CAPUT CXLVIII. A Do not be prone to chatter, nor delight in the desire for glory; otherwise, the sinners will fashion their work not only upon your back but also upon your face, and at the time of prayer you will become a laughingstock to them, drawn away and deceived by them into alien thoughts.
CAPUT CXLIX. Diligence, or attention seeking prayer, will find prayer; for prayer follows attention, as does anything else that is similar, to which effort must be given.
CAPUT CL. Just as sight is better than all the senses, so prayer is more divine than all the virtues.
CAPUT CLI. The merit of prayer lies not simply in quantity, but in quality, a fact demonstrated by those who ascended into the temple; and by the saying: "When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases," and so forth.
CAPUT CLII. As long as you attend to the proportions of the body, and your mind cherishes the things that are delightful to the tabernacle, you have not yet seen the place of prayer, but that blessed way is still far from you.
CAPUT CLIII. When, standing for prayer, you rise above every other joy, then you have truly found prayer.
BY THE SAME CHAPTERS XXVII ON VARIOUS MALIGNANT THOUGHTS
CAPUT I. D Those demons who oppose the active life are the first to rise up for battle: those who are responsible for the pleasures of gluttony, or desires, and those who suggest avarice to us, and those who incite us toward human glory. But all the others, following behind these, take up those whom they have wounded. For it is not possible that one might fall
A into the hands of the spirit of fornication, who has not first been overcome by the spirit of gluttony; nor is it possible to stir up anger, if one does not contend and quarrel on account of food, or money, or irrational desires for glory; nor is it possible to escape the demon of sadness, having been deprived of all these things, or not having been able to obtain them; nor will anyone escape pride, which was the first fruit of the devil, unless he has eradicated avarice, the root of all evils—since even poverty humbles a man, according to the wise Solomon. And to say it briefly, it is not possible for a person to fall into the power of the devil, unless he has first been wounded by those primary leaders; and for this reason, the devil brought B these three thoughts to the Savior at that time. First, urging Him to turn stones into bread; then, promising Him the whole world if He would fall down and worship him; and third, saying He would be glorified if He obeyed, while suffering nothing from such a fall. Our Lord, appearing superior to these, commanded the devil to depart, and through these things He taught us that it is not possible to repel the devil, unless we have scorned these three thoughts.
CHAPTER II
All demonic thoughts introduce into the soul the notions of sensible things, by which the mind, being informed, carries the forms of those things within itself, and from the thing itself, it thereafter recognizes the demon that has approached. For example, if the person who caused me loss and dishonored me should appear in my mind, the thought which suggests the remembrance of injuries is caught. If, again, a remembrance of money or glory should occur, it is clear from the matter itself that the one who is troubling us will be recognized. And it is the same with other thoughts; you will find the demon standing by, C and suggesting the images, from the thing itself. However, I do not say that all remembrances of such things happen from demons—since the mind itself, moved by the man, is accustomed to bring forth or emit images of things that have occurred—but I say that all those remembrances which irrationally draw in anger or desire (understand this) proceed from demons. For because of the disturbance of these two powers, the mind commits adultery in its thought, and struggles, being unable to receive the image of the One who gave it the law. Since that brightness appears to the governing faculty at the time of prayer, in the deprivation of all notions concerning things. A man will never D put away remembrances stirred by the passions, if he does not take care of desire and anger, consuming the former with fasts, vigils, and sleeping on the ground, and taming the latter with acts of long-suffering, forgetfulness of injuries, and almsgiving; for from these two passions consist almost all demonic thoughts which cast the mind into destruction and ruin.
CHAPTER III.
It is impossible for anyone to get the better of these passions, unless he utterly despises food, money, and glory, and furthermore even his own body, on account of those who attempt to strike it as if with buffets. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to imitate those in danger at sea, who, because of the violence of the winds and rising waves, also make use of the jettisoning of their cargo. But here one must take careful heed, lest while we use this jettisoning of cargo, we do so in order to be seen by men; for since we receive our reward, another shipwreck will follow us, far more grievous than the first, when the demon of vainglory breathes against us in opposition. A For this reason our Lord in the Gospels, training the mind as a helmsman, says: "Take heed that you do not perform your alms before men to be seen by them; otherwise you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." And again: "When you pray," he says, "you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand praying in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men; amen I say to you, that they have received their reward." And he says again: "When you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to be fasting; B amen I say to you, they have received their reward." But here one must pay attention to the physician of souls, as to how through almsgiving he cures irascibility, and through prayer he cleanses the mind, and again through fasting he causes the concupiscence to wither—from which the new man consists, who is renewed according to the image of him who created him, in whom, on account of holy dispassion, there is neither male nor female, and on account of the one faith and charity, there is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, C but Christ is all and in all.
CHAPTER IV.
We must inquire, however, how demons, in the imaginations that occur during sleep, mold and form our ruling faculty; for such a thing seems to happen to the mind, whether by seeing through the eyes, or hearing through the ears, or again through some sense endowed with a certain quality, or from the memory, which imprints upon the ruling faculty—not through the body, but nevertheless, it moves those things which it has acquired through the body. D Therefore, it seems to me that the demons, by moving the memory, make an imprint on the ruling faculty; for the instrument of the senses is held idle by sleep. How, then, they move the memory again must be inquired. Or perhaps through the passions? And this is manifest from the fact that those who are pure and not at all subject to passions suffer nothing of the sort. But there is also a certain simple movement of the memory that comes from us, or from holy powers, through which we keep company with holy ones in our sleep and converse, and dine together. Nevertheless, one must take heed that whatever images the soul receives with the body,
memory moves them without the body; and this is made clear from the fact that we often suffer this even in our sleep, while the body is at rest. For just as it is possible to remember water, both with thirst and without thirst, so we can recall gold with the desire to possess it, and without that desire; and the same applies to other things as well. That the mind should find such or such differences in these images is a sign of malice, or of an art that is turned to our destruction. At the same time, one must also know that demons use external things as well to excite these images, as, for instance, in those who are sailing, the sound of the waves. B Our anger, when moved contrary to nature, greatly contributes to the purpose of the demons, and becomes most useful for every one of their wicked schemes; hence, none of them refrains from troubling it by night or by day. But when they see it bound by gentleness, they immediately release it on some just pretext, so that, having become sharper, it may serve their beastly thoughts. Therefore, it is necessary not to incite it by either just or unjust matters, nor to provide a harmful sword to those who suggest them—a thing which I know many do often, being inflamed beyond what is necessary over trivial pretexts.
CHAPTER V
C For tell me, why do you fall quickly into battle, if you have despised food, and glory, and wealth? And why do you keep a dog, if you profess to possess nothing? If it barks and attacks people, it is manifest that you do possess something within, which you wish to protect. I for my part am convinced that such a person is far from pure prayer, since I know well that irascibility is a plague to prayer of this kind. Furthermore, I marvel that these holy ones have been consigned to oblivion: David, who cries out, "Cease from anger and forsake D wrath" (Ps. XXXVI, 8); and the Ecclesiastes who commands, "Put away anger from your heart, and remove malice from your flesh" (Eccl. XI, 10); and the Apostle, who instructs, "Without anger and disputing in every place, to lift up holy hands to the Lord" (1 Tim. II, 8). Why, indeed, do we not learn from the mystical and ancient custom of men who drive dogs from their houses at the time of prayer? This custom indicated obscurely that it is not fitting for anger to be present along with those praying. And again: "The anger of dragons is their wine" (Deut. XXXII, 33). But the Nazirites abstained from wine. And some one of the external sages affirmed that gall and the flank are not fit to be eaten by the gods, not knowing, I think, what he was saying; of which I consider the one to be a symbol of irascibility, and the other of beastly desire. As for the fact that one ought not to be anxious about clothing or food, I consider it superfluous to write, since our Savior Himself forbade it in the Gospels; for He says, "Be not anxious for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, or what you shall put on." For of the heathens...
A this is openly manifest, and of the unbelievers who reject and contemn Providence and deny the Creator of the world; but such a thing is altogether foreign to Christians, who once believed that even the two sparrows which are sold for a farthing are under the administration of the holy angels. Nevertheless, it is also a habit of the demons, after impure thoughts, to suggest also those of anxiety, so that Jesus may flee from the intellectual place while a crowd of thoughts is present, and the word may become unfruitful, choked by the thorns of anxiety.
CHAPTER VI
Therefore, laying aside the thoughts that proceed from anxiety, let us cast our care upon the Lord, being content with present things, and leading a poor life, and using poor clothing, and let us strip off the effects and authors of vain glory as the day progresses. But if anyone thinks that in poor clothing he presents an unseemly and deformed appearance, let him look to holy Paul B who, in cold and nakedness, was awaiting the crown of righteousness. But since the Apostle called this world a theater and a stadium, let us see if it is possible for one who is clothed with thoughts of anxiety to run toward the prize of the upward calling, or to wrestle against principalities and powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age. I, for my part, do not know, and I am instructed even by the very history of sensible things; for clearly that man who is wrestling will be impeded by his tunic, and will easily be dragged around, just as the mind is by thoughts of anxiety; if indeed the saying is true which says that the mind constantly dwells upon its own treasure; C "For where your treasure is," it says, "there will your heart be also."
CHAPTER VII
Of thoughts, some cut, and others are cut; and evil thoughts indeed cut good ones, but on the contrary, the evil are cut by the good; for the Holy Spirit attends to the thought placed first, and according to that He judges us, or receives us. But what I say is of this kind: I have a certain thought of hospitality, and I have it for the sake of the Lord, but this is cut when another one arrives to tempt and suggest that I offer hospitality for the sake of glory. On the contrary: I have a thought of hospitality in order to be seen by men, but even this is dissected, when a better thought supervenes, D which directs our virtue rather to the Lord, and urges us not to do these things for the sake of men. If, therefore, through our works we finally remain in those that were first, even though we have been tempted by the second, we shall receive rewards only for the thoughts that were placed first: since, being human and wrestling with demons, we do not have the power to keep the right thought always incorrupt, nor on the other hand to keep the evil thought from being tempted.
A Nevertheless, if anyone dwells upon it, the ⟨result of the⟩ cutting thoughts settles in the territory of the one being tempted, and subsequently the man, moved by that B thought, will act. We have recognized by much observation that this is the difference between angelic thoughts, human ones, and those that come from demons: namely, that first of all, angelic C thoughts investigate the natures of things curiously and diligently, and they search out their spiritual senses, or thoughts. For example, why gold was made, and why it is sandy, and why it was scattered somewhere deep in the parts of the earth, and why it is found with much labor and toil; and how, once found, it is washed with water and handed over to fire, and thus cast into the hands of the craftsmen who construct the lampstand, and the censer, and the little mortars or bowls, and the vials—in which the Babylonian king no longer drinks, by the grace of our Savior, but Cleopa bears a heart burning because of these mysteries. The demonic thought, D however, neither knows nor understands these things; it merely suggests the possession of sensible gold in a shameless way, and predicts the luxury and glory that will come from it. The human thought, for its part, neither seeks the possession, nor does it curiously inquire of what the gold is a symbol, but only brings into the mind the bare form of gold, separated from the passion of avarice; and the same reasoning is to be said about other matters, being exercised mystically according to this rule.
CHAPTER VIII
C There is a demon, called the deceiver, who stands by the brothers especially toward dawn, and who leads the mind of the solitary from city to city, and from house to house, and from village to village, first indeed making it have simple conversations, and to be conversing with certain acquaintances, and to speak at greater length, and not keeping his own state with those he meets, and gradually drawing him far away, taking on forgetfulness of the knowledge of God, and of virtue, and of his profession. The solitary, then, ought to watch this demon, where he begins and where he ends; for not without reason, nor by chance, does he laboriously lead that long circle, but he does these things wishing to destroy and corrupt the state of the solitary, in order that the mind, ignited by these D [many conversations] and intoxicated by them, might immediately fall into the demon of fornication, or of anger, or of sadness, which especially spoil the brightness of his state. But we, if we have the intention of clearly knowing his craftiness, let us not speak quickly to him, nor show him what is happening, how he fabricates these conversations in the mind, and in what way he gradually drives the mind toward death, for he will flee from us, nor indeed...
shall we know anything of what we have been eager to learn. Yet let us grant him one more day, or even a second, to complete his work, so that, having accurately learned his craftiness, we may then convict him with our speech and put him to flight. A
CHAPTER IX
But since it happens that, during the time of temptation, the mind, being darkened and befouled as it were by stirred-up, muddy sediment, does not clearly perceive what is taking place, let this be done after the demon has departed: sit by yourself and recall the things that have happened to you—where you began and where you went, in what place you were ensnared by the spirit of fornication, or of anger, or of sadness, and how everything that occurred came to be. Learn these things clearly and commit them to memory, so that you may be able B to convict him when he approaches, and reveal the place he hiddenly occupies, and you will no longer follow him. If, however, you sometimes wish to provoke him to rage, convict him the moment he stands by, and make manifest the first place into which he entered, and the second, and the third; for he is deeply aggrieved, barely tolerating such reproach. The proof that you have spoken to him at the right time shall be the fact that the thought will flee from you; for it is impossible for him to remain any longer when he is clearly convicted. Once this demon of error has been defeated, it is followed by a very heavy sleep, a numbness with a great coldness of the eyelids, endless yawning, heavy and C torpid shoulders—all of which the Holy Spirit will dissolve through fervent prayer.
CHAPTER X
The hatred which we have toward the demons contributes to our salvation and is very suitable and apt for the practice of virtue. Yet we are unable to nurture this in ourselves as a kind of good seed, since the spirits that love pleasure corrupt it and draw the soul back toward friendship and habit. But the Physician of souls heals this friendship, or rather this gangrene that is difficult to cure, through abandonment; for He permits us to suffer something terrible from them by night or by day, and then the soul again returns D to its primal hatred, being taught to say to the Lord, according to David: "I hated them with a perfect hatred; they became my enemies" (Ps. CXXXVIII, 22). For he who hates his enemies with a perfect hatred is he who sins neither in act nor in thought; this is the proof of the first and greatest dispassion.
CHAPTER XI
But as for the demon that causes the soul to behave stupidly and foolishly, what ought one to say? For I am afraid even to write about him—in what way the soul slips and is alienated from its own state. For at the time of his arrival (that is, the demon's), then the fear of God and reverence...
are put off, and it does not consider sin to be sin; it does not deem iniquity to be iniquity; it remembers eternal punishment and judgment as if it were a mere word; it laughs at the truly fire-bearing upheavals; and though it professes to acknowledge God, it does not understand what He has commanded. You beat upon your breast, when it (the soul) is moved toward sin, yet it feels nothing. You address it with words from the Scriptures, yet it remains wholly blinded and does not hear. You bring up to it the disgrace brought upon it by men, yet it does not consider the reproach that exists among men; it does not understand at all, just like a pig that closes its eyes and breaks through the fence. B Thoughts of vainglory, lingering for a long time, bring in this demon, for whose sake, if the days had not been shortened, no flesh would be saved. Indeed, the reason why such thoughts rarely come to the brethren is manifest: for when some are oppressed by calamities or diseases, or spend their lives miserably in prisons, or fall into sudden deaths, this demon is put to flight, as the soul is gradually pricked and comes to compassion, and the demon's blindness is dissolved—things in which we are deficient because of the desert and the scarcity of those who are sick among us.
CHAPTER XII
This demon the Lord, in the Gospels, C primarily driving him away, commanded us to see the sick and to visit those in prison: "For I was sick," He says, "and you visited me; and I was in prison, and you came to me." Nevertheless, this must be known: if any of the anchorites, having fallen in with this demon, has not received lewd thoughts, nor abandoned his house—or cell—out of accidie, he has received temperance and patience descending from heaven, and blessed is he who has been deemed worthy of such a state of passionlessness. However, as many as make a profession of godliness but choose to dwell with worldly people, let them beware of this demon. For I am ashamed even to say or write anything further about him to men.CHAPTER XIII
All demons teach the soul to be a lover of pleasure; D the demon of sadness alone refuses to do this, but rather destroys the thoughts that enter in, diminishing every pleasure of the soul and breaking it down, and causing it to wither through sorrow. "For the bones of a man suffering from sorrow are dried up"; and while he makes war in a moderate way, he renders the anchorite proven; for he persuades him to accept none of the things of this world and to avoid every pleasure. But when he persists more, he generates thoughts advising the soul to withdraw itself, or to flee from the places...A that are forcing it—something which was once devised, and which holy Job also suffered, being harassed by this demon; for he says, "Would that I could master myself, or entreat another, and he might do this for me." The symbol of this demon is the viper, that beast whose nature, if given benignly and humanely, destroys and disperses the venoms of other wild beasts, but if taken intemperately, corrupts the animal itself. To this demon Paul delivered the one who had committed the transgression at Corinth; for which reason he writes again earnestly to the Corinthians, saying: "Confirm your love toward him, lest such a one be swallowed up by overmuch sorrow." But this spirit, while afflicting men, knows how to become a mediator for them of good repentance as well; whence also holy John the Baptist, addressing those who were being stung by this demon and were fleeing to God, says: "Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear therefore fruit worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father'; for I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones." Nevertheless, whoever has imitated Abraham, and has gone forth from his land B and from his kindred, has himself become stronger even than this demon.
CHAPTER XIV
If anyone has mastered anger, he has mastered the demons; but if anyone has been enslaved by this passion, he is completely alien to the monastic life and a stranger to the ways of our Savior. Indeed, our Lord Himself is said to teach the meek His ways; therefore, the mind of those who have withdrawn from the world is hard to catch when it takes refuge in the field of meekness, because the demons fear hardly any virtue as much as meekness. For Moses himself possessed this, having been called "meek above all men." And holy David also proclaimed this to be worthy of the memory of God, saying: "Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness." But the Savior Himself also commanded us to be imitators of His own meekness, saying: "Learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your C souls." But if anyone abstains from food and drink, yet provokes anger with malicious thoughts, he is like a ship wandering the sea, which has a demon for a steersman; therefore, one must be attentive to our "dog" as much as possible, and he must be taught to destroy only the wolves, and not to devour the sheep, showing every meekness toward all men.
CHAPTER XV
Of the thoughts, only that of vainglory abounds in manifold material, which encompasses almost the entire world, and opens the doors to all the demons, just as
A a traitor opens the gates of a good city secretly; therefore it greatly humbles the mind of the anchorite, or one living in retreat, filling him with many concepts of the intellect and with business, and infecting with its contagion his prayers, through which he himself strives to heal the wounds of his soul. All the demons who have been conquered join in increasing this thought, and again through it they all find an entrance into souls, truly making the last things worse than the first. And from this B thought is generated that one of pride, which shook off the seal of likeness and the crown of beauty from heaven to earth, and caused it to fall. But leap away from this, and do not delay, lest we betray our life and our course of action to the unmerciful. This demon is put to flight by assiduous prayer, and by intentionally doing nothing of those things which contribute to accursed glory. When the mind of those who have withdrawn has attained a certain emptiness of passions, then, possessing the horse of vainglory, it immediately rides toward the cities, gorged and replete with unmixed praise from glory; to which, according to providence, the spirit of fornication, encountering it and shutting it up in one of the pigsties, teaches it by no means to leave the bed before perfect health, nor to imitate the intemperate among the sick who, while still carrying the C remains of infirmity within themselves, give themselves over to untimely journeys and baths, and fall into relapsing diseases. Wherefore, sitting still, let us rather attend to ourselves, because, while we advance in virtue, we are moved with difficulty toward malice, and while we are renewed in knowledge, we receive a multitude of various speculations; and again, when we are elevated to prayer, we shall more clearly behold the light of our Savior.
CHAPTER XVI
I cannot write down all the evil deeds of the demons, and I am ashamed to enumerate their wicked arts, fearing D lest the simpler ones who read might be offended. But hear the craftiness of the spirit of fornication. When someone has acquired emptiness of passions in the concupiscible part, and the base thoughts have thereafter become quite cold, then it introduces men and women playing with one another, and makes the anchorite a spectator of base acts and gestures. But this temptation is not of those that last for a long time; for intense prayer, and a most restricted way of life with wakefulness, and the exercise of spiritual contemplations repel it from afar, like a cloud devoid of water. Sometimes, however, it happens that it even touches the flesh, urging it on to irrational inflammation; and that most evil one devises other thousands of such things, which it is not necessary to make public or to commit to writing. But against such thoughts, a fervor of irascibility stirred up against the demon contributes a great deal, which indeed
A causes him to fear, while he is disturbed by thoughts and his councils are scattered; and this is that saying: “Be angry, and do not sin” (Ps. IV, 5). This is a useful remedy to apply to the soul in temptations of this kind. But the demon of anger also imitates this demon of fornication. For he, too, fashions some of our parents, or friends, or kin, or members of our household as being insulted and struck by unworthy men, and disturbs the anger of the anchorites, so that they might utter something evil, or perform some act against those who appear to the mind—to whom it is not necessary to pay attention, but instead to quickly snatch the mind away from such phantoms, lest by lingering on them, it should become like a smoking brand at the time of prayer. Those who are irascible fall into these temptations, and especially those who are easily inflamed to indignation, who are far from pure prayer and from the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ.
CHAPTER XVII
The Lord has delivered the thoughts of this world to man, as a good shepherd does his sheep; for indeed, he says, he has set the world in his heart; and he has B joined to him anger and desire as a help, so that by means of anger he might put to flight the thoughts of wolves, and by means of desire he might cherish the sheep, even though he be often pelted by rains and winds. Moreover, He has given him pasturage with which to feed the sheep, and a place of green herb, and water of rest, and a psaltery, and a harp, and a rod, and a staff, so that from this flock he might be nourished, and clothed, and might gather mountain herb. “For who,” it says, “feeds a flock, and does not eat of the milk of the flock?” (I Cor. IX, 7). Therefore, the anchorite must guard this flock by night and by day, lest any of his thoughts become prey to wild beasts, or fall among thieves; but C if anything of the kind should happen in the glen, he ought immediately to snatch it from the mouth of the lion or the bear. A thought concerning a brother becomes prey to a wild beast if one feeds it in oneself with hatred; and the thought concerning a woman does so if it is turned over within us with shameful desire; and that concerning silver and gold does so if it dwells in us with avarice. Indeed, the thoughts regarding holy gifts suffer the same detriment if they are fed in the mind with vainglory; and it will likewise happen with other thoughts as they are stolen by the passions.
CHAPTER XVIII
But it is necessary to watch these things not only by day, but also to guard them and be wary of them while keeping vigil by night. For it happens that D while someone is contemplating something shamefully and wickedly, he loses what is his own; and this is what is said by the holy Jacob: “I have not brought you a beast taken by a wild beast; I myself have paid for the thefts of day, and the thefts of
A night, and I was parched with the heat of the day and with the frost of the night, and sleep departed from my eyes.” If, however, any sluggishness should come upon us from labor, let us return for a little while to the rock of knowledge and occupy ourselves with the Psalter, plucking the strings of knowledge through the virtues, and let us again feed our sheep beneath Mount Sinai, so that the God of our fathers may call us out of the bush, and grant us the reasons for the signs and wonders. Christ raises up the rational nature, which had been put to death by wickedness, through the contemplation of all ages; but His Father raises the soul of this same nature which had died—which is the death of Christ—through the knowledge of Himself. And this is what is said by Paul: “If we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” When the mind, having stripped off the old man, has put on him who is from grace, then it will also behold its own state at the time of prayer, having an appearance similar to sapphire or the color of heaven, which the Scripture also calls the place of God, seen by the elders beneath Mount Sinai.
CHAPTER XIX
When any of the enemies approaches and wounds you, and you wish to turn his sword, according to what is written, upon his own heart, do as we say. Divide within yourself the thought cast by him, whatever it may be, and from how many things it is composed, and which of these it is that most afflicts the mind. What I mean is this: let the thought of avarice sent by him be, and divide this into the mind that received it, into the notion of gold, into the gold itself, and into the passionate desire for wealth; and then inquire which of these is sin. Is it the mind? And how? It is the image of God. But is it the notion of gold? And who would ever say that this has a mind? But is the gold itself sin? And for what purpose was it created? It follows, therefore, that the cause of sin is the fourth thing C (namely, the passionate desire for wealth), which is not a thing existing by essence, nor the notion of a thing, nor again the incorporeal mind, but a certain misanthropic pleasure, born from free will, compelling the mind to make evil use of the creatures of God, which the Law of God is believed to circumcise. And as you examine these things, the thought will perish, resolved into its own contemplation, and the demon will flee from you, your intellect having been raised to a height by this knowledge.
CHAPTER XX
But if you wish to use his sword, yet desire first to overcome him by means of your own sling, cast out for yourself a stone from your pastoral wallet, and seek its contemplation. Namely, how D angels and demons approach our
A world, yet we do not compare ourselves to their worlds; for we can neither compel angels to be joined more closely to God, nor do we determine to make unclean demons more impure. And how was Lucifer, who rose early in the morning, cast down to the earth? He considers the sea as an ointment jar, the Tartarus of the abyss as a captive, and he boils the abyss itself like a copper vessel, disturbing all by his malice and wishing to rule over all. For the contemplation of these things wounds the demon deeply and puts his entire encampment to flight. But these things happen only to those who are quietly and calmly purified and who contemplate to some degree the reasons for the things that have occurred. The impure, however, do not know the contemplation of these things, nor, even if they were taught by others, would they be heard if they sought to charm them, because of the great dust and uproar that gathers during the battle due to the passions. For it is absolutely necessary for the encampment of the foreigners to quiet down for a little while, so that Goliath alone may meet our David. Likewise, let us use this division and this form of warfare for all impure thoughts.
CHAPTER XXI
B And indeed, some of the impure demons test man as a man, while others disturb man as an irrational animal. The first, as they approach, cast into us thoughts of vainglory, pride, envy, or accusation, which touch none of the irrational creatures; but the second, drawing near, stir up anger or lust contrary to nature. For these passions are common to us and to irrational animals, though they lie hidden beneath our rational nature. Therefore, the Holy Spirit also says to those who fall into human thoughts: “I said: Ye are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High; but ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.” C But to those who are moved irrationally, what does He say? “Be ye not as the horse and the mule, which have no understanding; whose jaws thou must hold with bit and bridle, who do not come near thee.” But the soul that has sinned, the same shall die. It is manifest that those who die as men shall be buried by men, but those who are destroyed—that is, who fall—as irrational creatures, shall be eaten by vultures and ravens, whose young—some call upon the Lord, while others are defiled in blood. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
CHAPTER XXII
When certain impure thoughts have been quickly put to flight, let us inquire into the cause of how this came about: whether it is due to a scarcity of the subject matter, in that the D material is difficult to come by, or whether it is that, because of the utter absence of passions within us, the enemies were unable to prevail against us? For example: if one of the anchorites, by the suggestion of a demon, has remembered the spiritual governance of the first city
A it is manifest that he will not linger contemplating this thought, and the reason for this is made known from the things that are said. But if someone thinks of a city, even a random one, and ponders it in a similar way, such a person is blessed for his lack of passions. Similarly, this mode of examination will be found applicable to other thoughts as well. It is necessary to know these things for our own zeal and strength, that we may discern whether we have crossed the Jordan and are near the city of the Phoenicians, or whether we are still living in the wilderness and are being struck by the aliens.
For the demon of avarice seems to me to be very versatile and cunning, industrious and clever at deceiving; often, when hard-pressed by the highest state of renunciation of the world, he immediately pretends to be a prudent administrator and a lover of the poor. He receives guests B more generously than those who are not yet present, sends assistance to others who are lacking, visits the city’s prisons, and supposedly redeems those who have been sold; he attaches himself to wealthy women and points out those who ought to receive a favor, while conversely, he urges others who possess a wealthy purse to renounce the world. And so, having gradually deceived the soul, he subjects it to thoughts of avarice and hands it over to the demon of vainglory.
Chapter 23
C In such a manner, the demon leads in a multitude of those who praise the Lord for these prudent administrations, and by gradually putting forward some who are conversing with one another about the priesthood, he foretells the swift death of the existing priest; and he adds thousands of fabrications so that it might not escape notice. And thus, the wretched mind, bound by these thoughts, fights fiercely against those men who resist, but to those who embrace this he readily bestows gifts, and approves and commends their good mind—that is, the virtue which recognizes a favor and good faith. But if some should dispute, he hands them over to judges and commands that they be punished with exile from the city.But when these thoughts are present D and churning within, immediately the demon of pride also stands over him, striking lightning flashes continuously in the air of the cell and sending forth winged dragons, and—the final evil—causing the deprivation of the mind. But we, as those who desire the ruin and destruction of such thoughts, let us live with poverty with thanksgiving. "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is manifest that we can take nothing out. And having food and covering, let us be content with these," mindful also of Paul, who called avarice the root of all evils. All impure thoughts, remaining in us for a long time because of our passions, lead the mind to ruin and destruction; for just as the thought of bread remains for a long time in one who is hungry because of hunger, and the thought of water in one who is thirsty because of thirst, so too do the thoughts of possessions and money remain because of greed, and the thoughts of food and the…
shameful things, linger for a long time on account of the passions. But it will be revealed in a similar way concerning the thoughts of vainglory and other thoughts. For it is not possible for a mind stifled by such things to stand before God and to be crowned with the wreath of righteousness. For it is by these thoughts that that wretched mind in the Gospels was pulled down and refused the excellent feast of the knowledge of Christ; and again, he who was bound hand and foot and cast into outer darkness had his garment woven from these thoughts, which he who had called him deemed not worthy of such a marriage. Therefore, the marriage garment is the freedom from passions of the rational soul that has renounced worldly desires. But the reason why the thoughts of sensible things, by lingering too long, corrupt the knowledge or judgment, has been stated in the chapters on prayer.
CHAPTER XXIV
A Of the opposing demons of the active life, there are three chief leaders in whose train follows the entire encampment of the aliens; these stand first in the battle and provoke souls to wickedness through impure thoughts—namely, those who preside over the desires of gluttony (as we said in the first chapter), and those who suggest avarice to us, and those who provoke us toward the glory of men. Therefore, longing to pour out pure prayer, beware of anger, and loving temperance, restrain your belly; do not give bread to your stomach, but instead wear it out with water, and afflict it, watch in prayer, and keep the memory of injuries far from you. Let not the words of the Holy Spirit fail you, and knock at the doors of the Scriptures with the hands of the virtues; then there will arise for you a freedom from the passions of the heart, and you will see your mind to be star-like in prayer. Of the mental images, some are those which impress and form and figure our faculty of judgment, and some provide only knowledge without impressing or figuring the mind. For, indeed, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God," places a notion in the heart, yet it does not figure it, nor does it form it with an impression. Thus, "taking bread," figures the mind, and "to break," impresses a sign upon the mind. D But, "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up," impresses a sign upon the mind without the "I saw the Lord," and the literal phrase seems to impress a sign upon the mind, but that which it signifies does not impress it; for he saw with a prophetic eye the rational nature lifted up, which, through the active life, had received in itself the knowledge of God; for God is said to sit there where He is known, because a pure mind is also called the throne of God. But a woman is also called a throne of disgrace, meaning, a soul that hates righteous things; for the disgrace of the soul is wickedness and ignorance. The notion of God, therefore, is not in those things that impress the mind, but in those notions that do not impress the mind. For it is necessary that he who prays be entirely...
separated from the notions that impress a sign upon the mind. And you will ask whether, just as the matter stands concerning bodies and their thoughts, it stands the same concerning incorporeal things and their thoughts or concepts, and whether the mind is sometimes formed or impressed when seeing a mind, and otherwise disposed when seeing its concept? From this we know how spiritual knowledge separates the mind from the notions that impress a sign upon it, and presents it to God free from every impression; because truly the notion regarding God is not among the notions that impress a sign upon the mind, nor is God a body, but rather He is among those that do not impress [it]. Again, among the contemplations that do not impress a sign upon the mind, some signify the essence of incorporeal things, while others signify their reasons; and it is not as it happens in bodies, so too in incorporeal things: for in the case of bodies, some things used to impress the mind, and others used to not impress it; but here, neither notion impresses a sign upon the mind. B
CHAPTER XXV
When the demon of gluttony, having struggled much and often, has not been able to destroy the restrained state that has been imprinted, then he drives the mind toward the desire for the highest exercise, from which he brings into the middle the accounts of Daniel, that impoverished life, and the seeds; and he commemorates certain other anchorites who have lived in this way always, or have begun so, and urges one to become an emulator and imitator of them, so that while pursuing immoderate restraint, one may be frustrated even in the moderate state of the body, not being content with these things due to one's own infirmity; C truly blessing the body and cursing the heart: to whom I think it just not to obey, nor to abstain from bread, and oil, and water. For the brothers have experienced this diet as completely ideal, and this not to satiety, and only once in the day. For I wonder if anyone, being sated with bread and water, will be able to receive the crown of apatheia. By apatheia, I mean not the cessation of actual sin—for this is called continence—but that which intellectually cuts away the passion-affected thoughts, which also the holy Paul named the spiritual circumcision of the hidden Jew. But if anyone is despondent over these things, let him remember the chosen vessel, the Apostle, who finished his course in hunger and thirst. D Moreover, the adversary of the truth, the demon of acedia, imitates this demon, suggesting the highest seclusion to one endowed with tolerance, provoking him to the emulation of John the Baptist, and of the first of the anchorites, Antony, so that, not enduring the prolonged and inhuman seclusion, he may flee with shame, having abandoned the place, and that he himself may afterwards say boastfully: "I have prevailed against him."
CHAPTER XXVI.
A Impure thoughts receive much material for their growth, and extend themselves over many things; for they cross great seas in the mind and do not refuse to complete long journeys because of the intense fervor of passion. Those, however, that are in some degree purified are more restricted than these, being unable to extend themselves over many things due to the weakness of the passion, whence they move more contrary to nature. And according to the wise Solomon, at some time they wander outside and gather straw for the unlawful making of bricks, so that they may be saved like a doe from snares, and like a bird from the net. For it is easier to purify an impure soul than to restore to health one that has been purified but wounded again, since the demon of sadness does not permit it at all, but always leaps into the pupils of the eyes and presents the image of sin at the time of prayer.
Chapter XXVII.
B The demons do not know our hearts, as some men think; for He alone is the Knower of hearts who knows the mind of men and who alone fashioned their hearts. But from the spoken word and from such movements of the body, they discern many of the movements that occur in the heart. These I now wished to explain clearly, but the holy priest restrained me, saying that it was unworthy to publish such things and to cast them into the ears of the profane; for, as he says, he who associates with a conspirator becomes liable under the law. However, because they discern what is hidden in the heart from such signs and take from these occasions against us, we often denounce some who have spoken ill, not behaving toward them with charity; therefore, we fall into the demon of resentment and immediately conceive malicious thoughts against them, which we knew had C previously come upon us. Wherefore the Holy Spirit rightly accuses us: "Sitting, you spoke against your brother, and against the son of your mother you placed a scandal," and you were opening the door of thoughts of vengeance, and you were disturbing your mind at the time of prayer, always keeping the face of your enemy before your mind, and holding this in the place of God; for what the mind altogether contemplates while it prays, it is fitting to confess that this is God. But let us flee, beloved, from the disease of slander, and let us never malignantly remember or distort or obscure our gaze while we make remembrance of a neighbor; for the malignant demons curiously investigate all our gestures, and they leave nothing that pertains to us unscrutinized—not a reclining, not a seat, not a standing, not a conversation, D not a journey, not a look; they examine everything, they stir up everything, they whole-day long against us…
A hatch plots, so that at the time of prayer they may calumniate our humble mind and extinguish its blessed light. Do you see what holy Paul also says to Titus? "In teaching, sound speech, irreproachable, so that he who is an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us." And the blessed David also prays, saying: "Deliver me from the calumny of men," calling the demons themselves men because of their rational nature. But the Savior also in the Gospels calls him "an enemy man" who sowed for us the tares of wickedness. From whom may we be delivered by the grace of Christ and our God, to whom belongs honor and glory unto the ages. Amen.
THIRTY-THREE CHAPTERS IN SEQUENCE.
CAPITULA XXXIII Per gradus quosdam disposita consequentiæ. Sunt Evagrii Pontici et leguntur inter ejus opera hujusce Patrologiæ tom. XL, col. 1263. Incip. Ἰκτερός ἐστιν. Des. πεπιστευμέναι.
SPIRITUAL MAXIMS ACCORDING TO THE ALPHABET.
SPIRITUALES SENTENTIÆ PER ALPHABETUM DISPOSITÆ, Evagrio etiam restituendæ. Vide ubi supra, col. 1267. Incip. "Ατοπόν ἐστι. Des. τῆς πάντα μεσούσης.
OTHER MAXIMS.
ALIÆ SENTENTIÆ Inter Evagrii opera dudum relatæ. Adi tomum citatum, col. 1269. Inc. Ἀρχὴ ἀγάπης. Des. κατὰ Θεὸν πάντα ποιεῖ.