the midst of snares, for traps are hidden by the enemy. Guard yourself, therefore, lest by hiding an iniquity in your heart [you perish]. For "whoever looks at a woman to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart." For although the actions of the body are interrupted by many things, he who sins in his intention possesses sin together with the swiftness of his thoughts. Remember that this is your situation at present, but it will arrive at a bitter end. And the tickling that now arises in the body from pleasure, this will give birth to the poisonous, immortal worm that punishes you in Gehenna, and the burning of the flesh will become the mother of the eternal fire. A dog bitten by a wild beast is further angered against it by the pain of the wound, becoming irreconcilable toward it. Take into your mind, my child, the affliction and the interruption of prayer; take into your mind Him who sits upon the Cherubim and oversees the abysses. ^B I, my child, have done what was in me, following the prophet who says: "If you see your brother walking on a path that is not good, and you do not warn him, I will require his blood from your hand." And by my former letters I said to you, and behold, I say to you again: the rank of priesthood, and to lead others, and to rule over some, does not profit you. For many of the monks in the desert, who had flourished piously with fasting and self-control, and had become famous, shining like luminaries, were brought to the priesthood—some willingly, others unwillingly—and, having approached the world, they lost the virtues they had acquired through much toil, labor, and sweat. For, having gone away to heal others, they themselves have fallen, having yielded to the passion of gluttony and love of money, and have fallen into fornication. ^C Finally, even after cutting off their members with the sword, they have died a double death, I mean that of the soul and of the body. For this reason the Apostle also exhorts us, saying: "Let each remain in that in which he was called." Brother, you know how I speak, discerning what is said, being keen-minded. May the Lord give you understanding to know and to do what is profitable. For I think that you have not so much fled from the teaching of the Fathers, but have become rather a very diligent pattern of benefit, and will continue to be. See, brother, that the good name of God is not blasphemed on account of you. Do not become a cause of scandal to those who wish to be saved, but rather become a sheep and not a wolf, so that you may not become a destroyer and not life, an adder and not an asp, darnel and not wheat, stubble and not gold, confusion and not peace. See, beloved, that you do not bring to an end what is rumored about you; do not become a laughingstock regarding worldly matters. And if you touch these things, you will be driven to madness by speech or by conceit. Quickly "turn away from evil and do good," ^D

^A for indeed we believe that you will not disregard our insignificance. Nevertheless, may the grace of God be and remain with those who keep the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.

II.

If the smell of a river fish had the power to cast out the demon and to put to flight from the daughter of Raguel for such a long distance, much more will the proximity of the fragrance of the Holy Spirit drive out from you the spirit of intemperance, which hides in the members of your body and stirs up the waves of pleasure, and—without any delay—ignites the thoughts of desire and infects them as if with smoke.

III.

More than the wild winds ^B that stir up the sea, the most formidable reef of vainglory disturbs the soul of the one in the priesthood. Fight, therefore, above all things against vainglory, and do not be carefree, as if you would suffer no harm from it. Abstain, however, not only from bread and wine and meats and certain other foods or drinks, but much more from [evil] thoughts, from what you hear, and from wicked and harmful conversation, from anger and envy, from laughable things, and from the rest of such absurdities. ^C

IV.

In external military levies, only men and youths are chosen; the elderly are overlooked, boys are rejected, slaves are turned away, and women are entirely banished on account of the weakness of their sex. But in the struggle which is waged according to God, and in the recruitment for the army of piety, the elderly are called, the young run forward, the boys hasten, the slaves come forward voluntarily and with great confidence; nor are women rejected, but they come forward boldly and valiantly against the devil, and by struggling and defeating the enemy, they win a glorious ^D victory, lead him in triumph, and place upon themselves, day by day, a crown against their adversaries.

[E'] Understand spiritually what is said: “If your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light.” For the soul is now called the body, and the mind the eye.

[G'] In the time of the war of fornication, dismiss the invitations of banqueters. But if a guest should come your way, then indulge his wishes and relieve his labor with rest; as for yourself, wall yourself about in secret with fasting and thirst.

[VI. - TO A MONK] When you are being attacked by the war of fornication, dismiss the invitations of those inviting you to banquets. But if a guest happens to meet you, then give way to his will, and relieve his labor with rest; but for yourself, hedge yourself about in the hidden place with fasting and thirst.

[VII. - TO MARIANUS THE MONK] The physician, even if he stirs up pains by applying remedies to the patient, and even if he warms and gives rest, does everything with care and according to the knowledge of his art. But you, if you wish to pay the penalty neither here nor there, exact an account of yourself; for if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. And how, you say, shall I exact punishment from myself? I will tell you. Humble yourself, mourn, and groan over your transgressions. For it is no small punishment and torment to the soul to recount and lament one's own faults; but this is also a source of great pain, affliction, and chastisement, and for this reason God grants the reward of righteousness to the man who exhausts himself through confession. “For say first,” he says, “your sins, that you may be justified; tell them before someone else accuses you, that you may become righteous.”

[VIII. - TO FLORENTINUS THE DEACON] A soul abandoned by God is dissolved and scattered into every kind and species of sin. Therefore the Lord says: “I will scatter you in the regions, and I will disperse you among the nations.”

[IX. - TO THE SAME] When, after a fall into something worse, a man has been led astray, tossed by storm and billows, and subsequently coming to his senses, recovers, and returns to the good that is in accordance with nature, then God says: “Your impurity shall cease, and I will inherit in you, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

[X. - TO HYDROSIUS] Your robe has abhorred you; that is to say, your flesh has hated your wicked mind that gives orders to it continually to perform forbidden things. And that those who are in charge, if they keep silent about what is necessary, will be punished for the destruction of those placed under them, see what the Lord says: “Unless you speak,” he says, “to keep the wicked man from his way, the lawless man himself will die in his sin; but his blood I will require from your hands.”

[XI. - TO LIRIANUS] You say that you would like at some point to fear no man at all, if God is excepted. If, therefore, you desire to fulfill this perfectly, renounce everything earthly and tem-

- ^A porarily possessed, and have absolutely nothing. And I answer you that you will fear no one—not a consul, not a prefect, not the populace, not brigands, not pirates, not a ruler, not a king, and not even the demons themselves, nor the devil who rules the world.

XII. — TO PANOLBIUS

Why do you go outside yourself and withdraw into a greater remoteness of place, O man? Consider in your mind that you are the son of the widow, meaning of a disposition widowed of righteous judgment and stubborn resolve, being carried out to the tomb by evil passions that bear the soul and by demons who love filth. Therefore, pour out prayers with tears, that the Lord Christ may deign to touch the bier, which is the body full of passions; and those who carry it shall stop, that is to say, they shall cease from the course of necrophorous wickedness. For if they should pause, and their progress toward the worse be impeded, the human mind will miraculously rise again and, being alive, will be delivered to our mother in the heights, Jerusalem, who has lain beyond measure in tears and groaning. "For a voice," it says, "was heard in Rama," that is to say, in the heights. ^B For Rama signifies height, where there is lamentation, and weeping, and great wailing on account of the falling human race.

XIII. — TO BISHOP ARISTOBULUS

Follow in the footsteps of the great Job, who scraped away the discharge and loathed the worms of his wounds, and wipe away every care of the present age, casting off base thoughts and earthly pleasures that lie hidden in you like worms. For just as Job fought in the light and in the open, so you must struggle and contend in the hidden places, so that you may fill the choir of the angels with joy. For just as the angels of God rejoice when we repent and return to salvific counsels, so again they are affected by sorrow and groan when they see us voluntarily serving demons through sin. ^C

XIV. — TO CHIONIUS THE SILENTIARY

What will you do? What will you be about to do, when the limit of life has arrived? When the opportunities of life have failed? When straits and affliction press upon you? When the physicians despair of you? When your family members have cast away all hope of your salvation? When, vexed by dry and heavy gasping, and by a fierce fever scorching and smoldering within your inner parts, you will sigh from the depths of your heart, yet will find no one to sympathize with you? When deep night arrives, and there is no one present capable of helping, death is at hand, and those who are to lead you away are pressing, certain sad and relentless angels? When the ^D terrible powers seize you and drag your bound soul, which is heavily laden with excessive sins and yet turns its mind toward these things, and wailing without the instrument of a voice regarding its own lot? At last, once wailing is excluded, O how you will lament yourself then! How you will groan, weeping in vain over those

^A evil counsels! When after this you see the brightness of the just in the splendid distribution of celestial gifts, and the gloom of sinners in the deepest darkness, what expressions will you use at that moment? What words will you utter then, while your heart is being pained? Woe is me, that I did not cast off the burden of sin when the shedding of it was easy through repentance! Woe is me, that I did not wash away the stains, but remained branded by iniquities! Now I might have been celebrating and rejoicing with the angels, now I might have been delighting in eternal goods. O wretched counsels! For a fleeting enjoyment of sin I am enduring undying torments; for the pleasure of the flesh I am delivered to the eternal fire. I was being taught, and I did not pay attention. Some of the pious bore witness to me, but I mocked them. You will say these things and the like, lamenting yourself, if you disregard ^B the good exhortations and admonitions, and, having been snatched away, you are carried off to that place where nothing said by those who encourage you to repent, to weep, and to groan will benefit you. For here is the need for these aids, not there.

XV. — TO ORIBASIO

XVI. — TO ANTIOCHUS

XVII. — TO HEGESIPPUS THE MONK

XVIII. — TO LETORIUS THE MONK.

XIX. — TO PRIMUS THE SUBDEACON.

XX. — TO CASSANDRIUS.

XXI. — TO DAGLAIPHUS.

XXII. — TO CALLIOPIUS.

XXIII. — TO ARAXIUS.

XXIV. — TO PARNASIUS

XXV. — TO THEODORE THE MONK

XXVI. — TO BERYLLUS THE MONK

XXVII. — TO SABINUS

^Avine joy and the revelation of great mysteries.

XXVIII. TO GAUDENTIO THE SILENTIARY.

XXIX. TO VITALIO THE SUBDEACON.

XXX. TO THE SAME.

XXXI. TO PAUL THE ARCHIMANDRITE.

XXXII. TO JULIAN.

^A eye. Often, therefore, even elders commit abominable deeds in their hearts.

^A XXXIII. — TO AQUILA. You write, and ask what amount of time might suffice for one to succeed in abstaining from swearing? The truth has not yet been clearly explored by me, as to whether ten days might suffice for one to escape from an ingrained habit. But if, even after the ten days, we were seen to be swearing, let us impose a penalty upon ourselves, and let us define a very great punishment and condemnation for the transgression. And what is that condemnation? It is that one who has stumbled must not remain in the stumbling, but through repentance must harvest salvation, just as Lamech, just as the prodigal son, just as the robber on the cross who, hanging there, by words spoken from faith became a citizen of paradise. ^B

XXXIV. — TO SOTERICHUS. You say that you do not know with what words you must appease the Lord who has been angered; and yet, the holy Daniel is near, teaching you. Therefore, supported by his words, you will implore the Divinity as is fitting: "Incline, O Lord, thy ear, and hear; open thy eyes, and see our desolation: for it is not upon our righteousness that we cast our prayers before thy face. Hear, O Lord; be appeased, O Lord; attend and act; and do not delay to show mercy, O God."

XXXV. — TO DEMETRIUS. ^C Let us at last venture to please God, and let us not collapse, but let us be anxious, not looking at failures. For indeed, no one who wishes to learn any craft, if he is afraid and holds before his eyes the destruction of the work, nor the sailor fearing shipwreck, nor the merchant or farmer reckoning up failures, will ever be able to complete a task; but each one of them sets out and applies his hands to the work, kindled by better hopes.

XXXVI. — TO EUSIGNIUS. There is no calamity that can resist the divine will. For the good Lord only needs to incline, and immediately he dissolves the guilt and takes away the difficult-to-heal wound. Only do not you grow weary of supplicating the most philanthropic Savior Christ with tears, and sowing good hopes for yourself. For if you lose heart, you fail of great salvation. ^D Be a man, therefore, and be strong, not shattering the good hope of your mind, nor forgetting the heavenly, illustrious, and most wealthy fatherland, lest by desiring a foreign and most impoverished dwelling, you be cast out of great salvation.

XXXVII. — TO BISHOP AGATHON. Men, perhaps, being ignorant of the future, are despondent concerning their salvation.

^A God, however, does not give up hope until they die; rather, He encourages and calls them, seeing the things which are to follow.

XXXVIII. — TO JOHN THE MONK. ^B If at the present time the demons afflict you with various temptations and drive you to heavy sorrow, and despondency, and that which is of all things the worst, into despair; remember the various providences, and protections, and no few assistances, and sufficient benefits extended to you by God before you put on the monastic habit. For such a remembrance raises up the soul that is already sinking, and encourages and exhorts it more to hope, and thrusts away those leaders who conduct one to despair. In addition to these things, you ought to consider the following: that the Lord, who previously took care of me, although I was not yet serving Him, will now provide with even greater effort for the future, and will bring aid, and will benefit me more abundantly, and will govern me as I yield and serve, and as I worship according to my strength, and as I minister to His loving-kindness.

XXXIX. — TO CONON, WHO HOLDS PUBLIC OFFICE. ^C If, when you did not yet exist, the Lord brought you into being, He will all the more be able to reshape you now that you exist, even though you are withering from sin and have been turned aside from that which is natural to you. For the Master desires this, provided that your will also joins in; for there is no wickedness which is not dissolved by the saving tears of repentance. You will learn this more easily if you contemplate and observe in your mind the Lord's hook, by which, from the depths of ineffable malice, He caught that publican—a difficult quarry—and how He turned the clay into gold, and drew him to Himself to be an excellent soldier, and fashioned the captive into a supreme leader ^D and writer of the divine Gospel. By what means, furthermore, did He save the woman who was notorious to all? By what means did He manifest the robber as worthy to be admitted into Paradise? How did He make magi and enchanters the excellent heralds of His own advent into this world? How could it come to pass that He ate and drank with publicans and sinners, desiring for the sake of His loving-kindness to benefit them and to convert them? By what means also did the tongue of the Celestial Divinity teach wicked violators, and those who were injurious and persecutors of that very Divinity, to celebrate Him with hymns, and instruct them to treat of theological matters, and prepare them to lay down their own heads for the sake of the truth, and persuade them no longer to live for themselves but for God alone, and to pursue the manner of living of the heavenly angels while still dwelling in a corruptible body, and to deem all things that are visible to be offscourings and refuse? And in what way, likewise, did He lead those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death by the allurements of pleasures and wicked habits into the light, and urge them to loathe lawlessness, and cause them to cast away all impurity, and transform them entirely from within, and bestow upon them the divine treasures of the divine mysteries? Therefore, O man, by considering all these things and such as these, do not...

^A at any time despair of your salvation. But even if you are dragged toward despondency and hopelessness by the devil, comfort yourself, and console yourself while you are afflicted; admonish, strengthen, and recover yourself while you are being hard-pressed; and do not cease to whisper to your own heart, and to recount the loving-kindness of God. For we do not have a misanthropic Master; rather, we have acquired as Lord and Savior Christ—a lover of souls, who laid down his life for us—the greatest physician of souls and bodies, who exists above every disease and every passion incurable to all men, being stronger than all things, and conquering every power of baseness. Therefore, O soul, heavy with many sins and worthy of eternal punishment, do not by any means despair. ^B

XL. — TO EUTROPIUS

XLI. — TO MARIANUS THE MONK

XLII. — TO AUXENTIUS

XLIII. — TO LESBIUS

^A of their own dead have received them back alive, you will certainly be able also yourself, though dead in hope, to be delivered at some time from the deadness that is in the tomb of sin.

XLIV. — TO ASCLEPIADES.

XLV. — TO PAUL THE MONK.

XLVI. — TO ZOSIMUS.

XLVII. — TO EORTASIUS THE DEACON.

XLVIII. — TO ATHANASIUS THE DEACON.

who grieve over their own sins and negligence, and take thought for their own salvation as far as it is possible, and rely on the hope in Christ the Savior, shall perhaps be numbered among those who live the eternal life, to praise the Lord. But as for the soul that grieves because of the greatness of the evils, and the one who walks, bowing down, and is infirm, and the failing eyes, and the soul that is hungry, and humbled, and brought to nothing, these shall give to the Lord the praise of righteousness.

XLIX. — TO DEMETRIUS

L. — TO SYRIANUS

LI. — TO THEOCLES

LII. — TO JULIAN THE DEACON

LIII. — TO EPIPHANIUS THE MONK

LIV. — TO RUFINUS THE HESYCHAST

LV. — TO DIONYSIUS

LVI. — TO BISHOP EPIPHANIUS

LVII. — TO BISHOP EUTHYMIUS

LVIII. — TO THE SAME

LIX. — TO TIMOTHY THE MONK

LX. — TO PAUL THE MONK

in all your affairs, merely holding a book in your embrace—as is reported to me—attached from the very rising of the sun until its setting, as if bound to your chair with lead, especially since you are blessed with a robust body. ^A Yet our leader Anthony did not exercise his virtue in this way; but, according to the example of the angel, he would at one time sit at the work of his hands, and at another time he would rise for prayer. And he enjoyed such illumination that one day he said to a certain philosopher that, just as in a codex, I always read the words of the Lord in the nature of created things; and in the night, especially when it was dark, he would commune with God to such an extent that when the day dawned, he would feel it intensely, and would exclaim: "What is there between me and you, O sensible light?" If, therefore, you have understood accurately that a house cannot possibly be built from a single stone, do not imagine that one virtue alone—reading, for instance—holds the mastery. Therefore, add to it by imploring God, and exercise yourself in psalms with understanding, and in continuous vigils, and in what follows. Through these, you will be able to build yourself up, and in such a way to please God, leaping toward every kind of virtue, and casting off the mud and refuse of sloth.

^B

LXI. TO OLYMPIODORUS THE EPARCH

You write to me inquiring whether it would be altogether appropriate, since you intend to build a very large shrine in honor of the holy martyrs, and of Christ himself, who was martyred through those martyric struggles, labors, and sweats, to place images in the sanctuary, and to fill the walls with the hunting of all kinds of animals—those on the right and those on the left—so that one might see on the ground stretched-out nets, and hares, and gazelles, and the rest of the fleeing animals, and those hastening to hunt them, pursuing them eagerly with little dogs; and on the sea, nets being cast, and every kind of fish being caught and being dragged to the dry land by the hands of fishermen; and in addition to this, to display every kind of plasterwork, for the pleasure of the eyes in the house of God. ^C Furthermore, to set up a thousand crosses in the common house, and histories of birds, and cattle, and reptiles, and plants of every kind. But I would answer your written questions by saying that it would be childish and infantine to deceive the eyes of the faithful with the things mentioned above. For it is the property of a solid and manly mind to fashion one, and only one, cross in the sanctuary, toward the east of the most holy temple. For by one saving cross, the human race is delivered from servitude, and a good hope shines out for the desperate everywhere. But fill the holy temple on all sides with stories of the Old and New Testaments by the hand of an excellent painter, so that those who do not know letters, and are not able to read the divine Scriptures, may, by the contemplation of the painting, receive a memory of the good deeds of those who truly served the true God, and may be stirred to the contest of those glorious

^A achievements through which they exchanged earth for heaven, preferring the unseen to the seen. In the common house, divided into many various cells, I think it sufficient that each small cell be honored with a venerable cross, and that superfluous things be left aside. I exhort and entreat you to persevere to the end with continuous prayers, proven faith, almsgiving, humility, perpetual hope in God, meditation on divine words, sympathy for the human race, kindness toward servants, and to fortify oneself, one's own spouse, and children with all the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to guard, adorn, and secure one’s household affairs.

LXII. — TO HELIODORUS THE SILENTIARY

^B Through miraculous events which occur in various places and at various times on certain days, the Lord calls the small-minded and the faithless to a firm and stable faith, and increases the faith and hope of the believers more and more, and proves their thoughts solid and unshaken by signs brighter than light itself. Therefore, it is my intention to recount now, from the myriad wonders of our champion, the martyr Plato, not only one event, but one showing how he most readily grants grace and displays his wonderful power to those in our homeland, and in every city and town, who seek God’s help through his intercession. For on the mountain called Sinai, where Moses received the law from God, where monks, both native and foreign, dwell, there was a certain man, a Galatian by birth, who, having embraced the monastic life together with his own son, and having been inscribed in the register of monks, was living there, having for a long time endured the struggles of asceticism in that wilderness. But one day, with a sudden assault, some barbarians of unstable and execrable faith broke into the aforesaid mountain, and, seizing the opportunity with ease, they captured the monks, along with the son of the aged Galatian, and led them into captivity. With their hands bound behind their backs, they drove them through many lonely deserts, fasting and naked, without any footwear, forcing them to run by force and necessity through those inconsolable, waterless, and most rugged places—parched by the fierce heat of the sun, where no trace of moisture was visible—and driving them on, trembling and suspended, with their backs covered in sores. The old man, hidden and withdrawn in a secret cave, was meanwhile mourning in great sorrow, unable to bear the loss of his God-loving son, and he besought Christ the Lord, through Plato the martyr, his fellow countryman, to show mercy upon his hardships. The son, meanwhile, while bound in chains in captivity, was likewise supplicating the divine Deity, through the same most holy martyr, to have pity on him and work a miracle. Both having been heard—the father in the cave of the mountain, and the son in captivity—lo, suddenly our Plato appeared, showing himself on horseback, and he appeared to the boy, who was awake and recognized him from having often seen the appearance of the saint on icons, pulling another horse, ready for use, and

^A commanded him to get up from the midst of all, to take the horse, and mount it; and suddenly, like a spider's web, his bonds were dissolved. He alone, having been redeemed through the invocation, rose by the divine will and, mounted on the horse, confidently and with a joyful heart followed the holy martyr who was leading and showing the way. And so, in a brief moment, both the holy Plato and the young monk, as if they had wings, flew ^B to the dwelling of the old man who was praying and weeping; and having restored to the father, who was suffering in his heart, his beloved son, the glorious martyr disappeared. Therefore, in every place, for those who call upon God through them, the renowned and glorious athletes of our Master Christ can accomplish every marvelous and paradoxical thing. I have written these things to you who are a lover of the martyrs ^C and who never tire of the memory of the thrice-blessed martyrs.

EPILOGUE

* This letter, along with the previous one, was presented in writing at the Seventh General Synod, the Second Council of Nicaea, act 4, as the genuine offspring of Nilus, to repress the error of those who asserted that Nilus had written against images. They corroborate that the latter had been depraved by those same people, to the prefect of the Olympians. For in place of what he said: "Paint from this side and that," they substituted: "Do not paint." And so it is proven from the same texts that it has been shown clearly that the holy and excellent Father Nilus did accept holy icons. He was accused, however, by that false-syllogizer of having spoken against images. Whence the miserable ones become calumniators not only of Christians, but also of the saints, and most wickedly do they falsely accuse the most sacred Fathers.