revolution of the years; for week is moved upon week, and month upon month, and time rolls on from year to year, and moment upon moment, as we see in the motion of the sun and moon, of spring and summer. A But perhaps the triangle will signify to you the knowledge of the Holy Trinity. Otherwise, if by the multiplication of numbers you reach the one-hundred-and-fifty-third, which is triangular, it is appropriate to understand by it the practical, the natural, and the theological, or even faith, hope, and charity, gold, silver, and precious stones. But so much for the number. As for the brevity of the chapters, do not despise it, as one who knows both how to be filled and how to suffer need, and indeed as one mindful of Him who did not reject the widow's two mites, but accepted them over the riches of many others. Since, therefore, you rightly know the fruit of benevolence, you will guard it by enjoining your true brothers to pray for the infirm and sick man, so that he may be healed, and taking up his bed, he may henceforth walk about, by the grace of Christ our true God, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
CHAPTER I.
If anyone wishes to make a fragrant incense, he shall prepare, according to the law, the B pellucid frankincense, and the cassia, and the onycha, and the stacte, in equal weight. These are the quaternion of the virtues; for if they be most full and equal, the intellect will not be betrayed.CHAPTER II.
The soul, purged through the fullness of the virtues, makes the seat of the intellect unshakable, rendering it capable of receiving the state which is sought.CHAPTER III.
Prayer is the colloquy of the intellect with God. What state, therefore, does the intellect require, in order that, acting in quiet, it may change immutably and pass over to its own Lord, and speak with Him with no one D mediating? (Understand: it should seek such a state.)CHAPTER IV.
If Moses, when he attempted to approach the burning bush upon the ground, was prevented until he had loosened the sandal from his feet, how is it that you yourself, wishing to see Him who surpasses all intellect and sense, and to become a collocutor with Him, do not loosen from yourself every thought that is subject to passion?CHAPTER V.
Pray first to receive the gift of tears, so that through mourning you may soften the wild hardness which is in your soul, and having confessed your unrighteousness against yourself to the Lord, you may obtain forgiveness from Him.CHAPTER VI
A Use tears for the successful acceptance and fulfillment of every petition; for your Master rejoices greatly when He receives your prayer in tears.CHAPTER VII
If you shed fountains of tears in your prayer, do not by any means exalt yourself in your own mind, as if you excel the many; for your prayer has received help so that you might be able to confess your sins readily and appease the Master through your tears.CHAPTER VIII
Do not, therefore, turn into a passion that which was given for the blotting out of passions, lest you provoke to anger all the more Him who gave you the grace. B Many who weep for sins, forgetting the purpose of their tears, have become frantic and astray.CHAPTER IX
Stand with eagerness and pray intensely, and turn away from the encroachments of cares and thoughts; for they disturb and agitate you, so that they may dissolve the unwavering constancy of your mind.CHAPTER X
When the demons see you truly eager to pray, they then suggest thoughts of certain things that are supposedly necessary, and after a little while they stir up the memory of them, moving the intellect toward seeking them; and when it does not find them, it is very pained and dejected; but when it stands for prayer, C they remind it of the things that were sought and remembered, so that the intellect, weary and relaxed in the cognition of these things, may lose its fruitful prayer.CHAPTER XI
Strive to keep your intellect deaf and dumb at the time of prayer, and thus you will be able to pray.CHAPTER XII
When temptation or contradiction meets you, or you are irritated, or if you happen to be moved to anger for the sake of retaliation against an adversary, or to break out in some word, remember prayer D and the judgment that pertains to it, and the disorderly commotion that was in you will immediately be calmed.CHAPTER XIII
Whatever you do in seeking vengeance on a brother who has wronged you will become a stumbling block to you at the time of prayer.CHAPTER XIV
Prayer is a sprout of gentleness and freedom from anger.CHAPTER XV
Prayer is a production of joy and thanksgiving.A CHAPTER XVI Prayer is a remedy against sadness and dejection of spirit.
CHAPTER XVII Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and taking up the cross, deny yourself, so that you may be able to pray without any distraction.
CHAPTER XVIII If you wish to pray in a praiseworthy manner, deny yourself at every hour, and, in the manner of philosophers, study and be occupied with enduring many things for the sake of prayer.
CHAPTER XIX Whatever hard thing you endure while philosophizing, you will find its fruit at the time of prayer.
CHAPTER XX If you desire to pray as is fitting, do not afflict your soul with sadness, otherwise you run in vain.
CHAPTER XXI Leave your gift, he says, before the altar, and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then coming, you shall pray without perturbation; for the memory of injuries darkens the governing faculty of the one praying, and casts shadows upon his prayers.
B CHAPTER XXII They who heap up for themselves sadness and vengefulness from the memory of injuries, and yet appear to pray, are like those who draw water and pour it into a leaking cask.
CHAPTER XXIII If you are patient, you will always pray with joy.
CHAPTER XXIV For you who are praying as is fitting, such things will occur so that it may seem to you entirely just to make use of anger; but anger against a neighbor is not just at all. For if you search diligently, you will find that it is possible for the matter to be resolved well without anger. Therefore, use every effort not to break out into anger.
C CHAPTER XXV Beware, lest while you think you are curing another, you yourself remain incurable, and provide an obstacle to your own prayer.
CHAPTER XXVI If you abstain from anger, you will find a way of sparing, and you will show yourself to be prudent in that which pertains to your own reputation, and you will rightly be numbered among those who pray.
CHAPTER XXVII If you are armed against anger, you will never endure concupiscence; for it is this which gives matter to anger, and this
A disturbs the intellectual eye, corrupting the state of prayer.
CHAPTER XXVIII
Do not pray only with external gestures, but turn your mind toward the perception of spiritual prayer with great fear.CHAPTER XXIX
Sometimes, indeed, you will stand in prayer and not pray; at other times, having labored much, you will not attain your goal, so that by seeking all the more, and finally receiving it, you may possess the achievement secure and safe from theft.CHAPTER XXX
When an angel B stands by, all those who bring us hindrance immediately depart, and the mind is found in much rest, praying healthily; but sometimes, when our customary war comes upon us, the mind fights like a boxer, and is not permitted to lift its head upwards, because it is afflicted by vain passions; however, if it seeks again and again, it will find, and to the one who knocks intently it will be opened.CHAPTER XXXI
Do not pray for your own will to be done; for it is not entirely in accordance with the will of God. But rather, as you have been taught, pray saying: "Thy will be done in me." And in every matter, ask of him the good and that which is profitable to the soul, for you do not always seek this.CHAPTER XXXII
Often, when I was praying, I asked that what I deemed good for me should come to pass, and I persisted in the petition, unreasonably forcing the will of God and not yielding to Him so that He might dispense what He knows to be profitable; and indeed, having received it, I was afterwards very grieved because I had asked that my own will happen rather than His; for the matter did not turn out for me as I had imagined.CHAPTER XXXIII
What other good is there D than God? Therefore, let us commit to Him all that pertains to us, and it will be well with us; for He is altogether good and the giver of good gifts.CHAPTER XXXIV
Do not demand your petition immediately as if you were in command; for He wants to confer a greater benefit upon you by your persevering with Him in prayer; for what is more sublime than to commune with God and to be occupied with His presence?CHAPTER XXXV
Prayer is the ascent of the mind to God.A CHAPTER XXXVI. If you desire to pray, renounce all things, that you may inherit the All.
CHAPTER XXXVII. Pray first that you may be cleansed of the passions, and secondly that you may be delivered from ignorance, and thirdly from every temptation and abandonment.
CHAPTER XXXVIII. In your prayer, seek only righteousness and the kingdom, that is, virtue and knowledge, and all other things will be added to you.
CHAPTER XXXIX. It is just to pray not only for your own purification, but also for all your fellow men, that you may imitate the angelic way of life.
CHAPTER XL. See whether you truly cleave to God in your prayer, or whether you are overcome by the praise of men, and striving to hunt after it, using the act of prayer as a cloak.
CHAPTER XLI. Whether you pray with brethren or alone, strive to pray not by custom, but with perception.
CHAPTER XLII. The characteristic of prayer is internal contemplation with devout piety and C compunction, and sorrow of soul, confessing sins with silent sighs.
CHAPTER XLIII. If your mind is distracted during the time of prayer, you do not yet pray as a monk, but are still worldly, adorning the outer tabernacle.
CHAPTER XLIV. While you pray, guard your memory to the best of your ability, so that it does not present to you its own affairs, but moves you toward the knowledge of your extension toward God; for memory is accustomed to plunder the mind greatly during the time of prayer.
CHAPTER XLV. The memory brings before you, while you are praying, or the images of old things, or new cares, or the person of one who has pained you.
CHAPTER XLVI. The demon greatly envies a man who is praying, and employs every device to defile his intention; he therefore does not cease to stir up thoughts of these things through the memory, and to rouse all the passions through the flesh as if by levers, so that he may be able to impede his excellent course and his approach to God.
CHAPTER XLVII. When the most wicked demon has labored much and has been unable to hinder the prayer of the industrious man, he desists a little, and afterward defends himself against him who has prayed; for the excitation to anger...
destroys the excellent state built up within him through prayer, or, by inciting him toward some irrational pleasure, it insults the mind.
CHAPTER XLVIII
If you have prayed as is fitting, expect what is not fitting, and stand manfully, guarding your fruit; for you were appointed from the beginning for this purpose, to work and to guard. Do not, therefore, having finished the work, leave what has been labored for unguarded; for if you do not do this, you will have gained nothing by praying.CHAPTER XLIX
Every war waged between us and the unclean spirits arises for no other reason than that of spiritual prayer; for it is extremely hostile to them and most hateful, while to us it is saving and most pleasant.CAPUT L
Why do the demons desire to produce in us gluttony, fornication, avarice, anger, and the remembrance of wrongs, and the rest of the passions? It is so that the mind, thickened by them, may be unable to pray as it ought; for the passions, which take their beginning from the irrational part, do not allow it to move rationally and to seek the Word of God.CAPUT LI
We pursue the virtues on account of the distinct reasons of created things, and these on account of the Lord who established their essences; and He himself is accustomed to manifest Himself in the state of prayer.CAPUT LII
The state of prayer is a passionless habit which, with the highest love, snatches the wise and spiritual mind up to the intelligible height.Chapter LIII
He who hastens to pray truly must not only master anger and desire, but must also be free from every thought that is imbued with passion.CAPUT LIV
He who loves God always converses with Him as with a Father, turning away from every thought that is defiled by passion.CAPUT LV
He who has attained to dispassion does not yet necessarily pray truly; for he can be busied with mere thoughts and drawn away into the study of them, and be far from God.CAPUT LVI
Nor, when the mind does not linger for long on the mere thoughts of things, has it already reached the place of prayer; for it can be involved in the contemplation of things and be continually engaged in their [discourse]A which, even if they are bare words, nevertheless, as they exist as contemplations of things, they impress a kind of sign upon the mind and lead it far from God.
CHAPTER LVII.
Although the mind may be turned away from the contemplation of corporeal nature, it has not yet beheld the perfect place of God; for it can be involved in the knowledge of intellectual things and be variously distinguished by it.Chapter LVIII.
If you wish to pray, you have need of God who gives prayer to the one who prays; invoke Him, therefore, saying: "Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come"—which is the Holy Spirit and your Only-begotten Son; for so He taught, saying that God, namely the Father, must be worshipped in Spirit and truth, since these three are God.CHAPTER LIX.
He who prays in Spirit and truth no longer praises the Creator honorifically on account of the creatures, but for His own sake, namely for the love of Him, he exalts Him with hymns.CAPUT LX.
If you are a theologian, you will pray truly; and if you pray truly, you are a theologian.CHAPTER LXI.
When your mind, greatly inflamed with desire for God, withdraws a little, as it were, from the flesh, and turns away from all thoughts proceeding from desire, or memory, or the temperament of the body, filled at once with devotion and joy, then consider that you have approached the boundaries of prayer.CHAPTER LXII.
The Holy Spirit, sympathizing with our infirmity, comes to us, although we may be impure; and if He finds our mind praying to Him with the love of truth, He descends upon it and destroys the entire troop of thoughts or notions that surround it, turning it toward the works of spiritual prayer.CHAPTER LXIII.
Others, indeed, through the mutation of the body, instill in the mind thoughts, or notions, and speculations; God, however, does the contrary: He descends upon the mind itself, instilling into it a thought as He wills, and at the same time, through the mind, calming the intemperance of the body.CHAPTER LXIV.
No one who loves true prayer, if he is angry or mindful of injuries, will be free from insanity; for he is very like one who wishes to see clearly while at the same time rubbing his own eyes.CAPUT LXV
If you desire to pray, do nothing that is contrary to prayer, so that God, drawing near, may walk with you.CHAPTER LXVI
Do not represent the Divine in yourself when you pray, nor allow your mind to be impressed with any form, but approach the Immaterial as an immaterial being, and you shall attain to union.Chapter LXVII
Avoid the snares of the adversaries. For it often happens that while you are praying purely and without disturbance, there suddenly stands before you a strange and alien form, intended to lead you into pride, by making you suppose that what is there is Divine, so that, being suddenly revealed to you, it may persuade you that the Divine has quantity; but the Divine is without quantity and without form. BChapter LXVIII
When the envious demon cannot stir the memory during prayer, he forces the temperament of the body to produce some strange imagination in the intellect and to compose it into some form. But one who is accustomed to dwell and linger on thoughts is easily bent, and, being urged toward an immaterial and formless knowledge, he is deceived, taking smoke for light. CCHAPTER LXIX
Stand on your guard, keeping your mind free from thoughts at the time of prayer, so that you may remain in your proper stillness, that He who sympathizes with the ignorant may also come to you, and then you shall receive the most glorious gift of prayer. DCAPUT LXX
You will not be able to pray purely if you are entangled in material affairs and tossed by constant cares; for prayer is the laying aside of thoughts.CHAPTER LXXI
One who is bound cannot run, nor can a mind that is enslaved to passions see the place of spiritual prayer; for it is dragged and carried about by the thought which is excited by the passions, and does not stand unshaken. DCHAPTER LXXII
Therefore, when the mind prays purely, steadfastly, and truly, the demons no longer come from the left, but from the right; for they suggest to it the glory of God and a certain figuration of things pleasing to the senses, so that it may seem to it that it has already perfectly attained the goal of prayer. Yet a certain wondrous and learned man has said that this comes from the passion of vainglory and from the demon who touches the region of the brain and causes the veins to pulse.A
CHAPTER LXXIII.
I believe that the demon, having touched the place I mentioned, overturns the light of the mind just as he wishes, and thus the passion of vainglory is stirred, forming the mind into a thought that seems lightly felt, so that it might have the form of divine and substantial knowledge. Such a person, indeed, is not at all vexed by carnal and impure passions, but standing apparently pure, he thinks that no contrary operation is any longer occurring within him; whence he suspects that the apparition which has come to him is divine, having been brought about by the demon, who uses great craftiness and alters the light joined to the brain, forming him as I said before.CHAPTER LXXIV.
B The angel of God, standing by, causes all opposing activity to cease from us by his word alone, and moves the light of the mind to work without any error.CHAPTER LXXV.
As for the statement in the Apocalypse that the angel carries a censer of incense, that he might give it for the prayers of the saints, I judge that this signifies the grace which is effected through the angel: for he instills the knowledge of true prayer, so that the mind may henceforth stand outside every agitation, laziness, and negligence.CHAPTER LXXVI.
C The vials of incense are said to be the prayers of the saints, which the twenty-four elders offer.Chapter LXXVII.
One must think that the vial is love toward God, or perfect and spiritual charity, in which prayer is performed in Spirit and in truth.CHAPTER LXXVIII.
When you have thought that you have no need of tears in your prayer on account of your sins, consider how far you have been from God, when you ought to be in Him at all times, and you will weep more fervently.CHAPTER LXXIX.
D Truly, recognizing your own measure, you will weep sweetly, calling yourself miserable and wretched according to Isaiah, because, although you are defiled and have defiled lips, and exist in the midst of2 such a people, you conversely dare to stand before the Lord of Sabaoth.Chapter LXXX.
If you have prayed truly, you will find the fullest faith or assurance, and angels will come to you and will bring to light the reasons for things that are happening.A CAPUT LXXXI. Know that the holy angels urge us to prayer and stand beside us, rejoicing together with us and praying for us. If, therefore, we are negligent and admit contrary thoughts, we greatly provoke them, because they strive so much for us, while we are unwilling to entreat God even for our own sake; rather, despising their ministry and abandoning their God and Master, we associate with unclean demons.
CAPUT LXXXII. Pray with composure and without disturbance, and sing psalms intelligently and rhythmically, and you will be like an eagle’s fledgling lifted up on high.
CAPUT LXXXIII. Psalm singing calms the passions and causes the intemperance of the body to rest. Prayer, however, prepares the mind to perform its own proper work.
CAPUT LXXXIV. Prayer is an operation befitting the dignity of the mind, or rather, it is its superior and sincere judgment.
CAPUT LXXXV. Psalm singing is an image of multifaceted wisdom, while prayer is the prelude to immaterial and varied knowledge.
CAPUT LXXXVI. Knowledge is most beautiful, for it is a co-worker of prayer, awakening the intelligent power of the mind and directing it toward the contemplation of divine knowledge.
CAPUT LXXXVII. If you have not yet received the grace of prayer or psalmody, persist diligently, and you will receive it.
CAPUT LXXXVIII. He also told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. Do not lose heart, therefore, for the time being, and do not become despondent as if you had not received, for you will receive afterward. And He added to the parable this saying: "Though I do not fear God and do not respect man, yet because this woman keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice." Even so, God will also grant justice to those who cry out to Him night and day. Therefore, be of good courage, persevering laboriously in holy prayer.
CAPUT LXXXIX. Do not wish that the things concerning you should happen as you think best, but as it pleases God, and you will be undisturbed and thankful in your prayer.
[XC] Even if you seem to be with God, beware of the demon of lust. For he is a great deceiver and most envious, and he wishes to be swifter than the motion and vigilance of your mind, so that he may tear it away from God, before whom it stood with devotion and fear.
[XCI] If you have a care for prayer, prepare yourself for the hostile invasions of demons, and steadfastly endure the blows which they inflict; for like wild beasts they will leap upon you, and will harass and afflict your whole body.
[XCII] Be prepared, as a skilled combatant, so that even if you should suddenly see a specter, you may not be shaken, and even if you should see a sword drawn against you, or a lamp that blinds your sight, you may not be troubled; and even if you should see some deformed and bloody form, in no way let your soul collapse, but stand firm, confessing your noble confession, and you will more easily look upon your enemies.
[XCIII] He who suffers troublesome things will also obtain those things that produce joy, and he who steadfastly endures unpleasant things will not lack pleasant ones.
[XCIV] Beware lest the malignant demons deceive you through some vision; but be prudent, turning yourself to prayer, and beseech God that, if the thought is from Him, He Himself may enlighten you, but if not, that He may quickly drive the deceiver away from you; and have confidence, for the dogs will not stand [their ground] while you are ardently conversing with God in your soul: for they will immediately, invisibly, and secretly be whipped by the power of God and driven far away.
[XCV] It is right that you should not be ignorant of this trick also: namely, that at times the demons divide among themselves, and if you think to seek help, the others enter in angelic forms, driving out the first, so that you may be deceived by them, judging that they are truly holy angels.
[XCVI] Strive for great humility and nobility of spirit, and the insult of the demons will not touch your soul, and no scourge will approach your tabernacle; for He will command His angels concerning you, to keep you, and they will invisibly drive away from you every opposing operation.
[XCVII] He who gives heed to prayer will indeed hear noise and crashes and voices and the striking of blows from demons, but he will not collapse, nor will he betray his reason...
but he will say to God: "I will fear no evils, for Thou art with me," and such like.
A CAPUT XCVIII. In time of such temptations, use short and intense prayer.
CAPUT XCIX. If the demons threaten you, suddenly appearing from the air to strike you with terror and carry off your mind, or as savage beasts to violently tear your flesh, do not fear them, nor give any heed to their threats at all. For they throw out fear, tempting you to see if you give them any attention at all, or if you have utterly despised them, or if you stand in prayer before the almighty God, the Creator and Provider of all things.
B CAPUT C. Why do you stand before that very God so inconsiderately, that you overlook His insuperable fear and instead are terrified by gnats and beetles? Have you not heard Him who says: "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God"? And again: "Whom all things fear and tremble at before the face of His power," and the rest.
CAPUT CI. As bread is nourishment for the body and virtue for the soul, so is spiritual prayer food for the intellect.
CAPUT CII. Pray not in the manner of a Pharisee, but in the manner of a tax-collector, in the sacred place of prayer, that you too may be justified by the Lord.
CAPUT CIII. Strive not to pray against anyone in your prayer, lest you destroy what you are building by making your prayer detestable.
CAPUT CIV. Let him who was the debtor of ten thousand talents teach you that if you do not forgive your debtor, neither will you yourself obtain forgiveness; for He handed him over, it is said, to the torturers.
CAPUT CV. D Dismiss the needs of the body while you stand for prayer, so that you do not, by being pricked by a flea, or a louse, or a gnat, or a fly, suffer the loss of the greatest gain of your prayer.
CAPUT CVI. It has reached us, regarding one of the saints who was praying, that the evil one opposed him so much that, as soon as he extended his hands, the enemy transformed himself into a lion, and rising up on his front paws, he would sink his own claws on both sides into the two cheeks of the fighter, and would not desist until he lowered his hands. Yet he never relaxed them until he had fulfilled his customary prayers.
A
CHAPTER CVII.
We know that the same happened to John the Little, or rather the Great, a monk who remained in a solitary pit in silence, who, through the communion of God, remained unmoved even when a demon coiled round him in the form of a dragon, devouring his flesh and breathing into his face.CHAPTER CVIII.
You have surely read the lives of the monks of Tabenna, where it is said that while the Abbot Theodore was speaking to the brothers, two vipers came under his feet. He, however, undisturbed, formed them into a kind of arch, received them within it, and did not cease until he finished his discourse; then he showed them to the brothers, explaining what had happened.CHAPTER CIX.
Again, we read of another spiritual Father, or religious man, that as he was praying, a viper approached and touched his feet. He did not lower his hands before he had completed his customary prayer, and he who loved God more than himself suffered no harm.CAPUT CX.
In your prayer, let your gaze be neither lifted up nor distracted, and by denying both your flesh and soul, live mentally.Chapter CXI.
C To another holy man dwelling in desert solitude, while he was praying, demons stood by for two weeks and played with him as if he were a ball, tossing him through the air and catching him on a mat; yet they were in no way able to draw his mind away from his fervent prayer.CHAPTER CXII.
Again, to another man who loved God and cared for prayer, as he was walking through the desert solitude, two angels appeared and walked along with him, placing him in their midst. But he paid no attention to them at all, lest he receive any loss to what was better. For he remembered the apostolic statement which says, "Neither angels, nor principalities, nor powers shall be able to separate us from the love of Christ."CHAPTER CXIII.
A monk becomes equal to the angels through true prayer.CHAPTER CXIV.
Wishing to see the face of the Father who is in heaven, by no means seek to receive any form or shape during the time of prayer.CHAPTER CXV.
Do not desire to see angels, or Powers, or Christ sensibly, D lest you become altogether demented, receiving a wolf instead ofa shepherd, and adoring hostile demons. A
CAPUT CXVI. The beginning of the mind’s error is vain glory, by which the same mind, being moved, attempts to circumscribe the Divinity in species and forms.
CAPUT CXVII. I will say my own [thought], which I have also said to the younger: Blessed is the mind, which at the time of prayer has acquired perfect vacuity of forms.
CAPUT CXVIII. Blessed is the mind that prays without any distraction, always receiving more desire toward God. B
CAPUT CXIX. Blessed is the mind that at the time of prayer becomes immaterial and destitute. C
CAPUT CXX. Blessed is the mind that at the time of prayer possesses perfect insensibility.
CAPUT CXXI. Blessed is the monk who considers himself the offscouring of all things.
CAPUT CXXII. Blessed is the monk who views the salvation and progress of all men with all joy, or most willingly.
CAPUT CXXIII. Blessed is the monk who, after God, considers all men as God.
CAPUT CXXIV. A monk is he who is separated from all, and yet adapted to all.
CAPUT CXXV. A monk is he who considers himself to be with all, because he seems to himself to see, unceasingly, himself in each one.
CAPUT CXXVI. He fulfills prayer who always offers the first-fruits of his mind as a fruit to God. D
CAPUT CXXVII. Avoid every lie and every oath, as one who is a monk and desires to pray; otherwise, in vain do you feign what is alien to you.
CAPUT CXXVIII. If you wish to pray in spirit, draw nothing from the flesh, and thus you will not have a cloud opposing you at the time of prayer.
CAPUT CXXIX. Commit with confidence the need of the body to God, and thus you will be manifest, that you also commit that of the spirit to Him.
CHAPTER CXXX
A If you should attain the promises, you shall reign; therefore, looking toward these, you will sweetly endure the present poverty.CHAPTER CXXXI
Do not refuse poverty and tribulation, for they are the substance of weightless prayer.CHAPTER CXXXII
Let the bodily virtues be your companions toward those of the soul, and those of the soul toward the spiritual ones, and these toward immaterial knowledge.CHAPTER CXXXIII
When praying, if thoughts easily come to rest, discern whence this has come about, B lest you suffer a hidden ambush and, being deceived, betray yourself.CHAPTER CXXXIV
Sometimes demons suggest thoughts to you, and again provoke you, so that you might pray against them or answer back to them, and they willingly withdraw, so that, being deceived, you might imagine regarding yourself that you have begun to conquer thoughts and frighten demons.CHAPTER CXXXV
If you pray against a passion or a demon that disturbs and harasses you, remember the one who says: "I will pursue my enemies, and I will overtake them, and I will not turn back until they fail; I will crush them, and they shall not be able to stand; they shall fall under my feet," and the rest. C You shall say these things at the proper time, arming yourself with humility against your adversaries.CHAPTER CXXXVI
Do not think that you have acquired virtue, unless you have first struggled for it even to the point of blood, as in battle; for one must resist sin even to death, striving and being blameless according to the divine Apostle.CHAPTER CXXXVII
If you benefit someone, you may be harmed by another, so that because of the injury you might yield or do something absurd, and scatter in an evil way what you have gathered in a good way; for this is the goal of the wicked demons. Therefore, you must be attentive D and thoughtful.CHAPTER CXXXVIII
Expect the onsets of demons to be brought upon you, taking care as to how you might depart from their servitude.CHAPTER CXXXIX
By night the demons seek to disturb the spiritual master by themselves; but by day they surround him through people, with dangers, calumnies, and seditions.ON PRAYER
A CHAPTER CXL. Do not refuse the fullers; for even if they strike while treading, and card by stretching, yet through these your perception becomes bright.
CHAPTER CXLI. As long as you have not renounced the passions, but your mind opposes virtue and truth, you shall in no way find a fragrant offering in your bosom.
CHAPTER CXLII. Do you desire to pray? By departing from here, keep your citizenship always in heaven, not with mere simple speech, but by angelic action and more divine knowledge.
CHAPTER CXLIII. If you remember the Judge only when things go ill, as one who is terrible and judges without partiality, you have not yet learned to serve the Lord in fear and to rejoice in Him with trembling. Know, therefore, that even in spiritual recreations and delights, you must worship and adore Him with greater devotion and reverence. B
CHAPTER CXLIV. A wise and considerate man is he who, before perfect repentance, does not cease from the painful remembrance of his own sins and of the judgment in eternal fire for their perpetration.
CHAPTER CXLV. Whoever is caught in sins and fits of anger, and dares impudently to extend himself toward the knowledge of more divine things, or even to ascend to immaterial prayer, let him receive the apostolic censure, because it is certainly a dangerous thing for him to pray with a naked and uncovered head. "For," he says, "such a woman ought to have power over her head because of the angels" C, clothed in the modesty and humility that are fitting.
CHAPTER CXLVI. Just as the sight of the sun, which cannot be grasped and is intensified when it shines in the steady noon and with most violent brightness, will not benefit one who has sore eyes, so the manifestation of prayer, which is fearful and supernatural in spirit and truth, will not benefit at all a mind stained with passions and impure, but on the contrary, it provokes the Divine into indignation against itself. D
CHAPTER CXLVII. If He who is in need of nothing and is incorruptible did not receive the one who came to the altar with a gift until he was reconciled to his brother who was grieved with him, consider how much watchfulness and discernment are needed so that we may offer a well-pleasing offering to God on the intellectual altar.